One last breath

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About five centuries ago the human race predicted the self-destruction of their planet. The nucleus of the earth entered a state of chaotic and thus destabilizing its magnetic field, as a result this made more than 90% of its ozone layer disappear leaving the surface totally unavailable.

Everything began gradually, to the point where humanity on the brink of extinction was forced to leave its home planet to go to a new planetary promise located more than 150 light years away.

However, the trip was not going to be easy. Humanity had many challenges to overcome to ensure the success of the colonization of Nortis. And even though they had already managed to develop an interplanetary ship, they still had not managed to evade all the biological damage that a trip of such magnitude implies.

John was the chief in charge of carrying out all the preparations for the colonization mission. He and his team had spent years studying the strange atmosphere of Nortis and what form life should have on that planet. He and his team understood very well that this colonization mission involved taking their race to the next evolutionary level.

After having started the cataclysm. John together with the main powers of the world were responsible for bringing together the best in the world to carry out the project fenix, his team consisted of a group of specialists in genetics, physics and chemistry and engineering. His goal was to make the human race survive at any cost and for that he had the entire budget of the world at his disposal.

Fenix ​​wanted to carry out the creation of more than 5 thousand genetically modified embryos that were able to adapt to almost any situation. John knew that living in the conditions of the planet Nortis would imply a completely overwhelming physical jump and that no human with life could survive there, however this was not entirely true for a species that was born on that planet and for that they modified the human genome to make this change easier.

After more than five years of work, the genetic modification was almost ready. All that remained was to fit a last piece

John tells Susan the head in charge of the genetic team of the fenix project:

"Hello my dear Susan. I already received the great news. I came as soon as they informed me. I am very glad that today finally they are given the last combination of the genetic code. With this we can now terminate your search. Now all you have to do is start modifying the embryos. There are 5 thousand, so there is still work "

"Yes, my handsome John. My team of geneticists is very happy. We had been in this for months, today we finally achieve the desired combination. With this modification the physical adaptation will be perfect. Their physical abilities will be much higher than ours, let alone the physiological ones, this is perfect for survival in a gravitational acceleration five times superior to ours "

"Perfect Susan just what I expected to hear, very worthy of you. Then I can announce the departure date. I imagine that the modification of the embryos will only take a couple of weeks? "

"Without a doubt, John. Remember that these procedures are very delicate. The complete modification of the embryos will take a little more than two weeks "

"Then the colonization mission will start in a month. Thank you for your time, my dear colleague. See you later"

"See you later John"

John walks with an expression on his face of satisfaction to his office. Upon entering, he immediately begins to write the great speech. Humanity has been waiting for these results for years. This survival mission was one of the most important that was carried out today.

Come the great moment. John in the great videoconference room comes before the few survivors and says:

"Today I am proud to announce that our great search has ended. The human race will finally make that evolutionary leap that was so necessary for us to reach the other planet of our vast universe. With this our survival is almost assured. In a month or so we will go to Nortis, unfortunately for our generation it will be impossible to see the full realization of this mission, however I am sure that everyone is very happy to know that humanity will not die with this planet"

John ends his speech, picks up his personal compta and walks back to his office. Now he had only one month to finish all the preparations.

After a month. John with his fenix team were very nervous. The great day had finally arrived. Everything was ready, the ship contained all the useful information obtained by humanity, plus it also contained more than 8 thousand embryos of pairs of species of animals from all over the planet, all this added to the 5 thousand humans.

The mission was ready to make its leap to the next stage. John as project manager fenix gives the launch order. The ship manages to be seen through cameras for humanity. After a few seconds a flash can be seen in the distance. A hope and a last breath of survival for a species that has never given up.

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This short story is an entry in @calluna's ongoing Tell Me A Story contest.

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