Travels of the Orphan (The Space Orphan Book 3)

by Laer Carroll

  "How much can we depend on the Encyclopedia's description of these so-called predator species? Are they just the adult equivalent of kid's scary stories designed to make kids obedient? Are they designed to make us accept that we have been made, without our consent, a PROTECTED part of the Human Interstellar Confederation? Even if we really are protected, how quickly would the Confed send a fleet or one of the giant spaceships which are interstellar spacecraft carriers?

  "I've provisionally concluded that we have to go the route of better safe than sorry. I think we should begin tentatively building up a space warfare capability capable of countering a predator species.

  "Well, that's the background of my motivation. Agree with it or not, it's the basis of all my planning for the future. You will no doubt judge the missions I propose by other criteria. Such as the possibility for commercial exploitation of the areas I want to survey.

  "Here they are."

  She turned and gestured with a remote which had been sitting on the table in front of her. It controlled the specialized computer attached to the bottom of the big screen TV on the wall behind the chair in which she'd been sitting.

  The screen lit up to display a Powerpoint outline. She almost felt the people in the room settle down at the familiarity of this mundane presentation software.

  She moved to the side to let the audience better see the outline on the screen. The first entry was headlined MARS.

  "With the FTL drive Mars is just a few hours away. For about the same energy spent by a space-jet equipped vehicle like my old spacecraft Constellation which took two days to get to Mars."

  She clicked the remote control highlighting the second entry on the page: VENUS

  "Venus. I'm especially interested in Venus because we know so little about it. Most of us have pretty much written it off as useless to us for the near future. Its surface is literally hot as Hell. Lead is a liquid there. The atmosphere is thick, made of carbon dioxide and has clouds of sulfuric acid. Yet I think we are missing a number of possibilities for exploiting it. The Cats think so, and I've discussed it with them."

  She clicked the remote again.

  "MERCURY. Even more Hellish so close to the Sun. Yet... Are we missing something there? I want to find out. Or at least help the people who are able and willing to do so.

  "THE ASTEROID BELT. You won't find any argument there. We are already exploiting it. It's huge. There are still enormous profits ahead from it.

  "JUPITER. Several moons need further exploration. The Galactic Encyclopedia says that Europa is inhabited in the ocean under its surface. By intelligent life. The Cats agree."

  "SATURN. The Cats claim that it is surrounded by a sort of subspace transportation network. Ladies and gentleman, it's time we checked if WE can use that network. Can Earthly humans travel to other stars?"

  The male admiral lifted a hand and Jane nodded at him.

  "What about you, Colonel? Would you try it?"

  "I plan to. Someday. Damned right. Maybe when I retire."

  She turned back to half looking at the TV screen and half looking at the audience.

  "OUTER PLANETS. They deserve their look too. The FTL drive can get us there in a day, to drop observation satellites.

  "COMETARY OBJECTS. Beyond Pluto is the Kuiper belt. In fact Pluto is considered the nearest part of it. It's huge. Even bigger is the Oort Cloud. It surrounds the solar system out to halfway to Alpha Centauri.

  "The Cloud is on my list of places to keep an eye on. A predator fleet could hide in it as it approaches closer. But you don't want to hear about my pet scaredy cat.

  "So there it is. My list of places to take FTL craft."

  She sat down.

  Willoughby's exec, Zain Collins, after a glance at his boss, spoke up. He was a handsome athletic 45-year old with touches of grey in the temples of his brown hair.

  "You can't visit them all in one mission, Colonel. What would be your first voyage?"

  "I think to the lesser-visited two inner planets. I'd take a group of scientists there for a month. We'd take a load of observation satellites and thread them into the neighborhood of each planet under the supervision of the scientists. I'll leave Mars and the Asteroid Belt to the ongoing missions.

  "Next I'd visit Jupiter. Though I understand that S-347 has recently taken a group of scientists there."

  The female admiral gestured for attention.

