2024-2120

by Russell Fine

  “Thank you again. Can we really get all this done before you want to leave?”

  “Yes, I think we can, but if I have to delay my departure by a day or two, that is fine. Brealak and I would like to stay on the ship until tomorrow morning. Can you send a shuttle over tomorrow morning at ten?”

  “Consider it done.”

  “Tomorrow I would like to go over to your ship to make sure everything is going well with the gravity system. I will bring one of our communication units and an engineer to make the changes in your navigation system. I will also bring the images of Procolt 2.”

  “That would be great. Thank you again. We’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

  Jeffery went to the Star Rover to see how things were going with the artificial gravity system installation. As soon as they exited the shuttle bay, he noticed changes. There was now a plastic coating on the floor. He said, “Mike, can I assume this stuff on the floor is part of the gravity system?”

  “Yeah, they’re spraying that stuff on every floor. I guess it’s a good thing we don’t have carpeting. You can’t see it but there are wiring and transducers in that coating. The transducers create gravity waves. They’re putting this stuff everywhere except the hydroponic garden area. Carol said she likes the system she has and the plants have adapted to it. So, I told her we wouldn’t put it in her area. This isn’t the final coating. After everything is working they’ll spray an opaque sealer over this stuff.”

  “Thanks for the update. Who’s on the bridge now?”

  “Sean and probably Ron.”

  “Good, I need to speak with Ron.” Jeffery picked up the communicator to call his linguistics officer, Ensign Cathy Carter. He pressed the button on the communicator and said, “Carter.”

  A moment later a voice responded, “This is Cathy.”

  “Hi, Cathy. It’s Jeffery. Please meet me on the bridge.”

  “Yes sir, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  When Jeffery stepped onto the bridge he saw his chief engineer and said, “Hi Ron, how are things going?”

  “Oh, good morning Admiral.” Ron smiled, saluted, and said, “I wasn’t expecting you. Aren’t you two supposed to be planning your wedding or something?”

  Jeffery said, “Please, no more admiral stuff. I know it violates military protocol, but you know I want to keep things informal. As far as I am concerned, nothing has really changed. I still Jeffery.”

  “Yes, sir,” Ron replied smiling.

  Then Debbie said, smiling, “To answer your question regarding the wedding, Jeffery and I have nothing to do. It’s all being done by an aide to President Winters. So, we came here to harass you.”

  “Well, I guess that’s okay. They expect the gravity system to be completed within forty-eight hours. So far the tests we’ve run have all been successful.”

  “That’s great. Please make sure you learn as much as you can about it because if it fails, I think you know who will have to repair it.”

  “Yeah, I’ve been learning everything I can. That plastic material they’re spraying everywhere is really amazing. I understand how it works, but I can’t figure out how it’s made. I’ll spend some time with Quat before he leaves and try to pry some additional information out of him.”

  “Good. Tomorrow more people will be coming over from Garlut’s ship. They’ll be installing a trade association communication system. They’re also going to make some modifications to our navigation system so we can utilize their star charts. That will be needed for our next mission.”

  Just as Jeffery finished, Cathy walked onto the bridge and said, “Good morning sir.”

  “It’s not necessary to call me ‘sir,’ Cathy. Anyway, tomorrow some people from Garlut’s ship will be installing a new communication system that will allow us to communicate with other ships from the trading association. I want you to learn how to use it. The system has a built-in translator so it will eliminate a major problem. In addition to your other jobs, you’re now our communications officer. We’ll set up a spot for you on the bridge. If we encounter another ship, it will be your job to initiate contact with them.”

  “Do I get a raise?”

  “Do you need it?”

  “No, there’s nothing for us to spend money on anyway, but I had to ask. Thank you for inviting all of us to your wedding. I think everyone is looking forward to it.”

  “I’m looking forward to being married, but I’m less sure about the wedding. Debbie and I are going to stay onboard for a while. We’ll be in my quarters if you need us.”

  Debbie and Jeffery left the bridge and walked to his room. His furniture had been moved so the floor could be sprayed, but nobody had moved it back. They spent a few minutes repositioning the furniture and Jeffery sat down at his desk and called Max.

  “Good morning,” Max said, “are you getting excited about your wedding?”

  “I don’t think ‘excited’ is the right word. The reason for my call is that I want to talk to you about our next mission.” He told Max about the new communication system and added, “They’re also making modifications to our navigation system so we can use their star charts.”

  “Why do we need their star charts, don’t we have our own?”

  “Yes, but ours only reference the stars that can be seen from Earth. For our next mission, I want to go to the Procolt system. There’s an Earthlike planet there that has no humanoid population but does have small animals. I want to explore it. That’s why I need their charts.”

  “How far is it?”

  “Twenty-seven light years. Garlut has been there twice. Tomorrow he’s bringing some images; I’ll send them to you.”

  “I’d like to see them. I think a visit to Procolt would be okay, but we want you to visit Coplent too. Please discuss that with Garlut. I’d like to know his reaction.”

  “I think that’s a great idea. I’m sure he’ll be happy with that decision. Is this a prelude to sending a permanent delegation there?”

  “Yes, of course, it is. I wish I could go with you but I’d never pass the physical.”

