Ark II, Launch

Story: Ark II

Chapter: 1 Launch

Author: Eric McQueen (mcqueen.richarderic@gmail.com)

Mature Readers only due to sexual situations and graphic sexual content

Freedom of expression is precious. To do that, Nifty needs help. Your donation is greatly desired. Give to http://donate.nifty.org/ or this story ends and all the others! That would be a crime!

Author's note: I've had an interesting few weeks. Guests I didn't want invaded my home. Family of people I share a house with. Friends I have because I didn't want to have a crisis and no one here to help me. Two good friends. That's who are my housemates. Then their children came. Some know I had fourteen people in my house and a number of animals. One cat, two tortoises, four dogs and one sweet, potbellied pig. What you may not know is I lost more sight. My right eye can see nothing. My left eye can see just a little, but I struggle to keep it. I see shadows and I can read with thick glasses. A little. No, stop the violins. I am happy. I still write. I have a program that allows me to proof-listen! I love it! If the spoken words I write don't match what I think my muse said...there's the error. Blueblood, Makarovia, Prince Vincent are still being written. This was a story I wrote as I tested my new program. Now, I have five chapters! Why keep them to myself? Science Fiction. There are people in this. Heterosexual, homosexual, transsexual, transgender...people. I know you are jonesing for that story you like. It's coming. Enjoy this in the meantime.

Story notes: Joel and Sara Beth Nesmith set off on the most important journey ever. With them are two-thousand five hundred other Human souls sent out in the galaxy to save the world! With these souls is every known animal and plant life from Earth to begin again. Bring the Earth back on a new home and these special Humans have the keenest minds and will start a branch of Humans of this new home.

Launch

He checked the artificial intelligence's information again. He had to be sure in was all going as planned. Their lives were dependent on all things went according to that plan. He was tired. They all were. Those awake, that is. There will trillions of lives at stake. Granted, the vast majority of those lives were not Human. There were only twenty-five hundred Humans on the Ark; and it was an ark! Every known sample of animal life was being kept in stasis. From whales to ants...and bees! Insect life was important, too. Seeds. Not just for crops, but trees such as elm, oak, pine and flowers! Mosquitos! He hadn't really wanted to take them, but...they were part of the world they were leaving behind, so, they were included. Roaches. He grimaced at the thought of them. Revolting creatures. Then he chuckled at himself. Who was he to judge? The idea of saving as many lives from Earth as they could was the idea. Still. He shuttered again. They were saving roaches, but left billions of Humans behind.

"Any problems?" A female voice behind him asked.

He glanced back at Sara Beth, his wife. At thirty-three she was a very beautiful woman with long brown hair and brown eyes. She wore, as did everyone on the Ark, a white coverall with a covered zipper from mid-waist to collar and the coverall was form fitting and showed she had a great form. She was also brilliant. A physician and a botanist; crucial to this trip. Her coverall had the word Ark on the upper left side. Under that was the Caduceus, the staff with the two intertwining snakes and wings to symbolize medicine. From her collar a wide patch of blue ran over her shoulder and narrowed down to a point just above her elbow. He had the same coverall, but his color was a golden yellow and just below is word Ark was a small Earth image over which was a single star. He sighed and sat back, "No. Just making sure there won't be."

"Joel, there's a lot riding on this," Sara Beth nodded, understanding. "You need to be sure." She smiled and said, "Athena, what is the status of the Stasis Pods?"

"All functioning at optimum efficiency, Doctor Nesmith." The female voice of the Ark's artificial intelligence replied. "All functions are at one hundred percent."

Sara Beth grinned, "I've checked so many times, thank God Athena's a giant computer, otherwise, she'd be tired of telling me the same thing."

Joel chuckled, "It's best if we know. Is everyone else in their pods?"

"Yes," Sara Beth put her hand on Joel's shoulder. "Your sons are in, but want us to tuck them in." Then she leaned forward toward her husband. "We need to tuck ourselves in."

"I know, I know," he stood up. "It's now or never." He activated the viewscreen. They were three days out and the Earth was still visible. They were saying goodbye to it. The conditions on her surface couldn't really be seen to the untrained eye, but it was sick. It could easily die. Would it? They may never know. It was a fact that if Humans didn't spread out in the galaxy, all it would take is one potentially deadly disaster would kill the men of Earth. The Ark was an attempt to do that. Since the Twentieth Century they knew that. The Twenty-first Century people began realizing that global warming was very real. Even with the curbing of greenhouse gases and other pollutants helped, but the melting of icecaps got worse and worse. The Human population kept growing and growing. The poor nations wanted what the richer nations had and waged war to get it. It was the near miss of the asteroid, so big and so close it could be seen by the naked eye as it threatened the Earth and nearly collided with the moon! That would have threatened everyone as the moon kept the tides and the Earth's wobbling rotation steady. That made people look up and see the threats were real. By the turn of the Twenty-second Century, it was almost too late. It was just after the Twenty-third Century a plan began to send people to a new home. They colonized Mars and even some moons around Jupiter were being mined. This was to find a home outside the solar system. The Ion Drive would continue to push ionized gas, thrusting the Ark faster and faster approaching the speed of light. Athena was going to scan and find a planet in the habitable range, near Earth's size and that had water. A breathable atmosphere was hoped for. They had equipment that could terraform to make it Human friendly. Athena knew what the parameters were and would adjust their course accordingly. They could be in suspension for twenty years, a hundred years...or more!

