Tevun-Krus #60 - Final Contact

Genesis - A Short Story by @elveloy

"You have been selected for the next stage of the Genesis project. Please report to Shuttle Bay 10 at 14:00 hours. Acknowledge." Joanne felt her heart thumping with excitement as she read the words a second time. At last! After dedicating more than five years of her life, living, dreaming and breathing the Genesis project, she was going to have a chance to see the final results. In person.

"Jo? Is there a problem?" The young woman seated at the console unit opposite broke into her daydream.

Joanne blinked, then beamed at her colleague. "Just the opposite. I've been selected to go on the next trial run!" Luckily, she remembered to press the 'Acknowledge' button on her console unit before scrambling to her feet. "I have to get ready. I've only got an hour before departure!"

Her colleague and best friend, Helen, looked down at her own screen, hoping against hope she had a similar message, but she didn't. She summoned up a smile. "Good luck!" Then couldn't help adding a wistful, "I wish I was going. Even though it's just a trial run, it's bound to be more exciting than sitting here."

"Cheer up," said Joanne, diplomatically. "If this trial run goes smoothly, then the next voyage will be the real one and we'll all be on that. I'll probably be working flat out the whole time anyway."

With a quick smile good bye, Joanne hurried out of the laboratory and down to the accommodation section, thoughts buzzing in her head. Only an hour to get ready! Why hadn't they given her more time? Of course, everyone had their tiny pack of personal items—maximum weight one kilo, size up to 20 square centimetres— ready for the final journey, but surely she could take more gear with her for a trial run? She'd like her own cosmetics rather than regulation issue for a start, not to mention a few changes of clothing. After all, a trip to the moon and back could take anything up to a week, depending on whether they tested any fancy manoeuvres.

The accommodation for single women was a long series of small cubicles, each consisting of a bed which doubled as a couch and a small shower room with toilet. Meals were held in the communal Dining Hall. Everyone involved in the Genesis project lived and worked in the Space Research Centre, and had done for years. Sometimes Joanne wondered what was happening on the outside, whether there were still people surviving somewhere, living a hand to mouth existence in some remote part of the world.

She shuddered at the thought, thanking her lucky stars that she was one of those fortunate to live in the last bastion of technology. She knew the world outside New Eden and its primary focus, the Space Research Centre, was a wild and inhospitable place.

Constantly battered by violent storms, rising temperatures and with seas choked with plastic, the brightest minds had decided Earth was no longer habitable. Hence the Genesis project, a generation ship that would take what was left of humanity to the stars and a new world beyond. With thousands of cryo-chambers ready to house the remnant population, families and all, the huge ship was currently in orbit, being stacked with seeds, tools and survival kits. Almost ready for its final journey.

Joanne reached her cubicle and slipped inside. She had just opened her storage unit, wondering what to pack, when her pager flashed a message. "Bring your personal kit, only." Damn, thought Joanne, looking longingly at her cosmetics. This must be a proper drill, practicing for the final departure. Sighing, she changed into clean trousers and shirt—she might at least take advantage of those, and picked up her tiny, precious, bag of possessions.

Then she was off, hurrying toward Shuttle Bay 10.

A group of excited people were already there when she arrived. Evidently some had not received the message about luggage and there was a small pile of discarded bags beside the security guard. "Don't worry," he reassured one anxious man. "They'll be waiting for you on your return."