Dark Star Rising Second Edition (Pebbles in The Sky)

by Bagley, Jeffery

  “You heard the General, everybody get on board and I want those pre-flight checklists completed ASAP,” Colonel Pierce barked as they started filing out of the room. All Colonel Pierce could think of at the moment, was how pissed his good friend Major Hanks was going to be he missed out being on this flight.

  Chapter 50

  January 27th, 2043

  Macon, Georgia

  Brett Driskall was looking over the statistics of how many species DNA the project had managed to store to date. Most of the field offices were shutting down now, as the Dwarf encounter was getting very close. Already the Dwarf had a perceptible disc if you looked at with a decent set of binoculars. It was the brightest object in the sky except for the Sun, Moon, and the new planet Elpis which was getting ready to make its closest approach to Earth in just a couple of weeks.

  Peter had been amazed at some of the pictures of that new world with its thick clouds and peeks of blue oceans when the orbiting probe managed to get a look through the clouds. What a shame it was that Elpis was probably a sterile world. His PA beeped and his wife Jessica called in. “Peter dear, I am downstairs in the lobby and we have a couple of guests that need to speak with us.”

  “Who is it Jessica? Haven’t we done enough interviews about the Ark already?”

  “No interviews, grumpy. Do you remember Doctor Susan Rockwell? She works out at the Armadillo Ark Repository.”

  “Hmmm, isn’t she the woman that’s married to the guy who discovered the Dwarf Star?”

  “Yes, and his name is Doctor Peter Rockwell. He is head of JPL in Houston my dear. Susan, her husband, and Doctor Mike Banscott are here to speak with us. Doctor Banscott is the Director of NASA. Can you please come down?”

  “Wow,” Peter thought, “I wonder what in the world they could want to see us about.” They are probably just sightseeing while here at the capitol he figured. “I will be right down Jessica.”

  Peter took the elevator down to the visitor center where Jessica was talking with their guests. Peter remembered Susan Rockwell as soon as he saw her face. She was the bright assistant director of the Armadillo Data Repository. He recognized her husband Doctor Rockwell, and Doctor Banscott from news stories he had seen on them. Peter held out his hand to shake theirs and welcomed them to the Ark Project Headquarters. “What brings you three down to Macon, Georgia?” he asked.

  “Actually, we were here for a meeting in the capitol and I talked them into coming down to see the main DNA Ark Facility,” said Susan.

  Peter smiled to himself. He had guessed exactly right, they were sightseeing. “Jessica would love to give you a private tour, wouldn’t you dear?” Peter intoned to his wife.

  Jessica gave him a dirty look. “Actually, we would both love to show you around,” Jessica replied with a threatening look back to Peter. “Come along this way and we will start with the sample preparation labs,” she said as she guided them to the elevator.

  Jessica gave them a grand tour of the entire facility. She and Susan chatted amicably while Brett, Peter, and Mike talked about the approaching encounter. Finally, they reached the cafeteria and Jessica invited the three of them to stay and have some lunch with them. As they walked through the small cafeteria line, Mike asked her what was good to eat.

  “It is all left overs from the specimens that are brought in. You never know if you are getting some sort of fish or maybe even some African Bush Babies,” Brett joked.

  Peter looked rather pale. “Brett, cut the crap,” said Jessica. “He is just kidding you guys. Today is Friday and the fried catfish nuggets are pretty good if you put enough sauce on them. If you don’t like fish, they can always grill you a veggie burger. We try and only serve sustainable foods. If it is endangered or over exploited, we don’t eat it.”

  After they had all got their food and settled down at a table in an out of the way corner, Brett asked Peter a question in between bites of his catfish. “I have a question about the new planet Elpis. How can you guys be absolutely sure it is sterile unless you actually land and get some soil and water samples? I am no planetologist or anything, but I find it very interesting that the oxygen content is so high if there is no plant life to produce it.”

  “Well,” answered Peter, “The planet has been frozen for thousands of years, probably for most of its existence. We doubt any plant life could have survived or even evolved there that would have used photosynthesis. Even if there were some simple organisms in the very deepest oceans such as we have here on Earth, they would not have evolved a chlorophyll type pigment that would be using sunlight to produce oxygen. We surmise that since the planet’s atmosphere has been frozen for most of its existence that cosmic radiation could have split a lot of the frozen water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen would have been the last to freeze and much of it could have escaped into space leaving the heavier oxygen behind which then froze onto the planet’s surface. It is exciting that the oxygen content is so high though, it makes the planet a very good candidate for future terra forming and colonization.”

  Peter glanced at Mike and tried to nonchalantly ask Brett a question in return. “Speaking of Elpis, I have a question for a biologist.” Jessica broke in, “Why Doctor Rockwell, your wife has her doctorate in Biology, why don’t you ask her?” Brett noticed that Peter and Susan made eye contact but Susan did not speak up. Brett also picked up on the strange vibes between Peter and Mike. Something was going on here and he was starting to think that this was not just a sightseeing visit after all.

