Exodus (The Exodus Trilogy) (12 page)

Greg Hamilton,
admiral and commander of the Exodus, was a graying man of fifty-two years, who had never had any family since he left his foster home at the age of sixteen to join the Navy. Even so, he had come to understand the importance of family and why family made people make decisions that weren’t always fully rational. Right now, he had the consequences of one such decision to deal with. At the moment, orbiting Earth while final preparations were being made, his problem was that there were more people on board than they had planned for.

“
Okay then, give me the numbers again,” he said while going through the latest calculations on his tablet. The executive officer, Major Tina Hammer, had her own tablet, and once more recited the numbers. Total fuel resources, acceleration fuel consumption, estimated oxygen reproduction rate, and so on.

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All in all, sir, the fuel is sufficient. Even if we spend all the fuel in the acceleration phase, the reactors will produce more than enough for the energy consumption during transit and deceleration. There will even be a buffer left in the case of unforeseen incidents.”

“
All right, Tina, that’s reassuring. And life support seems good too. So, it seems the main problem still is the cryostasis issue.”

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Yes, sir. Currently there are 1,628 people on board, while there are only 1,610 cryo cells, including the ones we put in for redundancy. At 25 percent of light speed on average, and given the conservative deceleration option, we have a total travel time of approximately 165 years. The time dilation effect will cut about four years off, but we’ll adjust to Earth time for practical purposes, as relativity can be confusing, which is something we don’t need. Anyway, the math on the passenger problem is actually quite simple. The only viable solution seems to be to manually override the cryo cell controls to have a part of the crew awake at all times. That way, the crew may age a couple of years each, but we’ll be able to bring everyone to Aurora with the resources at hand. The added food and oxygen consumption will be averted by tighter rationing and a shorter time in orbit once we arrive. It will be tight, but we’ll make it.” The commander nodded. He knew that was what they would have to do, if they were to bring everyone along. The only problem was the risk involved with an untested technology. Cryo tech was a completely new invention, derived from medical experimentation and developed during the hectic years of the project.

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They never tested how multiple periods of cryo sleep would affect humans, you know. There are theories about that though. And we do have the escape pods …”

“
Sir, if I may …” Hammer obviously couldn’t help but insist, and Hamilton let her speak. He, for one, appreciated officers who spoke frankly, and Hammer was that kind. She would voice her opinions as long and as loudly as it took, and when the decision was made, she’d stand by it and support her senior officer. It was the kind of loyalty shown by officers with potential for senior command.

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I wouldn’t feel comfortable sending the kids back down. And who would you choose to go instead? It would be a death sentence, most likely. Yes, I know we have the escape pods, but we might need them at arrival. And, sir, this whole thing is experimental. One more unknown is something we can live with.” Hamilton squinted; he had to think about the interests of the crew and passengers as a whole. What if this one detail was the thing that jeopardized the chances of the survival of mankind?

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I need something better, Tina. You know what’s at stake here.” Hammer seemed to have put a great deal of thought into this, because she actually did produce a solution.

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It’s rather simple, sir. Uncomfortable, but simple. You make sure there are qualified persons awake on first watch. They test the ones waking up after two years in cryo. Then, two years later, those people are put to sleep again, and you wake them again two years later, to repeat the process, searching for cell damages, different readings on vitals and so forth. If any of the tests are positive, you have two years for follow up studies. After eight years you’ll have enough data to know whether it’s safe to continue rotation. If it is, fine, then we’ll have one less thing to worry about. If it’s not safe, you have the same choice as you have now; who will live and who will die. The difference is that if we do this, we’ll know. The choice will be a necessary one, and you can prove why it is necessary.” Hammer paused, then added, “Of course, the authority lies with you, and I’m sure the crew will back any decision you make. But if the choice were mine, I’d make sure it was a decision that absolutely cannot be questioned. I would hate to know that I sent people to their deaths unnecessarily.” Hamilton looked at her and knew she wanted to add something, but he motioned for her to keep quiet. What Hammer had just touched upon was a minefield, and she knew it. As the commander of military men and women, he would never have problems whether the decision went one way or the other, he trusted his people to follow his lead. With the civilians, on the other hand, it was less predictable. Havelar and the president had assured him that everyone on board had been through a thorough screening, and there should be no doubts concerning loyalty; but they were referring to political loyalty. There were many forms of loyalty, and there was no way to know how things would play out on Aurora. Old loyalties might change. He was normally not one to let political concerns or questions of how he would be perceived influence his decisions, but Hammer did have a point. And besides, Hamilton had his own qualms about sending anyone on what was basically a life raft back into the water.

