Fragment Exodus -update

EXODUS

- Earth, January 2158 -

The blonde haired boy on top of the thick concrete dividing wall, his feet dangling seven meters above the ground. From here he had the best view at the steady stream of people, beast and wares moving toward the elevator. Every twenty minutes or so one of the Climber boxes, filled with passengers and freight, started its 96,000 kilometer trip up to Apex Station and an empty one came down on the other side of the carbon nano fiber double tape.

The boy was watching the operations of Earth to Orbit Space Elevator 4.

"Asmund, get down from there!" Yelled Astrid his mother. She waved at him from the other side, where she and his family were waiting for their turn.

He snapped back. "I can't see a thing from down there!"

"You get down there this minute, your father will be back any moment now."

Alrik Olafson grinned as he watched the little exchange and said to the woman. "Let him be, good woman. Let him take as many memories of Earth along as he can, soon all this will be nothing but memories."

The woman had an open face, long thick blonde braids falling on her ample chest stemmed her fists into her waist and said. "The sooner we leave the better. All this machinery and all this technology makes the very air foul and offends the gods! Besides I don't want him to break his neck before we arrive on Nilfeheim."

Alrik agreed with a nod and kept on walking. He had just left the Gene Clinic where he received his last check up. The doctors there told him that his sons and all his offspring would be able to swim in the water like fishes,without the need to come up for air. Something like this would certainly be a useful trait to have on a world that was almost completely covered with water.

Before him, spread out on the Concrete paved area of staging area C3 were the 1500 men women and children that soon would board one of the three waiting Colonist arks and carry them over an unimaginable distance of over 400 light years to a new world, called Nilfeheim.

He would be one of them.

How in Odin's name did it come to this? He must have asked this question to himself at least a thousand times in the last seven month.

There at the edge of the yellow marked staging area was the reason he made the decision to follow Leif Erikson and the rest of the new Vikings, a beautiful young woman and her name was Hanna Trolle. She was everything a man could want and more, but she also was a firebrand and about as fanatic as Leif Erikson himself.

Alrik loved the re-enactments and he agreed with most of the arguments of Lars, but he still had second thoughts about leaving Earth forever behind.

Leif Erikson the leader of the Viking Movement was a bear of a man, big as can be, strong as an ox and hard headed. He was also easy to anger and had a vile temper, stood not far from Hanna, but the massive Norwegian had no eyes for the beautiful woman. He was shaking his hams sized fist at someone or something at staging area C 2.

Lars saw Alrik and yelled. "Come Alrik Olafson, thy strong arm is needed!"

Alrik sighed, but hurried anyway to answer the summon of the groups leader. The red bearded founder of the Viking Movement put his heavy hand on Alrik's shoulder. "Over there my friend, Christians offend Thor and the Aseir."

The large plaza surrounding the Space Elevator was divided into several hundred, so called Staging areas. It was here the Colonists bound to other planets and colonies gathered, often for several days until they all were complete, all medical checks had been made and all required equipment was appropriated.

The members of the Viking movement bound to a new world called Nilfeheim were only one of many groups, that decided to accept the offer of the United Earth government to colonize a new planet.

In the case of the New Vikings it was not entirely voluntary. Leif Erikson and his core group had committed a string of crimes and had the choice of voluntary resettlement or forceful relocation to a Prison Colony. Lars chose the first option and included all the members of his organization. No one really wanted to say no and look like a traitor and coward.

All this went through Alrik's mind as his eyes followed the pointing gesture of his insults yelling leader. A group of colonists at the neighboring staging area had gathered in neat rows before a man in black dress,black hat and white collar. Behind the man was an shipping crate decorated with two candles and a Crucifix. The man in the black hat was leading the ones before him in a religious service. Alrik could hear their voices singing a well known Hymn. A hymn he knew well. It was sung often in Church when he was taken there by his parents. He had renounced his faith and church membership as he heard of the Viking Movement. It was way cooler to sit around a fire, raise drinking horns to the name of Odin and Thor, than sit in a boring church and listen to the same old stories about Jesus who never returned anyway.

But now he was older, while the values of Viking live still greatly appealed to him, he no longer was as fanatical as most of the others in his group.

