by Luigi Robles
“I see. So, he was able to realize his dream after all. It seems that the professor’s wish all along was to be able to communicate with the Acram, no matter the cost. That much is now clear. You also said that the Acram had some kind of disruption field around them,” Green continued, reading from a tablet. “And that is the reason why there is no real video of what occurred inside Sodenia, is that correct?”
“Yes, that is correct,” Fain said. “That’s what is in the report.”
“Do you realize how that sounds to someone who wasn’t there?” Green said.
“What do you mean?” Fain said.
“Some have said that it sounds like a cover-up for a coup,” Green said, putting the tablet down. “If it wasn’t for the fact that we corroborated the report with several crew members, this entire case would have been dismissed and you would have been put in cuffs.”
“Did you corroborate with First Officer August as well?” Fain said, trying to control his anger. “He almost lost his life coming in contact with the Acram, and his entire right arm was turned to dust.”
“No, Fain, you don’t get it,” Green said. “We are trying to help you. We are not the ones who placed the council on board the ship.”
Fain took a deep breath in, calming himself back down.
“I understand,” Fain said.
“This entire thing has placed us in a precarious situation,” Green said. “You see, we must act—no, we can only act—according to our superiors’ orders, and those are the same people who can send Earth’s last hope into exile or use it to destroy their own enemies here on Earth. The council on board the ship was a means to balance it, at least until we knew for sure what the Acram genuinely wanted.”
“Now,” Ayla said, “that balance is reaching its tipping point, with the nations of Earth who created ESAF pulling out of the agreement and threatening war, and we cannot have that.”
Fain couldn’t believe his ears. Here they were, amidst the threat of total annihilation by an alien species, and yet people on Earth wanted to annihilate themselves because they couldn’t agree. Fain felt his stomach twist and his jaw clench with complete frustration. The politics of Earth ran deep in the human soul; they would save themselves even if it meant destroying humanity along with it.
“As we speak, the most popular option,” Ayla said, “the option winning the most votes, is to destroy Sodenia.”
Destroy Sodenia? Are they out of their fucking minds? Fain thought. Sodenia is the only chance we have against the conquerors and they want to destroy it? For what? So the conquerors will maybe decide not to come and conquer Earth? That is total and utter bullshit.
“Their theory,” Ayla said, “is that if Sodenia is what the Acram want, as shown by the last two attacks, then Earth doesn’t want to have anything to do with it. Perhaps the Acram would leave us alone if we didn’t have Sodenia.”
“You can see how that is a problem,” Jean said. “If we were to do that, the Earth would practically be left unarmed against extraterrestrial forces. We cannot be in that position any longer.”
“What would you have me do?” Fain asked.
“For now, we need time to convince the people down here that Sodenia is not a threat in itself,” Green said. “We need you to go far way, where satellites cannot see you. The more you linger around, the less chance we have to convince the people here that you aren’t a threat to their safety, especially if another battle were to break out. And judging by what you stated in your report, that seems like a likely scenario. Earth must not know if there is a third battle.”
“There’s only one problem with that,” Fain said.
“Which is?” Green asked.
“We need to return to Earth as soon as possible,” Fain said. “When we left, we left abruptly, so we did not finish loading our supplies, and we brought the entire facility on board the ship. There are 6,685 people on board, and every one of them has to eat. Now, I would have to confirm with Larissa, but I get the feeling that we don’t have that much time up here. Maybe six days before we start running out of food, and that with a limited menu already.”
“We need all the time we can get.” Sully finally spoke. His voice was raspy and filled with authority. “You’ll sit down and figure out how far you can go with what you have while still being able to achieve a safe trip home. That should put you out of Earth’s view and give us enough time down here to come up with a final solution to this problem we have. But do keep us informed. Follow all protocols and maintain this direct line.”
“Yes, sir,” Fain said. “I understand, and I will do as you say.”
“It won’t be long before other forms of government will try to contact you, or people on board the ship,” Green said. “Block all communications; the last thing we need is a real coup. You hear that, Kya? Help Captain Jegga as much as you can. Meanwhile, we’ll do all that we can down here. Remember, Captain, regardless of the politics of Earth, the people of Earth, like the ones on board the ship, are all counting on you. We are counting on you.”
“Captain Jegga,” Sully said, “that is all for today, and Godspeed.”
The four figures disappeared from the screen, and Fain felt like he was breathing again for the first time in a long time. The conversation with the leaders of the ESAF didn’t go as planned, but it went a lot better than Fain expected.
“Kya, is there any news?” Fain asked as he tried to finish his coffee.
“There have been several fights since yesterday,” Kya said. “Between the officers and flight crew.”
“Were there any serious injuries?” Fain asked.
“The fights lasted only a few seconds before breaking apart,” Kya said. “But the frequency of the altercations seems to be increasing.”
They are starting to lose their minds, he thought. I can’t blame them after what we’ve been through. Who wouldn’t? The human mind has been tested for prolonged duration in space, and many fail the tests. They begin to get homesick or just disoriented. Humans are social beings, and when you put the vacuum of space between them and their families, making the return home impossible, the human mind will begin to break. Add a few alien species trying to kill us, and it becomes a recipe for disaster. We have to do something about this.
