Seth eyed him. “Carl… do you know something you want to share with us?”
“I… I think that may have been Bugsy,” the tech confessed.
“What now?” Mary asked.
“Bugsy—my daughter’s stuffed crab.”
Seth tilted his head. “Okay, I’m going to ignore the weirdness of both the name and animal choice for a cuddle buddy and ask the obvious—what is your kid’s stuffed toy doing lodged in our waste processing plant’s central assembly?!”
The crew members all glared at Carl for an explanation. He gulped. “Sharron brought Kimmy by yesterday for a visit… They must have stepped out onto the catwalk, and maybe Kimmy dropped the toy while the door was open for maintenance yesterday. Just worked its way down in the system and eventually caught…”
“Damn it, Carl!” Mary shouted.
Val worked her mouth. “What the hell was it made out of? The shearing force wasn’t enough to break the threads.”
“The toy was engineered ‘kid tough’, what can I say?” Carl looked down.
Mary glared at him. “Why, I oughta—”
“Sorry! I didn’t know!”
“Just… don’t.” Mary stepped away from the group, shaking her head. She took a deep breath. “Okay, as far as anyone else is concerned, a gear failed and we replaced it. Clear?”
Everyone nodded.
“All right.” Mary returned to her seat and called up the bridge.
Captain Julani answered. “All systems appear to be normalizing. Did you find the problem?”
“Yes, sir. A particularly critical gear crapped out on us, but we’re showing green across the board now.”
“That’s what we’re showing, too. Well done.”
Mary forced a smile. “Looks like your party can proceed as planned.”
The captain was quiet for several seconds. “Now that this situation is resolved, is the ship going to fall apart in the next hour?” the captain asked.
Stars, I hope not! Seth kept his thoughts to himself.
“Not likely, sir. The system is stabilized,” Mary replied.
Captain Jelani smiled at them. “Then what are you waiting for? Get up here to the party!”
Mary exchanged glanced with her team. “Really?” she managed after a moment.
He nodded. “You’re the ones that have gotten us here—you’re among the most deserving of all for this moment.”
Seth grinned. “Yes, sir!” he said in unison with his team.
“See you soon.” The captain ended the call.
Mary looked down at herself. “We’re a total mess.”
“You want a good view by the window, don’t you?” Seth replied. “Pretty sure we’ll get a wide berth.”
“You bring up a valid point.” Mary grinned back.
The group ran to the lift and took it from Sublevel 12 up to the Observation Deck on Level 68.
In all his time awake on the colony ship for rotations to keep it running smoothly, Seth had only been to the Observation Deck once, when it had been quiet and empty while they drifted through empty space. Now, the expansive room was packed with thousands of excited observers anxious to see their new home.
“Daddy!” A little girl darted through the crowd and jumped into Carl’s waiting arms.
He scooped her up. “You, my dear, need to hold onto your things better.”
“Yeah.” She frowned. “Bugsy’s lost.”
“Not exactly. I found him today.”
Her eyes lit up. “You did?!”
Carl sighed. “Yes, but he was hurt. I don’t think he’s going to pull through.”
The frown returned to his daughter’s face. “You mean he’s… dead?”
“There’ll be another Bugsy, don’t worry.” Carl set Kimmy down when Sharron, his wife, approached. “You have no idea what kind of day I’ve had,” he muttered to her.
She leaned in for a kiss and her nose wrinkled, but she gave him a peck all the same. “Whatever happened, put it out of your mind. We’re about to see our new home.”
Seth followed the family through the crowd with Mary and Val. His prediction held, as other observers moved away and left a clear path for them. They maneuvered forward until they’d secured a place to peek out the window.
“Thank you for coming here today!” Captain Jelani announced from somewhere nearby, though Seth couldn’t make out where precisely. “In just a few moments we’ll get our first sight of the planet where we will start a new life. We wouldn’t have gotten this far without the diligent work of each and every one of you, but especially of those working behind the scenes. Thank you.”
As the captain’s final words faded, a new light appeared in the darkness.
Seth’s heart leaped as he gazed at the pinpoint of light—pale blue against the blackness of surrounding space. Even with the aroma of sewage wafting in a cloud around him, he’d never seen anything more beautiful.
Amy DuBoff Biography
Amy has always loved science fiction in all its forms, including books, movies, shows, and games. If it involves outer space, even better! As a full-time author based in Oregon, Amy primarily writes character-driven science fiction and science-fantasy with broad scope and cool tech. She recently completed the seven-volume Cadicle space opera series, a multi-generational epic with adventure, political intrigue, romance, and telekinetic abilities. When she's not writing, Amy enjoys traveling the world with her husband, wine tasting, binge-watching TV series, and playing epic strategy board games.
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The Failsafe
By Ian Whates
Josh Daker didn’t fully trust his ship, which was unfortunate, because he had nowhere else to go.
He currently crouched in the shadow of a darkened vent, trying to figure out what the hell to do next. A plan, he needed a plan. So far his actions had been instinctive, reacting to the situation as it developed without a clear strategy in mind, prompted by an unreliable guide. In the process, he might just have boxed himself into a corner. No, he refused to accept that. He was a scientist first and foremost; there had to be a way out of this. He just needed to calm down, to think through the problem calmly and logically and then settle on a solution.
