Star Fields

Chapter No.6 Departure

Chapter No.6 Departure

The return home is not always easy.

After the water had been ultra-purified and secured in the walls of our vessel, I decided that it was time to leave.

"Take us out of orbit and plot a course for Earth."

"Yes, Jason," Judy replied.

Molly ran out of the elevator. "Are we going to warp?

"Not yet. I want to get further out of this system before we do that."

She plopped down in the navigational station. "I just checked with Engineering and they said that my idea for a quantum drive is feasible."

"That's great. When we get back to Earth we'll see if they can construct it."

"Actually, all it takes is to figure out a way to spin your modification to the antimatter mix chamber."

"That shouldn't be that difficult. How fast must it spin?"

"Two hundred and fifty thousand rotations per second."

I smiled. "Oh, that might be a problem."

Her brows creased. "Surely, you could devise a way to do that."

"What you're proposing would require an ultracentrifuge. I'm sure we could build one but how are we going to connect an antimatter magnetic bottle to that?"

"How about a frictionless fitting?"

I tapped a finger to my lips. "Yes, I read about that. It employs nitrogen cooled down to one degree C. The fitting would require an exotic material like nanospheres. I'm sure that the androids could conjure something like that." I looked at her. "Why does it have to spin that fast?"

"It has to do with the fact that antiprotons have wave properties."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. Normal protons don't. This results in a phase shift when they collide that must be compensated by spinning the chamber where they interact to achieve the necessary energy release."

I didn't actually understand that. I would need to see her math to verify it. However, if her idea works it would be a game changer.

"We are ready to depart, Jason," Judy announced.

"Take us out," I replied.

The view on the main screen exhibited a rapidly shrinking gas giant orbited by an increasingly tiny Earth sized moon. Within minutes we were traveling at a quarter speed of light.

I kept my eyes on the Warp Engine status. Everything was ready for activation. I swallowed hard. I really didn't know if it would actually work despite all of the computer simulations indicating it would.

"We are free to engage warp, Jason," Judy said with no signs of concern in her voice.

"Engage."

Suddenly, everything turned bright blue for a second before falling back to a shimmering light haze. I kept my eyes on two parameters; the mix chamber temperature and the warp number. Both were advancing rapidly.

"Wow!" I exclaimed. "We've reached 7.5 warp. If it holds steady we will arrive back at Earth in seven days."

Molly held a shaking hand to her forehead. "I feel queasy."

I turned to her. "Yes, you will feel weird at first. Eventually, you'll adjust to it. Remember that we were in stasis when we came out here. We didn't have to experience the disorientation of warp."

"I think I'll go back to my quarters and lie down," she said.

She got up and shuffled off to the elevator. I would have done the same but I was concerned about the antimatter mix chamber temperature. It was very close to the maximum safe level. If it rose any higher, we would be forced to back the warp speed off.

But, it held. I eventually gave up and retired to my quarters where I grabbed a quick snack and headed to my bedroom where I settled down for an evening of classic TV.

A few hours later, I head a noise and turned to watch Molly approach attired in pajamas. She lifted the sheet and smiled.

"May I?"

"Yes," I said, smiling back.

She propped up on a pillow like I was and looked up at a screen above the bed. "What are you watching?"

"It's an old Seinfeld episode. It was very popular back in the last century."

"I'm not familiar with it."

"It's what they termed a situation comedy back then. Jerry Seinfeld was a comedian. It makes me laugh."

"I'm surprised that we can still laugh," she said, sounding depressed.

"I know what you mean, but we are still basically the same as we were before our transformations."

She sighed but then perked up. "Oh, I did do a survey of nearby star systems. I found two candidate exo-planets. One is in a rocky planet about 1.5 times the mass of Earth orbiting a M-0 class red dwarf that about 0.4 times the mass of our sun at the outer edge of the habitable zone. I don't think it's tidally locked like most planets orbiting red dwarfs because it has a sizable moon, which offsets the gravity effects of the star. This planet might be too cold for life, but if it does have life it would be have to be very durable. That system is 10 light years from the system we were in."

"That would make sense because our mission would have been to establish a base as close as possible."

"The second system is about 25 light years away from the base moon. It's K-2 class star about 0.75 times the mass of our sun. The planet is almost twice the size of our Earth. Even though the planet orbits in the habitable zone, a planet that size would have a much larger atmosphere and a crushing gravity."

"We still don't know what kind of aliens we're dealing with. Maybe I should try to get it out of the androids. It would be better if we knew what we're dealing with."

"Do you think that they know about them?"

"They must know something about them. Why would they go to the trouble of killing the crew to prevent a war with them?"

"Hopefully, we won't have to deal with them now that we're returning to Earth."

I nodded.

She gave me a smirk. "I think I'll leave you to your entertainment, but I want a kiss before I leave."

I gave her a surprised look, but she moved closer, enticing me to kiss her, which I did. I felt weird kissing her, a total stranger, but it tasted good.

"Thank you for saving me," she said before slipping out of my bed and vanishing into the dark.

I understood how she felt, but the truth is that I would have saved anyone.