by Kocho
International Space Station Freedom
The largest object that man ever managed to build looked tiny compared to the beautiful world it orbited.
The ISSF was the biggest and most expensive project that humanity created. It was placed in the L4 Lagrange point and orbited the planet in a stabile orbit. Its creation and building started three years before with a joint effort by more than a hundred countries. The biggest investors normally were the USA, Russia, China, Japan and the EU who had the most developed space programs. There were plenty private investors as well as more and more private companies took the business of carrying satellites and people in space.
The station incorporated in itself the previous ISS and was build around it. It had a circular form with a massive central structure. To an outside observer it would have looked like a wheel. Even today the station was still being upgraded and new modules were arriving from Earth. And it was easily visible from the planet below with its size of eight square kilometers.
The plans for it dated back to the seventies of the previous century, back to the golden years of the space program. Nobody imagined its creation until three and a half years when the private companies that took the brute of space exploration and developed successful space tourism. With the announcement of the plans for discarding the ISS in twelve years because of money issues, and with the increasing need of the private companies for a space station they delivered their proposal to NASA and the governments that operated and sponsored the ISS. After several months of negotiations the plans for the building of Freedom were finally given green light.
And forty two months later the station was operating and as it proved represented the greatest hope of its creators. Its value was proven by the object that orbited several thousand miles away.
Compared to the station the Deadalus looked small. But the first human ship that was supposed to carry a human crew to the outskirts of the Solar system was never going to be built in the short time it was without the station that housed the crews that build it for the last year. It incorporated many of the parts that were planned for the Long Shot. It had a triangular shape and with the attached ARES rockets that were supposed to give it its first boost it looked even bigger than it really was.
It was two hundred and twenty meters long, thirty seven wide, with four decks from top to bottom. Two shuttles were attached on its sides, as well as several escape pods in the form of the modules that were used for the Apollo missions. A large hangar bay lay on its bottom that housed a third smaller space shuttle that could take off and land like an airplane. The shuttle was a donation to the program by the private companies.
Seventy people at the moment were on it. Eight more, than it was planned. The crew trained and exercised for almost two months. A small test flight was performed to test the ship and its crew several weeks before.
The crew had twenty two soldiers, twenty astronauts and engineers who were the real ship’s crew. And twenty eight were scientists and engineers who had a mission to study the strange fleet.
Connors looked at the ship. He knew every part of it like the back of his hand and today as he was looking at it he felt deep, great pride. And he knew that everyone else felt that too. He knew that million telescopes down on the planet are pointed at the moment at the small point several thousand miles away, at the ship that he and his colleagues worked tirelessly for the past year to build.
“Any minute now…”
The comment came from Samuel. His French accent made Connors laugh.
The big Frenchmen came on the station at the beginning of the project and he was involved in the whole process. Somewhere along the way he and Connors became great friends.
“Yes any minute now.”
They both stood at the observation post and watched the ship. They knew most of the crew, but especially the astronauts and engineers. Most of them were their colleagues. Connors was one of the reserve pilots for the mission but in the end it turned out that he will have to wait the next one.
As he looked his friend noticed the hidden sadness in his eyes, but knowing him well didn’t say anything. He just let him watch.
“He is a beauty isn’t it? And it’s only the first.”
Samuel smiled.
“Yes it is. And we built it.”
“And we will build the next one as well. And we will be on it.”
His voice was filled with emotion. They both knew that the next ship will not be like the one that they were watching. The attack from the four Dacarian ships made sure that humanity will be building ships for war. The news that an invasion is imminent meant that a fleet will be needed. If the Deadalus was built without the need for ship slips that was not the case for the ships that were planned for the future. Even as the Deadalus was built the station received its latest upgrade. Two ship slips were now in the final stages of construction, and there were information’s that the station will receive armor plating. They didn’t know for sure but with the knowledge of the incoming invasion it was obvious that the station will need an armor plating and weapons that will be able to hurt the enemy ships.
Samuel looked at the ship that was standing before him and a sad smile appeared on his face. He knew that the attack took away the innocence and the beauty of the exploration. He could remember the feeling of pride and joy they all felt when the construction of Deadalus began. He remembered the excitement they all felt, the long discussions of what might be found on the strange ships. Of what the aliens might look like.
Now they knew. They were reptilians more than two meters tall and they were coming to take everything humanity had. He felt anger at that thought. And he knew that that anger was felt by everyone. The dacarians didn’t know it yet but they were in for a rude surprise. And if they were lucky the Deadalus might bring the first one.
When the Deadalus was built the hope was that a technology that will enable humanity to travel through the galaxy, but that changed after the attack. The hope for the drives was still there, but now the hope for finding powerful weapons came first. Humanity needed weapons that can strike from distance and needed them desperately. And he really hoped that they will be there to be found.
