The Commander

by Kevin Groh

  Kwax just waved for a moment, as if he wasn’t really happy or willing to be there.

  »My job is to bring the topic of spaceships and vehicles closer to the recruits. Because part of the basic training is that you have to be able to fly a shuttle. And a space fighter. So let’s start looking at that, what do you think?«

  He waved them with him and they followed him into the hangar, where they took a spaceship and flew to the big military shipyard of New Vienna.

  Willis and Kwax showed them the most common types of ships to encounter in space.

  »When the first human ship left Earth, it had used the latest technology. A new element found for the first time outside our solar system. After the process had matured, we were able to achieve a similar effect with a combination of other elements. The result was warp propulsion. Clean, extremely strong and very durable, but also incredibly expensive to manufacture. Well and then we met the Salvani. They gave us knowledge about the super warp drive. With the help of an element called Iom, the construction was child’s play and the stuff is almost unlimited in space nebulae. In the meantime, Syntech has developed the Talon series in collaboration with the T’zun. Ultra-warp technology. With these, you can reach superluminal velocity for the first time. The current military standard is Talon-3 engines, but newer models already use the Talon-4. There are even some select special ships that are allowed to use the revolutionary Talon-5 special turbo warp Ultramax. The propulsion alone is worth more than our entire base.«

  Jane asked: »Superluminal velocity would mean we’d have the range to leave the known systems and enter unexplored territory, wouldn’t it?«

  Kwax answered for the first time since they were on the road: »That’s true, but the navigation technology isn’t ready yet. Flight vectors can only be calculated using current star maps and known rotational and orbital speeds of all planets. Unknown space must first be manually examined, mapped and explored.«

  Carter said: »Well, as far as I know, the Vindurans have already developed systems that can capture and calculate all the important data of a planet with a simple scan. My father told me that Syntech has been trying to get a prototype for months.«

  »Unfortunately I don’t have such insider tips.«, Kwax reluctantly admitted.

  »Another question: How does a spaceship steer in a vacuum? I didn’t see any thrusters that weren’t pointing backward. And there weren’t any steering surfaces either.«, Nambur asked.

  »Ah! An excellent question. Control surfaces would be completely useless without air resistance. The solution is vacuum resonance technology. The vacuum of space is a force of nature that acts with a massive suction on everything inside it. Weightlessness is the result. Since everything can be moved easily there, no matter how large the mass is, the driving force of a real thruster is not necessary at all. Small stabilizers at different points on a ship that send out impulses that affect the vacuum and it works. It creates a kind of counter-suction to the vacuum and thereby achieves a repulsion, the strength of which is adjustable. I’m not a scientist, but it works very well and uses almost no energy.«

  Kova had an excursion into the different types of robots, which ultimately led them to a philosophical discussion about the soul. They were only interrupted after dinner when they arrived at Annie’s simulation room. They had never worked with her there before, so they were curious why they didn’t study in the normal classroom. As so often, she answered her question before they could ask her. »We’re here in the simulation room today because we’re starting our planetary science and galaxy mapping classes. The best way to imagine it is to see it.«

  As if this had been an order, the room became dark and the holoprojectors went up. Suddenly the group stood in the middle of space looking at the Milky Way. Infinity unfolded in front of them and they were immediately awestruck by how enormous it all was.

  Carter asked: »What exactly do you mean by ›known‹ galaxy?«

  Annie called up a holographic image of the Milky Way.

  »›Milky Way‹ is only the term used by our species for what is commonly referred to as the Omni Galaxy. Humans defined it centuries ago as our galaxy. It is unimaginably vast. It is of course only one of an infinite number of galaxies, but since no people has yet succeeded in traveling to another galaxy, little attention is paid to them. At least not until the technology is advanced enough.« The Holo Milky Way looked like a nebulous structure arranged around a center, a dark area, which according to scientists was full of huge dying stars and black holes. It seemed as if star systems were just meager pocket editions of a galaxy that also had a core around which everything else was moving. Only that it had such enormous dimensions that the rotation was not measurable. Annie marked four tiny sections.

