Virtual

by S A Pavli

  “Kind of you to notice,” murmured Jo. “What should you do about it? Nothing. She is a big girl and will get used to it. Unless you do fancy her?”

  “Well, I don’t know. I haven’t given it any thought,” said Mark. Jo sighed in exasperation.

  “God, the human race travels the stars, but men are still swinging from the trees,” she exclaimed. The two men looked at each other and flinched. “You don’t have to think about whether you love someone.”

  “Love…!” said Mark with alarm.

  “You’ve frightened him off now,” said Andy.

  “Relax, I was talking metaphorically,” said Jo.

  “Phew, don’t mention that word. Even metaphorically,” said Mark, exchanging grins with Andy. Jo rolled her eyes skywards in resignation.

  Mark left the meeting with his crew with a smile on his face, but he was concerned. This was a new situation for him and his ship. As a rule, their job ended on arrival at the destination and the unloading of cargo and passengers, if there were any. It seemed that this exploration business was not so simple. Carstairs has suckered me he thought. I am going to have to baby sit his expedition, transporting them backwards and forwards and around the system and at the same time observing a thousand bureaucratic conditions and procedures.

  He arrived at Melanie’s cabin with a couple of minutes to spare and pressed the communicator. The green light came on and Melanie’s voice invited him in. Stepping through the door he saw that the Major was already present, both he and Melanie seated at the small table in her lounge. All the passengers had two rooms, a lounge and a bedroom, and Melanie’s was no different.

  “Come in Captain and take a seat,” said Melanie, getting up politely to greet him. The Major nodded amiably and grunted a g’mornin’ cap’n. Mark returned their greetings and took the preferred seat. Melanie was casually dressed in blouse and slacks, her auburn locks held back with a bronze clasp. Mark had the impression she would look great dressed in sackcloth.

  “Coffee Captain? I have some freshly brewed,” asked Melanie.

  “Good thank you,” nodded Mark.

  “How you feelin’ Cap’n?” asked the Major with a smile. “There may be some sore heads this morning.”

  “I’m sure,” agreed Mark. “I remembered to take my anti-hangover pill.”

  “I don’t remember you drinking very much Captain,” remarked Melanie as she poured his coffee.

  “I am afraid we are always on duty,” said Mark. “That’s why sailors and spacemen traditionally hang one on, so’s to speak, when they make landfall.”

  “The military is not too different,” agreed the Major.

  “Let’s hope we can all hang a really big one on when we finish this trip,” said Melanie.

  “If we find an Earth type planet, we’ll be made for life,” said the Major.

  “Mr Carstairs has been very generous,” agreed Mark.

  “He can afford to be, the old scoundrel,” said Melanie. Mark was so surprised he could not restrain a bark of laughter.

  “Ms Carter, that’s your father you’re talking about,” he chuckled. A smile quirked the edges of her lips as she replied.

  “I am joking,” she said. “Father will do anything to win a deal, but he is not a criminal. He is very fastidious about that.”

  “I am pleased to hear it,” said Mark. You look nice when you smile he thought. You should do it more often.

  “Captain, I wanted to acquaint you with the contents of the mail I received from my father yesterday,” said Melanie. “Apart from informing me that he had secured the exploration rights as expected, he included the newly released Operations Procedures. Or to give them their full title, Operations Procedures for the Civil Exploration of Star Systems as allocated by the Stellar Exploration Commission, SEC, under the auspices of the United Planets Organisation, (UPO), published 2796 ad Earth.”

  “Bureaucratic Bullshit,” muttered the Major with disgust.

  “Bureaucratic Bullshit it may be,” said Melanie. “But, the first sentence in the preface, as I recall says something like; Failure to follow these procedures will lead to the forfeiture of all rights by the responsible organisation, and may lead to prosecution.”

  “Ouch!” muttered the Major.

  “Is this document similar to the original, non-civilian version?” asked Mark.

