by Amanda Rose
“Thank you,” Jona’s voice crackled, then the intercom beeped and turned off.
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Dr. Takei and head engineer Zavion stood in the hanger bay finalizing the salvage equipment. It had been a major feat, challenging both theory and practice, to create safe guards against the drastic cold temperatures for the drill and excavation unit they’d be sending down to the planet. Between Zavion’s mechanical expertise, and Seto’s brilliant problem solving, they’d devised several new techniques to developing the modifications.
Using aerogel insulate, which could withstand absolute zero, −459.67°F, Dr. Takei had created insulation tubes for the fuel lines. This would prevent any cracks and leaks, as well as keep the fuel from solidifying in the tubes. The aerogel was used in many other areas of the motor to ensure heat retention.
More challenging would be ensuring the mechanisms would not seize up, and to keep the battery warm enough to run. Zavion had devised of a built-in heating system that they’d have running prior to launching, and which would have to remain operational for the duration of the trip. While it was an incredibly risky plan, it was the best option available. They could only hope the heating system would not give out from the extreme stress.
On the final approach to the asteroid they ran final tests to ensure everything was operating smoothly. “I’ll need you to come and take a look at the distillation chamber when we’re done here,” Seto said to Zavion as he finished checking the backup generator to the heating system.
“Problems?” Zavion asked.
“Some sort of issue with the reflux drum, we’re not getting pure separation in the final product,” Seto explained.
Zavion nodded, “No problem, we’ll get it fixed.”
The two men enjoyed working together. Both of them were high achievers, both top in their fields, and highly revered for their skill and knowledge. Zavion was much more of a hands-on worker and learner, while Seto preferred to work things out in his mind, however when they collaborated often the grandiose creations in Seto’s mind got to come to fruition in the physical world just as he envisioned them. Zavion’s work was all too often extremely practical, lots of repairs, and the occasional replacement of broken down parts in the ship. He reveled in the opportunity to do something that allowed him to use the full extent of his skills.
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The bell rang signifying the end of the class period. “All right, that will be all for today,” Hiroshi said, setting down his chalk. “As you all know we’re about to come into orbit of the asteroid we’ve been travelling to for the past couple of months, and it should be quite the sight. Be sure to get to an observation port over the weekend to view it and make notes. On Monday we’ll be discussing the asteroid, it’s composition, and talk about the unique distillation system that our scientists have devised to be able to collect the ice and turn it into water by separating the methanol from it. Class dismissed,” Hiroshi announced.
The students began to make their way out of the classroom. Suki, who’d been sitting at the back of the class, picked up her digital notepad and shoved it into her book bag. She walked down the steps from the top row of seating towards the front of the room; the classrooms on the ship had all been designed as lecture halls, and were often used after hours for theatre, lectures, and political debates during elections.
Suki walked up to Hiroshi’s desk. He looked up at her, “Yes, Suki?” he asked.
“I just wanted to give you my essay,” she said.
“That’s not due until next week,” he replied.
Suki shrugged, “I know, I just finished it early.”
Hiroshi smiled, “I used to finish my homework early too, weekends are more fun when they’re free.”
Suki smiled, she always felt as though Hiroshi understood her. Suki grabbed out her digital work pad and clicked to send it to Hiroshi’s. Instantly it popped up on his screen.
“Got it. Thanks Suki,” he said.
“Thanks Mr. Kasai,” Suki then turned and walked out of the classroom.
The passageways were littered with people vying for window space. The asteroid was now in viewing range, although it’d be another hour before it was visible in full detail. Suki disliked crowds, they made her uncomfortable, and after hearing the news about a near-riot breaking out in the concourse last month she was even more wary. Suki kept her head down and walked as fast as she could to get home.
When Suki finally got home, which had taken her nearly twice as long while maneuvering the crowded corridors, she opened the door only to hear her parents fighting. Suki quietly closed the door behind herself, trying to go unnoticed; her parents never argued, and certainly never yelled at each other that she’d ever heard. She could tell the voices were coming from the kitchen. Suki stood still in the entranceway and listened in.
“…That’s absolutely crazy!” her mother yelled, “Have you lost your mind, Link?”
“If you would just listen,” Link barked back.
“To what?” her mother interrupted, “Socialist propaganda?!”
Link huffed angrily, “Get your head out of your ass! Can you not see…”
Again, her mother cut him off, “No you get your head out of your ass! This isn’t the time or the place for this, we live on a ship! You can’t have that kind of government on a ship, it just wouldn’t work!” she said emphatically.
“You just don’t want to see it work!” Link yelled.
Suddenly Suki heard footsteps stomping towards her as her father stormed out of the kitchen. Suki froze momentarily, then grab the door handle, opened the door and closed it hard, then called, “I’m home!” just as her father walked into sight, from the kitchen into the living room.
Suki tried to pretend everything was normal and took her shoes off by the front door. Her father walked right past her and out the front door without saying a word. She could hear her mother sobbing in the kitchen. A sinking feeling of dread overcame Suki, she didn’t know exactly what was going on, but she knew it was terribly wrong.
