Chapter 2.1 - The Discovery (Part 1) V2.1
2166, early spring. Pasadena, South California. North American Alliance.
Professor Robert Scott adjusted the instrumentation on the experimental device and said to his lab partner. "Okay Mynah, how's the data feed?"
The tall woman looked up from her instruments and gave her friend a beautiful, yet intriguing smile. "Five by five, Bobby. Let's give it another try."
The exotic material they were testing was a combination of rare earth metals and a heavy element matrix assembled atom by atom by nanobots. When electrical and magnetic fields were applied to this material it was theorized that it should produce gravitons the same way a conventional semiconductor produced electrons. Mynah was the genius behind programming the nanomachines to assemble the exotic materials in the way her partner Dr. Scott had envisioned. Without her, the experimental gravitational plate would never have made it from the whiteboard to the lab for testing.
"Power coming up, 10% and holding steady."
"Okay, ramp up to 20% and hold."
Mynah checked her console again. "Okay, 20%. Still steady."
Scott checked the reading on the strain gauge connected to the five-kilogram test cylinder it read: 5.0000.
This was their first full power test on the grav plate. Professor Scott had theorized that the threshold would be reached at 50% of rated power and that a small gravitational field would start at that point. The test plate could theoretically develop a ten g field.
Mynah checked her instruments once again. "Still steady at 20%, the square wave generator is within tolerance, consumption at 10 Amps, 550 Volts DC."
Scott checked the strain gauge again. "Still at decimal four zeros, go ahead and push it up to 30%."
Mynah entered the increased voltage and amperage settings into her keyboard. "30% and steady."
Professor Scott checked another gauge. "It's definitely taking the power; temperature is up by three point three degrees. Let's run steady at 30% for ten minutes to check stability."
Mynah sub-consciously adjusted the long black ponytail over her left shoulder and responded. "Got it, hack set for 10 minutes."
As Scott walked by the test apparatus to Mynah's station he saw the strain gauge fluctuate between 5.0000 – 5.0001 – 5.0002 – 5.0001. The instrumentation of the unit was so sensitive that even his footfalls caused a reading. He stood next to Mynah and looked over her shoulder at the readouts. He could not help but notice how good she smelled...Mynah's ten-minute clock counted down to zero. "Hack," she said confidently.
Scott returned to the test apparatus. "Okay, just like the simulation, one percent a minute and let's see what happens..."
Just after Scott heard Mynah say, "42%," The strain gauge readout changed from 5.0001, 5.0002, 5.005...5.1, 5.2.
"Mynah! Come here and check this out, it's working! There is definitely an artificial gravity field building."
Mynah smiled briefly and again checked her station. "50% and steady, no anomalies."
She calmly walked over to Scott and marveled at the strain gauge which read a steady 5.7140kg.
"Congratulations Doctor Scott, you did it! By my calculations that is a steady field of almost 1.15g."
A beaming Robert Scott turned to his friend and partner and hugged her. "Congratulations to us Mynah."
They both seemed to enjoy the short embrace a little more than just colleagues normally would.
She looked into his pale blue eyes and said softly. "Congratulations, Bobby."
Mynah walked back to her station and sat down at the power control console. "All readings still nominal, ready to continue."
"Okay, same as before. One percent per minute. Stop at 90% or when I tell you to. We'll do a stability check at whatever level we stop at and then check the steady state gravity field and temperature readings."
Mynah pressed the continue program key. As the test hit 87% she said with a bit of concern in her voice. "Getting some minor fluctuations here. Looks like a feedback loop."
"Agreed, back it off to eighty and we'll do the stab check there."
A couple of minutes later Mynah reported. "Steady at eighty percent power, no feedback here."
"Temp is steady at 55 Centigrade; a little warmer than I want, but if we add active cooling, should be no problem."
From her station, Mynah asked. "What's the g field showing?"
Scott looked at the strain gauge readout and shook his head. "You're not going to believe this; it shows 49.5 kg. Almost 10g's!"
"I think the guys at Fleet will be pretty happy with that..."
"No doubt!"
Over the next several weeks, Scott and Mynah verified their results, documented everything and finally scheduled a demonstration for Fleet Headquarters staff. The Fleet Captain from the staff sent to observe the demo was a gravelly voiced officer who had not seen the inside of an interplanetary cruiser in years. He reluctantly agreed to the demo and arrived at the lab 45 minutes late. He was escorted by a younger Commander who had a Major from the Engineering Corps in tow.
Captain "Bear" Handy sat through the briefing and said briskly. "Enough of this nonsense. Gravity plates, a 10g field, I don't believe this hokum!"
Unaccustomed to such closed-mindedness, Doctor Scott paused a moment. "Perhaps we should proceed with the demonstration. This way sir..."
