Discovery (Terran Chronicles)
Page 32
“That explosion knocked the moon off its axis. The planet is going to experience some pretty nasty gravitational effects ranging from quakes to coastal flooding.”
Cindy sinks in her chair, depressed. We did that to them.
“Get us out of here,” she says, angry at herself. We come in peace… she doesn’t even finish the thought in her own mind.
Murphy’s Law
Joe and Andrew get to work planning their next few legs. John patiently awaits the information. Soon enough, he has what he needs. He is about to engage the main drive when he stops himself. He turns to Cindy and says with respect.
“Ready at your command Admiral.”
She smiles at his thoughtfulness, leans back in her chair and says with vigor.
“Punch it.”
John engages the main drive, ramping their speed upward.
“Factor seven and holding,” he intones.
The kaleidoscope of colors wash over the ship once more. The soothing scene, once again, starts to relax her. She looks pensively at the Kord control unit. Hope you last.
The days pass, the crew quickly falls into a routine. The stops to adjust their heading briefly, and in deep space, far away from any planets. The closer they get to Earth, the higher the morale is among the crew. Everyone is feeling much more relaxed as the ship continues to function flawlessly.
Cindy wakes on her own accord once again, the days of constant interruptions seemingly a lifetime ago. She takes her time getting to the bridge, the daily routine becoming monotonous. She arrives to find most of her bridge crew present. John turns to her, and with a huge smile says.
“At this speed, we’re about forty hours from Earth. There is only one more course correction to make. Then it’s a straight run home.”
Joe rushes onto the bridge, he’s a little frantic. He stops, then stares at Cindy. She is twiddling with the Kord power cell control unit.
“Cindy, why’d you turn it off?”
She frowns, then quickly looks at the small hand unit.
“I didn’t,” she states emphatically.
Joe sighs deeply, “then it’s run out of power. We’re on our own reserves now.”
“How far away from Earth are we?” She asks reluctantly. Cindy had hoped the power cell would get them all the way home.
Joe sits at his console, and begins to tap away at the symbols. “Once we drop to sub-light speeds we can get an exact fix.” His skills at using the Gamin systems are far more advanced than his first day. Andrew already has the answer and shares his findings.
“I can give you a rough estimate, just under five thousand light years away.”
Cindy nods her head in surprise. They have travelled further on the Kord power cell, than she had even hoped possible.
John sighs deeply, “well that forty hour estimate just jumped up to about thirty days.”
John disengages the main engines, the ship instantly drops to sub-light speeds. The ship’s deck plates vibrate a little at the shift. Cindy frowns at the sensation. First time they have done that in quite a while, she realizes. The multicolored spectrum of light fades away, to be replaced with boring looking white dots. The glow of the dampening shield fades moments later, as they automatically go offline. This leaves the nearly invisible navigational shields running. He studies their trajectory carefully before engaging the sub-light engines. The bridge crew is quite adept at using the Gamin terminals.
Joe, Andrew, and John, begin talking earnestly as they discuss their options. While they talk, Cindy leaves the bridge, heading for the mess hall. Once there, she reluctantly gathers the crew.
“You may have already heard, so I shall make it official. The Kord power unit has run out. It looks as though we’re about a month away from home. So pay attention to the ship, report anything unusual.”
One of the kitchen hands steps forward.
“We have about three months of rations left, so there is plenty of food.”
One of the reactor crewmen snickers.
“You can’t call those ration packs, food.”
Cindy speaks up, her voice firm, yet supportive.
“We have come a long way, and if we maintain our diligence, will get home, safely.”
The crew nods in assent, they have come to respect her leadership and to trust her decisions. With many of the crew informed, she heads back to the bridge. None of the bridge crew can keep their disappointment from showing. Andrew speaks up once again.
“We’re about thirty days away from home, and that includes the recharge time.”
Cindy sighs, back to the days of factor six, shuddering deck plates, and hour upon hour of doing nothing while the capacitors recharge.
“Very well, let’s get this over with,” she says with little enthusiasm.
Andrew adds a positive note for her to ponder.
“At least it’s a straight run.”
Cindy grins at his efforts to cheer her up. The days once again fall into a dull boring rut. The travel at speeds far exceeding the speed of light, then slow while the capacitors recharge. Day after day drags on, morale aboard the ship begins to fall once again.
Five thousand light years, become four thousand, then three. Each becomes a major event for the crew. Search parties start to examine the ship for damage, Cindy is very concerned that the mild shuddering will cause more problems with the ship’s deck plating.
