The Unearthing (56 page)

“Some of you must certainly wonder if you are up to the task, up to this mission,” The speaker, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said from the podium, “And many among your accompanying friends and family must be wondering the same thing about themselves…”

Certainly at that moment, Bloom found herself second-guessing her decision to lead this mission. Was it right? How could she leave Laura behind? She thought of all the time she’d spent with Laura since Mark’s death. They’d grown much closer and had a better relationship now than ever before. And since accepting command of the Ship, Bloom spent as much of her downtime as possible with Laura. Last night they’d gone for supper and to see a film. Laura and the other family and friends of those departing aboard the Ship were being housed in the Village until the Ship’s launch, five days hence. Bloom and her daughter had said their final tearful farewell last night just before Bloom returned to Fort Arapaho.

“Don’t feel guilty Mom,” Laura had told her, “Don’t feel bad! This is what you’re meant to do. This mission was
meant
for you.”

But Bloom
did
feel guilty; she did feel bad. For she knew she would no more have been able to turn down the Ship had her daughter begged her to stay than if her daughter had given her permission to go. And because of that Colonel Margaret Bloom hated herself more than just a little.

♦♦♦

Allison watched the crew embarkation ceremonies on her console from the outdoor terrace of the pub she’d started hanging out in not long after her training for Shipflight began. She had the luxury today of sitting on the terrace in the dry afternoon desert air with her dearest and closest friend, Laura Echohawk. They sat drinking beer and watching the ceremonies. In the background a constant reminder of what was to come, the Shipsong’s harmony folded itself around all. Onscreen the camera panned and focused on the reviewing stand.

“Look!” Laura said, “There’s my mom…” She smiled wistfully.

“Are you okay?” Allison asked.

“Yeah,” Laura said, “It’s just that in the last few days, I’ve had to say goodbye to the two people I care most about in the world.” Allison took Laura’s arm.

“Then, come with us!” she urged, “Laura, I’m sure it’s not too late. You could still come on my ticket or your mom’s!” Laura shook her head.

“Allison…as much as I would want to go…as much as I would
love
to be among the people on board the Ship…I can’t see leaving the Earth behind, forever. This is my home. I still have family here…I have my work…I can’t leave.” Tears welled in Laura’s eyes and in Allison’s.

“I’m gonna
miss
you,” Allison said, “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“And I’m going to miss you,” Laura replied.

♦♦♦

At last the ceremonies were ended and the ten thousand strong crew of the Ship was making its way aboard. Several new access routes into the Ship had been opened and the embarkation would probably not take more than a couple of hours. Bloom’s first order of business once aboard would be to interview her command staff and all department heads. She had chosen most of her staff either because she knew them personally or because she knew their reputation and histories. Now as she stood watching her officers and crew, she turned her attention away from the small sea of gold uniforms with duffel bags slung over their shoulders marching down into the Ship, to the Village spread out to the east and west of Fort Arapaho. The taller buildings, a dozen or so complete and near-complete structures ranging from fourteen to as many as thirty storeys still looked strange and out of place among the shanties and prefabs of the Village. They bore the names of some of the most powerful technology companies in the world and more than a few upstarts as well.

Shipsong sounded continuously and created strange echoes in the streets of the Village. The morning sky was a pale blue, the sun warming the air which had that dry, desert scent that Bloom had come to know quite well. She breathed deeply, thinking to herself of the damp, earthy smell of Habitat and how it reminded her so much of the springtime scent she remembered from growing up in the country.

“Taking it all in one last time, Colonel?” Bloom turned. Major Benedict stood there his arms crossed behind his back. The new uniform suited him a lot better than it did her.

“You might say that Exo,” She replied, “Just one last look around to make sure I didn’t leave something plugged in.” Benedict, now her Executive Officer and second in command of the Ship’s crew, chuckled.

“In my entire career I never expected anything like this,” Bloom said, “I’ve been to space…I’ve even done the Moon Run… but I never thought I’d be going into space like this.”