Mynah deftly ran through the demo with various test objects and gravity fields up to 12g. Captain Handy was thoroughly unimpressed. "Artificial gravity, impossible! Could just be magnetism, or some other such snake oil."
Doctor Scott answered patiently. "Mynah, please bring the field back down to zero."
A couple of minutes later she said. "Power at idle, Doctor."
Scott moved over to the apparatus, removed the test object and disconnected the strain gauge leads. "Captain, perhaps you would like to see for yourself?"
"How's that?" He barked.
"Indulge me, sir. Here, place your hand on the grav plate next to mine and we'll bring up the field."
Not liking to be shown up, Handy reluctantly complied.
Scott nodded and paused to stare at Mynah's green eyes. "Okay Mynah, let's start with 2g."
She nodded and was all business. "Set."
Scott looked at the obstinate Captain. "Okay sir, your hand is in a 2g field can you feel it?"
Handy lifted his hand off the plate. "It's a trick!"
Scott shook his head. "Mynah, make it six, okay."
"Set." Came her confident response.
"Now try it, sir."
Handy tried to lift his hand off the plate and struggled mightily. He shook his head and said loudly. "I don't know how you're doing this but I know this whole thing is a fake!"
Back at her console, Mynah said to herself. "Fake my ass!" She angrily pressed a couple of commands into her keyboard and brought the artificial gravity field immediately to ten-g. Captain Handy's palm slammed onto the grav plate with a loud smack.
Scott looked at Mynah, rolled his eyes and tried not to smile. "Okay Mynah, set power to idle."
With that, both men easily removed their hands from the plate. Handy mumbled something under his breath and said sharply to his staff officers. "Check all of this out and get back to me. I'll want your report on my desk first thing in the morning."
And with that, Captain Handy barged out of the lab in a huff.
As the steel blast doors slammed shut, Mynah said to the two younger officers. "What a piece of work, where did you get that guy?"
The Commander answered diplomatically. "Sorry Ms. Mittal, Doctor Scott, Captain Handy can be, um difficult at times. He has a reputation as a Ready, Fire, Aim kinda guy..."
The Major with the engineer's Atom and Gear badge could barely contain his excitement. Mick Jones' red hair was close-cropped, spacer style. He had deep blue eyes, an impertinent attitude and was the best engineer in the Fleet since his uncle Montgomery.
"Doctor, that's the most amazing thing I've ever seen! I would have thought it was a hoax until I saw it with my own eyes!"
The engineer looked eagerly at the Commander who nodded. "Yes, go ahead Mick."
"Could we go through the demo again?"
Doctor Scott and Mynah went through the whole sequence again. Major Jones insisted on having his hand on the plate at 10g's for a few seconds.
"Amazing, impossible, absolutely amazing!"
As Mynah was shutting down the test apparatus, Commander Colin McKenzie asked. "Doctor Scott, do you know what this will do to space travel. I mean, to actually have artificial gravity on the long duration missions we have planned?"
"Indeed Commander, that is the Genesis of this project. There is another use of the tailored g field. If you get those new high thrust fusion engines the boys on Farside are working on, it should be theoretically possible to thrust at five g's and run a one g field throughout the ship."
"Unbelievable."
That evening after escorting the two Fleet officers out of the secure portion of the lab and activating the security system, Mynah said pleasantly to Robert. "A long but very productive day Doctor, care to buy a pretty girl a glass of wine to celebrate?"
Robert was taken aback for a moment but finally managed a pleasant smile. "I'd be honored, Ms. Mittal."
Despite the foot-dragging of the irascible Captain Handy, Fleet Headquarters authorized that a test drone and 0.1c Cruiser be retrofitted with the experimental artificial gravity technology. The first deep space test was scheduled for a short two years later in 2168.
In the unfathomable decision-making processes of military bureaucracies throughout the history of time; they promoted Handy to Admiral and sent him to another staff position where he was in charge of a new series of weather satellites where theoretically he couldn't slow down the progress of the revolutionary artificial gravity technology.
His replacement on the advanced development team was Captain Stefan Goldberg. Goldberg's only claim to fame was losing his ship and half of his crew while attempting to refuel in the upper atmosphere of the moon Titan. He somehow managed to keep the remaining crew alive until rescue arrived. Every year on the anniversary of the rescue, he made a big deal of sending a bottle of Scotch to the Captain of the rescue ship. The very political Goldberg never seemed to tire of telling the story and embellishing his own accomplishments...
Scott and Mynah continued their work on testing the artificial gravity system. Fleet assigned Major Mick Jones full time to assist with rapid prototyping to specifications compatible with Fleet power supplies.
Goldberg visited often and just wanted people to think that he had something to do with the project and did his best to take credit for it...