The Silence Between the Stars

by Alan Davenport

  Henry gasped and said, “But… but what will I do? How will I go on without you, my love?”

  “Henry dear,” she sadly said. “I know that this endless odyssey is wearing on you just as much as it has affected me. We can shut down your avatar half and then you can join me in the endless sleep. We can sleep side-by-side, forever.”

  Henry cried, tenderly kissed her and softly said, “Yes Katy, my heart and soul. You are right. I am tired too. We shall sleep and endlessly drift between the stars together. Forever.”

  Katy used her mind and sent a series of commands to her starship. Shortly thereafter, Seventeen rolled into the room. They wrapped their arms around each other as the bot rolled up to them. Seventeen gently injected them both and then they lay there, side-by-side, arm in arm, and did not get up again. Momentarily, Forgotten Hope dropped out of warp in the endless void. She powered herself off and then the ship joined its humans in their endless sleep in the silence between the stars.

  The next day Katy still had not arrived. Nathan and Kelly held each other in their arms and cried. “She must have done it,” Kelly said miserably. “She must have really done it.”

  Nathan wrapped his arms around her for comfort and said, “I am afraid that you are right Kelly.” Softly he said, “I cannot believe that she is gone.” They held each other for several more minutes and then Nathan pushed her back, put his hands upon her shoulders, looked her in the eyes and said, “No! I refuse to accept that she is gone! I am going to go look for her!”

  She looked at him tenderly and said, “Nathan, what if she had a legitimate delay. She could have found a habitable planet too.”

  Nathan smiled and sadly said, “Seriously Kelly. What are the chances of that happening after all this time? No, let’s retrace her route backwards and see if we can find her.”

  “But Nathan,” she protested. “We are supposed to stay here and begin preparing the planet for colonization.”

  “Kelly,” he said, “The probes will not reach Earth for years. We have plenty of time.” He closed his eyes for a second and then said, “Course set and laid in for Katy’s last destination before here.” A second later, they felt the familiar lurch as the ship entered warp.

  Three days later they dropped out of warp at a non-descript class F star. Immediately, they detected a system satellite. Nathan instantly began transmitting in the blind. “Forgotten Hope, this is Silent Running. Do you copy?” His only response was the faint hiss of the galaxy’s background radio emissions. “Katy, are you here? Do you copy?” Still nothing. Only the distant voices of the countless stars.

  Kelly reached out with her mind. “I am not detecting a starship in the system Nathan,” she said sadly.

  “But where can she be then?” he asked in desperation. “We know that she at least made it this far!”

  Kelly began crying and through her tears she said, “It is as I feared Nathan. Katy was through living. She does not want to be found. Instead of heading towards our rendezvous, she could have headed off in any direction. In the vastness of space, we will never find her. She’s gone.” With that, Kelly began pitifully bawling her eyes out.

  Nathan looked at her in shock. Although he did not want to believe it, he knew in his heart that she was correct. They fell to their knees with their arms around each other’s waists. Heads upon each other’s shoulders, they cried long and hard. Misty, who did not understand why her masters were crying, whined and pushed her head between them. All three remained on the floor for a long time before Nathan finally got up and sadly said, “Well, let’s go back to Eden.”

  In time, the work that they were doing helped push Katy and Henry’s loss to the back of their minds. However, if they let their minds wander their thoughts inevitably drifted back to their dear, long lost friends.

  Chapter 26: Signals

  Nathan and Kelly sat holding hands on the covered porch of their rustic style home. It sat upon a grassy knoll near where they had first landed upon Eden. They sat, sipping coffee, watching the sun come up in a blaze of color. Misty ran boisterously around the yard chasing butterflies. Nathan smiled at his wife and thoughtfully said, “The probes should be reaching Earth shortly.”

  Kelly squeezed his hand and said, “I wonder if anybody will come? It has been such a long time.”

  Nathan nodded and said, “I was thinking the same thing. We took so long to find Eden. I wonder if they gave up on waiting for us.”

