The Accidental Explorer

by George Deeb

  “ATTENTION!... ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL! If you haven't done so already, move now to a safe location. Operation Best Shot is about to execute. Anyone who is not already in a safe location should immediately report their status.”

  Balfour waited for the next expected status report before continuing. It was only a few minutes before she heard it.

  “Best Shot control, this is Maintenance team. We are in the base. Access door is closed and secured.”

  Balfour checked off one more item on her list.

  “Roger Maintenance team. Attention all personnel. This is Best Shot control. All teams are reporting in position and ready to execute. If anyone has a different status report it now.”

  She waited a few minutes for any replies. Everyone who was not part of the operation turned their attention to the monitors or ports that showed them the view outside the base.

  12

  John Smith looked around at the other five ships in his view. The Ganaphe' shuttles were parallel to the moon's surface because they were able to direct thrust downward from the bottom of their ships. The cables were attached at the reinforced center of their underbellies. The four Trailblazer shuttles only had the relatively weak maneuvering thrusters that could be directed downward, so they sat on their tails pointing away from the surface. Their cables were attached to the lower trailing edge of their airframes.

  This was going to be one of those simple, easy jobs. All they had to do was pull on the attached cable with all the force the ships could generate – straight up – that's all. Simple and easy. No problem. But Smith recognized the inherent potential hazards. The plan was basically to push their engines as far as they could go just short of breaking them. But these were machines. Machines which had different types and amounts of wear and tear on each of them. Smith knew that that meant they wouldn't break at the same time or in the same way. It had all been calculated based on design specs, and maybe that would have been good enough when the shuttles were new. These ships had been used for both every day chores and experimental flights. Some had more hours on them than the others.

  He tried to figure out what the potential dangers were. A cable could snap sending the attached shuttle shooting into space and putting an unbalanced load on the Orysta's hull - but not likely - the Ganaphe' had guaranteed they were capable of holding much greater forces than the ships could generate. One of the engines could fail unexpectedly causing the ship to swing into another as it responded to the forces around it – but they had all been checked over for weak or failing systems. And then there was the elephant in the room – a catastrophic failure of an engine exploding and sending pieces of shrapnel into the surrounding ships. Whenever systems were pushed to the limits as they were going to push these engines, that was a real world possibility.

  He sighed, and dismissed all of those thoughts, as he realized what the real elephant in the room was – that this was going to be just a boring, as planned mission going off without a problem. This exploring outer space thing just wasn't as exciting as all the movies and TV shows made it out to be. Except for the great view from the cockpit, he might as well be sitting at a desk in an office. Then another thought came into his head. “Pizza! I want pizza for dinner.” He looked around to the far reaches of his vision and realized that, except for the barren moonscape, it looked pretty much like a starlit night at home.

  13

  Travellor had just made his way to the Communications Center, when he heard Balfour's last instruction over the Comm. She was controlling the mission from the Control Tower where she could visually monitor everything. He could have gone there instead, but figured that Balfour didn't need to feel the brass was looking over her shoulder – he wouldn't have liked that if he was running the operation. Besides, the Communications center monitors were the next best thing to having eyes on. It was a three-hundred-sixty degree display that was like looking out of the Control Tower itself.

  He looked at his tablet computer, which displayed the mission checklist that Balfour was following. Any item not yet accomplished was in bold red letters. Items that were completed changed to a standard green font. His tablet was linked to Balfour's computer and automatically followed along with any changes she made. The Orysta crew could also follow the list on their displays, as could any team directly involved in the mission. It had been quiet for a few minutes before he heard Balfour's voice again.

  “Orysta, this is Flight Commander Balfour! Do you hear and understand me?”

  Travellor knew she wasn't talking to the ship's crew now.

  “Flight Commander Balfour, this is Orysta. You are being received clearly.” came the voice of the ship's main computer.

  “Orysta, stand by to initiate Operation Best Shot.”

  “Ready to initiate.”

  “All flight crews and team members – Operation Best Shot is ready to commence. Pilots prepare to take manual control of your ship in unexpected circumstance. Grilik Munen, operation will commence on my mark. All stations stand by.”

  Travellor moved his eyes down to a smaller display at table top level. It showed a depiction of the Orysta being overflown by the shuttles, It also showed two side views of the ship with red dots indicating each of the explosive charges next to the hull. Each charge was half encased in an impact absorbing material that was designed to lesson the force against the hull. The open end of the case faced outward, directing as much of the explosion to the surrounding rocks and soil.

  “Orysta, this is Balfour. Spool engines to stage one thrust level.”