  "It has. But I know that you could find another group of scientists who want to go there but for several reasons couldn't get on the S-347 list."

  Jane nodded at her and thanked her.

  General Willoughby said, "Unless there's something else I want to close this meeting. There are matters I need to discuss with Colonel Kuznetsov and Captain Leftwich. So stick around, you two."

  No one had something else to discuss, at least not when the general clearly wanted the meeting to end. Half the room was quickly out the door. Several more came by Jane to shake her hand and congratulate her with pulling off the FTL project.

  One of those was the female admiral. She said her piece then gave Jane her card.

  "The two of us want to discuss something with you, Colonel. Are you free for lunch?"

  "The general hasn't scheduled anything yet, so unless she changes her mind today is fine. I'd want to bring my exec, Captain Leftwich."

  Her exec was already having his hand shaken by the male admiral. The female turned to shake his hand too.

  "The more of your people the merrier, Colonel. The cafeteria close to the Research Center is my preference. We have a meeting after lunch near there this afternoon."

  "Fine with me." She glanced at the card the woman had handed her. "Best time is probably 11:30. I can text to this phone number if there's a delay?"

  She held up the card she'd been given and the woman nodded. Then the two admirals left.

  All other people except Jane and Leftwich and their boss and her exec were left. The general gestured them to follow her and left the room by a side door. A few feet away in the hall beyond was a door into her office and her exec's adjacent office.

  In the office were two sergeants in brown and grey camo work uniforms. The woman carried a large professional camera, the man a stenographer's note pad and ballpoint pen.

  "First," said Willoughby, "Leftwich, I want you to come over here behind my desk with Zain and me. Stand here between us."

  Smithson nodded and complied. The general then spoke.

  "Captain Smithson E. Leftwich, I want to congratulate you. You have earned a well-deserved promotion to Major."

  She opened up a small white box. Inside it were the two gold oak leaves of the man's new rank.

  "I'm honored, General. Thank you."

  The general and her exec then replaced the captain's silver bars on his epaulettes with the oak leaves. Meanwhile the photographer had been getting several shots of the ceremony which ended with handshakes by Leftwich with the two officers beside him. The writer had made a few notes.

  Next it was Jane's turn. As she stood between the Brigadier and his exec Willoughby said, "Normally you'd have a few more years in grade to go before you'd be eligible for full colonel. But with the consent of the United States Senate you have been promoted to full colonel, Jane Kuznetsov. Your invention of faster-than-light travel is only incidental to this promotion. Your leadership in getting FTL travel implemented and tested and put into practical use is an inspiration to every member of the Space Force and, I dare say, to every member of the military."

  Jane took her boss's proffered hand and said, "It's a cliché but absolutely true, Ma'am. I share this honor with everyone who worked to bring that task about."

  They held the pose as the photographer took several shots, then several more as Jane shook hands with Colonel Collins.

  Then, in the hallway outside the general's office, the Space Force newszine writer had a short interview with Jane and Leftwich while the photographer took a video of the talk.

  As the photographer shu
t off the fill-in light she'd used the writer said, "This will be in the international addition of the Air Force newszines, Colonel. It will probably be picked up as well by civilian 'zines. You've got a BIG fan base."

  "Thanks for the information. It's a little intimidating, I have to admit, that so many people think I'm worthy of their attention."

  "That includes the crazies," the man said. "My advice; totally ignore them. Answering them wastes time and puffs up their egos."

  Jane nodded. As she did so the photographer spoke while she was putting her camera in a case, locking it closed, and swinging the case over her shoulder.

  "I'm one of those fans too, Colonel. Not least because your boyfriend has actually gotten Quidditch to be a national sport. And gotten Cats to play on opposing teams. I've dreamed of seeing a real game for since, well, since almost as soon as I could walk."

  Jane laughed. "I'll be sure to tell Phil that. He'll absolutely love to hear it. It's not just for money he does it. He was, is, a fan of J. K. Rowling too!"