  “Are you familiar with that Captain?” asked Melanie with a look of surprise

  “Hardly familiar. But, we have the document on file, and my crew and I have studied it briefly,” said Mark. “It is a huge and complicated document.”

  “I believe the civilian version is more compact,” said Melanie.

  “That’s something,” said Mark doubtfully. “But it’s a worry, given what you have just said that failure to follow the letter of the law may lead to prosecution.”

  “I think that only applies to the organisation that has the franchise, namely my father’s Company,” said Melanie. Mark looked at her questioningly.

  “How sure are you of that?” he asked. Melanie paused for a few moments indecisively.

  “I would be misleading you if I said I was sure Captain,” she said slowly. Mark paused, fingers unconsciously drumming the table.

  “You see my problem Miss Carstairs?” he said, speaking slowly. “I am the captain of a freighter. We carry goods and passengers from A to B. We know our job, we know the law. Our responsibilities end when we arrive at our destination and unload cargo and passengers, hopefully undamaged. This for us is a whole new ball game.” Melanie remained thoughtful for a few seconds before speaking.

  “I understand Captain, but I would suggest that this is not very different. You and your crew will not be carrying out the exploration. You will deliver us there and transport us around the system as needed. Surface exploration will be carried out by our own surface AG vehicles. You and your crew do not need to set foot on any of the planets of the system if you do not want to.” Mark grunted and leaned back in his chair, his face thoughtful.

  “OK miss Carstairs, I’ll go along with that. Let’s all have a good look at this document first and we can talk again.” Melanie nodded, relief on her face.

  “I’ll give the document to Alden for distribution to everyone,” she said. “We have ten days to familiarise ourselves with it and set up the procedures.”

  Chapter 7

  “All system checks complete, Warp capacitors fully charged.” Alden’s voice was, as always, calm and even, but the atmosphere on the bridge was electric with excitement. Mark, Andy and Jo occupied three of the five seats, with Melanie and the Major as invited guests. The other passengers occupied seats in a small cabin next to the bridge called the ‘Transition area’. This was only used during Warp entry and exit, or when the Bounty Hunter was landing, taking off or involved in any possibly dangerous manoeuvres. A large screen at the front of the cabin would provide a view of normal Space when the ship exited Warp. At present it showed the blank emptiness of Hyperspace, with some informative text scrolling up in one corner. The Bridge was surrounded by five huge screens, each displaying different information.

  The countdown to exit had taken an hour, which was the time needed to charge the Warp capacitors. These would accumulate the massive charge of energy needed to make the transition back to normal Space. During that time, Alden and the crew had carried out their checks on the ship’s systems, each one double checking the other using a duplicate set of sensors, instruments and computers.

  All conditions having been satisfied, and Warp capacitors fully charged, Mark gave the final call.

  “Proceed Alden.”

  “Prepare to exit Hyperspace. Three two one, energise.” They felt rather than heard the massive jolt of current that was discharged through the Warp coils, but the moment of dislocation which followed was unmistakable. The screens lit up with the myriad stars of normal Space, and there was a relieved exhalation as everyone relaxed. Back in the ‘Transition Area’, the relief was palpable.

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nbsp; “Hullo beautiful,” muttered Private Jimmy, looking with relief at the diamond studded vista on the large screens.

  “What happens if it doesn’t work?” asked Leslie curiously.

  “You stay in Hyperspace until someone comes to rescue you,” said LeBlanc who was seated next to her. Leslie nodded.

  “Of course, Hyperspace is just another parallel Universe,” she said.

  “Yes, all be it a special one,” said LeBlanc. “One in which no stars or planets have formed. There is only low level energy, just a few degrees above absolute, with no matter whatsoever. The laws of this Universe are quite different from ours.”

  “Allowing faster than light speeds,” interjected Walters from behind them.

  “Very conveniently,” nodded LeBlanc. “We have discovered Universes with all conceivable physical characteristics. Some of them so hostile that all probes are destroyed and never return to our Universe.” Leslie frowned.

