To Touch the Stars (Founding of the Federation Book 2)

by Chris Hechtl

  She'd gotten into a sullen funk for the following week before she'd finally been drawn out of it by her juniors and into analyzing the data they had gathered. She had found amino acids, so that was a plus. She wouldn't go down in the records as the first to discover life on another world … that title was held by the Titan team, but she would go down as someone who had found potential life on an exoplanet. Maybe. Possibly.

  The ship had to refuel a second time in the system, then made the four parsec jump to the star system the Captain named Agnosta. It took twenty-one weeks to get there. The binary system was near, only thirteen light years away so well worth the stop since it was on their way home. The two stars were active but nearly a light year apart.

  The G2 class star had a gas giant with several moons. A moon was located that was near Earth size, but it would take more extensive terraforming to get it habitable so for the time being it was left alone. Doctor McReese was elated over that victory but then crushed when the captain refused to linger in the system for any length of time or authorize any landings. The tugs had already brought in sufficient snowballs to process into fuel and the long stay in Pyrax had given the engineers plenty of time to fine tune the ship's systems. The relatively uneventful ride to the system left the systems in good shape for the next leg of their journey.

  Once they completed their remote survey work as they crossed the system, they took thirty-seven weeks to jump the 6.9 parsec distance across the void to an empty system labeled B452c on their star charts. They crossed the system and then jumped 8.2 parsecs to another system that the XO named Briev after the small town in the Ukraine where his family had come from. The fourth planet in the system fell in the Goldilocks zone of its parent G2 star. They found it was Earth like, with primitive lichens and a near 1 G gravity with a nice magnetosphere and active biosphere. Again Doctor McReese and her team of scientists successfully argued to leave the planet alone for the time being. Doctor McDaniel backed them up; it was a potential risk of catching an alien pathogen. The XO was a bit put out over the argument.

  Reluctantly the Captain acquiesced to the scientists and they jumped 6.5 parsecs to the next system; one the dolphins named Triang after a few hours of lively debate. It was a beautiful world; one that was ripe for terraforming so they set to work on it. Since they had the process down now, the process went much smoother and faster.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  Isley felt a bit worn out from all the hard work but ready to go home. They would go home with their heads held high, she thought, they'd done a good job. If the terraformers had done their jobs right, and she was pretty sure they had, they'd have two fresh worlds to colonize in a couple of decades, just long enough for the ship to return home and Lagroose to finish the first colony ships. If they can go home, she thought. That was the forty billion dollar question on everyone's mind.

  She had had a bit of relationship trouble with some of the crew. She admitted privately to herself that she had gotten too in over her head a few times. She winced at the reminder. A few like Cosmos didn't hold it against her. Cosmos was a good guy; he knew she wasn't the settling down type. Her seduction of Wally had been an amusing topic of the ship for some time. She'd let the guy down easy when she'd moved on. Fortunately by that time Anita had started making goo-goo eyes at him so he'd been okay with a clean parting.

  The captain and XO were off limits. Both were on pedestals and couldn't flirt or have sex with the crew, something about bad for discipline. Apparently rosy palm was a big thing for them. She wished both of them luck. Mat Zapada was hunky but gay, he didn't play both sides of the road, more’s the pity. She'd flirted with him a bit, but he hadn't bitten. Shannon had been a tigress in bed, quite a change from the quiet almost shy woman she presented while on duty. And kinky too … she wiggled her rear a bit. A bit too kinky she thought with a half-smile of memory.

  But her most recent … stallion had been a bad choice. She'd never seen the harm in dating married men, a brief fling and it was over. Like when Doctor McDaniel had separated from her husband. Sid had been fair game. On the market or so she had thought. Sid had apparently had something to prove to the good doctor, and she realized now that she'd been caught in the middle. She had enjoyed his passion for a brief time, then when the doctor had found out it had led to a rather spectacular and ugly break up. Doctor McDaniel had practically ripped her hair out during the encounter. Sid had turned into a good little boy and went back to the doc … and, of course, pointed a finger at Isley as the bad guy. She'd had some avoidance issues with the crew for a short period of time; they had turned her into a pariah for the adultery. Many of the established couples had long thought of her as a threat; now they took the time to take it out on her.

  The scarlet letter crap lasted until Chief Roak had stepped on it. She'd pointed out that it had taken two to tango, Sid was just as guilty as Isley. Secondly, it was no one's business but theirs. That had gone a long way to help Isley, and she'd felt incredible indebted to the chief for it.

  When they were alone, the chief had told her to keep her panties on from now on and quit playing the field or she'd make a set of “iron britches” and slap her ass in them and then throw away the key. Isley had thought it funny until she'd read the dead serious intent in the chief's eyes.

  What had finally sealed her reformation was the good doctor grudgingly forgiving her publicly. Still, it had been a close run thing. She hadn't been spaced, but she had learned an important lesson. Even if now her bed was lonely.

  Chapter 36

  Just before the start of the new year, Pavilion's ship Destiny returned to Sol triumphant. Her return was celebrated as a belated Christmas gift. She had traveled to Barnard's star but had gone at a much slower rate in hyperspace than Lagroose's ships. The company was initially reluctant to release data on their ship or findings; in fact they kept the data release to vague general material.

