Star One: Neutron Star

by Raymond L. Weil

  “Main Engineering, all green,” Karl Velm reported. “Let’s light this thing and be off,” he added over the com. He gazed at the console displaying the ion drive, hoping everything went smoothly.

  “Soon enough, Karl,” replied Ty, understanding how Karl felt. They were all anxious to be on their way and to get the mission started.

  The last few minutes passed rapidly by as the crew kept busy with their final prelaunch activities. Ty knew that it would be a long time before they saw home again. He hoped Jennifer would still be available when he returned.

  Captain Simpson finally pressed one of the larger buttons on his console, giving the flight computer absolute control of the ship.

  “We have magnetic grapple release,” confirmed Archer, watching eight green lights flare up on his board to glow steadily before he reached up and turned them off.

  The magnetic grapples lowered themselves away from the ship, allowing the FarQuest to float free above the platform. Then small white flashes began to appear underneath the ship as the RCS maneuvering thrusters began firing.

  Ty and Captain Simpson could feel the thrusters firing intermittently as the flight computer took control of the ship and began to move the FarQuest a safe distance away from the Space Platform. This time the ship would be moved farther out than before as a safety precaution. On the main viewscreen, instead of the Moon the ship was pointed toward deep space, out toward the endless dark depths between the beckoning stars.

  “I guess this is it,” Simpson said as a yellow light began blinking on his console as the flight computer initiated SRB warm up in the upper two SRBs as a prelude to ignition.

  They both watched as the temperature rapidly climbed toward the ignition point. These SRBs contained a special long burning solid rocket fuel.

  “We are 30 seconds from first SRB ignition sequence, FarQuest,” Todd’s calm voice came over the com. “All systems are green, and everything looks good from here. Good luck!”

  The last several seconds passed, and Ty waited expectantly for the SRBs to light. He watched his console as the SRBs reached critical temperature and he instinctively braced himself for their ignition. He could see Simpson’s console out of the corner of his eye, and then saw the blinking yellow light underneath the booster controls turn to a solid bright green.

  With an explosive roar felt throughout the ship, the two SRBs lit, pushing the crew back deeply into their acceleration couches. Fire hurled out the back of the twin boosters, brightly lighting up the Space Platform and Star One. The boosters looked like fiery, miniature twin suns. The ship gathered speed and moved off slowly, then rapidly accelerated as the solid rocket fuel exploded with power, pushing the ship ahead. Within a few seconds, the FarQuest was hurtling into space at a steady rate of two gravities of acceleration.

  “Everything is in the green, FarQuest,” Todd’s rock steady voice confirmed from the control center of the Space Platform. His voice was competing with the slight roar and vibration on the Flight Deck, which was being passed through the metal of the ship. “SRB burn looks good.”

  “Same here,” Simpson replied, his eyes scanning his controls. “The ride is pretty smooth, but we expected that with the boosters. There is a slight vibration from them which is being passed through the hull.”

  “We were expecting some vibration,” confirmed Todd. “Booster burn looks good, and my people here are satisfied with everything. Have a good ride.”

  Ty could hear a muted roar through the ship as the booster’s power was transmitted through the ship’s hull. He could also feel a faint vibration in the ship created by the strength of the twin boosters. Looking at the screens, he saw the entire crew showing the strains of the acceleration as they were pushed into their cushioned acceleration couches. Two gravities weren’t bad. He had experienced more in times past, particularly on shuttle launches. The slingshot around the Moon had been nearly six gravities.

  -

  On Star One, the three women gasped in awe as the FarQuest rapidly dwindled from sight. People in the room cheered as the brilliant jewel that was the ship arrowed through space, leaving a dual tail of expended fuel gases glowing briefly behind. The bright glow of the SRBs left an afterglow in their eyes, and the entire room had lit up briefly when the SRBs had ignited.

