By Mike Muzzy · © 2026 Mike Muzzy. All rights reserved.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

THE SELECTION BOARD

Earth, winter 1980–1981

The last selection meeting began with an argument about two people who had already passed their medical examinations.

The colonel representing the military training staff laid two folders beside each other.

“Daniel Justice and Serena Thunder. A couple.”

“That's not a diagnosis,” said Dr. Miriam Weiss, the senior psychologist.

“It becomes a problem when one of them is injured and the other refuses an order.”

“Have either of them refused an order?”

“No.”

“Then we are discussing something you imagine they might do.”

The colonel opened Daniel Justice's assessment. Daniel had built his life around the law, the military chain of command and the belief that rules mattered most when circumstances became difficult. UNEPA wanted him to help establish a legal framework for a growing settlement that could not remain an engineering camp forever. Serena's file was quite different: she had worked in the legal profession, knew how to handle records, people and administrative demands, and had an independent career in music. She understood Daniel's devotion to duty without sharing his rigid manner. Both had passed the first round of training evaluations.

“They want to go together,” the colonel said.

“Yes,” Weiss replied. “They also want to go separately, in the sense that each has a job to do. We've interviewed them independently.”

“And if one withdraws?”

“Then we reassess the other, as we would any candidate whose circumstances change.”

A second officer pushed forward two more files.

“Nightglass and Keller. Same issue.”

Tobias Nightglass and Anja Keller were both architects, but their strengths were different. Tobias had a gift for imagining how people would move through a building and inhabit its spaces. Anja was exceptionally strong in structures, construction methods and technical precision; she would not accept a beautiful design that could not be built. They had already worked together on award-winning projects, including a competition entry commended by an international jury for combining practical construction with humane shared space. Their separate academic and professional records were strong enough to stand alone. Their work together was evidence of something additional: they knew how to challenge one another and arrive at a better design.

“Are we selecting individuals or households?” the officer asked.

“Individuals,” Weiss said. “That is precisely why we must stop treating a relationship as proof of incompetence.”

Around the table sat medical officers, technical assessors, representatives of participating governments and the UNEPA personnel staff. The committee had spent months eliminating applicants. Some had excellent qualifications but could not tolerate confinement. Others were willing to go anywhere but had no useful skill to bring with them.

The final candidates were not interchangeable. The colony needed people who could repair, navigate, operate, organise, treat and improvise. It also needed people who would keep working after a disagreement at breakfast.

The colonel returned to his objection.

“An expedition cannot allow personal loyalties to outrank the mission.”

“Personal loyalties will be aboard whether you approve them or not,” Weiss said. “Parents, children, husbands, wives, people left behind. You cannot screen out attachment. These volunteers may be away for years. Some may never return to Earth. Breaking a stable relationship before departure is not a method of improving stability.”

“So you recommend we accept couples?”

“I recommend we assess the people. If both are qualified, a reliable partner may be an advantage. If one is unqualified, being in love will not get them a seat.”

The chair asked whether the psychological team could put that position into a formal recommendation.

“We already have,” Weiss said, and passed him the report.

It called for separate professional assessments, clear reporting lines and specific discussion of how partners would behave in an emergency. No candidate would be permitted to supervise a partner's medical clearance or waive a safety requirement. The report also warned against turning every private relationship into a disciplinary matter.

The board spent the rest of the morning examining actual work records rather than hypothetical disasters.

A message from Shaw arrived during the afternoon session. It contained no philosophy. She had listed the work awaiting the arrivals: medical coverage, maintenance, logistics, navigation, communications, water treatment and the hundreds of tasks that belonged to no single department.

At the bottom she had added a note.

SEND PEOPLE WHO WILL ASK FOR HELP BEFORE THEY BREAK SOMETHING IMPORTANT.

The chair read it aloud.

The colonel gave a reluctant smile.

“That, at least, I agree with.”

The final approvals were conditional on completing the three-month joint training programme. Nobody was promised a place merely because a name appeared on the working list.

Thirteen candidates received reporting instructions.

The next time they met, it would not be around a committee table.