"Jupiter 2. Jupiter 2, this is the ark ship Cygnus. Over."
The static hiss of a male voice broke through the stillness of the night. John and Don were almost instantly out of their beds and charging toward the ladder to the main deck. They both bolted for the instrument panel. And there, on the very outskirts of the radar, was a large blip. And if it was that big so far out, it meant whatever was coming would be huge.
Within a minute everyone else was behind them, hovering over shoulders or near the radio. No one made a move to reach it, including Smith who'd learn a hard lesson one time too many. They'd all been fooled by aliens who pretended to be something or someone they weren't. Anxiety levels increased as the vessel continued to bear down on them from the outskirts of this sector of space.
Grabbing John's upper arm, Maureen drew close to him, leaning into his warmth and confidence as if it could drive away the chill-to-the-bone feeling she always experienced when faced with unknown space-faring species. Penny simply stood, looking confused in that doe-eyed way she often adopted at times like this. As usual Smith had one hand over the other, clasped above his stomach, the outer one massaging the fingers below it. Eagerly, Will was reaching for the mic. He held it out to his dad, an expectant half-smile on his face.
"Come on, Dad,"
"We all know this could be a trick, son. We've been down this road before. We also know that the whole collective organization of planets with intelligent life know we are in the area and it goes without saying, and you know it well, many of them would give us a lot of grief if they could."
The comment didn't stop him from taking the mic from his son's hand. Still, he hesitated.
Once again, the call came through stronger, less static-y this time. "Professor Robinson, are you there? Are you reading us? This is the ark ship Cygnus calling. Please respond."
Rubbing his chin vigorously as if his skin itched mightily, John held up his hand and activated the microphone. "This is John Robinson, on the Jupiter 2. What is it that you want from us?" There, straightforward. A bit rude perhaps but he wasn't in the mood for games.
"Want from you? Why nothing, except to meet all of you. This is such excellent news. We thought you were all long gone. I can't tell you how overjoyed we are to learn otherwise." The accent was markedly French if John was a decent judge of such things, and he was.
"You speak excellent English," Robinson said, probing for any hint this being was trying to trick him.
"Several years of American education." The unseen man laughed. "I understand you quite well, Professor Robinson. We, too, have been set adrift in this sea of darkness, wandering aimlessly. No hope to return to our original course. A fortuitous turn of events led us to this sector of space."
"And that turn of events being?"
"We picked up your ship to, what did you call it, Space Pod. Ship to Space Pod communications. Your boy, William. The Major. Doctor Smith? We suspected he was with you, but no one was ever sure." The man paused. "When we picked you up, we altered course a bit and decided to contact you. No sense in leaving you out here, constantly thinking you were alone. I know I'd be overjoyed to find other humans nearby."
Making sure communications were cut off, John glanced at the others, finally meeting the eyes of Dr. Smith who, as anticipated, looked both insanely hopeful and totally terrified at the same time. Yet beneath it, he saw the set of the man's jaw and read in his face a hint of the calm calculating mind that always meant trouble for them. Silently, he set up a prayer that Smith wouldn't take any foolish actions.
Looking at the rapidly growing blip on the screen, John knew there wasn't much sense in trying to avoid confrontation. Keying the mic, he said, "We would really appreciate it if you be careful where you put down. There are some things going on down here that might be dangerous to your crew."
There was laughter breaking through on the radio. "You've been away a long time, Professor. The Cygnus can never 'put down' as you call it. She's far too large for that. Built in space and meant to stay in space, never to know the sweet kiss of earth beneath her. So sad, oui? But she's our savior in spite of that. No, you needn't worry about her. Give us your coordinates and we'll take a Stinger instead."
Raising an eyebrow, Don shrugged and glanced at Smith who was more intimately involved in the colonization projects. Stinger? he mouthed silently.
The doctor rewarded him with a puzzled frown. "No idea. Clearly a scout ship of some kind, similar to our Pod perhaps, but we never had anything in development other than what came with us at the time."
"New to me, too," John finally admitted. "But we've been gone a while, perhaps longer than we thought, particularly if they built as ship as large as he implies his is."
