Deep Space Dead (2 page)

Five thousand years ago the starship Suki II had set out with fifty-thousand colonists and a view to claim this supposed paradise for the human tribe. These were the days before the development of Tachyon Speed and the colonists had been placed into stasis for one hundred and forty-five years before finally emerging. Once there they had sent back numerous messages to the Confederation relating how well things had been going, right up until the start of the second month when all contact had abruptly ceased. Surprisingly few people knew about the disappearance of the first mission, for the Confederation did not publicise its failures. Arianna was one of those who did know, and whilst she had known about it before she had boarded the Tula IV and it was not sufficiently enough to deter her from joining the expedition, now the arrival date got closer she found herself mulling the matter over more and more.

The ceilings of the library were high, in common with most of the rooms on the starship, and gave out a bright light that simulated daylight before dimming for twelve hours to give the impression of dusk, although in the privacy of their apartments the colonists were able to turn the lighting up and down as they pleased. Herein the library was contained the entire knowledge of the Confederation, every book and text ever written. Arianna’s job was to pinpoint it and, if necessary, analyse it for the good of the ship. For the most part she was kept busy with mundane engineering matters but occasionally she was required to research politics and history, with history being the main passion of her life aside from her daughter.

It was five in the evening and time for the next shift to take over. Arianna stayed a while and chatted with her successor, Jen Henna, who also babysat for her occasionally, then checked the time once more. It was ninety minutes before she had to be anywhere and she didn’t much relish going back to an empty apartment. Instead she went into one of the back rooms where the ceilings were low and dark, taking with her the memory card that related to the previous expedition. She knew she had an unhealthy interest in the disappearance of the Suki II, which was why she conducted her investigations in private and had told nobody, not even her boyfriend, what she was doing.

Arianna opened up the computer and slipped the memory card inside it. The holoscreen flashed up in 3D and Arianna pointed at the files with her finger. Herein were held all the transmissions relating to the expedition of the Suki II from all those years ago. Arianna decided to start from the very beginning, although she had heard it all before.

“Admiral Heth Stune. Transmission number one thousand seven hundred and forty seven. Conditions appear fair, designated landing site is clear. Situation is as stated by the Pioneer Probes. Hearthstone is a terrestrial planet with ice at either of the Poles, water filled oceans and a single massive continent containing mountains and plains. The planet is orbited by a single, small moon incompatible with the natural sustainment of human life. Initial reports indicate no sign of extra-terrestrial activity. No bacterium or single cell organisms are thus-far detected. The landing site we have chosen is situated on a great plain beside a free running river. Grassland and forest are abundant.”

Arianna couldn’t help noticing how excited the Admiral appeared at the impending arrival. There was good reason for this, because upon disembarkation at the destination it was Confederation policy for the Admirals to retire on a generous pension in one of the finest habitation pods. Arianna continued to the next message.

“Disembarkation a cause for great celebration. I took with me the four hundred children born on the starship who had never before experienced hard earth. These were the first to set foot on our new home. Conditions here on Hearthstone are even better than we imagined. The climate is warm and it appears to be the height of summer, although this evening we experienced a slight shower of healthy, natural rain. The pods disengaged as they were supposed to and we are already unloading our supplies. Tomorrow we will send out rovers to further explore this planet and expect to have a detailed map within eight weeks of our arrival.”

The next message was similarly filled with hope and optimism.

“We have set out the boundaries of our new city, which we have christened Horta in honour of the President of the Confederation. Our lumberjacks have been dispatched to set up a station in the forests and the construction of the reservoir and sewage systems are well underway. We have collected some of the flora and fauna and are hopeful that we might find a new, edible crop. The arboretum is gradually being dissimulated to form a ceremonial garden and the crops that earlier disassembled from it are growing nicely. Our engineers have set about laying streets and plans for freely built houses are already in place. In all we seem to have a perfect little paradise down here on Hearthstone.”

Arianna paused to think. A lot had changed in the past five thousand years but the initial actions of the pioneers of the Suki II were not untypical to what those on the Tula IV would be doing once they arrived on Hearthstone. Arianna and her companions would also be disembarking with great ceremony, would also lay out the foundations for a city they would name after the President, would also go off looking for supplies and natural resources which they could exploit. Only the Suki II and her fifty thousand pioneers were never heard from again. The more she listened to the recordings the more intrigued she became.

Arianna heard the ceremonial clock in the arboretum chime the hour. It was strange, she thought, how humankind had never grown tired of the chiming of a simple clock. Arianna took the chip from the computer, turned off the holoscreen and left the library. Outside a small crowd of people were heading off to the theatre to see the latest show. A Confederation directive stated that no colonisation ship was to set out on a deep space mission with less than eight thousand colonists on board and this was in order that a separate culture might develop and the passengers might keep one another entertained. It was for this reason that the entertainment corps on the ship were highly regarded. They even got a seat on the Council. All the same Arianna found the entertainment on board the Tula IV to be substandard and amateurish and much preferred attending the hologram theatre where the best films of the Confederation were regularly played.

