Peter and Luo entered the conference room and locked the door behind them.

"We need a listing of everyone who was on the construction job and had access to the coolant tanks," Peter stated. He started to call up the information when Luo halted him.

"Concentrate your search on my people," he instructed Peter. "You should even include those who died in the explosion."

"What makes you say that?" Peter asked.

"The food storage unit broke on the new ship just after we placed all our supplies in it," Luo explained. "It could've been coincidence, but after this incident, I'm inclined to believe one or more of my people may be responsible."

Peter brought up the relevant information in regard to every one of Luo's people who had access to the cooling tanks. Their images, captured by the exterior sensors, appeared and hovered over the table in clear lines of blue colored light.

"Him," Luo said, pointing at one of the images. The others faded away while the selected portrait enlarged. "His name is Pavlov, and he worked on the food storage construction as well. He was the only person to have contact with both projects."

"We haven't any real proof," Peter pointed out.

"We might not need any," Luo responded. "If we arrest him, he may say or do something to incriminate himself or others."

"Sounds like a plan," Peter agreed. "Where is he now?"

"On ship nine," Luo answered. "Let's get him."

                                                                                                ***

"I've done nothing," Pavlov objected in a distinct Russian accent when Luo and Peter confronted him on his ship. The dull red uniform he wore was stretched tight over layers of hardened muscles, and he flexed as if expecting a fight.

"You were in charge of the food storage construction when it was destroyed," Luo accused, his voice as hard and sharp as a stone knife. "And the sensors spotted what you were doing to the coolant tanks for the cryochamber."

Peter kept his expression neutral. The sensors only showed Pavlov working on the tanks. It didn't show the sabotage.

Luo drew his sidearm and pointed it toward Pavlov's chest.

"Before I shoot you as a traitor to the Eastern Affiliates, I have one question," Luo stated. "Why?"

The shock of being accused of a crime slipped from Pavlov's face when he concluded Peter and Luo already knew everything.

"It's what we deserve," Pavlov answered. "We've already destroyed one world. How many more will be rendered lifeless before the end comes? Better to get it over with now. Sabotaging the food supply would have done the job if not for them."

Pavlov glared at Peter.

"After they showed up, I had to do something, so I destroyed their tanks of coolant to disable their cryo facilities," Pavlov went on. "They'll have more mouths to feed and less supply. The end will still come."

Peter read the open hostility on the faces of the Russian crew around him. They were obviously fiercely loyal to the Eastern Affiliates, and Peter realized if Luo didn't punish Pavlov as his crimes deserved, the crew would undertake some unofficial justice of their own.

Before anyone could react, Luo slammed his knee into the stomach of Pavlov, doubling him over. As the big man gasped for air, Luo opened a nearby airlock and tossed him in, closing the hatch behind him.

"For crimes against the Eastern Affiliates and the whole of humanity, you are hear by sentenced," Luo stated before pressing the switch to open the outer hatch.

Pavlov was sucked out into the endless depths of space.

Luo turned to the crew. "I want it proclaimed to every ship, any threat to the future of the human race shall be dealt with in a similar fashion. Justice will be swift and final."

The Russian captain nodded firmly in approval and departed from the group to broadcast the directive to the fleet.

                                                                                                ***

With the saboteur removed from their ranks, the survivors of humanity were able to work without further hindrances.

The cryochamber was completed first, utilizing whatever parts they still had after the explosion. Because of the damage suffered, it was determined only half of the ships' population could remain in stasis. All other personnel would have to be revived and stay awake during the flight. The number of those awake was certain to put a severe drain on the life support systems, but it was still within estimated tolerances.

Living quarters, nutrient storage facilities, and other ship areas were constructed as modules and attached to the framework of the new ship being constructed.

The framework was composed of several disassembled ships. It resembled a metal skeleton with obvious gaps between the support struts. The purpose of the gaps was to allow ships of the fleet to dock inside and magnetize their hulls to lock in place. By constructing the new ship in such a manner, it allowed the vessels without damage sufficient to warrant disassembly and reconstruction to remain intact. It also sped up construction as the workers didn't have to dismantle every ship in the fleet.

Peter and Luo came up with an idea for helping the crews work together and put the political differences of the past behind them. Individual work teams were formed with one person from each fleet. If their assigned tasks were to be accomplished, they had to find a way to work together. Translators were placed on teams where dialects were an issue, and each team member was required to learn the language of their partners. By the end of the flight, everyone would be able to communicate in some degree with everyone else.

Room assignments were also portioned out in a similar fashion, pairing someone from the Western Conglomerate with an individual or family from the Eastern Affiliates. Those in stasis were rotated on a standard schedule, exiting their cryounits and trading places with those already awake in order to allow everyone a chance to integrate into the new order.

