“Okay, go on,” she urged him.
“Shortly after our twins, Henry and Susie, were born, Cedrick told me that Alice and I must separate. That I should go somewhere safe and take Susie with me.
“Why?”
“Because, if someone ever worked out that Micky was from the future, and had descendants.
Then that someone would realise that the future could still be changed.”
There was silence for a moment as Tricia took this in.
“I see. So, why only Susie? Why didn’t you take Henry as well?”
“Because Susie, being a female, and without my protection, was at more risk than Henry. More than even you, Trisha, as you had your father to protect you.”
“Do you mean that this someone would have been able to do something to jeopardise the Acarea project, as well?”
“Yes, he could have investigated Micky and our family. However, by doing so, he could have started a chain of events that wouldn’t have otherwise occurred. This in itself would then have altered the future.
They were both quiet for a while, as they thought about what might have happened, and wondered what surprises were still in store for them.
Michael’s face brightened as he continued. “We’ve tried to keep the Bernstein family safe over all these years, and so far we’ve been successful… except for Patrick. But that was an unforeseen tragedy.”
“So, where is little Susie now?”
“She’s not little anymore I assure you. She’ll be seventeen soon, and on the Acarea when it leaves.”
“But surely, she was too young for you to bring up on your own? Especially while you were working undercover for SEID.”
“You’re right. Cedrick and Linda took her in. I had to make sure she would be safe, so she lived under a different name while she was with them. Then, after Cedrick and Linda died, Linda’s sister took her in. She’s under SEID’s protection now and everyone knows her by her real name.
“Ok. So, why did you bring me here? Earlier, you said that I could go home. So, can I assume I’m no longer in danger?”
“Smart, aren’t we,” he replied. Then stood up and touched something on the wall that she couldn’t see clearly enough to identify. A small panel slid open, and he removed something from, what she realised must be a wall safe. Then handed the object to her.
“What on earth is this?” Trisha asked, looking at it in bewilderment.
“It belonged to Axon. The weapon he dropped when his brother Micky killed him.”
“Wow,” she gasped. “It’s comfortable,” she commented feeling the ease with which it sat in her hand. “But it’s quite large and feels heavy.”
“Don’t worry, it’s useless. Its charge is spent now,” he assured her, then paused briefly, looking carefully at her.
“But the real problem is that it shouldn’t be here.”
“Do you mean it’s not from our time? So, in its own way, it could still be a threat to us?” Trisha asked looked shocked.
“Exactly. And, I need you to return it to where it came from.”
“What? How? I can’t possibly do that.”
“The Acarea will be going there. It must go there don’t you see?”
Trisha thought a moment, then realised what Michael was trying to tell her. “Yes, you’re right. The two points in the timeline must be connected.”
“Precisely. That’s why you and Joe must take it with you.”
“But leaving it on board, someone’s bound to see it eventually.”
“Not necessarily Trisha. Not if it’s in Susie’s stasis chamber. You know that everyone can place two items inside their stasis chamber.”
“Yes. And we also know that no one will ever be allowed to disturb a sleeper.”
“Exactly Trisha.”
“Then, I’ll do it.”
“Good,” he said. Then took the weapon from her and placed it back in the safe, and locked it.
Then glanced at the chronometer. “It’s getting late, Trisha. I’d better take you home now.”
“Fine. I’m not taking it with me, then?”
“No, it’s too risky,” he replied, looking sad again.
“What’s the matter?” she asked, as she saw a tear running down his cheek.
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing. I’ll get the weapon to you when Susie boards.”
“Okay. I look forward to meeting her.”
“You’ll like her.”
“You’re not joining us, are you?”
“Unfortunately not. I’m almost forty-one, and way too old for this trip.”
She looked at him again, and affected by his emotions, wiped a tear from her own eyes while trying to smile.
“Let’s go then, Trisha,” he ordered, and she followed him out.
“I suppose you know where I live?”
“Of course, Trisha.”
At the inner garage door, Arnos, one of Michael’s guards, joined them.
“Do you need me, Boss?”
“No Arnos, we’ll be fine.”
“Okay,” Arnos replied then turned and went back into the lounge.
“He seems pleasant, Michael.”
“Yes, sometimes. Both of them have been with me for a long time.”
With that, Michael opened the main Garage door. Then, opened the car door for Trisha.
“Hop-in.”
“Thanks.”
Michael got in the car, then drove out of the garage, and waited for the automatic door to close.
Then, just as he was about to drive off, something, up between the trees, caught his eye.
High up, he noticed a stationary, bluish, small sphere like object.
He realized that it was the wrong colour for any aircraft lights… Moreover, it was stationary.
It pleased him. Yet, he had no idea why he found it pleasing. Then it suddenly elongated, and was gone.
He said nothing as he drove off. He had forgotten what he had just seen.
Chapter 4
Zero, Five Months
17th November 2108.
All the nations participating in the Acarea Project had their own training centres. The USA’s was located on a secret site, somewhere near Baltimore’s Washington International Airport. Almost a hundred and twenty-eight kilometres from Cebro International.
