Besides which, Tommy was the only one who had direct control of the landing sequences.
Everyone was involved, but he knew that each had his or her own areas of responsibilities. He also had confidence in all of them and was happy to leave them to it,
He was determined to ensure there would be no interference. No one would be allowed to cause any distractions, during what would be a very tricky manoeuvre.
Especially, as the computer-controlled landing system would have to be over-ridden during the final moments of landing
Moreover, having never attempted such a thing before, there were too many unknown variables.
Chapter 26
Nuclear hell
Day 6
By 09:45, the crew had completed their final checks and had strapped themselves into their inertia damper seats, ready for the commencement of the slowdown process. The seats had already swivelled around and locked into a position that would give maximum support to the crew, during the deceleration.
The deceleration process required eighty nuclear detonations. With each, one set off at four-minute intervals, over a period of five and a half hours.
“Henry. Are your steel-ablation calculations still the same?”
“Yes, Captain. We’ll lose about thirty-two centimetres of steel across the Pusher-plate, and probably fifty at the centre of the plate.”
“Are your figures correct? I would have expected it to have been much higher, this way around.” Tony interjected.
Henry looked at Tony, before replying.
“No, that’s because the temperature outside is still only a few degrees above absolute. Therefore, after each explosion, the pusher plate will cool down rapidly before the next nuclear charge goes off. Thus helping to reduce the amount of ablation.”
“Well, there’s nothing any of us can do now, anyway,” Traven replied. Then, remembered the breeder reactor.
“Joe. What about the Breeder?”
“It’s offline, Captain.”
“OK. Everyone, Secure.” He ordered.
Ten indicators then lit up on Traven’s panel, confirming that everyone was secure in their seats.
Then, as the number three observation dome finally retracted, to below the pusher plate’s rim, the last of Captain Traven’s console lights turned green.
Traven knew that the two rear domes were likely to be damaged in the process. However, that didn’t matter, as they wouldn’t be needed anymore, anyway.
The manoeuvring jets were now effectively at the rear, and, as the chain of detonations took place, would be used to try to correct any deviation in, or instability of, their flight path. Because, a small offset in the nuclear explosion’s centre point could cause the ship to drift from the required flight path. Or, in a worst-case scenario, could create instability, causing the Acarea to start lurching, and tumbling uncontrollably.
Traven felt a prick in his arm as the automatic injections were administrated, as did everyone else.
These delivered a compound liquid to strengthen the body’s cell walls, temporarily, and to provide extra protection for the body’s functions, during deceleration.
Captain Traven watched the chronometer as it relentlessly counted down to zero. No one spoke.
10:00 a.m. The first nuclear detonation took place, dead on zero: zero.
Outside the ship. Each explosion sent a violent shockwave rolling over the edge of the pusher plate. As well as sending streams of plasma and molten metal, back along the Acarea’s hull. Then on, and out into space.
Each detonation created swirling vortexes, both behind the pusher plate and dangerously close to the hull.
The explosions continued each one producing timed, and extreme bouts of deceleration that sent the crew’s bodies slamming hard against the restraining belts of their inertia damper seats.
After each detonation, it took about a minute for the men to recover enough to speak coherently.
“Nick,” Captain Traven shouted across the control room. “Are the pusher plate flap-sensors still working?”
“Only the mechanical ones, Captain. But, if the flap melts, when it’s shut, we’ll be dead and gone.”
“But, then again, if the flap melts, then stays open,” Steven added, as the ringing in his ears reduced. “The shock wave and plasma ball will shoot straight up and through the centre of the ship. Then, burnt to a crisp, comes to mind.”
“Shut up!” Tricia snapped at them.
“Captain! All my instruments are off-line,” Tommy called out.
Another five hours of sheer hell continued, as they counted down towards the final explosion.
Traven thought the explosions seemed to be getting more violent as time went on. However, he knew it was just the result of the human body almost continuously being shaken like a rag doll, over an extended period.
“We’re coming apart,” Tony almost screamed as molten metal dribbled down the bulkhead near him.
“Shut up and pray,” Traven shouted back at him. “We’ll make it.” Then, he prayed, hoping he was right.
Suddenly. It was all over, and absolute silence reigned once more as the crew’s ear drums slowly returned to normal.
Then, as they realised that the ship was still in one piece, and they were still alive. They all sighed a sigh of relief, too exhausted to do anything else.
“Let’s hope the landing’s better than this,” Steven exclaimed.
Traven managed to release his restraining belts. It was easier this time. Once free, he noted that his wrists were covered with specks of blood, again. However, he knew it was only the result of some of his blood vessels being ruptured
He felt a twinge in one of his shoulders, and shrugged, knowing that his shoulders were bound to hurt from the pressure of the belts.
Then came the pleasing sound of mag boots clunking on the floor, as the crew released themselves and tried to stand up in Zero-G.
“Any chance of getting some gravity back, Captain?” Nick asked, knowing what the answer would be.
“No chance at all, Nick. Tommy, is there anything back online yet?”
“Not yet, Captain. I reckon it’ll be three hours or more before we can flip the ship again.”
