The Pathfinder Trilogy

by Todd Stockert

  “What about Earth?” asked Long warily. “That’s where most of the survivors will be.”

  “Our assignment was to locate the ships still in flight and lead them back to Proteus. You let the Captain and Noah worry about Earth,” Adam replied smugly.

  THE PATHFINDER PROJECT

  Chapter XX: Missive

  The Pathfinder Observatory was almost unrecognizable. Everything except for essential equipment had been shut down and all of the telescopes except one were folded up and neatly compressed into recessed ceiling storage compartments. The lights were dimmed and all the desks, computers and office equipment had been moved back against the wall near the exit hatchways. All of the windows were spread wide open and the entire room was brilliantly lit along three of the wing’s edges by the colorful patterns from Poseidon’s river. One window held a golden-orange swirling nebula, while a second boasted the twisting scarlet ribbons of a red giant spread so thinly that only an astronomer would know that it had once been a star. The view was magnificent as the Pathfinder once again had left behind a solid planetary surface in order to explore deep space.

  Kaufield hadn’t been by the Lab wing, but he understood that it had been prepared for their final mission much like the Observatory. Almost half the crew had packed into it in order to admire the stellar show of force by the gravity river. The rest of them were standing here with him – in the astronomical observatory from which Dr. Julie Markham’s team had discovered so many wonders never before encountered. A little nervously he stepped up to the colorfully decorated podium that had been set up in the center of the room and tapped the microphone for attention. Joseph was at his side, looking wonderfully adolescent in a small suit and tie that fit him perfectly. Dennis himself wore a tuxedo complete with a black bow tie and he could not help but smile in anticipation of the night’s events.

  “Since the days of the first wooden sailing ships,” he began, watching the happy faces surrounding him, “All Captains have enjoyed this happy privilege, that of joining together two people together in the bonds of holy matrimony.” He hesitated for a few brief seconds before turning to the man standing next to him. “Unfortunately, this particular ship’s Captain brought a Chaplain along with him who is fully capable of handling the occasion… and I wouldn’t dream of stepping on his toes.” The room filled with laughter and polite applause before a wedding march sounded in the background. Clapping politely, Captain Kaufield and his son moved down from the podium’s platform to stand next to Glen Fredericks. Glen himself wore a tuxedo and looked as nervous as Kaufield had ever seen him. He even looks paler than he did after the wasteland incident, in fact.

  “Welcome friends,” said Dixon warmly, extending his hands in friendship. He waited patiently as Adam appeared from the back of the Observatory with Lieutenant Hastings at his side. Mary’s expression lit up the entire room… the cheerful face of a bride on her wedding day. Wearing a beautiful simple but elegant white wedding gown she took the arm Adam offered her and walked slowly toward Glen. As the pair reached the front of the crowd Adam politely stepped into position behind Kaufield and let Mary take her place at Glen’s side. Thomas took up a position next to his brother and grinned cheerfully.

  “Who offers this woman for marriage this day?” Father Dixon asked carefully.

  “I do,” responded Adam. Behind him the crowd parted again and Julie, Karen and Noriana all stepped forward, also wearing white gowns. Each was holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers from the Garden wing and they stood quietly waiting for the proceeding to continue. Glancing at his girlfriend, Adam noticed that Nori carefully held her bouquet slightly lower in order to discreetly hide her rounded belly and he made a silent mental note to make sure and tease her about the situation later.

  “We also welcome new friends to our side this day,” Dixon grinned, waving his left hand toward the elderly man standing at the front of the crowd. Nodding with respect, the white-haired Noah stepped forward and took up a position next to Thomas. It had taken some doing, but they had finally located a passenger with a tuxedo that fit him. He looked very old and wise, although he had privately indicated to Kaufield that he was still a spry 71 years young.

  Standing beside his beloved, Glen leaned over and whispered in her ear. “How many people have the opportunity to get married on the very edge of creation?”

