“Come on, Tuna,” Zeke began, “What do you think you’re doing with that thing? Saving the world?”
Tuna stopped cold. He did not lift his eyes. He stared down at the table intensely. “Actually, yes, that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
Jax grinned. Zeke pushed Tuna’s shoulder back amused. Lexi did not smile. She knew Tuna was sincere now and always. There would be no more camaraderie or fooling around for him.
Zeke studied Tuna’s odd behavior. His smile faded. “I’ve decided I am not going into stasis with the rest of my crew tomorrow.”
Tuna lifted his head for this. “What do you mean?”
“It’s clear to everyone,” Zeke answered. “You’re in no shape to lead this ship for six months while I’m off in dreamland.”
Tuna, for the first time since he left earth, had no problem keeping his dead-eyed stare fixed on Zeke. “I could fly this ship with my eyes closed.”
“You need to command more than a ship,” Zeke said. “You need to command people. Right now, you seemingly have no use for people. Your social skills, even your bathing skills are non-existent.”
“Whatever, but I’m not going to sleep,” Tuna said. “I have something I’m working on.”
Zeke studied Tuna’s newly determined eyes. “Fine. We’ll both stay out of the pods this time. In six months you’ll join your crew in hypersleep. After that, we’ll see. In a year, when your next sleep starts, you may be--” Zeke stopped suddenly in mid thought.
“What? Better? You think I need to get better?” Tuna sat up in his seat. “There’s nothing wrong with me, Zeke. I just don’t give two shits for small talk right now and I’m not ready to put a big fake smile on my face for everyone else’s benefit.” Tuna stood up and clutched his scrollpad to his chest. “You can drive your ship around the universe. I’ll concentrate on saving the species.”
Zeke opened his hands uncertainly as Tuna stormed away.
Lexi stood up and watched Tuna go. She turned back to Zeke. “He really is okay, you know.” She looked at Jax a moment and then back to Zeke. “His mind is sharper than ever.”
Zeke nodded. Lexi left the table to follow Tuna.
-3-
The night before she would begin her six months of cryosleep, Gen went to bed alone. Her stateroom on the ship was larger than her room in the Dome, but it did not feel like home.
She even missed her trusted blanket which she had fallen asleep with for as long as she could remember. It was bad enough that she did not have it, but quite a bit worse when she imagined it catching fire and burning rapidly like tissue paper.
She could smell the stench of rocket fuel every time she thought of her blanket burning. Then she would think of them. Her friends. The doctors. Cassie. All of them burning rapidly on the floor of the dome. The pangs of guilt and horror at her part in all of it would ball her up in her bed, clutching her knees to her chest. Every night for many months she would wake in a cold sweat from a recurring nightmare, the voice of the unseen DJ whispering in her ears.
As with all painful memories, the human animal finds ways to let go, little by little. Forgetting must be a survival instinct, Gen thought. She eventually made it through most nights without waking. Falling asleep remained a problem.
There was no night now, only shifts. Fourth shift was what they called night now. Everyone was awake during first shift and just eight were awake during fourth shift. When the ship was quiet and the dark universe around them was reduced to a single bed, her mind would travel always to the same destination.
She would have fallen that day, but his hand held her up. His hand on her back. His lips on her lips. After they kissed, his eyes pulled her into his soul like a fast-falling waterfall. She fell into his essence so suddenly, she could feel a tickling rush in her belly as if she was moving rapidly down into his pulsing heart.
He had written to her. Anonymously, but really, Adam? Who else would have not only held those feelings for her, but had the soul to dare write them and send them to her scrollpad?
Their ships were traveling together for the first month and then for the next month they were moving apart, but close enough still to send and receive messages. The first message came a week later, a week after they had escaped the flaming tendrils of the exploding island.
One can be so alive, yet dead inside. That was it. Cryptic in his famous Adam style that had once annoyed her to no end, but now she realized that if a girl cares enough to be constantly annoyed by a boy, then she must hold some primal interest in him.
