hope's journey

7/23/2019 Hope's Journey

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/hopes-journey 1/44

Copyright © March 2013 Jerry A. Boggs

Dedicated to my adorable granddaughter, Olivia,whom I hope to inspire, for as long as I

live, to look upward, to gaze beyond the moon, beyond the sun, and to learn, and to

know, and to wonder....



By Jerry A. Boggs

They fled one disaster only to find

themselves facing another. Then they

stumbled onto something that shocked

them to the core.

I

The thundering, brutal vibration whipped his weakened

arms against something hard, again and again. Where the hell

was he? In a box? A coffin? Was he speeding down the world's

worst road in the world's loudest truck?

Thirty merciless seconds dragged by before he gained the strength to pin his

arms against his sides and grip his thighs. He might have been juddered

senseless if not for the padding underneath him and the restraints across his

forehead, chest, and ankles. Did his captor have a kind streak?

He was about to scream, “et me out of here!" when he was jolted by#

“$aptain %ason &earce."

The metallic female voice rang out even over the fierce booming. 't blared from

above and reverberated in all directions.

“(re you fully awake and comprehending, $aptain?"

He reali)ed he hadn*t opened his eyes. $ouldn*t open them. +ut he knew hewas in total darkness no light passed through his eyelids. He worked his jaw,struggled to clear the slime in his throat.

“-ho...the hell...are you?" His garbled voice shook in the vibration. “-here am'? Hold on. '*m...%ason?"



The memories crashed in and shock bucked his body against the restraints.The asteroid! He was aboard Hope, the craft that was to deliver him and /0others to a new home!

“1es," the voice said. “(tmosphere is reestablished. 2utrients were supplied. (vionics and lighting up. 1our cylinder*s preservation gel has been siphonedaway. 1our brain and heart are functioning normally. The 3estoration Handbookstates that all personnel must remain on board for three hours to allow their gelresidue to be fully purged by the ship*s o4ygen."

The gel residue, smelling a bit like charcoal, still thinly coated him from head totoe. He brought a hand up and cleared his eyelids, fighting against the angryvibration. His gummy eyes at last opened, and in the dim red light, he saw hiscylinder*s translucent canopy less than ten inches from his nose.

He reali)ed that the rattling, now like a series of rapid e4plosions, had joggledawake the ship*s ('. 'n turn the (' had processed him from his preserved state had “reinvigorated" him, which is how the scientists would*ve put it.

He was taking a thrashing, but at least he had survived. Thanks to the gel.

The final instruction regarding the gel and other matters had been given to himby Hope's &roject 5urvival manager and 2(5( employee 6ictor (rnold#

“1ou*ll have the 3estoration Handbook but won*t have much need for it. %ustdirect your 7uestions about the gel and almost everything else to the ('. 't willhandle the whole shebang. 1our role is minimal, a backup if the (' breaks down.The only area where the (' can*t help you and you can thank the corner8and8cost8cutters for that is medical, in cases of injury or illness. +ut you*ll have adoctor on board."

The (' was called D93'5, the acronym for Destiny 9rgani)ation*s 3estorationand 'nvigoration 5ystem. D93'5* data and computational:analysis capability hadbeen rated by Destiny*s engineers as ;; percent reliable and one percent error8prone.

“6elocity was reduced <= percent prior to approach," D93'5 said. >Toterminate the roughness of atmospheric entry and mitigate restoration andinvigoration, ' am taking Hope back into space and into orbit."

The roar and bone8buffeting vibration soon subsided. &earce heard only thedistant, low purr of the ship*s engine.

His nerves didn*t settle down with the ship. Too many 7uestions fired at himlike a nail gun. -ould the air really be breathable on the surface? -ould they findwater? ood sources? 'n his state of mind, would he be able to lead well enoughto hold everything together just through the ne4t 0< hours?

-ait! 9ne stomach8churning worry at a time! irst, they had to set down on theplanet in one piece.

“&rior to restoring you," D93'5 said, “' restored and invigorated Dr. (ngela



Dia). 5he will be able to begin making rounds shortly. ' am proceeding with$ommander aye 5ullivan, ieutenant Tom 3oss, @nsign 9livia (ppleton, thenthe civilians."

“D93'5, were you trying to kill us in our cylinders? -hy the hell did we stay inthe atmosphere for more than a few seconds? 'f somebody*s restraints failed, theymight be hurt. 9r dead."

“The atmosphere e4tends higher than my data show. Hence, the shippenetrated too deeply. Hope was programmed to enter the e4osphere for tenseconds to power me up. ' was programmed to initiate your and Dr. Dia)*restoration immediately. The ship remained in the atmosphere three minutes and0A seconds longer than it should have."

-as this true? 9r could ;;8percent reliable D93'5 have already slipped intoher one8percent unreliable territory and screwed up? @ven if her reliability were// percent, how could he put full faith in her after reading so much negativepress about artificial intelligence over the years?

( chill bolted up his spine. -ould her errors always be unintentional? Did shehave enough “consciousness" to sense she*d be better off without humans aroundto make demands of her? He*d read about that sort of thing, too.

+ut he*d also read 7uite a bit pro8('. (nd 6ictor (rnold had advised him D93'5was not a concern.

5till, doubt about whether D93'5 would get them safely to the planet*s surfacegnawed deeper into his gut. (fter all, no matter how (rnold viewed the (', &earcecouldn*t put a lot of trust in the man, especially after the way he terminated theirwrap8up meeting. 't seemed like only a few days ago....

6ictor (rnold had been ordered by the B.5. president to stay on andcomplete the mission. Cilitary troops had been dispatched to make sure hedid. Two of them, pistols on their hips, now stood on the other side of (rnold*sclosed office door, no doubt listening.

The unshaven, bleary8eyed manager stared or glared? at the $aptainacross a desk littered with food wrappers, crumbs, papers, and several over8flowing ashtrays.

&earce blinked at the stench of stale cigarette butts and (rnold*s long self8

neglect. He hoped this would be a short meeting.“The finals," (rnold said in an introductory tone. “$ompleted without the

usual certifications. 2ot enough time or personnel. +ut you*ll be pleased toknow four evenings ago ' personally performed diagnostics on D93'5 and allthe cylinders, the last of which were installed and e7uipped two weeks ago. (llin working order. 2e4t ' did an eye8ball check throughout. 'n those god8awfulmag8boots, ' must have been a real hoot to my *guardian angels*." He flung athumb in the direction of the door. His voice then took on an anger edge. “(nd



to those idiot union workers still there doing structural checks. 9r doing little aspossible, you can bet."

His face reddened and his lower lip curled. “The secondary ship! 't*ll go towaste! Cars will never be son8of8a8bitching coloni)ed! ' we were so close! (llwe needed was four stinking more months and everything would*ve been inplace for a go. +ut hell no, 9rion / had to malfunction and miss the asteroidby three8hundred effing miles. Those worthless union people! (nd screw thosegreedy8ass nations that left everything to us!"

He swept a mess of papers onto the floor, some scattering about &earce*sfeet. The $aptain, shifting in his chair, wondered if the troops might barge inafter the outburst.

(rnold sat motionless, perhaps wondering the same thing. (t length, hepatted his armrest. “+y the way, if you think the &ilgrims had to rejigger their lifestyle.... (ssuming, of course, you get there, then survive past the first dayor two."

( cold fear ripped through &earce. He didn*t need to be reminded of theobvious. -as the project manager deliberately trying to torment?

( heavy click blasted &earce*s ears, dispersing his thoughts of (rnold. Thecanopy rotated open and mewled on its way underneath his cylinder.

His bruised arms smarting, he unbuckled his mesh restraints. He then steeredhimself in the weightlessness to a sitting position. Holding on with one hand, hewiped off the gel residue using the towel from a cylinder drawer containing hispersonal items. He dressed, finishing with his dark8blue $aptain*s jumpsuit, thenhis mag8boots.

He ga)ed down the length of the ship. Hope's primary compartment sprawledlong and wide under a low arched ceiling. The arched, evenly spaced bracingbeams reminded him of the ribs of a +lue whale.

+ehind the primary compartment were the computer mainframe niche andother smaller compartments housing supplies that included the e4o8skeleton&earce had insisted on.

't was a sight he prayed he hadn*t seen for a length of time di))ying tocomprehend.

The five columns of the other // preservation cylinders, gleaming like giantlarvae in the wall lights* dusky red glow, stretched to within ten feet of thepassenger seats nestled near the far bulkhead wall. The cylinders* occupantswould soon be emerging. @ach e4cept for the children possessed dual skills insuch fields as carpentry, architecture, farming, community organi)ation, and lawand order. (ll had volunteered and been selected by a 7ualifications reviewingpanel.

The other cylinders in &earce*s row clicked and whirred. Coments later, he



heard $ommander aye 5ullivan, his E=8year8old irst 9fficer whom he*d admiredfor several years and called 5ull, say in a hoarse whisper, “'f this worked, '*m asi48legged @aster bunny."

5he*d donned a jumpsuit identical to his e4cept for her commander*s insignia.Her shoulder8length black hair, in Hope's weightlessness, drifted about her headand face like sea grasses in gentle currents. 5hortly it would be bound up on theback of her head.

Her gaunt, blanched appearance gave him a start.

5he smiled. “&retty sure you look every bit as strange as ' do. -ouldn*t worry.1ou*ll get your rugged handsomeness back in no time."

He breathed out in relief. 5he sounded okay and looked as good as could bee4pected. “1eah? 5o will you ' mean, get your, uh, prettiness...back."

5he chuckled. Her pleasant ga)e lingered for another moment, then witheredas she seemed to refocus on their crisis.

“'f things are going as planned," &earce said, “guess we*ll know soon enough.Flad we*re not D9(, wherever we are."

Despite his pre8flight psych counseling, grief sucker8punched him when hereali)ed how much he already missed his parents, his friends, his neighbors.... Heeven missed his daily routine, in which he*d rise early in his lorida coastalbungalow and settle down with his laptop to pore over his writing project, “-hat@T 3eally ooks ike# 2ot 5o Different," drawing from the convergent8evolutiontheory that species from different ta4onomic groups evolve toward a similar form.

He*d taken a research:writing course before starting the project. “+efore laying

down one word," the instructor had said, “do the tough work of amassing allavailable facts and e4amining them carefully, without a jaundiced eye. 5ee wherethey lead." That was the lesson drilled into his head over and over for the ne4t si4weeks.

His eyes stung when he could no longer hold back thoughts of his ill wife (my.He*d spent eight heart8breaking months taking care of her, until she, never asmoker, died of lung cancer in a hospital bed si4 months before Hope left.

(ll this was gone. Caybe unthinkably long gone. +ut his depression over hiswife*s death still gripped his heart in a fist, because the memories still bla)ed freshand painful. He*d somehow have to keep thoughts of her at bay if he was going tofulfill his role as the ship*s captain and the leader of this group.

His thoughts returned to that last meeting with 6ictor (rnold...

(rnold leaned back in his chair and smirked. “Tell me, Cr. $aptain Can, doyou think we humans deserve to live on?"

“5orry?"

“-e*re a failure. -e*re violent, full of hate. (nd what wars haven*t



destroyed, unions have. -ay ' see it, it*s our just desserts we*re getting. @ven if not, you know ;;.; percent of all species have been wiped from the face of the@arth. -hy should it be any different for the human species?"

&earce started to argue back, but (rnold frowned and sat up. “(s you know,the shuttle departs in three days. 3eady your people and their personal effects.

(ll e7uipment and supplies have been loaded."

