uss kepler dawn
Earth’s First Colonial Mission to the Stars
Gerald Lane Summers, J.D.
Copyright © 2018 Gerald L. and JoAnn C. Summers Family Trust
All Rights Reserved.
USS Kepler Dawn (first edition) rights are wholly owned by the Gerald L. Summers and JoAnn C. Summers family trust. All rights, whether currently established in law or those which might be determined to exist at a later date are reserved. No person, corporation, publisher or other legal entity may copy or otherwise reproduce the book or portions thereof without the express written consent of the copyright holders or their agents. This copyright and reservation is applicable in all nations of the world, under all legal treaties and conventions on the subject, as well as those that might be established in the future. It prohibits the reproduction of the book in any form, regardless of the form that might take, whether electronically, digitally, in print form, or written in any manner. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the internet or via any other means is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized versions, hard or soft back editions and products, or electronic editions and do not encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Do not purchase copies without a legitimate cover. This book is wholly a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used strictly in a fictitious context. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead or to actual events or locales is purely coincidental.
Cover designed by Paradox Book Covers and formatting
Email: [email protected]
First Printing: January 2018
CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Author’s Comment
Acknowledgments
Books by this author.
Prologue
Construction started on the Interstellar Colonial Vessel USS Kepler Dawn, ICV 23001, in the year 2300. It was the first in its class and the first to be powered by fusion reactors and anti-gravity (AG) engines. It was capable of at least FTL 7, although in theory it could travel much faster. Break-in testing was limited to that velocity because it was considered too valuable to risk before its first mission was complete.
The vessel was of a simple design, ten miles in length, two miles wide and two miles high. Nothing fancy. Its shape resembled that of a bulbous football at the end of a cigar with its three AG engines below and near the rear of the ship. Two short wings, also at the rear were in place to help the ship with atmospheric maneuvering should that be necessary. There were no windows, the viewing function being supplied by atomic sized ultra-high definition pixel cameras which could be tied into any part of the ship. It carried a crew of two thousand sailors and three thousand colonials, all trained in specialties necessary to build out a sustainable colony.
The three very large AG engines were located at the rear of the ship and a quarter of a mile behind the two fusion reactors that powered everything. An AG probe extended the length of the ship and could be extended forward an additional mile at high speeds. This allowed it to create an anti-gravity bubble that both protected the ship from oncoming objects and surrounded the entire vessel. At FTL speeds, the ship was completely encased in this bubble to protect it from the space/time through which it traveled. Space/time rushing back into the bubble from the rear pushed it forward for lower speeds and the AG engines pushed the ship forward into the bubble as it needed to go faster.
The ship’s interior was designed both for the comfort of the passengers as well as the storage of massive amounts of cargo. It was all built around a three hundred deck central rectangular box for the passengers and crew with storage in the areas surrounding it. Everything that could have been thought of for survival had been included. For speed of interior transport, the architects had built in several rail systems that ran from front to back. Elevators were spaced every one hundred yards for people to move up and down between the three hundred decks. The bridge, which contained most of the navigation equipment and observation machines, ran across the entire front of the vessel.
The keel of the ship contained a line of small AG engines for landing, taking off and for whatever other maneuvers might be needed. Above those engines, a flight deck held one hundred small AG fighters, each of which was intended for colonial use once planet-fall was attained. On both sides of the ship, lines of phased plasma cannon, one fitted along each quarter mile frame, were folded into the hull and not visible from the outside.
There had been considerable disagreement on the need for such weapons, but since this was to be Earth’s first real venture into deep space, the conservatives prevailed.
Captain Johan Hollenbeck, a hero of several world wars on Earth was in command of the ship. Commander Boggs, an AG Engineer who had designed and built the ship’s massive engines, was in overall command of the power systems.
Annual Report of the Captain
“USS Kepler Dawn, ICV 23001 - Year 2451
Captain Johan C. Hollenbeck
TO: Spa/Com. Interstellar Command, Classified Communication.
FROM: USS Kepler Dawn, ICV 23001.
We have now entered the 90th year of our mission to colonize the planet Kepler 186f. All is well. We will soon be increasing our velocity to 5.5 FTL which should reduce our arrival time by seven years. Our precautions to date have given us confidence the engines will handle the increase. Our next voyage will not include such caution.
Long range observations suggest Kepler 186f will provide conditions suitable for human life. We are pleased and are now increasing our studies of the planet to include appropriate landing areas.
