Absolute Knowledge Box Set (Books 1-3)

by Drew Cordell

  Lucky’s eyes cracked open, and bright sunlight distorted his vision through a shattered glass panel. There was a continuous beeping sound, warning him of some system error in the module he was positioned in. His body had burrowed into the crash sack he had chosen when the station started going down, and he struggled to free himself from the restraints. The old EVA suit he wore probably saved his life, he knew that. Something managed to crack his visor on impact, but the heat shielding held when the hull of the station was compromised. He was in the mess hall, or what was left of it. Chairs, tables, and parts of the station lay bent and broken, strewn across the uneven floor of the station that was filling with what must have been snow from a large hole in the ceiling.

  At least they hadn’t hit the ocean. If they did, Lucky knew he’d be dead. His body protested his every movement and sent waves of deep, throbbing cramps through his legs as he stood in Earth's full gravity. The station had done its best to simulate Earth’s gravity, but it was a different feeling, and life in space had made him weak. Cold wind stung his face through the crack on his visor, but his suit had kept him warm, and hopefully safe from whatever wiped out Earth all those years ago. His engineer satchel was still tied to the base of a chair, and he struggled to move up the steep incline of the uneven floor. His boots mushed in the thin blanket of snow, but the traction held.

  Lucky winced as he untied the satchel and pulled a roll of adhesive tape from the bag. He checked the oxygen tank that was weighing him down and sealed the crack on the visor with a strip of tape. The seal wouldn’t be safe in space, but it didn’t matter here.

  He needed to find other survivors if there were any, and they needed to get warm. He knew that environment suits were scarce on the ISS, and most of them had probably been taken on the Delver before it rocketed off. He had felt the Delver detach, felt the lurch and hollowness that rang through the dying station before it cratered toward Earth. He knew at that moment that he’d never his friends again—their paths had separated forever. Of course, he hadn’t been expecting to survive the crash at all, so at least there was that. For now, he was alive, and that meant everything to him. Lucky wasn’t a religious man, but he felt like something had seen him through the crash. Be it a God, karma, or the power of the universe; he was still alive.

  Walking along the walls of the uneven station, he passed through, checking the crash sacks for survivors. Most of the sacks he checked were empty, but some were filled with frozen corpses of his lifelong friends. He was alone, and he wasn’t feeling so fortunate for surviving anymore.

  As Lucky walked through to one of the storage rooms to look for supplies, he spotted someone else in an environment suit standing in the closet, hunched over and digging through the supplies that littered the floor.

  “Hello?” Lucky yelled, straining his voice to make it through the thick visor of the helmet. It was enough, and the person turned to face him, it was Claire Auburns, the short, skinny woman that had worked in Systems.

  “Lucky?” she yelled.

  Lucky walked over and grabbed her shoulders, squeezing them firmly and smiling at her. Claire leaned forward, placing the dome of her helmet on his. Tears spilled down her face and they both cried tears of fear and joy. For once in his life he was lucky, and he knew his actions had probably saved Nick. Lucky wasn’t the only survivor on Earth, and he and Claire had a shot at life still. He knew they needed to find tools to scan the surroundings and test the soil, water, and air. If the world was irradiated, they wouldn’t last long anyway unless they could build an airtight habitat with full filters. It was a tall order, but they were the two survivors that could make it happen. He placed his visor back on hers, shouting so she could hear him. “Are you okay?”

  “I'm all right,” Claire responded.

  Lucky smiled as tears dripped down his face. “We’re going to survive. Earth is our home now.”

  12

  Jess Li woke with a throbbing headache. The pain surged through her eye, and she rocked her head back to avoid the bright lights of the ship’s cabin. As she moved, her body floated and pulled against the restraints of the bunk. How long had she been asleep? Jess didn’t remember how she got to the bunk and certainly didn’t remember falling asleep. She reached up and pulled her long hair into a bun, twisting it in headband she wore so it would stop floating in her face. She raised her head and squinted against the light. She couldn’t see anyone on flight controls, so the Delver must have been on autopilot.

