Destiny's Child

We live life as we dream - Alone!
Joeseph Conrad

I was on the space station Neil Armstrong - it seemed right that the first major space station should be named after the first man on the moon. Armstrong was running normally again. A virus had escaped from one of the science labs, and had caused an epidemic. Luckily one of the bio-chemists had found an antidote much to everyone's relief. The station was one of the first built and launched in space, its primary task was to find out how long, and how much it would cost to send a flight to Proxima Centurai.
One of the experiments we had been working on was trying to exterminate a foreign virus, it escaped and infected all two hundred of the inhabitants of the station. Communications between us and Earth had temporarily been cut off, as hardly anyone had enough strength to operate the radio, and those who did were working with the chemists to find the antidote. We were all still under strict quarantine until we could make sure that the virus had bee wiped out.
I was lying on my bunk, when a speaker in the ceiling burst into life.
"Could Communications Officer Miles report to the bridge. Commander Jest would like to speak with him." I groaned, just when I was getting tired. I jumped off the bunk and opened the sliding metal door. As I walked along the corridor my maroon red uniform brushed against itself.
The Station was two miles in diameter, and shaped like a three spoked wheel. The designers had considered the large distances, and so had installed lifts at every available place. I stepped into one of the express elevators, which took you
straight up to the bridge.
"Bridge Please." I said unnecessarily. There was a pause followed by, "Could you please state you name, rank, and access code."
"Communications Officer Andrew Miles, code 623921" The elevator zipped up at a brisk forty miles an hour, though the gentle acceleration, and deceleration made in inconspicuous. The doors opened slowly, and I stepped out onto the bridge. A few
people nodded their heads as they passed me.
I looked around for Commander Jest. His short but stout bulk was seated next to one of our high powered radios. Looking up he saw me, and motioned for me to come over with his hand. I obediently trotted over. He looked at me inquisitively, and
asked, "Have you used the radios since the epidemic?"
"No sir." I answered truthfully "Haven't really had a need to." His eyebrows wrinkled.
"It's just that we seem to have a difficulty with getting them to work," Jest looked puzzled.
I leant over and tried it myself. Jest was right, all you got was static. It was unusual, as they were state of the art.
"Are they all like that?" I asked. He nodded sombrely.
"Every, single, bloody, one!"
I shrugged my shoulders. "Well I don't know what the hell's happened."
"Would you mind working on them for a while, see if you can work out what's going on?" I looked unsure. "At time and a half?" I smiled.
"Sure." I pulled a seat up. From the drawer in the desk I picked up a clipboard with A4 paper on it. I wrote down things to check, and gave myself space to write down any observations.
Ten hours later I was still working on it. I had used forty pages, and nothing had turned up. I had used every frequency I could find. The radio was neither receiving messages or sending them.
Jest walked up behind me. I was scanning over some large and small scale blueprints of the station.
"Any luck?" He asked. I prodded my pencil to keep my place on the drawing.
"Not as such sir. Though I think I know what has happened." Jest looked eager so I continued. "Look at these wires. This map says they don't cross over at any point which is where I thought something might have happened, so I was stuck. And then it
occurred to me," I lifted another blueprint, and laid it over the desk. "Here is where the problem is." I pointed to the dish that sent the signals. Jest sighed, and then shook his head.
"What I can't understand is why there is only one dish. There should always be a fail safe..." It was my turn to shake my head, this time in annoyance. "It is probably because a small meteor crashed into it, or something similar."
"Well done. You'll get a bonus for this. Shouldn't you get some sleep." I nodded. "Yeah s'pose. I don't know how you're going to get a message back to Earth quickly. The maintenance team 'll take quite a long time over that dish." Jest snorted. "You don't realise. They died in the epidemic. It's like a dead end street."
My eyes grew wider when I heard the information.
"Still," Jest continued. "There's nothing you can do about it. Now get some sleep."
I walked off the bridge drowsily, my brain still trying to work out a solution. I opened one of the ordinary elevators, and press the down button. The light plastic box jolted into life, and took me to my floor. I emerged from the elevator and walked to my cabin. I slid my card through the identity machine, and the door slid back. I
stumbled into the room, and undressed myself.
