ISO- Beyond the solar system

by Travis Sande

  "Actually, Torrin has already made a minor discovery." Niri piped up from the middle of the conference room.

  "Go ahead." Melissa positioned herself behind the two.

  "The data collected appears to be uniform. This would imply that it was not a simple quantum disturbance that we would normally see in these sorts of reports. We would expect to see a much more random fluctuation pattern." Torrin explained.

  "Are there any conclusions to draw from that information?" Melissa interrupted, trying to interpret the assertion.

  "Not yet, but this does narrow the event into a certain category." Torrin continued.

  "What category is that?" Melissa was passionately probing every detail as it happened.

  "Throughout our history with rift technology, we have had several accidents. The primary cause of accidents was undiagnosed quantum fluctuations. We have gone to great lengths to increase our ability to detect and prepare for these. In nearly every case where a catastrophic event closure took place we were able to see a random quantum distortion pattern immediately prior." Torrin elaborated on the complicated matter.

  As the conversation went on, Kris started to worry about her own surgically installed rift matrix. If undetectable quantum fluctuations could destroy an entire ship, what would happen to her? In that moment, she recalled all the countless pieces of paper she signed in order to receive the procedure. Kris was sure this possibility was in the fine print somewhere, but she couldn’t remember the exact details. The prospect of being the first human to receive capability of this magnitude had blinded her to nearly all side-effects of consequences. She knew there would be risks, both known and unknown. It was too late to start dwelling on those possibilities now. She was confident in her ability to shut down her rift if that possibility ever occurred.

  "You’re saying that you don't think there was a catastrophic failure here?" Melissa’s words brought Kris’s attention back into the moment. It was clear that the general wanted to fully understand the situation.

  "Correct, what we have here is a slightly less explored category." Torrin speculated.

  "Meaning what, exactly?" Melissa once again pushed for clarification.

  "Patterns that appear uniform like this have always left no debris or evidence behind at the last point of contact." Torrin finished.

  "Ok, let's get one thing out of the way. Is it possible that the ISO has survived this?" Melissa was losing patience. "The way you are phrasing things makes it sound like it's either destroyed or destroyed without a trace."

  "I apologize for being unclear, I was describing only failure scenarios. If the crew was able to shut down the matrix successfully, they should be left unharmed and able to carry on with their journey." Torrin finally got around to describing a positive scenario. Kris was relieved to hear that it was a possibility the ISO was still out there.

  "Ok, let's start with that when everyone else gets here." Melissa shook her head, relief on her face. It was clear which scenario she had chosen to believe.

  "My apologies." Torrin bowed his body slightly in a sign of respect.

  "Do we have any indication of a catastrophic failure occurring onboard the ISO?" Melissa asked.

  "Nothing in this package has led us to believe they experienced anything of the sort. These fluctuations don't seem very harsh and once the shutdown sequence is initiated no communications can be sent." Niri interjected. "We believe they saw these, issued this message, and began shutdown. Either as a precaution or because of elevated fluctuations they weren't able to include before initiating the shutdown."

  "I have full confidence in Eilik and believe the ship to be safe." Torrin added. “I was merely speculating on worst case scenarios. In the event they were able to move on from this, our intervention will not be required.”

  "For now, we will operate under the impression that they are safe and continuing on to Setu." Melissa said. "When the engineering team arrives, I would like you to dive into that data and any previous data we received. I want to leave nothing overlooked. Anything that can provide insight as to what happened, I want to know about it."

  "Yes, ma’am." Niri turned her attention back to the interface on the table.

  "Kris, I need you to get in touch with Horst, Firk, and Sobune. I want this council convening today if possible." Melissa barked orders in all directions.

  "I will follow up with Paul.” Kris retreated into her mental interface momentarily to retrieve any outgoing messages from the communications hub. Several messages were already completed and issued to senior members. This included all three acting Triumvirate members, Terry Horst, Jorun Firk, and Holli Sobune. “Paul is in the process of messaging all senior staff, including the Triumvirate." Kris relayed her observations to the general.

  "Good. Torrin, who is the senior Vryl representative on Earth Station 1 with the Triumvirate?" Melissa gained Torrin’s attention once again.

  Turning from the interface, Torrin addressed the question. "I believe Zuryk was given that task.”

  "Kris, send a message to Zuryk as well. We need to get up to Earth Station 1 as soon as we can. Admiral Lest can take over here in my absence, let's go." Melissa immediately began moving toward the launch zone. "Get in touch with a launch team to prepare an Earth orbital for us."

  "On it." Kris said. She hadn't dealt with urgency like this but was glad she was equipped to handle it. With a few quick thoughts, she drafted a message intended for Zuryk. Once that was on its way, Kris turned her attention to securing an Earth orbital craft. Messaging the launch team in the main Earth dock. They agreed to prep immediately for launch in four minutes. Kris ran to catch up with Melissa. “Four minutes until orbital launch, team is prepping now. The Triumvirate, and Zuryk are aware of the issue and awaiting our arrival.”

  “Great work, we better get out there.” Melissa broke into a brisk walk.

