They were just about to close in on Epoh when suddenly out of nowhere Dr. Kintain showed up and pointed a gun at Tom. He said, “Everyone, stand back. None of you are to touch Epoh or harm him. He is my s—” Dr. Kintain quickly corrected himself. “My clone. If you do not do what I say, I will shoot you. Epoh and I are going back to the lab and will stay there. Do you understand me?”
Tom had been in this situation before and recalled Susan’s dad for a fleeting moment. He was very calm once again and did not want anyone to get hurt or shot. He told everyone to stand down. Then he addressed Dr. Kintain.
“You need to put your gun down and let us take care of the situation at hand. Too many people have now seen Epoh, so it is no longer a secret. WE need to ensure that Epoh is not going to harm anyone. Look what he just did to you? We need to tranquilize him and bring him back to the medical area where we can decide what is best. If Epoh actually hurts someone, it could mean the end for him. So, if you want to see Epoh again and continue your cloning research you are going to have to put the gun down. If you shoot me, you will be dead in a minute and Epoh will be without you. Is that what you want to see? You have ten seconds to decide. Put down the gun or I will order them to open fire.”
Dr. Kintain took one look at Tom and knew how serious he was. He said, “Ok, you win” and put the gun down.
As soon as he did this, security picked up the gun and handcuffed Dr. Kintain.
Before they lead him away, Tom said, “Now ask Epoh to get down on the ground. He is not going to listen to me or anyone else.”
Dr. Kintain turned to Epoh and said, “I love you, Epoh. You are my clone and I do not want anything to happen to you. Listen to Tom and do what he and Dr. Sato tell you. If you do that, perhaps you and I will see each other again soon.”
Dr. Kintain was on the verge of tears.
Epoh looked at Dr. Kintain and saw how sad he was. While he had no empathy for anyone, he did see the tears and said, “Ok, father, I will do what they say. See you later.” Then he sat down.
Dr Sato walked over to him with Tom, and they gave him the tranquilizer.
“How long will he be put under?” cried Dr. Kintain.
“This will put him to sleep for at least twenty-four hours. That would give us enough time to decide what to do.”
Tom gave security the order to take Dr. Kintain to the brig and to guard him.
Tom turned to face everyone in the cafeteria. He said, “I am sorry for the distraction. Only a few of us on board know about Epoh. I did not expect any cloning to take place until we were well into orbit, but Dr. Kintain had already proceeded to clone himself well before our mission and Dr. Sato invited them on board when she was injured on her way to Wisconsin to include them in our efforts. Obviously, based on what I saw just now, some of you are not ready to accept Epoh, and Epoh is not ready to live among you. Perhaps in the future that will change. We will see what happens. One again, I am sorry this had to happen.”
The cafeteria emptied.
Tom, Dr Sato, Bob and a few others held a private meeting in Tom’s office near the bridge. After a long discussion, it was decided that Dr. Kintain would serve two years in the brig. He would receive counseling, during that time. Since he did not shoot anyone, it was hoped he could continue to be a doctor after serving his sentence. After all, he did have incredible knowledge about cloning. The advances he made would fuel Dr. Sato’s medical team efforts in the meantime. As for Epoh, it was decided he would be their first cryo preservation patient or experiment. He would be placed in cryo for two years. During that time, it was hoped they could develop a way to inject him with memories that would assist him in surviving and getting along with people. Of course, there was no guarantee this was going to succeed, in which case, they would have to terminate him.
Before they separated, Dr. Sato said to Tom, “Despite all the excitement tonight, I wanted to add that there is still one more way we can try to ensure life continues on board.”
Tom said, “And what is that? Is this a procedure I am unfamiliar with?”
Dr. Sato said, “You are very familiar with it. With Sarah, you have produced three wonderful children. On Imagine, there are probably around seventy-six to one hundred females who can probably get pregnant. If everything else fails, this might be the only way to preserve life.”
They both smiled.
Finally, Tom spoke. “Sounds like what happens when there are power outages. Something to do in the dark. Of course, I have no problem with people falling in love and having children. That could be great for the morale of the ship and a time to celebrate new life. I just hope that the research you are doing is very successful and some of the original crew members arrive in good health on a new planet.”
Dr. Sato said, “I do too. I will provide you with further updates in a week or so. For now, there is plenty for the medical team to work on.”
Everyone stood up and shook hands as the meeting was adjourned. Tom and Sarah decided to go to the cafeteria to check to see how Luis and the other staff were doing.
When they showed up, about a hundred people were still sitting around. They’d returned since the incident. Some of them were eating dinner. Others were just having ice cream or chatting with each other. Tom could hear some of the chatter about Epoh, but most of it was small talk.
Sam noticed Tom when they walked in and motioned for them to join him. He was sitting with Susan, Janet, Jose, and Sally.
“Where’s Robert?” asked Tom.
“Robert chose to sit with someone his own age, and Sophie joined Mark’s group.”
“Hi, Dr. Burns,” said Janet.
Everyone smiled at Tom and Sarah when they sat down.
Sam said, “How is everyone adjusting? I am thankful we are sitting here together talking to each other. It was touch and go for a while, but thanks to people like Janet’s dad, Grissom, we made it.”
“Thanks, Sam. Without you, I doubt my dad would have even let me come on board. My dad really respected you and your dad, and I know I will be fine. Susan has really helped me get used to things, as we have both gone through a similar experience losing our dads. We both try to focus on our daily routine and not dwell on the past. However, when we have free time, we do think of our families left on Earth.”
Susan said, “Glad we can help each other through difficult times.”
Tom said, “That is good news. I hope you two become fast friends as we travel. How are you doing, Jose? I want everyone to know that Jose is also a hero for calculating the launch path to get us into orbit. He and I worked extremely hard. Right, Jose?”
Jose responded, “I would say that Sam and I are really not heroes. It is kind of you to say that, but we were really just doing our duty or following orders. It does feel good to be appreciated, though. I am looking forward to learning more and more about this ship and outer space.”
Everyone agreed.
Then Mrs. Smith showed up and sat down with them. “Greetings, everyone. I can tell you that this experience is something that I never imagined as a high school principal even though I knew several years ago I was going to be on Imagine. I was never more nervous in my entire life than yesterday.”
Sally said, “We were all petrified and nervous, but I think I was more nervous during your chemistry exams, even though Sam tutored me.”
Everyone laughed around the table, including Mrs. Smith. It seemed to improve their spirits.
Jose asked, “When are we beginning our training again? There is so much to learn.”
Mrs. Smith said, “I will be providing some of the training, but I do not know enough about what will happen every day on board, so I also need to study. I will be a student just like you. For the students under sixteen, I will provide their education, similar to what you learned in high school.”