The room was quiet as everyone thought about what could happen to the Earth. Most still had families and close friends living there.
“What about the station and Tycho City?” asked Lieutenant Strett, knowing everyone else was probably wondering the same thing. Just the thought of what could happen to Earth was terrifying.
“I believe our best chance to survive is to stay aboard Star One,” Steve replied, firmly. “That will ensure that our civilization will have a technological base if there are survivors down on Earth.”
“I don’t think the reality has sunk in just yet that we are talking about the end of our civilization,” Julie spoke, feeling uncomfortable with the idea. “Everything seems so normal still. I mean look at us, we’re sitting in a nice restaurant eating steaks and talking about the end of the world.”
“That’s because the threat is still a year or more away,” Todd Williams spoke, looking around the group. “I suspect as the neutron star gets closer, we will all find ourselves realizing just what this means to our world and us.”
“Our technology may be essential to the survivors on the surface,” Steve continued. “With the additional coating of Luxen over the entire station and additional strengthening ideas that Dryson and Stoler have suggested, I believe we can survive. However, it’s going to take a lot of effort and hard work on everyone’s part. We also will need to bring up tremendous amounts of supplies and spare parts from Earth.”
“A lot of the station’s crew have families down on Earth,” Doctor Wruggi spoke as he digested what Steve was saying. “What about them? Will they be allowed to come up to the station?”
“I would hate to be safe up here not knowing what was happening to my family down on Earth,” Andre added with his forehead creased with a heavy frown. He had asked this same question earlier, and Steve had hesitated to answer.
Andre had a younger brother down on Earth. Both of his parents were deceased, but his brother was married and had two children. He wondered if there was some way he could get them up to the station where they might be safer.
Looking at Julie Gray, Steve hesitated briefly, knowing that some hard choices would have to be made. “Julie and I have discussed this already. A lot depends on how efficiently the systems on the station can recycle air, water, waste material, etc. At the best, we can take no more than 1,000 to 1,200 more people aboard, and that will be crowding us.”
“That will put slightly more than 3,000 people on the station,” Julie said, taking a deep breath and looking around at everyone. “That many people will consume a lot of food, which we will have to grow in the habitats. Kathleen and I are already discussing ways to increase our food production. It’s possible the park habitats we created may have to be changed to growing food.”
“I hate that thought, but we may have no choice,” Kathleen added. She loved the park habitats. They reminded her so much of what Earth might have once been like before everything became polluted. “I wish there was some way we could keep them, but it may not be possible.”
Jennifer agreed the park habitats were amazing. She would hate to see them replaced, but she understood that it might be necessary.
“In addition, we may have some people that may desire to return to Earth in this crisis,” added Steve, knowing that a few would undoubtedly choose that route. “Living the rest of our lives on this station may not be very appealing to everyone, even considering what the alternative may be down below. We will bring up as many people as we feel the station can handle with a small safety margin built in. Even that will be stressing our resources to the limit. People we find necessary for the station’s survival as well as crew family members will be given first consideration.”
“Can we not add to the station, make it larger?” asked John Gray, knowing that a lot of people they could use might end up stranded down on Earth. He also doubted they had room for everyone’s family members.
“In the short time we have, a major expansion of the station is out of the question. We will barely have time to get the station ready as it stands now,” answered Steve, raising an eyebrow and looking at the group. “Many people may be shipped up to the Moon. The deep underground caverns of Tycho City have a reasonable chance of surviving also.”
“Just how much time do we have before the Earth begins to feel the affects of the star?” Doctor Wruggi asked sharply, thinking about all that needed to be done. There were a lot of medical supplies he would have to requisition from Earth. While some medicines could be made on the station, some could not. There was also a lot of specialized equipment he might want to bring up.
Looking at each person, Steve replied. “No more than 300 to 350 days at the most.”
The room was quiet as everyone took in this revelation, and their spirits visibly darkened as they thought about the impact this would have on their lives. They all knew that shortly, life aboard the station would never be the same again.
“When I meet with the president, I will recommend that she allow us free reign to prepare for this crisis,” continued Steve, knowing how everyone felt. There were going to have to be some very hard decisions made.
Looking at Ty, Lieutenant Strett, and Captain Simpson, he continued. “That is why the FarQuest mission is so crucial. Close observation of the neutron star, while dangerous, will allow us to predict with mathematical certainty how we will be affected and what our chances of survival after the star passes will be. It will also allow us to know if we are facing any other unknowns that may be associated with the neutron star.”
“Other unknowns?” uttered Kathleen looking at Steve in surprise. “Such as what?”
“We don’t know,” Steve replied, truthfully. “There could be asteroids, or even several planets orbiting the star that we haven’t been able to detect. That’s another reason why the FarQuest has to go out there. We have to eliminate all the other possible dangers.”