“
I see your point. And I think it might be worth a shot. We both want to save as many as we can.” He clasped his hands behind his back, and turned. “Gather the medical scientists and biologists to get their views on how to actually do this, and get life support in on it too. Having people awake during the journey will eat into our supplies, but your estimates make sense. If we ration the food and adjust the life-support systems, there shouldn’t be much of a problem. And of course, you’ll need the cryo technicians to adjust the couches to enable switching between people. I’m putting you in charge of this, Tina. I want you to be awake when we wake those people second time around. I count on you to do what’s necessary if things don’t turn out the way we’re hoping for.” He saw the determination in the eyes of the young woman; they both knew what that meant. And they both knew that, if necessary, Hammer would make sure it was done swiftly and painlessly.

The message on Senator
Joe Buchanan’s tablet was encrypted with an algorithm that took several seconds to decipher, and he waited impatiently for the words to appear. He knew it had to be important, or else Thatcher would never have contacted him in person. After the initial meeting where Joe was introduced to the conspiracy, they had only spoken once in person, and only a few times by phone. These days, as the Exodus was so close to departure, even encrypted messages were few. Finally the message became legible, and Joe started. The FBI was onto them. A brave young man of the lower ranking cadres of the group had been arrested months ago, but that had been a ploy to divert the hounds from the real objective of what they were doing. Now the feds were getting too close for comfort. In the message, Thatcher wrote that the FBI had finally been able to figure out the purpose and partially the extent of the conspiracy. He also wrote that he expected the FBI to arrest him within the next twenty-four hours, and he advised Joe to go underground immediately. The message ended with a simple good-bye, and Joe sat back in his high-backed office chair, breathing heavily. It was time to make his exit; that much was obvious. He felt sad for his friend, who had been such an idealist and an inspiration to everyone involved. As head of Project Exodus, he’d gradually met other members of the group, and a few uninitiated with similar views on what kind of society the new world should be. While few mentioned Thatcher’s name, several gave the impression that they’d been talking to this man who had opened their eyes to what the possibility for a second chance on Aurora really meant. Now he knew in his heart that he’d never see him again; if Thatcher knew the feds were coming, they couldn’t be far off.

He finally stood up, and walked across the room. On the wall
, he had a framed picture of him and his wife, Cecilia. It had been taken on their honeymoon to Greece; it had to be at least three decades ago now. He beheld it fondly for a moment. They had been so young, so in love. They still were. He smiled at the thought; he’d had a good marriage and a wife that gave him comfort and filled his life with warmth and meaning. They had accepted the fact that they could never have children, and although it made them both sad at times, it had made them embrace what they had even more. When they first met, he’d told her he’d never met anyone who could even measure up to her; it was still the simple truth. Now, he only saw her on the weekends, as she had been reluctant to come out west with him. He always felt bad when he couldn’t be with her every day, but after many years in public service, they both knew the demands of the job. It was Thursday, and he sometimes managed to get home on Thursday evenings. He had a flight scheduled for tonight, and he’d been looking forward to a quiet evening at home. He sighed heavily, and lifted the picture from the wall before he turned it around. On the back there was a taped piece of paper, with a twelve-digit number. It was old fashioned, he knew, but at least the possibility of electronic interception was eliminated. Then he typed the number into a special application on his tablet, and got a new number, which he dialed on his phone. The number enabled the encryption of conversations on the phone. Although not as secure as the encryption used for his messages on the tablet, it would do for now. If anyone with the right equipment tried to break it, it would still take them a couple of hours, which was all the time he needed. He waited for a few seconds, until Deacon Frost answered. He’d been an Air Force lieutenant when they first met, and when Buchanan was appointed director of Project Exodus, he’d made sure that Frost had gradually been able to advance to the Selection Board, which made the real decisions on who would be going on the starship. Joe had once mentioned that maybe they should get Deacon a seat on the Exodus, to carry on his work there. The younger man had declined. He said that his place was back on Earth, that he could do more there, even though they both knew the likelihood of survival after impact.

