When he first met Michael on Earth, he had heard the story of how this Micky had been able to tell Cedrick about the future but had then lost his memory. He’d thought at the time that the memory loss seemed to be a bit convenient.
However, for some reason or other, he had actually believed Michael.
Then Michael had made him promise not to divulge what he’d been told. He still remembered the exact words that Michael had used at the time.
No one else must know what I have told you until you are so far from Earth that you are unable to return. Otherwise, the future could still be changed.
Even so, Trisha, being part of the Bernstein family must know about this Micky. So how much does she know? He wondered. I reckon her husband Joe doesn’t know anything about it. That is interesting as well, after all, you would expect him to have been told.
He knew that he’d have to convince his crew that they could trust his judgement. Also, he would have to get them to agree to a possible lengthening of the trip. Which, in itself, would not’ be a pleasant prospect for any of them.
He was sure that Jansen would be on his side. He’d already voiced concerns. He wasn’t sure about Tommy. Then, after some thought decided that Tommy would probably agree as well.
He looked discretely at Tommy and then decided that he would test his theory.
“Tommy, from the data you’ve been compiling would you agree that we’re now beyond the point of no return?”
“Yes, Captain. Luckily, the front view on my monitor is still working. So, when we zipped past Neptune, I was able to estimate that we were travelling at around point three five to point three six light.”
“Faster than we thought?”
“Possibly. When everything’s back online Captain, we’ll have a better idea.”
“So, Tommy. Would you agree that, if we rotated the ship now, and then set in motion the slow-down nukes detonation sequence, we would stop all right?
“Yes,” Tommy replied looking slightly puzzled.
“OK. Would you also agree that we’d then be too far away, for the leftover fuel in the rockets to be able to get us back to Earth?” Traven then asked.
“Yes. That’s pretty well correct. However, we couldn’t go back now, in any case, even if we wanted to. The rocket fuel would be frozen by the time we tried to use it.”
“Yes, of course. How stupid of me. We need Sol’s heat, to help the rocket fuel heaters do their work, and as we’re moving further away from Sol, the temperature’s dropping fast.”
“Yes, Captain. But, as we’ve agreed that we can’t go back, that won’t be relevant,” Tommy answered.
“We’ll be continuing on towards our target star, Procyon. So, even though the fuel will have dropped in temperature. Once we’re closer to the Star, its heat should help to get the rocket fuel back up to a combustible temperature again.” Tommy replied. Then asked. “Are you alright, Captain?” Seeing Traven smiling.
“Never felt better. Well, that’s not exactly correct. Just something that’s been worrying me, which I need to sort out sooner, rather than later.”
“Sounds as if we have a problem?”
“Yes, but it’s something that we should all be able to solve together, Tommy.”
“Ok,” Tommy replied, sounding a bit puzzled again. Then changed the subject.
“What was going on with Trisha? It seemed a bit strange to me that she was helping to place Susie in stasis.”
“She’s a relation, Tommy. That’s all.”
“Oh, I see. Lucky beggars aren’t they. Sleeping through the whole trip.”
“They certainly are,” he replied, watching Tommy as he went on with his calculations.
‘He’s jealous,’ he thought.
Chapter 9
Down to Business
Captain Traven closed his eyes, his thoughts taking him back to the Second of November 2108, and to a particular meeting on Earth. A meeting that had changed everything for him.
The meeting had been set up without his prior knowledge, and all he’d been told was that he was going to meet a man called Michael Bernstein. He knew that this Michael’s surname was the same as some of his crew and two of the other Colonists. However, if he remembered correctly, Trisha Bernstein had told him more than a year earlier that her Uncle Michael had gone missing and was probably dead.
So was this the same Michael? On the other hand, was it merely a coincidence that he had the same name?
Then again, how could it be a coincidence? He wondered. When this Michael had been invited to meet with me, and someone high up had apparently wanted me to talk to him.
He remembered what happened when they met, almost word for word. He had often played it back in his mind.
He recalled that he had been drinking a coffee in the secure café at the US Acarea training centre.
As usual, he’d been wearing his body worn CAM recorder and had made sure that it was high enough on his chest to enable it to pick up the view from between his shirt buttons.
He remembered checking the time, via his wrist comms pad. It was 14:58. Two minutes to go, he’d thought.
He could still remember the moment that he had met Michael Bernstein.
Looking up, he had seen a smartly dressed man enter the café and walk directly towards him.
He knows me, he’d thought.
Captain Traven? The man had asked, extending his hand.
“You know I am,” he had replied as they shook hands.
I am Michael Bernstein. May I sit?
“Please do.”
He’d studied Michael as he sat down and placed a small container on the table. The box seemed to radiate a faint glow.
Traven noted that he was well built and tall. Even though his smart and well-fitted dark grey suit gave little away.
Then he had looked into Michael’s eyes. They were blue-green, and icy looking, almost fluorescent. He had seen that effect before; it was a common phenomenon in the Bernstein family.