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Norita sat in her office, waiting to be called to the bridge. She wanted to get some paperwork out of the way while she waited, but she couldn’t focus her mind. She tried to push the worries and fear from her mind, but they kept barging their way back in. What if the drill fails? What if we can’t distill it well enough to drink it? She kept asking herself; but there was no answer.
Last night she hadn’t slept a wink. She’d tossed and turned all night and couldn’t get her brain to quiet down. Painstakingly she’d looked at the alarm almost hourly throughout the night, until 5A.M. rolled around and she decided she’d had enough of just lying there without sleeping.
Picking up her third cup of coffee of the day, Norita slurped down the rest of it, trying to concentrate her fatigued mind. She set the empty cup down and let out a sigh. Her intercom buzzed on, “Empress, uh, I mean, Norita, we’re on approach to the ice planet,” Jona came over the speaker.
Norita clicked the button to respond, “Thanks Jona, I’ll be right there.” She let go of the intercom button and breathed deeply. “Here we go,” she said to herself, hoping for the best. She stood from her desk and immediately left her office to go to the bridge.
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It was absolutely breathtaking; as they approached the asteroid is seemed to have a blue-green aura emanating from it. The entire asteroid was a solid ball of ice, with deep chasms that ran so deep and so long that they were visible even before they’d entered orbit. The chasms looked like deep blue bands of ribbons by the way they’d formed in the ice. Varying hues of blue and white covered the asteroid’s surface. It was littered with craters; clearly it had been hit by some significant comets over the years.
When Norita walked onto the bridge, she stopped in her tracks the second she saw the asteroid. “It’s beautiful,” she couldn’t help but utter in awe.
Jona turned around at the sound her of voice to look at her, “It is,” he agreed with her.
“We’re
about to enter geosynchronous orbit,” Koi informed them, as he prepared to take the Saisei in.
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Raiden, Koji, Masato, and Freya sat around a table in Koji’s quarters playing cards. Freya’s foot was tapping the floor; she’d been impatient all day. This would be the first time in months they’d get out in their ships to fly. The ship-wide intercom came on, and after some static crackled away, Koi Goto came over the air, “Attention! Attention! We are entering the asteroid’s orbit. Please be aware, watch your footing, and have something to stabilize yourself on as we disengage the neutrino field. Thank you.” The static hung in the air for a moment before it was gone.
“Finally,” Masato said.
“No kidding,” Koji agreed, “this has been the longest 2 months of my life.”
The intercom came on again, “Omega Squadron, report to flight deck B for pre-flight checks in 20 minutes,” General Yamamoto’s voice directed sternly.
Freya folder her cards, and popped up out of her chair, “Hell, yes,” she cheered. The boys chuckled at her exuberance. Raiden, Koji and Masato set down their cards, and Koji quickly swept them all up, tapped them neatly into place and stuck the deck pack in its box.
Freya buttoned up her flight suit, and as she did, she glanced over at Raiden, “Race you around the asteroid.”
Raiden looked at her and saw her big grin and competitive eyes glint at him. “Ha, OK. Loser buys drinks tonight,” Raiden said, extending his hand.
Freya grabbed it and shook, “Deal!”
Masato walked over, “Hey, hey, I want in on the too!”
Koji laughed, “What the hell, I’m game.” They all felt uplifted to finally get back out and fly.
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As the Saisei entered into geosynchronous orbit, Hiroshi’s quarters turned to face full view of the asteroid. Hiroshu stood in his living room, one hand pressed against the window, watching as the asteroid drew closer and closer. He studied the landscape of this foreign rock with curious eyes and wonderment. Ever since Hiroshu had been a boy his favorite times on the ship had been when they got close to celestial bodies. His curiosity and imagination were always piqued at those times, and it gave him a sense of being part of something much grander in the Universe.
After the Saisei settled into orbit, Hiroshi set up an easel by the window, and took out his cherished and rare pad of paper, propping it into place. The Saisei grew trees along with the food crops, both to preserve life forms from the home world, as well as to produce natural oxygen for the ship. Only when a tree was about to exceed its size for the environment it was in did they cut it down for resources like paper, and lumber.
Hiroshi had purchased his pad of paper, 100 handmade 20 by 20-inch pieces, 7 years ago, spending nearly half a year’s salary to get it. He’d spent his childhood drawing on data pads, but after discovering his affection for history, he longed for the palpable experience of using real paper. When he first got home with the pad after he bought it, he’d opened it up and gently run his fingertips over the paper. The texture was exquisite, soft and smooth yet with subtle divots.
Hiroshi only ever took out his paper when there was something truly exceptional to capture. He kept his skills sharp with his data pad sketching, but there was nothing so therapeutic, so raw, so real, as using natural paper. The charcoal catching on the ridges, blending under the heat of his finger tip into perfect shades; it was like magic. He pulled out a tin, which held his charcoal, and he carefully pulled off the lid and picked out the piece he would use. Setting the tin aside, Hiroshi stood in front of the easel, and taking in the view, he touched the charcoal to the paper, and began to draw the asteroid.
