The shuttle came to a rest in its docking clamps with a clang that reverberated through the whole vessel. Leon went to undo his harness and stopped as Samuel grabbed the intercom microphone and made an announcement.
"Thank you all for flying air Samuel, please remember to pick up all your belongings and be careful of the exit. Mind the bump and make sure to follow the standard microgravity safety regulations, have a great day." He said before he cut the intercom and turned towards Leon. Clapping his hands together he said "Well then, let's get going."
Leon undid his restraints and straightened, catching himself on the ceiling. He followed Samuel and Taylor into the airlock and into the main passenger compartment. Leon entered the compartment as the Director began to speak.
"Alright, remember your training, you will do fine. Please follow the main corridor to the command bridge. We will meet there." The old man said.
Leon moved over to his seat and pulled out his bag and slung it over his back before looking towards the ramp exit. The side door opened up and Leon saw that there was a flexible umbilical attached to the door. The first few crew drifted out using the side handholds built into the umbilical. The hanger they were in was large and fully enclosed from the void outside the ship.
Leon drifted down the enclosed tube and into the main body of the ship. There was a large airlock here that he packed into with a few of the others as it cycled closed. After just a moment, the sensors tripped the other door to cycle open and he followed the Director and the other crew down a long tunnel surrounded with tubing and access panels.
The hangar was at the extreme rear of the ship, so they needed to travel a significant portion of the two hundred plus meters of the ship in order to reach the bridge. The entirety of the inner hull was pressurized and had periodic airlocks that could be sealed in the case of emergency. As he moved down the tunnel, he periodically saw the tunnel entrances that led up into the habitat rings. The rings were still at the moment, but would be spun up to simulate about seventy percent normal gravity before they departed. Leon observed the long ladder leading up into the ring as he passed below one, it seemed to go on forever.
He knew that the rings were only about one hundred and twenty meters in diameter, but the fifty meters or so long ladders were still an intimidating prospect. Continuing onwards, he and the others eventually passed through a larger set of airlocks and into the control center.
Leon moved to one of the seats that ringed the outer edge of the large room and sat, buckling the light harness to hold him still. After the rest of the crew trickled in, the Director once more addressed them.
"You have all gotten to know each other over the last four months of training, I know it was tough. But you were tougher. You are the best we have as a species, the elite. You are tasked with the perpetuation of our way of existence, should something happen and earth fall, you would be the only bastion of Humanity left in the cosmos. But fear not, the prayers and wishes of an entire solar system follow you into that cold dark expanse. Your Commander, Leon Muikman, will see you through this. But he is just one man, you will all need to come together, put aside past rivalries and disputes. For on this ship you are no longer different peoples, but one people. Children of our mother Earth."
As he paused in his speech Leon glanced around and noticed the light that shone in the eyes of his crew, yes, 'His' crew. He realised with a jolt that he was in charge, the absolute power and authority on this ship. That kind of power over others shouldered a heavy burden on those who would wield it. Leon now felt the weight of this new authority settle on his wide shoulders, he was strong, a military man. He would carry this weight with pride and honor, and woe be unto the one who would besmirch his integrity.
He focused once more upon the aged yet strong visage of the Director. He was speaking once more saying "We will be holding back news of your departure until you have activated your drives. We have your drives preprogrammed to only take you as far as Saturn on your first hop, that way if there is an issue, it is not inconceivable that we could send assistance. If we send you out into the dark first and something were to happen, I fear you would be lost. But let's not dwell on such dark things. Today is the last day of your training, please take the next day to familiarize yourself with your new surroundings. You will be spinning up the rings in a few hours after you have undocked from the construction platform."
Leon sighed inwardly, while the sensation of microgravity wasn't as unpleasant as he had always been led to believe, it would still be a vast relief to have an up and a down again.
The Director looked around at them all and asked "I have said my peace, are there any last pressing questions or issues?" He spread his hands wide in the air, his body slowly drifting in the microgravity.
Dr. Kimathi surprised Leon by flashing her hand up to grab attention before asking "No one has ever sent a living organism through warped space before. What can we expect, will we even be alright?"
The Director shook his head and said "We did send a test pilot through, on the first probe to make it back. There was a small container with a Rat named Spock inside. All data points to mild mental distress but no physical ailment or injury. So as far as we can tell, it's perfectly safe."
