Chapter 10: Fare Far to Fair Star

That yellow dwarf sun sounds interesting, doesn’t it?

“How far away is it, Karen? How long will it take us?”

“Two items of information are known already. The rest can either be calculated or speculated. The knowns are, first, the distance to our former and original destination is farther away than the yellow dwarf we now seek. The second known is, the yellow dwarf is closer than the red giant we are steering toward and can visually see in the deep space telescope. We can’t see our original destination. It is much farther away, obviously.

Calculation of distance to the red giant, reverting to ancient measure, days to arrive there, is roughly three thousand days. Again, much closer than the two hundred year voyage we originally embarked on.

The yellow dwarf lies along our track, and we will arrive in it’s vicinity before and without traveling the full distance to the red giant. Less than three thousand days, then.

The alien Carrock said it’s a long voyage. Did not say a percentage of the distance to the red giant, like half-way, two-thirds, eighty percent, none of those were told us.

My intuition prompts me to conclude, the yellow dwarf is near the red giant, but not near enough Carrock could say near to it.

Therefore, I estimate ninety percent of the distance, so the yellow dwarf is roughly two thousand seven hundred days distant.”

“Roughly estimated?”

“Roughly speaking.”

“Two hundred and seventy ten-day watch cycles. Seven years four months and eighteen days.”

Anyone going into cryo when not standing their two-day watches, will only age, experience, an eighteen month voyage. Mark needs to wake up., and make good on his promise to impregnate those four young women. Besides, the gene pool needs his genes. Family genes.

“Executive order. Override the time-locks on Mark Hest’s pod and revive him.”

Mark apparently never learned, you can run, but you can’t hide.

Mark, what’s left of him has been revived. He’s a vegetable. Between his own dissecting and devouring his mind and the removal of the AI chip, Mark is passed insane, he has diminished, devolved into a drooling idiot. Can we somehow salvage his sperm? Artificial inseminate the four women he promised babies?

“Ricky? For the sake of the colony, take his balls. Mark has no further use for them. Transplant them to your cyborg body, and you impregnate the women.”

Marshall knows how much this tempts me. My father’s and brother’s testicals were transplanted in me in the past, but produced no offspring. Would it work this time? I have an entirely different body.

“Marshall? I’m too deeply an interested and biased party, so I recuse myself. You and the Aunts decide what’s right.”

Of course the Aunts decide I should have Mark’s testicles. I never doubted it. What do we do with Mark’s now totally useless body? No decision is urgent, so refreeze it, decide later the final disposition.

Don’t pity Mark, he’s beyond caring, and he did it to himself. We regret he did what he did, but spare no pity for him. It was suicide. Near enough.

Billi and I are finally going to watch Tammy and the Bachelor together. She is off watch, but I convince her to stay with me and delay going into cryo for several more days. I’m going to fertilize some eggs, starting with Billi’s. Billi is told I am trying to impregnate her, and now she’s a wild woman. A sex maniac! Whew!