Mission 01 Explorer – Day 0000 and Day 0041
Gareth entered the Bridge, stepping over the broad sill of the massive blast door.
Just as the boatswain's whistle began, Officer Khanisk snapped to attention and shouted, "Captain on the deck!"
Gareth glanced around at the stations as he strode to the captain's chair and sat down. Every post manned with its first and second crew in charge spun their seats to face him with a salute—communications, engines, environment, and navigation. Each one the best at what they were responsible for, but each as proficient at every other role required on the Bridge. Redundancies were key in this isolated setting.
"At ease," said Gareth. "We're going to be with each other for a very long time. Let's keep the formal stuff to a minimum. Now, I want a diagnostic run on every system on this ship. Officer Khanisk, anything to report? Were the civvy crews pissed off at having to wait for us to board?"
"No, sir, nothing to report. Yes, sir. They're civvies—there's always a few in every crowd that's pissed off about something. It's their personal form of happiness, sir. "
Gareth looked around at the others, suppressing his smile. "Get back to work, please. I want a launch as soon as possible."
Everybody returned to busying themselves over their consoles, pretending to be unaware of Gareth's presence.
Everything had been triple-checked, then triple-checked again before they'd been cleared for boarding, so Gareth expected nothing to be found wanting. He just wasn't one to trust others where it concerned his ship. But this wasn't just for his own peace of mind, this was for the crew. They needed real-life hands-on experience with this ship and time to adjust to the reality of what they were about to do. They were leaving and wouldn't return until Earth was decades older. If anyone had reservations, he wanted to find out now. Every one of them had been psych-evaled—they wouldn't be here if they'd been judged likely to doubt their choice. Still, the reality of never going back, the finality of it, had a way of clarifying people's true convictions.
He stood up. "I'm going on ship inspection. Someone tell all departments to expect me sooner or later."
∞
"No announcement, Canaisis," said Gareth as he exited the elevator on the Machine level.
Squinting against the bright lights, he glanced up. The Machine room was easily two levels high, placed against the hull with a loading airlock similar to those for the adjoining Hangar One. Big enough to accommodate a shuttle, the airlock doors dominated the far wall.
A vast assortment of machining equipment formed a city on the floor. On the left wall, floor-to-ceiling shelving housed raw materials. Automated robotic units rested in their docking stations next to machinery that could fabricate anything the ship or crew might need, from the trivial to the vital.
An extendable robotic arm attached to the ceiling retrieved a rod of metal from a shelving bin and lowered it to a man wearing a hard hat. He took the length of stock from the opening claw and noticed Gareth when he turned around. Too distant for Gareth to identify, the man put his hand to his mouth and let out a piercing whistle that returned an echo. A sharper whistle responded with two bursts from the rear, near the airlock.
Gareth occupied himself by surveying a couple of machines, remembering their purpose and his bare minimum proficiency of their use. Then he spotted a small robotic crane on wheels heading his way via a lane between the equipment. Assuming the red-bearded man riding the crane was Master Chief Machinist Johansen, Gareth placed his hands behind his back as he waited for him to arrive.
Johansen hopped down off the crane and stepped up to Gareth, extending his hand.
Gareth shook it. "How's it going down here, Chief?"
"Going well, sir. Some last-minute supplies coming in at the Nerds' request."
Gareth cocked an eyebrow at him.
"'Scuse me. I mean the Science division, sir."
"Anything unusual?"
"No, sir. Just equipment, mostly. Of course, I wouldn't know if it was unusual even if I knew what they all did. We're just getting it stored and lock-downed for transit. I hear we're launching shortly."
Gareth nodded. "Yes, but after acceleration, things will settle down. We'll have weeks of transit time leaving the solar system. I was hoping you could slip in a project for me. A personal project."
"Be happy to." Johansen smiled. "What would you like?"
"Do we have any real wood in stock?"
Johansen's smile dropped as he considered Gareth's question. "No, sir, not as extra material per se. We do have stock to be used for repairing tent poles, hand tools, and other items for planet-side. Why, what do you have in mind?"
Gareth told him and sent a file with the data to Johansen's CLEOS.
"Well, I think I know a way to satisfy your request, Captain." Johansen looked up from reviewing the specs on his wrist device, his smile returning. "Second Chief Marley likes to whittle. He brought with him some private stock, and I'm sure he won't mind contributing. You want it plain or ornamental?"
"I wouldn't want to deprive a man of his recreational activities," stated Gareth.
"Nonsense. Marley won't mind scoring some points with the Captain at all. Besides, you wouldn't believe how much he brought aboard. You'd be doing me a favor. Particles of anything floating in the air is dangerous in zero-G, and it will be a pain keeping this shop clean, as it is. The less stock he has, the happier I'll be."
Gareth returned Johansen's smile. "Then tell him he can use his discretion, then."