Leon saw their biologist Joice sit up and ask "What happened to Spock afterwards?"
The Director said nonchalantly "Oh they expired shortly into the trip as their air was expended. But I assure you they died from purely natural causes and not from any sort of unnatural anomalies."
"That does not make me feel any better…" Leon heard someone mutter from his left.
Leon decided to speak up and lighten the mood. "Spock's Sacrifice will not be in vain, we will honor this brave creature with our every discovery. A rat they may have been at birth, but in death, a pioneer of science." He said grandly with a flourish. The reactions were mixed with some laughter and some strange looks, but at least the attention was on him and not the possibility of gruesome unnatural death.
"Indeed…" said the Director. "Well, I'm off, I have things to take care of back on the ground before you leave. The plan is to depart GMT 0800 tomorrow." He finished as he made to leave, he stopped at the door and said "Oh, and good luck." And with that he was gone.
Leon smiled at the genuine goodbye and looked around at the others. There were some muted conversations happening, but silence reigned for the most part. He raised his voice in an authoritative manner to get their attention and said "Hey, I understand that this is exciting and potentially scary, but we have a lot of work to do before we can rest easy. You all know your tasks, so please get started on those. We break for dinner in three hours, I would expect you to all be there. In the meantime, please get your checks done quickly and correctly. The entire world is counting on us." A bit of a heavy handed speech but he saw some heads nod in newfound determination at his words.
Leon unbuckled and pulled his way over to the main control floor, it took only moments before he had located the command and control station. As he strapped himself in, he heard Samuel say "Commander on deck!"
Leon sighed internally but was secretly grateful for the young man's adherence to discipline. He glanced around and saw a few of the nearby crewmembers eyeing him warily, he raised his eyebrow at them and they stiffened into the best semblance of attention one could in the low gravity environment.
"At ease, we can focus on the ceremony tomorrow, for now we have work to do." He said in a stern manner. He gave Samuel a small nod before he opened his control panel to check on the general status of the ship.
Leon quickly lost himself in the work as streams of data flooded his console. Reports of minor problems being ironed out and stockpiled resources being checked and rechecked. At some point during the shift, the ship disconnected from the dock and the rings were started up. The low thrumming of the massive electro magnetic bearings made the air hum slightly. Before he knew it, it was time for the evening meal. He leaned back from the endless data and stretched his stiff muscles. This low gravity was working muscles he never even knew he had.
Leon unbuckled and said loudly "Alrighty, Dinner time. I expect to see you all in the main mess hall in fifteen minutes." A few mutters and grumbling answered his comment and he continued on into the main body of the ship. Pulling himself down the passage he came upon the rotating section that connected to the first ring.
The first ring was almost exclusively home to scientific equipment and research labs. The second ring held meeting rooms and other utility stations, while the third was primarily housing and recreational. Leon was looking forwards to at least some semblance of up and down, even if it was weaker than he was used to.
He passed the second rotating section and came upon the third. Aligning himself with the padded opening of the slowly rotating wall, he pulled himself into the long ladder well that led up into the main part of the ring, though up was technically incorrect.
As the centrifugal force would be pulling him away from the center of the ship, he supposed that he was technically up already and was about to begin descending into the artificial gravity well. The ladder rungs were padded as were the walls of the passage, all the better to limit the likelihood of injuries. Leon descended from the main core of the ship down the ladder towards the ring itself.
As Leon got further along, he began to feel the pull of the ring's rotation more and more strongly. There was just a hint, almost imperceptible, of sideways pull brought on by the rotation of the ring. It wasn't enough to cause an issue, and he felt that he would adjust to it quite quickly. It was probably a good idea to warn people of it so they didnt accidently drop things while they got used to their radically new environment.
By now, Leon was more than halfway down the ladder and he was starting to feel his weight return, there were clips along the sides of the tunnel that could be used to attach a safety wire to in case of an emergency. Leon felt confident in his ability to reach the bottom though, part of their physical strength training had involved precisely this type of exertion. Grip strength training and core strength training ensured that they would all be ladder climbing professionals.