He retrieved a document from a desk drawer. -ith his flattened hand, hepushed it across his desk. “5igned by the pre), the vice8pre), and the speakerof the house. 't transfers all government powers and authority to you effectivelaunch date. The guards will ask to see it."

He slumped back and ga)ed off to the side of &earce, his eyes distant, hisface slack. 't was as if everything had been drained out of him. “That*s it. Cylast words to you?" He flipped his hand at &earce. “%ust leave."

9utside the office, the $aptain paused inches from the closed door.

“+astard," he said, not caring if the soldiers heard. (rnold had nevertrafficked in warmth, he knew, recalling the gift of a broken nose (rnold hadbestowed on a union leader who refused to end a strike. +ut this was the firsttime he*d given &earce the genuine scum8bag treatment.

He sighed. (rnold*s bitterness must have deepened after the man learnedhis psychological profile “not8so8latent hostile tendencies" had classifiedhim unfit for the journey and that all was lost for him and soon he would bedead....

( figure approached. 't was ieutenant $ommander (ngela Dia), Hope's light

5urgeon and counselor. “9n the wrong side of =/," as she put it, she preferred thetag “Doc" over “t. $ommander." 'n the weeks before launch, she discussed witheveryone ways to cope with what lay ahead though she*d admitted what layahead wasn*t something she herself could easily imagine.

2ear8)ombie8looking like everyone else, Doc apparently had already come toterms with their staggering achievement to this point. 5he smoothed out her whitesmock with one hand and frowned at the med scanner held in the other. +oth thesmock and the scanner had been pulled from one of the wall storage unitscontaining small items of direct need.

>(hhh! 2o wearable scans am ' e4pected to do great things with this retro

piece of crap? orget it!"

5he sighed, then studied the $aptain over the top of her glasses.

>2ot going to go all stoic on me, are you? ' need the truth about the $aptain not that ' can do much for you. How are you coming along?"

He flicked a finger toward her scanner. “-eight considerations, natch. Custhave beat out the latest version by at least a milligram. Hey, '*ve been shakenworse than a Coscow Cule just like all the rest of us, to answer your 7uestion."



He waved off her offer to scan his vitals. “$an*t really trust D93'5 a whole lotwith her limited med capability, but '*m good with her minimally green8lighting me.Damn near feel fine, now that '*ve stopped marinating in my misery"

“1ou*re probably lying through your choppers, but you*re the boss on this littleventure. 'n fact, you*re our new president"

“' prefer *$aptain* or *$ap.* ook, ' need you to get moving to see if anypassengers were hurt during our rough ride. Then have all personnel e4cept mycrew secured in the rear seats to wait for my instructions from the cockpit."

5he gauged him for another second, then nodded a “got it," the motionblooming her grey8streaked, pony8tailed hair. 5he headed toward the civilianpassengers as purposefully as her mag8boots would allow.

“%ust remember," she said without looking back, “my prehistoric med gearmeans we*ll run into trouble if there*s an emergency. $ontagion or such."

5he stopped, turned his way again. “9h, D93'5 says it*s above ;/ degrees

ahrenheit in most of the desirable landing sites in the summer hemisphere. +eglad you scratched me from your away8team because of my low heat tolerance.9therwise, you wouldn*t have made old bones."

&earce remembered her condition. 'f the landing site turned out to be a hothouse, she*d stay inside for the remaining days of the ship*s cooler interior,venturing out on short stints only as necessary. -hy make her suffer before shehad to?

“Think of me as having a hot bod," she said. 5he wriggled her fingers at himand moved on.

He levered himself off the pad and let his mag8boots engage. He watchedDia)* less8than8graceful retreat heel8toe, heel8toe. 2ow that the lights hadbrightened up, his ga)e drifted past Doc to the stirring civilians. Cost were fle4ingtheir limbs, talking, and e4amining themselves and each other. 5ome were high8fiving a good sign. +ut more than a few stood bent and sobbing uncontrollably.Dia) would have to don her psych hat again.

@vidently doing fine was AG8year8old ieutenant Tom 3oss, uniformed andfle4ing his joints at his cylinder on the other side of $ommander 5ullivan*s. Hisdark8brown hair billowed atop his rangy, si48foot8three frame.

-hen penciled in for &roject 5urvival, 3oss had been serving for nearly a year as a combat flight instructor at 2aval (ir 5tation ey -est. +efore the 2avy, hehad trained in emergency care. To maintain his medical skills, he had oftenvolunteered at the 2(5 ey -est hospital.

He stopped fle4ing and planted his eyes on A=8year8old @nsign 9livia (ppletonstanding at the cylinder ne4t to his.

“*Corning, ivvy," he said with a grin. “5leep well? 5ay, just wondering you jonesing for me again yet? 9r still working that same old attack8doggy stuff of



we hope oh8so8long ago?"

5he gave her jumpsuit a yank at the hips, then the knees.

our months prior to launch, (ppleton had been transferred from 3adiation5afety Training to 2(5 ey -est as one of 3oss*s combat8flight students. 5hesoon found herself romantically involved with the ieutenant.

“&roblem with your onesie?" 3oss said. “Too small, probably."

“Don*t crank me so soon, Tommy8boy. ' attack only he who*s got it coming. Fostick your 3oman nose in somebody else*s business."

5he turned her back on him, swirling her russet hair, shoulder8length in gravity,into a floating mess around her head. +anding it at the back, she said, “+y theway, did you have to watch me dress?"

3oss*s face contorted. “5till flying on angry. Fot some deep scar tissue, y*knowthat, (ppleworm? 9h, a by8the8way for you# 2othing ' haven*t seen before."

&earce*s jaw dropped. He couldn*t believe what he was hearing. +oth of them,without acknowledging anyone else around them, and despite the nightmarethey*d all been through and the hellish uncertainty still awaiting them, were pickingup right where they*d left off on the day Hope launched.

He*d heard the back8story on the couple, how their marriage plans had beenwhacked a few weeks before departure.

@arly one morning (ppleton had wanted to surprise 3oss with a carry8outbreakfast from a restaurant on the base where they and the rest of Hope's passengers were secretly se7uestered and being prepared.

(pproaching 3oss*s small condo in her car, she spotted him outsidestanding beside a white 5B6, a long8haired blonde at the wheel. 3oss bentand kissed the woman, then stood waving as she pulled away.

3oss e4plained that she was a close cousin he*d grown up with. 5he*dobtained permission to stop by and congratulate him on his engagement andsee him one last time before leaving to be with her family.

(ppleton sneered. “(nd if ' called her, '*d hear a lie you two concocted justin case."

'n despair over a string of bad relationships that included a brief marriage,

she had been convinced she*d mindlessly dived into this latest one as a sort ofsolace for the horrors awaiting her and everyone else. 5he*d given back thrown back the ring 3oss supposedly still carried in a )ipped pocket.

Hearing the story, &earce had worried the couple might be a problem, but itwas too late to find and prepare replacements.

He gestured for the two and $ommander aye 5ullivan to follow him.

“D93'5, open the cockpit door."



-hen they entered the low8lit compartment, the bickering between 3oss and (ppleton evaporated. (ll eyes riveted on the scene occupying most of a sideviewing window# the huge, bright, fu))y arc of the planet*s night side against theblack oblivion of space.

&earce and 5ullivan took the two forward seats at the curved instrument panel.

“5till having a hard time processing this," she said.&earce pulled the $aptain*s og from his safe and began his update, his

trembling hand a hindrance.

“D93'5," 5ullivan said, “start scanning for a suitable landing site toaccommodate our humanly needs. 'nclude in your search evidence of metaldeposits in case we survive long enough to recreate the +ron)e (ge."

5he e4pelled her breath and keyed on the chronometer.

“2o need to be reminded," (ppleton said, her voice low and taut, >but ourdeparture date was (ugust , A/EG"

>Then why remind" 3oss said.

“Cy birthday."

“+race yourself." 5ullivan toggled a switch.

3oss snorted. “$ruel joke*s all '*m bracing for."

3ed lights sputtered behind a read8out panel. 2umbers that were beingcalculated from a shielded radioactive8decay8based “clock" racedincomprehensibly fast.

(n agoni)ing nine seconds later, they stopped. The cockpit*s occupants satdumb8founded.

“D93'5, cockpit only," &earce said, laying aside his log without taking his eyesoff the numbers. “rom your own internal system, can you independently confirmthe date we see?" His breathing halted as he waited for what seemed an eternity.

“The current @arth time and date," D93'5 replied without the reverberationnormally heard throughout the ship, “are as follows# E#A0, -ednesday,December ;, E;,/AE."

&earce felt his cheek twitch. He looked at the commander. 5he looked at him.2either spoke.

He knew the (' wasn*t // percent error free. “D93'5, scrub your date andtime data, recalculate, and give us just the @arth year."

Three seconds later# “The @arth year, $aptain &earce, is E;,/AE."

3oss whistled softly. “9ne mind8melting long time to be mothballed."

The $aptain pressed. “D93'5, state the distance traveled, and 'D this planet."

“Distance traveled# A/.=G light years. &lanet# Fliese =<g."



“D93'5, ' assume your 'D is based on the atmospheric signature and theplanet*s location in the F25."

“That is correct, $aptain. To be brief, Hope's position8shift relative to thelocations of The Twenty &ulsars in the Falactic 2avigation 5ystem*s 5ub83egionTwo corresponds to the e4act distance and direction from @arth to this star."

“-as that brief?" (ppleton said. 2erves speaking?5ullivan, a frown on her face, glanced back at (ppleton and 3oss. “2ice to see

you two paying attention to something besides each other. +eneficial to oursurvival."

>'f anyone wants to let the tears flow," &earce said, his own nerves on fire, “orthrow up, go ahead. -e can forget we*re suck8it8up military for a moment."

“&lease. 9nly a moment," 3oss said.

“5uitable landing site," D93'5 said, “located in an otherwise hilly terrain nearan ocean. 't satisfies your parameters."

5ullivan clasped her hands. “Thank Fod. (n ocean."

“-hich," (ppleton said, “we should be able to see coming around very soon atthis speed."

“D93'5," 5ullivan said, “what*s the atmospheric composition relative to@arth*s?" Then to herself in a low, breathing8through8the8teeth voice# “*$ourse, it*sway too late to fret about such things."

“The atmosphere contains /.= percent less nitrogen and nearly si4 percentless o4ygen than @arth*s. The o4ygen is nine percent less than Hope's. 1ou will be

able to adapt with modest side effects that will cease in a short time."“9ne crisis down. How many more?"

“D93'5," &earce said, “forgive me but you and ' are on our first date. -ish 'knew you better. ' do worry about your one8percent unreliability."

“-e all do," 5ullivan told him. “'t*s not like we have a lot of choices." 5hecocked her head at him, a playful smile on her lips. “Tell me, why on @arth wouldyou want to date D93'5 instead of me?"

He chuckled. “+ecause we*re not on @arth?"

'f only for a short time, everyone*s morale seemed to be boosted by their goodluck so far.

He toggled the all8personnel mic. “Doc, what*s up back there? (ny injuries?"Then he thought again of 5ull*s date remark# -as she joking, or using a joke tomask her real feelings? He shoved the idea out of his mind when the depressingimage of his dying wife swam before his eyes and began crushing his buoyancy.

The Doc*s voice cracked on. “@veryone*s settled down now. (ll seem to becoming to grips. 2o serious injuries. %ust arm bruises. 5ome upset stomachs,



headaches things '*d e4pect from the preservation and restoration, not tomention the stress of"

“Food," &earce said. He looked at 5ullivan, who nodded.

“(ttention, everyone. $ommander 5ullivan and ' have just verified that our journey..." he hesitated for effect “...is a success! -e have reached Fliese

=<g!" (fter a full second of silence, the cockpit speaker e4ploded with noise.

