Chapter 33 - Victory Awaits

“I may say that this is the greatest factor: the way in which the expedition is equipped, the way in which every difficulty is foreseen, and precautions taken for meeting or avoiding it. Victory awaits him who has everything in order, luck, people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time, this is called bad luck.”

—Roald Amundsen

The mess hall’s lights were dim when Luca pushed through the door, the ship’s engines humming beneath the quiet. Emily was alone at the table, both hands wrapped around a mug of coffee, her hair all disheveled.

She looked up at the sound of his entrance, and the smile she gave him made it hard to think about anything else. Last night, falling asleep against his shoulder, had not helped with that.

“Morning, Luca.” She sounded half-asleep still. She leaned forward on her elbows, chin propped on one hand, green eyes fixed on him with deliberate attention. “You’re up early.”

“Good morning, Em, so are you.” He crossed to the galley area, pulling open the freezer and fishing out a box of Ego waffles. “Sleep okay?”

Emily sipped from her mug, watching him over the rim with an expression that was far too pleased with itself. “Better than I have in weeks, actually.”

The rich aroma of coffee and toasting waffles filled the galley. Through the viewport, same stars as always. Space didn’t do mornings.

“Coffee?” Emily offered, already rising from her seat.

“Please.”

She moved to the percolator, and he stared at the roll of her shoulders beneath her pajamas, the way she stretched to reach a mug from the rack above, taking a little longer than necessary.

As they waited for the waffles to toast, Luca stepped closer and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You missed one,” he said softly.

The toaster popped. Emily’s smile lingered.

“So,” she said, pouring the dark liquid into his mug, “seven days to New Dawn.”

Luca ran his hand through his hair. There was so much to prepare, so many systems to check, and inventory to review before they reached the planet. He didn’t want to think about any of it right now, not so early in the morning. “Let’s not talk about work yet,” he said, managing a smile. “Just... breakfast first.”

“Careful,” she said, steadying the mug as coffee sloshed near the rim. Their hands touched on the handoff.

“Thanks,” he managed.

They settled at the table, Luca scooting his chair closer as he reached for the syrup. He could feel Emily’s judgment as he drowned his waffles.

“Someone likes it sweet,” she observed, propping her chin on her hand again.

“Guilty as charged.” He took a bite, aware of her eyes tracking the movement.

“Danny thinks we might even be able to breathe the air,” Emily said. “If his atmospheric analysis is right.”

“That’s a big if. We’re still too far for good readings,” Luca replied, taking a bite. It tasted like home. “But it would be amazing. Imagine stepping out without full environmental gear.”

Emily stared past him. “I’ve been thinking about that moment a lot. First humans to walk on an alien world. Well, an alien world outside the Solar System.” She turned to face him fully, her knee bumping against his under the table. Neither of them moved away. “Who gets to go first? Have you decided?”

Luca chewed and took his time. “Haven’t thought about it,” he lied. It had been turning in his head for days. By rights, it should be him as captain, but truth be told, it was anyone’s right. They’d all done as much if not more to get here, especially Emily.

“Liar,” she said, but her tone was fond. She reached for the syrup and took it from his loose grip.

“Maybe we should step out together,” he suggested, the words coming easier now that they were both clearly playing the same game.

She held his look, and nothing about it was casual. She leaned forward, close enough that the pretense of breakfast was gone. “I’d like that. A lot.”

They were in each other’s space now. Thinking straight wasn’t really an option anymore.

The mess hall door banged open.

“Morning, people!” Ryan’s voice boomed through the quiet space. He swept in, already in his bodysuit, looking disgustingly energetic and oblivious to what he’d just interrupted. “Who’s ready to discover a brand new world?”

Emily leaned back in her chair. Luca fought the urge to throw his fork at Ryan’s too-cheerful face.

“Inside voice, Ryan,” Emily said, but there was no real annoyance in her tone. “Some of us are still waking up.”

