AN: I started this story after someone prompted me for a post-apocalyptic story. This isn't it, however, though it does involve elements of such. It has an interesting setup. :) Though I'm going to need a chart to keep up with everyone's specialties. *dizzy already at the thought*
Kurt awoke from a deep slumber with vague dreams of home. He yawned, wiping sleep from his eyes. He always felt so groggy when he first woke up from the cryogenic sleep. He pulled the tablet off a side station and saw that it had been six months since he and his partner had woken up the last time. That was odd. They usually woke up every three months. He then noticed Rachel was not in her own chamber. Kurt hit the button to exit the pod and groaned as he got to his feet, flexing his muscles. No matter how much the instructors had told them that the chambers would keep their muscles in working order, he always felt so stiff. He stretched his arms and shoulders before working on his knees and ankles. The hygienic shower was calling his name.
About twenty minutes later, Kurt headed towards the main deck of the ship. Rachel was sitting at the main communications panel, frowning at the readings. She looked up to Kurt with a nod.
"Sleep well?"
Kurt snorted under his breath as he sat down with a plate of food.
"How long have you been awake?" he asked. Replicator food was never his favorite thing, but out in space it was little hard to get access to fresh meat and vegetables. Also, the ship wasn't exactly equipped with a kitchen. He missed hearing a knife against a cutting board or the sound of a sizzling skillet.
"About an hour or so," said Rachel. "Usually once the light freeze lifts, I'm awake."
"Do you know why we slept for six months?"
"That's what I was trying to figure out," said the brown haired woman. "Unless maybe when the three months was up, we were so far in deep space that there were no planets to investigate so it kept us in hibernation."
"I suppose," said Kurt with a frown, nibbling on a piece of toast.
"I've wondered about the ship's communications system and was running some diagnostics," said Rachel thoughtfully. "I know we're supposed to look for habitable planets and while we have seen a couple of possible candidates, we have no word back from Earth whether we should explore them."
"Well, we are far out in space," said Kurt "It could be that the transmissions haven't gotten there yet."
Rachel frowned and picked up a tablet, using a stylus to add up some figures.
"We should have heard something from the first four transmissions at least. They've had time to be received and for base to get back to us. And we haven't heard anything at all from any of the other ships. Surely they have found something."
Kurt shook his head and went to put his empty plate back in the replicator for it to be disposed before coming back up on deck. "While that may be, they did tell us not to expect a lot of contact."
"A valid point," said Rachel. She sighed after thinking a moment. "Sometimes I think our ship's navigation is different from the others I saw in the AAE program. It feels like the ship has its own course it's going on instead of exploration."
"Well, they do have pre-set maps to follow," said Kurt crossing his legs. "One of the few good things NASA did to help out the exploration program was to provide us with a great imagery."
"Want to listen to some music?" asked Rachel.
"Broadway?" smiled the brown haired male.
"Of course," said Rachel. The brunette hummed as she started up the music library.
"It is weird to think that the ship's database contains every movie, song, book, recipe… anything that humans ever came up with cataloged in its database." Kurt spun around in the chair once he had spoken.
"Like how the other ships are housed with a seed catalog and enough animal DNA that we could almost recreate the Earth if we wanted to? Provided it is the right environment."
"Well, if we did find a planet, it would be a good starting point for a colony once they transplanted more humans there." He paused for a moment thoughtfully. "We are a little bit like Lewis and Clark, aren't we?"
Rachel laughed at that. "I suppose. Although that joke is getting really old now Kurt."
Kurt sighed. "I really wish we could hear from Earth. I wonder how my dad is doing."
"Mine as well," agreed Rachel. "But we took this mission knowing what the risks and rewards are."
"We'll be heroes if we can find a planet with enough support for humanity," said Kurt looking up. "Wouldn't it be great if we could actually found a colony?"
"What would we call it?" mused Rachel.
"Humerry? Bermel?"