Troublemakers from either side were paired up with similarly difficult people from the opposing faction, making everyone want to get along rather than be stuck with someone worse.

With round the clock effort, the new vessel was ready to launch in under three weeks. The work crews were exhausted but happy. There weren't any divisions among them in regard to who had been a part of what government. They had been united by their common struggle and triumph.

Peter and Luo stood on the bridge of the new vessel and coordinated the efforts between the ships docked in the framework. Because some of the engines had remained mounted to their original ships, repaired with parts from others, it was necessary to fire the engines at the same time to avoid pushing the ship off course.

Peter would've preferred tying the ships' computer systems together, but a few of them were from the Affiliates and operated with a different computer coding. It would simply take too much time to reprogram the millions of lines of code necessary for the flight to continue, and with life support being stretched to maximum by all the people unable to be put in stasis, they couldn't afford to delay.

The engines engaged, and the ship briefly turned to one side before thrust was increased on the port side to stabilize their flight path. Through the open communication channel, Peter and Luo could hear the joyful cheering of the crew. Relief filled Peter's soul and he shared a smile with Luo. Humanity was on its way to its new home.

                                                                                          ***

Mars had been selected for the new colony site. Earth's moon was too prone to meteor impacts, making any city established there vulnerable to catastrophic damage. The heat and pressure on Venus made it unsuitable for colonization as well.

Mars was the best candidate of the planets and moons nearest Earth. Proximity was a major factor in the selection process as the new ship had a limited range and no one wanted to test the strained life support systems beyond what was absolutely necessary.

When the colony vessel arrived in orbit, the smaller ships housed inside detached and began their individual landing sequences. Because there weren't enough engines and thrusters for all ships, several of the craft were linked with gravity tethers. As the ships with engines traveled to the surface, they used their gravity tethers to suspend the unpowered vessels between them and slow their rate of descent.

In clouds of red dust, the ships landed on the rocky surface of Mars.

Work commenced immediately to form a city on the alien world. Because the majority of ships already contained living quarters, storage areas, and similar spaces required, they were left intact and only the ships with damage or flight systems unneeded for a ground based colony were salvaged for parts.

The ships themselves became the primary colony structures with environmentally stable tunnels and passages connecting them. Support buildings including nutrient production, mineral processing, and atmospheric stabilizers, were installed between the ships wherever ample space existed.

After a short debate, it was decided there would be only one colony instead of two. Having two settlements would ensure a better chance of survival; if one were hit by disaster, the other would be spared. Peter and Luo agreed, despite the risks, to keep the colony together. Humanity was united for the first time in its history, and neither of them wanted to split them into what could develop into factions. They would stand or fall together.

                                                                                        ***

Peter stood on the observation deck of the central city tower. Formerly the hull of the ship he'd help construct and launch, the vessel stood tall among its neighbors and provided a grand view of Mars City.

Peter wore a royal blue uniform with gold trim, and his black boots were always polished to a gleaming finish. The attire had been created for him when he'd been drafted into the leadership role for the colony.

Rather than place a Tribunal from one of the cities back on Earth in authority over all the others, it was decided to keep the leadership in charge responsible for getting them to Mars in the first place.

Luo exited the teleporter and joined Peter at the railing. As the second of three leaders for Mars City, the Asian officer wore an identical uniform to Peter.

The third member of the Mars Tribunal was Cathy, the chief medical officer of the city. Since her role was to help people regardless of political or social standing, she was an ideal choice for a selfless leader.

"I still find it difficult at times to believe all we've accomplished in only five years," Luo marveled as he looked across the city.

"It helps when people start working together instead of wasting time and resources fighting amongst themselves," Peter commented. "Speaking of progress, how goes our little side project?"

"Satellite surveillance shows a significant drop in atmospheric toxin levels," Luo informed him. "Projections indicate in a decade, maybe two, Earth's atmosphere will be clear enough to begin terraforming."

"Ten to twenty years," Peter thought out loud. "Our purification efforts are moving ahead of schedule."

"Indeed," Luo said. "Our genetics teams are confident they'll be able to replicate the original ecosystems."

"When Earth is viable again, I may go back for a visit," Peter said. "However, this has become my home, my people."

"It is the same with me," Luo agreed.

Peter and Luo gazed over their city in silence. Humanity had come within a hair's thickness of dying out, but they had survived. Taking to the stars and overcoming countless problems, they now thrived on an alien world. Unified with a common purpose of bettering themselves and their new home, humanity's future would only get brighter and more magnificent in all the years still to come.