Outpost
Chapter 1: "I assume you worship
Good?" "Actually, we worship
well. We hope to do better."
Chapter
2: "When I come back, I want YOU to be normal or at least female!"
Chapter
4: "I admit I have no point beyond comic relief. Now let’s go get
ripped!"
Chapter
5: “We’re on our way, from misery to happiness to be…”
Chapter
6: "The ultraviolet flow of pimpin' ain't easy these days but somebody's
gotta do it"
Chapter
7: If I have to work for an idiot, I might as well work for myself.
Chapter
9: “Ok, so plan B failed... Let's try plan A again!"
Chapter
10: “Do you know of any undiscovered ruins?”
“In the
beginning." These words have been said countless billions of times since
man first learned to comprehend and marvel at the stars. To think that man was
first in the universe seems ludicrous given the amount of time that has past
and the shear number of stars in the sky. The planets closest to the center of
the galaxy after the ‘Big Bang’ would have had more time to develop, as the
forces of gravity and movement would have been more prevalent there. Earth/Man
sitting on the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy would have developed much later.
In the uncounted billions of years
since the first occurrence of chaos, alien civilizations would have risen, had
their golden age and then finally would have sunk down into ruins leaving
behind the treasures and debris of their civilizations. Into this area comes
brash man and his arrogant civilization, curious as ever, seeking power and
wealth to scavenge from the dead civilizations left behind.
Competing
with him were other civilizations much like his, new, vigorous and hungry or
old and dying. You are part of this bold movement. New to space flight with
only a few fledgling colonies on a few nearby planets it is a race to discover
new inventions, rich planets and lost races.
A time of adventure and rich reward
it is also a time of sudden death from unimaginable sources. The Universe is an
unforgiving place and cares not if you live or die. Survive and grow or sink
into oblivion.
Ronilion Boquit had finished the
inspection of his new scout craft called ‘Liberator’ when his co-pilot and
explorer Sir Eon Gunray arrived at the dock carrying his few belongings in his
tote sack. Both men were six foot but Ronilion was 40 pounds heavier than his
slimmer companion. Eon had hazel eyes and black hair cut short while Ronilion
had long brown hair and green eyes. One still might have taken one for an older
brother of the other since they shared many facial similarities. Both were,
after all, Americans and while Ronilion had been trained as a deep space scout
Eon was a planetary explorer. Many felt it would be a good team and have more
chance of success than the normal first run teams.
Eon tossed his partner a letter and
said nothing. He was the quieter of the two and he went to stow his gear.
Ronilion opened the plain envelope and was surprised as he read what it
contained.
OUTPOST Command
Bureau of Colonial Affairs
BU-Col
Due to your expertise and training the ships Horizon and Liberator have received a sponsor to help defray the cost of your initial voyage. You may decline this offer if you wish. Since you are both recently commissioned craft let it be known that your acceptance will make the terms and conditions of this document a binding contract between your unit and your sponsor.
Mission: Your
task will be to proceed to the site of an ancient nova. The conditions of this
Nova some two thousand plus years ago is of key interest to the sponsor. You
are to map the area that includes the planetary system and perform scientific
studies to determine the following things:
a.)
Why
did the sun go Nova and then have such a short life span?
b.)
Does
anything remain of interest in the area?
c.)
Was
the event a natural event or did something happen that set it off?
d.)
Since
it is impossible at this point to predict what questions to ask all information
should be compiled.
Sponsor: Several major Christian religions are
commissioning this trip on a pro-ratable basis. The destination, coordinates
and all known information are now loaded in the databanks of both vessels.
Compensation: The sponsor will pay Fuel and reasonable
expenses for the duration of the voyage. Losses suffered by the Unit will be
paid on a pro-ratable basis. Useful knowledge will become the joint property of
the Church groups and the crews of both ships on a Pro-ratable Basis and will
be distributed to all parties involved. An independent marketing agent hired by
the Church groups that are involved in this endeavor will control any patents,
fees and marketing. In all ways this will function like a corporation. Roughly
the split will be 25% to the crews to divide as they wish and 75% to the Church
units.
Note: A Church Researcher has been appointed as Liaison to
the group and will accompany the group on the Science Craft. Pastor Keith
Ludington will provide guidance to the unit as well as aid in research
Material. If this contract is acceptable both ships Captains will sign on this
document in the affirmative and may share details, as they will with other
members of the crew. If they decline on this document then they may pick their
own location to go to and another sponsor will be procured. No other job offers
will be forthcoming. Good day and Good Luck.
Ronilion looked at his partner. “You got us a sponsor? How in the Seven Hells of Curyic did you manage that? It’s supposed to be darn near impossible for a first run ship to get a sponsor.”
Eon showed little emotion being more placid and thoughtful. “I am an explorer, and while planet side I am in charge.” He shrugged, “What makes this concrete sinkhole of a planet any different than any other? I’ve been trained to deal with races or empty planets and this is nothing spectacular. I went looking for a sponsor, of course and then had them contact Bu-Col to hire us specifically. I can’t take all the credit though for the idea. I got some of the initial suggestions from a guy I know on a Science ship. I had to promise to include him on this deal even though he is a bit of a loose cannon. The partner working with him is a bit of a nut case as well. I think they can pull their own weight though or I wouldn’t have taken this deal.”
Ronilion looked at his partner warily, “He better tow the line.” He looked at the document more closely. “Horizon? Isn’t that the new science vessel they just commissioned? Wait a minute now, that’s Krass’s and Drassell’s ship. Not a bad choice actually but Krass is pretty shady and Drassell is not a free thinker and more of drone. He couldn’t discover a new idea if it was as tall as a house and waving a red flag in his face. Sure he might be a good little robot but in new situations he could be a big blind spot. Couldn’t you have found a better science ship?”
“It was the only one in port and has the added benefit that it will be ready at the same time we are. The rest are either being worked or gone. I know how you hate burning up money in port fee’s each day so I had to take what I could get.” Eon looked pointedly at his partner, “We have better long range sensors but for close in detail work you need the sensors of a science vessel. They may not have the armament, firepower or speed of our ship but they have more cargo room, better analysis instruments, and they see in a wider spectrum them we do. Let’s face it; we can’t do it by ourselves. They need our initial long range sensors to see where to go, they need the speed, protection of a scout ship and they need an explorer on the ground to guard them.”
Ronilion looked up at the sleek arrow like ship resting on its jacks. The engines seemed oversized and the interior would be cramped but he wasn’t out for comfort. He and his partner had opted for survivability. He had heard the results of those who tried to get by on the cheap with the ‘suicide ships.’ The ship had cost them almost everything they had just to buy it and provision. Many new teams started with much less and the success rate was a gamble. Usually only 1 in 100 ships had any kind of success rate. Most just did not return. A sponsor would allow them extra money that could be useful. The addition of an extra ship meant more abilities and greater safety. One could be used as parts for another. Yeah, Devin Krass was one slippery, greedy, SOB but he knew the biz and his ship like the Liberator was much better than the normal so called ‘science’ vessels most starting crews could afford.
The Horizon could hold a crew of six scientists and was only going to be carrying two. Sure it wasn’t fast, heavily armed or armored but it was more economical to run and its analytic equipment was first rate. He had seen some of it going on board. The Horizon could carry a lot more planet side equipment than he could and that meant more chances to find something. His partner was right. The Horizon seemed like the best and only choice if Krass and Drassell could be handled.
Ronilion though had another notion. There were many ports on this world. There were quite a few just in America. Knowing his partner, he suspected that Eon had only checked just this port. It might not hurt to see if they could escort another ship. Krass and Drassell were good at archeology and alien artifacts but the medical skills seemed to be lacking. He had heard rumors of a Medical Science ship that might fit the bill. He climbed the gantry to use the radio.
