Days of Future Past - Part 3: Future Tense

by John Van Stry

  I tried to command one of the Phoenix type ships to undock, but they all refused because of being low on fuel. I tried several overrides, but I didn't have the proper authority. So I started looking through each of the status reports on each of the ships to see if I could find anything that I could use. I did notice while doing that, that there was enough fuel among all four of them to allow one to make the trip, so I commanded the station to move the fuel around, and then to send that ship to land at area-51 once fueled.

  "Okay, I fixed it," I sighed leaning back into my seat.

  "Great, when are we docking?" Heather asked.

  "In two hours."

  "What? Why so long?"

  "Because I can't just jettison one of the ships out there, I have to put fuel in it so it can go someplace. I guess they don't want me wasting taxpayer's dollars."

  "What taxpayers?"

  "Exactly," I sighed.

  "Well, I can think of something to do for two hours!" Heather laughed.

  "We did that already," I pointed out.

  "So, why not do it again?"

  "Good point," I chuckled and undoing my seatbelt and straps again, I went aft to join her.

  Once the other ship finally disconnected and cleared the area I started our docking procedures. It took us thirty minutes to dock, and that was with the autopilot handling the maneuver. We had to move around the station to the other side, and carefully squeeze in next to another ship. Once docked I shut everything down but the basic life support systems, which were drawing their power from the solar panels that had deployed once we were in space. The station was also supplying power, but then it had a much larger solar array.

  "Spacesuits everyone," I said.

  "Why?"

  "A section of the station is now missing. I have no idea if there is atmosphere in there, and if so, where. So I don't want to take any chances."

  They both agreed and we all got suited up, then I went to check the docking connection, which was a hatch in the ceiling of the Phoenix.

  "It says we have atmosphere," I told them. "So let's go in and see what's going on."

  Opening the hatch I floated up into the short passage of the docking ring. It was actually big enough to fit two people. I guess it functioned as an airlock as well.

  Thankfully it said there was atmosphere on the other side, so I opened that one next and we all made our way into the station.

  The station itself was a bit of a mess. There were things hanging from all of the walls, rather than securely fastened, as well as quite a few insulation or decorative panels that were partially hanging sticking out as well, or just floating loose. I guess when the shuttle had crashed into it; it had sent quite a shock through the structure. But otherwise, things seemed intact.

  "Let's go to the command center," Heather said and pointed to a sign with an arrowed labeled as just that.

  "Sounds good. You okay, Sarah?" I asked as she brought up the rear.

  "I'm doing better now," she sighed, "I think I'm over the worst of it."

  "Good. Let's go."

  "I'm surprised that they don't have maintenance robots in here," Heather said as we dodged a few hanging panels on our way to the center.

  "I don't think they ever planned to abandon the station," I told her. "So they probably figured it was just cheaper to have the crew do it."

  "But you mentioned that they had those robotic tugs outside."

  "It's a lot more dangerous outside than in here," I pointed out.

  Pulling ourselves into the command center, it was in a lot better shape that the rest of the station. There wasn't anything hanging loose in here. Checking the atmosphere again, I undid my helmet and hung it off the back of my suit.

  "Colonel," A voice that was not quite as smooth as Apollo's had been spoke up, "welcome to Aldrin station."

  "Thank you, I take it you are the AI in command of the station?"

  "Yes, Sir. I am the Aldrin AI, you may refer to me as 'Buzz'."

  I almost facepalmed.

  "What a peculiar name," Sarah said.

  "Buzz Aldrin was the second man to set foot on the Moon," I told her. "When they named the station after him, I guess some wag thought it would be cute to give the station AI his nickname."

  "Oh? What was his first name?"

  I shrugged, "Damned if I can remember, everyone always called him Buzz."

  I moved over to the main console, which had a distressing amount of red lights on it.

  "So, Buzz. What's the status of the station?"

  "Docking arm six was torn free of the station. Module six is now open to space and has been sealed off. It is beyond my current abilities to repair. Food stores are completely depleted. Fuel stores are completely depleted. Water stores are at eight percent and I projected will become fully depleted in twenty-three years. Oxygen stores are at ten percent and will become depleted in thirty years. Nitrogen stores are at twenty percent and should hold constant at ten, once I am no longer able to maintain an atmosphere inside the station."

  "So you're leaking?" Heather asked.

  "A station this size is always leaking," Buzz replied. "However the leaks are small enough that it takes years to have a significant effect. The loss of segment six however took with it a good deal of my atmosphere stores as well as all of my emergency fuel tanks."

  "Can you maintain this orbit?" I asked.

  "The station uses EM drive thrusters, which only require power. I can maintain this station in orbit indefinitely."

  "Okay, now what are all these other red status indicators for?"

  "I have a number of systems that have failed, due to age. In some cases even the backups have failed. I have spares, but I have no one here to replace them."

  "How long will it take to replace them?" Sarah asked.

  "Ten hours for critical systems, eighteen for all major systems."

  I looked at Sarah, "I wasn't planning on fixing anything here."

