Wordcount:1,926

EricRamirez
Humanities
November20,2015

FreshWateristheNewGold

VoicecommandfromEarthtoMars:

ItisMarch29,2093.Almosthalfpastsixandwearesendingoutthisvideomessagetoinformpeople
outtherethatwehavenotyetfoundasolutionforobtainingdrinkablewater.Thewaterishighlypolluted
andithaskilled77%ofEarthssealife.MycrewandIhavebeensamplingwaystodissolvethewaste.
AnylivingorganismsthatdrinkEarthswaterwilldevelopageneticmutationafterseveralweeksand
canevenpossiblydie.Asofnow,wedonotthinkitissafetotakeEarth'swatersuntilfurthernotice.

EverythinghaschangeddramaticallyhereonplanetEarth.Humansruinedthisplaceweusedto
callhome.Itisnowalandfillforhumanwaste.Highnumbersofpollutionhaveincreasedrapidlysince
the1990s.Weallknewatsomepointinhumanhistorythiswouldhappen.It'slikenoonegaveadamn
aboutEarth.Humansareevil.IknowIsoundhypocriticalbecauseI'mtalkingaboutmyownkind,butwe
reallyhavetoconfessthesetruthswhenstufflikethishappens.MynameisJamesandIworkasa
HydrologicalScientistforNASA.HydrologyisthescientificstudyofwateronEarthandotherplanets.
MycrewandIareactuallyallhydrologists.Wewereonamissiontofindasourceofuncontaminated
waterleftonEarth.Itwasalmostimpossible,duetothefactthateverybodyofwateronEarthishighly
contaminated.BackonMars,whereeveryonehasbeenlivingsinceEarthranoutofdrinkablewater,we
havealimitedsupplyoffreshwaterforthelastfivemillionhumanbeingsthiswaterwillsoonrunout.If
wedon'tfinduncontaminatedwater,wewillbeforcedtofilterthedisgustingoceansandtakeour
chances.And,wehaveverylittletimetodothis.
MyteamandIleftMarsonFebruary12th,2093.Earthis
55,000,000kilometersawayfromMars,
meaningthattheintergalacticlaunchtook45daystogettoEarth.AsweapproachedEarth,itlooked
miserable.Theatmospherewasthinandreddish,asopposedtothebrightblueglowitusedtohave.We
finallylandedinOregonwheretheNASAHeadquarterswaslocated.Thiswasmyfirsttimeevercoming
toOregon.Ihadonlyseenpicturesfromtheinternetandthiswasnotwhatitlookedlikeinthosepictures.
Theairwassopollutedthatwecouldnotinhaleit,sowehadtowearspecialsuitsanytimeweleftthe
ship.Everything,literally,feltunrealisticthecloudsofpollutionintheairweresothickthatitmadethe
dayscloudy.Earthwassilentitfeltverylonelyduetothelackofpeopleandanimals.Theonlypeople
leftweretheoneshiredbyNASAtofinduncontaminatedwater.Everyonewenttosleepearlyintheir
dormstowakeupearlierthenextday.Thebasewewerestayinginwasanoldmilitarytrainingbuilding
thathadbeenabandonedandthenrestored.Ithaddorms,labs,agymroom,everythingwereallyneeded
tosurvivewhilewefoundthesolutiontocleanwater.
Everyonewasawakebythecrackofdawn,includingme.Therewasameetinginthecafeteriaso
weknewtheplan.Wewereallbeingsentoutingroupstoscavengeforabodyofwaterthathadnotyet
beencontaminatedbyhumanwaste.Allwehadtodowastakesamplesandbringthembacktothelab.
Therewerethreeplacesweneededtogo.OurdestinationswereFlorida,Iceland,andSpain.Wetookan
hourandahalfdrivefromthebasetotheairport.WetookaprivatehoverjettoFlorida.Thetripthere
gavemeabetterviewofhowcontaminatedeverythingwas.Thejetwasrunninglowonfuelsowehadto
landonahelipadlocatedinOrlandoandtookacartoLakelandwhereonepossibleuncontaminatedlake
waslocated.Itwasanhourdrive.Asweweregettingoutofthevehicle,oneofourfellowrecruited
scientistscollapsedtothefloor.Everyonegatheredaroundashestruggledforair.Theyquicklyhadto
takehimbacktothehelipadtogethelpfromadoctor.Itturnedoutthathissuitwasnotcompletely

