The Plan and other short stories

by Stephen Brandon

  Navigation to Communications: Trajectory plotted, inform the fuel tender that they are on a collision course with the 6 ton hauler bed, impact in 21 minutes unless they move out of its way. Then call the moon and tell them I calculate that it will graze the surface. My equipment margin of error at this distance is 1 degree.

  Communications to Bridge officer and Pilot: The fuel tender is not answering. I called flight operations and they just informed me that the fuel tender is robot. Inform the Captain that it it hits we will be passing through a debris field and have no refueling.

  Five minutes later the Captain was leaning over the navigators shoulder and questioning him.

  Then he came over to the pilot station and asked what have you planned. John answered I have plotted 3 options. First is if the impact caused catastrophic explosion of the fuel tender and navigation informs me of no obstructions to our trajectory. Second is if the fuel tender is grazed and simply leaks fuel or burns without exploding and is in our trajectory. And third is if it misses, we get there and find out we cannot refuel.

  Captain to communications: Inform flight operations that their robot fuel tender is on a flight trajectory for collision in 12 minutes from my transmission. If it becomes inoperative consider this spacecraft in imminent peril. Also warn the moon that they can expect multiple impacts from the cargo hauler bed and from the robot fuel tender wreckage.

  Captain to crew over ship intercom: Double check and secure all items. I want everyone in environmental suits in twenty minutes. A series of miscalculations, events beyond our control, and bad decisions that have brought us to a point where there is now a possible danger to the ship. I am stopping this chain of events right now by using the worse case scenario and declaring a number 1 emergency and all emergency SOP's in effect. We will be prepared for the worse and hope for the best. That is all for now.

  Captain to Cargo master and quartermaster: I know you had crews outside. I want you to verify that every crew suit drawn is fully charged and ready for extended usage. Also verify all maneuvering packs are fully charged and extra fuel and oxygen is loaded for outside deployment. You know the SOP and check list. However do not jettison the outside cargo, it would cause a bigger hazard to navigation and or rescue than the robot fuel tender will if it explodes. Right now our biggest danger is running out of fuel and not being able to acquire any. The pilot told me you have pictures of the damage to the haulers. Download it to the communications section, I will have them transmit it to everyone as a warning.

  Captain to communications: You will be receiving some pictures from the Cargo master. I want them transmitted to the moon, flight control, and nearby ships along with all our navigational data and up to date data readouts.

  Navigation to Captain: Radar and long range view screens showed impact. View screen shows fuel tender opened up like a can of beans. Both are tumbling on new trajectories. Will have them computed in a minute.

  Communications to Captain: Receiving signal from military defense spacecraft. Relaying now to your comm channel. This is MDS 1834 to Catcher 1. We are viewing your data transmission now and have changed orbit to intercept.

  Catcher 1 Captain to MDS 1834 Captain: Our pilot is recomputing a new trajectory to avoid impact with the colony moon. Will transmit new trajectory as soon as implemented. I am declaring a ship emergency due to critical shortage of fuel because robot fuel tender we were supposed to rendezvous with has been destroyed. Data update follows.

  Pilot to Captain: New course computed to take us clear of all debris. Course will also leave us with a trajectory that will avoid all know man made objects and impact with the Sun in 18 years.

  Captain to Pilot: Transfer trajectory data to communications to transmit to all and implement.

  Pilot to Captain: Am pressing 5 minutes to acceleration signal now.

  Catcher 1 Captain to MDS 1834 Captain: Follows is new trajectory data.

  MDS 1834 Captain to Catcher 1 Captain: Acknowledged, will divert to rendezvous to pick up your crew.

  Catcher 1 Captain to MDS 1834 Captain: Acknowledged.

  Captain to Crew over intercom: I've been in contact with MDS 1834's Captain and he is diverting to rendezvous with us to pick us up. Stand down to Emergency level 2. Maneuvering to trajectory that will clear all human stations to safely scuttle ship in 2 minutes.

  Navigation to Captain: Trajectories of fuel tender and cargo computed. Cargo will impact with colony moon in 3 hours 10 miles from trailing edge. Fuel tender will impact in 4 hours 3 degrees from trailing edge.

  Captain to Navigation: Transfer that data to the colony moon and all ships in vicinity.

  MDS 1834 Captain to Catcher 1 Captain: Notify us when your navigator and pilot tell you that your ship is safely out of damage range from the tender explosion. We are going to blow it up with a ship to ship missile to minimize impact damage.

  Captain to communications: Relay a copy of that last transmission to the Pilot and Navigation.

  Pilot to Captain: Two hours is needed to obtain a safe distance with a 10% safety margin. However that will leave insufficient time in my opinion for the safe destruction of the fuel tender. If you will allow the navigator and I will transfer the data to your console and come to your chair to explain options.

  After 5 minutes of consultation the Captain called the MDS 1834 Captain: Question can you destroy the fuel tender within the next twenty minutes?

  MDS 1834 Captain to Catcher 1 Captain: Negative missile range to extreme. Why?