As the crew boarded the Ship to make final preparations their families waited in the Village for the civilian boarding in two weeks; those whose families had opted to come aboard. The Tickets onto the Ship had caused no small number of divorces and disownings. They had even made personal fortunes, in some cases in the billions of dollars, for those who opted to auction them. Bloom fell silent. She didn't like thinking about the impact the Ship had had on families around the globe. She thought of Mark and how he’d still be alive if the Ship hadn’t been unearthed…But, no. She knew the truth of that. Gabriel Ashe and the United Trinity Observants were responsible for Mark’s death, not the Ship. The Ship had changed lives, certainly; some deaths were even directly attributable to its presence. Not a single person on Earth was untouched by the Ship. Personal destinies the world over had been forever altered. Some lives ruined no doubt. The only hope Bloom had was that more lives were changed by the Ship for the better. Only time would tell.

♦♦♦

Allison stared out the window of her dormitory’s commissary at the spectacular view of the Ship. The sun, high in the sky, shone down and was reflected off the brassy gold surfaces of the Ship’s outer hull. Shipsong resonated through the window.
Four days
. In four days she would be entering the Ship and leaving the world she had always known behind. It scared and excited her a little. To be leaving the world, to be going off…to be going
a
way
.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Allison turned away from the window. A young woman cradling an infant in her arms was sitting, looking out the window.

“It’s been an amazing year,” Allison agreed. She offered her right hand. “Allison McQuire.”

“Susan Roshenko,” the woman said, shaking Allison’s hand. Only now did Allison notice the woman’s accent, “And this little one is Vladimir,” Susan said.

Allison smiled at the sleeping infant. “My husband Marcus and I are from Belarus,” Susan said, “We’d never taken a trip beyond The Russian Economic Union until we were told we were to go on the Ship.” Allison nodded.

“I know the feeling,” She said, “I’ve been around North America and down to Argentina once or twice, but I never got much opportunity to tour the world. I always wanted to, but now I suppose the opportunity’s gone.”

“Lose the chance to tour the world and tour the galaxy instead, yes? Possibly much…much?
Many
galaxies.”

“Seems like a fair trade,” Allison said.

“Was it hard for you?” When Allison frowned quizzically, Susan rephrased the question.

“Deciding to leave the world and join the Ship,” She said, “Was it hard?” Allison considered the question; the reasons she had to leave and the few loved ones that she was leaving behind.

“It…wasn’t
as
hard as I’d expected it to be.” She replied,

Susan smiled and nodded. “It was in some ways difficult for us,” She said, “My husband has many friends and family at home. None of them wished to join us. In fact his parents…what is the word…refused the lottery?”

“They disqualified themselves,” Allison offered.

“Disqualified, yes; thank you. They disqualified themselves. My mother and my sister are coming with us, but none of my brothers. It is a hard thing to leave all those that we love behind. My brother Ivan won’t speak to us anymore because not are we just leaving, but my mother comes with us.”

“It must be very hard on you,”

“
Where we come from, there is not much opportunity,” Susan explained, “My husband is a grid-weaver all I know is code validation. We wanted something better for ourselves and of course for Vladimir. We hope that on the Ship or wherever the Ship takes us, there will be this opportunity.”

“It’s a big gamble, though,”

“No more so than the gamble anyone takes when going in search of a better life. That is why you’re going, isn’t it?” This gave Allison pause. She was going aboard the Ship, yes. She wanted to see the stars, to live in the Ship, but what reasons did she have for going, beyond that? Was there any real purpose to her being aboard the Ship? James had given her his ticket but really, why had she accepted it? She could have sold it for
billions
…instead she had opted for the Adventure…but…why? She could think of no other reason than because it was the Ship.

