Chapter 12: Chapter Ten Discontent

Willaims sighed, as she watched the latest shuttle come in. They were almost done with the Lunar evacuation. Something the damn cyborg ordered, although all of the fools thought it a good idea to just abandon their home. Sure, all they had left were ruins, but it was their home. They should be staying, and they sure as hell shouldn’t be listening to a damn machine. She wished Sanchez hadn’t backed down during the meeting. That girl had ended up ruining any chance she had at persuading them to stay here and rebuild. Honestly, Luna was intact enough that given a chance they could rebuild right here. The domes might be in bad shape, but she would bet that there was enough left of the tunnels to support a colony. Even if there wasn’t, modern tunneling techniques were quite advanced.

They could easily dig out a new tunnel network in a matter of days. Reinforcing it within weeks. This could be done thanks to a number of very potent tools. Years ago the tool of choice was the mining laser. In recent years that had been supplanted by resonance particle beams, which could bore through solid rock more quickly and easily without a marked increase in energy cost. These beams functioned on much the same principle as a cutting beam, but they had been modified to introduce a resonant shock pulse. The beam also had its energy much reduced so it didn’t superheat the rock, the rock was still heated but it was more pulverized than vaporized. If needed, those beams could be set to a higher energy setting.

Just one of those could let them dig out some very deep bunkers, and she would much rather make one last stand on Luna than be caught dead out in deep space. However, that is what everyone else wanted to do. They wanted to abandon their home, the cradle of humanity, and journey out to who knows where. Worse, they elected to give total control to that machine. She didn’t trust it, but she didn’t know how to make them see what she so clearly saw.

She let out another breath. At the moment she couldn’t think of anything she could do to fix things. However, that didn’t mean no one else saw what she saw. At the very least, Sanchez might see what she saw in that machine. She had the sense to recognize how foolish it is to leave behind their home, for the uncertainties of deep space. With only three ships that didn’t seem very smart to her. One wrong encounter and Humanity would be finished. In her mind, they had a better chance digging in under Luna’s surface.

The choice however had been made. There was no changing that, but one thing needed to be changed. That cyborg should not be left in command. Reynolds would have been acceptable, but it was clear he had no confidence in himself. Drakes proved himself no leader when he simply accepted what the others proposed. She would have to step up and make sure everyone lived. The question was how was she going to get them to see that she was the right person for the job?

She was going to need support, there was no doubt about that. Turning from the viewport, she left to go gather that support. She had a few ideas on where to look. Williams knew she would have to move carefully or the change in leadership she knew needed to happen would not take place. As it is, that machine could not be allowed to be the sole arbiter of power. Anyone with sense knew that cyborgs could not be trusted.

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The young woman stepped out of the office. Leading her daughter along with her. She had just finished a meeting with the ship’s quartermaster.  It had been... different than she had expected. The quartermaster had first asked the two of them a fair number of questions. Apparently, the destruction of the colony had included the governmental offices, as such they now needed to register with the quartermaster. He had given both of them an id, and a single set of clothing each. However the two of them got only one bunk, they were expected to share the same bed. That wasn’t all, the quarters she had been assigned were also assigned to several others. She had been assured they were all women, and that more quarters were being prepared. Those quarters would open up in a few days, and that he would get her better accommodations when they opened up.

There were a few good things to come out of the meeting though. The clothes for one, she certainly didn’t want to keep walking around in torn clothes. More importantly she had been told where she could get a nice warm bath. It was a public bath meant to service multiple crewmen, but it was a bath nonetheless. Something they could both sorely use. Neither she nor her daughter had one since the Cathamari bombarded the colony. 

The bombardment she remembered was terrifying, seeing those plasma weapons penetrate through reinforced domes, and solid rock. It had left her worried if anyone was going to make it. She hasn’t even seen her husband since that day. The woman feared he was dead, but at least she still had her daughter. Not everyone could say that.

She navigated down the busy unfamiliar corridors as her daughter hugged her tightly. She smiled to her herself. She decided to count herself lucky that she still had her daughter with her.

The young mother smiled to herself when she spotted the baths ahead. If the directions were to be trusted, this public bath was also not far from her new quarters. Although she hoped that she would get better ones soon. Having to share with strangers didn’t appeal to her. Not that it could much be helped. She remembered something she had been told when she came aboard. For the foreseeable future, this ship was going to be her home. Everyone on the shuttle had seen Earth from the viewports. It was so strange seeing it shrouded in those swirling reddish clouds. Anyone could tell the world was dead. Even worse, however, was that they had nowhere to go.

From what she had heard, the only thing humanity could do to survive was to seek out a new home. She had learned enough about astronavigation in school to know how slim their odds of finding a new home was. Worlds like Earth were rare. Modern terraforming techniques would allow them to choose less friendly worlds, but that was only if they had the time and resources to implement terraforming. Anyone could tell that they were talking about something that could take a lifetime if not more. She was not yet sure how she felt about possibly spending the next hundred years or so stuck on a starship.

A female officer was standing outside the bath. She smiled when she spotted them, “Ah, you two have good timing. It’s girls only for the next hour.”

She frowned, the quartermaster didn’t make mention of this. “Girls only?”

The officer nodded, “Never been on a starship before I take it? Space is always at a premium, even with ships this big. So they save it where they can. You will see what I mean when you enter, but to make things short the baths aren’t divided for men and women. So instead we have to schedule things. We have men only, mixed, and girls only hours. Right now it’s girls only.”

