Canaveral Astronaut Training Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida.

07:11 Hours EDT, Day 168 of Training.

Personal Log: I’ve just been asked to see that my launch and space-bound luggage is packed, without explanation or negotiation, and to see to it that it is ready for collection in four days. Of all the possibilities that I can think of, the following spring to mind. First of all, that I have been selected for the next ship out, and second and more likely, I have been withdrawn from the project and will have to leave the base. I’m worried about the likelihood, but I’ve decided to “get on with it” because there’s no point dwelling on something you can’t control… Anyway, I’ll probably find out why within the next two days.

Stephen had just finished recording his morning log and had just made his way down to the communal dining halls for his breakfast. John caught up with him on the way.

“Hey Stevie,” he called out cheerfully. “You got your orders to pack yet?”

“Yeah,” Stephen replied indifferently. “Why?”

“It means we’re goin’ up!”

“Like you’d know,” Stephen sniffed at that possibility.

“Oh yeah... We got three days shore leave as of this afternoon!”

“That, I already knew.”

“We’re headed to Daytona Beach,” John laughed. “The Tau Ceti’s Commander is interested in meeting you, Stevie!”

Stephen whirled on John. “What do you mean?”

“Told him some good stuff ‘bout you!” John seemed unfazed by Stephen’s aggressive response. “You know he’s a buddy of mine, don’t you?”

Stephen shook his head irritably. He was nervous, and was unfairly snapping at his friend. He tried to leech all irritation out of his voice.

“Whatever,” he replied, before they collected their meal.

By the afternoon, they were waiting in the front lobby of their section, waiting for their escort to the complex exit. There, they would meet the others who would be joining them for leave. Stephen had managed to pack everything he had been requested to pack, as well as some personal luggage for his leave, and was ready and waiting with minutes to spare. John was commenting on what he could get up to once in Daytona, when the escort arrived to take them to the front gates.

Having been transported by Jeep, the two of them were deposited with their luggage, outside the front exit, where another thirty-five people were about to disperse for their own destinations on leave. There, they met, almost straight away, three out of the four that they would meet with.

“Hey Adam,” John called out in the direction of three individuals standing near the edge of the group. One of them was of a stocky build, although shorter than Stephen. He also appeared to possess an appearance that suggested his ancestry was of eastern Asia, as Stephen realised when he turned to face them, as did the other two, one of them also possessing an eastern Asian look, and a woman who appeared Latin American, if her appearance was anything to go by.

“Hi John,” Adam replied, in an uncanny California accent. “You must be Stephen,” he looked at Stephen, taking a firm grip on the hand that Stephen had offered. “Good to meet you.”

“Yeah, you too,” Stephen replied.

“They’re all selected for the launch of the Tau Ceti next week,” John added.

After a moment, since John hadn’t said anything else, Adam continued. “Well since this shark hasn’t introduced you to any of my friends, I’ll do it! This is Caitlin, Communications specialist,” and he gestured to the east-Asian girl, who smiled shyly. “And this is Helen,” he gestured to the exotic looking Latin-American, who smiled warmly and took Stephen’s hand, gripping it firmly. “She’s a medical officer. The one you haven’t met yet is the Commanding Officer of the mission.”

“Yeah,” John replied. “He’s Helen’s Babe!”

“Yeah, she’s Captain Greenfield’s nurse!” Adam joined in.

“Knock it off, already,” Helen retorted, a hint of amusement in her tone.

“So who is the Captain of the Tau Ceti?” Stephen wanted to know.

“Captain Greenfield, he’s our resident overall specialist,” Helen said proudly. “His all round abilities in the ships systems were tested well above average!”

“I’ve yet to meet this guy,” Stephen remarked.

“You will,” Adam replied, smiling.

Stephen had the feeling that they were keeping something back, but did not pursue the subject. Instead, he joined the others when they made their way to the 4X4 truck that Adam owned.

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Daytona Beach, Florida.

19:00 Hours.

“We’re here,” Adam announced as he parked up in the parking lot near the hotel they had chosen to stay in. “Okay guys, let’s go get changed.”

The drive took them nearly four hours at the maximum speed limit on the highway, reaching the beach just before seven. This was just as well, because Stephen was getting bored with the drive.

After everyone took to their individual rooms and changed into more casual wear, they all met back in the wine bar that was adjacent to their hotel lobby, except for Caitlin who was supposedly still dressing. There they waited, and discussed what they would do for the next three days.