There were dangers out in space from meteors, comets and even those micro fragments that could damage the Ark. Radiation. Joel Nesmith was scaring himself. He determined to think positively. Athena knew what to do. He and Sara Beth would be woken up every six months for a day or two while still in the solar system so they could check to make sure all was functioning correctly. The Engineer and his wife would also be woken up to check the mechanics of the Ark. Athena would monitor each of the Ark's systems and awaken whoever was needed if there was a problem.

There were also computer banks full of music from the Rolling Stones to Mozart. Movies of every genre. Every genre including some trashy porn. Art imagines of paintings and sculptures. Every book that had been published.

There were four leaders that were leading a group of five hundred people handpicked by each leader. Sara Beth was the leader of the group the Nesmiths belonged to. The other five hundred were the children of members of those groups. Joel was in command of the Ark. He had backgrounds in science, yes, but he had a military background, too which was a priority. The Ark was not military, but the Command Structure was. Military thinking was needed. Not one of the people onboard was older than forty. They were young enough and medically cleared and carried no diseases or infections. They each qualified to be members of Mensa. Being intelligent wasn't enough. They were each Psychologically fit and well adjusted.

The Ark wasn't a small ship. Most of the ship was used to store equipment, food supplies, and water. Wherever they made landfall, they could begin to bring the Earth to the new world.

There was a habitat ring that spun when someone was up. The idea of artificial gravity was great, but centrifugal gravity did just fine. They had great ideas in the past and it was all through the fiction of books and movies. When they entered their own pod, life support on the Ark would cease, and the rotation of the ring would stop.

Taking the lift to the center portion of the ship that ran the length of the Ark...there was no gravity of any kind. No artificial or centrifugal gravity. With no up or down things were arranged to reflect that. The Ark was extremely clean. No dirt. There was dirt if needed when they made planetfall to grow plants, but no dust, no dirt. In a circular pattern, pods were beside each other above, below and down in long rows of the hollow tube that made up this part of the Ark. There were five pods that were still open. There was the sound of laughter as the three brothers were picking on each other and just enjoying being boys!

Joel grinned at his three children. The pods they were in where huge for their smaller bodies. They had straps crisscrossing their chests to keep them from floating away. They all had dark hair. The eldest, also named Joel, but called Kevin, as was his middle name to save confusion, at ten had black hair like Joel's. He'd be a heartbreaker soon. James, Jimmy called in affection, had his mother's brown hair and at seven was a character. Ian, who was five also had his father's black hair. "I know everyone brushed their teeth before getting in here." He tried to sound like an authoritative father and always failed miserably.

Sara Beth bumped him in good nature and being weightless, Joel had to steady them by grabbing the stabilizing handle for just that case.

"Yes," all three said in unison with practiced ease.

"Dad," Ian began. "Kevin said we could sleep for ten to twenty years!" He was clearly not believing that.

Joel began a slight nod, "Well, yes...technically that might be true."

"No one can sleep that long!" Ian argued.

Kevin was enjoying how light his arms were in zero-gravity. He was letting his arms fly up on their own and smiling at the sensation he got, "I told you, dummy...it's suspended sleep."

Sara Beth looked crossly at her son, "I gave birth to three children. Not one of the is a dummy. Apologize to your brother."

"Sorry, Ian," Kevin said to his brother.

"Kevin is right," Joel smiled. "You will be put to sleep by the gas and then you will go into suspension. You may feel like you just took a nap, but you could be in suspension for ten to a hundred years."

"Maybe a thousand!" Jimmy said excited at that possibility. "Athena has to find the right planet first."

Ian's eyes widened hearing that, "A thousand years!?"

Joel laughed lightly, "You won't even notice it, I promise." He ruffled his youngest son's hair and leaned in and kissed him on the forehead. "You sleep well, okay?"

Ian nodded but was still reeling over what he'd heard, "A thousand years."

He went over to Jimmy, "You have pleasant dreams." He kissed that son. He stopped in front of Kevin, "You didn't like me to kiss you in front of people, but..." he glanced around, "there's no one awake to see me do it now."

Kevin grinned reaching up and pulling Joel and he kissed Joel! "I love you, Dad."

Joel grinned and kissed Joel, "I love you, too." He kissed his eldest son. "I'll be kissing you even when you're forty or older. Accept it."

Kevin smirked, "I know."

He watched as Sara Beth activated some switch after kissing Ian and she could see her sons perfectly as the pod lid closed. The pod lid was clear, "Have a good nap." Then to Jimmy and she did the same thing. She did it for Kevin. "We'll see you in a few minutes." She waved at her sons and looked up. "Athena, activate Nesmith pods three, four, and five."

"Activating Nesmith pods three, four, and five," Athena's voice said calmly.

There was the sound of a hiss as the gas was pumped into the three pods. They watched as the gas worked its magic making the boys' eyes grown heavy and in less than a minute, they were out.

Then, Sara Beth covered her face with her hands, "We're doing the right thing, Joel."

He pulled Sara Beth closer to him, "We agreed..."

"I know," Sara Beth was crying a little now, "but we may never see them again."

Joel nodded, "You're right, but as dangerous as this may be, they will do better out there than back on Earth. There was no guarantee..."

"I know!" Sara Beth said louder than necessary. "They have a chance for clean, nonpoisonous air, and they won't be attacked by some lunatic or hit by a vehicle. No more super hurricanes, shrinking shorelines, earthquakes or other forms of disaster, but these are my babies. Our babies, Joel!"