Walking over to my tiny kitchenette I turned on the kettle, and put some instant de-caffinated coffee into my mug. It was followed by some powdered milk. The protective tint in my window began to fade as the sun set on Earth. The sight still left me in awe.
A glint distracted my eye. I thought for a second, and then went back into the bunk section. I picked up my well used telescope, and pointed it to where I had seen the glint.
To begin with I couldn't see clearly what it was, as I brought the picture into focus I worked out what it was. I stepped backwards and smiled. I turned around and put my uniform back on. I opened the door again, and rushed over to the express elevator. The doors slid open, and I stepped in.
"Bridge please." The computer waited. "Bridge please." I repeated.
"Please state your name, rank, and access code." The computer said smugly.
"Agh. Communications Officer Andrew Miles, access code 623921."
The elevator buzzed, and took me up to the bridge. The doors slid open with a squeak. Everyone looked up. From the back of the room Jest called out, "I thought I told you to get some sleep?"
"Yes sir, you did sir..." I began.
"Well what are you doing up here the Miles?"
"I know how we can contact Earth." Jest's head flicked up, and his eyes narrowed. "Well get over here then." I jogged over. Jest looked at me expectantly. "Well?" He asked.
"Look," I said leaning over a set controls for the camera. I zoomed in on the metallic object.
"I don't see what it is." Jest admitted. I zoomed in further. The satellite came into view.
"Well I'll be buggered!" Jest exclaimed. "What are you trying to do, steal my job?" I smiled at the praise.
Jest turned to one of the radio operators who were fiddling with
the controls.
"See if you can get that satellite on remote." Jest ordered to Johnson, one of the operators. There was a long pause we all waited with anxiety. Johnson turned
and looked at us.
"Sorry sir. The satellite is turned away from us, it's not picking up the signals." "all right Johnson, there's no need for you to apologise." Jest reassured.
"Fuck!" He muttered under his breath. "Now someone is going to have to go out there. Bugger bugger bugger bugger."
I turned round.
"Sir, I have a permit which allows me to drive the Space Explorer. I wouldn't mind taking it out to the satellite, if I had a navigator..." I was a small hope.
"Okay, seeing as though you got us this far, I don't see why not. Though I'll have to look around for a suitable navigator. Look, I want you to get at least ten hours sleep before you go out, understand?"
"Yessir." I strolled off.
When I got to my cabin, I didn't feel as though I had to stay awake for anything, so I fell asleep quickly.
The huge ball of incandescent fire shone through my tinted window. I squinted my eyes, even though the light wasn't powerful. I wriggled under the standard issue blankets. Turning onto my side my clock said that I had slept for eleven hours. I flicked back the covers, and donned a clean uniform. Smiling contentedly, I sauntered into my kitchenette. I flicked the kettle on, and broke some artificial eggs into my frying pan, followed by a slice of smoked bacon.
Ten minutes later, I had finished my breakfast, and was washed, ready to tackle anything. The videophone buzzed. I walked to it. I pressed the audio button, and asked "Yes?"
There was a hum, followed by, "Miles, it's Commander Jest." I pressed the button for visual. Jest was stood in the ragged clothes I saw him in the night before. His hair was ruffled, and his face covered with grimy whiskers.
"I take it you didn't get any sleep last night?" I joked. Jest rose his hand to his cheek, and then understood. "Oh no. What with the epidemic, and then no communications, agh. It seems to much of a hassle. Anyway, it's about time we saw you up here on the bridge."
"No problem, I'll be there in a few minutes." Jest's end of the line blanked. I snapped the off button down, and went to the door. I ran a comb through my hair, and then went to join the Commander at the bridge.
When I arrived at the bridge Jest was dealing with other people so I had to wait for a few minutes until he was ready. After giving the second in command a list of things to do, he wandered to me calmly.
"Sorry about the wait, everyone needs something to do. Right well, it seems the best navigator we've got for the Explorer is Sergeant Whise - Do you know him," I shook my head. "Well anyway he was doing nothing, now he's got a job for a few days."
