Foothold, page 12
part #1 of Foothold Series
Nigel swallowed as he watched the simulation showing the course of the ship as it somehow managed to traverse the multitude of dancing objects on the screen.
“Aren’t some of those rather close?”
“Not as bad as it looks, actually. We’re close to a planet with a dozen rings and 100 moons, so it’s bound to be a bit crowded, but there’s still more space than rocks here. And we know where everything is so we have time to move if we need to.”
“I thought this ship was so big that we couldn’t move quickly?”
“Used to be. We’ve used most of the propellant now and that was most of our mass. And we’ve got propellant to spare so we can operate the drives at high power - less efficient but we can squeeze out more thrust, even with only one reactor.”
“Oh. OK.”
Nigel didn’t seem too convinced.
“Nathalie up front?”
“She’s never anywhere else these days.” Nigel sighed. “She even eats and sleeps up there. I’ve reminded her that she can record and play back later, but apparently it’s not the same.”
“You can’t really blame her.”
“No, of course not. Actually, it gives me something to do, looking after her. Speaking of which, I should take her some food, and maybe try to drag her back for a shower. She needs one,” he said, wrinkling his nose.
David laughed. “Good luck with that one. Maybe you should take a sponge with you.”
Nigel’s eyes brightened. “You know, that isn’t a bad idea - I’ll go see to it.”
David shook his head as he left.
Another day passed and then they were through the ring and at their closest approach to Copernicus. The view from the observation dome was awe-inspiring - the gas giant completely dominated the view, and it appeared to be so close that it seemed impossible that they wouldn’t be pulled into it. But despite their close proximity, the speed of the Hope was still such that there was no chance of that. Around the planet they sped, and up towards the rings that were now visible at what they thought of as the top of the dome.
Nathalie was in heaven. The data that she was gathering, not to mention the sheer exhilaration of the close views of the planet, were better than she could have imagined.
“Look, Veronika, see there?”
She indicated a bright spot to the right and below the rings.
“That moon, it is the largest of them, it is Gagarin.”
Veronika’s throat felt tight as she replied. “You named it for Yuri Gagarin?”
“Of course, did I not say that cosmonauts and astronauts would be the companions?”
Veronika smiled. “Da, da, you did. And you started with a cosmonaut!”
“Copernicus is accompanied by cosmonauts,” Nathalie replied in the matter-of-fact tone that brought a smile to everyone else’s face. Nobody was going to argue with Nathalie’s concept of how the Tau Ceti system was to be named; except for the home planet she seemed to know what every piece of rock ought to be called.
“Astronauts, they are keeping Kepler company,” she continued.
“Of course they are,” Veronika acknowledged, staring at Gagarin as if to fix the image in her mind. “That makes perfect sense.”
***
Three days later, everyone was gathered together in the galley for a meeting, even Nathalie. David was briefing everyone on their next course correction.
“I’ve been waiting for us to clear the rings and reduce the risk of collision, even though it’s small. But now it’s time for our major course correction burn. Grace and I have worked it and decided that a high-thrust burn for three days will do it. That will put us directly on course to Tau Ceti VI and push our velocity back up. We’ll be there in 34 days.”
Everyone nodded agreement. This wasn’t a surprise, as it had been known several weeks previously, before their slingshot maneuver around Copernicus.
David paused, and then said, “But I want to propose a change to our course.”
He paused again then continued.
“As you know, I was proposing that we stop at Tau Ceti VI for a survey and then continue on to V. However, with the work that Nathalie has done recently,” he nodded to Nathalie, “It seems clear that V is almost certainly our best chance of finding a habitable planet - Nathalie?”
Nathalie cleared her throat. “Plant VI is still a possibility, it has water and a mostly CO2 atmosphere. But it also has high gravity and my assessment is that it is mostly covered with water ice. Planet V, on the other hand, has lighter gravity and I am almost certain liquid water on the surface. Also, there is oxygen in its atmosphere.”
“Oxygen!” Josh exclaimed, with an excited gleam in his eyes. “Are you sure?”
“There can be no doubt. The spectrographic analysis is quite clear - the closer we get the more certain I am.”
“And so,” said David, “I propose that we adjust our course to do a flyby of VI only, and go directly to V. We’ll miss the flyby of IV by doing this, but we can still make a close approach.”
“What are the benefits of this?” Veronika asked.
“It’s faster, and it will save fuel and put less stress on the ship. It’s safer.”
“And you do not mind?” Veronika asked Nathalie, with a hint of surprise in her voice.
“Not at all. I do not need to orbit a planet for my work. In fact, I prefer to be in open space, I can see farther out here.”
Veronika looked at Josh. “And you?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“My job is going to be big enough looking after just one planet,” he said with a smile. “The sooner I get there the better.”
“Does everyone support this change then?” David asked, looking at everyone, finishing with Veronika. “It doesn’t mean we can’t go back to VI, or even IV, if V doesn’t work out. We’ll save lots of fuel this way so with careful course plotting we can even switch back and forth several times.”
