First Light: Book one of the Torus Saga

by Berg, Michael

  She leaned in closer to examine the markings Jake was referring to, “Yes, I see what you mean. They remind me of what I was reading about last night just before you arrived.”

  “Reading? I recall the quantum phase…”

  “Yes. I’ll get the book. I have marked the pages of most interest to me and thought may be of use to us.” She opened the book to the marked page referring to DNA sequencing and re-organisation during quantum molecular phase shifting. “DNA sequencing undergoes a state of flux when excited through sub atomic reverberations phasing in synchronicity with harmonic vibrations in certain wavelengths.” she read out loud.

  “Sounds like resonance to me.”

  “Well, I thought there is some underlying pattern emitting from some type of universal blue print or coding giving rise to matter…and fluctuating matter.”

  “Fluctuating matter? Sounds like atoms going in and out of existence. Well, existence as we know it. Let’s look for some hint as to coding or information to explain how it happens. This stone may be a key to the DNA aspect going by how it appears to hold pieces of the sequencing within each image. And see here? This appears to be a cross section of the brain but quite abstract, and there is a link going from this area of the brain continuing on to the main DNA sequence feature.”

  Raynie and Jake continue to discuss their find for about an hour, comparing information and theories about the carved stone with the text she had supplied. “Time we had a break,” Raynie said putting the book down. “I think some tea is in order. I’ve had enough coffee for now.” She made off to the kitchen, leaving Jake behind lost in thought. As Raynie entered the kitchen, she turned the radio on for company.

  “This is a breaking news update for May 6, 2088. United States authorities have just advised of another small nuclear detonation off the California coast in the past hour. This follows on from the two detonations in the US mid west just three days ago. Authorities advise this detonation took place on an abandoned oilrig decommissioned thirty-three years ago, but had not been removed from the site. All maintenance robotics on location have been destroyed. It is believed a number of personnel were recently visiting the site to commence removal procedures but there is no word of any human casualties. Authorities have placed an increased state of alert for the entire US conglomerate of countries, including Australia. Further information will be provided when it comes to hand. In other news…”

  “Jake! Jake, come quickly!” Raynie shouted down the hall to the library.

  He was awakened from his stream of thought and came running. “What is it?” he said as he entered the kitchen.

  “There has been another nuclear detonation. This time off California.”

  “What is going on over there?”

  “A heightened state of alert is in place, even for Australia.”

  “Any details or why?”

  “No further information besides the actual explosion and where it took place on an abandoned oilrig. Robotics have been destroyed. No advice on human casualties.”

  “When is the next update?”

  “Anytime. They said there would be more information when it comes to hand. There has to be a connection with those other explosions.”

  “Well. Those other explosions were near to some sensitive sites the US has for developing new energy. It is said they are on the verge of a breakthrough in renewable and virtual infinite sources. Something to do with quantum molecular fusion, and similar to the discoveries made at the Hadron Collider in Switzerland.”

  Chapter 2

  Dawn was soft. It was grey and white - brilliant, yet without direct sunlight. As he awoke, his vision was of mostly just a grey surface appearing as two dimensional, and without depth. It seemed the closest to nothing he had ever seen. A moment later he decided the emptiness was an illusion, as there was as much on offer with this dawn as with any other. It was new, had never occurred previously, and like any other, presented opportunity.

  His way of living lately had been somewhat different to that of many years previous. His decisions and the events took him to places he remembered dreaming of many years ago, and in recent times. Now he was on course to see them become reality. The series of events leading to this place and why, were a result of people he had met, information he had researched, and the response of others to his enquiries. His life would never be the same. What he was doing now was changing him for good, and he could never return to his ways of old – thankfully. ‘Such regress,’ he thought.

  Now with another dawn greeting him holding promise he held dear, his spirit lightened a little. Never one to dwell, he told himself the grey abyss in front of him was actually the wall of his sleeping quarters. He was now aware of where he was and felt comfortable. He was in a space station in low Earth orbit. This was the eleventh dawn he had seen today and none of them bored him. He was in space.

  His life was an adventure in both his own mind and the way in which he treated his friends and associates. Everyone could count on spirited company when he was around with barely a dull moment. Full of life, people at times almost would draw upon him for inspiration themselves. He knew this, but did not mind, as he was a giving person and he freely gave his energy, which was a blessing to him. He was a warrior of life.

  “Ninety minutes to Earth descent,” came over the announcer.

  ‘Good,’ he thought, ‘time for one more sunrise.’ He had made his way from quarters and was sitting in the mess section of the space station eating breakfast, though this could be dinner or lunch considering the speed at which he was orbiting the Earth. As he sipped a cup of tea, he stared out the porthole window beside his table admiring the expanse of bright blue ocean some two hundred and twenty miles beneath him. The sun shone brightly glittering off the surface here and there and this sight filled him with awe even though this was his third trip into space. He could never tire of this situation since he had finally realized the dream of venturing into space - one he had held since childhood. There was nothing more he wanted at this moment than to be where he was.

