Old Man's Time

This short story (3200 words) is about an old man finding his place in a futuristic world; a world of space travel and space colonization. Earth is suffocating and new worlds are needed. An expedition with the aim of colonizing a new planet is sent out.

Beginning of the story:

The old man put his tools away, closed the console, gritted his teeth and in one not so fluent motion got up from squatting position. An old man he was alright, it had been many years since he had last seen a young man’s face when he looked in the mirror or saw himself in a shiny panel when walking past. Now, a pale face with deeply furrowed wrinkles and several days’ worth of white stubble greeted him on its hollow cheeks.
An old man alright. An old man and his dog. Where had that infernal beast run off to now? He cleared his throat and surprised himself with the rasp in his voice: “Dog, come here, time to move on.”
The lack of a name for his dog was not a lack of affection. The vigorous head scratch and muttered “good dog”, once the Border collie came bounding around the corner of the corridor, showed that. There had just been too many. The old man would tell himself that it was just more convenient this way. However, he knew that it was a mere deception on his part. He wouldn’t admit this to himself but somehow his brain had argued that this way, he would be less attached to the animal. A foolish idea, considering that it was just he and his dog roaming the corridors of this spaceship.