  Barnard's star had been a disappointment but one expected by the astronomy community. The tiny red dwarf star had indeed no planets as expected. Still it had been an achievement for the ship to jump to the system and then return safely.

  Miss Raye was undeterred by the lack of planets. After all, it was one system she pointed out in several press conferences. Billions of other stars were still yet to be explored. She announced plans to work with LGM to terraform planets when they were found.

  During her interview with Miss Fraser, she discussed lobby efforts in the UN General Assembly to pay for such start-ups or finance them. “Basically, we would be like a construction company. We would hold the title until the costs of terraforming and transporting the colonists were covered.”

  “A mortgage,” Miss Fraser agreed with a nod.

  “Exactly,” Miss Raye replied with a smile as she crossed her shapely legs.

  “Do the other companies agree with that? Or do they have their own processes in mind? What about interest on the loan? Would you provide your own funding or could they get outside credit?” Miss Fraser asked, cocking her head.

  “I obviously can't speak for the business plans of the other corporations or the Chinese,” Miss Raye replied with another hint of a smile. “But we will be open to outside funding of course. A lot has yet to be worked out,” she said politely. “We are learning as we go.”

  “Has there been a lot of interest in colonizing a world?” Miss Fraser asked. “Since Mars is right here?” she asked, waving a hand to indicate the world they were on.

  “It is. Mars is still in the process of being terraformed, and it will never be quite as good as Earth. My apologies to those viewers in your audience who are offended by that statement,” she said, holding up a hand. “It is unfortunately true though. There is little LGM or the other terraformers can do about the planet's lack of a magnetosphere. I know efforts to improve it have been underway for some time, but even with the impacts and moving the planet a quarter AU inward it hasn't restarted the core of the world. The planet's mass it just too low to sustain a molten core.”r />
  “I see,” Miss Fraser replied thoughtfully.

  “The biosphere of this world will need constant monitoring and adjustment or it will slip back into a cold dead world like it was nearly two centuries ago,” Miss Rayes pointed out. “However, with the right starter world and process,” she smiled. “Such things won't be a problem out there,” she said, indicating the image of stars above their heads. Miss Fraser looked up to the simulation then back to her guest. She nodded. “Also, planets may have close to Earth normal gravity and conditions which will ease transfer. Yes it is a perilous journey, but we are working it out,” she said with a patented smile.

  “Thank you, ma'am,” Miss Fraser said. “On behalf of the human race, thank you for you and your company's efforts to bring us to the stars,” she said holding out her hand.

  Miss Raye took the hand and shook it. “You're welcome,” she said with another smile. “It was a pleasure to be here,” she murmured politely.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  Jean Pierre raged when Destiny returned. He felt like everything was slipping out of his hands. The problem was there was little he or his people could do about it. He felt like he was floating adrift, falling to his beautiful home world without any way of stopping himself.

  During their first quarter board meeting, he vented his rage against the situation for a full five minutes. When he finally wound down, Saul reminded him killing the ship was hard to do. “We're talking about destroying a ship. A starship that we don't have easy access to. Unless you want to employ some sort of suicide person …” he shook his head at that thought. Psychological screening would weed such people out he thought, stubbing out his cigar.

  “But it must be done!” Jean insisted, stabbing a finger onto the table for emphasis.

  “Why not let them leave?” Gerald asked, spreading his hands in appeal. Saul turned his basilisk look on him but he ignored it. “So what? A few thousand a year at best? A drop in the bucket.”

  “Piffle,” Jean said, frowning at the legal analyst.

  “The best and the brightest. We are already loosing people to space and Mars yearly. Why do you think Mars is now the number one university in the solar system when it comes to technology?” Frodo asked, sounding annoyed.

  “The problem with that is the current academia here,” Gerald pointed out. “They fill the kids with crap. The kids don't have a lot of jobs to choose from, so escapism is the norm. There is little work ethic. Hell, you have to have a degree to breathe in some states!” he said, shaking his head. “Even a minimum wage job requires some sort of degree or advanced diploma!”

  “And people are turning to other venues. Art, VR, escapism as Gerald mentioned,” Heidi told them mildly. “With the biosphere the way it is, lack of work, and the crowding is there any wonder why they are going into escapism?”

  “But cleaning up the Earth …”

  “Is a job for robots or Neos or people who can't do anything else,” Frodo said. “It is dirty and expensive. People who don't mind getting their hands dirty and don't mind doing day in and day out mind numbing tasks are the only ones suited to do it. Tasks that seem impossible are beyond people's mindsets now; they focus on the small things. Many who work in the clean-up teams are just pulling down a paycheck, doing the minimum required for the job until they are off shift,” he said.

  “Then that has to change. Some sort of … quota,” Jean said.

  “Which we can't implement. We're not in charge,” Gerald reminded him. Jean grunted in irritation. They had lost a lot of headway in the assembly. The idea of colonizing new worlds was just too appealing to many of the nation states, to popular with the world weary public.

  “We missed an opportunity with all the debates on EETC,” Frodo said, leveling accusing eyes on Heidi. “Pulling in our horns wasn't the right call.”

