Skywave
Page 34
From off camera, Nick came back into view with a metal box on his head, arms extended, walking in jerky motions like a robot. Avery and Christine cracked up as Nick intoned, “Take me to your leader.”
Nick cracked up, too, and the three astronauts laughed and laughed. Finally, Nick removed the makeshift helmet and turned to the camera. “Seriously, I asked them to take us home, but it looks like they thought I asked them to take us to their leader.”
Morgan stopped the video again. “They had two months’ worth of food left, max, when they made this clip. They were going the wrong way and they were too far away to make it back to Earth, even with the UMOs’ help. I think the clip was gallows humor, pure and simple. They knew they were going to die and this was just part of their way of dealing with it. I don’t think they ever intended to transmit it.”
“But they did,” Amato said.
“That’s right, about six weeks after they recorded it.”
“Why? What changed their minds?”
“I don’t know. There’s no comment in any of the logs about it, but I have a suspicion it was a last eff-you to NASA. They turned on the UHF antenna long enough to broadcast the message and then switched it off after it was sent. They didn’t even wait for a reply,” Morgan said.
“Tragic,” Amato mumbled.
Morgan nodded. “It was indeed.”
“What about the HF beacon?” Amato asked. “Why did they choose HF if they had UHF?”
“Another faulty assumption on our part,” Morgan said with a shake of his head. “There’s nothing in the logs that suggests they tried to use their EVA comms as a ham radio to contact Mir or Atlantis, and no mention of creating a distress beacon to mark their location. Turns out, there was a much simpler explanation.”
Amato frowned. “Like what?”
“They landed on Callisto on July 30, 1995, and shut down everything but comms and battery power on August 2. From their logs and the ship’s system data, we know they went out for several EVAs over those four days. On their last EVA, they didn’t come back.”
“I don’t understand,” Amato said.
“They kept the EVA comms transmitter-receiver on when they left the ship for the last time,” Morgan said. He explained the system is paired with each astronaut’s headset receiver. “If there’s an extended period of comms inactivity, the transmitter sends out a ping sequence. It’s an emergency locator feature. The idea is, if an astronaut is incapacitated during an EVA and can’t respond, the astronaut’s headset can help the ship, or space station, locate him or her by transmitting a ping sequence back.”
“But if no one was inside, why leave the ship’s EVA comms on?” Amato asked. “They could talk to each other without it. Their headsets had their own transmitter-receivers.”
“I’d say it was a precaution. If something went wrong during the EVA and one or more of them returned to the ship, they would have wanted the ability to communicate with anyone still outside, and to know the last location of anyone they couldn’t hail.”
They discussed the scenario for several more minutes. Shouldn’t there be three sets of pings? Amato queried. Morgan explained that the EVA comms system data showed Nick and Christine had toggled off their headsets two hours into the final EVA, leaving only Avery’s headset active.
“When a headset is manually turned off, the comms system assumes the EVA has completed and it stops monitoring,” Morgan said. “But if a headset’s left on, even if it drains its batteries, the ship will keep on transmitting. The logic is, maybe the astronaut is out of range, or there’s some interference that’s preventing the return ping, so the system keeps pinging.”
“But why would Nick and Christine have turned their headsets off?”
“I guess they were more trusting than Avery.” Morgan shrugged.
“More trusting of what?”
“UMOs? Whatever else they discovered inside the spaceport.”
“Spaceport?”
“Yep, that’s what they called the structure inside the crater, and that’s where they went on their last EVA. In fact, most of their EVAs were to investigate the spaceport.”
Morgan prepped a new video on the laptop. Before clicking on the play icon, he told Amato the clip was the final log entry from the mission. It was made by Nick Reed, the last astronaut to leave the ship. With Christine and Avery on their way to the spaceport, Nick had been responsible for turning off the last of the ship’s excess systems. Before he departed to join Christine and Avery, he recorded a farewell log entry, turned on the UHF antenna and broadcasted it to NASA.
“As far as I know,” Morgan said, “the message was never received.”