  »Of all the billions of stars, several can always be grouped together. This works because there are many space nebulae in the Milky Way, which can only be seen from a distance, but which are not visible on site. They often have certain shapes and everything in them is assigned to the nebula. This is the only way to give a rough location. We call this summary of stars of an area a star cluster, or a sector. Due to the rather limited navigation and propulsion possibilities so far, the known species have only been present in the four close sectors. The Nekon-Traverse we are in. This includes the solar system and several smaller uninhabited systems. Over here lies the Aeon-Width, where the T’zun, Pintans, and Krodaa are living. The space in between is empty.«

  Then she pointed a bit upwards on the picture.

  »Here we find the Dark Sea, a rather dark area where the Vindurans reside. And here lies the Utbikh-Cluster. There the Lorgans and Gumai can be found. Between the traverse and the width, there is only empty space, but the two are separated from the cluster and the dark sea by a brownish nebula. It is crossable and full of gas divers, but it is a kind of visual dividing line. That’s why we call it the Khaki Line. Of course, there are hundreds of thousands of such sectors, but we will explore them one day. New species will definitely be found.«

  She let the information sink in a little.

  »I just want to show you that the area we know as the ›galaxy‹ is only a tiny fraction of what is out there.«

  The group wanted to reflect, but Annie interrupted their mumbling.

  »Being aware of the sheer mass of unknown worlds awakens the urge to discover in many of us. And the nice thing is that we can discover it system by system. There are stars in every sector. These are the lights you see in the sky at night. They are all, like the sun of Earth, the center of a system around which various celestial bodies are arranged. Due to the extreme reactions in their core, stars not only have a glowing heat but also generate a strong gravitational field, which attracts these celestial bodies and then always moves them in a circle around them. But the variations are endless.«

  The group stared and was fascinated by the many stars. One of them was zoomed in closer. The marker called it ›Zelot‹.

  Annie began with her remarks: »A star system is always named after the star at its center. We see Zelot here, the star of the system we are in right now. There are several classes that describe certain orders of magnitude. Zelot and the Sun we call class one stars. They are rather small to medium in size and produce enough energy to support the development of organic life at a moderate distance. Then there are class two and three. Class two are large stars that usually capture more planets in their system, but they do not produce organic life as often. And class three stars are huge, so their gravitational field is incredibly strong. But none of them exist in our four sectors. One suspects that the stars in the core of the galaxy are so enormous that no classification is possible. The class, however, says nothing about the composition of the star that determines the color of the glow.«

  She zoomed in to the Dark Sea to the system ›Dark Star‹. Everything seemed to be dark and the star looked dark purple.

  »The Dark Star is a good example. It emits black light and accordingly the worlds in its system are also
dark. There is no organic life, only what has been brought there. The Vindurans have some facilities there, as far as we know. Another example would be the Krunos-System. There we have a very special phenomenon. The red star Krunos I and the blue star Krunos II exist next to each other and orbit each other. But Krunos I is much larger, so the red radiation is predominant among the Krodaa.«

  The picture showed the Krunos-System and the strange constellation there. Next to the homeworld of the Krodaa, Sandabar Neh, another small star floated. Nambur asked what it was and Annie said they would treat it later. »Stars have a limited lifespan. Depending on the number of elements in the nucleus, the reaction there that causes gravity and glow lasts several million to billions of years, but then the star will implode or explode. This is called a supernova and the result is often a black hole. Many myths revolve around these, that they are wormholes with which one can travel through time and space, but this could not yet be clarified.«