“Coffee’s the answer,” Ryan replied, making a beeline for the pot. “Sweet, sweet caffeine. The lifeblood of space exploration.”

The door opened again, slower this time. Danny. His red hair stuck up everywhere and his glasses were crooked, still in pajamas.

“Is he talking already?” Danny mumbled, shuffling toward the coffee station where Ryan was filling a mug nearly to overflowing. “Why is he talking?”

“Because he’s Satan,” Luca offered helpfully.

As Ryan and Danny settled at the table with their coffee, the conversation turned to speculation about what they’d find on New Dawn. Luca smiled anyway.

Emily’s shoulder pressed against his as she reached for her coffee, and she didn’t pull away. Under the table, Luca let his leg slide deliberately against hers. When she glanced at him, the corner of her mouth twitched up.

The command bridge was busy, screens casting light across their faces as Luca stood behind Zoe at the navigation station. Everyone had gathered around her console where she’d pulled up a map of the Proxima Centauri system, planets and moons filled in sharp from Danny’s telescope data.

Emily settled in next to him, occasionally leaning forward to examine the trajectory lines threading across Zoe’s screen.

“Alright, guys,” Luca said. “Let’s finalize our approach to New Dawn. We’ll be deploying probes and satellites for Proxima d and c along the way.”

Zoe tapped her navigation screen, tracing their curved trajectory through the stellar display. “It’s seven days total to New Dawn, factoring in deceleration burns and orbital insertion.”

Ryan peered at the screen, mug in hand. “Cutting it close with that radiation belt, aren’t we?”

“We’ll be skimming the outer edge, well within safety parameters,” Zoe replied confidently. “The stellar flares are predictable enough that we can time our approach during a quiet period.”

Danny shifted and gripped the edge of his PAC with his other hand. “Actually, we don’t know as much about Red Dwarf volatility as we thought. The theoretical models from Earth might not account for Proxima’s specific behavior patterns.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Danny, the flare cycles are completely predictable. You’re overthinking this.”

Luca bit back a sigh. Two minutes in and they were already at it.

“The radiation spikes could still damage the probe electronics,” Danny persisted. “Or interfere with our own systems during deployment.”

“We can adjust the probe trajectories,” Zoe interrupted. “Use Proxima c and d as radiation shields during deployment. The planetary magnetic fields would provide additional protection.”

Luca looked between Danny and Zoe. “Let’s adjust as needed, deploy with planetary shielding, and stick to the timeline. We didn’t fly four light-years to argue about flare charts.”

Emily leaned in to study the trajectory data. “The timing works if we concentrate the launches in the optimal window.”

Luca poked her ribs when she crowded too close to the screen. “Hey Em, don’t hog the view.”

She smirked and stepped back just enough to give him space.

“All probes are operational and prepped for deployment,” Chris confirmed from his station.

“What about deployment timing?” Luca asked. “Can we get all the probes launched within the optimal windows?”

“Should be fine,” Ryan replied. “The ejection systems are ready to go.”

Captaining a meeting. Four light-years from Earth and Luca was captaining a meeting. Nobody had warned him about this part.

“Good,” Emily said, reaching around Luca to tap a section of Zoe’s display. “Then we can concentrate the launches in the first window.”

“That would work,” Zoe said, recalculating on her panel, “but if we want to stagger the launches, it would mean adjusting our approach angle to New Dawn.” She modified the display, showing a slightly altered trajectory. “It’s nothing major, just a few degrees difference in our final orbital insertion.”

Ryan leaned against the bulkhead. “Not to be the buzzkill, but if any of these little guys miss their orbit, it’s going to be a pain to retrieve them.”

“They won’t,” Zoe said.

“Let’s talk about the satellites,” Emily interjected, shooting a pointed look at Ryan. “I’m implementing a triple-check protocol for the energy cells before launch. Two different crew members will inspect each satellite before deployment.”

Ryan winced. “Never gonna live that down, am I?”

