"The innocent and the beautiful have no enemy but time."
- W.B. Yeats
Lights blurred to life, flickering briefly as if curiously testing those inside the stowed-away sleeping bags before lighting entirely. Yawns echoed throughout the zero-g environment and the sounds of zips broke the quiet background of whirring machines and beeping computers. "Rise and shine, princesses! You won't get a nick of sleep for the next eighty years but that's life!" The sound of groans followed as a team of astronauts untangled themselves from their sleeping bags and floated through the sleeping quarters into the general living quarter. Their suits were casual reminders of their home, of their mission and of those back on the ground who watched them with bated breath. Different flags were patched to their arms but the symbol of their agency seemed a constant between them.
They joked, shared what appeared to be some sort of breakfast but resembled a dark gruel before they floated off to their individual sectors. It was only a few hours after when the ground finally called up to them. "Argo 5, this is Darmstadt, how are we all feeling this morning?" The ships coms patched it through to the whole ship which was met with a partly-enthusiastic, partly-tired cheer. They were all picked because they cared but it was evident in their eyes that it was for another reason - they didn't have anyone on Earth, no one to live for, no one to cry for them when they never returned. Their's was a one-way trip and a silent ending in some far-flung corner of the Galaxy. To go where no man had ever gone before had its price, after all. "Excellente! We're currently coordinating with the other agencies. In the meantime, prepare the Argo 5's Warp Drive." Once again, they went about their work but now with some urgency behind it. It wasn't long until the voice started up again. "We're patching you through to Houston. Good luck, Argo 5."
At this point, the astronauts were already suiting up, their tasks and final inspections apparently completed as they made their way to the helm of the ship. Strapping in, the five chosen to pave the way for the European Exodus ship watched on, almost nervously as the ship revolved to show the expanse of Earth littered beneath them. A husky, American voice broke the gathering silence. "Morning, Argo ships! Sorry to wake you folks up already but we've all got a job to do! We're running through the preliminary tests now." The voice then proceeded to check off the activity of each of the several Argo ships. When those tests were finally done, the voice was replaced. "Argo Ships, I would give a speech but you must understand, mere words cannot possibly reflect what it is in front of you. Your task is not about exploration, it is not about the aquisition of knowledge, but of the survival of our species. I cannot engineer words to illustrate the sacrifice you all must make. Instead, allow me to use the words of another man, greater than I. 'But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?
We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.'" The astronauts shared looks as the original voice returned and did a final check before beginning a countdown protocol.
As the countdown tore downwards, each of the European craft cast their eyes around the ship and savoured the final glances of their home. The sun was rising and the large landmass of India shone gloriously. "Godspeed, Argo ships, Godspeed."
"Flight Engineer Berger." The commander spoke.
"Yes sir?" Came the almost timid voice.
"Activate the Warp Drive, Jay." And in a moment, the stars rushed towards them and consumed them entirely as they blinked away, their comms falling silent to the quiet Earth.
One by one, the fifty woke but it didn't seem like it was an accident as the lights that had previously lit up the ship when they first entered it were resuscitated. The glass panels still kept them locked away from the main part of the ship but the fact that they were sealed shut with each having their own oxygen supply alluded to something more than just fancy-looking sleeping compartments. Each of the fifty seemed to wake with their own response; some felt trapped by the glass coffin-esque trait to their entrapment and others simply kept quiet and waited until something else happened. It was hard to tell if they had just skipped from the frying pan right into the fire but after a few minutes of angered bangs on the glass and the most of the population of the ship waking up, a familiar voice played through the intercom. He had changed, undoubtedly, which was strange considering much of the fifty remembered only falling asleep for a few hours but he was a voice of reason in an increasingly chaotic situation. "Morning everyone. I apologise for the rude awakening and the pods but we needed to save as much energy as we could. I know you have a lot of questions and they will all be answered in due course but first, we have to ge-"
Without warning, the ship rocked violently and stuttered into a vicious spin as warnings blared throughout the expanse of the visible ship. "Merde! Putain! Fils de pute!" The normally calm voice of J suddenly filled with a nervous stress, as if his plans had been thwarted within an instant. "Listen; stay where you land! I repeat, when you land, DON'T MOVE! Go-" His voice powered down on the intercom and chaos ensued amongst the glass pods that were quickly becoming what most feared they already were. Another vibration reverberated through the ship but instead of the last time, this one felt controlled. Their spinning didn't halt but things became considerably more uncomfortable when the inside of the ship began to heat up quite a lot. Most of the fifty had grown up on Port Hope and never been to a Capital World so falling down to a planet surface was probably a first for them. The rocking only became more violent as thrusters fired off and the ships' velocity was reduced massively. The lights fused then powered down as a red blinking light kicked into action, illuminating the terror.
Almost as soon as it started, it stopped with a heavy thump which caused the most of them to bounce up and hit the roofs of their pods. With a final splutter, the ship gave out and the electrics flicked off entirely. The pods opened with a sigh and each of those who had been prisoners became free. Silence reigned over the fifty young souls as each took in their surroundings. The ship was dark, not a single window lighting their way but somehow, they found their way using the remaining portable lights of the pods. A metal causeway led them to the main bulk of the ship, the place where they had all fled up into when J told them to run back in the Port.
Each took a cautious look, fearing what it would be that they found on the other side of the heavy metal door. It wasn't long until they found the emergency switch for the door and within an instant, light filtered in through the ever-widening opening in the ship. The light blinded them momentarily before it took form, before green pastures and blue skies danced towards those who only knew steel and glass. The ship had crashed in a small creek surrounded by a clutter of trees but that fact was lost on them. Trees. Bugs. Real, painful, air. Party time, maybe?
