The Search for FTL

by Ted Iverson

Ty nodded his head in agreement. “The fourth name.”

  “That is all.”

  “The fourth name, please.”

  “That is all.”

  The brothers glanced at each other, curiosity written on both faces. “Why do you suppose it won’t give the fourth name?” Ty questioned.

  “Why did Dad have it leave the last name out?” Alec leaned closer to his brother and in a low voice went on. “It clearly wants us to know about the fourth, but not give a name. It’s almost like another security measure. Like it’s protecting that person, but wants us to be curious enough to search for him or her. It has to protect it or them.”

  “That would make sense, but why protect them?”

  “Think for a moment. Someone would have to carry on, save Space Tech if something were to happen to you three. Or, they...” He hesitated. “Nah, nothing.” Alec shook his head as if trying to rid the thought.

  “What?”

  “Well, what if the fourth held valuable knowledge? You would have to keep them anonymous.”

  “That would make sense. I’m feeling a little uncomfortable though. Dad never kept secrets from us, and now there’s so much we don’t know”

  “Or, so much that he didn’t want us to know. Until now of course. Maybe he knew something we didn’t. That necklace around your neck wasn’t from a secret admirer. Dad had to make sure you’d get it. By not saying who it was that sent it, he made it mysterious, something you wouldn’t want to part with. It worked, right?”

  “Yes, it did.”

  “Now, this unnamed person, makes you want to run off and find him.”

  “Right, again.”

  “These are a few pieces of the puzzle, but they’re still not enough to just run off and find that someone. We’ll have to be patient. Find more, put it all together one piece at a time. So let’s move on for now, stay focused. We’ve got to find those prints first.”

  “Let’s start with the obvious. CHAMP, StarDancer schematics.”

  After a minute or two of searching its data banks, the voice responded: “Requested information not found.”

  “Okay then. StarDancer.”

  “StarDancer. Classified information. To access one must have security clearance Delta and security code. Enter Delta code now.”

  Turning back to his brother, Ty said, “I don’t have a clue as to what the code could be. I don’t even know what level of security I have.”

  “Try something familiar to you, like your birthday or something.”

  “No, if I punch in a code wrong three times, it’ll lock us out and we’ll never get back in. We’ll not find anything doing this. Zach was right. He and Orion are going to have to find out things on their end.”

  Alec stood and put on his jacket As they headed toward the exit, he said, “I don’t want to sit back and let them do all the work. I think that we still need to do some things here. We should split up for now. I think I’ll take the hover back to the house and start going through Dad’s offices. We haven’t done a lot of that there. There’s Dad’s library that you couldn’t get into and I’ve noticed small things that have aroused my curiosity. You stay here and see what you can find. Talk to employees and see if they can provide you with anything.”

  “Alright, that sounds like a plan. I’ll get a ride back home from one of the drivers here. I think I’ll grab some lunch and get right to it. I’ve got some ideas of my own that I want to follow up on. When I get back tonight, we’ll check in with the Lab and see if there are any new leads. By the way, how exactly do you plan on getting into Dad’s library. We don’t have the code, remember?”

  “Oh, that little problem?” Smiling, Alec reached into his jacket pocket and produced an item gun metal in color, about an inch thick and about six inches long. Brandishing it, he used his thumb to push up the lid “Compliments of our brother Zach!” he announced proudly. “Seems like I might have mentioned to him that we couldn’t get into Dad’s office and, being the nice guy that he is, he remembered this handy little gadget. I got it this morning, hot off the package transporter.”

  “You know,” Alec continued, “that package transporter itself is another of Zach’s great ideas. Zach told me all about it. Just tag your item, put it in a nonmetal container, and toss it on the transfer pad. Of course, I didn’t understand half his explanation, but I think he said that the tag gets scanned to identify the package’s destination and that gets programmed into the computer. Then a laser somehow deconstructs the object’s atoms and transport the atoms to the designated destination, where another laser puts all those atoms back together again. I have no idea how that’s possible, but it seems to work.”

