2298 A.D.

Ralph hated the auxiliary bridge. Over the course of the decades, during Hope's journey through the void to 23 Alepiae, the auxiliary bridge had been used as a source of spare parts for the main bridge. Little of its equipment still worked.

But the auxiliary bridge was all he had because the main bridge was under Captain Pete Marker's control. And Ralph needed a root-access terminal to the ship's AI for his plan, a plan that he had carefully prepared over the last few days.

A plan that would save them. A plan that would make Pete hate him.

The device in front of him was the sole root-access terminal outside the main bridge. He had worked on it for days, as if in a fever, trying to fix it, knowing that the Captain's men, his brother's men, might discover him at any moment.

Fixing things on Hope was difficult. Not only because of the lack of spare parts, but also because Ralph had only a vague understanding of how the equipment worked, and the other passengers knew even less. Most of them hardly understood the concept of a spaceship, or what their target was.

So much knowledge had been lost over the generations.

Ralph reattached the microphone to the terminal. "Sophia, do you hear me?" His voice was shaky with exhaustion.

"Yes, Chief Engineer Ralph Marker?" answered the AI through the device, after a short delay.

Happy to hear her voice, Ralph exhaled.

He looked at the notes in front of him, preparing to formulate his request.

"Initiate override protocol 8," he finally said.

"Please state the reason for initiating the override protocol." Where any human would have shown astonishment or worry at such a request, Sophia's voice was smooth and neutral, as always.

"The ship has been in orbit around its destination planet for more than four years now. And you have confirmed the planet fit for human settlement more than two years ago. The captain refuses to initiate the landing procedure. Initiating the landing procedure under these conditions is the captain's obligation under Rule... 17b of Ship Law." Ralph squinted at his scrawled notes, his eyes tired from tinkering with the innards of the terminal.

He continued by citing the convoluted sentences of Ship Law. "Non-compliance with this rule leads to immediate transfer of the Captain's command authority to any first-rank officer applying for it and qualifying as a ship operator." The only first-rank officer qualifying as a ship operator besides the captain was Ralph.

Their father, in his usual political cunning, had made sure of that.

"I will have to confirm that Captain Pete Marker is still unwilling to initiate descent."

"Yes, please proceed," he said.

Sophia's answer was the one he had expected. Yet the words sent a shiver down his spine.

He was committed now.

Ever since his brother had inherited the Captain's seat from their father, they had been at odds over the question of landing. Pete had been unwilling to act, stalling, enjoying his life as the captain on board, probably afraid that any change might challenge his position. And descent was a one-way trip. Once the ship was committed to it, she would land or crash on the planet, whatever happened. Whatever awaited them there.

And she would never lift off again.

But Hope was old, and her systems were dying. Waiting around in orbit was an ever-growing risk. It was only a question of time until a critical device failed. Ralph was worried, and no-one knew Hope's systems as well as he did. Captain Pete, his brother, on the other hand, would not know a wrench from a wench.

The planet was their only way forward.

Sophia had sent down a probe to the surface. After analyzing its sensor signals, she had declared the planet to be fit to support human life. 

Planetside—a life Ralph couldn't even start to imagine.

His musings were interrupted by a banging at the door of the auxiliary bridge. He had locked it on entry.

"Ralph, do you hear me? This is Janet." Janet was the Captain's wife and the dream of Ralph's teenage nights, years ago. But it had always been clear that she would choose Pete as her mate, the older of the two brothers, and the designated heir of the Captain's office. Ralph was bound to be the ship's first engineer, and who would choose an engineer over the Captain?

"Ralph, open the door!" Janet's voice conveyed an urgency untypical to her usually gentle nature.

Ralph got up from his chair, releasing fluffs of padding in the process, and walked to the door. "Janet?"

"Yes, Ralph. Please open." She hesitated. "For friendship's sake."

"Did Pete send you?"

"Er... Yes." Her voice was subdued now, hesitant. "He's worried. He wants you to talk to him."

Time was crucial. If Janet went for the ship's machine shop now, she would be able to return with a mechanic and a welding torch within ten minutes, and they would be able to break the door open in another ten. Ralph had to be able to talk to Sophia over the terminal here once she had finished querying his brother. So he had to keep all others off the auxiliary bridge until then.

"Janet, I'll open. But please give me some minutes." He needed the time. "Let me explain."

"What is it, Ralph?" He wondered if there was concern in her voice.

So he started telling her about him and his brother, about Pete's unwillingness to initiate the landing procedure and the dangers this involved.

Pete was aware that Janet knew the story. But he was stalling, and he hated himself for doing so.