Last of the Year

 Onboard the ‘sword of Velham’ the girl sat with a backpack full of mementos, clothing, and a book she had once written. She had no bible, no symbols of faith that she carried with her. She believed in living in the moment, that everyday was a blessing, that every moment counted towards something. Beside her the old man, she had recognized his name. Albert Knob, one of the visionaries behind the ark project. The ark project was simple, several dozen nations pulled their resources together and constructed massive arks, swords that would ‘cut through the heart of darkness and conquer new worlds so that humanity would not die out under the gaze of a red light but shine under across all of time and space.’  

For a moment she thought about asking him why he was there sitting next to her but she knew the answer. Onboard the ‘swords’ everyone was equal. A sophisticated A.I. controlled the navigation as well as every other essential function with only a few engineers working around the clock to watch screens and make sure nothing went wrong. If something went wrong there would be nothing they could do. Not that they wouldn’t try. They were the best at their jobs but the ‘swords’ were already heading into deep space, each on a course for what they had hoped would be a habitable world. If the ship’s system failed then then the only thing they could do was drift and hope that one day someone would find them or that they would each die in their sleep. The cold sleep -  That was what the girl waited for. She sat in a row now between an old man and a young girl waiting for her turn to be placed inside stasis, an old term but a new technology. She would have her breath slowed and her body frozen; liquid oxygen would course through her lungs and veins as she slept in a comatose state until the day she would hopefully wake up and along with her fellow colonists begin a new life far away. This was her prize. She had won the lottery… or rather her husband had won and forced her to part with him.  Each ‘sword’ was a gamble but for those that win it would mean to survive. 

She could still remember standing there against a flood of faces. Military gathered around barricades protecting the arks from those that would have stowed away on board (and in doing so eventually starved in the corridors withering away until even their bodies had become dust). They shot without hesitation anyone that was too loud or seemed a danger. They were trigger happy and they had good reason. Everyone that surrounded the barricade was either a passenger, family of a passenger saying goodbye, or a trespasser. Thousands tried to fake, pay, or talk their way in hoping they could trade sex for tickets or money or promises. 

“I love you,” she said to her husband. 

“I will always be with you, forgive me” he said back. 

She had gone with him to say her last goodbye. She had accepted that she would die on the Earth, decided she would die surrounded by her books and family and the friends she never truly got to know. She even knew the wine she would drink and the foods she would binge on. She knew the aroma she would surround herself with… she had it all planned out as if it was the last chapter of a book she had been writing. She knew how she wanted to die. She did not expect her husband to shove her into the arms of a guard with his lottery ticket. She did not expect to be taken away kicking and screaming with nothing more then her backpack, a backpack her and her husband had packed. It only took ten minutes before she was sitting inside the ark away from everything she had ever known. 

She wondered if he had planned that from the start. From the moment he had won did he plan on giving his ticket to her. Did he know she would never let him do that? She had all the time in the world - all the time left in the world to ponder. 

She imagined him now. He was probably sitting in her room eating her chocolate, drinking her wine, smelling her lavender and using her bath salts. She imagined him walking around their house, watering their plants, singing their songs. The thought of it made her angry. She was jealous but gracious all at the same time. She was flooded by emotion. She didn’t cry. That wasn’t how life really worked. People don’t cry. She was more in a state of shock. She wouldn’t waste tears here, not now, not while he was still alive. She would have the future to cry. A future… she thought about those words for a moment. Every moment was now a gift from him. 

The teenage girl sat with headphones in her ears crying. Slowly she moved her arm around her. She held her in her arms. On the streets they might have been strangers, they probably never would have met. Here in the ark, the ‘sword’ that touches the sky they were family. Their paths had become intertwined. They were the last hope of mankind. She thought for a moment about what the future would be like. She promised the girl that when she woke up she would be there, she would greet her and that the two of them could explore their new surroundings together. There were tens of thousands of people inside each ark along with animals, plants, seeds, and a storage bank full of DNA from all over the world. After they reach their new home the ark was made so that it could be disassembled into a small city. It wouldn’t be impossible for her to find the young girl, in fact the idea of having already made a new friend made both of them feel more at ease. 

‘Perhaps her mother or father had given their ticket to her’ she thought wondering what type of music the young girl listened to. It was then that the teenage girl noticed the book inside her backpack. Wide eyed she dropped her headphones to her side and yelled out that that had been her favorite book and that she hoped that in the future on their new world she could grow to write stories like that. She smiled at the teenage girl who’s name had just been called. It was a name she would never forget though she soon realized that she herself had not revealed herself. She didn’t have to. What a pleasant surprise that will be for the young girl when she wakes up. Her new best friend is her favorite writer. For a moment she felt famous, shallow, even a little egotistical. She tried to imagine what their new world would be like and she was glad she would no longer be facing it all alone. She was glad that she at least had one fan that was coming along for the ride. 

Another hour past. 

She sat alone now waiting for her turn to be called. 

“No,” she thought. It wasn’t fair. Already the smell of lavender was fading. 

It wouldn’t be long now. 

——

From the side of a ridge against a tall mountain a young man drinks and sings and smiles and waves as the starship the ‘sword of Velham’ launches into the clouds. As rocket fire ignites the sky turning it red, orange, and grey - as the nemesis star approaches - as the world turns and people surrender to the ground to pray he begins to cry. He waves goodbye to everything he has ever known and loved… his future… his wife… and … 

—— 

Onboard the ‘sword of Velham’ she sits waiting. She smiles.

Positive.