Free Infinite Reef by Karl Kofoed

wearing a bright blue Hawaiian shirt and yellow shorts. When he’d arrived he’d explained the garb as a protest to the tense atmosphere. “We need some brightness. Some beauty aboard this ship.” He drifted into remembrance. “I’ll bet they let my gardens rot.” He sighed deeply.
    Mary walked over to Johnny and rubbed his shoulders. “I’m sorry, Johnny. I wish your daughter had come along.”
    “That’s just it,” said Johnny. “She could be here on this amazing trip. But ...”
    “You had to come, Johnny,” said Alex. “Hell, nothing could have prevented you from coming along. You’re as essential to the mission as Stubbs, you know.”
    “I suppose that should make me feel better, Alex,” said Johnny, managing a smile, “but somehow ...”
    Mary looked at Alex angrily. Then she faced the Professor. “Alex and I often forget how lucky we are, Johnny. We have each other while so many are separated from loved ones.”
    Johnny smiled. “No, Mary. Alex is 100% right.” He stood up, stretched, and went to the food panel. “May I?” he asked politely. “I’m lowering your coffee ration a bit here.”
    “Don’t overdo it, you ol’ guzzler,” griped Alex. “We know your sob stories are just a ploy to steal rations.”
    Mary looked perplexed as both Johnny and Alex burst into laughter.
    “I wasn’t just thinking about my daughter. It’s the sphere ... and the mission.” Johnny took the coffee from the slot in the wall and stared at it thoughtfully. “The fact that there are sentients on Lalande b almost makes it certain that we’ll have to investigate Lalande c.”
    “When?” asked Alex. “Is Stubbs ...?”
    Johnny put up his hands defensively. “I should have kept my mouth shut,” he said. “This is still just talk.”
    “Stubbs talk?” said Alex.
    Johnny nodded and looked again at the screen. “Right now I’m hoping the engineers got everything right.” He walked to the window and gazed out at the cylinder. “And thank God for the repair-bots. Without them the work would take weeks.”
    With Goddard’s nightfall coming swiftly it was easy to spot the gathering of lights that marked the convoy, now a third of the way around the cylinder. “Like Martian fireworms, climbing a wall,” said the Professor. “Someone should take a picture.”
    8 Alex knew Johnny had been joking, of course. There were cameras everywhere monitoring every nuance of the Goddard mission, and all the data was being transmitted home. The broadcasts to Earth were continuous. Every measurement, every lab report, were all faithfully bundled, and launched in microwave packets toward the distant solar system. But for all the effort to share the data with the rest of humanity, everyone realized they might never know if the data reached home. Only when they returned would they find that out, and then it might not matter. Despite all the theoretical physics involved in worm-hole flight, the time effects on large scale missions were unknown. For all any of then knew, when they returned to Earth centuries might have transpired, or they might even find themselves back in time or confronted with an alternate reality.
    There had been tests of the system before the Goddard mission, but all of them had been within the solar system, between Earth or Mars and Jupiter, where repairs and rescue missions could be quickly implemented.
    Alex had always seen the mission as a test flight, and he’d always assumed that it would take no longer than a few years at best. But he knew also that it could be a one way trip. Only when they safely returned to Gannytown would they know for sure. With a trip to the second gas giant suddenly looming, the prospect of that happening seemed as remote as the solar system itself.
    As the time for the explosive launch of the alien sphere neared, Alex found his mind drifting to concerns for Mary. After Johnny left their home his fears had increased. He suspected they both would be drafted for an