Event Horizon

by Scott McElhaney

  “You can’t do that, ma’am. This is a capital offense and you’d have to get it approved by two other members of the Cabinet,” he said, “I’m just doing my job, ma’am. You gave me this job because you trusted me to uphold the law that was currently in place.”

  “Yeah, well that law is flawed. This is a mistake,” she said, pushing the papers away from her as she rushed through the corridors.

  The Cabinet was made up of the four highest ranking officials on the ship; the Captain, the XO, the Navigator, and the Occupational officer. The last Occupational officer died two months ago from an infection. It was just now that Autumn realized he was never replaced. Everything had been running smoothly, so she didn’t see a need to call upon him. Without the need, she simply didn’t miss his non-existent replacement.

  Paige was already standing outside the Lockup when Autumn arrived. Randall rushed up between the door and Autumn.

  “You’d better get out of my way and open this door,” Autumn said through clenched teeth, “He’s been starving Chasen, Paige. He hasn’t eaten for two days,”

  “Is that even legal?” Paige asked.

  “The second he was caught with that contraband, he was sentenced to death. Once a sentencing happens, it is beneficial to the remaining members of the crew to not waste anymore food or water on the criminal,” he said, “Page 207 of the ISDC Operations Manual.”

  “Open this door, Randall. You’ve now been told by the Captain and the XO. You’re future is looking very grim,” Paige stated.

  He stared into her eyes, suddenly feeling confused. He glanced over at the Captain who had her hands on her hips then back at the XO who had her lips pursed in anger.

  “This isn’t right,” he muttered, turning to enter his password into the panel on the door, “You two aren’t supposed to be above the law.”

  He opened the door and waved them into the room. This was the first time Autumn had ever seen the Lockup. She found herself in a central room surrounded by three large jail cells. Chasen was standing at the barred door of his cell watching them.

  “Open it,” Autumn growled to Randall as she pointed toward Chasen’s cell.

  “No, ma’am. You’re taking this too far. I can’t just…”

  She reached out, grabbed a hold of his shirt and pushed him against the wall. He raised his fist like he was going to hit her, but stopped himself when he saw Paige rush over to him. Autumn continued to hold him against the wall, despite the fact that he was probably seventy pounds heavier than her.

  “That’s it, I quit!” he shouted, removing the keys from his pocket and throwing them on the floor, “Find yourselves another security officer. And I’m sure she’ll fit right in around here, too.”

  Autumn released him from her grasp and watched him rush out of the room. Chasen just stared in awe from his cell.

  “I think the security chief is a little upset about having to report to women,” Paige said, reaching down for the keys, “And he’s probably even more upset about getting beat up by one.”

  Autumn looked down at her hands and realized they were shaking. She couldn’t believe how angry she had become. She watched Chasen step out of his cell after Paige opened the door. He looked over at her. Something was different in his expression as his eyes met hers. Just then, he rushed over and wrapped his arms around her. Paige watched and quickly became aware of something she had not previously suspected. He buried his face in her neck while Autumn held him.

  “Was I involved in something I shouldn’t have been?” Paige asked, “Did we just forcibly break Chasen out of jail?”

  Autumn peered over Chasen’s shoulder and smiled at her.

  “I’ll explain later.”

  Week #700

  This particular room was usually reserved for interstellar signal detection and interpretation. The three relay terminals could be manned by someone, but it was actually unnecessary. The system would issue an alarm if any signal was detected and it was always recording. Autumn chose the room today because it was soundproof and also because it was often ignored by everyone.

  “I called you all here today because I consider you to be my government,” Autumn stated, “I know you don’t carry the proper titles, but when it’s all said and done, you are the ones I turn to. No one outside of this room needs to know about any of this.”

  Everyone remained seated and quiet.

  “Paige, you are my XO and my friend. Chasen, you are my Navigator and my friend. Eric, you are my Agricultural Officer and my friend. Stephen, you are my jack-of-all-trades and a new friend. Jenny, you are going to be a scientist and you’re already becoming my friend. Donny, you always happen to be wherever Jenny is, so you’re going to have to learn to be my friend. Kyle, I never figured out what you do, but you’re starting to become my friend also,” Autumn stated, “And as we are nearing the outskirts of the Ceti system, it’s time to come together as a government. It’s time for us to prepare for what is coming.”

  She looked around the room, realizing that she had their undivided attention.

  “Before we begin, is there anything between us that could hinder our working together? Is there any friction or problems that need brought to the surface? Now is the time,” she said.

  Everyone looked around at each other. No one appeared to have anything to say.

  “Well, my first order of business is the plague. Again, I want to remind you that this information stays in this room. It has come to our attention that the plague was released on our ship intentionally. This particular bacteria was created on Earth and sent aboard with a passenger for the sole purpose of releasing it when the ship was beyond the point of no return,” she said, watching the shocked expressions of her fellow crew members, “It was released eight years into our journey, knowing that we only had a maximum of seven years of fuel left on the ship.