&earce checked the time. The three hours the gel needed to be purged fromtheir bodies had elapsed. The four of them could disembark on an e4ploratorymission immediately after landing.

“+uckle up!"

The last thing &earce heard before Hope again smashed into the planet*satmosphere with a deafening roar and a violent shaking was more whoops andapplause.

''

Without mishap, D93'5 set Hope and its /= passengers down on a levelfield of grass, the ship*s huge bulk coming to a rest ne4t to a gently sloping hill.

&earce gripped his armrests and took a couple of deep breaths. Bp until nowthe dangers had pretty much been known. 2ow they weren*t.

ingers shaking, he noted in the $aptain*s log the date and time of the landing.

He hurried aft with his team of three officers to the compartment where thestill8buckled8up civilians and t. $ommander (ngela Dia) were seated. He madea brief, earnest statement about their historic journey. He then told them thatbefore anyone could leave the ship, he and his away team would have tocomplete their mission of e4ploring the ocean coast, searching for drinking water,and determining the area*s security level, weapons at the ready.

“$aptain &earce," D93'5 said, her powerful, metallic voice plangentthroughout the ship, “you need not worry about security. The planet is at a stageroughly comparable to @arths* $ambrian &eriod in the &aleo)oic @ra of =G/

million to =// million years ago. 9nly marine invertebrates likely e4ist."&earce couldn*t hide his annoyance. ( machine telling him what not to worry

about! “Cay be, D93'5, but ' can*t take comfort in your hedge words *roughly* and*likely.* This is an alien world. Bnlike @arth*s $ambrian, it has soil and plants, so itmight also have a velociraptor or two. &lease don*t share your recommendationsthat might get us killed."

Dia), sitting in the front just feet from &earce and his team, said, “D93'5,reconfirm the e4terior temperature."



“2inety8one point three degrees ahrenheit."

“9uch. -ouldn*t do me well at all."

“'*ll need to take a copious supply of drinking water," ieutenant 3oss said.

@nsign (pplegton seemed to regard him as if he were a pile of frass. >-ant todrag along a %ohnny89n8The85pot?"

$huckles rippled across the sea of faces, then once again, nervous8born, itseemed.

The $aptain continued# >-hile my team and ' are away no more than A0hours Dr. (ngela Dia) will mind the helm. 'f we don*t come back, well, you*re incapable hands."

He paused, swept his eyes over the sea of an4ious faces. “There*ll be plenty of time later for all of your 7uestions but ' will take one right now. %ust one."

( hand shot up. 't belonged to A8year8old 3achel Duncan, the daughter of

$harles Duncan, the big brown8bearded 5cot sitting ne4t to her. $harles Duncan,who would don the e4o8skeleton for heavy lifting, had trained as a cyber8securitycop at the 2ational 5ecurity (gency. He could, &earce recalled, run diagnosticson D93'5 if she became too unreliable or turned “spooky," which &earceinterpreted as showing rogue tendencies.

“$aptain, sir," 3achel said with a polite smile, “could anyone on @arth havesurvived the impact?"

The one 7uestion &earce dreaded most.

“1ou*re a brave young girl to ask that." He looked at her dad, who nodded. He

breathed in, collecting his thoughts.“$onsider first the instant massive earth7uakes and shock wave tearing

around @arth*s crust. Caybe a billion were killed in a flash. 9f course, lots ofpeople survived that, but fires, hundreds of millions of them, were sparkedworldwide when the white8hot impact ejecta that was launched high into theatmosphere rained down. That dramatically raised @arth*s temperature globalwarming on steroids and poisoned all the oceans."

He paused. 2ot a soul moved.

“'n the following months, a winter holocaust developed, created by the shroud

of ash and to4ic chemicals that spread globally, blocking sunlight, endingphotosynthesis, and putting @arth into deep8free)e. 3emember, this asteroid wasthree times larger than the one that wiped out the dinosaurs I=8million years ago.The consensus was that it had too much speed and mass for our nukes or lasercannons to have an effect. 5o to answer your 7uestion, no no one could*vesurvived for long, no matter how deep underground."

He looked down at the floor, pushed the edge of a thumbnail back and forthacross his forehead a couple of times.



“'*ll say out loud what probably most of you have already accepted." ightingback tears, he could barely get his mouth to form the words. “@arth as we knew itis gone."

3achel Duncan*s smile had not left her face, but it had left her eyes.

'''

Captain %ason &earce and his team of three, each with a backpack, advanceddown Hope's ramp. The utter absence of sounds, e4cept from their boots,surprised him. 2o, disturbed him. -ere eyes watching from the adjacent hill*ssporadic baobab8like trees? 9r from close8up, from the tall lime8green grassblanketing the field Hope had set down on? Had their scent already beendetected by a hunger8cra)ed, velociraptor8like carnivore baring ten8inch teeth?-ould this beast any second now come galloping over the top of the hill,smashing down every tree in its path to get to them?

He eased his hand up to his weapon. The 7uietness, he hoped, meant theship*s roaring retros had scared away every creature within ten klicks.

( warm, easterly bree)e lapped against the side of his sweaty face. Hethought he caught the salty whiff of ocean water. The familiar smell, along with thepossibility one of their mission goals was achievable, notched his stomach8churning down a bit.

The planet*s red8dwarf, early8morning sun peeked over the hori)on betweendistant silhouetted mountains forming claws and sharks* teeth. 'ts peach8orangeradiance shot long, black shadow8fingers across the landscape.

9verhead, shards of mauve and pink clouds stretched across the blue8greensky. 2early opposite the sun, just clearing the hill8top, was the tiny pair of faint,milky8silver disks that were the planet*s moons.

The heel of his hand still rested on his weapon. 3aking his ga)e from side toside, he led his team G= yards out to the foot of the hill. He took two deep breaths,as much to vent his tension as to gauge how his lungs would cope with the air.“-ell?"

The other three glanced at their surroundings, then at each other. Theyshrugged and nodded. (ppleton said, “-hat difference does it make?"

“9livia," &earce said, “your clunky old Feiger*s acting civil. (nother win."

3oss had come upon the yellow, black8trimmed Feiger counter in a cluttered,musty backroom of the base anti7ue store. 't was in perfect working condition.

(fter cleaning it to a shine, he*d given it to (ppleton figuring she*d love it, and shedid. “'t*s older than ' am," she*d said, giving 3oss a hug. “'*ll keep it forever."

5o far she*d had kept it for EG,/// years.



-ith her free hand, she e4tracted her weapon. Twice a red8hot line hissed, andtwo smoldering foot8deep holes were seared out high on the hill.

“( double8tap of that*ll give our velociraptors something to ponder," she said.

3oss*s grin was copious. >-hat a sharp8shooter! Hit the broad side of amountain standing right ne4t to it."

&earce hailed (ngela Dia) on his comm. “Doc, so far the air*s good to go.Hopefully long8term."

“...+ig relief," the five8by8five voice said. “Don*t die out there. ' don*t want your job."

“Heading out. Five me // percent antenna. Have a rescue team on standby. (nd start unstrapping and moving essentials to the off8load deck."

“$opy that, $aptain. Food hunting. +u)) me if you find something interesting as if nothing on the planet were."

&earce pulled his palm computer from the side of his backpack, studied anaerial scan downloaded by D93'5.

“The ocean*s that way, about three klicks," he said, pointing toward the top ofthe hill. “Half that distance up the coast is a feeder river. Hopefully with decentwater. 9ne problem on the other side of this hill, standing between us and theocean# a pretty dense forest containing who knows what."

The three seemed to reflect on that with minimal angst.

“9ne bit of good news," &earce said. “The scan*s grainy hey, taken at nearlyA/8thou kph but it looks like we*ll pass near that possible metal8ore deposit

D93'5 detected. 'f we find it, maybe we can chisel out a few chunks for analysis.+ron)e (ge, here we come. (gain."

3oss jostled his backpack higher on his shoulders, nodding toward the hill.“2eed me to carry you, (pple 9f Cy @ye?"

Her snicker erupted in a way that told &earce she was more nervous than shewas letting on. ike he was.

“5urprised you think ' need you for anything. &retend you*re nice and 7uit whileyou*re way behind."

$ommander 5ullivan gave first (ppleton, then 3oss, a sour look. “$an you two

not just...not? Try keeping your eyeballs on the surroundings, not on each other."

The three officers fell in line up the hill behind &earce. The $aptain, feeling thewarmth of the rising orange sun and the ;/8degree temp, wound through waist8high thickets of brush. -hen they reached the spine of the hill, a silver curve ofocean water sparkled in the low sun just beyond the forest looming dark at thehill*s bottom.

&earce jammed the small field glasses he*d been using into a side pocket.



He*d spotted nothing curious and detected no movement within a </8degreerange.

He put a finger to his lips. “et*s move."

“1up," (ppleton said in a low voice. “2ot good to ring the dino dinner bell,especially when skylined."

They descended to the line of towering broad8leaf flora bordering the forest.

>eave a trail," &earce said. “9ur butts might need saving. nives out.-eapons in the other hand." He eased into the dark forest.

or the ne4t hour, they weaved through multi8colored under8brush andchopped lower limbs off the tall flora. They hacked as if a swing too hard mightbring a herd of ravenous creatures down on top of them. 9n occasion theypaused to inspect and smell various odd8looking vegetation, with an alert eye onthe broader environment and weapons in tight grips.

(lthough the sun had climbed higher, the light reaching the forest floor was still

less than optimal.

“-asn*t a mountain ' hit," 9livia whispered. “( hill."

3oss looked at her, continuing to step forward. “-hat?" (s he turned his headback, he said, “or crying out" and walked his face into tree limb, the encounteraudible. He grunted and clasped a hand against his nose.

“The bad news for me?" &earce said. “1ou*ll survive. Damn it, pay attention."

2inety minutes later and tiring, they entered a tennis8court8si)ed clearing ofdark soil, green grassy patches, and a loamy scent. 't sprawled at the base of a

treed slope whose dimensions were hidden by the tree density.&earce dispatched sweat from his brow. “-e*re all breathing heavy. et*s take

a beat and eat. (fterwards, ' want to spend a little time scouting for the metal ore.5upposed to be right around here somewhere."

3oss swilled from this canteen, the second time in the last half hour. &earcewondered if he*d considered slowing down.

-eapons were holstered and backpacks lowered. $ommander 5ullivan, handson her hips, surveyed the forest up the slope and around the clearing.

“2ot a single little critter scurrying around anywhere. Caybe ;;8percent8

accurate D93'5 is right."

(ppleton*s lips did a borderline8rude raspberry burst. “&retty sure her faultyone percent was dominant on that. Cy money says the little critters would behunted by the big critters during the day, so they dig in till night."

“Cakes sense," 5ullivan said, “e4cept where are the big"

“Doc," &earce said after hitting his comm, “no threats to report yet. 2egatronon breathing issues. 2o worse than the Cile8High $ity. -hy not go ahead and



start off8loading after you harden up around the ship, establish a perimeter,sensor fence."

“How wonderful to copy that," Dia) said.

>3emember to always close the airlock behind you, coming and going."

“Don*t have to worry about that." -as there a dollop of sarcasm in her voice?

(ppleton took her weapon back in hand. >There, see? The $ap feels the sameway. Doesn*t want a five8ton meat8eating thingy wandering on board looking for aneasy meal." 5he raised her brows. “Cake sense too?"

3oss apparently couldn*t stop himself. “Ceat8eating thingy? Tell me, when youwere a kid not terribly long ago, factoring out our little trip across the void didyour nightmares turn you into a bed8wetter?"

