Home Planet: Awakening (Part 1) (4 page)

“The AGS is offline due to insufficient power. It cannot be brought online at this time.”

“Worth a try.”

“No, it is not worth a try. There is insufficient power.”

“Sure Tiro … so you said.”

I said my goodbyes to Tiro—like he cared—and made a mental note that if I ever met his programmers I’d get them to add some common sense with a dose of humor thrown in. I drifted out past the jammed door and headed to a place I told myself I wouldn’t go. But I’d changed my mind. It was worth a look and my appointments book was empty for the foreseeable future.

Moving up nineteen levels when you knew where you were headed was quicker than I’d anticipated. In zero-g, once you get going only air resistance slows you down. The trick was gliding accurately enough up between the gaps in the banisters. For a guy my size it was feasible but took practice and readjustments as I ascended. In less than a minute, I reached the metal grate ceiling of the topmost level—Level 20, the home of Reichs’s stasis pod. I wondered for a moment whether all the rich dudes were up of the top floor. Wouldn’t surprise me. Something about being above everyone literally may have reminded them of their social standing or wealth or some such nonsense. What did I know?

His pod was number four on Aisle 1. There was only one aisle here so that was easy enough. Pod four was up the other end. I flew there observing the pods either side of the aisle. One thing stood out: every one of them bore the bullet holes of the executioner’s gun. Apart from the obvious, I didn’t really know what this meant. The only theory I could come up with was that someone—or more likely a group of someones—went after the power structure on board—marines, crew and the powerful except for Reichs who was still living and breathing. Or was yesterday, as the pedantic Tiro pointed out. I assumed he still was.
What does that say about Reichs?
I wondered.

I reached Pod 4 and found it wide open, the canopy sitting vertically. There were no bullet holes and there was no Reichs. But there was something. As I examined the inside of the pod more closely there was something different about it. As expected, preservation fluid had long since drained away but something else lined the base of the pod. I drew my finger across it to confirm what my eyes saw in the half-light. Dust and grime. The same dust and grime I’d only seen so far on the pod canopies. This told me one thing: Reichs hadn’t just emerged from stasis. He’d been awake for some time. For how long, I couldn’t tell.

Wherever he was, I hoped he was one of the good guys and that he’d found a way out. I hoped the empty pods were a sign someone had made it down to Aura-c and set up base. I hoped my friend Mike Lawrence was amongst them. Or maybe they’d called Earth for rescue. That’d be a long time coming. And we’d be a long time dead if we couldn’t go back into stasis while waiting. One thing was pretty clear, though—I wasn’t about to get any answers in Module 5. My best chance was getting to Module 1—command, navigation, comms and sensors. If there was any place I could find out what the hell was happening it was Module 1. I about-faced and glided toward the other end of the aisle and the airlock to Module 4. I just hoped life support was on and I could reach the pointy end of the
Juno Ark
. I said a silent prayer for Kate Alves, Evert Rietmuller and all those who’d perished in the cold, gloomy graveyard of Module 5.

The single story Spanish colonial style home was modest by the standards of the neighborhood. With three bedrooms, a small yard and what was little more than a plunge pool, Nikki Luker’s home was dwarfed by the multi-million dollar properties of South Beverly Park. But it didn’t matter. Dan Luker’s sister, Nikki, had bought it with her own money all by herself. She was hot property herself after her breakthrough role in last season’s new Webflix original series,
The Colony.
Focusing on the adventures of colonists traveling on the first interstellar sleeper ship, everyone knew it was based on the
Juno Ark
project. Actress Nikki Luker—better known to most people as her character, Angelica—was a tall, striking blonde with classic movie-star looks that turned heads on screen and off. She was young, beautiful and becoming increasingly famous. Nikki Luker had the looks, the career and the life many dreamed of.

To Luker, she was still his little sis, the one he’d been protective of growing up in the less-than-glamorous surroundings of Meridian, Idaho. They’d been close even before their father passed away when Luker was fourteen and Nikki was just eleven. Combined with their mom, Marlene, it was just the three of them on the good ship Luker, through the storms and the calm. Now, they all lived under one roof again, Luker forced by circumstance and Marlene by loneliness ever since her kids upped sticks and moved to L.A. Nikki had jumped first. It was an offer on another TV show she could hardly refuse. Even before her first Webflix audition, she’d impressed the casting people there and the rest was history. Luker had followed four years back when she’d had a more minor role. Looking for a change of scene, some new challenges and to be near his family, he’d transferred to the LAPD. Since his dreams of playing professional soccer had fallen apart all those years ago, he’d been happy to live out his career as a cop. But in June, just five short months ago, everything changed. Now, he just wanted to leave it all behind.