Seconds later the choice was made. Their guests would be arriving soon enough and Don was already buckling on a laser pistol. Not fooling around this time, he handed one to Smith who took it without his usual reluctance, then one to Maureen and to Will. John belted on the last one offered. Without saying a word, the decision to leave the rifles aboard was made. That would have looked too aggressive and if these beings truly were humans and from Earth, then they didn't want to start a war unless it appeared absolutely necessary.
They got word the vessel was in orbit about 4 hours later. And an hour after that the scout ship set down about a mile from their camp in one of the larger meadows in the area. John decided it would be more advantageous to wait on them to come to him. Less risky. Strength in numbers that way. At least he hoped that was the case. Worst case scenario was they were aliens with a scout vessel crammed with armed warriors, but the Jupiter 2 had withstood all barrages so far. Beating a hasty retreat inside was better than venturing out and being outflanked by an enemy.
The anticipated cohort of alien warriors armed to the teeth didn't materialize. Instead, there was just one man. He was middle aged, a bit rotund and quite tall. Distinguished looking. Maureen might have even said he was handsome. A Richard Gere look-alike had he been thinner. When the man spotted John, his emerald green eyes fairly sparkled with delight. He seemed genuinely delighted to see the welcoming group of fellow Earthlings.
"Mes amis!" he crowed, throwing his arms wide, ignoring their guarded expressions. The man, wearing what was probably some sort of casual appearing uniform, went to each member of the Jupiter 2 party, kissed everyone on both cheeks whether they welcomed it or not, all except Smith that is. The doctor got nothing more than a curt bow and a trace of a scowl.
"What a momentous occasion," he crowed again as he stepped back, slapping his thighs. "Oh, where are my manners. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Philippe Rousseau, duly appointed Captain of the Cygnus on its long journey to utopia. Of course, we were expecting utopia to look more like a more or less barren ball of rock and scrub brush, but I'm sure you can understand the sentiment of yearning for open spaces and clean air. Anything was looking better than our homeworld, n'est-ce pas?"
"I wouldn't know. We haven't been there in three years, our time. We all assumed that if the laws of physics hold true everywhere then more time has passed for humans on Earth than for us " John was watching him closely although Rousseau probably had no idea why. If this man was a facsimile, a recreation with the intent of fooling them, it was the absolute best imitation ever. Deep down in his heart, he was starting to believe this man was exactly who and what he claimed to be.
"Well, let me tell you, it is no longer as beautiful as this place. Much poverty, disease, blights on crops and subsequent starvation all over the world. Wars had escalated to unimaginable levels. Environmental disasters, everything out of control. Makes me weep to think about what we did to each other and our home. But what can be done, eh? Too late to make changes."
Gesturing to a chair, John invited his guest to sit. "Obviously, someone realized it was time to press on with colonization. Who was it?"
"Believe it or not, it was the Chinese. Why bother with world conquest when there was no world worth conquering." He accepted a glass of refreshing cold lemonade from Judy, who seemed captivated by the visitor.
It wasn't until he glanced down that he realized what he was holding. Eyeing the Kelly-green liquid with suspicion, Judy tapped the back of his hand and sweetly said, "No need to worry. It's from some purple fruits we picked the first day here. But the flesh inside tastes just like lemons even if it's grass colored. And perfectly safe. We checked. We always check." Captain Rousseau didn't notice the scowl on the doctor's face and wouldn't have understood it even if he had.
After a quick exploratory sip, he stated, "Ah refreshing. Merci. And I must say you've done an astonishing job of settling in quickly. You can't achieve that level of planning and prudence without much prior experience." He drained half the glance and looked at John again. "Anyway, as I was saying, the Chinese had the manpower to build an enormous space station within a year of you…leaving. Your supposed demise didn't deter them. They got the station operational and started producing steel at an incredible rate and shuttling it up to the station where an ark ship was being built. The Japanese are always so gifted and innovative, and they followed suit. Soon, there were a total of seven arks being built in geocentric orbit around Earth. They came together in an amazing amount of time."
"And the people involved?"
"Rich and powerful men and women, leaders of countries, celebrities, you name it. They all wanted in on this. Buy their way offworld. Of course, there were many fights over who would be leaving. Each ark has approximately 1000 souls on board. As well as seeds and embryos representative of the world's flora and fauna. Eventually, with everyone clambering to get aboard, there was a lottery set up for groups of people pre-selected based on ability and usefulness. No need for people who sweep up filth from the streets right?"
