We didn't listen

Do not come out here, you are not ready yet. That was the one and only message that was received. To every Satellite, Radio Telescope and Receiver on planet Earth. It was translated into every known language and dialect. For one moment, the whole world held it's breath, then blinked. This cannot be real. This has to be a joke. Those were the sentiments. For one brief second, it seemed that humanity collectively was reconsidering what we were about to do. Then, as if we were simply wiping sweat from our brow with a napkin, we went forward anyway.

Humankind had survived regional wars, pandemics, natural disasters and still persevered. Despite muddling through the twentieth and twenty first centuries, we somehow advanced. The earth's population had peaked at 10 billion, then came a pandemic in 2055 that killed over 900 million soles. The population took a hit, and many people took a step back. We had developed artificial intelligence and hoped it would be our salvation. It turned out that initially all it did was suck up resources. It wasn't until we learned to engineer it into smaller more efficient operating systems that we really began to excel. By 2085 we were on our way. We developed interplanetary travel to Mars and the Asteroid belt. We were building off world colonies with the help of our super computers. Using our miracle machines, we effectively found solutions to poverty, hunger and resources management. Despite all of this, there was still geopolitical tension between Asia and the West. Each was working at odds with the other. Despite all of this, humans still craved progress. New technological discoveries were being made. Human longevity was increased to 150 years. Most diseases were cured or at least manageable . We thought we had a handel on it all.

In the year 2110 an announcement came that would forever change the course of humanity. For the first time, an interstellar drive had been developed. It was a tenuous joint effort between the Unified Republic of Korea and The United States of the Americas. I say tenuous because after the two Koreas reunited in 2044 there was almost a complete melt down in Southeast Asia. It took negotiation, saber rattling and hard dialogue to keep the peace. Now Unified Korean Republic was an independent actor siding with who ever offered it the best deal. In this case, it was the United States of the Americas. The Unified North and South America forming one nation. Yeah another story for another time. Anyway, their scientist had done it. They had achieved faster than light travel. A new age in space exploration would soon be upon humanity. We would finally leave the confines of our localized sphere of influence and head out beyond the outer planets. The technology had been tested sending probes out to the outer planets like Jupiter and Uranus. The data sent back allowed for the development of larger unmanned ships carrying living test subjects. I know what you are thinking, animals, but not this time. Microbes were sent out along with human cells in petri dishes. Strict robotic monitoring protocols were adhered to. Scientific data was collected and transmitted back. We even figured out how to recover the drone ships eventually. At first all of this was done in secret. No need to start a nuclear war or terrify humanity, at least not until the technology was perfect. Years of testing and hundreds of billions in research funding finally produced a ship capable of safely carrying a human from point A to point B. The selection process was rigourous but in the end, instead of one person, 4 individuals from two continents were selected. Each had a specific area of expertise related to the program. Each had the highest levels of clearance and each one fit every physical and psychological condition for such an experiment.

The test of humans in an interstellar ship was a success. Faster than light travel propelled 4 humans out to Neptune in only a few hours. Their arrival was historic. Humanity was elated with the success, though back on earth nations like the European Alliance and the Russian Confederation were not too happy that they had been left out of the loop, but they were in it now as the news was made public. Humanity began planning our exodous from our own solar system. The best scientific minds on earth coupled with the most advanced AI systems began computing what would be required to achieve the historic trip outside the confines of our own solar system. The length of the journey was also a matter of debate. How long should the trip take and how many people should we send. All scientific and geopolitical questions that had to be answered. Finally it was agreed that an unmanned set of probes would be sent out first. 4 probes would be sent in 4 different directions. Each one outfitted with FTL tech. Each having a robotic operations system. Agreements were signed, deals were made, speeches were given at the United Nations. It was revealed that China was building it's own seperate faster than light program. Apparently someone had either stolen, sold or just given the technology to them. It did cause a short delay as the international community rampped up negotiations to finally quell any dual program. Since the discovery was not public knowledge, it was decided that the launches would occur from 4 different locations. One would be in the Americas, one in Europe, one in Unified Republic of Korea and the last one from Siberia. Dividing the work load and including everbody so that geopolitical tensions could be eased and the statusquo maintained.

The program moved forward with only a few wrinkles. The difficulties were mostly in how to apply the technology to deployment of the probes. The first probe lifted from the Huntsville space center in Alabama at approximately 5am in the morning on July 10th, 2110. It was headed to Alpha Centaury. It would take it approximately 6 months for it to arrive at its destination. A subsequent probe would be launced every 28 days thereafter conditions allowing. Humanity held its collective breath both on earth and in the off-planet colonies. The future of humanity was on its way to parts unknown.

The probes all left the earth by the middle of October. Scientific teams from across the globe as well as colonial engineering teams on the moon were listening out for data. The probes sent back their transmissions intermittently. When the first probe reached Alpha Centari near the first of Febuary 2111, the data return was slowed down. When the images finally got processed, for the first time we got an up close look at an alien star. The images were breath taking. For 3 solar days we got reams of data, then it all went black. The probe stopped sending messages. There was a deepening sense of forboding about all of this. Despite the failure of the first probe, the second one reached the limit of it's travel . We received massive amounts of data back to earth. Images from the farside of our sun a it had passed by and the outer edge of our solar system. Before any images were released to the public they were sent through a filter. If there was anything that the governments of the world didn't like, it was withheld. What the general public didn't know was there was plenty that our governments didn't want us to see.

By the time the fourth probe had reached its designated journeys end, there was a buzz in the scientific communities. Some of the top civilian scientists were read into the full magnitude of the program. Some went into classified briefings and came out silent. Our governments were planning to up the stakes as they were secretly making preparations to send a manned mission to Alpha Centari. The general public was not made aware of this planned mission, at least not at first. Then one day, near the end of 2011, the world was set ablaze. Not in the literal sense, but in the metaphorical sense. That is when the message came. Do not come out here, you are not ready yet. Like a stone being dropped into a lake, ripples shot across the planet. People were filled with fear. Governments could no longer hide their intentions. Data that was once classified was now being leaked. The whole world seemed to unravel for a moment, then our leaders pulled together and reassured us that there was nothing to be afraid of. They spun some of the leaked material as disinformation. Humanity went forward with the human launch to our nearest solar neighbor. Our arrogance was our undoing. Our pride cost us dearly and who or whatever was out there that sent us a message taught us a critical lesson about looking before we leaped into things we didn't understand and were not ready to handle. In the end humanity was forced to reassess our whole outlook on the universe, and work on changing ourselves before we could ever go beyond our own solar system again.