by George Deeb
“Control, Folly is off the ground. Throttle at thirty percent.” came Washington's voice over the comm.
The ship seemed to be slowly floating up and away. Ten seconds after the Folly had left the ground the shuttle rose vertically – effortlessly - upward to follow it, then changed attitude to face the other ship.
“Folly, shuttle one is up and in position. Ready to follow your flight plan.” Mersuul was heard saying.
“Roger shuttle one.” came the reply. “Initiating constant acceleration in five... four... three... two... throttle forward.”
Even though they had been briefed on what to expect, none of the moon base personnel in the tower were ready for what they saw, except for the Ganaphe'. To them it was normal. The Folly's engine glowed brighter and whiter until it was a beacon in the sky, almost too bright to look at. Then, within seconds, both ships began to shrink in size and were suddenly gone from view.
“Thrust at forty percent.” came over the comm. “Fifty percent... sixty... seventy... seventy five and holding. Shuttle one, did we lose any pieces?”
“Why do they keep saying that?” asked Cove indignantly. “Nothing is coming off of that ship!”
“Folly, shuttle one. Everything looks good from our position. Specialist del Rio thought she saw a slight variation in the color of your exhaust stream, but she is not certain.”
“Confirmed!” replied Califas. “I measured a small variation in thrust. I suspect it was due to a contaminant in the fuel. We will have to investigate when we get back to the base. You have very good eyes specialist del Rio. Most people would not have been able to detect that.”
2
The telemetry from the Folly and shuttle one were being received and analyzed back at the base for the two hours the mission had lasted so far. The Folly maintained seventy-five percent thrust throughout the first phase of the flight. They tested every system short of firing the guided missiles they carried, opened every hatch, cover, vent, and panel that was designed to do so during flight. Everything they checked opened, closed, pivoted, and met operational specs at worst. The ship was solid. Weapons systems deployed, operated, and recovered as designed. Sensors and analysis systems sensed and analyzed. Monitoring systems monitored and reported. Systems intentionally overloaded were automatically shut down by the safety systems. With each test the crew of the Folly became more confident in their ship. They even started to refer to it as 'Our Folly'. Even Califas, who was used to ships that were much more technologically advanced began to feel appreciation for the craft. His main interest was the engine, and so far it worked as expected. But he was waiting for the final engine test – fully power for almost twenty mirlots. It wasn't a drastic test, but it would yield valuable information - information that would tell if the Orysta and her crew could go home again.
Everyone on shuttle one was also beginning to appreciate the Folly. Realization set in with del Rio that if testing continued to show such positive results the Folly soon would not be a one of kind ship. There would probably be a fleet of at least a half dozen, and they would not be tasked with staying near the moon base. These ships would be the first real exploratory vessels and they would be heading out to the other planets. Del Rio suddenly knew without a doubt that she wanted to be on one of them, and she started the think about how she could accomplish that. She would have to retrain in another field. Her electro-mechanical background would help. She was sure each ship would require an on board engineer. Someone to repair equipment and correct faults. Then she realized that most of the equipment on the Folly was custom designed by Cove. There were no other experts on them. Engineers for these ships would have to be trained from scratch – and that was her way in! As soon as her feet touched ground again she would file her request to cross train.
3
Most of the observers in the control tower had left after the first hour, leaving Balfour, Travellor, and two technicians monitoring the deep space radar and the communications channels. There wasn't anything that anyone on the base could do right now other than wait and listen. The Folly and shuttle one were far from the Moon. Even if they turned around right now it would still take them hours for the return journey. The telemetry from the test flight was distributed to several locations on the base and the Orysta. The comms channels from the flight were being fed to the base intercom and personal comm devices so that base personnel could listen in if they wanted to. As the minutes passed people slowly tuned out of listening to what they knew would be fairly routine. It was an Eckelberry Cove designed ship after all. There might be a glitch here and there, and someone would recommend a modification or three, but all that could be caught up on later.
4
“Shuttle one, this is Folly. Ready to begin phase one of full power engine testing. Are you going to be able to keep up with us?”
“Folly, shuttle one.” replied Mersuul. “Doctor Cove's projected maximum speed should not be a problem for us. We are ready when you are.” She looked over her shoulder at del Rio, who was standing behind her. “You should be in your seat for this next test Delores. Even though inertial stabilization is active, the expected rate of acceleration will be felt.”
“What about the Folly? They don't have IS on the ship. Are they going to be OK?”
“Doctor Cove has designed limits in the engine that will not exceed what can be tolerated by the body. They will be highly physically stressed, but no physiological damage will occur. The medical staff should find the crew's biomedical readouts very interesting.” Mersuul smiled as she looked forward again. “I believe that Tahn-grilik Califas is actually looking forward to the experience. We do not normally get exposed to such forces with our ships.”
