Archive of Our Own ^beta

Captain’s Log Spring 5th, Common Era 279

Well, let's get this started. Eh, log in? Wait, oh, here it is. Oh, it's already transcribing. Uhm, we've just left port, shipping supplies and another batch of blue algae to Geegle Corps' Under Lab 7. Everything's fine. Got some new recruits for this trip, Kath is dealing with it real good. She'll make a great captain someday, soon.

What else?

Oh yeah, there's talk that the Commonwealth and the Republic are gonna come to blows over the proliferation of Living AI usage in the military or somethin' like that. Who knows? I kinda like using Living AIs, unlike people, they always respect you! But what do I know, I'm just a sailor. I just hope all of this blows over quickly. There hasn't been a real war in over one hundred years, let's not break that streak now.

He signed off his workstation and walked his rounds.  He knew that he could have just sat at his workstation and watched all the camera feeds, but he liked to walk around the ship and see things with his own eyes.  Plus he wasn’t getting any younger, and the walking and the climbing kept him fit.  He stopped at the railing and looked out over the water.  They were set to arrive at Lab 7 on schedule, bringing supplies and rotating out personnel.  There were experiments on his ship too, of course, but Geegle’s real bioscience work was done at the bottom of the ocean.  He’d be glad to get some of the experiments off his ship, actually.  That Dr Richards had some strange ideas.

He continued around to the ship’s prow, where he saw his smallest crew member sitting and watching the waves, same as he himself had been a few minutes ago.  He bent and greeted Horatio with a head scratch, making sure to rub his thumb on the star shaped pattern of white fur on the cat’s dark grey head.

“Catch anything today, Horatio?” he asked.

“Meow!” was the only answer, of course, although it was accompanied by a nod so that he could be sure that the cat meant that yes, he had indeed caught something.  Horatio was a Ship’s Cat.  If he could write, Horatio would be sure to use the capital letters.  Very important.  Ship’s Cats, or SCs, were a Geegle side project that had succeeded beyond anyone’s expectations.  Ship’s Cats were smarter, larger, and longer lived than their house cat ancestors.  They also had some…strange coat colors and patterns.  Rumor had it that some of the gene techs had some fun when they were tweaking the genome.  There was Horatio’s forehead star, which was *far* too sharply defined to be a coincidence, but that was tame compared to some of them.   The other cat on board - who was en route to Lab 7 - was striped pink and purple, much like that cat in the storybook, the one who would disappear leaving only a smile behind.

Odd coat patterns notwithstanding, they were surprisingly intelligent.  They couldn’t talk, but they could nod and shake their heads and perform other simple gestures, plus they were smart enough to understand simple human speech.  There had been some efforts to get them to use AI to talk, but the Cats, being cats, stubbornly resisted doing so.  Horatio was eleven, so they’d probably both be retiring at about the same time, some twenty years from now, and the Cat would probably live to see forty.  He’d decided that he’d be bringing Horatio home with him when he retired.  His boys thought that was a good idea, and Horatio had seemed happy about the notion when he’d asked the Cat, so they were all in agreement. 

The Cat was a good pest controller, taking care of not just the rodents that seemed to find their way onto every ship, regardless of how careful the crew was, but also insects and, when they were close to shore, the occasional bird.  He was a good companion, too.  He usually slept in the captain’s cabin, as Horatio was smart enough to realize that he was a sucker and if he was in the cabin at meal times he got to share some of the captain’s dinner.

Captain’s Log - Spring 9th, Common Era 279

It started this mornin'. I dunno. I... I think I'll keep talking to you to keep my wits about me. We were just a few more nautical leagues away from Lab 7 when it happened. The instruments suddenly went crazy, and we felt several strong impacts around the ship.

Ugh, so it did come to blows, we're still trying to figure out what transpired. Whatever happened, happened fast. We figure it's antimatter and graviton weapons or some aliens attacked us. Whatever the case, the ocean floor rose, and now our ship's on the surface. All communication's down, there are lots of interference out there. I...

What the hell, what the hell. Who the heck ordered this?! This is insanity! Agghhhh! Ugh...

I'm keeping the crew motivated, but it's hard to do when the world's gone to hell.