How had everything gone so wrong?
The Deep Colony Ship Extreme Endurance was a one-off. At least, so they were assured. Transparency had never been a reliable characteristic where government was concerned, so he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of another DCS being dispatched to some far-flung corner of the galaxy with a crew who also believed themselves unique. As far as Josh knew, though, it was just them. They were the control, the backup plan, humanity’s failsafe.
The mission was simple, at least to state if not to execute: travel to the distant edge of the galaxy, in a direction far removed from any other colony ships, and establish a new home. In secret; in isolation; completely cut off from all other outposts of human kind.
The UEF weren’t fools – not in this respect, at any rate. Recent events had demonstrated the fragile grip organic life maintained on survival in a dark and hostile cosmos, convincing the UEF that it was folly to put all their efforts behind a one-shot gambit – the colonization program. They needed a plan B, and the DCS Extreme Endurance was it.
While other ships spread out to form colonies on worlds orbiting distant stars – to expand, perpetuating the species, and eventually to link, unite, and establish a new human civilization – one ship, larger than any other, would quietly slip away, to disappear into the dark nether regions, unnoticed and unremarked upon. This latter aspect was vital. There must be no whisper, no hint or suspicion that the DCS Extreme Endurance had ever existed.
That way, should a new Empyrean or some other alien menace arise to threaten humanity’s future, there would be no trail of breadcrumbs leading to this second colony, no clue to its whereabouts or even its existence. Whatever happened, humanity would survive.
“The cryodecks,” a voice whispered in his ear.
“What?”
“Head for the cryodecks.”
His instinct was to be stubborn, to dig his heels in and ask questions before going any further, but that could wait. Josh had no idea why the Ship’s Intelligence had chosen to help him, but Si was right. Only minutes had passed since he gave his captors the slip, and they were still confident of rounding him up swiftly, but the longer they failed to do so, the sooner they would turn to more sophisticated methods. There were myriad places to hide aboard a ship this size, no matter how logical and efficient its internal layout, but as soon as someone thought to conduct a sweep for life signs, he was done for, unless he was concealed on one of the vast cryodecks by then, where thousands of life signs co-existed; muted, perhaps, but the accumulation of their wan signal ought to be more than sufficient to hide his presence.
As plans went, this was hardly the most ambitious, but anything that kept him out of FCF hands for now was fine by him. Once he had managed that, then he could start getting his bearings and plot to take the ship back.
This wasn’t how things were supposed to go; this wasn’t the reward they’d anticipated after the countless disappointments. They began with such hope, such excitement, but all that had evaporated as they faced a procession of dead worlds, the ancient remains of civilizations whose flame must have burned brightly once upon a time, but had long since been extinguished. Part of Josh yearned to know more, to stop and examine each of these priceless echoes of civilizations gone by. His whole team must have felt the same, but they didn’t talk about it – they didn’t dare, for the sake of morale, for the sake of their collective sanity.
He didn’t doubt that wonders beyond imagining lay in wait out there. But that wasn’t the mission. They were tasked with ensuring humanity’s survival, not with discovering the fates of sentient races that had preceded them.
Josh and his team could only stop and stare at their instruments, avidly harvesting what information they could, catching tantalizing glimpses of these alien treasures – sterile landscapes, occasional structures that stood in stark relief against cindered escarpments – the skeletons of ancient cultures – though most lay largely buried beneath centuries of dust and ash. None of these worlds held any promise of supporting life birthed on Terra, so the Extreme Endurance moved on without stopping, leaving the exo-scientists frustrated by priority and resigned to missed opportunities just beyond their grasp.
Time and again they stood in shared silence, watching as another ghost world slipped past with its secrets undisturbed. The process began to take its toll.
They knew the mission. They knew their part in it. The ship’s initial course was predetermined: a series of systems – none of which were close to Sol, but each one a step further away – that held the promise of habitable worlds. As the Extreme Endurance entered the system, she automatically scanned for signs of life or artificial constructs that spoke of life’s presence. Should either be detected, the exo-science crew, headed by Josh, were to be woken to investigate. Every potential new home was to be considered, always bearing in mind the intent to settle as far away from the Terran system as possible.
The dilemma of ‘this world would be suitable, but is it too close?’ hadn’t arisen. Every single world they encountered was dead.
The DCS Extreme Endurance represented the most complete colony ship ever launched. Nearly 10,000 colonists were locked in cryo, along with genetic material from at least as many terrestrial species – both flora and fauna – with the experts and equipment on board to bring all of them to life. If ever a single vessel could establish a new start for humanity, this was it.
Among all these slumbering souls, just six were woken when a potential was found, the same six every time: Josh and his team.
