Chapter 8 - Launch
Sarahstood on the same walkway that she had done so all those weeks agowhen Marcus had first shown her the Pilgrim’sHope and now it was finished and hadbeen successfully tested. There had been no major problems duringthe testing stage much to the relief of everyone concerned and nowthey were all but ready to launch. According to Terra Beta time itwas effectively night time and Sarah hadn’tbeen able to sleep so she had come up here from her quarters on theship. She didn’t really know why she had come here, but it all wascalm and quiet and that suited her right now.
Themain reason Sarah couldn’t sleep was quite simply she couldn’trelax, her mind simply refused to switch off and Sarah found herselftwisting and turning. So she decided to go for a walk and for noapparent reason she ended up on this catwalk gazing down at the shipthat would be her home for next, heaven only knew, how long. Shefound it just as impressive now as when she had first seen, perhapseven more so now that is was finished and all the panels had beenwelded into place.
Earlythe next morning the lower part of the hull of the space dock wouldbe removed and the ship would be lowered down ready for its firstreal voyage. They would all leave Mars, and the Earth, far behindon a desperate search for a new home, not really knowing what was outthere or if the place they sought existed. Avalon, they had calledit, after a paradise described in some old tale in Earth mythology.
“Can’tsleep?” Marcus said as he approached. Sarah turned to face him shaking her head, and as she did so noticeda man walking just behind Marcus and to his left. This stranger wasa tall man with short dark brown and what looked like dull greeneyes, but Sarah couldn’t be sure about these from this distance. The man walked with a confidant and strong gait that simply oozedconfidence and Sarah could honestly say that she hadn’tseen this man before. He was dressed in a uniform similar toMarcus’, but at this distance she thoughthim to be of lower rank. As the two men easily crossed the remainingmeters between them there was no doubt about the intelligence thatthose dull lifeless eyes hid.
Whenthey were almost to where Sarah was standing Marcus spoke againintroducing this stranger as Colonel Steven Tsarion who would be hasexecutive officer. The colonel extendedhis left hand in a gesture of friendship and Sarah reluctantly shookhis hand. His grip was strong and firm as you would expect from amilitary man, but his hand felt weird to Sarah, hard and leathery. When she looked down at it, momentarily confused, it looked to Sarahthat his had was a dark green that almost matched his eyes. Shelooked up even more confused and almost shocked at this unexpectedvision, and as she looked into those deceptively dull green eyes theiris and pupil seemed to shift from the normal round appearance ofthe human to an oval slit that resembled a cat’s eye.
“Youalright?” Marcus queried as Sarahphysically took step back from this Tsarion, withdrawing her handfrom his with a jerk that was almost as urgent as if the very touchof his skin had scolded or electrocuted her.
“Eh?Oh, I….I…”Sarah stuttered “Oh I’mfine, just tired I guess. I’d better begetting to bed.” she managed to finallysay after regaining a little of her composure, not taking her eyesoff Colonel Tsarion for a second. She then backed away and headedback to her quarters aboard the ship. That night she didn’tcouldn’t seem to get any sleep at all, twisting and turning withstranger than normal dreams. The manically grinning face of Tsarionseemed to feature in most of them.
AfterSarah had suddenly departed the Marcus looked at his second incommand looking just as confused as Sarah had done so moments before. “What was all that about do you think?”Marcus asked his previously trusted friend.
“Itold you before, she’s mentally unstable. It’s a mistake bringing her with us”the Colonel replied. “Better to have herfrozen and then we can evaluate her again when arrive”he continued coldly.
Marcushad known Tsarion most of his life and had previously trusted himimplicitly; and despite the fact most people could find him cold anduncaring Marcus had been of the decided opinion that he was the bestman available to be his second in command. The cold rationality thathe offered would be a nice counterpoint in the various difficultsituations that Marcus could envisage occurring on a voyage of thislength. Tsarion of all the crew, he knew, would be the one to taphim on the shoulder and advise him to close a bulkhead in time ofcrises and it was this kind of reassurance that he would need. Butnow he had a momentary doubt about his long trusted friend
Eversince Sarah had first been found Tsarion had counseled him againstfirst reviving her and then against taking her along, well awake andaboard the Pilgrim’sHope anyway. He would never fullyexpand his reasons why, other than she was an unknown quantity andwould represent and unwarranted risk in this most desperate ofmissions. “The future of mankind is notworth one woman, Marcus” he had said onemore than occasion and under normal circumstances Marcus would havealmost certainly agreed and taken the wise counsel of his mosttrusted of friends. However, this time there was something in hisgut, some niggle at the back of his mind, that told him that Tsarionwas wrong in this and that Sarah would be a most valuable asset ontheir journey. If asked to explain this rationally, Marcus would nothave been able to do so in a way that would outline what use Sarahwould, just that she would be. He had also been able to rearrangethings a little so that there would now be quarters for Sarah aboardship.
Inthe long run Marcus knew that the respect of the crew, and possiblyeven his command, could depend on Sarah not being a burden to them.