“We won’t need the pins for this, but they might come in handy, like in your adventures.” Heart clicked a button on a keychain, and the ship raised up off the ground quietly, followed by a ramp dropping to the ground under the new ship. This way, you could bring goods on and off the ship with a dolly, and not need to float through like an alien wizard. The technology the Kraski had was cool, but not always practical.
Carey hesitated on the grated ramp, but when he found his feet wouldn’t fall through, he ran up in excitement. Though Magnus and Nat were leaving us behind, I was grateful that Carey could stay with us, and we could stay an odd little family. Mary was ahead of me, her uniform hugging her curves, making the whole picture look far more flattering than my uniform on me. She’d told me it was hot, and passed me her aviators back at the room, slapping me in the butt and calling me Maverick. We’d laughed, and I couldn’t help but think of how lucky I was.
I was the last up the ramp to the ship, and as I’d expected, we were in a small bay used for storage and supplies. The lighting was soft and less sterile than the Kraski ship had been. Essentially, we were in the middle of the ship; behind us were the crew quarters, which consisted of four rooms with bunks. Two rooms had four beds, and the other two had two each, making room for twelve to sleep at the same time, but with most crews, I imagined there would be shifts. The space was twice the size of the other ships, but the idea of sharing the space with twenty people over an extended period of time was enough to make me feel claustrophobic.
Mary held up, and after a nod from Heart, she let Carey off his leash to explore. He barked in excitement and took off. “Quite the different experience, huh? I honestly hardly remember what the Kraski ship we flew in looked like, I was so invested in flying it and trying to stop what was happening. Basically a trip fueled by adrenaline, stress, and fear. I remember lying in those beds and talking to you. I think I started to fall for you that moment.” She said this, and I remembered it all vividly. The ship, the sterile smell, sharing that moment with Mary was when I’d really started falling for her too. I also remembered tethering myself up along with Magnus to find a vessel half-filled with dead people.
“I fell for you too,” was all I could bring myself to say.
Before we got back to the loading area, Heart showed us the small room that housed a dozen or so suits, designed specifically to fit human males and females, with built-in body fluid recyclers and radiation protection like the Kraski suits. They also had the thrusters attached to the hand controls, which would come in handy if you were floating uselessly in space. I hoped to never be in that position again.
“These kick ass!” Magnus said, sifting through them, probably seeing if they had one large enough to fit his big frame.
I noticed a cabinet, but when I tried to open it, I couldn’t pull it open.
Heart put his thumb to it. It beeped, then unlatched. “We’ll get you guys set up on the system when we’re done here. You’ll have full access.” I caught an underlying sense of unease in the general at giving a civilian access to all of this, but Dalhousie had him sold on us working on the Earth Defense Unit. In time, I was sure he would grow to trust, and hopefully even like us.
Inside what looked like a large custom wardrobe from a high-end house sat a line of weapons, each larger than its predecessor. Magnus nudged me and whistled as he saw the arsenal.
“Not planning on meeting any friendlies out there, are we?” he asked as a joke, but it sat at the pit of my stomach. He was right.
We continued the tour, crossing up to the front half of the ship, where we passed by an engineering room. Clare glowed as she explained the propulsion system. It was all over my head, but Mary looked enthralled; I’d ask her to spell it out in layman’s terms later. What I did understand was that each of the ships had FTL capability. When activated, the propulsion boosters opened from behind the ship, and it took hours to charge the drives, depending on how long your trip was. Otherwise, they could travel any direction with all the mini-thrusters we’d been using, and they were quite fast, from my experience.
The bridge came next, and it was gorgeous. Instead of the small space we’d been in, with two seats and a computer screen, it was like something out of all the science fiction movies I’d seen. Large viewport front and center, with five seats, each with their own workstation. Fashion added to function, since it was the first model Earth had built themselves. Brown leather trimmed the swiveling chairs, reminding me a bit of my office chair at my old company.
Heart and Clare showed us around, and I was only half-listening as they clicked controls and showed viewscreen options. I didn’t expect to be flying one of these ships myself, so I’d leave it to the professionals. As it went on, the walls felt like they were closing in on me, and before they were done, I slipped out, with the excuse I was going to find Carey. As I neared the ramp out, Carey found me, nuzzling into my leg. Together we walked down and outside – if I could call it outside, since there was a ceiling over our heads high above. They’d done a great job of having soft light, imitating the sun, and then I realized it was sunlight we were seeing. The canopy reflected and emulated the other side of the net they’d installed. I could even make out clouds. It was amazing.
“Dean, they want to show us the newly renovated colony ship.” It was Mae. She’d approached so quietly while I was looking to the sky. When I turned to her, I could have sworn I was looking at Janine, but I pushed the memories away.
“Sounds good.” It came out choked.
She rubbed Carey’s head, which caused him to follow after her as we made our way to the modified transport vessel.
I’d originally underestimated the size of the things when they’d first lowered to Earth, and though the news had given a solid estimate, they could realistically hold about a million people in comfort. The sheer volume cramped on them a year ago had been deadly in many ways.
“How many people are you bringing on this first venture to Proxima?” I asked Clare, who in return beamed at me, running her fingers through her short bob-cut brown hair.
“The plan called for around one hundred, but as we got deeper into it, with maintenance, construction, botanists, air and water purification, and all the other boxes, we needed about one thousand to check them all off. I wish you were coming with us. I mean, the hero of mankind and all. Would be nice to have you alongside us as we find a new home.” Clare turned a bit red, and I wasn’t sure if it was from her gushing to me, or because she might have let some secret information slip.
Mary was behind me, rolling her eyes as soon as I looked back. She didn’t seem the jealous type, and why should she be? She was a strong, beautiful woman, whom I didn’t even deserve.
“Wow, one thousand? Do all the people who are going know it yet?” I wondered how they would all take the news.
“Most of them. Some of the roles, we asked for volunteers. Doctors, veterinarians, teachers…” She looked me in the eyes. “We need certain people to come, and most wouldn’t come unless their families were able to join. We want this to be a wonderful experience for everyone, and the future is there, so having families and schools will give us a foundation to build our new home on.” I could hear Dalhousie’s passion through this young woman.