He pressed play and Nick appeared on-screen, geared up in his spacesuit minus his helmet. “Well, folks, this is the last you’ll hear from us. Kind of sad we won’t see any of you again, but excited at the same time to start our new adventure. As angry as we were about what happened to us around Mars, it’s all good now. If things had gone differently, we wouldn’t have connected with the UMOs, they wouldn’t have led us here, we wouldn’t have discovered the spaceport or found our new ride.”
Morgan paused the video. “They recorded videos of the spaceport. It’s ancient, and abandoned, but it’s still an amazing complex. It’s also home to a gigantic colony of UMOs.”
“What?”
“Yeah, apparently the aliens who built the spaceport had a special relationship with the UMOs. In Christine’s log entries, she called the aliens ‘beekeepers.’ They’re long gone, but for some reason the UMOs have stuck around.”
“Christine and the others saw the aliens?”
“Images of them. You’ll see when we get you a full set of their logs.”
“What did they look like? Were they humanoid?”
Morgan nodded. “Yes, but a helluva lot bigger than us. Different-looking facial features and body types but definitely humanoid. Two legs, two arms, one head. Males and females.”
“My God. What were they doing there? Where did they come from? Where did they go?” Amato asked.
“Don’t know, but they left the UMO colony behind along with dozens of spaceships, à la Nick’s comment about their new ride. Watch the rest of the clip.”
When the video resumed, Nick said, “It’s a slick-looking ship, and it comes with our own UMO hive. They’re actually useful little guys and gals, not the threats we made them out to be. So, we’re off to wherever Christine’s ‘beekeepers’ went with our UMO hive leading the way. Not sure where that might be or how long it will take to get there, but we figured it was a better option than starving to death here. Anyhow, ’til we meet again, love to our families and friends. Be good to one another. Cetus Prime out.”
Nick ended his message by displaying a peace sign. Amato returned the gesture and mumbled, “Remarkable.”
For the next several minutes, Amato stared at Nick’s frozen image on the laptop. At last, he looked up at Morgan and said, “And to think we never would know any of this if it weren’t for Ajay and his clicks.”
Morgan laughed. “Oh, believe me, he’s reminding everyone about that nonstop!”
“Good! He deserves the credit. You all do!”
“You know what, Augie?”
“What?”
Morgan closed the laptop and stood. “They don’t seem to care about credit all that much. They just want to know what comes next.”
“Do they now?” Amato smiled.
“Oh, yeah. And they’ve got lots of ideas. Kiera’s already working on improvements to her engine to take advantage of what we learned from our run-ins with UMOs. Dante’s keen to build a new CUBE fleet with a squad of landers to send to Callisto to explore the spaceport. Ajay, of course, is all in to meet some aliens. He wants you to send Rorschach instead of more CUBEs and he wants to go along.”
“And what about you?” Amato asked.
“Me?” Morgan said. “Cards on the table?”
“Wouldn’t want it any other way.”
&
nbsp; “I have a crew that’s still missing. I want to bring them home.”
EPILOGUE
Bahama Bettie’s Beachside Bistro
Cocoa Beach, Florida
July 9, 2019
T minus three minutes and counting…
Thousands of people crowded the beach beyond the restaurant patio. Cell phone cameras poised, all eyes looked in the direction of Cape Canaveral. Over speakers from the restaurants lining the beach, the sounds of Mission Control going through prelaunch steps echoed over the chatter from the excited onlookers.
On the bar patio, big television monitors showed a split screen. On one half was a live shot of the launch pad and rocket, on the other, a live shot of The Rorschach Explorer docked at the International Space Station. The news anchor’s voice spoke from off camera: “Well, ladies and gentlemen, we are now less than three minutes away from the historic launch of JOVE-1, carrying the crew that will man The Rorschach Explorer for its groundbreaking journey to Callisto. Let’s listen in to Mission Control for the final countdown.”
“T minus two minutes, Flight.”
“Roger, GLS. CDR, JOVE-1, close and lock visors.”
“Copy, Flight. Visors locked.”
The anchor spoke over the Mission Control dialogue. “Flight director Dante Fulton has just instructed Colonel Paul Morgan to have the crew lock their helmet visors into place.”
“T minus one minute and thirty seconds.”
“GLS, transfer power from ground to JOVE-1.”
