Twisted Spaces: 1 / Destination Mars

by E. N. Abel

  When the last of them left the circle of light, Marlene appeared. In her beautiful dress she presented the picture of an ancient goddess. Loud and clearly she recited: ''In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth. The Earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light' and there was light. And God saw that the light was good.'' She raised her hands: ''Six thousand years after these holy words were written, the children of God stand on the Moon and say: FIAT LUX!''

  In a circle of one hundred thousand kilometers around Earth's equator, eight antimatter mines erupted to a gigantic firework and flooded the planet with waves of bright, white light. The new suns stayed in the sky a minute, chasing day and night equally away, then faded and the darkness of space prevailed again. But for that one minute all darkness was taken from Earth and everything was bathed in brilliant light. All human activity just stopped.

  Mike let a long moment pass, then he stepped into the spot light again, presenting his last sentence. ''May the fire of creation guide you into a peaceful and enlightened new future. Happy New Year, citizens of Earth.'' With that the spot was switched off and the Internet link shut down. Mike turned to his astonished crew: ''Well done. And now let the party continue.''

  As on command, Aba flooded the hall with a rock-and-roll piece from Elvis Presley.

  Chapter 114

  Moon

  New Year 2017

  Marlene, Mike, Chan and Alex were sitting at their table again, resting after an hour of intense dancing.

  Simone came over, linked in with Tjurin. She was wearing a wonderful black robe, instantly reminding Mike of Morticia Addams, the lady of the Addams family ... such was her dark elegance.

  Alex immediately stood, offering his chair, then walked off to liberate two more. Simone sat, smiling a dark and unhappy smile ... and Mike had an idea what that meant: plan A failed; time for plan B. He leaned back and watched the arrivals be provided with drinks. More crewmembers came with their seats and formed a loose circle around the Captain's table.

  ''You know,'' Tjurin finally addressed Mike, ''that was a wonderful speech.''

  ''Yes, a howling success, so to say,'' Moni added. ''Over two billion watchers.''

  ''Wow! So many! Did the servers break down?'' Mike replied ironically, taking her words for a tease.

  ''No,'' Tjurin replied, ''CERN handled that cleverly. Over a thousand proxies worldwide.''

  ''Not bad.'' Mike took a sip.

  ''Tomorrow we'll know the impact of your speech,'' Simone said. ''If I'm correct it will be gargantuan.''

  ''You think it will improve ...''

  ''Dramatically.''

  ''Hmm. Let's hope for the best. Anyway, tomorrow we'll have to do some research ourselves.''

  ''What do you mean?'' Dimitri asked over the rim of his glass.

  ''Well, that rock, you remember?''

  ''What rock? Oh, you mean the ...''

  ''Exactly. The one we shaved off first. Carl said something's wrong with it.''

  ''You want to visit it?'' Alex sounded unbelieving.

  ''Yes. Now that the New Years show is over ...''

  ''Mike, that thing is over ten kilometers away,'' Tjurin pointed out. ''Even outside of the crater. A long walk in a scaphander ...''

  ''Sure, if you have to walk, it is. How about flying there?''

  ''With the sphere?''

  ''No, with a moon buggy.''

  ''Moon buggy.'' Tjurin looked confused.

  ''Yes, a moon buggy. A kind of antigravic hover-sledge you sit in or on and which can fly you anywhere you want.''

  Marlene wondered: ''But we don't have such a thing. Where would you ...''

  ''OK, OK, I understand,'' Alex interrupted, waving off. ''A moon buggy. When would Mylord want it ready?''

  ''Well,'' Mike sounded generous, ''how about oh-eight hundred?''

  Alex eyes seemed to pop out: ''Eight o'clock! That's in not even seven...''

  ''Slow, Towarischtsch,'' Tjurin laughed, ''he didn't say on which day.''

  That made Alex heave a sigh of relief.

  ''OK, seriously now.'' Mike leaned back. ''How about we construct a moon buggy that can carry two people and is driven by a few class-one antigravs. Controlled by one of our reserve NAV computers. Just needs a bottom plate, two seats and the few tech components. Shouldn't be too complicated.''

