Event Horizon

by Scott McElhaney

  Chasen and Autumn turned their attention to Paige, suddenly confused by her words. Paige just stared down at Ed seemingly unaware of their stares.

  “You wanted to die?” Chasen asked.

  She switched off the power on her scanner before returning it to her belt pack. For a moment, Chasen thought she was going to ignore the question.

  “I didn’t know what I was getting into. I don’t want the life of a pioneer on some wild, uncharted planet. What about those of us who enjoy shipboard life?” she asked.

  “But…” Autumn searched for the words, “We need you, Doc. We rely on you.”

  Paige looked away from the dying man on the floor and stood up. She turned to Chasen and Autumn and finally nodded.

  “That’s why I’m still here. That’s why I haven’t taken the coward’s way out like him,” she said, waving her hand over the man on the floor, “But I’m not hanging around here because I want to.”

  Autumn reached over to Paige and pulled her into an embrace. Paige lowered her head onto Autumn’s shoulder and seemed to relax in her arms. Chasen leaned back onto the wall, worried suddenly that no one was immune to the fears and depression.

  . . . . .

  Autumn wasn’t surprised by the lack of emotion when the announcement was made to the crew. Out of respect, she held a memorial service in the starboard Crew’s Mess, but only seven people showed up. It was immediately following this service that she placed a small blue ballot box next to the beverage machine. The slips of paper next to the box had only three names on them. The tenners would only need to mark one of the choices and drop it in the box by the end of the day.

  . . . . .

  “I don’t find this funny at all,” the doctor stated, “Why’d you do this?”

  Autumn continued to scroll through the Agricultural Reports on her viewing panel. She was starting to fall behind on her weekly duties thanks to that crazy little book in her quarters.

  “Are you just going to sit there and ignore me?” Paige asked, folding her arms.

  “You wouldn’t believe how good we’re doing with corn and potatoes. Production has gone up 20% since I passed the law to allow niners to work the fields on weekends,” Autumn stated, shutting her screen off.

  “So are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Paige asked.

  “Why are you asking me, Doc? Ask the people on this ship. All I did was leave the vote to the crew. The people have spoken,” she replied.

  “You don’t get it. This is a ship of children. I’m the doctor who is always making people better. I’ve been kissing their boo-boos and mothering these kids for the last several years. Of course they’re going to vote for me. This was unfair and I never agreed to it. I’m not an XO. I’m the ship’s doctor… no, wait. Better yet, I’m just a nurse.”

  Autumn got up out of her seat and walked over to Paige.

  “I listed the three people that I would trust the most in such a position. I listed three people who I could tolerate working with for the remainder of this trip. You were one of them. And yes, you’ve also been like a mother to us. You’ve been a mother to me. I think this ship needs that, especially now. I think these people have told you that they need that. They trust ‘Mom’. It’s time to step up to the plate and do what you were called to do,” Autumn stated, putting her arm around her.

  Paige shook her head then glanced around the bridge. Only rarely did her duties ever call her to the bridge. Now she was being called upon to be a leader and the responsibilities were frightening to her. But at the same time, whenever there was trouble, pain, or personal issues, the people had always come to her. She had always somehow been a leader even before the people voted.

  “So now we’re looking at a ship run completely by women?” Paige said with a smirk.

  “Well, the Navigator is still a guy. And if he decides to off himself, we’ll probably replace him with a woman also,” Autumn said with a laugh.

  “So who is the doctor now?” Paige asked as they turned toward the door.

  “Actually, that will still be you. The duties of an XO really call for only about an hour of your day. Why do you think Ed had so much time to make people mad at him?”

  “Great,” she said sarcastically as the door opened, “I’ll be kissing boo-boos and then yelling at them to get back to work.”

  The sight of Stephen standing there in the passageway startled them. He held a notebook in his hand and appeared to have been waiting for them.

  “Captain?” he said, seemingly out of breath, “I’ve been trying to reach you for two days now and I can never seem to find you alone. I have something important.”

  “I’ll leave you two,” Paige said, sidling past Stephen.

  “No, it’s okay. You’re the XO now anyway. Besides, I need to ask you about something,” he said.

  Autumn stepped aside and gestured for him to lead the way back onto the bridge. He nodded and proceeded, followed by Paige. The door closed behind them.

  “I already know about Ed’s inappropriate behavior, if that’s what this is about. The XO filled me in,” Autumn said, glancing at Paige.

  “No, this isn’t about that, ma’am. He’s been inappropriate for quite some time now and I’ve never bothered anyone with that. I handle my own problems. This however is a problem that I need to forward to both of you,” he said, handing the notebook to Autumn.

  “What’s this?” she asked.

  “It’s a journal that I found in the aft Emergency Bridge. It belonged to the old Captain,” he said, lowering his voice, “And there’s something in there that scares me to death.”

  She fanned the pages, quickly realizing it would take her an hour to read through the whole thing.

  “If this is important, why did you wait so long to give it to me?” she asked.

