by Knox, Barry
“I’ll have new bandages on him in an hour or so. Would you mind checking on the kids and making sure they’re all right?” Wong requested. He had asked Joseph to do several things for him around the sick bay, and Joseph had always happily agreed. Dr. Pettway had noticed how Joseph was with the children, and she didn’t mind since they needed the help.
“Sure,” Joseph said. He turned and walked away to check on the kids.
***
Joseph visited every child and talked to them as he offered them something to eat or drink. Sometimes a child would drink or eat a bit. He also took each child to the bathroom, put him or her on the toilet, and closed the door so the child would have some privacy. He did it because that’s what he would have wanted if he were a kid. After a few minutes he’d take them back to bed and tuck them in.
On this day a few of the kids hugged him tightly as he carried them to and from the bathroom, and a few smiled at him as he tucked them in. Then he would take out his book and read a little to them. He had been reading a different story from his book every day. They listened carefully as he read, and the lull of his voice relaxed most of the children enough so they fell into a peaceful sleep. After he finished reading to the last child, he walked back to Xia’s bed to see if Wong had finished.
“I took the kids to the bathroom and read to them a little,” Joseph said as he entered the open curtain.
“Did any of them say anything?” Wong asked.
“No, Thomas, but a few smiled at me,” Joseph said with a big grin.
“Really?” Thomas asked with excitement. “That’s a good sign, Joseph. I’m done here. I’ll go tell Doctor Pettway the good news.”
As soon as Thomas left, Joseph pulled a chair close to Xia’s bed and used his Anna to access the pages in his book he wanted to read to Xia. “You’re going to like this story, Gunny. It’s about a great military commander leading his army against an enemy army. The enemy has lost a battle and is trying to withdraw in darkness to regroup and plan their counterattack. The great commander wants to pursue them and destroy them before the sun goes down. He orders his army to pursue and destroy the enemy forces before it gets dark, and an amazing thing happens; Earth stops turning, and the sun doesn’t set for a day! This gives the great army commander’s army plenty of time to totally destroy his enemy,” Joseph said as he waited for the text to appear on his Anna’s display. Then he began reading.
Mission Control Center, SRS Stephen Hawking
1415—March 4, 2372
The mission scientists sat at different workstations in the MCC, familiarizing themselves with the systems they’d be using when they reached the first observation point. Dr. Harper had Stephen prepare a theoretical simulation of Earth as it may have been 3.8 billion years ago. Then the scientists could ready themselves to efficiently process the information they would receive from the ship’s long-range sensors when they indeed viewed Earth as it was billions of years ago.
“Attention, everyone,” Dr. Harper said as he stood in front of the main MCC holographic display and addressed the other scientists. “Before we begin the simulation, I just wanted to say how excited I am to be working with the best scientific minds of our era. Fate has put us together so we could merge our superior intellect to answer the question of how life originated on Earth. Although each of us has our own ideas and theories on the matter, we want to know the truth and share it with all mankind on how life truly originated and began to evolve on Earth. Our discovery will be the most important and celebrated discovery in history. Our names will be known through the ages as the men and women who discovered the origin of life!”
The other scientists stood and applauded Dr. Harper’s speech. They also seemed to be applauding their own future success and fame.
“Thank you, thank you!” Dr. Harper said with a smile as he motioned for the scientists to sit. “Let’s begin. Stephen, start the simulation.”
“Yes, Doctor,” Stephen said. A few seconds later, the main holographic display sprang to life, creating a distorted display of a planet, as Stephen analyzed the 3.8-billion-year-old simulated data. Starting as an unfocused display, the planet’s focus improved as reports of the analysis began displaying below the holographic image. The reports included types and quantity of gases, mass, radial velocity, and other information. Seconds turned into minutes as the image began to focus and reports continued to be updated and streamed below the image.
Fifteen minutes later the planet was focused. Details showed and reported a single large continent surrounded by water and an atmosphere with sparse clouds. Mountains and erupting volcanoes covered the continent as gases of all types seeped from the volcanoes and ocean.
“We have the data. Now let’s determine if there’s life on Earth at this point or not,” Dr. Harper said as the scientists began working at their consoles. “Remember, depending on what we discover, we will have Stephen calculate the location of the next observation point location we will observe from. If there is life, we will go to a more distant observation point, and if there is no life, we will go to a closer-to-Earth observation point.”
Hours later the scientists determined that no life existed on the simulated Earth Stephen had created and requested that Stephen calculate an observation point closer to Earth.
Stephen continued to create simulation after simulation, as the scientists requested, until they discovered when and how life originated on Earth. In these series of simulations, the scientists proved life began from the classic primordial-soup theory. Next Stephen created a series of simulations that took the scientists ten hours to establish that life originated on Earth per the panspermia theory caused by continuous comet bombardment.
After several days of simulations, the scientists were confident they could and would determine the origin of life on Earth. Their state-of-the-art technology and their superior intellect ensured success.
