The Earth Girl and Queen Eliza

My name is Adeena Frias. Don’t laugh. Back in 2143, when I was 19, it was a fairly common name for young women. This story is my take on the big events of that year; it was the year that we Humans, as well as the Rooninans, were changed forever. Looking back on it all, I have a lot of emotions about what happened to the gentle Roonians. I also find myself thinking about the Yadans, their message to Humanity, the gravity of that message, and the enormity of it all. I turn it over in my mind, a lot—mostly I wonder if we Humans have really learned anything after the tumultuous events of that time. It was a fun time, too. I met my friends, and I learned to love a lot of people. Dave, I will love you forever!

The Earth Girl and Queen Eliza is about the first generation of young adults who grew up on humanity’s first space colony. Adeena Frias is the “Earth Girl” who meets and befriends a group of them, and then the characters act out the answer to this question: how would the residents of a space colony react to the sudden death of their Mother Earth? Fundamentalist religions gain power; there is panic and denial amidst strangely ordinary days, and the characters form loyal, desperate bonds. This is also a story with moments of lightness and humor. Soon a gentle alien queen offers to share her planet with the human refugees, a decision that causes adventure, mayhem, and disaster. In the end, Adeena gains great insight into her life and her place in the natural world. This is how the story begins: People have been asking me to tell my story, and I agree that my memories should be a part of the new nation's permanent records. I hope that the future generations of our new planet will be interested in what I've experienced. So far my life has been a fascinating ride. I lie in bed many nights, sleepless, and marvel at the events that brought me here. I used to daydream about being a famous author, as many people do. I just didn't think I'd become one in quite this way! My name is Adeena Frias. At age sixty, I am the last surviving Human who was any part of ordinary daily life on Planet Earth, although my grandparents were the last real generation of land-dwellers. My existence on Earth was in name only, like a game-player's "relationship" with his electronic friends on the big surround-screen. I'd never even felt a natural breeze on my face when I lived on Earth. If only my grandparents, instead of me, were around to tell their stories about life on our mother planet. But I am all that is left. How do I begin to tell about the history that I've seen? This is a story about the events I experienced when I was nineteen . . .