away from the ship. The crew
turned their backs on Pilton and the screens, crowding up against
the plate glass.
“… This ship is not the
metal and glass, it is the people …”
Below them, the hab module
slid into view. It looked like a great, mechanical turnip, grey
with dust, sliding under the ship ’ s lights and out into the dark. The three crew standing on
the top in environment suits were tiny pools of light. They saluted
as they approached the edge of vision.
“I got to tell
you.” Wei ’ s voice came over the comm, walking over Pilton, who fell
quiet. “ You guys look great
from here. I ’ d forgotten how
beautiful a ship in space is. With the modules gone, the bottom of
engineering looks like a sea ships keel, very smooth, very
strong. ”
There was some clapping and a few
cheers.
“Well, I guess
that ’ s it.” Elana said as the last glimmer
of the lights on the hab module faded into the murk.
“That’s it.” Sam agreed.
“So,
we ’ ve got the best odds
possible.” Elana,
glanced at Sam out of the corner of her eye.
“A lot better than we had
a few weeks ago. We ’ ve got
more than a 70% chance that at least some of us will
survive. ”
The three crew members on
the hab module had re-appeared from the dust and were powering
toward the ship using thrusters built into their suits. The crowd
was breaking up into chatting knots. “ You think
we ’ ll lose people even if we
survive? ”
“Oh yeah.” Alder sounded nonchalant. “ The shields will keep us together
on impact but, even with the gravity well generators running,
we ’ ll feel about 11
g ’ s. People will get hurt;
lots of broken bones, probably some fatalities. If we get
structural failures …”
“Stop.” Elana interrupted then
sighed. “ You know Sam.
It ’ s getting hard for me to
keep positive. I keep having this bad
feeling. ”
“Yeah. A lot of folks are
pretty worried. ”
“Are
you? ”
Sam scowled. “ I
don ’ t know. The numbers are a
lot better than they were. ”
“But your gut, Sam, what
does your gut say? ”
“Aw, El, I
don ’ t know. The numbers are
okay. If I see anything else I can do to keep us safe. I
promise. ”
“I know you will.” Elana paused. “ I ’ m off duty for the next twenty hours. Will you come spend at
least part of it with me in the biodome? ”
“I
don ’ t know.
I ’ ve got a
lot …”
“Please, Sam. I know you
don ’ t get scared, but I do
and the whole, cowardly captain, brewing revolution, imminent death
combination has really gotten to me. I could really use some
time. ”
Alder nodded and rubbed
her back. “ Okay.
Mbaka ’ s expecting me. Let me
tell him I ’ m going to be away
for a while. ”
Face of the Future
Gibson
, Dr. Shirimi from Science, and Mbaka, crowded around one of the
consoles in Mbaka ’ s pod.
Gibson, who had come straight from the ceremony, was speaking, her
voice hushed.
“Shirimi wanted me to get
as close as I could, but I was worried about the health of the
probe, so I dropped a couple of camera buoys on my way in to make
sure we ’ d see it if anything
went wrong. You can see me dropping the second one about ten
kilometers out. ”
The holographic display in front of
them shivered slightly as the one kilogram camera and sensor module
was released. For a second the view changed to that of the buoy. It
showed the probe as a black outline of wires, lattice, and sensors
moving toward the shifting auroras over the north pole of the
planet. The planetary crust had cooled to all black and the sun was
on the far side of the planet, casting a ring of blue fire over
which danced the glowing lights.
As the view switched back to that of
the probe, an object could be seen in the aurora. From ten
kilometers out, it appeared to be a knot in the shroud of light, as
if the aurora itself were some kind of fabric or blanket twisted in
the middle. As the probe dropped closer, an object could be seen at
the heart of the
turned their backs on Pilton and the screens, crowding up against
the plate glass.
“… This ship is not the
metal and glass, it is the people …”
Below them, the hab module
slid into view. It looked like a great, mechanical turnip, grey
with dust, sliding under the ship ’ s lights and out into the dark. The three crew standing on
the top in environment suits were tiny pools of light. They saluted
as they approached the edge of vision.
“I got to tell
you.” Wei ’ s voice came over the comm, walking over Pilton, who fell
quiet. “ You guys look great
from here. I ’ d forgotten how
beautiful a ship in space is. With the modules gone, the bottom of
engineering looks like a sea ships keel, very smooth, very
strong. ”
There was some clapping and a few
cheers.
“Well, I guess
that ’ s it.” Elana said as the last glimmer
of the lights on the hab module faded into the murk.
“That’s it.” Sam agreed.
“So,
we ’ ve got the best odds
possible.” Elana,
glanced at Sam out of the corner of her eye.
“A lot better than we had
a few weeks ago. We ’ ve got
more than a 70% chance that at least some of us will
survive. ”
The three crew members on
the hab module had re-appeared from the dust and were powering
toward the ship using thrusters built into their suits. The crowd
was breaking up into chatting knots. “ You think
we ’ ll lose people even if we
survive? ”
“Oh yeah.” Alder sounded nonchalant. “ The shields will keep us together
on impact but, even with the gravity well generators running,
we ’ ll feel about 11
g ’ s. People will get hurt;
lots of broken bones, probably some fatalities. If we get
structural failures …”
“Stop.” Elana interrupted then
sighed. “ You know Sam.
It ’ s getting hard for me to
keep positive. I keep having this bad
feeling. ”
“Yeah. A lot of folks are
pretty worried. ”
“Are
you? ”
Sam scowled. “ I
don ’ t know. The numbers are a
lot better than they were. ”
“But your gut, Sam, what
does your gut say? ”
“Aw, El, I
don ’ t know. The numbers are
okay. If I see anything else I can do to keep us safe. I
promise. ”
“I know you will.” Elana paused. “ I ’ m off duty for the next twenty hours. Will you come spend at
least part of it with me in the biodome? ”
“I
don ’ t know.
I ’ ve got a
lot …”
“Please, Sam. I know you
don ’ t get scared, but I do
and the whole, cowardly captain, brewing revolution, imminent death
combination has really gotten to me. I could really use some
time. ”
Alder nodded and rubbed
her back. “ Okay.
Mbaka ’ s expecting me. Let me
tell him I ’ m going to be away
for a while. ”
Face of the Future
Gibson
, Dr. Shirimi from Science, and Mbaka, crowded around one of the
consoles in Mbaka ’ s pod.
Gibson, who had come straight from the ceremony, was speaking, her
voice hushed.
“Shirimi wanted me to get
as close as I could, but I was worried about the health of the
probe, so I dropped a couple of camera buoys on my way in to make
sure we ’ d see it if anything
went wrong. You can see me dropping the second one about ten
kilometers out. ”
The holographic display in front of
them shivered slightly as the one kilogram camera and sensor module
was released. For a second the view changed to that of the buoy. It
showed the probe as a black outline of wires, lattice, and sensors
moving toward the shifting auroras over the north pole of the
planet. The planetary crust had cooled to all black and the sun was
on the far side of the planet, casting a ring of blue fire over
which danced the glowing lights.
As the view switched back to that of
the probe, an object could be seen in the aurora. From ten
kilometers out, it appeared to be a knot in the shroud of light, as
if the aurora itself were some kind of fabric or blanket twisted in
the middle. As the probe dropped closer, an object could be seen at
the heart of the
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