Slowly descending into New Tokyo, Barret went to the wall screen and looked out at the great panorama. He was looking forward to waking up his wife from her stasis. Unlike him, she chose to 'dream' i.e. chat and interact, sometimes during stasis, so she’d already lived about 50 of her scant 200 years of age. She loved to chat with the virtual forms of other people in the system, and sometimes would have herself woken up to meet with them in the flesh. Barret didn’t want to think about that too much – he knew it was only natural, but the thought of it disturbed him somewhat. Now he’d be home much more – hopefully she wouldn’t get restless.
He put it out of his mind – after all, their compatibility index was optimal. He concentrated on the moment of seeing her awaken from sleep, beautiful, rising to welcome him home.
Looking out now, tucking into his breakfast, he could see fields rushing by just a few kilometers below. It’s been good working with you, Ship, he said. You’re welcome to visit us any time, out on the ranch.
Thank you, Sy. You may like to know that, about 10 years into the journey back, our finest minds finally perfected a fail-safe method of transferring uploaded consciousness in its entirety across space, without memory or personality loss. I could have manufactured the transmitter over a couple of months…and sent you back to Aerth to be awakened in a cloned body. But…
You made the right decision, Ship. I’m pretty attached to this body of mine. Even though it would also be technically my body. Anyway, it would have only saved, what, 20 years. What would be the point?
Spaceport now in sight, Ship lowered the legs and powered up the antigrav for a gentle, coasting approach. Dawn was breaking over Shigutsu Park. A few people looked up to see ‘Serenity’ pass overhead, engines shrieking. Inside, all was quiet.
The administrative towers of the spaceport rose like cliffs before them. Ship changed course a bit to swing past the Matsuya Financial building. Barret was looking forward to speaking Japanese again. He preferred this side of Aerth to the American half where he’d been born, so long ago. It was a different culture, even now, after a millenia of coexistance. Of course, he could have spoken Japanese with the ship, or any other language, but when it was just the two of them, far from home, it felt strange…
Finally – the landing pad....
As Ship powered down, Barret left his 'brush up your Japanese in a bar' chocolate half eaten - he loved the exotic feeling of being unsure of oneself and making mistakes, improvising - collected his things, straightened his flightsuit and combed his hair. He felt like a fly, grooming himself like this after 2 years of slumming it with the ship.
But when he'd finished, he looked impeccable. First human contact for a while; best to look good for the de-briefing. Not that he’d be telling his superiors anything they didn’t know, but it was the custom. Then to see the wife - yes! - and prepare for standing down from active service… a ceremony and speech or two, and then he was free, to do what he wanted, as long as he wanted.
The hatch opened and Barret strode out into the light. Taking a deep breath of the chill air, he sighed with satisfaction. Home at last.
Thanks for looking in!
This Is Not The End
.... because In Space No One Can Hear You Scream.
Krigl
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