The Accidental Explorer

by George Deeb

  Travellor and Delfin were the only people in the room. Farber-Chatwell had requested a confidential communication with Travellor, and by regulation there had to be at least one communication specialist in the comm room, twenty-four-seven.

  “Uh oh. This is bad!” said Travellor, shaking his head. “Everyone knows the big dinner tomorrow is for Cove, and they're not going to like this. You have never seen the base look so clean and organized. The Ganaphe' have even polished the walls of the Orysta. Everyone has put in overtime so that they could be ahead of their work schedules.”

  Travellor looked at Jibble, who gave him a pitying look.

  “Sorry about that, Travellor. At least you can still have the feast. That should keep the natives from getting too restless – just no guest of honor. ”

  “Excuse me for being blunt, sir, but you are down there – safe. I'm the one who's up here – surrounded by those restless natives.”

  “I'm really sorry.” said Farber-Chatwell, unable to suppress a laugh.

  “I'm glad you find this funny, sir. I will get you back for this.”

  “Now hold on.” he replied, laughing harder. “It's not like I have any control over this. It's not my fault.”

  Travellor thought about that for a second.

  “No...,” he finally said, “no, I have no problem with blaming you anyway. If that's all sir, I have to go make sure my body armor still fits.”

  “I really am sorry.” said Farber-Chatwell, laughing even harder. “Signing off.”

  The laughter continued from the speaker for a few more seconds, then it went silent. Travellor just shook his head for a while, feeling a little sorry for himself.

  “Would you like me open a base wide link, sir, so you can tell everyone the bad news?” asked Delfin.

  “No.” replied Travellor, taking a deep breath. “No. Why ruin the atmosphere for everyone. They're all happy and excited, and looking forward to the celebration. I'll tell them tomorrow, at the dinner – AFTER they've had a few drinks. I will have to inform Grilik Munen, though. Might as well do that now. He's going to be very disappointed.”

  He stood up and headed towards the door. He wasn't sure if he was feeling sorry for himself, or everyone else – or both.

  “This is going to be a long day. Thank you, Jibble. Good job. Classify communication as Confidential.”

  3

  “They are not going to be happy about this.” said Califas.

  In the room with him was Grilik Munen, Mersuul, and Plessa.

  “The Humans are always overly cautious.” said Munen. “We can accomplish this

  without any risk of exposure.... But you are correct – they will not like this. As an added precaution we will launch when night covers the continent. Is everyone clear on the time table for the mission?”

  They all nodded.

  “Everyone has their assignment. Remember – stealth and deception are our most important tools.”

  4

  Travellor was still drying off from his shower when he heard the door chime. It had been a day full of disappointed faces and the many times unspoken 'Can't YOU do something about this?', and he wasn't in the mood for having visitors. He tapped the intercom button and the video screen lit up with Mersuul's face.

  “This is nice and unexpected.” he said. “I thought you were on duty tonight.”

  He tapped on the sensor that opened the door to his chambers, and walked out of the bathroom with the towel wrapped around his waist. Mersuul came into the room with a bottle of wine in one hand, and a DVD and microwave popcorn in the other.

  “Grilik Munen changed the schedule.” she said. “I left the ship before he could change his mind again.”

  She walked up until she was pressed against him, and kissed him lightly on the lips.

  “Don't bother getting dressed for me.” she added with a smile, as she loosened his towel until it fell off. She placed what she was carrying on the small entranceway table, and began to take her clothes off as she walked towards the bathroom. “I need a quick shower. Want to join me?” she asked, then came back and took Travellor's hand. She pulled him with her.

  “I just took a shower. If I had known you were coming I...”

  “Then you can keep me company while I do.”

  5

  The formal dining room looked amazing, and to call it extravagant would be an understatement. It was the first formal dinner on the Moon Base. Everything before this had been held on the Orysta. The two rotating glass chandeliers cast flying beams of light in every corner of the room. The tables and chairs were made of dark hard wood with decorative hand carvings, and the table clothes were especially designed so that the carvings were visible while still covering the area of the place settings. The dishes, silverware and crystal goblets were very expensive custom made items. The side tables displayed fresh whole and cut fruit, and pastries brought in from around the world. The side walls were covered in etched glass mirrors. There were two full bars, with a beverage selection from every continent on the planet. It was all definitely not like what Travellor was used to from his military days. The whole thing was at the insistence of Ransen Ramsdel, who stated that the men and women risking their lives for 361 should be given nothing less when celebrating special occasions. This room was the only part of the base design that he had given input on. Farber-Chatwell had told Travellor that Ramsdel never fully got over the time when they had thought the original Trailblazer crew had been lost, and this was his way of expressing his thanks.