Due to the level of energy required to create the atomic size wormholes necessary for these superluminal communications, I must continue to keep our messaging to a minimum. Hopefully, everything is proceeding as planned on Earth and many more vessels have been constructed. It will be a great honor to be known as the first Earth voyagers to reach an extra-solar planet.
We have received your regular messages and many on-board worry of the progress of climate modification programs and the well-being of those left behind. There are times when I suspect if they were to find Earth’s climate improving, they might wish to return.
Chapter 1
At age five, I was a skinny kid with a man sized appetite. Though a full head shorter than most in my kindergarten class, the cafeteria manager frequently chastised me for exceeding my daily food ration. It was stupidly calculated on our overall size and weight to keep us from getting fat. To my young mind, this logically meant I would always be the runt of the class. She then unfairly designated me the class glutton and in doing so emp
owered thuggish twits like Buryl Boggs to believe he had free rein to push me around. He outweighed me by twenty pounds.
While I should have been working on my lessons, all I could think about was food and how to avoid Boggs. He’d chosen me as his favorite target and harassed me at every opportunity. I had nowhere to hide and figured I’d just have to put up with it. When I complained to my father, a typical Marine officer, he told me in no uncertain terms to stop whining and do something about it.
Buryl made his first big mistake when he elbowed his way in front of me in the cafeteria line, exposing a level of anger in my heart I did not know existed. I’d had my eye on the last piece of lemon meringue pie on the dessert tray and knew that if he cut into my place in line, Buryl would get to it first.
After roughly shoving me out of the way, the stupid idiot turned his back on me as if I was of no account. I punched him in the left kidney as hard as I could. My expectation was that I’d be dead in the next few minutes, so what difference would it make if I hit him again? I drew back my little spear-like fist and was about to stab him with it one more time when he did something completely unexpected. He fell down and started screaming.
It came as a surprise to me and most of the students still waiting in line. Buryl was on the floor bawling like a baby when the manager rushed around and demanded to know what I had done. She then accused me of hitting him. She was right, of course, but I said nothing. He should have known better than to get between me and that last piece of pie.
Medics were called and to this day I take pride in telling the story. They could find nothing wrong with him. Apparently, kidneys are very sensitive even though they don’t hand over evidence easily.
When the headmaster asked why I’d hit him, I told the truth.
“He pushed me out of my place in the line and tried to steal my pie. He’s done it several times and I got tired of it. He’s a food thief. Look at him. He’s as fat as a pig.”
I was subjected to numerous lectures about hitting fellow students and was then suspended. So was Buryl. To me, it was worth whatever punishment it took to straighten me out. And it did because I no longer had to put up with Buryl or any of his nasty tricks. Not only that, I made a lot of friends in the process and was finally able to stop worrying about him ambushing me.
Buryl did one other thing to me for which I should probably be grateful. After suffering the effect of my anger, he changed tactics. He took to verbal assault, insults and sneers. His first effort was in calling me, “Stick,” to make fun of how thin I was. I was embarrassed every time he said it, but the name stuck with my friends and after a few years, I decided to embrace it.
My father encouraged me in this, saying people would not call me by a nickname if they did not like me. Buryl had not intended the result, though in the end it happened just the same.
By the time our class unit was ready for graduation from high school, also known as Ascension, Buryl and I had achieved a shaky peace. He was not dumb and we usually ended up competing for honors in most every subject. Both of us were destined to join the space academy after what passed for summer vacation on the ship and those with high honors were sure to be admitted first.
Most of the students were from colonial families who would go on to study below decks in the specialty they had chosen. It might be construction, manufacturing, or any of the hundreds of professions needed to build out a new world. Those going to the space academy would become part of the crew and all would be competing for the few promotional opportunities available on a ship where people tended to live to very old age.
∆ ∆ ∆
“Cadet Andy Kelso,” Lieutenant Anne Herman barked. “Are you paying attention?”
Startled out of my fantasies, which involved the opportunities available after our day of Ascension, I sat up straight on the hard composite desk chair and almost came to attention, chin up and shoulders back.
“Uh, yes — Lieutenant. You were reciting our daily pledge to honor our forefathers and the historic disaster that had befallen the people of Earth.”
A telling smile crawled across her face, quirking up her cheeks and deepening her dimples. It did not bode well for me. I’d seen her do it to other students and it usually presaged some well-planned plot to disabuse them of their importance. It was a typical military academy ploy, not one normally used on high school students.
“That’s odd,” she said. “I thought I’d been talking of Earth’s history, not the pledge. Have you been daydreaming again?”