  “Pulling in our horns was definitely the right call. We need to lower our public profile for the time being. The more attention we get the more those out for our blood will pay for it. We need to let the dust settle. Work on reforming our image,” Heidi said, keeping her temper. She saw Frodo's eyes flash but held up a restraining hand. “I'm serious.”

  “But pulling in our horns has sent the wrong message to some of the media. It's telling them we are on the decline. That something is wrong,” Frodo insisted.

  “It has told them that we didn't want to be heard about the EETC debate. We've made our position known,” Gerald said. He turned to the publicity director. “But I do agree with Frodo; it is a lost opportunity. Our income projections are off. Way off,” he said, shooting a glance at his boss.

  “That you can therefore blame on me learning my new position,” she said with a mild disarming smile. “Things will pick up. Have a little faith,” she said.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  A month after Destiny returned to Sol, Star Reach's Pathfinder jumped for Proxima Centauri. “A little late, but better late than never,” Jack observed after his people confirmed the jump. He was glad in many ways that Reg's vision was finally being vindicated. He didn't like that he'd stolen the late man's thunder, but he was pretty sure Reg had forgiven him before his life had been snuffed out. He shook his head.

  “The competition is heating up,” he murmured, rubbing his jaw.

  “Indeed it is,” Athena replied. “You watched Miss Raye's latest interview I believe?”

  Jack snorted. “You know I did,” he replied. Athena monitored his health and welfare.

  “I know you had it on, but I have a privacy feature now,” the AI replied.

  “Then why the response?” Jack asked, settling himself in his chair.

  “I was about to speak with you. It seemed proper to respond,” Athena replied.

  He raised an eyebrow but decided to let her off the hook. He'd instituted the privacy feature with the coders recently, one of Wendy's better ideas. He wasn't sure how well it would work with Athena, but apparently she was restricted by the new protocol. That was good.

  “What's on your mind?” he finally asked, picking up a stylus and twirling it in his fingers like a lathe.

  “A report is in your inbox, a break down on Pavilion's plans. Also a flight plan of Pathfinder as plotted by the team on station 34. They believe the ship is off course by several AU.”

  “Interesting,” Jack replied noncommittally. “But hardly Earth shattering.”

  “I take it you haven't been watching the news then,” Athena replied with a slight mechanical hint to her voice. “A 7.8 earthquake off the Peruvian coast line has sent shockwaves through the coastal areas, leveling some of the small fishing towns and villages. It has been followed up by a tsunami that has slammed that coast and has worked its way across the Pacific. The Hawaiian Islands are being inundated by waves now. Japan and the Philippines are being hammered as well. Coastal warnings have gone out up the North American sea board as far as Alaska.”

  “Shit,” Jack murmured as the AI brought the news feed of the disaster up. His lips thinned in an angry line as he read the ticker below the image of the devastation. Tens of thousands projected dead, thousands more missing. Millions were without homes due to the flooding. Mass chaos was spreading as the utilities went out. Rioting would soon follow the rescue efforts if something wasn't done.

  He closed his eyes. “Any progress on the rescue efforts?”

  “The South American governments are already overwhelmed. I've fielded seven, now eight requests for support.”

  “Give them video support for now. Subcontract with the global survey group who control the satellites to help. Do we have assets in the area?”

  “None that I am aware of. We did have nine people on vacation visiting family in South American countries. They haven't reported in.”

  “Damn,” Jack murmured. He inhaled slowly then exhaled. “Put Search and Rescue on alert. Start moving assets to help. Get me a list. It will be a drop in the bucket, but we could use the good PR right about now,” he said.

  “Understood,” the AI replie
d as she went to work. With Earth eight light minutes away, she couldn't directly control computer or robots there. She made a note to set up another AI in Earth orbit or on one of the L-5 colonies. The L-5 colonies had smart computers to manage their life support, but Jack hadn't installed an AI in any of them. From his thermal image and expression, she judged it was suboptimal to bring the subject up at the time however.

  -*-*-^-*-*-

  Pavilion had a slick advertising campaign going playing off the “destiny” angle. They played it up with images of people looking to the stars with the wind in their hair and a ticket clutched in their hands. The company like Lagroose and Star Reach had only tentative feelers from potential colonists though, the initial price per person and cargo weight was too high for most people to even consider. Most analysts scoffed that it was impossible.

  However, two weeks after Pathfinder jumped for Proxima the corporation happily announced that they were officially hired by an American splinter group to carry colonists to the first Earth like world. The contract was over ten thousand pages long. Pavilion assured them that they would work diligently on finding such a world for them to settle on; there were penalties if they couldn't find such a world within an unnamed time period. The would-be American colonists were soon joined by a consortium of South American groups who wanted to relocate off world after the latest round of disasters their countries had endured.

  Pavilion's colony ship was under construction but it would take years to complete. Jack found out that the ship would be short legged too, which made him wonder about how they were going to fulfill the contract. The colonists had two years to finalize their payment during their contract. Miss Raye graciously accepted their hefty deposit with the written stipulation that the group would be the first transported. Destiny would be tasked with finding their world.