A New Home

"Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say," Declared Jackson's childhood hero, space explorer, and martian hunter Oliver Rowan from the screen of Jackson's television. The martian on this week's episode of Project Starlight howled in despair as Oliver slammed on the control console opening the airlock and launching the beast into the void that was space. Jackson watched in awe as Rowan pulled himself up against the vacuum of space and slammed the control panel again, sealing the airlock shut. Rowan fell to the ground as the airlock closed. He heroically climbed to his feet, pressing the intercom and announcing to the ship, "The Beast is gone." Jackson cheered aloud as it flashed to the credits of the show.

Jackson got up from the ground before the T.V. and ran to his mom. "Do you think I will be able to explore space as Oliver Rowan does someday?"

"Sweetie, you will be able to do anything if you put your mind to it."

Jackson ran outside and looked up at the stars. "One day, I'm gonna explore space like you, Oliver."

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15 Years Later 2164 A.D.

"Holy shit, we are about to do this, aren't we?" Jackson asked in awe.

"Yes, we are," Captain Bailey answered as she climbed into her cryo pod. "Take one last look at Earth everyone. We are never coming back." She paused somberly, silence filling the air.

"Come on, guys, it's time," She pressed her control panel, and the pod began to close. "See you all in 50 years." Her pod was sealed.

"Damn," Abraham Hart said, "this is so weird."

"And it's about to get weirder," Jackson interjected, "It's your turn."

"Fuck it, here we go," Hart said as he climbed in and pressed the button, "See yall on the other side." His pod was sealed.

Silence filled the room; it was just Jackson and Raya left.

"Raya, it's your turn."

"Jack, are we ready for this?" She replied, fear seeping into her voice as she stared down at Earth.

Jackson walked up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Honestly, Raya, no one is." She turned her head and leaned in and kissed him. "But I know one thing," Jackson said as they pulled apart. "There is no one I would rather do this with."

He placed his hand in hers and walked her over to her pod. "See ya on the other side," she said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"See ya on the other side," Jackson replied, and her pod closed and was sealed.

A tear broke through as he walked over to the window. This was it; he was the last one awake, about to go down for the long nap. "50 years," he said out loud to no one, "50 years". He let out a deep sigh and climbed into his pod. "50 years," he said one last time, and his pod was sealed.

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NASA HQ 2164 A.D.

Harris Young, the director of NASA, walked to the podium as thousands of different news sources piled in to get a glimpse of him. Harris cleared his throat and began to speak. "It is official, as of 0900, the crew of the Ark 1 has gone down for the long nap. They have gone into cryosleep. The plan remains as it always was: they will pave the way to a new world, a new home. Ten years ago, we discovered a planet nearly twice the size of Earth, and everything about it was perfect for us as a new dwelling place. The crew of the Ark 1 will reach this planet in nearly 250 years, waking up every 50 or so for basic repair and updates.

Along with the four leading this journey under the command of Captain Bailey, there are four hundred unborn embryos onboard. The plan goes as follows. They will arrive in 2414, almost exactly two hundred and fifty years from now. In the year 2264, exactly one hundred years from now, we will send the Ark 2, this one not full of embryos and a small crew but full of nearly five thousand lucky passengers set to live life on our new home. We are giving the crew of the Ark 1 this one-hundred-year head start so that by the time the crew of the Ark 2 arrives, the embryos will have grown up and built a solid foundation for the members of the Ark 2. Earth is in collapse. Temperatures rise each day. Wars rage, and in all honesty, we do not know how much longer we can hold on to this place as home. The flood is coming. We will be a new Noah, boarding an ark searching for a new home." Harris paused and let the reality set in. "Thank you very much; there will be no questions." The crowd of press yelled and screamed, some in the encouragement of the new ark plan, some in complete disbelief and hatred against the project.

Harris left the stage and went to his office. "Are all things in order, Ivy?" Harris asked his assistant.

"Yes, sir, everything is ready," Ivy replied.

"Good Ivy, thank you."

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ARK 1- Deep Space- 2364 A.D.

The crew awoke from their cryo pods; what had been the past two hundred years had gone by like a blur—what had accumulated to a total of six waking days for them had been just over seventy thousand days for the people back home and on the Ark 2. Every living person they once knew had died, and any alive relative is a distant descendant of theirs.

Jackson arose from his pod slowly, a wave of confusion hitting him. Where am I? He thought to himself, “What's going on? The reality of their situation came crashing in like a wave. "We are millions of miles from Earth," his inner dialogue continued "it's two hundred years in the future." Jackson had soon discovered after their first fifty-year bout in cryo sleep that after he awoke, he needed to remind himself of the reality of their situation and quickly center his brain on the mission ahead.

"How's everyone doing?" Commander Bailey's voice broke through like sunlight in the morning.

"Just peachy," Hart replied sarcastically as he fell over a nearby waste bin and threw up in it.