"It will be okay," Joel encouraged. Then the wisecrack part of his personality surfaced, "Besides, we can't turn back now. We're on the way!" He thumbed at the countless other pods. "And they would be pissed if we did!"

Sara Beth couldn't help it. She balled a fist and struck him in the arm and the laughed and hugged him. "I worry. That's a mother's job."

Joel smiled brushing her hair back that was flying in odd directions because no gravity, "I know. You are a great Mom." He brought her closer kissing her tenderly. "I love you."

She smiled, "I know you do. I love you, too."

"I know."

She waved at the two remaining unoccupied pods, "In you go, Commander."

Joel saluted her and looked up, "Watch over us, Athena. Especially, pods two through five. They mean everything to me."

"I will endeavor to keep everyone safe," Athena's voice said calmly. "The five Nesmith pods I will watch over carefully, Commander."

"Thank you," Joel said and got in the pod for him and watched Sara Beth get in hers. He pressed the switch on the side of the pod. "See you in a few minutes."

Sara Beth chuckled, "I look forward to it." She pressed her switch. "Athena, activate Nesmith Pods one and two."

"Activating Nesmith pods one and two," Athena said. "Rest easy."

Joel heard the release of gas and welcomed the pleasant smell that was added. It was such a relief to not have to worry about those face masks now. The pleasant odor was to induce the person to breathe more deeply and now the gas and the entire pod kept them in stasis. Monitored life signs, which in stasis almost never happened. Another gas would be released. Heart rates dropped drastically and there was maybe a beat once month. Breathing didn't stop but was so shallow. Normal breaths occurred in a healthy person between twelve and twenty times a minute. In stasis a person breathed shallow and maybe a complete breath in a day...or less.

As Joel allowed himself to drift off to sleep. Images of the crowds of people that had crowded around the space elevator...all clamoring to be allowed to go with them. The soldiers around the base kept the crowd from breaking through the barrier. News of the Ark was leaked and even the launch date was leaked. The Ark was assembled in orbit around Earth. As secretive as they tried to be, they still found out. The space elevator was a tall construction that allowed a "cab" to take passengers up to the station that was held in orbit. It cost less to use the elevator instead of burning fuel to get a shuttle into orbit. From the station, they boarded another shuttle to take them to the Ark. They had to use solid fuel or liquid fuel to get to the Ark, but short bursts of that started the shuttle its way, and it got there with no resistance. The crowd of people at the elevator wanted to go. They were desperate to go. There were even some that were being killed to reduce the competition to be able to go. Which was pointless as that didn't mean any of them could go.

True to what they told their sons, it did seem like they just took a quick nap. Joel inhaled the new gas and allowed it to saturate his body allowing the drowsy feeling to abate. He did the recommended stretching of the arms and legs to cause the gas' to reach parts of him more quickly.

"How was your nap?" Sara Beth asked amused and lightheartedly from her own pod.

Joel looked over and watched as his wife pulled her hair back and smoothed it back. She kept it long as long as he had known her. It was attractive to him. Hell, most everything about her attracted him to her.

"Nap!?" A male voice asked with a sense of incredibility. "You've been asleep for six months!" The blond-haired man came into view in front of their pods. "And you will again...only longer!"

"Hi, Hank," Joel greeted the Canadian born man. Blond hair, hazel-colored eyes, about the same height as Joel who was six feet and three inches. Henry Cavill was the Ark's Engineer. His coverall had the word Ark on the left side, but the symbol below the word was the image of a bolt head with a wrench and screwdriver crisscrossed over it. His color from his collar down his arm was red. He was in charge of the entire ship mechanically. He had been one of thousands that Sara Beth had sifted through to choose an Engineer. He was nice looking and a year younger than Joel. Joel was thirty-six making Hank thirty-five.

"Well," Hank grinned. "How long do you two want to stay in bed?"

"Leave them alone," A deeply red-haired woman who Joel knew was thirty-four hovered behind Hank. She was Hank's wife Rita. "They just woke up."

"Hi, you two!" Sara Beth greeted and looked around the ship's interior, as if looking would tell her the answer she was seeking for, "Where are we now?"

Hank looked confused, "I know you're not asking me." He leaned forward a little. "I'm an Engineer."

Rita had on the same coverall. Her word Ark had a symbol below it with a circular symbol that had lines that rose from the bottom and the top representing an old form of circuit board or memory chip in the past. Athena was a computer that learned and could lay out her own circuits and memory boards. Computer Science. Her color on her shoulder was blue as well, but a darker blue that Sara Beth's. Science is science.

Sara Beth rolled her eyes and asked the air, "Athena, can you tell me where we are?"

"We are approximately four hundred million miles from Earth," Athena's calm voice answered. "We are just at the orbit of Jupiter, Doctor Nesmith."

Sara Beth's eyes widened, "That far?"

"Yes," Hank answered for Athena. "We will continue to accelerate exponentially as the ion engines will continue to push us ever faster." He looked up at the air. "Athena, how are my babies?"

"As I have gotten to know you, Dr. Cavill," Athena almost sounded amused. "I know you are not referring to your two daughters in stasis, which are doing fine, by the way. I know you are talking about my engines. They are also doing well and have been pushing the Ark faster as the ions are constantly pushing the Ark on its course."

"The next six months will put us into the billion miles distance," Hank's eyebrows wagged up and down.

"Wow," Sara Beth marveled.

Hank touched his stomach, "I'm hungry. Do we have time to eat?"

