Reckless Faith

by David Kantrowitz

  “That means that what we have is, in fact, a two point match on a new set of coordinates.”

  Dana sat down at her desk and procured a piece of paper. She began drawing a diagram.

  “Okay,” she said, “if we’re here in Bethlehem, and they’re down there in Atlanta... we know that when we made our recording, Deneb was directly overhead, at ninety degrees. Where was Ursa Minor for them at the same time?”

  “I’m going to have to look that up,” said Levi. He returned to his desk and began working on his computer. It didn’t take him long to find the answer.

  “Twenty-five degrees above horizon.”

  Dana scribbled. “Okay, then we draw a line from there to here to get the long side of the triangle. That’ll be c, the sine of the curve of the Earth will be a, and the direct distance between us and Atlanta will be b. ”

  Dana’s tone had become much less enthusiastic. She had realized that this meant the most likely source of the transmission was an ordinary artificial satellite.

  “Do you know the distance between us and Atlanta?”

  “No, but I can look it up.”

  Leaning back in her chair, Dana sighed. She had become excited over nothing. Levi typed at his keyboard behind her. He soon returned to her side.

  “That’s about seven hundred and sixty miles.”

  “I need my calculator,” Dana said, opening a desk drawer. “Okay, now we know can draw a straight line between A and B, and that changes our number slightly. The reverse angle is sixty-five, the sine of sixty-five is point-nine-three-nine, so the hypotenuse becomes eight hundred thirty and change. Then we use the Pythagorean Theorem...”

  Dana worked silently for a few moments. She punched a few keys on her calculator and bit the end of her pen.

  “You're cheating,” said Levi, smirking.

  "Don't distract me, Levi."

  "I'm serious. Your method is fine for a rough estimate, but considering your background, you should be processing the proper orbital elements with either the perifocal coordinate system or the topocentric-horizon coordinate system. How else can you create a data set appropriate for coordinate transformations?"

  Levi held up a worn, dog-eared copy of a book entitled Fundamentals of Astrodynamics to make his point. Dana grimaced at him.

  “If this turns out to be something," she replied, "I'll do the proper grunt work. You know how much I hate longhand. Anyway, according to the data from Atlanta, the source of the transmission was three hundred and fifty-one miles above us.”

  “That puts it well above the ionosphere. That’s well within the confines of low Earth orbit and common for satellites.”

  “Yeah, I figured we were probably dealing with a satellite when I heard you say twenty-five degrees above horizon. It’s still an odd transmission type for a satellite. It doesn’t fit into any of the commonly used wavelengths. Plus the fact that it was a burst transmission of only three seconds.”

  “It’s possible that a satellite’s radio transmitter blew out. That could cause a sudden spike in wavelength. What we might be hearing are some poor radio’s death throes.”

  “I guess it’s possible. I’ll start crawling around the ‘net and see if I can find out if any satellites shit the bed on Friday.”

  Dana saved the Atlanta file as 315-B and closed the audio program. Hiding beneath it was the receiver data program. Dana was stunned by what she saw.

  “Levi, look at this. Another signal was recorded not ten minutes ago. It’s the same waveform as the last one.”

  “Really? Where was it this time?”

  “Let’s see... Atlanta, zero degrees above horizon, bearing zero one five. Bethlehem, zero degrees above horizon, bearing zero four zero. Levi, the source of this transmission is on the surface of the Earth.”

  “I’ll get a map,” Levi said.

  Dana converted the receiver data into an audio file in the usual fashion. She played the file, and same sound she’d become used to echoed through the room.

  “This is very confusing,” she said.

  Levi brought over a map of the northeast United States. He began plotting the directions from the two receivers. The two directions converged on one point.

  “Northern New Hampshire,” he said.

  “I don’t get it. How does a transmission source get from three hundred and fifty miles above the Earth to the ground in New Hampshire in less than forty-two hours?”

  “It can’t. Only a very select kind of spacecraft are capable of re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere without being destroyed. If the origin of this signal is man-made, it would have had to hitch a ride with the space shuttle or the Russians. The US doesn’t have anybody up there right now and the Russians don’t have any craft due to return this weekend.”

  “So what the hell is it?”

  11.

  “Christie, get the door! Ari, get his legs up over the stairs.”

  Ray struggled to hold up John’s partially limp body as he, Ari and Christie tried to get him inside the cabin. Tycho, who hadn’t uttered a peep at John before, was now growling at him. Christie held open the door while Ray and Ari all but shoved John inside. Ray dragged him to a sofa chair and dumped him down. John continued to stare ahead like a drugged maniac.

  “John,” said Ray, “can you hear me?”

  “Yes,” said John.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yes.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “I can see now.”

  John straightened himself up somewhat. His eyes wandered until he saw Ray.

  “Hi, Ray.”

  “You had us worried there, John,” said Ari.

  “No reason to worry. Seth is with me.”

  “What?” said Ray. “What do you mean?”

  “Seth is with me. Inside myself.”

  “Seth... is inside your head?”

  “Yes.”

  “What’s he doing there, John?” asked Christie.

  “He’s showing me things.”

