“That’s ridiculous,” interrupted Professor Alan Tower. “That would indicate the entire Solar System is enclosed in some protective bubble, preventing signals from getting in. I don’t see how that’s possible. The thought of alien life is too incredible to believe.”
Rachael shook her head. “I’m in the crowd that believes, while there is intelligent alien life out there, it’s so distant that any communication signals are so weak that, by the time they get here, we can’t detect them. They also may be using methods of communication we haven’t even considered.”
“It’s possible,” Andrew answered deftly. “This mission should spill some light on some of those theories.”
“Your communications array,” Rachael continued. “What do you think the odds are of it detecting such signals?”
“If the signals are out there, my array will pick them up.”
Rachael nodded. “When we have the time, I have some questions about the array. There are parts of it I don’t understand.”
“Sure,” replied Andrew. “I would be glad to explain how it functions.” At least part of it. Other parts of the array no one could be told about. He also wouldn’t mind spending more time with Rachael.
-
Over the next few hours the rest of the crew arrived and got settled in. Equipment was checked, and final preparations were made to get underway.
The ship was divided into five primary sections. The forward section was the small Command Center, which controlled all the ship’s functions. The next section was a common area, where the crew could eat their meals as well as exercise. The third area housed the crew’s individual quarters. The fourth area was a small research section, containing various scientific instruments. The final and largest area was Engineering, which contained the ion drive, the fusion power plant, as well as other ship systems. Everything could be accessed through a large central corridor that ran from the front of the ship to the back. Large metal hatches, in case of an emergency, could seal off each section.
-
“All systems check out,” reported Lieutenant Commander Meadows.
“Excellent,” replied Captain Greer. “Let’s all go to the station and get something to eat, as well as a good night’s rest. We’ll return to the ship in the morning and go through our final checklists. Then, if everything goes as expected, we’ll activate the ion drive at 14:00 hours tomorrow.”
The captain turned to Andrew. “Mr. Wilcox, please inform Station Flight Control that the crew of the Endeavor will be coming back on board the station shortly. All tests look good, and we should be ready to begin our mission tomorrow.”
“Yes, Captain,” replied Andrew, as he quickly sent the message.
“Why don’t you join me in the station’s cafeteria?” suggested Rachael. “I would like to speak to you about the new communications array.”
Andrew nodded. “Sure, just let me get a few things from my quarters.”
“See you in about an hour then?” asked Rachael.
Andrew nodded and smiled.
-
A few minutes later Andrew had packed a small overnight bag and was on his way to the station. He had quarters on the station where he would be staying tonight, and then he would spend the next six months or more on the Endeavor. He was also pleased to be eating with Rachael. This would be their last night before becoming cooped up in the limited space on the ship, and he wanted to make the most of it.
-
An hour later Andrew made his way to the large cafeteria on the station. The station had a normal crew of nearly three hundred and was quite busy with ships stopping at the station before continuing to the Moon or Mars. Stepping into the cafeteria, he saw Rachael and another woman sitting at a table. Rachael saw Andrew and motioned for him to come over.
Andrew recognized the other woman as Kala Wright, who was an astrophysicist and would also be traveling on the Endeavor. He had met her before and had spoken with her a few times during their training in the mock-up on Earth. She was quite bright and also something of a flirt.
“I hope you don’t mind me joining you,” said Kala, smiling up at Andrew.
“No, not at all,” replied Andrew, as he sat down. He knew he would have to be a little guarded in what he told the two women. Both were extremely intelligent, or they wouldn’t be going on this mission.
“What do you think of the ship?” asked Kala.
Andrew looked at the two women. “It’s exactly like the mock-up on Earth. Just walking through it today, I couldn’t believe the details that had gone into the mock-up.”
“Only everything on this ship works,” said Rachael, as she sipped her glass of tea. “I do wish more civilians were going on this mission. Most of the crew is made up of military personnel.”
“I agree,” said Kala. “But most of the military are highly trained, and some even have advanced science degrees. I’ve met most of them, and they seem very qualified.”
“Let’s go get our food, and we can talk while we eat,” suggested Rachael, standing. “I’m starving!”
After the three went through the serving line and sat back down, Rachael turned toward Andrew. “Your array seems to have some technology I’m not familiar with to help boost the signals it picks up. How did you go about designing the technology?”
Andrew considered his answer. While the array seemed pretty straightforward, it was capable of far more than what anyone could imagine. With the array, he could intercept hyperlight signals as well as send hyperlight messages, if he wanted. It was also capable of detecting Druin warships and installations, if any were within range. “I worked on it while at Cal Tech, along with a few other engineers. I had theories on what I wanted the array to do, and some of the other engineers constructed the equipment to make it work. It’s quite complicated, and even parts of the equipment I’m not completely familiar with.”
“So it was a group project,” mused Rachael. “It must have been fun seeing something you had written and designed on paper come into reality.”
