Black Infinity

by Salvador Mercer

  “Sullivan to Monroe.”

  Julie brought her head and gaze back down. “Go ahead, Neil.”

  “Did I hear Houston correctly?”

  “You’re referring to the Black Infinity?”

  “None other. How is that even possible, with us approaching conjunction in a couple of months?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine, Neil. My guess is that they somehow had a power source developed that they never told us about it.”

  “I read every status update on that ship, and even with a new power source, they’d have a hard time simply running the safety certifications and testing the engineering tolerances of over two dozen sub systems,” Neil said.

  “Right. My guess is that they have some military hardware from the lunar operations and kept Houston out of it.” This elicited a sideways glace from the major, but she ignored the look. “Either way, I look forward to reading the detailed report.”

  “You didn’t answer my original question: how is it even possible?” Neil sounded flabbergasted, and his question was relevant considering Julie was the orbital mathematician and navigator expert, while Neil’s strong suit was mechanical and electrical engineering as back up to their two technicians.

  Jules took a deep breath before beginning. “Look, as long as we’re in pre-conjunction, anything is possible with enough delta-v. After that, it would take a magnitude of power exponentially calculated to overcome the planetary velocities involved. Right now, I’d say the ship would have a fairly short launch window before the planetary opposition began.”

  “Can we calculate it?” Neil asked.

  “I’ll have a look later,” Jules said. “You saw that we have authorization to revive Maria, and I’d prefer to have my attention on that right now.”

  “Understood, Commander. Let us know if you need anything.”

  “Just complete the reports and ensure the logs are updated. That remark by Director Crandon wasn’t for nothing.”

  “Consider it done. Sullivan out.”

  The comms clicked out, then Doctor Hill asked, “What were you telling him about planetary velocities? Can our ship reach us and take us back before the window closes?”

  It was obvious that the man was already thinking of returning to Earth, despite the historic nature of their trip. Jules shook her head. “No, I think that if they could reach us it would be at a time when the Earth has transited past conjunction and begun its path to opposition.”

  “What does that mean?” Carter asked.

  “It means that we’d have to race the planet in order to reach it. The Earth is travelling through space, around the sun, at roughly 67,000 miles an hour. We have the benefit of matching some of that speed by using Mars’ velocity of 54,000 an hour. This means that once Earth passes Mars, it will begin to outrun the red planet by over 13,000 miles an hour, and this doesn’t take into consideration gravitational forces where the Earth will whip around the sun much quicker than this planet.”

  “But it’s still doable, no?” Hill was hoping.

  “Anything is possible with enough energy behind it, but that doesn’t make it practical. A major consideration would be that the extra velocity achieved to catch our home planet would have to be bled off, otherwise any orbital insertion won’t be possible. We’d fly right by the planet and wave on our way out of the solar system.”

  “Damn,” Carter said.

  “As I said, the devil is in the detail.”

  “Give me an hour to read the medical report, maybe more time, then I’ll brief you on our procedure to wake Maria,” Hill said.

  “Fine. I’ll do the same, and I need to review the other associated reports that Houston sent regarding mission objectives. Call me when you’re ready.”

  “I’d like to be there, too,” Carter said. “I’ll stay here in sick bay with Flores in the meantime if you don’t object.”

  “Feel free,” Hill said. “I’m hoping we’re successful. It would be good to see her on her feet again. At least then I’ll feel that I contributed in some meaningful way to our mission.”

  “Agreed,” Jules said, getting out of her chair and heading to the door. “It will be good to hear what she has to say.”

  Carter was more ominous. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”

  Chapter 12

  Scripts

  BLACK INFINITY

  Moon orbit

  In the near future, Year 4, Day 185

  THE KLAXON SOUNDED as another pressurization stress test failed.

  “Turn that bitch off!” Craig ordered.

  “Yes, sir,” the mechanical engineering technician said, reaching for the control pad and silencing the alarm.

  “What a damn piece of shit,” Craig said shaking his head and gripping the railing hard. “Who allowed this company to build this?”

  It was a rhetorical question, but the tech was demoralized and answered, “The procurement office approved Space Steel International. They won the bid.”

  “Steel my ass. More like goddamn tinfoil if you ask me. How is this thing ever supposed to manage an earth pressure environment if it can’t take a simple overpressure?”

  “Ah, sir, the contractor’s representative is listening,” the technician noted.

  “Good, then he can pass along how fucking weak his company’s bulkheads are and tell them to fix them.” Craig was in rare form.

  “I’m guessing you should have slept first when you arrived last night,” Commander James said over the radio from the lunar base below.

  “No time for that. I’ll sleep when I’m good and ready,” Craig said.

  “Ahem.” The contractor made a sound to get their attention. “The specifications were exceeded in your test. I don’t think that is a fair representation of our company’s product.”

  “Really?” Craig asked sarcastically, glad that the man was also on the Moon’s base, otherwise he felt like strangling him.

  “The testing parameters were exceeded, and you did so on purpose. You’re trying to sabotage the safety certification of this ship,” the man said.