Leons arms were just starting to feel the strain as he reached the bottom of the rings and stepped back off the ladder. He turned around and nodded as the layout of the structure was made apparent to him. They had done training in VR in order to more familiarize themselves with the design of the ship's interior, but it was still strange to see the floor curving up and away but not feel as though he was walking uphill.
Leon walked forwards along this new space. The floor was metal covered in a slip and chemical resistant layer of rubber for both grip and comfort. The bulkheads were painted a calm sky blue and the metal ceilings were high so as to not feel claustrophobic. Leon himself was at home in tight spaces being a navy man, but the others might not share his affinity for confined passages.
Leon could smell the slight chemical stink of sealants and paints as he walked along the gently curving floor towards where he knew his room would be. He had been offered a large room as he was the commander of the ship, but he had opted for having all the rooms be the same size so as to minimize internal conflict. Animosity would destroy the mission faster than almost any other force, barring low morale. But he had ways to keep morale high on the trip.
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He walked past several more doors, their metal frames sunk slightly into the walls of the passage, before he arrived at his room. Pressing the switch on the side, he entered his room as the door slid silently to the side. Stepping into his new home, he looked around and nodded. It wasn't lavish by any means, but neither was it as bare and spartan as he had been expecting. There had clearly been some care put into making these rooms feel like homes, the floor was carpeted and there was a small adjoined restroom with a low gravity toilet. The toilet used almost no water and was self sanitizing, sending the waste to the large Bi-reclamation tanks on the other side of the ring. Periodically the rings would stop and the broken down contents of the tanks would be flushed into the large hydroponics areas as fertilizers and nutrients after the harmful components had been neutralised.
Leon smiled to himself as he thought about the recycling of materials aboard the ship. While they were not one hundred percent efficient, they were as good as that being over ninety nine percent efficient in nutrient and water conservation. The hydroponics and low gravity aquaponics in the last ring were cutting edge and nearly magic in function. Leon was smart, but even he had been lost on some of the finer details of those farms and what they were capable of. Long story short, they could grow enough fresh fruits and vegetables as well as fish, frogs and simple proteins to keep all thirteen crew fed and healthy for years on their own. With the timely application of nutrients of extra minerals, they could last even longer.
This marvel of engineering and biology aside, Leon set his bag down on the bed in the far corner of his room and sat at the small desk for a few moments as he prepared himself for what could turn out to be a rough night. There was a certain amount of anxiety and even fear that could be reasonably expected before a venture like this was undertaken, but he needed to keep the panic to a minimum. He would need to keep the conversation on happy, positive topics and quell any dissent or apprehension before it could take root.
Leon stood and walked across the light tan carpet to his bathroom and checked himself in the mirror. He liked to maintain a neat and tidy appearance, especially when others were looking to him for inspiration and guidance. It wouldn't do for them to see him as scruffy or tousled. He combed his short hair and shaved the slight stubble that had been gathering on his face before straightening his clothes and walking to the door. Reaching for the button he paused and let out a deep breath before sucking in a lungful of air and standing straight. He pushed the button and let out a whoof as he was met with the sparkling faces of Sabine and Chad in front of his room.
Leon jerked back a half pace as they laughed together. He smirked as their little joke to startle him was made apparent. "Good one Sabine, Chad, good to see you. You dropped your things in your rooms yet?" He asked them as he stepped out into the hall.
Sabine nodded as Chad answered him "We sure did. Actually, a while ago as we had to take a trip up to the rings to ensure the rotation was correct. Imagine how bad it would be if these things started to wobble at all." He shook his head at the thought.
Leon looked at Sabine and asked "How are you holding up?" He was concerned for her, she was leaving everything she had ever been comfortable with to come on this trip, and she was the closest thing he had to a daughter.
She smiled and gave him a hug which surprised him and he tried to take a step back but stopped as she said "It was scary at first. But when I learned you would be here I felt much better. I know how much you did for me, and I just wanted to say I'm glad you are here." She let him go and smiled at his warming expression.
Chad chuckled and added "For the record I'm glad you are here too Leon."
Leon just gave him a nod and straightened his shirt saying "Yes, I'm glad for your presence on this mission. Everything you have done up to now has shown you to be extremely capable and intelligent. That's the kind of people we need on this trip. We will succeed as a group or we will fail as a group, but either way, we will do it as one heart and mind, dedicated to the goal." He stopped himself before he got carried away.
