Lunar Sovereign
I catch the coin spinning lazily in the air, slap it to my wrist. Mare Tranquillatus shines up in iridium and aluminum.
"Tails."
We take giant leaps, toes touching the corridor floor. You are more nimble than I, your Martian ancestry making you more coordinated in one-quarter G than I. Everything seems a shade too heavy. The architects of this project had good reasons, of course, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
Winning the coin toss means we'll watch the launch from the planetside lounge. You were hoping to have your eyes on our destination.
We settle into our couches and play a last game of go, snapping stones down with the sharpness and authority of words in a lover's quarrel. You decimate me, encircle me, erase my liberties.
The lids close gently. Through the transparent plastic I see the ruined Earth below. As the needle descends and fills me with ice, I wonder what I will see when I awaken.
I hold the coin to my heart, crater side down, H.I.M. Arthur's face staring benignly with me at my destiny.
End Transmission
Orion-class starship
Arthur Rex left lunar orbit on June 27, 2059, carrying a crew of 18 humans, 4
cyborgs, and 982 sleepers from Luna, Mars, Europa, and
the Belt. We will be launching further ships in the
emigration fleet at six month intervals. Sign up now! A new life awaits you, a thousand years from now.
This message brought to you by the Coalition For The Preservation Of Solar Cultures.