Jackson replied over the noise of Hart's purging, "Doing alright, Commander, how about yourself?"

"Doing okay. Everyone, take a minute. We will meet on the bridge for a mission report."

Raya walked over to Jackson, tripping over her legs on the way, still adjusting to movement again. "Jack, how do you feel?"

"I'm doing alright, Raya, thank you. It took a second, but I got a grasp on reality. What about yourself? Are you doing okay?"

"I am okay; they don't prepare us for what this will do to our brains, though."

"True. Honestly, I don't know how they would even begin that," Jackson replied. "Hart, you doing okay, man?"

"This is the worst man," he replied, climbing up from the garbage, "but I'm a little better now, thanks."

"Let's get to the bridge; we need a mission report."

Jackson, Raya, and Hart walked together to the bridge, tripping and stumbling as if they were learning to walk for the first time.

"Good, you are all here." Bailey's voice exclaimed, "Grab a seat. Let's get right to it. A lot has happened in the last fifty years. As you all, we should have gained communication with the Ark 2 by this point, but so far, no coms have come through."

"What could that mean?" Raya interjected.

"It could mean a few things. Most likely, there is a com malfunction on one or both ships. However, something may have happened to the Ark 2, but the mission must continue. Raya, I need you to check the navigation course and check our trajectory for the next bout of the journey. Hart, the hull of Ark, sustained minor damage from a solar flair at some point over the last leg. It's nothing too severe, but suit up and look from the outside, see if there is anything that requires attention. Jackson, you're on coms. See if you can track down what the issue might be and stay in contact with Hart. Something from the solar flare may be causing our communication issue. I will run a broad diagnostic of the ship and check in on the embryos. We have minimal time till we are supposed to go down for the last leg so let's get to work." Commander Bailey finished the mission report, and the crew began their tasks without hesitation.

"Hart, whatcha seeing out there?" Jackson asked from inside the ship.

"Well, we got stuck by a solar flare, the damage isn't terrible, but the communication array took the brunt of it."

"Damn, is it repairable?" Jackson inquired.

"Give me a few minutes, and I will see what I can do," Hart responded.

"Thanks, Hart."

"You got it, bro," Hart replied.

Jackson turned away from the communication console where he had been working and saw Raya working away at the navigation console. "Raya, how are things looking? Are we still going in the right direction?" He asked rhetorically.

"The right direction, yes," She answered over a chuckle. "That's not our issue, and there appears to be a field of something directly in our course."

"An asteroid field?" Jackson inquired.

"I don't think so," Raya responded, "See, if it was an asteroid field, we should have known it was coming. Our navigation algorithm tracks all passing asteroid and comet fields and things like that."

"What could it be then?"

"Satellite debris perhaps, maybe the algorithm messed up, I am honestly not sure," Raya responded, a note of concern coming off her voice.

"Hey Jackson," Hart's voice interjected over the intercom, "Check the com station now. I realigned the dish and fixed a few things out here, and it should be working."

The communication console lit up in flashing lights. "Looks like you did it, Hart," he replied as he pushed the button listening to the broadcast from the Ark 2.

"Mayday, Mayday, this is Captain Ohare of the Ark 2. We are way off course," distress filled the Captain's voice. "Earth has fallen; he turned on us!" The transmission cut out to static.

"Oh shit, Raya, did you hear that?" Jackson exclaimed.

"I did," Panic filled her voice, "but we have a bigger issue on our hands. The field is larger than the initial scan determined, and it's too late to change course."

Hart's voice interjected over the intercom again, "Yo Raya, are you seeing this? It looks like we are headed right for something."

"Hart, get inside! We see it," Jackson responded. "Can you see what it is we are going to hit?"

"It looks like metal," Hart responded.

"Get inside quick," Jackson replied, urgency filling his voice. "Where the fuck is the Captain."

"COLLISION ALERT, COLLISION ALERT…" The ship's intercom began to sound.

Jackson ran over and pressed the intercom "Captain, come in, where are you?"

"Jackson, Raya, get to the hold now!" replied the Captain's voice over the intercom.

Jack and Raya got up and began to run full speed. They both had known without hesitation that something else was wrong, and the Captain would never have responded like that. They ran down the corridors of the vast ship untill they arrived at the cargo hold. They rounded the last corner and entered the door into the hold; almost immediately, there was too much to take in. Hart's body lay unconscious on the ground next to the airlock door. Captain Bailey stood there, her arms in the air, a figure right behind her. "Who could it be?" Jackson thought to himself. "There were little to no signs of extraterrestrial life, but in the same sense, no human other than the four should be out in deep space so far."

"Who are you?" Jackson asked, trying his hardest to keep the fear out of his voice. A tear broke down Captain Bailey’s face.

Slowly the figure stepped out from behind the Captain and into the light.