Something in the blood.
The words echoed in her mind throughout her shifts for a week before another message appeared on her scrollpad. The night is never ending now. Your ghost visits me, but it has no eyes.
His thoughts could have been her own. Love is a sickness, a haunting distance between two life forces that only touch can provide relief from for a few fleeting minutes.
When she heard the knocking, it came as a welcome escape from her distorted memories and unhealthy desires for the forever lost.
She answered the door unaware she was dressed only in her thin nightgown. When Zeke blushed, she realized her mistake and quickly covered herself with her arms before slipping into her robe and wrapping it tightly around her.
“I’m sorry,” Zeke said, looking away. “I came at a bad time.” He said the words, but had no intention to leave. He peeked back at her and relaxed seeing the robe around her.
“It’s fine,” Gen said. “What other time is there? We’re going into our pods tomorrow.”
Zeke noticed a strand of hair hanging down in front of her eyes. He tried not to think how cute it made her look. “Actually, that’s one of the reasons I’m here. I’m not going to go under with our crew tomorrow.”
“You’ll wait a few days?”
“I’ll skip it.”
Gen tried to understand. “You and Tuna are switching crews?”
“He’ll stay awake too,” Zeke explained. “A year from now we will resume the normal schedule.”
“How soon you disregard the Protocol,” Gen said.
“Well, it’s Tuna—”
“Zeke, I’m teasing you. Tuna needs time. I get it.” Gen sat down on her bed. Zeke stood above her, shifting uncomfortably. “You always make the right choices, Zeke. Was there anything else?” She lifted her head and studied his nervous eyes. She grabbed his hand gently. “Sit. Relax a moment.”
He let her pull him down to sit next to her. He cleared his throat. “I won’t see you for six months.” He had more to say, but the words struggled to form.
She turned to him, but he kept his eyes down on his feet. “I don’t bite, Zeke. Tell me what’s on your mind.” She reached up and put her fingers softly under his chin, turning his head toward her.
He stared at her heavily. She smiled at his awkwardness.
“You can wait six months to tell me, if that would be better.”
“We don’t have to be anything more than what we are,” Zeke blurted out suddenly. When her smile broadened, he quickly returned his gaze to the ground in front of him. “I mean, we don’t ever need to procreate. The kids can. I mean, when the young ones are older, they can, you know, begin the next generation.”
She laughed out loud causing him to jump up off her bed. She grabbed his hand to keep him from leaving. “I’m sorry, Zeke. It was that word, procreate. I didn’t expect it.”
He tried to pull away, but she dug her fingernails into his hand and pulled him back. He glanced back to her, completely red. “I should go.”
“Just wait,” Gen said, pulling him back down onto the bed. He sat reluctantly. “Zeke, my gosh, what am I going to do with you? No one is procreating anytime soon.”
“I realize that.”
She tried to fight off more laughter at his serious expression. “Oh, you realize it, do you?”
He tried to rise, but was surprised by her strength as she pulled him back. Closer this time than before.
“
Stay. I’m sorry. I won’t laugh anymore.” Gen said and then her eyes changed. They cast a spell on him. “I promise,” she whispered.
“Good, but I really should--” Her fingers stopped his lips.
“Six months is a long time,” she whispered before she pulled his mouth down to hers.
His lips were lifeless at first, but he began to copy her and before long the kiss had become real. His arms wrapped around her. He squeezed her a little too tight, but she did not break. He kissed her face and lips and neck. He was sloppy, but there was pleasure in this too, Gen thought. His desperate desire made her feel again. Not quite magic, but it was purposeful. His passion provided much needed warmth.
When her robe fell open, his hand slipped inside onto her nightgown, squeezing her small ribs. Some new feeling overwhelmed her. She was not ready for this. She grabbed him by the wrist to remove his hand. “Okay,” she said breathlessly, “that’s six month’s worth.”
He sat back, smiling dumbly. After an awkward moment, he stood and walked to the door. She wrapped the robe around her tightly.
