Jessica rubbed her temples. Her research wasn’t going anywhere.
“Hey,” said Sam. He rubbed her shoulders. “Late night, huh?”
“I can’t find anything on Hector’s sister. It’s like she doesn’t exist.”
“You will, babe.”
“Just wish I had a DNA sample.”
The door behind them opened. Sam abandoned her shoulders. Gary, one of the station operatives and research specialists, entered. Awkward pause.
“I, ah, sent you the info you asked for. Didn’t get much. It started to self erase when we tried to decrypt it.”
Jessica offered her thanks. When Gary left Sam gave her a guilty look, which made her smile. She checked the message on her datapad:
“Exodus Project…data extracted…measures in place for full…”
“Exodus Project,” Jessica whispered. She performed a quick search and clicked through a few of the results. “Check this out.”
Jessica adjusted the monitor for Sam. An International Times news report began to play.
A young reporter began:
“Fifty years from now every natural resource we have will be depleted. The earth can’t sustain our population growth. But, what’s the solution?”
The feed cut to a scientist. “Population implosion is devastating. Our world can only house so many people. A water shortage, an oil shortage, even a severe virus, can be dealt with when isolated, but if they all hit at once…”
“Dr. Jacob Fernandez is leading an advanced team of engineers in a campaign called the Exodus Project.”
Sketches and three-dimensional renderings of a gigantic spacecraft appeared on the screen. “It’s about colonizing another planet and collecting resources. It has to be done.”
“Not everyone agrees,” said the reporter.
A thickset scientist appeared. “Propulsion is the primary problem. This is a massive frigate of a ship. Then, there’s finding a habitable planet. We need to explore other methods first, like population control.”
“The government disagrees. But don’t hold your breath. Though the Union is investing trillions of dollars into the conceptual spacecraft, construction isn’t likely to finish until 2150–”
Jessica cut the report off. “The colonel needs to see this.”
I’m all caught up now, and I’m loving it!