Andrew is the first to notice what is happening outside. The view from the bridge encompasses the entire forequarters of the ship. From here many of the support struts that hold the ship in place can be seen retracting. Andrew points wordlessly to his discovery as he tries to find his voice.
John is stabbing at his touch screen in the hopes of somehow stopping the launch. None of his controls seem to be responding. He turns to Cindy, then George in desperation.
Joe reaches for his laptop, to find it smoldering. The wisps of smoke coming from the casing testify to its demise. He also turns to George, who is just standing there, motionless.
“Command, this is reactor control. We can’t shut down the reactors and any disruption to the power grid is not recommended. It’s energized.”
Cindy stares at the bridge speakers as she absorbs this news. “Understood, command out.”
Andrew finally catches everyone’s attention, just as George slowly turns and says lethargically. “I can shut down the launch and....”, his voice trails off, he sounds incredibly tired all of a sudden. With internal gravity enabled none have noticed that the Terran is now leaning a little to one side.
John is the first to look up, he just stares wide eyed at the tilted view outside. “Oh my! Were sitting on over fifty million pounds of rocket fuel, and don’t ask me to convert that!” He turns to Cindy in despair. “Let’s just say, that if we hit the ground, Australia will have a crater the size of which no one has ever seen before.”
Cindy tilts her head as the scene before her pitches a little more. “Put the landing gear down then! George?” She turns to see the one man that could help them fall out of the Gamin body suit, and onto the floor, unconscious. He is trembling, and drenched in sweat from head to toe. The entire bridge crew is stunned as events beyond their control overtake them.
Lisa has been watching the spaceship from a safe distance, one hand pressed hard to her mouth in fear. The distant ship is leaning heavily against a few of the support struts, bending and buckling them. The noise of the ship’s armor grinding against the flexing struts is unnerving, and almost overpowers the hum that emanates from beneath it. The rocket boosters with their enormous payloads of fuel are so close to the ground now, they seem to merge. She stifles a cry. Johnny looks up at his mother, then at the chaos developing around him. Something has gone wrong, terribly wrong.
“C’mon dad, you can save ‘em. Please!”
Johnny’s plea does not go unnoticed. Lisa looks down, and is no longer able to hold back her tears. She grabs his hand tightly as they watch the scene in morbid curiosity, transfixed on the impending disaster before them. Some of those observing turn and run, as if adding a few steps is going to make any difference to their survival.
Joe gets to George and shakes him. “George, George.” He is unmoving, covered in sweat, and out cold. “Get a doctor, and some water here, quickly!”
Cindy weighs the options available to her, then after a moment of consideration turns to John. “Launch the ship. Full power to the gravity lift system, and pre-ignite the boosters.”
“No! Not yet,” croaks George from the floor, “get me to my suit.” Joe looks at those around him, seeking support. He is met by shrugs and nods. Helping George to his feet, and into the suit is no easy task, but with assistance from Andrew they manage it.
George stares at everyone on the bridge with a renewed fierceness, even as a fresh wave of sweat droplets build up on his forehead. With labored breaths he utters, “if the fuel in those booster rockets explodes, we all die. Even those watching, and that includes my family!”
Looking at the stub at the end of the suit’s arm he generates an unusual looking device, then slams it into a port on the console. Pointing to John with his other arm, his voice gaining strength, his instructions ring out. “Prepare to activate all the lower thrusters, but only use the energy stored in their capacitors.” His mind slowly clears as he reads the stream of data. “Oh my! We were badly deceived with the ships power requirements. Joe, I know you have a spare laptop. Hook it up and look at the power grid’s capacity. You will find we’re running at approximately two percent capacity.”
Cindy stands up in surprise. “Two percent! Will that even get us off the ground?”
John shakes his head from side to side, while Andrew, confirming the information quietly ponders, how could we not have noticed this? Joe is also stunned by the revelation as he mulls over the discovery. Two percent power. Twenty nuclear reactors, and all we have is two percent. He is astounded at the revelation.
