Beth Revis - A Million Suns

Date: 328467

Ship Status: Orbital

Ship Record: Crew is restless. It is the opinion of our top statisticians and scientists that we should not fulfill our mission for planet-landing at this point. The surface is too dangerous. Communication with Earth has been severed. We cannot expect aid from other sources, and we cannot defend ourselves outside the ship. We will conduct a vote with the crew, explaining the situation. It is my recommendation that the crew remains on board the ship where it is safe. Our needs are provided for, and the ship’s external engines can be redirected to internal maintenance.

Date: 328518

Ship Status: Orbital

Ship Record: Mutiny. The ship’s crew did not see the logic of staying aboard, despite my protests. There has been significant loss of life. My scientists, however, have developed a method of influencing them to obedience.

Amy and I look up at each other. “This is the Plague, isn’t it?” she asks. “This is where Phydus came from. This — this ‘captain’—he’s the first Eldest.”

I nod.

“Shh,” Bartie snaps.

Date: 328603

Ship Status: Orbital

Ship Record: A way of life has resumed with increasing stability. The crew is once more submissive. We will work on rebuilding our numbers. In the event that communication can be resumed with Earth or aid otherwise received, we can still commence with planet-landing. Until that point, with conservation and careful production, the internal functions of the ship should subsist for countless generations.

Orion sets the papers down on the control panel at the front of the bridge in the exact same spot Bartie found them.

ORION: So, that’s why we can’t land. I’m not a frexing chutz; I get what’s going on here. The Plague Eldest was right to keep us on board the ship. I’ve seen the armory — you’ve seen it too. There are weapons there…

Orion shakes his head in disbelief. My eyes are on Victria.

ORION: Amy, surely you know that those weapons aren’t normal… If the Plague Eldest says that there are monsters on Centauri-Earth that those weapons can’t kill…

He shakes his head again.

ORION: And besides, think about it. Think about those weapons.

Orion leans forward, closer to the camera. All four of us lean in closer too.

ORION: You think those frozens in the cryo chambers are going to use ’em? Frex, no. That’s what we’re here for.

Orion stands up, walks to the window, stares a minute, comes back.

ORION: See this?

Orion picks up the camera and angles it to show ten empty circles on the floor. As one, all four of us look up, over to the far wall and the ten hollow depressions in the floor.

ORION: That’s where the probes were. After all the ones the Plague Eldest sent, every Eldest after that sent down another probe. They’ve all come back with warnings, that we can’t live on Centauri-Earth without a fight. A fight we’ll probably lose. A fight the frozens will make us fight.

“That’s when he decided to kill them,” Amy says. “All the frozens, after I woke up — that’s why he unplugged them. You were getting close to the truth, even if you didn’t realize it, and he was afraid of what they’d do.”

I meet her eyes. “That’s what he told us. That’s what he told us all along. He wasn’t lying.”

Amy scowls. “He was lying about some of it. I don’t care what he says, my father wouldn’t—”

“Shh!” Bartie shoots us angry looks.

ORION: We ran out of probes a couple of gens ago. I don’t know how long the engines will last now, how long we can stay here, in Godspeed . This is the contingency plan.

He raises both hands, indicating the cryo level’s bridge.

ORION: If the engines fail, if life support falters, if Godspeed can’t protect us anymore, then — and only then — we can leave the ship.

Orion’s eyes stare directly out of the screen.

ORION: Amy, I could tell from the start: the thing you cared most about was the truth. When I first met you, you were crying at the wall, remember, and I told you everything was going to be okay, and I could tell — you weren’t going to just accept what I said. You were willing to face the truth, even if it hurt.

I glance up at Amy; she’s even paler than usual.

ORION: Well, this is the truth. What you do with it is up to you. I don’t know what choice should be made — Eldest thought I knew too much; he was scared of what I would do — and I was scared too. Still am. That leaves you. Now that you know the truth, Amy, you have to decide.

Orion takes a deep breath. Amy holds hers.

ORION: Is the ship so bad that you have to face the monsters below? Is it worth the risk of your life — of everyone’s lives? If the answer is yes, then begin the planet-landing. Use this shuttle if you have to. But. But if Godspeed can still be your home, if it’s possible to stay on board — do so.

Amy lets out a long, shaking breath. Almost as if he heard her, Orion glares down. She bites her lip, her whole body focused on Orion’s next words.

ORION: This is the last resort.

The screen fades to black.

<>

I LET THE FLOPPY SLIDE FROM MY FINGERS AND WATCH AS IT wafts to the floor.

“Does this mean,” Victria says slowly, “that we get to stay on the ship? Forever?” Her eyes flick to the windows behind us, the planet on the other side.

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “No.”

“The only part of the ship that’s damaged is the Bridge. We could stay… here… ” Elder’s voice trails off under my flashing glare.

“The monsters? You’re worried about the monsters, or whatever it is that’s on the planet?” I roll my eyes. “Look, I’ve seen the armory. I’m not worried one bit. That captain? He was just scared. Or he didn’t want to let go of his power. Look at him — he just assumed it would be bad and then hid all the evidence about the planet and set himself up as king of the ship. What kind of nepotistic megalomaniac does that? He didn’t care about landing, about escaping, as long as he kept his power. And he’s had every single person on this ship convinced of the same thing, including you!”

I’m so worked up by this point that I’m heaving as I finish, but I won’t back down. “I am getting off this damn ship. I don’t care if the boogeyman jumps up as soon as the door opens and swallows me whole so long as I can step outside just once .”

“No!” Elder snaps. “I’m sorry, but no . This is ridiculous. I don’t care how impatient you are; this is something worth taking our time on. It’s worth it to know if we’re going to die the minute we step off this shuttle!”

Ringing silence fills the bridge when he’s done shouting. My face burns; I can almost hear the others repeating Elder’s words in their minds. Bartie stares at Elder with a sort of intense, furious wonder. I am being a spoiled little brat, throwing a temper tantrum.

But they can’t show me a planet and then snatch it away.

“Can you really go on living in Godspeed after having seen this?” I ask in almost a whisper, sweeping my arm toward the window.

Elder doesn’t look to the planet. His gaze doesn’t leave my eyes. “No,” he says. “No, I couldn’t.”

Bartie clears his throat. I can’t tell if he’s scared or if he’s angry — he glares at Elder, but he shifts uncomfortably on his feet. “I say we take a vote. If people don’t want to go…”

“They stay?” I ask incredulously. “Really?”

“We have a better chance of survival on the planet now anyway, monsters or not,” Elder says. Bartie turns to him. “The food stores are gone.”