Star One: Dark Star

by Weil, Raymond L.

  “I have used my core programs to calculate the level of unrest below,” Teela said in her quiet, demure voice, standing with her arms folded across her chest looking at the screen.

  “How bad is it going to get?” Christy asked, her eyes dark with worry.

  “As people grow to believe more and more in the threat of the neutron star, civil unrest will spread exponentially,” replied Teela, looking at the two commanders. “Already, there has been an increase in attempted government takeovers in Third World countries.” Teela paused before continuing. She didn’t know why, but she still felt acutely uneasy anytime she addressed Commander Larson.

  “The news media has been reporting the growing unrest,” commented Steve, watching the big screen, which was showing the news reporter trying to get an interview with Senator Farley.

  “I have also computed that Senator Farley will never accept the threat of the neutron star as being real,” continued Teela, feeling confused. She did not understanding how the senator could be so blind or refuse to accept the data, which was readily available.

  “That’s not surprising,” spoke Christy, glancing over at Steve. “The man’s too stubborn.”

  “I don’t understand why he will not accept this,” Teela spoke. “The data is overwhelming. If he won’t accept it now with the data currently available, my programs predict that there is no new evidence that could change his mind in the future.”

  “That’s how some people are, Teela,” replied Steve, gazing at the innocent young woman next to him.

  Her long black hair reached down to touch her shoulders, and if you didn’t know she was a hologram, it almost seemed as if you could reach out and touch her. She looked so unthreatening with her childlike innocence.

  “He will never accept it because it goes against everything he believes in,” answered Christy from her seat on the right side of Steve.

  She had been watching Teela with interest. Since Jennifer had installed the holographic imagers, Christy had noticed that Teela seemed to be blending in like a regular member of the crew. The people in Main Control scarcely stared at her anymore. Nearly everybody that encountered her now was accepting her.

  “He will fight it until the very end,” replied Teela, scanning her analysis of his past actions to confirm that they were accurate. “He will refuse to acknowledge the threat is real, even when the Earth is finally pulled out of its orbit.”

  “What do your calculations show will happen on Earth when the neutron star finally begins to affect the planet?” asked Steve, looking into Teela’s deep blue eyes. He wondered why Jennifer had chosen blue. They were captivating.

  “My latest calculations, based on the most recent Farside data and the disks from the Super Crays down on Earth, indicate that there should be a significant increase in weather activity starting in about five to six months,” Teela replied. She was running new simulations every time the data was updated.

  “What will the storms be like?” asked Steve, knowing he wouldn’t like the answer.

  He recalled some of the information in the disks he had brought back up from Earth. Steve knew that increasing inclement weather would be one of the first signs of the affect of the neutron star upon the Earth.

  “We will see a gradual increase in the number of severe storms across the globe, heavier rains, tornadoes, larger than normal hail, and extremely damaging winds,” Teela reported as she viewed a simulation of the projected weather pattern changes in her core memory systems.

  Steve sat silently listening. None of this had happened yet, but he could well imagine the carnage the storms would cause.

  “There will be an increase in hurricanes and typhoons across the oceans of the world,” Teela continued, her eyes on the two commanders. “Many of the storms will grow to Category Five, with the possibility of some growing to a Category Six or even greater.”

  “Category Six!” Christy echoed with a shocked, disbelieving look upon her face. She had never even heard of a Category Six storm. “There has never been a hurricane that strong; the Saffir-Simpson scale doesn’t even go that high! A Category Six or higher would be devastating.”

  “The simulations indicate storms of that level or higher will be possible,” answered Teela, shifting her gaze back to Christy. “Storms of that magnitude or greater will become commonplace as the neutron star comes nearer. They will also be very widespread.”

  “What would a Category Six hurricane be like?” Christy asked afraid of the answer.

  She had seen videos of some of the devastating hurricanes of the past. Some of the destruction they had caused had been astounding. It was hard to imagine that a force of nature could wreck such havoc.

  “In the early part of the 21st century, it was suggested that a Category Six be added to the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale,” said Teela, watching the reaction of Command Larson and Christy to her words. She didn’t like upsetting either of the commanders, but Christy had asked. “The wind speed for a Category Six would start at 180 mph. Very few if any structures would survive for long in sustained winds of that speed.”

  “What will be the primary cause of this weather pattern?” Steve asked, his eyes narrowing as he pondered the damage such a storm could cause. It would make hurricane Katrina back in 2005 look like a small storm by comparison, and he had watched the historical records of the damage caused by that storm.

  “This change in the weather pattern will be caused by increased solar flares and sunspot activity upon the Sun,” Teela replied. “It will be followed three to five months later with a gradual increase in earthquakes as the gravitational affects from the neutron star itself begin to be felt by the Earth.”

  “How powerful will the earthquakes be?” asked Steve, letting out a deep breath.

  He knew from what President Kateland had told him that they were expecting some extraordinarily powerful earthquakes. Earthquakes so powerful that very few shelters were expected to survive.

