1 Into the Darkness
What will the children of humanity say when they look back? Will they cry for us? Will they scream for us? Will they learn from us or will they forget us; the blood of history drowning us to the deepest abyss of insignificance? Will they look like us, sound like us, and look at the world like we do? I don't know, but I do know something. I live today, I live now. Not yesterday, not tomorrow, today. Like the past was for our parents, let the future be theirs and the present be ours, let the stories of billions of humans be told by the innumerable of lives in the universe. Let them know that when the dark, empty, void looked at us, we looked back. Let our blood know, so that when our children are put down and all hope seems lost, they stand back, because we did. We always did
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Start voice recording 21. This is 1 Lieutenant Voyager Noah De Castille. My OHSAA badge number is TR-1909-2006-D6, I have 6 expeditions under my name, two long distance, four standard. But you know that.
I'm stranded on a planet not yet in the galactic registry. I found three of my crewmembers bodies, including the captain's, confirmed dead. Hour of death unconfirmed. Two others are missing, presumed dead. Only I remain. . . .
I don't know how to begin, and worse yet, I don't know where to end. I know how I got here, but I still ask myself, how did I get here? What sort of god would do this to a person? The simple answer is, there is no God, and the universe is far too big to care. Still, I don't know whether to cry or laugh at the absurdity of my situation. If to scream knowing that no one will know about me, about what I've been through, about the danger that lies in the soulless emptiness of our universe. All my other recordings were destroyed when we crash-landed, leaving me with one last recorder and one last act of selfishness. This will be the last recording of our trip, the one thing I can leave behind, and I am ashamed to admit that I'll be using it to talk about myself. So. . . . . . . . .
I . . . . . left. . . . th. . .this will be a retelling of the last days, the days before we were plagued with fear, paranoia, and, for a lack of a better word, pain. But I can't talk about these days without talking about the men and women that joined me, and to talk about them we must talk about why we were brought toge. . . . THIS PIECE O. . . . . THEY'RE. . . . . .
I think I'm. . . . I think I'm safe. Now. Our mission. Our ship, if you could call it that, the ---------, was part of a bigger fleet on an operation spearheaded by the Organization of Human Spaceflights and Associated Activity, OHSAA. Our operation was codenamed --------, its purpose was to explore outside our known galaxy. To look for all already habitable planets, and those ready for terraforming or biological investigation. Alongside me were five other crew members. Steven Albring, Political Commissar, serious but witty, not very good with alcohol;. . . would piss himself if drank too much. Valentina Morozova, 1lt. biologist, cold and distant, I really don't know how she kept a pretty face with her never leaving the lab; I don't even remember if she was pretty, I think I was only told. Ajani Desalegn, 1lt. engineer, tall, wide, and black, he carried a lot of muscle with him, kind of like a bear; a teddy bear, really, with how kind and shy he was. Thomas Farrell, Captain Voyager, came from a traditional Irish family, had the accent that many thought of as extinct, and the smarts and flexibility worthy of a decorated sunrise captain; his husband once told me he hated coffee but loved chocolate. No sugar, 'cause he was a man. Finally, Lisa Jeung, 1lt. Ecologist. The woman who taught me how to drink and my friend since childhood; Many grooms had best men at their wedding, and I had her.
Steven, Valentina, Ajani, Thomas, and Lisa. Those were my companions on this trip. The last people I'd see before the end. Fine, fine, people. They didn't deserve what happened to them., they. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. .
OH GOD!!. . . . . . . HEL!. . . . . . . . . . . . . .I think, [out of breath] I think I lost them.
Chapter I - Into the Darkness
I'm safe, in some sort of cave complex. I still have one hour on my oxygen tank. [Trying to control breath] I have food and water supplies that will last me for two days. . . go to the ship and scavenge for supplies. Not now though. I'll wait. For now, I'll tell the story of the --------- and all the men and women who went out on its mission.
The day we left was the greatest day of our lives. Our loved ones thought we were leaving on a simple planetary exploration. We knew it was more than that. Much more than that.
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"See you soon, honey" waved Thomas
see you soon, Tommy + the screen spoke
- Nova Liea looks so small -, thought Noah, -you feel like the center of everything down there. Up here, it's just a tiny ball of green and red-.
Thomas approached Noah, rubbing his teary eyes like a madman. His attempts at composure were not lost by his lieutenant Voyager. He looked at him with worry, he knew how hard it could be to leave the people you love, especially when they don't know where you're really going.
