Lurranus Stories: Empirius (Part 6)

2114:

Empirius had recently backed the creation of the United Seven Nations (the U7U) in an effort to bring all the leaders of the world together, to restore some peace. Darren had even tried to ask Keskal to join, offering them funding to atone for his father’s mistakes, but they had declined. Only after snatching up the funding, of course.
It had been Darren’s last act. Two weeks later, he had been murdered by a suicide bomber who had come to the main Empirius complex, an event that had been streamed live to those sick enough to watch it. As fate would have had it, Craig wasn’t in the building that day. It still woke him up in the night, thinking how close he had been to death. Ryan had been fine too, as he had been in another part of the complex. Despite not being a key leading member, his loss had still been keenly felt, but life quickly resumed, and the U7U got to work.
The problem was, the more the people resisted, rioted, and caused general chaos, the more the U7U tried to clamp down on them, refusing to consider any other options, and not wanting to let up, lest it be seen as a sign of weakness or resignation. And the more they clamped down, the more people came to resent them, and acted out.

The small factions had taken things up a notch. They had become larger. Several had become bolder, going on killing screens, although the numbers were still only in the hundreds. The truth was these various groups were all isolated from each other. They lacked a leader, or access to any major weaponry, and so long as that remained the case, they were a minor threat.
While some protestors, like those affiliated with the small factions, were just out for the chaos, others seemed unhappy at the fact no one was doing anything significant about the problem of the population, simply making ad campaigns and telling people to accept things were fine or shut up. Craig was even coming under fire, with people accusing him of not doing enough. Craig himself felt guilty. He knew he could probably be doing more, be spending his time on other things. He knew that the money going towards The Lurranus ship could have gone towards a multitude of other things, but he just had to live with that knowledge.

He wasn’t abandoning humanity. He was doing the only thing he could to save them.

He repeated it to himself.

He wasn’t abandoning humanity. He was doing the only thing he could to save them.

He wasn’t abandoning humanity. He was doing the only thing he could to save them.
He wasn’t abandoning humanity...

Wasn’t he?

2117:

Oaktrus had been born.

The small factions had found their figurehead and their arsenal. They had arisen out of the ashes of Keskal, and to Craig’s understanding had used the money Darren gave them to purchase various types of heavy weaponry. Although he hadn’t been seen, it was to Craig’s understanding that Euan Kevil had played some part in this. They had come together, members of Keskal joining with the original group, and had publicly announced their existence to the world shortly after destroying some flats in England, in addition to several other parts of the city, killing millions. Following this, and attacking several Empirius weapons facilities, Oaktrus had made it clear this was only the start. Thousands had stepped up, and joined them. Billions more had now turned to the government, and by extension to Empirius’, for help. And Empirius had promised to provided in and then had, with all the machines of war being readied. But they still continued with their production of The Lurranus, something they were determined the world couldn’t know about.
They had finally come together. And thus the world would finally come apart.
The Lurranus was coming along well. Construction was nearing completion. And a suitable planet had been found. But some whispers of the project had escaped. Craig could only hope none of these had reached Oaktrus.

And remember Craig, he would tell himself - you're not abandoning humanity. You’re saving it.

But, with the world descending into hell, it certainly didn’t feel like that.

2119:

There had been a minor setback with the Lurranus. A year ago, some Oaktrus troops had attacked the facility, causing some damage to the structure, but it was to everyone’s understanding they didn’t actually know the magnitude of what they had stumbled upon.
To prevent further setbacks, Karen had gone undercover in Oaktrus, claiming she had “seen the light”. To prove her worth to the group, she had selected several Empirius targets she would gradually reveal to the organisation, targets which her, Darren and Craig had agreed could be sacrificed. After all, none of them saw them being of any use in the near future. Bar locations manufacturing the Cube and weapons, Anything was game. After all, The Lurranus was Empirius’ final option. They had hedged all their bets on it working. However, after a few months of scarce communication, Karen had gone quiet about two months ago. The others could only assume her cover had been discovered. Karen had told the others she had cancer already and was on borrowed time, but the others suspected it was to ease their minds.
A distance planet, with seemingly ideal conditions, had been found for the Lurranus to travel to. The seven parts of the ship had been sent up one at a time, including a transport ship which would ferry the colonists down when the time came. 4,500 people had been selected for the journey, most of whom had worked for Empirius at some point, and were considered “good to adequate human specimens”. They all lay in cryosleep. All that remained was for Ryan and Jack to arrive and join Craig.

