The Forgotten

By Eric C. Steele

"Enter," the Captain called out in response to the bell on his cabin door.

The Captain kept his cabin dark. He preferred the darkness. He had become accustom to the despair the darkness held in its inky folds.

When the door slid open, the Captain didn't turn to see who interrupted his brooding. By silhouette it was a male member of the crew. The light from the corridor was held at bay by the darkness. In contrast the darkness leaked from the cabin and washed over the man hiding his face.

"What is it?" The Captain barked.

"I was wondering if I might speak to you, sir," the man said.

The Captain turned and gave a quick visual inspection of the man.

"Yes Lieutenant," the Captain replied. "How can I help you?"

The Lieutenant stepped through the door. Before the Lieutenant spoke he checked over his shoulder to make sure the door closed. The Captain, while fair, did not allow disloyalty.

"Sir," the Lieutenant began with a timidness in his voice. "Members of the crew have concerns with the continuation of this mission. When the next cycle begins, we believe we should find a place to settle and do the best we can to live out our lives."

"Then what?" The Captain demanded. "Watch as the remnants of our civilization dissolve with the death of each individual."

"We wish to raise families," the Lieutenant interjected. "We can give birth to new generations of our people."

"The Titan's crew numbers 200," the Captain said. "It is not enough to create a viable gene pool. Even if we use technological means to spread out the genetic material, we can never vary the genes enough."

"The last few rebirths created sentient species," the Lieutenant said. "We can teach one of those species. They will have billions of years to live, reproduce and pass on the things we teach them. They may discover a way to make it past the collapse."

The Captain turned and leaned on the windowsill.

"What do you see out there lieutenant?" The Captain asked.

"Darkness, an empty abyss, the bleakness of our existence," the Lieutenant said.

"This part always bothers the crew?" the Captain asked.

The Lieutenant stood silent. He thought the Captain was being rhetorical. The Captain cast a glare at the Lieutenant.

"Answer me," the Captain demanded.

The Lieutenant brought himself closer to attention, frightened by the Captain's strong tone.

"Yes sir, they worry there will be no rebirth and we will be trapped in the void," the Lieutenant responded.

"Not me," the Captain said. "This is my favorite part. This is a blank canvas waiting for us to begin again. We can do this again and again. With every rebirth we witness, it brings new hope to restore our people."

"Fourteen times sir," the Lieutenant stated as he moved next to the Captain. "We witnessed the rebirth of the Universe fourteen times, soon it will be the fifteenth. We failed in bringing back our people. How many more times will we witness it, fifty, a hundred, a thousand. Time may have forgotten us on this vessel, we did not forget time."

"Watch your tongue, Lieutenant," the Captain snarled. "Being my son does not give you the right to forget your rank."

"Father I meant no disrespect," the Lieutenant said lowering his eyes in a sign of respect. "We are watching the Universe go by us on this ship and it's frustrating."

The Captain placed his hand on the Lieutenant's shoulder and turned from the window. He crossed the room to where his desk stood. It sat on an angle allowing him to sit at his desk and ponder the events passing outside his window. On the desk sat a translucent, lighted, cube. He picked it up and peered inside.

"Do you know what this is?" The Captain asked.

"It's mother's DNA," the Lieutenant replied.

"We had to leave her behind to go on this mission," the Captain reminded his son. "We have thousands of these cubes in the hold. Each holds genetic material to seed the Universe and allow our people to evolve into existence. This one is special though, this one holds only your mother's DNA. I will restore this one when we bring back our people. Do you wish to deny your mother the chance to live again?"

The Captain turned to the Lieutenant.

"Yes, I wish to see mother again," the Lieutenant replied. "If a chance came to restore her life, I might take it. The last fourteen attempts prove we cannot restore our people. We must make a new plan."

"Who else feels this way?" The Captain asked.

"I did not come here to help you root out people you consider disloyal," the Lieutenant replied. "I am here speaking only for myself."

