He understood that the Pod’s data had leapt across the rift in seconds and that the rift, or fold, had long since gone.
“So, you think that the Z102 was somehow pulled into an unstable Rift, and the Commander knew he wouldn’t survive. Then launched a survival Pod, with what...? A few lucky, or as it seems now, unlucky crew members inside?”
“Yes, Excellency. Then, the fold must have suffered a natural temporal displacement or shift.”
“And you think the Pod’s exit from the rift was much earlier than its data transmission?”
“Yes, Excellency. Seven cycles ago, the Z102 was in the rift, here. See,” he replied pointing to a yellow dot on the display that had several symbols around it.
“And here. You can see where the rift whipped around. Then here, at this point, see that overlap on the time curve?”
“Yes, I see what the symbols are telling me Griken…And that this symbol here represents the space-time coordinates of the transmission’s origin. Yes?”
“Yes. Splendid, Excellency.”
“Don’t patronise me, Griken. Just give me your conclusions,” Verice replied giving him a hard look.
“Sorry, Excellency,” Griken apologised, realising that he had overstepped the mark. Then looked at the screen as new data appeared on it. Then considered his conclusions, taking into account the new data, before speaking.
“Excellency, the latest data burst shows that the Pod crash landed on a planet…Then, the Pod just managed to transmit its scans and coordinates as the rift was finally closing.”
However, with the latest data, we can be sure of two things.
Firstly, the scan shows that there was no one inside. While its exterior scan indicates that, there were life forms outside.
“Yes. I can see the symbols, Griken. So, I assume that the life forms weren’t from Garoden.”
“Exactly. Excellency,” Griken said, and then briefly paused again.
“This points to the fact that the Pod transmitted this information some one hundred and thirty to one hundred and thirty-five cycles ago, referenced to our real-time point.”
Verice was silent for a moment. “So, a temporal shift… Is that as accurate as you can get, Griken?”
“Yes, Excellency. The gravitational distortion and temporal change over such a vast distance would preclude us from obtaining a more stable reading.”
Viceroy Verice studied Griken’s facial expression. ‘Felt’ Griken’s Companion brain then smiled. Yes, it had confirmed that his science officer was sure of his belief.
He trusted Griken and respected his views on most things. Yes. Griken was the best science officer he’d ever had.
“Well, Griken. What would you advise?”
“Extermination of these life forms at the very least, your Excellency,” Griken replied without hesitation.
Viceroy Verice was taken aback at Griken’s ferocity.
“Two thousand light-years you say. Well, we had better find a way of crossing that distance. Then, we will mount an expedition and wipe out these beings. Beings that you don’t seem to want around.”
Griken grinned. “Isn’t that what we were born to do?” he asked.
“Yes, Griken. That is our aim in life… Work out a transit route and timeline.”
“Of course, Excellency. How many ships can we have?”
“Eight Star Destroyers should be more than enough.”
“Very well, Excellency.”
“I’m going back to my Pod. Send my Companion the situation when you have everything in place.”
“Of course, sir.”
The Viceroy pictured his ‘Pod’ again and was instantly back there. While science officer Griken and navigation officer Cratic started transmitting the Viceroy’s requirements to Garoden Command.
Both were looking forward to some action, at last. Even if it was six or seven cycles in the future.
Chapter 35
A Critical Moment in Time
Earth. 2255 and eighty-six years on from when the Acarea had landed on DPav4.
Professor Tim Henderson stood next to the empty crystal-growing chamber. His face reddened with rage.
Yet another precious Warp Crystal had disappeared right in front of his eyes.
“Damn, damn and sod it,” he bawled out in frustration and disbelief. He had no idea where the crystal had gone.
Henderson was a tall man, some six foot three, and slightly over a hundred and seventy-four pounds. Nevertheless, even though he was only forty-six years old, he felt and looked more like a fifty-five-year-old man, today.
Brushing his greying hair away from his face, he walked back to his desk at the other end of the lab, then slumped down into his seat, and sighed.
The other members of his team, two men, and two women, stayed down the other end of the lab, and beside the now empty crystal-growing chamber.
Henderson sat there. Thinking up reasons why all the crystals, on reaching maturity…. well, just legged it, so to speak.
“Damned inconvenient sods,” he said aloud.
He continued to think the situation over in his mind. Aware that his colleagues were waiting for him to tell them what to do next.
He sniffed, thinking most of them thought he was an arrogant sod anyway.
Damn them. He would take the credit for any success, and shove any failure onto them without a moment’s hesitation.
Meanwhile, apart from the fact, that he was back to square one again. He would have some serious explaining to do to his superiors.
He knew that the Space Federation, which was set up in 2235, badly needed a massive success story to justify the vast sums of money they had poured into his project.
Let alone, into the Mars based Starship Construction site.