Luker sat with his mom at the outdoor dining table on the backyard patio. Another fine California day awaited them. A day of no work, just relaxation and play.

Nikki said, walking out with a large tray of cooked breakfasts, “How’s the coffee, guys?”

Marlene said, “Very nice, Nikki.”

Luker said, “Different league to what we get at work. I saw the new machine.”

Nikki sat down and distributed the plates.

She said, “Yeah, barista-made coffee for the domestically inept.”

Tucking into a supposedly healthy hash brown and an organic sausage, Marlene said, “I don’t know that that’s true anymore—you’ve come a long way in the cookery department, Nikki. This breakfast is very nice.”

“Thanks, Mom. All down to a great teacher,” she said, smiling.

Luker said nothing. He sipped his black coffee and looked skyward at object high above, glinting in the same sun that drenched the yard in the morning light. The giant interstellar ship, the
Juno Ark
, flew over the west coast in low Earth orbit. Only its elongated outline and that of the orbital shipyard to which it was moored were visible.

Nikki followed his gaze as Marlene continued to enjoy her breakfast.

Nikki said, with a mischievous grin, “Isn’t that the
Mayflower
?”

Luker didn’t smile. The joy had been wiped from his life earlier that year. Not wiped clean—he still took solace in the fact he had his mom and sister—but things would never be the same again.

Marlene looked up and said, “No dear, the
ISS Mayflower
is the spaceship from your TV show isn’t it? That’s the
Juno Ark
, Nikki.” She clucked and rolled her eyes.

Nikki said, her face fake-serious, humoring her mom, “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, mom.”

He said, “You know, I’ve been watching that thing since they started building it. Seems to change every week. Couple more years and she’ll be complete.”

The distant hum broke the Saturday morning peace.

Luker’s heart raced with the recognition of what it was.

He said, “Did either of you order anything?”

Nikki said, “Not this week. Except for the coffee machine that’s already here.”

Marlene shook her head. “No, dear.”

The quadcopter hovered above the grass, past the small pool, then descended to its usual landing spot. Underslung was the standard container for that model of drone—about two by four feet.

After the rotors stopped, he jogged over to it and read the info display that popped out.

“I didn’t get a notification,” he muttered to himself, reading that it was for him.

The drone said, “This package is for you, Daniel T. Luker. Please press the red rectangle with any finger to accept.”

Luker pressed the touchscreen, the drone recording his fingerprint signature.

“Please stand at least six feet back while I release your package and depart. Procedure will not commence until I have detected a clear radius. Thank you for using SkyMail.”

Luker shuffled back and stood next to the pool. The quadcopter powered up and lifted off with its bay doors open, leaving behind the brown weatherproof box on the lawn.

Luker retrieved the package and went back to Nikki and his mom, hoping what he believed would come to pass.

Marlene said, “What is it, Daniel?”

He opened the box. On top was a letter with the logo of the Juno Ark Project near the top. And below it was a blue flight suit, extra-large.

Luker smiled fully for the first time in as long as he could remember.

He said, looking skywards, “Mom, Nikki, looks like I’m going—I’ve been accepted for the
Juno Ark
.”

Marlene said, a forced smile, “Are you sure, Daniel?”

Nikki took a breath and covered her mouth, eyes wide with surprise, excitement morphing toward sadness.

She said, “Oh my God! You’re gonna accept?”

Luker looked his sister then his mom in the eyes with a tight smile.

“Just like I told you—if I got the chance then I’m going. So, yeah, I’m gonna accept … I need to do this, need a new start, a new life. I love you both, but I can’t keep existing like this anymore. Maybe when I wake up after stasis all this will have gone away. I don’t know …”

Marlene got up and hugged her son. With a stoic look on her face, she reached up to kiss his cheek. Nikki reached over and held his hand.

Marlene said, “You going will leave a big hole in our lives, Daniel. But as I told you a long time ago, you’re a grown man and you’ve got a right to choose your path.”

Nikki said, with tears welling in her eyes, her nose sniffling, “After what you’ve been through … as I said, I support your decision. But … but I guess I didn’t really think you’d get the call. You know, with so many applicants and all … Whatever happens, we’ll be here for you, Dan. You know that, right?”

