Off Course

by Doug Farren

  With only a light smudge on the screen to remind him of the annoyance, AJ put his shoe back on and proceeded to review the data displayed on the screen. “Extend the emitter pods,” he casually ordered, then got up to get himself a cup of coffee from the carafe in the corner.

  A slight shudder indicated that his command had been carried out. “Pods extending,” Chief McKintyre reported after a moment.

  The pods contained the powerful emitters used to generate the complex field needed to drive the ship into hyperspace. The eight pods, four forward and four aft, were energized by a single master generator which in turn was powered by a one of the ship's three main fusion reactors.

  AJ poured himself a cup of coffee and grabbed a napkin from the bridge's small mini-kitchen. As he set the carafe back into its magnetic holder, the hatch to the bridge opened and the ship's executive officer stepped through.

  “Good evening Captain!” the XO's voice shattered the calm, professional atmosphere that had existed just prior to his arrival. He pulled a cup down from the rack and reached for the carafe. “It’ll be good to get back home. I could use a few days on solid ground.”

  The executive officer, Commander Patrick Moon, was a man full of energy and an almost annoying sense of humor. At 39 years of age, he was four years older than AJ, yet he moved, and at times acted, as if he was still a young man. Patrick's 190 centimeters allowed him to look down on most people but his easy-going, contagiously energetic attitude quickly put even the wary at ease. His short, blonde, carefully groomed hair complimented his blue eyes and boyish face, making him instantly popular with the women.

  “We should be making the first jump in less than an hour,” AJ told him. “I'll stick around until then.”

  It was past the end of AJ's shift and Patrick had come to the bridge to relieve him. The crew of the Star-Pulse maintained a fixed, three shift, eight-hour watch rotation while on a run. The only time the rotation was altered was during cargo handling operations. Since no interruption of that all-important activity was allowed, whoever was on shift when it began remained on shift until it was complete.

  “Your choice,” Patrick replied after taking a tentative sip of his coffee. “But, since I'm already here, how about bringing me up to date on the ship's status.”

  AJ walked Patrick around the bridge giving him a verbal update on the ship's status. On his way by the captain's chair, AJ stopped to wipe the smudge off the auxiliary screen.

  “Damned spider was crawling down my screen,” he explained as he rubbed the smudge away. “How the hell they manage to get on board is beyond me.”

  “They mostly come in with the ship's supplies,” Patrick replied not really giving the spider much thought. A knowing smile crossed his face as he added, “But some hitch a ride elsewhere – like on the crew. You might even have carried one up from the surface on the sleeve of your shirt.”

  AJ almost lifted his arm up to look but stopped himself. The XO wandered off to speak to the Chief who had just completed her own relief turnover.

  The Captain watched with mild annoyance as Patrick and Lora briefly held hands as she turned to leave. Even though the crew held positions based on the ancient Earth military naval system, they were not in the military. Company policy discouraged relationships between command personnel and the crew but did not explicitly forbid it.

  “I've been relieved by Petty Officer Delgordo,” Lora said as she passed the Captain.

  The Chief was referring to Fernando Delgordo, a fast talking, likable, 27 year old with sandy hair. He had been born on Mars to a Spanish-American couple looking to start a new life on a new world.

  AJ nodded in acknowledgment then settled back into his command chair. He spent the next 45 minutes reviewing the manifest of the recent cargo load.

  “Jump in five minutes,” announced Second Class Petty Officer Jerome King. He had relieved Thomas at the helm. Jerome was Thomas’ virtual opposite. He was a quiet, soft-spoken Canadian with thick, unruly, mousey brown hair and a thick mustache.

  “Very well,” AJ replied, closing down the manifest. “Make the announcement and give the countdown.”

  Jerome entered a command on his console then spoke quietly into his console’s microphone, “All hands – standby for hyperjump in five minutes.”

