Time is an Illusion_The Ptolemy Expedition

by Ruairí Cinéad Ducantlin

  “Oh! Right Oh! Dirty Harry? Yeah, Dirty Harry. Good one Corb.”

  Nick was positively beaming at hearing the movie reference.

  “By the way, Davinder and Jan send their best wishes. Except you Nick, they told me to tell you to buy some new clothes. I see you found the bombs.”

  “Ah, they love me too.”

  Everyone turned back to the devices.

  “Corb, you were gone longer than twenty minutes. We sent Brando and Turder between the hulls and everyone else looked inside, we looked in every corner of the Jeannette. We found these two devices. Those LEDs have been alternating a yellow indicator. We opened the other one.

  Yes, they are bombs.

  There are no markings inside or outside. The detonator is mounted on the underside of the lid. When the lid is screwed down, the detonator is in contact with the explosive compound.

  At least we believe it is an explosive compound, no one here has ever seen anything similar.”

  MooMoo was speaking to everyone but staring at the devices. When he stopped speaking, he looked to Corb.

  “They are bombs, and they were not ordered by the Americans. President Sanderson is going to assist Davinder and Jan in determining who did this. We will not receive an update for weeks. I suggested we push them into space and get on with our journey.”

  “I can tell you where they came from and who put them on the ship.”

  Shocked, everyone turned to the Chief for an explanation.

  “It is simple and a normal protocol for new military devices. Every new ship, plane, rocket, missile, and now starship has a failsafe. Someone, from the DoD, or MoD, probably working with the NSA, and MI6, decided they needed to keep this vessel from being taken over by the Chinese or the Russians.

  Worse, if we run into unfriendly folks, someone on-board was to trigger the device and destroy this ship. Destroy anything indicating our origin. Our sponsors are protecting Earth.”

  “Chief, I am your sponsor. Did you know about this?”

  The Chief shook his head in the negative at Corb’s question.

  “It’s simple then, we need to search for the trigger.”

  “No need Corb. I have the secondary transceiver. The LEDs are green when the devices receive the ‘all safe’ code from both transceivers. The LEDs are yellow because they stopped receiving from the transceiver you took off ship. If the secondary receiver goes offline… Well…

  We can’t let aliens know about Earth. If we run into any trouble, before we meet your ‘friends’, we are to protect Earth as the priority. The only priority is to protect earth.”

  The Commander Moody was standing tall, unapologetic.

  “Captain, the sentient beings in this part of the galaxy know where Earth is, and they know humans inhabit the third planet from Sol. Your premise is invalid.”

  Cassandra’s voice had cracked while commenting about the Captain’s intentions.

  “Invalid? I am protecting earth. All other orders are secondary to preventing any aliens, aliens from some shithole planet, learning about earth.”

  “You almost sound xenophobic. Captain, who gave you these orders? What are you talking about?”

  The Captain did not respond to Cassandra’s logic and stood fast, glaring at Corb.

  “Well Commander Moody, we have reached an impasse. I will not let this mission continue with the threat of you destroying the Jeannette because you are worried about who knows what… Commander, we are on a mission to explore. Exploring is what we are going to do.”

  Corb paused and considered.

  “Commander Moody, how do you recommend we resolve this impasse?”

  “Mister Johnson, I am the Captain of this vessel and I make the command decisions. There is no impasse. We will continue as planned. Everyone here knew what they signed up for and the risks. There is no discussion. Now, everyone back to duty, we need to get back into the slipstream.”

  No one moved. No one spoke. Everyone looked to Corb. Corb waited a full minute before speaking softly.

  “We will not proceed under threat of death at the first alien encounter or difficulty. Commander Moody, please reconsider your position.”

  “I do not have to reconsider my position, I am the captain of this vessel and you are required to follow my orders. Now, I ordered everyone back to duty. First Officer, bring us up to speed for the slipstream merge.”