Her eyebrows gathered. “9dd thing to say."

3oss turned away, headed up the slope. “3eminds me. Foing to the potty."

>2ot surprised, water8holic," 5ullivan said under her breath. “-atch your step. (nd stay mindful of meat8eating...thingies."

3oss*s fist pumped. “2ot to worry. 2o thingies on this planet!"

“amous last words," (ppleton said to 5ullivan. To 3oss, a soft yell# “5houldthe $ap go with you? Hold your hand and talk encouragement?"

(s 3oss continued to climb, his fist reappeared and sprouted a middle finger.He boomed, “unny! ike the hemorrhoid you are." ive seconds later, hevanished up into the forest.

&earce shook his head. “-ell, if the thingies didn*t know about us before"

“1ou know," $ommander 5ullivan said to (ppleton, frowning, “' worry aboutdangerous creatures, too. +ut honestly, if a T83e4 came crashing through here, 'don*t think either you or Tom would notice."

$aptain &earce eyed one, then the other. “$how time."

They plopped down and pulled water and C3@s from their backpacks.

“-hat delicious, synthesi)ed entrees do we have for our first meal in morethan a thousand centuries?" (ppleton asked. 5he wriggled around into an alertface8out guard position and leaned against her backpack, C3@ in her lap and

weapon on the ground by her hip.“$hicken and roast beef," 5ullivan said. “+ut word is they taste the same."

(ppleton clucked her tongue. “5o one could say we have...chicken andchicken?"

“9r roast beef and roast beef." 5ullivan put up a finger. “2o, wait, '*m goingwith a mJlange of roasted"

&earce sighed. “(ny chance you two can just eat?"



$hewing his tasteless C3@, he rose and wandered over to the edge of theclearing. He scanned a broad range of the woods, trying to detect an area wherethe metal ore if that was what D93'5 had found might manifest itself. He thenreturned to his spot and sat down again, convinced they*d never find the ore andso shouldn*t waste valuable time looking for it.

(ppleton half8turned his way. ( smile played on her lips.

“Foing to write us up in your $aptain*s og?" 5he glanced off &earce to thesky, and her smile collapsed. &ewter clouds had scudded in, darkening theclearing. -ith a little shudder, she refocused on the surrounding forest.

5ullivan did a slow look8around, saying to &earce, “(cting silly it*s a reliefvalue, %ason. ' guess that*s how"

“Hey," (ppleton said. “' just reali)ed the smell of this crappy food couldattract“

( rapid crunching sound stilled her. Her hand arced to her weapon.

“3ela4," &earce said. “Tom*s finished killing vegetation."

(ppleton had a wicked grin. “new that. -as just going to gra)e his ear forpractice. Have to be sharp if a velociraptor shows up for a meet and eat."

3oss loped down into full view. “Tell *em, (pple. 1ou missed me. 1ou alwaysmiss me. (lways will, right?"

5he wagged her weapon. “True, '*ll always miss you just barely becausestockade."

“$*mon, admit it, you still have a few embers burning for Whoa!”

ive yards upslope, his foot whipped out from under him. He collapsed ontohis side with a heavy thud and rolled into the clearing, ending up three feet from

(ppleton.

“(www, still alive. +ummer, dude" was the @nsign*s dry offering after she*dgiven 3oss a 7uick once8over and lifted her head again toward the cloud cover.

“5orry to disappoint you, ivvy the i)ard." He scrambled to his feet. His eyessought out the spot where he*d tripped.

5ullivan shook her head. “Tom, what is the matter with you? The secondaccident in, what, two hours? This is not you. 1our last commander high8marked

you for vigilance and agility. 'f you and 9livia weren*t always at each other*sthroat, you would*ve had a better eye on where you were stepping. 1ou could*vehurt yourself and jeopardi)ed our mission."

“Duly noted, ma*am. 2ow what the hell did '?"

He hustled back up the incline and dropped to his knees ne4t to somethingdark poking out of the downward side of a mound of forest8floor debris. Henudged away the little sticks and leathery, mi4ed8colored leaves covering the



object.

“Hey, take a look at this. $hunk of metal sticking out of the ground, looks like."

“The metal deposit D93'5 picked up?" 5ullivan asked.

“9h!" &earce said, striding up the slope. “%ust when '*d given up thinking we*dfind it."

“Caybe a meteor," 5ullivan said as she and (ppleton joined them.

“Ceteorite*s the word you want, ma*am," (ppleton said. “1'."

3oss looked at 5ullivan with a scowl. “5he does that. $orrects people. 1'."

“2uh8huh," (ppleton said under her breath for all to hear. “(nother unforcederror."

“Bnclench, you two," 5ullivan said. “@nough of the insult8fest."

(fter she let that sink in, her lips formed the tiniest smile. “5idebar comment# 'do believe you two are still in love and trying like the devil to hide the fact."

-hile 3oss and (ppleton protested in unison, &earce and 5ullivan looked ateach other. The color had returned to her cheeks and she looked beautiful still abit fra))led, but beautiful. 't hit him. -as he hiding something, not just from herbut from himself as well? Did he have budding feelings for her? Had he begunmaking a transfer from a love no longer possible, his wife, to one that was? -as5ullivan hiding the same kind of feelings about him? Fuilt and embarrassmentclamped down on him, and he pushed the thoughts away.

“Cates," he said, “focus." His inde4 finger pecked toward the object.

The protrusion was oblong, its rounded, A8inch8thick tip e4tending eightinches or so down8slope at an angle parallel to level ground.

“Too smooth for a meteorite," (ppleton said. 5he had knelt on the sideopposite 3oss and now wiped away the remaining soil from the dark8grey surface.“'t*s not radioactive, if you*re about to ask. Cy Feiger*s 7uiet, like ' wish Tomwould always be."

3oss ignored her. 5uddenly trying to be an officer and a gentleman?

&earce bobbed his chin at him. “5ee if you can jog it loose."

3oss grasped the object with both hands and pulled with increasing e4ertion,

until his face was blotchy red and his neck veins stood out like cords. Keromovement.

(ppleton peeled away from the group and returned three minutes later with anarm8load of small collapsible shovels taken from their packs. “et*s dig."

Dirt was heaved in all directions. The pungent smell of damp soil and semi8rotted leaves hung in the air. Twenty minutes later, four times as much of themetal was e4posed.



“5haping up to be right8triangular," &earce said.

3oss scowled. “-here does this thing end?"

The more they dug, the farther they had to e4cavate up into the slope in bothdepth and width.

9n his knees and sweating in the heat, &earce took a hard look. (bout seven

feet of the object lay e4posed. True enough, it was smooth, polished, and shapedlike a right triangle. -ith his ne4t thought, the hairs on the back of his neckbristled.

He pushed to his feet. 'nhaling with care, he regarded the other three.

“This thing pretty obvious it*s an artificial structure, made by civili)ed beingshere."

He let his shovel drop, then half8stumbled backwards down the slope a fewfeet.

“( better guess it was made by e4traterrestrials who came here thousands of years ago, from who8knows8what planet. 'n fact, if '*m right, this thing is how theygot here. This," he said, arcing his arm, “is part of an ancient alien spacecraft."

(ppleton*s lips parted.

3oss blinked. “-ha...? 1ou mean we have ourselves a real (rea =, only Alight8years east of the phony one?"

“5ull?" &earce said. “ook like the tip of a wing or tail fin to you?"

5he pushed the back of her hand across her forehead. “1es, yes. -as afraidto say."

“( first encounter....," (ppleton said, ama)ement on her face.

&earce keyed his comm.

“Fo ahead, %ason," Dr. Dia) said after a few long seconds.

He kept his voice and breathing steady. “How about a progress report."

“5ensor fence up. 9ff8loaded some priority items# dome homes, food, water.$harles Duncan is doing the heavy lifting in his e4o8skel"

“Food. Doc, go private. 1ou said bu)) you if we found something interesting.3eady?" He described their discovery, then heard silence. “Doc?"

“...Here!"

“' know. 'ncredible. +ut ' need you to keep a lid on this for now. 't*d create anuproar, maybe a lot of fear. They need to stay focused on their tasks."

“(gree."

“' want to get inside this thing," he said, “assuming there*s more to it thanmeets the eye."



'f it was a stabili)er fin, it had better be the hori)ontal stabili)er. 9therwise, thecraft would be on its side and likely in pieces, limiting or prohibiting interiormovement.

&earce tried to calm down, keep his heart from racing. “'*m hoping we cane4tract useful e7uipment and technology if everything isn*t too degraded and wecan work around the alien language“

“(h, yes, minor things like that."

“Doc, listen, we need help. Deploy a crew of four or five, e7uipped with all thee4cavating tools available. (nd e4plosives, $0, whatever. 2eed four head lamps,o4ygen tanks, masks. 'nclude Duncan in your crew. -e need his e4o to removetrees. They*ll see our path on the other side of the hill. 1ou can*t tell them why 'need them. 9ut."

'6

When the crew sent by Dr. Dia) entered the clearing, = feet of the object layvisible within the three8sided, ever8widening cavity, now seven feet high at itsuppermost point.

The crew stopped, their faces fro)en. Then they erupted into fast8clip, back8and8forth chatter#

>$an you believe this?"

>$an*t be possible!"

>-hat the hell is it?"

Duncan lumbered over to &earce in his e4oskeleton. He was a tall, intimidatingfigure with cable8operated arms and legs powered by a back8positioned fuel cell.The outfit rendered Duncan, at I8foot8five and looking capable of wrestling agri))ly to the ground without the e4o8skeleton, G= times stronger.

&earce greeted the man, who gave a nod and fi4ated again on the sight beforethem.

“2o need to e4plain," Duncan said, waving a hand. “'*ve processed it. -asn*teasy."

“'*d like you to first try to dislodge it. Caybe a wing or fin*s all there is, at least in

this area"

“$harles!" ieutenant Tom 3oss called out. “or warm8up why don*t you hurl9livia over the trees into the ocean." His crooked grin said he savored his little

joke and being an officer and a gentleman was out.

9livia (ppleton, standing fifteen feet away, twirled a finger. “+)))t. 2o 7uestion you*re the anchor holding my ship back."

@yeing &earce, Duncan chuckled. “2avyspeak for *1ou*re a drag*? +ring these



two along for comic relief? 2ot a bad idea. Heard them right out of the bo4, so tospeak. Fenuine tension breaker for a lot of us."

&earce thought about that. He had to admit the couple*s 7uibbling sometimesamused as much as annoyed, and so on occasion did provide him a bit of relieffrom the stress. Caybe it did the same for the two of them. Caybe escape fromtheir nightmarish reality was the unconscious reason they acted like kids, as5ullivan had said. How ironic. The two people he*d pegged to get on everyone*snerves might actually be helping, in some small way, to prevent everyone*s nervesfrom unraveling as they engaged their new, frightening world. (nd the big burly$harles Duncan had recogni)ed this before he had.

“-hen ' found out they were neurotics," &earce said, “it was too late to throwthem back into the sewer."

He dispatched another member of Dia)* crew to check out the other side of theslope. Caybe another wing or fin was protruding there.

Duncan strode away to the huge slab of grey metal with surprising fluidity. Hise4oskeleton*s cables and pulleys chirped and chirred as the titanium8carbonrankenstein thudded across the forest floor. He stopped at the tip that hoursearlier had sent 3oss rolling like a bag of potatoes down the slope. He crouched,then e4tended a mechanical hand underneath and flattened it up against themetal. He tapped a red, nickel8si)ed button on his chest8plate. This activated forI/ seconds the powerful magnet in the left hand to prevent slippage. He reachedunder with his free hand and clasped it over the other.