  With groggy reflexes, Jess reached down and fumbled with the latch on her restraints, unbuckling them and pushing herself up above the bunk. She kicked off the wall gently and propelled her body through the cabin. As she passed the flight controls, she took a glance at the monitor, trying to read the display. Her eyes were sensitive to the light, and the image looked blurred, but she could see the ship was moving, it just couldn’t be accelerating, or they’d have a gravitational force within the Delver. Even with her headache, she could tell they were in null G. Jess drifted to the door and punched the button. The door to flight cabin slid open, and she passed through it to go to the main cabin.

  Jess knew there were survivors, and fifteen people looked like a lot in the small living space of the Delver, but she knew the truth. They had lost over half their people, and it was almost unfathomable. She had considered everyone on the ISS her family and felt partially responsible for not being able to save everyone. She kept replaying the scenario in her head, thinking about what she could have done differently, how she could have saved them all. No amount of training could have prepared her for that. Why the hell had someone wanted to kill them after all this time, anyway? It didn’t make sense, but she supposed it didn’t matter now.

  As Jess passed through the people, searching for Reggie, she could see the hopelessness and fear on their faces, the deep sorrow, and anguish. Memories of the ISS were fresh on everyone’s minds, but the scars were barely starting to form. They looked to her for answers, for guidance, and it took all of her willpower to maintain her stoic composure and appear like she was holding up better than them. She had to convey the confidence she no longer felt. As the best pilot in the group, she had some big challenges ahead. She needed to talk with Reggie and figure out exactly what was happening and she needed to do it quickly.

  The others weren’t asking her questions yet, but it was only a matter of time if she didn’t leave the cabin. She was hungover, and it was worse than any of the times they had broken out the booze for a special occasion on the station.

  “Jess? How are you feeling?” Reggie called, his head popping out of a doorway.

  “Like shit,” Jess grumbled.

  “I imagine, you tried to seduce me,” he said in a joking tone.

  “Oh, God. It was the stims, I’m sorry,” she stammered.

  Reggie smiled. “Relax, you’re fine. Come on, I’ll make you some coffee, and we’ll talk.”

  Jess floated over, and Reggie helped her into a seat. Vinny, Monica, and Chelsea were working at the table as well, typing away on datapads and fishing for information. Reggie brought Jess coffee in a bottle and joined them at the table. “I added some ibuprofen to your coffee, it will calm the headache,” Reggie offered.

  “Thanks, Cap,” Jess said, squirting a glob of the hot liquid in her mouth.

  “You actually stayed awake during that takeoff?” Monica asked Jess.

  “Yeah, but I passed out pretty shortly after,” Jess replied, taking another drink of her coffee and trying to adjust her eyes to the light. Reggie noticed and punched a button on his datapad, dimming the lights in the room. “What the situation, Captain?” she asked.

  “We’re looking for a place to live, and it’s either going to have to be the Moon or Mars. Both have bases, but we’re concerned that there might be something hostile waiting for us at the lunar bases,” Reggie replied.

  “Because of the signal we decrypted?” she asked.

  Reggie nodded. “Yeah, if it’s going to the Moon, and there
was something actively utilizing the signal, then it’s safe to assume that there could be another hostile force waiting for us on the Moon. Whatever shot at us from Earth didn’t like that we decrypted the broadcast, and it may have sent a heads up to the lunar bases that we’re on our way.”

  “So we’re going to scout them out, or are we going to Mars?” Jess asked.

  “They’re all working on research. We’ll put this to a vote, but I want to do a visual QC on the lunar bases from orbit with the Hopper before we bring in the Delver. Do you think you could fly it on a scouting mission?” Reggie asked.

  “I can fly anything,” Jess replied. “If everything looks good on the visual QC then you want me to take her down to check?”

  “We have low-caliber weapons on board: rifles and handguns. They won’t kick too hard with the gravity of the Moon or Mars, and they’ll be a good bet against anything hostile that’s waiting for us. I want to send a scout team with Vinny to check the base for anything suspicious and determine if it can sustain our lives there. We need to rebuild, and there’s no way we’ll survive on the Delver indefinitely. We need to grow crops again, and we need better systems for life support.”