Joel chuckled, "It has been quite a while since we ate." He unfastened his harness. "Are you cooking?"

"No!" Hank said quickly. "Athena is."

They had chosen the name Athena after the Greek Goddess Athena because Athena was the goddess of wisdom, handicraft, and yes...war. However, she was also the goddess who guided Odysseus on his journey in Homer's Odyssey. Their version of Athena would be doing the same thing. Her wisdom and guidance were needed now on the Ark more than ever.

"We made it through the Asteroid Belt?" Sara Beth asked. "With no problems?"

"We are here unharmed," Joel stated the obvious.

Sara Beth looked at him stating her disfavor for what he just said, "I'm Human and it's just hard to believe."

Joel smiled," We'll have a meal together in the communal dining area, then I need to work out." He stretched his muscles in his right arm. "These weeks before we left, there wasn't enough time to work out much."

"Now," Sara Beth began, "we do."

Joel and Sara Beth looked at their sons in their pods. Joel knew that even though the boys looked completely lifeless they were alive in stasis. He touched each pod as if to touch each son. They were going to live.

They got in the lift and took it down to the habitat ring that was spinning again. The comfortable feeling of gravity, or centrifugal gravity returned.

"I want to shower and change," Rita stated. "Before we even eat. I've been in these same clothes for six months!"

Sara Beth took Joel's arm, "I agree with Rita." She held up her hand to an objection that Joel hadn't even thought of, "I know there's really no dirt or dust in the pods. I know we don't even sweat in the pods." She tapped on her left temple, "In here it will be comforting. A new pair of coveralls...I'll feel better."

Joel nodded, "Sure, let's do it."

Sara Beth got closer to Joel touching his zipper at his collar pulling it down slightly, "Are you going to join me, Commander?"

"Try and stop me," Joel smiled kissing his wife. After twelve years of marriage, they still had the passion. Joel's feelings had matured. So had Sara Beth's. They were equal partners in their marriage, and they tried very hard to keep it fresh.

"See you in..." Henry began, "what? An hour?" His grin told him he knew what was going to happen. He and Rita would probably do the same thing! "Just remember to bathe, too."

The habitat ring had passenger quarters. The ring wasn't like the round ones in the movies Joel loved. This one was wide. The lifts went up and down the unseen spokes of the ring. To see it from the outside, it looked like the whole Ark was a fat rocket. Very long and resembled a sewing needle. The white hull went the length of it however, the closer they got to the Ark the bigger the Ark appeared. Everyone, including Joel, Sara Beth and their sons were feeling overwhelmed by the sheer size of the Ark. Assembled in space by a few Human workers but mostly by robotic assembly drones that used computerized precision attaching each part. It was the hope of mankind! That fact made Joel feel the huge responsibility even more. Only a thin line moved in a circle that protruded just a little, so a view was allowed from the ring. The hull hid what was underneath. There was a ring. The Ark also had a lot of storage. The ring had four levels. There were working areas on an upper two levels and on two lower levels had enough quarters for every family to reside in comfort. In luxury, in fact. Spacious and well appointed. They each had their own rooms. Sara Beth and Joel had a room, and each son had their own room. Though, when they first got to the Ark, Ian wasn't comfortable in a room by himself yet. He stayed in the room with Jimmy. It took about a week and a half before he was willing to stay in his own room. There was also a bathroom for the boys and a bathroom for Sara Beth and Joel. A room Sara Beth and Joel used as an office. There was a room that they used as a gym. The biggest room was a gathering room that they used as a family to eat, cook, and just sit together as a family. The walls, floor and ceiling were white. Any color was added by pillows and covers on the couch, in rugs on the floor. There were wide windows along the far wall that allowed them to see the empty space outside. There were sturdy metal covers that would slide shut if they didn't want the view or for safety if there was a meteor shower or debris. With the slow spin over the habitat ring the stars did move slowly around the view port. The habitat ring was so large that the slight curve of the floor and walls were just unnoticed and ignored.

Joel and Sara Beth got into their bathroom and Sara Beth pulled the zipper down further on Joel's coverall. Her hands went under the coverall and ran her fingers over his chest hairs and pushed the coverall from his shoulders and let them fall unrestricted. He did the same with Sara Beth's coverall.

They did make love a couple of times in the hot steamy water. Water that would not be wasted. Nothing was wasted, but recirculated and purified to be redistributed to anyone who needed it. Even urine and solid waste were taken, purified and given back to the crew members of the Ark. Even the feces had any water purified, the solids treated and used as fertilizers and...yes reused as food stuffs! A fact his sons had a hard time with, but after a while they adjusted. There were three times he caught his sons teasing each other about they were going to be drinking pee-water and eating poop sandwiches. They were boys! Farts, poop, and piss were just fascinating to them. He had to fight off the urge to laugh. Sometimes, he didn't. Sara Beth knew her boys, she wouldn't have been pleased with the sense of humor. "Their boys!" He would tell Sara Beth. That explanation was enough, but Sara Beth still expected better from her sons.

They put on fresh coveralls and headed toward the Communal Dining Room and Kitchen. The Cavills had not shown up yet, so Sara Beth looked over the inventory selection. For now, there plenty of selections were available. There was a sort of stasis chamber for food goods. Fish, chicken, beef, pork were kept and would not spoil...in the food stasis cabinet. "What do you feel like?" She asked Joel.

Joel thought a second and said, "Barbeque." He pointed at his wife. "Not the verb done with meats, but the tangy sauced kind of prepared pulled pork."