Jest picked up a few typed pages of writing from the desk next to him.
"If you don't mind we would like you to stay out there for about a week. We're meant to go over and clean out that satellite every now and again. I don't know if you're familiar with procedure, but you have to fill in numerous forms, half of them for insurance. Of course you will be on triple pay. If you could just fill in these then that
would be great." Jest dropped the sheets into my hand and then walked off.
I sat down at my desk, and pulled out a ball point pen and began to laboriously fill in the sheets.
A few hours later I handed the forms back to Jest. He looked at them, and then said, "Right, let's get you a permit to leave the station." Jest scribbled furiously on a piece of paper, and then handed it to me.
"Give this to anyone who needs proof that you have authorisation to leave. Take the best Explorer there, oh and make sure you have all of your packs on your suit, you don't know what might happen." I grinned.
"I think you're paranoid, but you're the boss."
"Go on get the hell out of here." Jest joked.
I left for the docking bay. First though I had to pay a visit to the lockers, to get my space suit. I had put my suit on, and attached all of the fixtures, including a tool kit to fix the Explorer if necessary.
There were packs containing enough food and water to feed two people for a month, and an oxygen supply for ten days. The suits were different from the type that were used on the moon landings. Instead of the bulky costume, they were now thin, and
far more mobile. From inside it was comfortable, and the auto visor protected your
eyes from any unwelcome light. There was a little light that shone from behind your head, so that other people could see you.
Actually wearing the suit outside of zero gravity felt heavy and annoying. I shuffled around to get used to the feeling. The manual stated that space suits were not necessary, as the Explorer was guaranteed to stop air leaking, and any other
inconveniences. At flight school though we were told to `never take risks,' so we always wore them.
On my hands I was wearing a thin pair of gloves. They were thick enough to keep pressure and oxygen inside my suit, but not as hard wearing as the larger type designed for use in space. This gloves were needed as flexibility was a property needed to `fly' the Explorer.
I was getting impatient for Whise to appear, the few minutes I waited seemed like hours. Whise was about six foot, with a small beard growing on the bottom of his chin. He strode along the corridor powerfully, other people stepped out of his way naturally. The space suit he was wearing meant that you couldn't see exactly what he was wearing, though his posture informed you of that.
He looked at me. We had only met briefly at a party Commander Jest had held. "You must be Miles." Whise observed. I nodded my head inside the helmet. "Well, let's get on with it."
As we walked towards the bay where the Explorer was held, I tried to make conversation. I pressed a small button on my forearm which activated my radio system.
"So, how long have you been navigating the Explorer for?" I asked nonchantly.þ000
"I don't really count how long, it must be about five or six years now."
"Oh, that long. Were you working here when the Station opened." I inquired. Whise thought for a second.
"Well, not exactly. I worked on building it, using one of the transporters to drive materials around. Then I went and worked on another station - Buzz Aldrin - Before I passed the navigators test, and got sent to Neil Armstrong. So how long have you been qualified to pilot the Explorer?"
"When I joined to be a communications officer it was part of the course, I did well, and so they tested me, and I passed. Will you be staying at the satellite for the whole week?" Whise opened the door to the docking bay with his card.
"Yeah. They want me to stay there until you've finished, and then take you around the dish, to see if you can find the problem. I've also got to help with clearing it out. Sort of a crap job really."
There was an Explorer waiting to be taken. A guard gave us a pad to sign the ship out on, and then phoned Jest to make sure we had the all-clear.
Once inside I put my change of clothes, and other odds and ends under my chair so that they would be out of the way. Whise did the same. I looked down at the control panel. It was moderately different from the one I took my course in, but this updated version looked simpler.
The general movement was done by moving a joystick, there were rockets on the front back, and either side to move the capsule. There was a map, that gave your position relative to the station, and a compass which north bearing was Armstrong.
Whise's headset bleeped, and there was some muffled conversation that I couldn't hear. I raised my hand, and flicked a switch by my earpiece.