  "We have to come back here, Hon. I think it would behoove us to at least fix the critical systems. For our own safety."

  I nodded, "Fine, we'll fix the critical systems. Buzz," I said looking back at the console, "Sarah and Heather here have the same access levels as I do, you can tell them what needs to be done."

  "Aren't you going to help?" Heather asked.

  "I need to check out the three lunar shuttles and see which one is in the best shape for our trip to the Moon," I told her.

  "Oh," she nodded.

  "So, Buzz, what can you tell me about the three Moon shuttles?"

  Buzz was able to tell me quite a bit. Apparently all three were in good condition, according to what their systems were reporting. I would however have to physically examine each of them myself.

  The first one was in decent shape, though whoever had used it last was a bit of a slob, there was a lot of garbage floating loose in the back compartments and the bunks were a complete mess.

  The second one was in very good shape. It was clean, well kept, and all of the systems were working fine. It needed a few modules replaced, but less than the first had. Buzz assured me that he had spares, so I figured I'd set about the job after I checked the third shuttle, to see if it was in better or worse shape.

  As soon as I entered the third shuttle a faint but foul odor assaulted my nose, so I put my helmet back on, resealed it, and purged it. I put my gloves back on as well; I'd taken them off because it was easier to work without them, than with them. While the wrist seals would keep any smells out, I definitely didn't want to risk touching whatever was making that smell.

  My check of the cockpit showed it to be in order, but when I went back to the bunks in the living quarters I found two bodies. It didn't take me long to find the pistol, the splattered patterns on the wall made it clear, either they'd both put the gun to their heads and pulled the trigger. Or one had killed the other and then committed suicide.

  Everything had dried out and mummified ages ago. I noted their names from the nametags on their jum
psuits, got two large bags from the stores, and stuck their bodies in them, writing their names on the outsides after I sealed them in there.

  "Buzz, I found the crew for the Hatfield," I called over my radio, once I was done.

  "What is their status?"

  "They're dead. I think they both suicided. Or maybe it was a murder-suicide. I can't tell." I gave him their names, and left it at that. He told me where to haul the bodies, so I did. I said a couple of words and then he jettisoned them out of the station.

  That done I then went and got the replacements I needed and set to work repairing the second shuttle that I'd inspected and had now decided to take. Which was named the 'Alice Kramden' of all things. I guess some old TV shows never died.

  Six hours later I was done and I met up with the girls. We'd all shed our spacesuits and were back in our flight suits, as it made it easier to work. We all ate, took a break, then went back to the Phoenix to sleep for the night. There were quarters on the Aldrin that we could have used, but all of them still had the personal effects of whoever had been living in them before the station was abandoned, and none of us really felt like dealing with that right now.

  "So, how much longer until you're done?" I asked Sarah as we all got cleaned using wipes and paper towels as we dressed the next morning. The station did have showers, but we'd all agreed not to use them until we were ready to leave. We didn't want to dent the station's water supply anymore than we had to.

  "Well, Buzz said that we'd finish with the critical systems in a few more hours, and asked if we could take care of a couple of major systems too."

  I nodded, "I'm going to start moving our things from the Phoenix to the Kramden."

  "The Kramden?" Sarah blinked.

  "That's the name of the lunar shuttle we'll be taking."

  "Bang, zoom, off to the Moon, Kramden?" Sarah asked, barely stifling a giggle.

  I looked at her and sighed, "You mean the Honeymooners with Jackie Gleason survived all these years?"

  Sarah grinned, "I don't know who 'Jackie Gleason' was, but the Honeymooners was a big hit back in twenty eighty-three, right up until the big slam. One of the most popular shows of all time according to the historians."

  "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that they remade it, Hollywood never was big on original ideas," I chuckled, shaking my head.

  "Well, get to work. Heather and I will join you once we've finished with Buzz's maintenance."

  "It's not too hard, is it?" I asked.

  "No, mostly it is just replacing boxes, though in two cases we had to replace cables. He definitely is not as smart as Apollo is. Talking to him is rather boring."

  "Yeah, I've noticed. I'm starting to think that Apollo may have been a one of a kind test system that they used only because they were a test base. So far nothing we've run into is as smart as he was."

  Heather came over and gave me a kiss, as she finished zipping up her jumpsuit.

  "Well, this job isn't going to get done by talking you two!" she laughed and pulled herself up through the docking hatch into the station.

  "Later!" Sarah said and stopping to give me a kiss as well moved off to follow Heather.

  I set about moving our gear then. Most of it we'd put in containers to make it easier to balance the load. Those containers were small enough to fit through the hatches, but it still took me hours to move it all, and then store it in the shuttle so to not offset its center of mass.

  Once I had that complete I moved up to the pilot's station and started running down the pre-flight checklists to make sure I hadn't missed anything. Which was when I found a major problem, the Alice Kramden was almost completely out of fuel.

  "Buzz," I called over the station intercom, the Kramden was drawing station power and was locked into the Aldrin's systems. "Could you upload the flight plan for our destination of the Mare Crisium facility, please?"