  The engines on each shuttle began to increase thrust output, monitored and controlled by the Orysta's computer. Even though the Trailblazer and Orysta shuttles had different size engines, the power levels were controlled by the computer based on thrust output only. This way all the shuttles applied the same amount of tension to the ship. The crew of the Orysta felt a slight jerk upwards before suddenly being again held by the surrounding rocks and detritus. The shuttle crews checked their instruments which all read within normal operating parameters. Not surprising since they were still at a low power output level.

  “All shuttle thrust levels at stage one.” said the computer.

  Balfour's eyes were dancing over her display screens, verifying the numbers looked correct. She took one other look at the shuttles being held in position, then looked down at the ground. She though she could see an outline of the Orysta on the surface, but it was just her imagination.

  “Orysta, on initiation of explosive charges bring Trailblazer shuttle engines to maximum SIT and match Orysta shuttles to that level. Confirm instructions.”

  “Trailblazer shuttle engines to maximum Sudden Impulse Thrust and Orysta shuttles engines to matching thrust. Initiate on activation of explosive sequence.”

  “Grilik Munen. She's your ship. I'll let you have the honor.”

  “Thank you Commander.” replied Munen. “Count down from five.. four... three... two... one.”

  Munen touched his control screen and the red dots on the three dimensional depiction of the ship started going dark indicating that particular charge had been triggered. They were programmed to explode in a pattern that kept the soil in their immediate vicinity in motion. They could hear and feel the charges going off on both sides of the hull. It was like a continuous thunder that caused the ship to vibrate. Shortly afterwards the screeching sound of rocks trying to tear through the outer hull began to get louder, and the ship began to moved in small jerks and jumps.

  14

  The material the Ganaphe' cables were made from didn't stretch much, but they did a little. John Smith had seen his engine instruments suddenly jump into the red zone when the Orysta computer adjusted the engines for maximum thrust. He felt the shuttle move just a little after the cable went tight. He could almost swear they were moving upward – in millimeters maybe, but still they were moving. He checked the other shuttles and could see the crews monitoring their engines. It was when he looked down at the ground that he was su
rprised. The explosive charges were causing random sections of soil to bounce into the air. The surface below them began to bulge in spots. Just as he was thinking that this might work, the engines suddenly decreased output to hovering thrust. A faint outline of the ship was definitely there, but the Orysta was still underground. The mission had failed. How much had they pulled her up – half an inch – one inch – two?

  “Trailblazer shuttle engines output reduced to hovering thrust before catastrophic failure.” said the voice of the Orysta over the speaker.

  It was over. Just as Smith had thought, no elephants came to roost. 'Or is that mixing metaphors?' he wondered. He could see everyone in the other shuttles looking around at the other ships.

  “All shuttles and engines operational. No risks to personnel safety at present.” said Orysta.

  There was a loud exhalation over a live mic, and then Balfour's voice came over the air.

  “Grilik Munen, report your status.” commanded Balfour.

  “No injuries to crew. Ship is intact.” replied Munen. “... As far as we can determine.”

  “Best Shot flight, release cables and dock shuttles in sequence. Use standard arrival procedures.”

  There was disappointment in Balfour's voice now. There was disappointment in everyone's voices. Each of the shuttle crews acknowledged the command.

  “Maintenance Team, you are a GO.” said Balfour.

  “Maintenance Team – Roger. We are moving. We'll have the tunnel reestablished in ten minutes or less. Umbilical reconnected in fifteen.”

  “Roger Maintenance Team. Report when done.”

  Balfour checked the time. They had another twenty-two minutes before GRAIL-B flew into a position that could detect the base. She knew it wouldn't be a problem. The Ganaphe' were professional miners, and they had brought their equipment with them when they disconnected the passageway. If they had to create a whole new tunnel from the base to the ship they could do it and still have time left over. Their mining equipment went through rock and soil like the proverbial hot knife through butter, melting the material into a hard supporting wall.

  “All Operation Best Shot personnel, this is Balfour. Debriefing in two hours in the mission planning room. Thank you all for a great effort.”

  15

  A few days later

  “Power from the Orysta was restored in less than ten minutes. They had the tunnel fixed a short time after that.” said Travellor.

  “Good to hear.” said Farber-Chatwell. “So the camouflage was working before any chance of detection by the satellite?”

  “Yes Sir. Of course, we had an outline of the Orysta bulging up on the surface. I sent out a crew to work that over to make it look more natural – more pre-bulge.”

  “So the Ganaphe' are all feeling a little down now? A little depressed?”

  “Yep. I would be too, if I were them. But it's nothing serious. It's only been a few days. They'll feel better in time. They've submerged themselves in their mining, which is probably not bad therapy. They've already got a very impressive load of crystal-flow in their cargo bay, which is a pity since it doesn't look like they'll be going home soon. They keep mining it though. I guess they're hoping they'll be rescued. They mentioned that they were very surprised that rescue ships hadn't come looking for them already. The emergency beacons they had released should have brought someone here like a trail of bread crumbs.”