  “But why is it that travelling faster than light in this Universe, allows us to traverse equivalent distances in our Universe? I have never really understood that.”

  “It appears that all Universes ‘map’ onto each other in a way we don’t understand,” said LeBlanc. “But because they are different sizes, travelling a kilometre in one Universe means that you may travel a million kilometres in our universe. It’s a sort of ‘conservation of energy’ law between parallel Universes.”

  In the Bridge, Mark turned around in his seat and addressed his two passengers.

  “Good news, we are within point zero one percent deviation from our predicted location.”

  “Ah, excellent. That sounds good?” said Melanie, questioningly.

  “Yep. It means we are exactly where we planned to be. We now have to carry out a few short Hyperspace ‘hops’ to put ourselves within normal travel to our star system. We are about three light years from it.”

  “That normally doesn’t happen Captain,” said Melanie with a frown. “Not on the trips I have taken anyway.”

  “If you travel to inhabited planets, they are very accurately mapped and ships have their computers pre-programmed with the co-ordinates. Only one jump is necessary. But we don’t have such precise co-ordinates for this star, and only an approximate idea where all its comets and asteroids are. Exiting Hyperspace near any Space debris would be very dangerous. Once we are a little closer, we can map all the bodies and ensure that we jump somewhere safe,” explained Mark

  “I see. Thank you Captain.” she replied.

  “No problem,” Mark, un-strapped himself from his seat. “We can’t do anything now until we re-charge the capacitors. That will take an hour so I suggest we all have a break.”

  “Can we see any planets yet?” asked Melanie as she also un-strapped herself.

  “No, unfortunately three light years is still a bit too far with the instruments we have on the Bounty Hunter,” said Mark. “But after two more jumps we will be about a billion kilometres from the sun. That should allow us to have a good look at all its planets. After that, you tell me where you want to go first.”

  “I understand,” said Melanie as she followed Mark with the others off the Bridge. For the last ten days they had all digested the contents of the ‘Operations Procedures’. It had in fact, being a hugely beneficial exercise, since Melanie had previously had no idea how to proceed with the exploration, other than on an ad hoc basis doing what interested them. They now had a structure within which to work, with clearly defined goals for each individual in the team. Even the Major had to admit that the Operations Procedures were not just ‘bureaucratic bullshit’, although he still maintained fifty percent of it was.

  In order to ‘claim’ a planet, or any other body, they needed to carry out a minimum of scientific measurements, as well as taking samples of its biosphere.

  The next few hours passed slowly and tediously for the passengers of the Bounty Hunter as Alden and the crew plotted and carried out two more ‘jumps’ to bring them within distance of the destination. The ship hummed with power and giros whined and thumped as the ship was aligned with its next destination and the capacitors charged. But the final jump eventually came, and as the screens cleared to show normal Space again, they all gazed with keen excitement. Mark’s voice came on the intercom.

  “Alden, please centre the screens on our target star and increase magnification.” The screen zoomed in to one out of the hundreds of stars until it was the only one occupying the screen.

  “Our destination ladies and gentlemen,” said Mark. There was a discernable disc and it looked no different as far as anyone could tell from Earth’s or Adelphi’s sun.

  “Normal G type sun, a few hundred million years older than Earth’s,” said Mark.

  “Any sign of any planets?” asked Melanie.

  “Alden is carrying out a scan. He will inform us as soon as he has a find. It could take an hour so I suggest we all go about our business until then.” They all groaned again at the anti-climax. LeBlanc signalled for the Captain’s attention.

  “Captain, James and I would like to work with Alden on taking some measurements of the sun.”

  “Sure Ray, “ agreed Mark. The two scientists had set up their equipment in a spare room, which they called their ‘Science Room’, and connected it up to one of Alden’s comms consoles. They were able to tap in to Alden’s instruments and analyse the information using their own equipment. They both trouped off talking animatedly.

  “Jimmy, let’s go check out the AG vehicles,” suggested the Major. The two vehicles had been secured in Bounty Hunter’s cargo bay, with their chemical power plants shut down.

