The Twilights Last Gleaming

By Salvatore J Vitale

The Twilights Last Gleaming is a story about the destructive effects that hate and lies can have on a society. A vicious and cruel despot known only as The Leader has taken control of a faraway planet by playing off the hatred that has consumed the planet for centuries. The Leader has known nothing but hate, lies and violence since he was a child and uses that experience to dominate the planet. But The Leader does not control everyone. A brave group of scientists led by Herbert Sandstone Sr. plots to escape the Home Planet in a huge spacecraft designed to undertake multi-year missions. Aided by his son, Sandy, and others, Herbert Sandstone Sr. engineers a harrowing escape from the Home Planet on a spaceship called Freedom One and embarks on a journey to find a planet where they can establish a new, hate-free society. But the space pioneers couldn't completely escape the hate that consumed the Home Planet and it's up to Sandy Sandstone and his son Robert to try and weed out the hate before it completely consumes Freedom One. Part science fiction and part political thriller, The Twilights Last Gleaming is a dystopian study of what might happen here if hatred and lies are left unchecked.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Nov 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098391638

Book preview

Preface

When I retired my goals were to learn how to play the piano and build an extensive model train layout. I tried the piano with limited success, but I haven’t given up. I’ve yet to start on my model train layout, but I still have great plans. During a month-long hospital stay in 2017 followed by several months of recuperation, I voraciously read many mystery, action, and science fiction novels; watched too much cable news; and streamed all the Star Trek series and movies that I could find. The reading and Star Trek offset the angst caused by cable news. All of that caused me to begin writing this story, as much out of frustration with the news than anything else. I never expected it to be a complete novel as I started writing without a particular plan in mind. I found that I enjoyed the writing, so I educated myself about writing through reading guides prepared by renowned authors like Stephen King and taking master classes on writing offered by The New York Times from authors such as David Baldacci, Dan Brown, and Walter Mosely. All that has led to the mixture of a dystopian, science fiction, and political commentary novel about hate and lies that you’re about to read and, hopefully, enjoy.

Prologue

Home Planet 200 years ago

The conflict had lasted for decades, always relentless, always brutal.

Polanic warriors waited in ambush in the dim light of a thick copse of trees along both sides of the dirt road. The unsuspecting Caratanins, men, women and children, walked down the road depending on their few scouts to warn them of danger. Once the clan advanced deep into the copse, the Polanic attacked. The carnage was gruesome. The warriors were as barbaric to the women and children as they were toward the men.

The Polanic warriors treated all the Caratanin people as rival warriors even though this was a group of innocent civilians, mostly women, children and old men, trying to escape the interminable fighting. Generation after generation of Polanic and Caratanin had fought. The violence was brutal and unrelenting. The hatred between the groups was so strong that it was unmeasurable, but no one could remember why it started.

Violence was a way of life, and death, on the Home Planet. At any time, there might be scores or even hundreds of violent conflicts in progress. Some conflicts, like the one between the Polanic and Caratanin, were endless. Others were shorter in duration, usually until one group succeeded in destroying and conquering its rival. Then, the surviving group might be attacked and destroyed by an even stronger group.

The cycle was never ending and spiraling out of control. Hate was consuming the planet. The destruction of all life was a real possibility.

Chapter 1

Present Day

At nearly 2300 hours, most of the systems on Freedom One were going into sleep mode, and most of the crew members were preparing to do the same. In Cabin 14-22, Ben Kenova stepped out of the shower and began toweling his hair. His wife Lara was already in bed, her long pink nightgown a little tight around her growing belly. Their cabin, like all the cabins for young couples, was snug but well equipped, with two moderately sized rooms consisting of a small seating area and some basic kitchen appliances on one wall along with a second room that served as their bedroom. The cabin walls were a metal alloy specially fabricated for Freedom One: lightweight but sound and fire resistant.

Ben looked at his wife. You’re starting to show, he said. I think we’re going to have to tell the rest of the crew soon.

I know. Lara patted her midsection. But I feel great. You know Dotson might get overly cautious and put me on restricted duty.

I understand he can be like that, Ben said. But all you have to do is bat your eyes at him and he’ll let you stay in the active engineering pod until you’re nine months pregnant.

Very funny. Lara smirked and threw a pillow at her husband. You can be such a sexist sometimes. Then, she smiled. That can work. I’ll tell him tomorrow and bat my eyes to get him to let me stay on regular duty.