  “Yep,” Ty said, “it works. It’s designed for small packages, but one day we hope to have a larger version available. It’s in the works now, but our folks haven’t yet gotten it to work. Well get there though.”

  “Amazing,” Alec said, shaking his head. Then he got back to the item in his hand. “It’s designed to break codes, such as the one on Dad’s library. The part that I pushed up is removable. You place the box over the code pad you want broken. Then nanobots take it from there. Love to explain it in depth, but that’s not my bag. Zach tried but, whoosh!” Alec made the appropriate motion, his hand zipping up and over his head. “All of it, way over my head. In short, layman’s terms, the nanos get into the pad and break the code. Then they transmit it back to my half of the device and it appears on my screen. Then I type it in and bingo! I’m in. Or at least something like that. He was way too technical for me. Slick, huh?”

  “Bots! But wouldn’t they set off any kind of security measure or alarm?”

  “I actually asked him about that, but he said that they aren’t actually harming the insides. They’re just tapping into the internal guts and finding the code so as to not physically disturb anything. Once they accomplish this, they return to the pad they came from.”

  “Amazing. You think it would be able to hack the log on and password on this computer?”

  “Good question. I don’t really know. I haven’t tried it on anything yet. I suppose we can try if you want.”

  “I want!”

  “Okay, then, we’ll give it a go.” Pulling his jacket off and taking a seat next to his brother again, he pulled the device apart...

  Orion had just departed the docking area and was trying to acclimate himself to the difference in gravity. While the station had artificial gravity, it wasn’t exactly like that on Earth. On entering the station, he’d instantly noticed the hustle and bustle of the lab. He hadn’t recalled it ever being this busy before. Of course, things were far different than ever before. He decided to make his way to his room. His luggage would be delivered later, but he wanted to freshen up a bit even though the trip hadn’t been that long. As he made his way there, he was greeted with condolences: “We’re ready to get to work,” and “Great to have you here.” Orion had just entered the hall that leading to his room when Zach came running down the hall.

  “Hey!” Zach yelled. “I’ve been looking for you! How come you didn’t tell me you’d arrived? Any way you need t—”

  “Slow down, boy! Zach, you knew when I was arriving, and frankly, I wanted to clean up a bit before I get to work and forget how to sleep. So just calm down. Come into my room and talk to me.”

  “Sorry, man, it’s just, well, get into your room. We’ve got to talk.”

  Orion opened the hatch and almost lost his balance as his younger, more exuberant brother corralled him through the opening. “Will you slow down? You almost killed me! What the heck is so important?”

  The hatch closed behind them and an exhausted Zach collapsed into the closest chair, the exuberance gone. “We’ve gone through every nook and cranny and I honestly don’t think the schematics are here. Where we might find them is anybody’s guess.”

  “Have they found anything at Luna Base?”

  “Not a thing.”

  “Want to take a little trip and look for ourselves?”
Orion suggested. “What harm can it do? Besides, no one’s been there for a visit since the accident. I think it’s time. Don’t you agree?”

  “Yeah, I do; might not hurt to look. I’ve been wanting to check out Dad’s lab. I think that’s where they’ve been working on the AI stuff.”

  Just then the com by the door buzzed. “Yes?”

  “Mr. Bindl, we have your luggage.”

  “Thank you. I’ll open the hatch.” He immersed his hand into the VGID gel and the hatch slid open to reveal two young men, maybe all of fourteen or fifteen years old, each holding two pieces of luggage. “Thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate your bringing these to me. How do you like it here?”

  The taller of the two glanced at the other. “Uh, well, it’s just fine up here, Mr. Bindl.”

  “And you?” Orion asked, turning to the other.

  “It’s great, so much better than back home. I can’t wait to finish school. I want to work at Luna Base. I have some friends that go there on weekends to visit their parents and they talk about it all the time!”