Sara Beth looked at her husband and her smile slowly grew, "Missing home?"

Joel's family was originally from South Carolina. Charleston. The rising water lines had threatened Charleston and many other coastal cities along the Atlantic Coast. They tried those barriers to keep the water back, but one of the first super hurricanes hit Charleston with winds of six hundred miles an hour! Or more! The wind was terrible, but the storm surge of floor waters, waves and destruction pretty well laid waste to one of the oldest cities in the United States. The coastlines changed in many states, and they lost thousands of miles of beach and coastline. They lost most all of Florida. People from the Twentieth and Twenty First Centuries would be shocked at the map of the world now. Joel didn't care for many of the dishes from South Carolina such as grits, greens, or beans, but he loved the mustard-based barbeque sauce and pulled pork. He nodded, "Yes, I am." He brightened. "All treasures from Earth need to be saved! That great Barbeque is one of them!"

Sara Beth chuckled, "Athena, do you have that mustard-based recipe in your memory?"

"Of course, Dr. Nesmith," Athena's voice came.

"One portion..." then she looked at her husband. "Make those two portions of Southern Mustard-Based pork barbeque."

"That will take fifteen minutes," Athena informed them.

"Fried onion rings?" Sara Beth asked Joel.

"Naturally!" He said, "They just go together."

Sara Beth chuckled, "You heard him, Athena."

"I will add the onion rings," Athena was not too surprised.

Joel was more convinced Athena was practically a sentient life form. Maybe she was.

Sara Beth shook her finger at him, "This means you will have to double up on your workouts. How many times have you had it this month? Five?"

Joel saluted her again. "It's a religious observation!"

"Uh, huh," Sara Beth nodded.

Athena could cook and prepare most foods but assembling the food on plates and getting silverware; that required arms and hands. Breads were in the stasis cabinet, too. People had to assemble things themselves. The shows where food and meals just materialized were fiction. Maybe one day they would have that, but for now...it was at least better than it used to be! Sara Beth was almost a vegetarian, eating mostly salads with the occasional fish dish or chicken. She got her fish ordered as Joel got their beverages.

It was damned luxurious on the Ark. Fish was now raised on farms as was chicken. There were almost no free-range chickens, no fresh fish was caught now. Joel had read stories about fishing trips where men and women sat on riverbanks or on piers to catch fish live. It was Joel's hope one day in the future they could do that again.

Rita and Hank came in with Hank clapping his hands in anticipation of a good meal and good conversations with two friends. They were friends. Just like Joel who had been chosen from thousands of candidates. Hank also knew he was number three in the choice. The were prerequisites that were needed. No extra family ties such as parents, brothers or sisters that would hinder the person going. No family other than extended family such as cousins were recommended. Health issues. The first choice developed cancer and was eliminated as a choice because he would be in treatment when the launch occurred. The second choice died. Joel and Sara Beth didn't have any diseases in their family histories. Neither did Hank or Rita. The genetic screening showed they were all clean. Both Sara Beth and Joel were the soul surviving members of their families, except for their children, of course. The same for Hank and Rita. Also, the Psychology assessment had to fit. Once Joel had been chosen Sara Beth was made head of the medical department on the Ark. With Joel in charge of the Ark, they put Sara Beth in charge of their group. She stressed to come up with the perfect candidates for each needed position. They needed to be not just good at what they did, but would fit well in a community they would form on the Ark. With billions of people in the world finding the people needed was very possible. Hank's personality was infectious and always made people feel good. He had advanced degrees and sense to make things work.

"Sorry to hold things up!" Hank said happily.

"It's just us, Hank," Joel grinned. "You didn't hold anyone up."

"We would have been here faster," Hank looked his wife pointedly, "if someone didn't insist on fixing her hair."

Rita's auburn hair was down and done about her face and she wasn't bothered a bit, "You can thank God we all wear the same thing every day. Otherwise, it would have taken longer to figure out what to wear!"

Humor. Both Joel and Sara Beth thought it was a very needed part of the selection process. People that took themselves too seriously could cause problems and stress. Joel had a good sense of humor. So did Sara Beth. Hank had a great sense of humor. He and Joel got along well having a great time playing off the other. Sara Beth and Rita got along very well. The four had become good friends during the month-long work situation before the Ark launched. Each group had a single person in charge dealing with any disputes. Fortunately, there were no big problems. The Ark had the room and supplies to keep all twenty-five hundred Ark residents calm and well fed. The only real disputes were in families and their quarters, sibling rivalry and the usual family squabbles. Even those problems were very few. Just as with Joel and Sara Beth's children. Kevin, Jimmy, and Ian had shared a room at home near Asheville, North Carolina. Their house had been comfortable but rather compact. It was in a gated community which was essential. There were some rough areas around the world and in the United States. People didn't seem to think it was too wrong to take what you had. Be it food or things they could pawn off to a known fence. Luxury items were the hottest things and brought the most money. People also thought what they desired, be it sexual or just being cruel and criminal was fine. Reports of whole families that would be attacked, raped, and killed in the worse ways were daily. When they got to the Ark it was as if everyone on the Ark breathed a sigh of relief and was so grateful to be able to let their guards down for the first time in their lives! Kevin, Jimmy, and Ian ran around their quarters on the Ark loving how much room there was! Ian's discomfort about having is own room took a little while for him to sleep in his private space. Alone. Sara Beth knew her sons loved each other and were close. They would always be. The teasing was just what brothers did. She was tolerant...to a point. Joel and she were to give guidance, not to be dictators.