Steve handled a few more questions until the room was silent once more. Standing up, he picked up the glass of rich red wine from in front of him and offered a toast. “To the FarQuest,” he said. “May its mission be a success and the crew return home safely.”
Everyone finished their meal with quiet, subdued conversation. The group finally broke up an hour later as everyone retired to their quarters. Steve walked Christy back to hers, both lost in thought until they reached her door.
“Tomorrow will be a long day,” he said, bending over and kissing her gently on the lips. “I will see you in Main Control in the morning.” Turning, he strode down the corridor walking at a brisk pace to his quarters.
I wonder if I should have invited him in, Christy thought, feeling the warm, conflicting feelings swirling around inside her. She longed for Steve and his kisses. The last several nights had only served to intensify that desire even more. Stepping inside, she closed the door silently and protectively behind her. At least he has finally come out into the open, she thought, letting out a long breath. She just hoped they would have some time alone together soon.
Chapter Nine
Steve and Christy were in Main Control bright and early at 0:400 the next morning. Christy was in command of the FarQuest prelaunch system checks. She was sitting in her command chair communicating constantly with the crew of the ship. Lieutenant Commander Hastings was moving from station to station calmly checking with her people prior to the launch.
Christy felt a nervous excitement about actually launching the FarQuest. She knew that Ty had to be feeling the same way. She watched as Steve walked over to the main computer console to confer with the computer operator. Christy also wondered about the uproar they were about to cause down on Earth.
Once the FarQuest was launched, everyone with a decent telescope would know. Even some of the key people down at NASA had no clue as to what was about to happen. Christy knew that Jane Kinsey, the head of NASA down at the cape, would run interference for them. Then there was Senator Farley. Before the day was out, they would be hearing from him. There was
no doubt in Christy’s mind that the senator would be extremely upset when he found out about the launch. Taking a deep breath, Christy pressed her com button, putting her in touch with Todd Williams over on the Space Platform.
-
On the Space Platform, Lieutenant Commander Todd Williams was sitting in the control room in the lower wheel, linked with Christy on the com system. From his consoles, he had a direct link with all the FarQuest’s intricate systems. His people were experts at their jobs as they monitored the ship from their individual stations in the small, compact room. Everyone was excited, knowing they were about to launch the first ion powered manned spacecraft. Todd glanced at the control screens, feeling the growing anticipation around him. The entire crew of the Space Platform had put in a lot of hard work to finally arrive at this point.
-
Onboard the FarQuest, Ty and Captain Simpson were strapped loosely into their acceleration couches, beginning to go down the long lists of prelaunch system checks. Behind them, Lieutenant Strett was monitoring the ship’s environmental systems and backup systems. Winston Archer was monitoring the fusion reactor and checking the readouts on the ion drive, which would soon be powered up from his console behind Captain Simpson.
On the deck below, the three mission scientists were strapped into their acceleration couches, waiting as the countdown slowly wound down. For them this was the most tedious part of the mission. They were just passengers with nothing to contribute or do.
In the Engineering section, Karl Velm was strapped into his acceleration couch in front of the main engineering console, watching the readouts flicker and change as more and more systems were brought online. Every few seconds, he would enter commands into the main engineering console as minor adjustments to the ship’s systems were needed.
“All systems are up and operating in the green,” Ty said over the com to Christy and Todd. He knew the two were monitoring every step closely in preparation for the launch.
Reaching above his head, Ty flipped several switches, which activated a series of four small viewscreens to his left that showed some of the compartments in the ship. The screens would change their views to the next compartment on their loop once every ten seconds. He could feel the excitement and tension in the ship as the crew performed their jobs in expectancy of the approaching launch.
“Everything shows green here too, Commander Erin,” Williams reported back over the com system, continuously checking with his people.
“Proceed to the next stage,” ordered Christy, nodding to Steve who was now sitting next to her watching the FarQuest on the main viewscreen.
-
The next several hours passed slowly as the crew ran through all the system checks. Everything was checked and double-checked; there could be no errors or malfunctions. They were activating systems and preparing to power up the now silent drive. This would be for real.
“No problems so far,” Christy reported to Steve as it neared time for launch. The countdown timer was just going under the five-minute mark.
“The ship’s systems are working flawlessly this morning. Not a single red or amber light has shown up on any of the boards,” she murmured, crossing her fingers, pleased with everything. She just hoped it continued.
This launch was extremely important. It would determine if the longer mission could begin in a few short days. She glanced around Main Control, noticing with satisfaction that everyone who was involved with monitoring the launch were watching their consoles intently.
“Let’s hope it stays that way,” replied Steve, wishing he could be on the ship with Ty for this shakedown flight.
Sometimes being in command was a hindrance rather than a benefit. He could well imagine Ty’s excitement at this moment, knowing it was nearing time for the ship to be launched.