The bridge thinned out as Chris, Joey and Zoe left to prepare for their shifts, leaving Luca, Emily, and Ryan hunched over the central console. The star map had been replaced by inventory manifests cataloged during their weeks of travel. In a matter of days, they’d be setting foot on a world orbiting Alpha Centauri, him and his best friends, making history.

Luca swiped through the categories, trying to focus on the mundane details. Medical supplies and scientific equipment were each organized and color-coded thanks to Emily’s systems, with rations stacked separately at the bottom. Everything looked in order at first glance.

“Let’s get to work,” Emily said, pulling up a separate screen. “We’re going to cross-reference what we’ve cataloged against what we actually need for planetfall. Ryan, can you verify the exploration gear?”

Ryan nodded, pulling that section to his corner of the display. “On it.”

“Scientific equipment looks good,” Emily noted, already grinning as she checked off the section.

Luca scanned through the environmental gear, trying to ignore how suspiciously close Emily had gotten to check something on his screen.

“Atmosphere testing equipment, soil sampling kits, portable lab stations... all accounted for.” Luca expanded the scientific inventory, checking off items as he went. “Core sampler, sample containers, spectrometers, and portable analysis units. Everything Danny requested made it aboard,” he finished.

“We’ve plenty of cartridges and consumables in stock for medical supplies,” Emily said. “Plus, Joey’s planning to bring the med pod down with the dropship. Chris will help him get it loaded and installed on the Peregrine.”

“The armor situation is what it is,” Ryan said, highlighting their equipment manifest. “We’ve got our primary armor suits, but no spares.” He tapped a line item. “Should have had at least three backup suits per person, but they never made it past the loading dock.”

“Right. The sabotage,” said Luca.

“Except, your backup and Zoe’s,” Ryan said. “But I wouldn’t call that armor.”

Luca rolled his eyes at the jab. The level 48 scout suits were nothing to write home about. They offered barely any protection, just active camouflage. The theory was you wouldn’t get hit if you couldn’t be seen, except it used up a lot of energy and the cooldown sucked.

Ryan opened up another list. “Energy cells are the real problem,” he said. “We’ve got maybe thirty cells total between all of us. Should have been twelve hundred.” He shook his head. “That’s enough to keep our armor and weapons powered for maybe one or two firefights, if we’re lucky.”

He gestured at another section of the display. “And dropship fuel... four, maybe five planetside trips if we’re conservative. Not the dozens we originally mapped out.”

Emily leaned forward. “So we prioritize. No wasted fuel.” She was already flipping through surface expedition schedules. “What are our absolute must-haves?”

“The primary landing site for sure,” Luca said, studying the mission parameters. “We’ll use the Peregrine to range out from there. Fuel’s too tight for bouncing between potential biomes. We go in once, we go hard.”

Ryan was scrolling through fuel calculations. “If I can squeeze an extra ten percent efficiency out of the dropship systems, maybe we get a sixth trip.” He switched to the power management protocols.

“Which is fine,” Emily said, tapping the screen. “We can make every expedition count double. Overlapping objectives, multi-site sampling runs.” She gestured at the display, and when she turned to look at Luca, her face was flushed. “Hell, this might actually make us more efficient. Forces us to be smart about it.”

“Exactly,” Luca said. “We’ve got seven days to optimize everything. We need to get it all in order.”

“Better than showing up with a dozen armored suits and getting sloppy,” Ryan added with a slight grin, then rolled his eyes at the way Luca and Emily were looking at each other.

“The System’s been quiet so far,” Luca said, ignoring Ryan’s dramatic expressions, and gestured toward the long-range sensors. “No portal signals, no signs of technology at all. For all we know, New Dawn is just a really interesting rock. Limited supplies or not.”

Ryan pulled up the surface mission timeline. “Alright then. Let’s plan this thing properly. What do we hit first?” He paused. “And try not to make googly eyes at each other while we’re doing it. We’ve got work to do.”

Luca felt his face burn with embarrassment, but he couldn’t stop grinning. Life was pretty good. The energy cells were somebody else’s problem for now.