“I will,” promised Andrew. “You’ll be the first to know.”
“We’ll be arriving at Juno tomorrow,” added Rachael. “Maybe we’ll find a trace of your aliens there.” She turned and went back to her console with the hint of a smile on her face.
-
The next day the Endeavor arrived at Juno, encountering few problems in their passage through the asteroid zone. Some systems had to be fine-tuned, but it wasn’t anything the crew couldn’t handle, particularly since they could contact the space station for technical advice if needed. They had to deal with a slight communications lag time, due to the distance. The lag time would get worse the farther out they traveled.
-
“We’re coming up on Juno,” reported Lieutenant Morrison.
“We’ve slowed the ship some to give us more time on the flyby,” added Lieutenant Commander Meadows.
On one of the ship’s small viewscreens, the asteroid became visible. Juno was irregularly shaped with a huge impact crater. The crater was at least one hundred kilometers across.
“I wouldn’t have wanted to be there when that happened,” commented Kala Wright. “It would have thrown out a massive debris cloud.”
“A couple ships looking into asteroid mining are heading out this way soon,” said Captain Greer, as she studied the image. “It’s one of the reasons we want to collect all the data we can on Juno and send it back. Of particular interest is that big asteroid crater.”
“What do you think, Andrew?” asked Rachael. “Do you think asteroid mining will ever be practical?” Rachael was busy at her console, aiming some of the scientific equipment on board the Endeavor at the asteroid.
Andrew was surprised by the question. He had been spending a lot of his free time with Rachael and Kala, discussing the mission. “Maybe. I guess it depends on what type of mining they want to do.”
Andrew studied the image of Juno closely. He wondered if it was possible that Sanctuary was located inside the asteroid. Some of the Imperials on Earth believed it might have been placed on one of the moons of Jupiter or Saturn. However, the lack of contact was a growing concern. The Imperials had had some secret discussions about financing several expeditions to find out just what had happened to the secret base.
Also apprehension grew that, with the rapid pace of development on Earth, the Druins might intervene rather than let the planet develop its own space navy. The Imperials’ general consensus was that time was rapidly running out.
“All instruments are focused on Juno,” reported Rachael.
“As soon as we’re finished with our observations, we’ll send all the data to the station to be analyzed,” said Captain Greer. “The scientists on board will be quite interested in our readings. I believe a group of investors on Earth are discussing sending a mining ship to see just how easy working on an asteroid would be.”
Andrew wondered if it was part of his group of Imperials. He had become a little out of touch since he had joined the Endeavor project. Coming out as part of an asteroid mining project would be excellent cover to search for Sanctuary.
Kala peered into a scope at the asteroid. Occasionally she made some adjustments and seemed very intent on what she was doing. “I’m getting some great views of the asteroid, particularly the impact crater. I wish we had time to land and take some samples.”
“Unfortunately this ship is not designed to land anywhere,” said Captain Greer. “I do agree it would be nice if we had a couple of landers on board. It’s a recommendation I’ll make when we get back. I suspect, once we return, the Endeavor will be assigned some new missions. This ship was designed to be used for quite some time. Once we return to the station, it will take only about four weeks to check the ship from bow to stern and have it prepared to leave again.”
“I can see a number of impact craters,” said Kala excitedly. “Most are probably millions or billions of years old.”
“That’s not surprising,” commented Rachael. “Most of the larger asteroids show multiple impacts.”
“How often does that happen?” asked Captain Greer. “Is it something we need to be concerned about?”
Lieutenant Suarez shook her head. “No, our course has been plotted to keep us away from all the known asteroids. Even though we’re in the asteroid region, they are still widely spaced. It’s not like there’s an asteroid every few kilometers. They’re hundreds of kilometers apart, and that includes many the size of a marble. All the asteroids combined have less mass than the Moon.”
“Our sensors are designed to detect any that might be a danger,” added Lieutenant Commander Meadows. “We can easily use our thrusters to adjust our course, if need be, so we’re not in any real danger.”
“We’re at our nearest approach,” Lieutenant Suarez informed everyone.
Andrew looked at the irregularly shaped asteroid on the viewscreen. The impact crater was plainly visible. He shuddered thinking what an impact like that would do if Sanctuary was, indeed, located inside one of the asteroids. “How often are there impacts between asteroids?”
Kala smiled. “Rarely. Most asteroids have their own orbits and stay in them, unless something, such as a comet, disturbs them. In the early days, when the asteroid field first came into being, there were probably a considerable number of impacts, but now everything is pretty stable.”
“Professor Crayton requests we rotate the Endeavor by eight degrees along our axis to give them better views for their instruments,” said Lieutenant Commander Meadows. “He sounded pretty demanding.”
Andrew grinned. Professor Crayton was an older scientist, and the actual head of the science team on the ship. It was also his firm belief that something prevented messages from other civilizations reaching Earth. He was also a little impatient when talking to others.
“We’re collecting an enormous amount of data,” said Rachael, smiling hugely. “All of our instruments seem to be working perfectly.”