Maybe then you can ask him about the pattern of system failures that you noticed?

Actually, I saw him today and told him. I forgot to tell you.

What did he have to say about it?

He suspects that it’s just the natural deterioration of systems that have been in constant operation since we started this mission more than 20 years ago. But he was going to review it with Frank Parker. By the way, did you talk to Frank yet about the attempts to access the sealed system logs?

Ben frowned. As a computer security analyst on Freedom One, he was particularly concerned about his recent discovery of unauthorized attempts to access privileged information.

I couldn’t find Frank today, but I spoke to Samuel Goldschmidt. I figured, when there seems to be a security break, go to the head of security. He told me he’d pass the word along. I’ll follow up tomorrow.

Ben, in pajamas now, bent over the dashboard on the bedroom wall. He was conducting the nighttime ritual that Lara often called his descent into old age even though he was not yet thirty. She needled him about it on a regular basis. Did you find the time in your anal-compulsive routine to look at the red indicator light for the environmental warning system?

Very funny, Lara. I did and it looks like the power supply is burned out. I should be able to fix it in the morning. All I need is a new power supply from the maintenance locker.

I don’t like it, Ben. Lara toyed with the sleeve of her gown. I know it’s different than the problems with life support systems that I discussed with Thomas, but it still bothers me.

I don’t like it either, Lara, but there’s nothing I can do about it tonight. Now shove over and let me in. Your big belly is taking up the entire bed.

They both laughed and hugged tightly, excited about their coming addition. Soon after, Ben fell asleep. Lara lay beside him, one hand on the dome of her abdomen and the other on her forehead. Her head had been aching all afternoon since she wasn’t able to talk with Thomas Dotson. Plus she hadn’t liked that Ben approached the head of security. And she certainly didn’t want to seem like a nervous woman. It was hard enough, being one of the few female engineers on Freedom One. Now that she was pregnant, she would have to work doubly hard to fit in with her no-nonsense peers. But the systems failures were increasing. Of course, there were plenty of redundancies to prevent actual danger to the crew, but if this were deliberate sabotage, all the redundancies in the world would be useless.

Lara closed her eyes and sighed, anticipating another sleepless night. But within a minute she was so deeply unconscious; she was not aware of Ben’s labored breathing and agitated movements beside her. Perhaps because of the extra strain on Lara’s lungs from the pregnancy, she was gone first. Ben managed to roll out of bed onto the floor and begin crawling toward the communications panel. But he collapsed before he could get to the emergency call button. Help would not be coming.

Chapter 2

Sandy Sandstone couldn’t sleep. The green light that showed his cabin’s environmental warning system was working and it did not typically bother him. Tonight, it seemed unusually bright. It was probably just his heightened nerves, he thought. He got a drink of water and noticed his rumbled blond hair and slightly bloodshot eyes in the mirror. The cumulative effects of lack of sleep.

His wife Helen had long since retired and was undoubtedly fast asleep. He had not shared his fears with her, but he was concerned that something, someone, or some group of individuals was threatening the success of his mission. Too many things were happening. Systems were failing. People were getting lax in their work and injuries were rising. Fights were breaking out among crew members.

Sandy sighed and punched his pillow into a better shape. Maybe none of this was unusual for a mission on an untested spaceship that had already last more than two decades.

There was no apparent pattern of problems, but he was worried that the cancerous hatred that permeated the Home Planet, the hatred that had led to their dangerous escape decades earlier, was emerging on Freedom One. Their escape from the Home Planet had been well planned and executed by Sandy’s father, but ensuring that a crew of a thousand passengers remained free of hate was anything but easy. The chaotic nature of their final days on the Home Planet and their escape 21 years before could easily have retained or engendered some of the hatred they had sought to leave behind.

Sandy had learned from his father that the seeds of hate could simmer for a long time. And that new strains of hate could easily emerge in a society if it were not properly led with a balanced hand. Sandy’s father had done just that for all the years that he led the mission. Sandy hoped that he had been doing the same since he had taken over from Herbert Sandstone Sr. But as he lay in the dark cabin next to his sleeping wife, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the mission was in jeopardy.

The mission was everything. Sandy would stop at nothing to see it fulfilled, to see the passengers and crew of Freedom One delivered to a new home. But how far would he have to go? Where might his own fear of failure lead him? The ultimate irony would be that the hatred this mission was meant to escape would ultimately rule him.