  The two of them moved quickly through the compound. Tight hallways with intricate security measures lined their path. Melissa made short work of each checkpoint as she utilized her top priority clearance to open each station before their arrival. Activating an emergency release beacon, sensors would track her progress through the corridor. This ensured that any top official could maneuver throughout the facility with little hindrance in the time of an emergency.

  Four security doors led out of the primary ISO communication hub. Even with unified backing to the project, the risk of sabotage was an unnecessary risk. Each section came with a compliment of automated turrets combined with a physical presence. Kris watched as every group of soldiers stood at attention while the general moved through the open security hatches. Each circular hatch was roughly one meter thick. Getting into the communications hub each morning usually took Kris at least fifteen minutes. A delay that seemed almost comical as she followed the general through in less than three.

  Once free of the communications hub, they took a turn to gain access to the docking bay. The corridor access to the docking bay lacked the tighter security of the communications hub; only a single checkpoint was between them and the orbital team. As soon as the doors to the docking bay opened, Kris could see a launch team scrambling to greet them. Behind them was the small vessel intended to take them up to Earth Station One.

  “Two minutes until launch, please secure yourselves. Any accompanying items will need to be processed now.” One of the launch crew escorted them to their seats.

  “We will be the only cargo today.” Melissa said. “Speed is our top priority.”

  “Understood, we were made aware by your comms officer.” The man said.

  Kris and Melissa secured themselves into their seats as the team hustled outside the ship. It wasn’t long before all were aboard, and the doors began closing on the rear entrance.

  “Launch approval received, prepare for launch, ten seconds until ignition.” A voice came over the ship’s speakers.

  After the brief countdown, the ship rumbled to life. The massive two-story doors sealing the bay began grinding
open in front of them. Kris could feel her heart beating from the adrenaline of the morning combined with the brisk pace the general had set. The rumbling gave way to a gentle hum as the vessel left the landing pad. The ship hovered its way to the open mouth of the giant door and began accelerating toward the sky. They were off, bound for Earth Station One.

  The transit was only a few minutes before they had arrived. An escort was waiting outside the vehicle as they landed. Grabbing their attention, the escort team led them directly to the Triumvirate conference center. Zuryk and all three members of the Triumvirate awaited their arrival.

  “Welcome.” Kris recognized Jorun Firk as he welcomed them to the sprawling room.

  Kris walked with the general to her seat alongside Firk. This was the room used as the Triumvirate’s official meeting place. Where all matters concerning planetary relations were discussed. Today’s meeting would include the Vryl representative, General Lorn, and Kris.

  “We should get to work. As I am sure you’re all aware, we have lost contact with the ISO. We have no way of verifying their status. We have the engineering team on Earth currently combing a data package sent with the last transmission from the commander of the ISO.” Melissa began but was interrupted.

  “The commander, you mean your husband, Geoffrey Lorn?” Firk said. His tone was confrontational and oddly antagonistic.

  “How is that relevant, Firk?” Holli Sobune, Lunar representative.

  “I agree, there’s no time for needless confrontation.” Terry Horst, Earth representative.

  “There’s no confrontation, simply a detail I wanted on record.” Firk smiled as he leaned back in his chair.

  Kris was instantly on edge with Firk’s behavior. He seemed underhanded and slimy. He had a creepy smile that oozed arrogance. It was clear to her that his ego was one of his top priorities.

  “Our current understanding is that they experienced quantum fluctuations within their rift matrix.” Melissa continued undeterred by the comments from the Mars representative. “As a result, they were forced to shut it down, cutting them off from us. We have seen nothing that would indicate damage or destruction of any kind. Our current theory is that they are continuing on their way to Setu after successfully shutting down the matrix.”

  “That’s good to hear, I hope for their safe arrival.” Sobune added in a respectful tone.

  “Yes, great news.” Horst agreed.

  “We also agree with your assessment. We have a team on Setu investigating the data as well.” Zuryk said. “This situation has occurred several times in our history of using this technology. We anticipate the ISO will arrive on schedule and unharmed.”

  “If everything is so warm and fuzzy, why were we rushed into this meeting?” Firk roused from his self-important smile to question the meeting entirely.

  “Even though we believe everything to be fine, we must react to all possibilities.” Melissa added.

  “Setu has sent ships to intercept with the last known point of contact. In the event they don’t arrive on schedule we will investigate the disappearance in order to understand what happened.” Zuryk offered the Vryl perspective.

  “That investigation is scheduled for five years from now. I find that to be unacceptable.” Melissa refused to back down.

  “The vessels are traveling at maximum safe speed. RIP failure investigations are often a lengthy process. I understand this is a new field of study for humanity, familiarity with the technology will come over time.” Zuryk finished his thought, leaning in closer to the table.

  Kris could feel the condescension dripping from the Vryl’s words. She couldn’t help furrowing her brow out of frustration at the phrasing. Realizing her place, Kris quickly returned to a neutral posture before anyone noticed her reaction.

  “I would like to suggest we approach the last known point of contact using FYRA.” Melissa proposed. “In the unlikely event we have crew stranded, five years will be too long for them to survive.”