  “What kind of hostiles are we talking about?” Jess asked. It didn’t seem like there could be anything hostile waiting for them, it seemed absurd to think anything other than humans or corpses awaited them on any of the bases.

  “We don’t know; it’s just a precaution. If there are survivors and they’re aligned with whoever or whatever shot us down from Earth’s orbit, then we need to be ready,” Vinny replied.

  “I guess you’re right,” Jess agreed. The weapons seemed unnecessary, but then again, something had caused those stations to go dark all those years ago. At the most basic level, she had a gut instinct that they would find only corpses. If they weren’t careful and didn’t take precautions to repair the base, then there would be little hope of establishing a new life.

  “What’s the timeline for the op?” Jess asked.

  “We’ll be in the Moon’s orbit in a few hours, and I want mission teams to rest up before that,” the captain responded, taking a drink of his coffee. “I want a small team on this op, and I want to make sure you have everything you need for your scouting run, Jess.”

  “I won’t need much. A full crew on the Hopper is only three, and I need both the co-pilots to run the scanners and comms while I fly. If we want good scans, I’m going to need to fly us closer than the autopilot setting would allow,” Jess replied.

  Vinny spoke up. “Captain, if I may. I’d like to volunteer my family for the scouting run with Jess. Chelsea and I will run systems and Nick can ride in the back.”

  Reggie considered this. “That would be okay. Are you sure Chelsea can run the systems?”

  “Yeah, if she can run agriculture systems, she can handle these no problem. Do we need to run any sims before the mission?” Vinny asked.

  “No, we don’t have time, and everyone needs to get some rest. Jess are you okay with your crew?”

  “Yes sir,” Jess said. She liked working with Vinny, and Chelsea and Nick were great as well. If something went wrong with the Hopper during their mission, Vinny was the person to have on board.

  “Great. I’ll assemble the rest of the crew to check the bases once you’ve completed your run. If everything looks good while you scout, we’ll bring the Delver down and regroup on the surface. Get a few hours of sleep while you can, all of you. That’s an order.”

  Jess returned to her bunk in the flight control room and fastened herself in. Sleep came almost instantly once she pulled her blanket up and locked it into place on the frame of the bed.

  13

  Nick couldn’t help but brag to Haley and Nicole. After all, he was going on a space mission. Ms. Li was going to be flying the Hopper while his parents used the onboard equipment to scan the surface of the Moon. In just thirty minutes, the Delver would execute the maneuver set to slow it further and put it in orbit with the Moon. He was excited to go on the mission, and a few hours of rest had taken away most of the stress associated with the events on the ISS.

  “You’re really going on the mission?” Haley asked.

  “Yeah, I am.”

  “Wow. Are you scared?” she asked.

  Nick shrugged. “I’ve flown in space a million times,” he said, flashing her a grin.

  Haley rolled her eyes and turned to Nicole. “My boyfriend is an astronaut,” she said. Nicole giggled and pulled Haley away to another part of the ship. Nick sat stunned, his face burning bright red.

  “Boyfriend?” Nick called out nervously.

  “My friend that’s a boy, duh. Bring me back a moon rock, will you?” Haley asked, still laughing with Nicole.

  “Oh yeah, sure,” Nick said. “No problem.”

  “This is Captain Wallace, prepare for final deceleration. Everyone get buckled in. Executing maneuvers in two minutes.” Captain Wallace’s voice clicked off, and Nick moved to his chair where his mom and dad were waiting.

  His mom smiled at him and helped buckle him into his seat. “You’re brave for going on this mission with us,” she said.

  “Thanks, I want to help our people, and I want to learn everything I can about operating systems and starships.”

  “That’s my boy,” his dad said with a grin.