“Then we’d better use the time wisely. Let’s get some food inside us, and have a rest.”
“I’ll go and see how my hydroponic garden has stood up to that hammering, first,” Jeff said. “Assuming they haven’t been damaged. There will still be some fruit that we can have as a treat with our tablets.”
“Go on then. Go get ‘em, Jeff,” someone said, and they all urged him on.
By 16:00 hours, the crew had returned to their stations and were checking their equipment. Some of them concentrated on checking the ship’s status while others prepared the Acarea for its final one hundred and eighty degree rotation.
Now that the computer system controlling the manoeuvring jets had come back online, they were ready to flip over.
“Ok Tommy, let’s get on with it. The sooner we’re over and can see where Pavonis is, the better.”
Tommy started the flip sequence.
The roar of the manoeuvring jets vibrated throughout the ship once again. This operation continued for another forty-one hours before the Jets finally fell silent.
Then, after a short pause started firing short bursts, to enable them to finish re-positioning the ship by exactly one hundred and eighty degrees, with the intercept point dead ahead.
Now, with the pusher plate behind them again, and facing away from Delta Pavonis. The plate would not present any danger to the Acarea on her landing approach.
“Are we stable, Tommy?”
“Yes, Captain. I make it seventy-three hours until we reach the planet intercept point. And, we still have enough fuel to juggle our speed and direction to ensure we arrive there at the right time, and at the correct angle of descent.”
“Paul?”
“I agree with Tommy. According to the tracking scope, seventy-two to seve
nty-three hours seems to be about right.”
Henry looked worried.
“Paul. Are you sure it’s definitely locked onto the correct planet?”
“Absolutely. There isn’t anything else to lock it onto,” Paul replied. Looking surprised by the question
“Why did you query the lock, Henry?” Traven asked.
“Listen,” he urged them.
Henry selected PA, and they all stayed quiet. Then heard a hissing noise, coming from the sound system.
“It’s just background noise, Henry,” Paul said, listening intently.
“No. not that. Don’t you hear it?”
“Henry…,” Traven started to say. Then something different caught his attention, something else, mixed in with the hiss of the background noise.
“See, Captain. You can hear it. There is a sort of swishing sound. It’s difficult to separate, I grant you. But it’s been there ever since our computers came back online.”
They could all hear it now. It was true. Every fifteen seconds, there was a sort of swish.
“Interference?” Tommy suggested without conviction.
“Out here? No,” Henry firmly replied.
Then Traven realised what Henry was driving at.
“Paul. Disengage your tracking telescope’s lock. Get it to swing around as much as its mount will allow, then bring up its view on our main screen.”
“Little green men, Captain?” Paul asked sort of joking.
“Just do it.”
Paul selected, ‘Remote control on the tracking telescope‘s console. Disengaged the scope’s lock, and then set up the widest search pattern. Searching as far as the lens and the scope’s mount would allow.
After having spent more than ten minutes watching nothing, in particular, they were about to give up on the scope’s, slow, and methodical search. When, suddenly, an enormous blue globe came into view.
They all gasped, as the blue object slowly drifted across the scope’s vision, then moved out of its visual range.
Traven was speechless for a moment.
“Friendly or not, we have to make ready to land. Now,” he ordered.
Tommy, Henry. Get the first probe away as soon as Paul has realigned the tracking scope.
We need to see what that fly-through area looks like, as quickly as we can.”
Chapter 27
My Child
At 11:25 hours, a large sliding panel at the top of Acarea’s hull opened, and a hydraulic launching mount extended from it.
The first of the two probes was sitting on the launch mount, ready to go. Once both probes had been launched, the sliding panel would automatically close and seal.
At 11:30 hours, ship time, the first survey probe left the Acarea and headed for the selected intercept point on the planet’s surface, some forty-nine hours away.
The mathematical intercept timing was critical. As, just like the Acarea, the probe had limited manoeuvring capability. Once there, the probe would have to do a fly-through of the proposed landing strip, before continuing to map the surrounding area.
Then, exactly twenty-two hours, fifteen minutes twenty-one seconds after the probe had flown through the landing area on the planet.
Then, dependent on what the probe had detected. The Acarea would try to make her own landing, at the same point on the planet’s surface.
“Henry. What have you got from the probe’s data stream?”
“It’s all good, Captain. I’m saving the data in real time,” Henry replied.
“The 3D camera is running, and its feed is being shared by Paul and Tommy.”
“Excellent,” Traven said, now feeling exuberant. Knowing that things would soon be coming to a climax, for him, in many ways.
He knew that it would be about another forty-nine hours before the probe commenced its fly through. Which meant, the Acarea could be landing in around seventy-one hours.
Then, dead or alive. They would be on the planet for keeps, he excitedly thought.
Although there were two planets in the star’s habitable zone, they had decided that the fourth was as close to Earth’s conditions as one could hope for, as Planet 3, having an orbit time that equated to a hundred and thirty Earth days, would certainly be much hotter and rockier.
