Ship of Lies

Deep in the never-ending void of darkness, surrounded by stars, gas clouds, planets and lights of distant realms our starship cruised on a course into the unknown. Randal and I picked up a plate of food from the cafeteria and sat down on one of the outer tables beside a window. My tray clanked against the metal surface of the table as we both sat down to eat. The graveyard shift for the engine room was always such a drag, but it was critical to the survival of all onboard. Life upon the Astro Voyager III wasn’t much different to life on Earth – if you never went outside. The starship was enormous enough to house its own artificial nature environments. Recycling, composting and reusing was of utmost importance to the longevity of the crew and for the last three years, everything had been going according to plan…everything except Earth.

I still recall the day when the media began announcing the Global Crisis. It made me sick to my stomach to think of all the people who were dropping dead from starvation and environmental disasters triggered by severe climate change. Within a week the population of the planet had halved and, sadly but unsurprisingly, the developed countries had the highest chance of survival. I happened to be one of the lucky ones, or at least I thought so at the time. Looking back, it seemed odd how quickly they were able to build ships ready for space travel, but I suppose governments always have a backup plan in case the world goes to hell. Maybe the world leaders did listen to climate scientists and conservationists but wanted to indulge in their riches a bit longer. Maybe they did want to provide aid and food to the developing countries across the sea but they decided to prioritise their own comforts first. Maybe they secretly had no hope at all of turning things around and decided to enjoy their position while they still could. Fools, the lot of them. Our options were practically taken from us, our motivations twisted by the media who were paid by the government to spread propaganda; flee Earth while you have the chance or remain and risk dying with the rest of the planet. I don’t know how many people stayed or what became of them. Seeing the success of a couple hundred ships already reporting from the vast abyss was all the convincing I needed after my home was burned to the ground. A forest fire had spread halfway across my home state, while the other side of the country faced tsunamis reaching peaks higher than any previously recorded in history. I felt in my heart that the planet was done with the disease that was mankind. It was our cleansing, I suppose, and the starship was a second chance to me; a new home, free food, safety, water and a place where I could contribute as a general worker.

It was crazy to think now that so many others had fled their home countries to come to the safety of my own while my first immigration was escaping the planet itself. Part of me felt like I had given up on the world, but what could I have done? What could any of us have done? You cannot fight a tsunami. You cannot throw buckets of water at a fire that spreads across cities. You cannot start to rebuild when the temperatures of the world become unliveable and humans and animals alike are dropping dead because of it. Continuity on Earth was all but a dream now and the unforgiving, ever-present void of space was our new home. Though something about the Space Program irked me. The urgency to leave Earth was unreal, the pressure had all but crushed me. The way the governments of the world had suddenly found a way to form the Space Program and work together for the sake of humanity’s survival was unbelievable looking back now.

“Jess, you okay?” Randal asked, bringing my attention back to my meal.

“Oh, yeah… just thinking about home…” I muttered with a longing sigh.

Randal cocked his head sideways, “What exactly about it?”

“I just wonder what it looks like. If there’s been progress. You know?”

“We get updates every day…what do you mean?” Randal pressed, scraping the last bit of his food onto his fork. My chest fell. Randal was a smart guy but it seemed he too was completely infatuated by the Space Program. I finished my meal and suggested we doubled back to the engine room.

“Again? We don’t have to check it for another half hour though and it’s so damn hot in there!” he complained. The engine room served more than one purpose on this ship. The temperatures inside combined with the moisture and noise made it the perfect place to talk without being caught. I hurried inside and closed the door, then prompted Randal to leave his headphones off.

“Do you really believe in the program?” I asked, with great seriousness.

“Of course, what the hell do you mean?” He argued. I became animated and pointed out the suddenness of everything that had happened on Earth and the fact that rebuilding had hardly improved over the last three years. Something switched in Randal’s face.

“I didn’t want to say anything before because I didn’t know who might be listening. I had to be sure you knew what you were suggesting.”

“Wait, what?”

Randal glanced at the metal floor between us, “I did some snooping, Jess. I shouldn’t have and I think they might come for me soon but… I found a folder. It took some time but getting in with the higher-ups gave me a chance to copy some of the main databases over to my laptop.”

My heart skipped a beat, “Oh gods. What have you done?”

He swallowed, “One of the folders was locked up so tight it took me three weeks to get into. All the updates they show us of Earth…all the way up to next year...they’re all pre-recorded."