Author: James Jarvis

The green leaves of The Great Oak glistened in the starlight. The air was still and calming.

It was exactly what Liza expected.

She wandered over to the base of the tree whilst deep in thought. The beauty of The Great Oak was amplified by its location. Situated within its own room aboard the shuttle ship to Phobos, it looked majestic against the large viewing window situated behind it. The lofty domed ceiling and bright white walls added to the sense of grandeur. The soft hum of the shuttle’s engines added a meditative charm to the room, whilst serving as a reminder that not all was as it seemed.

Liza was forever amazed that this room had been commissioned, as the space and energy required must outstrip the rest of the ship. Yet this engineering feat was from the old era, before tensions began to rise.

Sighing deeply, she settled under the tree. This homage to nature in the middle of a space shuttle always gave her hope. Yet on this occasion the hope was not enough to quell the fear deep inside.

As a plutonium battery engineer, her job was simple: repair and service plutonium batteries. Most of these were located on the various moon-stations both due to necessity and to avoid undue human interaction. With efficiency and build quality as the guiding mantra, they were designed to ensure they rarely need attention throughout their estimated 35,000-year lifespan. Only occasional servicing and safety checks would be required, which had been the case for the last 135 years.

Until three weeks ago.

It’s not clear what caused the malfunctions, and the effect has not been catastrophic – far from it. A minor, but notable, reduction in power. Yet that has been enough to cause rumours to spread, and dissent to grow.

Whilst sitting under The Great Oak and staring out of the window, Liza became lost in anguish. The faults identified on all malfunctioning batteries had been identical, therefore it was highly probable that the same actions had caused the issues. Liza and her team had so far been unable to deduce the root cause, though they had ideas. Ripples across the fabric of the universe from a distant cosmological event seemed the most likely, though that wouldn’t explain the order the malfunctions occurred. Still, it was a logical starting point.

But Liza knew. Her team knew. Everyone knew, even if they did not want to vocalise their fears. The true cause was irrelevant – tensions had been rising for too long. This was no longer a mere mechanical fault. This would become the catalyst for future unrest.

Liza turned her gaze from the window and towards the countdown on the wall. She still had two days left onboard the shuttle, surrounded by tranquillity, able to ignore what was to come. Well, 1 Day, 12 Hours, 13 Minutes if she was honest to herself – but she wished it was longer.

The leaves of The Great Oak still glistened in the starlight. A single leaf fluttered down towards the ground, bouncing a soft glimmer of light upon Liza’s face. Its hue had become subtly more yellow than the rest. It probably didn’t mean anything.

The air remained still, calming – peaceful.

It was exactly what Liza needed.