The incoming signal was unexpectedly loud and clear, transmitting the voices of three astronauts from Gorditas, Lindsholm, and Marcusburg, in addition to a guest cosmonaut from Rattanjeetland.

Both in the heavens and on earth, the excitement was palpable. While spacefarers shed tears for rediscovering civilization, surface-dwellers rejoiced in the realization that not everyone is infertile.

Once scorned and decried by critics, a much maligned Rattanjeetland-led research project may prove to be the key to humanity's survival. The unusual efforts by the Natharctican government to increase that country's birth rate has long been well-known - and the fodder of late-night talk show hosts across the Mapp.

Adding sildenafil to the public water supply would be hard to swallow in any other country. But being firmly in the grip of the personality cult of Sir Rapoleon (the Foreign Minister of Rattanjeetland and effective ruler of Natharctica), Natharctica was no ordinary country.

A unique study proposal to study the effects of weightlessness on human reproduction rapidly gained momentum, culminating in the accumulation of sperm and egg samples from across the Mapp as coordinated by Congressional Parliament's World Health Organization in Octavton.

As the Rattanjeetarr space station was in the midst of construction, negotiations paved the way for a Rattanjeetarr cosmonaut to conduct the project onboard the fully functioning GX space station.

Within months, 12/6 occurred. Neverthless, with the Mapp imploding beneath them, the spacefaring researchers persevered. Although the experiment ultimately agreed with its null hypothesis, a more significant surrogate outcome rests in the thousands upon thousands of fertile gametes in a safe location.

Running low on food and supplies, the astronauts need to return to earth soon. The question now remains: How to best protect the only hope for the continuation of humanity?

Already, international scientists are buzzing with enthusiasm. With communication between the Mapp's remaining best minds slowly but surely being restored, many speculate it is only a matter of time before a child is born.