Ark Noah Prologue
Hey Everyone!
This is a new story I'm writing. A science fiction with a bit of fantasy thrown in. The first chapter is done and will follow shortly. In the meantime I hope you like this little bit. I have a couple of other stories on the site but I have no plans to continue them at the moment and I'm currently rewriting another. Email your comments to jewelofthewestmeadow@gmail.com
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Disclaimer:
The following works are copyrighted by the author. All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the author. All characters are entirely fictional and any resemblance to living persons is coincidental. This story will contain scenes of explicit or erotic sex between men. If this is illegal in your country or state, or offends you, please leave now.
Prologue
CORRIN Day stood at attention waiting to receive the refugees from the massive life pods. He watched as the docking tube connected safely and securely to the hatch and the light above switched to green.
"Docking complete," the AI droned throughout the receiving bay.
Corrin took a deep breath of recycled air and opened the hatch. Dozens of refugees poured out from the tube in various emotional states. Some so solemn and sad eyed, while others howled in remembered pain.
These were humans, and they had fled the first home of humanity.
"Welcome to Noah!" Corrin exclaimed. "Please gather toward the aft of the receiving bay and await further instructions." Corrin tried to keep his voice as devoid of emotion as possible.
He remembered the day the news burst had been sent to them. In a shocking twist of fate the sun's lifespan had accelerated. It had begun to contract and expand again and engulf the earth. Scientists estimated that it would take less than a few weeks for it to happen but they were wrong. Right now the earth was being burned.
Fortunately human kind wasn't in any danger of extinction. There were already dozens of colonies throughout this region of space. Efforts were made to construct a refugee camp were the last evacuees could be taken to. And thus the Ark Space Station Noah had been born. It was constructed to be a temporary ark facility orbiting Saturn VI. Refugees would arrive and register themselves. They would be given provisions before moving on to the outer colonies.
Preparing for this day had been easy for Corrin. But the reality of this event couldn't have been starker. Suddenly his one piece, steel blue station uniform felt tight and uncomfortable as he observed the faces of his fellow race. He would have liked to be stationed in Navigation or maybe even Engineering, but his superior officers had commented that he had a kind face that would reassure the refugees. So he would greet the displaced people and offer them comfort.
He was not alone though. He heard other officers murmuring their sympathies and giving condolences to those who had lost family members during the evacuation. Certainly if it hadn't been for the hypergates, the life pods would never have escaped in time.
Finally, the last of the refugees made it out of the tube. One of the last to exit was a young boy of maybe nine years, Corrin guessed. He was alone, and looked utterly lost, his short dark brown hair mussed and his blue eyes dull. Corrin felt a pang in his chest. Slowly, he walked up to the little boy and knelt in front of him.
"Hello," he said seriously. He remembered he had never liked to be talked down to at that age.
The boy looked at Corrin guardedly.
"I'm Corrin. Welcome to Noah. What is your name?"
"S-Sean," he stuttered in a surprisingly deep voice.
"Sean," Corrin repeated. "Are you alone?"
The boy nodded, a grief-stricken expression coloring his face.
"I see. Listen to me, Sean. I'm going to need your help. I know it might be difficult, but I need you to be strong. You look tough to me," Corrin said, eyeing Sean appraisingly.
The boy seemed to relax and perk up at the challenge. Corrin guessed that Sean needed something to do to temporarily divert his mind from his grief. Before he retreated from the universe.
"I-I am tough. Pops told me so." Corrin saw Sean's lower lip quiver before he bit it. "What must I do?"
Corrin nodded, and told himself not to smile. Sean didn't need smiles now. He needed support.
In the back of his mind he wondered where this sudden need to comfort this boy came from.
Corrin stood up and put his hand behind Sean's neck. "You, young man, are going to help me by becoming a rock for these people."
"How can I be a rock? I'm a boy!" Sean frowned.
"Yes, you are a boy, a human, and so we all are. Look around you. Look at your fellow people's faces. What do you see?"
Sean let his gaze roam throughout the receiving bay, a thoughtful look on his face.
"They all look sad," Sean said. He lifted his hand and gripped the leg of Corrin's uniform, looking up at Corrin with big brown eyes.
"Pops told me that if I ever see someone that's sad I should try to help them feel better."
Corrin nodded; silently thanking the stars this boy's life had been happy before... well, before.
"And that is what I mean when I say you need to become a rock. Be strong for these people. Support them. Can you do it?"
Sean nodded firmly. "I will."
Corrin and Sean walked, and talked, and comforted the refugees, handing them water and rations. And later, when everyone had been taken to quarters and settled down, Corrin took Sean to the Viewing Deck. They sat on a steel bench in front of the enormous hyperglass window, and looked at the orange moon before them.
"What is it called? Sean asked, his face showing the awe at seeing the celestial body.
"Saturn VI. But everyone knows it as the moon Titan."
"Cool."
"Yes. Did you know that right this very moment there are drones down there, harvesting the nitrogen, and the methane, and bringing back water for us?"
Sean turned to Corrin. "Really? What do you do with it?"
Corrin chuckled, hearing the interest in Sean's voice. "Well, we use the nitrogen for many different things, as well as the methane. But the water is most important. Would you like to know more?"
Sean didn't answer, and was silent for a while.
"What happens now?" He asked softly.
Corrin knew what he was asking. And he found himself loathe to part with this resilient child. "That is entirely up to you."
It was silent for a while again. Then Sean stood up and walked toward the window. He touched the cool hyperglass. Corrin could see Sean's shoulders shaking, and he wanted to get up and embrace the boy. But he refrained. The boy was expelling his grief in his own way.
When he turned back to Corrin, his eyes were dry, but the tear tracks were still visible on his cheeks.
"I want to stay here, on Noah," he said. "I want to learn the way of space. And... And I want to know why the sun died so quickly."
Corrin was slightly embarrassed by the relief and happiness that coursed through him. He admitted to himself that he wanted to remain in this boy's life, and be his rock.
"Would you mind if I was your rock?"
Sean smiled.
THE oppressing darkness of the DakThran scout ship was filled with the smug satisfaction of those aboard. The mission was a roaring, or should they say, scorching success. The home of the vile vyt skym was even this moment being destroyed in the scorching heat of the sun. Earth was no more.
"Vaht dun osh nu?" An ensign asked, his malevolent amber eyes glaring respectfully at the captain. Ensigns were notorious for being slow-witted, and this particular one wanted to know what they were going to do now.
The captain felt like sticking his saber through the ensign's neck, but restrained himself when he remembered it was only an ensign asking him a common dumb question.
"Osh tryk toish!" He barked. They were going home. Their people would soon begin to pick off the rest of the vyt skym.