Microstory 45: Lost Colony

In 1587, the island of Roanoke was accidently settled by a group of English colonists. They were led there by John White, but this was not his choice. They were piloted to the unplanned location by Simon Fernandez; a former pirate who was loyal to a man named Sir Francis Walsingham for having prevented his execution. Walsingham was a recruiter from another planet, and had been choosing Earthan humans to be early colonists of a new planet called Persephone. Most of his recruits were individuals; a few were in small families, so the Roanoke colony was his largest venture. Now-Governor John White returned to England to ask for help with the new colony. By the time he he was able to make it back nearly three years later, the entire group had been recruited, and the establishment abandoned. On a fence post, a young boy had carved the word “Croatoan”. True, it was the name of a second island, and also of a supposed American Indian tribe, but this was not why the boy had carved the word. These were not truly American Indians. They too were aliens, posted on Earth to foster the people. They had chosen Croatoan to be their tribe name, because it was originally the name of their spaceship. In 1590, Walsingham’s sabbatical ended, and his superiors requested that he return to the star system. After faking his own death, he picked up Fernandez whose debt from being a pirate had been paid by his work in Roanoke, and they left for The Core. Fernandez was allowed to live out the rest of his life with the colonists on Persephone, and none of them ever saw Earth again.