  <>

  Jane and her exec had plenty of time to walk to the Peterson Air Force Base Research Center and they took it. The chill of the air at this time of the year had been cut by an unusually warm day.

  At the Center they walked by it and through the green plaza in front of its entrance, passing near enough to the large fountain in the center of the plaza to fill a faint mist blown off it. The destination cafeteria was on the opposite side of the plaza from the Center.

  Just inside it the two admirals waited for them. They greeted Jane and Leftwich and pointed out the entrance to one of the private dining rooms on one wall. Then everyone separated to go through the cafeteria lines to load trays with food and drink and pay for it. The radio ID chips in Jane's and her exec's badges automatically took care of that last task.

  They all met in the room, reserved by the admirals but shared by three other groups at the four large round tables, sat, and began to dine from their trays. As they did so they introduced themselves and got acquainted.

  Near the end of the meal the female admiral began the discussion she and her colleague had desired to have with Jane.

  "As you likely know the Navy has long thought it should have a part in the arena of space, but only recently has the Defense Department solidified policy that specifies what that part is and allocate budget toward those ends."

  "Before you go further," Jane said, "I have long felt that way too. The customs and the training of the Navy seem to me more fitting to the long-range voyages and long times we will increasingly encounter in space missions. You may think it foolish to look decades in the future, but I anticipate that we are going to eventually send spaceships beyond this stellar system."

  The two admirals looked at each other. "That's…an unusually long view for young officers, or young anyone, to have."

  "Or," said Leftwich who was having an ale to match his boss's wine glass, "most older people too."

  Jane glanced at him and back at admirals.

  "You two seem to be about fifty. At 62 you will legally be forced to retire unless you get rare special dispensations. But that will change. You should know that eventually, and not that long from now, the Human Interstellar Confederation will send an ambassadorial mission to Earth to lobby for Earth to move from being a Protected System to a Candidate System."

  She took a sip of wine and waited to see their reaction.

  The man nodded. "I've been studying the Encyclopedia too, and with just as much caution as you have. But both the Cat and the Confed versions agree that one of the incentives the Confed will dangle before us is the forever-young treatments that they, the Cats, and the Lizards have. And I gather all other very advanced races have some variation of."

  He followed Jane's example and took a sip of his drink, ale, and waited to gauge the responses to what he said.

  Jane, who had long known that she herself had had that treatment, or been born not needing it, agreed.

  "So we all," she said, "will eventually be forced to look decades and even centuries ahead in every endeavor we engage in."

  "Though," said Leftwich, "most of us will not do so."

  His audience all smiled.

  "To bring us back to the short term," Jane said, "I've been drawing up plans for a space traveling carrier craft. You in the Navy could supply much-needed expertise in the practical side of this endeavor."

  "I'll sign on to that effort," said the man. "But before we work up to the USS John McCain size I suspect a smaller vehicle will be more politically popular than what you plan--"

  "You're right. What I plan is a mile long eventually. Or even longer. Or larger. More than one of the Confed's carriers is the size of a small moon and carries three thousand vehicles."

  Everyone looked at her, the two admirals uncertainly, Leftwich with amusement. He spoke.

  "You don't know if she's joking are not. I'll tell you. She's deadly serious. And you know what. I believe she'll get just that. Maybe in a century from now."

  Now they looked at him uncertainly.

  Jane smiled at them. "I make it about forty years before a mile long, or round, vehicle is practicable or needed. But I like to make long-term plans and then fit shorter-term plans into them, adjusting as needed."

  "Just how long do you plan to be around?" said the female admiral.

  "At least a thousand years, Ma'am. Elizabeth says she's three thousand years old and counting. I believe her. We should all believe her. We have entered the Galactic stage, my friends. Get used to thinking big and long term.

  "But meanwhile, I propose we collaborate on a seven-hundred foot vehicle. After all, Constellation and its sister ships coming off the line are three hundred feet long and no one thinks that's excessive.