There were nods of assent.
“Good, thanks. We’ll go direct - Grace and I will rework our course. It’ll probably be similar to our old one but a slower approach to the flyby so we arrive with the right alignment for a transfer trajectory to the fifth planet.”
“Makes sense,” Josh affirmed.
“One more thing though - I also want to make a shift change.” He looked around the table again, assessing the mood. “I want to put Josh, Veronika and Nigel back into stasis until we reach V and bring John and Heidi back out.”
There were surprised looks around the table.
“I know that isn’t what you were expecting,” David said, “But I have my reasons. Let’s not forget the ship is not 100%. It probably doesn’t seem any different to the four of you,” he nodded at Josh, Veronika, Nathalie and Nigel, “but we only have one reactor and we can only run that at 80%. I’d feel a lot better if I had a couple of engineers handy in case we have problems. And as a bonus, we’ll save a little bit on food.”
“Is food a problem?” Nigel asked.
“Not at the moment,” Grace answered. “We’ve got enough to last the whole crew for about seven months, which is about three weeks’ behind where we ought to be, with the extra we ate because we had the reactor breach to deal with. That will get us to our home world and give us enough to get by on until we get some crops going. But by saving some now we can get that up to nearly enough to last us 9 months on the ground, and that could literally be a lifesaver.”
Nigel nodded. “I understand. It seems like a good idea. The truth is, apart from Nathalie, the three of us aren’t really needed yet,” he looked at Veronika. “We’re all healthy so no need for a doctor, and Josh and I are going to be the most use on the ground, right Josh?”
“Yes, he’s right. We’re out now in case there was any exobiology work on the way in, but without any lander probes to work with, that’s a long shot.”
“Is it safe to use the four-bay stasis chamber?” asked Veronika. “I mean, can the ship handle an activation?”
“It should be fine,” said David. “The accumulators are all running at 100%. There is a slight risk as the kick-start for the big chamber will only leave us with enough for one reactor start attempt, but I think the risk is low. In a worst case scenario, we have enough food for everyone on light rations.”
“OK, so when do we go back?” Josh asked.
“May as well be today. Take the morning to tidy up and then we’ll put you back in after lunch.”
Greenland, Earth
March 1, 2096
Edward came out of stasis to find the status screen flashing a red warning light. He frowned as he shook off the transition shock. The warning light should only be there if he was brought out of stasis early due to an emergency. He crossed quickly to the screen and pulled up a status summary. He had been in stasis for only three years of the expected five.
“Report,” he snapped, as he connected to his second-in-command, Samantha Heyes.
Samantha had clawed her way to the top of Harper Industries, and now alternated with Edward in stasis every five years. The natural selection process had ensured that she was extremely capable at being Edward’s alter ego, and she was typically unflappable now.
“We have an Omega situation,” she stated bluntly. Edward felt an icy hand clutch his heart. Omega was their code for global war; one of the scenarios they had prepared for.
“There is no doubt?”
Samantha shook her head. “We have confirmations from our sources within each of the superpowers’ military. It will only be a matter of days, perhaps hours.”
Edward nodded. “Very well. Execute plan Omega-1.”
Samantha nodded once. “Understood.”
Edward closed the link and went to revive Carla. It was time to leave.
***
The six crew of the Inspiration were revived from their stasis chamber, where they had been waiting for nearly 20 years.
“Is it time?” one of them asked.
The attending technician nodded.
They all smiled, excited that their day had finally come.
“If you would come with me, please,” The technician requested. “There are some final medical checks to perform.”
***
High above the Earth, the Harper Industries shipyard supporting the Inspiration project was a hive of activity. Dotted around the shipyard were various starship lander modules; four landers were officially intended to be part of the project, a number were used for ‘testing purposes’ and five others had no official designation. The five undesignated landers were now being carefully moved and docked to the Inspiration, while elsewhere in the yard the cargo hold fairings were being prepared.
***
The crew were used to medical examinations. They happened regularly for all kinds of reasons, and they were no strangers to needles being used to extract blood or inject some new substance that they all suddenly seemed to need.
None of them thought anything of it until they started to feel dizzy. Before any of them could even question what was happening, they lost consciousness.
Edward and Samantha entered the room.
“Are you sure you want to continue?” Samantha asked. “No one would know if you didn’t take them.”
Edward smiled coldly. “Ship them up. Harper Industries keeps its promises. One day that might matter.”
He looked at the crewmembers, now drugged and unconscious.
“They’ll make it to Tau Ceti, as we promised. They just won’t be crewing the ship.”
Samantha nodded. “As you wish.”
“You know what to do now?”
Samantha nodded. “Plan Omega-1 is already underway. The Executive is on their way off world as we speak, and others are moving to the secure sites. We’ll hold the line until you are ready for us.”
Edward nodded. “Good. You’ve done well.”