  “Captain, I just told you that it scares me to death. I’m so scared that I couldn’t risk anyone overhearing. I’m sorry Doc, but I didn’t trust anyone, including you,” he replied, “But since the Captain has vouched for you, I guess that’s fine by me.”

  Paige reached over and took the notebook from Autumn’s hand. She opened it and examined the first page.

  “Give me the brief version of what you found before I read it and investigate anything further,” Autumn said, “Nothing will leave these walls.”

  Stephen nodded then expelled a long breath. He leaned against the Captain’s chair and sighed again.

  “The old Captain thinks that the plague was intentionally set off inside this ship. Someone intended to kill everyone aboard. He even narrowed it down to twenty people who took part in the Annual Mission Report,” he said, looking down at the floor.

  Autumn watched Stephen, surprised to see a kid who she had marked as a troublemaker showing such timidity and fear. He truly didn’t seem to fit the mold that her prejudices had built around him.

  “He names all twenty people, but refuses to give out the details of that particular Mission Report. He only goes so far as to say that there was a huge surprise in that meeting. It was a little tidbit of unexpected information that they apparently got from Earth that year,” he stated, “Captain, is there any way to pull up the old transmissions from Earth? I think this was from that last message.”

  Paige was already nodding as she continued to read the notebook. Autumn looked over to her in question.

  “We can?” Autumn asked.

  “No, I’m sorry. I was nodding about the list of names Stephen mentioned. I just found it,” she said, “I had my own theories all along about that whole thing and this just confirms it.”

  “My question is, are we still in danger by anyone now?” Stephen asked, “And what was this piece of information they got? What if it was something bad about our future home?”

  “Not to sound bleak, but do you think they found out that the planet in the Ceti system isn’t something we could survive on?” Paige asked, “Maybe we didn’t have enough fuel to return home, so we would have died anyway. And maybe some
nutcase thought – why not just expedite it with a mass suicide?”

  Autumn nodded.

  “But even without fuel, we have the means to extend a solar array at Tau Ceti. That would keep us afloat with minimum power indefinitely. With the water recycling unit and the food production on deck four, we could technically survive for dozens of years. Granted it wouldn’t be comfortable, but we could await a rescue ship if that was the situation,” Autumn stated.

  “Maybe it was just an angry person like Ed. People like him aren’t required to have a reason,” Stephen said, “But we have to be careful. If it was synthetic, it’s probably still available here for release again.”

  Autumn nodded, “Yes, we have to believe that.”

  “Doc, do you still have that other journal?” he asked, “The reason I ask is…”

  “Yeah, it’s in my office. But let me look through it first,” she replied.

  “What journal?” Autumn asked.

  “He found a journal my dad wrote while in quarantine,” she said.

  “We definitely need to see that. I wouldn’t be opposed to sending you back into the boneyard to gather up whatever else you can find,” Autumn said to Stephen, “Maybe they investigated it themselves and discovered the culprit.”

  “I’m not going back. No disrespect, Captain, but I went ‘above and beyond’ once already. Please don’t do that to me again,” he replied.

  Autumn looked at the boy for a moment and imagined Chasen standing there with that frightened expression on his face. She nodded then turned to Paige.

  “When can you get me that journal?” Autumn asked.

  Week #698

  Chasen’s fingers were growing tired after five straight hours of typing. He was now on his third day of transferring the words of the Bible into the XT printing unit. He finished the whole section of Matthew yesterday and was now in the process of typing John. He wanted to ensure he could print multiple copies once they felt it was possible to share the book with others aboard. With only about 33 weeks left aboard, he understood there wasn’t time to copy the whole book. So he decided to select some of his favorite sections and see how far he could get.

  “No way!” a voice startled him from behind.

  He nearly leapt from his own skin, then turned around to find Andy standing there gawking at the Bible beside him. Jenny must have unwittingly left the door open to the common room. Andy had a problem with believing he was always welcome wherever he decided to go.

  “I would have never guessed that you were a criminal!” he shouted before turning around and running.

  Chasen bolted from his seat and rushed after the boy. Unfortunately, he was no match for the speeds of a twelve-year old. He chased the delinquent through the common room and into the passageway.

  “Hold on. It’s not what you think,” Chasen hollered.

  Andy stopped at the end of the passageway and turned around, facing his adversary. He then reached up on the wall and opened a small panel by his hand. Chasen suddenly realized what it was, but not before the alarm sounded, followed by those dreaded robotic words: “security, please report to port passage number four - deck one.” The intercom repeated the same phrase over and over as they stared at each other in the passageway.

  Autumn showed up with Randall, the Chief of Security. Chasen once argued that Randall got the job as Security Chief based solely on his size. It made sense though. No one ever messed with a two hundred pound wall of muscle - even if he is only sixteen years old.

  “What’s going on here?” Randall shouted, separating the two as though they were preparing to fight.

  Randall always shouted.

  “He’s got one of those books!” Andy stated, pointing at Chasen, “It’s one of those Christian books that we learned about last year.”