George glances back at Cindy. “We will not fail! But I will need everyone to do exactly what I say, when I say it.” Cindy meets his determined look and nods. “Do it George.”
With his head finally clear he takes one more look at the scrolling marquee on his visor. “This is going to be a very rough ride people. Taking internal gravity offline, life support offline, navigational shields offline.” He gulps as he poises over the console, “Setting reactors to one hundred twenty percent.”
The hairs on the back of Cindy’s neck raise up as she presses a button on her own console. “Reactor control, we’re going to one hundred twenty percent on all reactors. Monitor radiation levels and be prepared to use the emergency cooling injectors.”
John looks at his console, then the interface terminal, and relaxes his mind. It’s just like piloting a shuttle. With a renewed focus he calls out with confidence. “Thrusters ready, pre-ignition sequence for main boosters at your command.” His hand moves to the special control terminal installed just for them, his fingers poised.
Outside, Lisa is still standing transfixed when the Terran’s thrusters suddenly power up. The noise is as impressive as the display they make. Johnny looks up and starts to jump up and down with glee. “There gonna do it. Go dad go!” With dozens of thrusters firing up, the ship halts its slow fall, and even seems to right itself a little. A hopeful cheer comes from those that remain, as optimism replaces fear.
Back onboard things are far from being settled. George has no idea what knocked him out, nor why he feels fine now. Mysteries pushed out of his mind for the time being, he focuses intently on the task at hand. “John, push those thrusters more, and power up the laterals as well.”
John studies his Gamin console intently, it’s starting to make a little more sense to him. Thruster settings, temperature, reserve power, and more. He dials up a number of thrusters, overcharging some, but not all, in his efforts to right the ship. He then starts the delicate balancing act of managing thrust and heat to power reserves. The view outside starts to return to an even keel “If I am reading this right, we have about ten minutes of reserve power left in the thrusters.”
The bridge speakers blare out. “Command, reactor room here, whatever you’re doing, you had better do it fast, we just activated the emergency injectors, and temps are still climbing past critical levels.” With the voice is carried the sounds of various alarms in the background along with the harried voices of overstressed people. “It’s also getting pretty damn hot down here!”
Cindy, feeling powerless, says with more than a little unease. “George, now would be a good time for you to pull a rabbit out of your hat.”
George manages an unseen smile as he continues to study the display on his visor. “John, as soon as we level out, ignite every booster rocket.” He is racking his brains for ideas on scraping even more power. It suddenly dawns on him. Of course! “Cindy, as soon as John ignites the boosters, shut down GUS.” John takes his focus off his consoles and looks at George skeptically, his eyes very wide.
Her response is far from instant. “Ah, without GUS we will have to run everything straight from the alien consoles.”
George turns, lifts his visor and looks John straight in the eye. “I heard you were good, let’s see how good, shall we?” John’s return gaze though unwavering, is at the same time, a little vacant.
Joe gulps as he unplugs his remaining laptop, the other still smolderin
g quietly nearby. Andrew also unplugs his, then stares despairingly at the Gamin symbols before him. Though he has a rough idea of what some of the symbols mean, he is disinclined to start touching any. Glancing at each other, they switch off their laptops. When GUS shuts down they will be virtually useless.
The sound of footfalls can be heard running down the corridor. Henry finally makes it to the bridge with a medical kit in hand. He is just in time to see the varied expressions on everyone’s faces, and none look inspiring. Disheartened by the atmosphere in the room, his shoulders sag.
Peter, who has been sitting unnoticed this entire time, speaks up. “John is not just good, he is the best.” He glances at their new arrival, as he raises an eyebrow questioningly. “Anyone here read the brief on John’s ISS rescue?” He looks around at the perplexed expressions. “Quite fascinating really.”
Cindy shakes her head as she ponders, he is a weird one that’s for sure.
Andrew looks at his unpowered laptop, then back at the various symbols on the alien terminal in bewilderment. He has no idea what his task is right now, and feels quite superfluous. Many of the symbols are lit, but he has to refer to his notes to see what they mean.
