“Approaching Planet Orthen. Waking subjects 2315, 2316, 2317, 2318.” As a syntheic voice spoke into the small room, dim lights began to glow and four pods hissed as they opened. Inside the pods, George Silvers, Anna, his wife, and Mary and Lucy, his daughters, began to wake from their cryogenic sleep.
As he had requested, George resuscitated first, ready to assist his family. He took a hesitant step from his pod, gloved hand to his forehead. He felt as though pins were jabbing into his brain; Headaches were a common side effect of cryogenic sleep. He hummed a bit as he waited for the other pods to open, warming his vocal cords back up.
Soon enough Anna stumbled forward from her pod. George caught his wife, pulling her into a hug. “Almost there, my dear,” he said, a grinning broadly. He moved to hold her shoulders, gazing lovingly upon her for the first time in ages.
Anna ran a slender hand through her thick, blonde hair. “George, I have the worst headache,” she said, worry wrinkling her brow. Her sky blue eyes met his, and George did everything in his power to push calm feelings through their locked eyes.
“Not to worry,” he said. “I recall that being a common enough side effect from the stasis. It should wear off in a few moments. My head hurts too, if it helps.”
“Am I to be reassured because my husband is hurting too?” she asked, now raising an eyebrow at him. George just chuckled, and pulled her into a kiss.
The two of them heard a gagging noise behind them, and turned to find their daughters, Mary and Lucy, had emerged from their own pods. Lucy had leaned forward at the waist and was feigning being sick. “Eww!” Lucy said, laughing. “Get a room you two!”
Mary's face, on the other hand, was pensive. She looked down and to the side, avoiding the sight of her parents. George just beamed at the two of them. They were both the spitting image of their mother, although Lucy had inherited his brown eyes. He stepped forward, scooping them into either arm, and pulling them into a tight hug.
“How are my two little princesses?” George asked, a laugh in his voice. He leaned back to look into their eyes. “Any pain? Other issues?”
Mary, still avoiding his gaze, just shook her head. Lucy on the other hand, snapped to attention, issuing a sloppy salute. “No issues here sir!” she shouted. She broke down in a fit of laughter moments later, unable to hold the serious pose for long.
George turned back to his wife, who now wore an amused smile. “Seems we were the only two affected,” he reported.
“Yes, seems that way. Shall we see if the Allens have awoken yet?”
“I'll check on them,” George said. “Can you run over the itinerary with the girls once again. I want to make sure we are ready upon landing.” Anna smiled and nodded. George winked at her as he left their small room.
Stepping outside, George looked both ways down the hallway, appreciating once again the number of doors that stretched as far as he could see in either direction before the hallway curved away from view. Bringing himself back to the task at hand, George turned his attention to the next door over.
This was the room the Allens were traveling in. Brock and Susan Allen were an older couple, friends of George and his family. They had long been interested in settling in one of the colonies that Earth had begun developing. This particular colonization project was a joint venture between Earth, and a group of extraterrestrials known as the Norgor. The Norgor had been spacefaring for several Earth centuries before humans had managed their first colony, and the cooperation promised to bring many opportunities for advancement to Earth's space program.
When an opportunity appeared, they had invited George to bring his own family along, under the condition that they would live with the older couple and help them as needed. George himself was ready to leave immediately, and his family needed little convincing. Space travel was the modern man's adventure after all.
George knocked on the door in front of him. A moment later, it slid open, revealing the balding head of Brock Allen. Despite their age, Brock and his wife Susan had kept in great shape, understanding that they could be rejected if they were not. Back on Earth, Brock had managed to make many youger men jealous of his wiry musculature.
George was quite fit himself, so he just grinned at Brock, and stretched his hand out. Brock took it in his own. “Good to see you,” he said. “Susan will be a moment, I'm afraid.”
“Did she have the headache as well?” George asked, concern in his voice.
“Yes, but she'll be fine. Anyway, you don't need to worry about us old folk. Tend to your kids.” Brock gave him a stern look that was tempered with amusement.
George patted his shoulder. “Right you are. In that case, we'll see you when we disembark. Will you need help?”
“What happened to 'take care of your kids'?” Brock asked, chuckling. “Don't worry about us. We packed light.”
The two men heard a zipping sound from behind Brock, and turned to see Susan pulling something from her luggage. “Before you go, George, take these for your daughters.” she held out a small package, which George took, curiosity piqued. Susan brushed a few stray hairs from her face, where they had escaped the large bun atop her head. “I'm sure they're in a right state. This will remind them of home and calm their nerves.”