  The map zoomed in on Utopia. The planet looked rather boring after the dark star and the Krunos-System. »Stars aren’t the only celestial bodies out there. There are still brown dwarves. These are stars whose mass is too small to trigger the reaction that produces the glow. These brown dwarfs are mostly like rock planets simply uninhabitable chunks without atmosphere. Some of them end up in the gravitational fields of real stars. Then there are so-called rocky worlds. These include Earth, Mars, Utopia Beta, Nirvana, Dao Prime, and many others. These are planets that have a core of stone and metal. They have an atmosphere but are not necessarily life-friendly. They can have moons, but not more than three or four, because their own gravitational field is too weak for that. The term rocky world is mostly used by aliens, we call it an earth-like world.«

  The hologram moved into the neighboring system and showed an uninhabitable gray rock sphere. They all knew the sight from school.

  »Rock worlds are not to be confused with rocky worlds. Failure is a typical example that really consists exclusively of stone and metal. There are also various silicates or radioactive elements. Some rock worlds have a weak atmosphere, but not all.«

  The map migrated to the Hiron-System of the Salvani, where the outermost planet moved to the center. It was called Pokat. It was bluish with a lot of white.

  »Another typical type of planet is the ice world. These planets have a core of rock and metal, but a high amount of hydrogen and related elements. Since they almost always lie on the outer edge of systems, the distance from the star is so great that its heat no longer arrives there. There are other reasons for ice worlds, but Pokat is a prime example. It is also an ice dwarf. Any form of a planet can also be a dwarf planet, whose mass and size are smaller than the average.«

  Again the picture wandered on, back into the Zelot-System past Utopia to a dark red sphere. »Hades. A hot world whose temperatures make it just about possible to enter in protective suits. Such lava worlds, also often referred to as ›pressure cooker‹ worlds, are, in contrast to ice worlds, very close to the star of the system. Many of them are too hot to land there.«

  Jane asked: »Why would you want to land in such a place?«

  Annie replied: »There are three reasons why anyone wants to enter a world at all. Either it is inhabited or habitable, it is scientific curiosity, or there are raw materials there.«

  That made sense because, for the populated worlds, material was needed, it was taken from other planets. The view changed to Nura, the gas planet on the edge of the Zelot-System.

  »Probably the best-known category of planet is the gas giant. From Jupiter and Saturn to Nura here in the system, gas giants are almost everywhere. They consist of a core of rock and metal, which is surrounded by various gas mixtures. Inside there are mostly violent exothermic reactions and storms, so it is not very wise to steer a ship in. Only probes could be used to collect some data. We often use gas giants to operate refueling stations because they break down the planets‹ gas into its chemical components and process it into fuel. Even battleships whose shields had to absorb too much energy are often discharged safely by gas giants.«

  The recruits let it all sink in for a while and discussed their questions with Annie. Especially the name ›Omni-Galaxy‹ seemed strange to them, but all species had agreed on this name. However, the lessons continued the next morning so that they would still be in the matter with their heads.

  This morning the image showed an orbit around a star consisting of small boulders. None of them had seen anything like this before.

  »Besides the normal planets in the systems, there are of course many other things between the stars. The best-known phenomena are asteroids. These are the remnants of former planets that exploded or were smashed and blown away. In a vacuum, they do not lose their speed and therefore you often see them flying by. If they are trapped in the gravitational field of a star, they circle around it like everything else. If an entire planet is smashed and captured, an asteroid belt is created in its orbit. Beautiful to look at, but the nightmare of every pilot.«

  Leena asked: »What else is out there?«

  Annie laughed: »There’s nothing that doesn’t exist, remember? There are nebulae like the Khaki Line. The gas divers live in them. These are huge stingray-like life forms that seem to feed on radiation or elements within the nebula. That’s why you shouldn’t fly through the line. Then there are debris, dark matter, planetoids, comets, meteoroids and infinitely many other unknown things. But what I wanted to mention are exoplanets. Planets of any form that are not trapped in any star system. Some just float somewhere in space, others move through it. There are even said to be exoplanets roaring through space like asteroids. If one of these collides with something, it really bangs.«