  “They’re off,” Julie said with wide eyes, feeling the excitement. “I wish the commander and John could have been here. I know they both wanted to see the ship launched. They would have liked to have said goodbye to Ty personally.”

  The three women gazed excitedly at the viewscreen, which was showing the brilliant twin stars of the SRBs, each with their own private thoughts about the launch and what it meant for their future.

  -

  In Main Control, the entire crew watched as the FarQuest hurtled away faster and faster. When the SRBs had ignited, there had been a lot of cheering and applause.

  Christy was pleased that everything seemed to be going so smoothly, but deep inside she felt apprehensive. She looked nervously around Main Control, wondering how everyone would feel once they knew the entire truth. This was the beginning of actually dealing with the neutron star. Now that the FarQuest was launched, their world was about to change. Very shortly, the entire crew would know what was awaiting them in their future.

  “Coming up on three minutes,” Ty’s voice came over the com, straining slightly against the G-forces.

  “Booster shutdown coming up,” Todd replied. “All systems still showing in the green.”

  On the screen, the highly magnified view showed the two upper SRBs suddenly shut down with the brightly glowing suns inside fading away. The ship coasted momentarily. They were replaced almost immediately by the fiery glow from the two bottom SRBs as they flared into brilliance, adding their acceleration to the ship.

  -

  On the space shuttle, tens of thousands of miles away, Commander Larson and John Gray watched on the main shuttle viewscreen as the bright point of light moved slowly off into space. Even from where they were, the view was awe-inspiring.

  “They’re on their way!” John said excitedly, switching the screen to top magnification. “They launched right on time.”

  “Of course, John,” Steve said, wishing he had been able to tell Ty goodbye before the ship left. “What did you expect of a ship commanded by Tyler Erin?”

  They both watched as the twin fuel trail continued to expand with the ends starting to fade out.

  -

  On the FarQuest, the minutes passed quickly by. At the end of three more minutes, the lower SRBs shut down. Twenty-five percent of the fuel in each one had been expended, giving the FarQuest a quick boost on its long journey of exploration.

  Looking at his console, Ty checked their current speed. 19,302 feet per second or 13,210 miles per hour. “Right on the money,” Ty said, repeating their velocity aloud.

  “FarQuest to Platform Control,” Ty spoke into his com. “Boosters are shut down and speed is as projected.”

  “We confirm, FarQuest,” Todd replied. “Everything looks good from here.”

  “All stations report,” ordered Ty, wanting to confirm that everything was still in the green after the SRB firing. The ship hadn’t been exposed to the extended stress of an SRB firing before, and he wanted to ensure himself that everything had performed nominally. After the slingshot around the Moon, he felt confident that the ship would show no problems due to the two gravities of acceleration from the SRBs.

  All stations reported back quickly with everything still in the green and all systems functioning flawlessly.

  “Fuel temps in the cryogenic argon tanks didn’t vary at all,” reported Winston, checking his console. “I am transmitting the data back to the platform for them to review.”

  “No problems at all,” Captain Simpson reported, finishing a quick check of his complex control console. “Everything is nominal and ready for ion drive ignition.”

  “This is the FarQuest,” Ty said, speaking to Todd on the Space
Platform. “Everything is still green, and we are ready for ion drive ignition. We are also transmitting the data on the fuel temps you requested.”

  “Confirmed,” replied Todd. “Everything looks good here. You really lit the place up. You have to be the brightest object in the sky. Everyone on Earth with their eyes open will be able to see you.” Including Senator Farley, Todd thought to himself. Shit was about to hit the fan!

  Reaching forward, Simpson pressed the second large button on his console. Magnetic containment fields came into being in the drive core. The flight computer instantly began building up the temperature in the twin ion drive chambers. A few seconds later, the argon fuel began to be fed slowly to the hungry drive. Electrons were stripped and hurled out of the twin exhaust tubes. Once again, the ship was pushed forward under acceleration, but at a much calmer one-fifth gravity of acceleration.