“Kya, if there’s anything more serious than a scuffle,” Fain said, “I want you to inform me right away.”
“That won’t be a problem,” Kya said.
Fain took another sip of his coffee and walked over to the food printer. The menu was less than appetizing, so he settled for two hotcakes. After almost inhaling the food, he hurried to the bridge; there was planning to be done.
When Fain got to the bridge, he was surprised to see that the only one there was Pycca, along with a few scattered crew members. This was worse than he thought.
“Good morning, Fain,” Pycca said as she looked up from her seat. “How do you like the lack of discipline going on around here? Are you sure that giving the crew a break is the right thing to do?”
“No, not at all,” Fain said. “But something tells me that if I didn’t give it to them, alarms would be sounding all over the place. Having the council on board really screwed everything up.”
“What were they thinking,” Pycca said, shifting her body to face Fain, “allowing people like that to command the ship?”
“I keep on trying to find an explanation, but the information is limited,” Fain said. “Whatever it was, it must have been leverage that predated Sodenia’s crash to Earth.”
“Do you know of any plans to replace them?” Pycca asked.
“No. Not that I know of,” Fain said. “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen, because if it does, I don’t know if I can allow it. We’ve been in peril for far too long…”
“I’m with you,” Pycca said, blushing, as if thinking of something else. “I mean, if you choose to do that. You know, the not letting bad guys win thing.”
Fain noticed her cheeks coloring, and he too began to blush. He
cleared his throat, pretending not to have heard at all.
“Hey, do you know the satellites Earth has in orbit near Mars and the asteroid belt?” Fain asked as he crossed his arms.
“Yeah, I know,” Pycca said. “It was one of the first things the engineer corps studied after we enlisted. What about it?”
“Just how far can they see?” Fain asked.
“If I remember correctly, their range spans the space between them and Earth, and they can see clearly over nearly half that range,” Pycca said. “But they do have their limitations. I can’t remember the exact number, maybe because they didn’t give us an exact number… Well, they can only see a few million miles away from Earth towards the sun.”
“A few million miles?” Fain said, now with his hand on his chin.
“Why, what are you thinking?” Pycca asked candidly.
“We have to disappear from Earth’s view for a little while,” Fain said. “And I think we’ve just found a way.”
“Disappear? Why?” Pycca asked.
Fain thought about telling her the whole truth and, in the process, letting her know about Earth’s very own monsters. Monsters that wouldn’t think twice about destroying Sodenia, along with everyone on board, if it would save their own skins. Instead, he settled for telling her the truth, but just part of it. The details would come later, at a better time.
“Colonel Green’s idea,” Fain said. “We need to make sure of what it is that the Acram want.”
“And that explains why we need to disappear from Earth how?” Pycca asked, with furrowed brows.
“You never know what you have until it’s gone, right?” Fain said with a smile.
Larissa walked into the half-empty room, and for the first time since Sodenia left Earth, she looked rested, but still uneasy.
“Good morning, Captain, Pycca. Where’s everyone else?” Larissa asked as she neared Fain and Pycca. “I just made my rounds, and the ship looks rather empty, even though I know there are almost seven thousand people on board.”
The way Larissa said “captain” didn’t sound like the word itself; she made it sound more like a nickname, which made Fain feel OK with her calling him captain.
“Looks like they are taking their leave seriously,” Fain said. “I need to fix that soon. But before that, there’s something I need to ask you.”
“Go ahead,” Larissa said.
“How are we doing with the supplies?” Fain asked. “How many days do we have before we need to worry about running out of food?”
“I took a look at the charts this morning, and people don’t really seem to have the same appetite as before,” Larissa said. “People are eating once or twice a day, tops. But who can blame them? With everything going on, eating is one of the first things people forget.” Larissa opened a screen in the center console and looked over a list of numbers. “I’d say that if this keeps up, we have about eight days before we start running out of food.”
“And what if people start eating the same as before?” Fain asked.
“Maybe six days,” Larissa said. “My menu seems to be working better than I originally thought. Why, have you found a way to curb their appetites? What exactly are we planning here?”
“Yeah, I’m with Larissa,” Pycca said. “What exactly are you planning, Fain?”
“We need to get far from Earth, but only as far as our supplies will allow for a safe return,” Fain said, opening a map of the solar system. “And we have to be keenly aware that at any given moment, we might come under attack from the Acram. If we travel for two days straight towards the sun, close to Sodenia’s top speed of 300,000 miles per hour, that would take us 14.4 million miles, which would put us somewhere between Earth and Venus, far away from Earth’s satellite reach.”
“That’s pretty far away from Earth,” Pycca said.