I shuffled a bit in my chair, rubbed the sweat off my hands and tried to smooth out my uniform pants. I knew what she was trying to do, saw the other students waiting anxiously to hear what I might say, and was drawing a blank.
“Well,” she huffed. “How long are you going to keep us waiting? You are required to respond.”
Now, I felt anger rising. This was not fair. She was intentionally trying to provoke and embarrass me and if I were to remain honorable, I had no choice other than to play it as straight as I could. Fortunately, the groundwork for my response had been laid down the previous year when I’d complained to other students about the phony history being shoved down our throats.
“Yes, Lieutenant,” I said with an edge to my voice. “I cannot tell a lie. I was daydreaming, which has been described by thinking men as the crucible within which great thoughts are forged into great actions. Your recitation of the fabricated history of Earth and the voyage of Kepler Dawn has driven my mind to rebel by shifting its attention to matters of greater importance. In truth, I was daydreaming about the Ascension ceremony tonight and the celebration to come thereafter. I was also hoping you would end your silly recitation so we could all get on with our lives.
Now, before you get ruffled over my use of the word, ‘silly,’ I think you know these history lessons repeated every day since we entered kindergarten are and have been a waste of valuable time. They accomplish nothing and should have stopped when we entered high school. That they have continued right up to the last hour of the last day of the last semester is just wrong.”
The rest of the class said nothing. Not even a peep. Some students stared at me with their mouths agape. No one talked to an instructor like that, at least not on Kepler Dawn.
Lieutenant Herman’s smile turned down and sarcasm took control of her deep, usually sultry contralto voice. She was a good teacher with one serious fault. She enjoyed embarrassing students. No one had been able to predict when she might do it. On Ascension Days however, her record was close to one hundred percent.
“Well, aren’t you the lucky boy?” She put her hands on her hips and stared at me. “Ascension tonight, is it? Perhaps we should all celebrate? Would you care to do the honors and finish the recitation?
Come, don’t be shy. Tell us of our official history if you can remember the lesson.”
Ah, shit … now she was forcing my hand.
There was no doubt in my mind she knew what was going through the minds of every student. When this class let out, we would be free of the restraints of childhood imposed upon us. We would be free to engage with any consenting adult on the ship, all without condemnation or repercussion, social or official. Simply thinking about it was enough to arouse most of the class or start them shaking with anticipation. There were traditions associated with the day that virtually guaranteed an end to virginity for all eighteen year old's. It was also the day we could pick a mate with whom to stay for at least five years along with unbreakable promises not to cheat.
She had picked me to harass because I had been the leader of the class for several years, elected president of the student body this past year and had the highest grades as well as the most respect among the ship’s student population. You’d think she would have given me some credit on that score. Unfortunately, her reputation was one of trying to bring the popular down. She no doubt had some hang-up about it and thought it would be hilarious to put me on the spot.
“Very well,” I said as I stood and
walked deliberately to the front of the room, chest out and back straight.
A double sized rat could have run across my foot without being noticed by the class as I started to recite the alternate history I’d concocted. It was a parody of Earth’s real history, one that made the people look like idiots for having destroyed their environment. At the time, the verse had raced around the ship giving hope to all students that the time had finally come when we would be free of the fabricated nonsense concocted by the board of trustees.
“In the beginning,” I said. “… The board of trustees thought to bamboozle Kepler Dawn’s children by brainwashing them, telling students how great the people of Earth were when in-fact they were not. They were well on their way to destroying the entire planet, committing suicide the way only dolts might do, by choking themselves to death with air pollution and atmospheric heating on the one hand and with the other exacerbating the situation by building colonial spacecraft in the hope they might escape to do it all over again.”
“Stop this instant,” Lieutenant Herman barked. “How dare you say such a thing?”
“I dare, Lieutenant, because it is the truth. We are taught in this class and in all others to honor science, logic and reason as well as provable truth. Unfortunately, the nonsense we have had to endure all these years with false history flies in the face of our prime goal. We are to colonize a new planet and make absolute rules that will prevent the same sort of nonsense from happening again. You may report me for disrespect, Lieutenant, and perhaps it is true in an absolute sense if you truly believe what you are required to say. It will not have been because either of us has done wrong.
From my point of view, it will be the result of at least one student finally experiencing an awakening. The board has been willfully misleading us and we all know it.
Finally, I would remind you this is Ascension Day, which allows us to say and do what we please without recourse. So, while you may disagree with me, I think I am free to say it.”
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