Published June 18, 2017. Happy Father's Day!

I dedicate this chapter to my father, who, like Sam, has always supported, encouraged, and believed in his children.


"Close Every Door"

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:8-9


The prisoners struggled to keep track of time. Of course, in outer space, time was rather relative, but the Earth astronauts had always maintained a routine based on Earth's units of measurement. Now they had no devices to tell them what time it was at various locations on Earth. They were kept on alien vessels more than planets, so they could not observe the sky long enough to identify rhythms in rotation, orbit, sunlight, starlight, moonlight. A few times, they tried to improvise clocks using water, gravel, and whatever other items they could obtain without rousing the guards' suspicions. But eventually they stopped thinking in terms of hours and days, and instead measured time by how often they were fed, the stubble growing on their faces, and length of their nails and hair.

Sam wished they had a way to keep records of everything they were experiencing. He could only imagine the field day that Earth's scientific community would have upon finding out that so many alien life forms existed, with their own technologies and cultures. Since he had no writing implements, he tried to repeat and memorize information so that he would not forget it. If he escaped, he would write it down and try to share it with his home world.

They truly had no idea how long it would be before he saw Earth or any Earthlings again, if that day ever came. Sam did not want to forget the names and faces or his loved ones, or any part of his own identity, what his place on Earth had been. At first he tried not to think too much about his family, friends, and colleagues on Earth, because it hurt too much and caused him to worry; but as more time passed, the fear of forgetting them prompted him to go over their names, envision their faces, and remember all the little details.

My name is Samuel Holt. Samuel is the name of an Old Testament prophet. Others include Samuel Johnson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Samuel Adams, Samuel Morris. He reminded himself of his friends' and family members' names and birthdays, which related to quite a few other topics. Matt has the same name as an Apostle, the tax collector and author of one of the Gospels. Katie was born April 3 and named after Katherine Goble Johnson. Shiro's full name is Takashi Shirogane; he was born on February 29 but celebrates his birth on February 28.

Sam thought of all the Galaxy Garrison faculty and their respective achievements. He had taught, trained, and mentored too many students to remember all of them, but some stood out as particularly promising, and had gone on to have successful careers of their own. Sam had always liked running into alumni, or receiving them in his office or at his house, and discussing what they had been up to since graduation. Many thanked him for the impact he had on their lives.

To keep their minds active and sharp, Sam tried to test their memory. When he exhausted personal information and memories from his own experiences, he challenged them to list other categories of names and facts: historical figures, state capitals, books of the Bible (he had always tripped up on the deuterocanonical Apocrypha), Latin roots and mottoes and classifications, the mythological namesakes of planets and constellations.

"Ad astra per aspera?"

Shiro remembered, "That can be translated as 'to the stars through difficulties' or 'a rough road leads to the stars.'

Sam nodded and continued, "Ad astra per alas fideles?"

Matt answered, "'To the stars on the wings of the faithful ones.'"

"Per audacia ad astra?"

"'Through boldness to the stars.'"

"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via?"

"'There is no easy way from the earth to the stars.'"

"And what is it from?"

"Seneca the Younger's Hercules Furens."

"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori?"

Shiro answered, "'It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country,' from Horace." In the past, when learning about all the possible ways that an astronaut could die, Shiro had mentally substituted "patria" with "planeta," thinking the same principle applied to one's planet, in the sense of making progress in research, knowledge and exploration. Now, though, as they heard more about the Galra's conquest of the known universe, Shiro could see only the militaristic meaning in the motto.

Every day they focused on a different subject. On one day it would be important dates in world history. On another it would be famous works of literature. The day that was both most enjoyable and most distressing was when they focused on music, trying to remember all their favorite singers and musicians, and realizing they had already forgotten the words to many songs they used to know.

Sam wondered what had happened to their ship's Bible. He did not know whether to hope that it had been found and preserved or lost. He had always thought if aliens were discovered, missionaries of all kinds of religions would want to go out and convert aliens. He doubted that anyone in outer space could read it—but then again, they had some kind of unseen technology that translated the speech of various alien races into each other's native spoken languages (not unlike the Apostles on Pentecost), so maybe they had something similar for written language too.

What would aliens think of humanity if they deciphered the Bible? What would they think of the text itself, if they had no one to explain its complex origins and various interpretations? The morality of the New Testament might do these oppressive and oppressed people some good, but the wars and ancient customs of the Old Testament might inspire the Galra to new levels of barbarism.

The rumors of experimentation on prisoners made Matt think of slavery in the United States and the Holocaust in Europe. In both cases, very intelligent doctors had used human beings, instead of lab rats or guinea pigs, as test subjects for scientific experiments. The doctors had considered the African slaves and European Jews to be less human than them, or else had not cared about performing such painful and damaging tests on unwilling human beings.

Did the Galra see their prisoners as animals rather than people? Did they just want unpaid labor and brutal entertainment, regardless of who provided it? Did they think their species, or race, or whatever they were, was superior to all others? Philosophical questions emerged from the scientific: What was the difference between alien people and alien animals? How did one determine personhood? What was personhood?

One story from Matt's history classes stood out when he thought about the Holocaust. He had read about a priest who was imprisoned at Auschwitz for opposing the Nazis. When some prisoners escaped, ten men were randomly selected to be executed in their stead, as a deterrent to others. One of them was a father who worried about that would happen to his children if he died, so the priest offered to die in his place. The soldiers accepted the bargain, and the priest was killed while the other man lived to see the liberation of the camps and the end of the war. The sad irony was that the man's children were killed before they could be reunited, so the only life saved was the father's, while his family did not benefit from the priest's sacrifice.

After being spared from the gladiatorial arena, Matt thought he now knew how the rescued man had felt. The other prisoners thought he was in shock because his friend had attacked him—and at first he had been—but he was more shocked by his friend's true intentions and lack of fear for his own life. And yet it was just like Shiro to put his crew first. Their original mission no longer mattered, but keeping his companions safe was still his priority.

Shiro's selfless action, and his final instruction, made Matt determined to survive and find his family. That would be the best way to honor Shiro and make his sacrifice worthwhile.


Music: "Close Every Door" from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

History: The priest at Auschwitz was Saint Maximilian Kolbe. The man he saved was Franciszek Gajowniczek, who lived another 53 years and was present at Kolbe's canonization in 1982.