Aubade: Chapter 4
Hand-picked?
You’re a woman who’s woken up out of stasis and you find yourself onboard the spaceship Aubade escaping Earth. Forever. Last thing you remember is going to bed. On Earth.
What is going on?
This is for all you sci-fi lovers who love Ripley and Sarah Connor and all the strong women in action movies as much as I do.
Remembering
The attacks on Earth came in bursts like wake patterns from a boat. Humans had a slim to zero chance of defending themselves. At least not long enough to regain the strength they lost each time the next attack wave came. In order to survive they had to escape.
Twelve interstellar ships were prepared for a one way trip. The crews for each ship were put together by a committee from the few countries that had the resources to build such ships. But very few knew that there was more to this plan. Some of the crew members had been selected against their own will. Some of the crew members had never set foot on the same continent as others or ever been in space. Some were even of the Old. But since everyone selected for were psychologically matched and evaluated by the most precise AI and human committees alike - no one saw reason in arranging a face-to-face meeting for the crew members before they were put in deep sleep.
Besides, time was very precious. Everything was arranged in less than five years. Humans got a chance to survive. But not on their own planet. Eight of the twelve ships successfully entered interstellar space. Four ships were immediately attacked and destroyed. No one on Earth would ever hear from the remaining ships for as long as they lived.
The people on Earth knew time was about to end. They looked up to the sky every night and every morning, to see the stars and think of the eight ships. Just in case it would be the last day of their lives. And when that last day came, and the last moment drew closer, many let their terror and fear look elsewhere just for a moment. Because for one moment, just before blackness and fire took over, a clear and crisp wave of joy swept into their minds. "We're still here! Do you hear us? We're still here!"
Hand-picked?
"We'll be there in 20 minutes."
The Captain's voice woke her up. No time for washing up, besides she needed to save up minutes for the gym visits. A look in the mirror told her plenty of holopics were necessary in today's presentation. Anything to get the light dimmed and eyes away from her swollen face.
About a dozen people gathered around the oval library table. In the center displayed a pleasant holo picture of today's topic; colony structures. Sara had chosen to rely mostly on recorded information and the segway from historical solutions to modern seemed natural enough that there were very few questions afterward.
The Captain had a few suggestions for logistical arrangements and the engineers were eager to make adjustments in their blueprints. The main concern turned out to be the question if the defense team should be housed in the same structure as the civilians. The holo-show ended and the lights brightened and facial features appeared clearer around the table.
Sara immediately noticed a familiar face. The man from the dining hall. Jack Henley, 2nd in Command of the Defense Team. He sat to the right of 1st Commander Vincent Stapleton, who at this moment was making a passionate argument for a separate structure for his team.
"It is imperative, Sir, that my men have a completely separate building. Not for the purpose of comfort or even secrecy, but instead for the purpose of focus and discipline. We're here to protect you, Sir, and this civilian colony. We will at all times have men stationed in the Civilian establishment, but this is not a temporary solution. You will always need security. It is not something that can be immersed into the Civilian group and then separate itself out when needed. It doesn't work that way, at least not with our current and only configuration if you will. I insist you consider this with all attention and care. Thank you." Stapleton gave each person around the table a steady and grave look as he sat down.
"Thank you Stapleton," said the Captain while standing up, "you've brought up valid points that we will take care to consider. One immediate concern I can discern is the issue of response time when and if needed. How do you plan to address that?"
Stapleton responded: "We will have two vehicles in active use and two more reserves that will be inactive. One vehicle at each structure. The time from alert to response will be less than five minutes. No more than let’s say the furthest two points in this structure anyway. The structures will not be that far apart. But apart they must be."
Sara adjusted the computer to make categorized recordings for later reviewing. She did not take part in any decision making processes since she wasn't authorized to do so. Some days before she had been asked to take an oath of silence regarding any and all topics discussed during this and similar meetings.
She wondered who they feared she would tell. She also wondered what was driving these people to continue their lives as if nothing had happened. No one had even brought up the past in the weeks she had been awake. Were they all talking about it in secret? Had they been told not to talk about it at all? Sara was afraid to ask. No one would understand her position. Everyone else had volunteered, at least in some aspect. She decided not to bring it up and to be very careful about what she revealed about herself to others. She had to be in control of the only thing she had left, her life.
The meeting ended. As everyone exited the library Jack passed by her while updating his notebook. Everything looked awkward in his large hands, and he almost seemed to bend his neck slightly when walking around the small and dark room. He didn't look at home and hadn't spoken to anyone else at the table during the entire meeting. He stopped next to her as she was closing up the holo-application, and nodded toward her and said:
"Jack Henley."
"Excuse me? Oh hello! Sara... of Hanley." Their names were almost identical.
"Huh, that is... interesting," he said with genuine surprise. "Where did you grow up?"
"New York, you?"
"Overseas, small town." Overseas, she hadn't heard that word in a long time.
"Volunteer?"
"Signed up with my own free will, and I guess I should be grateful I am here now, and not there..."
"Yes, indeed." She had cleared the table and began to walk toward the exit when he continued:
"What happened to the tech support staff? Captain told me you were the only tech staff and you're a Historian. What happened?"
It had occurred to her many times already that all this seemed like a dream more than reality, that she was stuck in a holo nightmare or a bizarre nest and couldn't get out. She had heard about bizarre psychological experiments conducted over years at a time to unknowing subjects, perhaps she was in one right now? Things around her seemed to be orchestrated without any of her own input whatsoever. She was not consulted, not told or asked about anything. Well, that was not entirely true. She was being updated, but not beyond what seemed imminently important. It frustrated her to no end, but at the same time she refused to ask anyone or show her fears to anyone. They probably already knew all her thoughts, and all her biochemical life was already mapped out for inspection.
She turned toward Jack and tried her best to control her emotions:
"Perhaps there was a mishap in the freezer? Hm?"
He laughed. It was the first time onboard that she had heard anyone laugh out loud. His face became a mischievous grin, and he seemed to forget to slump forward and instead raised his head and somehow gained several more centimeters in length. She wondered if he was on suppressants. He must be, all defense guys nowadays were. He seemed unusually lively though.
"You better keep that sense of humor because from what I hear there are lots of tech problems over at the defense pod, and once we touch down it'll all have to be unraveled."
"What do you mean unraveled?"
"Well someone has to figure it out, i.e. you." He pointed a finger in her direction and smiled.
"That’s ridiculous. First of all, you have completely misunderstood my position here. You're correct that I am the Historian and, in addition to that, the Resource Specialist. Second, I give the Captain the info that is needed from our database. But I am definitely not a tech expert. My skills in that area are very limited. I’m sure there is a tech person onboard, we just haven't been introduced yet."
"Well I wonder what closed space they're hiding in because this is all of us, everyone's awake. Are you sure?"
"Of course I am sure. This crew is volunteer based. Nothing was left to fate." She hoped she sounded confident enough. He looked around before he quickly leaned over and said:
"I heard some people were literally hand-picked."
She froze. How could he know? Perhaps he didn't. Perhaps all he knew or had heard was that someone, not her, but someone had been hand picked. Against their will.
"Who? Who told you that?" She was praying that her voice didn't shake, but she wasn't entirely sure it worked. At least the light was dim in the hallways.
"Commander S." He was trying to read her thoughts, she was so sure of it now. She looked down at her notebook and pretended to check something.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"I thought you might find it interesting." He nodded a good bye and vanished down the hallway.
Well, looks like something big might happen pretty soon? Shall we keep going? Let me know in the comments!
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