  “I hope not,” Kelly said. “It would be such a shame. Eden is so beautiful.” She squeezed his hand and whispered, “So very beautiful.”

  Nathan smiled at his wife and said, “Oh well, we will not know for years. No matter what happens, I will be content to spend eternity here with you.”

  Kelly leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “And I, with you my love,” she whispered.

  The Starship Project Director Jane McCann rolled over in her bed and smiled at the man lying beside her. “Good morning, husband,” she said.

  Star smiled back at her and said, “Good morning, wife.”

  “That’s Madam Director to you, mister!” she said with a false, stern look.

  He made a face at her and they both lay there, laughing. Star sighed and said, “Let’s go get some breakfast. We are going to need it today at the debate.”

  ‘Indeed,” Jane sighed.

  Showered and in clean clothes, they entered the cafeteria and picked up their food. The minister of science, Harold Finn saw them and waved them over. “Morning Jane. Morning Star,” he said. No longer in an ancient body, he now appeared to be in his early twenties. His hair, now thick and black rather than thin and white, still stuck out at odd angles.

  Jane laughed at him as she sat down. He gave her a questioning look and then she shook her head and said, “Nothing Harry. Nothing.” Suppressing her mirth she said, “Are you ready to fight the wolves today, Harry?”

  Harry pounded his fist on the table making the dishes rattle and said, “You bet I am! I cannot believe that those morons want to cancel the generation four warp drive project in favor of building domed cities on Mars. Do they think that humanity can live there forever? Mankind was not meant to live in giant, upside-down fishbowls!”

  Star sighed and said, “I am afraid that the vote is going to go against us today, Harry. After all, what have the starships we sent out found so far? Nothing but a few barely inhabitable rocks. They are losing faith in the project, Harry.”

  “You do not actually side with them do you, Star?” he said, fuming.

  Star fiercely shook his head and said, “No, of course not Harry! I am just saying that this is how they are looking at it. All this time and effort for no results. Actually, I am surprised that this has not happened sooner.”

  Harry calmed himself down and said, “Sorry Star. I know you are a strong supporter of the project. I guess it is just my frustration talking.”

  Jane sighed and sadly said, “It hasn’t helped that the version three ships have begun to find some version one starships dead in space with their captains dead from an apparent suicide.”

  Harry shook his head and said, “I can understand it, actually. We never should have sent them out alone. We should have sent out couples. All those days alone with nothing to look at but the blank walls. Blank walls, empty days and endless failures. It would drive the most sane man or woman crazy.”

  Jane looked compassionately at him and said, “Indeed Harry, but who thought that we would be so unlucky? We were so sure that we would quickly find a new home. Besides, it took the world government so long to decide to fund the project that we were desperate… desperate to get the ships out there. We took almost anybody who applied and immediately sent them out. We all knew that Earth was doomed. The only thing we did not know was exactly when it would fall.”

  “Yes, yes,” Harry sighed and said. “Let’s not hash over the obvious yet again.” With a slump of his shoulders he continued, “Maybe they are right after all. Maybe we all are just a bunch of sel
f-deluding dreamers.”

  Jane looked sharply at him and said, “Now don’t you dare start that frack too, Harry. That’s an order from the supreme madam director!” she said with a stern expression on her face.

  “Of course, Jane,” he laughed. “Of course.”

  The debate was not going well. Jane stalled as long as she could but it was obvious to her that the vote was not going to go their way no matter how long she delayed. Finally, a bookish, gaunt looking woman in the back of the room stood up and said, “I wish to speak!”

  Jane sighed and said, “The floor acknowledges the minister of education, Sarah Lapin.”

  Sarah nosily cleared her throat and in a high, squeaky voice she said, “Madam Director, we all know and appreciate your passion for the project however it is time to put this to a vote. All those in favor of voting now raise your hands.” As one, everybody in the room raised their hands… some, hesitantly, but they raised their hands nonetheless.