Lars yelled. "Let's see if they sing their sickening hymns to offend our ears after we crushed a few bones and broken a few teeth."

Leif Erikson, loved his replica of a real viking war hammer and started to move across the floor markings that served as dividers between the staging areas.

Alrik did not really want to fight, but others of his group, all armed with working reproduced Viking weapons followed Leif Erikson with an ear shattering war cry, and so he did too."

But they did not reach their intended victims. A shimmering energy curtain shot up from the ground and Lars Gustav ran into it, and tossing him back with a sizzling angry sounding electric sizzle. Smoke curled from the big Vikings beard.

It appeared he was unharmed otherwise, as the big man jumped to his feet and cursed obscene at the singing Christians while he slammed his hammer into the yellowish glowing curtain. "You foul cowards. Go worship that piss weak excuse for a God and hide behind Alien technology, we won't be stopped by this and then we rip you a new one!"

His hammer blows had no effect at all,and it felt and looked as if he hammered against a wall of rubber.

Most of the Vikings joined in the insulting chants. It did not take long and the authorities reacted. Dark Blue uniformed men of United Earth Police accompanied by a wheeled armored vehicle appeared.

Lars Gustav grinned and pointed his hammer at the Police men. "Looks like we are going to bash a few skulls after all before we are leaving. Let's make them remember us!"

He turned direction and stomped towards the line of Police officers, again followed by most of the men of his Viking Movement.

Alrik was now certain that he did not want to go with these maniacs, he made up his mind. Even the love to a girl that didn't even know of his love, was worth leaving Earth.

"Citizen cease all hostile activities and return to your designated staging area." An amplified voice thundered across the field." Lars leaned back and threw his hammer with force. The heavy weapon arched over the raised crowd control shield of a Police officer and shattered the face plate, felling the man like a tree. Lars laughed. "You are pathetic weaklings!"

Before anything else could be said. A humming sound swelled up, like an angry swarm of Hornets and a almost invisible beam of glimmering air passed over Lars Gustav and everyone else. Men women and children of the Viking movement collapsed to the ground, paralyzed with twitching muscles. Alrik tried to curse, but he too was hit and turned into a helpless bundle of flesh, his muscles no longer reacting to his commands.

He was quite conscious, but unable to speak or move when two police men tied him up with plastic ties and tossed him into a container box, unceremoniously stacked like fire wood, his face resting on the boots of another man, while he had the behind of another right above him.

He could not move but heard the police man say. "We tried to be civil and give you a dignified send off, and treat you like any other group of settlers, but you can't even play nice for your last days on Earth. Good riddance to you and your bunch, Mr. Gustavson. You are not a Viking, just an angry man using this as an excuse to attract others and commit acts of violence."

The other cop said."Don't waste your breath on that scum. The next time they can move they land on whatever planet they have chosen and they can fight themselves."

Alrik wanted to yell and tell them that he did not want to go to Nilfeheim.

No one heard his muffled objection as as fork lift stacked this box onto a pallet and they were loaded into the Freight deck of the Space elevator Capsule.

-""-

Asmund the blonde boy and his family had escaped the paralysator ray as they were inside the Colony affairs office during the altercation and were allowed like a few others of the Neo Viking Movement to get into the so called climber box on their own, while a forklift placed several open containers into the climber box freight compartment. The Viking men stacked in these boxes ., like live size dolls loaded like the rest of the commodities and the luggage of the Viking Movement group.

A tall man with a E-Pad in clip board mode stood by the entrance and smiled at the boy while he said to the gathered adults. "Listen up, yes please quiet down and let me speak. Yes thank you. No I am not able to answer any questions right now. Please hold your questions till after my announcement."

He waited a few more moments till everyone was settled down. There was ample room in the large box like contraption as most of the group was in suspended animation and in the freight bay.

He nodded and a man wearing the same blue coverall type uniform with the Space Elevator logo on chest and back closed the wide boarding doors with the push of a big button. The doors closed with a solid thud that somehow underlined how final their decision really was. Until now all talk, all the preparation and all future plans were just activities. The realization that they were really leaving Earth was sinking in.

