Alpha Rising (44 page)

“
Calculate it in
twenty-four hour Earth days,” Bach interjected, looking at his
watch.

“
One hundred and fifty
days,” she replied.

G.R. moaned. “More time cooped up
contemplating our future.”

“
Easy, G.R.,” Bach said,
“You know we could get there in less time, but we wouldn’t have
enough fuel to decelerate and we’d pancake onto Urusa. We don’t
want that.”

The crewmates moved to the mid-ship dining
area for a celebratory snack. Lynch grabbed a bowl of dehydrated
vegetable flakes and sank into an alcove hammock nearby. “Think
about this,” he said, “what if there’s already a civilization on
Urusa when we arrive? Talk about your integrated family.”

“
Well, in my
opinion—”

“
G.R.!” Kaz cut him off,
“I’ll try to be nice.
Please
don’t say ‘in my opinion’ any more.”

He huffed. “I’ve been saying it all my
life.”

“
It distracts from what
you’re going to say, and we’ve all heard it enough.” She flopped
into a hammock across from Lynch.

G.R. stood with his feet
apart and his arms folded across his big chest. “Okay,
if you ask me,
we’d
better be careful if we find anyone. Look what happened to us the
last time. We never would’ve envisioned the likes of the Specter
and his Rooks.”

Kaz said, “Let’s assume Earth’s research is
correct and it’s a virgin planet—a perfect new home.”

Bach jumped to his feet and spoke in a
comical W.C. Fields voice. “A new home, a new home, it’s a perfect
new home!” Giggles and snorts from the others egged him on, so he
held an imaginary microphone and, pretending to be a seasoned
reporter, gestured dramatically and spoke in broadcaster jargon.
“Here they are, the sole inhabitants of a newly discovered planet.
The ship’s powerplant becomes the heartbeat of their brave new
world….”

Lynch raised his hand for attention. “But,
eventually, over time, their clothes deteriorate. And as new
generations are born, there’s nothing to wear—no Wal-Mart.”

“
Owww, Garden of Eden. I
like it,” G.R. yelped.

Star looked at G.R. in confusion. “Garden of
Eden?”

“
Another Bible story.” He
took a deep breath. “But let’s not be thinking about future
generations; we need to worry about what’s going to happen to us
when we run out of soap. Anybody think about that? We’re almost out
of soap now.”

Deni groaned, then said, “At least Star will
smell good. Have you all noticed the divine scent she wears? Every
time she comes near, it’s a breath of fresh air.”

Star smiled in embarrassment. “Thank you,
Deni, but it’s nothing I do purposely. It’s a natural occurrence in
the women of Jenesis—a genetic identifier.”

“
Wait a minute!” G.R. said.
“Your DNA is in fragrance form? You can identify someone by
scent?”

“
Well, yes.”

The space doctor shook his head. “Amazing! I
want to know all about it.”

“
I want to know more about
your culture too,” she said.

“
It’s much like yours might
have been a couple of generations ago,” G.R. said while munching
dried vegetable bits. “Sure hope there’s lots of food on
Urusa.”

Deni scoffed. “You won’t have a choice of
restaurants.”

“
There better be a Taco
Bell. I can’t live without Taco Bell.”

“
Then you’ll die, old
buddy, ’cause there ain’t gonna be no Taco Bell,” Lynch stated.
“But we’d best keep our animals reproducin’.”

“
Yeah, we’ll have to farm
and breed certain animals for food,” G.R. said.

“
Won’t be much else to do,”
Lynch replied with a wink.

Kaz playfully nudged G.R. “Poor G.R. There
goes your conformer bed, popcorn, and plasma video wishes.”

“
But soon,” Star
interjected, “our present technology will become obsolete. We’ll
lose all hope of communicating outside our immediate
area.”

Deni picked at loose trimmings inside the
cabin, “The whole ship is going to deteriorate. Future generations
on Urusa will regress to primitive lifestyles.”

Lynch joined in, talking like Orson Wells
with a southern drawl. “We’ll scatter across the planet in search
of shelter. The common language and all native tongues will pass
down to new generations. And, before you know it, there’ll be a new
earth.”

