Day 12 of the Journey

“What do you mean we shouldn’t come back for the rest?” Dong Woo pushed Damien. Despite being a head taller and bigger in size than Dong Woo, he took a took a step back from the shock of the sudden aggression.

Damien was calm about it; he knew not everyone was going to be happy with his plans. “When we restart the population, we will not have time to go back to the people we left behind. Think rationally, our job is to grow our species again. Not to save the ones who are dying.”

“They gave up everything to send us out here. The least we could do is go back and try!” Dong Woo’s face was red with anger as he eyes bored into Damien’s.

“With what fuel? We have enough just to make it there!” Damien retorted.

“We… we... can just find more, aren’t we going to a new planet!” Dong Woo's voice wavered, he knew he was losing the argument.

Nia tried to intervene between them, but her voice got drowned out by the two of them. The other crew members watched the argument unfold between the two, unable to do anything. On one hand, Dong Woo was right, everyone sent them forward into space in hopes that they can bring them along if it’s safe. However, the reality is not quite the same. The resources and manpower for them to return is astronomical. 15 people cannot attempt to do the work of 400 people, while trying to rebuild their civilization from scratch.

Later that night,

Nia was cuddled up next to Damien in his quarters. “Hey Damien, were you serious about not going back. I don’t like the feeling about abandoning the rest of humanity just so we can live… It feels wrong”

Damien looks at her for a minute silently and gets up. He pulls out a personal holographic projector and plugs a drive into it before turning it on. He skips a few video messages until it reaches to one of Raj, the head scientist of Project Rebirth.

“Damien, I have uploaded this video into your personal drive without consent. I apologise I had to say this even if I knew what your intentions when joining this program were. I… know what your mindset has been ever since you took the psych evaluation for this program… You are driven, but most importantly, you are not attached to this planet… Earth…” Raj sighed and shook his head. His eyes were trained onto the floor, as though unable to meet Damien’s.

“It is too late for those who survived after that atrocious war of greed. It is time for humanity to have a hard reset, and I am well aware that you are of similar mind. The others may not agree to the conclusion we have come to."

Raj looked up again, looking directing ahead with a steeled gaze, "You and your team must bear the burden of our sins but not let it hold you down. Steer them forward, not back… Goodbye” as the holographic image reached out to something before it cuts off.

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“I am sorry Nia, if you have friends or family, we can’t help them…” Damien’s eyes trained onto the floor as a deafening silence fills the room.

“I… I… need some time to process this.” She got up from the bed, slipped into her suit and walked out of the quarters without another word.

Damien could not follow her.

Day 13 of the Journey

It was the last day of the Journey and tomorrow they would begin the lightspeed jump. The sun’s overbearing presence loomed largely over the windows and the heat was so intense they had to bring down the shutters and increase power to the heat shields to protect the produce within the ship. Tensions were high within the ship due to the argument the day before, but there was no time for the crew to resolve their issues. Everyone was scrambling to get ready for lightspeed travel. Lightspeed travel beyond the solar system has not been done before, so the success of the mission was dependent on every minute detail.

Nia avoided Damien all day, her quietness did not go unnoticed by the other astronauts. “Lover’s quarrel?” Rico said as he walked over to Damien with a cheeky smile. “You better not be breaking up, I bet my quesadilla rations on you guys lasting at least 2 months.”

“Shut up Rico, don’t you have some asteroid to shoot or something.”

“Awww come on man! Don’t be like that, how about some drinks eh! Back to the single life!” He exclaimed as he pulled out a flask of whiskey from where his sidearm should be.

“You know for a weapons expert; you seem to be pretty unarmed” Damien chided

“Ahhh don’t be like that! A good whiskey solves problems more peacefully than a gun. Plus, what am I going to do walking around with a gun with a bunch of you pencil pushers on board!” He laughed as he handed Damien the flask.

“Now that’s the spirit!” he shouted as he dragged Damien along back to the lounge.

Tensions began to rise at night as the heat in the ship began to rise and the final moments before the jump nears.

Last 30 minutes of the Journey.

Everyone was strapped into their seats. The heat of the sun intensified as they neared. Not even the suits could protect them from the amount of heat that was being exuded. Beads of sweat fell down Damien’s face as he tried to wipe it off with a towel he was holding. His breath shallowed as a feeling of anxiousness and dread fills him. This mission was do or die there was no coming back.

“Twenty minutes to jump coordinates. Please stay hydrated, it would be harder for the rest of the crew to eat you if you are dried up like a prune” ECHO said over the speakers, which caused the crew to chortle, easing the tension slightly. The once unaware A.I. has gotten much better with interacting with the crew since departure.

Anya was checking the ship’s parameters religiously, while Nia worked on making sure the ships engines did not fail us.

“5 minutes to jump coordinates. Initiating jump sequence. Engineer Nia, I can take it from here” ECHO’s voice spoke over the furiously beating hearts of the astronauts.

Nia puts her hands on Damien’s shoulders, “Hey Damien, I know it’s probably the wrong time to tell you this but...”

“Warning unusual heat readings detected! Warning unusual radiation signatures detected!” warnings began to show on the cockpit screens.

“Coronal Mass Ejection Detected. Spending all processing power to speed up jump sequence. Nia please watch anomalies in cooling systems”

“What’s a Coronal Mass Ejection! What’s going on ECHO?” the panicked voice of Rico shouted from behind.

“A Solar Flare…” Damien replied grimly as the craft began to tremble omniously.