Red Horizon: The Truth of Discovery (Discovery Series Book 2)

by Salvador Mercer

  Hun wasn’t about to shorten the names of the ships in such a formal setting, and it didn’t take long to get the question he was expecting. “So if our second ship doesn’t arrive on time, or if it doesn’t arrive at all, what happens to our crew on the first ship?”

  “Well”—Hun cleared his throat and looked at his cup again and then dismissed it from his mind—“if that happens, then we’ll be at the mercy of the Americans, or the Soviets, in order to resupply us, and we don’t even know if that is possible.”

  “What about the Soaring Song?” one member asked.

  “The resupply ship will arrive in six months, well after the time that the crew of the Roaring Tiger could survive on their own. They would die of dehydration or malnutrition before it could arrive.”

  There were some audible gasps, and members were looking at one another, but Hun had literally informed them of this when they first launched. With the American departure fresh on their minds, they could only focus on staying within reach of their ship. Now the reality of the tenuous nature of their mission was starting to hit home with the committee. Hun was sure that reporting this back to the actual State Council would be painful for most of them.

  “Was this part of the original mission?” one member asked.

  “No,” Hun explained. “We had to leave behind a majority of our food provisions in order to reduce the mass of our ships enough to arrive in a timely manner right behind the Americans. Their departure speed was such that certain risks were taken in order to make this new mission profile work.”

  “Very well,” the chairman said. “Anything else, Director Lee?”

  “The last item on my agenda was the lander. As you know, we were able to move the lander from the Wise Snake over to the Divine Dragon, but the Roaring Tiger, our first ship to arrive at the planet, has only one lander, and its capacity is only four, as are the other two landers.”

  “And the ship has seven crew members?” one member asked.

  “Correct,” Hun said. “Four military and three flight crew. Also the landers are small and only capable of landing once with one take off into a very low Mars orbit.”

  The room was silent as Hun waited for a question and then thought that perhaps he hadn’t explained the issue well enough. Finally one member ventured a guess. “So the lander can only take four, and it can only land in one place?”

  “Correct,” Hun said again.

  “The target of choice will be decided by the military upon arrival,” General Wang explained.

  “Very well,” said a member. “Is that all?”

  “Yes,” Hun said. “The remaining parts of the mission cover the military goals and objectives that the flight command will support. It should be noted that once we’ve arrived, the expectation is that there will be a permanent presence on Mars for all three nations as we attempt to learn more about the alien technology. This in and of itself is a major undertaking, and I’d like to take a moment to remind the committee of our funding needs in order to support our longer-term objectives.”

  “Your comments have been noted for consideration in the official record,” the chairman said. “We’ll move on to our closed-door briefing now. Director Lee, you can leave now.”

  “Thank you,” Hun said, picking his folder up and returning to his case. He decided to finish his cup of water even though several members were watching him, and then he headed out the door and back to the command center. His job had been accomplished. Now if the military didn’t kill or nuke anything and they all managed to avoid war, he could start working on extended plans to bring the crew members home.

  That part he was most grateful that he didn’t have to cover . . . yet.

  Chapter 20

  Space

  High Council, Soviet Politburo

  Kremlin, Moscow, Russia

  In the near future, Year 4, Day 150

  “The meeting is called to order,” the premier said, hitting the countertop with his gavel, having lost the sound block the prior day, and no one thought to bring another until it was too late. Needless to say, the leader of the Second Soviet Union was not pleased.

  Vlad sat next to Dmitry as the pair was presented to the Council to give an updated report on their progress with the Mars mission. Elena was directly behind them with a small box of documents sitting in a vacant chair, and there were members of the press as well as select spectators who favored the government. They were a communist society, but more open than, say, the Chinese government. Still, open was a relative term.

  All that Vlad could think about now was Irina. She had cornered him in his office, and before he knew it, she had expressed her desire for him. She was an attractive woman, even though she was approaching forty. Vlad himself was divorced and perhaps not in the best position to be thinking clearly and making rational decisions . . . well, with the space program, yes, but with his personal emotions, no. Taking her up on her proposal and making love to her in his office was definitely a mistake. It is always too easy to rekindle an old flame, he thought to himself.

  Damn. He needed to focus. Dmitry looked at him and smiled, so Vlad tried to return the gesture but failed. Dmitry seemed to understand and gave his second-in-command a moment to compose himself. Vlad looked behind him and was greeted with a smile by Elena and a coy look from her eyes. Damn it again, Vlad thought, not focusing at all on the mission, though his crew meant the world to him. He didn’t know what he was thinking. He didn’t know what Irina was thinking.

  She didn’t come right out and say it, but in a very general way when someone said to you “Let’s go somewhere far away and disappear,” then it was pretty obvious that their mind was not on the mission. Vlad was fairly certain that the KGB leak that he had been fearing was caused by Irina. The facts, when seen through a certain perspective, supported the assertion. Vlad noticed, however, that he did not turn her in, nor report her in any fashion. Could he? Not if he was involved with her again.