“I still think we should go see a movie,” John was saying. “I haven’t seen a picture for months!”

“Yeah well what about a club?” Adam asked. “Mind you, depends on what you’re going for, doesn’t it John!”

“What the hell do you mean by that?” John asked, jocular.

“Not like you’re hitched, is it?”

“What? You mean like Greenie is?”

Helen slapped John across the back.

He went off to the bathroom at that point.

“Who?” Stephen asked. “Oh, you mean this Captain you told me about,” he turned to Adam. “I still haven’t met him-”

“Oh,” Helen drawled, interrupting Stephen. She ran and leapt into the arms of a tall and well-built man who had just entered, wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt and white trousers.

Stephen glanced away, feeling his face grow hotter.

“So this is where you guys got to,” he heard a new voice and looked back up. With Helen was the man she had leapt onto, and he had a welcoming smile on his face. He looked briefly at Stephen, then at Adam, and then back at Stephen. “You’re a new arrival, huh? What’s your name?”

“Stephen.”

“Captain M-” the Captain began, but then stopped midway through shaking Stephen’s hand. “Stephen Hayward?” Stephen nodded. “Well I heard about you! You’re on my team already!”

Stephen was speechless. “I am?”

“Sure are,” the Captain replied. “Anyway, I’m Captain Marlon Greenfield, commanding officer on the Tau Ceti!” He continued shaking Stephen’s hand. Just at that point, John came rushing over. “Too late, Johnny!”

John was rendered speechless. “What do you mean?”

“Stephen’s already assigned as pilot on my mission,” Marlon replied with great satisfaction in his tone. “So you don’t need to come down hard on his side and try to get him a place any more!”

“Seriously, what do you mean?” John asked, feigning offence.

“I know you John, always sticking up for your friends!”

“Well, I just gotta!” John exclaimed.

“You’re transferred to my team too!” Marlon then turned to Adam, leaving John to digest the news. “So anyway, where’s Caitlin?”

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “She told us that she’d take a little longer because she was changing into something- Holy shit!”

What had apparently caught his attention was the slender woman, now in the doorway of the bar, wearing a flowing oriental garb that was designed to bring out the best in its’ wearer; in this case, it was Caitlin.

“So,” she drawled, walking elegantly toward Adam. “You like?”

He nodded, taking her by the arms. “Shame we only have three days!” Then they kissed, deeply.

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Stephen averted his face, embarrassed to see what was going on. Marlon clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry Stephen,” he said. “This’ll be a great night!”

And so it was, having fun throughout the night. They remained in the wine bar the first night, simply because they’d been out in the car for such a long trip and decided to remain in a cool shade.

“So have you ever been in a wine bar in Florida before, Stephen?” Marlon asked at some point during the night, while Helen and Caitlin took off to have their own discussion.

“No,” Stephen continued, amused by John’s antics. “A few clubs in Texas and near Space Camp, that’s all.”

“Good, there’s a few around here we can go see… After all, we’re all going to be cooped up in a tin can for the next hundred years, so I intend to enjoy as much of what little time we have left here on Earth as I can!”

Stephen nodded, since those were his exact thoughts. “So, what’s-” Stephen stopped what he was saying when a pretty blonde girl walked past, giving him a lusty look. “Sorry sir,” he added sheepishly.

“I’m not a sir,” Marlon told Stephen reprovingly. “Anyway, no need to be sorry… You like her?” he asked, winking.

Stephen flushed. “Kinda,” he said timidly.

“Why not go talk to her?”

“Oh, you know,” Stephen said, feeling that his principles of not leading anyone on were in direct conflict with the knowledge that, if anything happened between him and any girl he spoke with tonight, it would be a single encounter only. “What with going away on this mission and all… I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to be doing that.”

Marlon shrugged. “Okay, fair enough.”

Stephen felt no further explanation was necessary. “So what was I saying?”

“Hmm…” Marlon frowned slightly as if trying to recall the conversation before. “Yup, that was it. We were discussing bars.”

Which is exactly what they did, and for the next three days, everyone took the time to relax and enjoy their leave.

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Daytona Beach, Florida.

18:30 Hours, Day 170 of Training.

On the final day of their trip, Stephen was in his hotel room, watching the television. He was only doing so because he was waiting for John before meeting with the others, when the news came on.

