by Dan Ohara

Created on: April 17, 2008

The Genesis Plan

He had been awake eight hours. The huge ship quietly drifted through space as the low-level, crimson illumination flooded the cockpit. The instruments, set long ago on automatic, navigated the great leviathan toward its eventual destination, now a mere six days away. Throughout the ship, sleeping berths, designed for deep hibernation and life-support, began to signal the cockpit's command and control computer their automatic shut-off. Over the next eighteen hours, nearly three hundred occupants would be awakened, as he had. He was the Captain. The last to go into hibernation, the first awakened. The disorientation from the prolonged sleep was now gone. He moved about the cockpit, checked instruments and verified life-sign monitors. The trip had taken them years. There was no turning back, as their former home was now a desert wasteland, unable to sustain life.

"Well, good morning. Or, is it afternoon?" a familiar voice asked. The Captain, hunched over the life-sign console, turned toward the voice and smiled. It was the ship's Executive Officer.
"I'm pretty sure it's afternoon. But, then again, it could be morning," the Captain answered. "How are you?"
"Quite groggy, to say the least. How long does it last?"
The Captain moved to another console, reached inside a small door and withdrew a container.
"Here, drink this. It will help a lot." He handed the Ex-O the beverage which he immediately drank.
"Doesn't taste all that well, but it sure gets the batteries going," he said. "How far from destination are we now?"
The Captain punched a small, green button and rows of numbers appeared. "Judging by this, six days. At least, six days by the way we measure time." He glanced at the Ex-O. "Scared?" he asked.
"Honestly, no. We know there's no turning back and all of our research indicates this destination is our best choice." The two looked at each other and nodded. The Ex-O then slowly entered the nearby observation deck.
"You know, Captain, everyone is excited about our prospects. A new home, although with challenges. Some, dangerous, to say the least. But, we're in this together and it's become a common bond."
The Captain joined the Ex-O on the deck as both peered into the vast, black emptiness.
"I do so enjoy the stars," the Ex-O said. "Back home, my companion and I could spend hours gazing at them. So often, they seemed to twinkle," he chuckled. The Captain smiled.
Both stood silent a few moments, The Captain checked the life-sign console.
"All

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