  Back in the common room with the percolator brewing some fresh coffee, Melanie and Leslie pottered around the small kitchen until Melanie suddenly gave an exasperated grunt.

  “What are we, a couple of old housewives?” she exclaimed. Leslie giggled.

  “Here we are doing the housework while the men do the real work.”

  “Let’s have a coffee and to hell with the housework.” said Melanie, throwing a towel at the microwave.

  “And after, we can burn our bra’s,” suggested Leslie.

  “You’re not wearing one are you?” said Melanie.

  “No, I am naturally firm and pert,” said Leslie with a straight face. Melanie was unable to restrain her laughter, and Leslie joined in.

  “You are indeed,” admitted Melanie when they had stopped laughing. “I am surprised the men have been so well behaved around you. Perfect gentlemen every one.”

  “Yes worse luck,” said Leslie sourly.

  “Leslie!” said Melanie with a mock disapproving look. “You bad girl. Who did you have in mind? The dashing Major?”

  “Mmm…no, too old, although very nice,” she said.

  “The handsome Jimmy then?” suggested Melanie.

  “Too young,” said Leslie.

  “Hey, are you looking for a relationship or just some fun to pass the time?” asked Melanie.

  “Well, a bit of both would be nice,” said Leslie. “Young Jimmy is just a bit too empty headed. I think I could do better.”

  “Yes, I think I know what you mean,” said Melanie with a meaningful look.

  “What does that mean?” asked Leslie cautiously.

  “Sorry Leslie, I don’t want to get personal, maybe we should leave it,” said Melanie hastily.

  “No Melanie, what do you mean?” insisted Leslie.

  “I was thinking of Mark,” said Melanie flatly. The flush on the younger woman’s cheeks told her everything she wanted to know.

  “Oh, it’s Mark is it? You are on first name terms already?” said Leslie, her face hot.

  “No of course not. You always hear me address him as Captain,” said Melanie.

  “Yes, in public,” said Leslie pointedly.

  “God Leslie, do stop it,” said Melanie with an exasperated shake of her head. “If you want the Captain, he is all yours. I am not in the least interested.” Leslie scowled and seemed abou
t to reply, but then subsided. After a few moments she looked carefully at Melanie.

  “You’re not at all interested?” Melanie’s face was inscrutable.

  “No,” she replied. Leslie took a deep breath.

  “He just ignores me,” she muttered. Melanie shrugged her shoulders.

  “Maybe he is just maintaining a professional distance,” she suggested.

  “Yes, I know that. But he could show some sign.” She looked carefully at Melanie. “Have you noticed anything?”

  “Excuse me?” asked Melanie.

  “Has he ever shown any interest in you?”

  “Certainly not!” said Melanie. “He is always perfectly formal with me.” Leslie seemed about to say something, but then she stopped and sighed.

  “It looks like there is less to Captain Mark Alexander than meets the eye,” said Leslie mournfully. Melanie had actually come to the diametrically opposite viewpoint, that there actually was a great deal more to the young Captain than she had initially thought, but decided to keep that to herself.

  “Let’s change the subject,” she said. “Should we give the sun a name?” she asked. “We can’t keep referring to it as AG75398XM5632R557.” Leslie looked blankly at her.

  “Christ, did you memorise that?” she asked.

  “No, I’ve just got this weird memory. I instantly remember facts and figures, but can barely remember people’s names and faces. It is really frustrating sometimes, having a brain full of irrelevant facts and figures and not being able to remember who somebody is. I wish it was the other way around.”

  “Most people would envy you that talent,” said Leslie. “Remembering people’s names and faces is not very valuable…in my opinion. Unless you are a politician! Anyway, I have a name for your star. Elpida. It’s the Greek word for hope.”

  “It sounds Spanish,” said Melanie. “El Pida.”

  “No, it’s one word. What do you think?”

  “It has a nice ring to it. And I like the meaning. Let’s put it to the others,” said Melanie.