Horatio was waiting for him when he got back to his cabin and sunk down on his bed.  The Cat did something he’d never done before, climbed right into his lap and leaned his head on his chest.  He was making a valiant attempt to purr, but mostly he was just shaking.

He did his best to soothe the Cat, and in doing so, soothed himself a little bit.  The shaking lessened…or maybe that was him…and the purr got a little stronger.  “You’re scared too, huh?  Well, we survived, so there’s that.  I can’t get the boys on the comms, though.  Or anybody, really.  We’re on our own now.”

Horatio mewed quietly, very different from his usual imperious meow, and leaned against him a little harder.

“Yeah, we’ve got each other, Horatio, no matter what.”

Spring 10th, Common Era 279

Still no communication from HQ or Lab 7. We don't know if this war is local or global, we don't know. We don't know... a lot of things. The sky's getting darker.

Uh... we observed some lights in the distance, probably other survivors. Kath decided to lead a group of crew to check out the closest city, see if we can meet up with some. Pretty much everyone volunteered to go, but she only took 20.

I had the rest inventory our supplies. We have enough to last us half a year, maybe a full year if we ration.

I'm just sitting here all day staring at the comm, hoping to gather some, any, info on what happened. When I drift off, I dreamt of Liz and our boys... I wish they were with me right now... sniff . You don't need to record this part.

He turned off the recording and ran his hand down his face.  He’d sent what he could spare with Kath and the twenty crew - and one cat - that she took with her.  Chessy, the Ship’s Cat destined for Lab 7, had apparently attached herself to Kath during the voyage and as such had decided she was going with the expedition.  Kath had tried to dissuade the Cat, but he could have told her that was an exercise in futility.  Cats did what they did, and no amount of GenEng was going to change it.

When he’d seen the expedition off, he’d been surprised to see Horatio there too.  The Cat had touched noses with Chessy and they’d shared some sort of exchange with tail twitches and ear flicks and mutual grooming.  For a moment he feared that Horatio was going to leave him, then wondered if maybe that would be for the best, but the Cat gave Chessy one last forehead touch and then came back to sit at his feet.  He was more relieved than he was willing to admit.

Captain’s Log - Spring 15th, Common Era 279

It's been five days since Kath's team set off, we haven't received a single word back. More crew left, some in groups, some on their own. I told them all to stay and wait. Someone will come looking for us. Someone has to be looking. But they didn't listen.

Now there are only four of us on the ship - three humans and Horatio. At least that's what the computer says. Horatio and I haven't seen anyone else since a couple days ago. He’s more or less always with me now, when he’s not patrolling.  He’s not finding much on his patrols, though.  Even the rodents have left.  I don’t know what to think about that.

I received one message on the comms this morning, it was an emergency broadcast from 40 leagues away. I almost went at that moment. But I fear only death awaits outside. The sky is pitch black now, and the temperature's dropping fast. I don't know what to do.

“I don’t know if you’d go with me anyway, or if you should.  And I can’t just leave you here,” he said, leaning down to pet Horatio, who was sitting at his feet.  The Cat stayed with him whenever he wasn’t patrolling now, which he was careful to thank Horatio for every day.  It wasn’t the same as having another human around, but it was miles better than just the AIs.  Yeah, Pauly could hold a conversation, but so could Horatio, after a fashion.  And the Cat was warm, and he purred.  

Summer 3rd, Common Era 279

The computer says I'm the only human on the ship now. I checked to be sure, calling out everyone's name as I went around the corridors. The only company I have now is Horatio and the AIs working on the ship. Most of them aren't that smart, the only one capable of any conversation is Pauly the Caretaker AI. It told me today that it feels uncomfortable because it hasn't synced with its All Source since that day, imagine that, tell me about it...

Now that Horatio and I are the only ones on the ship, the food supplies should last us over 40 years, if they're still good by then. Maybe the sun will be out by that time, yeah. Gosh, I wish I could see the sun right now.

I've been watching a lot of entertainment vids, since I have nothing else to do. I also watch vids of Liz when she was healthy and... ugh. It's tough.

I don't know why I'm still making this, this is sad.

He sat at the console after he turned it off, not moving, for he didn’t know how long.  Horatio found him there some time later, presumably when he was done with his patrol.  He felt the Cat’s head bunt against his hand, which made him start to scratch Horatio’s ears without him thinking about it.  Eventually the cat jumped in his lap and settled, softly purring.