Devin Krass had just received the same letter from Bu-Col and was attempting to explain it to his partner Greg Drassell. Like the team of the ‘Liberator’ these two Americans also were suspiciously close in looks and like the other team were wildly differing in personality and attitude. Krass was the older by 7 years but both were 6’ 1”. Drassell was only slightly heavier at 205 while Krass was 197 pounds. Krass had short Black hair and Drassell had short dishwater blonde hair. Krass had green eyes and his partner had blue ones.
Krass was a go-getter and was very good at improvisation but not a long-range thinker. Krass was an opportunist as Ronilion had noted previously and his ability to scavenge and dig out information was legendary. It was he who had approached Eon about the sponsor and it was he who had done the initial research on the subject. Now the problem was to explain it to his most unimaginative partner. Krass had vowed to flush the ‘useless glitch’ out the airlock the first chance he got if he didn’t pull his weight on this voyage. Terrible accidents happen all the time in space he reflected smiling.
“What are you smiling about?” asked Drassell noticing uneasily the smile on Krass’s face. He was wary having heard stories about the ruthless nature of this guy from several sources. However they both had to pool their money to buy this ship rather than the ones referred to by most as ‘suicide ships’ and he would just have to live with the deal. Krass though was not to be trusted and it was obvious he trusted no one. Heck the guy even slept in his flight suit. Maybe the restraining belts on the suit could be released and the guy could float into an airlock at the destination? He wondered if he could fit a commode chain and handle to the airlock controls. Garbage like Krass should be flushed!
“I’m smiling because this is a plum we hadn’t counted upon my most unimaginative friend. We take much less risk with an escort and the explorer the Liberator carries will spring any unknown dangers before we even have to get close. Think of the extra money we now have. The only thing is we have to take along the Church watchdog and he will have to live with us. I swear I am going to charge for every bit of air, food and water he uses. Heck I even plan to compute his weight and whatever he carries and charge them for the cost of the fuel to accelerate him here and back.” Krass stated without a break.
“Well I don’t like it.” Gregg stated bluntly. “Scientists and religious fanatics don’t mix. What is this guy a Luddite?”
“C’mon, don’t be a ass.” Krass stated disgustedly. “I pointed out to them that thing in the Bible about a star lighting the way of the wise men to the birth of Jesus. I did the extrapolating backward to locate the star’s position today and located a red dwarf in that area. Sure they got interested and excited. The Church has a lot of money. They always did. Now they want to go see what happened. We get a free trip and maybe a chance to discover a lot of stuff of interest and they can ask all the theological questions they want as long as they pay. If this ends up like most religious facts the real answers will just confuse the hell out of them anyway and they will be arguing until the universe ends. Their money is just as good as anyone else’s because they blackmail it out of gullible people by scaring them to death anyway. You know their usual statement to people, “God wants your money! No wonder they call them ‘sheep’. Sheep should be sheared.”
“You really shouldn’t talk that way. He might be a nice guy and religion is important. You are a soulless individual with the morals of an alley cat Krass. A little religion might do you some good!” Drassell responded quietly, “OK we accept the deal. It’s as good a place to go as any. I’ll go make sure the cabin is ready for our guest.”
Krass smiled, At least Drassell could cook meals and keep the ship clean until he could find a woman to replace him. He turned away to go over to the ‘Liberator’ to inform Eon and Ronilion that they had agreed to the terms of the contract and to talk about setting a departure date.
On an alien planet many parsecs away from the Earth, ‘Jack’ is just being delivered a letter from his temple. We call him ‘Jack’ because his real name is more a telepathic thought of various impressions, feelings and emotions than any real name. You see Jack has no mouth and hence makes no real sounds, or at least he can’t hear them. Jack is somewhat green, and plant like and has flexible appendages that might be tendrils or tentacles. Jack has green eyes and has grown over 7 feet tall. That is not excessively large for his species or planet.
Jack’s planet has a problem. The sun is in the first stages of going Nova. The land has become arid and dry. Many have died. Jack is a priest in his temple and this devastation in the countryside saddens him. By the very nature of his race there is more to this sadness than humans feel. Gone is the sense of connection with the loss of so many others who took part in the communal mind. The cost of so many losses has left a large empty spot much like the loss of a tooth. So it is with pride that Jack reads his message, although read is not strictly the word you would use. He picks up mineral impressions, light, and watermarks in varying degrees, much like a code from his ‘document’.
The Temple of the Evolution of Differentiated Multi-threaded Digital Organisms
May the Sun enlighten your endeavors. You are aware of the plight of our people and the danger that looms over our whole race. Due to the diligence and perseverance of our astromical section, may they be praised, a possible replacement star system for our people has been discovered. The coordinates have been loaded into the machine that thinks like a person and it will willingly convey you to this area with three other team members. Due to your experience, wisdom and honor you have been selected to lead this group. The future of our race rests upon you and failure of our endeavors is unthinkable, as it will mean the end of our race.
The Father of the Temple has commanded that you
prepare your ship. All known information of this area has been loaded into the
machine that thinks and it will supply you with what it can. Move decisively,
swiftly and with confidence.
Mission Goal: To discover a suitable planet for
re-colonization. Sub Goals listed in order:
a.)
Failing that
a planet of resources and metals in which production facilities might be
developed.
b.)
Technology
advances that could aid the people and the planet.
c.)
A way to
control or stop the disaster about to engulf the planet.
d.)
Information
that will in any way aid the race.
Note: You may accept or deny this particular task.
If you accept your reasonable expenses will be compensated and you will be
rewarded on a pro-ratable basis. If you decline then you may select your own
target and destination at random with our blessing. An affirmation or denial on
this document is required. Any tasks or questions may be addressed to the
lesser ones in your command.
1.)
Thirst-quencher:
While a warrior of surpassing skill, he is flawed in that he is blunt and many
times obnoxious. However he has proven to have great fortitude and loyalty.
2.)
Nutritious is
a female and a scientist. She is very humble and while wise rarely volunteers
anything but fact. If she is not sure she will not speak. This can be
irritating when one seeks opinion. She will rarely volunteer anything but is a
good worker and very loyal.
3.)
Willfulness:
Is an explorer and a free thinker but a troublemaker as well. He rarely acts in
accordance with procedure and is many times rash and impatient. While loyal he
has the disturbing opinion that he is smarter than anyone else and is petulant
and uncooperative when he does not get his way.
Jack does not feel comfortable with this task or this mission. The ship is small and much too warlike to suit him. It carries the Heat ray and they have saw fit to assign a member of the warrior class to his ship. Why would he desire such a useless thing as that? He quickly sought out the priest immediately over him and soon was in the Atrium of Modar who was busily studying the supply situation of the planet. The details, Jack could tell were not good. Water was in short supply and many were dying. He almost felt ashamed at troubling the Priest but Modar was kindly and patient and put aside his work to study carefully the complaints of the Captain of the Heaven/Earth. After Jack had finished Modar spoke quietly.
“You dislike the ship because it is too warlike. You object to the Heat Ray it is armed with. This is a good thought and says much that you seek to live in cooperation with those around you. However, what you see as a weapon I see as a tool. The heat ray may be used for taking mining samples and core probes in mineral rich areas. If you change the frequency it may be a communication device carrying modulated signals at the speed of light. It can be used as a scanner reaching out to long distance and giving you precise data on objects. In space there are items in darkness and if you change the focus it can light these areas. A tool has been given to you and can have many purposes.”
“Your next statement is that one of the protector class has been added to your group. This while somewhat odious and distasteful is necessary. We have encountered dangers on other worlds. Predators do abound and we could not in good conscience send you out to face these unreasoning animals without some type of defense. Recall you are going into unsafe areas and someone must explore. Who better than one of the warrior class, a class used to dealing with criminals and dangers. While we deplore those of such lowly status on our world they have become necessary when we leave it. A defense for your crew people is sadly a requirement.”