  “More powerful than anything ever recorded,” answered Teela, scanning another one of her simulations. “Possibly on the order of magnitude ten or greater.”

  “Magnitude ten!” gasped Christy, her deep blue eyes growing wide. “And you said they could be even stronger?”

  “Yes,” answered Teela. “The San Andreas Fault will suffer a cataclysmic earthquake with part of the coast being engulfed by the Pacific Ocean. Other major fault lines in the United States will also become active. Earthquakes across the planet and in the oceans will cause massive tidal waves, which will inundate most of the Earth’s coastlines.”

  “We expected that,” replied Steve, nodding his head. President Kateland and Warren Simmons had mentioned that in their briefing.

  He reached over and took Christy’s hand squeezing it gently. He felt numb at hearing Teela confirm in more detail what President Kateland and Warren Timmons had already told him. No wonder they felt so doubtful about many of the underground shelters surviving. “Anything else?”

  “Yes,” Teela replied in a lower voice.

  She had hoped that the commander would not ask for the rest of what her simulations had told her would happen to the Earth. She could tell that both Commander Larson and Christy were visibly upset by what she had already said.

  “It’s the volcanoes, isn’t it, Teela?” spoke Christy, feeling as if a hand had just grasped her heart and squeezed. She held Steve’s hand even tighter for support, fearing what she knew Teela was about to say. “They’re all going to erupt, aren’t they? That will signal the end of life on Earth!”

  “Yes,” replied Teela, turning her head slightly to face Christy. “Shortly after the earthquakes start, the volcanoes will begin to erupt. There will be intense volcanic activity over the entire planet, which will grow steadily worse as the neutron star reaches its closest approach.”

  “They will make the Earth uninhabitable,” Steve murmured, imagining all the ash and toxic gases that would be released into the atmosphere.

  “Most of the acti
ve volcanoes will erupt, and many that have lain dormant for centuries will also,” Teela said. But she hadn’t told them the worst. Those eruptions would actually be minor compared to what was ahead.

  “There’s more, isn’t there, Teela?” Christy spoke in a low voice, seeing Teela’s hesitation.

  "Yes, and it’s very bad,” Teela replied. “The Yellowstone Caldera will erupt as well as the other five known super volcanoes. Within four weeks of the eruptions of the super volcanoes, there will be no life of any type upon the surface of the planet. I estimate that sunlight will be reduced by eighty percent due to the dust and other pollutants that will be expelled into the atmosphere. The atmosphere itself will be nearly unbreathable.”

  “Four weeks,” murmured Christy, taking a deep breath and releasing Steve’s hand. Thousands of years of culture and civilization would be wiped out in less than a month.

  Pausing briefly, Teela continued. “There will also be some unusually intense solar flares. An intense flare, if it strikes the Earth, could raise the temperatures on the surface several hundred degrees in just a matter of a few hours. My best calculations indicate that civilization on Earth as we know it will cease to exist within eleven more months at the most. There may be a few isolated pockets that will continue to survive, but even those will eventually vanish in the maelstrom that will exist.”

  Steve and Christy both stared at Teela, aghast. “How did you figure all of this out?” blurted Christy quietly while looking around the room. She wanted to make sure no one else had heard. “Only the Super Crays on Earth have been able to predict that, and that information hasn’t been given out. And they were not anywhere near this explicit.”

  “You forget,” said Teela, putting her hands on her hips and cocking her head slightly to one side staring at the two. “I am an AI with a tremendous core system that has most of the combined knowledge of the planet below stored in my files. It’s not that hard to access it and set up a program to correlate the data on what the affects of the neutron star will be.”

  “Teela,” said Steve firmly, glancing over at Christy. “I don’t want you broadcasting this information. At least not yet. The people on this station and the Space Platform may suspect what's going to occur, but they need more time to get used to the idea of what’s going to happen.”

  Closing her eyes, Teela accessed one of her core programs and ran a quick study, calculating the results of revealing the information to the crew. She also had crew dossiers in her files of everyone aboard. As of late, she and Jennifer had changed the virtual reality program to allow her to access the rest of her system just by briefly closing the eyes of her holographic figure. It happened so quickly that to most people it would seem like nothing more than an eye blink.

  “I think you would be surprised by their reaction, Commander,” Teela said after a moment. “The crew trusts you implicitly to protect them and bring them through any emergency. But I will follow your command and not tell anyone.”

  “We probably can’t keep this from the crew much longer anyway,” commented Christy, her blue eyes staring into Steve’s brown ones.

  “I suspect you're right,” replied Steve, nodding his head in agreement.

  He had told the crew most of what was going to happen. They knew the neutron star would seriously impact the Earth, but they didn’t know that the Earth was destined to become uninhabitable.

  “Many of the scientists and others already suspect,” Christy added. “Dryson and Stoler surely do. You can’t keep anything a secret for long from those two.”

  “Just in the conversations I've had with them, it’s pretty obvious they have figured it all out,” Steve said, confirming Christy’s words.