attachedtogetherresultingintoxicairleakingintotheopenspacesofhissuitandlungs.Hediedonthe
wayback.Asweapproachedthelake,Icouldtellitdidn'tlooktoogood.Thewaterwasthickandbrown
andthereweredeadalligatorsandfishscatteredallaroundtheshoreline.Thelakelookedasifitwere
beingsuckedupbyEarth.Weknewthislakeswatersweredefinitelynotgoingtobethesolution,butwe
stilltookasampletoinspectthewatertofindoutexactlywhatwascontaminatingit.
Nextup,wasIceland'sNorwegianSea.Wewentbacktothehelipadtocatchahelicopterto
Iceland.IthasbeensaidthattheIceland'swaterswerenotcontaminated...yet.Lookingatthe
surroundings,therewasnowaywecouldcomebacktoEarth.Aswewereflyingoverseas,wenoticed
Iceland'sicecapswerecompletelymelted.Aswestartedflyinginland,Isawbigpilesoftrash,
resemblingmountains,anddeadwildlifealmosteverywhere.Ihadtobelievethesecreaturesdiedbecause
theyweredrinkingchemicalsandeatingwaste.Despiteallofthis,Iceland'swatersappearednormalso
wetookasampleandwentofftoournextdestination.
Next,wewenttolakeLagunaPealaralocatedsouthofMadrid,inSpain.Icouldnotbelievemy
eyes.Itwaslikewehadlandedonadifferentplanet.ThiswasthefirsttimeIhadseenananimaldrink
fromEarth!Ithoughtthiswasitwehadfinallyfounddrinkablewater!Werantothelakeandnoticedthe
waterwasbubbly.Allofourgroupagreed,thisdidn'tseemright.Wenoticedtheelkthatwasdrinking
waterfromthelakedidn'tstopdrinkingasweapproached.Somethingfeltterriblywrong,sowegot
closertotheanimalwecouldonlyseeoneside.Theelkdidnotseemtogetscaredwhenwewereonly
threefeetawayfromit.Mostcreatureswouldrunoffiftheysawus.Atthatpointoneofmycolleagues
touchedtheelkanditfelltoitsside.Itwasgaspingforair.Oneofthescientistrantothevanandback
withanoxygentank,includingamask.Sheplacedamaskontheelkuntiltheelktookitslastbreathand
died.Wetookabloodtestfromtheelktoseewhyitdied.Itturnedoutthatthewaterwentintoits
bloodstreamsorapidlyitstartedtokilloffitsbloodcells.Thiswasanewphenomenonforus.Westill
tookasampletoseewhatexactlywasgoingontothewater,againtoseeifitcouldgiveusanyinsight
intotreatmentoptions.
Thosewerethelastoftheuncontaminatedwatersweweretoldof.Aswewalkedbacktothe
helicopter,Ithoughtthatwasit,therewasnohope.WewereonourwaybacktothebaseinOregonto
commandtherestofthehumanpopulationonMars,whenwesawaflockofbirdsheadingupnorth.We
noticedthousandsofbirdscomingfromthesouth,eastandwesttofollowtheotherbirds.Itwasvery
strangetoseetheskyfullofbirdsgoinginthesamedirection.MycrewandIknewsomethingwasup,so
thepilotquicklymadeauturnandacceleratedthehelicoptertowardsthebirds.Thebirdswereallflying
towardsToronto,Canada.Weapproachedsomerockymountains,andthebirdswereheadingoverthem.
Atthispointwecouldn'tseeanythinganymorebecausethemountainsweretoohighup.Thehigherthe
helicopterwentthemorefuelitwouldburnandweweren'tclosetoanotherrefuelingstation.Afaint
alarmwentoff,therewasaredlightinsidethehelicopterthatkeptflashing,andthealarmgotlouderand
louder.Thehelicoptersenginewassmoking.Notonlywasthefuelrunningoutbuttheenginewas
gettingoverheated.Thepilottolduswehadverylittletimeuntilthehelicoptercompletelystalled.We
wereclosetothepeakofthemountainwhensuddenlysomethinghittheroofofthehelicopter,causingit
tolosebalancemidair.Thepropellershitthemountainandknockingalargeboulderloosethatfelland
hitthetailofthehelicopter.Atthatpoint,thehelicopterwassevenfeetfromaledge.Jump,thepilot
screamed.Wegrabbedwhatequipmentwecouldandthethreeresearchersjumpedincludingme.The
pilotdidn'tmakethejump.Thehelicoptersenginewasroaringandspittingfirethenthepropellerwas
slowlystoppingasitcontinuedtohitagainstthemountain.Finally,thehelicopter,alongwiththepilot,
droppedonefinaltimeandviolentlyexploded.Thethreeofusstoodtheregaspingforbreathandgavea
momentofsilenceforthepilot.Wethenhikedupthemountainasquicklyaswecouldtoseewherethe
birdswereheadingto.Fromthemapswehad,itlookedliketheyflewtoatinyvillageabout90minutes
northofToronto.

Whenwefinallyreachedthetop.Mymouthdropped,excitementfilledmybody,andatearofjoy
rolleddownmycheek.Everythingwasgreenandfilledwithdifferentlivingorganismsanddirectlyin
plainview,wasagiantbodyofwaterwaitingtobediscovered.Beforewetoldanyone,wehadtotestthe
water.Wewentdowntothefreshbodyofwaterandtookasampleittestednegativeforall
contaminants.MycrewandIcelebrated.Wecontactedeveryoneelseatthebaseandtoldthemthenews.

VoicecommandfromEarthtoMars:
ItisApril2,2093.Wehaveofficiallyfoundasourceoffreshwater,thismightbetheonlypossible
uncontaminatedwaterwewilleverfindonEarthsowehavetotakeadvantageofthisbodyofwaterand
bringitbacktoMars.Ourlocationhasnowbeensentforustoberetrieved.

MarscamptoldustheyweresendingtheArch.Afteraboutanhourweheardloudnoisescoming
fromthesky.Ahugeshipcameoverus,itwastheArch.TheArchisahugeIFO(IdentifiedFlying
Object)thatactslikeavacuumtoabsorbbodiesofwatertotaketootherplanets.Ithoveredoverthebody
ofwaterandreleasedseveralgianthosestosuckthewaterintoitsreservoir.Thecamphadalsosenta
helicoptertopickusup,andbeforelongwewereonourwaytothebase.Everyoneatthebase
congratulatedusandwewereeventhankedbythepresident.WhileIamcontenttosaythatwehave
foundfreshwaterfortherestofhumanitytodrink,andlifeonMarsasweknowit,isparadise.Icant
shakethelingeringconcernIhavethatwedidntlearnenoughfromlosingEarthandhopewedon'tdothe
sametoMars.