G.R. groaned. “Do we have to perpetuate your
southern vernacular on this new earth? Please don’t pass that down.
Sometimes I can’t even understand what you’re talking about.”

“
Don’t start with rules and
regulations,” Lynch replied. “There’ll be enough natural
restrictions to keep it challengin’.”

Bach examined a snack food ball then popped
it into his mouth. “We’ll make our own tools—”

G.R. interrupted, “Maybe a few crude guns
from the ship’s metal.”

Bach continued, “We’ll find something to
make fire, maybe flint.”

“
Flintstones!” G.R. yelled
with a huge snort that got a giggle even from Kaz.

Star missed the humor. “Metal weaponry will
rust and deteriorate.”

“
Then we’ll make arrowheads
from the scraps,” Bach countered.

“
They’ll soon be used up,”
she replied.

“
Then we’ll go back to ones
of stone.”

Deni spoke up. “I’d like it better with no
guns. I vote no guns, ever.”

“
Guns would be in case of
attacking invaders,” G.R. said. “Remember, we’re pretending there’s
no one else on our planet except us chosen ones, and we’re
non-violent types.”

Bach got up with a clever
look in his eyes. He hunched over, walked the floor with a hitch
and smoked an imaginary cigar. “Soon the guns become weapons
because someone wants more than food—they want your
stuff.
” He jabbed the
invisible cigar at G.R. “Anything you have that they
don’t.”

“
And, if you’re smart,”
G.R. huffed on his fingernails, “you’ve managed to store away some
fine provisions.”

“
Be advised, I’m going to
record all of this so future generations know what to do and
not
to do,” Kaz
said.

“
Good,” Bach said. “We must
document everything carefully. If we don’t make it in the long
haul, we’ll have left a legacy—journals of life after Earth and the
black hole that swallowed part of the universe.”

“
Whoa! Hold on a minute,”
G.R. yelped. “Rewind for a second. My mind’s stuck on Kaz’s comment
about future generations. Think about the passengers we have in the
E-module and their exquisite mix of genetics. Urusa will be a
diverse melting pot.” He nodded, agreeing with himself. “And their
talents range from artistic to scientific.”

Lynch scratched his thinning hair and
chuckled. “Won’t it be great if we don’t age on Urusa?”

Bach wore a sly grin. “You’d be the first to
benefit from that.”

“
Well, just so y’all know,
I don’t plan to spend the rest of my days on this ship. Me ’n’ Kaz
will make our own way. We’ll keep near the ship so we can remain
united with the group, but I gotta have privacy.”

“
I want a baby,” Kaz said
wistfully.

Deni glared at her.
“
Do not
start on
that.”

“
I’m the youngest of the
Earth bunch. The next generation of earthlings could start with me
and Lynch.”

G.R. laughed and snorted. “Heaven forbid, a
miniature Kaz.”

Deni smiled and added, “And, Kaz, think
about this. G.R.’s the doctor; do you want him to deliver your
baby?”

“
Ahhhg!” she shrieked and
crossed her legs.

Lynch dragged the back of his hand across
his mouth, squirmed a little, and squinted his beady blue eyes.
“Well, ah, sooner or later the winds of passion are gonna blow.
We’ll be free from the group. Things will happen.”

“
Well, I forbid your having
a baby unless you’re married,” Deni said, hands on hips, glaring.
“Just forget about those winds of passion. I’m makin’ the first
rule: no marriage, no baby.”

“
Okay, okay, we’ll get
married,” Lynch said, groaning. “But who’ll marry us?” He thought
about it for a moment. “Hey, I studied for the ministry. I’ll marry
myself. You know, marry me and Kaz.”

“
Under the circumstances,
it’s the best we can do,” Deni said.

Kaz hugged Lynch. “You just proposed!”

Bach’s emotions pinched a little, so he shut
out his ex-fiancée’s romantic notions. “By the way, is anybody
besides me musically inclined? We have to keep music alive. I just
realized that recorded music is gone forever. All the great old
rock groups, and my college friends’ band, the Ravens, will be
heard from nevermore.”

G.R. yelped, “Ravens … nevermore. Good one,
Bach!”

Lynch rolled his eyes and
stated, “If
you’re
musically inclined, Bach, we’re all in trouble.”

