by Richard Leru
Although this was not a warship by any means, on the front of the solar panel covered skin of the Erebus were two small portholes. Despite their diminutive size, inside they held great power. A pair of twin mining lasers would dissolve, in less than a picosecond, any mass that came in their way during travel. This was essential to protect the one hundred crewmembers and settlers housed inside the honeycomb of domicile rooms on level 7 and 8.
Each level was a ring with small branches toward the center and one long passageway linking across its width. It reminded Alex of a clock with no numbers, each tick mark being a small cul-de-sac with housing units lining its edges. Each room was five feet wide and ten feet in length. Looking at the simple drawing of the ship’s levels made Alex giggle slightly, he knew the truth. Around each simple ring was a complex nightmare of rods connecting the skin of the ship to the engines. The inside of the Erebus resembled more of a golf ball with cords of sinew all expanding from a central core.
“How can something so amazing look so ugly?” The voice jolted Alex from his close study of the diagram.
“Wh-what?”
It was Dr. Kyle Titus, the ship’s astrophysicist. Dr. Titus was one of the world’s foremost young geniuses. He set a record by graduating MIT at only 17 years of age with his masters in particle physics. At the age of 18, he had been hired as a program director at The SETI Institute, which specialized in scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence and was named as an advisor to the White House by 22. He was a perfect example of a smart, determined mind without a blemish on his record, save one instance at SETI, where he disappeared for three days. All his staff was hoping for an alien abduction, but were sorely disappointed when he showed up the morning of day four with a new tattoo, and a tequila hangover.
Titus and Alex had become good friends over the past year, working on the ships travel calculations. He had even spent time at Alex and Angela’s home, before he and Alex left a month ago to finalize the Erebus.
“Ship ready to go?”
“Yeah, everything’s good.”
“Alright, then in thirty minutes, we go boldly where no man has gone before.” Dr. Titus laughed and poked Alex lightly in the ribs, playfully quoting from Star Trek’s opening dialogue.
“Yeah,” Alex said in more of a breathing motion than actual words.
“Alex, are you alright? You look kind of spaced out, no pun intended.”
“Sorry, it’s nothing, just,” Alex glanced down at his watch, “She’s late. She’s never late. Where is she?” The concern in his voice rose with every second.
“Who’s late?”
“Angela, who else would I be talking about?”
“Alex,” Dr. Titus’s tone had suddenly dropped from enthusiastic to sympathetic. “Angela isn’t coming.”
“No, she is, she is just running a little late, that’s all.”
“No, Alex, I wasn’t asking you if she was coming. I’m telling you, she’s not.”
Alex turned to Dr. Titus. “No, she’s coming. Trust me, she would have let me know if something was wrong. She’ll be here.”
“Alex, you’re my friend, right?”
“Yeah, of course. Why?”
“Well, there’s something I have to tell you.”
“What is it? Do you know something? Is she okay? Where is she?” Alex began to panic.
Dr. Titus placed one hand on Alex’s shoulder, reaching out with his other hand. In it, he held an envelope, and said two words that filled Alex with fear. “I’m sorry.”
Alex looked from Dr. Titus’ serious, yet caring face, down to the envelope. He reached out and took it, holding it gently, afraid of what he would find inside. His face turned white as he opened it. Inside was a folded letter that read,
I’m sorry but I can’t go. You have been great to me and I will always remember that, but I have decided to resign my post and stay here on Earth. I know the mission will be a great success, and my love will be with you.
- Angela
Alex was staring at the words, trying to make sense of what he had just read. How could this be? This made no sense.
“Is this a joke?”
“No. I couldn’t believe it at first, either, but a day ago, she showed up at the corporate office, resigned, turned in her badge, and gave them this letter. They thought it would be better for me to deliver it. She refused to talk with anyone and hasn’t been taking our calls.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”
“We were trying to figure out was going on. I didn’t believe it all until they gave me the letter this morning.”
“You’re only telling me now?”
“Alex, you were busy in the engine room, I couldn’t spring it on you there.”
“So you wait until the last minute?”
“You needed to know.”
“I have to go,” Alex was in full panic mode now, mind racing, heart pounding as he took off running down the tarmac.
“Go where, Alex? Launch is in less than 30 minutes.” Dr. Titus took off after him.
“I have to see her, maybe I can convince her to... I have to know, I need to find her.”
“Stop, Alex!”
Dr. Titus was in full chase mode after the frazzled Alex Runner. He caught up to him just before the gates to the runway. Outside were hundreds of camera crews and reporters, all preening to get a better view of the Erebus. Dr. Titus grabbed him and turned him around. “Alex, we don’t have time for this, you have to come with me.”