"You good, captain," Noah said
'Oh, yeah. It's just. Saying goodbye. . . Can be hard" Thomas wiped his face
"I know"
"And you? Have you said your goodbyes to Danielle"
"Oh yeah, she's more excited than me. She actually back there talking to Lisa" Noah pointed at the coms room to the upper left of command control "They've been going at it for 15 minutes now. Sometimes I think she married me just to be closer to her"
Thomas chuckled "It's a good sign. It means she trusts you."
"Trusts her, you mean"
"That's more like it!" Thomas laughed
Lisa looked back, at mission control. She scouted the area "Close comms room". The doors slide shut. She looked around some more, making sure no one was in the room.
"Ok, no one's here," Lisa said
He can't Lis. He can't + Danielle spoke through the screen
"Dani, you gotta trust me with this one, tell him"
I can't tell him that, not before his mission. You know he'd come running back +
"OF COURSE HE WOULD! Y--" she lowered her voice "you fainted for fucks sake!"
It's nothing, the doctor says everything's fine +
"Jesus Dani. It's always the same with you. You never want help," Lisa threw one hand through her head, trying to pull it almost
Lis, I don't need help. And Noah wants this, I won't take that a--+
"Your health doesn't only affect you, Dani. He has the right to know how you're doing"
The room went silent. Dani knew Lisa was right. Lisa knew that too, but pushing her wouldn't help. She knew Dani was torn, she knew if Noah heard of this he'd jump ship and go to her, even if he was court-martialed. And she knew Dani wouldn't want that. But she didn't know. She didn't know where they were going, or the danger of their mission.
She wanted to tell her, but she couldn't.
+ Lis. I love you, I love Noah too. This is something I have to deal with, I've dealt with it my entire life. I won't let it take me now, even with the state I'm in +
"Fine. It's your choice. I'll make sure he only hears of this from you."
Thank you, Lis. Love you +
"Love you too"
The monitor turned off. Lisa sat there in silence, lost in her own mind. Dani didn't know and she couldn't know. The nature of the mission made it impossible for her to know. Damn it, she thought, damn this fucking mission. Self-pity had overtaken her and clouded her head.
"Oh, Lis, you're still here," said a soft voice
"Noah. Sorry, I was just talking with my mom" Lisa straightened up, turning her seat to Noah
"Lis"
"Yeah?"
He got closer to her, got on one knee, and looked her straight in the eyes. Lisa reeled back, is he proposing or something she thought
"Lis"
"What?" she laughed
"Your mom's dead"
"OH FUCK YOU!!" she shoved his face laughing
They were both orphans. Both lived in the same orphanage. Jokes like those were common ground in those hellholes.
They walked out of the comms room.
"That joke is so fucking old" Lis scoffed
"Still makes you laugh though" answered Noah
"Cause it's so bad"
"So bad it's good"
"No, it's just bad"
The command control. It was a big room, enough to hold 25,000 people. Instead, it helped tons of equipment stand and operate like clockwork, with energy efficiency that would put the ships Earth Prime and Odesia to shame. In the back was a balcony with the crew's travel seats; at each end there was a set of stairs with 70 steps each. At the front was the "Viewer". A puzzle of interactive windows, like crystal panes in a church, that worked as the eyes of the crew and AI into the outer space in front of them. As for the AI interface, it worked as both hivemind and mind of itself, capable of gathering every query of every crewmate and streamlining it to create ease, a flow, to the ship's running. In the control panel - which went around the entire room, up the wall, and to the center - you could find the controls to every room, every ventilation system and their individual vents, every light, door, lab, and machine the massive spaceship; anything on the ship really. A symphony of lights, whirring, loading, a haven of cutting-edge technology. This was unlike any control room. In fact, it was the only control room like this.
Lisa walked down the stairs to the control panel while Noah climbed the balcony bar and sat in it. Lisa walked up to one of the walls, the one to the right that held temperature control.
Lisa looked at the panel " Dav, open temperature control. Open temperature control for ecology study"
{Opening. Temperature control. Ecology study temperature control.
Temperature: 24.758°C - 76.566°F
Humidity: 65%
. . . }
"Update humidity to 75%. Keep the temperature at a nice 25°C and 77°F" Lisa ordered "Give me the moisture level of the soil"
{Averge moisture level: 35.733%}
"Seems alright to me" Lisa turned back to Noah "I'm going down, you coming?"