  ''You forgot seat belts and a rollover bar,'' Tjurin commented smirkingly.

  ''And here,'' Mike went on, looking at Dimitri, ''we already have the first volunteer for that away mission. The buggies commandant.'' Grinning he added: ''Pick your driver.''

  Tjurin was taken aback a bit, then boomed a Russian laughter. He looked into the group of people standing around them, then pointed at a closely listening Walter Wolfram: ''Are you not trained in flying a grav machine, too?''

  ''Yes, sir.'' Walter smiled delighted. ''Pilot Third.''

  ''Ready for some EVA?''

  ''Always, sir.''

  ''Well,'' Tjurin concluded, ''you have the job.'' Turning to Alex he asked provocatively: ''Tomorrow, January second, oh-eight hundred? So we can do a little sight seeing? Visit the countryside?''

  ''I'll do my very best.'' Alex stood, lifted his glass and proclaimed a toast: ''To Undiscovered Countries.''

  Everybody stood and followed up: ''To Undiscovered Countries.''

  Chapter 115

  Moon

  Monday, 02.01.2017

  The whole off-watch was standing in the hangar around the new vehicle, staring in speechless admiration. Within a single day Alex and his team had done it again: constructed a usable machine from scratch. This time one that could fly.

  The moon buggy could easiest be described as a ten-by-six foot plastic board standing on a skid undercarriage with two rally car seats side by side mounted on it. As there was no atmosphere to deal with, no windshield was necessary. Just seat belts and a rollover cage.

  ''How pretty!'' Marlene slapped her hands. ''It even looks like a sledge! How does it move?''

  ''With four antigrav motors for propulsion,'' Alex replied tiredly. He and his team had had little sleep during the last twenty-four hours. ''Steering is done with one of the pad computers you see there. You can use their motion sensors or the optical controls.''

  ''How did you get ...''

  ''Mike designed that kind of control for the sphere some time ago. We later decided to use joysticks instead.''

  ''So why not here, too?'' Marlene was obviously curious.

  ''Ain't got none,'' Mike commented. ''Two reserve ones for the ship, that's all. Need to ask CERN for some later.''

  ''Where did the board come from?'' Walter asked interested, wondering where Alex had 'liberated' the long plastic strips.

  ''Spare parts, attached to Deck Five's ceiling,'' was the short reply. ''Because of our space restrictions larger spare parts are stored all over the ship. Mainly integrated into the walls or ceilings.''

  ''How do you power it?'' Tjurin wanted to know. ''Remote transmission?''

  ''No,'' Alex answered, ''We installed an AM battery, loaded with one gram of Anti-Tritium.'' On realizing that Tjurin was a bit lost with the explanation, he added: ''It's a small AM reactor, very compact. No exchangeable injectors; you have to fill it beforehand.''

  ''Christ,'' Dimitri sighed. ''How did you build one so fast?''

  Alex laughed. ''In Spangdahlem my team had a lot of spare time. The ship's AM reactor was finished early on in the project, and because we did not have any antimatter ...''

  ''You thought you could build some more of your magic machines, right? Like those batteries.'' Tjurin finished the sentence.

  ''Yes. Or quantum communicators with a tiny AM cell, the deflector shield generator, the grav lift, a few dozen class ones, some mines. Stuff like that.'' He took a breath. ''Look, we were able to design things with a totally new technology, from scratch. No restraints from any company policy,
no government to chip in, no red tape. So we set up a highly structured design. Strict modular construction, interchangeable parts everywhere. Standardised interfaces and connectors. The AM battery for example is composed of twenty-five parts, and only the annihilation chamber itself is unique. All other components came off the shelf, so to say. Like the other components we purchased: everything industry standard.''

  ''Ingenious.'' Tjurin was clearly impressed.

  ''Actually we stole the idea from the Red Army,'' Mike grinned. ''It was always much more standardised than NATO.''

  That made the Commander smile: ''You even can find that concept at the international space station.''

  ''Yes,'' Mike replied, ''we know. And Simone told us which constructor was insistent enough to enforce that.'' He smiled at the Russian, got back a smirk instead of a reply.