  “Hmmm. Well we all know how that worked out for Hansel and Gretel.”

  “Well, the mining keeps them busy anyway.”

  “Oh it's more than that.” commented Farber-Chatwell. “Munen is a very smart man, and he has business savvy. Look at it this way – they have the knowledge and technology to mine crystal-flow and we don't. They know how to process it – we don't! We have a need for it, and they're the only ones who can supply it to us. That crystal-flow in their cargo bay is just like a bank account. It's ready cash. If they are going to be stuck here for a while, they'll be able to do so in a lot of comfort.”

  “Good point.”

  “I've brought samples down for our people to work with. It's so dispersed in the media we have trouble finding it, let alone detecting it from everything else in the soil. It's a miracle crystal-flow was ever discovered – or an accident! I'll have to ask Munen about that.”

  “I'll mention you're curious about it. Well, that's all I've got for now. I'll write up an official report and have it transmitted.”

  “Alright. But keep an eye on our friends. If they don't seem to be coming out of their funk we'll have to do something to cheer them up.”

  “Will do. Out.”

  Travellor hit the keyboard on his computer and terminated the communication to Earth. The smell of coffee hit his nose, and he picked up his cup and walked to the outer office. Their was intentionally no machine in his office, forcing him to get up and leave his desk for coffee. He was in the mood for checking up on everything in general. Doing rounds was actually a way for him to relax – unless he found something messed up. He filled the large mug, and added the right amount of sugar. By the time the coffee was gone he should be at engineering, and they always had excellent coffee for a refill. He walked out of his office with a smile on his face, looking forward to small talk with anyone he encountered. It was amazing how much practical information you could find out with small talk. It was how he kept up with the personal lives of the people he worked with. He thought about his niece, who was in college now. What was the next holiday coming up? He had to make sure to take the time off for a visit.

  Chapter 14

  In With the New

  1

  December 17, 2012

  Inside Trailblazer's comm center were several people, including Grilik Munen and Base Commander Travellor. They were now watching one of the large monitors on the wall displaying the video from one of the Ganaphe' shuttles that flew ahead of Ebb and Flow as they headed for their planned demise. The shuttle flew at a greater altitude than the LRO satellite so it wouldn't be detected. The video they watched showed a wide angle and was presently centered on Ebb. It was moving so fast over the moon that the surface was just a blur. When it was in position over the calculated impact site, the shuttle stopped and zoomed in its camera so that detail could be seen. Ebb anticlimactically impacted the side of a mountain near the Moon's north pole, followed by Flow about thirty seconds later. There were no large explosions. Only minor displacement of surface material. In the comm center there was a sudden combined exhalation of relief. No one said it, but everyone knew that there was now less risk of their mission being detected. There were now two less eyes in the sky that they had to track and avoid.

  “This calls for a working man's toast.” said Travellor. “I'll get the coffee, you guys get the paper cups.”

  “I agree.” said Munen. “The GRAIL satellites were an excellent concept by your people. They now have a detailed mapping of your Moon's structure. No doubt similar devices will be sent to other planets. A toast to a great achievement is fitting.”

  2

  The telemetry stopped coming in to NASA's Deep Space Network Stations from the GRAIL satellites. They had reported all functions normal prior to performing their last maneuver that brought them into a rapidly decaying orbit and subsequent crash into the Moon's surface at over thirty-seven hundred miles per hour. “It had been a successful mission in all aspects.” said Maria Zuber of MIT, the principal mission investigator.

  During the time the satellites were still performing their primary mission of mapping the Moon's gravity to learn more about its internal composition, the secondary GRAIL MoonKAM mission was also underway. The strange spelling of the mission name 'KAM' stood for Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students. Led by Doctor Sally Ride, America's first woman in space, this program allowed students from around the world to select areas of the Moon to be photographed, with the detailed images being made publicly available for study on the MoonKAM website.

  Trailblazer Moon Base also monitor
ed the signal stream from the satellites, and every image sent back to Earth was analyzed to make certain that the existence of the base had not been compromised. As it turned out, the base had not been detected thanks to the Ganaphe' camouflage system. Had anything revealing been photographed, there would have been only a few of seconds for the Orysta to transmit a signal to disrupt that part of the data stream. The interfering signal had to come from the Ganaphe's communication equipment since their signals traveled faster than regular radio waves, and had to catch up to the already sent signal from the satellites. This was a very difficult trick to pull off, requiring both a signal capable of traveling faster than standard electromagnetic waves and a computer that was fast enough to analyze the images and make the decision to intercept within a few milliseconds. The Orysta and its main computer was the only system with those capabilities.

  3

  March 5, 2013