George, unable to help himself, peeked inside the package. Chocolate chip cookies stared back at him. He looked back to Susan, giving a small bow. “Thank you. Both for my daughters, and myself.
George returned to his own room to find Anna corralling a hyperactive Lucy, and Mary sitting against the far wall, watching the pair gloomily. George slid around his wife and younger daughter to sit on the floor next to Mary.
“You okay?” he asked in a low voice. He opened the small package of cookies, and withdrew a couple, offering one to Mary.
“I'm not sure,” Mary replied in a whisper. George leaned closer to better hear her. “Something feels off.” she took the cookie from her father, nibbling at it slowly.
“Is it your head after all?” George asked, concerned. He popped a cookie into his mouth whole.
“No,” Mary said after a moment. George let the silence grow between them, waiting for her to follow up. “It isn't anything physical. Just a feeling.” She finished her own cookie, chewing slowly to buy time to think. “I don't think we should've come,” she said, finally.
George pulled his daughter in a hug against his side. “Why is that? You were so excited back on Earth.”
“I know,” Mary replied. “But something is wrong now.”
“Well, we'll be careful,” George reassured her. “At the first sign of danger, I'll have the four of us off this planet before you can look danger in the eye twice.” Mary gave a genuine laugh at that comment, smiling for the first time since she woke.
“Hey!” Lucy cried. “Dad has cookies and isn't sharing!” George froze, a second cookie halfway to his open mouth. His eyes slowly made their way across the room to his younger daughter. As their eyes met, he gave Lucy a wink.
“Here you go squirt, courtesy of Mrs. Allen.” George held the cookie out to Lucy. She took it from him, giving her father a suspicious look. The look melted as she crammed the cookie in her mouth, replaced with a look of bliss.
As she was chewing contentedly, a cool, voice interrupted. “All passengers, prepare for departure. The ship is docking at colony Theta in T-15 minutes.
George dropped the cookies in Mary's lap as he stood. He pulled their sparse luggage together. They had not brought much, some personal items and a few changes of clothing. The rest they would acquire here on the colony. He strapped his daughters' luggage to the top of his and his wife's. Anna pulled her and Lucy's luggage from his hand, giving him the 'don't argue' look as he opened his mouth.
So, instead, he turned to Mary. “Make sure you share those with your sister.” Mary's face had gone pensive again, but she managed a small smile toward her father at his comment. “And the both of you need to be holding onto one or the other of us until we make it to our new quarters.” Lucy danced in a few circles before grabbing her mother's free hand. Mary stood and took hold of his own free hand.
George hand in hand with Mary, set out back into the hallway. There, they met up with the Allen couple, who Lucy ran up to and hugged tightly before looking sheepishly back at her parents and regrabbing her mother's hand.
The group of six now made their way down the hallway to the docking ramp. A few other groups had also left their rooms, though with fifteen minutes to go, nobody was in a hurry.
As the group waited, the cookies were gradually eaten, Lucy danced around impatiently, though without letting go of her mother's hand this time, and Mary leaned in against her father. Anna gave George a concerned look, but he passed her back a look that simply said 'later'.
As the minutes passed, more groups arrived, until the bay was packed. Finally, with a great hissing noise, the ramp descended. There to greet them was a small delegation, including a dozen humans and a few Norgor.
The Norgor were humanoid in form, though their legs were proportionally very short — only about a quarter of their overall height — and their arms were quite long, long enough to act as a secondary set of legs if necessary. They also had large ears. Their homeworld was quite a bit hotter than Earth, so these were adaptations for living in a hot, jungle environment. Perhaps most striking was their dark, greenish-brown skin. Each of the Norgor wore a jumpsuit, similar to the human's standard.
One of the humans stepped forward. “Welcome to Orthen. I am Nathan and will be your primary guide during orientation. As I am sure you are each aware, having been given the itinerary, tonight's only objective is to see you each situated in your rooms. Tomorrow we'll give a tour of facilities, and after that begin orientation.”
The man turned to his right, where one of the Norgor stood. “This is Rorran. He is the Norgor ambassador to Orthen. You will be getting to know him and his team quite well over the next few weeks. If you have any questions regarding the Norgor people, please direct them to him. As some of you are likely aware, this colony is a joint effort, representing the combined technology of both the Norger, and humans. It represents a great step forward in both technology and interspecies relations.”