Luker nodded. This was going to be the second hardest thing he’d ever done. But this was his calling now that Juliet had been snatched away. This would be his chance to leave behind the nightmare that his life had become.

Luker knocked on the door reading the nametag,
Captain Frank Cassidy.
He didn’t relish this moment, but he’d made his decision and that was that. No point over-analyzing it.

“Come in,” came the deep voice of the big fifty-something New Yorker.

“Sir, thanks for seeing me.”

“Luker! How’s everything going, man?” asked the uniformed Cassidy, rising from his desk to shake Luker’s hand.

“Oh, you know … times of change. May I?”

“Sure, sit down,” said Cassidy, still smiling. “What’s that you’ve got there? That a letter? Don’t see many of those anymore …”

“Well, yeah. Guess I’m old fashioned like that,” said Luker, sliding it across the desk. “I’ve been accepted to the
Juno
mission, sir. I’m gonna be starting training in the new year, so … well, I’m handing in my resignation.”

Cassidy sat back in his chair scanning the letter, folded it up, then exhaled, his lips pursed. He stroked his salt and pepper copstash with thumb and index finger, pausing for thought.

“Chance of a lifetime, huh Luker?”

“That’s right, sir.”

He looked at Luker straight in the eye and said, “You know you’re a damned fine officer, Luker. One of the best. Coulda made sergeant years ago if you’d wanted it. Who knows, you’d probably be in this office after a while longer.”

“Thanks, sir. That’s good of you to say so, but—”

“Anything I can do to change your mind?”

Luker shook his head resolutely and returned Cassidy’s stare as an equal—even if not in rank. “There’s nothing, sir. I’m dead set.”

Luker closed the door to Captain Cassidy’s office a few minutes later. He went to the deserted locker room holding back the emotions of leaving the job he loved. But this was like a calling. Somehow, he felt deep down inside there was a greater purpose awaiting him. Only on the
Juno
mission would he find it.

The class of over three hundred colonists sat behind benches in a lecture theater that reminded Luker of college. Not that he’d attended college, having gone straight into the Boise Police Department as a high school graduate. His teachers told him he had the aptitude for college—especially in science, math or engineering—but he’d decided he was through with formal education. That said, he’d continued learning just by being curious, observing the world, reading and taking time to engage with learned folks. Now, he sat in the newly-built training facility waiting for his first lecture from the aptly-named Dr. Bernard Kosmos, apparently one of the foremost experts in space engineering.

Luker sat at the far right of a row, halfway up from the vacant podium. The rows in front were all packed. The ones behind weren’t much better. To Luker’s left was a slight, nervous looking young man who’d introduced himself as Khoo. He looked Chinese to Luker. Khoo had promptly put his head down and continued whatever he was doing on his smart glasses.

A petite mid-twenties woman with tan skin, dark hair and of notable good looks approached Luker.

She smiled, her full lips framing perfect white teeth.

“Room for a little one?” she said to Luker.

He smiled back to maintain eye contact, his heartbeat quickening a little.

“Err, sure … we can shuffle over.”

Khoo didn’t hear or didn’t want to move. Luker faced him and cleared his throat.

“Lady needs a seat, Khoo. Can you budge up some?”

Khoo shuffled along and the pretty woman with kind eyes took her place next to Luker. She placed down her bag and offered her hand.

“Hey, thanks,” she said, blowing a stray strand of hair from her face. “I’m Kate Alves.”

Luker returned her smile and shook her small, delicate hand in his shovel of a palm.

“Dan Luker. Nice to meet you, Kate.”

They said nothing, their eyes locked for a little too long to be purely platonic.

Then the spell was broken as Dr. Kosmos announced his presence. Luker and Kate faced front waiting for the small, gray-haired doctor to speak.

“Welcome everyone, to your introductory lecture on the historic
Juno Ark
mission. You have a long and arduous training schedule ahead of you, but at the end of it, you will be more than just passengers. You will have a solid understanding of the mission, the stasis process and the
Juno Ark
herself. We cannot afford mere passengers—everyone must contribute, be it in training, on board or once we arrive at Aura-c. Getting right into it, the
Juno Ark
is currently seventy percent complete as this recent image shows …”

He clicked his remote and a photo of the partially-built
Juno Ark
appeared behind him on the giant display. It hung in low Earth orbit somewhere above Europe. The long series of connected cylinders had a constant diameter. She was largely uniform along her length save for the four great engine nozzles at the rear and the tapered nose at the bow. What looked like a complicated framework of orthogonal members surrounded the entire ship like a scaffold. A series of smaller modules lined one side of the framework. These were the work modules of the orbital shipyard.

