Aubade: Chapter 6
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.
In this chapter of Aubade, a sci-fi serial:
Sara finds herself on a hostile and mysterious planet as part of the Aubade crew aiming to establish a permanent colony. While the planet poses various challenges, Sara's primary concerns lie within the secrets surrounding her presence on the mission and why she was selected against her will. Commander Stapleton recruits her to unravel a crucial situation within the defense database, and despite her lack of expertise, Sara agrees to help. As tensions rise and suspicions grow, Sara must confront her fears and navigate the complexities of the mission.
Unraveling Secrets
It looked like a barren, rocky desert. A dry environment. That meant less likelihood of hostile life forms, right? She tried to process what she saw and knew full well that nothing she saw meant anything at all. This planet was inhabitable, that alone meant it could be hostile. It also meant Aubade had chosen it because it was the only beacon of hope they had found in 100 years. She was still alive. She was still filled with a fear of dying. Dying of something unknown was now her worst fear.
Stapleton sent out drones to inspect the closest 500 mile radius and came back with nothing of worry. There was life, for sure, but it seemed to be limited to some form of lichen and plant-like organisms that were stationary. Some free moving organisms were found in very shallow liquid deposits, and after analysis it seemed safest to stay away from all water deposits since they contained extreme levels of strong enzymes. The med lab had to be sanitized after a small amount was spilled on the floor and one of the technicians needed emergency removal of a patch of skin on her hand after coming in accidental contact with the liquid.
The atmosphere was clear, with a yellow tint. Enough oxygen was emitted by the life forms to provide a rich supply for the colony. But no one could spend time outside unless fully suited. The few windows of the buildings had to be ordered covered up after it was discovered that a strange form of morning dew created rapidly growing fractures in the material. The engineers were busy manufacturing a dew resistant coating for the two buildings and after some trial and errors things began to calm down.
The buildings were fully self-contained and well-designed. Many luxury items were included and it served its purpose well because over half of the crew were bedridden for a week after touchdown in some kind of elevation sickness. Thankfully each cabin had its own shower and bedroom facilities, and it gave each person the privacy that otherwise would be impossible within such restricted spaces.
Sara felt nausea for a few days but that was not her worst worry. Every night had become a repeated terror to her. She couldn't fall asleep out of fear of the dark. Out there, a few meters through her walls, anything could stand and wait. Why had Aubade chosen this place? What had she, herself, expected to find? A lush jungle? A warm and sunny valley with friendly small creatures that brought them food?
She sat up in her bed and let out a bitter laugh. This was ridiculous. What was most important to her she could not have, and the next most important thing to her she could not have, but the third most important thing, her life, she had to have.
Almost unaware of her own actions she got dressed, left her cabin, and ran over to the gym. It was open all hours and was much more impressive than the small and stinky gym onboard Aubade. The equipment immediately recognized her and adjusted to her usual settings. Not bad, she thought. But someone is collecting all this info and monitoring it. What will we end up with in the end? What was the master plan here? This colony had to maintain itself beyond this generation of people. They were planning on staying here permanently.
It angered and frustrated her that she had no one to talk to, and that she had to hold these endless conversations and arguments with herself. Someone had taken her, in the middle of the night, scanned her and thrown her onboard a starship among people who were strangers to her.
Could Peter have violated all laws and done it? She knew she was going crazy. He had reconciled their fate long ago. They all seemed just as perplexed as her when they learned she was not there by her own free will. Of course, few people knew, but those who did showed equal surprise, worry and some degree of anger to hear what had happened to her. Computer bases had been scanned for any information about what had happened to her but nothing exceptional was found.
Dr. Renni, the Captain, Paulon, and the med crew knew she had been hand picked, but it was agreed that they should not speak openly about it. It might worry the rest of the crew unnecessarily. It made Sara suspicious of everyone, including the Captain. She could not trust anyone until she knew why she was here, and who had wanted her onboard Aubade.
She needed to speak to Stapleton but he was over at the Defense building and it was impossible to get access to it unless given permission. And if given permission there was that five minute shuttle ride across uneven terrain suited up and crammed into a small shuttle that was driven by one of Stapleton's gigantic men, who would laugh at anyone who threw up during their wild race across the terrain.
While running she watched a program she and Pandora used to love. It was a story about two children who ran away from home, a concept so impossible that it was even laughable but Pandora had thought it extremely scary. The children found a secret forest where they came to grow up and eventually rule a kingdom. She was humming along the catchy and melancholy melody as she stepped off the track and walked straight into Stapleton's frame. She immediately removed her glasses and earpiece and apologized profusely.
"No harm done. I can take some resistance, even if it comes from a sweaty, singing Historian." Stapleton was amused but didn't move away.
"I didn't expect anyone else to be here." Especially not him. Sara quickly reached for her towel and wiped away the sweat from her face.
"Neither did I, which is precisely why I came here."
"I thought you were at the Defense station, Sir." She cringed inside but hoped addressing him correctly might help keep them at a distance.
"I have an early meeting with the head crew and since that shuttle ride isn't one of my favorite things to do in the mornings I wanted it out of the way. It's one hell of a ride." He still hadn't moved and was blocking the doorway, not on purpose she thought, but still.
"Ah, yeah I am glad I won't need to use that shuttle." Her smile did not succeed.
"But you will. Or that is I hope you will. We have a situation that has occurred within our database and we need one of the tech people to come and deal with it."
A knot tied itself in her stomach. She immediately remembered Jack's words about something needing to be unraveled as soon as they had settled in. He'd known about it already then.