“Sleep well,” he said, turning back at the door.
“Thank you,” she could only think to say before he left.
-4-
Among her many duties, Lexi was in charge of the cryo deck. She had readied eighteen cryo chambers for the first crew to enter six months of deep sleep. One of the beds was not to be used. Zeke had opted out of joining his crew this time around. She decided to keep the bed online in case he changed his mind before the appointed time.
Jax was the first to enter the cryo deck. His nerves were obvious. They had never practiced this in the dome nor even done a run through. The doctors assured them that cryosleep was a simple technology available and perfected decades before the fall of the civilization.
They were told not to worry. It would be the most peaceful and replenishing sleep they had ever experienced. Most importantly, it slowed the aging process allowing them twice as many years to discover a new world before handing over the controls to the next generation.
“Where is everybody?” Jax asked. “I can’t be the first one here. We go under in twelve minutes.”
“They’ll be here,” Lexi assured him. “No one is overly thrilled to be the first ones to nod off.”
“Tell me about it.” Jax said taking off his robe. “At least I will get some sleep. I didn’t get a wink of it last night.”
“Oh, you big baby, climb up in your nest now and let mama bird get you comfortable and plugged in.”
Jax smiled as Lexi prepped his bed, the closest to the door.
Trinh walked in and was immediately surprised to find all the beds empty. “What gives? Where are all the lab rats?”
Jax stopped with one leg in and one leg out of his chamber. He considered Trinh uncertainly.
“Oh, Jax, I’m sorry. I’m sure you’ll be just fine.” Trinh winked.
Lexi tried not to grin in front of Jax who was nervous enough.
Jax put his other leg in and slowly laid back to get comfortable. “I’ll remember this, Trinh,” he said raising his voice so she could hear him. He turned his head on his pillow pad to give her a glare through the glass. “When you get iced in six months, I’ll be there.”
Lexi checked a few hoses inside his chamber and nodded. “You’re all set,” she instructed. “Sleep well.”
Jax nodded and exhaled. He was not thrilled to enter deep sleep on opposite shifts as Trinh, his intended, but it was necessary for crew dynamics until the young ones were ready for bigger roles.
More kids started to enter. Lexi quickly showed each of them to their chambers. Gen was among the last to enter. She wore the same robe from the night before.
Trinh wrapped her arms around Gen and kissed her cheek. “I didn’t think you would make it. Thought you might have jettisoned from the ship in an escape pod.”
“Hadn’t thought of that. At least I get out of work for half a year,” Gen said as she glanced hopefully around the room.
“I see the lady peruses the parlor expectantly,” Trinh noticed with a wink.
“Do you ever behave, Trinh?” Gen said as she slipped out of her robe and handed it to Trinh.
“I leave that to the old timers like you and your Zekey-poo.”
Gen stopped cold as she was about to climb into her chamber. She turned back to Trinh and her worst fears were realized. Trinh’s knowing grin said it all. “And what exactly do you mean by that?”
Trinh put her hand in front of her mouth in a failed attempt to conceal a giggle. “Exactly? Well, let’s see. Last night a certain commander of this great big ship was seen slipping out of your chamber at an advanced hour.”
“Yes? And this is gossip, how? He was wishing me well for today.”
“Don’t even try it, Genevieve,” Trinh said. “His cheeks were as red and flush as one of your tomatoes. And, any attempt you would make to deny the obvious would be undermined by the itsy bitsy nightie that you have chosen to wear today.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Gen said betrayed by her own red cheeks.
“Right. If he wished you well last night, why are you still searching for him today?” Trinh folded Gen’s robe.
Gen finished her second check of cryo deck. She leaned forward to kiss Trinh’s cheek then pushed her away roughly. “Why don’t you go torment Jax? Isn’t he your intended?’
“Already accomplished,” Trinh answered as she helped Gen climb up and into her chamber.
They both turned back to the door as Zeke entered the room.
