“And next is the residential band. Multi-family and single-family living areas are intertwined with small parks, recreation areas, schools, etc.”
“And here is the growing, cultivation and animal areas. Most of our food will be grown here. Some will be generated in the production areas, mainly vat grown foods like simulated rem and food stocks used for other manufactured products. Here is where I like to sit after the set and look ‘up’ at the land, the kep actually is all around me. Seeing lights moving around in the dark across the ship’s diameter make it look like they are flying through the void.”
“In the next to last band is long-term storage, cargo, sanitation, and recycling.”
“And the last band in the ‘nose’ is command and control. The bridge, intelligent systems, comms and the like are here. Along with the Home Guard armory, as small as it is.”
“All of the bands are tied together via a tracked based transport that you can see crisscrossing the internal surface,” Marda concluded.
“This is amazing to see up close. I had seen the vids about it, but, to see it like this, there is no comparison!” exclaimed Narmer.
“We are only a little less than a chirp from Departure. But as you probably know, that’s just the beginning.”
“At Departure, Prominence will rise from her lengthwise cradle, and slowly turn her nose towards our meeting point with Vosc-nu. We have to chase the little moon and catch up with it. Most of the propulsion for our journey is on Vosc-nu.”
“To get there, the thrust tail will provide as much force as it can, but it will be a slow trip starting out. The Heeta docked there, is a miniature version of this ship. But she is powered to move cargo from Kepteyn orbit to Chon-su. She, along with additional propulsiors in the thrust tail, will power us to Vosc-nu.”
“Prominence has been spinning in her cradle to generate a simulated gravity for almost a complete cycle now. She will spin, continuously until we, many, many twenty generations from now, reach our new home. This has allowed us to get everything built, operational and tested before Departure.”
“Now as we arrive at Vosc-nu, Prominence will turn broadside to the moon. Two arms that are the mating points for Prominence, a copy of what is here on Chon-su, will reach out and grab the axis points on either end. They will then lock themselves to provide a permanent embrace of the spinning ship close to its surface.”
“Vosc-nu acts as our engine and our shield. As we fly through the void, we will always be on the backside of her as she plows through any debris or obstructions that we might encounter. With such a large area and mass, we were able to mount an enormous number of propulsiors and power plants for them on its surface.”
“Once we are mated to Vosc-nu, we will begin a continuous acceleration to the halfway point of our destination, a world cycling around a medium ria called Sol. None of us will see the middle of this journey, much less the end, but we know it is there, and we are about to begin that journey.”
“I’ll be back in a few twentynauks, I have to check on my responsibilities prior to Departure,” Marda said, then headed over to her station.
Narmer was watching the scenes as they switched across his vids. They were showing all aspects of the ship, inside and out as everyone prepared to leave. All movement ceased. He was mesmerized by the all that he saw. All that his people, his world had created to get to this moment. As he was watching the quiet and still views of the surface of Chon-su switch to the peaceful scenes in the of the interior, fatigue began to win out. He slowly slipped into a slumber.
****
Narmer was startled awake. Wide-eyed, he was looking around. Noticing him, Marda came over.
“That alarm is to alert everyone that we are about to Depart. Everyone and everything need to be prepared for the coming acceleration. It will be gentle and continuous, but it will be felt just the same. You seem to be strapped in and ready.”
The vids around the bed were showing scenes from Kepteyn. All seemed quiet there as well. Like the world was holding its breath for this final time that they’d all be together as one people.
“The countdown is beginning,” Marda whispered as she slipped her hand into his.
Over the comms system, the Ship Master was counting down to Departure. Narmer could not believe that this was finally happening.
“9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…and So We Begin Our Historic-“
And the lights went out…
THE END
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
WITHOUT THIS TURNING INTO AN EMMY acceptance speech, I must thank a few people. Thanks first to my Editor, and sister, Amy for jumping in with me and allowing me to ask so much of her. Thanks to my business partner, Steve, who’s been with me for lots of ‘interesting’ endeavors, like this. Thanks to all of you who test drove this book. And finally, thanks to my wife, Vicki, who was there from the beginning, to the middle, and to the end. (I’m sure now!) And thanks to you, dear reader.
Please visit me at Facebook
www.facebook.com/pilgrimoneprominence
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christopher R. Marrs was born and raised in the Great American West. With an inherited wanderlust, he has lived in seven states and visited most. He has been a long time IT entrepreneur with a side of doughnuts and clean restrooms. He spent many nights on the roof of houses, staring into space looking for aliens. With his last name, not much of a surprise. He now lives in Minnesota, on a lake, with a beautiful wife that puts up with him.
Pilgrim One: Prominence (Project Pilgrim Book 1) Page 16