“Your final comment is that you would prefer the weapons removed from your craft and that it be given other devices you deem more useful. Sadly we cannot grant your request. To state this bluntly, yours is an unproven crew and your leadership has been untested. Many of our people die each day as we expend the resources in an effort, we hope, to possibly save a bulk of our race that might survive and be left free from the shadow that looms before us. Many have died to give you the craft you have, and this craft allows you and your crew a reasonable chance for survival. The devices you request while reasonable in a larger craft are much too bulky and require too much in resources to give to untested individuals. I realize you are new to this so I make you aware of this. We have chosen you for a great honor. This is undiminished for you have come far. We have given you the best that your status has earned to this time. Accept your destiny and do your best.”
Jack depressed and somewhat ashamed turned to leave and Modar spoke yet again as he turned back to his work. “Consider this young one, if we are so smiled on by Destiny that you should discover a new world to carry a choice few of our people to, do you think that we elders and leaders will be among them? You are incorrect if you think that, for we are old and colonization is a job for the young and strong. We old ones have our roots and our memories here in this place. We would be the last to leave if any of us were to leave at all.”
“Being a Leader means that you do not drop the responsibility of those under you for your own safety. Many of your people have died and willingly sacrificed themselves for the chance for you to save others in this world and you will if successful be a leader of them. Many of our injured and sick have willingly chosen to die to give the youngest and strongest of us a chance to carry on our race. We risk all for the sake of the future of our very race. Complaints ill become and are a dishonor on those who have given so much to this great cause. Consider the honor, and the weight of this burden that lies so unknowingly upon your frame and mind as you depart. Go humbly knowing the weight and the hopes you carry and do no more to belittle the gift you have received by complaining that it is to small and ill suited to the task. It was all that many could give and they gave their very lives to give it to you. Will you not remember those who are nameless?”
The
squealing of the ships communicator awakened Dr James Patterson. Cursing
furiously he arose and with heavy tread, morning breath, and a bad attitude
went to answer the annoying device.
James was 41 years old and stood only 5’ 11’ tall. His weight at 250
pounds was well matched with his somewhat over muscled frame in his mind.
Despite what he might believe he was not a pretty sight, especially now. His
hair was prematurely gray and he had green eyes that at the moment were blood
shot from too much booze the night before. He suspected the call was from the
Port Police with whom he had been in a slight disagreement with the night
before and several dozen times before that. This time they were probably going
to kick his hoop off the launch pad or die trying.
He
had been waiting and hoping that something good would come his way and that
perhaps he could find another Doctor or even several comely nurses who would
want to go with him on a romantic journey to the stars. To date no one had been
stupid or naive enough to even offer. His reputation had preceded his interests
in the opposite sex for sure. No group of sex starved, stunningly beautiful
nurses with slavish devotion to him had presented themselves eagerly willing to
sign on for little cred. As for the Doctors, most had a lucrative business
right here and no taste to give up the pleasures of Earth for the dangers of
space, the whusses! Neither had any ships sent in calls for help to have a
Medical ship come out and help them at high cost. He had to admit that would be
a rare occurrence with no FTL communications. Only the largest and most
expensive ships could afford such devises. There was usually little that they
could not handle.
Growling
in disgust at his bad fortune he looked at the panel to see who it was calling
and was surprised to discover it was some ship called the Liberator. As far as
he knew no such ship existed in this port and he had never heard of any rich
luxury liner with that name. Confused he hit the receive button and was
immediately sorry that he had. In living color was some well-dressed and uniformed
popinjay who looked like every hero spacer you ever saw on the triode. It was
enough to make him puke. The momentary look of distaste on the others face
which was quickly hidden didn’t help either. The worst of it was that James
could see the ship that was calling was one of those small two man scout craft.
Only one step up from ‘Suicide Craft’ it was not the type of ship that either
inspired confidence or shouted its abilities to pay his fees! It looked like a
total flapping waste of TIME!
“OK,
can’t you see I just spent the last 24 hours in surgery? I have a lot of work
to do so make this quick because you look like a total waste of time to me and
I ought to charge you by the call.” James stated in a surly and antagonistic
voice.
Ronilion
grimaced in distaste. “What are you doing rebuilding yourself or did you just
climb out of the bottle? Get real! Everyone, which includes even us over in
Port 25 has heard about you. You’re competent enough but your trouble. You
think with your wang and you like the bottle too much. If you were the kind of
guy who had any bedside manner at all you would be making the big cred in your
own private practice or working at some health care facility taking care of fat
corporate porkers. So stop fanning the breeze. You’re running out of money
paying Port-docking costs and the fines your running up for being a bad boy. So
unless you lift soon they are going to take your ship and sell it leaving you
with nothing but your own stink. You have good gear and a medical ship but you need
protection and cred. I can supply both if you have the guts for it. Want to
listen now or should I turn off the switch and go without you?
James
glared at the overstuffed complacent bastiage for a moment as he thought. He
might hate the popinjay’s guts but he was correct and if he made a decent
offer, well at least they were on different ships. He nodded but said nothing
as Ronilion told him the mission and offered him part of the 25% they were
getting on the deal. It didn’t look like much but it was a heck of a lot better
than what was facing him now. He bartered for a bit but the pot got no bigger
or sweeter. “OK, you smooth talking bastard, I’m in.” He agreed.
A short while later
he was looking over the mission parameters when he realized he would have a
passenger. A Fragging Priest! They had stuck him with a sky jockey, a holy
roller. He cursed. Life sucked. Even as he cursed his luck the airlock
enunciator sounded and a calm voice identifying itself as Keith Ludington was
asking to come aboard. Yep, his life really sucked!
As the universe reckons time it was the next day when three ships blasted off from a Blue/green and somewhat cloudy planet in one part of the galaxy and another ship far away on an unnamable alien world. Arising on a column of nuclear fire they achieved orbit and then aligning themselves in various directions they began accelerating. It took several weeks for them to clear the debris of their individual solar systems and then accelerating smoothly they succeeded in passing the speed of light and turned to energy. For them no time would pass in transit and they would not age.
The
world and time did not stop and it would take them a full year to reach their
goal. The solar systems held safely in the energy matrix of their computers.
The jump ended as they decelerated and started to make their way into the
systems.
The
alien Jack noted that his crew was still asleep having just laid down for a
well deserved rest just prior to the Jump. They would have time to rest as he
decelerated into the system. His research vessel did not have the long-range
instruments of a scout vessel but he did notice that the system did look
promising. It held 5 planets one of which was a colonization possibility. This
was the third planet in the group. The first two were fairly close to the star
and from his scans showed no atmosphere. He marked those as possible resource
planets. They would have to get much closer to confirm that. The final two were
gas Giants. These could be useful as a source of refueling if they contained
high levels of hydrogen. It could be compressed in his scoops and used to save
fuel for the return voyage. He attempted to fine-tune his instruments on the
best possibility the third planet. He received little as he was still much to
far from it at this distance and his own thrust as he was decelerating blocked
some of the better instruments. The third planet did have an atmosphere but it
would be several weeks before he could get detailed information. Suddenly the machine that thinks like a
person suddenly presented him with new data. The Gas Giant number four had a
moon about it as big as a planet. It had an atmosphere as well. Energy
vibrations in strange rhythmic patterns were coming from it. He was suddenly
faced with a terrible decision.
On
one side of the system was the gas Giant with the moon. Three quarters away
near the other side was the planet he was decelerating towards. To change
trajectory now would require that he expend more fuel and resources if he was
to make a sudden change now, but the moon seemed a more promising target.
However that was because he could not focus his scanners on the third planet
for real data. If he stopped decelerating he would miss his mark and have to
expend fuel to come back. He wrestled with the decision.