The man with the clip board used the silence and said. "Welcome aboard Climber Box 23 of Space Elevator Two - Sahara Station. I am Rob Spiegler and I am your Box Operator for this trip. We will soon commence climbing operation and reach a travel speed of 200 miles an hour. Our estimated time of arrival is 12:30 am on the seventh of January 2158. Meaning we will arrive at Apex station in six days and 23 hours."

He made a short break and gestured to the floor to ceiling windows. The box was now slowly moving upward. Asmund and a few other kids were standing right at the transparent material and watched the ground terminal seemingly sink away. They could see the ring shaped segmented staging areas and watched as a new group started to settle into the staging area they had just vacated. There had to be hundreds of these segments and perhaps half a million people along with animals, freight and luggage.

Spiegler continued. "There are bunked accommodations for everyone and there is plenty of room as most of your group decided to make the ascent in suspended animation. There are of course bathroom facilities, a restaurant and two snack bars. Meals are provided free of cost, Snack bar services are not, but very affordable. You might as well spend your money as you don't need any where you going."

He made a short pause looked at his Pad. "I want to stress that if you don not behave; cause any trouble or endanger the operation of the lift. We have the authority to to stun or even terminate you. The ascent can not be stopped for any reason. So please refer from making open fires, roasting meats or start fights."

They simply stared at him so he went to the next part of his address. "For safety reasons you are asked to wear the provided emergency space suits once we reach stratosphere height. In case of decompression you are asked to attach these yellow and black marked safety hooks to the belts of your suits. Parents are asked to assist their children. Please pay attention to the following video presentation."

The man stepped back and a large screen unfolded from the ceiling and a video started to visualize the safety procedures.

Asmund paid little attention even though there was a cartoon character on the kid screens explaining the same info in a supposedly kid friendly way.

He stared out the viewport. by now the large lush green region around the space port was visible as a circular feature surrounded by the eternal sands of the Sahara desert. He remembered there was a big argument at the United Earth Assembly. One side wanted to green the Sahara and the other side want to keep it as the desert it was famous for.

Asmund had been raised by his parents to be a real Viking, but while he was on Earth he had to go to school and he actually always liked learning and loved to read. He was now 12 years old and he knew he would celebrate his 14th naming day celebration on a new planet.

Now the elevator passed a thin layer of clouds and the safety presentation was complete, The Box operator said to Asmund. "if you want you can come with me to the control stand. Not that there is much to do but you can see the jumpers getting off and that is fun to see."

Asmund followed the man who entered a small elevator. The man laughed. "I bet that is the only elevator inside an elevator in the entire Galaxy." Asmund asked. "What did you mean by jumpers, Sir?" "Orbital parachutes, they ride outside to the stratosphere and then jump with glide suits. It is all the rage now. Never heard of it?"

Asmund frowned. "We are Vikings, we reject technology and we didn't have a television in our home." His answer sounded rehearsed but not convincing."

Rob sighed. "I guess the adults have a choice, the children never have. Would you rather stay?"

The elevator had reached its destination and released them onto a small command deck with a single seat and a console with status screens and a few touch buttons and blinking lights. All lights blinked green.

Asmund also noticed a group of about twenty men and women sitting in colorful full helmeted suits and black visors outside dangling their feet over the ledge of the moving space elevator car. He said, answering the man's question. "No I don't want to stay. My mother and father and many of my friends are going to Nilfeheim. My dad says we will have a chance to grow up like real men, Hunt, fish, work and make fire. We won't be packed in plastic helmets and only allowed to play with soft plastic toys that two hundred lawyers and left wing do-godders deemed safe for a child." Again he repeated what his father told him many times. This was the part he did look forward too but having no electronics, no tech at all was something he could not really fathom.

Rob sat down in the black chair and shrugged. "they sure did a number brainwashing you guys, but then I too think about going with a Colony ship and start new on a new world. Not as far as you guys of course, I was thinking about Mars."