  Four minutes ticked by then Jerome gave the crew a second warning. At the 15 second mark, he chanted a countdown. When the clock hit zero a massive power surge flowed out of the fully charged storage modules into the master field generator. Complex electromagnetic fields flowed through the conduits to the crystals on the ends of the extended emitter pods.

  The crystals reacted to the power flowing into them causing them to generate the field that physically bent then eventually tore a hole in space. A doorway into another dimension opened and the Star-Pulse was squeezed into hyperspace like a grape being pushed into Jello. The crew inside the ship felt nothing even though vast amounts of energy were raging around them. In the blink of an eye, the huge interstellar freighter vanished from what we know as 3D space and entered the bizarre world of hyperspace.

  The ship was an unwelcome intruder into this realm. Had it not been for the fields surrounding it, the Star-Pulse would have been instantly expelled. But the energy reserves of even the most powerful starship was rapidly depleted causing the ship to suddenly return to normal space.

  Hyperspace cannot be imagined by any creature born of three dimensions. It can only be understood through the complex, hieroglyphic-like mathematics that only the highly educated could understand. Distance was a mathematically twisted variable in hyperspace having no direct relationship to distance in normal three-space.

  The Star-Pulse spent exactly 15.46 seconds in hyperspace. It reemerged into normal space 8.4 light years from its original position. The vast energy storage modules that powered the hyperjump drive would now have to be recharged before the ship could make another jump. It was a process that would take nearly 11 hours.

  “Jump complete,” Jerome announced. He scanned the various displays on his console and added, “Arrival point appears to be correct. The computer is checking.”

  “Main reactor at one hundred percent power,” Delgordo reported from the engineering station. “Commencing recharge.”

  “Very well,” AJ acknowledged both reports. Turning to his executive officer he said, “I'm ready to be relieved.”

  “In that case,” Patrick said, “I relieve you.”

  AJ left the bridge and headed for the mess hall. It would be at least 11 hours before the ship had enough power stored away to jump again. The bridge crew knew him well enough to inform him before the ship jumped so he would be on the bridge during the event. Right now, he needed food.

  AJ opened the hatch to the mess hall and was assaulted by roaring laughter from the group that had gathered there. Most of the non-sleeping crew had assembled in the mess and all of them looked up as the Captain turned to close the hatch behind him.

  “Think we'll get home early Captain?” asked Tony Morales, the newest of the ship's six deck hands.

  “We should if Thomas has planned the jumps right,” AJ replied. After selecting a cheeseburger and fries from the auto-kitchen's menu, he walked over to the coffee machine and poured himself a fresh cup.

  “Have I ever screwed up a jump sequence?” Thomas replied, sounding a bit hurt.

  “No,” AJ said, standing by the food delivery slot. “Kinda hard to screw it up since the computer does all the work.”

  “Well then,” Thomas replied with finality, “if the damn machine makes a mistake then I can't be blamed. There’s no way to verify those calculations.”

  “Don't count on that,” AJ joked. “You're the ship's navigator and if we get lost the company will have to blame someone. Guess who that's going to be?”

  Thomas popped the remains of some type of sandwich into his mouth and chewed as he contemplated his reply. Smiling, he said, “Seems to me that the captain is always responsible for the conduct of h
is crew. If we get lost because some programmer screwed up, I don't think it will be my job that will be on the line.”

  AJ held his cup high in salute. “Touché!”

  Starships spent the vast majority of their time floating in space, waiting for the hyperjump engines to recharge. Since most of the ship's functions were automated, this gave the crew plenty of free time. In an emergency, the Star-Pulse could use the two backup reactors to recharge the engines in a third of the time. Doing so in non-emergency situations, however, was strictly forbidden by law as the backup reactors were there for emergency use only.

  The auto-kitchen beeped three times announcing that the Captain's meal was ready. Taking his lunch out of the slot, he joined the others as they slid their chairs around to make room for him at one of the tables.

  “Captain, do you have any plans for yourself when we get back to Earth?” Heather, sitting across from him, asked.

