Rianka made a shocking statement one morning:
"Irreversible changes have occurred on our planet. Essentially there is nowhere to go back to. Illness and painful death await us."
"So what should we do!?" Alarmed voices of crew members were heard around.
"We are invited to the ark spaceship as a reserve team. Everything is ready for long journey. We will dock with the ship in the next few hours..."
I felt hit over the head and the blood drained from my face at this statement.
"We were lured here, it turns out?" I interjected indignantly.
"Where do such thoughts come from, officer!?" Rianka claimed strictly, piercing me with a stern gaze. "It just so happened that you found yourself here at a moment when the planet and its inhabitants are burning from radiation. You will save your health and lives by going to colonize another world suitable for our bodies."
"Forty years to the nearest planet? Madness!" One guy exclaimed. "We will arrive there as old men!"
"It's not so bad," opinions rang out. "If we are twenty now."
I indignantly expressed my disagreement with the demand to send me down. I should have guessed right away that everything was planned in advance, but I continued to insist. I was immediately gagged with an order to shut up.
Further events were like a fog for me. The hatch for docking with the ark was opened for the reserve crew and we moved into a spacious ship, accompanied by armed guards. Finally we were able to look out the panoramic windows. To my horror, I made a discovery without finding a view of the planet overboard:
"So we were sent a long time ago!? We've been on the way with this ark all this time!?"
"Den," Jamien said cautiously. "We really were lured into a trap. Everything was arranged in advance, but don't worry about it. I beg you. This is a chance to save a life. We are already very far from the dying home, nothing can be done."
"But there... Yarison! He's waiting for my return!"
I blurted out these words out of desperation, I shouldn't have done this. This is how I expressed my feelings out of loud.
"You are so strange! It turns out you love him?"
"No!" I began to deny, shaking my head.
"You don't have to lie to me! I see perfectly well how you feel... Why did you do this to him? I would never leave my beloved, not for any price."
I couldn't deny anymore that I made a mistake by not staying with Yarison.
Jamien batted his eyes at my weird reaction, turned away with a heavy sigh and fell silent for a long time. I didn't want my friend to somehow judge me. I realized later that he didn't like my secrecy: I was lying to myself and to him that I didn't have feelings for Yarison.
But there is no turning back, the path has been cut off and we are heading into the unknown in that amazing ark ship. I wandered for a long time along the corridors of the ship in the crew compartment, trying to calm down, looking at everything around me, and after much thought I went to Rianka personally for a reception to express my indignation:
"You've been lying to us all this time! Lured into a trap!"
"I had to, officer!" She stared straight into my face with an strict look. "We couldn't do it any other way. We needed young specialists from orphanages. Money was specially allocated for your education at the academy and your maintenance. Are there any loved ones left on the planet? Beloved? I asked you at the interview, you had to tell me honestly... Why are you stuck? Who's waiting for you there?"
"Nobody…"
"Nobody? Then why is there so much protest? Your life was saved and you were given the honor of staying on a starship with advanced technology for free. If only you knew how much one place here costs! A lot of money! For an orphan who no one wants, this is a great opportunity to end up on another planet filled with abundance without any problems."
"It's just a theory that this planet is suitable for us. We're goingto nowhere!"
"Stop panicking, officer! That's an order!" Rianka answered harshly. "I am spare captain of the ship and you will have to subordinate! I wouldn't want to go to extreme measures and throw you overboard if you don't calm down."
"Are you really capable of this? Throw me overboard?" I was dumbfounded.
"I couldn't, but you are behaving unworthily, refusing an important mission - to participate in the resettlement of humanity to other planets..."
"Sorry for the panic!"
I had to calm down, because we all had to live together for a long time in a confined space. Whether we survive or not, we will have to rely on luck.
I thought about the pair of rings that Yarison had somehow planted in my things. Did he know I wouldn't return from orbit? How so? And he was sure that we will meet again. Nonsense! If only he has his own personal spaceship. And this is his promise - to make me immortal. He had no doubt that I will put his diamond ring on his finger when we meet... Mysticism!
We were far from the planet and therefore can no longer hear each other, which means he was still there, waiting for his transport. These were my naive thoughts...
What else could I think then in my twenties? I'm a romantic and grew up reading fantasy comics. I would be pleased that a cosmic superman is in love with me, perhaps he is an alien wanderer. I named him Daddy Stardust because he was incredible and so knowledgeable about the cosmos. Pleasant feelings warmed my heart. I really wanted to meet Yarison again. I looked out the windows into cold space and hovered for hours in the hope of seeing his ship overboard. But thirty-nine years of travel was ahead...