Captain Bowser’s Quarters, SRS Stephen Hawking
0654—March 7, 2372
Mary awoke when she was flung from her bed. She hit the wall next to her bed with a thud and fell to the floor. As she sat up, collision alarms sounded, and Stephen began calmly reporting over the ship’s intercom, “There has been a collision. All crew members report to your damage-control stations and perform damage control procedures. The antimatter power system and propulsion systems have been damaged, and we have exited the time-speed dimension. I have shut down all but essential support systems to avoid the risk of the ship’s destruction. Life-support systems are damaged but remain operational. All other systems will be brought back online as they are evaluated and repaired.”
Mary stood, took a deep breath to calm herself, and rushed to her console. “Bridge, what’s happening?” she said as calmly as she could.
“Not sure, Captain. We’re trying to find out now,” Commander Steward said.
“Any catastrophic damage?” Mary asked.
“No, Captain. The hull is intact, life support is operational, and the emergency nuclear reactor is supplying power,” Steward reported.
“Have all initial damage-control procedures been completed?” Mary asked as she walked to her closet and began slipping on a jumpsuit.
“Yes, Captain. Stephen reports that all ship bulkheads have been closed, and all ship’s compartments have been sealed,” Steward reported, paused, and then continued. “The crew is now reporting in from their damage-control stations.”
“Very well. I’m on my way to the Triple C,” Mary said and switched off the console.
“Anna, have the scientists and Lieutenant Klaxton report to the Triple C,” Mary said aloud as she exited her quarters.
“Yes, Captain,” Anna responded.
Mary ran through the ship’s corridors to the Triple C as the collision alarm continued to sound. She soon noted a slight odor of burning electronic equipment in the air and hoped whatever had caused it had stopped when Stephen shut down all the systems. She soon reached the Triple C, entered, and sat at the closest c
onsole. She brought up the console and started reading the damage-control reports now coming in. “Stephen?” she asked aloud to see if the AI could communicate via the ship’s intercom system.
“Yes, Captain,” Stephen said.
“Prioritize problems and coordinate repairs,” Mary ordered.
“I have already started that task, Captain. I will contact you directly if there are any problems that require a decision that has to be made by you,” Stephen said.
“Very well,” Mary said as she continued to read the reports.
“What happened?” Gideon asked over the alarm as he entered the Triple C.
“We hit something,” Mary said. She paused as she finished reading a report on the antimatter system and continued. “And we have a lot of critical systems damaged.”
The collision alarm stopped a few seconds later, and Stephen again spoke over the ship’s intercom system. “All ship’s bulkheads are closed and compartments sealed. Each damage-control station has reported in, and there is no catastrophic damage to the hull or the structure of the ship. Systems will be restored per my prioritization and availability.”
“Commander Vanderver?” Mary said after she selected a communications link to the engineering damage-control station.
“Yes, sir,” Vanderver said.
“Have someone perform an external hull inspection as soon as possible,” Mary ordered.
“I’ll have the master chief get on it right away, sir,” Vanderver said as the Tripe C door opened again and the five mission scientists entered.
“Can we help, Captain?” Dr. Harper asked.
“Yes, each of you, use a console and let Stephen know you’re available to assist,” Mary answered.
The scientists hurried to a console and contacted Stephen. Stephen began preparing and filtering damage reports to the scientist who could best work on the problem.
“Anything I can do, sir?” Gideon asked.
“Grab a console and get to work. Let’s put that genius mind of yours to use,” she said.
Gideon sat down and began working on anything Stephen sent to him.
The crew and scientists worked for hours, isolating and repairing various system problems. Nearly every ship’s system was damaged, including communications, life support, antimatter, nuclear, and propulsion. A power surge had caused most of the damage. This had resulted in systems’ electronics being burned out.
“Captain, Master Chief Ostrow would like to speak to you,” Anna said.
“Go ahead,” Mary said.
“Captain, I have Sipes suited up, and he’s ready to perform a hull inspection. I wanted to get the okay from you directly before I send him out.”
“Proceed with the inspection,” Mary said. She paused, and then requested, “Tell Sipes we’re going to pipe everything he reports directly to the Triple C.”
“Yes, sir,” Ostrow said.
“Stephen, pipe Petty Officer Sipes’s communications to the Triple C intercom,” Mary said.
“Yes, Captain, the channel is connected,” Stephen said.
“Sipes, this is Captain Bowser. Report the progress of your inspection per protocol,” Mary said.
“Yes, Captain. I’ll report any damage I see immediately and report when I’ve completed an inspection of a section of hull,” Joseph answered. He had performed the standard hull inspection process hundreds of times.
***
Joseph entered the air lock, and the inner door closed behind him. The gravity plates in the air lock were disabled as soon as the air lock was depressurized, and Joseph was able to move around in free fall. The outer door opened, and the inky blackness of space filled the opening. Joseph pulled himself to the open hatch, using bars mounted on the wall, and stopped just before exiting. He then connected his safety lanyard to a double-catch system located just outside the outer hatch and pulled himself out of the hatch and into space.
All the ship’s hull lights were illuminated so he could perform the inspection. Before he began, he looked, as he always did, into the void of space. He saw nothing. Shocked, he began breathing faster and shouted, “Turn off the hull lights!”
