The Agathon: Book One (13 page)

PART 2

8

Time since evacuation 78 days

13:23 Martian Standard

Jy
corp Orbital platform

“I
am staying,” said Chancellor Sienna Clark to the room of men, who stared in disbelief.

“No you are not,” said Young, quickly dismissing her comment out of hand and turning to Tosh whose mouth was wide open.

“Yes I am,” she repeated virulently. Young ignored her.

“Ryder?” he asked. James Ryder was seated next to a side table and chewing his glasses. His haggard suit and thin checkered necktie curved evenly over his rounded gut.

“What do you want me to say, Young?” he said, defeated. “I can’t knock her out with gas anymore and start dragging her around the galaxy. The rules have changed and you know it. I know what you want from me, but I have to admit what the chancellor is proposing makes good political sense, if no actual sense. The leader of the world abandoning her people to the nothingness of space while she jets off to find somewhere to live with the CEO of Jycorp. If we are to try and build a future for our people and you want Sienna Clark to lead those people, then I can see no fault in the chancellor’s logic from a purely political standpoint. Even if I think that it is suicide. Be that as it may.”

He looked Sienna Clark in the eyes. “My place rests at the side of the chancellor and as such I will also be staying.”

Young was beginning to get visibly irritated and looked at the two security detail standing at the entrance to his office. Greyson Kane and Kevin Ruffalo were looking forward quietly, as details do. Listening to every word yet not listening. Their blank expressions trained to
non
-engage in matters that did not concern them.

“Kane?” Clark’s head of security flicked his eyes toward the chancellor, who did not look at him. She knew what he would say before he said it.

“With all due respect, Mr. Young, I don’t think I need to answer that. We serve at the pleasure of the chancellor.” Clark couldn’t resist the slightest of smiles. Young had his head in his hands. Clark could see Young’s face struggling with the announcement.

“The people left behind,” Clark said, her tone soft and resolute, “will be lost, afraid and angry. And let’s not think for one second it is anything else other than that for the moment. They may grow dangerous and desperate. Survival has a way of changing people, Jerome. I have no doubt that you have doubled security on The Agathon to prevent any incursions?”

Young didn’t answer.

“I have no planet to lead.” The sentence came out and released a flurry of emotions within the chancellor. She thought of her brother and looked out of the window behind Young.

“All I have left are a handful of its people and they need me. I can be their light in the darkness. I can be their focus for their pain, their frustration and maybe even their anger.” She leaned forward and looked Young in the eyes with absolute certainty and unwavering confidence in her voice.

“I have to do this. I AM... DOING... THIS.” Young looked at Ryder, who simply shrugged. He sighed, rubbed his eyes and sat back in his chair. After several minutes of awkward silences he looked at the chancellor and nodded.

“Now that that is out of the way, how are you proposing to select the personnel for The Agathon?” she continued, as if it was a normal morning briefing. There was a subdued silence from the room as Young stared at his desk.

“Essential personnel have already been selected. Remainder will be determined by volunteers then lottery,” he finally added. “Truth is, there are those who would rather stay on the stations than take their chances on a test ship.”

“I see,” said Clark. She could feel Young was not going to be too keen on mulling over details and decided to cut the meeting short.

“Gentlemen, it is imperative that we maintain a united front on this,” she said, looking at Tosh.

“Of course, Chancellor,” Tosh added. She liked Daniel Tosh. He had a
no
-nonsense way about him and she respected his loyalty to her office.

“Ryder and I will compose a communiqué now to broadcast to what is left of the human race. So if I could get clarity on the exact details of how this is all going to work by nineteen hundred hours, that would be doing me a favour.” Young still had his gaze fixed on his desk. She stood up and made her way to the exit, collecting her staff as she went. Ryder gave a nod to both Young and Tosh and followed them out. The room fell silent. Young played with a pen, letting it fall between his fingers.

“She’s right, you know,” Tosh finally said. Young didn’t answer. “I’ll be with Emerson in thruster control for the rest of the day if you need me.” Young gave him an acknowledging look. Tosh smiled back at his old friend and glided across the office to the door, then slid outside into the corridor. A moment passed as Young took a photo of himself and his father, which was sitting on his desk, and flung it across the room.

Th
e Agathon

14:45 Martian Standard

Boyett stiffened her posture and fiddled with her lapel at the airlock.

“You want a breath mint?” said Chavel, who stood by her side.

“Shut up, Lieutenant. You sure you aren’t needed at waste recycling or something?” she said, slapping his stomach. There were six visibly exhausted yet immaculately dressed crew members awaiting the commander’s arrival, uniformly standing three on each side of the white corridor which led from the ship’s main docking airlock on the port side of the vessel. Chavel smiled and cleared his throat.

“He knows about you and his daughter?” Boyett whispered out of the corner of her mouth, as the clamps drew back and the lights at the port window switched from red to green. Chavel didn’t answer as the door rolled back. Barrington stood at the airlock and drew a breath.

