“Chief, you'll have to talk to the Captain.”
~ ~ ~
“Captain, you know the hazards with an EVA. I've got four men suiting up right now. I need to know the real reason I'm risking their lives.”
“Chief, I can't tell you. It sounds crazy, but the story Thomas told me fits right in with the reason some of the safety protocols were amended ten years ago to include gut feelings about missions.
“Thomas thinks something is wrong with the ass end of the shuttle.”
“Hell, the XO told us to start with the mating collar.”
“Change that, check every connection, and wire starting with the retro's. Don't skip anything.”
“Yes Sir.”
~ ~ ~
Three hours later the Chief called the Captain and XO. “Sir, I think my crew found the problem.”
“What do you mean think?”
“Captain, you know the ship was assembled in orbit. The four sections of the heat shield were bolted together and then the seam covers were bolted to it. One of the seam covers is missing.”
“Get me pictures. Bring them to the bridge.”
“Yes Sir.”
~ ~ ~
“Houston this is Mars 4. Mars landing scrubbed. Message and pictures follow.
“Adams, wait one orbit, if you don't get a reply, resend the entire message and repeat until you get a reply.”
“Yes Captain.”
Two orbits later, “Mars 4 this is Houston control. Why are you just now finding that problem?”
“Adams, transfer communications to my station.”
“You got it Captain.”
“Houston this is Mars 4, Thomas, my shuttle engineer got a gut feeling and red flagged the drop. Per protocol, I ordered a hull inspection, and the engineering crew found one heat shield cover missing. My question, is why the QC team didn't find it before we broke orbit, and who signed off on the heat shield.” He knew he'd not get a reply for another orbit. “XO, get the science team to the mess.”
~ ~ ~
The Captain looked at the four men and six women that were the ground science team. “Boys and girls, except for Thomas' gut feeling you'd all be dead now.” They don't believe me, now for the zinger.
“The engineering crew found a heat shield cover missing after Thomas red flagged the shuttle. Hold your questions.
“I've contacted Houston, but now I have a task for you.”
One of the smart asses quipped, “Since we're all dead, do we get any time off?”
“Hell no! I want you corpses to put together plans to get all the information off the surface possible. Most of your equipment is remote controlled, so figure out how to make it work from here.”
The same smart ass raised his hand. “Captain, first problem is how do we get the cargo holds open. Second is how do we get the equipment unlatched and assembled. Third, the fuel ship landed and started making fuel last year. As far as I know, the fueling was designed to be handled by hand. NASA decided that no remote controls were to be on that ship, to prevent hacking.”
“James, your third point may be a stopper. Talk to everyone aboard to find a workaround, and put together the questions for us to send to Houston. Their QC team missed the heat shield problem, so lets make them help. James, you're in charge of assembling the plans, dismissed.”
~ ~ ~
After returning to Earth, Thomas was grounded for six months, then assigned to the QC section at ISS2.
~ ~ ~
NASA decided that the QC team would be on the next mission as engineers and mechanics. The last missions XO had been tagged as Captain and complained about Thomas being a crew member. The selection board called him in. He was given the classified files on all the crew members and found out that a hidden policy was to now check all crew for physic and unusual incidents in their and their families history.
He then admitted to the selection board that Thomas was acceptable, but the scientific team had one woman on it that finished sentences that everyone else started. Her file indicated that she ranked high on their telepathic scale.
Another member of the crew was considered a survivor. Lilly had survived several incidents where those within reach also survived, but almost everyone more than several yards away died. The latest was a terrorist attack on a train. Out of three passenger cars, only the seven people in the seats around her survived. She's been assigned as your XO. That will put her in close contact with every member of the crew. His question to the board was, “Are you sure she isn't a bad luck magnet?” The old Captain commented, “I tested her for that. I dropped my cellphone and asked her to get it for me. We were standing on a prepared ice sheet outside the testing facility in Maine. She walked over and picked it up, and never even slipped. We all were wearing street shoes.”
