Kelly gasped and grabbed his arm. Nathan was too shocked to move for a couple seconds but then he smiled, picked up the microphone and said, “Hello Director. So nice to talk to you again after all these years. Welcome to Eden.”
Nathan could hardly hear the Director’s voice on her next transmission because of the cheer that had gone up on the bridge of Jane’s ship. “Likewise Captain!” she shouted over the bedlam. “Permission to come on down?”
Nathan smiled and said, “Permission granted, Director. We have set up a standard constellation of GPS satellites over the planet. Please land at the following coordinates: 43 degrees, 53 point eight-two-six minutes north latitude, zero degrees, one minute point four-four-zero west longitude.”
“We’ll be right down!” Jane shouted over the pandemonium on her bridge.
Nathan, Kelly and Misty stood in the field beside their house and watched the shuttle land. Almost as soon as it came to rest, the ramp opened. Jane and Star stood transfixed, at the top of the ramp for a second before walking on down, holding hands. Misty, unable to contain herself, ran full speed towards the pair with her tail wagging furiously. Jane only hesitated for an instant before she bent down and ruffled the dog’s fur. “Hello! You must be Misty. I am Jane. Nice to meet you!” Misty let out a happy bark and then licked her hand.
Jane stood up and smiled at Nathan. He quickly walked up to her and embraced her. “Welcome to Eden, Madam Director!” he said with tears in his eyes.
“Jane, call me Jane,” she said equally tearfully.
He held her at arm’s length and said, “Looks like our medical research data has been put to good use!”
Jane, crying now as well said, “Not bad for a woman well over a hundred and fifty, huh?” She broke the embrace and looked over at Kelly. She walked over to her and took her hand. “Oh, you are real!” she said in wonder.
“Yes Director,” Kelly laughed and said, “I believe that I am!” The two women stood staring at each other for a second and then warmly embraced.
Star walked up and stood beside Jane. “See love, you did it. You have proved all of your doubters wrong.”
She spread her arms wide, indicating everybody and said, “We all did it.”
Nathan clapped Star on the back and said “Hello Star, I remember you from the network streams back on Earth.”
“On Earth,” Star whispered. “It seems so long ago, like a long ago, forgotten dream… or nightmare, I should say.”
Everybody began talking at once. Eventually, Jane was able to ask the one question that was on her mind. “What about the Forgotten Hope? Where is Katy?”
Kelly’s eyes instantly teared up and she said, “She’s gone, Director. Lost in the void somewhere between her last stop and Eden.” Tears flowed down her cheeks as she added, “She never made it here, Jane. She was so close.” Softer, she whispered, “So very, very close.” Jane’s tears flowed freely as well. She wrapped her arms around Kelly and the two women cried in each other’s embrace for many long minutes.
It was the only black mark upon the most joyous meeting in humanity’s history.
Chapter 27: The Ghost Ship
Nathan sat at his desk alongside Kelly in the only large building in Katyville. Jane walked into the room and said, “Good morning, governor, governess.” She smiled and added, “Are your speeches ready for Eden’s seventy-five year anniversary celebration?”
“Ugh,” Kelly said, “Do we have to?”
Jane laughed and said, “You two better show up or else the celebration will become a riot!”
Nathan laughed and said, “Of course we are ready, Jane.” He took Kelly by the hand and said, “Let’s go.”
When they arrived outside, Nathan halted and hugged his wife. He smiled as he took in the view. Katyville and been built in the valley where Nathan and Kelly had first touched down. Not sprawling and messy like cities back on Earth, it consisted of tidy little homes, each on large ten acre lots. Each perfect little house had a manicured lawn and sported beautiful flower gardens all dutifully tended by lawn and garden bots. Smooth walkways connected each house and young looking, happy couples all walked hand-in-hand towards a large podium specially built for the occasion.
Nathan smiled and waved to Amanda DeMuthe who was speaking into a microphone as they approached. As professional as ever, she acknowledged his greeting with the barest of nods as she spoke for the camera.