  “What’s the date of our departure?”

  “There’s no exact date, but I’d guess it will be about thirty days. I assume you’re going to take a few days off for a honeymoon. When you get back, we’ll set up a meeting to discuss the mission.”

  “Okay. By the way, according to Ron, the gravity system will be finished in forty-eight hours.”

  “That’s good news. Call me again tomorrow.”

  “I’ll do that.” Jeffery turned to Debbie and asked, “Did you hear what he said?”

  “Yeah, I’d love to go to Coplent.”

  “Not that! We haven’t made any plans for a honeymoon. Where do you want to go?”

  “Well, your quarters are bigger, so we should probably go there.”

  “That doesn’t sound very romantic. How about someplace in Europe like London, Paris, or Rome?”

  “You know we spend our lives traveling, so why would we want to travel someplace?”

  “I see your point. How about if we just stay in our room on the station?”

  Debbie smiled enticingly. “That works for me.”

  “Okay, but let’s tell everybody we are going to Bali or something. I don’t want them to know we’re still here.”

  “Bali, it is.”

  ***

  When Debbie and Jeffery arrived on Garlut’s ship the following morning, they found him with two of his engineers. There were also several large boxes of equipment. When the passengers and equipment were loaded into the shuttle, they left for the return trip to the Star Rover.

  Debbie was piloting the ship. Jeffery turned toward Garlut and said, “I received permission to go to Procolt on our next mission. They want us to make another stop too. They want me to go to Coplent.”

  Garlut smiled and said, “I think that is a wonderful idea. I do not know if you realize that the Procolt system and Coplent are in almost opposite directions. The distance between the two
systems is forty-eight light years. For the Star Rover that is a one hundred-thirty-day trip. Do you know which will be your first stop?”

  “No, not yet. Will you be on Coplent when we get there?”

  “When I know your schedule, I will try to arrange it. I will also give you some information about who to contact in case I am not there. We have a space station, so that should be your first stop. We do not have a fancy hotel or restaurants on our space station, but I think you will be impressed.”

  “I’ll talk to Max about the schedule later today. Perhaps I can let you know by this afternoon.”

  When they arrived at the Star Rover, Mike was there to greet them with a big smile on his face. Jeffery and Debbie noticed something immediately; there was gravity. Debbie jumped up a few inches and came back down, then she smiled. “This is wonderful!” she exclaimed.

  Mike said, “The gravity system was finished while you were gone. It’s working all over the ship now. There are still a few areas where the floor needs to be sprayed and that should be finished in a few hours.”

  “That’s good news. You must have known that before we left but you didn’t say anything.”

  “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

  Jeffery smiled and said, “It was, and a very pleasant surprise too. Please get somebody from maintenance to take these boxes where they need to go.”

  Garlut said, “Everything needs to be on the bridge.”

  “Okay, I’ll take care of it,” Mike replied.

  Everybody went to the bridge except Jeffery, who went to his quarters. When he got there he called Max, but Max was in a meeting so he left a message telling Max that Garlut thought stopping at Coplent was a great idea, and asking Max to let him know what planet he preferred the Star Rover to visit first.

  The day went by quickly. The new communication system was installed and Cathy received several hours of training on using the equipment and the protocol used for communication between trade association members. Jeffery received a message from Max indicating he should make the decision regarding the mission sequence, but he was glad Garlut was happy about the upcoming visit. The modifications were also completed on the navigation system and Mike was fully trained on its operation.

  As Jeffery watched Garlut’s engineers training Cathy and Mike, he decided he was going to request training for some additional crew members before the next mission. He wanted another navigator and a backup communications officer. He sent a message to Max with his request. Much to his surprise, Max responded by leaving a message an hour later: “Your new staff will be on the morning shuttle. Lieutenant Dean Crawford will be the additional navigator and Ensign Anne Perkins will be your backup communications officer. Both of them have an engineering background. I believe they’ll make excellent additions to your crew. They’re both very happy with the assignment.”

  Jeffery told Mike and Cathy about the new crew members. He was concerned they might feel slighted in some way, but actually, they were both pleased to have the help.

  Later in the day, Jeffery asked Garlut to join him in his quarters. Jeffery left the door open so when Garlut arrived he could just walk in. He said, “I wanted to discuss the schedule for the next mission with you. If we go to Procolt first it will probably be seven months before we get to Coplent. Does that work with your schedule?”

  “It will probably work. There is something I have been meaning to discuss with you. It will make things easier when you are dealing with other members of the association. We have adopted standards for days and years. We do not use months. You must start using the standards if you want to be understood. Our standard day in Earth time is twenty-eight hours, thirty-one minutes, and seventeen seconds. Within the trade association, there are twenty hours in a day and four hundred fifty days in a year. I know it will take some time to get used to it and it is only necessary to use on your ships. We do not use minutes or seconds. We use thousandths of an hour. It will not be difficult to program your computer systems to handle this change. Can you get this done before your mission starts?”

  “Yes. It’ll definitely be confusing, but I certainly understand the need to do it. We use months all the time but now we’ll have to express everything in days.”