Andrew continued to watch the viewscreen as the ship pulled away from Juno. Unnoticed by the crew in the Command Center, Andrew manipulated his communications array to search the nearby asteroids for any strange signals or emissions. To the casual observer, the information scrawling across his screen would make little sense.
To Andrew each line represented a possible communication frequency, both in real time as well as in hyperlight speed. He had been taking these readings on a regular basis as they neared the asteroids. So far his search had revealed nothing. His communications array also served as a highly sensitive sensor system. It could detect objects far more efficiently than the regular sensors the ship was equipped with.
“What are all those lines on your screen?” asked Lieutenant Commander Meadows. “I’ve noticed them several times in the last few hours.”
“Just routine scans of known communication frequencies,” replied Andrew, showing no concern. “As we travel farther out in the Solar System, I’m using the array to search for any strange signals. I’m not expecting to detect anything until we’re out past Pluto and, more likely, past the Kuiper Belt.”
“We still have a long way to go,” commented Captain Greer. “Our journey is only beginning.”
Everyone knew the captain was right. The jaunt out to the asteroid belt was a short one compared to their eventual goal just out past the Kuiper Belt.
-
Later most of the scientists and part of the crew were in the common area, discussing the flyby of Juno. A few were eating, and some were sitting in front of computer consoles, sending messages back home to family and other scientists interested in the mission.
“We should have slowed down more and spent more time at Juno,” huffed Professor Crayton.
“No,” replied Professor Alan Tower in disagreement. “It would have added several weeks to our mission to slow down to the point you wanted. We have more data on Juno than ever recorded. We have a list of potential mineral sites, as well as locations where it should be safe for a mining expedition to land on the s
urface. Our mission at Juno was to do the preliminary survey, and that’s exactly what we did.”
Professor Crayton frowned and slowly shook his head. “We’re a research expedition. Time should have been set aside for a slower flyby. When we return, I will complain to the program director.”
Professor Tower did not reply; instead he stood and walked over to one of the small freezer compartments on the wall and removed a frozen meal. Rather than argue with Professor Crayton, he would eat instead.
-
“Is Professor Crayton always like that?” asked Andrew. A number of them sat at one of the larger tables.
Rachael grinned. “No, today was a good day. I think he always seems to be a little grumpy. The man’s a genius and doesn’t hesitate to let everyone around him know he’s the smartest person on this mission. We’ve learned to just tolerate him and to not get into arguments.”
Kala nodded in agreement. “Just the other day he was explaining my own research to me, pointing out areas where he thought I was making mistakes.”
“You think that’s bad? I’m responsible for the well-being of everyone on this ship,” said Dr. B. J. Summers. “He refuses to come in for regular checkups. Every time it’s his scheduled appointment time, I literally have to find him and drag the professor to my office.”
“Why do we do the routine checkups?” asked Lieutenant Edward Thomas, the chief engineer on the ship.
“As a safety precaution,” replied Dr. Summers. “Fortunately we have artificial gravity on the ship, so we don’t have to worry about long-term exposure to weightlessness. However, we are exposed to cosmic rays and other radiation that’s normally found away from the protective magnetic field of Earth. The checkups are just a routine precaution to make sure everyone is doing okay. I don’t expect to see any problems. The ship is pretty well shielded.”
“How are your arrays functioning?” asked Rachael, looking at Andrew. “Have you picked up anything interesting?”
“No,” replied Andrew. He dared not mention what he was searching for. “I’ve been running routine checks and have been scanning Earth’s communication bands. Everything’s coming in crystal clear. I suppose everyone has noticed we can watch Earth media stations while on board the Endeavor, and they come in almost perfectly.”
“I wondered about that,” commented Dr. Summers, nodding her head. “I was watching a news channel last night and was marveling at how clear it came in. So you’re the one responsible for that. I’ve been on other expeditions, and I’ve never seen reception as clear as what we have on the Endeavor.”
Andrew was very careful in how he answered, so as not to raise suspicions about the array. “It took some fine-tuning, and, yes, the array is what we’re using to bring in the media channels as well as to communicate with Earth. I’m hoping, by making some more minor adjustments, they will be even more sensitive to receiving signals from other civilizations.”
“Do you believe they’re out there?” asked Kala, her focus on Andrew.
“I do,” said Rachael, interrupting. “The universe is just too big for us to be the only ones. There should be hundreds or possibly thousands of other civilizations out there.”
“I believe that as well,” replied Andrew. “I fully expect, if we can get out far enough past the Kuiper Belt, we should pick up one or two.”
Andrew didn’t want to mention that his equipment and the array would pick up thousands of transmissions from other worlds. The people of this Solar System had no clue as to what was out there. In some ways they were fortunate to live in the Bacchus Region, with no neighboring interstellar civilizations.
“Can you imagine what the effects would be at home if we made the announcement that we’ve detected transmissions from another civilization?” asked Lieutenant Thomas. “Of course those transmission would be decades or possibly centuries old. Traveling at the speed of light, it would take that long for them to reach us.”
“Unless they have a method of sending messages faster than the speed of light,” suggested Rachael.
Thomas shook his head. “Not possible. If you’re talking about hyperspace or warp speed, all of that is very theoretical.”