Far
away the Earthlings three ships suddenly broke into space outside the solar
influence of a red dwarf star. This group had a scout craft and long-range
sensors. The solar system contained only three planets. There were none close
to the sun that looked evil and forbidding in the sullen red light. One planet
was in an approximate Earth type orbit that would now be much to cold for
normal life. Farther out was a planet that was about the size of Saturn but
minus the rings. It looked very unappealing and seemed to have nothing
interesting there. The last planet was slightly farther out than Pluto. It was
reading as having a highly REFINED metal content. The system was unusual in that
there seemed very little debris in the solar system. It would be some weeks
before they would be in system enough to use the more detailed devices of the
science vessels. The problem they were facing was that they were already going
by the outermost planet and it would take a lot of time to time to decelerate
and re accelerate back to it. Should they check the innermost planet that
seemed to be nothing but a burnt out iron shell or should they ignore it for
the more promising metal’s planet. It looked like it was time to call a
conference.
Jack
decided to awaken his team for a consultation. He presented them with all the
current data and sat back to listen to their comments. Willfullness barely
glanced at the data but had already formulated an opinion. “It is obvious that
we should loop around the planet we are heading for and take a detailed
analysis but we should not stop there. We should head back outward towards the
gas giant and add additional fuel. Doing that we waste nothing. Rhythmic pulses
like this usually signal some type of civilization and of course we should
investigate that first. This is of course my specialty and I will take the lead
here so that you won’t mess things up. It is only proper that I should guide us
here having the most experience and training in this field. Even as we speak we
are wasting time and fuel. You must immediately adjust our course in the way I
have explained.”
Thirst-quencher
looked patiently at the explorer and spoke bluntly. “Who died and made you the
Commander? You are not the leader here and you are rude and thoughtless. Why
the leaders sought fit to include you on this vessel puzzles me so I will not
question their judgment. I remind you that if you attempt to usurp the
leadership of this vessel then I will deal with you as I would any other weed.
Why should we not continue on our path and just try to communicate with the
other planet.”
Nutritious
spoke quietly, “I do not think Willfullness meant it to be taken that way
Thirst-quencher. He is only impatient to begin the critical task that our
leaders have given us. He was chosen because he is trained to understand alien
cultures and ideas. No disrespect to you either for you only perform your task
and lose no honor by doing so. The
leader has asked us our opinions but it does not mean he will adopt them.
Willfullness has a plan and I have heard no other stated. I cannot make a plan
based on no real data and his plan does allow us to check both areas in detail.
I see no other plan at this time and so I see no reason to oppose it however I
have not yet heard the Captain’s opinion and so I wait to see what he will
say.” They all looked at the Captain for it appeared that only one plan had
been put forth and no clear majority could be found to make a decision.
Jack spoke calmly, "I understand
your eagerness to investigate the possibility of life on the 3rd planet but you
also must account for the possibility of hostility from the inhabitants, they
could quite possibly be far more advanced than us and having expended most of
our fuel we would stand little chance of outrunning them."
"The moon
orbiting the gas giant has little to no signature of life. There is less risk
there and also allows us to refuel immediately after we investigate the moon.
From there we can take more detailed scans of the 3rd planet and assess the
data. This will also give you, Willfullness, more time to study the culture on
the planet."
"If we were to
enter the space around the planet at the speeds we would need to if we wish to
slingshot around the gravitational pull of the planet we not only run the risk
of alarming any inhabitants of the planet but if they were to have orbital
installations there is a large risk we would collide with one."
"I think a
cautious approach to this mission is best, especially when we are so far from
home, and dealing with unknown aliens. However, if the group votes in favor of
Willfullness's plan I will yield to the majority."
Willfullness
immediately spoke up in disgust. “At least get it RIGHT. We have seen no signs
of any intelligent life around the third planet. What makes you think anything
is there to oppose us? The only sign we have seen of anything promising is the moon
around the gas giant. With your plan we have to stop faster to make it to the
moon and that means more fuel being used whereas the slingshot effect saves us
most of our fuel! It also lets us see if there is anything of interest there to
come back to! By your plan we have to come to an almost complete stop and then
we have to reaccelerate to the Gas Giant, taking even longer to refuel because
of all the fuel you wasted. Then reaccelerate to get to the moon and try to
hide while we decide if they are going to destroy us. Just how long do you plan
to take while our sun is going NOVA and people are dying? I remind you we have
been gone a year, it will be at least another year before we get back not
counting time spent here. I say we take the risk and go with the best prospect
and stop worrying about risks when people are dying. Your plan takes longer and
requires three times the amount of fuel and time because then you want to go
and accelerate to the third planet using more fuel and check that before we leave.
This is insane.”
Thirst-quencher spoke
calmly. “The Captain has spoken and I back his plan since he leads and you do
not. I trust his judgment.” Nutritious nodded in agreement as well. “The
Captain is in charge and you do yourself little good arguing. He has made a
decision and we will abide by it.”
Willfulness angrily
arose saying nothing and left. It appeared they would be going to the gas giant
to refuel and then to the moon first. Jack went to check on the deceleration
for now they would have to use full acceleration to make the required course
change.
Four days later at
full power the spaceship Heaven/Earth arrived in circular orbit around the gas
giant and deployed it’s forward scoops to pull hydrogen through the cooling
pumps to be stored in its tanks. Impurities had to be filtered out of course
and the equipment had to be monitored constantly around the clock. After days
of full acceleration to a sudden no gravity status the crew was not in a good
mood, especially the surly explorer. Cleaning the filters was also not a job
that was enjoyed. It was hard backbreaking work in tight cramped quarters. It
took another week to totally refuel the ship. When the crewmembers were not
cleaning filters or standing watch they were working on correlating the data on
the solar system and the moon.
When the ship was
totally refueled the Captain again called a meeting to finalize his decision.
Nutritious as the scientist spoke first. “We have made as through a scan of
this system as possible from our current position. The two inner planets are much to hot and have no atmosphere as
we had previously known. They show no signs from here of ever having had life
on them. They appear to be mostly iron, with traces of nickel and rock. There
is nothing useful for us on those planets as far as we can tell. The third
planet is in the correct temperature zone and has a marginal atmosphere for our
race. It is much to high in oxygen to suit our people but it does have some
carbon dioxide that is useful. It would most likely require a large planet
forming effort to make it suitable. We probably do not have the time. It would
be difficult to colonize this planet. The two gas Giants are useful as
refueling stops if we wish to extend our range. It would be a good point to set
up a permanent refueling area here. One gas Giant has no moons while the other
that interests us the most has three moons.”
Willfullness spoke
scornfully, “It sucks to be you doesn’t it. You talk about all the crappy stuff
and you still haven’t mentioned that the three moons are spaced equidistantly
around this gas giant. That in it self is rare. The fact that transmission
traffic picked up radically when we arrived in orbit has not been mentioned
either. Don’t you find it strange that
the planets are equidistant almost to the gratch length as measured by heat ray
estimates, exactly down to 20 decimal points? Don’t you think this is obvious
enough that we are dealing with a race much more advanced than we are and that
they are observing us but have made no effort to contact us? Everything else is
useless information. Did not the Chief Priests themselves say in their orders
to move boldly and swiftly? You disobey our orders by continuing to waste time
on useless tasks when we should already have contacted their leaders if we had
followed my plan and yes had more fuel as well!”
Nutritious seemed
unconcerned with the interruption. “I thought I should be concise and eliminate
all the useless information first before I got to the rest of it. Since your
childish impatience demands that we get to the meat of the report I shall now
do so.” She turned on a flat screen view of the planet under discussion.
“As you can see the
Explorer is correct in that this is a most unusual pattern. While anything is
likely in the universe the chances of this occurring naturally are almost
impossible. The fact that it appears that there is intelligent life here argues
that they are indeed more advance in the physical arts than we are. They can
move moons. This is obviously a colonization group and it may well be that it
is a possible refueling depot for their race or they may be after things we
have no idea about. As was stated they have largely ignored our communications
attempts and scans which may mean they do not desire to talk with us.”
Willfullness again
interrupted, “These do not appear to be constructed moons, meaning they are not
artificially made as space stations but they have the appearance of being
artificially made.” Nutritious spoke rapidly, “there is no proof to that theory
and I am only giving the Captain facts.” Willfullness scoffed openly.
