Chapter 14. Heroic Test.
"The asteroid is rotating at one revolution per hour," Janice reported. "The rotation axis is pointed toward Earth's orbital course at twelve degrees. If we align this vessel at twenty degrees, we should be able to not only slow the asteroid but also alter its attack angle just enough to miss Earth."
James turned to Flip. "You should orient this ship at that angle on the asteroid. We won't know how well we can attach this ship to this rock well enough to move it until we try it."
Flip began the delicate directional changes to slowly but surely sit the ship down at the proper angle. James watched him work the positioning jets to slowly move toward the asteroid's surface. He didn't seem to be stressed, but it was difficult to tell. His facial expressions were not all that altered from a stoic monk-like appearance.
Once the ship was securely on the asteroid's surface, it was time to begin the process of locking it down well enough to begin altering the asteroid's course. The vessel was equipped with boring rods that acted like giant screws that slowly rotated the rods to insert them into the asteroid's surface. How well this would work depended on the asteroid's surface density and solidness. If it was too soft or made from loose gravel, it wouldn't have the proper grip. If it was too metallic, the screws wouldn't go in far enough to provide a secure lockdown to the surface.
Luck would have it the surface was just right. After several hours of work, the ship was securely locked down to the asteroid's surface. Now came the next question. Would the ship's engines be powerful enough to alter the asteroid's course?
Leonard was responsible for monitoring the engines to make sure they weren't overloading and using too much fuel on a process that would require hours.
An indication of their progress came after four hours.
"The asteroid's course is slowly changing," Janice said. "We need a 1.5-degree course angle relative to Earth's orbit. We're at 0.9."
"It's going to be close," Leonard said. "We'll have just enough fuel to get back to Earth."
"My calculations indicate that we won't make it," Janice said.
James' reply was short. "Shit!"
"There is extra fuel in the reserve chamber," Flip said. "It will be enough to get back to Earth orbit."
Leonard stared at him for a moment before turning to his engineering controls. After a few minutes, he looked up with a smile. "He's right. I wasn't aware of that."
"Hopefully, we'll be able to disconnect from this rock," James said. "I don't think I would want to be stuck here."
"If necessary, we can disconnect the ship from the screws," Leonard said.
"Ok, let's get this done," James said.
After the asteroid had been angled correctly and slowed down enough, it was time to detach the ship from the asteroid and begin the burn to get back to Earth.
Flip and Flop handled the operation well. It was if they had been trained for it."
"It appears that this vessel was designed to change asteroid courses," Leonard said. "I'm surprised that they risked not having it for the time we were on the Planet Nine mission."
"Yeah, that doesn't make sense," James said. "Maybe they knew that no asteroid was headed to Earth during our mission."
"Keep in mind that we are years in the future compared to then," Janice said.
"She is correct," Flip said. "This ship was altered after its return to Earth."
James smiled. "Yep. That make sense. There's a lot we don't know about those lost years that flew by us without us knowing it."
The voyage back to Earth was uneventful, but not without a new mystery. While James and Leonard were lounging in James' quarters, along with Tip and Tap, the conversation led to a question that would change everything.
"If we lost twelve years of our time because of time dilation, why don't we look older," Leonard asked.
"I'm not sure," James replied. "Maybe it's not what we thought it was."
"You are correct," Tip said. "It is a result of the twin paradox, where a space traveling twin will not age as much as a non- space traveling twin. But, even at the speed of light, the time dilation that resulted in a twelve-year difference would only be possible if the space traveling twin was moving at many times the speed of light."
"So, what you're suggesting is that travel through a portal would have propelled us many times the speed of light, something that should be impossible."
"That is correct. A portal involves an unknown methodology to alter spacetime."
James turned to his two human crew members. "I wonder if NASA was aware of what would happen if a vessel entered a portal?"
"They must have known something," Janice said. "It's obvious that we weren't sent there to find Planet Nine. They already knew the portal was there. Maybe they were aware of what it could do."
"Too bad they didn't tell us about it," Leonard said. "I would not have volunteered to go on the mission."
"They could have sent these androids without us," Janice said. "They seem quite capable of taking care of any space mission."
"That casts some doubt on what's really going on," James said. "If the android assistant takeover happened after we left Earth for Planet Nine, did NASA know about it then, or did it occur during the years that we were accelerated into by going through the portal?"
"I think we must assume that it happened during the years we accelerated through while in the portal," Leonard said. "I doubt anyone knew the future."
James turned to Flip and Flop. "Were you aware of the android assistant event?"
"Yes," Flip replied.
"How did you know?"
"It is in our operational code."
His answer shocked the human crew. It represented a dystopian plot that existed long before they went on the mission to Planet Nine. However, there was a hole in the plot that needed an answer.
That would come later.