  An island of land appeared in his field of view, so he hit the zoom button located next to him just below the porthole. The window, which was actually a lens, zoomed in on the island of Hawaii showing the great volcanoes of Kilauea and Mauna Loa, where lava flows and eruptions from a number of volcanic cones.

  Without warning his view was suddenly obscured by what appeared to be a window. Momentarily baffled by what he saw, he then realized a space shuttle had passed into view and was over Hawaii on its’ way to the station. He zoomed out to reveal it in full view seeing it was quite close to its’ destination.

  He ordered some more tea as he watched the shuttle edge closer. Thruster jets erupted from a number of places on the ship as its’ pilot brought it for docking with the station. A few moments later a slight jolt then indicated the shuttle had docked to the station. Behind the docked shuttle, he could see the station would soon pass over the west coast of the United States.

  “All passengers for transfer to Earth are requested to check in to the departure lounge. Descent will be in sixty minutes,” came the announcer. A few minutes later he left his seat casting one last glance out through the porthole where he could see to the mid west of the United States.

  Other passengers for descent joined him on the way to the departure area, where together they arrived at the lounge as a group. After check in and allocation of his seat aboard the descent vehicle, he moved to the suit-up area to prepare for actual boarding of the ship in full space wear. It was here he began to talk to the others who were to accompany him on the trip back to Earth.

  “Have you heard?” a woman who was amongst the group asked him. “Two days ago, small proximity radiation bombs and a third explosion off California.”

  “Yes I heard about those.”

  Descent would take thirty minutes and their destination was in the New Mexico desert at the huge space port. Everyone was then directed to fit their space suits and prepare for bo
arding the descent vehicle – each of them murmuring speculation about what may be ahead, to their suit fitters. The woman who had spoken to him earlier gained his attention as she requested to be seated beside him. “We’ll travel together into this,” she said grabbing his hand.

  “Time to board descent vehicle. Descent will commence in fifteen minutes,” came over the announcer.

  “Well here we go,” he said as they both moved to the airlock together. Minutes later they were both seated with safety belts locking them to their seats.

  “Five minutes to descent. All passengers prepare for launch position.” Their seats were adjusted to an incline so as to minimize the effects of G forces during their descent, with automated helmet systems lowering over their heads. She grabbed his hand and a minute later the vehicle broke away from its’ docking port as they began their journey to Earth.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen. Our trip will take us on a single Earth orbit as we descend on a trajectory to enter the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. Our descent speed will initially be seventeen thousand miles per hour, slowing to eleven thousand miles per hour during atmospheric buffering. Once inside Earth’s atmosphere we will then gradually slow to four hundred miles per hour on a thirty seven degree angle for landing at New Mexico Space Port where touchdown will be at one hundred and sixty miles per hour. Estimated time to landing is twenty-seven minutes. We hope you enjoy your trip with us and thank you for traveling with Space Ventures – the leader in Earth orbit transits.” Retro rockets then fired as the vehicle increased speed away from the space station.

  As they passed over the continent of Australia, retro rockets fired again and soon after the turbulence of the atmosphere began to shake the vehicle, accompanied by the orange glow from the heat of re-entry. Moments later they were traveling under a blue sky streaming towards the west coast of the US at breakneck speed. They crossed the coast near San Francisco, on a turning trajectory to line up with spaceport runway eleven in New Mexico.

  “Passengers. We will be arriving at New Mexico Space Port in eleven minutes. Please remain in your seats until the vehicle has reached a full stop. Connecting flights from spaceport are on standby for international and internal United States passengers. Once again, thank you for flying with Space Ventures.”

  “Where are you flying to?” the woman asked him letting go of his hand.

  “I’m off to Australia to see some friends I have there. And you?”

  “Home to San Francisco. I work at Berkley University researching propulsion systems. I was in space testing a few of the new systems. By the way, my name is Jenna Atkinson.”

  “Hello…again Jenna. I am Lyle. Lyle Shrewsbury. I am a consultant archeologist. I research and advise on the impacts of resource planning covering culturally significant material. I have just been mapping and studying geographical data for this purpose at the station.”

  “Passengers, please prepare for landing in four minutes,” the announcer said. A slight bump indicated the vehicle had touched down on runway eleven and then it taxied to the docking area for passengers to disembark. After a short while they were de-suited and given the standard anti-sickness gravity medications dispensed for all personnel returning to Earth.

  “Would you like to have some coffee?” Jenna asked. “My flight is on standby but I can wait for the next one in an hour.”

  “That would be nice,” Lyle replied. “I can connect in two hours for the trip south.”

  “Ladies and Gentlemen. This is New Mexico Space Port administration. Due to recent events involving detonations, some flights are required to take alternative routes to destinations in the eastern United States, the United Kingdom, and European Alliance of Countries. We apologize for the delays and request you enquire as to your amended flight details when checking in.”