Henderson had been given a target date of 2275. At, which time, the project director expected him to have successfully launched his warp drive or Star-drive as some people called it.
When he first took on the project, he was a hundred percent sure that he could actually produce a working warp drive.
However, since then, failure after failure had certainly dented his ego and his standing in the science community.
He was well aware that, there were only twenty years left in which he had to, somehow, perfect the crystal. Then finalise the design of the warp core’s Exciter, and have it made. Before, finally, instaling the whole warp drive assembly, and testing it in a full-blown Spaceship.
Henderson was sure that his predicted warp field equations were still valid. Moreover, he knew that the generated warp field would logically need to be spherical.
He was also sure that a spherically shaped ship would disintegrate. Because there would be far too much stress on it as the field expanded to enclose it.
No, he decided. It was clear. The warp field would need to be at the front of the ship, then, the ship could move forward and into the warp field.
“Tim?” Gregory called out.
He ignored him. Gregory was one of his team. He knew they were still standing there, all four of them, still waiting patiently for him to tell them what to do. As if he was some sort of king or magician.
Even so, Henderson knew he had to resolve the issues. He had to keep going.
There had to be a reason why the warp crystal disappeared, just like that, he thought. Like a child impulsively leaving home.
Come to that. Where do the damn things go? He wondered, and then sighed.
‘Pull yourself together,’ he told himself. ‘You’re on display.’
Mind you, he thought as he continued mulling it over in his mind. Things had certainly improved since they’d being shoved out here in space, on this tiny, crappy, experimental station.’
Being out here had indeed enhanced the quality of the crystals. However, they took so long to grow. That meant he would have to wait weeks before trying the experiment again.
He could also understand why the Earth’s governments wanted to have him stuck out here. After all, they
wouldn’t want Earth to be warped somewhere else if one of his experiments went wrong.
Then he pictured Earth being sucked into a gravity well created by the warp field.
He sighed again. He had to admit, he was stumped.
“Tim?” Gregory called again trying to break Henderson out of his self-pity mode.
He still ignored him.
Yes, there was no option, he would just have to face the music, Henderson decided.
He stood up. Then, straight away, sat down again. Feeling dizzy.
“Tim? Are you alright?” Gregory asked, starting to move towards him.
“Stay there,” he irritably snapped
‘Miserable sod,” Gregory muttered quietly.
Henderson felt sick. His brain throbbed and felt almost like it was being reassembled. “Geeze," he groaned as pinpoints of light seemed to dance in his mind.
Then, slowly the pinpoints joined, to create a picture.
He instinctively knew what the picture showed. It was an image of a spherically shaped magnetic chamber. Open, with the lid, just hinged at one point.
The picture gradually dissolved and another slowly took its place. This showed the point at which the crystal had just started to glow.
He felt slightly better now and was pleased that the throbbing in his head had decreased to a manageable level.
The picture slowly changed again. This time, the crystal wasn’t glowing. Now it looked dead.
Then another change of scene, showed the crystal, laying in the spherical chamber. Still dead looking.
As the last picture formed, he could see the magnetic chamber. Now it was closed and had a faint glow around it. He could see that it was powered now, and operational.
He could also see the words, One Minute Only, superimposed on the picture.
Then, the image crumbled and was gone.
Henderson struggled to get up but fell forward and down to the floor, unconscious.
Consciousness slowly returned to Henderson, as he saw a man in a white coat leaning over him, and an over inquisitive medical droid fussing around him.
“He’s coming around,” the man said to the droid.
The droid squeaked and whistled for a few moments, then smoothly and silently hurried off.
“Where is this place, Doctor?” Henderson asked, having finally managed to form the question.
“Mr Henderson. You are in med lab sixteen, on station three.
Henderson knew that station three was the old international space station, and closer to Earth.
Now he was wide-awake. Moreover, and best of all, he realised he had no pain. He felt brighter than he had for months.
“Can I return to my work?” He asked. “Only, I’ve been given the solution to a difficult problem, and I’m feeling better now.”
“Shortly, Mr Henderson. Shortly. Just rest for now, and I’ll see when, and if we can let you return to your duties,” the doctor replied while thinking that what Henderson had said sounded a bit weird.
“What happened to me anyway, Doctor?”
“I was told that you fell over.”
“Is that all?”
“Seems so.”
“But I saw things in my mind.”
“We all do, at times, Professor Henderson,” the doctor reassured him while thinking that perhaps, he was, like many scientists, a bit crazy.
“Not like that?” Henderson replied, sounding irritated.
“Well, it’s probably stress and exhaustion,” the doctor told him. “Just rest, please,” he added, and then left.
As he lay there, everything came back to him in a rush. Yes, he thought to himself. I definitely saw pictures.
Yes, images in the mind. I remember the sequence. Where did they come from, he wondered, then felt his heart palpitating.
