Travels of the Orphan (The Space Orphan Book 3)

by Laer Carroll

  All around for thousands of miles was space filled with solar wind and all the tapestry of the many kinds of radiation. She was bathed by the wind and touched by the radiation, but none of it penetrated the super-advanced spacesuit except as sensation.

  She was home. This was what she was born to.

  Exultation filled her. She wanted to sing, and dance. She flung her arms wide and her head back and spun rapidly in place.

  As she slowed her spin her direction sense told her where the Big Bang had been, in THAT direction and THAT moment long ago. Then she reestablished her sense of her present inertial frame. She stopped her spin and oriented on the alien object.

  Now some of its insides made sense, just a bit. THAT was power generation, THAT was air generation, THAT was food creation and recycling, and so on. And THAT was the communicator.

  She instantly saw why it had not responded to Seeker's multispectral and hypercom greetings. It could, but its primary communications used Hyperspace Four.

  She had Robot send a query via H4 to the alien, only briefly pondering the fact that Robot had that capability. Time later for thinking about that.

  The station responded with queries of its own. For many thousand milliseconds the two traded handshake data. Finally a communication path firmed up tailored for her.

  "Greetings, Citizen. How may I help you?"

  Jane spoke aloud and through Robot to the alien, giving it what she thought would make most sense to it.

  "At this time my local identity is Major Jane Kuznetsov, an official in the military and exploration arm of a social entity identified as the United States of America. Do you know of these entities?"

  "I do."

  "Tell me what your duties are at this time and in your recent history."

  "I monitor space in a sphere out to a local light year for potential threats to primitive life forms native to this system."

  "Not to any alien life forms?"

  "No. They are protected by an entity in the vicinity of Saturn."

  It did not use the Earth terminology for the planet. Instead there was a complex ideogram which included a visual representation of Saturn and its rings.

  "Is that your only function?"

  "No."

  "What other functions do you have?"

  "I periodically notify any who might intrude that this system is under the protection of the Human Interstellar Confederation. I stand ready to communicate to the primitive natives of this system the nature and intentions of the Confederation. I keep myself in good repair."

  "Is that the total extent of your duties?"

  "Yes."

  "Do you function well? Do you need any additional resources or assistance?"

  "I enjoy good health and need nothing beyond those left me when I was stationed here."

  "When was that exactly?"

  It gave a figure some 97 years ago.

  Jane became JANE for a time to ensure she had not missed any important pieces of information which might trip her up or cause any danger to her mission to the alien objects.

  SHE found the object to be a simple machine in many ways, though it had some elaborate ways to protect itself and to carry out its job. This included calling a Guardian in the service of the Confederation.

  Lastly, as JANE, SHE told the object that SHE would now resume HER local identity. Henceforth it would treat HER exactly as it would all other local humans.

  It agreed with the proviso that it would communicate with her if any extraordinary circumstances arose.

  Jane returned to the airlock, resumed her old spacesuit with regret, cycled air into the lock, and returned to the runabout's main cabin.

  <>

  Jane contacted Seeker and through it her captain and Jane's crew.

  "Good news, all. AS1 has opened communications with us. Captain Fresedo, please bring Seeker in to a 1000 yards from the object."

  "You are sure it is safe?"

  "Yes."

  "Very well. Coming now."

  Kate spoke.

  "How'd you manage that?"

  "I did an EVA and requested contact. It answered."

  "As easy as that."

  "Yes." She chuckled. "You wanted it to be hard?"

  "Sometimes, Ma'am, I feel Nicole's urge to smack people."

  <>

  During the next several weeks Seeker and her crew remained on station near AS1. At any one time up to twenty people were allowed inside the alien object. They could stay in the object's "hospitality suite" as long as they wanted. It provided air, water, and food, though the last had limited selections somewhat like US military M-rations.

  The object agreed to be called Alpha when Jane suggested that name for it and it spontaneously offered to call the other three in the orbit ahead of it Beta, Gamma, and Delta. Jane was mildly surprised at its initiative but agreed to its suggestion.

  Alpha was willing to talk to anyone and said much during the time Seeker stayed on station. It would continue to do so to anyone who would follow after.

  Chapter 6 - Earth

  It took the Seeker people seven months to finish their study of the four alien objects. This included visiting Gamma bringing a small asteroid to supply basic material to help it repair damage inflicted by a glancing strike by a hypervelocity meteoroid.

  They returned to Earth carrying a load of investigators from Cat City. The Gang then said farewell to Seeker's crew. They would remain on the ship and perform other duties for the Space Force. Jane asked for and received $1.00 for the huge spacecraft. She had her mind set on another vehicle, one made possible by studying the gravity generators underneath Cat City.

  The information which they'd discovered preceded them by several months and excited many.

  <>

  WASHINGTON HISPANIC

  Washington, Maryland, Virginia, the World

  Interview: Dean Robert Brigety, George Washington University

  On: Recent explosive discoveries in space

  (In Spanish: Click HERE for English)

  WH: Dean Brigety, former ambassador to Argentina, gave us an hour of his time today to discuss the recent discovery of the existence of an organization which calls itself The Human Interstellar Confederation. Thank you.