“To be honest I don’t really know,”

♦♦♦

Mark Kodo rose from bed and went straight to the window. The shutters were open facing out onto the lush green lawn, the pale blue sky growing gradually brighter as Habitat’s “sun” crested the narrow horizon to the East. Kodo inhaled deeply of the cool morning air and smiled. He was at least seven, possibly ten kilometres beneath the outer hull of the Ship and nestled in the Ship’s core. Yet the air was fresher, crisper, cleaner than anything he could remember breathing on the surface. There were no pollutants in the atmosphere down here. Nothing re-filtered, nothing purified. When he went outside, he’d actually feel the warmth of the sun beating down upon him. The atmosphere surrounding Habitat wad perfectly attuned to the needs of life on Earth; more so than the damaged atmosphere of the planet above. Kodo was glad to be able to call Habitat home. He left his bedroom for the shower and once done there headed to the kitchen. The Ship was home, now and he was happily getting used to that fact.

♦♦♦

Sonia Aiziz awoke slowly, body and mind working in concert to prolong her return to the waking world. It wasn’t that she was not sleeping well nor that she was particularly tired; she was still in mourning. There was simply no other way to describe what she was feeling. She’d been sequestered from Michael Andrews weeks ago when the members of the Alien Studies division had begun their pre-flight training. During training with its long days, intensive classes and physical conditioning Aiziz had had little time to consider the fact that she would never see Michael again. At night the long days left her so exhausted she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow and during meals there were the other members of her linguistics team around her to keep her company. Now however, aboard the Ship at last, repressed loss and pain welled to the surface and broke. She pulled herself from her bed. Aiziz made her way into the shower. She had a staff meeting in an hour, one she could ill afford to miss; that was something to focus on.

♦♦♦

It was three kilometres from Habitat’s equator to the North Pole and the transitway station. Although many people chose to walk the short distance there were automated transport lines which circumnavigated Habitat. The transport lines followed a circuitous route around Habitat, stopping at various points of interest and a small shopping district. Most of the actual businesses ringed the bulkheads outside of Habitat, but there was no discounting the convenience of a corner store. Round trip, the ride around Habitat would take an hour; far more time than it would take to walk from the equator to one of the poles, but civilian life aboard Habitat was destined to be leisurely.

♦♦♦

Colonel Bloom left her residence, stepping outside into warm virtual sunshine the decision to begin her day with a morning run to Lake Echohawk. She thought it was an asinine commemoration of the man’s life; whoever at the World Ship Summit had decided to name the freshwater lake at the South Pole after Mark clearly had no understanding of the contributions he had made in life. Bloom would jog down to the lake and from there back up to the North Pole transitway station. Nothing could have made the morning better. This place was a small island of Earthly paradise. As she ran, Bloom had to keep reminding herself that she was inside. The warmth of the sun, the clear, blue sky, the breeze and the scent of the air, the pastoral silence all shut the Ship out so well.

♦♦♦

The last week prior to the boarding of the Ship’s passengers was spent loading their belongings and personal effects aboard. Day and night, tractor trailers ran the route from the Passenger’s Enclave to the ring of pyramids below the Ship’s main Pyramid. As Shiprise approached, tension, excitement, anxiety and joy began to build within the Ship and the Village, from there slowly infecting most of the rest of the world.

As the launch date approached, hundreds of would-be passengers backed out of the Shipflight: more than sixty-five hundred spots opened up aboard the Ship, clearing room for a second wave of alternate Ticket holders. The Los Angeles Times scored the best headline about the sudden drop-out; their front page showed a wide-eyed, ecstatically happy family, waiving their Ticket under the banner headline:

FLYING STANDBY ON THE SHIP

♦♦♦

And then suddenly the last twenty-four hours before boarding had arrived. The Passengers found themselves quiet, contemplative, spending much of their time outdoors looking at the sky, the desert around them, watching the Village, just marvelling at the natural and man-made skylines and vistas. People suddenly craved a walk in the Village or long conversations with family, friends and people they hadn’t spoken to in years. There was a strange silence in the Passenger’s Enclave even with the constant passage of the trucks. Looking out from her balcony, Allison McQuire recognized it for what it was: The calm before the storm.