“Facts? You want
facts? You idiot, you go too much by procedure and numbers. Those planets are
the same exact size! Have the exact same gravity, the exact same atmosphere and
have the same mineral makeup as far as we can tell. These people can make moons
and they have obviously tailored them to exact specifications and those
specifications are all the same for each and every moon. We have a race that
can make moon sized planets and place them wherever they want. WE MUST CONTACT
THEM IMMEDIATELY!” This could save our people if we can place moons wherever we
wish! We have wasted enough time we must approach them.”
Thirst-quencher spoke
quietly for the first time, “It is obvious that they may not want to talk with
us. A race that creates moon-sized planets can certainly enforce their demands.
I am even surprised they let us refuel without charging us for this if these
are refueling stations as is surmised. I think it might be considered rude and
even criminal if we ignore their obvious desire to be left alone. The effects
may be catastrophic to us. Now let me ask you Willfullness, did you fire the
heat ray at them to get your data? It is obvious you had to use it in
unmodulated form to get the kind of data you did get. As I recall Nutritious
specifically forbade you doing this when you checked with her as this might be
taken as an attack.” Willfullness looked surly and stubborn but did not reply.
Jack looked at Willfullness, “Did you indeed use the Heat Weapon on the moons against the express orders of Nutritious? If you did do so then why was I not consulted before you did so?”
The explorer smiled and spoke arrogantly, “I did so because Nutritious is not in charge. You did order that we gather as much information as possible so I used an unmodulated beam to make density and distance calculations of course since it is the most precise instrumentation we have on this ship. Did I not get the information you requested of me and was it not as complete and efficient as you could desire? I saw no necessity to ask for permission when you yourself gave the order for me to do my job. I also attempted to use it for communication purposes but so far I have received no response.”
As the others looked at him with mixed feelings of disgust and horror he continued. “You people are too cautious and much too slow. You are indecisive and much too much concerned with your own epidermal layers. What does it take to get through to your cranial spaces that our race is dying? You seek to prolong your lives as if you are not on the same firing line as everyone else. If our race dies you have no real future! We cannot rebuild our race with just us. I have family and friends back on our home world and have no desire to have them perish in nuclear fires while you cower here. Now we have discovered a race with capabilities out of our wildest dreams. A race that can create planet size moons that they can construct to their personal specifications. Now that is a Miracle that I will not let you ignore! Think about it! We could rebuild our world anywhere we wished.”
“If you are so stupid or cowardly that you hesitate to act then I will be forced to act for you. You have already wasted a lot of time and I will not let you waste more. We must act boldly and if we are destroyed then I accept that Destiny, but if we are not destroyed, then we stand to gain from our dealings with this race. I am an explorer and I have been trained to contact other races not to sit and cower when I face the unknown. That is my job. Will you now tell me I should not do what I was sent here to do? If you say that then you are indeed worthless.”
Thirst-quencher
spoke harshly. “You take advantage of the words but the proper spirit is not in
you. You attempt to deceive us to get your own way. Again you have violated the
proper procedures and justify it by pointing to others. It is the Captain’s
decision when to use a weapon of defense and you know permission should have
been asked no matter what your personal preference or what commands the Captain
issued to you previously. It was only respectful and courtesy that you ask him
first! Nutritious told you NOT to use it and while she is not the Captain her
opinion against yours makes this an even demand and the Captain should have
still had the final say. However you rudely took the matter into your own hands
despite the opinions and preferences of your teammates. I ask the Captain right
now officially for permission to destroy you.” Nutritious motioned that she had
nothing to say for or against the proposal leaving it squarely up to Jack to
decide.
Ronilion
immediately opened up a ships channel and spoke quickly. “Outside of several
blind spots that seem natural to the system it seems to be pretty open. I can’t
see the far side of certain planets or the sun but I see nothing dangerous to
us. Still let’s be careful out there.”
Devin answered back almost immediately, “I am
so under appreciated. You guys couldn’t find your ass if you used BOTH hands.
My ship is equipped with four one shot probes. I figured you would want those
blind spots cleared up and I am already setting up the courses and firing
pattern. I fully intend to send one on course ahead of us assuming you want to
save fuel and slingshot the sun so I suggest you give us the course for that.
MY computer computations are in progress already and will someone tell that
‘jackass’ Drassell to stop playing with stuff he knows nothing about? He has
been doing it the whole voyage so far. The ass-face thinks he is maintaining
the ship but I have to watch him constantly to keep him from screwing things up
and getting us killed. So I have been following him around and looking over his
shoulder at everything he does. I swear if anything happens to me he would
probably steer this ship into the sun all in the interests of getting a closer
look.”
Drassell
spoke back in protest. “WHAT? You irritating little toad! No wonder you have
been following me around and you keep re-breaking everything! Krass when
dealing with you I am reminded of the saying, ‘Don't be irreplaceable; if you
can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.’ You are a pig in human form. If I
were not aboard you would die of your own stink. It is I who keeps us alive and
you should not forget this. For your information Lame-O, I am trying to detect
any signals of an artificial nature. I have been unsuccessful in this endeavor.
I am also finding this system remarkably clear of any debris. It is like
someone took a giant cleaner and went through the system. There are not even
any moons that I can see. Gravitation for the planets seems normal given their
size and structure, that especially, given the fact that the star went Nova. There
are no obvious abnormalities except for the frozen planet. You’re programming
the probe coordinates wrong! Get away from that board you idiot! You’re trying
to put Tab A in Slot B again!” Sounds of a scuffle appear to ensue over the
radio waves.
Ronilion
spoke shouting, “Will you two Shut the Hell UP? Sheesh, try to ACT like your
both HUMAN and get your minds back on the problem. I swear you guys don’t have
the slightest CLUE!” For the moment the fighting subsided over the speakers.
Ronilion was unsure which of the two had won the argument.
Eon in the co pilot’s
chair laughed, “Let Drassell kick Devin’s ass. The stuff Devin got for our
supplies are like crap and it’s overly expensive crap anyway. I can barely work
with this junk. Next time somebody better go with him and show him how to shop
or I’m going to borrow on the ships credit and get my own stuff. I don’t think
Devlin has the least clue as to what kind of research we are doing either.”
James
Patterson spoke sarcastically adding his voice to the noise on the channel.
“"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called ‘research,’
now would it, Gunray? We are in an unknown system, looking at an event that
happened well over 2,000 years ago. Now given the fact that when the light from
this system hit our Earth system it was over 2,000 years ago there! So given
the speed of light the actual event had to have actually happened much EARLIER
than that. Remember it took our faster than light drive a year to get here. You
guys do JUNK Science. As my co pilot Mr. Ludington pointed out, our ship at
maximum, does roughly five light years a month so that would make us 60 light
years away from home. Alpha Centauri the closest star to Earth is only a meager
4 ½ light years away. We could have made that in a month but light takes four ½
years to get to Earth from there! Now we are lucky in that our calendar is
BASED on this event because we now have a rough. The event would have happened
about 2,110 years ago in this systems time scale.”
“Big
Deal.” Gunray replied. “I already had that part figured but it doesn’t mean
diddly to anything we are doing. What difference does it make if it happened
2,000 years or 2,110 years? There obviously is not going to be anyone left
alive in this burnt out system. Whatever is not burned up and left behind is
not going anywhere at all, if there IS anything left.”
“ Now for something
completely different, NONE of you ass-faces have thought of this yet either
I’ll bet. Every one of our ships is out here scanning at full power. None of
you are using just passive scans. That means for anyone who can detect us, he
knows exactly where we are, and has had ample time to compute our course as
well. So, if this theoretical being is
hostile he has had time to figure out where we are going by monitoring our
course plus speed and has had time to send you a little present to brighten up
your day. To make it worse, they have now been regaled by listening to all of
us shouting at each other over the unfocused laser link, because it is obvious
that we are talking so that all of us can hear. It is also obvious that we are
not tight banding or encoding our comm. gear isn’t it shithead’s? Maybe he will
think we are fighting each other and be so confused he might wait to see if we
finish each other off first before turning you into atomic scrap.”