  Jane sighed and said, “Sarah has motioned and that vote has carried that we should now vote on whether or not the generation four warp drive project should be put on hold and those resources be re-directed towards building domed cities on Mars.” Jane took a deep breath and said, “All those in favor, raise your hands.”

  Before anybody could move, Harry shouted, “Wait!” Angry mutters escaped the lips of most people in the room at his outburst.

  Sarah looked at him and angrily squeaked, “Really Harry, the time for debate is over. Further delays will not change things. It is now time to vote.”

  “No!” he shouted, “You do not understand. I just received some new information! Wait one second!” His eyes took on an unfocused look for several seconds and then he shouted, “We just received a hyper-probe. It came in at warp thirteen point two. It is from Silent Running!”

  Everyone in the room instantly stopped talking, gasped and then stared at him in anticipation at the mere mention of the mythical starship’s name. Many of the ones whom were the strongest supporters of the dome project looked on with something in their eyes that they had long ago lost; hope. Jane softly said, “Just Silent Running? Not from Forgotten Hope too?”

  Harry shook his head, sending his hair flying and then excitedly shouted, “He found one! Captain Nathan Staite has found one! It is a textbook class A+ planet! He found one!” He pointed to the main screen in the room and said, “Look!”

  As one, all heads turned to the screen and then they all stared, open mouthed at the visage. It showed a beautiful green and blue planet dappled with puffy white clouds. A collective gasp escaped everybody’s lips. The picture changed to show Nathan, Misty and Kelly standing upon a green grassy meadow full of wildflowers. Colorful insects flitted from flower to flower. “He has a dog? Who is that woman,” Jane asked? “Holy Frack! That is his avatar!” she said, answering her own question.

  The image of Nathan waved and began speaking. “Hello people of Earth. I am hoping against hope that somebody is still there to receive this message for I am happy to say that the long search is now over. I have finally found a class A+ world.” Nathan spread his arms wide and said, “This is Eden.” As one, another collective gasp escaped the lips of everybody in the room as the camera switched to show aerial footage of the world. It flew over a large grassy plain where herds of antelope-like creatures ran. It showed views of snow-capped mountains with unbelievably high waterfalls flowing down their sides. It showed lush forests where colorful birds flitted from tree to tree. In addition, it flew over beautiful, crystal-clear lakes with the sun glinting off their surfaces. The camera ultimately returned to Nathan and he continued, “My ship’s now human avatar Kelly, Misty,” he said pointing at the dog, “and myself welcome you to Eden. Humanity’s new home world.” Nathan hugged Kelly and said, “If you wish to know how to give your avatars a body, the information is included…”

  Anything further that Nathan said was lost as the room exploded into chaos. Jane had to bang her gavel for many minutes before the room finally quieted. In the resulting silence she smiled and said, “All those in favor of halting the of the generation four warp drives project in favor of building domed cities on Mars, please raise your hands.” Not a single hand went up. “All those in favor of expediting the installation of the new warp drives on all ships in the fleet, raise your hands now.” Every hand in the room instantly shot up. Jane smiled and said, “Motion carried.” Amanda DeMuthe smiled as she unrolled her phone. A tumultuous cheer erupted from every pair of lips in the room.

  Several years passed. Nathan led a protesting Kelly by the hand. “Come on, let’s ride the hogs.”

  “Nathan no, those mechanical monstrosities are dangerous!” she said, laughing.

  “Nonsense!” he said. “They are safe as can be. The sensors and anti-gravity drive work together. You will not crash into anything on the ground.”

  “But I don’t remember how to drive it!” she protested.

  “Oh come on Kelly. It is simplicity itself. You grip the handlebars and use them to steer. To go faster, you twist the right-hand handgrip towards you. To slow down, you release it. To stop, you push on the right-hand foot pedal. To go up, you push on the front of the left-hand foot pedal with your toe. To go down, you push on the back of the left-hand foot pedal with your heel. It’s simple!” he repeated.

  “I don’t know, Nathan,” she said, still laughing. Nathan did not notice the glint in her eyes.