"Is this life so awful?" The Captain asked. "We've witnessed the birth, life and death of the Universe. It has played out before our eyes as we sat isolated from the raging torrent of time. Even the traumatic birth of the Universe brushes against us here. We sacrifice for the hope of rebuilding our civilization. It's life cut short by the first death of the Universe."

The radio in the Captain's quarters came alive.

"Captain," a disembodied voice said. "The Universe will restart in less than one minute ship time."

"Prepare the genetic payload," the Captain said into the air. "Remind launch control they need to target the points we discussed."

"You see my son," the Captain said. "You wanted a new plan and we have one. This time instead of targeting the epicenter of the explosion which begins the Universe, we will fire the payload into the emptiness before the explosion. It will give better dissemination of the genetic material. This will work."

"And if it doesn't?" The Lieutenant asked. "Will you then consider my plan. We can teach a new civilization of our history and culture, we can live on through them."

"You need to have more faith, my son," the Captain replied.

Outside the window a missile flew past. It's fiery plume gave off light. With nothing to reflect off of, the light remained a ball as it traveled into the distance.

"Rebirth in 10 seconds," a new disembodied voice said.

The voice counted the seconds in reverse. When the voice reached two seconds, the missile exploded releasing its genetic payload. A larger flash followed and a halo of light spread from the center of the flash. The Universe began its cycle again. Particles of light scattered in every direction.

"Captain," the first disembodied voice returned. "The Universe's rebirth eliminated the genetic material. Our attempt was unsuccessful."

"Understood," the Captain said. The anger and disappointment in his voice was thick.

The Captain moved to the window and the vessel moved with a gentle rocking motion. It was as if they were a ship on an ocean and a random wave raised and lowered the ship. The brushing by the Universe reminded the crew and its Captain the Universe started again. The failure of the genetic material reminded the Captain, the Universe was in charge. If only he understood.

"I'm sorry your plan didn't work," the Lieutenant said. "We should move on to my plan."

"You're dismissed," the Captain said in a solemn tone.

"Sir," the Lieutenant began.

"I said 'dismissed,'" the Captain barked.

As the Lieutenant exited the room, he paused. The cube with his mother's DNA stood staring back at him.

"Father," the Lieutenant said. "Do you remember the family picnic we went on before the mission?"

The Captain snorted, his emotions pulled at him. Anger with a Lieutenant who refused to follow orders and compassion for his son. His father's instincts prevailed.

"Of course," the Captain said. "I remember everything from our last day."

"For me, I remember the breeze the most," the Lieutenant said.

"The breeze?" The Captain chortled.

"We experienced so many 'lasts,'" the Lieutenant said. "It was the last time we inhaled fresh, unprocessed air. The last time we stood in the sun and felt its warmth on our skin. The last time we stood outside these bulkheads."

"We WILL experience the open air again," the Captain said.

"When, father?" The Lieutenant fired back. "Every one of our attempts has failed. It is time to accept fate and take the opportunity being provided to us."

"Return to your station," the Captain said. "I am sorry you are blind to our mission. One day I hope you will understand."

"I have the same hope for you sir," the Lieutenant said as he exited the room.

The Captain resumed the position he held before the Lieutenant's entrance. He stood watching as gases and matter coalesced as the new Universe formed. In seconds the actions of millennia danced in front of his eyes. In a corner of the new Universe he observed the first planetary bodies forming around a star.

For the Captain, this was the hard part, not the empty void between Universes. For him, waiting for the Universe to coalesce and finish its cycle was difficult. With none of his people's genetic material in the mix, the odds of their rebirth were slim. In ship time, the Universe's collapse was years away. Soon he needed to give the order for his crew to enter Cryogenic sleep to awaken before the collapse or if the ship detected a new form of their people.

The Lieutenant moved along the passageway toward his quarters. The sullen expressions on the faces of the crew members he passed told him everything. Every one knew their latest try failed. Returning to Cryogenic sleep was the only option. Yes, they were outside the normal flow of time, still time existed for them. Relativity allowed them to watch the Universe outside fly past them. Billions of years became only years. After fifteen rebirths, without Cryogenic Chambers, old age might have taken much of the crew.

