Adam's Choice E-Book

Adriana Karvaiová

• Herausgeber: Tektime
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 64

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Adam and Leo meet on a spaceship headed for Planet B after Earth has been destroyed by humans and become completely uninhabitable. They face unexpected technical and psychological pitfalls. Is there any hope for the human race at all?

Leseprobe

Adam's Choice

In the not-so-distant future SERIES

Adriana Karvaiová

Copyright © 2023 Adriana Karvaiová

All rights reservedThe characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.Cover design by: Adriana Karvaiová

Prologue

Adam and Leo meet on a spaceship headed for Planet B after Earth has been destroyed by humans and become completely uninhabitable. They face unexpected technical and psychological pitfalls. Is there any hope for the human race at all?

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Prologue

Welcome on board

Leo and Adam

The malfunction

A ray of hope

Dana's fast sleep

Planet B

Urgent case

Difficult awakening

The Connectome

The power of dialogues

Dana's smile

Dana’s dilemma

Adam's container

Difficult decisions

Another technical problem

Farewell

Adam's choice

Food for thought

Index

In the not-so-distant future SERIES

Welcome on board

"To be honest, I'm happy that my nursery duty is over," Leo admitted bluntly as he and Adam were walking down the long, narrow corridor to the bridge. "I'm not fit for this sort of things, I've never been. I'm a mechanic, after all."

"I see. But once that malfunction has occurred, we've gotta deal with it. And more and more embryos are developing," Adam warned him that there was no point in complaining.

"And what's worse, these little ones will start talking soon," Leo acknowledged, picking up on Adam's train of thought. "Kids keep asking why, why, why. It'll be a nightmare when we ourselves don't know what's happened or what's about to come. In addition, they need to grow up in a family environment - at least that was the original plan. At this age, they are not supposed to be still staying in the incubator, what kind of generation will they grow up to be?”

"You've got a point. You should tell the commander about it," suggested Adam.

"Me? To have her bite my head off?” Leo objected hastily.

"Well...someone should as the paediatric team is still asleep."

"Let's mind our own business instead. If we don't find and fix the error quickly, our entire mission might fail. It's uncertain how long the way of ahead of us is, and look at us, how much we've aged.'

Adam nodded. He couldn't help himself, he discreetly examined the wrinkles on his forehead in the galvanized sheet wall coverings. The hard contours of the face seemed alien. The slightly sagging skin under the chin and under the eyes gave him an unhappy expression. Plus, Leo was right. If the process doesn't get reversed and the entire crew gradually awakens, they may not even make it to the end of the journey, and it was more than questionable with the new generation. Moreover, the supplies had been planned to last for several centuries, however, they were supposed to be serve for survival upon reaching their destination.

Leo was far better off. Not only because he'd boarded ten years younger, but above all because he woke up an eternity later. At least it seemed to Adam that he had already spent an eternity in the chambers which did not at all look like the vast halls known from science fiction movies, but rather resembled the interior of a submarine.

As always, the sensor detected their brain waves, granting access to the bridge. As soon as the door disappeared for a moment, a beautiful young woman appeared in front of them. Thick hair, shining with health, falling on athletic shoulders. A drab jumpsuit, the same as everyone else's, trying in vain to hide her perfect curves. Huge blue-green eyes staring at them from a perfectly symmetrical face, and, as always, the look almost swept the guys off their feet.

"You're almost late. I said that no tardiness would be tolerated. At least you took it to heart," she barked coldly and disgustedly. It was not easy for Leo to keep his eyes at bay, so eager were they to admire the beauty of the ceiling. Tardiness, here, where they have been merely surviving for years? Where the only work is tracking devices? The only real and truly urgent job was brought to them when the malfunction affected the artificial wombs as well.

"Hello ma'am," he said instead.

"Report from the nursery?" came from her mouth in response to the greeting.

"Everything is fine," said Adam hurriedly.

She looked at them suspiciously. Ready to accept their brief report, lifting her chin slightly to nod in agreement and send them to the chairs facing the monitors, Adam changed his mind.

"No, not really. The four oldest children are already eight months old. According to the original plan, they were to be divided into family units at birth. Their healthy physical and psychological development requires urgent relocation."

"Yeah, I'm aware of it," Dana agreed, but she used a tone like she'd just heard the stupidest thing in the world. “Except that the family units were supposed to form decades after landing. And another detail, the only conscious woman here is me. Do you propose to awaken others? What if we run out of supplies? The system rehabilitating people automatically is a major issue on its own."

"Yes, I know," Adam acknowledged quietly, feeling rather uncomfortable. All of this was very true, of which he was also very well aware. He shrugged helplessly. Meanwhile, Leo was trying to pretend he was merely a fly on the wall.

"But there's always a solution," the commander pointed to the conclusion of the discussion. "If you did your job and found what the cause of the malfunction at last. Well, get to work! I'm off to bed.” With a finger like a general, she sent them to their seats, the upholstery of which was beginning to show signs of use despite the extremely durable material. The door closed behind the commander, and with a synchronized sigh, Adam and Leo rolled into the chairs, which they had already managed to wear out irretrievably.

Leo and Adam

"Alright, let's get going," Leo said resignedly as he jabbed his finger at the monitor to display the vessel's current status. "I'm just, like, wondering if we could do a swap for today? I'm seriously running out of ideas, I haven't a clue where else I could look for a fault. I mean, what if I can't see the forest for the trees? Maybe a layman, sorry, non-techie will find the trouble spot by luck. And I'll be looking around. Although that boulder keeps obscuring our view. I guess you must already be dreaming about monitoring."

“You know what?” Adam was weighing his suggestion while also customizing the numerical data display. Today, too, the image from the external cameras offered nothing but a view of a small piece of rock which, for whatever reason, decided to accompany their spaceship. “It would make some sense, but we'd have to train each other, and I have no energy for that today. Hope you don't mind, mate?'

"No, it's fine," Leo said in a soothing voice and to reinforce his statement, he gave Adam a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Do you have another duty afterwards, or are you also going to rest?"

"Cleaning. A pleasant change."

"I haven't done that. How, are you going to get a mop or what?” joked Leo.