  Craig hit the door with both hands and almost ricocheted off of it. “Why don’t you come up here and show me yourself? I will personally put you in this airlock with no helmet and simulate a faulty flow valve, or maybe we can have a catastrophic failure of one or more of the O-rings. Then you can preach to me about safety.”

  “There have been no valve or ring failures in more than half a century of space flight,” the man countered.

  “There’s a first—or second—time for everything.”

  “I think we can move on to the next test,” James said, interjecting himself into the conversation. “Turner, go EVA and seal the breach. Find out if it was one of the rivets or the door’s O-ring that failed.”

  “Yes, sir,” the technician said, moving to the other airlock at the far end of the ship.

  “Craig, go to channel three,” James requested.

  Craig changed his channel settings, which were supposed to be only ship wide, but Commander James had rigged it so that the lunar base would be included. This was different from the main channel one, which had Houston listening and recording.

  “What is it?” he asked curtly.

  “Listen, Craig. Try to go easy up there, eh? I know we’re all under a lot of stress, but we have a lot of folks listening right now and you’re not helping. What do you think if you take a break and get a couple of hours of shuteye?”

  “Don’t shit with me, Karl. You know I’m right about the overpressure. Those K valves have failed more times the last decade than I can count, and instead of compensating for them, what does this rinky-dink company do? They build the damn walls thinner and weaker instead of thicker and stronger.”

  “That’s not fair, Craig. You know the latest specifications were for extreme weight savings in order to meet delta-v requirements. Your load test was way over the specification. Check it yourself.”

  “I don’t need to; I applied the exact amount of pres
sure that would be released into the smaller airlock with a valve malfunction. Check that yourself.”

  Commander James sighed audibly. Craig looked through the porthole as the last of its atmosphere vacated into space after most of it was vacuumed back into its storage tank. The airlock was smaller than normal to save on weight. The argument was that the suits were smaller, so the space savings meant everything was smaller. It was almost the exact opposite approach when compared to the Red Horizon.

  Craig waited patiently for the man’s reply. Technically, Commander Karl James would be in charge of the ship as interim commander, but for the testing, Craig had both equal rank, more seniority, and was designated as the Test Director, which, in effect, would supersede anyone else.

  Finally, James spoke. “Look, Craig. We get it. You have a load of experience and have run countless simulations planetside on this ship, and for that, we’re extremely grateful. We know that, operationally, we’ll have some challenges. I just need you to go easy on the crew. They’re working double shifts, too, and some of them are pretty wet behind the ears. They are looking to you for leadership and guidance.”

  “Too bad the procurement office didn’t listen to my recommendation two years ago. I told them to either replace the K valves or separate them into two smaller tanks. That would have prevented this issue in the first place.”

  “Two smaller tanks have more weight than one larger tank of equal capacity even if they’re smaller.”

  “Here we go again,” Craig said, closing his eyes and resuming his grip on the railing so he wouldn’t float away.

  “It’s going to take a while for Turner to fix that breach. Why don’t you get a couple of hours of sleep while we set up the next series of tests? We have some downtime for you while we prep the equipment and recording monitors. Not a lot, but two hours should be good. Besides, protocol calls for more than one functioning airlock should an emergency arise, and no further testing should be done until the second airlock is repaired.”

  Craig wasn’t surprised that Commander James had the testing procedures down so well. They were going to perform abbreviated versions, but everything still had to undergo at least one test and certification, despite the ridiculous deadline imposed upon them. He was tired, too, so he said, “Perhaps you’re right. I’ll go to LQ1 and hit the bunk for ninety minutes. That will give you and your crew time for lunch as well.”

  James wasn’t going to argue over the discrepancy involving thirty minutes. Everyone was on edge with the arrival of Commander Craig Alders, and that morning had been interesting to say the least. He’d take the hour and a half and call it good. “Fine, see you in ninety, then. James out.”

  Craig hit his mute button. He would still be able to hear if anyone came through on the channel, but didn’t want to transmit. He was sure to tune back to channel one where he could hear the technician, Turner, preparing and obtaining authorization to suit up and go extravehicular. He had been at it since early that morning and had worked for over seven straight hours. It was time for some sleep.

  He made his way to living quarters number one and then strapped himself into the sleeping bag like a slug in a cocoon. It had more Velcro than fabric, or so he fancied. He didn’t bother with clothes or anything else, even keeping his headset on, though slightly pushed behind his ears.

  Despite the warning from Commander James, when Craig woke up, he’d press forward and ensure that every system on this ship was functioning and safe for deep space operations. There’d be hell to pay if anyone got in his way.

  NASA SPACE COMMAND

  Houston, Texas

  In the near future, Year 4, Day 181

  “WELL, THAT COULD HAVE gone better,” Marge said from her console over the executive channel.

  “Wow, I didn’t think Craig would crack like that,” Lisa said, though there was compassion in her voice.

  Jack chimed in, “He had very little sleep, so I’d cut him some slack. Besides, I think he’s right about the flow valves, and I wouldn’t trust Space Steel Corp further than I could throw them.”

  “Well, there’s more productive ways to express that than to hurl profanities at the man.” Lisa said.