“But we can’t just sit around waiting for an attack,” Fain said. “We’ll use the time to test the ship, to run drills, and to see just what we can do as a team, and somewhere in between, we need to have a break. We need to remind people why we are fighting in the first place. So, in two days’ time—and this is where you come in, Larissa—I want us to have a fair-like event: games, shows, karaoke. The flyers should go up in a few minutes, if possible. We need to lift everyone’s spirits before we all end up going insane up here. Have a signup sheet in case people want to help us organize it.”
“That might work,” Larissa said.
“It’s the only thing we can do while we wait for a response from Earth,” Fain said. “I’ll brief you on what’s happening down there later, as soon as we set a course.”
“No problem,” Larissa said, nodding.
“Pycca, give me the best possible course we can take to lose Earth’s satellites,” Fain said, sliding the screen to the edge of the console nearest to Pycca.
Pycca got up from her seat and highlighted the satellites in the asteroid belt and Mars. Seventeen dots appeared on the screen, following Earth’s rotation around the sun. Then she highlighted their viewing vectors and drew a line where the vectors wouldn’t touch.
“We should go through here to lose them as fast as possible,” Pycca said as she slid the screen back to Fain.
“That’s the way we will be heading,” Fain said as he entered the course into the ship’s autopilot. “It looks like there’s nothing in our way, but we still have to watch out for space debris. We’ll use Earth’s satellites for as long as we are in contact with them to alert us in case we have any visitors. Kya, we are going to need you for this one. You’ll be our eyes and ears while we try to fix the ship.”
“My pleasure, Captain,” Kya said. “Would you like to engage the autopilot now?”
“No, not just yet,” Fain said. “Let’s wait until after I’ve addressed the ship.”
“Understood,” Kya said.
“We also need to coordinate with Eora and the drone pilots,” Fain said as he closed the screen on the console. “We need to have at least twelve drones patrolling around the ship at all times, at the limits of their range. We can’t afford to be blindsided when we leave the satellites’ view.”
Pycca and Larissa nodded.
“I suspect that August will be recovering full consciousness by the end of today,” Fain said. “That new arm they gave him looks so real… I was blown away when I saw it. You know, aside from the vent lines and stuff.”
“Did you see it?” Pycca asked, excited. “It was made using Sodenia’s reconstructive tech. The Herrion were an advanced civilization, and I don’t care what Professor Kepp used to say.”
“Should I enlist August to help me out?” Larissa said, pressing her lips together.
“Yes, that was where I was going with that thought,” Fain said. “We need August; the faster he recovers, the better. If the Acram attack again, it’s not going to be easy. Their attacks have been getting exponentially stronger. We are going to need all hands on deck.”
“I’ll go visit him once we are on course,” Larissa said.
“So, let’s get to it,” Fain said as he took a step over to the flashing blue button.
Fain pressed the button, and everyone in the room became quiet, waiting for him to talk.
“Crew and people of Sodenia, this is Captain Fain Jegga speaking,” Fain said, reaching out to the entirety of the ship. “Break time is over. We will now be heading into deep space, to a zone between Earth and our neighboring planet Venus. We will trek for two consecutive days at 300,000 miles per hour, which is well within the capability of Sodenia. As we do this exercise, we will run drills all across the ship in each department to see just what we are capable of as one single unit. But I need everyone’s cooperation; after this message, I need all hands on deck. However, I do want to say that not all of it will be work. Towards the second day of our trek, Lieutenant Commander Drewner will organize a few events for us to celebrate the fact that we are still in this fight, and that we as well as the people of Earth still have a chance. That is all for n
ow. Look for new tasks on your task manager as well as the evening newsletter. We will be open for suggestions regarding the events.” Fain exhaled in relief.
“You know, you are getting pretty good at that,” Larissa said, with a slight smile on her face.
Fain only smiled back in response. He then turned to the center console and engaged the autopilot.
“New course engaged,” Kya confirmed.
“I get the feeling that the real challenge is about to begin,” Fain said.
15
Space Walk
The next day, early in the morning, Larissa stood in front of the computer in her quarters, reviewing ideas for Space Walk, the day filled with events. Space Walk was becoming a huge hit. Overnight, Larissa had received thousands of emails with requests or suggestions. Most of them were outlandish, some outright dangerous, but a few seemed fun and reminiscent of a time before the aliens.
She made a list of the games that she thought would be best for releasing tension and that would cause minimal damage to the ship. She would also ask for help from the people that submitted the same idea for a game. Everyone who was willing to help would get to leave five hours before their shift ended, as agreed by Fain. Her list consisted of basketball, throwing darts, ring toss, bucket game, rope ladder, duck pond, bingo, target practice, and dunk tank. There would need to be multiple stations for each game, but she wasn’t going to stress about that just yet; there was still a little bit of time.
The only question left was the prize. Usually, in fairs, they gave out stuffed animals as prizes, but the closest access to stuffed animals was far, far away from Sodenia. Manufacturing the stuffed animals was out of the question; the resources on board the ship were too precious.
What if instead of real stuffed animals, we give out digital ones? she thought. Along with a score they can keep track of. It would be relatively easy for their wristbands to display their scores; Kya can help with that part. We can also have a giant screen somewhere in the middle to display the scores, just to keep the competitive spirit.