Star spoke up. “Don’t forget, Bach, we’ll
have music from the spiders, and others from Troas.”

“
Oh, that’s right.” He
chuckled. “How could I forget them?”

“
We have musicians aboard?”
Lynch asked.

“
Sort of. You have to
experience it firsthand. Spiders—arachnids—from planet Troas play
what sounds like classical music on their webs and the planet’s
animals and other critters join in. It’s a most unusual concert,”
Bach said. “On the other hand, I’m gonna write down all the old
songs I remember from Earth, but I’ll need help on the lyrics …
never get ’em right. Then we can sing with a little help from our
Troas friends,” he added with a laugh.

Lynch exaggerated a sigh. “No instruments,
and off-key Bach wants to be the musical leader.”

“
Straight a cappella.
Unplugged!” Bach yelped. “We’ll call ourselves the Astral
Plebeians.” His mouth opened with a silent laugh. “I want to keep
my reputation for dubious musical talents intact. Hey, maybe we can
make a flute or horn from parts of the ship, and drums.”

“
Some of our talented
passengers can probably make them for you,” G.R. said.

“
Maybe they’ll make a
guitar for me.” Lynch added.

Kaz eyes widened. “You play guitar?”

“
I keep tellin’ you there’s
a lot you don’t know about me.”

Deni said, “Well, if our theory is correct
and we’re the first ones on Urusa, you’ll have plenty of time to
get to know each other better.”

Lynch stood and stretched. “Did y’all know
that there’s more than one Bible passage sayin’ that after the end
of the world there will be a new heaven, and a new earth will come
down from heaven, and God’s people will live there in a new
Jerusalem?”

“
What’s your point?” G.R.
asked.

“
Bach’s mission began with
a divine command. Now, here we are transporting a diverse genetic
mix of faithful people toward what’s believed to be a virgin
planet. What if Urusa is the new earth—a fresh start at God’s
potter’s wheel?”

*****

CHAPTER FORTY

Star’s calculations proved accurate and now,
at day one hundred and fifty, planet Urusa loomed large before
them.

Kaz and Lynch stood at the viewport, looking
at the planet and its sun. She grasped his arm. “I’m scared and
excited at the same time.”

He kissed her cheek. “Concentrate on the
excited part.”

Bach’s terrain analysis showed an area that
seemed made to order for landing—a perfect clearing with plenty of
room for the ship to descend vertically. “I feel like Columbus
discovering America,” he stated with an energetic smile.

Deni monitored incoming data and images on
the view panel. “What an awesome experience.”

“
Hope it’s awesome when we
get there,” G.R. said to no one.

Star readied for landing. “Time to buckle
down.”

#

At touchdown, an excited cheer rose from the
crewmates. They cast off their restraints and hurried to the
windows and portholes. After a guarded silence, Lynch spoke from
forward, starboard. “I see an orchard over there with trees in
every shape ’n’ size hangin’ heavy with yellow, orange, red, and
green fruits.”

Kaz added from aft starboard, “The sky’s a
clear blue canopy over a plush green carpet of grass. And in the
distance are hundreds of flowering bushes in shades of pink,
purple, yellow, and blue.”

From the forward port G.R. stated, “I got a
hilly area with a pristine waterfall over here—”

Deni finished his sentence. “Cascading into
an oasis of transparent turquoise water surrounded by pure white
sand.”

Star reported from the cockpit. “Beautiful
manicured land ahead with rows and rows of what look like
grapevines, dipping to the ground from the weight of their
bounty.”

“
And I see what looks like
fields of vegetables ripe for the picking at front left,” Bach
added.

“
Garden of Eden!” G.R.
yelped.

The crewmates broke into a spontaneous dance
accompanied by hugs and hoots of joy as they went from the
portholes to the windows and back again.

“
A dream after all the
nightmares,” Kaz said, giddy with glee, “and I’m not gonna waste a
minute doing anything but enjoying it.”

Deni headed to the cockpit. “I want to check
on a few things.” She sat, looked out, and shouted all at the same
time. “Unbelievable! Hey, everyone, a rainbow—and we’re at the end
of it. Come look!”