The colonists and crew of most pioneering starships were young, ambitious and filled with grand plans for the future. It was a relatively easy life at the Confederation headquarters on Jupiter and the affiliated administration planets but for the hungry and ambitious there was only really the pioneering life. Arianna was professional and accomplished in her vocation and dedicated to her job. Her personal life, on the other hand, was disordered and complicated although it had shown signs of improvement in recent months and Arianna was hoping for a more settled existence once they landed on Hearthstone. She told herself she was older now, and wiser too and although she considered the birth of her daughter to be the greatest single gift of her life the circumstances of the little girl’s birth had been both painful and embarrassing for Arianna. To fall pregnant at the age of twenty had been bad enough. To fall pregnant to the Chief of Police was a positive scandal, especially when that same Chief of Police was forty at the time and old enough, as everybody never ceased to point out, to be her father. For a while Arianna and the police officer, whose name was Sol, had tried to make it work. He had been there at the birth of their daughter, whom they christened Ambra, and they had remained together for a further eighteen months until their already volatile relationship had imploded and she had moved out of his large apartment and into much smaller quarters of her own, taking her daughter with her. Since then her and Sol had enjoyed a fairly cordial relationship. The police officer took care of Ambra as much as possible whilst Arianna was at work and the fact of them both being on the Council meant they were required to work closely together on occasion. Indeed the two of them had been getting on just fine up until a year ago when Arianna had begun a new relationship with one of their fellow councillors.

Jak Roj was thirty-four years old and the captain of one of two ranger units who would eventually take the rovers out to start exploring the new planet. Rangers were essential to the initial colonisation phase but during the long journey on the starship there was relatively little for them to do except train and offer general assistance when required. Jak was a tall man with a lean and muscular body and blonde hair cropped close the sides. He had a jutting, determined chin and eyes that were almost navy in colour. With his good looks and natural charm it was no surprise that Arianna had fallen for him.

Jak was waiting for Arianna inside her apartment when she arrived back. He had his own key and had taken the time to prepare her a meal. The two of them kissed warmly. “Working hard?” Asked Jak lightly.

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” replied Arianna.

“There’s been much more for me to do now we’re getting closer and its bound to get even busier over the next few days,” said Jak as they sat down together to eat.

“And once we’ve landed they’ll be even more for you to do,” replied Arianna with a sigh. “You’ll be away all the time and we’ll hardly see one another. Meanwhile there won’t be much cause for a librarian when we’re all busy setting up the city.”

“They’ll always need the library,” said Jak.

“Yes but they won’t need as many of us,” replied Arianna. “I suppose they’ll start laying us off once the mines and lumber mills are up and running and everyone knows what they’re doing. I’ll have to find another job.”

“You’re a worrier,” said Jak with a knowing smile. “I knew it from the moment I laid eyes on you. Even when there isn’t anything to worry about you’ll make something up in your head and dwell on it until a real problem comes along.”

Arianna smiled. It was an insightful comment given her recent investigations into the fate of the Suki II.

Dinner had not been finished five minutes when the door to the apartment burst open. “Mummy!” Exclaimed Ambra, running forward into Arianna’s open arms. She had her mother’s features but the jet black hair of her father.

“Hello sweetheart,” said Arianna happily. “Did you have fun with daddy?”

“We went to see where we’re going to live!” Exclaimed Ambra excitedly.

“We went to see the film of Hearthstone,” said Sol, coming to stand in the doorframe. Sol was a stocky man of medium build, a slightly snubbed nose, absurdly old fashioned moustache and jet black hair which was slightly balding at the temples. His eyes were grey and his features fairly forgettable and many had remarked on the mismatch in looks when he and Arianna had been together. Sol served as Chief of Police with a certain plodding diligence. He was an easy going man and this was just as well, because there was very little crime here on the starship and the only time the brig had really had to be used throughout the last eight years was for the odd case of drunk and disorderly conduct.

Ambra moved from her mother to Jak. The ranger picked her up and swung her around as she laughed delightedly. Arianna noticed a pained expression come across Sol’s face. She knew he was still in love with her, wanted them to be a family once more. In many ways Arianna felt sorry for him. He had not mistreated her when they had been together and she had never doubted his decency. It was simply not meant to be and had it not been for Ambra their encounter would have ended with that brief fling six years ago and they would have carried on as friends.

“Good evening Jak,” said Sol formerly, and he looked nervously down at his feet.

“Sol,” replied Jak, his tone equally officious. There followed an uneasy pause during which the atmosphere was almost unbearable. “Are you already for the meeting tomorrow?” Asked Arianna eventually, speaking with artificial brightness, for she was unable to bear the tension any longer.

“As ready as I always am,” replied Sol with a forced smile. “I hate the damned things and I’m looking forward to getting to Hearthstone so we might all be too busy to hold them.”

“I want to get to Hearthstone too, daddy!” Said Ambra brightly.

Sol bent down and placed a hand on the little girl’s shoulder. “And you’re going to love it,” he told her. “You’ll be able to touch earth for the first time. Not that synthetic stuff we’ve got down in the arboretum. I’m talking about the proper stuff. There will be real grass there too, and real air, and rain. So many thing we took for granted that you’ll be seeing and feeling for the first time, Ambra.”

“And we can explore!” Exclaimed Ambra enthusiastically.

“Of course we can,” said Sol benevolently. “I’ve been looking at maps of where we’re going to be living. We can walk up into the mountains and look down the valley to the city. We’ll be able to see for miles. All the plains and rivers and maybe even the sea in the distance.”

“Jak says he’s going to take me up in the rover!” Said Ambra innocently. “He says we’re going to fly into the clouds and I’ll be able to see the whole world, and we’ll be able to fly over the mountains.”

Sol’s smiled tailed off at this. Jak shifted uncomfortably on his feet. The uneasy silence descended once more.