What he saw distressed him.

“This just in, a high profile US Senator was today arrested in Washington DC, in connection with the so-called Synthetic Brain Artificial Intelligence research thefts at the University of California, Berkeley. The Senator, who will remain nameless for legal reasons, was charged with handling classified materials without authorised clearance, and with sedition against the United States Government. Further information as this story develops.

“In related news, reports have come in from our Syrian correspondent on the front lines, that an incident was reported involving several United States, Russian and Syrian Submarines. Details are sketchy at this time but it is reported that the skirmish began when two people of unknown nationality were seen attempting to escape the Syrian authorities, with one of them collected by a United States submarine. More on this story as it develops.

“However, our main story tonight, news just in has reported that a large cache of Nuclear weapons was discovered along a border line of Iran. This discovery was made at Eight Fifteen, Eastern Time this morning. Further information has been classified but the Presidential Office has issued a statement telling the general public that the situation is not critical at this time.”

Not critical at this time?!

Stephen was immediately on the phone to his parents in Arizona. The phone seemed to take an eternity before being answered. It was his father, and he looked a mess.

“Hello Stephen,” his father greeted him, his voice sounded defeated. “What’s wrong?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Stephen immediately replied. “Have you seen the news?”

“Yes Stephen, I have.”

“What do you make of it? I mean, they’re saying that this isn’t critical, that can’t be right!”

“That’s exactly what it is, Stephen,” was the reply. “The situation isn’t critical so don’t worry.”

“No?”

“No!”

“Then why do you sound defeated and upset?”

The question created a silence that seemed to last an eternity. “Your mother and I are having a few problems right now, Stephen,” was the eventual reply, though Stephen doubted that this would be the case.

“Is that right?” Stephen asked, his voice laden with disbelief.

“That’s right Stephen. Look, I have to go, but you will take that trip you’re going on, you hear me?”

“Understood,” Stephen replied sharply.

“Good, I’ll try to see you in a few days if I can,” was the reply, and suddenly the call was cut off.

Of all the different emotions and revelations that shocked Stephen, what affected him the most at this point was the question: How did his father know he had been selected?

There wasn’t much time for further reflection because just then, John burst into his room without so much as a cursory knock on the door. Stephen would have torn him to pieces verbally if not for the distress that was plainly visible on John’s face, as well as the flush of his skin from exercise – he had probably run from his own room on the floor above.

“Sorry man,” John gasped. “Have you seen the news?”

Robert had just disconnected the call from his son, too overcome with remorse at having to lie to him. The fact was, that there were no problems with his relationship with his wife Maria, but that was the only thing he could think of at such short notice. He was determined that his son would get on that shuttle and on board that exploration vessel before everything kicked off here on Earth.

He was deeply upset with himself because his son had seen past his deception, and now the trust between them might now be fractured. What now, if he decided he wasn’t going to-

“He didn’t believe you, did he?” Maria called softly from the doorway.

Robert turned to look at her. “Oh god, I’m sorry! Come here!” he said, realising that she had been silently weeping while he was talking to their son. He took her in his arms and held her tightly.

“He’s just too smart,” was all she could say.

Neither left each other for several hours.

A few moments after Stephen’s call to his parents, a heated discussion was taking place in the dining room of the hotel they stayed in.

“Dammit, we’ve been through all this!” John said, sighing for patience. “The mission is still going ahead. This can’t be what they make out on the news!”

“How the hell do you know?” Stephen snapped. “They could be sending us up to get us away!”

“You think the humanitarians in this project carry any sort of weight to do that Stephen?” Marlon asked, his patience reaching limits.

“How do I know?” Stephen asked heatedly. “All I know is that something’s going on. Why would the news broadcast stuff that didn’t have any basis? They’d get shut down!”

“No-one keeps the broadcasters from embellishing the truth,” Marlon replied. "And the most the current administration has ever been willing to do is issue corrections to any outlandish stories. If you don't remember number forty-five's administration, nor how they handled press relations, then I doubt you'd get it."

“That’s true enough,” John added.

Stephen glared at him. “You’ve changed your tune.”

“Stephen, that’s enough,” Marlon answered for John, who seemed to be gathering himself up for a verbal assault. “We’re still scheduled for the mission so that must mean that it can’t be all as bad as the news made out.”

“How the hell would you know that?”