  Autumn looked at Chasen, raising her eyebrows in silent question. The passageway was already filling with gawkers. Randall slowly approached Chasen, feeling certain that there had been a misunderstanding. Chasen stepped away from his open doorway to let Randall in. Autumn followed behind him trying to figure out what had happened.

  “How’d he get in? And don’t tell me you left your door open,” she whispered.

  “Apparently I did,” he replied, “What do I do?”

  “I don’t know,” she whispered.

  Randall found the book and picked it up.

  “Well, I’ll be…” he said, “How did this even get aboard? Do you realize the punishment for even touching this thing?”

  He held the book up in front of Chasen and tapped it onto his forehead.

  “And you even live with your little sister. What if she would have gotten a hold of this? You were willing to risk the life of your little sister? As the Captain is witness, I say there is no need for a trial. How dare you contaminate our ship and our future planet with this garbage,” Randall stated, handing the book over to the Captain, “There’s the evidence. I’ll take him to the lockup.”

  He grabbed Chasen’s hand and turned him quickly around. Then he cuffed him and started to lead him out of the room. Autumn was almost on the verge of tears and she stared down at the Bible in her hand. She refused to look up at Chasen as he was led from the room and into the passageway.

  “And you were the Navigator. What’s going on in the government of our ship? One commits suicide and another is harboring illegal contraband. How dare you,” Randall kept shouting angrily down the passageway, “The light of Tau Ceti will never shine down on your face.”

  The crowd slowly dispersed as the people whispered amongst themselves. Autumn crumbled to the floor of Chasen’s common room as his door closed. She cried, drawing the Bible to her chest.

  “Jesus, what am I supposed to do? How could you let this happen when all we wanted was to come to you? All we wanted was to bring you glory? Help us still, please,” she cried.

  . . . . .

  “So the book isn’t bad?” Jenny asked, sitting on a chair beside Chasen’s cell.

  “Jenny, do you remember your fascination with black holes? Remember when you kept bugging me about those books you were reading last year?” he asked.

  “Yeah. Does the Christian book have to do with those?”

  “No, honey. But remember when you told me that a black hole has a certain spot that you have to stay away from? You said that we could fly near one, but if we got too close, even light-speed engines couldn’t save us.”

  “Yeah. You’re talking about the event horizon,” she replied.

  “Right. It’s that boundary where the gravitational force is so strong that even matter and light can’t escape. It’s the point of no return and it doesn’t matter what type of spacecraft you’re in,” he said, “Jenny, our lives are spent tiptoeing above the event horizon. We do our best to be careful and not get sucked in, but you know what? Everyone falls in. We all do.”

  “Chasen, you’re confusing me. I don’t see what this has to do with you being in jail,” she said.

  “We all die. No one has ever come back from that point of no return. No one – no matter how strong or fast – can get past the event horizon. And you know what? That’s a lie, Jenny. It’s a lie! One person did get past the point of no return. One person came back,” he said, watching her eyes fly open, “Yes, Jesus Christ died just like we die. But then he returned and offered us the same thing.”

  “He’s the man in that book you were reading? The man that we’re not allowed to read about?” she asked.

  “Yes. He did the impossible and then he told us that we can do the same. You see, unlike a black hole, there is something beyond our event horizon. When we die, it doesn’t just end in blackness. There’s more,” he said with a conspiring grin.

  “So the book isn’t bad at all?”

  “No it’s not, Jenny. That’s why I was even typing up more copies. It’s a book about Jesus Christ and His love for us. It’s a book about mercy, grace, and love. It’s a book about forgiveness,” he replied.

  “Then why do t
hey want to kill you? I thought the Captain was your friend,” she asked.

  “She is. I’m sure she will think of something. If not, then I want you to type 7,7,5,6,3 into my printing console. You can read everything I typed so far and you’ll see what I mean. And if you believe in what you read, you’ll know where I’m at even if they kill me. And I’m going to want to see you in the same place someday. Remember 7,7,5,6,3.”

  “I will,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.

  . . . . .

  “I need you to sign off on this, Captain.” Randall stated, holding out the yellow sheet of paper.

  Autumn was seated on the sofa in her common room. This was Randall’s second attempt to get her to sign the form and she continued to put him off.

  “He’s going to die one way or another, Captain. You can either make it comfortable for him, or you can continue to ignore me and let him starve to death in his cell,” he stated.

  “Starve to death?” she shouted, rising from the sofa, “You haven’t been feeding him?”

  “It’s the law, ma’am. Not only did he bring it aboard, but he could have infected this whole ship with that hideous garbage. I want him gone as soon as possible,” he said.

  She pushed him, then dashed from the room and hurried down the passageway. She pressed the communicator on her belt and paged the XO to the Lockup. Randall managed to catch up to her near the starboard quarters. He thrust the papers in front of her as they continued their sprint down the passageway.

  “I know you were friends, ma’am, and that’s why I was going to handle this myself. There’s an obvious conflict of interest here,” he said, trying to keep in step with her.

  “Get out of my way. I’m still the Captain and I am pardoning him. I want him released immediately,” she growled, turning down the next passage.