The Lieutenant turned left into a passageway and entered his quarters. As a Lieutenant his quarters were much smaller than the Captain's. It suited his needs and he too had a window. Since he was on the opposite side of the vessel as the Captain he saw little of the sights occurring in the reborn Universe. Matter and gasses had made it to his side of the vessel. Their presence, compared to the explosive start of the Universe, was less exciting.

The bell on his cabin door rang.

"Enter," he called out.

In stepped the Lieutenant's two brothers. Eager to hear how things went with their father. Once inside the cabin the two men turned to watch the cabin door slide shut before they spoke.

"How did it go?" Poseidon asked his younger brother.

"He will not budge," Zeus responded.

"We should have never approached him," Hades said. "He will be on guard now."

"I don't think so," Zeus said. "Captain Kronos will never expect disloyalty from his sons."

"How do we proceed?" Poseidon asked with nervousness in his voice.

"Hera tells me they project a planet will form a few billion years into this iteration," Hades said. "They project it to be similar to our home world."

"You see Poseidon," Zeus said. "It will have oceans for you to explore."

Hades chuckled at his younger brother Poseidon.

"Why you chose Oceanography is beyond me," Hades said to Poseidon.

"Better than digging in the dirt with you, Rock Boy," Poseidon jabbed back at Hades.

"Enough," Zeus said cutting off his bickering brothers. "You can debate the merits of Oceanography and Geology later. Now we need to confirm our plans. Is there still only six of us?"

"We are now seven," Poseidon responded. "Hera convinced Hephaestus to join us."

"Good," Zeus said. "His skill with machinery will come in handy. Demeter and Hestia are still with us?"

Poseidon and Hades glanced at each other.

"Hestia is on board," Hades replied. "Demeter is not sure."

Zeus dropped his head and gave it a shake.

"Do we need Demeter?" Poseidon asked.

"If we plan on eating, yes," Zeus said deriding Poseidon. "Her abilities in agriculture is crucial to our survival. Get her on board, brother," Zeus said to Hades.

An announcement interrupted their meeting.

"This is Captain Kronos," he said over the ships intercom. "Analysis of our last try shows we failed. Crew members prepare to enter your Cryogenic Chambers in one hour. Carry on."

If their father knew what his sons were planning, he might not have told them to 'carry on.'

"Have Hestia set our Cryogenic Chambers to release us after sentient life forms on the planet," Zeus said.

"We should go sooner to control how they evolve," Hades said. "We don't want them to reject us. It might trap us in a sea of savages."

"No," Zeus replied. "We want them to evolve on their own. They will be better able to integrate what we teach them."

"Fine," Hades said. "You're in charge."

"I will see you both on the other side of our sleep," Zeus told his brothers.

The three men gave each other hugs. Hades and Poseidon returned to their quarters to prepare for their Cryogenic sleep.

Three years ship time elapsed as the crew, including the conspirators, slumbered. As programmed by Hestia, the seven woke as the planet they chose began to give rise to sentient life.

"Are you sure everyone is still asleep?" Zeus asked Hestia.

"Yes," she replied. "I double checked."

"Okay," Zeus said to his band of mutineers. "We have a shuttle prepped and ready to go. Is everything we need on board?"

"I brought seeds and farming implements," Demeter said. "Everything we need to grow our own food. There are a variety of animals we can domesticate."

"The planet has a variety of sea life," Poseidon said. "I have everything we need to harvest from the sea to help sustain us."

"We have loaded the mining equipment," Hades said. "The planet is rich in minerals so no problem getting what we need."

"I've loaded my tools," Hephaestus said. "I can build us everything we need."

"In here I have a supply of genetic samples," Hera said holding up a case. "We can try to bring forth new generations of our people. We might even be able to add our genetic material to the sentient beings of the planet."

"Can we give the planet a name," Hestia said. "It sounds so, inhospitable."