  “Not many from our world,” she whispered back to him. “Who knows? Perhaps we’ll start a new tradition…”

  Glen smiled excitedly at her before giving the Captain and Noah a quick nod. “Transit when ready!” he told them with delight, watching Noah activate an electrical device that was attached to an armband on his sleeve. All around them, the windows lit up with an unusually bright green Point-to-Point flash and suddenly all of the brilliant color was gone. Surrounding them was the complete, empty blackness of space without even a single star to add to the dimly lit room. There were some minor “oohs” and “ahhs” from the crowd but not the reaction that everyone had expected.

  “I guess we were hoping for a little more than simple darkness,” Father Dixon said with a smile and a shrug. Noah walked up onto the platform and took his place beside the Chaplain.

  “Currently the systems on my shuttle have placed the Pathfinder precisely one hundred meters behind the inner edge of the blast wave from the Big-Bang explosion that created our universe,” he stated informatively. “We are still moving along with it at what you would call 1.0c, or the speed of light, in order to keep up.”

  “One hundred… meters?” someone in the crowd gasped in surprise.

  “Yes, and now we transit yet again…” Noah said, touching his armband computer once more and causing another familiar PTP flash to briefly light up the room. This time, however, the windows were suddenly filled with a brilliant swirling vortex of deep blue mist that rapidly shifted in hue as it collided with the ship’s hull. Tiny electrically-charged particles of bright white light glowed and danced within the fog-like atmosphere causing everyone in the crowd to react much more enthusiastically this time. There was a deep feeling of awe that circulated around the room, followed by applause and loud cheers of approval.

  “It looks like fireworks except that they’re everywhere,” Kaufield heard Joseph whisper with his usual youthful zeal.

  “We’re now inside the blast wave itself,” continued Noah. “This is all that is left of that densely packed matter that exploded so long ago. Back on Earth you won’t see the outer galaxies and star clusters, like Proteus, when your telescopes pick up the light waves from this distance. Because, my friends, by the time that light reaches Earth the matter you can currently see reacting with my shuttle’s energy field is almost as old as time itself. What little light telescopes can detect from this particular point in space clearly shows these dwindling clouds of matter… constantly spreading themselves thinner and thinner until gravity can begin its long process of sculpting them into the more familiar galactic objects that you’re used to seeing in the neighborhood of your Milky Way home.” As the crowd applauded with approval, Noah stepped politely aside and returned control of the floor to Father Dixon.

  “Many thanks go to our new friend Noah and also to his people,” the Chaplain said proudly. “We sincerely appreciate their invitation that will allow us to stay safely with them during our time of crisis. It is also most kind of him to give us this opportunity to hold our first shipboard wedding on the very edge of the Creation from which we have all sprung forth.” He turned his attention back to Mary and Glen. “Now then,” he said with a Chaplain’s confidence as the sparkling blue fog continued to swirl merrily around the ship. “Do you, Glen Fredericks, take this woman…”

  Later that evening the dance part of the ceremony was in full swing. Mary Fredericks smiled with pure joy as she danced slowly with her new husband Glen. Band music filled the makeshift ballroom with a cheerful atmosphere, while the sparkling, intermittent white traces from the outside view continued to captivate most of the guests. Mary no
longer saw it… she simply looked into Glen’s deep brown eyes and continued to dance with delight, feeling safe and secure for the first time in almost six months. Gently he spun her as they moved, and she gracefully allowed herself to twirl away from him until she held only his fingertips. Drinking in the emotional overload, she reversed direction and spun herself back into his arms. Grinning, he dipped her backward before they continued their dance deeper into the crowd of happy couples.

  “Watch it people, I’ve got a full load of cargo coming through here,” said Adam with a chuckle as he and Nori bumped into Glen. Mary watched her pregnant friend quickly swat the elder Roh and she smiled with approval. Her attention focused back on the crowd and she noticed Julie and her husband also dancing energetically past them.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be studying this?” she shouted over the music at her friend. Julie glanced back at Mary and grinned in response.

