Proxima B

"Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say…" My brother's words often haunted my thoughts. 'Why would someone be screaming in space?' For that matter, 'why would you attempt an excursion outside of The Apex without proper void protocols in place?' He's probably just screwing with me, trying to get inside my head ever since I outscored him on the entrance exam for APOC flight school. They only picked up four last rotation, I dont think I could've waited another cycle to start the academy.

The current flight plan has us arriving at Proxima B by the time I'm 22. If I'm being honest, I don't know if I really care that much to see it. A lot of the older crew like to reminisce and tell stories of life back on Terra, that's Earth to you. I don't see what was so great about Earth anyways. The atmosphere was so polluted you couldn't leave your domicile without a respirator. Most marine life had already died off before I was even born. My brother likes to tell stories and act like those were the good 'ol days. He thinks because he was born on Terra he is some cultured, well-travelled explorer! He's barely two years older than me, and who cares about dirt and grass anyways?

Admittedly, life aboard the Apex has its ups and downs, literally; we lost gravity in our living quarters for 5 hrs last week! Dad says these old Gen 2 frigates are the last of the old guard, a dying breed. Aside from the occasional system glitch, I can't think of a better place to grow up. The Apex houses 10,000 colonists as well as 1,000 crew. We've got everything from Gravity Ball to PlayStation X. You can go to school and train for settler/stewardship or join the officers Corps; they say the Corps get all the perks in the Colony.

The Apex is the second largest ship in the fleet. She measures 1000 meters from stem to stern. There are six decks that house crew and passengers, each deck has an alpha wing and a bravo wing. Two horticultural domes reside to the aft of either wing, followed by sanitation, cold storage and engineering; both port and starboard engineering maintain their own star drives and crew complement. Each section has a reinforced bulkhead and magnetic coupling, she was made for maximum durability and longevity. In her design, engineers took note of a reptile's ability to sacrifice their tail to ensure survival. The Apex is capable of essentially splitting itself in half, doubling it's probability of success.

Interstellar travel isn't what you'd imagine it to be. Even the most advanced starships need to routinely power down their star drive for inspection and servicing. Today, I have to inspect the 5th deck food processors and water treatment systems; it's always the 5th. My dad calls them "the other people!" He says not one Officer Corps candidate ever came from the lower decks. After my brother heard he was to train for stewardship, he moved off of the 3rd deck and down to the fifth, that was 6 months ago now. We see him from time to time, but lately his visits have been few and far between. He says he's been busy preparing to be a homesteader, but I think it's those weird friends he's made on the 5th.

It's easy to get turned around on the lower decks. I've lived my whole life aboard this ship, but I can count on one hand the times I've been below deck 4. There's something about the air down here. It's stagnant, with a faint muskiness to it I can't quite describe. The lower decks were largely untouched during the retrofit for our current mission. They're still using LEDs for lighting as opposed to the laser diode system we have on the upper decks; it's tough for my eyes to adjust. It seems like something is always breaking down in this area of the ship. We've had the occasional issue on deck three, but I see a new maintenance requisition every week originating from the lower decks. If I hadn't gotten into academy, I'd be stuck responding to maintenance reqs the whole trip…"Two more months," I tell myself.

It takes me a bit to find the access panel for secondary life support systems; down here nothing is in the same place as it is topside. The work is easy enough, I must've repaired these processors a hundred times now. The water treatment system is another story, I'm not looking forward to it. As I make my way past one of the common areas for this deck, I hear a familiar voice. I've heard it a thousand times in my head before, "Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say..."

I creep around a corner to find about 10 men gathered around an old ping pong table, probably hasn't seen a game since we left spacedock. It looks like they're listening to a homemade subspace receiver, but I can't make out what's being said. Which was my brother? I should be able to pick his high and tight, dirty blonde hair out of lineup. These men all look like they haven't shaved or taken a hot shower in weeks. Then I hear him again. The tall one to the right must be him!

"Aurin, what more proof do we need?"

My brother looks on, exasperated.

"I just dont think we should be so quick to jump to conclusions. Word is Devon hasn't been the most amicable, and that's at his best," my brother replies.

I can see now the furrowed brow behind his bangs, the steel in his eyes, Aurin looks as if he's aged years since I last saw him.

"Since when is growing your own stock a punishable offense? Are they gonna arrest me too?" Tom retorted.

The others gathered, mumble in agreeance.

"There's no way my father, or any other member of the committee, could authorize a seizure unless it were warranted! I have to believe there's more to it than that, maybe the signal was corrupted."

Aurin's proclamation appears to satisfy the others. He continued, "I think it's best to wait for another transmission before we make any decisions, we've still got another year before we enter the system!"

"I hope for their sake you're right... If not, we're wasting time," one of the men says as they exit into the corridor.

Just then our eyes meet, "Jordan?"

About the Author:

Hello, my name is Derrick Whitson . I hope you've found my entry intriguing. I only recently learned of this challenge and wanted to make my contribution with what little free time I have to write. I am a father, husband and full-time Paramedic. I have always loved writing and storytelling, but outside of academic papers, have had little time to pursue my passion. Admittedly, this is my first foray into fiction writing since elementary school, so I look forward to any and all feedback. My dream is to one day make writing my profession and not merely a hobby. Thank you for reading!