“This is going around in circles!” Marlon replied, exasperatedly.

Helen entered the conversation, her voice full of heat. “Dammit, we’re going up!”

“Yeah, and what about our families?”

“EVERYONE KNOWS WE’RE NOT GOING TO SEE THEM AGAIN NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS!” Helen shouted, glaring at Stephen, who was rendered speechless by such an uncharacteristic outburst from her when he assumed she was all smiles in all situations. “I AM GOING.. AND SO IS THE CAPTAIN!”

Marlon raised both eyebrows in surprise, both at the uncharacteristic outburst from Helen and her referencing him as Captain. “The Captain?” he asked with some amusement.

Helen laid a hand on his shoulder in apology. “Sorry honey.”

“No problem!” Marlon smiled briefly, but then assumed a more serious expression as he turned back to Stephen. “The decision has been made. Any of you can choose to opt out of the mission if you wish, you’ll be replaced,” but he turned back to Helen, who kissed him quickly. “But we’re both going.”

“Me too,” John said.

“I’m going,” Adam added, and then nudged Caitlin when she didn’t respond quickly enough.

“Me as well,” she added quickly, smiling at Adam.

“Looks like we’ve all decided,” John said again.

Marlon glanced at him before looking back at Stephen. “The decision is yours.”

Stephen sighed, having lost his argument. Maybe it would be okay after all, and this really was the opportunity of a lifetime. “Ok, I’m in,” he finally said.

“Good. That’s decided. Let’s get packed up and ready to get back to base.”

“Already done,” John said. “Just finished before coming here.”

“Is everyone else packed up?” Everyone gave an affirmative, since even Stephen had packed up ready to return to base before that news broadcast came in. “Then I think we should stay here, have another drink or two and turn in for the night. We’ve got a long journey back to base in the morning.”

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Launchpad Gathering Lounge, Canaveral Facility.

04:00 Hours Eastern Time, Day 172 of Training.

Stephen arrived early at the lounge where he and John would have to be collected for the drive to shuttle Aldrin. Their launch was scheduled for 09:30 and the pre-flight would take roughly two hours, during which time the passengers, Stephen and the others, would be doing very little.

Stephen was sure he’d be bored if he wasn’t so nervous about the flight.

“You nervous, Stevie?” John said from behind him, causing him to jump with a start. “Sorry man,” he added but his tone held no remorse, and Stephen turned to see a big grin on his face. John was obviously as nervous about today’s flight as he was.

“The opportunity of a lifetime, John,” Stephen replied, masking his nervousness for a moment. “Who wouldn’t be?”

“Yeah man,” John replied. “Know what you mean.”

A few minutes passed, and then the coach arrived to take them to the outfitting facility further up the road. Stephen boarded, noting that there were five others on the coach. Adam gave him the thumbs up, as did Marlon. The others smiled as he passed each of them on the coach to take his place at the back. Once John was sat down, Stephen noticed a seat was empty.

“Hey, isn’t there another one gonna join us?” he asked.

“Lieutenant Davidson is waiting on board the station for us,” Marlon said, non-committal. Stephen wondered about his tone for a while, but then the coach left for the outfitting centre.

Fallout Shelter, Phoenix, Arizona.

04:30 Hours, September 22nd.

“Great,” Robert complained. “This is all I need.”

For whatever reason, one of the power systems within the shelter overloaded during testing, causing a massive power surge that blew out a number of safety power breakers within the shelter. Robert just heard the news that one of the life support control systems within the shelter had been badly damaged as a result. He was even more annoyed because it had been so badly damaged that it would need replacing altogether, and that would take away time that they did not have. He threw down the panel that he had taken off of the unit he was inspecting in exasperation.

“Resupply says it’ll take another three hours to get a replacement,” the engineer who first surveyed the damage told Robert.

“Yeah, I know,” Robert replied quietly. “What about the backups?”

There were always at least three redundant life support systems in case any one of them failed during the shelter’s lifetime. “They’ve all checked out OK sir. For whatever reason, it was just this one that blew out.”

Robert suspected sabotage, but as yet, had no way to prove it. “Order a full overhaul of the power systems and get an investigative team on this immediately. I wanna know what happened.” With that, he walked off to attend to another problem.

But even as he was attending to the business of the shelter, he continued to fret over the possibility that a saboteur could be placed in the shelter with his teams when the war got going.