Atonement

The offer was simple.

As long as the crew agreed to atone for each of their individual sins, the aliens would grant them entry into the new world.

Not that big of a choice, as they’d surely have trouble turning back and heading home.

Plus, who knew what home would look like, after such a long time.

The captain had made tremendous sacrifices to get them to this point.

This would not be an obstacle.

The first volunteer stepped forward.

Just like the next person, she had sins.

The aliens remotely probed her mind to find what those sins were, bringing back the memories of the past: work, love, school, friends. Everything that she regretted.

She realised all that she had done and the machines punished her.

Electric beams punctured her body.

The pain was instant, but she would not forget it.

She was cleansed.

The sound faded and she knew she could keep on walking.

She stood on the other side of the room and turned, waiting for the others.

The second volunteer walked forward.

Again, memories of the past flooded his mind, and he now knew why he’d be punished.

He repented and he embraced the pain of the beams that invaded his body.

Once again, it was instant. Once again, he would not forget it.

He walked forward, and the aliens knew he was a changed man who would forever forget his ways of the past.

One by one, the members of the crew walked forward and endured the memories and the penance.

One by one, they kept on walking towards a new life, a new beginning.

The captain, abiding by the rules of old, was the last to abandon ship.

He walked towards the center of the room and waited.

The crew looked at him. As soon as he was done, they’d begin their new lives.

It was the captain whom they revered the most, and the captain whom had made the most sacrifices to get them here. Some known, some unknown.

The captain looked in their direction.

They watched as a tear fell from his eyes.

They wondered what memories he’d be feeling.

In silence, they each questioned how much about their captain they really knew.

How much was still a mystery to them.

They watched that single tear roll down his face.

The probing machine, however, had not begun its work yet.

The captain needed no reminder of the things that he had done, and he could guess the proportion of his incoming punishment.

But at least he had gotten them safely to this point.

The crew kept watching as the buzzsaws approached his limbs.