epouranios
SCIENCE FICTION FANTASY

Epouranios

Epouranios

by ingdomman
11 min read
4.24 (1000 views)
adultfiction

It was long shot, it pushed the limits of human ability and endurance, it was on the edge of technological feasibility, and it was a one way trip.

Epouranios 1540co was the destination, and after 574.4 relative Earth years spent in stasis, we were almost there. But 394 days, 13 hours, 4 minutes, and 47 seconds remained in our journey, and it was too early to be awakened. It must have been a manual override and that meant something was wrong.

A voice command cleared the display and the diminutive figure of my 1st Officer came into view. I stepped out of the pod, filled my lungs with my first conscious breath in a very long time, composed myself, and saluted her before she spoke.

"They're all dead Sir," was the last thing I wanted to hear, but as I stared into the eyes of Commander Green, the grim reality of her words shook the last bits of post-stasis fog from my brain. "Only the embryos survived."

We were the fourth and final mission to leave from Earth. A faith-based science and space exploratory company, G.E.N.E.S.I.S. or Galactic Explorations of Near Earth Solar and Interstellar Space embarked on a huge undertaking in what would now be centuries ago.

Our founder, Dr. Mark Franklin, led what was initially a small group of scientists not in an effort to recreate life or other worlds, but rather to explore and inhabit those already created.

It had taken decades but he and the G.E.N.E.S.I.S team had overcome all but insurmountable challenges to make exploration of the world outside the known realm possible.

Now, despite the success of all those efforts, here we were mere months from our destination and in the midst of tragedy.

I spoke, "Do you know what happened, Commander?"

Epouranios was a presumed rocky planet in the habitable zone of its red dwarf. It's distance from Earth made it unreachable upon its discovery, but Dr. Franklin's brilliance had led to an engine capable of reaching 98% light speed. A remarkable achievement that without which, our explorations would have remained a dream.

I stared into the watery eyes of Commander Olivia Green awaiting her report.

Ten years my junior, she finished first in her class at The Academy, and her post graduate studies earned her two doctorates.

Her intelligence, determination, and grit caught my attention shortly after she joined G.E.N.E.S.I.S. and when I was selected to Captain one of the Epouranios Colonization effort, there was never a question about who would be my 1st Officer.

She cleared her throat and began, "There was a power spike when the forward shield sent a disintegrating charge to a much larger than anticipated celestial object." "Everything aft of Command and Control was affected."

She continued, "The computer initiated Ship Safety Protocol, but the overload fried the primary Cryo Containment generator as well as the secondary UPS."

Her lip began to quiver, "The computer woke me, but by the time I isolated the damaged components and rerouted power, it was too late to save them."

I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She eventually looked up at me with reddened eyes and spoke, "There wasn't room in the morgue for everyone, but I placed Mike and Connie there." "Everyone else, I..."

She didn't have to say it. "How long have you been awake?"

"Thirty-six hours Sir."

"Olivia, it's just us. Why don't we suspend protocol for now." "You get some sleep. I'll wake you in 8 hours, then we'll say a proper goodbye." "Okay...Eric." "Thank you."

"It's my pleasure Olivia."

I spent the next 8 hours preparing the bodies of her husband, my wife, and finally the chapel so that we could pay our last respects.

I awoke her as promised, we made our way to the chapel, and we each listened as the other gave a tearful eulogy. Then with care borne from respect and love, we loaded them into the crematory.

📖 Related Science Fiction Fantasy Magazines

Explore premium magazines in this category

View All →

Before I pressed the button, I laced my fingers with hers, then they were gone. Our tears stained each others uniform as we struggled to face our new reality.

We finally made our way back to the common area and busied ourselves with cursory tasks, each lost in our own thoughts before I finally gave the order for rest. We shared a glance then slipped to our own quarters. There would be a lot to think about tomorrow.

Tomorrow came quickly for me, as I soon realized that 574 years spent in relative earth-time stasis did wonders for disrupting my sleep cycle. I had showered, dressed, and walked into CaC when Olivia appeared holding two cups of coffee.

After sitting silently and sipping for a few minutes, she spoke, "It seems cruel," she said, "That we got so close to our goal before tragedy struck."

"Yes it does."

"What are we going to do Eric?"

"What if, after all of this, the planet isn't even habitable?"

"Then we will evaluate our options based on the MCP."

The Mission Contingency Plan took into account the possibility that the Epouranios system could not support life, and gave us three options:

Scan other nearby planets for potential habitation

Join Missions 1, 2, or 3

Bear, train, and educate a new generation on the ship for further exploration.

Scanning for other potentially habitable planets was a long shot. It was true that being in deep space would give us a clearer view of the cosmos than anything on Earth, but the question of whether or not anything was out there was altogether uncertain.