Trisha and Joe Bernstein had only just moved to the Centre, after having passed the projects induction and intensive training course. Both of them had, until recently, been at University studying nuclear physics, and, had graduated with first class honours. Now they had joined the Acarea Project.
Today, they were looking out of their office window, watching the American contingent of men and women as they exercised together in the courtyard below. Everyone was virtually ready now, and they were all scheduled to board shuttles at the Kennedy Space Centre, the following week.
The shuttles were, by this time, in place and ready to take them up to join the starship Acarea, which was waiting in orbit.
Trisha, now twenty years old, was the daughter of Bronti Bernstein. Bronti’s grandmother was, of course, the famous Christine Herriot Bernstein, also known as Charlie, who had died in 2087.
The Bernstein family had suffered several family disasters over the years since Charlie had died. Christine Bernstein’s grandson Michael had gone missing in 2090, a year after his daughter Susie was born. Some people thought that Michael had joined an undercover agency. However, nothing had been heard from him since.
Then just two years ago, in 2106. Bronti’s son Patrick, who was Trisha’s twin, had been murdered on his way home after finally collecting his cousin’s tickets from the Starship Acarea’s booking office. His cousins had been longing for this opportunity and couldn’t wait to go into space.
This had been a terrible time for the Bernstein family, especially as the killer had never been found. Now things were starting to get better.
Trisha had only recently married Joe Crispin-Bernstein, who was twenty-one years old. Bef
ore marrying her, he had agreed that he would include Bernstein in his family name, thus ensuring any children of theirs would carry this name on. Joe found it very hard to remember just who was related, to whom, in the Bernstein family.
It was very confusing joining a famous family, whose lineage went back more than four generations. He was a little dubious about some of the relationships. Nevertheless, he figured that if he wanted to be accepted in this family, then whatever the relationships were, as far as he was concerned, they were meant to be.
The Acarea Project had been hampered over the years by the restrictions imposed by the nuclear test ban treaty of 1954. This had initially banned all nuclear weapons testing. Some years later, it was amended to allow the use of nuclear materials for projects involved in space propulsion.
Now it included the proviso that space rockets and ships would not be permitted to launch from Earth, or even from Earth’s orbit while using nuclear-propelled means.
More recently this restriction had also been added to the planet Mars. Meaning that the same would apply to a Mars run, or when leaving Mars on a return journey.
Over the last eight years, two new rocket launch pads and a small-dedicated sea-dock had been built at the Kennedy Space Centre. These were being used to ferry the Acarea’s engine, its pusher plate, and the shock absorbers up into orbit.
The Russian’s Baikonur Cosmodrome. Together with the European Space Agency’s Spaceport in South America. Had both been given the job of getting the component parts of the Acarea’s habitation section into orbit, and of then assembling it in orbit. This was now complete.
The new extension to the Chinese Space Centre at Wenchang, on Hainan Island, was in use now. And had already transported two large, but compact, multi-use earthmovers up to the Acarea.
Joe and Trisha were in their lab waiting for the results of tests they had been carrying out over the last few days.
While waiting, Joe was taking the opportunity to exercise. Restricted himself to exercises that he could easily do without worrying about breaking any of the sophisticated lab equipment that surrounded them. He continued with his stretching routine while thinking about the voyage, and of Trish being with him.
It was going to be a very long journey, and he knew that he would almost certainly have to protect Trish from unwelcome advances from time to time. Especially as she would be the only female crew member out of stasis, on both the first and last legs of the voyage.
“It seems a million years ago since our parents got us onto Acarea’s crew list, Joe,” Trisha unexpectedly remarked.
“It certainly does,” he replied, as he once again stretched his arms up as high as he could.
Just then, the results of the simulation test they had both been waiting for popped up on the computer’s monitor.
“Well, how did the engine perform this time?”
“Excellent. The test results confirm that the nuclear pulse engine’s programmed detonation sequence is correct.”
“Have we got confirmation from Cebro yet?”
“Henry’s feeding the final results into their delivery system as we speak."
“Does that mean we’re ready to go if they’re correct?” she queried.
“Well, it should but I wouldn’t bet on it.”
“Why not?”
Well, Captain Traven’s co-pilot was murdered yesterday, in the precinct. It seemed senseless to me, as the killer just took his boarding pass. Nothing else.”
“The situation’s getting worse, Joe.”
“Yeah. Don’t forget that he’s the eleventh crew member to be murdered in the last two months. And, for what? The boarding passes are useless to them. They can’t board without having their Fingerprints, Retina scan, and DNA results verified.”
“Poor sods. I suppose they’re so desperate to get away from Earth that they don’t think about what they’re doing.”
“Yeah and they don’t care who gets hurt, either. Do you remember that assassin called Butcher? He killed a hell of a lot of people, but nobody seemed to care about that even then,” Joe grumbled.
“And worst of all there are still plenty of assassins about,” she added. Knowing that her uncle had killed the ‘Butcher,’ to protect her. Trisha started thinking about what had happened that day.