Sabine giggled and asked "What was that, you preparing a speech for the dinner?"
Chad nudged her and said "Hey, if it was, I thought it started off okay. We should probably head there now. Who's on the cooking rotation tonight?" He asked Leon with a curious glance as they began to walk along the curving floor towards the mess hall.
Leon thought for a moment before answering "I believe we have the pleasure of Dr. Kimathi and Oliver cooking for us tonight. Should be interesting. You remember what Oliver was like in culinary training."
Sabine chuckled and Chad gave a slight grimace. While Australia had never been hospitable in the far gone years before the climate collapse, it was a nightmarish collection of toxic jungles and scorching barren rocks now. Anyone who was able to live there was by their very nature a survivalist, and Oliver was no exception. There was no better man to be stranded on an alien planet with, that being said, being stuck on a ship with him as your cook was a fate he wouldn't wish upon his most hated adversary. The man was hopeless at preparing anything without inundating it with enough meat and pepper to make a grown man weep. The man was a brilliant biochemist, one of the best on Earth. But as a cook he left much to be desired, at least Dr. Kimathi should temper his cooking and make it more palatable, he thought.
The three of them entered the mess hall and Leon saw they were among the last to arrive, not late, but cutting it close. Dinner was almost done and spirits were high as he saw many of the crew sitting and conversing among themselves. He nodded to Sabine and Chad and walked over to where he saw Chris sitting with Myung and Joice.
Chris looked up and said "Ah, hello Commander, feel free to sit if you like. Myung was just discussing the finer points of the hydroponics mechanics to Joice. Riveting conversation to be sure." He said tiredly.
Myung just rolled her eyes and went back to her conversation with Joice who smiled at Leon as he sat next to Chris.
Leon sighed inwardly and asked the older man "Making friends I see, are you truly that bored? I know this may not be in your chosen field, but the excitement of what we are undertaking has surely got to overwhelm that."
Chris looked down at his hands and said nothing for a few moments. Just as Leon was getting ready to speak again, the man looked at him and said "I'm sorry Leon, It's just difficult for me. I never had kids, I was always too busy. It never bothered me until I realized that by going on this mission I was technically deleting myself from the planet’s record." Leon looked at him confusedly and was about to ask what he meant when he said "It's like this, I have no legacy left behind on earth, no one to outlive me. If I were to die though, at least my remains would eventually be recycled back into that great system that is the circle of life. But here I am, about to be shot off into deep space, possibly to never again see the land of my birth. The land that made me, my ancestors, and every other thing I have ever seen, touched or known. I will admit that the prospect of never again seeing this dirty wet mudball fills me with dread. But I did sign up for this, even knowing the risks."
Leon was shocked. He was at a loss for words. Chris might be a bad-tempered old man, but he was right. After a few moments to gather his thoughts he noticed that Myung and Joice had stopped talking to stare at Chris and him. He needed to say something, anything to redirect the attention before it spread any further.
Clearing his throat he spoke slowly "Chris, you make a good point. But did not the same anxiety befall all such men of science that explored the unknown reaches of the world? The first men in the Americas? The first men to the Moon? The first men to land on the surface of Mars? They all held such doubts. But in the face of true adversity and the unknowable horror of the vast unknown they did as you do now, they kept moving forwards. Always moving forwards." Leon noticed the room had gone quiet as his voice carried to the nearby tables and the other crew began to listen in.
He continued, raising his voice ever so slightly "An undertaking like this hasn't been seen since apes first shakily stood from their knuckles two hundred thousand years ago. We may be the first, the first of many. I know things seem scary and the apprehension may be too much to bear, but look around. Look at those around you. These are your friends, your crew. We are here for you as we are for each other, there is nothing in this universe that we as a species cannot overcome together. United we can do anything. So I ask you, will you trust us as you trust yourself?" There was a brief moment of silence as he finished his words.
Chris remained silent for a moment, looking around at the smiling faces around him. He stood and raised his cup of vitamin water as he said "I gotta hand it to you Leon, I was skeptical about a military buckethead being in charge of such a important scientific mission. But I can see why they made you the Commander, you certainly got a way with words. Color me inspired to see this through." He said as he put his other hand on Leons shoulder.