"Harris Young," came Raya’s voice from behind Jackson, "How? It can't be you. You should have died hundreds of years ago."

The Director of NASA's face appeared as if it hadn't aged a day.

"Not long after you all began your journey to deep space, I started a journey of my own. See, I desperately wanted to be a member of the Ark 2 and to get a glimpse of the new world. I came up with a plan. I got a team at NASA to build me a cryo pod just like the ones you have all been inside. Then I spent the next hundred years in and out of cryo sleep, waking every so often to check on the world and the status of the Ark 2. Each glimpse I would get of the world would reveal more and more about humanity's unworthiness. Wars raged, and innocent people were slaughtered. The environment was in absolute collapse. Earth was fine before humanity destroyed it. I knew I could no longer let humanity live on. Tensions raged and whispers of nuclear warfare became louder and louder. The crew of the Ark 2 watched from the sky as humanity destroyed every living thing on the planet. The smoke of the ruins over the entire face of the globe.

“Mournfully the passengers on the Ark 2 entered cryo as they journeyed for their new home. All of the engineers at NASA came up with this brilliant plan of timing, but they didn't consider one thing. One hundred years is a lot of time. The plan was you guys have a one-hundred-year head start, but in that hundred years, engineers developed the technology for us to catch up with you. Of course, the plan was still going to remain the same even with this newfound technology until I changed my mind. Once everyone except for Captain Ohare had gone into cryo, I approached him on the bridge and forced him to accelerate our course to intercept with you. I took him and trapped him in a cryo pod. After one hundred years, we passed you and stopped directly in your path. I set up the cryo system to wake me first. In the time before the rest of the passengers awoke, I rigged the entire ship to explode. I took the maintenance ship, set up a cryo chamber in it, and then flew away. I watched as they all woke up, and the ship began to explode. I killed every last one of them, leaving them with one goal in mind to kill you all too. Once you and the embryos are dead, all of humanity will be gone, and the cancer that has cursed this galaxy will finally be gone. I boarded while you all were asleep and hid as you awoke. Now I'm gonna kill you all. I will rid this universe of humanity.``

"Harris, wait," Jackson interjected. "You don't have to do this."

"No! You're wrong," he yelled to Jackson. "I do have to, now get in the airlock!"

"What?" Raya asked.

"Get in the fucking airlock, and I will send you all to the void of space that you deserve."

Jackson began to walk in the direction of the airlock. He saw a gun pressed against the head of Commander Bailey. Jackson looked at the ground, mapping out the distance to Harris.

He knew when he went; he would have to grab his hand and get the gun away from Bailey's head. Jackson pounced like a tiger after its prey. He dove across the room, tackling Harris before he had a chance to pull the trigger. Jackson had knocked the gun out of Bailey's hand but knew the moment their bodies had made contact that Harris was strapped with a bomb.

Jackson grabbed for Harris's hand where he could now make out what appeared to be a detonator. He got there just in time; he pulled up on Harris's thumb, but Harris elbowed Jackson right in the nose as he did so. Jackson heard the screams of Raya as he wrestled with Harris and knew what he had to do. He used all the strength he could muster to shove Harris across the room, pushing him into the airlock. Jackson knew the instant he let go; Harris would blow up the ship.

Jackson held Harris's hand down with one arm as he reached back and pulled the lever sealing them in the airlock. Jackson yelled as loud as he could, "Now, Raya, Now!"

Raya screamed in response, "No! I can't!"

"Raya, please, you have to."

Jackson saw as her hand reached the lever and pulled. At that moment, his mind flashed back to the adventures of Oliver Rowan on Project Starlight. He thought back to the episode where Rowan was in the airlock with the beast but had held on against the vacuum of space as the beast got pulled into the void.

Jackson grabbed onto the handle of the airlock with all his strength as the door into the abyss of space opened. Harris grabbed onto Jackson, and Jackson felt his body and the immense pressure pulling at him. It felt as if he was getting ripped in two. He held on with everything he had as he felt Harris's grip begin to slip. At that moment, Harris ran out of strength, and Jackson watched as he fell into the void of space.

Raya was ready. She slammed the button down, and Jackson felt his body slam to the ground just like Oliver Rowans once had. Raya flung open the door and embraced him as he climbed up from the ground. "You did it," she said, tears streaming down her face.

"I guess I did," Jackson said, genuine surprise filling his voice. He looked over to see Captain Bailey helping Hart up from the ground, and they all embraced. That was until they were interrupted by the loud shriek of "COLLISION ALERT COLLISION ALERT COLLISION ALERT."

"Fuck, can we not have a second?" Hart yelled.

"The debris of the Ark 2," Raya said.

Jackson grabbed her hand, and they sprinted to the bridge. Jackson thought to himself as they ran, "Harris was right about one thing, humanity messed up, but together, with this crew and a new world, we can do it right."