Five SpaceX "Vulture-9" shuttles parked in the huge station's docking bay. No one was on the ground. All shuttles had powered up, but not a single one was leaving.
Behind the entrance gate, Theodore Kane hit the intercom button and made quite a loud buzzing sound.
BZZZZ...BZZZZ...
"Is anyone there?" He yelled at the intercom. "Anyone can hear me?"
Through the gate's glass window he saw no one came out of the shuttles. The vast area of the docking bay was silent and motionless. The Vulture-9s were just lying there like sleeping birds.
He hit the button over and over, until finally someone came out of a shuttle, and walked toward the gate.
"Good morning, Mr. Jaha. So glad you wake up for me." Kane greeted the leader. "You didn't wear a suit."
"No need." Michael said, "If you truly want to float me. You would have opened the bay 5 hours ago." He peered through the glass, and saw Kane was alone. "Interesting. You are by yourself. Want to discuss something in private?"
Kane shrugged, "Well, you knew I had to. Now I understand what you meant back then. Radiation is such a bummer. Isn't it?"
"That's right." Michael nodded. "Your station was not designed to block out radiation hundreds of times higher than the normal level. So all of you are bathing in strong radiation from the ground. Tell me. How many people are in the sick bay now?"
"38. There are 30 old people, and 8 children, just like you predicted. And one of them is my son."
"Hmm… I am sorry. Mr. Kane." Jaha actually felt bad for him. "Have you give them anti-radiation pills?"
"I did, but we don't have enough. The engineer said there are only 2 places in this space station where the radiation level should be low. One is the water tank, and the other is docking bay. Since we cannot all submerge in our drinking water, docking bay is the only place to be."
" Exactly. I don't know if I can call it lucky or unlucky." Michael felt the irony. " We are both in a pickle, it seems."
"Agree. It should be called an impasse." Kane started to analyze. "You are in the bay, but your shuttles only have 2 days of air max, if I decide to open the bay."
"Then please don't open it." Michael also laid out his plan. "If you do, by the end of the second day, I will drive this shuttle and ram your nuclear generator. Without electricity and the heat from the reactor, you will all die in a few hours."
"Then please don't ram it." Kane had a little wry smile. "I didn't know you have that in you."
"Desperate times." Michael also smiled bitterly. "We can both live, or we can both die."
"Why couldn't you just go to another station? You have enough fuel to circle the earth many times."
"Other station will face the same dilemma. Plus they all have defense missiles. They will shoot us down before we even get close. So it's much safer to stay right here."
"Now I see." Kane nodded his head. "Mr. Jaha. You know your situation well, and you make your moves wisely. You are a good opponent. I respect you for that."
"I am also a good chess player. If you ever want a game with me."
Kane chuckled, "Maybe one day. After all this is over."
"I am ready for a chess game any time." Michael knew he was winning. "So do you agree to open the gate now? Let all of you to come into the bay and survive?"
"I am thinking about it. But how do we fix the food and air problem? This station can only support 300."
Michael's face turned solemn, "Sadly the population number will not be a problem soon. I estimate that the high level of radiation will kill at least 200 people in the first month. Some heroes have to sacrifice themselves, just to go and do the engine maintenance, or food gathering, or any other things needed to be done outside of this docking bay. The real problem is how do any of us continue to live. The heightened radiation will eventually kill us all."
Kane felt sick to his stomach, "Is there anything we can do to live for a longer term?"
"I haven't think of anything feasible yet, but for now, we got 700 people who can work together to find a solution. They are the brightest minds of the Earth. Together I have confidence that we can overcome this hurdle. "
"In that case…" Kane pressed a button. The metal gate slid up silently. "Welcome to the Musk Station of America!"
===#=#=#=#=#===
Space Station Polaris, top level.
"Becca, don't !" Grace stepped in and took the radio from Becca. "If they know you are here, they will kill you. I am serious. Many of us blame the extreme tension between China and USA on your father's account. They believed his relentless exploitation caused the war, and I would have been one of them, if I hadn't heard what Chris said about ALIE escaping."
"But we gotta save them, Grace." Becca looked out of the window frowning. "The radiation level is too high to survive for those space stations. They will not last long."
"Let them figure out something, like making a shield, or designing some better radiation suit. Problem solved."
Becca shook her head, "Grace. They are living there 24/7. You cannot expect them wearing suits all the time, and how do they make a shield that covers the whole station? If we don't do anything, people with less cover will die in 5 days, and..."
"Alright, alright. You convinced me, but how do we save them?"
Becca pointed downward, "We are standing in a gene-modding factory that can turn normal blood into radiation resistant ones. All the equipment is just down there. We just need to get people inside, hook up the needles, and transform their blood by the machine. It's pretty easy to do so."
"Wait, wait, Becca." Grace said, "Can you teach me how to do it?"
"Sure, it's a piece of cake for you to learn." Becca said, "But I think it will be much faster if we both do it."
"No, no, no." Grace put a hand on her arm. "You seriously still don't know how much we hated your family. So please stay in the lab. I don't want to lose you."
"Then I will be your assistant." Becca suggested. "I will wear a mask and a white cap all the time. No one needs to know, but I cannot just sit aside and do nothing."
" I agree, but let me do all the talking, OK?"
"OK!" Becca then think of something. "Wait, let me do some changes to the machine first."
"For what? You were the one who couldn't wait."
"Yeah, but since their gene is going through dramatic change anyway, I can use my newly designed one, so their blood can turn radiation into beneficial energy. This way they will heal faster, run longer, and react quicker with radiation."
