Metamorphosis Alpha to Omega: Part 1: Origins and Dimensions

Humans tend to explore and colonize. When the Earth itself had been thoroughly explored, mankind spread out to the planets and planetoids of the Solar System. It was slow-going at first, but once toe-holds beyond low earth orbit were established, the Solar System eventually teemed with life. But even then, the frontier was tantalizing. The extrasolar planets that were first starting to be discovered late in the 20th century became ever more plentiful, their natures ever more clearly defined as sensor technology improved. The terraforming technology that had gifted humanity with new homes upon Earth's sister planets was now being geared up for worlds far beyond the warming rays of Sol. Planets did not need to be able to support life to be earmarked for colonization; in fact, such planets could now be left to their own evolution, as the terraforming machinery that came into common use could bring livable conditions on even the most lifeless rock. Colonial ships were built and sent out. A few exploratory scout ships establishing tentative stations in distant stellar systems grew into an increasingly sophisticated fleet. The crowning achievement of this project, the Warden and her sister ships, was meant to begin a truly vast mission: humanity's spread throughout the galaxy.

The Warden is a massive 9-deck space vessel, measuring nearly 30 miles/48km long by over 7 miles/12km wide. It moves at sublight speeds, so its interstellar colony mission was intended to last for centuries. Over 2 million crew and passengers set forth, with most in suspended animation. The remainder - still a large number - were to maintain the ship and keep it on course. A number of city and garden domes served to make life pleasant for these "long-haulers," as they came to call themselves, as well as provide another pool of genetic material for the flora and fauna DNA samples frozen deep in Warden's cryo systems. This system served two ends: the cryogenically frozen colonists would arrive at their new homes fresh from Earth, and likely with loyalty to the home planet intact; while the waking crew would create their own shipboard society, loyal to the "world" of the Warden itself, continuing on in the ship's mission of creating colonies across the galaxy in perpetuity.

It seemed like a bright moment in the history of the human species.

Decades into Warden's lonely trek, all communications were lost with the home system. Faster-than-light communications had been developed, though with a lag time that made anything but the most important communiques pointless and difficult. Even so, the silence was abrupt and complete. What had happened in the Solar System was a mystery. Warden's sister ships had all set out on routes so disparate that very little contact with them had been possible even when they had only been a few months out from Earth. Despite the fact that Warden was a self-contained, self-sufficient world of its own, the silence from the homeworld was unsettling. The waking crew was left with a feeling of being truly alone in the void.

As more decades passed, and the silence from Earth now a grim memory, disaster struck the Warden itself. A strange band of radiation engulfed the great vessel. Many sickened and died immediately, but the shocking after-effects on the survivors - and the "sleepers" - would take time to emerge. Bizarre mutations began to manifest among the plants, animals, and humans on the Warden, including intelligence even showing up among plants and animals. Strange factions formed, and the Warden fell into chaos. An army of mutants gained strength, battling the Warden's crew for dominance. Finally, after years of struggle, the command crew of the ship was finally overwhelmed, but not before Warden's command functions were shut down and its AI crippled.  Centuries from its intended destination, the colony ship was now hurtling through space with no one at the helm, and much of the knowledge of running the ship, or even its origins and mission, was lost.

Long centuries passed, and eventually Warden's damaged AI detected the ship arriving at its destination...which will be the subject of the next post.

Next: Part 2: Destination and Mission