Rorran gave the group before him a wave. Next the other guides introduced themselves, one by one, and then the group was brought their residential area. There, maps were displayed, showing where each of their new homes were located.
George led his family, as well as the Allens, to their quarters where they found dinner already hot and waiting for them. The food did not last long, and when they were finished eating, the Allens bade them goodnight before setting off to their own bedroom. Anna shepherded their children into the smallest bedroom.
George smiled as he looked around his new home. It wasn't large, but it was cozy. He made his way into the final bedroom that he and Anna would share, and changed into a new jumpsuit, now ready for bed. As he was finishing changing, he was joined by Anna, who had finished putting the girls to bed.
“George,” she said, a question in her voice.
“What's the matter, dear?”
“Do you think Mary will be okay? She seemed unwell today.”
“She's apprehensive. It won't take her long to settle in, I'm sure,” George said, moving across the room to give his wife a reassuring hug.
“I hope you're right. I would hate to think we hurt our daughter with this move.”
“It'll be okay. She was excited before we departed. It's just nerves.”
Anna sighed. “Well, we should sleep too. Early day tomorrow.”
The two of them retired to their bed and quickly fell asleep.
* * *
George woke the next morning and realizing just how much he appreciated real sleep. He rose and began stretching, unsurprised to find that Anna had beaten him awake. Despite falling asleep around the same time, she always managed to wake before him.
After loosening his muscles, George made his way into the central living area. There, he found that a hearty breakfast had already been delivered. “You better hurry before its gone!” Anna called from the serving platters on the island countertop. Next to her, both Lucy and Mary were refilling their plates, though Lucy set hers down and tackled her father instead.
“Glad to see you too,” George laughed. “Did everyone sleep alright?” A chorus of agreement met his ears as George looked around. He spotted Brock and Susan Allen sitting in chairs with a coffee mug each. He grabbed his own breakfast and sat with his daughters.
“Good morning dad,” Mary said, in much better cheer than she had been the day before.
“You feeling better?” George asked.
“I'm not sure,” she replied hesitantly. “I still feel apprehensive. But the feeling has to be ridiculous, right? So I am choosing to be cheerful instead, just like you always taught us.”
“That's a good girl,” George said, giving his daughter a big smile.
Their early morning passed quickly, and soon they were gathered in a large hall. Before them were the same dozen human representatives that had greeted them the day before. Nathan began calling out family names, assigning people to follow one of the representatives. Slowly the crowd dwindled until a much smaller group remained, with only Nathan left of the representatives. “Well, if you are one of those remaining, that means you are to follow me. Lucky you.” The man gave the crowd a wink before turning and gesturing for the group to follow.
George took Anna's hand in one of his own, and Mary grabbed onto his other arm. Clearly she still wasn't completely okay, though she still looked more positive than she had the prior day.
“Lucy, hand please,” Anna said to George's left. Lucy, who had been busy running in small circles, slowed and took her mother's free hand. Brock and Susan walked just ahead of them, though they were all six near the back of the group.
Nathan lead the group through the facilities, starting with the workplaces. The colonies on Orthen were primarily built as research hubs, so most of the employees were in the sciences and engineering. Each colony also supported manufacturing, where skilled technicians oversaw automated processing lines that produced most of the objects used in life on the colony.
They ended the morning portion of their tour at the top of the dome, where there was a a huge food court, and on the floor above a massive park. A few questions were brought to Nathan before they split for lunch, and the group learned that a few of the colonies were specialized for certain tasks, including advanced manufacturing for things like medicines and computer chips, and others for agriculture. Nathan stressed again that the colonies were independently run, and required no supplies from other planets for their operation.
After that, the group was released for lunch, so George purchased a half-dozen sandwiches for his family and the Allens. The six of them ascended to the park on the floor above. Brock and Susan sat gingerly on a nearby bench.
“Been a while since we walked that far,” Brock complained. Really, this should have been split into two days. We're not in a hurry or anything.”
Lucy had already run off, dancing around the park as she went. Anna jogged after her, “Lucy! Stay where I can see you!”
Mary took George's hand again, and pointed to a bench nearby, close to where the Allens had sat down. George nodded and the two sat together. Shortly after they began eating, George noticed a man in a white coat and grey jumpsuit trudging down the path, muttering to himself. The man noticed George and Mary and his pace increased as he made his way towards them.