He sounded so disingenuous when he said it that it was hard to figure out if he was mocking the system or agreeing with it.
"So, they gave up their families." Clearly John found the thought horrific.
"Oh goodness, no. Their immediate families were included. But they came from all professions, medical, scientific, engineering, historians, farmers and ranchers, vets. Also a few artists and musicians. Personally, I think they were included to teach the subsequent generation, rather than to entertain us during our colonization efforts. Thank you, mademoiselle, would you be so kind as to pour me another glassful?" He stretched out the glass to Judy.
"No teachers?"
"Everyone is prepared to teach. That way they learn by practical experience. The basics would be taught by parents, much as I presume you do with your younger children."
Switching the subject back to the original one, Don asked, "And you say this happened quickly?"
"Mais oui, very much so. Humans can be so industrious and innovative when their lives are on the line, don't you think? When you left it was to colonize other worlds due to overpopulation. Within a year, as I said, everything went to…what is that old colloquialism…hell in a hand basket, I believe? Most of the arks left in a hurry, immediately upon completion."
"But you are awake, so I assume something went wrong." Don made it a statement rather than a question.
"Yes and no. We learned from your mistake. There was too much risk in allowing such a huge vessel to travel on auto-navigation or auto-pilot if you prefer that term. No way to handle unforeseen problems. Don't you agree."
"Yes, I'd agree with that." He shot a quick glance in Smith's direction, but it was done so fast that no one but the doctor himself caught it. The look he got back was as void as a blank wall.
"So, the powers that be came to the conclusion that a skeleton crew would take the helm for the entire five-year journey and keep the ship on course. Everyone not needed was put into cryostasis chambers, like your freezing tubes but horizontally placed and stacked. That was actually accomplished before many of the ships were fully built. The personnel compartments were among the first areas to be completed."
John got up and paced a bit while his visitor sat patiently, allowing the news to sink in. "But if you're here now, I'm assuming something went wrong."
"Like you, we ventured into an enormous field of asteroids and meteoroids. I'm guessing a star went supernova and blew some of the orbiting planets into oblivion leaving an enormous number of small pieces in its wake. We took damage to the hull and to our navigation equipment among other things. Many of our navigation computers took a hit too so we lost a lot of data. It was backed up, naturally but that portion of the ship lost much through the tears in the hull." He sighed mournfully. "It was devastating. Needless to say, we gathered our electrical and mechanical specialists and went to work on repairs. Even woke up passengers in those specialties to assist. We succeeded as you can tell but the crucial data was lost and we wandered aimlessly."
Rousseau leaned back in his chair, stretching like an overfed lion, paunch, and curly mane and all. "But our troubles didn't end there. We experienced some problems with our thrusters and had stopped with intent of repairing them. Along came some mercenary-minded aliens who thought our ship was worthy to be salvaged. The grabbed ahold of us, and before we could act on it, they jumped into hyperdrive with us in tow. We didn't fire on them because we didn't know what would happen if we did. It's not like we know a huge amount about hyperspace, juste? I mean, right? We waited them out. And thanked our lucky stars the designers of the ark ships thought to attach laser cannons and torpedoes with some impressive ordinance on the business end. As soon as we dropped out of hyperdrive, we fired on them. They realized we weren't salvage after all, released us, and turned tail."
"That's quite a tale," said John shaking his head in amazement.
"Oui. And it was quite a trial, too. Anyway, to make an already long story short, we eventually ran into a species known as the Taurons."
"We're familiar with them," John informed him. Their initial meeting hadn't gone all that well but many of the references made about them by other aliens had cast them in a fairly benign light. And so he had tried to change his opinion about them.
"They were traders. A deal was struck. They wanted food and water and they had what we wanted. Specifically, star charts to Alpha Centauri. Then all of us were back on course, more or less, when we heard your radio chatter. Naturally your names and language is well known to us. I figured who else could it be? So, my crew and I decided to see if you needed any help."
The explanation had such a strong ring of truth that John no longer experienced any doubts. What he did feel was an overwhelming elation welling within him. These people were really from Earth, had the same goals as they did and had arrived to provide companionship and assistance.