"Perfect. I'll tell him something comparable to your desk. We helped unpack it before it could be brought aboard."
"Don't go overboard, Chief, and don't let this project take either of you from your responsibilities."
"We got this, Captain. It'll be fun and give us something to do to kill the dead time."
Gareth nodded. "Thank you, Chief. I appreciate this."
"Great. You won't mind if I get back to work, now, will you? I hear we got a deadline."
Gareth gestured a dismissal. "I have an expectation. But we won't launch until all departments are secure."
"My department won't be the reason we're held up, Captain." With that, Master Chief Johansen returned to his crane.
Gareth glanced around the area one last time before leaving the Machine hangar. He took a corridor gently curving with the hull, stepping over airlock sills along the way. At an intersecting passage, he turned left, heading into the center of the ship. An occasional civilian crewmember going in the opposite direction would greet him as they passed, or only nod at him in recognition.
The end of the corridor widened in diameter, bright with rich yellow light pouring out through an open airlock. Gareth strode up the ramp leading across the sill and paused a couple of steps inside to look, allowing his eyes to adjust.
Rows of floor-to-ceiling netting stretched away from him, one net dotted with lines of evenly spaced, clear balls, extending as far as he could see. From above, flexible clear tubes divided the netting into sections, with smaller lines branching off, each to feed a single ball. An occasional bubble of air flowed through the lines of fluid.
Several people in white coveralls floated up and down the netting walls as they pulled themselves along. A young man perched on a container topped with netting. Gareth saw no brackets bolting it to the floor, a clear sign it was mag-locked. The man pulled out a ball and tossed it to the person high above him in the net, who deftly caught it and stuck it to the empty row before attaching a tube.
Watching the hydroponic staff working efficiently in zero-G raised Gareth's respect a few points. All of them had long, thin bodies from being raised in extreme, low-G environments.
"May I help you?"
Gareth looked up behind him for the source of the female voice.
Piercing brown eyes regarded him from above the door—a woman whose complexion stood in stark contrast to her white coveralls. The fact that she held onto one of the convenient grab holds on the wall, legs floating, had no effect on her neat, close-cropped hair.
Gareth had read her file, but he hadn't paid attention to her height. Judging by the length of her body as she hung upside down, if they were facing each other, he'd be looking straight at her bosom.
Gareth focused his thoughts away from the startling realization. "I've just come by to see how things are going, Dr. Windrow. Is there anything you need?"
Her eyes narrowed. "Yes. More time and less hassle."
"I'm not here to hassle you."
"One more step and you would've found yourself in zero-G. One of us would've had to come get you before you bumped into our nutrient balls and sent them flying, putting us behind schedule. I call that a hassle."
Gareth smiled up at her without humor. "I sincerely doubt that would have been the case. But surely you'll be able to have your work completed before we leave Sol with time to spare."
"Shows how little you know, Captain. A closed hydroponic system is a delicate balance. We have to get these plants started, then teach Canaisis how to maintain the system. Then program the harvesters to do their job properly while we're in cold sleep, so we have something to eat when we get there. Unless you like dried dead-leaf salad."
"Not particularly, hence my coming to speak directly with you to see if you need anything." Gareth kept his voice cordial, hoping to break through Dr. Windrow's attitude.
"No. I need to get back to work, if you'll excuse me, Captain."
This wasn't working, and he needed to nip it in the bud early. He reviewed his memory of her file and found something that might work, something all Jovian colonists loved.
"One more thing, Dr. Windrow."
The doctor had already swung her body around, but she stopped and swung her feet upward to look down at him again.
"Maintaining physical fitness is a necessary part of ship life. I require a racquetball partner. Shall we start next week?"
Dr. Windrow arched one eyebrow. "Zero-G ball?"
"Of course—is there any other? I tell you what: if you win, I'll delay cold sleep by one day. You could win quite a few days before we reach the edge of the solar system."
Windrow broke into a huge, gleaming smile. "Next week? You got a date, Captain."
Gareth nodded once. "Carry on, then."
He exited Hydroponics. Next stop, science, then astronomy and engineering, he thought, pleased with his encounter with the doctor. There was more than one way to gain respect. He just needed to win the matches. But considering her reach was a third longer than his arm, it was going to be a tough game.
∞
Gareth's visits to the rest of the departments went as he thought they would. The head of Astronomical was excited to be on their way. The heads of Biology and Physics departments were argumentative and quarrelsome, respectively. That wasn't completely unexpected. With their snobbish, high IQs and low social IQs, it was natural for them to want their importance to be recognized. Yet until the ship entered a new star system, they had little purpose.
Some things never changed. As far as Gareth was concerned, as long as they didn't attract his attention, he would respect their domains and stay away.