  Captain Simpson knew that, theoretically, the drive was capable of operating at one-third gravity of acceleration for an extended period of time. However, they saw no reason to tax the drive to its limit if it wasn’t necessary. The drive would stay online for six days and, at the end of that time, they would be traveling at over 630 miles per second, faster than any ship had ever gone before.

  The ship’s twin exhaust tubes lit with a brilliance far out shining the stars it reached for. A long, twin tail of ion exhaust formed behind the ship, linking with the twin tails from the now quiet SRBs. Ty felt the gentle acceleration as it settled in at one-fifth Earth gravity.

  “All boards are green,” reported Archer, watching his ion drive readouts carefully. Moving his hands slowly across the console, he confirmed fuel usage status and ion ignition chamber temperatures. “Fuel usage is right on the calculated curve, and magnetic containment fields are operating within projected norms.”

  “Environmental controls have been recalibrated for one-fifth gravity,” announced Lieutenant Strett, beginning to relax now that the ion drive was functioning smoothly.

  “The cat will be out of the bag now,” Simpson said, looking over at Ty. “Everyone on Earth will know that the FarQuest has launched, and our trajectory can leave very little doubt as to where we’re heading.”

  “They will also figure out shortly that we have a fusion reactor on the FarQuest,” Ty commented. “Our acceleration will point to that.”

  “One more thing for Senator Farley to complain about,” Captain Simpson sighed.

  “I imagine Senator Farley will be up in arms as soon as he hears,” responded Ty, loosening his acceleration harness. “I’m glad I’m not the one that will have to deal with him. I just hope the commander and Christy are ready for this!”

  -

  On the shuttle coming up from Earth, Steve and John watched as the unmistakable tail from the ion drive formed behind the brilliant dot that was the FarQuest. There was no doubt now, with the firing of the ion drive, the ship was committed to its mission.

  “I imagine the Space Platform and Star One are being bombarded with questions from Earth as to what is going on,” John said, watching the lengthening twin ion threads on the main viewscreen. He knew that once everyone realized where the ship was going it would raise even more questions.

  “I told Christy and Todd to commence a total communications blackout as soon as the FarQuest launched,” replied Steve, wishing they could get to the station faster. Compared to the FarQuest, they were just limping along in space. “Other than to Tycho City, no outgoing communication will be allowed until after the president’s news conference tonight. We’ve had a partial communications blackout since we launched the FarQuest to the Moon on her shakedown flight anyway.”

  “How will the president handle this without creating a panic?” inquired John, imagining the repercussions on Earth after President Kateland’s address.

  Steve had filled John in on most of it this morning as they were waiting for launch. “Everyone’s going to know that the FarQuest has launched, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know where the ship’s going,” Steve spoke, gazing at the viewscreen.

  “So what is the president going to say tonight?” John asked, curiously.

  “She plans on announcing a national emergency, and she will tell the public that the FarQuest has been launched on a fact finding mission,” responded Steve, recalling their conversation. “She will also tell the people that there is no immediate danger and the military will be used to control any domestic violence that may erupt.”

  “Do you think there will be violence?” asked John, looking over at Steve.

  When Julie had originally told John about the neutron star, he had stared at her in disbelief. He was glad that his entire family was safely aboard Star One. If anyone could protect his family from this upcoming danger, it would be Steve and the crew of the massive space station.

  “I don’t know,” replied Steve, hoping there wouldn’t be. “Who can predict how people will react? Remember, she is only giving them a watered down version of what’s going to happen for now.”

  “That may be true,” responded John, adjusting several controls on the complicated control console in front of him. “But there are other scientists out there that know the truth, and rumors are already flying all over the internet.”

  “I know,” Steve replied with a worried look on his face. “I saw some of the rumors being reported on a few of the media stations. Some are pretty accurate.”

  This had been a serious concern that had been discussed in the president’s meeting. Steve had checked some of the stories posted on the internet while on Earth, and a few were remarkably close to the truth. He just wondered how many people would realize that. He hoped the real truth would be buried under all the other wild claims and predictions that were already showing up.