  “Since we have restored communications, there has been a constant flood of messages to Earth,” commented Christy, recalling how communications between the crew and their friends and families down on Earth had substantially increased. “Our crew has been talking to their families and friends. There is a growing unease about what’s going on down below.”

  “I suspected that would happen,”’ Steve replied with a frown, taking a deep breath. “It’s all going to come out soon enough as it is. We've been talking to the crew about bringing some of their closest family members up. They know we wouldn’t be doing that unless this was very serious.”

  “From what I have overheard, everyone has accepted that the Earth is going to go through some serious changes,” interjected Teela, looking at the two. “Only a few of the scientists have guessed what the end result will be, and they are not saying anything. I believe they are waiting for you to make the announcement to the crew about the end of the world.”

  “Thank you, Teela,” replied Steve, thinking about what she had just said. He knew that he couldn’t put off that announcement much longer. The crew deserved to know what was in their future.

  “I think we need to do it soon,” suggested Christy quietly, knowing what Steve was thinking. “Our people need to begin making arrangements for their families.”

  Nodding, Steve watched as Teela walked away to visit with other crewmembers currently on duty. She never missed an opportunity to visit with the crew when her hologram was on. Steve smiled inwardly to himself as he saw her stop at Margaret’s communications console. Steve knew that Teela had made friends with Margaret, and the two spent a lot of time talking when Teela was in Main Control.

  “It’s still hard to believe that’s Teela,” said Christy, watching the AI. Margaret was laughing about something Teela had said. “It’s amazing how much she has changed in the last few weeks.”

  “How about going out to Jensens tonight?” asked Steve, listening to Christy and wanting to change the subject.

  He had also noticed the change in Teela. He was glad the AI was back online and working so well. He knew if the situation on Earth continued to deteriorate, they were certainly going to need her. Jennifer had worked miracles with the AI.

  Christy and he hadn’t spent much time together since he had returned from Earth. Schedule and planning meetings and contacting crew family members on Earth to arrange for their immediate flights up to Star One had occupied both of them for several days now.

  It had been difficult meeting with some of the crew. Some didn’t want to believe that the danger was so serious that their families needed to be evacuated from Earth. Others had accepted what Steve said and had given him a list of close relatives they would like to see brought up to the station.

  It had already been decided that preference would be given to younger family members and people who could be useful on the station in the coming situation. It didn’t make sense to bring parents or grandparents up who were in their late fifties or older. This was a hard necessity, particularly if it was going to be up to Star One and Tycho City to repopulate the Earth someday. Assuming there was any place on Earth that would still be habitable after the passing of the neutron star.

  “I have a better idea,” said Christy, turning away from watching Teela and smiling hesitantly with a slight blush showing on her cheeks. “Let me prepare a meal at my place. It would give you a chance to sample my cooking, and we can relax without having to worry about any interruptions.”

  “Sounds great!” replied Steve. The idea sounded very appealing to him.

  He could use the down time. He had spent much of the day talking to different crewmembers. The short trip outside with John had been helpful. It made Steve realize just how badly he needed to take some time off.

  After working through most of Star One and the Space Platform’s crew roster, almost 80 people had requested to be transferred back to Earth. He had visited briefly with each one, making sure they understood the possible consequences. Already, Steve had sent down a list of 600 crew family members he was requesting to be brought up to Star One as soon as possible. He was working up another list of slightly over 400 people with different skills that could be useful on the station. The list was comprised of people from scientists to technicians to physic
ians that might be needed.

  A relaxing evening with Christy sounded great. However, looking into her deep blue eyes he noted the excited and expectant look on her face and wondered just how relaxing the evening would actually be.

  -

  Jennifer was down in one of the ecological habitats with Julie and Kathleen. This entire habitat was dedicated to raising food. They were walking slowly down long rows of vegetables that were staked to trellises, which allowed the plants to climb high above their heads. Stopping, Jennifer reached out to touch a nearly ripe tomato almost the size of her hand.

  “How do you get these to grow so perfectly?” she asked, bending over and inspecting several other plump red tomatoes. The vines were heavy with fruit in various stages of development. Jennifer had tried some gardening back home, but had never been able to grow anything like this.

  “This is all dirt from the Moon,” explained Julie, squatting down and picking up a handful of the rich, dark soil, letting it run back to the ground slowly through her slightly spread fingers. “It’s rich in minerals, and we have a drip irrigation system that runs throughout all the garden plots you see here. We mix a special hydroponics mixture of fertilizers and growth hormones with the water to encourage the plants to grow quickly.”

  “Are the growth hormones safe?” asked Jennifer, looking at Julie. She had read in the past that many were not.

  “These are,” replied Julie, smiling reassuringly. “They are based on the plant’s own chemistry, which encourages rapid growth.”

  “That’s good to know,” responded Jennifer, standing up straight and looking around at all the plants that were growing.

  Everywhere one looked, you saw growing plants. The air seemed fresh and clean; the scent of growing things played lightly on the senses.

  “We also take samples regularly and only grow varieties that put out the maximum production in the different environments we have created,” added Julie, standing back up and waving her hand around, indicating the ecological habitat.