Space Scout

by S A Pavli

  Space Scout

  Space Scout

  Copyright  2015 S. A. Pavli

  .All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of S.A.Pavli except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Edition 3 November 2015

  Authors Note

  I’d like to thank my readers for their constructive comments, good or bad. It gives me pleasure if someone enjoys my book, and it helps me to improve when they criticise.

  Let me also reassure readers that I have never paid for reviews, or requested them. All reviews are from genuine readers.

  There are a number of reviews of Space Scout on Amazon. Mostly four and five star, which is great. There are also a small number of one and two star, which is to be expected. I urge potential readers to read ALL the reviews before deciding to buy.

  Best Regards

  S.A.Pavli

  C

  hapter 1

  Did I wake naturally, or did something wake me? It’s an important question when you are the only person inhabiting a star ship. The cabin was full of the normal comforting noises made by the air conditioning system. Noises that one soon learns to ignore. I searched my sleep drugged brain for what had disturbed me. Then it came, the residual memory of that gut churning feeling of the Hyperspace drive operating. But we were not due to exit Hyperspace for another two weeks; Had I just dreamt it? I had barely sat up in my bunk before the whooping of the alarm shattered the peace and shocked me fully awake.

  Instinct took over and I convulsed off my bunk and headed for the Bridge. There was a series of remote thumps and the ship lurched ominously. I launched myself down the corridor, bouncing off the walls. As I dived into the pilot’s seat, I could see that the Control board was lit up like a Christmas tree; alarmingly with very few green lights. Red and yellow predominated.

  “Alfred what is happening?” I yelled, frantically pressing buttons. In reply, there was a series of bangs and thumps from the outside of the ship, as if we were being hit by meteors, and the ship lurched again. I was about to call the ship’s AI again when he finally responded in his usual calm and mellow tones.

  “We have a problem with the Hyperspace Drive Paul.” It was unlike Alfred to be so vague.

  “Could you be more specific Alfred?”

  “It has disconnected,” he said.

  “Disconnected?” I gaped at the Technicolor control board, but it did not enlighten me. “How...what..?” I began, feebly.

  “There was an overload when we came out of Hyperspace and the automatic safeties detached the Hyperspace drive from the body of the ship.”

  “Those thumps were the Hyperspace module detaching?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he replied.

  “And what were those other bangs?” I asked.

  “That was the Hyperspace Drive blowing up,” replied Alfred in his usual polite English Butlers monotone, as if announcing that Tea had been served. For a few seconds my brain seemed unable to comprehend English.

  “Blowing up? You mean in bits…destroyed.”

  “Yes, in very small bits, and quite destroyed,” replied Alfred taking me literally as always. I slumped back in my seat. With no Hyperspace Drive, there was no way to return home. Earth was thousands of light years away, totally unreachable without the magic of the Hyperspace Drive. A dozen questions crowded my mind but the sheer finality of the disaster made them all pointless.

  “That’s it then, we are dead, no way back.”

  “Not strictly true Paul. There is no way back, but we are not dead.”

  “Come on Alfred,” I groaned “Don’t be pedantic, it’s just a matter of time.”

  “Paul, take a look at the screen,” responded Alfred cryptically. The screen flashed and displayed a new image. I expanded the magnification to maximum and there was no mistake. A beautiful blue green planet hung in the star studded blackness of Space.

  “I take it back Alfred. Maybe we are not quite dead.”

  “As far as I can determine, we are seven hundred and thirty five light years from what should have been our destination,” explained Alfred. “But by incredible good fortune, we have re-entered our Space-time 2.5 million miles from the fourth planet of the star SG24536 otherwise known as Perseus ”.

  “Good fortune indeed,” I agreed. Now, those of you who are familiar with the operation of the Hyperspace Drive will know that the HD can only operate at a minimum distance of 3 million miles from any Planet or 50 million miles from any Star. Any closer and unpredictable things like explosions and meltdowns are likely to occur.

  “The navigation co-ordinates for the last jump were incorrect and we have entered normal Space too close to the planet. That is why the HD detached prior to exploding.”

  “Yes, yes Alfred I get the picture,” I said. “But how did such an error occur, it’s unheard of.”

  “It is unheard of because no one has returned to report this malfunction,” retorted Alfred, which was not at all comforting. “As to how it could have happened, I am continuing to investigate the causes.”

  Two point five million miles, I thought, that really is a ‘bulls eye’. We were very lucky to survive re-entry to normal Space so close to a planet. The up side was that we could reach the Planet using the ship’s reaction drive, which, as Alfred had pointed out, meant we were not dead. Not yet. But if the atmosphere of Perseus 4 was poisonous, then we were dead, just a bit later.

  “Alfred , have you conducted an analysis of the planet’s atmosphere?” I asked

  “Under way Paul. Initial results look good - very Earth like, oxygen, nitrogen , carbon dioxide , no poisonous gases, gravity 95% Earth, surface area 60% ocean 40% land mostly equatorial with two small landmasses in the northern hemisphere and one large landmass in the south. The Planet is slightly further from its sun than the Earth so the Equatorial climate should be very agreeable. Polar climates are more extreme.”