Andrew nodded. “We designed it just for this mission. We were pleased when our design was accepted.” Andrew couldn’t mention that most of those who worked on the design with him were Imperials too.
-
The three continued to talk for well over an hour. Afterward they went to one of the large observation lounges on the station, where they could see the Moon as well as Earth.
“The Moon looks so large here,” said Rachael, as she stared through one of the large viewports.
Kala nodded. “It should be. We’re much closer to it than we are to Earth.”
Andrew looked around. Numerous comfortable chairs and even a few tables were here, where people could sit and relax or play a friendly game of cards. Currently about a dozen people were in the observation room.
“Look. You can see the lights from the Moon base,” said Kala, pointing them out.
Andrew looked, and, sure enough, the lights from the sprawling Moon base were visible. Andrew took a deep breath. A few Imperials worked on the Moon, as well as several here on the space station. As the civilization on Earth had become more technologically advanced, the Imperials had been taking a more active role in helping to advance science and technology. The new fusion ion drive on the Endeavor was a good example. An Imperial scientist had helped make the breakthrough on functional fusion power plants that could be used on spacecraft.
However, great pains had been taken to prevent Earth from discovering hyperspace travel. Such travel would immediately draw the attention of the Druins and the Confederation, and Earth was not ready for that confrontation yet.
The three stayed in the observation lounge for nearly two hours, talking about Earth, the Moon, and Mars. Finally they went their separate ways back to their quarters. They had to be up bright and early the next day to board the Endeavor and go through all the preflight checklists before leaving early that afternoon.
-
Andrew was in his quarters, reading, whe
n a knock came on his door. “Enter,” he said.
The door opened, and Major Loren Henderson stepped in. He was second in command of the station, as well as an Imperial.
“Major Henderson, I wasn’t expecting a visit from you.”
Major Henderson took a seat and looked at Andrew. “I wanted to talk to you about this mission. The Council spent a lot of time debating whether to have one of our people on the ship. If the Druins have emplaced a quarantine system around this star system, there’s a good chance you won’t be coming back. The odds are very high, almost 90 percent.”
“I understand the risk, sir. But we must know if that system is there. We can’t allow this world to make numerous advances if the Druins are monitoring us.”
Major Henderson let out a deep sigh. “Andrew, less than two hundred of us know our past and have kept up with the knowledge of Imperial technology. Over the years we have been very careful and selective as to where we’ve elected to interfere with the development of this world. We’ve done everything we can to make it look like the advances in science have come about naturally, so as not to draw the Druins’ suspicion.”
“We need to find Sanctuary,” said Andrew. “It was rumored to be somewhere in this system. My comms may allow us to confirm that.”
Major Henderson shook his head. “There’s been no sign of it. It’s been nearly one thousand years, and not once have we been contacted by an Imperial from Sanctuary. I’m starting to believe that Sanctuary is not in this system or that it was destroyed by the Druins early on.”
Andrew blinked his eyes and answered. “I disagree. I think it’s here, and we need to find it. Earth’s science is developing rapidly, and it’s only a matter of time before they stumble on the hyperdrive themselves. Once that happens, it will bring the Druins and the Confederation down upon us.”
“I wish I could share your optimism about Sanctuary.” Major Henderson folded his arms across his chest. “I know both of your parents. They must be very unhappy about your decision to go on this mission.”
Andrew took in a deep breath. Neither of his parents had said too much when he had told them about his decision to go on the Endeavor mission. He strongly suspected they disapproved. Both of them wanted him to settle down and to have a large family. However, Andrew had other ideas.
“There’s still a 10 percent chance you won’t find anything.”
“No, we both know that’s not true. If something wasn’t blocking the hyperspace communication frequencies, Earth would be picking up hundreds, if not thousands, of signals with the big arrays on the surface and in orbit.”
“Okay,” Major Henderson said. “The bigger question is, what will the system that’s in place—quarantining our system—do when it detects the Endeavor?”
Andrew knew this was a legitimate question. “I guess the only way we’ll know is when I get out there. I have a communicator in my quarters which I can hook up to the communications array to get a message back to the station.”
“I know. I have a receiver to pick up such a message. It’s already hooked up to the station’s communication equipment, though no one suspects what it does. I had it installed last month.”
Major Henderson stood and offered Andrew his hand. “Good luck. I hope I’m wrong, and you make it back. I’ll await your signal.”
“Thank you, Major,” Andrew said, shaking the major’s hand.
After the major left, Andrew prepared to go to sleep. As he lay in bed, he couldn’t help wondering if he had volunteered for a one-way mission. He knew the odds were not in his favor, but, one way or another, he would be coming back.
Chapter Five
Andrew was back on board the Endeavor, waiting for launch. The crew had been on board the ship since 0700, prepping the ship to activate the ion drive.
“Cutting station power,” reported Lieutenant Williams from the engineering console. “We are now on internal power, with the fusion power plant operating at 20 percent.”
“Systems check!” called out Captain Greer.