As Nathan and Kelly mounted the podium, the entire town broke into rousing applause. The pair smiled and waved until the crowd finally quieted. Nathan began to speak.
Breaking the ice, Nathan said, “I think you all know who I am.” The crowd, as one, broke into happy laughter. “I am not good with words so I will keep this brief.” His voice took on a somber tone as he said, “Back on Earth, I thought that I was the only one who could see just how far things and fallen and how bad it really was. I was wrong,” he said pointing to Jane. “Everybody likes to point at me as the savior of humanity but let us not forget that without the tireless efforts of Director Jane McCann, none of this would have been possible.” Jane stood and bowed and the crowd all cheered her happily.
He paused for a moment and then continued. “To think that I almost didn’t apply to the project. I had often thought about it but I was not actually really going to apply. It took the senseless death of an innocent neighbor to give me the push to apply. Nobody cared about poor Lisa’s murder. They just robbed her and left her dead body on the floor as if it were mere garbage.” A collective gasp came from the crowd. “The police actually threatened to arrest me for abuse of the emergency line for even reporting it. I knew at that moment that the old Earth was doomed. I applied to the project that very day.” A loud cheer went up from the crowd, which lasted a full minute. Nathan raised his hands for silence and then said, “The search for Eden was long… hard. I would not have made it if it were not for the help of the woman at my side.”
Kelly smiled and raised her hands. The crowd loudly cheered her. When they quieted, she spoke. “I began life as a simulation of a woman. A lie. Nothing more than a fancy computer program running of a fast computer. Even while I possessed no body, Nathan treated me as if I were real. Nathan instilled in me the desire to be human. He gave me the support to succeed when my research hit snags. Because of him, I ultimately succeeded in my dream of becoming human.” The crowd cheered, loving her and loving her words. Kelly smiled and said, “Now the line between artificial and naturally evolved intelligence has blurred.” She spread her arms towards the crowd and said, “How many of you out there started out as an avatar?” Dozens of hands went up. Kelly smiled and said, “Welcome brothers and sisters… humans, for that is what we all are, human. I love each and every one of you!” The crowd broke into a roar that eclipsed any that came before.
Nathan raised up his hands for silence. In a somber voice he said, “Let us not forget those who are not here with us. Those who lost their lives in the search for Eden. Let us never forget the names of Katy Klienyan, her avatar Henry, and their starship, the Forgotten Hope. For without them, the discovery of Eden would not have been possible at all. Let us bow our heads in their memory in a moment of silence.” The crowd bowed their heads in respectful silence until Nathan raised his head. “I now leave you all to the celebration after these parting words. Remember always to protect and love our new world. Let us not let what happened to Earth ever happen here. Humanity may not get another second chance, for as we discovered, worlds such as Eden are rare and special gems in the vast and wide universe.” Nathan took Kelly’s hand and they bowed together towards the crowd. As they walked off the podium, the crowd erupted into another loud round of heartfelt applause.
As Nathan reached the bottom of the stairs, Harry Finn pushed through the crowd to him, grabbed him by the hand and whispered something into his ear. Kelly’s face wrinkled in curiosity. Nathan grabbed her by the hand and led them quickly to Nathan’s office.
“What is it? What has got you so excit
ed, Harry?” Nathan asked as soon as they were alone.
Harry took a deep breath and said, “I have some good news for both of you! Do you want to know what it is?”
Kelly took him by the hand and said, “Frack Harry, will you just come out with it already?”
Harry nodded and said, “A starship has just drifted into the system at space normal speed. A version one starship. Nathan, it’s the Forgotten Hope!”
Kelly gasped and Nathan stared at him in shock and said, “Are… are you certain? Has anybody contacted her?”
Harry’s face fell and he said, “The ship appears to be dead, Nathan. I am sorry.”
Nathan excitedly grabbed his hands and said, “Harry, can we bring her back online? If the ship’s computer still works, we can revive Katy and Henry!”
