If Jove Stray

Chapter 20: captain's log

"That should do it," Matisse said.

Levi clicked on the file and a crackling voice accompanied a middle-aged woman with glasses on her nose. She tapped the microphone and folded her arms on the desk. Cameron was so surprised that they had something so soon and watched the screen with excitement. This person was on Earth, a planet Cameron would never see. What would someone say across decades and trillions of kilometers?

"My name is Deborah Giles," the woman said sternly. "Historian for the Exodus Project: it is my duty to update the outbound ships of the Earth's status."

"Look, Earth had historians too," Cameron whispered to Levi.

"We will make quarterly reports as we are able, though not knowing if either ship has received any or all of these."

The video abruptly changed. It was still Deborah, but she was wearing a different outfit. She began reading a list of dates and facts, as if they were supposed to mean something important. Matisse groaned and paused the video. Cameron shared his disappointment.

"There's no context," he complained. "We'll have to just transcribe all of this to make any sense, and it's barely from the same century."

"Start with the newest file?" Levi suggested.

"We don't have it downloaded yet," Cameron replied. "But we know that we can get it to work; maybe some information will be useful. Maybe we can get the tekcom to listen and transcribe; if not, we'll make a rotation until it's done."

Levi pulled out his holo-rib, holding it to the speaker before playing the video again. They all watched as the holo-rib recorded the odd phrases, spelling things as it thought best.

"It's not perfect," Levi remarked. "But it does work. You could have the tekcom transcribe in the evenings and have people go over it afterward. If it's all this," he gestured at the woman; "then there may not be any point."

"What if they sent data files?" Matisse inquired hopefully. "They wouldn't be in the video logs, would they?"

Levi closed the video window and sat at the computer once more, hunting through the menus and pages. Cameron wished she had paid closer attention to her father's work, but made a note to message Harper when they were done here. Harper might be a better person for coaxing the tekcom to work; he had learned computers just as they were transitioning; Levi hadn't used quantum tekcom until he woke up on the planet.

"It looks like we do have some data files," Levi replied. "But they haven't finished downloading. We'll have to wait."

He glanced down at his holo-rib and rose from the chair. "I should go," he said. "Dylan's coming over for dinner, and I don't want to be late. I'll check through my discs and see if I have anything that says what these logs are supposed to be telling us."

"Sorry, what?" Matisse inquired.

"My father made me a copy of the data from Earth," Levi explained. "Dylan put it on my holo-rib when I was in cryo; I haven't read everything; it's mostly fiction and science journals. But I'll let you know."

He grabbed his crutches, heading out the room. Matisse stared after him with a slack jawed expression.

"How?" he demanded. "We've had data from Earth right under our noses and I didn't know. Gliére didn't know. The questions we've been trying to answer could very well be with Levi; who deemed him the gatekeeper of Earth knowledge? How did no one else know?"

"I imagine no one thought to ask," Cameron frowned. "I'll talk to him. We need those files."

"He shouldn't even have those files," Matisse grumbled. "I know it's a breach of privacy, but I can't help but wonder if there are more things we're just lacking because it's stuffed away somewhere in the personal boxes in our archives. I mean, we all know that Levi has tons of books, but I've never read one. I don't even know if any are available on our holo-ribs or if Levi owns the only copy on the planet."

"I'll talk to him," Cameron repeated. "And I'll bring it up with Dashiell."

"And that boy's music selection," he muttered. "I'm not angry, but it is rotated that information is being hoarded. Knowledge should be for everyone."

"Maybe," Cameron offered. "But even a year ago, your former captain was trying to keep information out of the hands of people on this base. It's going to take a while for people to trust us."

"We are not O'Keefe," he scoffed. 

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The 'old tech' is just as we use it in the now. The new tech is a little more like the apple watch, meaning that it's only as much as the consumer needs to have. It's more powerful sure, but not as customizable and not as easily accessed. I've grown up around technology and so it's odd to think about not knowing how to use it. Thanks for reading!