Asmund looked over the simple console and asked. "What is it you need to do here?" "Nothing at all, it's all Computer..I mean computronic operated. I am here to make sure the passenger behave, find their way to the bath rooms and get fed. In case of an emergency I can of course detonate the drive bolts and cut us loose. The Box then descends on a big parachute, but that never happened and was never necessary." He sounded almost a little disappointed and Asmund said. "You don't like your job then?" "I love it, but the days of the Space Elevators are already numbered and you are among the last passengers using it. Arti Grav becomes cheaper by the day and soon we lift everything with Arti Grav fields. No need for tether tech or Space elevators."

The colorful group of men and women started to move and then jumped one by one spreading their arms and unfolding bat like wings. Asmund got closer to the window and said, "This looks like great fun."

"You could pay me a million Terra Bucks and I would not do that." He pointed at a red box. "And we have emergency jump suits."

Asmund watched as the last jumper disappeared. "I would have tried it for that much money." "What would you do with that money on that world of yours?"

The boy shrugged., not knowing an answer.

-""-

Alrik had never felt so stiff and fatigued as they released him out of the suspended animation. The first thing he wanted to do was to punch that technician but he would end up like Lars, they had not taken him out of the suspended state and stuffed him as he was into the sleep inducer bunk aboard the Stockholm Ark.

Alrik crossed through the transparent hose like tunnel that was extended from Apex Station to the last open Ark. The other five Arks that belonged to their little flotilla were sealed already and waited for the Stockholm to complete boarding.

He had never seen a more beautiful sight in his entire life as he looked down and saw Earth in all its blue majesty 36,000 km below his feet. He knew the slightest reason would have made him turn and run back. The closer he came to the Ark the more he realized he didn't want to colonize a planet just because he was in love with a woman who didn't even know he was here just because of her.

He was about to turn when he saw her at the door of the Ark. She turned caught his eye and a sudden smile rushed over her face and she waved her hand.

Like a billion men before him, no matter what region or ethnic group. This smile and wave was enough for him to forget all else and he too climbed aboard the Ark and was ushered to his deep sleep hibernation berth.

The journey would take two years. First the Ark accelerated to 98 % light speed and then Hyper jumped form gravity well to gravity well until it reached Nilfeheim in the Pleiades.

Famous Dr. Isah had been on World Fox News just a few month back claiming that he made a tremendous break through in propulsion technology, something he called slipping into Quasi Space , much safer and faster than the Hyper jump tech , the Sarans had given Earth.,but it would be a while before Arks were equipped with this new ISAH Drive.

A thin looking man with a well trimmed white beard stood in the narrow corridor between the rows of hibernation chambers."Ah Mr. Olafson, you are the last one actually. Once we have you squared away we can get this show on the road."

Alrik remembered the man from the training and information meetings they had. "Is this where they freeze me?"

"No Mr. Olafson, you just hibernate like a bear. Two years is not all that long and you could have stayed awake but it conserves food and resources and we did not have to built to much in terms of entertainment and recreation into these Arks. You just take a very long nap. Did you miss the information sessions on that?"

Alrik lowered his head. "No I think I fell asleep when you talked about that."

"Maybe you also forgot who I am then. I am Elkhart Asagrim and I am the ship master of this Ark. But no worries you will feel very alert and fresh after sleeping for two years people some tend to compensate with weeks of insomnia activity."

Alrik climbed into the tube lined with white leather like upholstery, the one indicated by the bearded man. The man said. "Not so fast Mr. Olafson. First you need to get undressed. Otherwise the orifice tubes can't attach."

Alrik came back out and blushed as he undressed. "I don't like the sound of orifice tubes."

"They don't make any sounds but they will make sure you don't have an accident. After all the feed tubes make sure you don't get dehydrated or starve to death while sleeping..and the rest will leave your body as waste. So the tubes are necessary."

"Can I not stay awake for a while?"

The Ship master rubbed his chin. "Well you are the last and I could use some company. So why not, maybe I can teach you some navigation and how to play chess."

-""_

The Ship masters name, Alrik learned was Elkhart and he came from a small Norwegian village called Rypefjord not far from Hammerfest His English was even heavier accented than Alriks.

He and Elkhart were the only ones awake. Everyone else aboard Settler Ark Stockholm was in a deep artificially induced hibernation sleep. The Stockholm and five other Colonist Arks had left Earth orbit, 40 hours ago steadily accelerated towards Threshold speed.