One thousand light years from Earth, Cindy arranges for another ration pack party. This time there is less enthusiasm, but morale receives a small boost as people realize that they are less than a week from Earth. The days continue to pass, one after the next.
Cindy follows her usual routine, making her way onto the bridge to find John quite excited.
“I have some great news for you. This will be our last stint. Our next stop is Earth.”
Cindy stares at him in disbelief. As the ramifications sink in, she begins to feel an elation like never before. She taps the chair’s console.
“Attention all crew. Our next stop is Earth, we’re almost home.”
She grins excitedly at her bridge crew.
“Punch it.”
She has trouble sleeping, and finds herself on the bridge early for a change. Joe is already there, as is everyone else. Seems that no one was able to sleep well, she reflects. John disengages the main drive, then studies his console.
Andrew also studies his terminal for a moment, then turns to Cindy smiling. He gleefully says, “well, we have finally done it.”
He turns back and with a practiced hand, taps a few symbols to bring up a view of what is ahead of them. A star filled sky is all that presents itself, that is, until Andrew runs a finger down one particular section of his Gamin terminal. The stars seem to jump at them as the view zooms in. Then, there before them, filling the screen is Earth, its blue waters and white clouds are a welcoming sight.
Everyone is touched at seeing their home again. Even the notoriously emotionless Peter manages a grin. The rest of the crew eagerly awaits word from the bridge, everyone felt the shudder through the deck plates as the ship transitioned to sub light speeds.
Epilogue
The starship Terran, though still far out in the solar system, edges closer to Earth at just under half the speed of light. John plots a course up and over the distant asteroid belt. He loves the high ground when he can take it.
Andrew’s smile turns into a frown as he reviews fresh data coming in.
“Ahh, hang on a sec.”
Cindy leans forward as if being any closer will afford her a better view. Adjusting the main view, and zooming in a little more, Andrew exclaims loudly at the sight.
“What the heck is that?” His finger points like a dagger at a distant object.
Orbiting Earth, high above the Gamin made satellites is a massive construction. Easily large enough to encompass the Terran, it looks like a massive space-dock with huge claw like appendages hanging downward. Cindy’s eyes narrow warily. With all that has happen
ed this last few months, she is taking nothing for granted.
“Andrew, plot us an escape trajectory and feed it into John’s terminal, just in case.”
She pauses for a moment, wondering if the Gamin have returned. As they can’t see any ships in orbit, it doesn’t look like it. Tensions raise as the excitement of returning home is replaced with apprehension. Cindy sits back, and as she often does, considers her options carefully before making a decision.
“Joe, can we discreetly contact the Aussie facility from this distance?”
He considers the request for a moment, then shakes his head.
“We would still need to use the Gamin satellite grid, anyone could pick up the signal. We would have to be practically in orbit for our own communications equipment to work.”
Cindy scowls, disappointed.
“Very well. John, you so much as even think you see another spaceship, punch it.”
John nods, though, having just shut the main drive down, means that reinitializing the field would be risky and very draining on the limited energy reserves. Their recent adventure has been as harrowing as it has been exhilarating. Everyone has a renewed sense of caution when something feels out of place. Cindy bites at her lower lip nervously for a few seconds.
“Joe, open up a channel to the launch site. We have to find out what’s going on.”
“Yes ma’am,” he says formally, while tapping a symbol on his terminal. He has come to trust her instincts during this arduous trek.
“Your console has access now.”
Cindy looks at her chair’s controls. Taking a deep breath, she taps the symbol for external communications.
“Ground control, this is the starship Terran, come in.”
As the seconds tick by, tensions mount. She is just about to resend the message when the bridge speakers come to life.
“WOW! You guys made it.” The young man’s voice is filled with excitement, and does not sound very professional at all. “Hold on a sec. Let me get someone.” Silence follows.
Cindy glances around the bridge, bewildered, curiosity building as she waits. The others shrug their shoulders or shake their heads. This is very bizarre, indeed.
“Starship Terran, this is General Walker of ground control. Welcome back.” The strong American accent is unexpected.
Joe and Andrew both turn to each other in surprise. An American in charge of the Australian facility, now that’s very strange. Cindy is curious as all heck as she wonders what the old NORAD commander is doing there.
“General, what’s going on? Where’s General Hayes?”
“Well folks, you have been missing for quite a long time, we thought you were lost, or worse.” His voice is tinged with surprise. “That last transmission we received from you kicked off the largest, and most expensive space-race in history. It was almost world war three down here for while. A lot has changed while you were gone, that’s for sure.”