"Let's name it for our grandmother," Poseidon suggested. "Gaia."

"Sounds good," Zeus said.

"The rest of you head to the shuttle," Zeus continued. "Hestia and I have one remaining task."

The five remaining members of the mutineers exited the room, leaving Hestia and Zeus to their task.

"Disable the reanimation sequence for the Cryogenic Chambers," Zeus told her.

"The crew and your father will sleep forever," Hestia replied. Shocked she needed to explain it to him.

"If Kronos wakes, he will come after us," Zeus told her. "We cannot risk it."

"Still it's sentencing them to a living death," Hestia told him.

"Is there a way you can rig something to give us remote control of the sequence?" Zeus asked.

"Yes," Hestia said. "The remote won't work unless it's in the same time stream as the Titan."

"Leave it to me," Zeus said. "Rig it up as best you can."

When Hestia finished her task, Zeus sent her on her way so he might say one last goodbye to his father.

Zeus stood over his father's Cryogenic Chamber. He remembered the good times as he was raised. He recalled a time when he was small when his mother and father played hide and seek with him. Zeus and his mother hid in a cave as his father searched for them. He regretted the action he needed to take against his father, still it was in the best interest of his band of mutineers. Kronos was going to see their departure as mutinous and never allow them to leave.

"Father," Zeus said. "I am sorry to leave you in this state. I might be wrong and hope one day you will find success with seeding the Universe. To me it's impossible. I may be shortsighted, I do know we have opportunities here and now and we must take them. Sleep well, father."

Zeus left his hand on his father's Cryogenic Chamber for a moment, then turned to exit the room.

"Zeus," Kronos said.

The voice caused Zeus to freeze in his tracks. His father's voice came from behind him. Had his father woken? Were they caught?

Zeus turned to see a holographic image of his father standing next to the Cryogenic Chamber.

"My son," the Kronos hologram said. "I know you are planning to leave the ship. Your visit before we entered Cryogenic sleep warned me. You are my son and I wish I could tell you to go in peace and enjoy your life. I cannot. When you launch your shuttle, a failsafe will wake myself and the crew.  You cannot stop it. We will come for you."

Zeus looked at the device Hestia had given him. The remote control for the Cryogenic Chambers. It needed to work. It was their only hope now. If Kronos woke, their escape might end before it began.

Zeus ran on to the shuttle.

"What's wrong?" Hades asked.

Everyone saw the scared expression on Zeus' face.

"Kronos knows what we're doing," Zeus told everyone. "As soon as the shuttle leaves the Titan, it will trigger everyone to wake."

"Hand me the remote," Hestia said to Zeus. "Until we return to normal time, I can override the reanimation command."

"Hephaestus," Zeus said. "Undock the shuttle and put us on a heading for Gaia."

The ship exited the Titan and the remote Hestia held began to beep and whir. By pressing a few buttons she silenced it.

"Were you able to override the reanimation command?" Hades asked Hestia.

"For the moment," Hestia replied.

"We are returning to normal time," Hephaestus called from the cockpit.

The ship bounced and lurched as the shuttle returned to normal time. They were within sight of Gaia when the turbulence stopped.

"Did we stop Kronos?" Hera asked.

"At a minimum it will be centuries before he can follow," Hestia said. "The last reading the remote received is the Cryogenic Chambers hadn't started reanimating the crew."

"Unless you have a problem with it, brother," Hades said to Zeus. "I will hold on to the remote. We may one day want to revive the crew of the Titan."

"Agreed," Zeus said.

"Now," Zeus announced to everyone. "Let's find a place to land. Hephaestus what do you see?"

"The planet is in an ice age," Hephaestus reported. "There is a peninsula coming off a super continent with a range of mountains bordering on a sea, at least when the ice age ends. It's a good place to set up our base."

"Does anyone have any objections?" Zeus asked his gang of mutineers.

"Put us on those mountains," Zeus said. "I look forward to feeling the breeze on my face."