Elkhart sat in the small Command center of the Ark, Alrik just came back from the small Galley carrying a tray with several boxes of heated ready to eat meals. It felt to him as if he walked over a very soft spongy surface, even though the deck plates were made of steel. Elkhart took of the head phones he was wearing and turned. "Looks like the Arti Grav system is acting up again, looking at your bow legged moon walk."

Alrik sat down, handed Elkhart a dinner box marked Lasagne and opened the one he had picked, marked Lobscouse. "Should this not be fixed before we go trans light?"

Elkhart pulled the film cover and pressed the red memory spot. The plastic film crumbled and moved and formed itself into a plastic fork. "I am amazed by this, molecules that remember a shape. Do you know how this works?"

Alrik who had skipped school so he could join his friends re-enact Viking battles and drink mead and beer sitting around camp fires, shrugged his shoulders. "I am a good carpenter, I can use tools but I don't know about these things."

"That is how Earth science knows about Arti Grav. We Terran humans know how to use Arti Grav but we are far from really understanding it. Well a few eggheads do of course."

Alrik watched his plastic lid form into a spoon. "I thought we built these arks and not the Sarans."

Elkhart scooped a few loads of lasagne into his mouth and then took a sip from his orange juice. "I know you revival Vikings reject technology, but now it appears you reject education as well. You do know what happened 69 years ago, right?"

"The Sarans came, the war ended and the Guardian appeared to everyone."

Elkhart chewed and sighed. "I doubt I ever heard it summed up in such a short sentence."

"I know we; I know I am ignorant to most things. My great grandfather fought in the last war. He told me about the Guardian and how Earth was united. I was twelve when he died. My grandfather was representing Denmark at the new United Earth Assembly and he tried to teach me." Alrik suddenly lost his appetite and stared out the small view port. "My father tried to keep me away from the Viking Movement and wanted me to stay in school. He is still on Earth and so is the rest of my family. I am the only Olafson aboard these Arks."

Elkhart forked another bite into his mouth. "You do not sound very convinced or as fanatic as the rest of your group."

"I guess it started all when my best friend Lars Ragnarsson joined the Viking movement. I went along to a meeting. I loved the banquets and the camp fire meetings, the reenactments and the whole idea of working with my hands,living of the land and not relying on high tech and alien ware. I am good with my hands and I think I am a decent swordsman."

Elkhart kept eating but said between two forks. "I still hear a big but behind it all."

"Things went a little out of hand, no one mentioned re-enactment anymore; it became real. First we harassed church goers and then Leif claimed to know that a church was built on the Thing sacred to Odin. We burned that church down, people got hurt and we got the choice to leave Earth and colonize our own world or go to a penal colony." Alrik sighed. "I wasn't even there when they burned the church."

"I am sure they asked you. No one is sent to a colony against their will, Penal Colonies are not permanent, our trip to Nilfeheim however is a one way ticket."

"They did ask me, you see there is that girl and then everything sort of happened. I did have second thoughts up to the last minute, but I think now that I realize there is no way back, I hope to make the best of it." Alrik started to eat and said. "How about you? I mean you are not a Viking right?"

Elkhart put the almost empty box down. "The word Viking technically means traveler and this holds true for all of us. Vikings could be found all across Northern Europe, and I am sure there is Viking blood in my family. I am a member of the Church of Odin, and we too decided to leave Earth. So I volunteered to become a Ship master and completed the schooling. It is Nilfeheim for us as well."

Alrik nodded as he chewed. He knew of the Church of Odin, three of the Arks were filled with members of that group. "So what about the Arti Grav?"

"Normally they work flawless, but we are aboard the first Arks that use engines developed by famous Dr. Isah. The Sarans gave us the secret of Hyper Jumping, and all previous Arks and Earth ships use those Hyper jump Engines. However these Arks are among the first ships using ISAH pods and the Isah field is interfering with the Arti Grav. It is all brand new and no one has yet figured out how to fix that. These fluctuations we feel are to be expected."

Alrik collected the empty box and the tray from Elkhart. "I have heard of Dr. Isah, who hasn't but everything else is Chinese to me."