No one in the Acarea centre ever carried weapons of any description. However, looking carefully, he could see that Michael certainly did. The bulge under his jacket was evidence of that.
Yes, Captain. I am carrying a weapon, and no, your recorder will not operate for the moment, Michael had told him.
At which, Traven had been drawn to offer an apology for seeming to look him over.
Don’t worry, it often happens to me, Michael had explained.
Then he had asked Michael what exactly he wanted to talk to him about.
The survival of the Acarea, of course.
“That’s a bit overdramatic, don’t you think?” He had answered.
Then Michael’s facial expression had suddenly changed, and looking carefully at Traven, he’d soberly replied.
No, Captain… There are certain things that you must know. Things that you must act upon or, humanity will end in the year 2305.
“Rubbish,” Traven remembered replying while being utterly flabbergasted at Michael’s statement.
No, Captain, Michael had said. I’m deadly serious. I’ll give you some recordings when we are done. They will help you understand what has to happen, and why…
Then, as if from a distance, Traven heard Tommy calling him, jolting him back to the present.
He shook himself. It had been almost as if he was back on Earth, and physically at that meeting itself again.
“Are you Ok Captain? You look white as a sheet.”
“Just getting things into perspective. I'm okay Tommy,” he said, then looked at the ship’s chronometer; it was only 20:25.
Time’s starting to drag, he thought; ship’s time was linked to GMT on Earth, and would remain as their time reference for the rest of the voyage to Procyon.
Paul Jansen was the first to return to the control room.
“Captain, I recognize the stars that I can see from the front, and on each side. But I won’t be able to see anything at the back of the ship until the plasma trail dissipates.
”
“So, just as we expected,” Traven remarked.
Then, in a quieter voice, asked. “Do you still think we should search for a secondary target?”
“Yes, of course, Captain. Don’t you?” Paul replied sounding slightly surprised at the question.
Traven was startled; he hadn’t expected Paul to ask the question aloud, especially with Tommy so close by.
Oh well, we have to talk about it sometime, he thought. Then replied. “Yes, I do.”
Turning, he looked at Tommy. “What about you, Tommy? Do you agree that we should search for a secondary target? Just in case, Procyon’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”
Tommy thought about it for a moment and then nodded.
“If you’re asking me, then I say yes,” he replied.
“We’d have to change course soon, though. Otherwise, the further we go towards Procyon, the longer we would then need to run the manoeuvring jets. Which could give us a problem, as they mightn’t be able to cope with the longer run times,” he said, then paused for a moment.
“This could also impact on us when we then use the manoeuvring jets to flip the ship, to start the slow-down sequence, when we get close to our new destination.”
“Yes, I agree,” Traven, concurred. At the same time feeling relieved, knowing that he could count on Paul and Tommy to be on his side. That meant he would, at least, have some allies when he finally asked the crew to, effectively, disobey Earth orders.
No one spoke again until the rest of the men, having completed their checks and adjustments, had returned.
“Has anyone heard from Jackson?” Traven asked, having realised that he hadn’t come back.
“I think he’s still in Hydroponics, probably singing to the grape-vines,” Trisha joked, and a snigger ran around the crew.
“Better than singing to us, Captain,” Joe commented.
“OK, that’s enough!” Traven said in an irritated voice.
“Henry, have you checked out the computer 3D printer system?”
“Yes, captain. We can replicate virtually anything we need. Even C98 plastic, which, as you know is as hard as steel.”
“Good. And how long before the plasma stream stops interfering with the comm’s?”
“About another two and a half days before Earth’s moved enough to give us a clear line of site.”
“Okay. So, two and a half days before we can communicate with Earth control.
Right, directly after we have cleared the plasma stream, and managed to contact Earth, we should have all of our directional sensors back online. Then we can start getting some rotation going.”
“The sooner we get gravity, the better, as far as I’m concerned,” Trisha said.
Meanwhile, Tommy, having waited for the captain to say something about his plan, sent Traven an enquiring glance.
Traven, seeing his glance, looked surreptitiously back at Tommy, and shook his head briefly.
Then said, “Thanks, everyone. We’ll reconvene again after we’ve spoken to mission control on Earth. In the meantime, sort out your work schedules, and then you can relax. This would also be an ideal time to maximise your use of the gym.”
“Count me out. I’m not going to use the Gym until we’ve got gravity,” Trisha snapped.
“Okay, forget the Gym for now… Joe, I haven’t seen the Breeder reactor fire up yet. Why?”
“That’s correct, Captain… Our resources are limited. We’ll only run it when we need to replenish the reactor’s fuel.”
“Understood, Joe.”
Chapter 10
Covert Change
Two and a half days later, and Earth’s position in relation to the Acarea’s had finally changed enough for communications between them to be re-established.
Captain Traven had been amazed at how long the plasma stream, formed by the incessant nuclear explosions, had taken to disperse in space.
“Good morning, Acarea,” came the voice of Earth’s mission controller.