“No! You don’t understand. None of this makes any sense. Her and I, we share more than you can understand. She wouldn’t just decide not to go. I have to know why!” Alex pulled his cell phone out and called Angela. It went straight to voicemail.
“Alex, we can’t postpone the launch. We need you on that ship. If we don’t leave right on time, all our preparations will be for nothing!”
“Dr. Titus, get off of me!” Alex threw Dr. Titus’ arms off his shoulders. “If you were really my friend, you wouldn’t be trying to stop me!”
“Alex, it’s only because you’re my friend that I’m saying this, you have to let her go. Let her live her own life here. You know me, you know I love you and Angela. I wish this wasn’t happening, but I’m begging you, as your friend, just think for a second.”
“Inspiracorp probably did this! I’ll bet they thought about the money they could save with only one biologist.”
“Alex, you know that’s not true.”
“Are you taking their side?” Alex was quickly becoming the image of wrath.
“Their side? No. I’m taking your side, Alex. I’m sorry but she’s not coming, and she didn’t want to say why.”
Alex was searching for the answers to a million questions, every scenario running through his mind. Waves of emotions clouded his thoughts.
“Dr. Titus, look, I’ll teach you the formula, then you can navigate the ship, and I’ll find Angela.”
Dr. Titus grabbed Alex by both shoulders firmly. “That’s not going to happen. Look, you are the man who made all this possible. You’re the one who has dreamt of travelling the stars. This is your mission. Angela made her choice. I don’t know why, I can’t even attempt to tell you the answer to that question. What I do know is we need you on this mission. I need you. All the crew and settlers need you. As your friend, I can’t let you be left behind.”
Alex’s heart was starting to slow down; he was beginning to go into shock, the mass emotional energy of rage leaving him.
“If you go after her and we leave you here, what happens? You go searching for her, demanding an answer, then she tells you, and you live life alone, thinking regretfully that you didn’t get on the ship. No! I won’t let my friend come to that. You are meant to travel the stars. You are destined to be great.” Dr. Titus paused, allowing everything to sink in. “We have to go.”
Alex’s voice turned to a soft whimper as tears began to run down his face. “But she wouldn’t leave me alone, that’s
the one promise we’ve always made each other.”
“I’m sorry,” Dr. Titus wrapped one arm around Alex’s shoulders. “Come on, let’s go.” He walked Alex on board and strapped the now emotionally drained zombie in the seat in his private quarters. Alex would have fought leaving more, but long days working on the build had drained his energy. He had spent all he had on his short emotional outburst.
A slight hum and soon, the window from his bedroom turned from bright sunny sky to the dark of space. The journey had begun. The voyage across the stars was underway, but the only thing in Alex’s mind was the gnawing question, “Why?”
So for the first part of the Erebus’s mission, Alex sat quietly, looking at a picture of Angela taken the day he left for the ship build, one last picture from the roof of their shared home, and rubbing the ring he was going to give to her that day, consumed; wondering what could possibly have made her leave. In a matter of a month, she had gone from being everything in his life to nothing.
Why?
6.The Mission
Mission Staging Point Alpha: Orbiting Pluto
This was the farthest any man had ever come; yet, it was only the start of their journey. The ship had been running at partial power for the first part of their journey¸ making the traverse to Pluto take around three hours. Alex had taken this time to recover as best he could from the emotional drain of the morning. It was as if a piece of him had been ripped away. Nothing about it made sense, but for now, all he had was the mission.
“Knock. Knock. Alex, it’s time for the brief.”
Standing in the frame of Alex’s room was Justin Franks, the Erebus’ engineer. Franks had been a college wrestler and football player in his youth. Now in his thirties, he still looked like the epitome of physical prowess, minus his receding hairline, which had begun claiming more and more of his forehead. That was a touchy subject for Franks. Once he had locked a fellow teammate in the training room overnight for making fun of his bald spot. What he lacked in hair, he made up for in brains. Franks was the top mechanical engineer in the country. He had been a consultant for nearly every major airplane manufacturer, oil driller, and the Department of Defense. He and Alex had talked a lot during the building of the ship and both had grown to respect each other.
“Come on, Alex, let’s go. Hey, by the way, I heard about Angela. Sorry.” Alex acknowledged him with a small nod and forced smile.
Together, they walked around the curved corridor, following the floor lights that lead to the center elevators. The elevator hummed as it took them the remaining two floors up to the command center.
The command center was an amazing place to behold. Windows covered every side, allowing 360-degree views of space. Alex had dreamed of this view, but nothing could have prepared him for the awe and wonder that beheld his eyes.