  “I saw some of the rumors being reported on some of the media stations. Some are pretty accurate,” Steve replied with a trace of concern in his voice. “I don’t know how long it will take for the majority of the people to guess the truth.”

  “What about Senator Farley and the other members of Congress?” John asked, not even wanting to imagine how Senator Farley was going to respond to all of this. He was glad he wasn’t the one that would have to deal with the senator.

  “The president will be briefing key members of Congress and the military as to what will be expected of them right before and after her announcement,” answered Steve, recalling what the president had said. “The crucial question is Senator Farley and how he will react. The coalition that he controls could be extremely dangerous if he refuses to accept the situation.”

  “Do you think that’s possible?” John asked, not seeing how Senator Farley could deny what was happening. “I mean, how can he not accept this? The data is conclusive.”

  “With Senator Farley, who can tell?” Steve replied with a shake of his head. “He was planning on making a run for the presidency in the next election. This will kill those plans. Who knows how he will react.”

  “I guess we will know soon,” commented John, watching the screen showing the FarQuest.

  “We should know tomorrow what is going to happen,” responded Steve, looking over at John. “The president also plans on addressing the U.N. General Assembly later in the day.” Steve had no idea how that would go over.

  The current president of the U.N. was not a supporter of U.S. policies, being from a small Third World country. He had already caused the U.S. some serious problems on other issues that had come before the world organization.

  “I wonder if Ty knows how fortunate he is to be away from all of this,” John spoke, shaking his head.

  Both men continued to watch the screen as the luminous ion trail from the FarQuest continued to lengthen and reach for the distant stars. Nothing could turn the ship back now. It was effectively out of Senator Farley’s reach.

  -

  The three women in the observation room watched as the ion drive ignited and the twin glows from the ion drive exhaust tubes glared brightly on the screen.
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  “I guess they're off okay,” Jennifer said, relieved.

  She knew that the crew would stay on duty until six days had passed and the ion drive shut down. At that time, the mission scientists would go into deep sleep. One week later, the rest of the crew, except for Lieutenant Strett and Ty, would go into deep sleep. A few days after that, Lieutenant Strett would administer the deep sleep drug to Ty and herself.

  Jennifer also knew, from what Ty had told her that Lieutenant Strett would wear a computer-activated device that, in case of an emergency, would inject her with an antidote. The antidote would cause her to return to consciousness almost immediately, and then she would wake Ty up if needed.

  “It’s going to be boring without Ty around here,” Kathleen said impishly, glancing at Jennifer. “I need to show you how to dress more appropriately around men to catch their attention, Jennifer. They can truly be a lot of fun if you know what I mean, plus you can get them to pay for everything so easily.”

  “She’s doing just fine,” Julie said, joining in on the conversation with a laugh, shaking her head. “One person walking around after hours half naked is all this station can handle anyway. Sometimes I don’t see what stops you from catching a cold with as little as you wear at times.”

  “You know you like it,” Kathleen responded slyly, her eyes meeting Julie’s. “Don’t tell me that when we’re together with John that he isn’t a little heated up when you get him back home.”

  Julie blushed, remembering how passionate John could be at times, especially if Kathleen had been flirting with him. It was a good thing they were such close friends.

  The women watched the screen for several more minutes before returning to their jobs. All three had a long day still ahead of them, and the FarQuest would never be far from their thoughts.

  Jennifer wanted to finish installing the new equipment in the Computer Center and test it before having it installed in her own quarters. She had explained to Andre what she was planning, and he was highly enthusiastic over the possibilities Jennifer’s equipment offered.

  Julie and Kathleen had a long day of inventorying ahead of them. They were making up a list of essential supplies they needed to finish making the ecological habitats entirely self-sufficient. The habitats had to be capable of supplying all the station’s food and oxygen needs. Teela would be helping them with that.