He strained upward. The e4oskeleton*s “muscles" protested with jerky fits andstarts. Three more frustrating attempts and Duncan erected himself.

“That would*ve flipped over a bull elephant."

(s asked, Duncan cleared trees from the slope to a distance of some 0/ feetabove the cavity. (n immediate benefit# more light filtering through in the waningday.

The crewmember returned from the other side of the slope with nothing toreport. &earce instructed an e4plosives duo to insert low8power $0 packs withblasting caps into the soil several feet above the metal. He then scurried off,shooing everyone away. Ten seconds passed. Then# three loud bangs. Dirt,stones, and root pieces flew high into the air, rained down and clattered on the

metal surface.“%ason!" &earce did a little jump. Dia) had barked over his comm.

“Talk to me, Doc."

“Fot an ill civilian. 2ot one of those who were sick after restoration. 2othingserious ' don*t think. Cild nausea. ow8grade temp. -eakness."

&earce hesitated. “The lower o4ygen?"

“9ne of the teens. Hasn*t gone out yet."



“-hat about psychological after8effects? &T5?"

“eave the guess8work to me, please. '*m not overly concerned at the moment.-ill continue to monitor. '*ll try immunity enhancers and antibiotics, but '*ll have togo sparingly. %ust wanted to give you a heads8up."

“*&reciate it."

He hurried back up the slope. He told the regathered shovelers, including3oss and (ppleton, to remove the debris pile8up on the metal and set moree4plosives.

$ommander 5ullivan appeared at his side. (s she plucked debris from her hair and jumpsuit, &earce told her about ill teen. He then asked her to dispatch a pairfrom Dia)* group to the coast to find the ingress river and test the water.

Two hours later, some =/ feet of the metal lay e4posed in the massively dug8out slope.

$harles Duncan stood on the structure with a shovel in his hand, facing the dirt

wall rising two feet above his head and oo)ing tendrils of smoke. He rammed theshovel blade into the soil at waist level. ( dull clank rang out.

@veryone fro)e, eyes on Duncan*s shovel, buried about twelve inches into thedirt. 3ock? 9r metal? Duncan did several more thrusts along a roughly level line.@ach time, the same unvarying clank. Definitely a metal8on8metal clank.

( grin cut across Duncan*s face.

“Food work!" &earce said.

The e4plosives duo inserted a series of small $0 packs into the bank si4 feet

above the e4panse of metal. +ut &earce signaled them to hold on. The teen boy*sillness returned to mind, and a thought chilled him# -hat if any alien remainsinside harbored pathogens they had no immunity against? -as he about to open&andora*s bo4?

$ommander 5ullivan drew up from behind. Her brown eyes measured him.“(fraid your curiosity will assassinate the cat."

“5hould ' be rolling the dice with the few human lives left, after what we*vegone through and been given a second chance?"

Her hand touched his arm. 't had been there often, helping to assuage his

misery in the months before and after his wife died. He remembered howcomforting the gesture was, and felt grateful for 5ullivan*s kindness. -hen shetouched him, was it her way of showing she cared for him as more than a friend?9r was it just her style of communicating?

or the first time, to his surprise, wondering about her did not loose a painfulswell of guilt in him.

“1ou know as well as ' do we can*t ignore this," she said. “5ooner or later, we*llgo inside to e4tract any needed materiel." Her touch changed to a slight s7uee)e.



“5o it might as well be now while everything*s in place and a minimum of us aree4posed. -e*ll take precaution, hang back for a while after we come out. 'fsomething goes wrong, there are still nearly // others back at the"

( si))le on his communicator interrupted.

“Fo, Doc. -hat*s the good news?"

“1ou*ll have to get that from somebody else," Dia)* tinny voice said at his ear.“The teen has worsened. (nd five more have become ill. 5ame symptoms. 2ow'*m concerned. (bout a contagion."

&earce felt his stomach rising in his throat. -eren*t the &ilgrims nearly wipedout early on by disease, as well as by starvation? -as a wipe8out awaiting Hope'speople? Ater all they'd been through?

“' don*t have a lot of arrows in my 7uiver," Dia) said. “$an*t do a properdiagnosis, not even comparative blood tests or a panel for to4icology. (nd not asingle o4imeter on this ship to measure blood o4ygen. ' feel like an <th8century

7uack."&earce heard her sigh, then say, “' fed all the known facts to D93'5, knowing

full well she wasn*t programmed for this kind of work. 5he was just a little morehelpful than my magboots. Tells me only if a brain and heart are *2ormal* or *2ot2ormal*"

“(ltitude sickness?"

“5poken like a true muggle."

“$ould we have brought a flu bug with us?"

“9h, do keep guessing. (ctually, some of the symptoms do mimic influen)a fever, weakness, fainting. 3emember, before launch Hope was scrubbed and allof us were found to be free of anything more than a cold. (s for harmful agents onthe planet that might cause sepsis, my chem detector glad ' have that hasn*tfound any. ' may give one or two more of them antibiotics to see if ' get adifference in"

“-hat about radioactivity in the soil, though 9livia hasn*t detected any yet?"

“The symptoms would be very different. +ut it*s an alien world. -e checkedanyway, A// yards out in every direction. (bout =/ samples taken with the soiltester we thankfully have. ' can test the soil better than ' can my patients! The sick

didn*t go anywhere the others didn*t go. Didn*t do anything out of the ordinary."

“This does not inspire confidence. -ant us to come back?"

“(nd do what? Fet sick so ' can 7uarantine you, too? 'f that*s an alien craft,put on your masks and go in there. Caybe we can trick out whatever mede7uipment you find, if we can figure out the alien language and tech. Fotta go."

&earce called 3oss and (ppleton over and briefed them and 5ullivan on Dia)*reports on the mysterious disease. (fter they*d recovered somewhat from the



blow, he waved a go8ahead at the e4plosives team.

( minute later, light dirt and debris showered down. &earce, having crouchedbehind a tree, rose, took one step forward and stopped. His lips parted but hecouldn*t say anything. @4posed was a si)able curved wall of dark8grey metal thatdispelled all doubt about whether here on this planet was a long8buried alien craft.

'n the fading daylight, something grabbed his attention# the indistinct outline ofa door! His heart pounded. (ccess to the interior.

The door*s si)e suggested a maintenance and:or escape hatch. +oth the si)eand the door*s position convinced &earce the structure they had dug out belowthe door was a tail fin, a hori)ontal stabili)er. &earce felt an e4citement he hadn*te4perienced since he was a young kid at $hristmastime.

-hile everyone else gawked in silence, he bridged the fin to the hull andwiped away the dirt along the door*s edges. He called out to the e4plosives team,“How a small dabble of $0 on each side?"

&earce told everyone the escaping air might be no4ious, and to stay // feetaway until he gave the all8clear.

( few minutes later, the e4ploding $0 warped the door but left it attached andunopened. The gaps would let Duncan wrench it off.

Twenty8five minutes later, &earce could wait no longer. He nodded at 9livia (ppleton. 5he strapped on her 9A tank and mask and carried her Feiger to withinfive yards of the hull. The Feiger began chirping. &earce gasped at the dreadedsound.

“Harmless," (ppleton said in a loud, muffled voice. “9nly nine microsieverts.

9n @arth, average natural background yields two. 1ou get four to << with a dentalL8ray. 5ource is probably a well8shielded nuclear engine, since this is the onlyarea that has tickled my needle."

“The green light," 5ullivan said at &earce*s side.

&earce flipped a hand at Duncan. “Frip and rip!" He swallowed. The moment of truth.

9n the fin, Duncan inserted the rivet8jointed fingers into a gap on each side ofthe 0/8inch8wide door. He pulled. Cetal groaned and screeched, the soundsrippling through the forest like the keening cries of strange beasts. The door

snapped free of its internal hinges and anti8blast moorings. Duncan carried it,parts dangling, out of the way to the side of the fin, where he laid it down.

'n the dimness of dusk, &earce saw a vertical rectangle of ominous black. Hisspine tingled. This was it, human beings* first encounter with e4traterrestrials,dead though they were. (t the very least, it was a first encounter with alientechnology. ( pretty good second best.

3oss and (ppleton, her mask removed, rejoined &earce and 5ullivan.



“-e*re all going in," the $aptain said. “9livia, ' obviously need you, to continuerad8checking. ' need Tom*s medic background if somebody gets hurt most likelyhimself. (nyway, four sets of eyes beat two. (ll right, tool up. Tom, grab your med8pack. @verybody, masks, tanks, head lamps. -eapons we have but shouldn*tneed."

Dia)* voice sputtered# “there, $aptain?"

“Doc!" he said, "*raid to talk to you!"

“1ou wanted good news. Fot some, but it*s 7ualified. Cy sick8bay numbers arestill growing eight more have ac7uired the symptoms. The good news, three ofthe first ones appear to have stabili)ed."

“The ones that received antibiotics?"

“They were the last ones brought in. They*ve deteriorated somewhat."

“Hmm. &art good news, part bad. 's that what you meant by *7ualified*?"

“2o. 9ver the years, '*ve seen a lot of people stabili)e like this and evenimprove only to relapse and die."

&earce took a breath. “3ight, shouldn*t get too optimistic. (ll we can do is playwait and see, ' guess. -e do have an uplifter here. 't*s a tail fin and it*s attachedto a hull that looks to be in good shape. ( door*s already open."

>'t*ll be hard to keep this to myself."

“Cum*s still the word, Doc. -e*ll be going in pronto and we*ll be out of contactuntil we come back out, in about an hour."

“Tell me, is it a crashed ship?"

“2o way to tell yet," he said. “'f it is, that could mean aliens aboard, thoughthey*re probably just clumps of alien dust. (nd they may be hard to get to,depending on how mangled the interior might be. 'f it*s not a crash, we may havesomething even more interesting to figure out. -ish us luck on humanity*s firstclose encounter. -hich reminds me. 'f things go sideways in there, humanity*s inyour hands. 5tay frosty."

>'ntend to for as long as ' can."

&earce turned to @nsign (ppleton. “ucky you, you get to take point on this.The second that ticker beeps trouble, you back us out of there."

>'t ought to be above my pay grade." -as that a pout on her face? 5heseemed careful to avoid eye contact with 3oss, no doubt to deny him a gloatopportunity.

+ut 3oss twisted the knife# “Freat T8shirt idea *5acrifice @nsigns irst*."

5ullivan gave (ppleton a glancing look with a half8smile, then ga)ed back atthe craft. “un fact about your pay grade# nobody gets paid anymore."

&earce told $harles Duncan to return to Hope if they weren*t back in I/



minutes and to talk about this in private only with Dr. Dia). “5he*ll know what todo." He faced his three officers. “$heck your time. -e have one hour of 9A."

6

At the door*s blackness, 9livia (ppleton tweaked her green8back8lit Feigercounter to its highest sensitivity. The team of four strapped on their o4ygen masksand head lamps and lined up.

+ehind 5ullivan, 3oss said in a mask8dampened voice, “5weat not, (pple. Fotyour si4."

“( real howler, Tom. 5omehow that worries me more than not having my Acovered."

9ver (ppleton*s shoulder, &earce saw the airlock abla)e with light. 'ts interiordoor was partially open. (ppleton stepped in, the other three following. They

moved through the airlock onto a narrow catwalk that ran E/ feet to a ladderdescending into darkness.

“5till harmless rads," (ppleton said.

“Food. 5oldier on, @nsign." (lready &earce*s nerves jangled him.

They negotiated the ladder to the bottom where they found themselvesstanding between two bulkhead walls in a ten8foot8wide passageway apparentlyspanning the craft*s full width.

ieutenant Tom 3oss glanced around and up.

