by George Deeb
The
Accidental
Explorer
by
George Deeb
Copyright 2015 George Deeb
Published by Artistions Expressic
License Notes
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CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter 1 – The Ganaphe'
Chapter 2 – Operation 361
Chapter 3 – Preparation
Chapter 4 – Milestones
Chapter 5 – Mission Launch
Chapter 6 – Trailblazer
Chapter 7 – Remembering Nevil Maskelyne
Chapter 8 – Reality
Chapter 9 – Contact
Chapter 10 – Homesteading
Chapter 11 – Research and Development
Chapter 12 – GRAIL
Chapter 13 – Eckelberry Cove
Chapter 14 – In With the New
Chapter 15 – Moving In
Chapter 16 – Starting the New Job
Chapter 17 – A Busy Month
Chapter 18 – The End of August
Chapter 19 – Preflight
Chapter 20 – Test Flight and Other Things
Chapter 21 – Encounter
Chapter 22 – Diplomacy
Chapter 23 – The Journey Home
Glossary of Terms
PROLOGUE
June 2006
"I want to go with you." 16 year old Erika Aimsler said, her words whetted by tears.
In a room full of family and friends, they were the only two there. Anthony Travellor's heart was breaking. He stroked his niece's chestnut curls, as he held her. He couldn't have loved her more if she had been his own child. Her mother Gabrielle, Anthony's older sister, had never hesitated to leave her only child with him when she and her husband wanted some alone time. They had called him Erika's second daddy, and Erika was always excited to spend time with her uncle. Now they were gone, and Anthony was going to leave Erika with her aunt and uncle on her father's side. From where he was going, he might not come back. Anthony hugged her as tightly as she did him.
Erika had stayed with him after an avalanche in the Austrian Alps had taken the lives of her parents. He had taken an emergency leave from work, and spent all his time trying to ease her pain and grief. But he did let her grieve, and he grieved with her. And he let her cry - and he cried with her. He took her to visit with her cousins whenever she wanted to, which was almost every night. For the next two months they healed together. Slowly the sun had begun to shine in their world again.
Now the time had come for Anthony to go. As sad as it made him, he knew that this was best for Erika. She would be with people who loved her. An aunt and uncle who would be there every day, and cousins to grow up with. In the next few months he wouldn't be around or in contact. He promised to call her as soon as he could. They had set up their laptops to Skype with each other, and had tested it every night last week, even though they were just in different rooms of the house.
In case he never got to make that call, Anthony had arranged his will so that she would inherit everything he possessed if he didn't make it back. His attorney would handle the legalities until she turned eighteen. It wasn't much in total, but it was everything he owned. Money wouldn't be a problem for Erika – her father had been a very wealthy man, and her inheritance from her parents would kick in when she reached the age of twenty-one. A college fund and all other necessities had already been set up. But if he didn't make it back, he wanted her to have something that came from him.
“Why do you have to go?” she pleaded. “Why can't someone else go instead?”
“There are a lot of good people who are doing their jobs already. They're out there trying to make it safer for their families, and for us. This job is my job, and I'm the one who has to do it.”
The answer didn't make the young girl feel any better. She understood what her uncle was telling her, but she didn't like it. She wanted him to stay with her.
“But it's so long.” she cried, her body shaking with her sobs.
“I know it is,” he said, but where I'm going there won't be any communications. Not until we set it up. As soon as I am able to, I will call you first. You're my first call. OK?”
“OK.” she replied quietly - but it wasn't. Not with her. She knew there was no choice. She was starting to feel the way she did when she found out her parents had died. Her crying got worse, but she couldn't help it.
“It's time for me to go.”, he said, as he held her face and kissed her forehead. “I love you. Don't ever forget that.”
“Come on sweetie.”, Erika's aunt Jen said, putting a hand on each shoulder in an act of both reassurance and restraint.
“I'll walk you to the car.” said her uncle Phil, and both men left the house.
Anthony wiped tears from his eyes, as he got into the car. This was the best place for his niece while he was gone. She would be around people who loved her. He had been given legal guardianship of Erika, per her parents request, and no one had contested that. It was a case of very bad timing. His only sister was dead, and Erika was his only family. He had to do what was best for her – for her future.
