The First Ones There

by Steven Wolff

  “Isn’t that the reason you landed on this asteroid?” Asterina asks.

  “Originally, yes. It was our mission.” Josh says, “but we got to know you… and that makes it a little more difficult. Others might not care about your feelings and will forcibly bring you and your ship back.”

  “Against my will?”

  “Yes. Earth has a history of running tests and studies on things it doesn’t know. Cruel and painful studies.”

  Howard chimes in, “What can we do, Josh?”

  “Well, if this were Star Trek, the captain would initiate the self-destruct button.” Josh says.

  Howard looks to Asterina, “By chance, do you have a self-destruct mechanism on your ship?”

  “I do not. We have no need for destroying things.”

  “So what do we do?” Jenkins asks.

  “Any chance your distress beacon will be received by others?” Howard asks.

  “It’s been over 300 years since the crash. The signal goes several thousand light years into outer space. Once received, it may be a while before they get here.”

  “In other words,” Josh adds, “No. The two ships from Earth will have landed, loaded up and taken off by the time your kind gets here.”

  “We can’t let that happen.” Jenkins says worried.

  “I don’t think bringing Asterina back with us is an option.” Howard adds.

  “Can you defend yourself, Asterina?” Josh asks.

  “I am capable of great strength, but not of violence. I can only neutralize a threat with equal force.”

  “I guess that’s a no.” Josh clarifies.

  Howard paces around, “We can’t bring them with us and we can’t leave them here. There is no self-destruct button, so what else can we do? Come on, Howard… think!”

  Asterina interjects, “Alter the asteroid’s trajectory to negative sixty degrees.”

  “What good will that do?” Howard asks.

  Josh tells Asterina, “No matter which direction this asteroid is going, they are just going to change course and follow us.”

  “Guys…” Jenkins adds, “Negative sixty degrees is the exact orbit for the sun.”

  Both of their eyes widen.

  “You’re suggesting we steer this asteroid into the sun?” Josh asks with concern.

  “It’s the most logical thing to do.” Asterina says.

  “That’s suicide.” Howard says in protest.

  “Not if I’m not the one adjusting the asteroid trajectory.”

  “How would we even be able to steer this massive hunk of iron into the sun? We just have a tiny ship.”

  Asterina gives the solution, “Fire your ships thrusters in controlled intervals. I will do the quantum computing necessary to make the adjustments – you just have to make it happen.”

  “How much time do we have before the ships get here?” Josh asks.

  “Eighteen hours, Forty-six minutes, four seconds…”

  “How long will it take for us to reach the sun?” Howard asks.

  “Sixteen hours, twelve minutes, fifty-two seconds at current speed.”

  Jenkins adds, “That’s not a lot of time, if we’re gonna make this happen. We need to decide soon.”

  Howard walks up to Asterina, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “This isn’t a choice – as there is no logical alternative. This is the only solution…”

  “But you know, you will die.”

  “I take comfort in knowing that there’s a backup copy of me on my home world. They will simply create another Asterina Trillian and download my last cloud-save.”

  “But will it be you?” Josh wonders.

  “It will be me… up to the point before my ship went into warp… before the crash. That was the last time my system synchronized with the cloud. Since the accident, I haven’t uploaded my encounters, or experiences because I’ve been offline.”

  Jenkins face turns sad, “So you won’t remember any of this, or meeting us.”

  “No. This part hasn’t been saved yet.”

  “Yikes.” Josh says, “That sucks.”

  Howard adds, “We forget people and places all the time. This would just be one of those instances.”

  “We are running out of time.” Asterina points out.

  “Well…” Howard says, taking a deep breath. “It was nice meeting you. I wish we had more time.”

  “Yeah, me too.” Josh says.

  “It was a pleasure meeting you. I too wish we could have met under better circumstances.”

  They both hop away with urgency, leaving Jenkins alone with Asterina.

  “Last call. You sure you don’t want to come with us? There’s plenty of room on board our ship?”

  “I cannot be discovered by your planet. Not yet. You are still violent towards each other. Rampant racism, sexism, discrimination, violence towards others who are different. You haven’t had the three presidents whose kindness and charisma changed the world for the better, but you will… in time. If those currently in power had access to my technology, they would apply it towards military advancement instead of the betterment of man. As I said, there is no choice. This must be done.”

  Jenkins extends her hand out and holds it there, as her eyes stream tears down her cheeks.

  “It was an honor to meet you.”

  Asterina puts her hand in Jenkins and pumps it up and down, “It was my pleasure. I only wish I would have remembered this encounter.”

  Jenkins smiles, “I’ll remember for the both of us.”

  Asterina’s face turns to one of happiness.

  “Oh, before I go. How are you going to tell us when to fire the thrusters?”

  “My ship has a broad-spectrum transmitter. You’ll be able to hear me, but I won’t be able to hear you.”

  “We’ll rev up the engines to let you know when we’re ready.”

  “Understood, I’ll be calculating the pulses and will tell you when to fire.”

  Back on board the ship Serenity, Josh is in his seat and flips the three buttons overhead, but they aren’t responsive, “Oh that’s right.” He says to himself.