Engineering intrigued him the most, and the chief and he did a round of visual inspection together. To Gareth, the engines themselves were works of art. Art that was to be respected. Their lives depended on them. Of equal importance, yet a visual letdown, were the electrical storage banks, a vast row of gray metal cubes, the size of houses. Here was where the fusion plant's energy for powering the FTL drive was stored.
One sealed chamber was marked out-of-bounds, and could only be viewed through a long, narrow strip of armored glass or via monitors. It housed the magnetic field generators that both shielded the ship at FTL and engaged the Birkland plasma currents flowing between the stars. The energy demands were huge, and the scale of magnetic fields required were equally large. As living biological beings, they could not enter that chamber, since the permanent magnets inside the generators would literally draw the iron from their blood.
Despite the best technology Mankind had to offer to date, and the huge sacrifice of economic energy poured into it, the ship was limited by the energy it could create. To utilize the full potential of the Birkland currents, the fusion generator would have had to be so large that it would cancel the benefit gained. Still, traveling at double the speed of light was an achievement, for it opened up the Universe to Mankind.
"The art of engineering has always been summed up with finding the best compromises to achieve your goal," the chief engineer commented.
Gareth bid his goodbyes to the chief, satisfied with his appraisal of the man and glad to have spent this time with him. But now he needed to return to the Bridge. Hand-holding time was over—he had a ship to get moving. Once on their way, there would be plenty of time for everyone to get settled in.
∞
Six uneventful ship-weeks later, the LS Canaisis had passed through the outer solar system and into the Kuiper Belt proper, forty-five AU out. Gareth sat in his chair on the Bridge, musing as he waited for time to pass. The moment was almost here.
Breaking orbit from Earth had gone textbook perfect. He'd ordered a view of Earth to be put up on the forward screen, off to the side. They'd all watched their home planet grow smaller by the day until it was pointless to keep it up. Now, a graphic displayed the location of a small dirty ball, also shrinking with each passing day. Pluto.
He dropped his gaze to the holographic board game projection on the left armrest. To help him pass the time in his cabin, he'd taught Canaisis to play Ludas Latrunculorum.
Gareth became fascinated with Canaisis as he taught her the game. There was a personality under her operating system. He caught glimpses of it once in a while, in her responses. Bearing in mind what he'd picked up about AI's from Harlin, Gareth found himself giving Canaisis his full attention. On his almost daily hull inspections, he would converse with her, alone, where no one could hear him. He'd found it hard, at first, getting used to her voice coming through the bone conduction device in his head. But now he found it kind of comforting when he was outside and suited up.
He reached over and signaled a move on the virtual board and waited. Canaisis made her move, a piece on the board shifting to take one of his own. The move made no sense, and Gareth leaned closer to study the board. One thing he'd learned: Canaisis was a very quick learner, and no fool. If this move made no sense, then it meant he was missing something.
Gareth looked up as his navigation first officer, Third Officer Ronell Persfon, the last crew left awake, turned in his chair.
"We've entered the heliosphere boundary, Captain. We can go FTL at your word."
"Alright, go ahead and head on down to CS. Check everyone else is okay, then seal the chamber. Let me know when you're about to put yourself under."
Persfon set his panel to let Canaisis take control, then stood up and nodded respectfully at Gareth before heading out of the Bridge. Gareth was pleased he'd finally gotten the saluting over with. It had only taken a couple of weeks for the shine to wear off the crew.
"Canaisis, give me a visual inspection tour of the interior of the ship, please."
The forward screen divided into four windows, each displaying different areas of the ship. Every fifteen seconds, the four views changed to a new perspective. Gareth focused on them as they played across all sections of the ship. He had time—it would take Persfon a while to finish checking every civilian and crew in the Cold Sleep chamber. All other systems were now in Canaisis' hands.
"Status report, Canaisis."
"All systems green, Captain. Adjusting our course for optimal entry into galactic magnetic currents."
"Use your best judgement."
"Aye, Captain."
The forward screen continued changing ship views. Several long minutes passed before the comms beeped.
"Go ahead."
"Cold sleep pods all green, Captain. Chamber is sealed. I'm ready."
"Take your time, Ronell. I've got quite a few checks to make, and Canaisis will let me know when your pod is green. It's been good sailing with you. I'll see you on the other side."
"Yes, sir—it's been a pleasure serving under you, Captain. See you on the other side. Persfon out."
Gareth leaned back and noted the screen was showing different perspectives of Hangar One, where the shuttles were secured to the hangar floor. This would be the last of the interior.
"Okay, Canaisis. Let's take a look outside while you begin charging up."
"Aye, Captain. Fusion generator coming up to one hundred percent."
The windows on the screen switched to showing different angles of the ship's exterior. The outer lights cast black shadows on the silver-gray metal wherever the hull curved. Very few sharp angles broke into Canaisis' sleek lines.