  “Every system I have including that last active telescope in the corner is set to record!” Dr. Markham laughed with glee. “I’ll get around to reviewing it… eventually. Right now it’s time to have some fun celebrating your big night!”

  The happy new couple continued their romantic twist through the crowd and smiled cheerfully as they passed Thomas and Kari. “It won’t be long before you’re in my shoes buddy,” Glen hollered to his friend, watching him blush several shades of red. He continued to watch all the happy faces in the crowd pass by and suddenly noticed something odd. “Where did the Captain go?” he asked carefully while continuing to scan the room.

  They found Kaufield seated with Noah, Dr. Simmons and Patrick Warren in the Infirmary. Dennis was a little bit shocked as he watched Glen, Mary, Adam, Thomas, Julie, Noriana, Father Dixon and Colonel Neeland file slowly into the room – still dressed in their formal attire. Jeff arrived a few seconds later from the Lab wing, where he had been emceeing the ship’s other party until Thomas managed to have him paged.

  “I didn’t mean to spoil a perfectly good time,” Kaufield said sincerely, watching his close-knit group of friends and officers carefully. “But once we return to Tranquility and park the Pathfinder for good we’ll be unable to use its CAS Drive for a while. I’ve thought the matter over and decided that there is one more task as Captain of this ship that I have to perform.” He shook his head in wonder, watching them with the respect and appreciation that only people who have served together for years have for each other. “That’s my responsibility, however. You folks should return to the party and continue having fun. After all,” he grinned, looking at Glen and Mary proudly. “It is your night, after all, and it should be a memorable one!”

  “Earth is our home too Captain,” said Glen firmly. “The responsibility and yearning you have to do something about the Brotherhood – at least in some way – is equally strong among the rest of your crew, I can assure you.”

  “What are you planning, sir?” asked Thomas curiously. Kaufield’s response was to hand him a sheet of printed paper containing a very short message that Karen and Patrick had helped him write. The young scientist read the text message printed on it before handing it down the line so the rest of his friends could also review the content.

  “It reads well,” Adam commented, handing the note back to his Captain. “But they’ll never believe us unless we offer them proof that we’re not kidding. If you don’t mind, I’d like to make a small suggestion…”

  Later that evening found the Captain and most of his Council of Twelve standing side by side in the Command Dome, carefully studying the overhead monitors. Thomas and Glen had taken complete control of the central computer ring and were busy working from the stations normally occupied by Adam and Mary. The view that the rest of them were watching was an image of the bottom of the Pathfinder’s hangar bay. A large Canary Probe dropped from its secure position on the bottom of the hull and floated free for a moment. Then the small craft’s aft thrusters fired and it began moving slowly forward into its preprogrammed position.

  “CAS Drive is on-line and ready,” Thomas said confidently.

  “Shrinking PTP window for transport,” Glen replied. He watched the readouts on the work station in front of him carefully and nodded as its lights flashed green. “The probe is away Captain,” he said with enthusiasm. “There is no way we can precisely hit Earth orbit from this distance, but the Canary will arrive close enough for its internal systems to guide it the rest of the way.”

  “That’s it then,” Kaufield said softly, smiling at the people standing with him. “It’s time to pick a party and go back to having some fun.”

  “It’s going to be bad for a while on Earth, Dennis,” said Noah cautiously. “The killing will continue, and the Brotherhood will have to make a choice.”

  “Yes, but they’ll have to do so… alone,” replied Kaufield with a sharp grin. “I can’t thank you enough for using your technology to bring Earth’s refugees to us.”

  “Some of them are Brotherhood devotees, many of whom are still on the fence as to who to trust…”

  “They will no longer be the bully,” the Captain replied firmly. “We will deal with them more fairly than they dealt with us.”

  “I will leave you to your new world then,” the alien said, turning to go.