Each department head checked in, reporting all systems were in the green.
“Inform Flight Control we’re ready to disconnect from the station.”
“Permission granted,” replied Andrew, after speaking to Flight Control.
“Helm, activate maneuvering thrusters, and move us one thousand meters from the station.”
“Disconnecting from station,” confirmed Lieutenant Suarez. “Activating thrusters at 10 percent power.”
Tension in the Command Center was high, as the ship moved away from the station. Through the viewports, more of the massive space station became visible. Two small ships bound for the Moon and a larger one going to Mars were still docked.
“Four hundred meters from station,” reported Lieutenant Morrison at the sensor console.
“Everything is still in the green,” added Lieutenant Commander Meadows.
The ship continued to move away from the station, and, when it reached one thousand meters, the vessel came to a halt.
“We’re at station-keeping, holding steady,” announced Lieutenant Suarez, as she shut down the thrusters. “Ship is oriented for initial ion drive burn.”
Andrew looked at one of the small viewscreens showing Earth. He knew their launch was being viewed by the entire planet. For several days now the media stations had been full of videos of the Endeavor, its crew, and the goals of the mission. Everyone was excited at the thought of finally finding out if other intelligent life was in their galaxy.
“Stand by for initial ion drive burn in thirty seconds,” ordered Captain Greer.
“Fusion power plant is at 70 percent,” reported Lieutenant Williams. “Ready for ion drive activation.”
Andrew took in a deep breath. Fortunately the ship had artificial gravity, and the system could counter the thrust from the ion drive, though initially they would only be accelerating at one gravity.
“Activate,” ordered Captain Greer.
“Ion drive activated.” A dull and barely perceptible rumble could be heard inside the ship.
Andrew saw the space station suddenly grow smaller. He knew anyone watching from the station’s observation lounges would see a bright blue glow behind the ship from the ions being released at high speed.
“Ship is operating as expected,” reported Lieutenant Commander Meadows.
“We’re on our way,” said Captain Greer with a grin. “Next stop is the asteroid Juno.”
Andrew knew the ship would do a close flyby of Juno and take numerous scientific readings before proceeding on. They were on their way, and he would soon know if a Druin presence lurked on the outskirts of the Solar System, monitoring the Humans. He hoped the Druins weren’t there, but, due to the absence of communication signals from the rest of the galaxy, Andrew was almost certain some presence was there. If so, it would pose a major problem for future advancements by the Humans. It would also make finding Sanctuary that much harder.
-
For days the ship continued to accelerate as it flew farther and farther from Earth. The crew got into a routine of doing regular ship maintenance and making scientific observations. The scientists in the crew had set an ambitious schedule for making observations and analyzing the data they collected.
During times when the crew had little to do, they congregated in the common area to talk, to play games, and to have their meals. Also some computers were in several alcoves, where the crew could send private messages back to Earth. Sometimes the scientists would get into heated discussions over their observations or what they hoped to accomplish on the mission.
The Endeavor passed the orbit of Mars, but the red planet was on the far side of the sun, so they couldn’t see it or take any observations. A few days later the ship reached the outskirts of the asteroid field and continued toward Juno.
-
Andrew was at his communications console, scanning all the nearer asteroids with his array. If anyone asked, he would just tell them that
he was running routine communication scans. He was convinced that Sanctuary had to be somewhere in the asteroid zone and probably inside one of the larger ones. Slightly more than 140 main-belt asteroids had a diameter greater than one hundred kilometers. Any one of those could be the home to Sanctuary. Andrew couldn’t see Sanctuary being in any of the smaller asteroids because of the resources the base would need. It just made sense for it to be inside one of the larger ones. On this mission, Andrew planned to scan all the major asteroids on this side of the system.
“What are you doing?” asked Rachael, coming over from her science station.
Andrew looked up and replied, “Just scanning various communication frequencies. I’m creating a baseline to search when we get far enough out from the sun.”
“Do you really think it’s possible the solar radiation from the sun or its magnetic field is blocking us from receiving transmissions from other civilizations?”
Andrew shook his head. “It’s doubtful. I think it must be something else.”
“We have several probes out there, and they’re still transmitting,” said Rachael.
“Some frequencies might be immune to whatever is jamming communications,” replied Andrew.
Rachael looked stunned as she thought about Andrew’s comment. “You think it’s something artificial!”
“Maybe, we’ll just have to see when we get out there.”
Rachael looked around at the rest of the crew, who were busy at their stations. “Have you mentioned your suspicions to anyone else?”
“No, not until I have more evidence.”
Rachael nodded. “That’s probably wise. A few of the scientists would think you’re nuts for having such ideas.”
Andrew grinned. “What about you?”
“I definitely don’t think you’re nuts. After graduating from Cal Tech and knowing a few of the people you worked with there, I won’t question your sanity. Just promise to tell me if you pick up anything out of the ordinary with your array.”
The Forgotten Empire: Banishment: Book One Page 6