Noah started stretching his leg with the bar "Yeah, but I'm going to see Ajani"
"Fine" Lisa walked to the center "Just be sure to be here in fifteen, we're making the big leap"
"Sure" he groaned as he stretched "And it's in one hour, not fifteen minutes"
Lisa looked at her pocket watch "Oh! You're right. One hour then"
She walked to a podium at the center of command control and, touching the pad on it, called the elevator.
"So, are you staying or coming"
"WAIT!" Noah groaned, still stretching.
Once he was done, he jumped off the balcony and began to fall. As he approached the floor faster and faster, a gravity net formed around him, parachuting him to the floor. He gracefully landed on the floor and moved to the elevator
"Let's go"
The Anastasia station was big in a lot of ways. But the reason for its secrecy lay in its sheer size and technicalities. No human vessel could match Anastasia. It was both a ship and station, it measured 3.5 million square feet of total floor space, it was 2,213 ft in length, 1,214 ft in width, and 305 ft in height from base to top. Its shape was similar to a blimp, but its body was more elongated, with a sharper nose and a slight slope at the bottom. Its size required a level of propulsion equal to none so, in short, a nuclear bomb was attached to the back as its engine. Truly, however, it was a seraphic piece of nuclear engineering, capable of pushing Anastasia further than expected while managing to remain stable.
The two entered the elevator. Lisa took a card out of her back pocket. It read: -Lisa Jeung, 1lt Eco, 4859-D4-.
Nevertheless, there were downsides. The levels of radiation corroded the lead filaments that prevented that same radiation from spilling, and, despite engineers forever claiming it was more complicated than a simple nuclear explosion, it was an explosion, and in space, explosions expand until they waste their energy, so a nuclear explosion would be a disaster. For obvious reasons, the ship couldn't be built on land either, getting it to lift off on its own was more of a threat than building it. A new building technique was created, to use the buoyancy of space in order to keep it from caving in on itself or causing a nuclear fallout scenario.
She swiped the card on the elevator's scanner. The light above it turned red and then set to blue, and the door slid shut. The elevator then started to move. First descending, then stopping for a second just to start moving forward.
The station had two main sections, the engine section, and the "livable section". The engine room was a cauldron, even at just 10% activation, the engine could generate temperatures upward to 600°C, which resulted in a cap placed on the engine of 45% full activation. 100% had never been tried. The engine room was then deemed off-limits, one could only access it after 72 hours of cooling and another 48 hours of decontamination, and one still needed special suits to enter. Thus, it was rightly named "Satan's bedroom". The second section was the Livable section, taking up two-thirds of the ship. The section was divided into two areas: command and mission. The command held comms, the engine directory, and the command administrator. Meanwhile, the mission had the crew's rooms, the labs, the mechanics room, the environment studio, the crew lounge, and the DAV station where AI robots went for data recollection and self-maintenance.
As they moved forward, Noah stood at the right of the elevator and Lisa to the left. Noah looked at the elevator's ceiling. It was a very clear glass with a visual sensation akin to watching a screen that looked back at you, only with a faint but familiar was Noah able to discern what it was. A camera that doesn't reveal itself, Noah thought, It's good to sharpen the senses though. A nice game when you can't sleep.
The sound of the machine twisting, exhausting, and sliding as it moved through the rail was oppressive, and anxious; it revealed every line on a person's face, every insecurity, all fears. Noah looked at his face on the metal's reflection, he had become accustomed to the tricks this ship would play. What about Lis, he studied her face. She always had a serious look, her narrow, monolid eyes always seemed to be seeing something others couldn't see. A trained woman in the art of people, she knew how to read them and make them know she could. Her sharp nose was scrunched up, it seemed unconscious, almost as if a needle was pressed to her face.
Noah cleared his throat "So. What did you tell your mom"
"Ugh, Shut up!" Lisa whined
Noah laughed "Fine. So what did you talk about with Dani"
"Oh, nothing, just complained about you," she yawned
"Really? What a friend you are"
"The best"
Noah knew what she was doing. Nice kill of the conversation, little shit, he told himself. He wouldn't let it end there, he wanted to know more, whether or not it was a petty desire he didn't care.
"You nervous" he pushed
"Nah, just tired" she answered
"We've just started, we need to build up that stamina, wanna grab something to eat"
Lis led him on"You really can make twelve hours feel like 20 years, can't you?"
"Wow, cranky much, what's got you like that?" Noah tried to hook her
Lis paused, getting her act straight "We're so far away, aren't we? Never thought I'd feel terrified about studying planets on another galaxy. Exited, nervous, anxious but never. . . "
"So that it, you're homesick?"