He turned toward his friend and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Yes we will my friend. Yes we will.”
As the two astronauts discussed and watched the ship, their friends on it were finishing their final evaluations, and making sure that everything is working as it should. Twelve of the twenty astronauts were on the ships bridge at the moment. The others were strapped in the other chambers together with the rest of the crew. The ships bridge had room for twelve people. They were all manning the consoles.
Commander Jennings looked at the readings. Everything was in the green. Linda reported that everyone was strapped in and ready for takeoff. Now all they needed was the clearing from Houston.
“Houston we are ready for takeoff, asking clearance for departure.”
Less than a minute later the video link showed the NASA center on earth.
Dr. Paterson’s face appeared on the screen.
“You have clearance Deadalus. God be with you.”
“Thank you.”
Thirty seconds later the countdown started. As the clock hit zero the eight powerful ARES rockets ignited and the large ship started its journey towards Sedna.
The ship moved slowly at first but it soon picked up speed. As the rockets burned through their fuel they were discarded and the hydrogen thrusters were ignited. After forty five thousand seconds of max burn the ship achieved the velocity of 5000 km/s. The next stage was the ignition of the VASIMR engines that took their power from the four nuclear reactors. The ship slowly gained up speed. Even with the great power input the speed couldn’t be achieved instantaneously. The huge mass that the vessel had in total of 4500 metric tons meant that it needed a great deal of power to start its moving and it gained its speed slowly. It took seven days for it to reach its max velocity of 7500 km/s.
&nbs
p; Although the speed was great the crew thanks to the RCS thrusters and stabilizers from the alien ship and thanks to the shields, didn’t feel anything. As the ship traveled through the vast distances, for them time moved slowly in exercises and planning and in constant updates from Earth. They had no secrets from one another. They had plenty of time to get to know one another in the two months that they spent together in preparations for this mission. The soldiers had the easiest time as they were the most prepared physically as well as the astronauts who trained their entire lives for missions like this one. The scientists spent most of their time preparing for what was to come. They constantly watched the photos that the New Horizon took as it approached Sedna.
From the observations they managed to confirm that they were definitely not the same design as the four ships that were destroyed on Earth.
They were totally different and from the images it seemed that they were different classes as well.
The crew interacted constantly, there was no gap between the soldiers and the rest of the crew, they shared opinions and sometimes laughed at some of the things that were done and said. It was interesting to see the reactions of everyone in a zero gravity. The astronauts were the masters in that environment as they spent most of the time in space. Several of the soldiers attracted the attention of everyone with the stories about the battle with the aliens. But everyone wanted to know the story that the latest addition to the team had. The six scientists and one soldier from the Balkans joined the crew as a late addition. And while the scientists were open the soldier was the most quiet and kept mostly to himself. He was always present at the discussions and always gave his opinion. But he never talked too much. He was the most known of everyone since the UN meeting and the showing of the images. They knew that he came face to face with the aliens and lived to tell the tale.
Edward looked at the young man that was sitting opposite him. He noticed the strange badge he was wearing. The symbols on it were strange. As he was watching he noticed that the soldier smiled.
“It has something that attracts attention, something mysterious that we can’t see but we can feel. Doesn’t it?”
Edward raised his head and looked at him.
“Yes it does. Where did you get it?”
The young man looked thoughtful for a second and then answered him.
“It was a gift, the last wish of a dying soldier.”
As he said that Edward noticed the strange look in his eyes and understood.
“It was one of them, wasn’t it? One of them gave it to you before he died.”
“Yes. It was his last wish. His name was Ristarion Al Mach.”
Edward looked at him with look that showed disgust and surprise. In a moment he recalled the day when he learned that his brother died.
“How can you wear it? How can you wear it knowing what they will do?”
“I wear it because it was a gift and a dying wish. I wear it because he died with honor. They all did. They may be our enemies but we have to respect them and try to understand them. That might be the best chance we have.”
Edward looked at him. He was surprised from his speech. He knew the story at least the one that the media reported about the battle and the destruction of the second ship. He knew that it was Fillip who acquired the data link that contained the information and the coordinates for the attack. He thought that the anger he felt was something that everyone felt. But now he was seeing something else. Deep inside him he understood what the Macedonian was telling him. For you to be better than your enemy you must first understand him, know him. That way you will always be ahead of him. It was obvious that this young man knew something about them. Something no one else knew. Something strange happened that day, something that he wasn’t prepared to share.
“I’m sorry. I had no right to react like that. It’s just …”
“I know Edward. I know about your brother. I’m sorry.”