Just as he did so, the doors to the kitchen opened and Dr. Kimathi and Oliver walked in with plates of food prompting excitement to spread through the crew at the prospect of food.
Chris and Leon sat as the spread was placed on the long table they sat around and he saw it was an arrangement of fresh steamed vegetables and juicy looking fried Tilapia. There was also a decent looking soup that seemed to be made from some sort of tomato stock with potatoes and other vegetables like squash.
It seemed that pairing Oliver with the Doctor had had a distinctly beneficial effect on his cooking as there was nothing that looked overly dangerous to the palate. Leon spooned himself some of the soup and grabbed a small package of crackers from the tray that had been set by the pot. He tasted the soup and smiled, it was indeed tomato broth with a mixture of other flavors.
Leon ate his dinner quietly and kept an ear out for any sort of negative conversation, but everything seemed to be okay. It seemed that the food was generally widely appreciated by the crew and the conversations remained polite and even jovial at times. They shared stories and jokes, remarked on past experiences, and talked about the future and things they might experience. Leon smiled as the high morale of the crew created a pleasant environment where they could relax and forget about the stress of the days to come.
The systems of the ship were constantly monitored by a series of extremely intelligent programs that together bordered on an AI. They were not truly self-aware though, the set of programs that the crew had already begun to refer to as Henry, were unable to take initiative by themselves. The crew had been issued wrist worn devices upon the beginning of their training that the Director had called computer assisted monitors, or cams. These cams would monitor their vitals, and also function as personal computers that they could use for communication and data recovery.
The ship had a large store of both physical and encoded information, the entire history of their species was encoded in those databases as well as the vast majority of humanities knowledge of science and mathematics. The official reason for this was to help the crew in any occasion they might require such information, but the true reason was in the case of any alien contact. In this way they might show the aliens humanities exploits in order to gain their trust and maybe even their friendship. Leon knew it was a longshot, but if there was even a snowball's chance in hell of it happening, he would take it.
After a satisfying and quite tasty dinner, Leon set his dishes in the growing pile near the head of the table and then waited a few more minutes for the others to finish eating. As the last of the crew was moving their dishes to the pile, he stood and walked to the head of the table as all eyes fell on him.
Leon smiled and said "Now I understand you are all probably getting real tired of long winded speeches about the glory of science and the nature of the universe by now so I will keep this nice and short." He smiled as a few of them chuckled and continued "First off, Oliver, Dr. Kimathi, wonderful spread. I loved the soup in particular, it was very nice."
Oliver raised his voice and said in his heavy Australian accent "The good Doctor told me I was adding too much spice. But I didn't think it was quite enough. I'm glad she was right." That got a good laugh as he said it.
Leon said "Yes you did good. As it stands, we are all in this boat together, we will either succeed, or we will not. But make no mistake, we will do it as a team, together. Any questions or problems can be relayed to me at any time. I don't want you holding something back on me just because I might be busy, if it's important, I want to hear it." There were nods from all present at his words. "That being said, please make sure it is important. I don't want to get told in the middle of the night that we are out of snacks or something like that." He said with a chuckle. "It's bedtime, and I want you all to rest up, because tomorrow is a big day, we will work out shifts and such as needs arise. For now, you all have a set of tasks and duties that will be updated and posted to your cams, please follow these for they are essential. Take breaks when you need them, drink plenty of water, and make sure to stay clean. We are working in an enclosed environment. The medical treatment we got last week should have cleared the worst stuff out of our systems, but I don't want everyone getting a cold because someone coughed into the plates tray or something like that. Anyways, keep your eyes open for anything out of place, this has never been done before, we aren't entirely sure what to expect. That is all."
The buzz of conversation resumed as he moved from the head of the table as everyone talked at once. He nodded once to Chris and then Sabine as he left the mess hall and walked towards his room. He was tired, but his spirits were high. This whole thing might not be the grand adventure he had always read about in books as a kid, but it would be exciting for sure.
Leon entered his room and kicked off his shoes by the door before getting ready for bed. As he laid back under the covers, he thought about how strange this all would have seemed to him just a mere five months ago. He smiled to himself as he closed his eyes and slowly drifted off into sleep.