Rachel laughed out loud. "I don't think those would work Kurt. We'd need something epic."
"Hummelberry?"
"Haha."
Kurt sighed and turned to the station in front of him.
"Well, this solar system we're in is full of possibly hospitable planets." He hit a couple of keys and his eyes widened slightly. "Very hospitable. One of them has air density consistent with Earth and an equal gravitational pull."
"No wonder the ship woke us up."
Kurt scanned the planet. "There appears to be water there." He squealed. "And local vegetation is abundant."
"We should send out the probe to take samples before we do our own exploration."
"Done and done," said Kurt, his fingers flying over the console. "Making a report to send back to Earth."
Rachel nodded, a smile starting to form on her face. "I can't wait to get the probe there so we can see the planet surface."
"I'll put up what the ship already has on the view screen," said Kurt.
The Jewish female stood and went to the front of the ship, watching the readings while looking out the window at the planets in the distance. They seemed so small from the ship. But even if one was perfectly habitable…
"How long before the probe reaches the planet?"
"About a day," answered Kurt, not even looking up.
"Chess?" she suggested.
"Can we change the desktop this time?" whined the brown haired male. "New York makes me nostalgic. It's been over three years."
When Rachel woke up, Kurt was already gone. He really was like a child when it came to the science and space. She was the same of course. They had bounced up and down and had a small glass of champagne (okay three) as more and more data came in from the probe. This planet was almost perfect. She looked at the time and knew that the probe would be on the planet's surface already. She cinched her robe closed and hurried through the ship where Kurt was sitting in the main deck staring at the tablet in his hands.
"Kurt?"
"Yeah," he said, shaking his head. "Sorry, I must have blanked out for a moment."
"Well?" she said, crossing her arms. He broke out in a wide smirk.
"Couldn't even get dressed first?"
"Shut it Hummel. What are the preliminary results?"
"Oh nothing important," he said casually. "Just that this planet is teeming with water and more fruit trees than I've ever seen in my life."
Rachel gasped. "You've been watching the feed?"
"Not yet," he teased. "I was waiting for you to wake up. I was looking at the composition samples that the probe is taking."
"So this is it?"
Kurt took a deep breath. "This could be it Rachel. We may have found the perfect planet to start a colony."
She squealed and bounced up and down. "No more looking for us then. We can send word and… we can go home."
"We can go home," echoed Kurt. He sighed and eyed Rachel. "Another three years stuck in this ship with you."
"Hey this ship has been good to us."
"That it has," agreed the brown haired male. "Now go grab breakfast and change and we can watch the video feed."
They watched the video feed for hours, getting a lay of the land before their own exploration. When they actually touched down and got to see and feel with their own eyes and hands and everything checked out, they would send the final report. Then they could set up the homing beacon and Earth would have its first colony.
The first outpost colony of humanity in the year 3543, or at least, it was to the two of them. Even Rachel, the more mathematically leaning of the pair, wasn't sure what it would be back now that they had traveled so far. She started pulling out their survival packs and protection suits from their storage area and Kurt looked amused.
"Not antsy are you?"
Rachel shook her head and hit buttons on the replicator for the ready to eat meal packets that had been programmed in.
"It's a whole new planet Kurt just waiting to be explored," said Rachel. "It doesn't look to be inhabited except for local wildlife." She paused and looked at him. "Aren't you excited?"
"Excitedly cautious," said Kurt. He pushed a couple of buttons on the station he was sitting at and a drawer opened slowly. He threw Rachel one of the light weight phasers and she attached it to her belt. "We really don't know if this planet is inhabited or not. They could have been run underground like portions of the Earth had by radiation."
"It is always plausible," nodded the brunette. "But we can always be optimistic that they'd be willing to share."
"Or they will kill us on the spot," muttered Kurt. He sighed and packed an extra tablet into one of the packs. "We should go ahead and plot in the course for where we'll take the pod to-"
The ship lurched around them suddenly.
