Free Waiting by Gary Weston

But you know what really excited
me?'
    'Go on.'
    'You. More
specifically your passion. You are a true visionary who could see
what we all saw, that Earth was screwed. But you could see a get
out of jail card for the human race. Once we realised Spero was
within our grasp, it was you who convinced the politicians it was a
viable option.'
    'It took a year
of peddling that option to anyone who would listen. The war
stopped, then started all over again. Finally, I was listened to.
Simply because even the politicians came to the same conclusion.
This was our only option to save our species.'
    Lee said, 'And
that's what I'm talking about. I'd never have that sort of
commitment or stamina. It's one thing to have a concentrated
military objective; go in, do the deed, out again. Having the sheer
bloody determination to fight for a dream when all around you were
saying it can't be done, that takes somebody very special. I'm
honoured to be led by you as are all the others. You're the one for
the job.'
    'I...I don't
know what to say.'
    'I do. Start
walking.'
    Jacobs laughed
then saluted with his free hand. 'Yes, mum.'
     

Chapter 21
     
    'I think I need
something stronger than beer,' said Willis.
    'Tough. Beer is
all I have and that's in short supply, so make it last,' replied
Gunther. 'I suppose you would like an explanation why I did what I
did?'
    'This should be
good,' said Loretti.
    'Trust me. It
will be. A few months ago, everything was...normal. If normal
applies to a world on a course to destruction and a huge ship
taking our last hope to a far off planet. Here. On the Base. This
was my oasis away from the madness. An oasis shared with dozens of
like-minded people. We all worked hundreds of unpaid hours because
we believed in what we were doing. I could ask them to do anything
and they'd do it willingly.'
    'Like you said,
we believed in what we are doing,' said Staples. 'I think I still
do.'
    Gunther smiled
and said, 'Good. So do I.'
    'See?' said
Loretti, tossing her empty beer can at the waste basket and scoring
a point. 'And you wonder why I never bothered with him? Mum was
right. He's best forgotten about.'
    'Hey,' snapped
Staples. 'I like your father. I respect him, too. He ran a tight
outfit here but he was the most supportive officer I ever served. I
say we hear him out.'
    'Me too,' said
Willis. 'Ok, Major. Carry on.'
    'Thank you. As
I was saying. It was all systems go until fairly recently. Ten
years I've been in overall command of the Base. Not really much
scientific training, but I've enough common sense to understand
plenty of stuff. More importantly, I know people. General Loretti
knew that. There was a need for somebody like me to run this place.
She also wanted me out of her hair with the war going on. Anyway, I
took to the job and loved it. Best bunch of people I ever worked
with. That's here and those on the Goliath. Then recently, I
accidentally came across a top secret communication. It was
supposed to have been deleted, but enough of it remained for me to
get something from it.'
    Loretti said,
'Oh, crap. You're going to come out with some conspiracy theory.
You are, aren't you.'
    Gunther nodded.
'The biggest. Unbelievably bad timing with the Goliath on the last
lag of its journey so I couldn't do much about it. The essence of
it all was that something was discovered on the Spero itself.'
    'Bullshit,'
said Loretti. 'It's just a partially frozen world. A snowball in
space.'
    'Until a couple
of months ago, I thought that, too,' agreed Gunther. 'Until I found
the half deleted message. I dug a lot deeper, putting the clues
together. Even then I refused to believe it. I kept digging anyway
and finally I knew it was true. Life existed on Spero.'
    'Microbes,'
said Staples. 'That's all that could possibly be there. Released by
the terraformers as they melted the icecaps.'
    Willis said,
'Are you talking about intelligent life? Shit. I'm still wondering
if that exists here on Earth.'
    'I try to keep
an open mind on that