Chernobyl orchid. That was the
name chosen for the first plant ever discovered outside our planet. Some
thought it was a very distasteful thing to name the first living plant outside
of the Earth, but the astronaut that made the discovery was not a botanist and
couldn’t really think of anything better to name it. After all, it suited the
flower perfectly, as well as its surroundings. Even those who weren’t thrilled
by the name would concede that, overlooking the obvious, the name was pretty
much accurate.
The plant was found living in the
Saturn’s moon Titan. It was once thought that no living organisms could live
there, as the place looked more like the grimiest factory on Earth than like a
the paradise one would associate with space travel. There were several lakes
there made entirely with gasoline and kerosene and the air seemed thick, even
through the spacesuits. The astronauts didn’t like to be wandering around there
at all but they had to in order to take pictures and collect rock samples.
It was just as they did that when
they discovered the Chernobyl, almost hiding beneath a big mound of rocks that
had formed something like a cave. Inside, the flower seemed to be trying to
live, making an effort not to die in such a horrible environment. It was an
impressive plant, as its leaves reminded astronauts of orchids but it lacked
the beauty of those flowers. It didn’t have any bright colors, except for small
yellow pustules beneath the leaves. The rest was black, black as night. And its
most impressive characteristic was that it glowed in the darkness of its cave.
That’s how they discovered it.
Someone was using the special goggles to analyze rocks and when they turned
their head, they were able to register the glow of the plant. So every single
astronaut there, five in total, almost ran to the spot and started taking
pictures. After a while, they just stared because they realized how important
that discovery was. No one in the history of humanity had ever made such a
discovery and, it was likely, than another of that kind would take many years
to happen.
Even looking so grim, even
sickly, the Chernobyl was a bright new light in their investigation around the
cosmos. It was delicate enough to look like a flower, to have developed like
one. But it was strong enough to live in an environment where oxygen was almost
non-existent and were fuel was the prime composition of the surroundings. After
the shock, everyone took pictures with the plant, some smiling and some
pretending they were just discovering it. It was their moment to be silly for a
while.
That ended when they heard the
first explosion. Once they were all outside, they saw the second one. The
rovers they had sent had burst into flames, collapsing under the components of
the atmosphere. It wasn’t like normal explosions but more like something
getting caught on fire. It was scary and it reminded them that they had just
the time to get back to their lander and return to their ship, which was
probably over them right that moment. They doubted for a bit, wanting to stay a
little bit more.
However, their two fellow
astronauts in the ship warned them about the time they had and how the
atmosphere was getting a bit crazy because the sun was starting to get brighter
in the region where they had landed. So they needed to be fast and careful not
to disturb their surroundings more than the necessary amount. They carried the
rock samples to the lander, as well as various test tubes filled with gasoline
from at least five of the nearby lakes. They would leave only one probe, the
one attached to a balloon.
When almost all of them made it
to the lander, someone asked about the Chernobyl. That question made everyone
freeze on the spot. They hadn’t really thought about taking the plant to their
ship, as it was something that was explicitly forbidden by their rules.
However, they had all seen that the plant was not going to survive for much
longer in that cave and taking it could be the only way to save a species from
extinction. It was a moral dilemma they had no time to think about in those
moments.
So as it often happens, someone
made the choice before the rest. One of the astronauts, who felt able to run
back to the cave in a jiffy, turned around and pulled away from the lander as
fast as he could. No other astronaut even tried to stop him. They were all
thinking the same thing and, even if they weren’t sure about letting an unknown
species into their ship, they felt it was the right thing to try and save
something that could not be saved in any other way. So they watched and waited
for a while.
The atmosphere was getting worse,
all of their outfits warning about the possibility of intoxication if they
didn’t protect themselves properly by getting into a room that could shield
them from danger. The only room like that was the lander itself but they
couldn’t takeoff without one of their own. They waited and waited until they
couldn’t do it anymore without endangering everyone’s lives. Just as they
prepared to close the hatch, they saw the shape of the astronaut running back
to his team, with something resembling a glass case between his hands. He was
almost out of breath.
They were all very happy to see
their workmate. He even stopped running and tried to walk fast, seeing how
happy everyone was with his return. He was smiling and showing them the glass
box he had put the plant in. Everyone was so happy and smiley. No one saw the
next explosion coming and they wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it,
as it was the nearest pond that had spilt its content on the ground, burning
the astronaut alive. His screams field their radio frequency and their
eyesight.
They saw him extends his arms and
then his body disintegrated into Titan’s soil. The glass box fell to the
ground, but it wasn’t consumed like the organic body of the astronaut. Everyone
in the lander was horrified and, for one second, they forgot in how much danger
they were. But then the pilot decided to abandon her post and run outside the
ship. She grabbed the glass box and returned to the lander as fast as she
could. She gave the flower to the others and then lifted the machine in order
to get to a safer place.
As the lander pierced through the
skies of Titan, the astronauts that hadn’t taken off their clothes stared
directly at the Chernobyl. One of their own had been killed trying to get it to
safety, saving it from its own extinction. It was ironic how one death happened
trying to prevent another. Being human, they couldn’t avoid blaming the flower,
at least for a while. On their way to the main ship, they hated on that thing,
wanting to dropped in space and have the same fate that their fellow astronaut.
But once they got to the ship,
someone else grabbed the flower and immediately put it in quarantine. Hours
later, no one remembered who had been fast enough to do that. But even after
dinner they all gathered in the quarantine room and just stared at the flower.
It looked even darker than before, its pustules apparently disappearing, as
they seemed to be less than when they had discovered it in the cave. Somehow,
the plant looked even worse than in Titan, as it taking it away from there had
made it worse.
Sure enough, after only one day,
the biologist onboard notified the crew that the plant had perished. There were
no signs of life and the leaves were slowly dropping to the ground and then
turning white. Even so, they were going to analyze it all to have a better
understanding of its qualities.
But the other astronauts were
appalled and felt guilty. They could have helped the guy run faster by cheering
him on or going out with him. They could have done something to prevent him
from dying in such a horrible and futile way. Though it wasn’t really a futile
death. They didn’t really know anything about the Chernobyl just yet.