“Thank you,” he quietly said as he stroked Horatio’s fur.

Winter 28th, Common Era 279

It's the last day of this terrible year, I suppose I should say something.

I've been the only human since Summer. No one's come to the ship. Several times I've packed and was standing by the departure door, but I couldn't do it.  Horatio would have gone with me, but Liz's last words always held me back. She... told me to live until I'm old... for the both of us...

Now, I've settled into a routine: get up at 7, have some coffee, which doesn't taste as great as it used to; check the plants in the hydroponics room; eat lunch and talk with Pauly the Caretaker, who tells some magnificent jokes; read books or watch vids; exercise; eat dinner; read more books and send out radio messages; go to sleep at 22:00 sharp. Horatio keeps to his previous schedule, walking his rounds.  He says the rodents are coming back - well, in his way.  He’s started catching things again, anyway.  I’m happy for him, since it gives him something productive to do.  I’m so glad he’s here.

Sometimes, I'd break that schedule. I'd just stare outside the window for hours on end. Pauly told me, I didn't even know I was doing that. I just feel numb about the whole thing.

Anyway, Happy New Year, the next year really can't be worse than this one!

“Hopefully I’m not tempting Fate with that,” he muttered as he turned away from the console.  He and Horatio were doing all right, but it wouldn’t take much bad luck to change that.  He figured any remaining humans were in much the same situation.  

“Meow?” Horatio asked, which made him smile.  He bent down to stroke a hand down the Cat’s body, which got him a brief purr.

“Hell, the two of us probably have it better than most.  The ship still has power.  Since the reactor doesn’t have to power the engines it will probably run the electrical for a thousand years, lucky for us.  And all of the water condensers are still working.  We just need one, so I can probably keep one going with parts from the others, if they start to fail.  And the rations should keep fine, although they’re probably not gonna taste great after a decade or so.  But I have the hydroponics, so I won’t get scurvy.”

“Mrow?”

“Oh, that’s not something you have to worry about.  It’s a human thing.”

Horatio nodded and mrrped, then fell in with his person as they walked back to the captain’s quarters.

Captain’s Log - Spring 9th, Common Era 289

Uh, hello? Is it still working? Oh, good.

Uhm, it's been 10 years since the day the world went to hell. I'm pretty confident in saying that since it sure ain't getting any better. It's a deep winter out there, blizzard conditions all the time, and very, very dark.

I feel like I'm the last human left. The emptiness of it all…  If it wasn’t for Horatio I don’t know how I’d get through the days.

The years went by in a blur, I don't know what I've been doing for the last 10 years. I try to keep myself busy, fixing the ship, maintaining the AIs. I even went outside once in a while. But it's so hard to keep my promise Lizzy... 

He turned away from the console and sighed.  He would keep his promise.  If nothing else, someone had to make sure Horatio got fed.  Pauly would probably do it with some help from the Cat, but he didn’t want to test that.  

“Well, back to whatever busywork I can find,” he muttered. Maybe he’d go outside today.  The wind wasn’t as bad as usual, so he could at least look around.  Maybe he’d see if Horatio wanted to come too.  It wouldn’t be too cold for the Cat if he carried him inside his jacket.

Summer 1st, Common Era 300

I just want to check in here for a bit, the last time I came into this room was two-three years ago. There's really no point coming in here anymore, it's not like the ship's going anywhere.

I'm getting more and more introspective lately, probably because I'm getting old.  Horatio is too.  He still patrols, but not the whole ship anymore, I think.  Just the food stores and the areas of the ship where I go.  He hasn’t caught a mouse in a while, but I think they just stay out of this area of the ship, which is the important thing.  I still tell him how valuable he is, although that’s really more because of his company than anything else.

I've started to question some of the decisions I made in my life. What if I selected Space Navigation instead of Navigation back in school? What if I settled with Liz in her humble hometown instead of chasing my captain dream? What if I'd went with Kath's team...?

I guess I'll never know.

I've gotten used to being the only human around now, the emotional pain doesn't surface as much. Horatio is a godsend, but I miss other people.  Pauly and the other AIs threw me a birthday party the other day, surprised the heck out of me, but I really enjoyed it. I asked him if he ever had a girl AI he liked before, and he actually refused to answer the question! Haha! That cheeky little bugger.  