Elkhart looked at a readout and said. "We do have lots of time before we go trans-light. After you put the trays into the recycler. I guess I try to explain it to you."

Alrik took the trays to the recycler and said."I am supposed to hate all technology and frankly most of the reasons why we reject it are quite valid in my opinion, but my father always said knowledge never hurts and usually comes in handy."

Elkhart leaned back and grinned, then he started with his explanation. "When the Sarans came and warned us about the Xunx, they gave us the secret of Hyper Jump travel. They wanted us to built as many transport ships as possible and evacuate Earth. Of course Admiral Stahl and the Earth Defense Force had a different idea and I am sure even you know what happened in 2103."

Alrik nodded. "Yes Operation Steamroller happened and all the Xunx were destroyed."

"Well the Sarans gave us all that Tech knowledge, and among all that was the principle of another faster than light propulsion, technology the Sarans forgotten about because according to them it was unreliable, dangerous and required too much fuel and energy. So our technicians focused on Hyper jumping. Well all but one that is, Dr. Isah. He is, so they say the most brilliant mind ever. Like Einstein, Archimedes, Da Vinci and Hawkins rolled into one. He reworked that forgotten technology and basically came up with a brand new way of traveling faster than light. The ISAH field takes real time, gravitation and creates a bubble around a space ship, eliminating the ill effects of time dilatation, and allows a ship to slip into a thin layer of alternate space that exists between our space and hyper space. He called it Quasi Space, instead of tunneling through real space like Hyper jumping does, it allows sliding in between. Now ships can go trans light anywhere and don't have to hop from gravity well to gravity well. Acceleration and deceleration can be done in a few days instead of month. Heck I heard our newest battle ship the UES Bismarck accelerates with 100 kilometers per second and reaches Threshold speed in under 9 hours. Now that is fast!"

"Unlike us, right?"

"Compared to the Hyper jump arks we are still pretty fast. Of course the actual hyper jump only takes a few seconds, bridging many light years, but acceleration takes month and so does the deceleration. They need to jump from star system to star system. Reaching the 400 light year distant star Solken, the sun of Nilfeheim would take them 5 years. We make it in a little less than two years and we can change course, see where we going and don't face the danger of over shooting our target." He pointed out the small view port, not that there was much to see and said. "Only the Stockholm, the Oslo and the Copenhagen are already equipped with that new drive. The Malmo, the Helsinki and the Stralsund are still running with Hyper jump engines. If everything goes as planned they will arrive 24 month later."

"So they move in after we did all the work?"

"It is a new world, Alrik. There is nothing at all and if you really stick to your plan to do it the old fashioned way. I doubt there will be more than a few huts and make shift buildings when they arrive. Besides those are colonists of the Church of Odin, they are not as adamant against tech as you guys are. Maybe it will be you who want to move into their homes."

Alrik tried to imagine how it would be on a world where no humans had ever been."

He felt another jolt in gravitation and scratched his beard. "And because of that ISAH field the Gravitation is acting up, right?"

"Exactly. The alternative would be zero g or a rotation module. The first Arks leaving Earth did use either solution, simply because Arti G generators were not available. Trust me you would not want to stay two years or more in Zero G. It causes all kinds of health problems. Muscle atrophy, osteoporosis to name just a few."

A monitor flashed on the main console and Elkhart leaned forward pointed at an icon and said. "That is the Ship master of the Malmo. He is also the Leader of our Church." Elkhart activated the connection. A man who could easily portray Odin himself, with a voluminous beard, bushy eye brows and steel blue eyes appeared. A computer voice said. "Communication delay is 9 minutes."

Then the person started to speak. "I am just hailing all Arks to make sure everything is alright. We won't be able to communicate once you guys go Tran slight. We still have three month of acceleration phase to go before we jump."

"All systems show green,but the Internal Arti Grav is acting up. It is within the tolerances they told us to expect. I am a little nervous too, going trans-light I mean. They say there aren't any effects like the Hyper jump sickness."

There was of course no immediate response. The other Arks were already far behind, the ISAH drive accelerated much faster than the Ion Pushers the other arks used. This was another benefit of the new Isah drive. The same engines could be used for sub light maneuvering and acceleration and going trans light, while the Hyper jump engines could only open the Hyperspace portal once the correct speed was reached, but could not accelerate or maneuver the ship in real space.