His life had become a repetitive cycle – the nausea of waking from cryo; greeting Tanaka, Lal, Henderson, Sousa, and Monk – greetings that became more perfunctory with each passing cycle until they barely acknowledged each other at all – then heading to ops, where they would hunch over their instruments as they grazed the atmosphere of yet another dead world – yes, some still boasted atmospheres – watching it draw closer and slip past. Then it was back into cryo, only to be woken moments later (or so it always seemed) to assess the next candidate…
Whether the dead worlds offered evidence that advanced civilizations were unsustainable, that once they reached a certain size and level of technology they were doomed to destroy themselves, either through war or the mismanagement of their environment, Josh couldn’t say. The argument had gained considerable traction at one stage – back in the days before humankind had actually encountered advanced aliens and Fermi’s famous Paradox was still a contentious discussion point – and the fact that some races had clearly escaped this fate didn’t rule out its application to the majority. There were other explanations, of course, such as the actions of another entity like Empyrean. Nobody wanted to go there, but each of them carried the suspicion at the back of their minds.
All Josh knew was that the process of witnessing and cataloguing this seemingly endless series of destroyed worlds was wearing, tedious, soul-destroying.
“You have to move, now,” whispered a voice in his ear, bringing him back to the present.
“I know, damn it.”
“You’re clear. Go!”
He pushed himself out of the hidey-hole and ran, grateful that the ship’s artificial gravity had been restored – it hadn’t been for the earlier awakenings, and Monk’s discomfort in zero-G had been a source of amusement, at least at first, when such trivialities had brought a little light relief.
“There’s a downtube on your left. Take it.”
The tubes played with gravity in a controlled fashion, enabling swift and efficient movement between decks. He opted for Cryodeck Two, reasoning that Deck One would be the first they’d search, should they think to look for him there. Stepping forward, he surrendered to the governed fall.
If anyone was monitoring power usage, this could give him away, but he was placing his faith in Si. The computer had instigated the small hiccup which had caused ops to judder alarmingly and the lights to wink out for just an instant, enabling him to escape as the rest of his team was rounded up. He had to trust Si, there was no other choice.
*
This revival had been different from the off. They could all sense it immediately.
“Gravity!” Monk mumbled.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Sousa asked. She looked instinctively towards Josh for an answer.
He could only shake his head.
It didn’t take them long to find out.
They arrived at ops to discover the place already occupied, by a squad of uniformed FCF officers led by Ched Weiss. Weiss was the senior FCF representative on the mission, and so part of the governing hierarchy intended for the colony. Josh had met him a couple of times in the buildup to the launch, dismissing him as a political animal and devout follower of doctrine with a two-dimensional personality to match. Finding him here and evidently in control did nothing to reassure anyone.
“Ah, Daker, good of you to join us.” The FCF commander couldn’t have sounded any smugger if he’d tried.
“What’s going on, Weiss?”
“We’ve entered a system that boasts a potentially habitable world…”
“Which explains why we’re awake,” Sousa interrupted. “What’s your excuse?”
Weiss didn’t respond immediately, but instead studied the data fields scrolling before him. Josh noted that the FCF officers had shifted position slightly, and that one of them now stood between his team and the doorway. He also noted for the first time that they were armed.
“I’ve been reviewing your records,” Weiss said. “I see that you’ve had a number of false starts, but I’m pleased to report that this one is the real thing, a genuine world ripe for colonization.”
“That’s for me and my team to decide,” Jos
h said, determined to seize back the initiative. “I’ve no idea why you and your people are here, but please clear out of ops and let us get on with our job.”
“I don’t think so.”
Weiss nodded, and in one well-drilled movement the FCF troopers drew their sidearms. In the blink of an eye the scientists went from indignation to impotence.
“What the hell is this, Weiss?” Josh demanded. “A coup?”
“Merely a realignment, a reassertion of the proper order,” the FCF man said. “As you know, our mission is to set up a second colony, completely isolated from the main ebb and flow of human affairs. It was decided that while the rest of humanity adheres to the governance of the UEF, we would provide a radical alternative. Here, the FCF will form the government, instilling a clear structure of command.”
“Decided by whom?” Josh wanted to know. “Is Wallace a party to this, or any of the other officials in cryo?” A whole government, expecting to be revived on a new world but now at the mercy of Weiss and his cronies. They might not be woken at all, he realized. He had thought that the whole UEF/FCF thing had been settled long ago, but apparently not for everyone.
“Screw this,” Sousa said, pushing past Josh and heading towards her customary work station. “Are you for real – a military dictatorship? Nobody’s going to stand for that. Now if there genuinely is a viable world out there, get out of our way and let us do what…”
With no warning, the nearest FCF goon stepped forward and hit her: a back-handed cuff to the face strong enough to cause her to stagger and nearly lose her footing. Josh and, as far as he could tell, his whole team surged towards her, but suddenly there was a gun in his face – in all of their faces.
He had never been this close to a real firearm before. For a split second that was all he could focus on: what if the trooper is nervous, or trigger happy? The slightest misstep and I might die. Here. Now.
Then the gun withdrew, not far, but enough that he could breathe again. The soldiers had taken a step back, but the guns hadn’t been lowered, and there could be no mistaking the scientists’ status. Whatever authority Josh believed he possessed had been stripped away. He was a prisoner. They all were.
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