  “This was a special strain that was released. It was a virus-creating bacterium that would live in the water supply for three days. After three days, it would die and the water would be safe again. However, if ingested within those first three days, the bacterium was deadly. To make matters worse, this bacterium would actually mutate into an airborne virus. We’re not sure exactly how it worked since the information we have is minimal. We do know however, that this was released into the water supply by the Water Recycling Officer.”

  “Wait, how do you know all this?” Eric asked.

  “We found a couple of journals in the boneyard. One of them was written by the Water Recycling Officer himself. He admitted everything,” Autumn replied.

  Stephen and Paige both looked at each other. It was evident to both of them that Autumn was speaking of Paige’s father. Paige lowered her gaze to the floor, probably hoping he wouldn’t say anything aloud.

  “Why would someone do that?” Kyle asked.

  “Because he knew something that no one else did. He was on a personal mission long before he ever left the Earth. He was on a mission to save a whole branch of his family tree,” Autumn stated.

  Paige looked up from the floor “What are you talking about?”

  “The unmanned probe that went to the Ceti system in 2818 wasn’t actually unmanned,” Autumn stated, drawing a gasp from Paige, “History tells of an underground Christian church in Montana that disappeared in 2818. There were theories circulating of a mass suicide or a government conspiracy, but that was all a cover-up to hide the fact that this group actually escaped aboard the SA Planet-Chaser. The Space Administration’s ship was meant to bring fifty of the world’s leading astronauts on a round-trip tour of the Ceti system. Drake Morgan was one of these astronauts, but he was also a member of the underground church. Seeing that Christianity was soon going to be wiped from the face of the planet, he seized an opportunity. He and the thirty-eight members of his church packed their things and stole the ship on the night before its scheduled launch.”

  “Unbelievable,” Jenny said, “That’s amazing.”

  Autumn laughed. “It really is. Th
ese people took a leap of faith and never intended to return. The ship did however return to Earth thirty-two years later but it was totally empty. All the supplies were gone and the only thing left aboard were two dozen photos of the new planet. Penciled neatly on the backs of these photos was the word ‘Ephraim’.”

  “What does that mean?” Stephen asked.

  “It has two meanings in the Bible. It could either be referring to Joseph’s second son in the book of Genesis, or it could be referring to the Northern Kingdom after Judah separated from Israel. I’d be more willing to believe the latter. I think they called the planet Ephraim since they saw themselves as a separated nation,” she stated.

  “How do you know all this?” Kyle asked.

  She retrieved the Bible from one of the terminal chairs and set it on the table. Stephen gasped when he caught sight of it.

  “It’s time to stop the misconceptions about this book. We’ve been raised to believe a bunch of lies about this. I am going to pass out two packets to everyone. These packets include a full copy of the section of Matthew and the section of John. Chasen and I are currently in the process of trying to get Acts and Romans typed up also. As an open-minded government, I expect you to read these before you make any judgments,” she stated.

  “But Christians were crazy people. Look at the guy who contaminated the water and tried to kill everyone aboard,” Stephen said, rising from his seat.

  “He wasn’t a Christian and his motives weren’t to protect Christianity. He found out that a secondary part of our mission was to eradicate those people who stole an SA spacecraft and who essentially stole a planet from the Earth. He got the Captain to admit this in the Annual Mission Report. When he was certain that his cousins were all going to be killed, he decided to save them. He had no Christian motives at all,” she said, reaching onto the chair beside her and grabbing a stack of papers.

  She passed out the packets to each of the crew members in the room.

  “It’s time for us to prepare to become a nation instead of just a ship’s crew. You and I are basically the government of this nation and we are going to have to work together to create a freedom that we haven’t been raised in. The first order of business that I bring to the table is the freedom of this book. If you can find a reason to suppress this book, I’ll be willing to listen, but I’m not willing to listen to ignorant claims. Return to me after you’ve read these,” Autumn stated.

  Week #705

  Chasen spread out the star chart on the sofa of his common room. He could have easily located digital versions of this same chart in the ship’s computer, but those viewing panels never quite offered the full perspective. With a yellow pen, he started to trace out the constellations he memorized as a child. Then with an orange pen, he began tracing out the new ones as they would appear from the viewpoint of Tau Ceti. One of these constellations even included the Earth’s sun now.

  As he was tracing out a distorted version of Canis Major, he heard something coming from Jenny’s room. He set the pen down and glanced at her partially open door. The sound came again and this time he recognized it as sniffling. As he rose from the sofa and headed toward her door, he could also hear what sounded like crying. He rapped gently on her door then pushed it open. Jenny was lying on her stomach with her head hanging over the side of the bed.

  “Jenny, what’s going on?” he asked, cautiously sitting next to her on the bed.

  She scooted away and hid her face in her pillow.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  She mumbled something unintelligible.

  “Would you mind moving the pillow so I can hear what you’re saying?” he chuckled, squeezing her foot playfully.

  She turned her head to the side. “I’m scared and I don’t want to go to Ephraim.”

  “Why are you scared? I’m going with you and I plan on taking care of you,” he said, gently rubbing her back.