  Howard is about to come in when Josh stops him, “We need to unwrap the copper coils and toss them into the air so we can charge our batteries, but only two of the four coils… we need the other two to keep us magnetized so we don’t go flying off the asteroid when we fire our thrusters.”

  “Right. I recommend leaving the back legs magnetized and undo the front ones. I’ll take the left side, you take the right. Oh and Josh… make sure you tie them down before tossing the other end out into space.”

  “What are you trying to say?” Josh smiles.

  “I’m just sayin’ that you’re the type that would accidently toss the wiring and forget to attach it to something.”

  “Am not…”

  “One hundred bucks, you will.” Howard challenges.

  “I’m not shaking your hand.”

  “Because you know I’m right.”

  “Pfftt. Whatever.”

  Minutes later, two copper coils are extended high above Serenity, floating like a balloon. Back inside the ship, Josh monitors the battery reserve plus sign.

  “Anything?” Howard asks.

  “It’s a slow trickle, but I think it’s working.” Josh responds – not breaking eye contact with the voltage meter.

  “It’s a good thing we have two separate battery banks.” Howard mentions.

  “Yeah, that was good thinking – using one for collecting the energy, the other for holding us on the surface.”

  “But you know, with our battery reserve offline – this might take a while.” Howard replies.

  Jenkins pops her head in, “Any luck?”

  “We think it’s working, but it’s going to take a while.” Josh replies.

  “What’s a while?”

  “Maybe a couple of hours before we can fire up the engines.” Josh says with concern.

  “I’ll go let Asterina know.”r />
  “We’ll be here…” Howard says sarcastically.

  “Dude, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “About?”

  “What happens if we do this?”

  “Which part?” Howard asks, “The fuel part?”

  “Yeah. I was kinda hoping I was wrong, but I keep getting the same answer.”

  “Me too. I wasn’t going to say anything.”

  “Should we tell her?” Josh asks.

  “Is it going to do any good? It’s not like it’s going to change anything.” Howard says.

  “Yeah, but isn’t it the right thing to do?”

  “Tell me what?” Jenkins asks.

  They both are startled and turn around to see Jenkins standing by the doorway. Howard swallows and looks down, trying to avoid eye contact.

  “If we do this… and fire our thrusters, we won’t have enough fuel to make it home. We’ll be stuck here on the asteroid.”

  Jenkins is momentarily taken back by what she just heard.

  “Are you sure?”

  “No doubt.” Josh says.

  “What about the alien ship? Isn’t there anything we can do? Can’t we syphon gas from them?”

  Howard answers, “I doubt they have water on board, or any fossil fuels for that matter.”

  Josh adds, “The other alternative is we can say ‘see ya’ and ditch this asteroid and Asterina. As it is, we are barely going to make it back… and that’s if we’re lucky.”

  “Is this true?” Jenkins asks.

  “That we might not have enough gas? I triple checked and did the math. I got the same answers Josh did.”

  “So what do we do?” Josh asks.

  “Don’t put it on me…” Howard says.

  “You’re the commander. Technically, you have the final word.” Jenkins says firmly.

  “I’m just some nerd who only dreamed about going into outer space because that’s what my dad did. Never in a million years did I imagine that I’d do it… or even be responsible for deciding the fate of three people.”

  “You’re wrong!” Jenkins interrupts.

  “What? How so?”

  “This isn’t just about us, or Asterina. This is about everyone on planet Earth. Two ships are on their way here to take what they can from Asterina’s ship, maybe even Asterina. And you know once they get to Earth the first thing they are going to do is chop Asterina up and dissect it into little pieces so they understand how it functions. You and I know when they do, the military is going to be upgraded and whichever country gets here first will have the tactical advantage of space-age technology. It’s up to us to do the right thing and not let that happen.”

  “And the right thing is dying a horrific death by burning up in the sun?” Josh asks.

  “If it makes you feel better, you can die in 30 seconds simply by removing your helmet. You would pass out peacefully in 15 seconds.” Jenkins says, “By the time this asteroid heads to the sun, we’d be long dead. Or if you want, you can do what Whitfield did and catch a geyser… get blown into outer space.”

  “So what do we do boss?” Josh looks to Howard.

  “I guess the only thing we can do.”

  Jenkins puts her hand out in the center of the circle, “but we do it – together… as the crew of Serenity.”

  “Agreed.” Josh says, putting his hand on top of hers.

  “Eh, It’s what my dad would have done, so why not? Like father, like son.”

  Howard places his hand on top of theirs and holds it there.

  “Let’s do this!”

  They jump back inside the ship, Josh sitting in his pilot chair.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Inside Serenity

  “What’s the current power level?” Howard asks, hovering over his shoulder.

  “Only one quarter full.” Josh replies.

  “Is it enough to fire the rockets?”

  “It might be. Then again, it’s taken this long to charge… We risk the chance that it will take a lot longer if we don’t have enough juice to turn over the engines.”

  “We don’t have a lot of time left, so we really don’t have a choice. Jenkins – tell Asterina that we’re about to start up the ship. If all goes well… once the engines are running, we’ll be able to hear her over the comm system.”