Outside, close by, was Pluto. Dark and cold, it still had its beauty. The rocky surface reflected in an oily sheen the sun’s dim light, shining like a floating ebony ball. In the distance, he could see the sun and all the planets shining like marbles in the sea of space. This wondrous view was made possible by the electronic view screen that encompassed the command center. Ultra high definition cameras projected their zoomed in images of each planet around the command windows. It was almost too much to take in at one time. Commander Birch, waving for him to enter the conference room, interrupted his gaze. The room was a small section of the top level to the left of the main elevator lift, complete with floor to roof windows.
Alex realized, as he walked in, that he was the last one there. Alex quietly took one of the two empty seats in the room and looked around. Seated at an oval shaped table was the entire command crew. Immediately to his left was Dr. Titus. On the left of Dr. Titus was Dr. Jo Taylor, who went by Jo, the brilliant Australian biologist. She was supposed to be Angela’s partner in this expedition. Jo flashed Alex a quick glance and mouthed the words, “I’m sorry.” Jo had been close with Angela. It was quite clear that she had been surprised and hurt by Angela’s sudden decision as well.
To the left of Jo sat Franks. To Franks’ left and directly across the table from Alex was Dr. Jhon Yuen. Dr. Yuen was the top trauma surgeon in Japan before being persuaded to join the Erebus mission. He was in charge of all medical treatment as well as the sleeping serum they would use for their long journeys across space. He had only joined the mission because of Jo. Yuen had met Jo at a scientific conference years earlier, and they became fast friends. Jo came from a very stern and slightly abusive, family much like Yuen’s, so they understood each other quite easily. In this case, a shared pain yielded a quick friendship. Yuen’s traditional family would never have accepted his choices, which left him in the less than envious position of having to choose between being disowned or hiding his true self. So instead, Yuen focused on his work. Jo had earned his trust because of her sympathetic nature. She herself was extremely timid. When she had been younger, Jo would speak openly and expressed herself at every opportunity. Until one day her “loose lips” cause her family great harm.
At the age of ten, Jo’s father had been a high up executive in a multinational corporation. The company had recently taken a new direction at the behest of the CEO. Jo’s father didn’t believe the CEO had his finger on the true pulse of what the customer desired and had been making decisions that bordered on illegal. He felt the CEO was money grabbing and setting up the company for a fall. Jo overhead these feelings at the dinner table one night. As was Jo’s talkative nature, she referred to the CEO as “daddy’s money grabbing boss” at the company Christmas party. Soon after, Jo’s father was fired, and their family fell on hard times financially. Jo saw what her words had done and agreed from that moment on to keep her feelings internal to protect others around her. She had done just what Yuen did, threw herself into studies. This shared mental standpoint allowed for open communication between the two and a friendship bordering on familial grew.
To Dr. Yuen’s left sat Captain Lincoln Jones and Captain Oswald Ratchet. Jones and Ratchet each had a ten-man squad under their command and were prepared to keep peace if arguments arose as well as secure landing zones for the shuttles when exploration began. Jones was from some paramilitary faction the corporation funded. He was the company’s top hired gun and mercenary. Ratchet was on loan from British SAS. They had brought with them the latest in light machine guns and laser weapon technology, in case they did find hostile life in the void.
Immediately to Alex’s right was Captain Amanda Arenta. As the youngest ever U.S. pilot to have flown a shuttle into space, she was familiar with the challenges they would all be facing. At the front of the room stood Commander Birch. He was a former Marine General and looked the part. From his short haircut to pronounced jaw and stiff bottom lip, he was the textbook image of a Marine. The corporation had spared nothing in acquiring the top quality individuals to help lead this mission.
Commander Birch had a powerful voice that demanded respect. “We all know each other here so let’s get started.”
“We are here to explore the deep ranges of space. Most of you have read about the recent discoveries of a large number of solar systems in our galaxy, many of which have planets that are thought to be habitable. Every solar system has a number of planets orbiting a star or stars. We will be focusing on those systems with one star. Our solar system is here.” Commander Birch pointed at a holographic projection of the Milky Way that had come up in the middle of the table. “We will move from system to system in a directly inward path, heading toward the center of the Milky Way. At every system, we will stop and search for life. First, the science team of Dr. Titus and Dr. Taylor will scan the planets, looking for signs of carbon and water. We will visit any planet with the indication they contain either, using the shuttlecraft and collect samples. Mr. Runner will program the landing formulas into the craft and accompany one of the flight crews to the planet along with Dr. Taylor and Dr. Titus. Either Captain Jones or Captain Ratchet, along with their men, will go with the landing cr
ews. We don’t know what we may encounter. It is their job to keep you all alive. Remember, our goal is to find life and find possible planets for human habitation. Once we have done so, we will establish a colony on that planet. The 40 civilian settlers hitching a ride with us have volunteered to establish that base.”