“You shouldn't be here...” he muttered bloodshot eyes focusing on them. “You should leave...”
George looked around, confused. “Are you talking to us?” he asked hesitantly. “Nathan, our guide, said we could eat our lunch up here.”
“No, no, it's too late anyway...” the man said, his focus had leaving George and Mary. He glanced at the two of them once more before trudging off.
“Dad, what was that about?” Mary asked, fear creeping into her voice.
“I don't know,” George confessed. “If I didn't know better, I'd say he was on drugs, but that is much better controlled here than on Earth. I wouldn't pay him any mind; he was clearly not in his right mind.”
Mary resumed eating in silence. Not long after, Anna and Lucy joined them. Lucy regaled them with tales of the pretty flowers and cool trees she had seen. She talked so much that she was only half finished with her sandwich by the time Nathan called the group back together.
George took Mary's hand once more while Anna was telling Lucy, “Bring the sandwich with you, you can eat it while you walk.”
The tour group reunited near Nathan in the large food court. The afternoon stretch of the tour was much more exciting for the group as a whole, as they were now shown around the recreational areas. Nathan started by showing them a gigantic pool area, larger and with more ammenities than George had seen before. Next, they were taken through a few different workout facilities, well stocked with every type of exercise station imaginable.
The low gravity room was a big hit among the group, and Nathan gave them a few minutes to zip around with aerial stunts. Lucy, of course, dashed off, dancing through the air. “I've got her,” George said, placing Mary's hand into her mother's. He flew off after Lucy, while listening to Nathan describe the different configurations the room could be set up for, including everything from dance parties to simulated battles like laser tag.
George caught his hyperactive daughter, and dragged her back to where his wife and other daughter were waiting. As they reunited, Nathan gave the call that it was time to move on. As they left the room, George noticed Brock lagging. He handed Lucy off to Anna and dropped back with the Allens.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I'm fine,” Brock insisted.
His wife Susan rolled her eyes and said, “He twisted his ankle while landing from a long jump in the low gravity room. You'd think he was twenty again.”
George looked ahead to see Anna at the rear of the group as they were headed around a corner. He waved her on.
“Come on,” George said, turning back to Brock. “Let's get you to an infirmary. We should make sure it isn't worse than it seems.”
Brock started to protest, but his wife gave him a hard look, squelching the argument. As George leaned down to help Brock back to his feet, he heard a shuffling sound. Looking around, he saw a woman with wild hair wearing a white lab coat over a grey jumpsuit ambling their direction.
As she drew near, she stopped, looking confusedly at them as if she had just noticed their presence. “Shouldn't be here...” she muttered.
“Sorry, we know we fell behind, but my friend here is injured. We're going to stop by an infirmary. Can you point us to the nearest one?”
George felt strangely uncomfortable as her eyes focused onto him. Finally, she shuffled off without saying another word.
“Oh my,” Susan said, looking after the woman. “Seems she may need the infirmary more than you do.” She looked to Brock.
“I met someone like her earlier,” George said, disturbed by the encounters. Once was strange, but twice...
“Look, it was weird and all, but if we're going, we should get moving. You need to catch up to the tour after all this, right?” Brock gave George a pointed look.
“You're right,” George conceded. He pulled Brock to his feet and pulled his mobile computer from his pocket. He pulled up a colony map and had it route them to the nearest infimary.
When they arrived, they were greeted by a young nurse. “Uh-oh, first day and hurt already? No worries, we'll get this taken care of. No need to stay, we will bring him back to his room before nighttime.”
“I'd prefer to stay, if it isn't a bother,” Susan remarked dryly. “I am his wife, after all.”
“That won't be a problem.” The nurse ushered Brock and Susan inside, leaving George staring at the infirmary door.
“Well, I suppose it's good they are so efficient.” He nodded once and headed for the tour route once more. He caught up as Nathan was leading the group out of a retro arcade room.
“George! Where have you been? I noticed you were missing. Where are the Allens?”
“Brock twisted his ankle,” George explained. “I helped him and Susan to the infirmary.”
“Good man,” Nathan smiled. “You should rejoin your family then.”
The remainder of the tour passed uneventfully, as Nathan showed the group through a plethora of entertainment options. It seemed the colonies spared no expense on making sure their residents had plenty of variety to their entertainment.