Dr. Kosmos went on to explain some of the construction methods and the schedule for fitting out, completing, testing and commissioning the giant interstellar ship.

He continued, “So as you saw on the image, she is comprised of nine modules linked together to form the whole. As you would expect, each has its purpose. Here’s a basic representation …”

A simple 3-D rendering appeared on the wall display.

“… Going from the front, we have Module 1, with Module 9 at the rear. Modules 1 is for command, navigation, sensors & comms. It’s where you’ll find the bridge. It’s also where the first signals from the fast recon probes will arrive. I assumed you’re all aware of the nano-probe cluster probe sent to Aura in 2050 …”

He paused, looking around the hall for signs of recognition. A few tentative nods met his quick-look survey.

“Anyway, there’ll be a special course devoted to the fast probes later this month. Right, where were we? Oh yes, so Module 2 is purely for the military and the waking home to the detachment of two hundred marines. Module 3 is science and research, including some extremely powerful telescopes. Module 4, habitation, recreation and civilian training is where you and most other civilians will spend their time when not in stasis. Module 5 is the stasis module. Six is landing and colonization. That’s home to the planetary shuttles, land vehicles, temporary shelters and so forth. Once you arrive—”

Kate whispered to Luker, “Where you from?”

He smiled broadly and caught a whiff of her perfume as he turned to answer her. Her face was closer than he’d anticipated, but that was fine with him.

“L.A … Idaho, originally. You?”

“Boston … Lisbon, Portugal originally. Portuguese mom, American dad.”

Luker checked Kate’s left hand—no ring. He wasn’t over Juliet—not by a long shot—but Miss Kate Alves sure was attractive. Pleasant too.

Dr. Kosmos was still giving his run down, “Module 7 is stores. It’s a long mission and it may be some time until the colony on Aura is self-sufficient in terms of food and supplies. The stores include food, equipment, materials, but also genetic material—seeds, animal embryos, microbes and the like—and the technology needed to grow them. The penultimate module is Module 8—engineering. This place is where you’ll find the four fusion reactors and enough fuel to last at least double the mission time. It’s also home to the robotics facility and manufacturing suite. Should the ship ever run out of fusion power—highly unlikely, of course—then the back-up solar arrays will deploy from Module 8. Finally, we have Module 9—propulsion—housing the four quantum-resonance engines and chemical rocket maneuvering thrusters.”

Dr. Kosmos went on to explain how the
Juno Ark
would accelerate to twenty-seven percent the speed of light and take one hundred and twenty years to reach the Aura system, sixteen-point-one light years away. The first half of the trip would be acceleration, the second half deceleration. For all on board, most of that time would be spent hibernating in stasis. A month into the voyage it’d be lights-out, with wake up over a century later six months before Aura-c orbit.

Dr. Kosmos had worked up quite a sweat with his animated explanations.

He stopped abruptly and said, “Okay, time for a ten-minute break, after which we’ll continue.”

Luker followed Kate to the coffee table outside the lecture hall and they lined up for their turn.

Kate turned to face Luker, looking up at him a good ten inches above her. “So what do you do, Dan?”

“I’m … I was a cop. How about you, Kate?”

“Teacher. Primary school grade.”

“So what made you wanna sign up?”

She looked skywards, then threw her head back with a chuckle.

“I’m still asking myself that question. I mean … no real ties, I guess. Correction … I’ll miss my kids … the ones I taught that is. I don’t have—”

“Sure, go on …”

“I guess, I just love little kids … love their minds, their unjaded innocence … their perspective on the world. I suppose I just want to make a better world with a clean slate. None of the baggage on Earth’s communities. We get to shape the colony just like they did here in America centuries ago, except this time everyone’s been selected. So, hopefully, that all works out better. So that’s my story, how ‘bout you Dan Luker?”

“Many of the same reasons I guess …”

Luker explained but skirted around his recent past, his loss and how conflicted he felt inside.

Kate reached the head of the line and her coffee reward there. A tall, nerdy-looking guy with floppy blonde hair and glasses brushed past Luker a little too close, knocking his elbow and spilling coffee over Luker’s sleeve.

“Oh, I’m very sorry,” said the skinny, bespectacled man with a foreign accent.

Luker brushed at the coffee stain, but remained calm.

“It’s okay … Accident.”

He forced a smile. The blonde guy held out his other hand nervously, introducing himself.

“Hi, I’m Evert Rietmuller …”