Three Days Earlier

            A flourishing civilization displaced from home. Human life had miraculously avoided extinction by its own intelligence and inflated ego. Human and mechanical life thrived. The only traces of the natural world were confined to ancient literature and textbooks. Io offered none of its own natural bounty. Artificial atmospheres were painstakingly placed around each of the Jupitan moons. The rust-red clouds of Jupiter swirled hypnotically in the nights sky. Those few aged enough to remember home watched as the swelling Sun engulfed the Earth.

            A sense of panic gripped the purified air. Their faithful star was nearing supernova, creating haste to complete the relocation project. He wandered through the dense undergrowth of hovercraft and citizens, eager to reach his destination in the canopy of the tower forest. Air traffic signals blinked rhythmically. Fairy lights strewn across the large boughs of a family Christmas tree. Admiring Jupiters rustic complexion, he shivered briefly as his cold hands forcefully enclosed around the door handle. Winter of their brief year rapidly approached. Escape was essential. The date was set.

            Technological marvel. The metallic carcass loomed over the workers. Miniscule ants frantically building. Blue prints and star charts littered the few blank spaces of wall and floor. Humanity's saviour laid scattered throughout the harshly lit laboratory. Concealed in the western corner stood a digital timer. Its blue numerals encouraged the colony to continue work. Clink, click, hammers striking the metal exoskeleton. Silent countdown. The fate of the colony was controlled by labourers and scientists. Sixty-three hours left.

            Churning ginger atmosphere swelling, growing as life drained from its energetic surface.

            Emerald eyes fixed intently on the simple scattered pattern of stars on the page. Red trails and calculations littered the chart, like a primitive childs dot to dot. It had taken countless years for humanity to reach the ability to travel at the speed of light. The old ways of travel seemed so primitive and laughable, certainly unconventional. Her thoughts shifted back to escape. Survival. She was essential to her people. Geometric patterns began to flood the charts. The nearest solar system was light years from home and logistics required for such a relocation were unfathomable. It was what limited her ancestors to escape within the Sapiens system, but now they were well prepared for the shift. Few were eager to remain. Her eyes strayed nervously to the blue LCD clock. Fifty-two hours left.

            The maze of streets and store shelves alike were empty as several hundred souls busied themselves packing for the coming journey. Many of them would remain in stasis for the majority of the relocation. One standard suitcase per family unit. While siblings squabbled over whose toys and possessions were the most important, parents carefully stacked the few necessary items into the solitary case, ensuring every possible inch of space was used effectively. The days burned furiously as the Sun expanded towards the asteroid belt, the Jupitan systems back fence, drawing the civilisations time closer to nil.

            Perfect lines formed throughout the perpetually darkened streets. Winter. The rusty hues of the Jupitan atmosphere appeared on the horizon, along with the multiple moons and the aquatic tattoos of Uranus. The artificial atmosphere controlled the otherwise dramatic temperature drop. This limited the perpetual darkness of the winter months to a slight chill. Family units took their places in the stasis chambers, young and old looking nervously at one another. Oh, if only they could understand how comfortable and risk free the travel in stasis was compared to that of the first inhabitants of home. If only they knew the numbers of those who perished due to the primitive and uncooperative equipment. A folly that had been protected by those in charge for centuries. Pioneers forgotten and discarded with the corroded wreckage of their ships. Those few survivors worried about re-establishing a functioning society and neglected their friends and family to be regarded as heroes. Greed.

            A tunnel of streaking light engulfed the Baryons Orbital Barge. Vividly coloured devices excited the control room of the craft, monitoring each minute detail. Uniforms of white and silver littered the cavernous hall. Enlightened servants attentively watched. Plasma monitors, a crude yet effective technology, tiled across the southern wall allowed the observation of each evacuee. All were suspended in a state of unconsciousness. Silent anticipation and anxiousness swept through the B.O.B. The scientists knew they had been much luckier than the pioneers. The logistics, fuel and thrust, for such an operation would have been much greater for escape from Earth than from Io. A brightly uniformed girl quickly calculated the statistics in her head. Four thousand times easier to escape from Io in fact. A slight deceleration could be sensed as the B.O.B slowly halted, approaching the calculated safe distance from the Sapiens system. Systematically, multiple baryons orbital motors ceased, leaving the barge to float awkwardly through the silence.

            A cataclysmic explosion. One spectacle of life to wash away all others. Ripples of unharnessed energy raced forth in concentric circles. Engulfed planets flamed in silence. Destruction reaching the farthest reaches of the solar system. Dust. Radiation. Nothing survived. Those few still awake gathered at the few available portholes, peering through the glimmering shield to witness the beauty and ferocity of their ancient god. Sensations of remorse, excitement and astonishment echoed throughout the cavernous hallway illuminated with the incandescent soul of their star. Energy rippled throughout the vast reaches of the galaxy, gently rocking the refugees as each of the motors powered up again.

            The Aten double system rose on the twinkling horizon. By a freakish accident of nature, a binary system, known to their ancestors as Aten, had established two solar systems orbiting the joint stars. The systems unique feature also caused a small ferrous planet, similar to Mars, to orbit both stars in a figure eight motion. Both stars, Juno and Hera, were both relatively young, reassuring the scientists of their new home. Calculations of compatibility with the Earth had limited the refugees to the central planet of the Juno micro-system, the smaller and cooler of the two stars. The deceleration was more severe as the motors shut-down for a second time. They approached the Juno micro-system and their new homeland, Artemis.

            Cautious of their new environment, six silver cloaked scientists tentatively stepped onto the luscious amethyst grass below. Elementables ticked profusely, measuring the composition of the soils and wildlife surrounding them. Unexpectedly, question marks appeared on the screen of one elementable. Confusion swept the team. Rapidly scrolling text outlined each property. It was unlike anything they had seen previously. This particular element had many organism like qualities, including the ability to morph under certain conditions. Despite this unusual feature, nallainium remained relatively inert. Vegetation remained similar to that on Earth, though the creatures were akin to something created in a childrens fantasy story. Blistering summers were contrasted with hospitable winters, only one star visible in the winter months. A solitary moon orbited Artemis, frequently eclipsing Hera.

            The whoosh of pneumatic doors resounded through the stasis chamber as each pod slid open. The refugees were granted freedom from their artificial tombs. Family units marched in orderly lines. Excitement flooded the exit chambers. Hyperactive children ran wildly among the suitcases and supple amethyst grass. A small girl rolled majestically across the gentle fingers below her, halting abruptly as her button nose softly collided with a warm moistness. Startled, she and the creature scampered backwards slightly, intrigued by each other. Between parted fingers, the young girl stared; green eyes, squat peachy snout, dumpy legs, plump body. It was most curious, not resembling any of the creatures she had been told of by the elders. As the sky hazed a dusky yellow childish squeals entered the B.O.B.

            Biopolymer tents littered the clearing. Over the rise development had already begun. Sparse forest was destroyed to accommodate for the urban settlement. Only small pockets of extraordinary vegetation had been cleared for the refugees, but it was sufficient to disorient the eccentric wildlife. Children playfully reached for the near moon rising above the horizon. The proximity of the moon caused dramatic tides, restricting the development to a fair distance from the coast. In the distance, colossal snow capped peaks shone almost blue in the light from Juno. He rested his arms on the side of the cherry picker, surveying the site around him. This was perfect.