After the tour had concluded, they each returned to their residential rooms, where dinner was already waiting. George knocked on the Allen's door to see if they had made it back before them, but received no answer. “Well, we'll set aside a serving for each of them,” he said, setting aside a couple of plates.
They ate dinner ravenously, hungry from a long day of walking, then settled in to relax for the evening. As the hours passed, George grew more and more unsettled by the Allens' absence.
After putting Mary and Lucy to bed, George turned to Anna. “I'm going out to see what is taking them so long. They were supposed to be back by now. I'm worried something went wrong.”
“That is a good idea,” Anna said. “It would be in poor taste to not look after them. I'll keep an eye on the kids.”
George gave her a tight hug and then set out into the night. For a moment, George was surprised at the number of people still about in the hallways, but he figured most people probably didn't want to spend their evening in their tiny apartment.
George pulled his map back up and input the infirmary again. The route highlighted on his screen, and he hurried off, weaving past other pedestrians. As he approached his destination, the number of people declined until he was alone in the dim hallways. He came to a stop at the door where he had left Brock and Susan earlier and knocked on it.
Minutes passed in silence. As George was preparing to knock again, a noise broke the silence. A shuffling sound approached, and he turned to look. A balding man in a long white coat trudged in his direction.
As the man drew near, he paused before George, his tired eyes meeting George's. "You need to leave," the man said.
"My friend is in this infirmary," George said. "I'm here to see how he is doing."
"You won't see your friend again," the bald man sighed. "You should give up and leave. You need to protect your daughters."
"What? What's going on?" George asked, concern growing in his voice.
The man looked at George in silence for a moment. “Follow.” He turned and began marching down the hallway, all sign of his earlier shuffling gone. The man stopped before a bare patch of wall and tugged at one of the panels. It pulled out of the wall, revealing a passage behind it.
The man led George down the passageway, and stopped before a window. It looked out over a large room filled with tables, most of which were occupied by various men, women, and children. It appeared they were being operated on by a team of humans and Norgor. George noticed Rorran overseeing the entire operation. As he watched, an older man was cut into and a gout of blood splashed over the surrounding area. With a shock, George realized it was Brock. Feeling his stomach beginning to rebel, he ducked back so he couldn't see the room anymore.
“What is all that?” he asked, working to suppress his urge to be sick. “That didn't look like any surgery I have ever seen. That man was awake!”
“Disection. The Norgor desire knowledge of humans and pay handsomely for it.” The man's gaze seemed to pierce through George. “They'll want your daughters. Not many their age come to the colony.”
“That's...” George began, at a loss for words
“Disturbing, yes. Now, you need to leave. Your friends are beyond saving, but your family is not.” The man began walking out of the passage.
“Why are you helping me?” George asked.
“Right place, right time,” the man said. “We've had a plan in place for some time now. You fit the bill.”
“So...” George began, but was cut off again.
“Yes, if you had been on the previous or next flight of colonists, you would likely not be having this conversation. Instead, sometime over the next few months, your daughters would vanish.”
“What do I do now?” George asked. His nausea returned as his brain fed him images of Mary and Lucy strapped to one of those tables, the long arms and fingers of the Norgor prodding them and cutting them open.
“You steal a ship and escape. Leak the information. Create an outcry so this mess gets shut down. Most importantly, protect your family.” The balding man handed George a mobile computer. “This contains everything you need. Now, I must go. I'll be running interference for you while you escape.”
George nodded to the man, overwhelmed by what he had seen and heard. He walked back to his room in a daze, where he was greeted by Anna.
“How was...” she started to ask, but cut off when she saw his face. “What happened?”
George took a deep breath. “No time to explain. We need to get going. Please get the kids, we're leaving the planet.”
Anna paused for a moment, taking his face in. Then she nodded once and moved into the kids room. George turned to the mobile computer he had been given. True to the man's word, it contained a complete plan. They had picked a target ship to steal, and had even included a program to fly it.
Anna emerged from the kids room as George was finishing his scan through the information provided. Whoever these people were, they had certainly put together a good plan. Hopefully he could live up to his part.
George looked over to his wife, who was carrying a dozing Lucy. Mary yawned wide, looking at him. “What's going on daddy?” she asked sleepily.
“Danger,” he said. “You remember what I said?”
Mary perked up slightly, the sleepiness vanishing from her face. “Danger? So we're running?”
George nodded grimly. “Now lets go. We don't have much time.” He took Lucy from Anna, who in turn picked up a couple of backpacks. She handed the smaller one to Mary, who dutifully put it on.