As Sandy lay there, struggling to control his worry, his intercom buzzed. The message he received seemed to justify his fears.

Commander Sandstone, you’d better come quickly. We have a situation.

Chapter 3

Robert Sandstone awoke with a start. The recurring dream, a nightmare, really, always led to a rude awakening. It was a dream of screaming and fighting, violent and often ending in the death of people he loved. But he could never see who was fighting or who died. The dream had gotten sharper over the years, but he still could not see the details.

It was not the dream that woke him, Robert realized, but the increasingly loud banging at the door of his cabin, harsh against the low hum of the nucleominerology engines that propelled Freedom One through space. Robert pulled on his robe and opened the door to find his father Sandy waiting on the other side.

Sandy Sandstone was a big man. Standing 6’3" with broad shoulders and narrow hips, his rugged good looks made him look like a stereotypical leader. Robert, slight and unprepossessing, was almost his polar opposite.

Dad, it’s the middle of the night. What are you doing here? Robert said, shaking the sleep out of his head.

I need your help, Robert. There’s been an accident. Sandy hesitated as he walked into Robert’s quarters, and then softly said, Ben and Laura Kenova are dead.

Oh my God. What happened?

There was a failure of the life support system in their cabin. It appears that they died in their sleep.

Didn’t the environmental warning system engage? Robert pointed to the steady green light on the wall opposite his bunk.

It was inoperative in their cabin. Maybe disabled.

Dad, I’ve been telling you …

Sandy raised his voice. Not now, Robert. I don’t need to hear your conspiracy theories.

They stood face-to-face, as much as they could, given Sandy’s larger stature. Robert thought again about how he always had to look up to his father. Would he ever live up to Sandy’s accomplishments and expectations? For months, Robert had been regularly approaching Sandy with concerns that members of the Freedom One crew were working to undermine their mission. And just as regularly, Sandy had dismissed him.

After what seemed like minutes, but was just a few seconds, Sandy continued. Robert, I’m starting to think that there may be something to your theories. I need your help.

What do you mean? Robert was stunned.

I’m worried about the mission. I need you to quietly investigate what may have happened to the Kenovas. But I need you to do it without anyone knowing that I have asked you. You will investigate on your own. You will report to me privately. But you will also approach the full senior team publicly with your concerns and I am going to treat this as if it is another one of your unfounded conspiracy theories. I cannot let this divert focus from the mission. But I also can’t ignore it because it could be disastrous if a group is trying to subvert the mission.

Robert struggled to control his anger. Of course, the mission always comes first. But now that people are dead, you’re taking the possibility of conspiracy seriously. More people might die the next time this happens. And there will be a next time.

Robert, I don’t need one of your lectures. I need your help.

Robert struggled between his usual anger at his father and the unaccustomed feeling of being flattered by him. I’m sorry, Dad. Of course, I’ll do whatever you ask. But I can’t investigate this alone.

At this point, I don’t trust anyone other than you. I’m worried that the hate that was destroying the Home Planet may be alive on Freedom One.

Can I work with Uncle Frank and Uncle Thomas? Frank Parker and Thomas Dotson were married to Sandy Sandstone’s sisters. Frank was second-in-command and Thomas was the chief engineer. Along with Sandy, they were the current leadership team for the mission.

No, Robert. As I said, at this point I do not think that I can trust anyone. That includes Frank and Thomas.

What? Robert was startled but didn’t react.

But I still need help. Can I ask David, Yuri and Sasha to work with me?

Sandy smiled for the first time. Ah, the accomplices in your conspiracy theories. He was silent for a moment.

Okay. You can ask them for help. But no mention that I asked you to investigate. I’m going to be treating this as another one of your crazy obsessions. We must keep this between you and me.

Dad, that’s going to be difficult. My friends are smart. They’re going to see through this.

I don’t think so, Robert. You and your friends have been coming up with conspiracies and plots for months. This will just be another one. No one will suspect if we both behave like we usually do. I’m going to privately support you but publicly treat it as another unfounded theory.

Robert slowly nodded agreement. Okay. I’ll get started on it this morning.

One more thing, Robert, Sandy added. Not a word about this to your mother or grandfather.

But Grandfather would be helpful.

You can try and talk with him about your suspicions, but no mention that I asked you to look into it.