The computer on shuttle one was linked to the computer on the Folly. Mersuul would not have to touch any of the controls when the test began. Shuttle one's computer would control its speed and tracking to follow the Folly, and could easily keep up with the lead ship.
“Are we ready gentlemen?” asked Smith of his copilot and Califas. “Instruments ready to go Tahn-grilik?”
“Hit it!” said Washington.
“All instrumentation is ready.” replied Califas.
“All right then.” said Smith as he pressed the radio button. “Beginning test, shuttle one. Here we go.”
Smith checked his instrument panel to make sure everything looked correct. Slowly and steadily he pushed the throttle forward until it was set for ninety percent of maximum power. The Folly picked up speed. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary at first, but the rate of acceleration was not linear. In a few seconds they were feeling the G force pushing them into their seats. The rate just kept increasing faster after that. At first Califas didn't think the force on his body was much worse than what he was expecting – but it kept getting stronger. Before he realized what was happening it got much worse than that. He knew something was wrong. He tried looking at the others but could barely move his head. His body was pinned against the seat – something had gone wrong, and he was going to die! They were all going to die – and there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't control his body. He knew instinctively that he only had fracins left to live.
All three men were thinking the same thing. Smith didn't understand why the ship's computer hadn't shut down the engine when this dangerous situation occurred. Then their bodies began to catch up to the speed of the ship as the rate of acceleration and the pressure on their bodies diminished. Slowly they regained control of their limbs. Their breathing which had been labored was getting easier. A few seconds later, they and everything in the ship had reached a constant speed. They could move again – think again – talk again. The Folly had reached its selected speed and was holding steady. The training of all three men kicked in and they started checking systems to make sure everything was still functional. Then they looked around, checking on each other. All was right with the world – or more accurately all was right with the Folly.
“I have never felt such acceleration in
my life.” said Califas. “I was sure something had gone wrong with the ship.”
“I thought the safety system had failed.” said Washington.
“I'm going to kill Cove when we get back!” said Smith. “He never told us anything about this, and I know the SOB had some idea of what would happen.”
“He knew.” said Califas. “He knew how much our bodies would be able to sustain. I am certain he had run tests. He never thought to try to explain it to us.”
“I wonder if his test subjects wanted to kill him too.” said Smith. “When we get back we're going to have a talk with him. Just the three of us and him.”
They continued checking the ship's systems as they talked. Everything seemed to be normal and operational.
“Everything checks normal.” said Washington. “Holy shit! Look at our speed!”
“Yes.” said Califas. “It is very impressive. My instruments confirm your reading. On my planet we have studied many peoples who have developed space travel technology. The rate at which you Humans are progressing is impressive. Your Doctor Cove is truly a genius. I think that rather than kill him you should make sure nothing detrimental happens to him.”
“Well..., I didn't really mean I was going to kill him.” said Smith. “But you gotta admit, he should have warned us about the acceleration. Maybe I'll just punch him in the arm – real hard.”
“Folly, this is shuttle one.” came del Rio's voice over the radio.
“Shuttle one, Folly – go ahead.”
“DO YOU KNOW HOW FAST YOU'RE GOING? I want one of those ships for my own.” said del Rio. Her excited words brought some laughter to both crews.
“She does beat anything else in the fleet,” said Washington, “but before you put a down payment on one of these you may want to feel what the acceleration is like in this thing. It's a real eye opener.”
“Were there any problems or anomalies?” asked Plessa.
“Not a one that we are aware of. Tahn-grilik, anything on your instruments?”
“I detected no problems or deviations from the expected performance.”
“OK then.” said Smith. “Let's push this puppy as fast as she can go. Time for the full power test. And shuttle one, call me a worry wart if you want, I think you should leave a greater distance between us on this part of the test.”
“As you wish Captain Smith.” replied Mersuul. “I shall maintain twice the previous separation.”
5
Travellor slowly sipped his coffee as he listened to the chatter between the Folly and shuttle one. He was actually hearing their words several seconds after the actual conversation took place. The delay was caused by the time it took for the radio waves to travel from the ships to the moon. The Ganaphe' had a method to send their signals much faster through space, but it was against their regulations to use their equipment on the Folly for anything other than monitoring and recording purposes. It was just a few seconds. It wasn't that bad. 'Still,' thought Travellor, 'it would be nice to know exactly when they initiated an action.'
Balfour and the technicians were busy tracking, recording and analyzing the telemetry from the flight. Their concentration was on their jobs. All the test data coming in was normal, and they soon fell into the routine of it. No one noticed the explosions going off outside the window until they were close enough to shake the building. Then the alarms went off.
6
“One-eighty K.” said Washington. “I knew Cove said it could do it, but I still had some doubt.”