"Paulon is great. He'll fix anything."
This better work. She did not want to become responsible for screwing up the defense database. Paulon could do that and still come out feeling empowered by it.
"Paulon doesn't know squat about the content of the database, which is crucial when reorganizing it. You, however, clearly recognize patterns and structure within fragments of seconds and that is precisely what we need."
He was looking at something on her right arm. A light colored scar about ten centimeters long stood out on her upper arm. A memory from Peter chasing her across a field, and accidentally onto a barbed wire. She noticed his puzzled look but didn't say anything. Maybe this was an opportunity instead of a nightmare. This could give her a chance to speak to him on his own territory so to speak.
She sighed and gave him a glance.
"You do realize I don't know much, no let me correct that, anything, about reorganizing a database. Really, it has to be done correctly unless you want to risk losing vital information. I am confident one of your own men could accomplish it and you would not have to risk exposing all your secrets to a Historian."
"My tech crew already tried. It nearly got them killed. This might sound crazy but they are too large. Physically."
"What the hell does that mean? I have to crawl into a mouse hole?"
Sara realized her faux-pas and silently swore at her lack of self-censorship. The Commander did not seem too put off.
This really didn't sound tempting at all. It sounded more like they needed someone insane enough to do a stunt that could be lethal. They needed an expendable person, like her.
"No, you will walk into a room, but crawl out."
"All right, thank you for offering me this gig but I will now leave, and pretend this discussion never happened, while we both can maintain a level of civility. Good night, Commander." She was aware that the last comment sounded like a sneer. It didn't come as a surprise that he grabbed her arm, quite harshly, as she tried to leave.
"Not so fast. I think you are forgetting something here, Historian. You are under my command. I took the time to come over here to explain the situation so you wouldn’t have to hear it for the first time tomorrow. This is not civilian life, whatever it may look like. You’re now playing an integral role in the survival of us all. And since you are part of the crew you have willingly put yourself in that position." His grip intensified.
"And don't speak down to me again, understood?"
She didn't expect that level of physical anger. All she could muster up was a nod.
Whoever mistook Stapleton’s calm voice for kindness had a lot to learn. He clearly was well-respected and even admired among his men, but he ultimately didn’t care what others thought of him. That is why he had survived the Mid-Atlantic Attack and been able to pass along invaluable information about how to survive under deep-sea conditions.
"Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" Finally he relented. She knew he was just a step away, quietly observing her reaction. This must be some kind of test, she thought. It was no time for weakness now. She needed to gain his trust somehow.
She wondered if he was on suppressants. Somehow she doubted it. He seemed too aggressive. The only place where she had met similar behavior was on the Coast. And he must have had some kind of adjustment problems because his temper was way off base. The whole Aubade colony was under a lot of pressure.
"I apologize," she finally said and raised her eyes to his level and forced them to connect. She didn't dare to think of the time that passed but felt a chill of superiority when Stapleton finally gave up in their staring contest.
"Sara..." he nodded toward the hallway and she followed him. He looked around almost suspiciously before adding: "Meadows told me about you. Who knows what bastard did this to you, but you have to wake up. This is no time to sleep or slip by unnoticed. There's only a few of us here that really are of any use. I'm sure as hell not going to let anyone here jeopardize anyone else's life by inaction or apathy. Those who can be of use become doubly important here. Who knows, maybe that bastard knew something about you, that you would be valuable, useful. I think that bastard was right, and I need your help tomorrow."
She was slipping back into her nightmare theory. It must be an unannounced social experiment that one of her professors thought might elevate her inner persona. Her mind was racing. Who would take care of Pandora? She could never leave her. Never. Peter would of course, in his own insane ways, have figured something out but Pandora was with her and not him. And why would he separate her daughter from her mother? Was Pandora on another ship, with him?
Sara knew she had to regain her composure. But it was impossible when her mind was filled with such horrible thoughts. Her eyes began to betray a fraction of what was happening in her thoughts, and her already fatigued muscles could no longer maintain her weight. She leaned against the hallway wall and sunk down on the floor and hid her head on her pulled up knees. She thought she needed some nutrition. That and a friend.
She woke up in her bed, still wearing her gym clothes but no shoes. Her body ached. The sliding door into the main room, the library, was slightly open and she could see him sitting on the couch. On everything that is good in this universe, she thought, give me strength to do the right thing.
She got up and walked into the library. Stapleton gave a startle, and quickly stood up. He looked both apologetic and concerned, and motioned her toward the couch. She sat down and pulled the cover that he must have placed on her, tighter around her. They sat quietly for a while. He had started up a program on the computer. It looked like a blueprint. He closed it when he noticed she was studying it.
"OK, I will do it," she said, "but on one condition."
"What?" He was holding his breath so he could hear her quiet voice.
"I want clearance to see everyone's files, alone, on a double-secured notebook.” And then she added. “In your quarters." She was not really sure why she had added that last part. Mostly to throw him off. Perhaps to play mind games with him.
"Impossible." He turned to look at her. "You want to find out who brought you here. Fine. I can work with you. Personal files, no."
"Tomorrow, after I successfully exit your database, crawling as you describe it, I am going to do everything in my power to make you comply with my demand."
If he was on suppressants he would never notice anything unusual about what she just said. He didn't raise an eyebrow or smirk, he just remained calm and as if in deep thoughts. Finally he answered:
"We can’t speak more about it here, or now. Do one thing tomorrow: trust me."
He stood up and she automatically followed suit. Before he closed the door between them he said:
"Be ready in three hours."
She said: "Thank you."
He was not on suppressants.
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