The New Apollo

With the Raptor out of the way, our attention shifted to our ultimate goal, commandeering the New Apollo.  The Federation’s state of the art jump ship.  They have finished construction and testing, and the crew is preparing for launch.  The ship will travel to a distant star.  Where we plan to make our home.

There are a few small ships at the launch site, shuttles and maintenance craft.  All likely to be outfitted with standard defensive weapons.  The Apollo will have the same.  We may still have a battle to fight.  But we are now in a position of strength.  Our weapons are equal to theirs, we have more ships, and ours are faster and more maneuverable.   

We will attempt to negotiate our enemy’s surrender first, then attack if that fails.  Either way, we will have to wait before we can mourn the 87 brave men and women who perished battling the Raptor.

This time, I will let Michael do the talking.  He is tactful and patient.  He is nicer than I am.  It will be important to get the agreement of the ship’s commander and the crew.  We cannot fly the Apollo by ourselves. 

Michael opens a comm line with the base commander.  “Greetings, my name is Michael.  I am the representative for the Nation of the Sun.  You are aware that we just destroyed the Raptor.  I’d like to discuss a business proposition with you.  To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with?”

The man on the video display looked to be in his 60s.  A burn scar ran down the left side of his face.  “My name is Admiral Pullers.  I am in charge of the Callisto station.”

Michael continued.  “You have no doubt guessed our intentions.  We want the Apollo.  We know we cannot pilot it ourselves.  You know we have better ships and the battle will not last long if we attack.  There are only two courses of action.  One is cooperation.  The other is war.  It is up to you.  We want to go to the stars.  We can’t go by ourselves.  We will not let you to go without us.  You may take up to 24 hours to consider this.  Do you have any questions?”  

 

The Admiral thought for a moment, then asked, “What will be our status if we agree?  We would rather die than become slaves.”  Michael replied, “We will control all of the weapons and be the police force on the ship.  Beyond that everyone will be free and equal.  There will be no more naturals and clones.  Just humans.” 

“I will discuss this with my senior staff and then with the crew.  I will be back in touch soon.”

We had our answer a few hours later.  The Admiral hailed us.  “First thing I want to make clear.  There are self-destruct programs embedded in the ship’s software.  At any time, we can permanently disable the life support systems and everyone will die when the oxygen runs out.  No one in your crew possesses the expertise to find these programs or override them.”

“Second thing, some of our people do not want to go under these circumstances.  You must agree to let them remain at Callisto and leave them unharmed.  It will be up to your people to learn their jobs and fill those roles in the mission.”

“Third, I will continue to command the ship.  You do not have the skills or knowledge to do what I do.  You will be in charge of security on the ship, but you must allow me oversight of your activities.”

“Fourth, we will not be prisoners.  I recognize the irony of the situation.  I understand the unfairness of how naturals have treated clones.  It does not matter.  We are just as willing to fight as you are.  We would rather die than be anything less than equals.  Once the Apollo launches, it will take the cooperation of everyone on board to make the mission successful.”

Michael and I looked at each other on our private line.  He nodded his head.  I turned my video feed on for our guest.  “Admiral Pullers, my name is Saffron.  On behalf of the Nation of the Sun, we accept your terms.  I give you my word, we will find a way to make this journey work.”

Over the next three months we worked through the many details required for launch.  The tension between the Apollo crew and my team was palpable and resulted in frequent confrontations.  Visits to the Admiral’s office were a regular event.  One thing became apparent.  Michael was better at dealing with people and politics than I was.  He was becoming the leader of the Nation of the Sun.  I began planning my retirement, and what was to come next.

Our destination is a distant star, 86 Eridani.  It is similar to Earth’s sun, and has two small, rocky planets that appear to be habitable.  At 20 light years away, it will take seventy years to get there.  The Apollo is a generation ship.  The launch crew will raise children, and they will raise their own, before the destination is reached.  Only a few of us starting the journey will be around to see our new home.

The New Apollo is unlike any other spacecraft.  It is composed of three parts.  The crew will spend most of their time in what they call the donut.  A one thousand foot diameter ring at the front of the craft that will spin and create artificial gravity.  A long shaft extends back from the donut.  This connects to the engine and the fuel tanks, at the rear.  From the side, the ship looks like a metallic mushroom.

My previous job skills will not be of use from now on.  As the ship is readied for launch, I am training for my new career.  I tend vegetables in the greenhouses.  First a miner, then a warrior, now a farmer. 

The launch is anticlimactic.  It will take almost a year to accelerate to maximum velocity.  Everyone is strapped down in the event of an emergency, but we barely feel the movement.  In contrast, the artificial gravity created by the spinning donut is proving difficult to get used to, after years of weightlessness. 

We are three months into the journey.  It will take the antiproton annihilation engine another nine months to push us to maximum velocity, 30% of the speed of light.  We’ve passed beyond the orbit of Pluto.  The flight engineer says we have left the heliosphere.  The technical term for the edge of the solar system.  We are on the fastest ship humans have ever built.  We are the first to leave our home star.  The first to travel in interstellar space.

The New Apollo is a one shot deal.  It can fly very fast, in a straight line.  There is no turning around, no going back.  If we avoid disaster and unforeseen circumstances for the next 70 years, we will reach Eridani.  As we decelerate and go into orbit around one of the planets, our grandchildren will be in charge of the ship.   

Aside from minor problems, we are proceeding according to the plan.  Each day I spend a little more time in the full gravity zone in the donut.  A simple thing, like growing vegetables, is much easier when the weight of the soil keeps it stuck to the floor.  Many things are easier to do with gravity.  Such as changing diapers.  A dozen of the crew, including myself, are pregnant.

I am no longer the leader of the Nation of the Sun.  I have retired.  Michael is now in charge.  And, he is my husband.  I made him an offer he could not refuse.

I did not know what happiness meant when I was growing up at the clone facility, or during my time with Randleman.  When Eve, Michael and I were together, mining in the asteroid belt and making our plans, I felt it for the first time.  I felt love for the first time as well.  For both Eve and Michael.  I could tell by the way they looked at each other, they shared something even stronger.  I made up excuses to leave them alone.

Now Eve is dead.  But not gone completely.  We knew we would suffer casualties when we attacked the Raptor.  Before we left the Bounty, we collected sperm or egg samples from every member of our team.  A full set was frozen and stored on every ship in our fleet.  If one ship made it to the Apollo, all of us would make it, genetically if not in person.  We promised each other, the living will bear the children of the dead.

Michael was amused when I asked the medical staff to keep the child’s gender a secret.  We will find out the old fashioned way.  Our child will grow up knowing its father, Michael.   It will only know one of its mothers.  I am carrying Eve’s baby.