Yes, he was sure that they had made the right choice. After all, planet four had a rotation period of around three hundred and twenty days. While its daytime surface temperature at the equator, was around fourteen degrees Celsius, according to Paul. The only downside was the night temperature. Which varied from minus five, to plus seven degrees.
Captain Traven checked that his crew were able to carry out with their own tasks in time, as being in Zero-G meant things took two to three times longer than usual to do.
Everyone seemed OK. However, he was a bit concerned about the effects Zero-G had on Jeff’s hydroponic plants. Knowing that the less time they were subjected to it the better, as, it confused plants into not knowing in which direction their roots were supposed to grow.
Once satisfied that he wasn’t going to be needed, he decided to make his way to Tricia’s cabin. She was supposed to be preparing for stasis, and he needed to know when she would be ready so that they could bring Captain Peter Merance, and Alex Chapmen, Tricia’s replacement, out of stasis.
Captain Traven, like the rest of his crew, was now an expert in moving around in Zero-G. Sliding this mag boots across the floor, like an artist’s brush moves across the canvas.
On reaching Tricia’s cabin, he pressed the annunciator button.
“Yes?” Came Tricia’s voice.
“Traven here. Are you decent?”
“Yes, come in.”
He opened the door and stepped inside. Hardly making a sound. At first glance, he saw her Cot type bed and noted that it was neat and tidy, ready for its next short-term occupant. Captain Merance, or Alex Chapmen, or more likely both, he thought, as they only had enough cabins for ten crew members. Yes, they could easily work alternating shifts, he decided.
He walked on into the cabin, as Tricia appeared from behind the door. She was floating a metre off the floor with the tether that had been keeping her stationary, held in one hand.
He was startled to see that she wasn’t wearing any clothes, and a little frightened as he realised that she didn’t seem to mind what he could see.
“Err… Sorry, Trisha. You said you were decent.”
“I am decent, John,” she said, seeing his eyes on her.
Using the tether, she pulled herself down to stand on the floor. Then pushed herself off again, and floated back to the door. “Were you born in a barn?” she grumbled as she reached the door and closed it. Then looked at him, and, smiling in a strange way, said. “Do you remember what I said, John. When we came out of stasis.”
“Yes, and painfully as I recall,” he replied, turning to face her.
“I keep my promises, John,” she said and smiled. Then forcefully pushed herself off and towards him.
She is gorgeous, he thought. He hadn’t been with a woman since boarding the Acarea and realised he was becoming sexually aroused.
Then Tricia collided with him, with such force that he started to fall over as his Mag boots lost touch with the floor. Both of them careened onto the bed, with John putting his hands out and up over his head to prevent slamming into the bulkhead.
“Grab the rails,” Tricia urged as she bumped up against him.
He managed to catch one of the bed’s side rails to steady himself. Then his body started to drift upwards, as it reacted to his sudden inertia change.
Tricia caught one of the two floating uni-tethers, usually used to keep a person from floating around while sleeping.
Using the tether, she pulled him down onto the bed and brought the cord up and over the top of him, looping it through the other side rail. Then clipped the free end to another part of the bed.
Traven realised that, even though he was constrained in this way, he didn’t really feel vulnerable. Afte
r all, the tether was made of an old-fashioned material, similar to Velcro. Moreover, all he had to do was to pull it apart, and then just drift up off the bed and leave, anytime he wished.
Tricia suddenly caught hold of him, and, almost before he realised, unclipped his suit. Then pulled it all the way down over his body, and off him. Having stopped, to remove his mag boots as she went.
She was breathing rapidly now, and her excitement spilt over on to him.
Meanwhile, Tricia, having had to let go of him, had floated away. So, used her legs to propel herself back to him, and then took hold of his other arm to steady herself. “You could have bloody well helped me,” she grumbled as she started to sweat. “I haven’t done this in Zero-G before.”
“Neither have I. Anyway, It’s your show,” John replied, smiling despite himself as she struggled to get on top of him. Nevertheless, he knew that he wanted her, now. No, that wasn’t right, he thought. I need her.
She held onto him while trying to move her weightless body into position above him. Then parted her legs slightly, and pulled herself down and closer to him. She knew that Zero-G was a sex killer. Nevertheless, it had one advantage; she would be able to continue her downward momentum without further help.
Once close enough she guided herself onto his erection and gasped as she felt it. Instinctively, she jerked as it pushed into her. Then waves of ecstasy ran through her as they started to move rhythmically together. Suddenly, she felt him withdrawing, then realised it was her, who was floating up, and off him.
“Oh, no,” she cried. “Hold me,” she pleaded.
John, on realising what had happened, and wanting more of it. Quickly pulled his hands out from under the tethers, and grabbed at her, then put his hands around her lower body and pulled her down onto him again. Both of them breathing heavily, by now. She started to feel hot as his slow rhythmic thrusting continued. She could feel him deep inside her, and forgot she had cautioned him against damaging her.
Acarea. A Triumph or Disaster? (SpaceFed StarShips Series Book 5): A Novel by Gerry A. Saunders (SpaceFed StarShips Trilogy) Page 20