  DRB: It's a pleasure. And of course part of my job to help GWU in its educational mission.

  WH: Today the Elliot School of International Affairs, which serves over 3000 students in international affairs, added a department: Interstellar Studies. How big is it?

  DRB: It's an infant with three professors, so of course not very big. But as one of the first custodians of the Galactic Encyclopedia copied from so-called Cat City we at George Washington felt it our duty to begin serious study of the information in the Encyclopedia, and update it with the information donated by the alien space stations in orbit beyond the Asteroid Belt.

  WH: Some say all this information is a fake, perpetrated by Earthly interests or by an alien civilization.

  DRB: Well, of course, we've considered that possibility and are actively pursuing efforts to validate the information. So far everything checks out, including information not available to any Earthly sources. So if the two sources of information are fakes they are from aliens. Aliens seemingly widely separated by time: 9,000 years.

  WH: The Confederation is big, is it not?

  DRB: Thousands of habitats on moons or in asteroids, over 800 planets. Spread out in a flattened potato shape in the same spiral arm we are in.

  WH: I believe the aliens beyond the Asteroid Belt said we are in the perimeter of the Confed, as some have come to call it. And so under the protection of the Confederation.

  DRB: That is the claim of the "sentinels" whose job is to survey space all around us and warn off anyone approaching.

  WH: These sentinels speak English?

  DRB: And all other Earthly languages. (continued HERE)

  <>

  The entire world had changed in the crew's absence. More people were optimistic about the future
. A small but significant group was more pessimistic. They felt that the future was sure to bypass them, especially when representatives of the Confederation finally bothered to turn their attention to Earth.

  Jane's immediate world changed too. All of her crew had reached their minimum time in grade for promotion, had become senior captains, and been reassigned.

  Klaus left to teach fighter training in and at the edge of space. Kate became head of a squadron which taught "Logistics and Leadership," a conjoining of disciplines at which she'd become quite skilled under Jane.

  Only briefly did Jane retain the other two of her crew. Nicole went to a 3D printing space-based manufacturing research group. Riku became head of a space-based food preparation, consumption, and recycling squadron.

  He also married Mairu.

  Phil was happy she was back on Earth again. Jane wondered sometime at him. He was often at events and at work with some of the most gorgeous women on the planet. Had he had affairs with them while she was gone? If not, what was wrong with him?

  As always she shrugged off her wondering. For now she had him all to herself and that was enough.

  And the biggest change of all: she was reassigned to the USAF Space Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where its headquarters were housed: in Peterson Air Force Base.

  <>

  "How are you settling in, Major Kuznetsov?"

  The questioner was Brigadier General Hester Willoughby, Jane's boss in the Space Force. She had succeeded her previous boss when he'd been promoted and moved up to a new assignment. She was a spare grey-haired woman who was a fanatic tennis player and a marathon runner.

  "I got a suite at the Radisson just three miles away. It has a nice view of the Colorado Springs Airport and its comings and goings."

  "That's a bit expensive, isn't it, Major?"

  This was another woman, Colonel Kimberly Liu, Willoughby's executive officer. She was black haired and had the timeless look of many Chinese women regardless of age. She was another fitness nut like her boss.

  Jane, Willoughby, Liu and a half dozen other military officers sat at a conference table in a room on the same floor as Willoughby's and Liu's offices. It was 9:00 AM of a Monday morning. It was also Jane's first day at her new job.

  "All those unused monthly housing allowances come in handy." Which was true enough, but everyone at the table knew she was a near billionaire from all the royalties on her patents.

  "You must feel a little deprived, Major," said Liu. "Every since the Academy you've had an aircraft or spacecraft at your disposal. Now you have none."

  Jane wasn't sure where the woman was going, or why. The two comments had sounded vaguely negative.

  Jane said nothing but she was not deprived. Didn't the woman know that? She still owned the prototype bizjet, Princess, still housed in the El Monte Airport and being leased by Baker Air to customers. She could use that anytime no one else had leased it. And if she gave enough notice she could hitch a ride on almost every airline and military aircraft in the free world.

  Willoughby said, "Enough pleasantries, everyone. Let's get down to business. We've several things to discuss."

  For an hour the General's staff covered a variety of matters. The US Air Force Space Command, informally called the Space Force, had beside its HQ over a dozen other installations at other host bases. Their duties included dozens of research groups, control of hundreds of satellites, launch capabilities, and support of its own and other space capable organizations.

  They took a ten minute break and continued for another half hour. Then the General spoke to Jane.

  "Major, I see you wanted the last fifteen minutes. What's up?"

  "Thank you. The last time I was at Cat City I spent most of my time studying the artificial gravity machinery. I was greatly helped by the robot administrator, which is still alive and well. I came to understand the theory and practice of that technology, enough to duplicate it."

  Lieutenant Colonel Lorenzo Russo, the only such low rank above Jane at the table, said, "That's quite a claim, Major. That's super-advanced technology."

  He didn't seem to be contradicting her, just commenting.