  Slowly, everyone began to move. However, instead of heading toward the door, and the bridge, everyone moved their position within the cargo bay. First, deliberately, the Coterie crew members moved to stand behind Corb. Seeing the Coterie supporting Corb, the military members gradually joined the Coterie.

  Everyone was standing behind Corb who stood three paces in front of Commander Moody.

  “So that’s what it is going to be? Mutiny?”

  “Captain, no one here signed up to a suicide mission. No one here volunteered to join this mission with the possibility you would destroy this ship, and kill all of us, without due consideration.

  We are going to complete the mission. You can put us up on charges when we return to earth. I will not deny anything and will accept the consequences.

  We are not going to die in space because you decide we need to die to protect a false premise. Now, Captain, how is it going to be?”

  Chief Symington, with the longest service tenure, and had the highest respect of military crew, had stated their position well and clarified the position for the record.

  “Major Raitt, Command Responsibility requires we understand a definition of Superior Orders[7]. Commander Moody’s order to continue the mission, under threat of death, is unlawful. Military personnel are not obligated to follow unlawful orders. Make no mistake, we will be called to account for our actions and decisions.

  Based on the information at hand, we have no choice but to remove Commander Moody from command.”

  Accepting of the consequences of his decision, the Chief looked to each of the other military crew for confirmation.

  In turn, each of the military members, stood at attention, nodded confirmation to the Chief, and affirmed.”

  “Lucinda Raitt, Major, Canadian Special Operations Forces Command. Aye.”

  “Joshua Turner, Captain, Her Majesty’s Royal Navy. Aye.”

  “Himari Tanaka, Captain, Japanese Special Forces Group. Aye.”

  “Brandon Evans, Captain, United States Air Force. Aye.”

  “Justin Nguyen, Lieutenant, United States Navy. Aye.”

  “Ragnar Jensen, Lieutenant, Royal Norwegian Navy. Aye.”

  “Nicholas Davies, Colour Seargent, Her Majesty’s Royal Navy. Aye.”

  Turning back to face the Commander, the Chief felt simultaneously both proud of the team, and an immense sadness. Sadness at the necessity of removing the ship’s captain.

  “Bryan Symington, Chief Petty Officer, Her Majesty’s Royal Navy. Aye. Captain, no one here signed up to a suicide mission. I will provide you the courtesy of recommending how we proceed.”

  Not looking at the Chief, Commander Moody remained focused on Corb. Without a word, the Commander lunged toward the table. Commander Moody lunged toward the bombs.

  Before he covered half the distance to the table, the Commander flew backward, hit the bulkhead, broadside, three feet above the floor. The force throwing the Commander at the wall was quick and violent. MooMoo slumped to the deck unconscious.

  “Oh no, I forgot about the low gravity.”

  “No Corb, it was me too.”

  “And, me.”

  With raised eyebrows, Corb turned to look at the crew.

  “I understand. Lucinda for assisting. But, Janish? You too?”

  Janish shrugged, demurred at responding, and walked over to confirm the Commander was breathing.

  Corb turned to the Chief.

  “Chief, I believe Major Raitt is the senior officer, but I would like your opinion.”

  “Mister Johnson… Corb, can you get us to the destination safely?”
/>
  “Yes, Chief, I can get us there.”

  “Then we sequester the Commander and continue the mission with Major Raitt in command.”

  “Status please.”

  While sitting in the command chair, Lucinda had issued her first order as the Captain of the Jeannette.

  “Access codes changed. Ship’s log updated. Everyone, please update your personal log. We replaced the captain. That’s mutiny in any Navy. If we ever get home… We will deal with the consequences.”

  Nick was confirming Commander Moody no longer had access to any of the ship’s systems.

  “Decompressing the airlock ejected the three devices into space. The devices are two thousand meters to the starboard. Strapped together, they will continue to float until the transceiver’s batteries die.”

  Turder had removed the bomb threat.

  “We moved his personal belongings and locked Commander moody in an officer’s berth. He is still out cold but does not appear to have any broken bones. He will have a huge headache when he wakes up. Nick, we found this hidden in Moody’s baggage. It might be interesting.”