Cindy continues, “how did that space station get built so fast?” Cindy is not liking that her questions are being ignored.
“Fast!” He replies quizzically, “It took us over two years to build that monstrosity.”
The bridge crew is stunned into silence. The hairs on the back of Cindy’s neck raise up in alarm. As far as she and the crew is concerned they have only been gone for about six months, not years.
General Walker’s voice fills the quiet void. “You must be close, dock inside Space Station Unity, then come down with your command crew. We have a lot to discuss.”
Cindy feels some frustration building up. “General, how long have we been away?”
Surprised at the question, General Walker continues hesitantly. “Ah, you have been missing for almost three years.” He quickly adds, “but Lisa wouldn’t let us give up hope, that’s why Unity was originally built.”
At the mention of his wife’s name George turns to Cindy, his shocked expression mirrors the faces of those around him. Three years! The bridge crew is staggered by the revelation. Joe’s blank gaze wanders the room as his mind shifts into high gear. He puts a hand to his head, concentrating, his voice carries with it a disquieting tone.
“The RMC went down when GUS was shot up. Perhaps this happened because we were travelling faster than light without it? I don’t know. This will keep scientists busy for a long time, that’s for sure.”
Cindy takes the news stoically, then taps her console again. “See you soon General.”
She cuts the communication then sits there, quite pensive. Everyone patiently awaits her orders. Her eyes narrow as she gazes around the bridge, considering their options. The crew has been through a lot this last few months, and have forged strong trusting bonds.
“John, take us in slowly. Let the main drive fully charge up, then park us in a high orbit, facing away from Earth. We won’t trap ourselves in that dock until we know what’s going on.”
She was expecting a ‘ticker-tape’ parade for her crew, not this, and certainly not a space-station in orbit. A lot does seem to have happened in their absence. It will take four hours for the drive’s capacitors to charge up, thus, John slows the ship down. During this time, Andrew and Joe view sensory data of Earth as news of their imminent arrival spreads throughout the ship.
The few hours seem to drag on for an eternity. George, in his familiar body suit, stays vigilantly connected to a terminal, ready for anything. All their fears seem to be unfounded though. They pass the lunar orbit without so much as a peep from Earth. That in itself feels peculiar to the bridge crew. Cindy waits until John has the ship on station keeping before she finally sends the long awaited message throughout the ship’s internal speakers.
“ home people! Let us never forget those that died, making this day possible.”
The crew cheers loudly, the noise reverberates everywhere. Cindy wears a thin smile as she gazes at the view of the space-station. We have made it home, but is this the home we remember, or something else?
###
Conversion Chart - Metric to Imperial
Metric note : centimeter = cm
140cm.....4 feet 7 inches
150cm.....4 feet 11 inches
160cm.....5 feet 3 inches
165cm.....5 feet 5 inches
170cm.....5 feet 7 inches
175cm.....5 feet 9 inches
180cm.....5 feet 11 inches
190cm.....6 feet 3 inches
200cm.....6 feet 7 inches
Metric note : 100cm = 1 meter (m)
1m.....3.28 feet
3m.....10 feet
10m.....32.8 feet
25m.....82 feet
50m.....164 feet
75m.....246 feet
100m.....328 feet
Metric note : 1000 meters = 1 kilometer (km)
1km.....0.62 miles
3km.....1.86 miles
5km.....3.11 miles
10km.....6.21 miles
25km.....15.53 miles
50km.....31.07 miles
75km.....46.6 miles
100km.....62.14 miles
Glossary
AOC .......... Array Operations Center
ASKAP .......... Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder
DEFCON .......... Defense Readiness Condition
GLS .......... Gravity Landing System
GUS .......... Gamin Umbilical Supercomputer
IGD .......... Internal Gravimetric Dampeners
ISS .......... International Space Station
KGB .......... Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (Committee for State Security)
NASA .......... National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NORAD .......... North American Aerospace Defense Command
RAN .......... Russian Academy of Sciences
RMC .......... Relativistic Mass Compensator
SAS .......... Special Air Service
VLBA .......... Very Long Baseline Array
###
I do hope you have enjoyed reading ‘Discovery’, book two
of the Terran Chronicles saga, as much as I have enjoyed writing it. For more information about the series please head over to http://www.terranchronicles.com/.
To keep in touch, connect with me via Facebook or Twitter.
James Jackson
TC10-D12-JJ