  “I’m on it!” Jenkins says heading back out.

  “What do you think Josh? Should we try and start the engines?” Howard asks.

  “As they say, there’s no time like present.”

  “Okay then. Make it so!”

  “Firing up the engines in three, two, one…”

  Inside the ship, all the lights flicker dimly as the engines struggle to engage. The whirring of the engines sound pathetic.

  *Whir Whir Whir Whirrrrrrrrr*

  “Come on… come on…” Josh says trying to turn off unnecessary systems.

  Suddenly all the lights turn on bright as the engines roar to life.

  “We did it!!!” Howard says patting Josh on the back.

  Inside Asterina’s ship, Jenkins turns around and hears Serenity’s engines – causing her to smile.

  “They did it. They got it to work!” She says.

  Asterina hails them over the transmitter, “Serenity, are you able to hear me? Rev your engines twice if you do.”

  Outside the ship, Serenity’s engines roar loudly on two separate bursts.

  “On my signal, fire thrusters until I say stop.”

  Inside Serenity, Josh waits for the command with his right hand on the thruster handle.

  “Full thrust!” Asterina commands.

  Josh shoves the handle as far back as it’ll go, causing Serenity to roar loudly. The ship begins to shake violently, causing Howard and Josh to hang on tight. The ship begins to creep forward as the magnetic back legs of the ship slides under the rocky, metallic pebbles. Warning lights begin flashing on Josh’s console.

  “The legs of the landing gear are buckling under the intense thrust…”

  Over the intercom, Asterina says, “Stop!”

  Josh doesn’t hesitate to slam the thruster all the way forward. They both look at each other and take a big sigh of relief. From inside Asterina’s ship, Jenkins talks through her headset, “You guys alright?”

  “Yeah…” Josh answers, “It was just a little bumpy ride. We’re fine.”

  “Speak for yourself.” Howard says, trying not to throw up.

  “Stand by for another thrust…” Asterina says over the comm system.

  Howard’s face turns queasy as he fights the sickness.

  “Ready when you are.” Josh replies, wiggling his fingers to help the circulation.

  “Fire thrusters!”

  Josh yanks back on the throttle, causing the ship to roar loudly. The back end is starting to pull hard to one side.

  “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Howard asks.

  “Yes… Want me to keep going?”

  “Keep going!”

  “STOP!” Asterina orders. Josh jams the thruster handle forward as the sound of the engines whirs down.

  “Whoa… that was crazy.” He said with a sense of relief.

  “How much more of this?” Howard asks Jenkins through her headset.

  Jenkins looks at Asterina and asks, “The guys want to know how many more thrusts do we need?”

  “The asteroid’s trajectory has deviated slightly. Our efforts are working… calculating the current speed and rotation numbers – I say several more thrusts should put us on a collision course with the Sun.”

  “Few more guys, you can do it!” Jenkins reports back through her helmet, trying to sound optimistic.

  “Fire thrusters!”

  Josh yanks back on the handle, as the ship violently rumbles loudly. Some of the paneling on the ceiling and walls begin falling, exposing arcing wires that causing Josh and Howard to duck. The ship begins skidding forward, as one of the back legs buckle from the stress.

  “We’ve lost magnetism on
the right-back leg!!!” Josh says in a panic.

  The ship begins turning to the left, on a collision course with Asterina’s ship.

  “Jenkins… brace for impact!!!”

  “Stop!” Asterina says, to everyone’s relief.

  Serenity slows down and gently bumps Asterina’s ship as the engines spin to a complete stop.

  “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

  “One more thruster fire and we will be at negative sixty degrees.” Asterina says confidently. “Stand by…”

  “Ugh. That last one was rough.” Josh says to Howard while waiting.

  Suddenly, all power inside the ship turns off. Josh’s eyes widen, “No… this can’t be happening!”

  “What happened?” Howard asks concerned.

  “We’ve lost power! I guess we sapped whatever was left from the battery bank, which wasn’t much to begin with.”

  Asterina looks at her pod screen and hails the ship, “My sensors indicate that your ship has no electricity. Is that correct?”

  No answer.

  Jenkins figures it out, “Our comm system is piped through the ship. If the batteries are dead, then they can’t hear us. I’ll go check and see what’s wrong.” She says to Asterina. Jenkins runs back to the ship and finds Josh frantically flipping switches as Howard is looking for something.

  “Talk to me guys, what’s going on?”

  Howard answers, “We’ve used the remaining juice from our battery bank and now the batteries are completely dead.”

  “Aren’t they recharging from the wires dangling high above the ship?” Jenkins asks.

  “They are, but it’s taking a while. It’s going to be a few more hours to get enough juice to fire up the ship.”

  Asterina shows up at the door with a look of concern, “Long range sensors show one of the two ships from Earth has matched our new trajectory. They’ve increased their speed and now will be able to land in about an hour.”

  “Oh that’s not good...” Howard says putting his hand on his forehead. “How long until we reach the sun?”

  “At our current trajectory and speed, we won’t come near the sun.” Asterina says in disappointment. “We need one more full burn to reach the negative sixty degree orbit. Otherwise, we will just sling shot around it.”