by Steven Webb
“Man these last few months haven’t been nice to you,” Trent quipped. Right as he said it the machine’s door opened up to reveal his meal. “All Joking aside, do you have any idea why command felt the need to wake the entire crew up?”
“Who the hell knows. With them it’s always something.” Trent grabbed his meal, took a seat at the bench across from Taylor, and began to scoop the meat like substance into his mouth. While the system they had designed to assemble the food was capable of succulent flavors, the texture left something to be desired.
“Last time they had to wake an entire crew up they had them attempting to intercept a Comet, and land a probe on its surface,” Taylor continued, “Guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
Within minutes, Trent cleared his plate and sauntered off towards his room. He wandered into his bedroom and slid the door shut behind him. Manual doors were cheaper to install and removed the need to replace intricate mechanisms, allowing them to be opened even in the absence of power. The bedrooms was, by all accounts, a glorified closet. Against the left wall the bed sat on top of a platform. The right wall, as well as the bed’s platform, housed many cubicles in which to store personal effects. Trent reached into the cubicle at eye level to grab a clean uniform. Upon doing so, his hand touched a cloth doll that laid beside it.
The doll was a gift which his daughter had hidden amongst the luggage. It was her most prized possession, and for a three year old, the greatest gift she could give her dad. Along with the doll she left a note scribbled out in large crayon letters:
bere dady,
LET ganit ceep U saf
i luv U
LUCY
The letter was stained with tears of both joy and sorrow. The tears of a father who wanted the world for his little girl. staring at the mementos, memories of his time with her began to flood his memory. A tiny girl sleeping in his arms as he rocked her to sleep to the sound of lullabies. His wife and daughter asleep in bed on a spring day. I can’t wait to see you two again he thought. So many stories to tell.
Grabbing up the crisp, clean uniform, Trent headed for the bathroom at the far end of the room. The bathroom contained just enough room to fit a toilet, a sink, and a shower. A half turn on the handle was all it took to get the water flowing. Small fragments of dried gel peeled away like the skin of a molting snake. Once he was sure all remnants were gone, he turned off the water and dried off. Slipping on his clean uniform, Trent headed for the bridge.
ADDISON
The stars had always fascinated Captain Somers. Growing up, she found herself completely engrossed in all matters related to the glowing giants. By age eleven she could name and identify all of the constellations of both the northern and southern hemisphere. Just by looking at the stars through a telescope she knew, with a degree of certainty, which stars were at what stage in their life. She understood how they worked, formed, grew, and even died out. A sense of belonging came just from looking up at the behemoths that populated the night sky, this time however, was different.
She stood on the cold metal bridge, staring through the large glass dome, hoping to find that familiar comfort. She wanted nothing more than to calm her chaotic mind. Nearly twelve hours had passed since the alarm first awoke Captain Somers. Upon hearing the message being delivered, she found herself unable to leave the bridge, even foregoing showering. Bits of dried gel coated her hair. Zea tried many times to get her to eat, but the food remained undisturbed. Her stomach was in knots. Just the thought of eating at a time like this made her nauseous. She replayed the conversation with NASA over and over again. It had been brief but drastic enough that she felt the need to wake the rest of the crew. I need to get focused she told herself. NASA’s call is due any minute. She walked over to the control panel in the center of the platform and began pressing a series of buttons. Three rods sprouted from the the back of the panel. Each rod split in two to reveal the screens hidden inside. Mathematical formulas, and graphs popped up on the first display. The screen on the right light up to show an image of the ship relative to the solar system. It then shifted to reveal the ship’s earth bound trajectory. The center screen remained empty, awaiting the live feed from NASA.
To her left Joseph sat running through primary function analysis of the ship’s systems. Somers had personally selected him, out of all the applicants, to maintain the ship on its voyage. During Her time in the Air Force she had worked alongside him on several missions. In the same room, Zea remained hard at work updating the crew’s medical files.
“Zea, anything to report on the status of the crew,” Captain Somers inquired. She needed some good news right about now. If the crew were all doing well, then she could focus all her attention on the matter at hand.
“No mam, all members are awake, and their vitals look good,” she replied.
“Perfect. Joseph, inform the crew that we are ready to begin.” For a brief second, she felt her body relax at the news, but her brain immediately returned to the disaster that they were facing.
“Yes, Captain,” he said activating the intercom. “Attention all crew, please assemble on the Bridge at once. We will begin shortly.” His voice echoed through the ships halls.
A beeping noise arose from the console in front of Captain Somers. Despite knowing what the message was about, she couldn’t help but feel herself freaking out as if she was just hearing the news for the first time. Seconds later a large man wearing glasses appeared where a blank screen had been. “Can you hear me, Captain?” he asked. Though she knew it was Frank, she was having a hard time believing it. His face was pale, and drawn. Dark bags beneath his eyes relieved his lack of sleep. Daniel and Frank had most likely been working non stop on this for days.
