May 25th

Quentin

Scarlett and I waited in her car at the gates. Past the steel bars, I could see a massive ship, its proportions massive and awe inspiring. It was clearly big enough to hold millions of humans and animals. It was immediately obvious why they were called Ark Ships. But it was also haunting to think about. It meant that his plan wasn’t new. This had to be in production for a long time. Now that I thought about it, the plummeting economy had a source, and this was it. A massive investment of national resources into a gamble that General Morris threatened everyone into following.

“Attention all VIPs!” an announcer’s voice sounded from the PA systems that dotted the site. “When this gate opens, I want you to park your cars and place name tags on them! If you don’t do that, we’ll give your car to someone else once we land on the planet! And as mentioned before, go straight to your cryogenic pods! They’ll keep you preserved so that you can awaken the same age you entered, despite taking a hundred years to travel! Here’s a special shout-out to Quentin Smith and Scarlett Campbell for providing us with the technology necessary for this journey! Good luck and hope to see you on the other side!” The gate opened soon after he finished.

As instructed, Scarlett drove us over to one of the many parking spaces before parking the car. As it stopped making noise, she gave me an anxious look. “I’m not ready to leave my home planet so soon after we just came back,” she said before sighing.

She shook her head. “But I don’t think we have a choice.”

I kissed her and said, “Don’t worry. We’ll make our new world into a second Earth. A promised land if you will. A new Eden.”

“I hope so,” she said before exiting the car. I placed the name tag on it. We then headed towards one of shuttles and hitched a ride on it.

Around us was a crowd of people. Everyone in this shuttle was a VIP of some kind. Whether military personnel, scientists, or even just rich enough to buy VIP status. We were riding in silence as no one dared to speak. Anxiety coursed through my veins as I looked at the colossal spaceship that only seemed to get bigger. The ten million of us that would board the thing warranted its size along with all the animals and plants that were going to be transported. The facility was said to have enough space for habitation in case the cryogenic chambers broke down.

The shuttle stopped right in front of the spaceship’s hatch. As we calmly walked out, I could take in the sheer scale of this project. The hatch was lowered to the ground, and I could see that a hundred people could enter it side-by-side easily. And that was exactly what happened. Armed guards escorted everyone to the ship, making sure that no one was left behind.

When it came to us, me and Scarlett calmly walked towards the hatch. Our stuff was given to the officials as we were led onto the ship. I could see the other VIPs walking nervously, including the military personnel.

Once we were inside, I could feel the chilly breeze. The air conditioner was running at a low temperature, presumably to assure the security of the cryogenic pods. There were several pods on rows above the ground level. The place was eerie with a hint on danger.

“Quentin and Scarlett, please go to the navigation room! Everyone else, step in the pods!” the announcer’s voice shouted. The armed guards escorted the two of us out of the room before the announcer continued.

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We were guided onto a tram and taken to the navigation room. The massive interior of the ship made me feel like I entered another universe. However, that thought was cut short when we reached the navigation room.

The door opened to reveal a team of astronauts and navigators working on the controls. The whole thing was vastly more complicated than the ship I piloted, but I knew it was because it was reverse engineered. I could hear keyboards being typed on while projections showed the view of our flight. We were bound on a course for Alpha Centauri, but I had a better idea.

“Greetings to you, Quentin and Scarlett,” a man said as he approached us. He was middle-aged wearing a white naval uniform. He looked at Scarlett in particular and said, “I’m sorry that the aliens turned you into a monster. I swear we’ll do whatever we must to make you human again.”

She brushed it off and replied, “Don’t worry about me. I’ve grown to like the way I look. Besides, I’ve technically lived more of my life as a mutant than a normal human.” She then looked at me and said, “Honey, can you show them what they called you in here for?”

I nodded and pulled out a flash drive. “This is a flash drive—” I explained.

“I can see that,” the man interrupted as he scrutinized me.

“—that contains the coordinates of a perfect planet. Sure, it isn’t as close as the Alpha Centauri system, but I have a feeling that it’ll be more habitable. Now, if you’ll let me, I’ll plot the course,” I finished as I walked up to a computer and placed it into the terminal.

“Rerouting,” a robotic voice replied before changing the course from the extremely long original journey to the new one. “Anomaly detected that will shorten travel time to one year. Do you accept?”

The man, who I assumed was the captain, looked at the screen and asked, “How safe is this route?”

“My readings calculate that the journey will be peaceful. There are no risks,” the machine replied.

The captain tapped the console for a bit before replying, “Go ahead with the route change. Just make sure you delay the launch until we board everyone.”

“Affirmative,” the computer replied before seizing to display the map. The captain nodded before turning to face us.

“With that taken care of, I’ll like the two of you to go to your cryogenic chambers. Whilst the journey will only take a year now, that’ll still be a year wasted if you stay awake during it,” the captain said before returning to his tasks.

Scarlett and I decided to obey his order and reentered the tram. This time, it took us to another zone of the ship. When we disembarked, we could see aisles and aisles of rooms nearby. We followed our directions and walked to our designated room.

The room was small. There were two cryogenic chambers facing each other along with a joint shower and closet. The reason soon became apparent when the announcer’s voice said quiet enough for only us to hear, “Before cryogenic suspension, we must sanitize you and prevent any accessory from being damaged. Therefore, the two of you must shower before entering the chambers unclothed.” After those words were spoken, arrows were highlighted that led to the showers.

As we approached the showers, the announcer said, “Now disrobe and enter the showers. A deep clean will commence once in.”

I looked at her and asked, “Are you comfortable with this? Because if you’re not, we can stay awake during the journey.”

She nodded as she pulled off her shirt. “We’re married now. Besides, don’t you enjoy the view?”

I pulled off my own shirt and smiled. “Yes, I do.”

The two of us then stripped naked before taking a shower together. Once that was over, we walked over to the cryogenic chambers. Both of us were dripping wet, her more so. We faced each other one last time before backing into our respective chambers.

Once I was in mine, the door closed, obstructing my view of her. Immediately, chilly air rushed into me as I felt extremely cold. I attempted to move, but my body wouldn’t respond. Drowsiness followed as I had trouble staying awake. Nothing in my body could move as green liquid started rising from the floor. But there was nothing I could do about it. Several IVs and needles stabbed me as the green liquid reached my neck level.

I would try to hold my breath, but the drowsiness claimed me before I could make the attempt. I fell into a deep sleep. That wouldn’t end for a long time.