“Is there a problem, Petty Officer?” Mary asked.
“I don’t know. Just turn off the lights,” Joseph said as his breathing became heavier.
Mary turned the lights off using her console, and Joseph looked into space. He began to panic, and his heart rate jumped. His suit’s health biometrics system detected the sudden increase in heart rate and sounded an alarm. Hearing the alarm, Mary asked, “Sipes are you okay, is there a problem?”
“The…the…the…the stars are gone!” Joseph said, trying to speak and catch his breath at the same time.
***
“Stephen, turn on all the external camera systems,” Mary said. She manipulated her console and routed all external displays to the Triple C’s main holograph display. The displays came on-every display was pitch-black.
“Stephen, what’s wrong with the external cameras?” Mary asked. She again tried to route the information to the display.
“All external cameras are operational, Captain,” Stephen said.
“Where are the stars?” Mary asked aloud, not really directing her question to anyone.
“I don’t know, Captain,” Stephen calmly answered.
Combat Control Center, SRS Stephen Hawking
1322—March 7, 2372
“Okay, it seems we’ve done all we can to make sure we’re in no immediate danger. Now let’s figure out what’s happened and what we need to do next,” Mary said as she looked at the officers and scientists gathered around her.
“I believe we’re still somewhere and somehow stuck in the time-speed dimension, Captain,” Dr. Harper said.
“Why do you think that, Doctor?” Mary asked
“It’s the only thing that makes sense because there are only three places we could be—in the time-speed dimension, in normal space, or in the projected black hole,” Dr. Harper answered, paused, and continued with his Southern drawl. “If we were in normal space, we’d see stars, and if we had been sucked into the black hole, we…well, we’d be dead. That leaves us with the only possible answer, Captain. We’re stuck somewhere and somehow in the time-speed dimension.”
The other scientists in the room nodded in agreement.
Gideon, standing behind the scientist, closed his eyes for a few seconds and then said, “Captain, may I say something?”
“Sure, Lieutenant,” Mary said.
“I recall from my reading about the time-speed dimension theory that a ship has to produce enough energy to create the black hole singularity needed to enter the dimension, and if at any time the energy drops below the necessary amount of energy required to create the singularity, then the ship would immediately return to normal space,” Gideon said after recalling what he had read in Dr. Harper’s book, titled Time-Speed Dimension Theory.
“I see you’ve read my book, and you’re right, Lieutenant. But the theory you’re referring to is based upon the amount of energy produced by a nuclear reaction, not antimatter,” Dr. Harper explained. “To be honest with you, Lieutenant, the amount of energy we’re using to enter the time-speed dimension has never been tested, so there may be some variables in play that could suspend us somewhere within the dimension if the power is cut off abruptly.”
“Stephen, do you think we’re trapped or suspended in the time-speed dimension?” Mary asked, wondering why the scientist hadn’t already asked the AI.
“No, Captain. Entering and exiting the time-speed dimension are proportional to the rates of energy being used,” Stephen said.
“Again, like Lieutenant Klaxton, Stephen is basing his understanding on the energy produced by a nuclear reaction, not antimatter,” Dr. Harper said.
“Okay, let’s say we’re somehow trapped in the dimension. How do we get out?” Mary asked.
“First, we have to understand where we are in the dimension. Then hopefully we can come up with a soluti
on that’ll allow us to leave the dimension,” Dr. Harper answered.
“Okay, get to work and figure it out,” Mary ordered.
Dr. Harper looked stunned by her order and said, “It could take months and even years to figure out because we’d have to perform hundreds and maybe even thousands of simulations based upon the number of variables involved in the theory.”
Before Mary could respond, Gideon asked, “Stephen, does the ship’s flight data recorder contain all flight information before the ship either exited or became trapped in the time-speed dimension?”
“Yes, Lieutenant. All ship flight systems status data was recorded, and is available,” Stephen said.
“Can you run a simulation that Doctor Harper is suggesting using that data?” Gideon asked.
“Yes, Lieutenant, I can run a simulation that should confirm where we are,” Stephen answered.
Dr. Harper said, “We have to—”
“Run it,” Mary said, cutting Dr. Harper off. Then she asked, “How long will the simulation take?”
“I estimate the simulation will be completed in nine and a half hours, Captain,” Stephen replied.
“Sorry, Doctor, you were going to say something,” Mary said, looking at Dr. Harper.”
“I was going to suggest Stephen first do a thorough diagnostic on himself before he performs the simulation. His systems may’ve also been damaged.”
Mary thought for a second and said, “You’re right, Doctor, but let’s see what the results of this simulation are first. We can always have Stephen do a self-diagnostic test and run the simulation again if you think it is questionable.”
“Very well, Captain,” Dr. Harper said disappointed.
Combat Control Center, SRS Stephen Hawking
2300—March 7, 2372
“The simulation has completed,” Stephen announced as the simulation results began to display on the main Triple C console. “As you can see from the results, we successfully emerged from the time-speed dimension after we collided with an object. We are in normal space and presently seven thousand eight hundred and ninety-two light-years from Earth.”