  Just as Peter was starting to reply a beautiful redheaded female who appeared to be in her in her mid to late twenties walked up behind Brett, kissed him on the cheek, and sat down at their table. Peter, Mike, and Susan were somewhat taken aback until Brett put his arm around the girl and introduced her. “I would like to introduce Doctor Brianna Driskall, our daughter, and one of our newest team members.” Peter smiled and stared at the attractive young woman until he felt his wife’s heel come down on his foot under the table.

  Peter grimaced, “Oh, Oh,” he said. “Sorry, I had a cramp in my foot all of a sudden. Jessica, you were asking why I did not ask my wife. The fact is, we have discussed it. I thought you might have a little more insight on the subject. What if we land on Elpis someday and find some dead plant life or some dead crawly thing that was frozen in ice or something. This is just theoretical of course, since it is very unlikely that life ever evolved on Elpis. But what if we did find something, would its DNA be like ours?”

  “Maybe, or maybe not,” said Brett. “Why don’t you ask our resident Xenobiologist wannabe,” he said looking at Brianna.

  Brianna blushed. “Dad, the right term is Astrobiologist. To be a Xenobiologist we would first have to find a non-terrestrial life form. Right now we seem to be a little short on those, unless Mom married the only one!” The whole table got a chuckle at her jab.

  “Touché,” said Brett. “But seeing as Brianna is our aspiring Astrobiologist, I give her the podium.”

  Brianna sighed. “To answer your question, all life on Earth uses DNA that has left handed amino acids. Life could very well have evolved the other way around with right handed amino acids, but that is the way life evolved here on Earth. Life on another planet just might have evolved with right-handed amino acids, but either way it could still have DNA. Hopefully, if we ever meet another race that thinks it might want to eat us they will have right handed amino acids. They could not digest us very well and maybe they would leave us alone,” she joked. “Anyway, if a carbon based life form is found we believe it would probably have DNA or a similar genetic structure to organize its biological makeup. There is also some theories that life could evolve to possibly be silicone or arsenic based. They are just theories, but quite possible. So to answer your question, it may or may not have a genetic structure like us.”

  “So Brianna, if some old DNA was found from a dead plant or primitive organism, could you scan its DNA and replicate it the same as DNA from life on Earth? Coul
d we recreate that life form?”

  Jessica sighed. “Theoretically it would be possible, but we get back to the same problem that is driving us all nuts here at the project. We can store the blueprint for an organisms DNA, we can recreate that DNA, but we cannot reproduce that organism without having original living cells from that species, or at least a very closely related species. We need a cell, ideally an egg cell for non-plant life, and a healthy cell for plant life. We just cannot perfect how to make an artificial cell without DNA in it. We can replace that DNA from a reproduced copy of that organisms DNA, but we cannot figure out how to make a cell first. The old question of what came first, the chicken, or the egg again.”

  “Very interesting,” said Mike. “Well, we hate to eat and run, but we have already taken up a lot of your valuable time and we have a plane to catch in Atlanta. It was a pleasure meeting all of you. Young lady, if you ever get tired of working for your folks, come apply for a job at NASA. Someday, we may get onto the surface of Mars or Elpis and find some primitive life forms for you to study. Then, you can be a real Xenobiologist and put your dad in his place.”

  “It was a pleasure having you,” Brett said as they walked them to the door.

  “The next time you go out to the Armadillo DNA Repository, stop by JPL and I will give you a tour of my facility in return,” said Peter.

  “We will, that would be most interesting,” said Jessica. “Have a safe flight back.”

  As their guest’s government ground transport pulled away Brett looked at Jessica. “Now, what do you really think they came by here for? They were not here just to sightsee.”

  “I am not really sure,” she replied. She gave her daughter a big hug as they walked back into the building.

  …

  “What do you think?” asked Mike when they were on the way to the airport.

  “She is awfully young, but boy she is a looker,” replied Peter. That remark earned him an elbow in the ribs from Susan.

  “Peter, quit being such an ass,” Jessica said. “She may only be twenty five but she is considered one of the brightest in her field. She has written and published seven papers already on the potential types of life forms that could exist on ice planets such as Europa. With the similarities to what Elpis used to be, she may be an ideal candidate. Her IQ is through the roof and is no doubt inherited from having two geniuses like her parents. Good genes usually reproduce good genes. She has also grown up around her parents work. She could probably assemble DNA in her head if she tried. She would be a perfect candidate.”

  “Maybe, we will see,” said Mike. “A lot depends on what the present mission finds out. However, we will definitely add her to the candidate list.”

  “Hey, if Susan ever divorces me, I will be happy to be on her team,” Peter said. “Damn Susan, that is going to leave a bruise,” Peter yelled as Susan pinched his neck.

  Mike chuckled and looked out the window as they drove to the airport. He wondered how much joking was going to be going on in the coming year. He figured people better laugh now while they could.