  “Vegetation, Animal Life?”

  “Vegetation is widespread except in the extreme polar regions. There are a few desert areas around the equatorial regions.”

  “Right, I guess Perseus 4 it is then.” I had an alarming thought. “Wait, we need to check that there has been no damage to the rockets.”

  “There looks to be no damage as far as the diagnostics are concerned, but it’s possible that the HD explosion may have done some structural damage to the ship which does not show on the sensors.” explained Alfred.

  “Hmm... exterior examination needed?” I asked

  “It may be safer.”

  I set about preparing to detach the EE Robot, a small self propelled device that would navigate around the ship under Alfred’s control beaming back full colour video. This was a fairly straight forward job that involved removing the Robot from its dustproof storage, checking its power pack and communications electronics, running a diagnostic for its simple control computer and then physically manipulating it into the air lock. Alfred took over from there and I sat back to examine the video.

  It was always sobering to see the Lisa Jane from the outside. She was a big ship, but she looked small and frail against the vast starry backdrop of deep Space. Scout ships are built for speed and endurance, not for good looks, and she looked like a combination of power station and chemical plant, which in essence, she was. She was bracketed by five huge cylinders of water that held the fuel for the rocket engines. The front was truncated; that was where the missing HD should have been. Lisa Jane was not designed to land on a planet, she was strictly a Space faring girl. Nestling in her bulky rear was the Epsilon 2, the atmospheric shuttle that would
fly us down to the Planet’s surface. Despite the massive power of her two fusion reactors, in the emptiness between the stars she was just a feeble bubble of warmth and life, relying on her immensely complex machinery to navigate and cross that unimaginable vastness; Complex machinery which had let us down, marooning us far from home.

  The external examination was problem free and after retrieving the EE robot we prepared to start up the reaction engines. Alfred started the countdown and I settled into the acceleration couch. The starting muffled rumble of the rockets seemed smooth and trouble free and the feel of weight after weeks of weightlessness was reassuring, somehow as if things were returning to normal. The acceleration phase would last some hours while the ship built up speed and then we would cruise for three days before braking to orbit Perseus 4.

  When Alfred declared the all clear I prepared my own meal. The thought that I may have seen the last of the human race led me to ponder the circumstances that had led me here. Why had I joined the Space Exploration Service? The closest similarity was probably to single handed around the world sailors. Except that if you broke a sail you called the emergency services and they would have you home for tea in no time. I could call home as well, but the message would not be received for more than two thousand years.

  It had seemed a romantic and exciting idea at the time but after three uneventful trips I was beginning to have doubts. No opportunity to change career now though. The SES will eventually send a search and rescue ship to our original destination, but we were not going to be there. Whatever we found on this planet was going to be our home.

  The SES had been set up about two hundred and fifty years previously. After the first hundred years of Space exploration, it had become apparent that planets that were suitable for colonisation were few and far between, and the job of finding them was going to be more difficult than expected. Instead of having a small number of very large ships, the SES had decided that a large number of very small ships would be a more efficient way of going about the job. The Lisa Jane was a typical Scout ship, designed to house only one human passenger and therefore minimising the food, water and accommodation requirements. The other ‘passenger’ was the ship’s Artificial Intelligence Computer. The ship’s AI was one of the most advanced Computers ever built, endowed with an intelligence that was almost Human. Although I was nominally Captain of the ship, and the ship’s AI was my ‘crew’, we were in practice partners, sharing all decision making.

  The Human member of the crew got to choose a personality for his or her ship’s AI. Most male Scout Ship Captains preferred to choose a female voice and personality, sometimes motherly and comforting, sometimes youthful and sexy. I am not sure why I chose the ‘Alfred’ personality. Perhaps having grown up in England, I nursed that very typical English dream of having my very own Butler to wait upon my every whim. Sadly for me, Alfred did little to humour my fantasy.

  Life on a Starship has a routine based on a normal Earth day. We kept to a 24 hour day, slept for 6-8 hours, woke had breakfast, started work. End of the day was the time for food and recreation. Of course, one was always on duty, but Starships are highly automated and the AI Computer ran most things. Why have a Human on board? I sometimes think it’s just to declare ownership. This is a Human Starship, got it? Not just a machine, but inhabited, a little piece of Earth.

  Truth is, Alfred could do everything. There were a number of Robots on board which could act as his hands. He (It?) did not need me. But despite his great intelligence and massive processing power, AI’s could still not quite duplicate the human brain and robots were not as flexible and intelligent as a person. So we still had a job. For now, but who knows for how long.

  It was nice to have a bit of gravity and I used the opportunity to get some exercise. Very soon we would have to cope with .95G and that was going to be hard after 6 weeks without gravity

  Alfred busied himself building up a mass of information about what was soon to become our new home. So far he had found nothing alarming and so at least it appeared that I would not die in space. I was feeling a mixture of excitement and trepidation. I kept telling myself that I was not going back home again, I would not ever see another human being again, but somehow it did not seem to have an impact. I was too busy, there was too much to study and do and the familiar surroundings of my ship lulled me into a feeling of denial. I kept thinking that the reaction would come later, and was grateful to put it off.