She really is a beautiful ship. Each time that thought struck him, his chest swelled with pride. If only Caitlin had been able to see what he saw out here. Would you have understood me better? Would you have resented my time away less? Maybe... just maybe things would've turned out different.
He sighed.
"Second Officer Persfon's cold sleep pod has signaled activation, Captain."
Gareth's thoughts snapped back to the present. "Thank you, Canaisis. How are you doing? Ready for this?"
"All systems are optimal. Power banks at twenty percent charge. Beginning to build magnetic fields for deployment. It is time for you to enter cold sleep, Captain."
Gareth watched the monitor switch to a star chart growing dash-dotted trails to represent the magnetic lines being mapped. He leaned forward. "It's okay to be nervous—this is our first time. I know I'm nervous as hell, but I've got faith in you, Canaisis. This is what you were made for. It's in your blood."
"I do not utilize blood, Captain."
"I know. It's just an expression of speech."
"Protocol is for you to achieve cold sleep, Captain."
He got up. "I'll worry about that later—we've got time. I'm going to check a few things personally. While I'm doing that, analyze the magnetic fields ahead carefully. Let's have no surprises, alright?"
"As you say, Captain."
He left the Bridge. The silence within the ship pressed upon him as he rode the elevator down to the Cold Sleep level. He hadn't noticed Humanity's presence before, but he was very aware of its absence. Maybe it was the subtle noise of activity, or maybe it was the smell of Humans... Whatever it was, it was gone now. Gareth felt his mental walls relaxing—walls he hadn't been aware of. Odd that these two sensations were linked together somehow. Even more odd that he hadn't been aware of either before now.
Outside the Cold Sleep chamber, he entered his code into the control pad beside the door and ordered a full status report and diagnostic scan. Pondering Canaisis' move on the board game occupied his time until the results came back.
The Cold Sleep system was independent of Canaisis, with its own power source that could run for centuries without maintenance. Canaisis had access to inquire data from the system, but that was all. If something had been amiss, Gareth would have had to come here in person. It was his duty to look after the sleepers' lives. He could have ordered the diagnostics from the Bridge, but felt better about doing it himself at the chamber.
He ordered a second-level diagnostic scan. As he waited, he held a picture of the board game in his mind and analyzed the pieces on the board. Canaisis' move had left herself open to his counter move—she would lose several pieces. It would require him to move several other pieces into the area to achieve the counterattack, but why that particular move on her part?
Gareth mentally examined the other areas of the board when he realized what was going on. She had pieces poised to attack a vulnerability that would develop as he moved to execute his counterattack. He found himself smiling when it became clear—Canaisis was setting him up. But when had the trap been laid? It had been subtle, initiated from the beginning of the game. That was why he hadn't noticed the placement of the pieces that would trap him. His respect for Canaisis rose another notch—she was both planning ahead and anticipating his normal pattern of play.
The level two diagnostics came back all green as he was planning his tactics for avoiding the trap. Putting his thoughts aside, he resumed the role of Captain and stepped to the center of the blast door. He rested his hand upon it, giving it a moment of respect before returning to the Bridge.
He strode to his chair and sat down."Close the door, Canaisis, would you please?"
The blast door began closing as he secured his safety harness.
"It is protocol for you to initiate your cold sleep at this time, Captain."
"How are the energy banks doing?"
"Forty-two-point-eight percent and rising."
"Well, we got time then. Let's finish our game." To make his point, Gareth moved a virtual piece as he leaned over the hologram board.
The game became a real challenge. He ignored the bait Canaisis had offered and counter-moved against a wing of her trap. The energy banks reached capacity in short time, but Gareth continued the game. By the end, both sides had lost most of their pieces, with Gareth barely managing to hold on to a tie.
"That was a good game, Canaisis. Very interesting tactics."
"Thank you, Captain."
"I want a rematch when I wake up, okay?"
"Of course."
"Initiate FTL procedure, Canaisis." Gareth leaned back and closed the hologram as he placed his hands on the armrests.
"This is not protocol, Captain. Please retire to your cabin. I will enter FTL after you are in cold sleep."
"Canaisis, I'm not leaving this chair. Nor am I leaving you to do this all alone. This will be the first time for both of us, so we go together. How are things looking? Feel like you're ready?"
"Absolutely, Captain."
Gareth noted a touch of humanity in Canaisis' voice, a certain inflection she'd never used before. "Good. I am too. Start FTL procedures."
"Aligning electron lattice," stated Canaisis, the brief emotion gone from her voice. "Synchronization with solar circuit achieved."
He relaxed in the chair, internally bracing himself for the anticipated madness of the FTL environment. He wouldn't leave his ship to start this alone. He could make it to his cabin for cold sleep later—it was just outside the Bridge.
"FTL initiated."
≈ ∞ ≈
©2023 by kemorgan65 and RavenRock2112