  "I seem to have the kind of twisted mind that can wrap my mind around the theory. But more importantly the robot considers me its administrator since I was the first person it spoke to at Cat City. It confides openly in me."

  Liu said, "Does the UN understand this? They've been controlling the tech coming out of Cat City."

  "They know but haven't publicized this fact."

  The General said, "Considering your background, Kuznetsov, I think most people will consider any work you do in this field just another example of your scientific expertise. I'll have to think about this, but for the time being we'll consider granting your project. Which is what exactly?"

  "I want to build a small prototype unit, about the size of a microwave. If this proves I do have a handle on gravity tech I want to build a zero-gravity room."

  Russo said, "A ZERO-g room?"

  "There's not much use for a plus-one-g room here on Earth. That's only useful on spaceships. But zero-g or variable-g rooms could be used for training without boosting trainees to orbit and maintaining them there. Plus they will eventually be used for entertainment."

  The General said, "So what kind of resources do you need? And what approximate time frame to get this prototype done?"

  "A one-room lab with a big industrial 3D printer and budget for work done in one of the Command's machine shops. I'll need a few tech assistants also. So, optimistically, two weeks before we can see test objects floating around inside the prototype."

  "And pessimistically?"

  Jane grinned. "Forever."

  <>

  It took five weeks to create a zero-g "microwave." It actually was a box of heavy cardboard supporting a fat flat plate housing the null-g generator. It had an open front through which one could place, or toss, small objects such as marbles, pencils, candy bars. They would float around and slowly sink to the bottom of the enclosure; the nullifying effect decreased with distance from the generator.

  It took seven weeks to add a bank of larger gravity-nullifying generators to the ceiling of an emptied storeroom.

  <>

  KKTV DIGITAL

  Serving Colorado Springs & South Colorado

  Blond newscaster Cynthia Delgado stands before a brown anonymous brick building.

  "Here we are at the Peterson Air Force Base Zero-Gravity Training Facility. I'm to be met here by Staff Sergeant George Banning. Hello, Sergeant."

  A young man in brown and grey camouflage working fatigues enters the view, hand outreached to shake with the newscaster. They shake.

  "I understand you're to give me a view of the zero-gravity facility, Sergeant."

  "Yes, Cynthia. As you can see..."

  They turn to walk to the nearby double doors. He opens one leaf of it and ushers the newscaster within.

  JUMP CUT to a large high-ceilinged room. In the middle floats two Space Force technicians in blue form-fitting spacesuit linings. Between them is some sort of jet engine or the like. They are using tools to do something to the engine.

  "Here are two mechanics experienced in space-jet engine repair but inexperienced in zero-gravity work. You'll notice..."

  <>

  Jane had worked on the zero-g room only enough to get it well started. Experienced engineers took over from there.

  Meanwhile she was working on adding gravity to a spacecraft. The design would be completely new. It had two important parts.

  Under each floor would a plate that pulled objects above it down. It would come on when the spacecraft ceased acceleration, adding gravity when the lessening acceleration took it away.

  Above the ceiling would be a second plate. It would pull objects upward as the acceleration of the ship increased beyond one earth gravity. Thus the ship could accelerate more rapidly than one gravity without injuring or killing its crew.

  The pulls on the ob
jects and humans had to be perfectly coordinated and never fail. This was a monumental job. The slightest failure in coordination could result in a disaster.

  Jane spent much time on this in her cyborg state.

  Another job almost as important was coordinating the work done on all the parts of the spaceship, insuring that all the many parts to be assembled would fit together exactly. And in the right order and on schedule.

  This was another monumental job. Dozens of contractors and hundreds of subcontractors made those parts. And they were made all over the US, Europe, India, Australia, South America, and elsewhere. Including the three Chinas.

  This job too was done mostly in her cyborg state.

  She was helped, however, because by this time the control of spacecraft construction was a mature discipline. There were thousands of people skilled at doing the parts of the job and much well-tested software and practices to ensure everything fit together.

  Even so, it was well that Jane was a superhuman designed over at least a thousand years to be tough and tireless. She was even able to spend a few hours of each week with her families and friends and still get enough sleep.

  It took two years, the work of many thousands of people, and many millions of dollars. Finally it was done. And--huge bonus--done once could be done again and again much more cheaply.

  <>

  On a Monday morning in June Jane traveled to Boeing Manufacturing Plant #4 in Long Beach in southern California for the formal launch of Prototype One. Unlike previous spacecraft it had been made and assembled entirely on Earth. All previous deep-space vehicles had been assembled in orbit. Proto 1 would be able to fly within the Earth's atmosphere and travel to and from orbit from Earth.

  Phil drove her from his home in Beverly Hills where she'd stayed overnight. They entered the plant through a security-guarded gate after presenting two temporary badges which had been couriered to her in Colorado.

  At a reception area a Boeing greeter met her and escorted her to a line of several dozen chairs on a vast concrete area outside the huge barn of a building where the spacecraft had been assembled and static tested. Before them was a platform with a podium near its front and a line of several chairs behind it. As a backdrop for the platform sat Proto One.