“Good morning to you too, Earth people,” Captain Traven jokingly answered.
After what seemed a considerable delay the mission controller came back.
“Tanner, here Captain… We have a steady flow of data coming in from your ship… It all looks good.”
“Well, we’re surprised to be in one piece so that’s good to hear … I need your analysis of Acarea’s status as soon as possible, Tanner.”
Then came another delay before he received a reply. This time, Traven felt sure the delay had been longer.
“Captain, as far as we can ascertain from the data. The structural integrity of your ship looks good. However, there is some ablation of the pusher plate’s material. With an average loss of nine millimetres thickness of steel, overall.
The good news is that the nuke’s outlet flap is still functional… Your own sensors must be working now so you can check the rest.
One last thing, well, two actually. We will update your systems in the next hour, with the necessary corrections and so on. However, you might not be able to check your speed as accurately as we can now. So please note that our tests show your speed as 0.192 light.”
“Just as we thought,” Traven replied while smiling to himself.
“We can also see that the pressure wave from the last detonation is still exerting significant pressure, so, we expect your speed to settle down at around 0.21 light.
Unfortunately, it still looks as if the transit time to Procyon, will be fifty-four to sixty years,” the controller continued.
Traven then pressed to mute the Send transponder while he asked Tommy and Jansen what their sensors were telling them.
“Our readings are quite different from theirs,” Jansen answered. “Something’s throwing their measurements off. Probably Doppler or Plasma effects.”
Tommy looked enquiringly at Traven. “Do we tell them they’ve got their calculations, wrong Captain?”
By this time, Captain Traven had decided that fate had played this hand. This was meant to happen, and this discrepancy tied in perfectly with his understanding of the events that Michael had predicted.
“No! Don’t tell them yet, Tommy,” Traven replied, then hit his send button.
“Acarea to Tanner… We are having difficulty in measuring our speed… We will come back to you with our findings ASAP. Out.”
Then he called Jackson again, over the comms.
“Yes, Captain.”
“Join us right now,” he ordered, irritated that Jackson had not returned earlier. “It’s decision time.”
“On my way, sir,” he replied. A few minutes later, he entered the control room, almost sliding along the floor in his mag boots.
All of the crew were now present, and waiting to see if the Captain was going to reveal details that would bear out the rumour that had been circulating the Starship.
Traven waited patiently until they had clipped themselves into their seats, using their uni-tethers; while mag boots enabled everyone to keep their feet on the floor, the rest of the body seemed to have a mind of its own in conditions of virtually zero gravity.
“The information that I’m about to give you must never reach Earth,” he sternly ordered. At which a murmur ran through the crew.
“I’m sure that the Bernstein family members must have some inkling of what I’m going talk about, especially Trisha,” he said, then noticed that Trisha was startled at this statement and looked decidedly uncomfortable.
However, this didn’t bother Traven. He was reasonably sure that he could count on Tommy, Janson and the Bernstein family members to back him. Therefore, now it was up to him to convince Mears, Nick, Steven and Jackson.
“Shortly before we left Earth, I attended a special meeting, at which I met a man called Michael Bernstein.
The thing I noticed about him the most was his eyes. They were blue-green, icy looking, almost fluorescent,” he said and saw them glancing surreptitiously at Trisha.
“This seems to be a characteri
stic feature of the Bernstein family,” he added, looking directly at her.
“I asked him what was so important that he needed a face to face meeting with me. Much to my surprise, he told me that it concerned the survival of the Acarea. I told him that I thought that this was exaggerating the situation a bit. I can still remember his reply, word for word,” Traven said.
Paused briefly. Then continued.
No, Captain, he had said…There are things you must know. Things you must act upon or humanity will cease to exist by the year 2305, he told me.
At hearing this, a murmur ran through the crew.
“Now, I want to show you something important,” he told them as he placed a projector on his desk; the projector had a small magnet in its base to keep it from drifting away.
“This Holo projector has been modified to play the old style Inklediscs,” he added as he took one out of a separate container and inserted it into the projector. Then touched the PLAY pad.
They could see the air shimmering above the projector as the Holographic projection commenced.
The recording appeared to have been taken at night, and, from inside a car. With the camera looking outwards.
From the camera’s perspective of the interior, the car was clearly a very early model that must have been in production more than seventy years ago. With the events, they were about to see having initially been caught by one of the four video cameras that had been fitted as standard to most up-market cars from that era. What they were now seeing, however, was obviously an edited version of the events.
As they watched, a man suddenly appeared from nowhere, causing the driver of the car to slam on the brakes.
The driver, managing to stop the car in time, just nudged the man.
There was no indication that the man had been injured. He appeared naked in the car’s headlights. His eyes reflecting a blue-green light back at the camera.
Acarea. A Triumph or Disaster? (SpaceFed StarShips Series Book 5): A Novel by Gerry A. Saunders (SpaceFed StarShips Trilogy) Page 7