You know he hates my suspicions more than you do. He won’t talk to me about this unless he knows you asked me.

You’re a clever boy. You’ll figure out a way around it. Sandy turned to leave but stopped at the door and turned back to Robert. Did you know that Lara Kenova was four months pregnant?

Oh my God. A baby. Robert said almost inaudibly. I will not wait until the morning. I’ll get started now.

Chapter 4

Robert wasted no time summoning his friends to his quarters.

David Brown was the first to arrive. He was Robert’s lifelong friend. Born on the spaceship just a few days apart 22 years before, David and Robert had done virtually everything together ever since. Tall, blue-eyed, and athletic, David looked enough like Robert’s father that people who did not know the pair well often thought it was David who was Commander Sandstone’s son.

David frowned when Robert opened the door to let him in. What’s so important that I had to come here in the middle of the night?

Robert got right to the point. There’s been another problem with a life support system. It looks like sabotage. This time someone died.

Where? Who died?

An oxygen supply unit on the starboard side of Deck Fourteen failed. Ben and Lara Kenova were found dead in their cabin.

Damn, David said. Why didn’t the environmental warning system alert them?

Inoperable. Unclear if it also failed or if it was manually disabled.

David was always skeptical about Robert’s conspiracy theories. And I suppose you think it was deliberate and that they will assume it’s just another natural occurrence.

Of course, Robert said. No one but us sees the pattern. This makes more than a dozen life support system failures over the last six months.

David looked at Robert quizzically. Wait. How did you know all this already?

Robert had not yet figured out how to answer that question without mentioning his father. He was saved from the awkward situation by another knock. Yuri Lewinski burst into the room. Of Robert’s three friends, Yuri was perhaps his closest. They thought alike. They talked alike. They moved alike. They even looked alike. He was the only one of Robert’s friends who believed in every one of Robert’s theories. As a member of the spacecraft’s engineering and maintenance crew he was not convinced that all the system malfunctions were the result of normal wear and tear. He possessed a brilliant mind that enabled him to understand and maintain all the intricate systems of the spacecraft.

Yuri spoke rapidly, even frantically. I know why you called us. I was on duty tonight. Part of the repair crew. It was awful. Everyone was upset because of the Kenovas, but their bodies were already removed when I got there. Frank Parker and Thomas Dotson arrived before me, and they had seen to that.

David asked, You mean the bodies were removed before an investigation was conducted?

Dotson said the investigation was completed. We were told to repair the oxygen supply system, which we did.

What about the environmental warning system? Did it fail or was it manually disabled? asked Robert.

I don’t know. Another crew repaired that.

Robert was clearly frustrated by that. Damn. It would be good to know more about that. What can you tell us about the nature of the failure of the oxygen supply system?

Before Yuri could answer, there was another knock, and Sasha Moreno, tall, slim, and raven-haired, joined them. As usual, Yuri reverted to adolescence at Sasha’s entrance and completely forgot what they were talking about.

Hi, Sasha, he said, grinning hugely. Sasha, who didn’t yet know about the Kenovas, but did know about Yuri and his wasted heart, smiled kindly. How are you, Yuri?

Yuri’s grin threatened to travel around his head and meet in the back. Great.

Enough pleasantries, said a clearly impatient Robert, who had his own opinions about Yuri and Sasha. We have serious business to discuss. He recounted everything they knew. Sasha’s big green eyes filled when she learned about the Kenovas.

What about their families? she asked.

Neither has any relatives on board. But Lara was four months pregnant.

My God. This is more awful than I ever thought possible, Sasha said, wiping her eyes. What are we going to do?

Robert didn’t hesitate. We’re going to figure out what’s happening on this spaceship.

That was a daunting task. Freedom One, originally under the command of Robert’s grandfather, Herbert Sandstone Sr., was the size of an enormous modern office building or a small city. It was carrying more than a thousand passengers on its 55 decks. The vast spacecraft—575 meters long, 120 meters wide and 275 meters tall—contained spacious living quarters with gyms, a hospital, day care facilities, school rooms, dining rooms, bars, and an entertainment complex to support their decades-long mission and forestall the existential boredom that had plagued early space travelers, and hydroponic gardens, a nuclear power reactor in a huge engine room that dominated the ship, and a sophisticated oxygen recirculation system to keep them alive.