  Michelle closed her status by tossing a flash drive to Nick.

  “Ta. I will look at it after we get up to speed.”

  Nick turned back to his console. Lucinda continued flight preparations.

  “Ragnar, can we fly?”

  “Yes, course plotted and loaded. Acceleration curve programmed. On your order.”

  “Chief, any reason we can’t fly?”

  “Captain, we are good to go. On your order.”

  “Corb?”

  “Ready, Lucinda.”

  “Thank you all. Ragnar, let’s fly.

  As the anti-matter was injected into the reaction chamber, the constant drone of the pulsed plasma propulsion engines changed to a higher pitch. Even isolated inside the inner hull, enough sound traversed via the fuselage for the crew to hear the difference.

  “Nick, please upload this to the central core.”

  Corb tossed the flash drive Jan gave him to Nick.

  “What is it?”

  “Updates, news, email. You know, normal stuff.”

  “WooHoo! I’m on it!”

  “Hold on cowboy. We have plenty of time for email. Right now, let’s make sure this ship is back on track and flying true. Chief, please post a new duty schedule, with Himari and me alternating command.

  Before anyone pulls ‘the rank card’, Himari was a Major but accepted a demotion to join our crew.”

  “Aye, new duty roster.”

  “Thanks, Chief, any questions?”

  “How did you know I was Major?”

  “Same way I knew Nick was still in the Royal Navy. It is my job to know. Or, it was my job to know.

  I want everyone’s attention for a moment. NT, please express to the crew what you told me earlier today.”

  Surprised at the request to discuss a private conversation, it took NT a moment to coalesce his thoughts.

  “Commander Moody is someone whose mindset and ethos is narrow and myopic. People, like Commander Moody have beliefs not in the mainstream or majority of society. A narrow mindset is good for a military career but problematic when attempting to expand horizons. Narrow, myopic, thinking creates separation and divides people and cultures. It is our responsibility to knock down barriers to new horizons. It is also our responsibility to protect Earth while limiting the degrees of separation keeping us, the people of Earth, from moving forward.”

  The crew did not respond, no response was required.

  It required two full weeks to reach sufficient velocity to allow Corb to push the Jeannette back into slip-space.

  Part Two

  Degrees of Connection

  Chapter Thirteen

  Which way do we go?

  “There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” – C.S. Lewis

  “Why are we so far from anything? This is the middle of nowhere? Corb, why did you drop us from the slipstream so far from… Stand by… Corb we traveled almost twice as fast in the slipstream the second time. Are my calculations correct? Also, why are we so far from any planets?”

  In the afternoon of the twenty-second day from the failed deflector shield relay, Lucinda was still uneasy giving directions to Corb, but she was comfortable commanding the Jeannette. The military crew were respectful of Lucinda, her new position as Captain, and everyone realized a truism: Lucinda was a natural leader.

  Captain Moody remained confined.

  “Lucinda, I need to figure out which planet is the correct planet.”

  “What? I thought you knew where we are going?”

  “I do. I mean, I have been there several times, but I have not arrived from normal space. I used the portals. I have not seen the planet from normal space. We should have brought along a cartographer. Oh well, if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, every day would be Christmas. Obviously, this is a gap in our planning. If we are unable figure this out, I’ll go there and ask for assistance.

  You should all know, I do not consider it a good idea to ask for help. We, I mean humans, may be regarded as incapable of interstellar travel if we are unable to find one little planet. This mission, the use of this vessel, is a test.

  I have no reason to believe it is not a test. The Others were a little cryptic. It might be a test for me.

  Back to your other question. ‘How did we travel so fast?’ One of the Others gave me a detail about using the Dark Matter Fabric. We, humans, naturally consider a trip or journey as possessing a starting-point, and a destination, or end-point. I now understand. It is counterproductive to consider teleporting as possessing an origin and a destination. If you stop thinking about the point of origin the negative-mass closes behind you. Effectively, holding on to the origin point puts drag on the movement through the negative mass.”