Steve’s stomach felt queasy as he waited. He knew that as soon as the ship launched, the com lines from Earth would light up. This was going to be a very interesting day. He also knew that one of the first people trying to contact Star One would be Senator Farley. The senator was about to have his day spoiled. Steve would hate to be around the senator when he found out the FarQuest had launched on an unauthorized trip to the Moon.
-
On the ship, Ty ordered everyone to check to make sure they were strapped securely into their acceleration couches. Not necessarily to protect them from any high acceleration but from any unforeseen problems that might occur. They would not be firing the SRBs on this flight, only the ion drive, and it would just be at one-tenth Earth gravity of acceleration. They had all been exposed to much higher G-forces on shuttle launches in the past.
“We are on computer launch sequence,” Captain Simpson announced, watching the green light blinking above his flight computer. “Everything looks nominal, all readouts are showing green.”
A red or amber light would indicate a loss of computer control of the ship and Simpson would have to activate the backup system or take over manually. Reaching forward, he pressed one of the two large drive activation buttons, giving the computer full control of the ship’s thrusters.
“We have magnetic grapple release,” Winston reported exuberantly, as eight green lights flared up on his board and the FarQuest floated free from the platform for the first time.
“RCS thrusters are firing, moving us up and away from the platform,” reported Simpson, feeling the small bursts gently pushing against the FarQuest. He knew that the flight computer was using the small thrusters to position the ship safely for launch.
Ty could feel the excitement building. Many of them had always dreamed of this moment. They were about to fly the Earth’s first real spacecraft. He just wished the situation were different. He looked over the myriad of controls in front of him carefully. Everything was still showing go for launch. Out the small, front, circular viewports he could see hundreds of unblinking stars beckoning.
-
Steve watched on the main viewscreen in Main Control as small white jets of flame flashed beneath the wings of the FarQuest and underneath its bow. Within moments, the ship had moved several hundred yards from the platform. The FarQuest was positioned for launch, pointing into the star filled blackness of space.
“This is it,” Steve said to Christy, his eyes locked on the main viewscreen. “Let’s hope the drive functions as the simulations indicate it should. If that drive fails, then our mission is over before it begins.”
“All the drive simulations looked good,” replied Christy, feeling the tension mounting in Main Control. “The drive will work. I know it will.”
Steve felt a tingling of excitement and knew that Ty must be feeling the same way. Most of the crew had spent months training for this moment. A view of the launch was also being transmitted on a tight communication beam to Mase Colton on the Moon.
“You wish you were on that ship, don’t you, Steve?” Christy asked quietly, guessing what Steve was thinking. She couldn’t blame him. He had worked so hard and taken a lot of risks making the FarQuest become a reality.
“Yes,” Steve replied not denying his desire. “But the FarQuest is Ty’s ship now, and he will take good care of her.”
“I’m sure he will,” Christy replied. “The launching of the FarQuest is something we have all looked forward to seeing. Now that time is here.”
The crew of Main Control continued to work efficiently monitoring the FarQuest and recording all the information being transmitted by the ship’s onboard computers. Steve could see the excitement and growing expectation on their faces. He felt the same way. The launch of this ship was something he had worked toward for several years. All the years of hard work were about to become a reality. Steve took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He could feel his heart racing as the time quickly approached for launch. His eyes looked toward the screen and locked on the FarQuest.
-
Ty watched his command console closely as the computer screens showed everything green for ion drive ignition. The final minute crawl
ed by, with each second seeming to take an eternity to pass.
Captain Simpson reached forward and pressed the second drive activation button, giving the flight computer control of both the thrusters and the ion drive. Scanning his computer screen, everything was go for ignition.
“This is platform Launch Control,” Lieutenant Commander Todd William’s calm voice came over the com system, with no sign of concern or worry detectable in his level voice. “All boards are green, and we are 30 seconds from ion drive ignition.”
“We confirm that,” Ty replied over the com. He glanced over at Commander Simpson, who gave him a thumb up signal. Everything looked good. They were ready!
-
The final seconds passed slowly as the FarQuest waited in space, not moving. Steve and Christy watched attentively as the last seconds slowly ticked away. It was unusually quiet in Main Control. Everyone’s eyes were focused on the main viewscreen in anticipation.
“Ion drive ignition,” announced Lieutenant Commander Williams suddenly over the com from the platform launch center, as the flight computer sent the commands to activate the waiting drive.
-
Ty and Simpson felt the FarQuest shudder slightly as the drive came to life, filling the drive chamber with super cooled argon gas. The argon was stripped of its electrons in the high temperature contained within the powerful magnetic fields, to be hurled out the twin rocket tubes in a steady, powerful blast.
Ty felt the acceleration gradually build and the FarQuest began to move. Not rapidly, he knew, but at a steady 3.2 feet of acceleration every second. While this acceleration was not great, the constant acceleration over a long period of time would rack up the miles per second. Ty and Simpson felt the gentle pressure mount and watched their boards intently to make sure everything stayed within acceptable parameters.
Star One: Neutron Star Page 23