Could it be Aliens, he asked himself. No, that’s not possible. The detectors on the space stations are very efficient nowadays. He shook his head in disbelief. No, they would have spotted anything unusual.
Even so, he thought. Someone had shown him what he had to do. Someone or something was actually helping him.
He lay there, still thinking.
If this method works, then I will have to tell the truth as to where the brainwave came from, he decided.
No, that wouldn’t work. They’ll think I’m insane.
It will be..., Oh that Henderson. A great guy, but he wouldn’t take the credit. Weirdo.
Then thought to himself, that’s a joke. Knowing that he normally would.
However, he knew he couldn’t this time, or he would have people taking the mickey out of him. The word would go around.
He gave credit to some fanciful notion that he was helped by aliens. They would say.
Then as he lay there, patiently waiting for the doctor to return. He started thinking again, about everything that had happened.
He understood the message all right. He had used one of these spherically shaped magnetic chambers when he was at university, many years ago.
So, he now knew that he had just a one-minute window in which to move the dead looking crystal into the magnetic chamber.
Therefore, it must mean that a high enough magnetic field would keep the crystal dormant until you needed to use its properties.
Yes, he was sure that his team could transfer it to the chamber. But how would he be able to control the crystal? He wondered
He gasped, as the answer came to him.
Yes, of course. Create the warp pulse. Then, at the same time, drop the magnetic field’s level down around the crystal.
However, drop it down just long enough for the Crystal to want to be on the other side of the warped space.
The crystal would then create a wormhole, and, bingo, you would be flying through it. However, the timing of the drop in the magnetic field, and its exposure length would be critical.
So now, for the first time in years, he had something positive to work with.
He was sure that he knew the answer to the crystals disappearing act.
Courtesy of the pictures that had been placed in his mind.
Chapter 36
Pavonis
Earth Date: 2302
It was now one hundred and thirty-three years since Acarea had crash-landed on the fourth planet that orbited the Delta Pavonis star.
The building of the Underground Complex and of the four townships had been completed long ago. The Founders also had, as expected, decided to call the Townships, Cities.
They had named the Cities Atreen, Marca, Velcray and Vicrea. With Marca being their Capital.
A huge statue stood in a square, on the outskirts of Marca. It depicted two people, a man and woman. Both of them with one arm pointing up.
The statue was labelled The Founders and engraved near the bottom with their names.
Captain John Traven and Trisha Bernstein Traven.
John and Trisha had married five months after the Acarea had crash-landed, and two months after Trisha and her unborn child had been brought out of stasis.
Their first child, although having been conceived on board, was born seven months later. They named their daughter Christine, Acarea Traven. The first name, in honour of Trisha’s great grandmother, and the second, as a remembrance of the ship that had brought them both together.
Their second child, born two years later, was named Michael John Traven. Both having wanted to honour her Uncle Michael, and Trisha’s great grandfather, Micky.
At the time, unsurprisingly, these names became a popular choice for parents to give their new babies.
Now though the origin of these names had been forgotten, no one knew whom the founders had been. Or even when the statue had been erected. Few knew or cared, about any of it.
The Starship Acarea’s open airlock initially became a shrine. While the remnant of the ship was called the Rustic Church.
Someone had even taken the time to have two gargoyles sculpted and had placed just them outside the entrance. Supposedly,
to keep the evil spirits at bay.
Now, nobody visited the church or even remembered how it got there.
The Acarea’s memory core was locked in a secure vault in Marca’s city hall. The Core held a mass of data on Earth’s diverse technological achievements. Along with encyclopaedic data on how to do almost anything. Including, a historical record of what had happened to the Acarea, and its crew members and settlers, since leaving Earth.
This had been started with the intention of adding to it as and when anything significant happened. In the belief that, one day, someone would come from Earth and would want to know how they had survived and developed over the intervening time.
However, for some unknown reason, after a few years of meticulously entering details of importance. The gaps between the entries gradually widened, then trickled down until nothing else had been entered.
There had even been some talk of another city called Hero, occasionally. However, there had never been any communication with it. Now most people believed that it had never existed.
It was almost as if nothing else had ever happened, and now, no one even thought about it.
During the Pavonisien’s time on the planet, the enormous blue spherical spaceship had returned twice since Acarea’s first real contact with it.
No-one remembered it’s coming or going. Let alone, what it came for, or to do.
A few people had recalled things that had happened in the past. Even so, although these memories plagued them, they never made the effort to follow up on their uncertainties.
The industrial parks, however, had been a great success. They had flourished over the years, as they developed then manufactured all the necessary items for their own cities, and for the population as a whole, and were a hive of activity.
Acarea. A Triumph or Disaster? (SpaceFed StarShips Series Book 5): A Novel by Gerry A. Saunders (SpaceFed StarShips Trilogy) Page 26