  Corb stopped speaking, shrugged, and returned to examining the star charts. The crew was looking at each other with raised eyebrows and mild surprise. Lucinda, sensing the growing unease, raised her hand to the crew, indicating “Relax, I got this”.

  “Corb, we are going to help you. Everyone else stand down. Minimum duty effective immediately. Chief, run diagnostics and refresh the anti-matter pool.”

  Reaching over and opening a ship-wide intercom, the Chief was delighted to have something to focus on while the officers searched for their destination.

  “Roger that, Himari, Turder, meet me in the engine room.”

  Lucinda smiled to herself and watched the Chief exit the bridge. Lucinda and Janish walked up and stood on either side of Corb. Corb turned to both, smiled, nodded, and turned back to his monitor.

  “Ragnar, please put the local star charts on the main screen. Janish, Lucinda, do you feel any new connections?”

  “Not yet, Janish?”

  “No, I have the same connections.”

  Standing on the bridge, with anticipation, everyone waited patiently while Corb, Janish, and Lucinda reviewed the star charts. Eventually, the crew drifted off and resumed their normal duty rotation. Three days passed with no resolution. After about twenty minutes of frustratingly slow analytic progress, on the morning of the third day, Nick failed his right to remain silent.

  “Fookin ‘ell. Pick one of the twinkly dots and let’s get going.”

  Ragnar stepped up to defend the analysis and decision process.

  “Nick, at the speed of the anti-matter engines, in normal space, it will require seventeen years to reach the closest M-Type planet. Corb and Janish are trying to calculate not only where to fly but how long we should remain in the slipstream. If they get it wrong, we could end up weeks beyond the correct planet.”

  “Yeah, well, it is damp squid to loll around for a fortnight while we avoid stepping on Richard the Third.”

  Janish giggled and realized everyone, even Lucinda, was looking at her to translate Nick’s banter.

  “He said, waiting, dormant, trying to decide something, for a couple of weeks, is no bet
ter than stepping in a muck pile.”

  The crew rolled their eyes, grunted, and otherwise remained focused on their duties. Another two days passed with no obvious progress. Corb refused to leave the bridge except to eat and use the lavatory. Michelle was unsuccessful in getting Corb to take a break or a shower. Even offering to share the shower was unsuccessful in getting Corb to take some time from his analysis.

  Eventually, the Chief forced Corb to stop his search and respond with a valid status.

  “Mister Johnson, Miss. Roa, Captain, we are going to need a status. Sitting around, staring at a screen, for a few more days is too tedious for the crew. If you let us help you, maybe we can reach a conclusion and get the Jeannette underway.”

  Corb turned from the screen to face the Chief.

  “Yes, of course. My apologies, Chief. I thought I could make the determination and plot the correct course. I was unable to make the determination. Consequently, I reached out for assistance.”

  It appeared as if Corb had cued the timing, one of the Others appeared on the bridge.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Earth is not the only Blue Dot

  “Babies have big heads and big eyes, and tiny little bodies with tiny little arms and legs. So did the aliens at Roswell! I rest my case.” – William Shatner

  “We received your request. We wonder why the Enlightened One has discontinued his journey. Is there a concern?”

  Excluding Corb, none of the crew had seen one of the Others. Of the crew not in their bunks, the appearance of the Other was not a surprise. Clearly humanoid in stature, the Other’s skin tone was not gray. His, or Her, skin tone had a bluish hue which might be considered gray in low light. A bi-pedal being, with two arms ending in hands with three long fingers and an oppositional thumb on each hand. The arms and legs, relative to the torso, are disproportionately long, by human standards.

  Their head is an inverted teardrop shape and is disproportionately large, relative to their body. A bulbus braincase terminating in a pointy chin. The Other’s entire body was disproportionate by human standards. The ears are low on either side of the head, with small openings and exceedingly small lobes. If you did not look closely, you would miss the tiny lobes protruding from the head.