  “We’re not going to be welcome there, Chasen. Think about it. It’s been their planet for a hundred years and we’re going to impose on their space. I thought we were going to be first,” she said, “What if they attack us?”

  Those same thoughts had already crossed his mind. He couldn’t let her know that he was afraid of the same thing though. He was supposed to be the heroic, fearless big brother.

  “The planet is as huge as the Earth. If they started with thirty-nine people and they doubled the population every twenty years, then there would be…78 at 20 years…156…312…624…and at one hundred years, there would be 1248 people. That’s not even a city on Earth. And all this is assuming they multiplied like that. It could be slightly more or slightly less,” he said, “On a planet that size, there’s a good chance our descendants wouldn’t meet for centuries. For our own safety, we’re probably going to plan on that.”

  She rolled over and sat up on the bed next to Chasen. She pulled her pillow into her lap started mindlessly tugging at a loose thread.

  “What was it like to have a mom and a dad?” she asked.

  “It was pretty cool,” he replied, “You had them too, but you just were too young to remember.”

  “I just wish I could imagine a normal life. What would it be like to live on a planet with parents? What does the wind feel like on your face? What does the sun feel like on your skin? I’m so scared to get all these answers at the same time,” she said, “What do real raindrops feel like when they pelt your skin? What’s it like to lie on the ground and watch the clouds pass you by?”

  “I think we’ll all be overwhelmed. I was too young to remember Earth, so I can’t even answer your questions. I’m anxious to find all that out too. Did you know we’re actually in the Ceti system now?”

  “Seriously?” she asked.

  “Yep. Right now we’re in the outer reaches where the comets are barely attached to the system by the gravity of Tau Ceti. We should actually be able to pick up some of the system’s planets on our navigational detectors in a few weeks. We’re still about six months from the inner system though,” he stated, “It’s amazing how slow everything is even when we’re travelling near the speed of light.”

  . . . . .

  Page 303 of the ISDC Operations Manual

  The ISDC does not travel through space by traditional methods of propulsion. The entire ship is orbited by a hollow titanium ring called a GF Ring or Gravitational Field Ring. The ring is attached to the ship by two support posts and it orbits the ship at a distance of almost one kilometer. Using the eight traditional propulsion boosters aboard, the ship can only achieve speeds of 400 kilometers per second. To exceed this speed, the ship makes use of the GF Ring and the gravitational field generators within the ship. The ship uses the gravitation field generators to achieve a severe gravitational well around the ship as it accelerates with the traditional boosters. The boosters can be shut off once the warp surrounding the ship becomes one-tenth of one percent of light speed. At that point, the ship will proceed solely on the gravitational well it created in space. It is comparable to a surfer who has created a large wave then simply rides it in the direction it has been aimed. The gravitational field generators can deepen the well until it has reached 99 percent light speed. Usually the acceleration process takes up to a year, but deceleration can be done in half of the time and with almost no fuel consumption. It’s just a matter of stopping the “wave” at the right time and using the pull of a large planet for braking. These six months become the most trying for the ship’s navigator.

  . . . . .

  “May I have the attention of everyone on this ship, please,” the voice called over the intercom, “I’d like to remind everyone that the ship will begin braking procedures at 1800 hours. Usually this will be felt as a mild shudder throughout the ship. The period following this shudder has been known to cause a feeling of nausea. I’d also like to remind everyone that dinner is not being served until 2000 hours tonight because of this. Anyone experiencing these symptoms should report to Dr. Morgan for a motion-sickness injec
tion. Thank you.”

  “So should we get the mop buckets ready?” Chasen asked, watching Autumn place the handset down.

  “I want you to just focus on keeping us alive,” Autumn said, watching the viewing panel in front of the navigator’s chair, “Are the sensors up and running?”

  Chasen sat down in front of the viewing panel and punched a few keys on his console. Three separate screens came up on his panel.

  “There,” he said, pointing to the small screen in the upper corner, “We’re surfing through a small debris field right now and we’ll be free of it at 17:48.”

  She looked at the screen and shook her head.

  “I still don’t understand how we are plowing through all that without hitting anything,” she said.

  “The warp that we created around the ship actually starts bending space at about two million kilometers around us. Like you said, the warp itself almost acts as a plow. That’s why we never hit anything,” Chasen said, “But the second I break the warp, we’d better be sure there’s nothing larger than a baseball in the area.”

  She patted him on the back and stepped away from his work area.

  “Just don’t kill us. Like I told you earlier – I don’t want you getting up from that chair for anything. I’ll bring your dinner. Remember to call me for anything else,” she said.

  He laughed and tapped a few more keys on his console.

  “So if you get your way, I’ll be seated here for the next six months without ever sleeping,” he said with a chuckle.

  “Well, definitely until tomorrow morning. And I’m not kidding about the bucket. You are not to leave even to go the bathroom,” she said, sliding the bucket over to his chair, “For the next six months, you’re pretty much the new Captain. It’s also all your fault if we die. I’ll be bringing Paige back before we start.”