Grace's eyes got wider, "Oh, so instead of hurting them, it will turn them into superheroes?"
"Not that much, it will just make them a little bit better." Becca went to a fridge and took out a vial, which contained her latest secret genes.
"So what are we waiting for?" Grace shooed Becca. "My assistant, go down to the factory and do your job."
===#=#=#=#=#===
"Space Station Musk of America, this is Space Station Polaris. We have the gene modification factory to help you resist the radiation. Repeat, we can help you to fix the radiation problem. Over." Grace hailed each space station in turn.
A reply came in, "This is Theodore Kane from the Musk station. Do you really have the cure?"
Grace grabbed the radio, "Yes, we do. This is a factory that can modify your gene to resist radiations. We have the equipment to perform the transfusion for hundreds of people at the same time…"
"Stop right there. From my record your station belongs to the Eligius family. Since when you started to do any charity?"
"This is not charity." Grace knew why Kane was dubious. She wouldn't have believed it herself. "This is the end of world, and we all need to work together to survive. Our equipment is the best…"
"How much are you asking? What do you want from us?"
"Nothing. We just want to help."
"An Eligius wants to help others for free?! No thanks. We had enough headaches to handle already. Bye."
Their radio went silent.
Grace shook her head, but she persisted, "Space Station ShenZhen of China, this is Space Station Polaris. We have the gene modification factory to help you resist the radiation. Repeat, we can help you to fix the radiation problem. Over."
A reply came in, "This is General Zhu. What do you want?"
"Nothing. I just want to cure you."
"You are in a station funded by America, which just devastated my whole country. Now you want redemption?"
"No, no, we are neutral in this. I am an Indian, not American."
"Yeah, right. Indian are always on the side of America. Sorry but we cannot trust you."
Their radio went silent.
"Space Station Shiva of India…" Grace suddenly felt her voice choking, "Chief, Mr. Dhawan, it's me. Grace. Are you still there? We have the cure for radiation. Come in and let me fix you."
A voice crackled alive, "Oh my God! Grace, is that really you? You are still alive! I thought you were on the ground. How is miss…"
Grace had to cut in quickly, "Miss Ellis? She's just fine. She's still my assistant."
"Oh, I thought Miss …"
"Miss Ellis is fine, yeah, no worries." Grace cut him off again.
"I see. Glad to hear your voice. We have 60 people feeling sick already. Will you treat them?"
"Of course. Believe me. After this gene modification, they will love the radiation."
"Wonderful! We are all getting to the shuttle now. See you very soon."
"See you soon, chief." Grace jumped up. "Yes, Yes!"
Nothing felt better than saving your own people.
===#=#=#=#=#===
"What is your name?" A little Indian girl asked. Her blood was pulsing through a tube of the machine. She looked tired but happy.
Becca approached, "Oh, my name is Betty Ellis. Nice to meet you!"
"Hi, Betty! My name is Becca." Little girl replied politely.
"Oh, you too?" Becca slipped her tongue a little too fast, then covered it, "My sister's name is Becca too."
"Why do you wear a mask? Are you sick?"
"No, it's my working outfit. I just have to wear it." Becca smiled. She is really cute, a little too curious though.
"So when I wake up, my stomach will be fine? I will not lose any more hair?"
"Definitely. That's what we do here."
"Thank you, Betty..." After saying it, she yawned and started dozing.
Becca touched her black hair, feeling great for the first time in many months.
Well, cannot rest now. we got 439 more to go.
One day later, all 600 people from the Indian space station had gone through the gene modding. They all felt better than ever, something in their blood invigorated them. After the breakfast, they were gathering in the mass hall and getting ready to go.
A woman's voice spoke in the PA speaker, "Everyone, I am Betty the nurse. Before you go, I'd like to read a little poem from my husband. He gave it to me last time when we…" She choked with sad emotion.
Everyone stopped talking. The mass hall was so quiet. Almost everyone lost people close to them, so they all felt the same pain as Betty did.
"Sorry, I just couldn't help it. We have all lost our love ones, and I hope this poet can help you a little bit, as it had helped me."
In Peace You Leave the Shore,
In Love May You Find It Once More,
Safe Passage on Your Travels,
Until Our Final Journey to the New World.
Some people repeated after her. Some changed the last sentence to "Until Our Final Journey to the Ground". For some reason, they felt like each word was engraved in their heart. The poem was like a tribute to their fallen love ones.
The woman in the speaker was silent for a long while, then said, "This is a very difficult time for all of us. The future is grim and uncertain, but I believe if we all work together, there is no obstacles we can't overcome. Thank you so much for trusting us! You are all forever in my heart! May We Meet Again!"
Everyone in the hall echoed: "May We Meet Again." Then they started to hug each other. Just two days ago, most of them suffered heavy losses: their procession, their friends and families, all gone in a flash, but through the crisis they found a new big family, a common purpose, and hope for the future. They were what was left of humanity and civilization. They would go back to their station stronger and more determined to survive. They were the people of the Ark.
===#=#=#=#=#===
Back in the lab, Grace suddenly patted Becca in her shoulder, pointing at the window excitedly, "We did it, Becca! We did it!"
Becca looked out and smiled.
Outside, 11 stations were forming a line. Australian one first, American Musk Station behind, while Chinese ShenZhen Station waited in a much further place.
Are you watching this, Chris? Becca thought. Do you see all 12 stations are being saved? But most importantly, will I ever see you again?