Conversations at the table Joel, Sara Beth, Hank, and Rita shared had no real direction.

"...will the new world have seasons?" Rita asked. "I love Autumn with the trees' color changes and the crisp, cool air." It still happened in Canada but was fading in the northern United States.

Joel shrugged eating his second barbeque sandwich, "We won't know until we find it."

"We have all those migratory animals where migrating has been ingrained in their very DNA!" Rita said helplessly, "Are they going to know where to go on this new world? Will they know when to go?"

"Excellent questions," Sara Beth nodded sincerely. Of course, she couldn't answer them with authority. "You need to ask Dana Crenshaw. She's the animal behavior expert."

Joel offered, "Many species depend on magnetic fields, tides, and other factors to trigger migration. The tides are determined by the moon."

Rita asked, "If the planet has no moon?"

Joel shrugged again, "They'll just have to adapt. Except for Venus and Mercury every planet has moons in our solar system. Earth has just the one, a pretty big one, but just one. We won't choose a world without water. Oceans would be a priority. We'll deal with the tide situation when we get there."

Hank chuckled, "Arnold, one of my Mechanical Engineers, was asking about his workday." He shook his head, "He was going on and on about the eight-hour shift." Hank held his hands up in frustration. "He wanted a ten-hour workday, a ten-hour off time off and ten-hour sleep time. I said, what ten hours? Ten Earth hours? Time has been tailored to the Earth's rotation and orbit. One year around the sun and twenty-four hours to rotate." He grinned. "Arnold tells me, that's his point! As there isn't a rotation anymore a measured day doesn't need to be twenty-four hours!"

Joel chuckled, "And he's right. However, Humans have had the day and night schedule as early as we began to evolve! We'll stick to the twenty-four Earth Standard Hours for now."

Hank nodded, "This Ark is better equipped than the first Ark. How would animals, a simple selection of two-by-two work to repopulate as species?" He asked sitting back. "For that matter, how was the Human race saved with just Noah, his wife and their three sons? The sons had their own wives, but even with each son having ten or more children...cousin was to marry cousin!? We know how well that worked out for the Romanov family!"

Sara Beth laughed lightly, "In Noah's case you're forgetting about Devine Intervention. God called the animals and got the predators to drink milk while on the Ark. No hunting."

"Yeah," Hank added, not giving away his position. "Was it every animal? Every species? Lions, tigers, and bears...oh, my! You know how many kinds of tiger there are! Great cats! Great apes..."

Rita put her hand on his, "Calm down." She said patiently like she no doubt did with her daughters. "We don't have that problem. We have all of the known species we could get on this Ark."

Sara Beth smiled, "Yes. The domestic animals won't be a problem. We have enough genetic diversification to create a heathy species. We perfected the artificial womb to get animals to gestate normally for Human consumption."

Rita nodded, "Matt Koval, the geneticist? He was proposing we use the artificial womb on Human embryos."

Sara Beth frowned, "We don't need to. We have enough people to have a healthy base for Human Society."

Rita nodded, "We do. He was saying we could further do it by creating new Humans with more diverse genetic structure." She grinned. "Frankly, I think that because he's married Mark, he's looking for a way they can have children."

Sara Beth laughed and nodded, "I can see that would be a problem for them. Nancy and Connie don't have that problem. They are another homosexual couple. Perhaps Matt and Mark should pair up with Nancy and Connie!"

"I don't think they would be willing to have sex with either of them," Rita shrugged. "I don't know if Nancy or Connie would be willing to have sex with either of them. With the artificial womb, they can have the eggs fertilized by invitro and inserted in the womb to have the child."

Joel gave a reluctant shrug, "No one has to even touch anymore to have a child." He nodded. "We all made donations for our DNA that can be used for a long while...even after centuries following our deaths."

"Anyone could give birth to children of ours a thousand years from when we make planet fall." Said Sara Beth. She sighed, "I want my children to have their own children..." her eyes met Joel's, "...eventually. The thought of my DNA mixing with descendants of their DNA is sort of unnerving."

Rita smiled a bit evilly, "Who knows? They could figure out a way to combine halves of the DNA from you and Joel."

Joel's eyes grew. "Hank and I could have a child together?"

Hank didn't miss a beat, "A son or daughter with Joel and I?" He nodded and smiled. "I know whatever child we have together will be gorgeous!" He pointed at Rita. "Or you and Sara Beth could have a child."

"Which could only be a daughter as all you two have are X chromosomes." Joel added.

"Yeah," Hank agreed.

They continued to enjoy their time but had to work. After cleaning up what they'd eaten from and what was left over from what they'd eaten to be recycled. They went to the Control Room on the Habitat Ring. There was another Control Room on the central level of the Ark. That one was in a zero-gravity area. They could have their Control Room anywhere they wanted as Athena could display whatever was needed anywhere they were. Joel, Sara Beth, Hank, and Rita had designated a workspace while everyone was getting settled on the Ark. It became a habit. They were used to sharing the space with other leaders on the Ark making the room more crowded. The Control Room was large and now seemed very large with only the four of them. Joel checked any scans Athena had done getting to where they were, projections as to where they were going and checked the parameters on what Athena was using to scan for any problems, radiation, or debris. Their future home had to be checked and Athena's scans would be more thorough the closer they got to each new solar system.