“Yes, Frank we hear you. We are waiting on one more person. As soon as he arrives we can begin.” What’s taking them all so long? Perhaps it was the fact that she was still recovering from the stasis pod, or the lack of food. Her stomach growled inside her confirming the latter. She hoped no one had heard. She couldn’t afford to appear weak in this moment.
As she spoke Taylor strolled into the room looking disheveled. He walked over and stood next to Carl who sat silently muttering to himself, a necklace bearing a cross gripped in his hand and pressed against his chest.
she continued. “It appears we’re ready. One week ago at oh eight hundred hours NASA received intel that unusual solar activity had been spotted. After investigating, they discovered the Sun is preparing to emit a massive solar flare. Our ship is directly in its path.”
With a single command on the console, the right screen pulled up an image of the Sun. it looked so harmless. The swirls on the surface were beautiful. It was like staring at a cosmic dance. “By my estimates, the flare will be emitted within two weeks.”
Frank broke into the conversation, “The Phoenix VII has been equipped with a radiation shield. That coupled with your suits should absorb enough of the radiation to keep you guys protected. However, as it stands we are unsure of the effects on the electrical equipment.”
“Let’s say worst case scenario, what kind of damage could we be looking at,” Trent asked.
Frank stared down his glasses at the crew. “I’m gonna let Joseph answer that one.”
He began fidgeting in his chair. “As Frank was saying, the radiation will be completely harmless to us. The electric lines are a different story. A strong enough wave could short out all electronics and disrupt any radio signals. Essentially we would become a giant rock that we can no longer control.”
“We believe that with full cooperation between us and NASA’s top scientists we can minimize that damage,” Captain Somers suggested. “They are currently running simulations back on Earth.”
Frank took over. “The plan is going to involve setting the ship’s trajectory just before the flare hits. Our hope is to get you close to Earth and let Earth’s gravity do the rest.”
Taylor raised his hand as if he were waiting to be given a turn to speak. “And what about
the solar sails? Won’t those fry too?”
“They will if they remain exposed. I’ve been working on a plan for that,” Joseph said walking over to the console where the Captain stood. Where once his gait was filled with confidence he now hunched over.his fingers typed furiously at the consoles. Every click rang out through the silence. “The solar sails come attached to long cables. I’ve been running numbers and we should be able to retract the sail with minimal energy loss to our internal battery system.”
“Don’t forget what’ll happen if we lose life support,” Sophie exclaimed, seemingly trying to hide her fear, yet Addison knew better. The twitching eyes, and scratching at her arm were a dead give away.
Diego practically jumped from his seat, “We need to make sure we have food and water too.” Unlike the others, his energy level seemed to have spiked. The calm and quiet man she was use to seeing, was now a fidgeting mess.
Joseph continued, ignoring both, but became slightly perturbed, “The only catch is it needs to be done as late as possible. Without them we won’t have enough speed to reach Earth. The sails will be folded inside the ship. My hope is that the outer layers protect the inner folds. However, it will require a significant portion of our power. To account for this we will run all essential power from the backup battery. I need all..”
Sophie once again interjected, “But won’t that affect power to the air filters? If we don’t make it who cares about the ship.”
In all her years of military duty, Addison had always felt in full control of a situation. This managed to pull any team together. This time was different. She knew deep down that success was a long shot and she would be a bystander through most of it. The most she could do was issue commands. These feelings were wearing off onto her crew now. She felt so lost. Out the window, she could see the sun, shining so unassumingly in the distance.
Addison had to get the crew to let those who could do something get their ideas out, while assuring those who were freaking out that their concerns mattered. if she started with Sophie maybe that would help. But she had be commanding. “Sophie, I need you to refrain from any further interruptions. We’ll address your concerns soon. Joseph please continue.”
“Thank you Captain. As I was saying. I am going to need all of you to help me prepare the ship’s electronic systems. Once the sails are in we’ll be able to disconnect all power sources and run dark through the flare.”
Frank then spoke up, “Our team here in Florida is finalizing a few methods to shield the Hard drives on the ship’s deck. As soon as we figure something out we will let you all know.”
Captain Somers knew it was time to address the concerns gnawing away at everyone about their own survival. “Now to address your concerns, Sophie. Zea please fill us in on your plan.” This was a massive bet she was placing on Zea’s shoulders.
She turned her chair to face everyone. “Yes mam. I plan to place vital monitors on each of you,” she said cautiously, her soft voice barely audible to the crew. “I also have stores of oxygen to use as necessary. The uniforms are weaved with lead. It should be enough to shield you from radiation.” she turned back around to her computer in silence.
Captain Somers looked at Sophie. “I hope that answers all of your questions. Diego you asked about Food. The ship contains enough dehydrated and freeze dried rations to last several months. Water can be manually pumped from the reserve tanks.” She could tell from the glances of the others that they were gripped by the anxiety of what was to come, the exception to this being Rocco. He stood in the corner stoic and unfazed. His strength in this moment helped to fuel her on.