“Sleep well,” Trinh whispered. “And let your dreams be somewhat appropriate.”
Gen rolled her eyes. Trinh sauntered away allowing her a private moment with Zeke.
“You again?” Gen said sitting up in her chamber.
“I, you know, thought it was appropriate to be here,” Zeke said.
“Perhaps, but maybe last night was less so,” Gen smiled shyly to Zeke who did the same.
“My heart has been racing,” he confessed.
“That’s sweet,” Gen reached out and took his hand. It seemed twice the size of hers. “We have a whole future ahead of us. The past is no more.”
Zeke nodded overwhelmed by her sudden interest in him. “The past is no more,” he said lifting his eyes to meet hers. “I like that.”
Lexi appeared and considered the gooey expressions on their faces. “Commander, if you’re going to kiss her, now’s the time.”
Zeke turned red and swallowed. Lexi raised her eyebrows impatiently. Gen tightened her grip on his hand. He leaned forward, finally, and kissed Gen on her forehead.
“That will have to do,” Lexi said and pushed Zeke away as she climbed up to check the hoses in Gen’s chamber.
“Sleep well,” Zeke said, but his voice broke and the words were barely audible. He stepped away from the cryo chamber as Gen laid back and gazed at him through the glass.
* * *
TUNA FASTENED HIS YELLOW, protective suit around his neck inside the airlock. He buzzed himself through and entered the germ-free laboratory.
He walked across the room to a wall of thick glass. He waved his hand through a beam of soft blue laser light which triggered the wall to open. A small panel of glass slid up and a transparent shelf slid forward delivering the silver freeze block of blood from Doctor Becker.
Tuna picked it up carefully and studied it through his face shield.
“A gift of blood?” he whispered sliding the freeze block into a laboratory device to open the case. He stared through the protective glass that encased the opening device. The freeze block opened slowly revealing a chilled vile of red blood inside. A new curiosity and awe broke out onto his somber face.
Finally, he thought, something to occupy my mind.
-5-
The silence of the dark universe outside and the barely audible hum of his flight screen kept Adam in a trance as they moved through space at a cruising speed of just over a million miles an hour.
> They would not engage the nuclear pulse propulsion systems for another two months at which point they would be able to configure a safe path to the initial target star system. If successful, he would be the first pilot ever to approach the speed of light and if core integrity could withstand the speed, they would greatly exceed the speed of light with their next scheduled nuclear push.
Unless Zeke beat him to it, he thought, not that either of them would ever know who was first. He never thought he would actually miss his rivalry with Zeke, but it had provided some needed excitement on otherwise monotonous days of repetition.
The truth was that flight was not, in any way, the challenge of the mission. Sylvia and Maya would be the heroes of the coming years. They must oversee the survival agenda of conserving and recycling and growing food. If done perfectly, it would be possible for the kids of the Eden Project and their descendants to survive centuries inside the belly of the Eden Sphere 3. If they failed, sickness and starvation and the final end were just around the corner, but they would not fail.
If they found New Earth in his generation, Adam would have his chance to be the hero. He would lead the human colonization of an exotic and likely hostile planet. They would have to build sustainable structures with breathable air systems and they would have to explore the wild terrain seeking out water resources and edible food.
He imagined smart, predatory beasts of all colors and shapes and sizes who would view the puny humans as prey. He imagined hunting and being hunted. Survival. He would be tested then and he would find either redemption or annihilation in the wilderness of a far-off planet.
“The ship kind of steers itself at this point,” Sylvia said startling Adam with a hand on his shoulder.
“Hey, Syl. Yeah. I suppose it does,” Adam said touching her hand tenderly before returning his gaze to the large viewing screen that displayed the vastness of the universe ahead.
“I think I know why you like to sit here,” Sylvia said as she walked forward to the screen. “It reminds you of the sea around the dome. You used to spend hours up on that perch of yours staring at it.”
The Eden Project (Books One & Two) Page 17