Drassell
though seemed unaffected by the threat and may have been concentrating so hard
that he wasn’t even listening. For he suddenly spoke, “Has anyone noticed that
the star in question is moving at a high percentage of Light speed, about .5 if
my guess is correct, compared to the rest of the stars? I am getting course
projections on it now. It seems to be coming from the galaxy center and heading
out of the galaxy itself. This would seem to be at a cross purpose from a
normal traffic pattern. It should be skewed but it seems to be moving on a
direct path. It is unusual not to have any sideways motion at all.”
“So
what does this mean?” Ronilion asked.
Ludington suddenly spoke in answer, “It means that while we may find
some answers here it is more likely we need to backtrack this sun and see what
if anything it might have encountered at that point that sent this sun Nova.
These planets may not actually belong to this star either as they might have been
captured. What this star system has done is to raise a lot of questions with
darn few answers. As I explained to Dr. Patterson here previously, I was sent
because I have degrees in research and theology and I was sent to help you make
such decisions as we might encounter. I am not here to order you but to advise
you. The path of this star goes backward into relatively unexplored space. I
suspect we have neither the time or fuel to track backward and suggest we save
that for another mission. I still think the plan put forth is the most viable
one. Let us launch the drones, one for each planet and one to precede us around
the sun. We will map and continue to monitor. Given the heat from the Nova the
ice planet is still our best place to attempt to find out the answers. There is
still too much that puzzles us.”
“Finally
we should consider this as well, The Nova happened about 2050 years ago by our
time but the light would have taken longer to arrive at Earth because the
distance the planet was then, was much farther away and it moves faster than
normal. If Devlin’s original calculations of this being the sun that was used
by the wise men was made using NORMAL star movement calculations then we are at
the WRONG sun! That means all the calculations are off and anything we thought
we knew is wrong. It would appear our mission has already failed.” There was
total silence on all the ships as each digested the news.
Krass and Drassell on the Horizon have signed off to think. It certainly had looked to them like the whole mess was snafu’d and Greg Drassell was laughing at Devin. “You screwed up the calculations Prima Dona!” He chortled in glee. “All the calculations you made to pin point the stars are screwed. The system is moving much to fast for it to be the correct one. You called me incompetent and now we have seen who the real ass is. Hopefully though you may still be lucky enough to find something on the ice planet. No scientific group will ever sponsor you again. I am going to get some rest. Sleep Tight fool.” He locked the door as he went into his cabin. He did not put it past Krass to play some practical joke to get even.
Devin would have killed the idiot but even he had to admit that scientifically the fool was right. How could he have screwed the pooch this bad? He pulled out the star charts with his calculations and started to go over them again. Sure, Archeology and ships repair were his two best skills but his Navigation skill should have been enough for him to read the star charts correctly. He should not have been able to make so obvious a blunder! What had gone wrong? He started to dig into the figures again.
In red were the lines tracing his course to this system. Flawless, perfect, wrong. Straight out from Sol, a b-line straight for this system, how could he be so stupid? Now he'd have to listen to Drassell gloat and bluster for the rest of his natural life. Where did I mess up? How did I miss this? Drassell can't complain, if he hadn't been staggering around like a drunken primate then he could have double-checked my work in advance.
Twelve hours later Greg came out to take his tour. He noticed Devlin was still in the same chair scribbling furiously. Several empty coffee containers littered the floor and table. Papers and charts were scattered across the floor. It was obvious that his shipmate had been working the whole time. Greg was torn. Sure it had been great to see the ‘Great Krass’ mess up big time and to have been able to take the egotistical SOB down a peg or two but he was not the type that really enjoyed making someone else feel bad. He said nothing about the mess as he would have usually done and made a fresh pot of coffee and brought a cup over to Devlin.
“Maybe you should get some sleep,” he stated kindly. “C’mon forget it. Everyone makes mistakes and there is no harm done. You just didn’t have enough data. Research is a crapshoot anyway. We still have the metals reading at the ice planet so it’s not a total loss. To be honest I am not sure why your calculations should be so far off. Hmm, how good a navigator is that Priest anyway?”
Krass suddenly looked in shock at Drassell. “That’s IT!” Devin smiled and looked back at the charts, he quickly did some numbers in his head and began laughing like a mad man. With a leap he was off at a full sprint with the star chart in hand towards the control room a puzzled Drassell following behind warily He spread the star chart out on the Navigation table and pointed at it. "YOU are the fool, you and that idiot Ludington, you should never believe a guy who has no NAVIGATION experience. He made the most obvious beginner’s mistake because it depends upon the POSITION you take the sighting from! My calculations are RIGHT, this system IS the correct one.”
Drassell looked closely and could see it now; Ludington had made his Astrogation predictions based on where the ships were NOW and not from Earth where Drassell had made his. There was no large movement to compute in Drassell’s computation because there was no SKEW as he had pointed out earlier. Devin continued crowing and it was insufferable!
“You two morons found the answer to the problem without ever even realizing it! You said it yourself, this system isn't moving like it should, if it was then my calculations would be way off and I would have been a complete dipshit, but it ISN'T. The system is moving STRAIGHT forward, but not in the usual skewed flight path as seen from Earth. My calculations were from a straight-ahead position, because that is how we would have gone to it! I calculated the position based on how much larger it got to our view over time as well so it’s actual movement WAS accounted for. Meaning even though I didn't KNOW how fast it was moving the calculations are STILL right. You and that imbecile Ludington were looking at it from the SIDE because of the flight time it took us to get here and because of the slingshot orbit we programmed! This IS the right system, and I am still proven an unsung genius, largely unappreciated by my peers."
With that comment and over the sour face of his shipmate Devin whirled and skipped out of the room leaving a very disgusted Drassell. With an arrogant grin Devin made his way back to the bridge and keyed the comm. unit. "WAKE UP YOU DUMB ASSES!” He shouted over the communication laser.” My calculations are accurate, and that means it is very important that we investigate that ice planet, I won't take no for an answer. Next time leave Science to the real scientists! So wake up and get going. We don't have all day to figure out the new courses. Drassell's little theories are 80% hot air, especially that one about this star being an alien spacecraft or more importantly that I am capable of making a mistake of that magnitude. He's a fool, stop listening to him, this system is a gold mine so let's get to work!” Drassell was ready to strangle the arrogant bastard. Never ever again would he try to be kind to this asshole!
As for this ‘system ‘capturing planets? Greg had already had that figured as well. Unless the planets were moving already in the same direction as this racing sun then it would have been very unlikely at it’s speed that there would have been any planets around it at all. No those planets were very likely a part of this system since the beginning. What had given him the clue about the star’s speed was the fact of how clean the system was. It was more likely that the system had lost planets and small debris over the eons. His personal thought was that somehow a black hole in the galactic center had somehow freakishly accelerated the star but that the star had been going to fast for the hole to hold it. He went back to studying his readings and insuring that the data was properly archived as the contracts specified.
Eon
was on watch and half asleep when suddenly the communicator went off at high
volume, “WAKE UP YOU DUMB ASSES!”
Eon listened carefully to Devin after turning down the speaker. He pulled up
the navigation charts as well and looked. No doubt about it. Devin had found
the error, in that there was no error. Still, Eon could not resist and sent
back over the communicator, “What? It took you over twelve hours to figure that
out? If you had been listening to the communications you would have found that
we figured it all out 11 hours and 55 minutes ago which is why we didn’t tell
you to change course and why we are already still on course to the ice planet,
ass hole! Now who is the dumb ass?” Eon cut down the volume again as Krass
howled. He smiled. There was nothing better in life than messing with Krass,
nothing.
Ronilion
came up from the small sleeper cabin just behind the cramped control area yawning.