The Mars 5 mission was accomplished with only one injury, a broken ankle. Thomas and Lilly were married after returning to Earth.
* * *
Chapter 5 Contact
Captain, the chief engineer and navigator both agree that we are detecting another faster than light engine field approaching the target star. The navigator has triple checked his calculations and we'll arrive at the FLT boundary at the same time. If we can detect them, that means that they can detect us. We have an hour to make a decision whether to meet them peacefully or under full alert. All present information is coded and ready to transmit using the entangled commo system.
Transmit the information and then ensure telemetry is linked directly to commo. I want every sensor aimed at their exit point and the data transmitted live. We will attempt peaceful contact, but I want Earth headquarters to know everything about their ship. We have 23 scenarios for contact and 5 of them seem to apply at this time.
~ ~ ~
Your Excellency, as the scrolls indicated contact has been detected. All we have to do now is ensure that this is the race that we are to befriend. The prophet is prepared to initiate contact as soon as we exit holy space.
XO, proceed to put the ship on full alert. All weapons will be manned and targeted. I will retain the activation control on the bridge. Set all navigation computers to self-destruct with the activation control code. If this is the enemy listed in the scrolls, then we will die fighting and leave no trace back to our home. I pray that this is the friends that the scrolls say we will defend the universe with!
* * *
Captain, commo indicates that they are transmitting in what the chief thinks is Greek.
XO, get the linguist up here ASAP, also the historian, and inform headquarters that we'll need advice on how to proceed.
Sir, the sensor chief reports that the alien spacecraft has been targeting us with all its weapons since it exited FLT, however it hasn't fired or attempted to scan us with anything we can detect. The weapons chief has retained the weapons activation code at his station. He thinks the alien is waiting for us to make the first move, because they are just drifting. Two hundred and eighty nine heat sources appear that to be life forms have been detected, because the ones that are moving around are the similar. HE and nuclear warheads detected on the missiles plus various types of what can be assumed to be directed energy weapons. The weapons master says they came ready for a fight.
Captain Sir, the main body of transmission is Greek however, there seem to be a few words that I don't recognize as Greek mixed in. They may be Aramaic.
OK, replied the Captain, put together a greeting informing them that we are from Earth and wish to make peaceful contact. Ask them if they would prefer landing on the second planet or it's moon. Then inform them that we are headed in-system toward the orbit of the second planet.
XO, if a suitable friendly reply is received stand down half the weapons crews. This will take both of us well inside the FLT boundary.
~ ~ ~
Your Excellency, they have replied. They indicate that they will meet us on the moon of the second planet or on the planet
itself.
Inform them that we will meet them on the moon of the outermost gas giant planet. I sense that they want both of our ships well within the holy space boundary, and that location will take us several hours inside that boundary.
* * *
Dear Jane,
You and I both knew that when I volunteered for the first faster than light exploration ship that it would be dangerous. Even with all the successful test flights proving that it was mechanically safe, the odds of us returning safely were only 50-50.
Remember what your brother and Dad always said. A battle plan only survives until the first shot is fired. We have reams of contingency plans for everything that the smart guys could think of. Every situation possible was brain stormed and solutions written down. Well they missed one.
We made contact with another star traveling species, but that is all I can say. If I say more, the censor computer will not transmit my letter. I know that you and the children will be safe and well taken care of. Loki promised. Remind them that I love them and love you.
There will be no return for most of the crew of our ship or the crew of the other spacecraft to our home planets. We will be traveling to theirs and they to ours. We will be the ambassadors and remain on their home planet. All the details of contact will be transmitted back to our home planets by our computer and the aliens. A peace treaty is to weak a word to use to describe the blood agreement made between our two crews. In the year we've talked, protocols have been written and rewritten to ensure peace between our species and theirs. These go far beyond simply coexisting in this universe.
Love, Bill
# (ToC) #
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