Now the response came. "See you on Nilfeheim, Elkhart. May Odin and the Aseir keep you and your charge save while you traverse the heavens."

After Elkhart and Alrik send similar greetings, the comm screen went blank and Elkhart said. "I guess we better earn our pay. I need to go through the transition check list and while I do that, why don't you check on our sleeping beauties."

"What is it I need to do?"

"Just walk down the sleeper corridors and check the lights. They should be all green." "What do I do if I find one that isn't green?"

"Then the sleeper is awake or dead and you call me over Intercom."

-""-

Alrik opened the airlock to the fourth corridor. So far all the lights had been green. It wasn't fear but he did feel uneasy as he passed through the silent corridors, with only a faint background hum that permeating everything aboard. Some of the faces he saw behind the transparent view ports were known to him. He recognized Leif Erikson behind one of the view ports. Even he looked peaceful and relaxed under the dim blue light of the sleep inducer.

Almost at the end of the end of the last sleeper corridor he noticed the name Hanna Trolle. Only now he realized that this was the name he was looking for in the first place. The blue light and the hose attached to her mouth made her look fragile and vulnerable. To him she looked like an angel.

She was friendly to him and always had a smile or a nice word for him, but other than that, did she know what he felt for her. That he was madly in love? She was the reason he had left his parents, his family and Earth behind.

Of course not, he had never told her and besides she was a Trolle. You could hardly be from a more important and influential family in Denmark. The Trolles were an ancient family able to trace their lineage back to the times of the real Vikings.

But then she left it all behind just as he did.

A voice next to him said. "Maybe you should wake her up and show her Saturn."

He almost jumped out of his skin, but it was just Elkhart. The Ship master carried an E-Pad and pointed with it towards the end of the corridor. "We do have a small observation lounge on the top deck."

Alrik blushed. "I have checked them all. I didn't see a red light."

"I am on my way down to engineering to finish the check list and then I call Earth Control. We still have three hours before we transit. So if you want to talk to her, this would be a perfect time."

Elkhart did not wait for a response pushed past Alrik and went on.

Alrik reached for the sleep controls. It was simple enough and clearly labeled as everything aboard. However he stopped short of pushing the button. What would he tell her? Maybe she felt nothing for him and would be angry for him waking her.

No he came this far for her, he needed to know. He needed her to know. He pressed the button and deactivated the sleep inducer.

She stirred almost immediately. The hoses retracted and she blinked,then opened her eyes as the sleep chamber hatch retracted. Her eyes found his and she smiled,still a little groggy. "Hello Alrik, have we arrived ?"

"No, we are still in the Sol system and only a few hours away from making the trans-light transition into Quasi Space. I was just checking on the sleepers..." She sat up while gathering the thin blanket before her chest."Is there something wrong?" He blushed even deeper and what he tried to say came out in a whispering stutter. "No, everything is fine. I..ah wondered if you wanted to see Jupiter. We are passing it right now."

She had beautiful green eyes, and her red hair surrounded her face like a coppery halo, there was a tiny wrinkle above her nose, but then she put two and two together and her smile deepened and her expression changed and became soft. "Yes I want to see Saturn and then you can tell me the real reason you woke me. I am waiting for quite a while for what I hope you going to say." She swung her lissome legs out and jumped with a graceful move to the floor. Then with a few quick moves she tied the thin blanket into a make shift dress.

He stood there as if a lighting bolt of Thor had struck him. She presented her arm and said. "I hope you do have a little more to say once we seen that planet."

He took her arm and felt like the greatest fool in all the universe, but then he turned so he could stand before her and then he sank on his knees. "Hana I only came along because of you. I could not make this journey without telling you that I love you."

She reached for his face and caressed his cheeks while she too went to her knees so she could look into his eyes. "I have loved you Alrik, from the first time I saw you."

Alrik did not see Saturn and he and Hana completely missed the transition as the Stockholm had reached Threshold speed and the ISAH drive pushed them past normal space into that thin layer of Quasi Space, where the limitations of light speed did not exist.

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