The lights in the living module came on. Tiernan weighed his options:
Override Claire and message Earth.
From his technical awareness of her this represented elevated risk. Claire’s emotional, loving, and sensitive capabilities had never been fully established by the scientists. Her mind was much too complex. If the unthinkable happened, and she suffered an emotional breakdown or felt her vast intellect had been affronted, even insulted, the extent of her recriminations were terrifying.
Claire wielded the power to terminate Rose’s life at the flick of a switch, to murder her, light years away from the human realms of culpability. Moreover, she could shut down Carmen’s essential life support systems, kill Carmen, kill Tiernan, before killing herself: cognicide, Mission abort, termination.
There remained the possibility of his escape. Assuming Rose was dead, he could abandon ship, trust to fate, exposing himself to the elements on the new-born planet. If the gravity, atmosphere, biosphere, and temperature levels were really as favourable as Elektra had predicted some thirty years ago. Supposing conditions changed through a carbon dioxide generated greenhouse effect, violent meteor storm, or solar flare from nearby Cacoethes?
A hell of a lot can go wrong in thirty years. In any case his message would take 6.66 hours to reach Control then, at least, 6.66 hours for Control to digest, analyse, and respond with a solution. One solution might be remote control of Carmen by Cadey, the pure-hearted woman based at Control, Claire’s twin. Assuming Cadey, Control, the joint US-Russo-Chinese-European Space Agency, and Earth were still there.
Tiernan tried to comprehend what life on Earth must be like now, twenty-five years after leaving home. He knew, deep in his heart, theirs was a one-way mission. There could be no return, no going back. Who or what was there to go back to? He and Rose were selected because they were both orphans with no living parents, siblings, dependents, children or known lines of descent. Emotionally unattached loners voyaging to outer space. For what ultimate purpose only Claire knew. If Tiernan overrode her, and Earth was finished, a burnt-out shell, he would never know the reason he and Rose were sent to Primordia on a one-way ticket to the future in the first place.
No, overriding Claire wasn’t an option.
Gain Claire’s confidence, play for time.
The safe option. Regain her trust,
‘You’re right. It isn’t necessary for me to message Control, not yet anyways,’ he stood, ‘I think I’ll accept your kind offer of a bath.’