  “Wasn’t the sustainability test successful? Shouldn’t they be capable of indefinite survival given that circumstance?” Horst questioned.

  “Their food supply is an indefinite source, yes. The issue is with their battery system.” Melissa nodded at the Earth representative as she answered.

  “Yes, the battery system is on a constant cycle charge utilizing the mass of stored energy surrounding the vessel. Assuming they have become adrift and dropped their RIP bubble there won’t be any energy to recharge with. The RIP burst would have dispersed it all into the surrounding space.” Zuryk said. “That is assuming the ship withstands the RIP burst at all in that case. A journey of this length would make that all but impossible at this point. If rift destabilization compromised hull integrity, there would be no surviving the RIP burst.”

  “Assuming they are stranded, what time frame are we looking at for the ISO’s survival?” Sobune re-entered the dialogue searching for specifics.

  “We haven’t run the numbers, but the battery is equipped to handle the entire journey on a single charge. At the very least we would have a year as we can assume the battery was fully charged from the RIP bubble.” Melissa confirmed.

  “It would be over a year; the solar rechargers are sensitive and could probably pick up some energy from distant stars.” Zuryk added. “Their position is unfortunate as it is nearly the mid-point of the journey and thus maximum distance between both solar bodies. I will get Setu working on some timelines.”

  Melissa turned to Kris. “Kris, send a message, we need to do the same.”

  Kris quickly entered her mental rift to relay the message from the general. “Message sent, awaiting response” Kris responded.

  “Oh right, you’re that thing they made on Earth.” Firk perked up again.

  His words caught Kris completely off-guard. ‘Thing?’ She thought to herself. She had never been referred to as a thing and couldn’t believe what she heard. Surely Firk was aware of the program and authorized it, why would he hold contempt for the product of that very program. Before Kris could react, Sobune did it for her.

  “Thing? Did you just refer to one of our officers as a thing? Your lack of respect at even the most basic level is beneath this office.” Sobune scolded Firk yet again.

  “Easy, it was a slip of the tongue. It’s a pleasure to have your talents here, Kris, was it?” Firk feigned sincerity.

  Kris took it upon herself to ignore the representative from Mars. “Lest has confirmed the message, the group has been divided into two research teams.” Kris turned back to the Mars rep, scorn still accentuated her gaze. Firk simple chuckled to himself as he noticed her.

  “Great, hopefully we get an accurate timeline soon.” Horst brought the council back to the matter at hand, also ignoring Firk’s insult.

  “Now, let’s get back to your proposal. The FYRA, you want to send the FYRA out there? I presume your intent is to utilize the RIP drive. You do know the Vryl have made stipulations against open space RIP conclusions.” Firk played with sleeve of his shirt as he raised an eyebrow at the proposition.

  “That is correct, one of our first rules actually. Without knowing what occupies seemingly empty space we deemed it irresponsible. It is not our place to risk potential life to facilitate our travel.” Zuryk interjected with one of the basic tenants of Vryl philosophy governing their space exploration.

  “I understand that, but I believe risking potential life is acceptable if it means there’s a chance to save confirmed life.” Melissa plead her case before the panel.

  “It is forbidden practice as far as the Vryl are concerned.” Zuryk reiterated his point.

  “I think the situation isn’t black and white, at the very least, it’s worthy of a debate.” Sobune looked back and forth between the other council members.

  “I agree.” Horst spoke up. “There are subtle nuances at work here deserving of an official dialogue.

  “I believe the general’s husband has clouded her judgment with personal bias. I side with t
he Vryl. We can hope for their safe arrival on Setu or await results from the investigation when it takes place.” Firk seemed to take pleasure in his contrarian attitude, smiling yet again. Empathy for the crew of the ISO seemed lost on him. There was little chance he was sincere in his defense of Vryl ideals either, he simply wanted to tout the power of his position.

  Kris noticed anger as it found a home in the general’s eyes. Kris knew it was impossible for anyone to completely separate themselves from a loved one in danger. Even the general knew it when she appointed admiral Lest to oversee the mission. However, Kris felt the urgency and dedication she was showing reflected her compassion for any member of the stellar fleet.

  “I believe this is a stellar fleet issue and should be handled as such.” Melissa was attempting to take control of the issue entirely.

  “This is a government issue, and we are the government.” Firk objected, angry at the general’s attempt to undermine the council.

  “I agree with the general, every aspect of the mission has fallen under their jurisdiction. There’s no reason this should be any different.” Horst came to the general’s aid.

  “I agree, but as much as I regret admitting it, Firk has a point. If we are going to delegate this decision to the stellar fleet I would be more comfortable if you recused yourself from any decision making, general.” Sobune pointed out.

  “If the general agrees to those terms, I will accept.” Firk nodded peacefully. Kris was astonished to hear him agree to anything.

  “I understand your apprehension and will leave the situation at admiral Lest’s discretion.” Melissa agreed to the terms laid out by the council.

  “We are in agreement.” Sobune said. “The admiral will take control of the ISO investigation and recovery.”