  AJ took a bite of his hamburger and nodded his head as he chewed. Swallowing part of it, he said, “Believe it or not, I've never been to the Grand Canyon. My dad used to tell me about how beautiful it is. I have an uncle that lives not too far from there. Thought I might go see it. The company is giving us three weeks of R&R which should be plenty of time.”

  “You'll enjoy it,” Keith Richards, one of the deck hands, remarked. “My family used to go there every couple of years. Make sure you swing by Yellowstone.”

  Stuffing several ketchup-covered fries into his mouth, AJ replied, “I just might do that.”

  The friendly banter went on for nearly an hour, well past the time everyone had finished their meals. It was one of the hallmarks of a good ship. Everyone from deck hand to captain felt as if they were on equal terms with one another.

  Feeling sleepy after his meal, AJ decided to retire to his stateroom where he took a quick shower before laying down for a short nap.

  Chapter 3

  “Jump complete,” First Class Petty Officer Sung Li announced. After a few moments he added, “Target coordinates appear to be correct. The computer is verifying.”

  “Very well,” Lieutenant Susan Delray replied.

  It was just after four-thirty in the morning and the Star-Pulse had completed its thirty-second jump. Since every jump has an element of error associated with it, standard procedure called for the ship's computer to check their position as best as possible. It was a time-consuming process utilizing the positions of hundreds of stars whose spectrum could be uniquely identified.

  Li looked at AJ who, as was his custom, had been on the bridge during the jump. AJ nodded and said, “Continue with preps for the next jump.” He then turned and left the bridge.

  The Captain stopped by his stateroom and changed into a pair of sweat pants and a short-sleeved shirt. Opening the hatch to the ship's gym, he was surprised to see Heather jogging on the treadmill.

  She was wearing a pair of shorts and a sleeveless tank-top. The treadmill was set to a fast jog and the movement of her body caused her ample breasts to bounce in time with the pumping of her legs. AJ forced himself to stop staring so he could close the hatch behind him.

  Heather seemed oblivious to AJ's arrival. Taking another look, he noticed that her eyes were closed. As he was turning away, he saw the thin wire running from her head down to the tiny music player strapped to her arm.

  AJ stepped onto the other treadmill and selected a cardio workout program. As the track started to move, Heather called out in a loud voice, “Hey Captain!”

  He held his reply until Heather turned off the player. “Heather,” he said, keeping the tone of his voice neutral and his eyes straight ahead. “How long have you been here?”

  Glancing at the wall-clock she replied through heavy breathing, “About half an hour. I was just about to wind it down. These long trips give me plenty of time to stay in shape.”

  The Captain's treadmill was slowly increasing speed as hers was slowing down. By the time he was at a fast jog, Heather's was at a walking pace. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her chest rising and falling as her breathing quickly returned to normal.

  Not wanting to appear rude, AJ said, “You're probably the fittest person on this entire ship.”

  He regretted the words the moment they were out of his mouth. To him, it sounded as if he had just made a pass at her. Luckily, his exertions hid his embarrassment.

  Heather gave no indication she thought the comment was anything more than a statement of obvious fact. She grabbed her towel and wiped the sweat off her face. “I certainly hope so,” she replied keeping her voice loud enough to be heard over the whine of the treadmill. She spun the handle and opened the hatch. Stepping over the lip into the passageway she turned and said, “I'm glad to see that this ship's second fittest person is its captain.”

  AJ spent the rest of his workout wondering if there had been a hidden message in Heather's last remark. Despite his best efforts to banish them, the thoughts continued until he was once again sitting in the command chair. After reviewing the previous day's logs, he pulled up the live status screens. Everything was normal – as usual.

  AJ leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his coffee taking in the view of the surrounding stars presented on the large viewscreen. The spacious bridge, nestled deep inside the massive freighter, was as quiet as an empty house. AJ's mind began to wander, his thoughts once again returning to the image of Heather running in place on the treadmill.