“Permission to come aboard,” he said enthusiastically. Boyett knew it was difficult to resist the overwhelming sense of authority this man brought to the surrounding environment and she felt an overwhelming sense of relief in her stomach, knowing the commander had just arrived.

“Permission granted,” she said, suddenly aware she was beaming from ear to ear.

“At ease, lieutenants, before you break something,” he said, placing a hand on Boyett’s shoulder. His warm and powerful eyes took command of the ship instantly. He looked around and placed a hand on one of the bulkheads.

“Hello, my old friend,” Boyett heard Barrington whisper. Doctor Tyrell followed him off the shuttle, along with Crewman Amanda Llewellyn who had piloted the shuttle. She was young. Boyett was sure that she just graduated from the academy. She had cropped brown hair and a round face. Her expression was deadly serious. She looked tough, though. Boyett noticed Tyrell’s dishevelled appearance as he shuffled past carrying an array of satchels. He nodded briefly. Barrington stood in the corridor for a moment then turned to Chavel.

“Would you show the doctor the main science lab, please Lieutenant?” Chavel nodded and led Tyrell down the hall off to an adjacent corridor. He gave Boyett a cheeky glance before rounding the bend.

“Okay, everybody,” Barrington said to the crewmembers still standing there. “Let’s get back to work. We have a ship to build. Dismissed.” With that the welcoming detail saluted, turned on their heels and walked back to their various tasks. He turned to Boyett.

“Let’s see how she looks, shall we? Show me the bridge,” he said.

“With pleasure, sir,” she said. They turned and began their journey through the ship. Barrington led the pace slowly, as Boyett began filling in the details.

“You’ll have to forgive some of the aesthetics right now. The last of the hull plating is taking precedence over everything.” Barrington nodded. The hallways of the ship were simple although currently cluttered with equipment and cabling. Vibrations from large sections of hull being sealed into place by the assembly platform orbiting the craft could be felt underfoot. An assortment of crewmembers and engineering staff were dotted around open bulkheads, examining connections and fusing a forest of wires and interfaces together. They all stood and acknowledged the commander as he walked past. Boyett knew he was taking detailed notes in his head, and resisted the urge to apologise for every task yet incomplete and hugely overdue.

“Landon Emerson arrived this morning and is deep in the engineering bay, trying to sort out the FTL ring torque attenuators. At the moment we have no way of slowing them down, which would be unfortunate if we ever want to drop out of hyperspace.”

Barrington frowned. “That it would,” he said. They passed a series of doors leading to crew quarters. The decks were arranged in a series of segments, with outer rings curving around, intersecting hallways that led to each area of the ship. Each corridor being labelled with letters and each segment with a number. They were currently on Deck 8 section A14. It was home to living quarters, hydroponics, the main forward airlock, a gymnasium, which was currently under construction pending the survival of the first mission and a host of labs. They walked past environmental systems control, which was currently manned by a single crewman, who was monitoring an array of display screens. Barrington peered in.

“You will be pleased to know that that is the one thing working perfectly at the moment. So wherever we end up we will at the very least be able to breathe.” Barrington gave her a wry smile and they moved on. They entered a lift and let the doors hiss closed. Llewelyn remained quiet and followed along.

“Bridge,” said Boyett. Nothing happened. Barrington looked at the young woman and raised an eyebrow. She cleared her throat.

“Bridge,” she repeated more assertively. Still nothing. She sighed and tapped the command into the control pad on the door. The lift took off.

“We’re working on that,” she said, embarrassed. Seconds later, the doors hissed open and she stepped onto the main bridge. Barrington took a step off the lift. There were at least twenty people working on systems scattered throughout the oval room. Unlike the rest of the ship, the bridge had an industrial feel to it. The grey metallic plating underfoot gave a sense of being on old transport. It had a hardened, unfinished look, with many of the stations still unsealed and showing their innards.

“Commander on the deck,” she announced. With a surprised look, the group stood and looked at Barrington. One of them hit his head on an open panel, which caused an unsettling crash of an array of tools that were placed beside him. He rubbed his head and stood to attention. They all looked like they had not slept in weeks. The vacancy in their eyes was familiar. They waited for him to speak. As did Boyett.

“Your head okay, Thomas?” Barrington finally said with a smile to the young man at the back of the group.

There was light laughter as the
red
-faced crewmember replied, “Yes, sir.”

“Glad to hear it,” replied the commander.

“I apologise to you all,” he said, scanning the ensemble. “Had circumstances allowed I would have been here sooner. You have all done something remarkable. I am very proud of each and every one of you. I know this has been difficult and I promise you all a cold one on the beach of our new home, but right now I have a personal favour. If you all agree to this I will personally be in each of your debt.” He paused and composed himself. “I need you all to save the human race. I need you all to lock away your grief. It has no place on this ship. Not now. We grieve for the dead when we save the living. That is my favour. Do you think you can all do that?”