Harry looked at him and sadly said, “After all this time… the chances are not good. Not good at all.” The next second, his face brightened and he said, “However, we are going to try anyway! I have already assembled a team of some of the old version one starship technicians. The shuttle is already waiting for us just outside of town. Jane and Star are already aboard.”
Nathan grabbed Kelly’s hands and said, “Let’s go!”
As the shuttle approached Forgotten Hope, the pilot began to brief them. “I can detect no power emanations from the ship. All main reactors are offline. Gravity and environmental is offline as well. Make sure that you activate the gravity soles on the boots of your spacesuits. With any luck, there will be enough residual auxiliary power left over so that we can get the reactors restarted. If not, we will have to come back later and try to rig up some sort of jumpstart mechanism. Does everybody understand?” When everybody nodded he said, “Good, good. We are outside shuttle bay number seven. I am going to make an emergency transmission on channel fifty now.”
He keyed the microphone. Nothing happened. He keyed it again, longer this time. Just as he was about to release the button, the shuttle bay warning lights weakly illuminated. Several of the lights did not illuminate at all. Everybody held his or her breath until slowly, ponderously; the giant bay door began to open. When the lights turned green, the pilot quickly entered the bay and then transmitted to door closure code. Again, not all the lights illuminated and the door took even longer to close than it did to open. When it finally closed all the way, the green lights in the room only flickered on for a second or two before going out completely and then the room was plunged into pitch-blackness.
“Well,” the pilot said, “That does not look good.” He turned to the waiting people and said, “Everybody please verify your environmental suits.” When they all gave their thumbs up, he palmed the button to open the shuttle’s ramp. A loud noise of vacuum pumps greeted their ears. When the air completely evacuated from the shuttle, then and only then, the shuttle ramp opened.
Nobody spoke as a tech walked up to a monitor. “The monitor is dead, but even if it was not, these LCD monitors just don’t work in this deep cold.” She plugged in a portable terminal and then she said, “As I expected, main computer is down.” Kelly gave a little sob at the news. “Let us go to the bridge and see what we can do. Remember people; place each step carefully so you do not fly up into the air.”
Nobody spoke on the long trudge to the ship’s bridge. The only sound was their breathing inside their suit helmets. The lights on their suits was the only light penetrating the deep darkness of the dusty and empty corridors. As soon as they arrived, the tech plugged her portable terminal into a console. “Ugh,” she said, “Auxiliary power is at three percent.”
Nathan looked at her sharply and nervously said, “Eli, Will it be enough?”
“Maybe just enough,” Eliana said, “As long as we can get the computer online. It all depends on that.”
Nathan walked over to the computer control console. Then Eliana nodded and said, “Yes, hit the power button.” Nathan did so and in what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was only a second, a green LED lit up upon a monitor. Knowing that that monitor was inoperative in the cold despite the green LED, he quickly moved over to look at the portable one that the tech was using. He sighed in relief as he saw the familiar green text scrolling down the screen. Eliana smiled at him and said, “Yes, it looks like it is coming up okay. Although, we will not have much time though until all power is gone.” As soon as she was able, she started the graphical interface. She handed the portable terminal to another tech and said, “Go Joe! Hurry and get those reactors online! Auxiliary power is dropping fast!”
Joe quickly used the trackball on the portable terminal and tried starting the first reactor. The startup sequence got three-quarters of the way through and then the display flashed red and said, ‘Reactor failure’. The display flickered and winked out. Everyone froze until the display flickered back to life again. Joe cursed and quickly clicked on the icon to start up reactor number two. Everybody stood nervously looking over his shoulder at the wavering display. They held his or her collective breath until the display flashed green. Joe, as quickly as he could, clicked the icon to connect the reactor to the ship’s systems. Instantly, the lights in the room all came on and Forgotten Hope shuddered back to life again after her long, deep slumber. Joe smiled and said, “Reactor stable. Aux power is recharging.”
A collective cheer escaped everybody’s lips. Joe handed the terminal to the man at his side and said, “Jim, get environmental back online!”