"What the-?" yelled Rachel, running over to the navigation panel and checking their trajectory. "We're headed to the planet!"
"What?" screeched Kurt, running over to her side and looking at the screen. He tried to stop the ship, but it wasn't responding to his commands.
"We're locked out? Seriously?" said Rachel in disbelief.
Kurt tried again, growling under his breath.
"Apparently."
"So what…"
"Unless there's something in the ship's navigation that automatically heads to a planet that is completely hospitable…" He sighed and sat down. "We're not the only ones analyzing the data you know."
"So what do we do Kurt? Wait and see what the ship does?" scoffed Rachel as she crossed her arms.
"What else do you propose?" shrugged the brown haired male. "We're kind of at its mercy if we want to keep breathing."
Rachel went back to the navigation panel and tried again. She hit her hand on the chair before sitting down. Kurt smiled sadly.
"At least it's not sending us back into deep space."
"You would try to find a silver lining," said Rachel. "How long till we enter the planet's atmosphere?"
"About three hours."
"We should finish packing," said Rachel. "Just in case we crash."
"I doubt the ship would crash land on its own," said Kurt sarcastically. "She might be a little neurotic, but they were built well."
Rachel raised an eyebrow. "The ship is a she?"
"Well, mother Earth, mother ship…"
The brown haired Jewish female pinched her partner's cheek. "That's so cute. I know you miss your mom."
Kurt glowered. "Just finish packing."
The ship's lights flickered on and off.
"Okay… now that's a little concerning," said Kurt, looking around. He looked at the control panel. "Power levels are fine and the core is cool. So then what…"
"Hello Kurt, Rachel."
They looked up quickly to the main view screen and stared, jaws open. Their commanding officer at AAE was on the screen, Lieutenant General Sue Sylvester. She was sitting calmly in her red chair, spinning her glasses in her hand. Her eyes seemed distant and not like the ruthless commander they had known back on Earth.
"Sylvester, thank god," said Kurt. "What-?"
"If you are seeing this, that means you have reached Eden," said Sue. "Our one in a billion chance miracle has happened, congratulations. You can give yourself a pat on the back if you'd like for what I thought would end up being a failed shot in the dark. You didn't fail me after all."
"Eden?" mouthed Kurt to Rachel. She shrugged.
"I bet you're wondering what Eden is and what the hell is going on. Well, have a seat and I'll tell you. I'm sure you're feeling a little confused."
"No fucking kidding," muttered Kurt.
"When we started AAE, we knew the Earth was dying," said Sue calmly as if she was talking about what she was having for lunch that afternoon. "So we gathered science's youngest and most brilliant minds to begin our space program. Yes, to you it was about space exploration and setting up a new colony for humanity to explore our galaxy, but it was all a front. Humanity has taken its toll on its resources. As scientists, you knew that. Hell, the whole entire planet knew that. It's been coming for many years." She paused for what Rachel could only assume was dramatic effect.
"But it was coming sooner than anyone knew, save for the few scientists and military personnel at the top of AAE. In fact, as you are watching this, the Earth as you knew it no longer exists. The atmosphere finally burned away. It is a dead planet scorched barren not by the sun, but by what we had done to it."
Kurt and Rachel stared at each other in horror.
"Yep, we finally succumbed to global warming. Lucky you for making it out alive."
"But…" started Rachel.
"No buts," said Sue as if she knew what was being said. "The reason we started AAE was to save the human race. And by sending out our ships we have done so. The scientists and records and databases that we managed to save and got off this god forsaken planet are now in cryogenic sleep in their ships floating in orbit, awaiting your arrival to Eden."
"So they weren't searching for a new home?" said Kurt in confusion, looking at Rachel. She looked just as confused as he was.
"Despite that we were trying to save humanity, we didn't have the resources needed to send all the ships as well-equipped as yours. So your friends, the close comrades you made in the program are all asleep floating out in space till you got your asses there."
