The nightmare...
27 Nov 2020Synthya Wylder
It was a recurring dream... their multi-generational ship, the La Belle Heaulmière, with its compliment rich with scientists & engineers, their efforts focused on genetic augmentation to further their chances of survival at their eventual home, on its fractional-C velocity ballet among the stars on the endless black stage on its way to its destination in unexplored regions... then the unforeseen asteroids, the increasing barrage, rifling through the ship devastating one system after another at their velocity, the terror, the dismay, the struggle to patch together what remained, the decision to save as many as possible among the survivors, the desperate development based on unproven theory & experimentation, the application of the nascent cryogenic procedure to minimize consumption of the dwindling resources... then the hope of survival... hope sprang eternal, it seemed... she awoke suddenly, the vision of the ship's dedication plaque -"An artist can look at a pretty girl and see the old woman she will become. A better artist can look at an old woman and see the pretty girl she used to be. A great artist can look at an old woman, portray her exactly as she is... and force the viewer to see the pretty girl she used to be... more than that, he can make anyone with the sensitivity of an armadillo see that this lovely young girl is still alive, prisoned inside her ruined body. --R. Heinlein via Jubal Harshaw, from the novel, 'Stranger In A Strange Land' "
- still fading from her wakeful mind.