Discovery (Terran Chronicles)

by Jackson, James

  “Which of us is next?”

  Cindy smiles as she gazes at each of them. “Well, we just hope that it never comes to this, but if it does, just work together.”

  The hours have turned to days adding to everyone’s boredom, except for a few people that is. Radclyf, and Daitaro have continued their Gamin shuttle flight training under John’s watchful tutelage. It does not take the pair very long to gain enough basic skills to pilot the Gamin shuttles. During this down time more and more of the crew take the Gamin ground vehicle out and onto the lunar surface. The low gravity makes for some comical spectacles at times. Initially George finds it funny when he is called to push the vehicle back onto its tracks, but this soon becomes quite a chore, and not so funny. He leaves one pair stranded for an hour before he rescues them, they were less amused than George. The hours drag on even more for most. The zero-g room gets more use, even though most of the crew doesn’t care for it.

  George takes advantage of this time and examines the small thin device his son found during his illicit trek aboard the Terran. It fits in the palm of his hand and looks very much like a small control panel or console. The black screen fails to light up or display any icons, much to his frustration. He cannot see where it could be charged, nor where there is any on-off control. After a while he puts it away in disappointment.

  “Terran, General Hayes here, come in.” The sound transmits through the bridge speakers, catching the half asleep Joe completely by surprise. He looks up at Akira, one of the Japanese soldiers, and smiles. They are the only two on the bridge at this late hour. He is most happy to have a well armed guard present, even one that just stands and watches.

  Joe wipes his tired eyes and stifling a yawn responds. “General, Joe here, the others are sleeping. What can I do for you?”

  “Joe, tell Cindy we’re ready.” Joe bolts upright in his chair at the words, alrighty then, he is wide awake now.

  Twenty minutes later the bridge is a hive of activity. Cindy has been debating who should be there for this historic moment. Although George could have done this alone, she decides that they should all go, as a sign of unity to the world.

  While John pilots the shuttle carrying the group to the lunar base, Cindy smiles as she gazes at those around her. She is very proud of them all. Olaf and Peter from Russia have proven themselves very useful in many ways. Hayato of Japan leads a team of quiet, but efficient combat troops. What an understatement she reflects. Her smile widens to see him seated next to his British counterpart, the redoubtable Radclyf. If terrorists are onboard, she has faith that these two men can deal with them. Further down are seated the almost inseparable Aussies. While Andrew is tall and slim, Joe is short and stocky, earning them the nickname of the ‘odd couple’. They work well together and have the tough task of figuring out how to navigate the Terran. Then she comes to John their captain, a courageous and skilled pilot, no matter what he is flying. He and George may hail from America, but they are two sides of the same coin in many ways. George, a civilian with no military training, nor an extensive education, and yet he is critical to their success. An anomaly really. She frowns a little at the thought of so much riding on one person. The slight bump of the shuttle landing breaks her thoughts.

  The team makes their way to the main control room where Cindy sets up a camera. George even steps out from his body suit for the pictures, which even surprises Peter. After much ado Cindy gazes around and simply says.

  “George, transmit the data.”

  “Yes ma’am,” he replies as he steps back into his suit to perform the task.

  Peter watches Cindy as she enjoys the moment. He then watches George as he interfaces his suit to a console, and the world was ever changed, the thought comes from nowhere, and sends a chill through his body.

  Ten minutes later George disconnects his suit from the console.

  “It is done.”

  Cindy looks around the room one last time, then steps, as if to leave. She abruptly stops, then cocks her head to one side quite quizzically.

  “George, can you disable the weapons on the satellite grid?”

  He reconnects his suit to the Gamin terminal and in a matter of moments replies.

  “Sure, but then anyone will be able to launch rockets.”

  Cindy has already considered this and responds with confidence. “Do it. Disable the weapons.”

  George shrugs his shoulders and seconds later replies. “Weapons disabled.”

  Cindy grins at those around her. “Now. Let’s get off this rock, we have a lot to do.”

  This decision will have far reaching consequences, far more than anyone could ever imagine.

  Location:

  Riken Institute, Kobe

  Japan

  The most powerful and fastest supercomputer on the planet struggles with the influx of data. Even with the hastily installed upgrades which virtually doubled its capacity, it still can’t store everything as fast as the transmission sends it. Fortunately for them the Gamin satellite grid does indeed buffer the data, for a while. Technicians scurry frantically around as their pride and joy is brought to its knees within minutes.

  Two hours later the Japanese team hands over the data collection task to America. Teams frantically work to further enhance the supercomputer’s capacity, the jerry-rigging scares even the most ardent of them, but it must be done.

  Titan, the enhanced American supercomputer at Oak Ridge Laboratories picks up where the Japanese system left off. The Oak Ridge facility commander looks at his supercomputer and smiles. Titan can handle anything. His jaw drops the second he sees how fast the data is coming in, and how much there is. Sweat builds on his face as reports of overheating and imminent failures reach his ears within mere minutes. The volume of data soon overwhelms even this facility, causing them to fall back to their last option. The other supercomputers on campus have all been hastily networked, and though they are not very powerful when compared to Titan, they do provide valuable storage space.