He was playing Michael Jackson tunes again and singing along with them, badly.
If he had to hear one more rendition of ‘Beat It’ again he was going to beat
the player to death! “Why would you want to listen to songs written and sung by
a black guy who made himself look like a white girl and who molests chimps and
kids?” Eon asked blandly.
For a moment Ronilion
ignored Eon and dialed up the speaker so he could yell over the still screaming
Krass! "Sorry, we are not in right
now but please leave your name and number and we will ignore your call with the
rest of the drek. Thank you. In case you haven’t noticed ‘We’ haven't changed
course or plans so what are you talking about?
Right system? Wrong system? THIS IS the system, lame-o that I was sent
to examine and THIS IS the system we have plotted into our course computer to
scout/explorer. Why are you waking me up to tell me to do what I have already
done? Get a life will you?” He turned off the communicator and glared at Eon
who ignored the glare like water on a duck’s back.
Ronilion smiled, “Why
do people pay millions for a painting done by a stalker who cut off his own
ear? Liking art has nothing to do with liking the artist... besides this was
done BEFORE the gimp went completely bonkers.”
Eon shook his head
and pulled up the course. “The probes have been fired. The first probe is
roughly 12 hours ahead of us on roughly the same speed and course we will be
using when it is our turn. So far that probe is clean and has picked up nothing
exciting. The telemetry is being stored on the Horizon. The second probe is on
its way to an orbit around Planet 1, the Earth orbit one. It’s still to far
away to pick up much of anything yet.”
“ The third probe is
enroute to the larger planet. It appears to be mostly iron/nickel content along
with a lot of just burnt rock. It has
already achieved a polar orbit and is mapping the planet. Not much of interest
there either. The final probe, number 4, is enroute to the ice planet. It will
arrive only a short while before we do. It is also scheduled for a polar orbit.
Krass and Drassell used some brains on this. They set up the probes to be
equidistant on each side of the planet so they could be used as comm. relays
for people on the planet. The Saturn type probe, once it has completed its
scan, can also give us some far off pictures of the ice planet.”
“The navigation on
the probes is ‘bang on’ despite all the gyrations. I suspect Devlin will take
the credit but it was probably Drassell that did it. Word is he has been studying
Navigation more lately. Haven’t heard too much from the medical ship so I
suspect they are also looking over the telemetry and scans as well. I wonder
how they took Krass’s announcement? Well I am off to get some sleep and I would
really appreciate it if you would turn off that Infernal NOISE and stop singing
or else. Don’t hum either!”
Ronilion looked
downtrodden as he stuck a head jack into his player and decided to listen and
not sing along. He started to go over the system mapping telemetry and the probe
traffic. The system was pretty clean. That was a good thing because that meant
the debris wouldn’t be scouring the haul as much. That would cut down on
maintenance costs. The slingshot affect would save a lot of fuel as well. He
looked over the latest report from Drassell on his black hole theory.
Ronilion was inclined to discount this theory
purely from a Navigation standpoint. A Black Hole that could accelerate a sun
this way would have most likely yanked every planet out of orbit even if the
sun itself hadn’t been captured. The orbits would be more erratic and skewed as
well but they were rock steady. The sun had somehow retained its planets
despite its great speed but how? Especially the farthest one out, which should
have been stripped away almost from the first? Could it have been closer and
somehow the gravity had pulled it out to that orbit. If so then it’s orbit
should be more elliptic and oval not the circle the mapping showed it to be.
The sun was a red
dwarf now but it could have been any type before that. However it’s gravity was
normal for a dwarf now. That would seem to support that the sun was Sol like.
This system so far was a real anomaly and raised more questions than answers!
Well they hadn’t come to answer questions just to map, observe and look. Let
the big domes answer the questions.
He pulled up data
from the polar orbit of the Saturn like world or Planet two as they had come to
call it. The planet was dense from the reading and looked all sharp jagged
rocks. No signs showed of it ever having had an atmosphere at all. It certainly
showed no type of intelligent works on it either. It was a very large, very
jagged and nasty looking rock. Marginally it had a variety of metals but
nothing that couldn’t be found closer and gotten to easier on Earth. This rock
wasn’t even rich enough for mining.
Next he pulled up the
bio monitors for the individuals from each ship. It was command policy to check
and see how the various crews were responding to the stresses of space. Space
Travel of this sort was a relatively new thing and data was being monitored on
the ships that were returning trying to see what they had done right. Of course
the things that went radically wrong on other ships were never returned. Bu-Col
was always interested. So far the crew seemed to be very interested and
involved in the mission with little time for getting into deep trouble. Despite
the comments they were working well. It seemed strange that the one ship with
the most Chaos and arguments on it seemed to have been the most productive to
date. Krass and Drassell had certainly earned their pay so far on this voyage.
It appeared Eon had made a good choice in the pair.
Drassell seemed to be
archiving the system data from the probes. Krass was on downtime. Patterson was
off watch while Ludington seemed to be looking at theological tracts based on
the accounts of the wise men’s voyage. Eon was sound asleep. After the sun
transit they would have to transfer Eon to Krass and Drassell’s ship. It would
make the initial landing while the Medical Ship and the scout stayed in orbit.
Later the Medical ship would join them on the ground once a base was prepared.
The scout ship would join last.
There would be a lot
of work to do on the planet in setup tasks before they would even begin to
explore. They would start with a polar orbit and map the surface looking for
the best landing site nearest the most interesting discovery. They would look
for hazards and then make a plan. Krass and Drassell with Eon would land and
set a base camp up. The Medical ship would join them once the camp was
completed and would start a medical analysis before anyone unsuited. Not much
chance of contamination on an ice world but why take chances? Once the Medical
ship was done the scout would land as well and would act as a watchtower over
the other ships. That would be when the scouting would begin. It would take one
week to make orbit and start the scan. A month to set up the base camp. A week
to check the Medical scans. And two days to set the scout into its area. A
little over a month and a half before the real searching would start.
All this plan of
action was being duly logged. It was Bu-Col policy again. Even if they crashed
and burned it would be likely that someone might come looking eventually. It would
be nice if they could figure out what went wrong. A nasty way to look at the
universe perhaps but exploration in the unknown was risky business. History was
full of explorers that never came back whose remains were found later with a
diary. Ronilion just hoped his group wouldn’t be one of them.
James
Patterson had just taken over the watch from Keith Ludington. For a sky pilot
the guy seemed all right and not judgmental at all. He had some amusing stories
of his own past and had explained why this particular adventure had sparked so
much interest in the church. Patterson himself had raised the initial question
bluntly. “Why should the Church care about a Nova just because the wise men
followed a star at that time. It seems like a pretty big long shot to me that
you would get anything out of it. It makes no sense. What do you guys really
hope to find here or is it some big deep dark secret?”
Ludington
laughed as he pulled up some theology notes, “You my pagan friend have no
understanding of the religious mindset. First it is concrete proof that the
event did happen. Would it be so surprising that our uneducated forefathers who
normally studied the stars for signs and portents would not be interested in it
and being confused they would not search for a reason? Curiosity is a powerful
thing. Is it not why you are here?” James looked unconvinced and had the
‘bullshit’ look obvious on his features. He made shoveling motions. Keith
laughed and continued.
“You
are always looking for something past the real reason for you see a conspiracy
in everything. In this case you are looking in vain. Have you not read the
Purloined Letter? We who accept Christ believe nothing happens by chance. We
have something you seem to lack and that is faith. What God in man’s history
has been willing to die for him despite how nasty we truly are? Since you
cannot comprehend such an attitude you subscribe other reasons to it. Reasons
that fit the dark view of the universe that you carry with you.”
Patterson
spoke smiling, “An attitude which experience has proven time and time again.