  Damn.

  “Berdenko, are you ready?” the premier asked.

  Dmitry was now looking at Vlad with a concerned look on his face, and Vlad cleared his throat, shuffled his papers in front of him, for no apparent reason, and responded, “Yes, I’m ready.”

  “Please provide the monthly report, then,” the premier said.

  Vlad nodded and gave his boss a look, saying, I got this, and then began his opening statement. “We are only twenty-seven days away from Mars arrival, and as you know, we’ve updated our schedule to show us three days behind the Americans and only one day behind the Chinese. Now, before I get into the mission specifics, I wanted to address some of the speculation that has arisen from us arriving last.”

  Dmitry looked at his notes and then over to Vlad. “You’re going off script?” he whispered.

  “Not really, let me make one point first,” he whispered back.

  Dmitry nodded and leaned back, trying to look as comfortable as possible while feeling as anxious as any man could when a subordinate was freelancing with their agenda. Vlad could only love the man, despite their political differences.

  “Go on,” the premier said.

  “When we landed on the moon first, our cosmonauts faced an incredible risk that eventually led to the deaths of two of them, both Soviet State Heroes. This time around, I think it is important that we assess and understand the complex situation that we are facing in our current mission.

  “There are now two targets of interest on Mars, and it’s not easy for any country to explore both of them due to the limitations of the landers. We may find ourselves in a situation where we are the ones assisting a stricken American or a Chinese crew, and we may very well be the ones who find and bring home an alien artifact that could lead to the advancement of humankind in some field of study, genetics, space travel and exploration, advanced construction, and perhaps material building, or who knows what we’ll encounter up there.”

  Vlad was interrupted by one of the members of the Council. “You are speculating. W
e will be last, and we may find that anything of significance has been taken or spoken for. How can you report on theories or chances?”

  Vlad nodded. “Because the facts are what they are, and we did not have enough impulse, or thrust, to arrive before either of the other two parties. The mere fact that we were able to follow so closely should be proof enough that our space program is robust and that we may very well have a critical role to play on the planet’s surface.”

  The other member was about to argue further, but the premier held up his hand and spoke very softly so that most everyone strained to hear what he was saying. “So, Director Berdenko, you feel that in your professional opinion, it may very well be dangerous to be the first on site again, similar to what happened to our brave cosmonauts four years ago, correct?”

  “Yes, Premier Kolik. Remember also that despite our failure at the alien site, it was through our technology and resources alone that the Americans were able to save themselves as well as the Chinese cosmonaut, thus resulting in the promised sharing of the technology that was provided by the human genome coded into the alien chip device.”

  “Yes,” the premier said. “That was most fortunate for us and a show of serious force and competency in the ability of the Soviet Union to contribute to the advancement of humankind. Without our intervention, there would have been no confirmation of the alien code, nor any alien artifact to have for study or inspection. You make a good point.”

  Dmitry looked at Vlad, and his eyes widened slightly while Vlad returned the look and addressed the premier. “Thank you, sir, but this time, the stakes can be higher, and we know that the Chinese are willing to take extraordinary steps in order to secure or prevent others from securing, any alien technology. It may be wise for us to ascertain what the situation is like before we commit to risking the lives of our crew members again.”

  “Do you concur, Minister Osnokov?” the premier asked.

  “Yes, Premier Kolik,” Dmitry responded. “I have the utmost faith in our director of space operations and his ability to comprehensively oversee not only the mission itself but the associated longer-term goals and objectives as we move forward. Let us not forget that there is some sort of alien signal that was coming from Jupiter itself, triangulated to show it just within its cloud tops, and this could be a precursor for greater things to come.”

  “Yes, it would be nice if we could arrive there first, and our overall strategy should, perhaps, be a bit more comprehensive than simply a race to one artifact after another.” The premier looked at his council members to see if they approved of his comments or not. Most would, of course, and those who didn’t would require a bit more scrutiny by their leader in order to interpret their body language more accurately.

  Dmitry looked at Vlad and nodded, indicating he wanted to talk further. “If I may add, we’ve done considerable work on our orbitals at Mars as well as the probes that we’ve launched to Jupiter, which will arrive early next year and the year after. Also, our robotics program has progressed far beyond what our initial expectations were so that there may be a chance that we can investigate what lies on the Great Planet before any other nation. These advancements should be taken into account when reviewing the overall performance of our program.”

  The premier nodded. “I agree. Let’s see what happens when we arrive on Mars. Would you say our readiness remains the same as your last report?”

  Dmitry motioned for Vlad to answer. “Yes, sir. We have full confidence in the crew, and we stand ready to execute our mission program as soon as we arrive, regardless of what the Americans or the Chinese do.”

  “Very well, proceed with the rest of your report,” the premier said.