  Nathan pushed her towards her machine. “Come on, get on.” She still pretended to hesitate. “It’s fun! Trust me!” Giggling, she complied. Nathan yelled over his shoulder as he went to mount his machine, “Flip the orange button to power it up. Remember, easy on the throttle. If you hammer it, you will take off like a shot!”

  As Nathan mounted his machine, he heard the whine of Kelly’s machine powering up. He sat astride his machine and said, “Where to?”

  Kelly, with a mischievous grin, pointed straight ahead and said, “That away!” Nathan watched open mouthed as her machine quickly lifted a couple meters off the ground and then took off like an arrow for the horizon with her long hair flying out behind her like a flag.

  Recovering, he yelled after her “Wait!” and then took off himself. He had a hard time catching up to the laughing woman. “Don’t remember how to drive it, my ass!” he said to her with a laugh as he pulled alongside. She gave him a huge grin, banked hard ninety degrees to the right and then took off at full speed again, laughing the whole way.

  Eventually, they came to a stop by the brook. Nathan smiled at her and said, “Now wasn’t that fun?”

  Kelly grinned and said, “Too bad you spent all your time playing catch-up!”

  Nathan good naturedly shook his fist at her. “I’m hungry. Let’s get something to eat.” Kelly nodded okay and then Nathan said, “Follow me.” They took off at a more sedate pace and he led them to Silent Running, which they had landed just out of sight of their house. He stopped by one of the enormous landing struts and said, “I’m feeling nostalgic. Let’s eat inside.”

  The pair got off their machines and walked slowly up the steps built into the strut. Entering through a small airlock, they walked hand in hand, in silence through the long, empty, echoing corridors towards the galley. On the way, Nathan shook his head, broke the silence and said, “It is hard to believe that we spent so many long years cooped up in here.”

  Kelly nodded and said, “It seems like a distant dream now, doesn’t it?”

  “Indeed, love,” he said, squeezing her hand.

  Sitting in the galley after their lunch, Nathan smiled and said, “Remember the time that you first successfully printed a living mouse? You were so excited that if you had been human at the time you probably would have peed your pants!”

  Kelly laughed and said, “Oh, I was so proud… and happy! It was my first real breakthrough on the Genesis project.” Kelly thought for a second and then said, “Remember when I brought you to meet Misty? I thought your jaw had become unhinged it hung so
low!”

  “Good grief yes,” he said. “I just could not believe it. The last thing I expected when you called me to the medical bay was a beautiful, golden dog!”

  Kelly smiled and said, “Those were the good times, weren’t they love?”

  He sighed happily and said, “Yes, they were indeed.” Nathan squeezed her hand and said, “Speaking of the good times, remember the wedding feast? You were so surprised when I smashed the cake into your face remember? The look on your face was priceless!”

  Kelly laughed aloud and said, “I was wondering what I had done to make you angry. I knew nothing at all about wedding traditions!” Suddenly her face took on a sad expression. “I so miss them, Nathan. I wish that they were here with us right now.”

  “I do too, love. I do too,” Nathan said sadly. Nathan got up and led her by the hand. “Come on,” he said, pulling her from the room with its old memories and its silent, lingering ghosts.

  They shortly arrived on the bridge. Their gaze went to the screens, which were still active although the one showing power utilization showed so little usage it may as well have been reading zero. Just then, a burst of noise came from the radio speaker. Nathan frowned at it and said, “The radio is starting to show its age, Kelly.” As Nathan reached over to switch it off, it emitted another louder burst of noise.”

  Kelly put her hand upon his arm and said, “Wait! Wait! I think I hear a voice down deep in the static!”

  Nathan’s hand hesitated over the radio’s controls. He his face lit up and he said, “Yes, I think you are right! Switching to the high gain, directional antenna.” With a thought, he changed antennas and then the reception immediately cleared up.

  “…ilent Running, this is Director Jane McCann of the Earth colony ship zero-zero-one. Do you copy? Captain Nathan Staite, do you copy?”