  ''Tell me about the specs,'' Walter requested. As the designated pilot he naturally wanted to know more. ''Range, speed, maneuverability, such things.''

  ''Considering the amount of antimatter in the battery and with a max speed of about Mach-10, the range is over a million kilometers. At Mach-20 roughly half of that.''

  ''What?!?'' Wolfram sounded flattened. ''Are you serious?''

  ''Absolutely. Mach-10, one million clicks, Mach-20, half a million clicks. And it has its own gravity plating; it can turn on a dime.''

  ''Wow.'' That came from Tjurin.

  Alex pointed: ''There is a NAV computer in that box. It can help with the navigation and even fly the buggy on automatic.'' Looking at Tjurin he added: ''It's your job to handle it, sir. You've been trained on it during your night shifts.''

  ''Yes.''

  ''When can we try it out?'' Walter wanted to know.

  ''Anytime. It's operative. Just ...''

  ''Not in here,'' Walter guessed.

  ''Yes. The controls are a bit touchy, and until you've adjusted them to your motion characteristics, you should stay away from the walls of the base. After all, they're just air mattresses.''

  ''So how do we proceed?''

  ''Well,'' Mike answered, nodding towards Tjurin and Wolfram, ''You two pretties and Alex suit up, Alex will fly this toy out of the hangar, and the rest is up to you.'' He grinned. ''I just want to remind you that the buggy also has a communication module and web cameras all around the sledge - which we can control remote.''

  ''So no stunts ...'' Dimitri concluded, ''... or the Captain cancels our desserts.'' Walter finished.

  ''Right,'' Mike grinned.

  Both men knew that the cameras had not been installed to spy on the crew of the sledge ... none of them had any idea what problems could arise out there.

  ''We thought you should take a day or two to practise a bit,'' Mike went on. ''In the meantime Alex's team is building a second buggy, as a backup.''

  ''So you can come to our rescue,'' Tjurin suspected.

  ''Basically, yes, but I hope that will not be necessary.''

  ''Is there a speed limit on the moon?'' Walter asked slyly.

  ''Yes, actually there is. It's called the don't-tempt-the-captain's-patience speed,'' Mike growled. ''On violation you ...''

  ''Get the dessert cancelled,'' Marlene guessed.

  Everybody laughed.

  Chapter 116

  Moon

  Monday, 02.01.2017

  ''Damn!'' MacMillan swore. ''Slow down, Walter! You're doing over a hundred miles per hour! The fucking sledge is brand new!'' Meaning prone to bugs.

  Alex, Marlene and Michael were standing on the bridge, watching Wolfram swishing over the craters plain.

  ''No worries, Captain,'' was the reply heard via quantum link, ''this baby is under NAV control.''

  ''We can see that, damn it! But it was you who entered the course parameters! Slow down!''

  ''OK, OK, you killjoy! Reducing the speed to fifty.''

  And really: Walter's speed dropped rapidly. He drove into a steep curve, intercepting the vehicle for a return course.''

  ''The TFR is working nicely,'' Marlene observed. ''Who came up with that one?''

  ''Terrain following radar is a basic capability of the NAV module,'' Alex explained. ''They all have that.''

  ''I didn't know that,'' she complained. ''And I should! After all I'm supposed to be NAV-One!''

  ''Don't get your feathers ruffled, sweetheart,'' Mike said soothingly. ''That function is never used in open space. Although you already saw it in action: during our first approach on Geneva. Remember?''

  It took a second, then she nodded: ''Right. Acar flew over the Mediterranean Sea and into the Alps.''

  ''Exactly. And that he did with TFR.''

  ''Scared me witless ...''

  ''Maybe, but it worked.''

  ''True enough. But all that effort to examine that rock?''

  ''Yes and no. Yes: I want to know why that rock is different, and no, we can use the buggy everywhere, even in open space and on Mars. The boys have made it to disassemble, so we can store it in the ship.''

  ''What's so interesting about that rock?'' Marlene was sceptic.

  ''Didn't you see it's spectral analysis?'' Mike asked.