  “Well, that’s good to hear! There’s going to be plenty of opportunity in the future for you boys here at Space Tech, so keep up the enthusiasm! Thanks again for the delivery!” After a quick wave and touch of a keypad above the VGID, the door slid shut. “Why don’t you go and fire up Dad’s shuttle while I put my things away? I’ll throw some things in a duffle and bring it, just in case we have an extended stay. You should do the same.”

  “Okay. I guess you never know, right? Why don’t we take my shuttle? It’s already got everything I need.”

  “I’d rather take Dad’s shuttle,” Orion said, “but I see your point, that is about all your equipment being already loaded in yours.”

  “Look, I think I understand why you want to take Dad’s. Why don’t we take separate shuttles? Might not hurt to have two. That way if you or I need to go to different areas, we can.” Zach smiled at his clever solution.

  “Seems like a waste to take two, but I think we will this time. Good thinking, little brother.”

  Zach stepped into the passageway, turned, back and said, “See you in about thirty minutes or so?”

  “Yeah, that sounds great. Zach?”

  “Huh?”

  “Thanks for understanding about the shuttle.”

  “No biggie; it probably should be taken out for a spin anyway, right?” The grin he had could have been seen on Earth.

  The hatch shut and Orion went straight to stowing all his gear then repacked a few items into his duffle. He wondered what piloting the shuttle would feel like without his father barking out commands to him. This time it would be just him and his thoughts.

  Stopping at a com panel just outside the hatch, Zach touched a series of buttons, and the com came to life.

  “Engineering.”

  “Zach here. Please inform Mr. English that Orion and I will be down in about thirty minutes for a pair of shuttles. I’ll be taking mine and my brother will be taking our father’s.”

  “What should I tell him the destination is, Mr. Bindl?”

  “Luna. We’re going to pay a visit to Luna Base.”

  “Will you need any special provisions in either?”

  “No, I think just the standard items should suffice, thank you. Zach out.”

  “We’ll have them ready to go, sir.”

  Zach paused. How he disliked being called “sir.” That’ll have to stop sometime. Shaking his head, he resumed his usual fast pace and headed to his quarters to gather up some needed items.

  The images hanging in midair looked totally foreign to Alec and Ty. They flickered, brightened, and then dimmed again. They moved rapidly in a vertical pattern, changing shapes and sizes, growing tall then shrinking back to a respectable size. Leaning over toward Alec, Ty said jokingly, “Great, now you’ve done it.”

  “Me? You’re the one who said to try it. Like I knew it would come up with ancient hieroglyphics!”

  “Think the nanos are damaging the computer?” Ty asked quietly. “We could get into a real mess if we crash this mainframe.”

  “Maybe we should’ve contacted Zach and asked him if accessing a computer was part of the decoder’s capability.”

  Just as the words came out of Alec’s mouth, the image grew intensely bright, and both men had to shield their eyes. That lasted only a second, then it was dark. Nothing, nothing at all. Quiet ensued.

  Finally, Ty broke the silence. “Well, that can’t be good.”

  Shocking the two back to awareness was a shrill sound coming from the base of the decoder. Alec had forgotten he was holding it. The sound stopped and a faint glow showed on the small screen.

  CODE: FTL01STRDN flashed across the small monitor. With a stunned look, Alec slowly turned the device toward his brother, afraid he might lose the image.

  The image that had disappeared from the computer now rebooted and the words ENTER CODE: now hung in the air, flashing invitingly. Ty looked over at his brother, but all he could manage was a slight gasp followed by “Oh, my.”

  “Wow! That was... well, impressive.” Alec sounded relieved.

  Without hesitating, Ty typed in the password that flashed on the decoder’s screen. While doing so he asked, “Can the code be saved on that thing or do we need to write it down? I can’t believe that just happened.”

  “I’m pretty sure it can be saved, but I’ll write it down just in case.”

  Writing frantically on the first piece of paper he could find, Alec continued, “Thought we toasted that thing. I mean really, I did.” Having jotted the code down, he now was trying to save it on the device.