“What about an Alcubierre Drive?” asked Kala. “I understand an experimental model is being built at the space station.”
“What’s an Alcubierre Drive?” asked Dr. Summers, frowning.
“To put it simply, it contracts space in front of a ship and expands space behind the vessel,” explained Kala.
“Won’t work,” replied Thomas. “To power an Alcubierre Drive, you need exotic matter. To the best of my knowledge we have none.”
Kala looked at Andrew. “What do you think?”
Andrew was surprised by the question. “We’re still learning a lot every day. If other civilizations are out in the galaxy, I believe it’s safe to presume they’ve perfected some method to travel quickly and safely between star systems.”
“I would have to see it with my own eyes,” said Thomas doubtfully. “If we ever go to the stars, it will be in generation ships with massive crews, and the trips will be one-way.”
Kala reached out and touched Andrew on the hand, lingering longer than necessary. “Would you ever consider going on a generation ship?”
Andrew was startled by Kala’s touch. “No, I don’t think I would want to live out my entire life on board a spacecraft. It would be too restrictive, no matter what the size.” Andrew caught Rachael frowning at Kala. He felt his face flush, realizing Rachael had noticed how Kala had touched his hand. Surely Rachael wasn’t jealous. Besides, it was only a friendly touch.
“I think I’ll turn in,” said Rachael, standing and stretching. “It’s been a long day, and I want to go over some of the readings we took of Juno tomorrow.”
“So do I,” said Kala. “Professor Marcus wants to see the data, so she can compare it to some of the Kuiper Belt objects she’s studied.” Professor Adrian Marcus was an expert on Kuiper Belt objects, and she also had a very pleasant personality.
Andrew watched as the two women left the common area.
“You better watch those two,” commented Lieutenant Thomas, grinning widely.
“We’re all just friends,” replied Andrew a little uncomfortably. He didn’t have a lot of experience with women, as he had focused very intensively on his career.
“Nevertheless, we’re on a long voyage, and things tend to happen when people are cooped up in such close proximity to one another. If I were you, I would definitely take advantage of it. Both of those women are good-looking.”
“Thanks for the advice, but, for now, I’ll just keep them as friends. Now I’m going to go get some rest. I want to run some diagnostics on the arrays in the morning.”
Lieutenant Thomas looked curious. “If you need any help, let me know. I’m interested in just how your arrays work. I looked at some of the schematics, and I have to admit that they’re way beyond anything I’ve seen before.”
“I’ll let you know when I start,” replied Andrew. “Keep in mind that the arrays were designed by a team at Cal Tech, so they’re very advanced.”
-
Later Andrew lay in bed, reading. He enjoyed reading to pass the time and had downloaded hundreds of books on his personal reader. Some of the books were technical and science manuals, while others were works of fiction.
Placing his reader on the small stand by his bed, he closed his eyes and thought about what some of his readings from the sensors had revealed today. He had been unobtrusively searching for any traces of Sanctuary in the nearby asteroids. Unfortunately the arrays had detected nothing on any communication frequencies or with their highly developed sensors.
“Where are you?” Andrew said softly to himself. “I know you’re out here somewhere.”
-
Andrew recalled a recent meeting he had had with several other Imperials while he was still on Earth. They had growing concerns that, with Earth’s current developments in technology and now space trav
el, it was only a matter of time before the Confederation reacted. If Sanctuary still existed, they needed to step in and help Earth prepare for what might be coming.
“There’s a good chance Sanctuary did not survive,” Brett Newcomb said, who was part of Earth’s Imperial Council. “The attack of the Druins was so sudden and unexpected that many of the personnel who were supposed to go to Sanctuary never made it.”
“But some did,” pointed out Professor Mallory Stark, who taught at Cal Tech. “Enough that they could have finished construction before going into cryo.”
Andrew had listened to the two argue for quite some time before he interrupted them. “What if Sanctuary is remaining silent for fear of the Druins detecting them?”
Professor Stark frowned and then replied, “It’s possible. But, at some point, they must reveal themselves. The primary purpose of having the Druins maroon us in this system was so we could someday bring Earth to the point where we could return to the Empire and free it from the clutches of the Druins and the Confederation.”
“Will they even remember us?” asked Andrew. “After all, it’s been over one thousand years.”
Brett leaned back in his chair before responding. “It all depends on the Druins and the Confederation. They may have made a concentrated effort to remove all information from Human history books about the Empire. What the people may remember would be determined from what was handed down by word of mouth or in hidden books.”
Andrew looked concerned. “So the average person in the Empire may have forgotten about us? We’re from a forgotten Empire?”
“Not completely forgotten,” replied Professor Stark. “Other plans were supposed to preserve the memory of the Empire. Of course we have no idea what may have happened to those who were supposed to implement those plans on some of the worlds of the Empire. There’s no doubt in my mind that, on some worlds, yes, the Empire probably has been forgotten, while, on others, its memory may still live. We won’t know until we return.”
“And, in order to return, we must find Sanctuary.”
The Forgotten Empire: Banishment: Book One Page 7