  Three hours later the Japanese team again takes over the task of continuing to store the mind boggling amounts of data. This time it is the Oak Ridge facility that is forced to come up with innovative and almost reckless ways to upgrade their capacity. There is just too much information, and even though the Gamin satellites have converted the data to our formats, as George predicted they would, much of what comes down appears as gibberish.

  Finally some eight hours later technicians at both sites confer, then report that the ten minute long data stream has been copied. Now comes the monumental task of sifting through it all.

  Location:

  Kangbashi District

  China

  Whereas others have been performing hasty upgrades to various supercomputers there is one facility that has quietly been under construction for many months. Commander Jie stands with the city leaders and proudly looks down from the terrace. His rank of ‘Supreme Space Commander’ is a recent promotion, and one that he takes very seriously. The city leaders who have already been vying for favor, talk and point as the scale and scope of this project sinks in.

  He lets them point out the various facilities, gravity sciences, power creation, armor and hull divisions, the list goes on. Having an actual section from the Terran helps their cause greatly. How they obtained this he does not know, but he plans to find out. The team responsible for replicating the gravity plating has yet to unlock its secrets, but he is assured that they will. Gazing off he looks at the distant farmland that supports this city of almost one million. China’s people power in full swing, and backed with an unlimited budget, this city could be one of the wealthiest in the nation. Jie is very proud of his country’s achievements.

  He brings his focus to one particular building now, the computer center. Nicknamed ‘Kang’, it quietly occupies a three story building. The inside of this building has been designed specifically to allow easy access to every segment. Literally hundreds of computer technicians manage this facility. Small teams are res
ponsible for clusters of these segments making for fast response times to problems that arise. This system was originally built to handle data from the Terran, but in this venture the teams failed, as they were never able to transmit or obtain the information. Not being sure how much data was stored also caused a lot of debate. Finally though, the edict came down that it did not matter how much information was involved, we would get all of it. Thus Jie scoffs as he gets reports that the Japanese and Americans are suddenly buying up computer components and supercomputer components. His own orders, had gone out the second the lunar base was discovered. He is also most proud of China’s intelligence network.

  Thus while the Japanese and American systems struggle to take in the data, Kang gets it all. Not to say that it is was an easy task. Those working on the lowest level do so in bitter cold temperatures as the custom made cooling system directs heat upward and away. Many of those on the upper level faint from heat exhaustion as Kang is pushed to its limits, and stays there for hours. The modular design works very well, allowing overheating segments to be scaled back. The teams are well trained and perform their duties flawlessly. Jie plans to recommend them all for the soldier-civilian solidarity award.

  Location:

  Starship Terran

  Earth’s Moon

  Captain John sits quite formally at his station as he lifts the Terran off the lunar surface. He uses the thrusters sparingly, and only to compensate for the ship’s tendency to drift to one side. Oh my. I bet that’s the side with fewer gravity plates, the revelation startles him. That’s why we drifted into the dock on Earth, and why we started to tumble as we ascended.

  Cindy catches herself chewing on her lower lip as the ship lifts off. Once in space she actually starts to feel more relaxed. All eyes turn to her, awaiting her orders. She does not disappoint them, but she does surprise them.

  “John, you will stay onboard, Radclyf and Daitaro will pilot the two Gamin shuttles. Peter go through your list and arrange to get everyone off this ship that wants to leave. I don’t care if they were scheduled to be here or not, this is going to be a volunteer only mission from now on.”

  She glances over to George, then continues. “George go with Radclyf, see your family then get the air samples we need. I want you to makes sure this ship, the shuttles, and even that Gamin ground vehicle have our own air.”

  Joe glances at George as a thought comes to his mind.

  George nods to Cindy, then catching Joe’s glance, nods to him as well, and smiles. He is pretty sure he knows what Joe wants.

  Location:

  National Assembly Building, Seoul

  Unified Korea

  With a Chinese oversight committee and the bulk of North Korea’s leadership vanishing into thin air, the old South Korea Parliament bickers over every detail. However, once the committee proposes that the new capital of the unified Korea be Seoul, the arguments fade quickly. When it comes to aid for the North Korean peninsula, again China steps up and indicates that it will send thousands of tons of food and medical supplies. This is in addition to aid that began when the war ended. As supplies head into Korea, Chinese workers remove all vestiges of the old regime. The North’s nuclear program is to be reviewed, then updated to meet modern standards. South Korea, though reluctant, votes to remove the demilitarized zone. With their own military in tatters it’s useless anyway.

  The tough sticking point is China’s unexpected insistence that Korea break from the West, and join them in the upcoming era of peaceful space exploration. Much of the leadership recalls the hardships of the Korean wars and implore for China to allow them time to deliberate.

  China continues to dominate the world’s headlines over the Korean decision. Journalist start to converge on Seoul as the area becomes quite a focal point. China’s leaders smile as they provide aid, and appear to the world as peacemakers.