  “What things?” Ray said.

  John looked confused. “I... I can’t say. You have to ask me.”

  “Why is Seth inside your mind, John?”

  “To show us the way.”

  “This is too creepy,” Ari said.

  Ray swallowed. “John, Seth said that he wanted us to come back to Umber with him. What does he want us to do for Umber?”

  “To help us.”

  “We already know that. How does he want us to help Umber?”

  “By coming back with us.”

  “Not again,” said Ari.

  John held up his hand. “Wait. I’m sorry. I don’t think Seth knows why. We keep coming up with the same endless answers.”

  “How could Seth not know the reason for his mission?” said Christie.

  “He could be misleading us,” said Ari. “He may not want us to know the reason. It might be too horrible for any of us to accept.”

  “I don’t sense any deception,” John said. “We simply do not know the reason why.”

  “That’s great. Why in the world would anybody put their lives in his hands?”

  “I sense a massive amount of confidence from Seth. We don’t seem to be capable of lying. We’re so sure of the mission. We’re also supremely confident that you guys are going to say yes.”

  “Not without a lot more information,” said Ray.

  “How are we going to get to Umber, exactly?” asked Christie.

  “You go with Seth,” said John.

  “You’re just going to ‘beam’ us there?” Ari said, laughing.

  “No. There will be a ship.”

  “A ship?” asked Ray. “A ship will be coming?”

  “No.”

  “Then where do we get the ship?”

  “If you build it, they will come.”

  “What?”

  “I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist that one. Seth is telling me that you, I mean we, have to build the ship.”

  “Are you shitt
ing me?” Ari said. “Perhaps Seth is unaware of the fact that the culmination of trillions of dollars and the efforts of the best astrophysical engineers in the world can only put unmanned robots on our nearest neighbors? How does he expect us to travel to another galaxy?”

  “Hold on,” John said, “We’re having a hard time interpreting what Seth is trying to communicate.”

  “That made no sense.”

  John furrowed his brow. “A shell, an outer shell. A hull! We can make the hull and the... ‘go-box?’ No, that’s not right. The driver. The engine. That’s it. Seth can make the outer hull and the engine. You have to provide everything else.

  “We are truly out of our league now,” said Ray.

  “We’re not...”

  John stood up, grabbing his head.

  “John?”

  “No, don’t. I can’t... Seth!”

  John stumbled forward, and before Ray could grab him John sprinted out the front door. Ray and the others took off after him. John was headed back towards the orb.

  “John!” yelled Ray, slowly gaining, “John, what’s wrong?”

  John ran up to the orb, which reappeared just before John smacked his palm against it. Almost immediately, he collapsed on the ground. Ray knelt beside him as Ari and Christie caught up.

  “John, talk to me,” Ray said.

  John shook his head. “That,” he said, “was not cool.”

  “What happened?”

  “Seth tried to probe deeper into my head. He knew I knew how to design aircraft. He tried to help me use that knowledge. But it all came too quickly. I couldn’t handle it. It was like all my avionics training, every memory of CAD, aircraft design, and playing flight sims was flashing in my head simultaneously. It was all I could do to run back here. Seth must have realized he was hurting me because he went back into the orb right away.”

  “Hopefully he won’t try that again.”

  “I don’t want to give him the chance. That entire experience was horrible. You try sharing a space meant for one mind.”

  “Well, maybe we can take turns,” said Ari, “or insist on communicating with Seth only while inside the orb.”

  “Is that an option?” asked Ray.

  “I don’t know,” said John. “All I know is that Seth was very happy to be part of my consciousness. It felt like... a childhood home. At least that’s what I sensed he was feeling.”

  John stood up, fighting for balance.

  “Easy there.”

  “I have to try again. We’ve got to find a way to make this work.”

  “Not right now. You need a break.”

  “Okay.”

  Ray took John’s arm and led him to the cabin. Christie watched as the orb faded into its shadow state.

  “We could indeed take turns,” said Christie, “not that I want to experience what happened to John, but he can’t bear the entire effort.”

  “So, now you’re part of the team?” said Ari.

  “I don’t know yet. You don’t seem to be the best at working together that I can see. I understand why you lied to me, but you shouldn’t have threatened me to get your way.”

  “Well, it worked, didn’t it?”

  Ari picked up speed and arrived at the cabin first. She held the door for John and Ray. Tycho whimpered at them. Inside, John resumed his place in the sofa chair.

  “God, I’m suddenly so tired,” he said.

  “So take a nap,” Ray said. “We have a few things to discuss with Miss Tolliver here that you don’t need to be awake for.”

  John nodded, and began to zone out. Ray offered a seat at the table to Christie. She and Ari sat down. Ray pulled his chair out and turned it around, sitting with his arms folded across the back.

  “Christie, I hope that what you’ve seen will convince you to help us, despite our lack of, er, grace in getting you to participate.”

  “I can see how you’re all a little stressed out,” Christie said. “The last couple of days can’t have been easy for you.”

  “Not exactly my best week, actually.”