  The room was full of people wearing clothes purchased for just for this occasion, and those in uniform had them starched and ironed, the brass and silver polished to mirror shines. It was the first time Travellor had ever seen some of the female personnel in dresses, and the males in suits. On his way here he had noticed that even the skeleton crew remaining on duty were also wearing creased uniforms that looked like they were new. He looked at Mersuul, who was walking towards him. She was in a dress that came over one shoulder, and was made of soft, flowing material. He knew nothing about women's clothing, and could only describe it as tropical and 'islandish'. Whatever it was, she looked absolutely beautiful in it. Her smile grew wider as she got closer.

  “Time for you to announce the guest of honor.” she said, in a quiet voice.

  “That is not funny.” he replied. “Everyone knows Cove will not be here – but I guess I should officially announce that.”

  “If you do, you will be telling a lie.”

  He looked at her questioningly, wondering what she was talking about. Mersuul just smiled and pointed to the main entrance doors. Travellor turned to looked where she indicated, and saw Grilik Munen and several of the Orysta crew accompanying a very recognizable Eckelberry Cove. His eyes went wide with surprise. Others in the room also turned to watch the group coming in, and in few seconds spontaneous applause erupted as the man everyone was waiting to see was escorted to the VIP table.

  “What did you do?” he asked, joining in the applause.

  “I didn't do anything. I spent the night with the man I have great affection for.”

  Travellor's eye got even wider, as he now turned to look at Mersuul.

  “Grilik Munen told you to seduce me? To keep me out of the way while he launched a ship, against Farber-Chatwell's orders?”

  “No,” she said, grinning, “He ordered me to keep you 'distracted' while he launched a ship, against Farber-Chatwell's orders. The seduction was my idea. The Grilik doesn't work for Farber-Chatwell. He doesn't have to follow his orders. I enjoyed it very much.”

  “You enjoyed what very much?”

  “Distracting you.”

  Travellor shook his head in disbelief.

  “You little Mata Hari!”

  “Mata Hari?” she asked, confused.

  “I'll tell you later.” he said, looking back at the group making their way closer.

  Travellor's eye went wide again in surprise. Walking behind Munen's group came Farber-Chatwell in a
suit that cost more than Travellor's pickup truck on Earth. On his arm was Doctor Blin, looking stunningly beautiful.

  “You kidnapped Farber-Chatwell and brought him also?”

  “We didn't know where Doctor Cove was located. We had to contact your Commander to find out. Since he could not stop us from using our shuttle, he decided to come along. It made Doctor Blin very happy when she saw him.”

  “This is the first time I've ever seen him out of uniform. He looks strange.”

  “I would place a bet that Toisae has seen him out of uniform.” she said, broadly grinning.

  “This isn't over, Mata. You and I are going to talk about this later.”

  Mersuul just smiled at him, and then turned her attention to the approaching group. As Cove, Munen, and the rest of the group made their way to the table, the applause reached a crescendo. Even the people who had accompanied Cove to the dining hall were now applauding. Eckelberry Cove looked stiffly around, not knowing how to react to his admirers. He was a scientist, not a rock star. This was slightly uncomfortable for him so he did the only thing he could think of – he said Thank You, and took his seat. The applause died down as everyone followed his example. The serving staff took their cue from this. As Travellor sat down, he avoided looking at Farber-Chatwell. He expected his superior would have a few words to say about today's events. But that would be for tomorrow. Tonight he was going to enjoy a great meal, the company of his own Mata Hari, and he was going to pull rank if necessary and get to talk to Eckelberry Cove. Like everyone else, Travellor also recognized that Cove was fated to go into Earth's history books. Ironically, the world at large knew nothing about him.

  6

  “What time is it?”

  “Time for me to go on to duty.” said Mersuul, leaning over and kissing Travellor on the cheek. “You have another hour for sleep.”

  “Sure,” said Travellor, with closed eyes and slurred words, “you just walk away and leave me to face Farber-Chatwell by myself. I smell coffee.”

  “Yes, and it is very good.” she said, taking a sip from her cup. “I reset the pot to brew fresh when you wake up.”

  Travellor turned onto his back and looked in the direction of Mersuul's voice, only catching a glimpse of her as she left the bedroom. It only took a couple of minutes for his mind to fill with things he had to get done today. He knew he wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep. Stretching his body seemed more difficult than normal, as he got out of the bed and into bathroom. He would have a little time to get some things done before his meeting with Farber-Chatwell. He had a feeling he was going to be reprimanded for letting the Ganaphe' shuttle leave the moon without his knowing. Then he thought about Mersuul, and remembered last night, and had no doubt it was worth it.

  7

  “I know you're probably upset about me telling you to stop all travel to Earth, and then taking the Ganaphe' to Cove, and accompanying him to the party.” said Farber-Chatwell.

  Travellor's eyes began to widen, but he forced them to stop so as not to show his surprise. His instincts told him to just sit quietly and let things play out.