God does not listen to the likes of you and I why should he? If you were God
would you listen to the complaining and squealing of a people who by their own
stupidity and general nasty attitudes got themselves into their own crap by
greedily trying to take advantage of each other? Face it priest, people are not
nice. A man is measured by his power to make others do what he wishes, how many
females he can control and how much goods surrounds him. This will never
change. No matter how many blinders you put on. Your religion is a tool to
separate the gullible from the real people of power who only pay lip service to
use you to get more.”
Keith
spoke kindly, “While much of what you say has a certain worldly truth to it,
glad am I that not everyone shares your dark view. How horrible it must be to
see the world as you do with no hope. God listens my friend because he is God
and he does care. Would you send your son to die if all the people were like
you? It has been proven that God did destroy people before. You will no doubt
accuse me of looking at the world unrealistically and you may be right but I
would rather have my view than live in your world with no hope.”
“ I say this to you.
If you study people they have more than one type of personality. They have good
and bad points. Most times we get only glimpses. Each person puts on a face and
personality according to the person they meet. He deals one way with a child,
another way with his spouse, another with a close friend. If people can have
many sides what makes you think that God, a much more complex being, does not
have sides and personalities that you cannot even comprehend from your limited
view? I suppose you see this as a lecture and we should try to stop it here
before you get bored. Suffice it to say that we hope to find clues of God’s
mighty hand here for that is the truth. I believe it is your watch and I must
rest. Good Watch to you Doctor.”
James considered what
the priest had said to be just so much garbage. How could anyone believe the
tripe he was spewing without concrete proof? He didn’t trust the guy. He would
keep a close eye on him, because he suspected that there was more to this stuff
than they were seeing. He had suspected a ship might even have followed them
but all the sensor scans from all three ships were clean. In this system there
weren’t many places a lurking ship could hide and the probes were fast
eliminating any of the small remaining blind spots.
He wondered
momentarily if this ship had a lifeboat of some type. Looking in the database
he was not overly surprised to find that it didn’t. It became immediately
obvious why. Mass. You had to accelerate any mass you carried with you. The
ships were designed to be as economical on fuel as possible. Second if
something happened to your ship out there alone in the cold depths of space,
who could get to you fast enough to rescue you anyway?
The comm. system
would take over 60 years to send a distress signal back, if it didn’t die out
before then or become so garbled you couldn’t understand it anyway. That was
assuming that you could send one back. The ships were like helicopters; almost
anyplace they got hit would wreck something to valuable to lose. You either
could or could not survive. Sure there were the inflatable life globes that
might let you survive a few hours in space but they were just something to show
an effort was made. You would most likely be better off going up with the ship.
Patterson had an
interesting thought; if the Horizon was to be the first ship on the ground then
it stood to reason that the priest should be with them when they landed. James
smiled. Gunray would be transferred to the Horizon after the slingshot. It stood
to reason that it would be a good idea to transfer the priest as well. First,
it was spelled out in the contract; {A Church Researcher has been appointed as Liaison to the
group and will accompany the group on the Science Craft. Pastor Keith Ludington
will provide guidance to the unit as well as aid in research Material.} A
case could be made that they were technically in breech of contract. It was
almost mandatory that he be with the first wave. Patterson activated the
communicator to talk with Ronilion about this.
“Look, if that is
what the contract says then we do it of course, “Ronilion told him stuffily as
usual. “I thought your ship would be the first to go in to test for
contaminations and virus’s and such?” James made a sound of disgust.“Damnit,
Ronilion, I’m a DOCTOR not a fragging explorer! I don’t DO house calls either.
You bring them to my Hospital and I fix them or they die. How simple do I have
to make it for you?” Second, how much contamination do you think there is on an
ice planet that was fried by a nova? If that didn’t kill anything bad then
anything I have on board probably won’t do the job either! So we might as well
not waste the time. Krass and Drassell have the planet side equipment on their
ship. It is not on mine so he HAS to go in first unless we plan to change all
of that in space. That would be an incredible piece of stupidity but I wouldn’t
put it past you.”
“Besides, the frozen
atmosphere is so cold you could break up chunks of it and carry it around with
you. Haven’t you looked at the scans? The oxygen on the planet is a liquid! I
wouldn’t try to land in a pool of it if I were you. The explosion could touch
off a chain reaction. This ship while capable of some laboratory tests is not
set up like an exploration science ship. The Horizon is fully capable of the
performing the initial tests, even medical tests, without my medical
supervision. That is like asking Picasso to personally take your picture with a
Polaroid! You are an ignorant over stuffed buffoon! It makes more sense for the
Horizon to go in first than a Medical ship when no emergency is present.” Ronilion cut the connection saying nothing.
Patterson though felt a whole lot better.
The Priest came out about eight
hours later in a robe and pajama’s. James immediately started laughing, “Jesus,
Mary, and Joseph, Father there’s no green lizards in there getting ready to
explode out are there?” He pointed at the priests somewhat protruding stomach.
“You know I can fix that for you.” The priest smiled. “That is quite all right
my son. I don’t often get the chance to work out as much as I like but I assure
you that I am not harboring alien life forms. As for cosmetic surgery, I am not
that vain for God sees more than the outside of an individual. Seeing people as
you do though I will of course say a prayer for your enlightenment. You seem
happy this cycle of the clock. Have you been insulting the Group Leader again?”
“That and setting up
the bio-lab for level four just in case they do find something nasty down on
the ice planet.” He shrugged, “why take any chances? The good news is that
after the solar transit we need to transfer you and Gunray to the Horizon. I already have the course setup so you get
to go over on a line. How are your space legs?”
The priest smiled,
“Quiet good. I have had zero G training and have done this several times. I
already have my baggage ready to go so a line will be suitable. I was wondering
if I was going to have to wait till you landed as well and take the chance of
missing out on some new discovery. Now it seems likely I will be in on the
ground floor of building our base camp.
With four of us down there we should be able to get the camp set up in
about a month.”
“Just what is
involved in that any way? You act like you have done this before.” Patterson
queried warily.
“Actually, I have
done some of this several times before,” the priest answered confidently. “Once
the explorer picks the landing site and we set down. We will dig a U shaped
tunnel so that it goes fairly deep, maybe sixty to a hundred yards down. It
will of course slope. That will be the entrance. From there we will open up a
large underground area. That will take the longest with the portable melters we
will have to use and we will have to pump out the water but this will let us level
the cavern. Once that is done we will create an air lock and then we will wall
the sides, bottom, and ceiling with insulation panels maybe in two layers given
the cold. Then we will introduce heat and an atmosphere. While that is going on
one of the team will be outside expanding our landing field, putting up sensors
and a landing beacon with lights for the other ships to land. Then we start the
real work.”
“You’re not planning
a short base camp here are you.” James stated flatly. “To me this sounds like a
long term effort. Just how much time has your Church allowed for this little
exercise?” James felt he might have started to unravel the secret plans of this
mission but the priest laughed and seemed unworried.
“This is a research
expedition, Doctor. We realize that investigation does not work on timetables
or schedules. We comprehend that each of the ships that came has an operational
limit before they must return for maintenance and repair. Parts do wear out.
This was taken into our thoughts and we have no desire to risk anyone’s life
recklessly. While the ships could stay on site here for up to five years that
is stretching it a bit.”
“ No, we will only be
here one year from the time we arrived in system. However, we can prepare the
way and have facilities ready if a revisit is necessary. Much of the equipment
that we had Mr. Krass purchase was with our money and the equipment we paid for
will remain here at this base. He has been allowed to keep what he did not
spend but the equipment does have to meet the specifications we demand. I have
looked at it and it is well within tolerances so we seem to be well prepared.
It also was pointed out to Mr. Krass that since he would be one of the first
people to test out this base and equipment it might not be a ‘good’ thing to
get too cheap on the stuff when his personal safety might be involved. I
believe his comment was, I am not stupid.”
James smiled, perhaps the priest wasn’t as naive or trusting as he might suspect. When Death was on the line he suspect Krass would be looking out for Number 1. On due reflection, weren’t they all?