  They imagined a hot world flying through space like a meteor and then shredding a planet or a ship. »By the way, I am often asked, so I just tell you directly. An asteroid always consists of solids and is in an orbit. A comet, on the other hand, is made of dust and ice and becomes so bright by the reflection of starlight. That’s why these things evaporate when they enter an atmosphere. And then there are meteoroids. These are free-flying solid bodies that do not necessarily have an orbit. As soon as they enter the atmosphere, they start to glow due to the heat. This is called meteor or shooting star. What then strikes the planet’s surface and remains is called a meteorite.«

  Kelly said: »Pff. Why the stupid name changes?«

  Annie just chuckled over it. She smiled and kept moving the map while she talked. She looked very excited. »As I said, there’s nothing that doesn’t exist. I think you’re beginning to understand my fascination with the infinite possibilities of such a huge galaxy. We can still discover new things for thousands of years in the future.«

  The following Tuesday an exercise was scheduled for the whole day. Nothing good came to them when they had to arrive at the hangar. The same strange-looking ship was standing by. This time there were even three more groups as they boarded. »Please, not another stupid fog world!«, Gina hoped. Leena said: »Unlikely. The military exercises only on nearby worlds if possible because the transport to other systems is too expensive only to train recruits. Nirvana is the only fog world here.«

  They weren’t convinced, but it seemed unlikely that it would be another mission on Nirvana after such a short time.

  They flew back into space, but not far away from Utopia. The planet had obviously lost some of its mass in the course of the eons, even though none of them knew of craters or anything similar on the planet’s surface. However, several different asteroids followed the world on its orbit. Now they headed for one of them. »Why are we flying towards this huge boulder?«, Tim asked nervously. Banes instructed them to equip themselves. There were the simple combat suits again, but this time with a fully equipped helmet and breathing mask. They clicked the mouthparts into it and heard how they tightened themselves. Then they connected each other’s hoses to the back of their hoods, which linked the air supply in the torso to the helmet. The technology seemed prehistoric
to Carter. As soon as they took their rifles and pistols, the working HUD showed that it was a harmless energy weapon for training purposes. This indicated that they should be competing against the other teams. However, this assumption turned out to be wrong as soon as Banes spoke to them. He himself wore a military green armor that seemed a little older. It was heavily scratched and in some places, it had scrapes and small dents. His head was still without a helmet and he explained the exercise to them.

  »Listen up losers! This is going to be an asteroid exercise. In missions, you will always find yourself in situations where you land on a planet whose gravity is stronger or weaker than that on Utopia and Earth. Stronger gravity makes movements more difficult and you get tired faster, but overall it’s not very unusual and with upgrades not even noticeable anymore. Less gravity, on the other hand, is a shitty situation. Whether on a planet without atmosphere or in space, you have to learn to deal with zero-gravity.

  Running, jumping, shooting. It’s all completely different out there. Every combat suit, no matter how outdated or simple, has some basic functions for moving in a vacuum. I deliberately say that because even a room full of water is airless. These systems also work there. So let’s go outside and try not to just drift away.«

  His helmet came up in several parts from the neck opening, unfolded with the help of several mechanisms and joined together above his head. It was an extremely cool sight to see how modern armor unpacked itself or retracted. They all turned on their air supply and the ship’s hangar opened. Suddenly they felt completely light and Carter noticed his feet leaving the ground. An order for the HUD and the suit activated the stabilizers in the boots, landing him back on the stone floor as if magnets were holding him there. They ran very slowly out into the open and some of them were quite anxious. They were standing on rock and when you looked down it was like any other ground, but when you looked up you could see the infinity of the stars. They felt completely defenseless against the yawning blackness. Banes said: »Intimidating, isn’t it?« His voice was a little distorted by the loudspeakers of the helmet. »Here one first becomes aware of how infinity feels. If nothing separates you from the endless fall into eternal black but a few used stabilizers.«, he giggled.