  “I was a little angry with them when they showed up unexpected,” continued Farber-Chatwell, “but Munen assured me they took all necessary precautions and weren't detected, and they were already there. I couldn't just say no to them. We get along well, but there is a lot riding on the continued development of our relationship. When Cove received their personal invitation he immediately said Yes, and there really wasn't anything for me to do but accompany him.”

  Travellor continued to keep his mouth shut. He had thought he was going to be chastised, but instead Farber-Chatwell was apologizing to him. Sometimes the wisest course of action was to just shut up. Finally Farber-Chatwell stopped talking.

  “Sir, the whole thing was completely beyond your control.” said Travellor. “The Ganaphe' don't take orders from us, and although they are normally very cooperative, we can't stop them from doing what they want to.”

  Farber-Chatwell looked relieved. Travellor was pleased with himself for taking the right tact by keeping his mouth closed and acting graciously.

  “It seems that even people from other planets can get celebrity fever also.” continued Travellor.

  “That's not so surprising to me. I've had a little of that fever myself, and I never thought I was prone to it. But knowing Cove is a little like it must have been to know Einstein. The man seems to come up with these concepts out of thin air, each one multiple leaps beyond the previous. Anyone with half a functional brain would have to be impressed.”

  “I understand completely.” replied Travellor. “You may not know it but here on the base, reading and discussing his papers has become the pastime of choice. No exceptions. People with absolutely no interest in science are captivated by the possibilities his theories promise, once it's explained to them. The latest popular activity here is the Thursday night lecture, where Cove's theories and designs are explained and discussed by base personnel who understand it – mostly understand it anyway. Everyone feels like we're living in a sci-fi novel. They felt that way when they first got here, but it's just another duty assignment after a while. With the Cove influence affecting them it's like a new exciting episode every week. Everyone is holding their breath waiting to find out what his new engine design can do.”

  “Where are we with that?”

  “I'm told we should be ready for flight testing in three weeks or less. The Ganaphe' have loaned us some instruments which will give much more accurate measurements of everything from frame loading to maximum speed and thrust achieved. Their nav equipment will allow very accurate course plotting and recording. We'll also be running our own equipment alongside for comparison.”

  “And the crew? Who did you choose?”

  “THE John Smith will be test pilot in command. George Washington will copilot. They've been a crew since coming here, and work together well. Tahn-grilik Califas will act as ship's engineer.”

  “What?” said Farber-Chatwell, surprised. “You're putting a Ganaphe' on the ship. Why?”

  “No choice, if we want that Ganaphe' equipment on board. Munen says he can loan it to us as long as he can document that no unauthorized personnel had access to the guts of the instruments. Plus, it saves having to train one of our guys on its use.”

  “So a crew of three on the test flight.”

  “Yes. The Grilik strongly suggests that the fire control system on the ship be operational.”

  “Why do they want weapons on a test flight?”

  “Munen said that it is SOP for the Ganaphe' to arm all of their ships – commercial and military.”

  Farber-Chatwell quietly looked at Travellor for a while.

  “Do you get the feeling we're not being told everything.”

  “Often.” replied Travellor.

  8

  “In one more Earth week you will be testing the new Cove engine. If it is successful, as everyone believes it will be, all of your ships will be fitted with one.” said Grilik Munen, addressing the small assembly of people in front of him.

  They were in the relatively small conference room on the Orysta. Although the meeting between Ganaphe' and Moon base personnel was restricted to the number of people presently in the room, the audio was being broadcast on a common channel that anyone who was interested could tune in to.

  “What we need for our attempt at freeing the Orysta from the crevice is power – a great amount of power. In particular we need maximum thrust energy. The engines presently on your shuttles can generate a greater Sudden Impulse Thrust than the new engine, which is designed to slowly increase output to the maximum thrust level. According to Mr. Cove's specifications, the present engines can generate four hundred and thirty-seven percent of their continuous duty thrust rating, for a short period of time.” he continued. Our past attempts at freeing the Orysta from the crevice that it is wedged into were unsuccessful because we didn't have enough power to overcome all the resistance i
nvolved.”

  He gestured to the center of the table they sat around, and a three dimensional and highly detailed image of the Orysta appeared, situated more than sixty feet below the moon's surface level. The image was complete with the huge rocks that pressed into the ships sides and the tons of ground material that wrapped around it, completing a gap-less embrace by the Moon.

  “As you can see from this representation, the ship is securely held by the material in contact with the hull. Besides the larger rocks pressing against the sides, loose soil and smaller rocks have sifted down to fill all possible gaps. If our engine was fully functional, getting the ship out of this situation would not be a problem. If one of our salvage ships were here it would have no trouble lifting out the Orysta. The material in the crevice is very fluid, and our previous attempts to remove rocks and sand on top of us only resulted in more material falling in to fill the area that was cleared.”