“
Deacon,” he said. The voice on the other end wouldn’t have expected him to call directly, as they tried not to have more contact than would be perceived naturally.

“
It’s time.” Frost said nothing, but he could hear his breathing change subtly.

“
What about you wife, sir?” The younger man replied quickly. Buchanan had given that a lot of thought lately. He’d never let his wife know what he was up to, basically to protect her. But he knew that if the FBI got her, they would assume she knew something, and the interrogation would be rough. He chose to put that thought away; he had to steel himself. And who could tell, if all went well they would be able to reunite later.

“
I’ll make sure she gets away, but I can’t take her with me.” The risk is too great, he thought. He would gladly have taken on the risk himself, but there were others who depended on him too.

“
All right, sir. I’ll have the car ready in fifteen minutes.”

“
Good.” He put down the phone and went to hang the picture back in its place on the wall. Then he sat down for a moment before he dialed his wife’s number. When she answered, his eyes almost watered, and his throat constricted for a second, before he was able to talk.

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Cecilia,” he said. There was no way back. “It’s me, dear. I won’t be able to come home tonight.”

When Special Agent Robert Marsden received his orders, he was getting ready to go camping with his wife and three kids. They had been planning t
his trip for some time now, and the weather forecast had been good. It had been almost a year since the last one, and the kids had been talking about this for weeks. The cabin had been reserved, and the car was already packed, when Special Agent Tom Wilkie called.

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What’s up, Tom?” Robert asked. Tom wouldn’t call him outside of work unless something was wrong.

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Well, first off, all leaves and vacations are being put off.” Damn, Robert thought, so much for camping.

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You are to report back to the office within an hour. Seems we have a crisis on our hands. I’ll fill you in with the details once you get here, but this is big.” He didn’t have to say anything else. Marsden had been on the job long enough to know that when agents were recalled like this, it had to be big. His wife, fully understanding the nature of his work, never made a fuss about it, and the kids were old enough to understand too. So he quickly changed clothes, checked his gun and badge, and got into his car.

Robert
had never seen the director in person before. A few years ago, the old director had paid them a half an hour visit, as a publicity stunt, visiting half a dozen local branches in one day, but other than that, they seldom saw anyone above branch around here. Now, while the agents were gathering in the briefing room, the director paced impatiently back and forth. FBI Director Anthony Barron was a heavyset black man somewhere in his fifties, with a fat mustache, a commanding voice, and eyes that seemed to take in every detail around him.

“
I’ll make this short,” he said to the agents as the shuffling and whispers subsided. “Six months ago, we found evidence of a conspiracy involving senior officials in this administration. We knew something was going on that had to do with Project Exodus, but we had no idea of who was involved or what the conspiracy was all about. The only person we actually apprehended was an executive at the Energy Department, and he didn’t really give us anything. Because of his work, which involved insight and connections within the nuclear energy sector, we quickly suspected sabotage, which so far has turned out to be impossible to prove. The Exodus is now fully assembled, and is scheduled to leave Earth orbit within the week. We cannot rule out that there may be a suicide bomber on board, but so far, we have found nothing to indicate that. For a while we suspected a link between this particular conspiracy and the insurrection out west, but this doesn’t fit the profile. The insurrection didn’t seem to have any real political goals, as far as we can tell. It was likely just the result of desperate human beings who resorted to illogical actions. The only thing they actually achieved was to send a bunch of kids into space, and otherwise wreak havoc in the final stages of launch. If their goals had anything to do with hampering the progress of the project, they failed miserably. And after the kids managed to reach orbit, the leaders actually gave themselves up, one after the other. Did you know that General Hayden actually surrendered an entire army division before committing suicide? Nah, like I said, this has nothing to do with the insurrection. In the last few days however, we have found evidence that the conspiracy at hand involves a plan to select certain individuals for the Exodus that have grudges against the government, or at least the current administration. We don’t know the extent of this, so we cannot tell how many there are, if any. We certainly don’t have the names of these individuals yet. However, just this morning, we arrested Richard Thatcher, one of the senior executives at PAEI. With the proper drugs and treatment by our interrogation specialists, he soon spilled his guts.” There were a few low chuckles around. They all knew what “interrogation specialists” meant.

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He was unable to give us much detail though, having already injected an irreversible lethal poison before his apprehension. But we did get a name.”