  Catcher 1 Captain to MDS 1834 Captain: My navigator and pilot indicate we will be within the danger zone from twenty minutes from now until 2 hours from now. They are also concerned that you will not be able to safely destroy the fuel tender after 2 hours without creating a hazard to navigation and still having damage to the colony moon. We have insufficient fuel to change to another safe trajectory. Our only option is to accelerate through the danger zone, but then rescue is almost impossible due to delta-v factor.

  Five minutes later the Captain of the MDS 1834 called and inquired how long the Catcher could maintain life support.

  The Captain replied that they had 15 days life support on the ship and approximately 40 hours after everyone suited up.

  MDS 405 to Catcher 1: Accelerate to fuel exhaustion. We can safely match your delta-v and safely rendezvous with a Belt supply depot. We calculate rendezvous in 14 to 16 days. Final rendezvous time will be calculated upon your final velocity.

  "Well John," said the Captain, "do it."

  "Shall I save any fuel for maneuvering?"

  "No, it's all or nothing."

  "OK, sound the collision alarm and then immediate acceleration alarms."

  As John sat down he said a quick prayer while bringing up option 4 on the computer. He heard in the background the Captain calling the Cargo master and instructing him to hit the emergency jettison for all outside cargo. He then pressed the button. Maximum acceleration for the Catcher 1 with its cargo load was 1.5 G. Without cargo it was 2 G. Then he heard the captain calling him and telling him to recalculate quickly and see if they could clear the danger zone and still have any fuel to decelerate on the other side. He replied that the only advantage to dropping cargo was to reduce their time in the danger zone by 8 minutes. They only had 5 minutes fuel remaining under full thrust. They would be clear in 45 minutes with no safety factor. I am sending the computations to communications to send to the MDS 405, MDS 1934, and flight control. Communications can also inform them that we jettisoned outside cargo as we started acceleration and its estimated trajectories.

  48 minutes later as they cleared the danger zone am EMP pulse blanked their communications for almost 5 minutes. As soon as everything was reset navigation reported that the navigation computers were completely inoperative along with the radar array. View screens were back to 40%.

  The Captain then called the Cargo master and
suggested that he get everyone in front of items that would provide the most shielding from hard radiation particles within the next 5 minutes. Also monitor the radiation levels inside and outside the ship. As soon as levels from particles drop we need to move the crew to the least radioactive sections of the ship.

  ***

  Fifteen days later the bridge reported that they could see a ship approaching. The crew cheered. 3 hours later everyone felt the docking. Several commented that the rescue ship had a lead foot. When the forward airlock cycled and a medic stepped through in a full isolation suit he looked amazed that the corridor was full of cheering crew. He must have been expecting a death ship because he took one step back and after a moment asked how many survivors there were.

  As the Captain forced his way forward he announced that there were a few suffering from mild cases of radiation sickness, but all crew were alive. Now we could all use a drink and a shower. When can we start transferring to your ship?

  The medic announced that they could start as soon as a decontamination station was set up and the best place was in this corridor. Are there any critical shortages right now? It took 13 hours to decontaminate everyone to the medics satisfaction and the airlock was closed.

  As MDS 405 disengaged from Catcher 1 the crew bowed their heads and prayed. They knew that a good ship was going on a trajectory to the Sun. Then the MDS 405 communications chief came back to the cargo hold and announced that the Captain had authorized him to run a voice only comm circuit back to them and that they could send a 2 minute voice message to their families.

  * * *

  A year later the Captain along with the on duty bridge crew stood before a panel of judges to determine fault or innocence in the loss of the Catcher 1 and all cargo. The Captain outlined the events and his decisions that proceeded the present bridge crew taking charge during the emergency and then all events and decisions after. He assumed all responsibility and told the judges that he was proud of his crew. It only took 3 hours for the judges to review all the electronic data and then they called the Captain forward.

  Your decision to delay in bringing a off duty pilot on immediately when the pilot on duty got sick was wrong. The damage to your outside cargo is noted. The loss of 1 sensor is within the SOP parameters without requiring outside cargo inspection. The loss of the 2nd sensor was also within SOP parameters without requiring outside cargo inspection. Your pilot is to be commended for initiating an outside cargo inspection. Your decision to initiate Emergency 1 condition on-board your ship saved the lives of your crew from the radiation. Also the fact that you directed your Cargo master to assemble all available personnel in locations that had some shielding from radiation. Your decision to accelerate out of the danger zone is applauded even though it reduced the probability of rescue. That decision saved lives on the colony moon. Overall your decision chain would not have resulted with the loss of Catcher 1 and cargo without the chain of events leading up to the failure point. It is the recommendation of this court that you retire and assume responsibility for the loss of your spacecraft without prejudice. This court will forward judgments recommending that flight control be censured for sending a robot fuel tender to the refueling rendezvous at that distance. Also we are forwarding recommendation that the SOP be amended to change the number of sensor failure to 1. Also we are forwarding recommendation that all future external cargo be loaded with any pivot points to the nose of the spacecraft so that should a similar incident happen and the cargo pivot upwards any acceleration will cause the cargo to pivot back against the spacecraft and not away from it. We are recommending that all new spacecraft and upon refit of older spacecraft the communications system be hardened from EMP. We are also recommending that when external cargo is loaded a view screen array be mounted forward of the cargo for outside viewing without endangering crew during acceleration. Your bridge crews are declared not at fault and dismissed. Captain do you have any questions?