"As for Eden…" Sue sat back in her chair with a sigh, putting down her glasses.
"We had known of this planet for some time. Its existence was kept a secret. We studied it, and made sure it would provide what we needed. It was a shot in the dark. But it was the best shot if we were going to save humanity. So the Major General and I made the call to launch Adam and Eve. The others knew of course that we planned to send the two of you above the rest while they slept. You two were the most compatible. What with your love for those lousy show tunes of the past and your god awful obsession with theatre. You were also two of our brightest, and your genes are extraordinary. Should the other scientists never make it to Eden once the homing beacon is set in place, have fun recreating the human race. Oh by the way, the ship should be arriving on the planet's surface. We put in some extra boosters to make sure you landed safely. You should now have back control of the ship again, but do remember that Eden is your final destination."
The video cut out.
Kurt held up a finger after he stood. "Did she just say to have fun recreating the human population?"
"Adam and Eve," said Rachel. "AAE. How could I have been so blind?"
"I always thought it meant Alliance Aeronautics Exploration or something like that," said Kurt as he put a hand on his hip. "And the others knew?"
"They knew they would be sleeping while we sat up the makings of a new colony." Rachel shivered. "The whole entire planet is gone Kurt. They all died. Could they not go completely underground or something? What could have happened after we left?"
"I should have known something was up," said the brown haired male as he paced the floor. "It really was too good of an opportunity." He frowned. "No wonder Mercedes always looked so sad when I'd get so excited about finding a new planet."
"They're all sleeping now," said Rachel. "Quinn, Mercedes, Tina, Santana, Brittany, Lauren, Sugar, Marley, Kitty…"
"Finn, Sam, Mike, Matt, Artie, Puck, Joe, Ryder, Jacob," answered Kurt. They felt the ship land on solid ground. It was a weird feeling at first. It had been a while since they had landed on a planet's surface.
"A perfect ten of each in slumber," said Rachel, wrapping her arms around herself. "I'm not sure I like the feeling that I was picked for the program because my womb is exceptional. And what about the others... The trainees who were backups? Blaine, Sunshine, Rory, Unique..."
Kurt cleared the main screen so they could stare out at the planet that was to be their new home. He almost wished Sue hadn't put it so bluntly. But after working with her in the program for four years, you got used to her rather bone crushing style. She was effective at what she did.
"The ship can still be our base for now," said Kurt. He paused. "I'm not sure if I like the idea of sleeping in tents."
"They are packed and ready to go if we need them," said Rachel numbly.
"Oh Rachel," said Kurt, giving her a hug. In the few years they had worked together, they had become good friends. "You're going to have to look to the future honey. We are going to have to survive here till the others arrive."
"Do you think they will?"
Kurt frowned. "We can do what we can for now to make sure they get here at least," said the brown haired man with a soft smile. "Tell you what, we can sing your favorite soundtrack later after we get the homing beacon in place."
Rachel smiled at that. "We do have a whole new planet that possibly has not heard a human voice."
Kurt smiled at her sadly, relieved that the melancholy was on hold... for now. He loved his dad, but he really didn't want to dwell on it while there were things that needed to be done. And they had a lot to do. He picked up his pack and handed Rachel hers. He went over to overhead panel next to the communications station and punched in a key code. A drawer opened with a hiss and he picked up the pieces of the homing beacon. It was lightweight and ready for travel.
"We should honor them somehow," said Rachel. "All the people of Earth I mean."
Kurt frowned, but nodded. "Any ideas?"
"A bonfire?" suggested Rachel. "Under the stars."
"A lone light in the darkness. Poetic, considering," said Kurt. He took Rachel's hand.
"Let's go before any more videos of Sue Sylvester pop up."
Even though the news hung heavy on their minds of their friends and family, the thrill of something new pushed the two young scientists into donning their suits and putting on their packs. Knowing they were now humanity saviors was a large daunting task. But they were about to boldly go where no man had been before.