As if picking up Andrew’s vibe George surprises him with instructions. “Andrew, balance power draw from the reactors. Without GUS interfacing, the ship will try to draw more power than the reactors can deliver.”
John, swings back, and intently monitors his console. His voice composed as he confidently announces. “Main boosters in ten seconds, pre-ignition is good.” His hand moves to the purpose built terminal. “Wait for my signal before you shut GUS down. I need to make sure everything is running properly first.”
Cindy taps her chair’s console. “All hands, secure stations, brace for launch.” The announcement surprises many throughout the ship, especially those that were only scheduled to be on board for the pre flight systems test, and not the actual launch.
John ominously counts down the last few seconds. “Three… Two... One....”
Onlookers are mortified when all forty-eight booster rockets go from a sparkling glow to a roaring blaze of light. Raw energy courses out of the engines as they burn through astronomical amounts of fuel each and every passing second. Lisa and Johnny cover their ears while the Terran just sits there, unmoving on its massive fountains of flame.
Johnny looks up at his mom, a worried expression on his face. He has to shout to be heard. “Mom, why aren’t they going up?” She looks down at him briefly, then ruffles his hair. Johnny’s frown deepens, she never does that.
John taps a few more commands on the terminal controlling the booster rockets. “Boosters are at one hundred to one hundred-ten percent. Thrusters are running hot, we just don’t have enough power to get this monster of the ground.” The Terran starts to shake and vibrate, but does little more.
George responds in earnest. “Shutting GUS down, diverting remaining power to the gravity lift system, including the emergency battery reserves.” Lights dim ship wide, and stay low. Operators in the main computer room are stunned when GUS unexpectedly loses power. They are even more astonished to discover that the systems battery backup power fails to kick in. They try to call the bridge only to discover that the intercom no longer works either. A small group of annoyed computer technicians start the arduous trek to the bridge seeking answers.
John works his console feverously, diverting every erg of power from each of the thrusters’ independent capacitors into either overcharging them or back into the ship’s power grid. “George, I got you a little more power. We have two minutes of main booster thrust and at best guess five to six minutes remaining on the thrusters.” With internal gravity along with a number of other systems being offline, the vibrations increase in intensity. The Terran rocks back and forth inside the cradle of the construction dock.
Andrew is having a hard time monitoring the individual reactors from the Gamin console, what he does see is alarming. Temperatures are above critical, and keep climbing. Doing his best to regulate the system’s demands, he tries not to imagine what it must be like in the reactor rooms. What he doesn’t know is that crews are doing everything they can to cool down pipe work that’s starting to glow a dull red.
Suddenly everyone on board feels it. The Terran lurches, anyone not seated falls down. Even John loses his renowned calm as he shouts out excitedly. “We have lift off!”
All eyes turn to look outside, the support pylons slowly drop away from their view. George, feeling the increasing g-forces, activates his suit’s stability control. Joe’s damaged laptop shakes its way off the console to smash onto the floor. He quickly secures his other one, then even manages to catch Andrew’s before it hits the deck.
Out in the desert Johnny is jumping up and down in total excitement as he watches the ship lift off. “Yeah, they did it. Look mom, they did it!”
Lisa’s chagrined smile is all he gets as she stares anxiously at the departing spaceship. All she can think about, is that her husband is still on board. The pillars of light continue to blaze from beneath the departing spaceship is at slowly climbs away from them. She has a right to be worried, for things are going far from according to plan today.
The vibrations and increasing g-forces keep everyone firmly planted in their seats or pressed to the deck where they fell. Andrew continues to make adjustments to the power flow, coaxing all he can from the ship’s reactors. John uses everything can get as he adjusts thruster output to keep the ship steadily climbing. Without the aid of GUS he has to eyeball this. He is yet to figure out how to make the alien console display that information. Meanwhile George is very busy monitoring everything, so busy he fails to notice a new symbol that blinks ominously. With great reluctance he engages the air circulation system in the reactor area, hoping to divert some heat away. He draws this power from the ship’s ever diminishing battery backup, which though quite impressive is not limitless. But still, the ship climbs, gaining speed as it moves ever upward, parting the clouds in its passing.