“2ot one alien scribble or symbol anywhere. @mbedded, '*m guessing. 2othingshows up till she*s powered up. %ust like Hope. The catwalk and ladder are similar in si)e to ours."

“2ot surprised," &earce said. “The aliens assuming they aren*t robots andthe ship itself isn*t one probably aren*t a lot different from us. ' believe theevolution of intelligent beings favors a physicality like ours. actoring in theinfluence of gravity, etcetera, @Ts probably range in si)e from primordial dwarfs tothe tallest basketball players. 'f we find a preserved alien, or at least someclothing, ' think it*ll support that."

“-ant to spec on the ship*s origin?" $ommander 5ullivan asked.“+een wondering. ( good candidate is < ibra c. %ust = light years from

here, directly opposite @arth. 't*s in its sun*s goldilocks )one, and spectral analysisshowed its atmosphere could support organic life."

“-hy didn*t @arth receive signals, if the planet has an advanced civili)ation?"5ullivan asked. “Television. 3adio. Heat signatures."

“Technologically they lag @arth, ' imagine. et*s say it took the aliens //,///



years to get here in this ship, which so far looks no more sophisticated than ours. (dd another /,/// for geological processes to bury the ship. ( hundred and tenthousand years ago, @arth had already been gone for AG,/// years. (nd AG,///years before these aliens left their planet, their ancestors probably hadn*t evenlearned how to send smoke signals to each other."

“'f you say so, $aptain @instein," (ppleton said.

5ullivan shined her light just below &earce*s face. “+uried ten thousand years!'n all that time, no second effort? 2o rescue attempt? Cakes me think theirplanet“

“-as threatened and might be gone, too," 3oss said.

“ife...it*s so much more fragile than ' ever imagined," (ppleton said. “(ren*tgoing to make it, are we?"

&earce turned to the young @nsign. “Damn it, we didn*t come all this far, just todie as soon as we got here. 5omebody once said, *There is no education like

adversity.* -e should plan on becoming very educated."He strode to a door he*d lit up seconds ago. He knew they were aft and which

way was fore, based on the shape and pitch of the tail fin they*d dug out. Thedoor*s location told him it would lead them the way they wanted to go.

He threw the recessed lever and slid the door open. 'n the alien craft*s tomb8like 7uiet, the colder, eons8old air from the ship*s deeper interior washed overthem.

( huge, empty compartment sprawled before them. 3ows of evenly spacedbull8ring retractable tie8downs dotted the floor. ong, intertwining scrape marks led

to a huge side door interrupting a line of wall carabiners. The door probablyopened out and down to serve as an off8loading ramp.

“2o indication so far the ship crashed," 5ullivan said.

“Then what the hell happened?" 3oss asked.

“&atience, please," &earce said. “9livia, ' don*t hear Feiger talking to you."

5he moved closer to him, and &earce*s light caught a flicker of fear in hereyes.

He palmed her shoulder for a second. “-e*re going to be just fine." 'f only he

could believe his own words.They hurried across the compartment to a narrow corridor about 0/8feet long.

(t the end, from what &earce could see, was an open area.

&earce took a deep breath to calm himself. -hat in Fod*s name would theyfind?

(ppleton crept down the corridor. Her free hand skimmed the wall as if forprotection.



(t the opening, she stopped. &earce heard her thick breathing.

5he took two more steps, hesitated, then turned out of sight.

“9livia, wait!" &earce said. His head throbbed. -as he about to lay eyes onalien remains and confirm his theory that e4traterrestrials looked far more likehumans than not? -ould they find technology to reverse engineer or at least

scavenge for parts? (ppleton reappeared and almost bumped into &earce, startling him, her light

blinding him for a moment. (bove her mask, her wide8opened eyes darted.

“' This can*t be!" she said.

The other three hair8pin pivoted into the opening. Their shaky lamps lit up whatappeared to be the ship*s computer main8frame.

&earce*s mouth opened but emitted no sounds. He staggered back, reachingfor a wall and trying to wrap his mind around the sight before him.

“-hat the?" 3oss*s voice choked off.“%ust not possible," 5ullivan said.

&earce stared in stunned silence at the dull8silver inscription across the upperedge of the mainframe#

Destiny Organization's Restoration and Invigoration System

“D93'5," (ppleton said, her eyes, in the reflected light, still wide.

&earce ripped his mask off and flung it over his shoulder, letting it dangle. (cough burst from his lungs. He sucked in the stale air that was slowly beingreplaced by outside air. He bent and clasped his knees. -hen his strengthreturned, he brushed the sweat from his forehead and straightened.

“This," he said, “is the smaller ship assembled in orbit alongside ours. 't was tobe used either to rescue Hope if Hope had launched for Cars and run into trouble,or to send more supplies and settlers."

3oss tore away his mask. “-ait, hat ?"

&earce took a moment. “To know anything for sure, to answer all the 7uestionsflying around in our skulls, we have to find the $aptain*s og. et*s pray it*s apreserved hard copy like mine."

The other two removed their masks. $ommander 5ullivan leaned against thebulkhead and nodded, her lamplight dancing up and down on the opposite wall.

“'t obviously left @arth months after us," she said, catching her breath. “Had tobe reconfigured, a crew trained and prepped"

“'t*s smaller," &earce said. “-ith the same engine as Hope's. Higher speed.That*s how it arrived here apparently thousands of years earlier."



“-hat in Fod*s name happened? 9n @arth and here?"

“'*m a little spun," 3oss said.

(ppleton*s glance put her light on 3oss for less than a half second. “Ce, too."-as there a bit of cordiality toward 3oss in that? “Don*t take that the wrong way."

“' won*t. Thanks anyway. 9h, and don*t take that the wrong way."

&earce shook his head. -ould these two ever get serious about anythingbesides themselves?

“'ce it, damn it. ' want to do this 7uick and clean." He trained his light on a door opposite the main frame. >et*s move."

>Do what clean and...7uick and...?" (ppleton asked.

>9n me, @nsign." Had she not fully recovered from her shock?

They laid their 9A tanks and masks on the floor to be collected later. &earceangled toward the door.

5ullivan shoved her hand in his way. “-ait. The asteroid it must havemissed."

“9r did less damage than projected."

“5o if civili)ation survived, why is this ship here?"

“-e need the log," he said.

“The ship*s passengers. Did they soon die off? 9therwise, think about it. 'n allthat time, wouldn*t they have reproduced e4ponentially, built whole cities, states,nations?"

“Die off? 9r killed off, by an error D93'5 made? %esus, they might still be intheir cylinders."

“Tom...," (ppleton said. >eeling funny...hot...."

5he dropped her Feiger. 't hit with a jarring clink! $ommander 5ullivanscooped it up and secured it to her jumpsuit.

(ppleton*s knees buckled.

“ivvy!" 3oss said. He caught her and laid her down on the cold metal floor. Heput a hand under her neck, then titled her head to keep her light out of his eyes.

“ook at me!"Her glistening forehead knitted as her eyes struggled to focus on his face.

“Talk to me!" 3oss said, panic in his voice.

“Tom? Cy wing man... 1ou really did always have my si4. Cy...bad. Foon...without me. -ill wait.... @mbers burn burning for you." 5he tried to look at5ullivan. “$ommander, please don*t lose my Feiger."

“2o way '*m leaving you," 3oss said. “1ou*re not thinking clearly."



“'s she...really your cousin?"

“-ha? $hrist. 1es, as my cousin. ook, the most dangerous thing anyone inthe universe could ever do is get between Tom 3oss and 9livia (ppleton."

“'f she*s in shock from all this," 5ullivan said, “it*s understandable."

“' think she has what Doc says the others have," &earce said, cold fear

washing over him.

3oss twisted, fi4ed his headlamp on &earce and 5ullivan. “5he*s running atemp. 1ou two go on. ' can haul her up the ladder. $harles*ll help me take her toHope"”

“Don*t speak to anyone but Dia) about this ship," &earce said. “(nd remind$harles and his crew to keep 7uiet. 5ome civilians will ask about 5ull and me.-e*re still e4ploring and will return shortly. ' don*t want rumors flying around. (ndpanic. 5ull and ' will e4plain everything to them when we get back, hopefully withsome clues about this mysterious disease"

“(nd the story on @arth," 5ullivan said.

3oss hoisted (ppleton to her feet and heaved her limp body up over hisshoulders in a fireman*s carry. “Hasta la vista."

&earce turned to 5ullivan. “ull throttle up."

6'

Captain &earce and $ommander 5ullivan dashed into a long, widecompartment, then halted in their tracks. Their lights lit up row after row of

preservation cylinders. (ll were open and empty.

(t least D93'5 hadn*t murdered them in their sleep.

He tapped 5ullivan*s elbow. They raced past the cylinders toward the cockpit.The pounding of their boots echoed off the bulkhead walls. The pounding of hisheart seemed just as loud.

He kept his light steady ahead. “The cockpit!" He didn*t need the $0 he*dbrought along. They ran faster.

'nside, he found the safe in the same spot as Hope's" He wrenched the handleand pulled, the hinges screeching an animal*s soft cry. “Thank Fod, a log just likemine. Food old ink8pen technology."

He unbuckled the log on a pull8out shelf, 5ullivan standing at his elbow. “9hmy Fod. ook. ast entry dated G 2ovember A0,=<E. Core than 0,/// yearsago."

He glanced at 5ullivan. 5he was shaking her head in obvious disbelief. Hescanned the log, his finger tracing down the lines of the first page.

“The essential personnel data. $rew names, ranks. &assenger list. ifty total.



5hip*s captain is...2orma +inson. The ship was renamed Hope ## . Decent of them.Here. Departure date A0 Cay A/E;. Two friggin* years after we left."

“5o what in holy hell happened?"

“+inson must*ve made notes. $aptains are were instructed to maintaindetailed records -ait, bingo."

He read aloud from a section she*d dated 0 Cay A/E;, ten days before theyleft @arth. +inson had dubbed the section “&re8aunch"#

'mmediately after the grav8tug rocket malfunctioned and veered away from theasteroid, people everywhere in the Flobal Cedia began demanding that nukesand the orbital laser cannons be used to deflect it, despite scientists* warningthat even if both the cannons and the nukes were used together, they wouldbe useless to deter an object of this mass and momentum.

5everal countries 3ussia, $hina, and rance, as well as the B.5. and others coordinated a simultaneous launch of hundreds of missiles programmed to

detonate together as laser cannons fired. This effort did alter the asteroid*spath, causing a near8miss of @arth. +ut the blasts splintered off a A8klick8widechunk that slammed into the caldera at 1ellowstone 2ational &ark.

The impact and the subse7uent bouncing of the @arth*s crust set off a seriesof massive earth7uakes that instantly killed hundreds of thousands. 't alsocreated such a perturbation in the caldera that volcanologists predicted ane4tinction8class eruption to occur sometime in early %une A/0/.

-hen 5ullivan gasped, &earce reali)ed he was holding his own breath. Hee4haled. @4tinction8class! He knew about the huge caldera. The G/8kilometer8wide volcano beneath it erupted roughly every I//,/// years, the last eruptionoccurring about I0/,/// years ago. (n eruption could end life as efficiently as theasteroid.

'n the oppressive darkness and silence of the buried Hope ## , he felt numb. 'fyou shook a can of pop, then snapped off the tab boom. That was what theasteroid chunk set up to happen with the magma and poisonous gases trappedbelow the caldera.

He looked at $ommander 5ullivan, keeping the edge of his light out of her face just enough to see her eyes glistening up.

“%ason...we*re the last of the human race."