  A few seconds later, the Delver started rattling as the forward thruster began to burn, slowing the ship. Nick couldn’t see the Moon from where he was sitting, but he knew it had to be close. In a little over an hour, he’d have a great view of it and would finally be able to prove himself and apply what he’d learned from reading all those technical manuals. He knew the Hopper was designed for flight in atmosphere, and it could actually be used for long-range, interstellar travel for a couple of people. Nick’s head lunged forward, and black spots danced across his vision as the ship slowed faster than his body. Inertia. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer didn’t talk about inertia or anything of relevance to him or any of the other survivors. Nick hadn’t seen Ms. Bransley on the Delver, but he hoped that her and the rest of the people stuck on the station when it went down managed to survive. The station was designed to crash land, and he hoped with all his heart they were okay and settling into their new lives.

  The ship finally completed its burn cycle, and Captain Wallace came back on the intercom. “Maneuvers complete, we’re now in the Moon’s orbit. Recon team, get to the Hopper and get going. Everyone else, be prepared for landing on the surface within the next hour.”

  Nick followed his mom and dad to the engineering bay of the ship where the others were waiting. Ms. Li was wearing her flight suit and was holding her helmet at the waist. Nick’s mom and dad helped him put on his vacuum suit before putting on their own. This one fit better than the one he had to wear earlier, but it was still big on him. Ms. Li smiled at him. “I’m glad you’re coming on the mission with me, Nick. We’ll do great.”

  “Thanks for letting me go,” Nick said.

  Captain Wallace walked in and slid a key card in one of the plastic lockers on the side of the room. He opened the door to reveal a gun rack loaded with rifles and handguns. Grabbing a gun for each of the flight crew, he handed them out with hip holster to everyone but Nick. Nick almost said something, but his dad cast a knowing look at him, and he kept quiet.

  “Just a precaution. You won’t be going in a base without us,” the captain said.

  “Can I have one?” Nick blurted.

  Captain Wallace smiled. “Maybe in a couple years, champ. Good luck on your mission, and be sure to keep an eye on your parents to make sure they behave,” he said, winking at Nick and clapping him on the back.

  Vinny grabbed a mesh backpack full of his tools of choice before moving with the others to the circular airlock leading to the Hopper. They were actually going to do this, and Nick was more excited than ever for his first space mission, even if he didn’t get a gun like everyone else.

  14

  Chelsea strapped
herself into her seat and powered on the systems in front of her. She’d be processing the data her husband scanned and sending it back to the Delver. The Hopper had some advanced systems that rivaled the tech they had on the Delver. The Hopper was built for speed and recon, and this was exactly the type of mission it thrived in. Vinny was already running tests on the scanners and systems arrays, and Nick was sitting in his seat quietly, staring out his window at the Moon below. They had seen the Moon from the ISS, but she had never seen it like this. It was serene, and if she had more time, she certainly could have stared for hours.

  “Everything is green, initiating disconnect now,” Jess said, activating the side thrusters of the ship and disconnecting. The ship started to drift to the side, and Jess punched the forward thrusters to lag behind the Delver then veered off to the side and dropped the ship toward the surface of the Moon.

  “Eighty K out,” Vinny said, adjusting the ship’s equipment and scanning the surface. Chelsea pulled Vinny’s scan of Lunar Base Alpha and sent it to the Delver. She could make out the basic structure from this range, but that was about it.

  “Taking us in, going to pass over at three K, let me know if I need to do another lap after I pass,” Jess said, punching the acceleration and causing Chelsea’s head to sink into the headrest of her chair. They didn’t need to pull any major Gs like they had when leaving Earth’s atmosphere, but Chelsea still wasn’t used to the forces. She knew that the Moon’s gravity was less than Earth’s natural 1G, and the gravity simulation systems used on the ISS.

  The trip to three kilometers above the surface only took a few minutes, and Jess burned some fuel on the forward thrusters to slow to cruising speed. With a constant velocity achieved, Chelsea felt the effects of the Moon’s gravity, but she kept the restraints on her flight chair in place. If something went wrong, she didn’t want to be thrown around in the ship. Vinny’s scans were coming in a lot clearer now, and she had a good view of Lunar Base Alpha. Like all the bases deployed before her birth, the base was modular, and smaller segments were connected to a central dome. Multiple towers stuck out from the top of the clustered structures, but the lights on top weren’t lit, and the domes were covered in a thick layer of white dust, masking the bright yellow paint of the structures underneath.