It was a rare piece of praise. Outwardly Samantha made no acknowledgement but he could tell she was pleased. It was one last piece of manipulation, to keep her loyal.
“You had better go. Carla is waiting.”
Edward nodded once and left for the shuttle waiting outside.
***
The Inspiration was technically similar to the Hope despite the long delays, and the controls were familiar to the 4-man crew that Edward had provided as a last-minute exchange. They quickly worked through their departure checklists under the watchful eyes of Edward and Carla.
Checklists completed, the pilot looked at Edward, a question in his eyes.
“Do it,” Edward commanded.
The pilot pushed the ‘Execute’ button, and the Inspiration came to life, its engines pushing them forward and spiraling them up out of orbit.
It was not quite as Edward had planned. There was still a large unknown element to their journey, with the Hope still not at its destination. But sometimes the best-laid plans have to be changed.
On the planet below, the bombs began to fall.
Starship Hope, Tau Ceti System
January 17, 2109
Nathalie didn’t look up from the telescope as the observation dome hatch slid open. David drifted in and floated to the screen echoing what the telescope was currently focused on.
“Is that it? That big white dot?”
“VI?” Nathalie replied, “Yes, that is it. Not what we are hoping for I don’t think.”
“How so?”
“We can tell a lot even from here,” Nathalie replied distractedly, “It’s so white because it must be covered in ice. Plus the atmosphere is mostly CO2 and quite thin.”
“So we can live there, but it won’t be easy?”
“Yes, it’ll be cold, and heavy, and we won’t be able to breath the air.”
“I guess we’ll know for sure in a couple more weeks. I’m hoping that it’ll be a place where we can survive if we need to. We need options.”
“It’ll be an option, just not a good one. I am very hopeful that V will be better.”
“Can we see it from here?”
“No, it is behind the star from our current position. But we already know it has liquid water and oxygen in the atmosphere. After we get past VI we’ll be able to see it and add some more detail.”
David nodded, more to himself than for Nathalie’s benefit, as she still hadn’t turned her attention from her telescope.
“Thanks, let me know if anything comes up.”
“Uh huh.”
David smiled to himself and gently pushed back towards the entrance to the dome. As far as Nathalie was concerned he was just a distraction.
“Just a reminder, Nathalie - we roll over for deceleration in six hours.”
That got Nathalie’s attention.
“Only six? Surely there is another day yet?
“Sorry, unless of course you’d prefer that we hold course longer and miss the flyby? There is an alternate route we can take.”
Nathalie’s face took on an expression of horror.
“Non, non. I would lose weeks, months of observation time! This we cannot do! You must start deceleration on schedule!”
Her expression changed slowly from horror to mortification as she realized David was playing with her.
“You! You have something to do besides waste my time?”
David raised his arm in a half-salute.
“Yes, ma’am!”
He got while the going was good.
***
“Have you seen John?” David enquired of Grace as he walked back onto the bridge.
Grace shrugged. “Not since yesterday. He and Heidi always seem to be in some dark corner of the ship. You might try the cargo hold though, they seem to spend a lot of time in there.”
“Thanks”. He turned and headed aft.
Sure enough, he found John and Heidi in the cargo hold, inspecting the heat shields on the landers. The Hope carried a complement of four large landers, which were simple capsule-shaped craft designed to reliably land the bulk of their cargo.
“How goes it?” David asked.
“Good, mate,” replied John. “Everything’s in such great shape it’s getting a bit dull.”
“So far as this mission is concerned, dull as dust is fine by me. The landers are in good shape then?”
Heidi nodded. “We can’t do much more with them without disassembling the components.”
“And I’d recommend not doing that,” John said. “I don’t think it will add any value and might actually cause a problem.”
“Agreed. Just do what you can with non-intrusive tests. Let me know if there are any problems.”
“Will do.”
“Oh, and we won’t get there for another 3 months, so don’t forget to take some breaks. We haven’t seen much of you two lately.”
Heidi promptly blushed and suddenly found something fascinating about the heat shield on the lander that they were inspecting. John just grinned and replied, “No worries mate, we’ll drop in for dinner tonight.”
David nodded. “Good, we’ll look forward to it.”
Back on the bridge, David settled into the captain’s chair and called up a status screen on the console before him. He stared at the screen without noticing as his thoughts drifted.
“A penny for them.” Grace’s interjection brought him back to reality.
David started. “Huh?”
“I don’t know where you were just then but I don’t think you were on the bridge.”
“Oh. Well, I was just thinking about the mission.”
“Worried about something?”
“I always worry. It’s my job.”
Grace reflected for a moment. For the first time, she was seeing a hint of vulnerability in David, and she was intrigued. “What about?”
“Nothing specific. I was just trying to think of things that could go wrong, and ways to fix them if they do.”
Grace rose from her seat and crossed over to David’s, slipping her arm around his shoulders. “You can’t carry the weight of our world on your shoulders alone,” she said. “Come on, let’s grab something to eat, then review the deceleration burn one last time.”
