Katherine was tired. 

She had been making too many decisions for too many people for too long. She was done, finally, and ready to rest. 

But first she had to deal with idiots.

"No, Lieutenant, I cannot 'just shove some extra people' into an advanced life-support containing ship" sighed Catherine, exasperated.

"Then you suggest sending 13 children on their own! That's a death sentence Doctor Halsey, and you know it!" The beet red officer responded, on the verge of screaming.

"Are you suggesting that you understand the science of that ship better than I do, Lieutenant?" Catherine replied with a raised eyebrow.

That quickly took the sails out of the soldier's sails. He knew, along with all of his 25 soldiers, that there was one person in this room who understood even the slightest bit about that ship, and it wasn't him.

"The ship contains everything that they will need to survive, along with a digital instructor to teach them to do anything the ship may not provide" Katherine said, slipping into lecture mode.

"All of which's besides the point, as you and..." she paused, calculating "11 other soldiers, will be going with them, just on another ship, which you seem to have conveniently forgotten"

"Is the second ship smaller? Why not 12?" The lieutenant questioned, confused.

"It has one less bunk, which has been replaced with a weapons storage unit" She informed him.

"Now are we done here, Lieutenant, you have some soldiers to pick out" she said, not envying his position.

The man thought for a minute. He hadn't told his men yet, who would and wouldn't be going, but they all had pretty good guesses. The team would need the two wilderness specialists; they would definitely take the quartermaster, who was a genius when it came to handling supplies. The private would be coming, and few people begrudged that, as his child would be one of the 13. The rest, however, were up in the air. 

"All right men! We've been through a lot, and I hate to break up the unit, but recant all go" He told them, in his best commanding officer voice.

"Ramirez, Smith, Jones, Paquel, Wong, Gordon, Bringam, Wheeler, Pavlinski, Yang, and Hassler! You're all with me. The rest of you need to keep the doctor alive long enough to get us where we need to go"

There was a tense moment as the soldiers sorted themselves out, with the 11 going wondering if any of the 14 being abandoned would turn violent.

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It happened quickly. 

Ramiro Vasquez didn't expect to be on the ship, he was an average soldier in every way. He knew, logically, that he was lucky to even be alive right now. But he couldn't, no, he wouldn't accept this. Someone of lower rank was going to survive, just because he had a kid?!? Newsflash! Almost everyone in this room had children. They were celebrating Serch's return from maternity leave the night all this shit went down! He, in that instant so small even a mayfly would be surprised by its length, emitted a strangled cry and drew his sidearm. 

It was instant chaos, with every soldier near him instantly following suit. Except they were aiming at him!

He sounded psychotic

"No, no, no, no, no!" He screeched. "You don't get to live while we die, just because everybody thinks your kid is fiucking special!

Lieutenant Dan tried calming him down, and would regret that decision for the rest of his life.

"Vasquez, you don't want to do that, don't end it like this. Nothing's going to change if you sacrifice your humanity just to end him. It won't get you passage on that ship" he pleaded with Ramiro.

Ramiro looked him in the eyes, and the Lieutenanteutenant could see that his eyes had glassed over, like he was already dead.

"I got news for you cap'in" he said, using an old nickname of the Lieutenant "humanity is already dead" and fired his weapon straight into the skull of a soldier who just wanted to take care of his kid.

He did not survive to see the other man's body drop, the Lieutenant had drawn and fired that quickly. There was nothing else to say, and the soldiers finished getting into the second ship, stepping over the two bodies when necessary. 

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Katherine was thinking, as she worked at the ground controls of the two ships.

She thought about what it was to be a soldier. She knew it invaded every part of one's life. As she thought about it, she realized what would happen if the only survivors of Earth were soldiers and children. The soldiers would raise the children the only way they knew how, to be soldiers of a sort. Truthfully, it would probably be the right decision. The fauna on this new planet were downright terrifying. There would be a need for soldiers. But it still scared her. Humanity would be a group of soldiers and child soldiers, fighting for survival and nothing else. The worst part was that she knew the potential of those kids, and except for two of them, who she thought would make excellent soldiers, they weren't made for it. It would crush their spirits one by one. 

So she made a decision. She altered the course of the second ship. It would be a shame to lose the weapons on board, but the kids were smart, and the small fabricator on their ship, capable. At least that's how she justified it to herself, as she plotted a course from Earth to somewhere inside the sun's gravity. She felt surprisingly little turmoil at this decision.

On the outside she looked like she was just getting the last things they needed for the launches ready. 

"Ready? She asked the Lieutenant and the kids"

"Ready" was the resolute reply from 14 voices.

Katherine pressed the button that launched the ships, officially sending 13 kids to a new world.

And 12 adults to their firery deaths

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Katherine felt relief for the first time in exactly 1 year, 1 month, and 13 days. She knew something must be wrong with her, to feel so little after sentencing people who had done nothing wrong to their deaths, but she couldn't bring herself to feel remorseful.

She went and laid down, and fell asleep to the sounds of gunshots, men screaming, and one explosion.

She would never wake again.