On a more serious note, the ship computer simulated that the weather outside would stay this way for a long time, several hundred years in fact. But you know what that means, right? There will be a day the sun will shine again!

He stood up, catching himself on the back of the chair.  His left knee, the one he’d broken as a teenager, was giving him more and more trouble these days.  He tended to walk slower than he used to and kept a hand on a nearby bulkhead, just in case.  But it’s not like he had to rush anywhere, so things were still fine.

And he had a new-to-him book to read.  At the birthday party Horatio had actually brought him a gift.  He supposed Horatio watched him read and realized that books were valuable to him, which made him wonder just how smart the Cat was.  The book was an old paperback that Horatio had gotten somewhere on the ship, probably Kath’s old quarters, given the subject matter.  It was a romance novel, which Kath had unapologetically devoured in her spare time.  He wondered if she had survived.  He hoped so.

Captain’s Log - Autumn 6th, Common Era 307

Horatio has died. *Cough!* He stopped patrolling oh, a year ago now, maybe two.  We’re both getting pretty arthritic, so he’d taken to sitting on my lap as I read and watched vids.  I figure my warmth helped ease his pain.  Slept with me too.  It was nice.  He went to his old bed in my sitting room sometime last night, though.  I guess he knew what was coming and didn’t want me to wake up next to him..after.

I could have let the cleaning AIs take care of him, but I figured I owed it to him to take care of it myself.  *Cough, Cough!*

I thought about burying him outside, but if I’m honest with myself I don’t think I can make the climb anymore.  So I had one of the cleaning AIs cremate him and I spread his ashes over the prow of the ship, since he liked to sit in the sun up there, back when we still had the sun.  Maybe I’ll ask Pauly to have the cleaners do the same with mine, when the time comes, which will be soon.  I'm dying. I know because I have this cough that's getting worse. I figure this is my final turn at this console logging in a Captain's Log. *Cough, cough, cough!*

Pauly knows about it too, he's been way too nice to me lately. *Cough!* I don't know how he'll be when I'm gone, and I'm sorry about that. It's been an honor to serve with him and all the other crew and AI on this ship. I'll miss him...

*Cough, cough!*

I think I also finally understood what Liz wanted of me. Sometimes life throws you curveballs... and graviton bombs, but if you don't give up, eventually you'll find the joy and satisfaction that you're looking for. You just have to have patience and never stop looking.

*Cough!*

If anyone reads this in the future, good luck! *Cough!* I hope you enjoy the sun!

Lizzy, here I come. I know you'll be waiting for me at the gate!  I hope you’re there too, Horatio…

Signing off .

Present day

“Hey, Mils, look at this!” Oliver called.  Normally they each explored the shipwreck ruins alone, but they had recently managed to safely clear and shore up a buckled bulkhead that had kept them from accessing this whole area of the ship.  Since this was all new territory they had decided to buddy up today for safety.  

As it turned out,  this area was officer’s quarters, so there wasn’t all that much in terms of salvage, but they were finding just tons of evidence of pre-calamity daily life.  Qi probably wouldn’t care about any of this, although you never really knew with him, but there were plenty of other relic researchers that would kill for access to these relics.  

Millie set down the book she was reading and came over to the desk that Oliver was looking through.  This was the biggest cabin they’d found so far, so they were pretty sure it was the captain’s cabin. 

Oliver wordlessly held out the framed photograph.  It had fallen behind the desk so they’d missed it on first glance, but once he’d seen it he had to show it to Millie.

“Oh look at this!” Millie exclaimed, reaching a gloved hand out to the picture.  She brushed off some of the accumulated dust to get a better look at the middle-aged man, who she presumed was the ship’s captain, who was posed with a very familiar looking cat.

“Right?  He looks just like Captain, even down to the star on his forehead. Not sure if it’s the photograph lighting or if he’s grey instead of black, but still.  He and Captain could be twins.”

“Yep, even the same ‘serious business’ expression on his little face!  I wonder..you think this cat is Captain’s however many great-grandparent?”

“I hope so.  Means something of them survived, you know?” Oliver said.

“Yeah,” Millie agreed.  She set the photograph down on the desk and got out her camera.  “The original is probably gonna get put in a museum, but Justice just has to see this.” she said.