The voice held sympathy and honesty. Edward knew that he meant it. He could notice in the way he said the last words that he wasn’t a stranger to that feeling. His anger slowly dissipated and he relaxed.
“Thank you Fillip, you are right. We have to learn more about them. We have to stop them.”
Fillip raised his head from the file he was reading and looked at him. The compassion in his black eyes disappeared.
“We will stop them. They are strong but they can die just as easy as anyone of us. And their pride will make them a much easier target. Your brother died a good death Edward. He died for the right reasons.
They all did. And they will be avenged.”
Edward looked at the young man and felt admiration. The man opposite him was just a year or two older than he was but he had something in him that inspired confidence. His voice, his stance was the one of a man who is sure in himself and knows what is expected of him. And knows he can deliver. And what he saw reminded him of his brother.
A smile appeared on his face as he thought of him and the sadness of his loss was here again but it was easier this time.
Fillip nodded his head and stood up leaving the young scientist to his thoughts. The mission was nearing to the end. Or, to its beginning, and with that the tension was mounting. The thing that happened now was only a consequence of that. Everyone was exited. He was too. He only hid it better, same as the rest of the soldiers. They were only a day away from Sedna. The ships were on the opposite side of the small planet so they couldn’t see them now. But they all knew that they are there. He headed or more accurately drifted slowly in the null g toward the exercise room. The marines were spending most of their time there trying to stay in shape. This kind of environment had a bad influence on their muscles. He remembered the briefings, about the astronauts that spent more time in space. With the time this mission was going to last going to the ships and then going back they were going to rank on the top for time spent in space without gravity. He smiled and greeted the rest of the military team as he entered in the room.
He looked at his companions and thought about the strange alien ships that they were going to board tomorrow. Whatever expected them there they were ready.
“It’s going to be interesting.”
22 April 2018 Sedna
Jennings looked open mounted at the large ships before them. He didn’t have to turn his head to see the look on the faces of the rest of the crew. They arrived on target ten minutes ago and what they saw took their breath away. The ships were huge, and from what they could see there were at least twenty different classes. But what mostly got their attention were the three lead ships.
They were clearly military. They could see the weapons that littered their hulls. They were retracted and inactive and the hull was covered with dust. And they could all see the visible damage from some distant battle. Large holes were noticeable on all three. They were especially noticeable on the largest one.
“Jesus they are big.”
“And they look like they went through hell and lived to tell the tale. Whatever battle they were in must have been one hell of an engagement. Just look at the size of that armor. Not even the ship in Norfolk has that tick armor plating… and those guns.”
The comment came from Kaminski, one of the scientists that came from the teams that studied the alien ship at Norfolk.
“Yea about those guns, is there any activity from them, anything at all?”
Linda looked at the readings.
“No. They are dead, no power emissions, no radio, nothing.” “Don’t bother.”
They all turned at that comment. Antonov was looking at the infrared images of the ships. After a second he raised his head and looked at them.
“Sorry. Look at the dust on those hulls. For that amount of dust to be gathered here on those ships, and they all have it, they’d have to be here for a very long time.”
“How long do you think?”
“Centuries, no sorry it must be thousands of years. They are here for a really long time. Really long…”
His voice showed emotion, emotion they all felt, and raised questions.
Jennings turned towards Linda.
“How many ships are there?”
“The scan shows sixty seven. It seems that there were more but some were destroyed when they crashed on Sedna.”
“Tom if those ships were here for that long…there is no way that anything can be alive on them. This may be, no it is a gold mine. We have to send the information’s to Earth. And we have to board them.”
Jennings looked at the large ship in front of them. The Deadalus look so tiny compared with it. He inhaled and turned.
“Linda set up a meeting. I want the leaders of each team in the briefing room in ten minutes. We have to make a plan of action.”
As he said that he noticed the UN envoy and soldier together with Ellis the marine leader looking at the ship. Their looks showed amazement.
“Well we finally found something that will take their breath away as well.”
“I want the two of you on that meeting as well.”
They just nodded and kept on looking.
Ten minutes later twenty people sat on the table in the briefing room. Most of them were scientists and engineers and astronauts. Only two were soldiers. The discussion started long before they gathered. And it was obvious that everyone wanted to be the first one to step on board the alien ships.
“We have to go in there and start looking on the equipment. This is a gold mine.”
“You may be right Mr. Haler but we have to proceed carefully. We don’t know what…”
“What we can find? Surely you don’t think that there might be aliens on board. Those ships are here for thousands of years. All analyzes confirm that.”
“Yes but we have no way of knowing what we may find there. And we have to choose a ship. There are plenty of targets.”
They all smiled at the comment of the captain. Jennings smiled himself. They needed the joke.
“I think that the ship in front of us is the obvious target.”