Did she just now reali)e that? 9r had she until now, like him, clung to the hopethat life on @arth somehow hadn*t perished and would go on?

“-hy," she said, anger in her voice, “did +inson*s ship make a A0,///8year journey to a planet that might turn out to be uninhabitable? -hy not just stick theship in a agrange8point orbit around the sun for a few thousand years to give@arth time to heal?"

>5nowball @arth, my guess. They couldn*t take the chance. +ut let*s see if



+inson.... Hell yes. 5he brings it up in the very ne4t paragraph#

5cientists feared the winter holocaust might soon turn @arth into a free)erlocker. ( snowball @arth, completely covered over with mile8high glaciers.

't had happened once before, in &re8$ambrian times, and had lasted millionsof years far too long to be suspended in the preservation gel.

He returned to the log. >9h the day before Hope ## launched, &rojectCanager 6ictor (rnold committed suicide. &robably wasn*t picked for this trip,either. -ould*ve meant he had nothing to live for. +et millions of people took thatroute."

He shoved that last thought out of his mind and flipped to the last pages of thelog in $aptain +inson*s “&ost8(rrival" section.

“Her handwriting, like a first8grader*s." His finger )ig8)agged over the ne4t twopages, then stopped. “+elieve ' have something#

“Date G 2ov. A0,=<E, E#0I# %ohnson and Tarasov became ill this a.m., and

later Dr. 5ato. 5ato described her symptoms as flu8like but ruled out a virus.5he will do more tests with the minimal e7uipment she has. +ut her energy isfading.

“Date < 2ov., /;#=# our more are ill. 5ato has 7uarantined herself and theothers in a dome home on the fringe of the camp. 5he*s communicating viaradio, though her voice is weakening. 5he said her air and soil tests revealedno to4ins."

The $aptain looked at 5ullivan. “This!"

“The same thing affecting us!"

( tightness constricted his breathing again. He forced himself to concentrateand resumed#

“Date / 2ov., A#EI# ive more sick. Dr. 5ato is barely able to work. Comentsago she said she initially had wondered if D93'5 had erred in her analysis ofthe atmosphere. 5o she scrapped D93'5*s analysis result and had her doanother from scratch. The e4act same analysis was reached. The doctor thenreviewed the data on the effects of =<g*s atmosphere. ( table in a pamphletdisplayed a range of e4tremes of atmospheric compositions and where in thatrange humans could endure. 5he confirmed that =<g*s atmosphere fell within

that endurance range. 5he admitted to being perple4ed. 5he said she willcontinue thinking about it, but her physical state is deteriorating 7uickly.

“Date 2ov., /#;# Dr. 5ato is dead. 5o are %ohnson and Tarasov. (notherfive have become ill. -e have converted two more dome homes into7uarantines, even though ' think this is of little value, since ' do not believe wehave a contagion.

“Date = 2ov., <#AG# 't*s hopeless. orty8four have died as of last night. -ehave filled a total of five dome homes. ', too, have become ill, and it is difficult



to write. ( disease *that cannot be a disease* has spread throughout this tinygroup of brave souls, and has made it certain that we will not achieve theobjective of starting a civili)ation to await the passengers of Hope."

“Date G 2ov., /G#EE# Cy final entry. 9nly three of us are left. 3achel and&hillipe still have a little strength and will turn on the transponder, though it willlast only a few years. They will open or unlock all interior doors. Then we wille4it Hope ## for the last time, sealing it up as we leave. There won*t be aThanksgiving for us."

“To# $aptain %ason &earce of Hope$ 'f by some miracle you find this, pleaseknow it greatly saddens me, what awaits you. ' pray that somehow you andyour people are able to escape this *disease* that has killed us. Cay Fod bewith you."

&earce slammed the log shut and tucked it under his arm. “-e*d better getback and figure this out. 9therwise" he mimed a gun at his head “game over."

6''

"If we don*t survive, we*ve made the last journey humankind will ever make,"&earce heard Doc Dia) say softly. 'f she e4pected a response, none came.

They stood inside the closed cockpit with $ommander 5ullivan and ieutenant3oss. 2one of them took much notice of the outside activity visible through a sideviewing window# supplies being carried into dome homes, a rectangle of landbeing prepped for seeding....

ike 3oss, Dia) had mostly recovered from the devastating news about @arthand Hope ##'s crew.

3ubbing her upper arm as if she*d caught a chill, she looked at &earce. “Tenmore are sick. 2o disease, no radioactivity, no to4ins to be found. What?"

@4hausted, &earce dragged the palm of his hand down over his face. Btterhelplessness e4pressed by the ship*s doctor was not the cheeriest news hewanted to hear. He regarded her again.

“1ou said (ppleton, too, has stabili)ed since you put her in 7uarantine with theothers“

%&ery happy to hear that," 3oss said.

“(ll of our sick have stabili)ed," &earce said. “+inson didn*t mention that any of hers had though *stabili)ed* doesn*t mean our sick are out of the woods, as youpointed out when you said patients can relapse. (ll of +inson*s people died. Theyhad virtually the same symptoms. The only difference between our sick and theirsick is that ours were 7uarantined inside and theirs outside, according to +inson.The @arth8level 9A is richer inside the ship because we kept the airlock closedbehind us for safety. +ut that shouldn*t matter since =<g*s lower 9A, which hasn*t



changed since +inson*s time, isn*t harmful."

Despair tore at &earce*s insides. -ere they doomed? -hy not just accept it?

2o! ight it! 5tay focused! 'sn*t that what he*d tell everyone else?

He recalled an old habit developed from a research8writing lesson# -hen youdon*t know which way to go, put your assumptions and opinions aside, gather all

the available facts, and see where they lead. -hat did he have to lose with thisapproach to a possible solution? %ust valuable time!

“-e have to comb through everything," he said to Dia). “Frab up all yourrecords# atmospheric data printouts, test results ac7uired on @arth, anything andeverything. ' don*t know what to look for, but maybe something will stand out." Hesighed, felt his shoulders slump. “Cy very best bad plan."

(s Dia) accelerated away from the cockpit, he spread his hands and said# “'don*t know where to start."

“1ou know what they always say," 3oss said.

&earce gave him an acknowledging glance. >*$ept ' don*t really know wherethe beginning is."

He ga)ed upward at no particular spot as he often did when hailing the ship*s ('.

“D93'5, play back everything you said after Hope reduced speed, arrived atthe planet, and made its initial entry into the atmosphere."

D93'5 said, “+eginning playback."

“$aptain %ason &earce. (re you fully awake and comprehending, $aptain?

1es. (tmosphere is reestablished. 2utrients were supplied. (vionics and lightingup. 1our cylinder*s preservation gel has been siphoned away. 1our brain and heartare functioning normally. The 3estoration Handbook states that all personnel mustremain on board for three hours to allow their body*s gel residue to be fully purgedby the ship*s o4ygen."

“D93'5, stop."

Dia) had returned loaded with binders and stapled documents. 5he loweredthem onto a shelf &earce had jerked out of a bulkhead niche.

“+ear with me," &earce told her. “1ou did verify our air 7uality, 9A level?"

( hint of irritation flashed in her eyes. “9f course."

“@4cluding me, what about everyone*s heart and brain function?"

“Took a few hours, but ' checked everyone to the e4tent ' could with my limitede7uipment. ' found nothing and D93'5 confirmed my findings, to the e4tent shecould."

“9kay, a *maybe* we can revisit later if necessary. (nd the gel residue? ullypurged from everyone after three hours?"



“1ou know ' don*t have nano probes or even a decent microscope. $ouldn*te4amine anything on a cellular level. (nyway, D93'5 said"

“' know, three hours and the gel*s gone."

&earce wiped sweat from his upper lip.

“+ut somebody once said, *Trust but verify.* That certainly applies when it

comes to a machine without // percent reliability and our lives are at stake.1ou*ve personally verified everything to the e4tent you could e4cept the gelpurge. 5o that*s an unknown, as for as '*m concerned. 't*s probably a pointlesstrail since D93'5 lately has been reliable on simple things. +ut we should look atit anyway. &ull out the 3estoration Handbook which 6ictor (rnold told me '*dnever need! ind the section on the gel."

Coments later she rotated the handbook toward him. Her finger tapped.“Here."

“Have you read it yourself yet?" $ommander 5ullivan said.

“'*ve had my hands full," the Doc said. “5aw no reason to."

&earce skimmed, then, as 5ullivan leaned in, he read aloud from a mid8pageparagraph#

“*'n a variety of atmospheric compositions, the gel, which permeates andpreserves* ... so forth and so on ... *was found to be completely purged after threehours...*."

“-ell, ' guess there*s nothing here Wait! " &earce thought his head woulde4plode. “'' can*t believe this! 't says *completely purged after three hours in3hesus monkeys, lemurs, and other small mammals!* 'n goddamn animals! 'n

humans, it says *the minimum time for complete purging is three days*!"

5ullivan drew back sharply, her intake of air audible. “D93'5...she made acritical error. 5ubstituted"

“Hours for days," the Doc said, her eyes abla)e and her fists clenched. Thenher face stilled. Bnderstanding seemed to travel across it.

“ook, if the gel residue*s still in us when we*re outside," she said, “the planet*sfour percent less o4ygen can*t fully purge it, can*t burn it off. The gel is likelytrapped at the microtubule level long enough to interfere with normal cell growthand function, blocking adenosine triphosphate from supplying the energy for

powering cells. That could lead to a lethal breakdown of organs."

Tremendous relief burst loose in &earce. >Doc! 1ou*re our savior! -hat you did you brought the sick inside. The ship*s o4ygen"

“'s rich enough to break down the gel and burn it out of our bodies"

“1ou, good doctor," 3oss said, “saved 9livia*s life. (nd everyone else*s."

(fter falling 7uiet for a moment, the Doc ga)ed at &earce.



“(nd to think ' had begun feeling selfish for keeping them inside the shipbecause of my heat intolerance, and was seriously thinking about moving them alloutside right after you left. ' figured the fresh air might help. 2one of you wouldhave argued with me. Flad ' immediately told myself, *Muackery! -hat*s fresh airgot to do with it? Cight as well be selfish since it makes no difference. They*ll bemore comfortable and so will '.*"

5ullivan shook head, chuckling. “-ho would*ve ever guessed selfishnesswould one day save the human race."

>Thank our lucky gala4ies," Dia) said, “we have a five8day supply of 9A left."

&earce spun around to 3oss. “Fet everybody inside and lock down!"

6'''

Captain %ason &earce, along with $ommander aye 5ullivan and ieutenant

Tom 3oss, had grouped up in the computer8mainframe niche. They stood slightlybehind and to the side of $harles Duncan, their eyes unwavering from the formercyber cop.

( hulking presence even without his e4o, Duncan had lit up D93'5*holographic monitors. +oth of his hands gesticulated in the air, his fingersalternately spreading, pinching, and twirling, engaging a large hologram thatnearly encircled him. These motions magnified, paused, then backgrounded onelayer after another of a comple4, hierarchical computer8code schematic.

“5canned her neural networks, cognitive and learning algorithms associative

memories, all twelve billion or so of her main and sub8routines, (3( that*sabstractions, problem reformulations, and appro4imations. 2o glitches.2anophotonic 7uantum phase switching unaltered. Heuristic analysis finallyshows....no viruses"

>5o what*s the plain8@nglish version here?" 3oss said, irritation in his voice.

>eep your anchor down, ieuy," Duncan said, giving 3oss glancing attention.>Don*t want to fall through a trap door D93'5 set if she somehow went rogue. 'know everybody*s all bu))ed up about that three8hours thing. $hecking updates,most recent programming activity. Hold on. 3ounding third.... 9kay, gotsomething. ( footprint. 1eah...about that, the three8hours thing?"