  Garlut continued, “A date is expressed as the year and the day within the year. What you would call a Julian Date. Time is expressed as the hour and thousandths of an hour. The current time is 11.563.

  “Okay, I’ll get our chief engineer working on that. I’ll need you to give him the exact time so our time will match yours.” Then Jeffery turned to his computer and after a minute or so said, “If my calculations are correct, we’ll arrive at Coplent one hundred and seventy-seven standard days after our departure from Earth.”

  “That sounds right to me. I will do my best to be there before you arrive. But I already sent the information to you about who to contact if I am not there.”

  “Yes, I have it here. Thanks, I’ll call Ron to let him know about the new time standards.”

  “Good, I will see you later,” Garlut said. He left Jeffery’s quarters and walked back to the bridge.

  Jeffery called Ron and explained the problem. Ron replied that he would have the new trading association standard time as well as Earth time displayed on all of the bridge monitors tomorrow and the new time would also be available on all onboard computers.

  In what seemed like no time at all it was Friday morning: the wedding day. Jeffery and Debbie met Garlut and Brealak at the hotel restaurant for breakfast, but neither Jeffery nor Debbie were hungry. The wedding was scheduled for 7:00 PM with a reception and dinner afterward. There was a shuttle that would take the twenty-two crew members of the Star Rover, Garlut, and Brealak to Earth at 4:30. Jeffery was somewhat concerned about leaving the Star Rover empty, so two people from the station would be onboard until the crew returned.

  That afternoon, both Jeffery and Debbie called their parents. They were all at the hotel across from the World Council Headquarters building. Everybody was very excited about the wedding and they were anxious to see Jeffery and Debbie. Debbie’s mother asked her where they were going for their honeymoon. She thought about telling her mother the truth but told her instead that they were going to Bali.

  THE WEDDING

  May 17, 2120

  By 4:15, everybody who was going to the wedding was waiting for the shuttle. The entire Star Rover was dressed in their NASA dress uniforms. Garlut and Brealak we attired in the same uniforms they wore to the World Council meeting. The shuttle arrived at 4:20 and by 4:25 everyone was onboard. A few minutes later it departed the station for the trip to Earth.

  When they arrived in New York, Heather was there waiting for them. She directed Jeffery, Debbie, Garlut, and Brealak to a limo and the crew of the Star Rover to a shuttle-bus. When they arrived at the World Council, the building’s courtyard was filled with people. However, just as they had done before, they drove to the side entrance of the parking garage and went inside. Heather led all of them to the ballroom floor. As Jeffery and Debbie stepped off the elevator, they spotted their parents waiting for them.

  Jeffery and Debbie walked over to them. Debbie said, “Mom and Dad, this is Jeffery.”

  Debbie’s father reached out and shook Jeffery’s hand. Jeffery said, “I’m very pleased to meet you, Mr. Murphy.” Then Debbie’s mother gave Jeffery a brief kiss on the cheek and smiled at him. “It’s nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Murphy.”

  Then Jeffery introduced Debbie to his parents. After the introductions, they walked into the ballroom. The room was enormous. Jeffery estimated one hundred and fifty feet long and one hundred feet wide. It was lit with at least one hundred crystal chandeliers. At the far end of the room, an orchestra was playing softly. There were dozens of tables already set up for dinner. On each of the two outside walls, there was a bar and tables with hors d’oeuvres. Jeffery guessed there were already more than one hundred people there, but he didn’t see any of the World Council members.

  H
e felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to find Garlut and Brealak standing there. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to abandon you,” Jeffery said. Then he said, “Mom, Dad, Mr. and Mrs. Murphy, this is our friend Garlut and his daughter Brealak.”

  Garlut and Brealak bowed slightly and Garlut said, “We are very pleased to meet you.”

  Mr. Murphy glared at Garlut and Brealak for a few seconds, and said, “Please forgive me for staring. I’ve never met someone from another planet before. Garlut, do you like Earth?”

  Garlut smiled and replied, “There is nothing to forgive, and yes, I like it very much. I have been studying Earth for a long time. It is nice to finally have an opportunity to meet some of its people.”

  Then Mr. Murphy asked, “Is Earth similar to your home planet?”

  “Our civilization is much older than yours and we have developed more advanced building techniques, so our buildings look different. Also, we do not use wheeled vehicles for transportation. But overall, they are somewhat similar. Jeffery and Debbie will be visiting Coplent soon. You should probably ask them that question when they get back.”

  “I’m not sure our visit to Coplent was supposed to be public knowledge yet,” Jeffery said under his breath.

  “I promise I won’t tell anybody,” Mr. Murphy said.

  “Okay, how about if we get some drinks? I’m sure everything will be terrific,” Jeffery suggested.

  They went to the bar and got drinks. Garlut and Brealak asked for water. They picked up small plates and filled them with hors d’oeuvres. Just as they did this, Heather walked over to them and directed them to the table reserved for them. They took their seats and talked among themselves for a while, mostly the parents asking Garlut and Brealak questions. Suddenly the room became quiet and they turned to look at the entry to the ballroom. They saw the World Council members and their families walk in. All except President Winters walked to the tables that were reserved for them, who walked over to Jeffery’s table.