  “Do you think our psych-doc will get wind of this?” Jack asked.

  There was a pause, and then Marge prompted her boss. “Rock?”

  “I heard you. I was simply thinking of how to answer that particular question.”

  “He’d be decertified for sure, especially if our good Mister Smith catches wind of it,” Jack said.

  “What are you going to do, Richard?” Lisa asked.

  Rock took a deep breath, not really wanting to answer the question, but understanding that his team leaders weren’t going to stop asking. “I think Craig will work best under slightly different conditions. Besides, we need to make a selection on candidates for manning the ship, and to do that fairly, everyone should have some down time. We’ll need to order Commander James and his crew planetside before we make that determination.”

  “Well, we just missed the last shuttle that brought Craig in. It’ll take another three days almost before they can transit back, unless....”

  “Yeah, I’m going to authorize a direct shuttle launch. I already checked, by the way; we have more than enough fuel supplies now.” Rock watched as Marge quickly brought data on the supply status of both the ship and the moon base.

  “How direct?” she asked.

  “Like, right now.”

  She leaned back and began reviewing the current supply inventory.

  “That’s pretty bold, Boss,” Jack said. “Will that leave them enough time to return and get situated with the ship?”

  “It’s tight. Say we push the launch window now that we’ve been given the exact power specifications for the nuclear reactor as well as the chemical propellant figures. This gives us a good two weeks from now if we cut it close.”

  “I don’t think the president will let you take a full two weeks from now,” Marge stated.

  “Smith will be sure of that,” Lisa added dryly.

  “I’ve already talked to her. She’s good as long as we arrive before the Hohmann resupply vessels,” Rock said.

  “So, you called Mister Smith’s bluff.” Marge sounded impressed.

  “It wasn’t a bluff. He knew she’d insist on the launch and what the actual window was in relation to time was irrelevant for both of them. Two weeks, three weeks, they don’t care. As long as their objectives are met, they’ll leave the details to us.”

  “And you intend to fully take advantage of that,” Lisa added.

  “You’re damn right I do.”

  “Well, speaking of advantages, it appears that Mister Smith lied to us about arming the ship with those nuclear weapons,” Marge said.

  “You’re referring to the manifest that was declassified for us this morning?” Rock asked.

  “Yes ... it shows two radar-guided nuclear missiles already on board. In fact, they’re already attached to their hard points, already making them armed and ready.”

  “I think he refers to that as ‘need-to-know,’” Lisa said, stifling a laugh.

  “It’s always need-to-know, and we never seem to have a need,” Jack added.

  Marge changed the subject. “Do you want me to execute the order?”

  “For change of duty station, yes. See to it that between the three of you we have some support for Craig, but leave it at a minimum to get the job done. He’ll work better on his own. Less distraction that way,” Rock said.

  “Sending the orders now.”

  “Don’t you at least want to review the personnel and their status before committing them to a three-day shuttle trip?” Jack asked.

  Lisa answered for her. “If you’d pay more attention at our staff meetings, Jack, you’d have gathered that she had already prepared more than one candidate roster in preparation for exactly this.”

  “Yeah, I did know that, but I didn’t know she had narrowed it down so quickly.”
<
br />   “Time’s limited,” Marge said, flashing a smile across the room at Lisa, who had turned in her chair to face the command consoles. “What is your favorite saying, Jack? The early bird gets the worm?”

  “Alright, very funny. Get everyone planetside then and let’s finalize this roster. I’ve got my selection for electrical and signals.”

  “I have mine as well,” Lisa said.

  “I haven’t thought of the mechanical engineering slots yet,” Marge said, “though it’s a credit to our program that we have so much talent in so many areas.”

  Jack also turned to face them. “The big question will be who Rock taps for lead on this bad boy.”

  “That question will have to wait,” Rock said, eliciting a sigh from Lisa and a groan from Jack. “It’s about time for another Horizon update. I’m hoping Maria has come-to by now. It’s been nearly two days.”

  “Jules wasn’t kidding when she said it was traumatic,” Marge said. “You know there is only one last procedure for trying to bring Maria back to consciousness?”

  “I know ... don’t remind me,” Rock said. “Let Doctor Hill up the stimulant dosage until he declares it a failure. Then we’ll send the final recommendation.”

  “This is terrible,” Lisa said, wringing the cord on her headset with both hands.

  “Part of the risk of space flight and exploration,” Jack said, turning back to his desk’s console and tapping at some data files to bring them up on his screen.

  “Do you want me to tape the next set of orders?” Marge asked Rock.

  “Yes, if you don’t mind. I think I’ve gotten my point across, and Admiral Nicholson will be back from lunch with Mister Smith shortly. I want to discuss the arming of Black Infinity and I think I want to do this alone this time, if you don’t mind?”

  “Of course not,” Marge said. “I’m not eager to attend any meeting with either of those two gentlemen.”

  “Hey, did Navari come up with the final sequencing yet?” Jack asked.

  “Yes, I mentioned that last week as well. Lisa’s right; you need to pay attention more in our staff meetings.”