  “Everyone enjoy themselves and have fun tonight,” Dennis decided. “Tomorrow the hard work begins, rebuilding a new world for more than a billion refugees. We will construct new cities and increase our population first, and only after that is completed will we decide whether or not to open negotiations with Earth’s current leadership. It may take decades, it may take hundreds of years… and it remains to be seen whether or not anyone will survive back there.” He flashed a wry smile.

  Sol-system, 172 days after the initial attack

  The Canary Probe emerged from its CAS-assisted transit having traveled almost instantly all the way back to the edge of the Sol star system in the Milky Way. The incredibly long distance PTP hop wasn’t perfect by any means, so its programmed computer systems immediately activated its motion sensors and onboard observation equipment. The probe began a search for nearby objects and very quickly began to populate an empty computer file with a detailed map of the solar system. Mere moments later its scan was detected and the probe noted ships moving toward it – none of which signaled it with a friendly identification code.

  The four enemy fighters moved quickly into the area and began to rapidly close the distance between their patrol and the unfamiliar probe. They were preparing to open fire on the unknown intruder when the Canary suddenly activated its own small PTP unit and transited away. One of the fighters immediately reported its findings back to home base. They patiently waited until a return signal was received, indicating to them that the matter was under control. Accepting the transmission, they resumed their patrol along the outer edge of the solar system.

  There were even more enemy warships in Earth orbit but the Canary proved to be very precise in its measurements. It emerged from its second, short-range hop already in the upper atmosphere and its hull instantly began to heat as its thrusters moved it even more sharply downward toward the distant surface below. The vulnerable equipment inside of it began to fail from the extreme heat and it tried one last time to adjust its course toward a rural region located just south of the Himalayas in a small country called Ghuitan. The course correction failed along with the rest of its electronics and, a blazing ball of fire, the Canary Probe dropped out of the sky trailing a huge column of smoke behind it right before crashing heavily into the ground.

  The wreckage was still smoking when a large shuttle dropped out of the sky and landed near the new crater in the ground. Four Brotherhood soldiers emerged from the ship and walked over to the remains of the probe and then paused, waiting for additional instructions. A beautiful dark-haired woman dressed in black also stepped out of the cargo carrier and walked over to examine the wreckage.

  “Load this into the ship,” Valiana 001 told the soldiers. “We’ll take it
back with us to Drik Gyilto’s palace.” Without saying a word, the soldiers immediately moved to obey and – relying on thick gloves to protect them from hot metal – the four of them easily lifted the hot, blackened wreckage of the probe out of the large crater and began moving it back to their ship. Small fires still flickered in the grass around the crater and Valiana tilted her head upward, watching the gradually dispersing remnants of the probe’s descending smoke trail in the cloudless sky overhead.

  “What is it?” Hobak 322 asked as she stepped back aboard the shuttle. He sat next to additional soldiers, watching the other four loading the probe into the cargo area at the rear of the ship. “Was it supposed to be some kind of weapon?” Normally such questions would have continued to pour out of him one after another, but the presence of an actual member of the Triumvirate unnerved him.

  “Maybe,” Valiana shrugged, taking a seat beside him. “Who knows what the survivors will try. They’ve got something up their sleeve that we don’t know about. I’ve been sent out here specifically to discover why so many of them are vanishing without a trace.”

  Hobak smiled. “Mass suicide. They know their situation is hopeless.”

  She shot him a dirty, intimidating look that silenced him instantly. “Over confidence will not help,” she told him. “I have seen for myself evidence that something very odd is taking place.” He waited patiently, but she chose not to share anything further with him. The shuttle’s engines fired and it slowly took off and began moving off on a course back toward Ghuitan, before altering that heading just slightly enough to move north of the capitol city. Valiana and Hobak remained silent for the rest of the journey back until the small cargo carrier finally arrived at its destination. It landed next to a large building that was basically intact, but whose entrance had been severely damaged during a prolonged gun battle.