She still vividly remembered parking her car in the underground car park and of feeling pleased that she would be marrying Joe before they left.
She had taken her briefcase from the car and activated the alarm locking system.
Then, suddenly, she’d felt a presence and turned to face a well-dressed man wearing an overcoat. He had a disarming smile on his face, she recalled.
Miss Trisha Bernstein? He had politely asked her.
“Yes,” She remembered replying.
“Do I know you?” She had then asked him.
No. Not personally, but I did see your brother, Patrick I believe, stabbed by those stupid thugs.
This had startled her, and she recollected that looking at him more carefully he had seemed very edgy to her.
“Couldn’t you have stopped them?” She’d then asked him.
I am afraid not Miss, I was too far away, he’d replied.
However, she remembered noting that, as he replied, his whole demeanour changed, and that had scared her. Then she had seen that he was holding something behind his back, and had asked him what it was.
A present for you Miss, he’d replied, grinning evilly as he brought his weapon around and into her view.
She still had nightmares about how she’d stood frozen with the fear that flooded her mind, as she realised this was the infamous assassin, the Butcher.
She had tried to move but couldn’t. She’d yelled as his finger started to squeeze the trigger.
Then, he had stopped partway through his motion. Then she’d seen blood beginning to run from his open mouth as he lost grip of the weapon, which had then dropped to the floor.
She remembered him spluttering, as he looked down at the shiny blade that protruded from his chest.
Then she watched, transfixed by the scene, as the blade had suddenly been withdrawn and he’d slumped to the ground, gurgling and twitching for a few seconds until finally, he was dead.
She’d stood, rooted to the ground. Trembling all over and unable to move, for what seemed minutes, but must have been just a few seconds.
Then realised another man had arrived and was bent down over the Butcher’s body, appearing to check that he was indeed dead.
Her feeling of fear had returned as she saw him use the Butcher’s clothing to wipe the blood off a long bladed knife. Then put the knife back into a sheath sewn into his own trousers.
She had finally realised that the man was speaking to her.
Hello, he had said. Trisha Bernstein. You may not know me. But I know you, well.
She had noted that the man was tall and well built. The smart, almost black suit gave little away. His eyes, however, were blue-green, icy-looking, and almost fluorescent. She knew her own eyes had that look. Not quite so intense, but similar.
Then, a name had come to her lips. It had come from nowhere, just leapt into her mind.
“Michael? Uncle Michael?” She had asked him, in astonishment.
Yes, he’d replied. In the flesh.
She could distinctly recall the feeling of relief that came over her, as she realised that Michael had saved her life.
The comms beeped. Bringing Trisha back to the present with a start.
“Crew meeting in Astro Section. In ten minutes. Everyone, please.”
“That can only mean one thing, Joe. More trouble.”
“Probably. Come on then you’d better keep close to me,” he ordered as they left.
There were now less than five months to go before the Acarea would begin its long and almost certainly dangerous voyage to Procyon.
The three shuttles, designed by the Chinese, were being supplied in kit form, and would be carried up to the ship during the ne
xt week. While several cargo vessels, each with a crew complement of six, were already in use on the Mars run.
Miniature nuclear pulse engines powered these cargo ships. However, the UN’s Nuclear Watchdog also controlled them. Which, in turn, had dictated the safe distance that the engines needed to be from Earth before the nuclear pulse charges were allowed to be detonated.
This meant that they had had to incorporate a small rocket motor in each cargo ship, to push it far enough from Earth before starting the pulse engines.
Although each cargo ship’s nuclear, pulse engine needed five charges, each way. This was inexpensive compared to liquid fuel engines. At the same time, it reduced the time in transit to just eight days.
Trisha and Joe hurried off to the meeting but were the last to arrive, entering Building 11’s conference room just as Captain Traven ordered everyone to sit down.
Traven was a tall, well-built young man. With a mop of black hair and dark brown eyes. His look of authority was beyond doubt, and at twenty-three years of age, he was the oldest member of Acarea’s crew. He was also older than most of the settlers.
The other two Captains together with six of the nine crew from Traven’s section were already sitting around the conference table as Trish and Joe joined them. They all knew each other and were specialists in their own right.
“Ok, settle down everyone,” Traven ordered. “Henry won’t be attending this meeting, he’s still uploading the final system results on Acarea into Cebro’s delivery system,” he paused, briefly.
“I assume that you are all aware the engine has finally been passed?” He looked around, waiting for comments, but no one spoke.
“Ok. We’ve tested the Hydroponic food production and water recycling systems for the crew. Stasis and support systems have been signed off.” He stopped to look at his notes.
“At the moment, it looks as if we’ll only have fifteen stasis chambers for the crew, instead of thirty. So all of us will probably have to spend fifty percent of the time out of stasis,” he said and heard them groan.
Acarea. A Triumph or Disaster? (SpaceFed StarShips Series Book 5): A Novel by Gerry A. Saunders (SpaceFed StarShips Trilogy) Page 3