  The Captain shook his head, saluted, and thanked the court for what he considered a just decision. Then everyone turned and followed the Captain out. The rest of the crew was waiting in the cafeteria downstairs from the court room and wanted to know the decisions.

  As they all left they thanked and shook the Captains hand. John was the last in line and he asked the Captain if he thought that the incident and court decision would hurt his chances of being on the colony ship. The Captain replied that nothing official would be held against anyone, but the superstition of their lost ship would follow every member of the crew for the rest of their lives. They would be considered bad luck. The Captain said he would retire quietly and might keep in contact with some members of the crew.

  John went to the colony moon recruitment office and asked to see the supervisor. When he entered he asked the supervisor who he needed to see about his status aboard the moon.

  After looking at his information, he then referred him to his supervisor, but he wouldn't be available for a few weeks. He could make an appointment if he desired. John made the appointment.

  * * *

  He went back to his old company personnel section to request assignment to a new ship he was informed that he was still on indefinite administrative leave without pay and could not be reassigned until he was off leave. He would be informed by a letter when his status changed.

  Then John went and applied for a local shuttle pilot job. On his first interview the owner of the shuttle company commented that John was well qualified and wanted to know why he was stepping down from a better position to that equivalent to a taxi driver. John explained that he had an appointment with one of the colony moon supervisors in a few weeks and needed to stay local. If he went out on any long runs he would miss the appointment and there was no telling when he could get another.

  The owner then said I'm looking for someone that will stick around.

  John then reminded him that the scheduled launch date for the colony moon was at least a decade away.

  Then the owners excuse was that John had used up all his luck in just surviving the accident that caused the loss of the Catcher 1 and his customers would not want a pilot that didn't have a aura of luck surrounding him. If he could prove that he was still lucky then he would consider hiring him.

  The second was a cargo shipping company. The hiring person dismissed him stating that he couldn't have been to good a pilot since he was at the controls when the Catcher 1 was lost.

  After a week of making the rounds he sat in his apartment and tried to contact some of the other crew. He finally got hold of Jan and asked her how she was doing.

  She had gone home and was living with her parents. She admitted that she had also made the rounds trying to get a pilots job. She then told him about a communication that she received just that morning. She had 30 days to re-certify to keep her pilots license. She wasn't sure she could do it since she hadn't been at a pilots panel in over a year and she didn't have anywhere to practice. Did he have any idea what she was up against. Even her boyfriend had dumped her telling her she was radioactive.

  John then suggested that they try to get in touch with Captain Evans. Did she have any idea where he went to retire.

  Since she didn't, she suggested that they both go to the company office and request his address or that they forward a message to him from them. They had to know because he should be getting a retirement pension. Also they could request use of the training facilities.

  * * *

  Three days later they met at the cafeteria across the corridor from the company office and compared notes. He had his official communication stating that he has 30 days to re-certify his pilots license since he had not actively flown in over a year.

  As they entered the office they found that their company ID's were inactive and had to go around to the public entrance. They then had to go through the public interview routine just to get to see a junior supervisor. As they sat down i
n his office he looked over their personnel files and commented that he was sorry it took so long, but their files were marked as inactive.

  They then reminded him that they had not received any letter about being placed on administrative leave or dismissal so they were officially still employees. Then they inquired about the status of Captain Evans.

  After a minute the computer came back that he was retired. Then they asked if they could get his mail address. He then told them that was private information and could not be given out. Then they asked if he could forward a message to him for them, that way he would not be giving out private information. He said he would have to get permission to do that and if they would wait in the waiting room he would call them back in as soon as he had the permission.

  After waiting an hour they inquired to see him again and were informed that he was off shift and had left for the day. Then they requested to see his supervisor. Sorry they were told, but they had to see a public supervisor before they could see anyone behind the wall and there were no public supervisors presently in the office. Jan pulled her ID and asked the desk clerk to set up an appointment with a senior supervisor for her. The clerk checked her computer and then said that the ID was inactive and tried to keep it. Jan refused to let go and told her that there was an incorrect entry in the computer data base and to get on the telephone and call a senior supervisor and let her talk to him.

  The receptionist then said she wasn't authorized to call a senior supervisor and the public supervisors would be on shift again in the morning at 0800 hours.

  John and Jan left the office and walked down the corridor until they came to another cafeteria. Over a cup of coffee they discussed their options and the queried the communications computer for the mail address of Captain Evans. They found an entry and immediately fired off a message with the cafeteria communicator number as a return address. After a minute Jan sent another with her personal address. After five minutes more John did the same. Then Jan logged on and checked her email and had nothing but junk-mail.

  John said he probability doesn't check his mail more that once every day or two being retired. I'm going to be here at 0800 to try to see a supervisor again about use of the training facilities. If I don't get some satisfaction I am going to the court and try through them. This run around is just crap so they don't have to pay us because we were cleared of all charges and responsibility in the loss of the cargo and Catcher 1.