  “Chief!” AJ broke the silence. “How long has it been since we've load tested the backup reactors?”

  Lora typed in the query and read back the answer as it appeared on her screen, “Twenty-six days.”

  “Well – that means we are within the window for the next load test are we not?”

  “We are Sir.”

  “Excellent! Let's use the alpha backup to assist in the recharge. After the jump, we'll load test the bravo reactor.”

  “Aye Captain!” Lora happily replied. Several minutes later she said, “Alpha backup is at one-hundred percent power and running smoothly. Power reserves will be at jump level at twelve thirty six.”

  Regulations required all starships to be equipped with a minimum of two backup reactors. They were kept in hot standby at all times while the ship was in deep space and were allowed to be used in only two circumstances: If the main reactor was unavailable and monthly for load testing. AJ's decision to perform the monthly load test a few days early would not only give the crew something to do, but would also allow them to make their next jump sooner.

  AJ managed to keep himself occupied with ship business and before he realized it, the time for the next jump was upon them. “Jump in 30 seconds,” Thomas made the announcement.

  The clock ticked down. At the indicated time, power surged into the hyperdrive. As the ship left normal space, a yellow warning appeared on the engineering console. That same warning was duplicated at the helm and also on the Captain's status display. It read: “DRIVE FIELD ANOMALY – ANALYZING.” AJ had never seen such a warning before.

  AJ called up a detail screen as the jump sequence continued. Once initiated, a jump could not be stopped except by a failure of the drive and such failures usually resulted in the destruction of the ship. The ship's computer system responded to AJ's request by displaying the hyperdrive field dynamics graph with a small section highlighted and expanded. AJ's experienced eye saw the anomaly but he did not have the training nor the engineering background to identify what might have caused it.

  AJ felt a strange sensation pass through his body, almost as if a pressure wave had passed through him. An instant later, a group of red alarms appeared as Thomas said, “Jump complete. Star shift is inconsistent. Arrival coordinates unknown.”

  AJ felt panic beginning to take hold but beat it back down. The inconsistent star shift report meant that the computer had detected a shift in the star positions greater than expected, meaning they had not arrived at their intended destination. Worse yet, the shift had been so great as to cause the co
mputer to be unable to determine even their approximate position. Such an occurrence was extremely rare and usually meant that the drive had somehow malfunctioned.

  “Initiate a complete drive system diagnostic,” AJ ordered, peeling his cap off and using his sleeve to wipe off the sweat that had appeared on his brow.

  “Aye Sir,” Thomas replied as he turned to his console.

  “Captain?” Heather's voice came from AJ's wrist-com.

  AJ glanced at the wrist-com and noted that Heather was using a private channel. Touching the acknowledge button he said, “I hear you Heather.”

  “That wasn’t a normal jump,” she replied, her voice sounding as if she was on the move. “Is everything okay?”

  AJ never kept secrets from his crew but he also did not want to start a panic. “I'm not sure,” he told her. “We have a possible drive malfunction but keep it under your hat for now. Have your crew do a quick visual of the cargo hold. I'll let you know the moment we find out what happened.”

  “Aye Sir. Out.”

  “Any ideas Chief?” AJ asked.

  Lora had been closely examining her computer monitors which were displaying several complex waveforms. “Just one, but I would rather not commit myself until the computer finishes its analysis.”

  “I won't fault you for making a wrong guess,” AJ responded. He was anxious to hear something – even a guess.

  The opening of the bridge hatch momentarily diverted everyone's attention. Patrick came through followed by Fernando. “That didn't feel right,” the executive officer said before he had stopped moving. Seeing the red warnings he added, “That doesn't look good. What's going on?”

  Fernando paused long enough to dog the hatch before heading over to the engineering station.

  “We're still looking into the situation,” AJ told Patrick. “I had Lora start a full diagnostic on the drive. Heather and her crew are going to do a quick check on the cargo.” Raising his voice a bit, AJ continued, “And, the Chief was just about to give us one possible explanation.”