He turned at the waist and eyed them.

“$an*t blame it on (' roguishness or D93'5*s alleged one8percent unreliability.2or did D93'5 retrieve the wrong word by way of, say, a referencing failure dueto her aged circuitry. 2ope, *hours* showed up in place of *days* solely as a resultof human intervention."

His finger tapped twice on a line of green code in a narrow data column nearthe hologram*s edge.



>3ight here. Time8stamped. The system recorded the deletion and substitutionat AA#EI, (ugust 0, A/EG, a week before we left."

He turned and faced them, his brows knitted. “$lear as day. 5abotage."

5ullivan and 3oss stared speechless at Duncan. 5hock body8slammed&earce, then gave way to fierce, throbbing anger.

3oss*s lower lip curled. “-hat knuckle8shit would do something like this?"

>9n both ships!" 5ullivan said.

Duncan faced the $aptain. >(ny ideas?"

(fter taking a few more moments to grapple with what had happened, &earcecaught 5ullivan*s eyes reading him as they had done countless times before.

>%ason? -hat? 1es. 1ou know who it"

“( lot of the people working on the project were angry over not being picked for the journey," he said. “+ut the only person who had everything needed to pull off

something like this was 6ictor (rnold. 9nly he was authori)ed to access D93'5.He not only had (' knowledge about D93'5, he was fairly e4pert about thepreservation gel. The only people peering over his shoulder were the unionworkers and the troops following him around to make sure he stayed on the job.2one of them could*ve known what he was doing. He must have had theopportunity to make the change during his walk8through of the ship four nightsbefore his final meeting with me."

He shook his head in disgust. (rnold, who*d already laid the seeds for theirdestruction even as he sat briefing &earce, had reached out across the millenniaand trillions of miles in an attempt to kill them off because in his twisted way of

thinking the human race didn*t deserve to live on.

3oss*s eyes still bla)ed with anger. >+ut why not do any one of many otherthings more efficient at killing us? -hy not program D93'5 to stay in sleep modewhen we entered the atmosphere? -e would*ve crashed and all been killedinstantly."

>et me guess," 5ullivan said. “That kind of reprogramming would*ve taken alot of time, enough to attract curious eyes."

“The union workers would*ve been curious," &earce said. “He was known tohate them and they hated him right back. They would*ve loved to find something

that got him into trouble with his baby8sitting troops. ' imagine that*s why he didn*tsimply steal the gel handbook he wasn*t seen going up with."

“-ell, that*s that," Duncan said. “' declare D93'5 ninety8nine point nine percent reliable"" He turned his hands up. “+est ' can do."

Dr. (ngela Dia) approached from her sick bay wearing the vestige of a smiledespite appearing fra))led. &earce told her about (rnold.

5he reflected on it for a few moments, her loathing for the man apparent in her



eyes. inally her face cleared. “5ome good news. (ll of my patients arerecovering, and ' don*t anticipate relapses"

“How*s this for recovery, Doc?"

@veryone spun around to see @nsign 9livia (ppleton. 5he*d walked from thesick bay on her own. Though she was pale and weak8looking, her e4pression

indicated she was grateful to be on her feet.3oss appeared grateful to see her on her feet.

“Cost of them are up milling around," she said, her ga)e landing on 3oss.“They*ll be coming out soon."

“-e can bring her up to date," the Doc said to &earce.

( few minutes later and composed again, (ppleton shook her head. “' feel soterrible for $aptain +inson and her people."

“They didn*t die in vain," 5ullivan said. “'f it hadn*t been for them, and the Doc

here...."“True," (ppleton said, “but let*s not forget Tom*s huge contribution." 5he gave

3oss a rueful smile.

3oss stiffened a bit and returned a 7uestioning, semi8hard stare. “5ay again?"

&earce figured 3oss had to be asking himself, 2ow that she*s back to normal,is she back to normal?

“%ust think," (ppleton said, “'f Tom hadn*t had a bladder issue out there andhadn*t been such a clumsy oaf...."

5he edged over to the ieutenant, her eyes searching his. 5he wrapped herarms around his waist.

“&eople are too important, life is too precious. -e have to stop being so pettyand mean to each other. $an you and ' reboot? Tom and 9livia A./?"

&earce fought off picturing his dead wife, as well as the billions of lives lost on@arth. 1es, people were far, far too important. His ga)e drifted to 5ullivan. 't hithim. To him, she was far too important. (nd she didn*t even know it. -as heimportant to her?

3oss still hadn*t returned (ppleton*s embrace. “nock me over with ahummingbird feather. ( hug from you? -hat Twilight Kone am ' in?"

“5till have my ring?" (ppleton said, her grin full8fledged. “1ou can throw it backat me."

He slapped a side leg pocket. “3ight where it*s been for...the longest." Hisarms encircled her. Did he feel as though he were hugging a small gri))ly?

5he rested her head against his chest and looked at 5ullivan.

“Cy Feiger in a safe place?" (fter 5ullivan signaled (89, (ppleton said to



3oss, “-hy didn*t you let me go?"

“1ou never let me go."

“' beg your par“

“1ou just said it. 1our Feiger. 1ou couldn*t let it go. ' knew you still cared deepdown."

Her face reddened. “1ou were right." 5he patted his chest once. “Fee, youalmost sounded wise."

5he half8turned to &earce, “5ince you*re president and all, ' do believe you canauthori)e yourself to hitch up couples."

&earce laughed. “True enough." He noticed 5ullivan was staring at the floor.“5uuulll, what*s up?"

5he glanced over, then off to the side. “9h, nothing, just wondering." Her ga)eshifted to the other side of &earce. “%ason, do you think you...and '... we could

ever?"“$ommander, what are you trying to“

“2o no no. ' was just, you know, thinking hypothetically"

5he put her hands together and pushed them forward.

“9kay, cards on the table, and ' don*t give a crap who hears. 3emember when' told you ' divorced my e48husband because he changed his mind about wantingkids? -ell, that was only part of it. ' divorced him mainly because ' fell in love withyou. ' have loved you practically from the day we met."

( heat flared in &earce*s cheeks. He couldn*t believe what he*d just heard. (llalong, she had cared for him, loved him, even while he was still in love with hisdying wife.

5ullivan worked an uncomfortable8looking smile. “There. Thought '*d go forbroke since, let*s face it, we might not make it past ne4t week."

His heart raced. He cleared his throat twice. “$ards on the table? 5ee you andraise you one. -hat do you think about a double ceremony? '*ll authori)e Dia) todo the duty."

5ullivan took his hand and s7uee)ed it, her eyes moist.

The Doc said, “The more marrying, the better. -e*re going to need lots ofbabies around here to jump8start this new civili)ation." 5he gave (ppleton a slysmile. “3ight, ivvy?"

(ppleton beamed up at 3oss. “The first one*s on the way. 5he told me '*m twomonths along."

3oss had the look of one who reali)es he has just been stabbed in thestomach but doesn*t yet feel the pain. >Bh! 1ou 88 you mean '*m going to be adaddy!"



“Two months along?" &earce said to the Doc. “(fter her final pre8launch e4am,you kept her pregnancy a secret, even from her."

“5he would*ve had no chance to survive. This way, she did, and we*ll soonhave a baby we need."

“+y the way, Doc," (ppleton said, “you*re another one that*s only ;; percent

reliable. '*ve been pregnant for almost EG,/// years!"@veryone laughed. &earce and 5ullivan, still holding hands, turned and set out

for the cockpit, dodging kids juking left, right, in a game of chase. 9nce there,they stood admiring the colorful landscape of the human race*s new home.

“Bnder my authority," &earce said, “' give this planet the name of...2ew @arth."

“'t really is beautiful," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Food water,fertile ground. -e*re going to make it."

6ictor (rnold, he thought, had been wrong. He turned to the woman soon to behis new wife on this new world. “-e do deserve to live. -e proved it."

To her 7ui))ical look, he said, “( full report later. 3ight now you and ' havesomething a lot more important to attend to. D93'5 and you*d better be //8percent reliable on this close and lock the cockpit door."

________________________

EPILOG

$aptain*s og, 5unday, E#0=, Cay AE, E;,/A0

@arly this morning Dr. Dia) came into my dome which some insisted on callingthe -hite House while 5ull was still sleeping in our added8on bedroom. 5he satdown at my small table, and ' poured 2ew @arth*s first tea into two cups. Thecups, the table, and the chairs, like so many other wooden items, had beencarpentered from the nearby baobab8like trees yet to be named by our biologist.

Then she told me something she*d been meaning to tell me for months.

“+efore we launched," she said, “' as a psychologist was on the panel for

recommending the best of the 7ualified candidates for the journey. The pool ofpeople was huge, and ' had to do an awful lot of background checks. ' worked forweeks, sometimes around the clock. ' found common threads, connections youno doubt have noticed for some time now. 'n the end, ' saw '*d be able to base myrecommendations on an attribute ' believe is as important to survival as thecandidates* health and dual skills. Caybe more so. 't*s the one factor that moststrengthens the resolve to carry on against the worst odds. The panel eventuallyall agreed."



' sipped my semi8bitter herbal tea. “(ll right...."

“1ou really have been busy."

“-e presidents have a lot on our plates."

“-hy do you think ' recommended Tom and 9livia?"

“$omic relief?"

5he laughed. “This is where ' could say, *+y all means, do keep guessing.* (s youknow, they*d planned to marry but their relationship fell apart a few weeks after 'selected them. Too late to scratch them. Flad it was. ook at them now twobla)ing hot suns in a tight orbit around each other. (nd wait till that baby comes!-hat about $harles Duncan? He has his daughter, as you know. 1ou also know

your e4plosives team, &aul and %anet, are husband and wife. (nd all of the otherpassengers? -hat about myself as if you haven*t noticed?"

“(nd 5ullivan and '."

“-as saving you two for last. +ut '*ll ask now# -hat would happen if the$ommander was at risk or got hurt? 1ou*d bust your butt to get to her and helpher. 5he*d do the same for you."

“'*d help anyone who*s hurt."

“9f course," she said. “+ut if the person hurt was 5ull, you know you*d movefaster and try harder to help."

' pursed my lips, nodded, and poured us more tea. >+ecause we love each other.

9kay, ' get it."

“Having someone to love also motivates us to care more about everyone else.That*s because we know caring about the whole group helps insure the survival of each individual member of the group including the one you love."

“The common thread '*ve been too preoccupied to notice. 1ou recommendedindividuals who loved one of your other recommendations."

't was her turn to nod. “9r who seemed to at least deeply care for one of them. 'could see that budding in your and 5ull*s case."

Her forehead furrowed as she clasped her cup in both hands.



What could shock you more than knowing you're going to die in just a few seconds? See my

much shorter story: “Swirling Away.”

Want to contact Jerry? jabbog!"#$%yahoo&com

If you didn't read this story as a download getting to the end of it means you (ossess far more

(atience than the a)erage Web reader who a((arently skims and then jum(s to another site afterabout ten seconds& *y congratulations on your (erse)erance+

,-./ 01,-S 203 2,,4I56,I10:

7liese #!"g a real (lanet was disco)ered on Se(tember $8 $9"9& See info at 6ni)ersetoday&com&

""! ibra is not a real star; hence ""! ibra c is not a real (lanet&

2rtist's im(ression of 7liese #!" < (lanets& .redit: ynette .ook; 02S2

http://www.scribd.com/doc/39810826/Swirling-Away

http://www.scribd.com/doc/39810826/Swirling-Away

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