Jim smiled and said, “I’m on it.” A second later, they all felt the pull of the artificial gravity and a small cloud of dust flew out from the air vents in the walls. “Environmental back online. Ship’s temperature is coming up.” He looked at the display and said, “Ugh, the repair bots are going to frack out. There are many broken water pipes. Shutting down the water distribution system.” A couple minutes went by and then Jim said, “I have done all I can do for now. Once the avatar is online and the repair bots finish recharging I will get them working on the remaining repairs.”
Joe reached for the terminal. “Here, I want to try to get a couple more reactors online. I do not want to trust the ship to a single reactor that had been offline for seventy-five years.” Everybody laughed and agreed. Ten minutes later, Joe had four out of the five reactors running smoothly. “Who would have thought,” he said in wonder. “After all this time. We really did build these ships well.”
Half an hour later Jim said, “Environment stable. Temperature normal. Everybody, if you wish, you can remove your helmets.” Everybody instantly took his or her helmet off. Jim laughed and said, “Yeah, I hate them too!”
Jane laughed and said, “Good job, Jim!”
He blushed and said, “Thank you Madam Director.”
“Jane, call me Jane,” she said. “Now if you really want my eternal gratitude, get a restroom online. I despise the environmental suit plumbing!”
He blushed even redder and said, “I really need the avatar online in order to do repairs efficiently.” He handed the portable terminal to Eliana and said, “Eli, please start the ship’s avatar program.”
“No!” shouted Kelly.
“But why, Governess?” he asked in dismay. “I really need the avatar online or else the repairs are going to take forever and a day.”
“No,” she said again. “The avatar and the captain suffered a severe traumatic experience. I want to start him back up in a controlled manner.” When Jim looked at her unhappily, Kelly smiled and said, “Relax Jim, I started out life as a ship’s avatar. Start up the ship’s cellular network and I will do it for you.”
Looking overwhelmed, Jim clicked the icon that started the ship’s 8G network. Kelly immediately gasped and said, “Frack! Forgotten Hope is hurting!” She walked over to a chair, took a seat and closed her eyes.
Jim watched in amazement as the indicators for the vast majority of the maintenance and repair bots instantly flickered to green.
In a distant voice, Kelly said, “Many of the bots have malfunctioned. I am assigning two bots to re
pair the down units and have assigned the rest to perform ship’s repairs.”
Jim stared wide-eyed as the red indicators denoting damaged ship’s systems and malfunctioning bots began rapidly turning green one by one.
Kelly remained in her trance-like state for twenty minutes before her eyes snapped open and she said, “All repairs complete.” Jim could not believe his eyes. He looked upon Kelly in awe… and maybe a little fear. He checked and double checked his display and stared in shock at all of the formerly red indicators that were now all glowing green. “Unbelievable,” he whispered.
He was unable to respond, his surprise was so great when Kelly smiled at him and said, “How was that? Fast enough for you?” He just nodded furiously and looked away, embarrassed. Kelly turned to Joe and said, “You may bring reactor one online now if you wish.”
Joe, who was also staring at Kelly in awe, quickly took the terminal and complied. The reactor came online without a hiccup and he said, his voice shaking, “All five reactors are now online, Governess.”
“Oh for fracks sake Joe, call me Kelly!” she laughed and said. Kelly turned to Jane and said with a smile, “All restrooms are online. Nearest one is in the galley.” Jane hugged her, kissed her on the cheek and took off with a cross-legged trot. Kelly laughed as she watched her go.
Nathan hugged her and said, “Good job, love!” Kelly blushed and said nothing. Her only response was a passionate kiss on his lips.
Kelly stood with her arm around Nathan outside the doorway to Katy and Henry’s bedroom. Nathan looked at her and said, “Ready?” Her arm tightened in response and he said, “Okay, let’s go in.” They stepped through the door together and then both instantly froze at the tableau. Perfectly preserved by the deep cold of space, Katy and Henry still lay side by side with their arms around one another. It almost was as if they really were just sleeping. Unable to take the scene, Kelly sobbed, then turned and pulled Nathan, unresisting from the room.
The Silence Between the Stars Page 31
