Midshipman Henry Gallant in Space

by H. Peter Alesso

CHAPTER 11

  GANYMEDE RESEARCH PROJECTS

  The unrestrained sky permitted an expansive view of the heavens as Flights 3 and 4 escorted Repulse’s shuttlecraft to the surface of Ganymede near its Research Laboratory. Flight 3 consisted of two Eagles piloted by Neumann and Chui, while Flight 4’s Eagles were piloted by Red and Gallant. On board the shuttlecraft were the Repulse’s Science Department Head, Commander Jackson and her staff of three science officers.

  The landing beacons guided the ships to the moon’s surface. Valleys of cooling lava flowed over the irregular surface signifying the evolving nature of the moon. Volcanic islands of circular cones protruded from rough mountainous terrain along the horizon surrounding the smooth gravel-tar landing strip. As the spacecraft landed, the Ganymede director was notified.

  The Repulse study team, consisting of the four scientists, four pilots and four astrogators, disembarked and strode under the light gravity, only fourteen percent of Earth’s, toward several small hangars. Only the landing hangars and a few relatively small buildings were visible above ground. Constructing the accelerator’s magnets, delicate devices and long linear tubes underground was necessitated by the very real danger of meteorites.

  The Ganymede laboratory consisted of elaborate research facilities and one of UP’s largest particle accelerators. The Ganymede accelerator was the most powerful physicist's tool available on the Jupiter frontier. With it, they were able to explore the dynamics and structure of matter and space-time. The accelerator was their aid for unraveling high energy particle interactions of matter made from leptons (electrons) and quarks, as well as, bosons (photons and gluons). It used electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles within well-defined magnetically controlled beams to high speeds. This particular accelerator was a synchrotron which could reach the very highest energies for antiprotons production (billions of electron volts, or GeV) in a ring of constant radius of about 8 miles.

  The accelerator’s primary mission was to produce and store antiprotons for the engines of the UP ships. However, during normal operations it was possible to siphon off a small fraction of the particle stream into side branches for experimentation. As a result, the over one thousand personnel at the facility could engage in various aspects of research - from direct experimentation to computer simulations and analysis.

  “Welcome Commander,” said laboratory director, Dr. Edward Lawrence. “We're glad to have you and your team visit.”

  Lawrence was a small middle-aged man with a foxlike face. He had to look up at Jackson, a large woman with strong features.

  “Thank you, Dr. Lawrence. We’re glad to be here. We’re excited to learn more about your recent experiments. Captain Caine hopes some of them can be transformed into useful technology - something that might make a difference on the Jupiter frontier in the near future. I hope you don’t mind, I asked a few pilots and astrogators to join our evaluation team. Their nimble minds and hands-on experience may offer some useful insights.”

  “Quite possibly, quite possibly. We’re glad to have you observe our progress. A few of our more inspired researchers have produced some provocative results. Come along. We have a great deal to show you.”

  Dr. Lawrence led the members of the Repulse group on a tour of the extensive underground facility. Gallant, Red and Kelsey walked together, chatting about the elaborate structural supports for the underground corridors. Neumann and Chui were close behind them listening attentively. A group consisting of several of the lab’s scientists was waiting at the first of the experimental workshops.

  “We have three distinct investigations that have had some fruitful results. At this workshop, our team has successfully replicated Earth’s invisibility experiments.”

  The young scientific team consisted of a beanstalk of a scientist and three youths. The youngest of this team was Elizabeth Bolton, an attractive woman who couldn’t have been much older than Gallant. As she stepped forward to present the team’s findings, she stopped and stared with apparent interest at the fighter pilots. Then she extended her arm to point at the impressive apparatus before them.

  “We have created an energy source powerful enough to cloak an entire building. The process starts by coating the target object with a meta-material. The meta-material is created by embedding nano-implants that force electromagnet waves to bend in unusual ways. By attaching a power source, we can manipulate the index of refraction inside the meta-material. This bends light around the object, like a river flowing around a boulder. The result is that it renders the object effectively invisible to the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from x-rays to microwaves.”

  “Would it be possible to cloak a ship?” asked Jackson.

  “Yes, eventually,” said Elizabeth. “Though for now it would take several months to install this apparatus on your battle cruiser. It would also mean cannibalizing a lot of ship systems and missiles storage compartments to make room. On the other hand, I understand that a shipyard on Earth has begun construction on a ship with similar cloaking technology.”

  “I’ve heard the same thing, but that ship wouldn’t be completed for over a year,” said Jackson, nodding.

  “Would it be possible to cloak the entire above ground hangar and buildings?” asked Gallant. He spoke before he realized that his very junior status might make it inappropriate.

  All eyes turned toward Gallant for a moment. Then, Elizabeth responded, “Why yes, given the proximity to the existing experimental building. We could effectively cloak our entire aboveground facility in just a few weeks,” she said. Then turning to Commander Jackson, she asked, “Is that something Captain Caine might desire?”

  Gallant remained silent, and Jackson said, “Yes. It would improve the defensive position of this laboratory.”

  Dr. Lawrence stepped forward and said, “Very well, I’ll make arrangements for that. Now let’s move on to the next workshop,”

  As the group started to leave, Elizabeth asked, “Dr. Lawrence, would you mind if I continued on with the evaluation team?”

  “Not at all,” said Dr. Lawrence as he led them down the corridor to the next workgroup.

  “That was a very impressive presentation,” Kelsey said to Elizabeth, as she accompanied the Repulse group.