Sara Beth checked on all the Ark's residents. She looked for any problems with the pods and looked over each residents' bio-scans and looked for any changes. As loath as she was to say it, pregnancy was a problem. Stasis didn't stop nature but slowed it down. With nearly a thousand fertile females in the pods...all married...pregnancy was possible. If there was a pregnancy it would be the longest pregnancy any Human Being ever had! There should be no problem if there were, but a pregnancy had never been monitored much in stasis. Just like breathing and heartbeats didn't completely stop. They just slowed way, way down. Would Human reproduction slow down like that? Would there be problems? Sara Beth didn't know. She monitored for everything.

Hank was checking the Ark's four engines and thrusters. The ion gas was created by Athena in the Ark. The thrusted ion gas was like an old water hose. The smaller the opening for the output, the harder the escaping gas was thrusted out sending the Ark on its way faster. The pressure never let up, so the thrust was greater with less gas. The engines had to keep the thrust going for quite a while. Ten years or maybe a hundred years. They had enough resources for the gas to be created that long, it was the engines he was concerned with. They were brand new! They were durable and the Ark generate enough power to keep the ionized gas to be constantly expelled. The speed would be a quarter of the speed of light going up to half the speed of light and finally reaching nearly six hundred million miles an hour! To slow down, the Ark would have to send thrusts forward to slow the forward motion. Athena would do that until an appropriate planetary body was located.

Rita gave Athena a thorough exam as any medical doctor checked their patient. Algorithms and logic were checked. Also, Athena's personality was checked. Not to be sure she was accurate but was her personality okay to interact with all the residents on the Ark...young and old. She gave the younger residents...and the adult ones...what they needed for an education. Preschool to doctorate level courses. Human instructors were there, but Athena could display lessons.

Athena was a busy Artificial Intelligence. She could interact with everyone individually at one time. Joel had Robbie when growing up. Robbie the robot. Joel had seen the movie Forbidden Planet from 1956 and had fallen in love with the robot named Robbie. He had a scaled down version of Robbie that was only three feet tall. Joel had never released his robotic friend, even giving it to his sons to use who fell in love with Robbie as well. They really fell in love after Joel got them to watch the movie. Robbie was awkward moving in the movie, the version that Joel had looked just like Robbie. Robbie was even on the Ark now and kept the boys' company. However, when the got to whatever world they were going to settle on. Joel planned to give them a full-sized version of the seven-foot robot with all his blinking lights, whirling antennas and robotic voice. The Nesmith men loved that big, black, hulking robot. Robbie was patient and a good teacher for his sons. Robbie taught everything from letters of the alphabet to Ian and numbers, math, science and he also taught them to think logically and how to reason. Joel had Robbie's memory transferred to Athena. Athena would channel that memory to the full-sized version of Robbie. He would remember everything he talked about with each son and prove he was the real Robbie. Yeah, the new Robbie would remember all he'd said and done with Joel, too. When Sara Beth had moved in with him Robbie remembered everything she'd done and said to Robbie. He would be Robbie! A full-sized version would have taken up too much room back at home. Athena would keep Robbie's memory from then on.

The truth was Athena was the most important being of any kind on the Ark.

Joel would be awakened to approve the planet and then return to his pod where Athena would begin slowing the Ark down. The first system they were going toward was Proxima, or Alpha Centauri. It has several near-Earth sized planets. It was the closest and had a yellow star. Did any of those planets have water? Atmospheres they could breathe it or make breathable? If not...Kepler was next, and then Tau Ceti. Athena would continue to scan to find a planet they didn't know about. They would find a home!

Life on the Ark was luxurious. Joel and Sara Beth knew that. They also knew how dangerous it was. The unknown was out there and that was the danger. Meteors and micro-fragments were a constant danger. One fragment could act like a bullet to the hull. There was a deflector field that worked on low power until Athena detects them. It acted like a giant umbrella that would fight wind and rain only with small debris...theoretically. At the speeds they would be taking had never been tried out in reality. The luxury was something the residents had to soften thoughts of the potential disaster. The governments of Earth thought it was worth the expense. Athena would send scans of information back to Earth and for the entire trip. Even when they get to their new world information and information would be sent back. Naturally, it would take longer and longer for the information to get there, but it would be sent. One of the other tasks Rita was to do an ongoing check if anyone sent any programs to the Ark that would change their mission. Rita and the people that worked with her were loyal. Athena was to look after herself as well.

One of those luxuries in their quarters was a large tub that they could share hot water together. After a good workout they soothed their muscles in the warm water. All water would be recycled and purified.

"This is heaven," Joel commented casually enjoying the heat entering his muscles.

"I almost wish we had woken the boys up when we got up," Sara Beth said absently.

"Wait," Joel said suddenly sitting up. "Did you hear that?" He asked a little alarmed.

The quarters were soundproof to keep the peace and quiet in and the noisy habitat ring out.

Sara Beth stopped, and she listened carefully, "I don't hear anything."

Joel smiled waggling his eyebrows at her, "Exactly! No gimme it, no let go, no stop it, no wrestling sounds or breaking glass..." He chuckled. "Just quiet."

"Oh, you!" Sara Beth knew deep down what he would do, but somehow always fell for it. She slapped his bare chest, "I said almost."

"Ow!" Joel chuckled touching his chest where she hit him. "Those small hands sting when we're wet."

Sara Beth chuckled, too. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I'll kiss it and make it better." She leaned in kissing him on the chest where she hit him, then raised her head kissing his neck, and finally kissing him on the lips gently. "You are so...sexy."