A colossal, “Yes, sir,” followed within a heartbeat. Boyett could tell the level of commitment touched Barrington and she sensed that his words were desperately needed in this room.

“Right then. As you were,” he finished. The crewmembers snapped back into their tasks with the infused adrenalin that followed the morale boost from the commander. One of the comm stations sounded tone.

“Sir, I have an incoming transmission from the Jycorp Station.”

“Do we have visuals working yet?” he asked Boyett.

“Yes, sir, we do,” she answered, pointing to the array of large screens that circled the bridge. The design allowed a true sense of orientation when viewing outside the vessel and also offered enhanced image resolution of distant objects, of up to a
light
-year.

“Quiet on the bridge. On screen,” he announced. He looked toward the centre of the bridge and made his way over to the elevated captain’s chair. Boyett watched as he took his seat and felt her nerves begin to calm. Ahead, the black screen was replaced with an image of Chancellor Clarke.

“Greetings. My name is Sienna Clark. I have been your Supreme Chancellor. I speak to you today as someone who, like all of you, has lost a home, family and friends.” She paused.

“Years ago when I was young my father took me and my brother into the woods to hunt deer. Somewhere along the way my brother and I were separated from him and we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere, lost and afraid. As it grew dark and the crawling shadows of the trees crept ever closer to us, I started to cry and my brother took my hand and told me that nothing bad could happen to either of us because we had each other.” She paused and glanced downwards.

“We made a pact to protect each other, no matter what came for us in the darkness. Something came for him in the darkness recently and we lost each other.”

She took a breath.

“Some of you will know the extent of the dire situation we find ourselves in this day and some of you may not. I am here to shed some light on the facts.” She paused again.

“In less than three weeks a massive debris field from Earth will strike this planet and its surrounding platforms with enough force to shift its orbit and make it permanently uninhabitable. We do not know why the signal bearers chose this moment to attack us. The only thing we do know is where that signal came from. Our only hope for survival is The Agathon. Her ability to use her faster than light capability will guarantee the survival of all of us, but there are challenges. We do not know what lies at its destination. And, above all else,” she paused, “not all of us will be going.”

Barrington kept his eyes fixed on the screen. There was deathly silence on the bridge. The chancellor continued.

“Some of us will be remaining behind on the orbiting stations and transports and will be setting a course for the outer rim of our solar system, to stay ahead of the debris field. It is proposed that The Agathon, once it has secured its destination as being habitable for all of us, will return and take those left behind to their new home. This is not a perfect plan. I know some of you will have doubts but I have faith and I believe that this can and will work. I and my senior staff have already decided to stay behind with those on the space stations and wait for The Agathon’s return.” There was chatter on the bridge.

“Quiet,” Barrington ordered. The crew hushed instantly.

“The Agathon is a remarkable vessel. But it must be crewed by the people best suited to find our new home. Most of that crew has already been selected. In
seventy
-two hours there will be a lottery for the remaining spaces on the ship, for those who wish to enter. Simply submit your name to the central computer via a data link to the Jycorp Orbital. For those of you who have nearly completed the impossible and who are on board right now, you have my personal thanks and the thanks of every one of us left. Our tribe will survive. Of that you can be assured.

“I am making myself and my staff available to every colonist who wishes to speak directly to me or to anyone who requires clarification. This is something I could not do on Earth and it was one of my greatest regrets. Tonight we hold hands and we will not be afraid of the approaching darkness. The shadows of the trees will not consume us. This I promise you. To Commander Barrington on board The Agathon. I hereby promote you to captain. I wish you good fortune in your journey. The sum of all our hopes now rests upon you and your crew. Godspeed. Clark out.”

The screen went blank. Barrington sat back in his chair and looked at his crew.

“You heard the lady. Let’s get to work,” he said without hesitation.

“Yes, Captain,” said Boyett with a smile.

“First things first; let’s seal this girl up and get her ready to fly. Are the
inter
-ship communications working, Charly?” he asked. Boyett nodded

“Yes, sir, the panel to your left.” Barrington tapped a pad on the arm of his chair. A whistle sounded overhead.

“This is the comman... captain speaking. To all personnel. I want hourly briefings and progress reports to Lieutenant Boyett, effective immediately. I want a meeting with all department heads on the bridge in twenty minutes. Lieutenant Chavel, please report to the bridge. Barrington out.” He turned to Llewellyn who was behind him.

“Amanda, I want you to liaise with Aquaria base and start compiling a logistics report on the transfer of the selected colonists from the surface. Hold off on nonessential personnel until we do further integrity checks on the outer hull. Once we have a green light from environmental systems, start bringing them up. Set up a station in one of the communications quarters on deck nine.”

“Yes, sir,” she replied and turned towards the lift. He turned back to Boyett and stood.

“I’ll be in engineering,” he said and followed Llewellyn to the back of the bridge. “Boyett, you have the bridge.”