  Perseus 4 grow larger in the screen, and we were able to see more and more detail. I started to discuss a possible landing site with Alfred and we identified a number of possibilities. I examined maps and displays and thought, how do you decide where to live when you have a whole planet to choose from? A nice warm dry place near a clean river perhaps? On top of a hill to be protected from predators? What about food? I had a sudden thought.

  “Alfred, what are the prospects of us being able to eat the local fauna and flora?”

  “It is very unlikely Paul.” replied Alfred in a non committal sort of voice. It was all right for him , he was not concerned with such gross bodily functions .

  “Five planets have so far been discovered with life.” he continued in his best schoolmasterly voice “All have slight variations in the basic proteins of life. It’s possible some of the vegetation may be edible, but animal protein may be hard to digest. As you well know Paul, we have supplies for six months. But we also have seeds from which you could grow crops to extend your survival indefinitely”

  “Ah yes” I nodded “Join the SES and become a farmer...”

  “You will have the assistance of the mechanoids” explained Alfred . The mechanoids in question were half a dozen robots of various sizes, some designed to carry out specialised tasks on the planet, such as collecting samples and other more general duties.

  “I guess we can put off selecting a place for a permanent habitation until we have surveyed the planet in greater detail, and perhaps made a number of landings,” I mused. “We do seem to have plenty of time.”

  “Yes, we do,” agreed Alfred.

  “Well I’m off to bed,” I yawned. It had been a hard twenty hours or so since I had been dramatically awoken and I needed to catch up with my sleep.

  “Sleep well Paul, I will of course continue surveying the planet.” I had another thought.

  “Alfred, should we give the planet a name? I mean, we can’t just keep calling it ‘The Planet’ or Perseus 4?”

  “I could pick one at random,” suggested Alfred .

  “No, can’t have that Alfred. We have to live there so we may as well choose a name we like.”

  “If it makes you happy Paul, then it’s fine with me.”

  “OK, more in hope than anything else , let us name it ‘Omorphia’, after the Greek word for beautiful.”

  “That seems most appropriate Paul. ‘Omorphia’ it is.”

  Sleep was slow in coming, but it had been a long tiring day and it came eventually. I do not know how long I slept but I awoke to hear Alfred’s voice seemingly coming from the bottom of a deep well.

  “Paul, Paul, wake up. We have a problem!”

  My first thought was…. ‘just when you thought it couldn’t get worse…’

  “What is it Alfred.” I said with a sense of foreboding.

  “I have detected an object orbiting Omorphia. It is clearly artificial.”

  Chapter 2

  A succession of confused thoughts crowded my brain. An object orbiting Omorphia? What sort of object? How did it get there? Then of course, the really scary thought. As far as I knew, I was the first Human to come to this place. I realised Alfred was still waiting for a response.

  “Any chance that it could be one of ours?” I asked.

  “It is possible Paul, but I do not recognize the object, it looks like a starship but the design is unfamiliar.”

  Without bothering to dress, I hurried to the Control Room.

  “Put it on the big view screen Alfred.” The object that appeared on the
view screen was at first glance quite innocuous. But Alfred was right, it did not look like any human ship that I had ever seen. The bulbous front end looked like a Hyperspace Drive. It was attached to a long spindle, at the other end of which was a sphere. The resolution was poor, there was little detail present. “Any measure of the size Alfred?” I asked.

  “I will display the Lisa Jane next to it for comparison.” A graphic representation of the Lisa Jane popped up next to the Alien ship; it was five times the length of the Alien, and larger in girth and volume. If the Alien was a starship, it was a pretty small one. Literally ‘little’ green men I wondered?

  “This is a turn up.” I muttered to myself. “But we have seen no signs of habitation on the planet.” I was making a statement, but Alfred took it as a question.

  “No signs of large cities. And no radio transmissions of any kind.”

  “That may imply that they are visitors. Like us,” I mused.

  I paused for a moment; something was bothering me about the Alien ship, I looked again at the long spindly object. It did not look much of a starship, hardly big enough to transport any appreciable number of individuals.

  “Alfred, either the Aliens are very small, or that ship is not a starship,” I continued. “It’s too small, and there is nowhere to hold reaction mass.” The ‘Lisa Jane’ was completely surrounded by the massive cylinders, five of them, which held the thousands of gallons of water used by the Nuclear Reaction Drive. “There is also no sign of anything that looks like a Reaction Drive.” I added. “That ship is not capable of moving under its own power.”

  “You appear to be correct Paul,” replied Alfred “But why the Hyperdrive, if it is a Hyperdrive?”

  “Yes, that’s the question, is it a Hyperdrive?” I examined the ship closely. More detail was now appearing and the massive doughnut with its central spindle at the front of the alien was clearly visible. “Its a Hypedrive all right, can’t be anything else,” I muttered. Then it came to me.