By Jessie Culbert
May 3, 2130:The Swedish flag is flying at half-mast at the Royal Palace of Stockholm and the royal family’s residence of Drottningholm Palace after CitiFutura officials announced today that the yearlong joint search and rescue for its missing vessel,Aurora,has been called off. Princess Margaretha Sofia of Sweden—a popular figureworldwide for her philanthropic efforts and her viral pop hit “Just Enough”—is among the 657 persons on board, now presumed dead.
CitiFutura lost contact with its ship, a new luxury spaceliner model on its maiden voyage, six months into its yearlong cruise. No sign of the vessel has been found, and no official cause for the disappearance has been identified.
TheAurorarepresented a new way of space travel, luxury instead of survival, at an exorbitant price. Amenities on board included premium suites, a spa, casino, shopping, and gourmet meals from a private chef.
The complete passenger manifest for her maiden voyage, still unreleased at this point, is widely rumored to consist of luminaries from all aspects of society.
Houston Seahawks fans have redoubled their petition efforts for Theo Graves, former star quarterback in the Zero Grav League (ZGL), to be inducted into the hall of fame. Graves and his wife, Lilah, are believed to be on board, though the Graves family and ZGL have refused to confirm.
CitiFutura, with their primary competitor, Verux Inc., and supplemental support from the diminished National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) and Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA), launched the largest-to-date search and rescue operation shortly after CitiFutura was unable to raise the vessel on comm and emergency channels. No distress or emergency signals have been detected.
“It’s a terrible tragedy, of course,” a Verux spokesperson said today. “We are a community, not competitors, when it comes to working together to pave the way for humanity to live among the stars. There is no reward without risk, but it is unfortunate to consider those who may have sacrificed their lives for the advancement. We offer our deepest condolences to the families of theAurorapassengers and crew.”
Approximately 150 crew members were aboard theAuroraat the time of its disappearance, including the command crew: Captain Linden Gerard, First Officer Cage Wallace, and Pilot James Nguyen.
The comments below the article, archived from the publication date, are about what I would expect: mourning for the loss of a pair of celebrity sisters on board, wild conspiracy theories involving aliens, and commenters fighting among themselves over the validity of said conspiracy theories.
“Those poor families,” Lourdes murmurs as she sinks into her seat. She grips the edge of the board in front of her, as though she needs it to keep herself steady. “But can we go now? Set a flag or send a message or whatever we have to do to claim it and then get out of here? Please?”
Silence holds for a long moment. Lourdes doesn’t know how the Law of Finding works, but no one is volunteering to give her the information she lacks.
Voller spins around to face me. “Are we leaving?” he asks, challenge biting in every syllable.
The food printer is almost out. Just three packets of protein left. And the water is starting to taste weird. Like metal. Mama says that means the filter is going bad. She says I need to get out of here or I’ll be trapped forever, dead like the rest of them, like her…
I shove the memories down, hard. This is not the same. Not at all the same. I’m not alone, not this time. And I’m not a scared little kid on a remote outpost. I’m a team lead and the LINA is under my control. I can leave anytime I want.
Including right now, claim or no claim.
But that would mean walking away from the only chance I have left to build a life I want to live—on my own, without Verux. Verux sent my mother—and me—to Ferris Outpost. After everything that happened there, Verux brought me back and kept me in one of their group homes. Until I was old enough to work. And then guess who was the only one willing to hire me with my history?
And now, Verux is done with me, except in a formal, administrative, pat-on-the-head capacity. Whether I agree or not.
Fury and frustration ignite anew within me.
My portion of this find would mean freedom, no more Veruxpulling the strings and no more depending on their generosity to keep me up here, doing what I’m good at.
“No,” I say finally. “We’re not leaving.” There’s too much at stake.
Voller lets out a whoop of triumph.
“Nysus, I need a way in,” I say.
“On it,” Nysus says immediately.
“In?”Lourdes asks. “Why would you want to go in?”
“Kovalik, we need to talk. Now,” Kane says, and his end of the intercom clicks off abruptly. He’ll be on the bridge any second. That’ll be fun.
“Voller, head back portside,” Nysus says. “I’ve got limited data without access to the commweb, but there should be a cargo bay door for loading passenger luggage and supplies. I’ve got something that will get us in, assuming there weren’t any last-minute upgrades to the published specs. Bay should be big enough for you to guide us right in.”
“Claire?” Lourdes asks. “What’s happening?”
I hesitate. She’s so young and… unjaded. It would be nice if she could stay that way. On any normal day as a commweb maintenance team member, this wouldn’t be an issue. Yes, accidents still happen. Space is dangerous. Lourdes isn’t stupid; she knows that. And the daily and occasionally grim reality of working out here will eventually take its toll, but I feel like we’re inflicting a dozen years’ worth of damage all at once.
“Seriously doubt they’ve had time to do any upgrading with being dead and all,” Voller says to Nysus with a snicker.