“Roger, Flight. JOVE-1 now on internal power.”
Another interruption from the anchor. “The next important command will be to start the auto launch sequence at T minus thirty seconds.”
JOVE-1 Capsule
Space Launch Complex 39B
Kennedy Space Center
Cape Canaveral, Florida
July 9, 2019
T minus thirty seconds and counting…
Morgan switched off communications with Mission Control and addressed his astronauts. “Okay, team, last chance to get off this ride has passed. You doing okay, Elroy?”
“No…but I don’t want to get off!” Ajay said, his chattering teeth chopping his words.
“Dr. Walsh, how about you?” Morgan asked.
With eyes closed, Kiera said, “This is going to hurt, isn’t it?”
“Roger that,” Major Carillo said, laughing. “But don’t worry, we’ll be in orbit before you can say ouch.”
“And what about you, Dr. Shilling?” Morgan asked. “You ready to meet some UMOs up close and personal.”
Dr. Robert Shilling, the fifth and final member of The Rorschach Explorer crew, said, “Roger that, Skywalker.”
Morgan switched back on the connection with Mission Control just as the countdown reached ten seconds.
“T minus ten, nine, eight, seven…”
“GLS, you are go for main engine start.”
Reviewing Stand
Kennedy Space Center
Cape Canaveral, Florida
July 9, 2019
Liftoff
With a tremendous rumble, NASA’s new SLS rocket lifted off the ground, spewing a fireball and thick clouds of smoke as it rose into the sky. Augustus Amato, seated next to Dennis Pritchard, watched its rapid ascent into the stratosphere through tear-filled eyes.
Over loudspeakers, they heard Dante say, “JOVE-1, make us proud and be good to one another.”
The Rorschach Explorer Missions series continues with a second installment in 2019. To receive updates regarding the next installment as they emerge, including the book title, description and expected publish date, follow K. Patrick Donoghue on Facebook by clicking here, or join the author's email subscriber list by clicking here.
Interested in other books by K. Patrick Donoghue, including UMO, the novella prequel to Skywave? Visit the author’s web site at kpatrickdonoghue.com.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kevin Patrick Donoghue is the author of the mystery thriller series The Anlon Cully Chronicles and the science-fiction thriller series The Rorschach Explorer Missions. He lives in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., with his wife and two sons. His books include:
Shadows of the Stone Benders, book 1 of The Anlon Cully Chronicles
Race for the Flash Stone, book 2 of The Anlon Cully Chronicles
Curse of the Painted Lady, book 3 of The Anlon Cully Chronicles
UMO, a novella prequel to Skywave, the first book of The Rorschach Explorer Missions
Skywave, book 1 of The Rorschach Explorer Missions
Ways to stay in touch with the author:
Click here to join K. Patrick Donoghue's email subscriber list
Click here to follow on Facebook
Click here to visit the author's website
COPYRIGHT
This book is a work of fiction. All the characters, incidents and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual locations, events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
SKYWAVE
Copyright © 2018 Kevin Patrick Donoghue
All rights reserved.
eISBN: 978-0-9973164-9-0
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9997614-0-3
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-9997614-2-7
Published by Leaping Leopard Enterprises, LLC
www.leapingleopard.com
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
First edition: December 2018
Cover art and design by Asha Hossain Design, LLC
Print edition interior design by Amber Colleran
CONTENTS
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A NOTE TO READERS
PROLOGUE
1: LIFTOFF
2: WISH UPON A STAR
3: ONE CLICK LEADS TO ANOTHER
4: SMOKE SIGNALS
5: CETUS
6: START YOUR ENGINES
7: FLY ME TO THE MOON
8: BIRDS AND BEES
9: MINEFIELD BALLET
10: SOL SEAKER
11: WAKING THE DEAD
12: FRENZY
13: WAGGLE DANCE
14: TEETERING ON THE BRINK
15: CALLISTO APPROACH
16: SIBERIAN SURPRISE
17: BLACKOUT
18: FIGHTING IONS WITH IONS
19: ON THE WINGS OF ANGELS
20: SILENT NO MORE
21: DATA DUMP
22: DECOMPRESSION
EPILOGUE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
COPYRIGHT