  “Thank you. It was a team effort. Our leader is an expert in the field. I was chosen to give the presentation because I ran the final series of successful experiments,” she said.

  “Oh, and have you been working on them for very long?” asked Red, slowing his pace such that the two of them fell behind the others.

  “Yes, indeed. The team started this work over a year ago. My experiments were the final step that I completed last month,” she said.

  Curious, Gallant stopped and asked, “Have you been on Ganymede long?”

  “I was born on Ganymede. My grandparents were some of the original pioneers to settle the main colony at the capital city of Kendra. Many of the settlers, here on the Jupiter frontier, are second and third generation. For us, living in an artificial environment carved out of rock is a natural way of life.”

  Red inserted himself between Gallant and Elizabeth, and said, “We should walk a little faster to catch-up with the others.” As they did so, he asked, “So your education as a physicist was a product of Ganymede?”

  “You shouldn't be surprised by that,” she responded. “All the required course work is available through computer simulations and AI instruction. And this laboratory provides all the experimental experience any scientist could hope for. I think it’s just as stimulating as Earth’s MIT.”

  “I’m sure that's the case,” replied Red as the two had, again, separated several steps from the others. Gallant and the rest of the Repulse team bunch together at the second workshop.

  Dr. Lawrence waved his arms, as if to gather them all together and began, “This experiment is called MASS. The device is small enough to be taken aboard your ship. It produces a space-time distortion that creates an intense gravity-well for a very s
hort period of time. You release it at a given location and any ship passing by would find its course altered due to the change in the curvature of local space-time.”

  “Could you elaborate?” asked Jackson.

  “It works by creating a massive energy implosion. The energy is generated inward toward a tiny central point. Since energy is equal to mass,” said Dr. Lawrence and then he added with a wink and a whisper, "times the speed of light squared, of course. This imploding concentration of energy can be thought of as the creation of a spontaneous massive object. The massive object will produce a gravity-well in the space-time fabric. For all practical purposes, we can construe this as a change in curvature in the local geometry of space-time. Any questions?”

  There was silence as the group contemplated the complex concepts. Neumann fidgeted enough to attract Jackson’s attention who said, “Go head, Neumann.”

  “Would that act as a kind of ‘speed bump’ to passing ships and missiles?” asked Neumann.

  “Exactly!”

  “Well then, could we lay a string of these devices, like mines, in front of an enemy’s path?” asked Neumann.

  “You’re right. Setting them off in front of an attacking force would send their missiles haywire, as well as disorganize their fleet. Is that possible Dr. Lawrence?” asked Jackson.

  “Not only possible, but I will get this workshop team building MASS devices immediately,” said Dr. Lawrence.

  Lawrence’s comm pin emitted a buzzing sound. He listened privately to a message and then addressed the group, “We have a slight delay before the last presentation. Feel free to wander about and meet some of the laboratory team members. Please, let’s all meet again, at Section E-12 at 1700.”

  Elizabeth Bolton moved next to Gallant and said, “Since we have some free time, would you like a tour of the surface dome. It has a marvelous view.”

  “Thank you. I think I would enjoy that,” said Gallant.

  “Mind if I come too?” asked Red, popping up next to the couple.

  “Oh, ..., you’re welcome too,” said Elizabeth, as she hooked arms with Gallant and guided him along the corridor to the elevators.

  When they emerged from the elevator, Elizabeth took them to a glass domed viewing compartment. There, they were greeted by a celestial view of Jupiter, several of its moons, and a million dots of pinpoint starlight - trimmed by the Ganymede rugged mountainous landscape.

  “I suppose space flight makes you immune to something like this, but I’ve always been humbled by it,” said Elizabeth.

  Red said, “When we fly, we’re synced-in with our AI. We’re forced to watch indicators and sensors. And we're faced with endless distractions. So you’re wrong to think we can’t appreciate this stunning planetary portrait.”

  “Oh,” Elizabeth said, looking pleased.

  “Tell me more about growing up in this environment, Beth?” asked Red moving closer to Elizabeth. He took her arm and gently steered her to a secluded corner of the towering dome compartment.

  A few minutes later, Gallant stood in the center of the domed compartment under the mosaic sky, bewildered about how he had wound up alone.

  At 1700 hours, the Repulse group reassembled at Section E12.

  Dr. Lawrence smiled at the assembly like a Cheshire cat. “I’ve saved the best for last. We call it a Faser cannon. It combines nuclear fission and lasers. As you know, LASER stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Our FASER stands for Fission Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation."

  "To elaborate, a laser works by pulsing light through a crystal in such a way that the crystal releases a flood of identical electromagnetic waves all at once. Our experiment succeeded in pulsing light through a block of crystalline Uranium-235 to create a pulse of coherent photo-fission - all the Uranium-235 atoms fission simultaneously and produce an energy beam of immense highly focused power.”

  “We have prepared a demonstration for your benefit,” said Dr. Lawrence. "If you will look at this screen, we have set up our Faser gun to target a small nearby meteorite."

  Then, he asked the workshop team leader, “Are you ready?”

  The man nodded.

  “Fire.”

  The Faser cannon lit up in a powerful display and a beam of energy projected at a nearby meteorite. It withered into dust instantly.

  The Repulse team was very impressed. However, the Faser cannon was enormous and Lawrence was reluctant to speculate how long it would take to reduce it to fit it into a battle cruiser. Nevertheless, they all agreed it could make an excellent defensive weapon for the Ganymede Research Laboratory.

  Gallant was uncertain about its ability to also protect the Jupiter Station in orbit over Ganymede, but he was impressed at the possibility.