Red Planet of Promise

The saucer descended through the thick red haze blanketed the planet’s surface. As the craft approached the ground, the outline of towering dormant volcanoes emerged from the fog. The ship’s instruments beeped, indicating the presence of rich mineral deposits in the desolate desert below. Captain Anderson gazed out of the ship’s window, eyes scanning the barren landscape. “This is it,” he thought, “the planet that will make us rich.”
The saucer touched down gently on the scorched Earth, and the ramp lowered. Anderson was the first to step outside, followed by his team of engineers and geologists. They were here to assess the planet’s resources and extract as much as possible. The team worked tirelessly, drilling and excavating in search of precious minerals. They toiled in harsh, unforgiving conditions. Their equipment was pushed to the limit. The days blended in a blur of scorching sun and freezing nights, but their determination never wavered.

One day, as Anderson was supervising a drilling operation, he noticed a strange reading on his instruments. He ordered his team to stop and approach the site of the anomaly. There, he discovered a vein of a mineral he had never seen before, which was even more valuable than anything they had found. Excited, Anderson sent a report back to the interplanetary mining corporation, informing them of their discovery. The corporation, eager to get its hands on the new mineral, sent a larger team and more advanced equipment to extract it. The operation was successful, and the corporation soon had a monopoly on the rare mineral.

The red planet became a hub of activity as the years passed, with miners flocking to the planet to extract the valuable mineral. Now a wealthy man, Anderson looked on with pride at the bustling city built on the once-desolate desert. The lifeless world had been transformed into a thriving hub of commerce and industry. However, the miners discovered the true cost of their greed as the years passed. The mineral extraction triggered a chain reaction, awakening the dormant volcanoes and causing massive earthquakes that ravaged the planet. The once-bustling metropolis was reduced to rubble, and the miners were forced to evacuate.

Anderson sat aboard his saucer, staring at the lonely planet he once thought would make him rich. He thought of the people who had lost their homes and lives and felt a pang of regret. The red planet of promise had turned into a world of destruction, and Anderson realized too late that the price of their greed had been far too high.

– Milky Way Digest [MWD} vol 19 pg. 99 –