“These preparations are solely for a worst case scenario. We expect the ship to make it through fine. But, do not let this be an excuse to not contribute.” She had to remain calm in order to sell her bold lie. The system was ill equipped to handle a flare of this magnitude. Frank had warned her of this ahead of time. “Your families have been informed of the situation and once communication is restored they will receive a live feed from us.” That should settle their nerves, she concluded to herself.
Nova stepped forward. “I would like each of you to take some time and come sit down with me.”
“Thank you very much Nova, “Now unless any of you have any further questions you are all dismissed,” Captain somers ordered. She waited for them walk out one by one, then turned and stared at Frank with dismay in her eyes. “Joseph, Zea take a break. Go get some food.”
She heard Joseph’s reply of “Yes Captain,” followed by Zea’s slightly informal “yes mam,” response. At twenty-two years old Zea was the youngest astronaut to make it through the training. Because of this the Captain naturally felt the need to take Zea under her wing. A maternal bond had formed between the two so that when the phrase yes mam was utter Somers accepted it with grace despite her usual hatred of being addressed that way. This whole scenario was a lot to handle and with so much responsibility being placed on one girl she knew Zea would need support. On the other hand Joseph was a competent leader. He had proved himself over and over again.
“Now that we’re alone Frank I have to say I don’t know that these people will be able to deal with this news.”
“They’ll be just fine. You wouldn’t have selected anyone you deemed subpar. Hold on just a moment.” His visage disappeared from the screen. A common effect caused by the distance of communication. A few minutes passed before the image of her husband filled the screen. Tears welled up in Somers eyes.
“Honey, how you holdin’ up?” Daniel’s voice was soothing. His brown eyes invited her to tell him every secret, yet the bags under them revealed many sleepless nights.
“I’m worried that we won’t be ready when the time comes. I just feel so unprepared,” she sobbed softly. “I wish you were here to help me.”
“Listen to me, Addison, I know you can do this. I’ve seen you pilot ships missing wings. There’s never been a problem you couldn’t figure out. I love you so much and we’ll make sure we help get you home safe.”
If anyone could be relied on at NASA to figure this out it was her husband. During Addison’s time training for her first mission she met Daniel. He had an uncanny knack for creating the puzzles used during emergency simulations. Addison soon learned exactly why the other technicians had taken to calling him Kobayashi, after the famed Star Trek test. His more elaborate tests were next to impossible. “I spent the last three days running programs to recreate the solar flare. I’ll be running a live version to test our theories on within two days. Just stay strong Sweetie, I promise you’ll do great.”
Addison wiped away her tears, and took in a long slow deep breath to refocus herself. “Get back to me as soon as possible. I love you.” He was her drive. The thought of him awaiting her always provided the force to get her home. Never had she felt more trapped without him.
“I love you too.”
The transmission cut out. The room now sat silent waiting for the captain to disrupt it. This time she had decided to sit and enjoy the silence. The burden was gone. Everyone on board was well aware of where they stood and would be on point. She laid down on the deck staring out the window once again. Thoughts of her future rolled through her head. When she arrived home she would tell Daniel she was finally ready to take that next step and bring a child into their home. Settling down and retiring from work as an astronaut had long been the subject of their late night discussion. She slowly closed her eyes. The slight hum of the ship rang through her core, a bedtime lullaby gently ushering her into a deep sleep.
JOSEPH
“Joe do you have a moment,” Nova’s voice inquired over the intercom.
He looked up briefly from his book at the sudden interruption to what had otherwise been a relaxing cycle. Maybe she’ll just go away he thought. Now where was I. he ran his finger along the lines searching for a spark to remind him where he left off.
“I know you’re there,” the intercom crackled again. Joseph reached over for a pillow, set it in fro
nt of the speaker, and laid his back against it in the hopes of blocking out the disturbance. “The captain is just worried about you,” the muffled sound continued. He slammed the book down in frustration. “Please just come down. It won’t take long,” the voice went on again. Fed up with Nova’s barrage of pages, He threw the pillow across the room freeing up the speaker to emit a clear message, “come this one time and i’ll leave…”
Joseph pushed the button cutting off her stream of words. “Fine, I’m coming. Just give me a minute,” He responded trying to hide his frustration. The speaker stayed quiet this time around. No more squawking meant he had staved off the demands for his cooperation. He scooted over to the edge of his bed placing his bare feet on the metal floor, it’s cool touch a stark contrast to his warm bed. Reluctantly, he stood up and left his room for what he considered an absolute waste of time.
The sound of trickling water emanated from Nova’s office. As he drew closer the bird whistles mixed into the background along with the rustling of leaves. Joseph knocked on the open door. Nova glanced at Joseph and closed her laptop.
“Come take a seat” she beckoned tapping her hand on the chair opposite her.
“If it’ll make this end quicker than fine.” He sat down and crossed his arms in defiance.
“How are you sleeping?”
“Fine.”
“Any feelings of being overwhelmed?”
“Nope.”