  The code Ty had entered into the computer was accepted. The program came to life.

  “StarDancer information now accessible. Welcome, Mr. Bindl. Below is a menu of items available.

  A. General Information

  B. Propulsion Theory – not available

  C. Structure Theory – not available

  D. End Notes

  “It thinks I’m Dad,” an excited Ty said. “But it still won’t give me the access I need to the vital information. General information, please.”

  “The StarDancer project is an ambitious venture between Space Tech Industries and the government. Working closely with the Outer Exploration Committee, Space Tech uses its private funds as well as a government grant to explore the possibility of faster than light travel. This venture will be completed in several stages.

  The first stage will be initial research. The second stage will be supplemental research and beginning testing. The third stage will be construction of the prototype. This will be an unmanned ship. The fourth stage will be commenced once a successful flight of the prototype has been established. This stage will also include analysis of the prototype’s data, flight, and post-flight structural integrity. The fifth and last stage will be actual construction and flight of a manned spacecraft.”

  “Let’s try to get into the propulsion theory anyway,” Ty continued.

  “No, wait a minute. Didn’t you listen?”

  “Yes, but I want to find more than just the general information.”

  “That last statement, didn’t you get that?”

  “Apparently not. I’m not sure I get what you mean.”

  “It said that a manned flight wouldn’t be done until a prototype had been flown. But a manned flight was launched. Dad always went by the book on everything he did. There is no way he’d skip any step, especially one like that. And if he didn’t skip that step, that me—”

  “That there is a prototype out there somewhere,” Ty interrupted. “But launching something like that would have been picked up by the holonet. And even if it had been kept from the holonet, why wouldn’t they have told at least one of us that they’d achieved FTL?”

  “I agree. Something that big, that historic, how do you keep it from your family? Of course, there is the possibility that they did skip the prototype.”

  “It’s possible, but not likely. You said i
t yourself: Dad never skipped anything, especially where safety was involved. And I have to think that launching an unmanned ship first might have just a wee bit to do with safety.”

  Alec snapped his fingers. “Wait! I just remembered something Senator Axion said.”

  “What would that have been?”

  “I can’t remember the exact words, but he said something about Mom and Dad wanting to deviate from the OEC’s plan. He told me he hadn’t agreed with them, but the committee had a majority and they’d approved the new plan.”

  “What new plan?” asked Ty.

  “He said that with the ongoing investigation into the accident he couldn’t give me details. He did say that he thought we’d find out, but if not, he would talk to you about it at the meeting. He seemed sincere, but I’m not sure.”

  “So you think this so-called deviation was skipping the prototype? I just can’t go with that.”

  Frowning, Alec agreed. “I know, Ty, but for now we have to believe that’s what happened, even if our gut tells us otherwise. It’s what we’ve got to work with.”

  “So are you going to be the one to tell this to Zach and Orion? They’re just like Dad when it comes to going by the book. I’m betting this won’t be well received by them, so good luck with that one!

  “Alec, we can sit here and debate the subject forever, but we’re still not any closer to finding the schematics. I can keep probing the computer now that I’m in. You’re welcome to stay if you want, but we might find more info if we split up.”

  “Sorry, I just got excited about breaking the password.”

  “So did I. I’m really not trying to get rid of you.”

  “No worries. I’d better get going, burning daylight as they say!” Slipping his jacket on again, Alec made for the hatch. “Good luck. I hope you can find something. Keep me informed.” With that he opened the hatch and disappeared. It hissed closed behind him.

  “Okay,” a determined Ty thought out loud to himself. “Now, to find some schematics.”

  Walking into engineering always put Orion into a state of awe. There was so much that went into the everyday operation of this remote city hanging in space and the engineering department oversaw most of it. This massive room was over four hundred yards long and thirty-five feet high. It was filled with computer stations and with generators for the electrics, artificial gravity, and other needs. It contained all the primary pumps for water, fuel, air. It also housed the filtration devices needed, as well as the recycling stations. And that was only the first level of the engineering department.