  ''No.''

  ''Well, look it up. It's in the stellar database. The Astrophysical Computer did an automatic scan during the pass.''

  ''Good, I'll do that. What's next?''

  ''The day shift here is watching our friend outside playing with the buggy. And Alex is going down and to kick his buddies to build the second sledge. Me, I am going to work on the superlight-drive, and you ... ?''

  ''I'll go back to the base, have a chat with my NAV-Two. We are currently plotting the course for Mars. I mean the real-space one,'' she added ironically. ''Just in case you geniuses don't get that famous star drive running.''

  ''A vote of confidence ... why, thank you!''

  Laughing both left the bridge. The day shift had listened in on the whole conversation.

  Chapter 117

  Peking

  Monday, 02.01.2017

  Thien Zhao himself had asked for this meeting. That was a bit unusual, normally such arrangements were initiated by Xao's office only. Under his predecessor such behaviour would have been unthinkable, but these were different times and Xao was not General Nangong. Besides that Zhao was far from stupid; maybe craving recognition a bit, but other than that ... Xao was curious what his Head of the Science department would have for him.

  ''Comrade,'' Zhao began after the mandatory cup of tea, ''I come with a riddle and need your guidance.''

  That was new, indeed. Zhao definitely had never suffered from a lack of confidence ... Xao leaned forward, demonstrating interest.

  ''CERN has released the information of that group of nerds, whatstheirname ...'' Zhao began.

  ''Twisted Spaces,'' Lieutenant Feng offered.

  ''Right, Twisted Spaces. Anyway, as your operative, that hostage woman...''

  ''Lieutenant Li,'' Feng assisted again.

  ''Right, Li,'' Zhao said, ''as Li had said, we have received an upgraded version of the official website.''

  ''And?'' Xao asked.

  ''My department has analysed the data over the past days and we have come to a preliminary finding. The information is valid and everything is there.''

  ''Everything - what?''

  ''Everything we need to build antigravitational devices and a reactor that consumes antimatter,'' Zhao said. ''Furthermore instructions on how to build a small space ship and how to produce antimatter on our own.''

  Xao leaned back. That was not bad, but why was Zhao so ... unbalanced? He decided to wait just a little more. It only took a minute of quietness.

  ''My problem with this is: how could they do it?''

  ''Do what?'' Feng asked.

  ''Develop such an advanced technology in - what - five years?''

  ''You think it's impossible?''

  ''From most abstract theory to working machines in such a short time? I think that nobody could have achieved that. Nobody from Earth.''

  While Zhao took a sip
from his tea, Xao exchanged a silent glance with his adjutant. Yesterday Feng had voiced something very similar. He leaned forward: ''So where have they gotten it from? I mean, their ship is on the Moon...''

  ''As I said: nobody from Earth. And here is where you come in, comrade General. We will exploit all the new knowledge, sure, but in the end we need to find out where all this comes from.''

  ''My job.''

  ''Yes, General.''

  Chapter 118

  Moon

  Wednesday, 04.01.2017

  The ship was on full alert. Besides the Captain and the four officers on duty a few more curious crew members were lingering about, watching the proceedings on the main screen. The front and side cameras of the buggy were projected on sections of the main screen and showed a rapidly progressing flight.

  ''Approaching crater wall in twenty ...'' Tjurin's voice sounded over the quantum link.

  ''Why doesn't he slow down?'' Marlene asked from her NAV seat. ''They are way too fast!''

  ''Looks like a test of the anti-collision system,'' Alex smirked. ''Don't worry, the TFR is active.''

  ''Keep croaking, you duds,'' Walter replied offhandedly. ''TFR has already seen the little climb.''

  ''Wall in three, two, one ... woahh!'' Tjurin's sharp inhale was clearly audible over the comm link. ''Rollercoaster time.''

  On the main screen the view from the front camera tilted sharply upwards, looking into the sky now. The sledge shot uphill, passed the rim after a few seconds, then it dived down steeply - all with a breath-taking rush.

  ''A bit faster than the Americans in the seventies, don't you think?'' Mike grinned.