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When Raiden, Freya, Masato, and Koji arrived in the hanger bay, they got into formation with the rest of Omega Squadron. General Yamamoto came over moments later to address the squad, his eyes going straight to Masato and Koji, “Corporal Koji Akagi, Private Masato Ito, report to flight deck E, you two will be piloting and operating the drill on the asteroid. You will be briefed on the operations there. Dismissed.” Koji and Masato saluted, and then immediately left.
Freya glanced at Raiden and mouthed, What the hell? Raiden shrugged and mouthed back, No idea. Takeo cleared his throat deliberately to draw their attention, “Eyes front soldiers!” he commanded. Freya and Raiden immediately snapped to attention and straightened their posture. “We will be escorting the drill team to the asteroid. Once everything is green lit and the drilling is underway, we will clear the asteroid by 50,000 kilometers for drill practice. We launch in one hour, go prep your ships. Dismissed,” General Takeo Yamamoto said, then walked off.
Everyone headed towards their own ship for pre-flight checks. Freya ran up to Raiden, “How the hell did Masato and Koji get picked for the drill?!”
Raiden laughed, “Are you seriously jealous?”
Freya flushed, “What? I, no, I just… screw you,” she shoved him playfully.
They laughed, then Raiden had a realization and looked at her, “You know what, I think I remember Koji saying he used to work in engineering before he enrolled in the military. I bet he’s on board in case anything goes wrong.”
Freya smiled and pointed at him, “See this, this is why I keep you around. You remember shit!” she winked. “Alright, see you in the skies,” Freya said and walked off towards her ship.
Raiden watched her walk away, feeling euphoric about getting to fly again. He approached his ship, and it felt like it’d been a lifetime since he’d last stood there, and yet, it felt like it was just yesterday at the same time. Time is funny like that… Raiden thought. He walked around the outside of the ship, inspecting it. The streamlined metallic body was in pristine condition. He reached out and placed his hand on the ship, and the cool metal sent a shiver down his spine.
Once he was done with his exterior checks he climbed the ladder up into the cockpit and turned the ship on for a system check. The panel lit up, all the buttons glowing, and it made Raiden impatient for take-off. One by one he went through his checklist until he cleared all systems operational. He turned the engine off and looked at the time to see there was still 30 minutes until launch. Raiden sighed and leaned back in his pilot’s seat, waiting for the time to pass by, one painfully slow minute after another.
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In launch Bay E Masato and Koji were going over the mission parameters briefing with Dr. Takei and Zavion. “…and we’ll be available on the comms’ at all times,” Zavion assured them.
“All tests have come back positive, we’re not expecting any issues,” Seto said.
Koji nodded, “Understood.”
“Right then, let’s get you ready to launch,” Zavion said, and began walking towards the drill.
Masato and Koji took in the sight; the drill was enormous and took up the space of over half the launch bay. The large drill at the front of the craft was able to expand and contract, like a shutter, allowing them to open it to collect the materials they needed, which were then pulled into the largest part of the vessel; a massive storage compartment on the back which was over 80 percent of the ship. The cockpit sat resting on top, giving the pilot and co-pilot full view of their operating area.
Climbing up the ladder to get to the cockpit, Masato felt his nerves overcome him; he’d never had to pilot something so big. Koji’s engineering skills meant he’d be in charge of the drilling, leaving Masato as their head pilot. While in open space the flight wouldn’t be any different, however the idea of fitting this massive contraption out of the hanger bay doors was making him nervous. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he climbed into the cock pit.
Koji came in behind him, “This is amazing!” he exclaimed, “I can’t believe they built this so fast… Man, in my days in engineering we never had projects like this. Ha, if I knew I’d have had the opportunity to do shit like this I might’ve never left!” He laughed.
“Yeah, yeah, old man, don’t bust your gut,” Masato said, trying to bury his fear with humor.
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nbsp; “Uhuh, kid, well don’t take half the ship with you when you pull out,” Koji jived back.
They both got in their seats, put their safety harnesses on, and began their internal systems check. After a few minutes they were green across the board and ready to launch. Masato flicked on the comm channel, “We’re all systems go in here,” he said.
“Roger that,” a voice from flight control came back.
Orange lights in the hanger bay came on, signaling the opening of the exterior doors. While there was a force field preventing the suction from the harsh vacuum of space, it was still common practice for all personnel to evacuate the bay when the doors opened.
After 2 minutes the bay was cleared, and the outer doors opened up slowly, their pneumatic systems releasing the pressure as they went. The force field was holding at 100% integrity. Koji and Masato watched as the door cracked open and they could see it; space. The dark black blanket, sparking with distant stars, and the green-blue glow of the icy asteroid as it came into view. Both felt a sense of calm wash over them as they took in the sight; they were most at home in space.