Having been so preoccupied with his plans, he hadn’t seen them in a while, so he was genuinely looking forward to seeing them. But at a time like this, even more so. Ryan was on the list, although Jack’s name had been curiously absent. Worries nagged at Craig, but he was sure he would show.
He walked slowly into the ship’s empty control room. He was seventy now, and felt his limbs protesting against minor things. Aging had crept up on him. He had been much the same for the first fifty years, then suddenly he had gone through some kind of accelerated degradation. He hadn’t been ready for it. He supposed no one really was.

He sat down in the main chair.

The world had fallen apart. Craig hadn’t dared to leave the compound during the last two years, but he knew what was going on outside it. He knew the terrorist group had hundreds of thousands of members now. He knew U7U had officially declared war on Oaktrus. He saw the tanks and robots being built everyday. He saw the families screaming on the news. He saw the numbers of the dead. He discovered Euan had been one of the brains behind Oaktrus, wanting some kind of epic legacy, and had  ultimately been killed by one of his underlings who wanted to take over from him or something similar, going by what Karen had told them. Kevil’s death that didn’t bring Craig any peace of mind. Craig didn’t believe in revenge. A small part of him had even hoped to try and bring that man around. But alas, it wasn’t to be.

He thought about all the people he had met over the years. For the most part, they were all gone now, and if not, they were physically present but emotionally vacant.

Damian, Darren and Beth were dead. Karen as well, probably. Her cover had always been unlikely to hold indefinitely, Craig just hoped she had died quickly. Justin Moore had left his job to go make peace with his estranged family, a note of finality in his voice when he said as such. Richard had begrudging taken over sole control of the company. And Tom, of course, was dead.
Craig wished he could have been here to see whatever came next. Craig...
Craig wished he was there regardless.
He looked down and shed a tear. Then he dragged his head up so it was level. He had to be strong. He was going to find humanity a new home in the stars. The potential of his quest afforded him some solace, as he looked out into the unknown of the distant sea of stars, staring at their magnificence, reflection on his insignificance and beginning to ponder what secrets they hid.
Soon, he would know.

“Jack...? Is that you? Jack...”
Ryan stood, metres away from the shuttle, almost pleading into the phone. Surely his brother knew what was happening - he had emailed him very clear instructions - but there was no sign of him. He hadn’t heard from Jack in weeks. He knew he had gone to London in search of an old friend of his. He oftentimes struggled to remember the finer details of his face, to his eternal shame.

The shuttle was behind him. It had to depart soon, but Ryan had pleaded the caption hold of. Ryan knew if Jack didn’t show, then simply put he would never see him again. He knew it was unlikely, but he had survived the riots in Edinburgh. He had disappeared, but had come back to him. Maybe he would show.

But the phone line remained dead. No frantic, running figures charged out from the darkness. Ryan wondered if his brother had died. The worst thing was, there was every chance he would never know the answer to that question.

“Jack…?” He pleaded.

The caption tapped his shoulder gently. “Mr MacAllister? I’m afraid we can wait no longer.” Ryan didn’t look at him, but nodded slowly, and followed him to the small vessel. Even as it launched into orbit, he kept looking. But there was still nothing.

Epilogue:
 

In years to come, the war against Empirius could come to be known as the Population War. It finally ended in 2184, with billions dead. Civilisation never truly recovered.

The Lurranus was projected to arrive at its destination 13 years after its departure. However, contact with the ship was lost. The fate of The Lurranus, in addition to that of Craig Donnely, Ryan MacAllistar and the rest of the crew, remain unknown.
 

(At least, for now...)