Though possible, joining one of the other Missions was probably the least feasible. Not only would one of them have to be successful, but waiting to find out also meant that we would have to spend decades in stasis until news of their Mission reached us.

Bearing an another generation aboard a spaceship had never been attempted. While it held the exciting prospect of exploring deep space, there were a host of potential caveats that could not be ignored.

The largest hurdle was that none of these contingencies accounted for the tragedy we were experiencing. It just wasn't supposed to happen. Each system had a series of redundant systems, and the possibility of all failing had been considered minute. Yet here we were.

In addition, the possibility of further damage from the anomaly was very real. Each system would have to be examined, tested, repaired, and tested again.

Furthermore, and perhaps the most daunting challenge we faced was that none of this was ever expected to be carried out by two people.

Silence fell as the weight of our predicament fully settled in. Deep in thought, I walked over to the plotter. I traced my fingers across the trajectory of other ships, but tracking them was only a calculation.

There was simply no way to know. Only the Planetes 847c and Helios 10:9 colonization groups could have reached their destination by now. Asteri 504c had a long way to go.

Each ship had started with 50 crew members and 300 embryos. The plan was simple: arrive at the planet, and if habitable, deploy lodging quarters, initiate sustainability plan, then establish a growing society. It was simple if there were 50 people and everything went right.

Olivia and I were now solely responsible for all of those tasks, not to mention our own life or death, and the fate of 300 cryogenically frozen souls.

With that in mind, I spoke up, "We have a lot to do."

🛍️ Featured Products

Premium apparel and accessories

Shop All →

At present, we had only 63 days in relative Earth time before we began our 1g deceleration. Completing all the necessary tasks meant for 50 people would be Herculean.

The weight I felt was in her eyes, and we momentarily dropped back into silence before I tried to lighten the moment.

I smiled and said, "Okay Commander, what's step one?"

"Oh, I'm back to Commander now?" She was smiling too. It was the first time for either of us since the funeral.

"Is my Commanding Officer going to give me orders, or will I be working with side by side with Eric?" Her smile had widened, and I decided I liked it.

I winked and said, "Well, that depends on your level of cooperation." She laughed and briefly gave a look that seemed slightly mischievous, but it quickly faded.

Over the next few days we comfortably settled into our new dynamic and work routine. The days turned into weeks as we methodically worked through and planned for every possible scenario.

Feeling comfortable with our plans and contingencies, we closed out the day with a nice meal and quiet drink. Tomorrow, we would set the deceleration sequence.

Putting the brakes on at this speed was something that had only been simulated. We would monitor everything, but the computer would be in control, and we would just have to leave everything in the Lord's hands.

The next morning went off without a hitch. We each breathed a collective sigh of relief as the decel began. There wasn't a noticeable shift, but the speed monitor began to tick down. It would do so for the next 365 days.

With nothing to do but wait, we spent more and more time together. Our personal connection grew as we shared stories, hopes about our new home, and honestly, the excitement of possibly being a part of starting a new and free world.

The increased connection made me feel responsible for her. Not only for her safety, but also for her well being. I found myself trying to make her laugh as often as possible.

I grew to enjoy the way her whole face seemed to smile, the animated way she spoke, and her habit of rubbing her thighs when she was excited. As the weeks passed, I came to the very unprofessional but altogether undeniable conclusion that I was falling in love with her.

The days passed and as had become my custom, I arrived to the galley to make coffee. She had just joined me and grabbed a cup when I spoke, "Today's the day." "All calculations indicate that we'll start coasting about 250,000 miles from our planet."

"I know." "I'm scared Eric."

"Me too."

After finished our coffee and breakfast, I laced my fingers through hers, placed a light kiss on her cheek, and said, "It's time to go."

Hand in hand, we walked to the cockpit, took our seats, strapped in, and I began the approach sequence.

Over the last 12 months, we had run the simulation so many times that we each knew exactly what to do, and we each knew exactly what the other was going to do. The ship responded flawlessly to each step, and as we closed the distance, it was time to get our first distant look at Epouranios 1540co.

As the titanium shield slid back, we were greeted by the first rays of light from the red dwarf. The tinted hue was different than that of the Earth's sun, and though we welcomed the spectacular view, what we really wanted to see was our planet.

"There it is!" "Eric!" It has an atmosphere!"

She was right. The view before was not unlike how Earth appeared from this distance. A speckled mixture of white and blue indicated that it not only had an atmosphere, but it also had water.

This was more than we could've hoped to see. Overwhelmed and ecstatic with excitement and relief, we both unstrapped, leapt from our seats, and embraced.

All of the worries, prayers, fears, and heartache of the last few months overwhelmed us both in the moment. The cathartic release of all that emotion came in waves of smiles and tears. Then I kissed her.

Enjoyed this story?

Rate it and discover more like it

You Might Also Like