She stuck the landing "We are doing great things in here. It's just. . . sometimes I think. . . . that my work is down there, in our home, not somewhere far away that . . ." she stopped ". . . we don't know."
Noah looked at her, At least there's some truth "The people of earth prime had the same doubts. What we do out here, helps everyone down there. Your job is out here in space. This is what you want, right?"
Lisa looked at Noah, - there is a man that knows what he wants- , she thought, - He does have HER-. Lisa smiled, barely hiding the force of it. - He has to believe it, he can't keep asking me questions. I wouldn't. . . .-
"Yes, Noah. This is what I want"
The elevator had run its course. The door opened, revealing a long, vast hall, with doors adjacent to each side and a second floor where the bedrooms and lounge were. In the middle there was an oak tree that Lisa had bred and grown herself, she had got high command to put it there. It's trespassed on the second floor, with a roundabout around it to circumvent it. It was beautiful, a reminder of our home, of why we were here.
Robots rolled around them, speeding through different rooms and tasks. In the back was the first door that led toward the engine room. There were three doors, a sliding door, a stronger reinforce pull door and a vault door with 10 meters of the same lead filament that covered the thruster.
The first door opened. From it came out a person in a hazmat suit.
"I ain't going back there, Deeve" the man spoke through the suit "Oh. N-Noah"
"Hi, Ajani"
The man took off his helmet, revealing a tall black figure. The man wore long thick threads on his hair which he used to try and cover his face. Ajani wore a big frame, his face exemplified it: sharp lines all around, big and full lips with a soft tone of pink, a wide jawline, and a sharp, big nose.
Ajani took his hazmat suit off and gave it to the robot beside him
"Take this to the decontamination room, Deeve" ordered Ajani
{I ain't going back there, Deeve…} the robot answered in Ajani's voice
"Not now, Deeve" Ajani laughed nervously, looking back at Noah
{Fuck you!. . .} answered Ajani's voice and the robot stormed off
A stunned Noah stood in silence and Lisa was holding back laughter, all while Ajani stood in place with both his hand holding his face in embarrassment. Noah noticed a sort of tiredness in the act but didn't point it out
"Oh, h-hi, Lieutenant Lisa." Ajani stuttered
"WHAT'S UP A-JA-NII!!" Lisa threw her arms in the air and ran straight to Ajani.
She threw herself into his neck and clung to it. Ajani returned the gesture with a restrained hug, as Lisa kissed him on the cheek multiple times. Ajani was of intense ebony color, yet his blush was in full view.
"Can you carry me, Ajani" Lisa pouted
"Uhm, I, uh" Ajani was at a loss for words. He thought, trying to get the words out until finally, he sighed "Fine"
"YEAH!" Lisa growled, crawling to his back like a spider "To The Eco study!"
And with minimal effort, Ajani carried his gremlin to the eco study. Noah, who had just seen Lisa so down, was now shocked once again at the sight. Well, that's something only he can do, Noah thought, good luck, Ajani, hope you survive.
Noah started walking to the elevator at the end of the hall. This one was more like the older models back in Earth Prime, it only went up and down. While walking through the hall, he gazed at the size of it and stood in awe. We could fit an entire colony in here, he thought to himself. He was hit by the irony, a few men and women get to have enough space to fit 100,000 people, thought Noah, and yet we say we are helping people.
Noah was born on Earth-Prime before his parents moved to Ganymede looking for god knows what. It was an impoverished place, only now starting to industrialize. The breakneck speed at which the republic expanded through solar systems in the galaxy left no time or money to help the colonies, so poverty, crime, and death became rampant. Noah had been arrested multiple times as a kid for stealing food, and the first time he ate three meals in a day, was when he entered the military, and even then he was crammed into an apartment for 6 with fifteen other men. Memories were made when he saw two of his housemates piss out of the third floor window because the bathroom was always full. Yet I was the lucky one, He thought as he stared at the Oak tree, most people lived in the street. He had heard that the building he lived in was demolished in a government effort to build more housing units. These struggles brought him here, brought all of them here. A poem sprung into Noah's mind:
I know the pain of being alive
O' the fate of man, O' fate of man.
I live in squalor and hunger,
A life spent in mindless survival.
We know the pain of being alive
O' the fate of man, O' fate of man.
Noah muttered the words as he swiped his card on the elevator. It was a revolutionary poem from a rebel group he was sent to fight in Europa.
