The Ace 254 drifted gracefully on it's carefully engineered axis, turning it's nearly 800 tonne galvanized steel body out of the sun's rays. The never-ending blanket of stars pirouetted around it, the backdrop to a play most beautiful. The brightest and boldest humans to ever live settled in for their artificial night.
As they pulled their synthetic wool quilts to their chins, and listened to the now habitual whir of the mechanics contained not an inch from their tired heads, they could almost convince themselves they were back home. Back on Earth, being lulled to slumber by the planet's natural noises and cycles.
But try as he might, Thomas Cassidy could not.
He could not grow accustom to the constant hum of the station, the view of cold unending space at every porthole. He could not allow himself to feel peace trapped inside the thin metal walls, where uncertainty and mystery lay beyond. Though his fellow station mates had accepted their new dwelling, Thomas still fondly recalled earth. Before the collapse, before they abandoned their home planet to brave the final frontier.
Thomas remembered watching his father stand before the decrepit farmhouse, assuring his son that he couldn't leave the place.
"We were born on earth." The old man had said. "We're meant to die here. That's the way God intended."
Thomas scoffed, staring into the abyss from the porthole by his bed. "God." He mumbled. Where was god when the world died? He thought. When the world needed him most and creatures born from nightmares demolished his once most precious creation? He'd seen much of the galaxy, bore witness to horror's and spectacles he would never have believed possible...But even in the vastness of the universe, god was just too big a possibility. A prospect he couldn't quite wrap his belief around.
Nearly twenty years had passed since that last day at the farmhouse. 20 years since he felt soil beneath his feet, and the Texas air in his lungs. He'd wanted to be a farmer growing up, like his father, and his grandfather, and his great grandfather before that. Now, farming was left up to the engineers and biologists. Conducting genetic experiments beyond his brain capacity to make a crop yield he could never accomplish in a hundred years on earth dirt. In comparison, Thomas was a simple man. A doctor, giving the injured and the sick the human touch a robot could never replicate. Though the robots were efficient, there was something very clinical about the way the mended the wounded. Something cold. No room for small talk or emotion. Just fix the issue, and away with you. Lucky for Thomas, those robots had to be taught. Besides...If it weren't for his wife's distrust of robots, they would have never met. She was fighting in the Mercury War, and came close to having her leg blown clean off. After such a long fight against the vex, it was no surprise she shut off every Exo who approached her. Fortunately, Thomas was quick to stumble to her side and stammer out an introduction. They'd been inseparable ever since.
"What's on your mind, Tom?"
He turned at the voice, his mood instantly improving as Selvala herself sauntered in. "Funnily enough...You."
She laughed, rolling her eyes. "I'm sure."
"No it's true." he said, rising from his seat on the bed. "You always are."
"Well for the time being shift your attention to you two sons." She said with a playful grin. "They need to be tucked in by their daddy."
"Yes, ma'am." He said compliantly, kissing her cheek before departing. He made his way to the metal door that was covered in stickers and banners, slipping through as it whooshed open.
The boys were leaping from bed to bed, laughing and screaming wildly.
"Alright now, settle 'er down, boys." Thomas warned, with his hands on his hips.
"But dad...We ain't sleepy yet." Jaxon said, barely able to get the words out as he laughed.
"You 'arent' sleepy yet." Thomas corrected.
"But dad you say ain't all the time." Atlas inquired, tilting his head and lifting a corner of his mouth in confusion. Thomas saw himself in the boy as he prodded for answers.
"Your mother doesn't appreciate it. Say's y'all need to be all proper like."
"'You all.'" Atlas teased with a grin.
"I'll tell you what…'You all' are rascals!" He darted to Jaxon, tickling him as he squealed in delight.
"Atlas help!" He giggled.
His older brother jumped to his aid, climbing atop his father and trying to pry his big hands from his brother. Thomas caught his eldest son, tickling him too. The boys were a fit of laughter, turning red in the face.
"Well this doesn't sound like tucking in." Selvala shouted over the squeals. Thomas and his boy's all looked shamefully at Selvala, who shook her head and clucked her tongue with a smirk.
"It's bedtime, boys." She said. "For all of us." She gave her husband a wink, leaving the room as quickly as she entered.
Thomas put Jaxon in his bed, and carried Atlas to the other. "Your mother is right. It's getting late. Growing boys need sleep."
"I don't like the night time." Atlas protested.
"The nighttime is nothing to be afraid of, Atlas."
"But the Fallen come out at night." He said. "What if the fallen come and blow up the station?"
"Don't you go frettin' 'bout that." Thomas said, stroking back the child's dark hair. "We have alarms and patrols set up so that don't happen."
"What if they blow up the patrols?"
"Well then your mama will kill 'em all."
That seemed to brighten Atlas' mood, and he nodded his tired head. "One day I'll kill them too."
Thomas furrowed his brow, sighing gently. "Violence may not be what you're suited to." He explained. "Your mother...You see she was raised in a different time. Being violent was her only choice. You and Jaxon...This is a safe time. You don't need to be violent."
"Okay, Dad." Atlas murmured, his eyelids drooping. Thomas smiled at his son, kissing his forehead.
"Goodnight, son." He said. He repeated the ritual with Jaxon, and shut the light as he left the room.
He heaved a sigh, hoping what he told them was true. He hoped, and prayed with every ounce of belief left in him that this was indeed a safe time. That his children would know a time of peace. If there was a god, he would spare them from a life of pain and anguish. If there is a god Thomas thought to himself. He has them destined for something great.