The recent failures had occurred throughout the spacecraft. There was no pattern to the locations, but there was a pattern to the failures. In each case, an oxygen supplier or exhaust system stopped working. The maintenance crew always found and replaced the failed component, but it was never the same component.

Because of the randomness of the failures, the assumption was that they were due to normal deterioration. Robert thought differently and often raised his concerns with his friends and his father. Yuri always agreed. David and Sasha were skeptics, and Sandy was dismissive. Until now, the arguments around Robert’s suspicions had been theoretical. The Kenovas’ death changed that.

Chapter 5

For a few minutes all four were silent, digesting the deaths of the young couple and, at least for David and Sasha, beginning to wonder if there was something to Robert’s suspicions.

Robert sat on the edge of his fitted bunk and motioned for the others to take a seat. Sasha sank into an armchair, and David perched on the edge of the other chair. Yuri, unable to sit still, paced nervously around the room.

Slow down, man, Robert said. Can you tell us anything else about the system failure?

The motor for the infusion fan failed, and that shut down the entire system, said Yuri. When I replaced the motor, I noticed some weird marks around the fan housing. That’s when I remembered the oxygen supply system failure last month on Deck 22. The fan failed there, too. I did not do that repair, but I was curious. So, I went to Deck 22 before I came here, and I found the same marks. Maybe the marks are from the repairs, but I don’t see how.

How can you be sure? David asked. You and Robert always think every failure is deliberate. Two marks is hardly evidence of anything.

Oh, come on. I’m not a car mechanic. Repairing these fans is a delicate procedure. You don’t exactly use a hammer.

David rolled his eyes. Right, you’re practically a neurosurgeon with those fans.

Yuri ignored David. Unfortunately, we can’t be certain. I mentioned it to my supervisor, and she totally dismissed my concerns. She could be right, but I’m not convinced. But short of checking every recent failure and every unit that hasn’t failed, I’m not sure we can prove anything.

Well, we’ve got to make sense of it somehow, Robert said. What about the failure of the environmental warning system in the Kenova’s cabin?

I couldn’t find out anything, but I think that’s the first failure of an EWS, said Yuri. The security team won’t let me or anyone else in there, apparently under Dotson’s orders. He insisted that he and Parker had examined the unit and found nothing unusual.

"But that is unusual, Sasha said. I don’t understand why both Parker and Dotson went to investigate this. Maybe now that someone has died, Commander Sandstone is finally taking these failures seriously."

Robert wanted to defend his father but stopped himself, remembering their secret agreement. He realized he needed to misdirect his friends. I think we have to consider that my father is working with Frank and Thomas to cover this up.

Sasha was shocked. How could you say that about your father, Robert? And your uncles?

Look, you know I’m convinced there’s something really sketchy happening on board, said Robert. I know that Yuri agrees with me, and I know that you two are skeptical.

Skeptical puts it mildly, David said.

Ignoring David, Robert continued. I have no idea who may be involved. That includes, Frank, Thomas, and my father. There are a lot of questions to answer. Why were both Frank and Thomas investigating this incident? Why were they first on the scene in the middle of the night? Why didn’t they let Yuri and the rest of the crew into the Kenova’s quarters? Did my father send Frank and Thomas there to cover up what happened? What really did happen to the oxygen supply and the EWS? Is there a relationship between what happened last night and all the other system failures? And most importantly, is someone or some group trying to undermine our mission to find a new home?

Yuri reacted first. That is a lot, Robert, but I suppose it summarizes what you and I have been thinking. How do you suggest we proceed?

Before I answer that, Robert said, I need to know if David and Sasha are on board.

I remain somewhat skeptical, said Sasha. But those are serious questions that should be answered. I’m definitely on board to try and solve this mystery.

Great. What about you, David?

I love a good mystery, David said. I’m on board too. But I retain the right to make sarcastic comments at inappropriate times.

Sasha and Yuri laughed, then Robert grudgingly joined in. I guess your sick sense of humor is a small price to pay for the use of your enormous brain, he said, and grinned.

Robert, I’m curious about one thing, Sasha said, more seriously. We’ve all been hearing you yammer on about your suspicions for months. But what made you suspicious in the first place?

As you know, I’ve always spent a lot of time with my grandfather. A lot more time than I ever spent with my father, Robert said. "I followed him around the ship like a puppy dog when he was still the commander of Freedom One.