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She nodded. The mother thanked the officer, and then proceeded inside. She was greeted with a small locker/ changing room. Beyond which the bath could be seen. It was a modest affair, the tub took up half the room. The other half of the room was a large group shower. Both were fit into a room that took up roughly twenty-five cubic meters of space. Large enough to service multiple people at once. She did note the lack of dividing curtains or anything to provide real privacy.

In the changing area, in addition to the lockers, she also noted a bin in the corner. It had the age-old recycling mark. Along with a sign that read “Old Clothing only.” She had actually expected an item like that, and her current outfit belonged in that bin. It was torn, and burnt. Although that didn’t mean it needed to be trashed. It could be recycled, thanks to modern technology just about anything could be recycled. Especially on a starship where they recycle everything. Even back on Luna a lot of stuff was simply recycled.

The pair quickly claimed a locker using their new ids, and placed their new stuff inside. She locked it with her palm print. Allowing her to keep everything in there for a short period. After that, the mother and her daughter tossed their ruined clothing into the recycling bin. Not much point hanging onto outfits that were so badly damaged. The new standard-issue military clothing would do for now. Although she would need to get new clothing later. It didn’t help that she had nothing. Some people were lucky enough to have a few things with them. All she managed to hang on to was her daughter. That was all that mattered to her, so she could live with that.

Entering the bath proper, they both showered first. Before taking that soak they both wanted. It wasn’t long however before someone else spoke to them. As they weren’t alone. The person who spoke to her was another young mother who had her two daughters with her. Before she knew it they were sharing their mutual frustrations with current events, while their daughters got to know each other. Playing in the bath. It was kind of nice to see that. Children could bounce back and find joy in little things. It warmed her heart a little to see that, and the conversation was nice as it let her vent.

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Sanchez slipped into the lounge, it was one of several on the ship. Capital ships like the Enterprise often had multiple recreational areas. Crew morale was important, and that meant having a place where they could relax during their off-duty hours. This particular lounge was for officers, it was smaller than the general rec rooms on the lower decks for everybody else. This gave it a cozier feel especially when one paid attention to the furniture. Like all ship furniture, it was bolted to the floor, but it was also thickly padded. Designed to look and feel cozy.

The room had a half dozen tables scattered around the room. Each with a handful of chairs. Against one wall was a bank of computer terminals. There was another wall covered with cabinets that would be stocked with various board games. The games themselves were much the same as what could be found on the lower decks. The only real difference here was the atmosphere. 

There was also a large screen on the left wall. A sofa and a few armchairs were positioned in a semi-circle around it. It was currently off, and there were several controllers securely placed in a transparent cabinet. They would allow a group to play a video game together on that screen. That screen was also used for group movies here in the lounge. The ship had a massive digital library of movies and shows that could be played on request. You name the movie or show, and they probably had it. Although there were titles they didn’t have.

Sanchez wasn’t in the mood for that. Instead she simply found a chair and relaxed into it. Already lost in thought. Right now, the world around her had gone nuts. Earth was a dead world shrouded in radioactive plasma storms. The moon had been bombarded, months earlier they had lost Mars, forced to evacuate the remaining colonists here to Earth and Luna. Now, thanks to those scaly bastards, the upper officers had decided it best they abandon the only home they had ever known.

Sure, that meeting had been what felt like weeks ago, but was in fact not. The world around her seemed to be going nuts. It scared her. The idea of going out into the great unknown and leaving everything behind scared her more. Just there was nothing she could do about it. No way to wrest control of this crazy reality. Not any more than the little control they had.

All this amazing technology surrounded her. Weapons that could lay waste to entire worlds with punitive ease. Armor that rendered ships immune to all but the most powerful of weapons. Reactionless engines that allowed ships like this to not only be launched from the ground, but to maneuver in ways not thought possible a few decades ago. 

Medicine was also highly advanced. They could cure any number of maladies both physical and mental. Lose an arm? You could have it replaced with a cybernetic prosthetic, or if you were willing to wait, they could grow you a new one. A cold? There were any number of highly effective treatments that could cure it inside a day. Cancer? Targeted nano therapy. Got blown up? Well as long as your brain is intact and they get to you quickly enough you could be reconstructed in a nanite bath with cloned tissue or cybernetic replacements. Often a combination of both. Just an example of how medicine had benefited from the century long Colonial wars. They had learned a great deal about treating battlefield trauma, both physical and mental. Although some of the techniques for the latter were a little controversial.

Hell they could even prolong life. Nanites were used for a form of targeted therapy that could repair damage on a cellular level. These nano-cellular treatments were used to repair genetics that occurred during cell division. Thanks to these treatments the human lifespan had effectively been doubled. Although with cybernetic enhancement a person’s lifespan practically doubled again. Actually it was more than that. She had heard somewhere that computer modeling and simulations indicated that modern cyborgs could theoretically live to be nearly a thousand years old. While normal humans would only live to be a couple hundred years old. Although that might be wrong given how medicine was always improving it could in fact be longer.

That thought brought her to a stop. She could conceivably end up spending over a hundred years trapped on this ship. Going from one star to the next on an endless search for a new homeworld. Something only possible because of the amazing technology around her. Technology that failed to protect what mattered most. Their ancient home, the cradle of their civilization. The birthplace of all humanity, that now laid in ruins below. She didn’t even realize it, but something in her broke. She was crying before she was even conscious of it.

 

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