-Rockaby baby on the
tree top -
The Titan Star Trawler nudged closer to the bloated heliosphere,
swinging the particle nets behind
the ion engine driven craft.
“It appears as though there is a spike of solar activity,” the
helmsman said in his semi-electronic voice. “I would recommend a course
correction to account for the incoming gravity wave and the drag caused by the
increased mass we are towing.”
“Stay on this course for a while longer Helmsman,” the Captain
replied in his similar half organic drone. “Are we nearing the desert world?”
“Yes Captain we are following its orbit, however…” the
Helmsman’s answer was interrupted by an insistent beeping of an alarm. He
reached and switched it off, as his cranial feed was given data from the Star
Trawler’s sensors. “We can tarry on this orbit no longer Captain, sensors
indicate that the heliosphere is entering a period of expansion and will
consume the desert world at any moment.”
-When the wind blows
the cradle will rock-
The captain’s voice emitter made a strange eerie sound, like
a grating sigh. “Very well, take us out one half AU now, but keep parallel with
this orbit. We will make another orbit of the star to take advantage of the coming
mass expulsion, not to mention the metals available from the destroyed planet.”
“Very well Captain,” the Helmsman replied, adjusting the
course, taking the Trawler further out. The ship began to shake violently as the engines
fought the gravitational effects of the bloated star on the ballooning particle
nets and their increasing mass. More alarms sounded and the helmsman’s
organocyborg digits moved furiously on the naviboard.
-When the bough breaks-
“Helmsman!” the Captain said in concern as more lights
flashed warnings about compromises to the hull integrity.
The shaking gradually
subsided as the hum of the ion engines increased and compensated for the
increased drag. The Helmsman voice emitter gave a cackling rattle as he laughed;
one by one the alarms began to terminate their warnings. “That was close it
appears that the star is expanding as we speak. But thanks to my skill we will
see Titan again… and I’ve saved our haul!”
The Captain’s voice emitter did not echo the Helmsman’s
humour. “If we… you had lost our haul then you may as well exit the airlock and join the star yourself.” The Captain reconsidered his reprimand.” But well done.
Yes we shall see Titan again.” His synthiorganic mind wandered then as he
recalled the beauty of the reflections of the Ringed Mother in the methane
polar seas of his home world and yet, his species original Eden had been…
“Are we parallel with the desert world yet Helmsman?”
“We are catching up with its trajectory, but it is about to
be hit by the heliosphere and we will have to erase it from our star charts.”
-The cradle will fall-
The desert world gone?
It had not always been the wasteland it now was. Legends spoke of water in
abundance. “Open the blast doors, Helmsmen, Iet's see its demise.” The
plastisteel doors opened turning the interior of the craft red. The red giant
was now burning iron, its hydrogen fuel long since depleted; it was in the long
drawn out stage of stellar senility. It dominated the view screen as its
churning surface approached the tiny speck of the desert world.
-And down will come
baby-
The Captain felt an immense feeling of sadness. His voice emitter
croaked “I would see this with my own eyes.” He took off his facial plate. Amid
the tubes and amalgam of flesh and machine his grey eyes blinked as they
adjusted to the filter free vision. He felt the strange sting of tears as
precious water began to issue from his eyes.
“Cradle and all.” He said solemnly
as the planet was engulfed.
“Captain?”
“Its nothing Helmsmen, just random thoughts that have been
in my mind since waking from stasis.” In his dreams
there was a hidden memory passed down from clone to clone in the invitro tubes;
a world of green and blue where ships once plied seas of pure H2O. “Titan wasn’t
always our world, you know? Once we were fully organic and came from that very place,
long ago. It was once called Earth…”