"And they'll know the pain of living when they are shot by our hand" Noah sighed
He looked at his hand. The hand of a criminal, he thought, the hand of a killer. He curled the hand into a fist, tightening it ever so slowly, feeling his nail press against his skin. Anger boiling to rage, guilt simmering into sadness. Then he remembered, as he unclenched his hand, I am here to make it right, he thought, I'm here to make it right. After this, it's all over.
To all crew members, please convene at the command control, + the ship's speakers spoke in a robotic voice + Cryo sleep will commence in 5 minutes +
Noah came back to his senses. He walked to his room, swiped the card, and went in. It was spacious and nicely ordered. Noah walked to his bed and sat for a moment. He looked at his ring finger, a platinum engagement ring was placed on it, by his wife. He had heard that the cryo fluid used for "the sleep" could damage platinum. He didn't truly believe it but didn't want to risk it, so, he came here to take it off. However, he didn't want to, it was the only thing that could keep him and Danielle together.
"What to do, what to do" Noah muttered
+ Three minutes for cryo sleep to commence + the speaker spoke
Noah stared at his ring, still on his finger. He turned to his night table where he had a picture of Danielle, his dog, and himself. He grinned, looked back at his ring, and gently rubbed it.
+ Two minutes for cryo sleep to commence+
Noah stood up and left his room, the ring still on his finger.
Back on command control, everyone was on the balcony. Ajani was talking to Captain, Valentina was smoking, and she waved at Noah when he came out of the elevator. Steven was checking his cryo chamber.
"Where's Lis" Noah asked
"She is on comms" Valentina pointed to the comms room "Where were you, army boy"
"My bedroom, ice queen"
As he walked up the stairs to the balcony, Lisa came out of the comms room.
"There you are she said, where were you," Lisa asked him
"I had to--"
"Alright!" the captain interrupted "We are all here now, we will commence cryo sleep in a moment. Does everyone have the cold suits?"
Everyone nodded
"Good, ask the person beside you to double-check before we move one. Remember that without these suits the liquid will start burning the skin."
Noah checked Lisa's suit. It was a tight suit from the legs to the neck, to the hands, covering everything but the face. There was some more padding at the crotch, neck, and chest. Noah tightened the straps of Lisa's chest padding and then tightened the waist strap that held the crotch padding. Lisa did the same for all three padding straps.
"Everyone's good? Ok. Now remember, first the nose tube, then the goggles, ok?"
Everyone entered their standing chambers. A red light filled the chambers and needles surrounded them. They placed the nose breathing tube first and then, once they were in their place in the chamber, they put on their goggles. The chamber tightened, injecting some needles around the arms, the legs, and the back of the neck. From one of the needles, a cryo-resistance serum was injected, leaving a small cold spot on the crew's arms
"Lis?" Noah spoke
"Yes?" Lis responded
"See, you in a month"
"Yeah." Lisa stopped herself "See ya'"
The cabins started closing from the sides. A mask came from the bottom of the chamber attached to a tube. Once placed on his face, anesthesia was released. The sound of the anesthesia coming out of the tube was aquin to a long sigh.
>> HA--A--A--A--A--a--a--a
Sounded the tube. After a few seconds, Noah began feeling the anesthesia, his eyes began dropping and a sense of tiredness filled his body. His leg and hand went numb after a while, and a few seconds after that, Noah fell asleep.
A beep was heard in the chamber and Noah's goggles went full black out. A liquid started infiltrating the chamber, filling it. The viscous substance was followed by a gas that started to frost the crystal on the chamber doors. As the chamber was almost filled, the red lights turned off and the chambers began to incline until they were only 45° off the ground. As soon as the incline had ended, all the lights on the ship, from the hall to the command room, went off.
+ Shut down gravity nets + spoke DAV
+ Initiate virtual resting space +
+ Turning autopilot on +
+ Putting robotic aides to sleep +
+ First read of vitals. . . . . . . . complete +
+ Preparing for the big jump in
10. . .
9. . .
8. . .
7 . . .
6 . . .
5 . . .
4 . . .
3. . .
2 . . .
1 . . .
. . .Nuclear capacitor on 45%. Initiate big jump +
And with that, the Anastasia was no longer in a known galaxy.
Now, it had been thrust into darkness.
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2 weeks later
A red light blared on top of Noah's chamber, and sirens blasted through the ship. Command control whirred as DAV went online.
+ Alert. A crew member's heart rate is altered. . .
Alert. A crew member is drowning. +