The conversation was linked into my headset. Whise was making a checklist before we set off. I studied my own instruments to make sure that everything was running up to scratch. I ignored the background noise until I heard, "Okay Explorer #1 you are cleared to launch." I glanced at the instruments one final time.
"Whise, you ready?" I asked. There was a pause, followed by,
"Yep."
The small engine was running sweetly. I pressed a button so that the clamp that held us to the station released the capsule, and another which made the starboard rockets ignite.
From the back Whise called out some compass points. After looking at the map for so long, I already had them engraved on the back of my head. Smoothly the capsule edged away from the ship. I didn't raise my head to look at the camera view on the monitor in front of me. The pictures could often be misleading, so I manoeuvred the capsule using the map and compass.
I would only have to drive Explorer until we were clear of the station, then the on board computer would take over. In the rear Whise was feeding final information into the computer so that it knew where to take the capsule. Most of the co-ordinates had been put on at the station, but it was necessary to check them.
"Okay, the com. unit will take over now," it was Whise. I checked the panel again, and saw the green light symbolising the take over.
"Check," I replied. It was a nerve racking situation having to control the capsule, every movement had to be so precise, I was glad that the computer had taken control.
I looked at the monitor. There was nothing but black space. I slowly moved the camera angle so that it was pointing at the satellite. On the keypad in front of me, I instructed the camera to zoom into the docking post on the satellite. The post looked in good condition, although anything could have happened to it in the five years it hadn't been used. The picture suddenly went a bright yellow, I swivelled the camera
away from the satellite, as bright rays from the sun could damage the lens.
I turned the camera off, it click to itself. Leaning my head back into the chair I fell asleep.
A buzzing in my earpiece awakened me. I looked inside my helmet, confused at the weird surroundings. I blinked a few times, before I realised that Whise was talking to me.
"...Or what?" Was all I heard.
"Um could you repeat that please, um..." I said into the microphone.
"I said, are you awake or what?" Whise repeated. I had an itch on my nose, it was beginning to irritate me.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm awake." I retorted. I looked at the control panel as Whise began to talk to me again.
"Good, 'coz you've only got..."
"Four minutes before manual control kicks in." I finished for him.
The four minutes dis-appeared swiftly, and I was soon edging the capsule into the docking pod on the satellite. It was a detailed task which required precision. There was a vibration as the capsule made contact with the small dock. I could feel pin-pricks of sweat on my forehead, and became agitated as I couldn't wipe them off.
In the back, Whise pressed a complicated set of buttons before the door of the capsule slid open.
I pushed myself out of the capsule, and put a hand out to stop myself by the door. It took a few seconds before Whise joined me. He pressed a few numbers on the door lock. The door unlocked. I reached out, and pushed it, it swung inwards. There was another door, ten feet in front of us. We shut the outer door. Whise walked to a lever, and pulled it. The chamber we were in filled with oxygen.
A digital display on the wall, and my own personal readout agreed that the air was safe to breathe.
"It's okay." I said to Whise in a husky voice. We both removed our helmets. Breathing pressurised air is not particularly pleasant.
I walked forwards and pressed a button on the wall. The inner door slid open. As we stepped forward the motion sensors turned the lights on. All the surfaces were illuminated in a blue-white glow. The room we were in was about ten meters square. It was quite clearly a combined room, with many purposes, most of them for relaxation. There were a few adjoining rooms, which were the living quarters,
radio room and galley.
The radio room, was small in comparison with the relax room, at only five by four. Inside it though, it also held two radios, and a radar.
Whise and I split up, to explore different parts of the satellite. I spent most of my time in the radio room examining all of the equipment.
The radar kept records for the past month, before it wiped them. I turned it off, as we would be here, and there would be no need for records to be kept whilst someone was manning it.
The radios looked in good order, I was just about to switch one on when Whise walked in with a handful of food. I raised my eyebrows.
"Hey look what I found, they kept food in long term storage here, that means we won't have to eat those crapy rations." Whise had a huge grin on his face.
"Mmm. I could just do with something to eat." I told Whise, before following him to the galley.