  "I also suggest we not cast it as a war vessel. Instead I'm calling it a logistics vessel, a cargo and passenger vehicle to support long-term research projects and commercial ventures. We can always convert it to a carrier of fighter craft. Like S-347."

  "But 347 is a commercial…." The man's words trailed off.

  "Elizabeth got 347 two thousand years ago, Sir. In some of her conversations I've heard a little bit about the hairy systems and situations she's wound up in and had to deal with. You don't think 347 could take out an entire fleet of spacecraft if it was threatened? I've seen her shuttle craft. If they aren't military I'll eat one. And she's got hundreds of the things. And maybe some craft that are even bigger and badder. S-347 is A MILE LONG and a tenth that round. She's a BIG mother-fucker."

  The Navy was no stranger to salty language. But to hear such words come from this small seemingly frail cheer leader type momentarily shut them up.

  Beside her Smithson Leftwich hid his smile. He well knew the military career of the woman he called Boss. Including the time she went alone into the night carrying only a knife as a weapon to deal with seven bad-asses who threatened people she cared about.

  <>

  Navy Times - Aircraft Carrier for Space

  Rear Admiral Brenda Wellesley and Colonel Jane Kuznetsov of the US Space Force have signed an agreement to set up a study group to design a new type of space craft. Half the length of the Navy's USS John McCain, its latest nuclear aircraft carrier, this conceptual spacecraft has been christened Little John in joking reference to its organizational similarity to the McCain and similar aircraft carriers.

  "Large vehicles that take long voyages," says Wellesley, "necessarily have big crews. Aircraft carriers are a prime example. They carry several types of aircraft such as fighters, bombers, reconnaissance craft which may be turboprops rather than jets, and helicopters for sea rescue operations.

  "They also have kitchens, recreation facilities, and training facilities - for training never stops in today's militaries. They have offices and meeting rooms and churches and synagogues and mosques and ethical fellowships for non-believers. They have what amounts to long-stay hotels for its crew."

  Kuznetsov says, "The advent of spaceships with antima
tter power plants and counter-gravity to allow very high accelerations means that the solar system is open to humanity. Even Pluto and other dwarf planets at the edges of the solar system are just a week away. And now that faster than light travel is becoming practical we can even travel to the nearest star systems if we desire to."

  For more info on FTL travel follow THIS link.

  Admiral Willoughby was asked about using alien transport to do the same jobs as the FTL craft. Why do we need a "Little John"?

  "The Cat S-347 is certainly an option. But even it cannot service all the burgeoning needs of the civilian and military space missions. And who knows when its Cat captain may leave to pursue other opportunities?"

  Asked about the alien subspace transportation system surrounding Saturn Kuznetsov had this to say.

  "Certainly we will eventually want to take advantage of it. But as yet we have little theoretical or practical knowledge of its costs and limits and destinations. I'm eager to investigate this opportunity for Earth humanity to stretch its reach and its grasp. But for now that is still a wish-list item, at least for me."

  Article continued at THIS link.

  <>

  Jane and Leftwich gathered some two dozen personnel to crew Artemis. The vehicle was officially christened Diana, the Roman equivalent of Artemis, to keep from confusing her with the type name of all Artemis spacecraft which Boeing had begun selling.

  Her first shakedown mission was a non-FTL trip to the Moon where its crew were given two-day leaves in Moon City staged over six days. Then to give her personnel some practical experience in zero gravity Jane had them provide some assistance to commercial enterprises mining the two Lagrange points 60 degrees before and behind the Moon in its orbit, L4 and L5.

  Then she scheduled the ship's first working FTL trip: ferrying a group of scientists from Earth to Mars. Artemis/Diana picked them up from Earth and lifted the ship to a height of 350 miles, safely 50 miles under the lowest edge of the first of the two Van Allen radiation belts.