  Not a single person asks the most obvious of questions. How can China be looking into space explorations without access to a spacecraft? Their own launch vehicle was destroyed by the Gamin satellite grid not too long ago. So, what are they up to?

  Location:

  Washington DC

  USA

  Whereas the Chinese government makes a decision, then implements it. The American congress is not quite so efficient. Democracy shows its flaws as party members begin to debate, then argue, for the projected costs of the President’s plan threaten to cripple the American economy. Concessions given for favorable votes further complicate matters.

  While the data transmission from the alien lunar base is still being reviewed, the politicians make their decisions based purely on conjecture and rumor. Finally after many hours of tiring discourse, there is a majority vote in support of the initiatives presented. Thus plans are put in motion, contracts are drawn up allowing the private sector to submit bids. The democratic system though quite slow at times, has proven effective yet again.

  The President retires, he is quite weary. Though the process has been slow, he smiles to himself. Teams of engineers are already en-route to the Australian Outback, the safest, quietest place available. He recalls the Australian Prime Minister telling him of similar debates and concessions, but eventually they too conceded. With the number of countries rallying together, growing every day, he is confident that they can figure out the alien technology. They have the alien’s own construction facility, and now the information on how to build new spaceships. The applications for the new found technology are seemingly endless. China is going to be left behind now, they should not have pulled out. He continues his musings, then considers France as they too’ withdrew from the joint efforts.

  Location:

  KGB Headquarters

  Minsk, Russia

  The Russian President once again rests in his chair, his Matryoshka doll rests nearby, a constant reminder to him of plans within plans. Igor and Pavel are once again shouting at each other, this time over the situation in Korea. Other party members add their own comments here and there. Staring out the heavily draped windows for a while he is so deep in thought he fails to notice that the room has gone quiet.

  The President brings his thoughts back to the meeting. Sighing deeply he stands and begins.

  “The Americans are working on creating a consortium of nations that are to build a new spacecraft. We have been invited to join this new venture, to which I have already indicated our support.” He nods in deference to those in the room, “pending your approval, of course.”

  Pausing in his speech he walks to a window, allowing those at the table to talk in whispers. Gazing at the scene outside he gathers his thoughts. Working with the Americans and Japanese has put a strain on relations with China. Turning back to the men in the room he waits for them before going on.

  “Should we inform this consortium of countries that China has also obtained the data from the alien’s lunar base? Worse still, that they have a city of around one million working round the clock to perfect the technologies. But if we do so, we threaten to make an enemy of China and their supporters.”

  The Russian spy network is as good as it has ever been, with agents planted world-wide, little escapes their attention. China has been very busy rallying support, both political and monetary, and now he knows why.

  “Furthermore, do we move troops to the Chinese border? That is another question for this committee to decide.”

  The debate rages on and on over these and other domestic issues, until finally a consensus is reached. The President is very pleased with the results from this day’s meeting. A series of nationwide military training exercises will begin. The end result will be the redistribution of some minor, yet key forces, closer to the Chinese border. An envoy is to visit Beijing for a discussion on the Korean issue. Support will be given to the Korean reunification efforts and China’s role as overseer.

  Breathing deeply, the President’s pride in his nation swells. Russia shall again be a mighty nation, an empire. With this thought he signs the most momentous o
rder of the day. Dripping wax upon the carefully folded flap, he then drives his ring into the setting wax, sealing it with his imperial stamp. Recalling the stories of Stalin, Lenin, and others, he smiles. Will I be remembered as such, or will I be forgotten, like so many others. His father often talked with respect of the Russian Empire, perhaps the dream is not yet dead.

  The courier is surprised to be handed a letter with a wax seal, but he is intuitive enough to not let his emotions show. His task is a simple one, hand deliver the letter to one particular person. He leaves immediately, the assignment will take some time.

  Location:

  Ground Control

  Outback

  Western Australia

  Radclyf’s piloting skills are adequate at best. The shuttle lands heavily on the desert floor, jostling the pair of them. George leaves his suit in the shuttle and hurriedly makes his way to his quarters. Lisa opens the door, seeing George makes her bursts into tears as she hugs her man.

  Johnny jumps up from the couch and cheers. “Dad, you’re home, that was really cool!”

  George ruffles his sons hair with one hand while still holding Lisa with the other. He looks into her dark eyes and finds trouble saying what is on his mind.

  She gazes back and frowns at his distress. “What’s wrong?” Her tears diminishing.

  George sighs deeply. “They need my help.” He looks at his family and for the first time feels really torn.

  Lisa recalls the General’s visit and his words of praise for George.

  “Do you know how long you will be gone?” She asks lovingly.

  George ponders the question. “You know, I have no idea. I would say a couple of months at the most. The dangerous part, the launch, is over. Now it’s just a case of working out how the ship’s drive systems work.”

  She wonders if there is something else. A week ago people, powerful people, were begging George to go with them. No matter the family’s compensation, he said no each time. Now it’s almost as though he wants to go. The General was quite clear though, without George they would have all perished. A thin smile creases her features. Johnny was right, he did save them.