  Chapter 51

  February 11th, 2043

  Elpis Geosynchronous Orbit

  Colonel Pierce watched his instruments like a hawk as Second Lieutenant Jason Greco, his young co-pilot, settled the David Honstein into geosynchronous orbit over the planet Elpis. The Colonel had drilled his crew continuously since they had performed a swing around Earth’s moon and entered a trajectory to reach orbit over Elpis as it swung around the sun on its own initial orbit. He was very satisfied with his crew. Out of twenty crew members, six had been straight from the space academy. Six had been pulled off of the Lunar Tugs and the other ten had flown at least one mission on a Montgomery class ship. The first three weeks had been very nerve racking and frustrating, but finally, in the last two weeks the crew had started clicking as one team. All in all, the crew did not look too bad. The other young Greco twin, Second Lieutenant Allan Greco had been working on his simulator for the Elpis lander and robots since they had left Earth orbit. It was about time to make this mission worth its cost.

  Lt Jason Greco, intensely aware his commander was watching every move he made, sat back in his seat. “Colonel, we are in geosynchronous orbit above the target area. The plateau is directly below us. We have burned thirty seven percent of our inert fuel since leaving Earth orbit.”

  “Very well, Lieutenant. You did a good job getting us in orbit.”

  “Comms, this is Colonel Pierce, please signal Alpha Station that we are parked in GSO above the target area. Inform them we will be conducting a radar sweep of the plateau around the target zone to find the best place to put the lander down.”

  He pressed the ship’s intercom button and announced, “All ship personnel, you may secure from maneuvering stations.”

  “Lieutenant, you have the con. I want to talk to the sensor team before we stand down. I want to be absolutely certain there is nothing in orbit up here with us that could threaten this ship that was not detected from Earth.”

  Colonel Pierce unbuckled his seat harness and pushed up and over his seat and pulled himself down the handrail to the operations level just below the pilot station. Specialist Martin was already conducting a radar sweep of Elpis orbit. Colonel Pierce leaned over him to look at his display. “Martin, if there is anything bigger than a grain of sand anywhere near an intercept course with us, I want to know about it. As soon as you finish the sweep of orbital space, you can start the scan of the plateau around the target area. We need a nice flat area for that lander to set down on.”

  The Colonel floated over to Specialist Ashworth who was deploying and focusing the ship's telescope imager on the target area. The display was showing nothing the bright cloud layer of Elpis. “Any luck seeing through those clouds, Ashworth?”

  “No sir. For the past two weeks, the entire planet has just about been socked in with clouds. All that water vapor from the ice melting is mixing with colder air from the Polar Regions and then encountering the warming water around the equator. That is really cranking up the fog. I am glad I won’t be the one to have to be flying a lander into that soup.” The Colonel nodded his head.

  The Colonel pushed over to the center handrail and pulled himself through the habitation and mess area down to engineering. He found second Lieutenant Allan Greco running diagnostics on his lander. “Well Lieutenant, as soon as we find you a landing area you are going to get a chance to fly that thing for the first time for real. Let’s hope the simulator is like the real thing.”

  Lt Greco just grinned. “Sir, you find me a flat piece of dirt as big as a football field and I will get her down in one piece.”

  “Lieutenant, let me give you some advice. As much as we train, as much as we plan and try to envision everything that could possibly go wrong, nothing ever goes totally right. Take my word for it. When I was on the mission to try out the thrust control pods on a real asteroid, the engineers had ensured us that they had planned for everything. If it had not been for my mission specialist riding them down like a cowboy on a wild bronco, they would not have worked. Your lander is a prototype, it was never meant to actually fly on an alien planet. The crawler and airship have also never been used except for some basic concept trials on Earth. They are supposed to work, but let’s withhold judgment until they are actually on the ground and giving us data.”

  “I am sorry sir; I am just excited to finally be able to do what I have been training for. It about killed me when I was not chosen to be a ship’s pilot. Instead, someone at headquarters decided they wanted me to be a remote craft pilot. Until now, all I have been doing is practice, practice and more practice. I am not cocky sir, just anxious and ready to do my thing.”

  “You’ll get your chance in about eight hours’ time son. Just make sure that the lander is ready to go.”

  Colonel Pierce was getting ready to drop down to the engineering deck when the ships intercom clicked. “Colonel, this is Martin, I think you need to get up here to operat
ions right away.”

  Remembering what he had just told Lieutenant Allan Greco, Colonel Pierce groaned and grabbed the handrail and pulled up the rail for operations. When he got there, about half of the crew was standing behind Specialist Martin. They parted for the Colonel as he floated over and one of the female engineering specialists grabbed his arm and steadied him until he grabbed the back of Martin’s seat.

  “It started about five minutes after I started scanning the plateau, sir.”

  “What do you have Martin?” the Colonel asked. Specialist Martin reached over and touched a blinking indicator on his control panel. The intercom system starting sounding a sequence of chirping beats. The sequence completed and then went silent, then started repeating itself again.

  “It seems to be some sort of beacon sir. It is playing the same sequence over and over,” said specialist Martin.

  “It could be some sort of automated beacon from the alien ship,” said Lt Allan Greco as he arrived behind the Colonel.