“You aren't the only one worried about circumstances,” she remarked at George's perplexed look. He smiled at her, and then led his family out of the apartment.
The hallways were still busy, so George took his family through them at a purposeful walk. Not so fast as to draw attention, but fast enough to deflect casual conversation. Soon, they arrived at the hanger. George gave the large space a quick scan, and his eyes landed on the ship they were going to commandeer.
“Okay, we're going to have to be careful here,” he whispered to his family. “That ship is under protection.” He passed Lucy back to Anna “Wait here, I'm going to see what I can figure out.
George looked quickly for cameras or guards, but couldn't see anything in particular watching him. He made a crouching dash across the hangar to the colonist ark that was stationed nearest the doors. From the shadows of the ark, he spotted a guard station above, glass windows giving a wide view of the hangar. The guards looked bored, and most appeared to be paying no attention at all.
George began scanning for routes forward when an alarm started blaring. He looked around at the guard tower to see them looking at something below the window, likely monitors of some kind. After a moment, they began filing out of the room. George let out a sigh, but just as he thought he was safe, the last guard looked into the hangar and locked eyes with him. The guard grabbed a couple of his fellows and pointed. They all rushed out of view.
As soon as they left eyesight, George gestured wildly to Anna and Mary. “Move,” he hissed, tearing off across the floor. He reached the side of the target ship and quickly hooked the mobile computer up to the locking mechanism. An application booted and seconds later, the lock clicked and the boarding ramp lowered.
Behind him, Anna had arrived carrying Lucy with Mary in tow. She hustled up the ramp and George followed. He hooked the mobile computer up inside, and the ramp raised. It hissed shut just as he heard booted feet clomping their way into the hangar. The lock whirred back into place as he let out a long held breath.
George slumped against the ramp, adrenaline being replaced with fatigue. He could hear the guards nearby, wondering aloud where the intruder had gone. Just then, Lucy woke. “Daddy, where are we?” she asked brightly.
George hissed softly lunging forward to cover her mouth, but he could already hear the guards stop. “Did you hear something?” one asked.
“I did, but that's impossible. That's the ambassador's ship. Security on it is unbreakable.”
A third guard said, “I swear I heard a girl's voice though.” The sound of boots paced across until the guard stopped on the other side of the ramp from George. He could hear the digital beeping of the lockscreen outside. “It's locked. We must've been hearing things. Keep up the sweep.” The guards moved away, returning to their patrol.
George stood slowly, and then gestured for his family to follow, holding a finger to his mouth for silence. They made their way to the bridge, where George hooked the mobile computer to the ship's central system. Another program booted, this time running for a few minutes. When it completed, the primary monitor on the ship lit, reading 'Welcome aboard ambassador. What is your destination?'
George leaned over the computer and spotted Earth as one of the programed destinations. He selected it and the computer displayed, 'Request for departure sent. Awaiting confirmation.'
Outside the ship, he heard one of the guards curse. “We have a departure request. I'm going to check.” A moment passed and then the guards voice spoke across the coms. “Ambassador? Your'e leaving? I hadn't heard that was the case.”
George panicked, wondering how to answer as the Norgor ambassador. He was looking around for anything when Anna tapped his shoulder and pointed to the mobile computer still attached to the central system. It read, 'voice modulation: active'.
George took a chance, figuring the strange organization hadn't let him down so far. “I had reason to depart suddenly,” he said into the com. As he waited for the response, he began working on a reason to leave in such a hurry.
“This is quite a departure from protocol sir. Why do you need to leave so suddenly?”
George closed his eyes, and as he did, his ears focused in on the alarm in the background. “I wish to avoid whatever problem you let happen. I will orbit Orthen until you get this mess cleaned up.”
The com fell silent for a minute. Finally, “Right you are sir. I have cleared you for launch.”
As the guard was speaking, the central system flashed, 'Departure confirmed. Taking off'. Beside it, the mobile computer read, 'Flight routing in progress. Enjoy your flight.'
George sighed, slumping into some officer's chair. Being a Norgor chair, it was too close to the ground to be comfortable, but his legs were jelly. He felt his pounding heart begin to slow. Tears sprung to his eyes as he considered the fate of Brock and Susan. He looked to his wife and daughters, taking comfort in their presence. While it was a tragedy, at least he had pulled his family out safely. Hopefully, he could rescue others from the same fate.