“And I haven't fire walled it yet.” said Smith with a huge grin that matched the one on Washington's face. “I am feeling a bit on the cautious side – but it's NOT fear! You got that. I am NOT afraid.”
The three men cracked up with laughter. They were all a little bit afraid. Even Califas was feeling the nervousness that filled the other men. The Folly was not a tested ship using proven Ganaphe' technology. This was a ship from back in his grandfather's early era of space travel. A time when new technology was being tested, and people losing their lives was expected if not openly expressed. It was something Ganaphe' of Califas' generation never thought about – never had to. Space travel for them was almost as safe as local travel back home.
Califas found himself back in time, and the fear and excitement was everything he had secretly expected. He was now experiencing what only the generations before his had known. This was time travel in every way but the date. They were all putting their lives on the sharp edge of success and failure – and failure here more than likely meant death.
“Push it!” said Washington. “All the way. Go for it! Let's find out what this ship can do. Let's find out if Cove is the genius we all think he is.”
Smith looked at Califas, who nodded his agreement.
“Shuttle one, Folly. All the way to the stops now. Here we go.”
He slowly move the throttle control all the way until it was physically stopped. The speed readout climbed. He watched as it read one hundred and eighty-five thousand. Then one-ninety. One-ninety-five. Then right up to two hundred thousand miles per hour. Then it kept climbing!
“Is that right?” he asked excitedly, looking at Califas. “Are we doing better than two hundred K?”
Califas checked his panel and nodded affirmatively. They watched as the indicator climbed higher and stopped at two-zero-seven.
“Son of a... He IS a genius!” screamed Washington. He activated the radio. “Shuttle one, are you with us?”
“Shuttle one is with you Folly. We read your speed as two hundred and seven point two thousand.”
“Easy for you to say.” he replied with laughter in his voice. He realized that the Ganaphe' shuttle could far surpass their speed, but this was an Earth ship – their ship – his ship, and he was thrilled with it. He removed a thumb sized camera from his zippered pocket and took a picture of the speed indicator.
“Folly, shuttle one. Say your intentions please. Are you going to maintain speed?”
“Roger shuttle one.” replied Smith. “Will maintain speed for the duration of the twenty-five minutes, per mission profile.”
“Shuttle one will maintain separation and follow.” said Mersuul.
“Thank you shuttle one. We appreciate you staying with us.” He released the PTT and switched back to the intercom. “Mersuul is one very competent lady. I'm glad to know they are right behind us as backup.”
“Yes,” agreed Califas, “she is an excellent navigator and an accomplished pilot. ”
The crew of the Folly checked and rechecked their instruments. Everything was stable. At this stage of the test flight the crew was mostly along for the ride, monitoring instruments, and making sure everything was working. This was the final phase of the burn-in of the ship and its systems. If anything was going to fail there would be an indication of it during this final period.
The timer on the display panel counted down the minutes. After this phase the engine would be throttled back to seventy-five percent and the flight would turn around and head for home. On the return journey they were to shut down the main engine, and maintain speed using the Forced Ion Pulse engine. It takes a lot less power to maintain a speed than it does to reach it.
“Hey. I just thought of something.” said Washington. “Why is there no test of both engines at the same time?” He looked at his companions.
“There would be very little to gain from such a test.” said Califas. Compared to the main engine the ion drive generates a relatively very small amount of thrust.”
“It would be like a burp in a wind storm.” said Smith.
“Yeah. I realize that, but I'm curious. Isn't it worth having the data even if it just proves it's not worth doing?”
Smith shrugged.
“I suspect Doctor Cove has already run such calculations and found it to be of little benefit.” said Califas.
“Yes, but Cove isn't here. He's not the one flying the ship. Shouldn't we at least know first hand what it does?”
“It coul
dn't hurt.” said Smith. “Now you've got my curiosity up. How much time left on this phase?”
“Four minutes.”
“What the hell. Let's give it a try.” Smith keyed his mic. “Shuttle one, Folly.”
“Folly this is shuttle one. Go ahead.”
“We are going to deviate slightly from the mission plan. For the last few minutes of the full power test we are going to turn on the ion drive. Both engines will be active.”
There was silence for a few seconds, and they knew that the people on shuttle one saw no purpose to having both engines running and couldn't figure out why they would want to do it.
“Very well Folly. We will monitor you.”
“Roger shuttle one. Starting ion drive now.”
The procedure to turn on the ion drive took less than twenty seconds. The instruments on the Ganaphe' shuttle detected the ion stream, but saw only a negligible change in the Folly's speed. The same thing was noticed aboard the Folly – everything was working as would be expected. 'The test might still yield some useful information.' Smith thought, so he decided to let both engines run until they reached the turn around point on the flight plan. 'Oh well. Guess nothing unexpected happening beats being blown apart.'