  "One moment. Okay, Colonel, it should show in your systems now."

  I looked at the fuel requirements. If I scavenged everything out of the other ships, we'd still not have enough, unless I raided the Phoenix's tanks. But if I did that, it might not have enough for the return trip.

  "Buzz, could you get me the fuel consumption figures for the return trip?"

  "One minute."

  I looked over the ship's capacity; I'd only have to fill the tanks one tenth full to get there.

  "Coming back will take between two thousand to two thousand four hundred pounds of fuel."

  "That's less than half of what it will take me to get there!" I said surprised.

  "You are fighting the Earth's gravity on the trip out," Buzz replied.

  "Oh. Can you find out what the fuel supplies are at Mare Crisium?"

  "One minute."

  I checked the other systems while I waited.

  "Mare Crisium is reporting fuel stores of twenty-three thousand tons."

  "Guess we'll be refueling there," I sighed. "Any idea why the ships that came from there are all empty?"

  "These ships did not come from the Mare Crisium facility."

  "Well that's good I guess," and I undid the one belt I had fastened to keep me from floating off and went in search of the girls.

  "Oh, hi, Hon, we were just finishing up," Sarah said as I caught up with her and Heather who were carefully manhandling a six-foot long box into place.

  "That's a replacement box?" I was a bit surprised at the size of it. There were a lot of connections at the far end.

  "It's the heart of an advanced radar unit used to track incoming ships. Apparently the station has been pretty blind for some time now."

  "Huh, that may explain the crash then. We do have another problem however."

  "Oh? What is it this time?" Heather grunted as she started to push the box down into place.

  "I need to transfer fuel out of the Phoenix and into the Kramden in order for us to be able to make our trip."

  "So?"

  "So the Phoenix may not have enough fuel to make the return trip."

  "Oh! Is there anything you can do about it?"

  "Well, when we land on the Moon, we'll have to refuel in order to come back. So we should be able to replace the fuel we took, and then some."

  "So it is not a big of a problem then?" Sarah asked as the box clicked into place and she started to tighten down the fasteners.

  "Well, not really. But it is a problem, so I thought you both should know before I did it."

  "There is fuel at our destination?"

  "Yes, I checked."

  "Then I have no problems with it. Heather?"

  "Nope, I'm fine."

  "Okay," I said. "How long until you're finished?"

  "That was the last box," Sarah smiled.

  "You know what that means?" Heather grinned.

  "Showers!" We all laughed.

  "Buzz," I said as we headed off to the shower bays.

  "Yes, Colonel?"

  "Transfer the fuel required for our journey, plus a twenty percent safety margin into the Kramden from the Phoenix."

  "Yes, Colonel."

  Zero-G showers, it turned out, were not as much fun as zero-g. Having to wear a mask so you can breathe sort of takes away from all the other slippery fun one can get up to when wet. But we managed.

  Two hours later and I was strapped into the pilot's seat, Heather was in the copilot's seat, and Sarah was in the back of the Alice Kramden.

  "Everyone ready?" I asked.

  "Yeah," they both replied and I disconnected all of the couplings, undid the docking ring, and slowly backed us out, away from the station, taking a moment to enjoy the view of the station framed against the Earth below.

  "Now that's a view," Heather sighed.

  "Definitely."

  I waited until we were a thousand yards away, then I got us orientated on our heading and turned control over to the autopilot. It counted down the last ten seconds to engine ignition, and then with a soft push, we were on our way again.

  "How long will the engine
run for?" Sarah asked.

  "Until we're halfway there, then we'll have to flip over and decelerate the rest of the way."

  "So we will have weight the whole trip?"

  "Yup, but it's only about a twentieth of what you'd weigh on Earth, we're accelerating at a hair over one twentieth of the acceleration due to gravity."

  "That slow?" Heather asked. "I thought we'd go faster. How long is it going to take us to get there?"

  "The whole trip?" I asked and she nodded,

  "About fifteen hours."

  "Fifteen hours to go to the Moon?" she looked surprised. "It took us almost seven just to get to the space station!"

  "Different kind of engine. It doesn't provide as much thrust, but it provides it constantly. By the time we flip over in seven and a half hours, we'll be going over twenty-eight thousand miles per hour."

  "Whoa."

  I nodded, "Apollo showed me the math. It's pretty impressive. I thought we were going to have to take three days each way, like they did back when I was a kid."

  "So why are there living quarters if it is only going to take us fifteen hours?" Sarah asked from the back.

  "I gather these shuttles were used on much longer trips as well. Where they were going with them," I gave a small shrug, "I don't know. I didn't want to get sidetracked, so I never asked."

  "I wonder how far you could go with something like this?" Heather asked looking out at the Moon, which was now clearly in front of us, if still a long ways away.

  "We're only using ten percent of the total fuel load to get to the Moon, so I suspect if you can count on refueling at your destination, Mars, the asteroids, Venus. Maybe even farther than that?"

  "I wonder if they had bigger ships than this one?"

  "Apollo mentioned that they did, but again, didn't want to get sidetracked," I admitted.