  “I’ll stick around for now. I’m way too curious to give up on things yet. I’d at least like to find out how Seth expects us to design and outfit our own interstellar spacecraft.”

  “I think that it’s possible,” said Ari, “that between the four of us we have what we need. John, you always wanted to design airplanes, right?”

  John was asleep.

  “That’s right,” said Ray, “not only was he an avionics technician in the Air Guard, but he also had a love for World War Two aircraft, to the point of studying schematics of some of them just for the hell of it. He also used to create elaborate blueprints for experimental designs. For all that talent, though, he could never get the attention of the right people, and it turned into nothing but a highly educated hobby.”

  Ari nodded. “Right. He might be able to provide the internal workings of the ship. We could research how they designed the space shuttle and learn how to keep the ship airtight, pressurized and oxygenated. Since Seth is apparently nothing more than a glorified stardrive, we don’t have to worry about propulsion. I can’t believe I’m even talking like this, this is totally frigging crazy.”

  “It’s just talk,” said Ray. “It can’t hurt. I keep thinking that we should turn this project over to NASA, too. But another part of me is greedy and doesn’t want to share. Like we said before, they’d probably lock us up somewhere so we wouldn’t blab the secret to the evening news. They’d probably turn John into a Guinea pig, come to think of it.”

  “We’re either totally in, or totally out,” said Christie. “There’s no in between.”

  “We need to consider how we’re going to plan this. I’m on administrative leave indefinitely, so I don’t have to worry about my job. I can work on the ship from here for the next few weeks if need be. Ari and John took the day off tomorrow, but somehow I think that this project is going to take a lot longer than forty-eight hours to finish. Christie, I presume you have to go back to work tomorrow.”

  “Yes.”

  “Then we’re all going to have to decide how we want to handle our lives. Do either of you have any vacation time coming up?”

  “I have two weeks,” said Ari.

  “I’m a college professor,” said Christie, “and it’s the middle of the semester. My vacation is summer.”

  “It will be a tough call for you, then,” Ray said. “You could participate on the weekends, I suppose.”

  “Maybe. I don’t know. As far as tomorrow is concerned, it won’t matter if I don’t show up for one class. I’ll have to answer for not calling in but that’s no big deal.”

  “We can take a drive over to Fairlee if you want to use a phone. Call in sick.”

  “Okay, fine. I will.”

  “There’s something we’re not considering in all this,” Ari said.

  “What’s that?” asked Ray.

  “If we’re going to build this ship on our own, and provide everything we need from the shell up, where the hell are we going to get all the materials?”

  __________

  “This is a wild goose chase, Dana.”

  Levi moved out of the way as Dana reached for a micro-recorder on the desk behind him. She threw the device into a backpack and walked back over to her computer.

  “It’s my time to waste, Levi. And I really think it’s worth checking out.”

  “What if we made some sort of miscalculation? What if Atlanta got something wrong? Never mind the fact that you’ll be acting as a member of ASTRA. What about the reputation of the organization?”

  Dana walked up to Levi, plucked a pen from his shirt, and placed it in her pack.

  “I’ll be acting independently. Don’t worry about the precious organization.”

  “Do you have any idea how long it’s going to take you to get up to those coordinates? That’s at least seven hours. You won’t even get there until ten o’clock at night.”

  “So what?”

&n
bsp; “So, are you going to spend the night up there? If so, where? Are you going to sleep in your car?”

  Dana stopped collecting things and turned around. “Why are you giving me such a hard time about this?”

  “I don’t want to see you put yourself through a lot of trouble for nothing, that’s why.”

  “Fine, if I come back empty-handed, you can say ‘I told you so.’”

  “Is there nothing I can do to change your mind?”

  “Doesn’t seem like it, does it?”

  “Then I’m coming with you.”

  Dana smiled wistfully, and said, “Suddenly you think this expedition has merit?”

  “I’m not going to let a young girl wander around in the woods by herself.”

  “I can handle myself.”

  “With what? Your car keys? Your cell phone? Sorry, Dana, they won’t do you much good out there.”

  “I can hardly see you in the role of Grizzly Adams, Levi.”

  “I know more about that sort of thing than you do, that’s a safe bet.”

  “Is that why you spend most of your time locked away in this lab?”

  “I’ve got what, fifteen years on you? I didn’t always work with ASTRA, you know.”

  “No, Levi, I don’t know. You never talk to me about yourself and you don’t seem interested in hearing about me, either.”

  “I didn’t think it was appropriate.”

  “Grabbing my ass is inappropriate. Asking about my life is just polite.”

  “We’re going to have plenty of time in the car together to make up for that.”

  “I don’t want you coming along, Levi.”

  Levi looked genuinely hurt. “I didn’t realize you disliked me that much.”

  “I like you just fine. I just don’t see the point in both of us going up there. If we don’t get back early enough tomorrow morning there won’t be anyone around to open the lab.”

  “So, the lab can open late for once. Big deal. I want to come.”

  “Yeah, you only want to be there when I find out I’m wrong.”

  Dana couldn’t help but smile. Levi looked relieved.

  “That’s right.”

  “Okay, fine. Your car or mine?”

  12.