  “That won’t affect us,” Lyle said as they walked the passageway towards the main lounge of the spaceport terminal. He noticed several flights taking off and marveled at the expanse of this facility out beyond the window - the lights of each ship twinkling like stars. There were seventeen runways in all at the spaceport. Twelve were designated for Earth bound flights and five were for transfer to and from space. The sheer size of the place was astounding and being accompanied by a research and development facility, it appeared to stretch all the way to the sunset behind the distant mountains at the horizon.

  “Well, let’s go and board then,” Jenna said rising from her seat and extending her hand to Lyle, when an announcement came over the system for passengers to board for the next connecting HyperJet flight to San Francisco. Lyle had decided to put off his trip to Australia and to accompany her for a few days as they had sat talking about their lives and of the recent events. Their rapport was instant since the very first meeting prior to descent from orbit, and he felt comfortable and excited about the prospect of a few days in the Bay City. They made their way through the throng of passengers and visitors populating the main lounge, to internal US departures for the thirty-minute transit to San Francisco. As they were about to reach the departure area, Lyle noticed a group of military police checking all outgoing passengers situated at the access gates. “This looks a little ominous.”

  “I suppose there will be police everywhere after those detonations,” Jenna replied. They reached the cordon of officers and were then directed to large scanning units for full body scans.

  “Alert level is red,” an officer said to them as he indicated where they should go. “All persons are required to take mandatory scans.”

  “No problem,” both Lyle and Jenna said in unison as they took up individual scanning units beside each other. The magnetic resonance imaging devices hummed into action and they could feel a gentle wave sweep their bodies from the head down, then pass back up again.

  “You are clear,’ the same officer told them indicating the way to proceed with his hand. They proceeded to check in where Jenna had her ticket processed and Lyle purchased one for his trip with her. “Just going to San Francisco for a few days,” he replied to the check-in officers’ query on his change of destination. “I will be traveling onto Australia from there.” The officer confirmed Lyle’s ticket seated beside Jenna then gestured for him to follow her to the boarding gates. They passed through the gates, and then boarded the HyperJet along with the twenty-three other passengers for the journey.

  Ten minutes later the engines fired up and they began to taxi towards the runway.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen. This is your pilot speaking. We will be taking off from runway four tonight for our thirty-minute ride to San Francisco. Our cruising speed will be mach five at an elevation of fifty thousand feet. Ascent will take seven minutes and descent into San Francisco will take five minutes. We hope your enjoy your flight.”

  The HyperJet made its’ way to the end of the runway, paused a moment to line up correctly, and then the pilot fired up the four rocket engines. The lights of the spaceport then became a blur as the jet sped into the night sky, rapidly gaining speed.

  “Ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain speaking. We are now at cruising altitude and our current speed is three thousand eight hundred and fifty miles per hour. We expect to arrive at San Francisco in approximately fifteen minutes. Descent will commence in seven minutes.”

  “I suppose you worked on these jets,” Lyle said.

  “Well. No. I work only on fusion propulsion,” Jenna replied smiling as she recalled recent advances her research had made. “I just completed work looking into advances with Ionic propulsion and how protein strings can be used to keep propulsion systems cool for deeper space travel. We leave the Earth bound stuff to a separate division.”

  “Interesting. I am off to the Moon for a while after my stint in Australia. It will be my fourth trip to space.”

  “But I thought you examined culturally significant sites.”

  “That is true, but this time I am assigned to examine the long-term contamination repercussions for a mining base.”

  “Tha
t is a bit different.” She smiled at him holding his gaze for a moment. “Have you ever tried the space elevator?”

  “No, but I am hoping this next assignment will take me to space via the elevator. I have been eager to give it a go for some time. I have heard it is quite an experience.”

  “I did work on the engines for it after the incident a few months back where there was a problem and it plummeted thirty miles before the emergency brake came into effect.”

  “I remember that. It didn’t stop me from wanting to go though.”

  “Ladies and gentlemen. Descent is in one minute,” the HyperJet captain said.

  Lights atop the Bay Bridge came into view as they lined up to land at San Francisco airport. The city looked amazing just after dusk, as vehicles both ground based and airborne, traveled busily around lighted transit ways and in the sky above.

  “I know a great place down in old China Town,” Jenna said feeling glad to see her home city again. “We’ll take a JetCab from the airport.”

  The HyperJet landed and taxied to the terminal where they disembarked and then made their way to the JetCab stand. With a sudden thrust, the cab ascended to five hundred feet and traveled the eight miles to the city in two minutes. It landed at the central cab hub, and then made their way on foot to the bar. People were everywhere in the city of five million people, the streets a throng of pedestrians with vendors hawking them at almost every step, selling this and that, others making similar promises. Although San Francisco had undergone a large modernization, there still remained those bound to the streets fighting to make a living or to simply survive.

  “Here is the place,” Jenna remarked as they stopped outside Fong’s Restaurant and Bar. Set in a traditional sense decorated with lanterns and ornate dragon figures, the bar appeared to defy the times as if it had been there for more than a hundred years. “I know it looks a little old, but the food here is terrific.”