Joel sat back a bit, "Excuse me."

"You get more attractive each year," Sara Beth nodded looking in his brown eyes. "It's true! You're like cheese or a great wine, you just keep getting better with age. You..." she was surprised when Joel withdrew his arm and folded his arms over his chest, and she could see their five-year-old Ian as Joel began pouting. "What's wrong? It's a compliment. What's wrong with what I just said?"

"Nothin'," Joel even sounded like Ian. He looked at Sara Beth and knew she wouldn't let him by with that explanation. He grudged an answer, "Its just that I was about say something so romantic you would have been impressed."

She grinned at Joel, "I'm not stopping you. Impress me." She challenged propping herself on the edge of the tub and gazing at him, trying not to laugh. The laughter was in her eyes.

"Well, now it will seem like a reply to what you just said to me," Joel pouted. "It won't seem genuine, damn it."

Sara Beth frowned, "Don't make me breakout the swear jar again." Sara Beth had put a jar on the counter in the kitchen and every time he or any of their sons used a word she didn't approve of; a quarter went in the jar for each word, if she heard it. She barely allowed the word "darn." She argued she was raising intelligent, articulate men and using swear words showed they were simpletons.

Joel's eyes widened, "I don't think I brought any change with me to the Ark." He grinned amused. "I don't know where you'll even find a jar."

"I'll think of something," Sara Beth did chuckle at him. "Now, go on. I promise I'll be impressed."

"But now you're expecting it!" Joel whined. Then he sat back again and looked at her suspiciously, "Besides, I thought you ladies weren't attracted by looks."

It was Sara Beth's turn for eyebrows to rise and eyes to widen in surprise, "Who told you that nonsense?"

"Some professor lecturing about relationship science," Joel answered.

Sara Beth nodded, "That professor was a man, wasn't he?"

Joel smiled, "Yes."

"Women are attracted by looks, too." Sara Beth explained. "It's just not the main thing to attract us. Coupled with your personality and brains...it's the whole package!" She inhaled remembering, "When I saw you in uniform, oh! I was very attracted to you physically."

"Yeah?" Joel smiled.

She tapped his bare chest, "When you graduated from Officer Candidacy School...you know we conceived Kevin that weekend!"

He graduated as a Lieutenant in the North American Military, the combined military of Canada and the United States. He was deployed for two months after the weekend, and he returned to find out they were expecting their first child. Two years later, the same thing happened and here came Jimmy! Ian was a complete surprise. No, none of their sons were "planned." They wanted children but weren't planning a specific "when."

Birth Control Science continued to advance, but Joel and Sara Beth wanted a family the "natural way." Like men and women had done since the dawn of mankind. Ian wasn't even planned in any way. There was the two-child rule in North America, and they already had two children. It was an accepted rule, but not a law. Suppose the second pregnancy were twins or even triplets? You could choose an embryonic reduction, but which one would survive, and which would die? Who would do that if they wanted children? It was a rule not a law. Because Joel had a distinguished military career it was just ignored.

"You said you were going to impress me," Sara Beth said waving at him. "Proceed, I'm listening."

"See!?" Joel objected. "It may not work."

"You'll never know until you try," Sara Beth countered.

Joel grinned at his wife. Their relationship was full of these heavy and light discussions. They both enjoyed them. She had always been someone he wanted to convey his true desire with. He cleared his throat and returned his arm around her and gazed into her brown eyes. They were not as brown as his or his sons but still brown. "I love you now more than I ever have. We met and I will admit..." he held his hand up, "I really just wanted to have sex with you."

Sara Beth withdrew from him a little, "Oh, really?"

Joel nodded, "I admitted it. I know you heard me say it. But I meet you and I was impressed. You are a brilliant Human Being. I began feeling unworthy of you."

Sara Beth's eyes softened, and her smile returned. "Oh, Joel."

"I'm not finished," Joel cautioned holding up a finger to stop her.

"Sorry," Sara Beth smiled. "Go on."

"Thank you," Joel nodded. "As we dated, I wanted to make you a part of my life. You agree to marry me." He smiled warmly at her, "The most beautiful woman on Earth agrees to marry me!? Over the past decade you and I created three beautiful, equally brilliant souls that are our children. You are an amazing and brilliant doctor, but you are a wonderful wife and partner. You are a terrific mother. You are more beautiful than the day we met...and that just blew my mind then! You talk about my aging making me look better? I heard a woman's prime arrives in her late thirties." His words were heart-felt and sincere. He saw the effect in her eyes as moisture came. "I can't wait to see what that will be." He kissed her gently. "I love you, Sara Beth. You made me the man I am. I won't be that man without you. I love you."

The tears came, but the smile now was less about amusement, but the joy of true love. "That, Joel," her voice broke a little, "really impressed me. It worked."

Joel kissed her again, "Good. I meant every word."

Sara Beth nodded, "I know. I love you so much. I've always known I was a priority. The boys are a priority, too." She kissed him again. Hugging him she said into his ear, "And you have a great ass!" She laughed lightly.

Joel chuckled, "Oh? Do I?" He knew the difference was that saying what a person's rear end was tolerable. Or referring to the donkey. Calling a person an ass was to swear.

"The best I've ever seen!" Sara Beth nodded. "I'm a doctor. I've seen a lot of buttocks. My assessment is professional and yet very personal."

Joel's grin grew, "I defer to your professional and personal assessment."