  Vlad continued and managed to finish what was a detailed but mundane overview of their status since departure. He was glad to simply get through it without thinking about Irina further and tried very hard not to make eye contact with the KGB chief who was watching him intently. Enough time for that later.

  *****

  Krasnaya Zvesda (Red Star)

  Interplanetary Space

  In the near future, Year 4, Day 155

  “How far?” Olga asked, floating toward the main cockpit window and leaning against the top of the console in the zero gravity.

  “Same as yesterday and the same as the day before yesterday,” Yuri said from his seat where he was loosely strapped in, monitoring several systems.

  “You would think we could see the Chinese, if not the Americans,” Olga stated, looking forward into the intense star field that never ceased to amaze them. “They are only a day ahead of us.”

  “Twenty-six point four hours to be precise, or so Vostochny says. We can see surface features of Mars now, though.”

  Their sole optical device for visual viewing wasn’t particularly strong as far as telescopes go, but it served its purpose to keep the ship lined on its trajectory with the red planet. As they got closer, they would input the data into the navigation computer, and it would make very small course corrections with slight lateral thrusters in order to keep it on course to arrive not only at Mars but on the correct side of the planet in order to perform an orbital insertion. The planet was visible in partial crescent, as they were approaching it from a lateral angle.

  Olga sighed and then looked at the dashboard. “All systems green.”

  “The waiting is unbearable,” Yuri began. “I thought for sure I could handle four months of simple space flight, but this was more than I thought it would be.”

  “Da,” Olga said, nodding but not looking at him. “The quarters that I first thought were so large seemed to have gotten smaller the longer we are here.”

  Yuri agreed. “Yes, but as I said before, it could be worse. We could be riding in those Chinese ships.”

  “Speaking of which, is the second one still following us?”

  “It is, but it’s not directly behind us. It’s much slower and taking a more elliptical approach, so you’d have to look behind us and to our left considerably to spot it, though it’s much harder to see than the ship in front of us.”

  “I thought you said you couldn’t see the first Chinese ship?” Olga asked.

  “I did. I was speaking figuratively,” Yuri explained.

  “Well, we may not arrive before them, but that suxha better hope she doesn’t need a ride home again.” Olga’s tone changed considerably.

  Yuri took a moment to look at her and then returned his attention back to the console, flipping switches and checking their statuses against a checklist. “Perhaps your comments four years ago weren’t appropriate.”

  “I hardly said anything,” Olga said, staring at her commander.

  “She seemed to think so,” Yuri said, hitting another switch.

  “That was four years ago.” Olga continued to defend herself.

  Yuri toggled the switch back to normal and then checked the status sheet as passed. “Apparently she has a long memory.”

  “Blyad,” Olga cursed.

  *****

  Roaring Tiger

  Interplanetary Space

  In the near future, Year 4, Day 155

  “You’ve read the orders, Commander?” Colonel Tsu asked.

  “I have,” Commander Sun said, looking at his tablet where the header was marked “Lead Eyes Only,” meaning only the commander and the colonel were allowed to view and read the orders. Top secret, army markings meant that the communiqué was solely for the benefit of Colonel Tsu.

  “Will you be able to insert us at the optimum angle for launch?” Tsu asked.

  Sun nodded. “We have a very small reserve after burning most of it to catch up to the Americans, but the ship is light. It should be able to respond well to our attitude controls, and our trajectory is nearly perfect. We’ll have you on the ground right behind the Americans.”

  “I hardly call two days right behind,” Tsu complained.

  “In space terms, across over seventy million kilometers, we consider that close,” Sun explained. �
�Will your team be ready?”

  “We’ve been ready,” Tsu said. “The question is if the Americans are expecting us.”

  “Of course they are,” Sun said. “Their radar works as well as ours. Why wouldn’t they?”

  Tsu shook his head. “I meant, will they expect us?”

  Sun looked at the man from inside their cockpit cabin where the two men met to get a bit of privacy since there was literally no other place on the ship where that was possible other than one of the cargo modules, and they were colder and less comfortable. It was obvious that the colonel meant the military branch of their contingent. “I understand that they have Special Forces commandoes on their ship as well.”

  “Navy SEALs,” the colonel corrected.

  “Whatever,” Sun said, not understanding and definitely not caring what the difference was. Based on the noble American code of conduct, Sun wasn’t expecting the Americans to board and commandeer his ship, though the opposite was quite possible. “You intend to use force, then, if a rendezvous occurs?”

  “I thought you said you read the order,” Tsu asked, narrowing his eyes.

  “I did. I thought it seemed to give you a small amount of discretion with regards to securing whatever piece of alien technology or device that may fall into their hands first.”

  Tsu shook his. “Very little discretion. You think the Americans will simply hand over whatever they spent billions of their precious dollars on to secure first?”

  “No,” Sun said, “though I stand by my remark. You do have some discretion.”

  “You don’t know my superior very well, do you?” Tsu asked.

  “General Wang?” Sun asked. “I know the man.”