“Booster rockets will start running out soon,” calls out John. “Will attempt to compensate as they are exhausted.” The sky starts to darken as they steadily gain altitude.
As the Terran fades away into the distance Lisa becomes overwhelmed by her emotions. There are very few woman at the facility, but these few rally to her aid. Taking her and Johnny by their arms, they head inside where all they can do is wait.
John has had his fair share of shuttle launches, but nothing could have prepared him for today’s takeoff. The vibrations lessen as his timer passes the two minute mark. “Well I think that’s it for the boosters! But we can't jettison them until GUS is back online.” There is a perceptible drop in the vibrations and g-force, allowing people to get to their feet. “We’re looking good.” He grins as the sky starts to transition to a star filled view.
As the Terran continues to climb John’s feelings of jubilation turn to concern. “Uh oh. Climb rate is dropping. Man this thing is a brick.” With the ship losing momentum fast he does the unthinkable. “Rolling the ship, we still have some untapped power in the capacitors of the upper thrusters.”
Joe has been looking at his console with curiosity this last few minutes. There is just something he can’t put his finger on. Just then a blaze of light strikes the front of the ship, soon to be joined by another, then another. With everyone concentrating on their consoles it’s Cindy with her bird’s eye view who gets to see the whole spectacle. She is momentarily stunned as she watches beams of light strike the ship. Finally she breaks her thoughts from the mesmerizing scene and hollers. “George!” Lasers strike the rolling ship as it unceremoniously continues to gain altitude.
George turns to Cindy, then catches sight of the multiple beams striking their ship. Looking back at his console he spots an unfamiliar flashing symbol. It takes precious seconds for him to get the terminal to vocalize this symbol, then for his earpiece to translate it. Code required, what code? Ponders George worriedly.
He scans his suit’s scrolling marquee, wasting even more precious time trying to find a solution. Multiple lasers begin to melt and peel away strips of armor as the ship’s roll continues unabated. George is totally lost as to what he can do about their predicament.
Cindy, struggling to stay seated due to the ship’s angle, is startled when restraints suddenly spring out from her chair, holding her thighs firmly in place. Joe looks down at his ‘restraints’ and manages a whimsical, “Cool,” at this pleasant surprise.
Objects not secured slide or roll along floors, then walls, as the ship continues to turn over. The hangar deck crews watch in fascination as the shuttles amazingly remain locked in place. As the ship rotates to an impossible angle all eyes turn to see George’s suit standing, on what their rationale now tells them is the ceiling. All the while dozens of lasers continue to steadily cut away at their ship.
Cindy has had time to consider everything that’s been going on and with trepidation makes a bold order. “Joe, engage the navigational shields.”
Joe hesitates for a second, then hearing no rebuttal gingerly touches a symbol on his console. It lights up instantly, a faint glow starts to emanating from outside the ship. His nerves are settling now, phew, that was the right symbol.
Andrew watches in horror as the sudden draw on already overtaxed reactors causes a renewed wave of flashing lights to dominate his console. He frantically adjusts settings as best he can. The power scale hovering around two percent spikes for a split second then drops below measurable levels. Instinctively, he looks forward to where the reactors are located. The lasers suddenly stop cutting into the ship, leaving behind numerous scorch marks and furrows in the hull. The damage is roughly where the reactors are located.
John runs the thrusters hard, ignoring caution lights, as he pilots the ship relentlessly upward with its ever diminishing power reserves.
Without warning everything goes pitch black, lights, consoles, everything fails. The bridge crew finds themselves drawn to the only light source around, the star filled view outside. Thus, the Terran makes it’s rather unceremonious and inaugural flight into space, tumbling on her axis, powerless. Everyone onboard goes from struggling with the ship’s slow roll to coping with weightlessness. A few flashlights come on here and there as the crew gets organized.
Discovery (Terran Chronicles) Page 3