An hour later we had finished a lovely meal in comparison with what we had expected to eat. I was lounging in the relax room, watching a movie on the television. Whise was doing the same thing.
"Don't you think we should radio down, to get it out of the way?" I pondered.
"I s'pose." Whise agreed. We both got up, and went into the radio room. I turned on the radio. There was the sound of static. That was a good sign. I twiddled the tuner, waiting to hear the sound of someone listening. There wasn't any!
"Curiouser, and curiouser." I said to myself, trying to work out the odds of this radio not working as well. After the seventh nought I gave up. I frowned.
"How..." I paused seeking for the right word. Synonyms failed me. "Annoying."
I continued for another hour, refusing to believe that the radio was broken. Some crackling startled me. At last I had found someone! I smiled contentedly to myself.
"Whise get over here." I called out.
Whise arrived in time to hear; "Fuck, shit. Whose listening? Help me. We're all dying down here! You've got to send help. The arabs... Oh shit!" The radio
was cut off by three gun shots.
"Pardon. Er, could you repeat that last statement." I said down the microphone. Whise looked at me.
"I want to clarify what he said!"
"He's dead, idiot!" Whise murmured.
Over the radio came some muffled words, followed by;
"Who are you, please?" I sighed.
"We are from the space station Armstrong, we would..." The radio
was cut off. I snarled at the radio.
"What the hell is going on here?" Whise asked. I shrugged. For a while I tried to get the other person back on the radio, but there was no reply from Earth. Two hours later I had given up, and had gone to bed.
At five a.m. Greenwich Meridian Time, I woke up. I had a pulsating headache. I rubbed my head, and got up. I fumbled around in my bag which I had retrieved from the capsule. After a few minutes I found my dressing gown, and walked to the galley.
Whise was also up. I could smell the percolator making a nice strong coffee. My brain was still thinking about the radio, when a thought hit me like a juggernought. I turned and ran into the radio room. I sat down at the radar, and retrieved the records of the past month.
Slowly I went through them. All of the displays were shown on the actual radar screen, to save a computer being used. The records would go back just before the epidemic.
The first few showed nothing, the later on the other hand... What I saw was so frightening it made me go so weak that I couldn't call Whise. The radar began bleeping to itself.
On the screen there were several markers that declared nuclear missiles. Screen after screen had missiles on. A huge nuclear war had gone on, whilst we were ill. That's why there was no answer to the radio messages we had sent - Everyone was dead.
The Arabs, or some other Middle Eastern country must have won, and, and...
"Whise, I think you should come and see this..." I murmured. After a few seconds Whise stuck his head round the door. "Pardon did you say something?" Whise asked. I nodded sombrely. Whise looked at the radar screen.
"Bloody hell." He whispered to himself. The bleeping from the radar was incessantly annoying.
Whise screened through all of the records, shaking his head from time to time.
The bleeping was grating on my nerves.
"Could you stop that bloody thing from bleeping?" I asked.
"Yeah, hang on a second and I'll..." Whise stopped mid-sentence
"Why is this thing bleeping, it shouldn't bleep, unless," again Whise stopped. He flicked a switch, returning the view to present. On the screen
there was another missile.
"For us?" I asked. Whise touched the screen, and then did a mental calculation.
"No, for Armstrong. You didn't tell them we were on board this satellite. If my arithmetic is as good as it used to be, we've got half an hour to do something." I thought for a second.
"Radio them, this radio's working, so..."
"No." Whise cut in "They won't be listening. Even if they were, they couldn't evacuate in time for the blast not to reach them. It would be better if they had no warning."
I was horrified at what Whise had just said, but I agreed with him.
"We just wait here for them to die?"
"And us, yeah."
The half hour seemed like eons. The flash as the missile impacted was like a new sunset. I wiped a tear from my cheek.

Whise and I predict that we will have enough food for half a year tops. I wrote this in hope that when civilisation returns, they will read it. If not...

Whise died first. In his sleep he took a pill. The extra food left over will mean an extra two months for me!

You live life as you dream - Alone!