Chapter 1
The Ganaphe´
1
July 2006
What good is a warranty in space?
'Damn it!,' thought Captain Artau-sil-Munen, 'this can't be happening.' The Orysta was practically brand new. It just had its second maintenance check less than a vheen ago. Everything exceeded operational requirements. Hell, the shine hadn't even worn off the hull yet. It still had that new ship smell. His lapse in concentration lasted only a fracin before reflex took over, and he touched his display console to call up the emergency checklist procedure that he had practiced so many times in training. The ship's main computer displayed several checklists as icons on the screen, based on its determination of the existing problem. Munen selected the one he needed and it enlarged and displayed on all of the consoles on the ship's bridge. The crew followed him through the appropriate section of the list, each person doing their required operations. It didn't help - they couldn't control the breach.
With great power came great risk, and this ship's engine was the most powerful one made for civilian space transports of any kind. A mining ship like the Orysta needed that power to haul its heavy cargo. A full ship required a lot of power to accelerate to the inter-galactic speeds needed to make space travel practical. His mind still kept telling him it was impossible, but the engine instruments showed without doubt that the exchanger unit was venting extremely hot plasma.
"Throttles to minimum." he commanded.
Intul-sil-Califas, the copilot, slid his finger down the throttle indicator on his control panel, from top to bottom. The ten power level indicators changed from blue to gray as he did so, with the bottom one going orange, indicating that thrust level had been commanded to idle. Munen waited for the accompanying reduction in engine noise - it didn't come.
'Instruments must be malfunctioning.' he thought for a fracin, but knew it was wishful thinking. Cross-check measurements from other instruments confirmed the temperature in the engine compartment was still rising, and was already affecting other sub-assemblies. Apparently one of the first to be affected was the engine control computer - he couldn't shut down the engine. Throttle control ind
icators showed the engine was set to idle, but thrust measurements showed that was a lie. Worse, the automatic safety backup systems also were not working. The engine was running away, and the sealed containment chamber was beginning to bulge as the increasing temperature caused the material to expand. The throttle indicators on his, the copilot's, and the engineer's consoles began to flash, indicating a control system failure. His mind fought against accepting that this was really happening.
"Cooling system failure!" stated the ship's main computer, in its pragmatic female voice.
Chief Engineer Benua-sil-Plessa checked his console, and confirmed the failure.
"Backup is working,” he said, “but it's not able to control this amount of heat."
The backup system was never designed to cool a runaway engine.
Munen glanced at the Engineer's display, and what caught his eye made him smirk to himself. The black boxes were recording everything from instrument measurements, video cameras, and sensor data caught by units around the ship – some in locations people couldn't go, and even biometric data on all of the crew members. When the main computer determined that destruction was imminent, the recordings would be launched away from the ship. 'At least someone will be able to learn from our deaths.' he thought.
"COOLENT LEVEL IS DROPPING!" came a yell over the intercom. "We've got a leak - it's a big one. Can't tell where it is yet."
"Temperature still rising!" said the copilot.
Engine noise was increasing. Munen could feel a subtle, but definite vibration through his seat, and it was growing in strength - a warning caused by the runaway engine.
"EMERGENCY CHECKLIST. ENGINE SHUT DOWN PROCEDURE." Munen yelled.
It would take several mirlots to complete the procedure, and all the sub-procedures. As he and Califas went down the checklist, item by item, he was glad his associates were so competent. Glad for all the hours the crew had trained together. Their coordinated actions carried them quickly through the checklist. So why wouldn't the engine shut down? It was doing just the opposite, generating increasing power with each fracin that passed. The noise level was rising, and he could feel the vibration increasing in the ship.
Vibration caused by a Gravity Force Reaction Drive engine was not a good sign. A properly operating engine would give out a hum or whine, but unless you rested your hand on part of the unit you would never know it vibrated. A noticeable vibration meant the internal assemblies were operating out of sync. They were fighting each other instead of cooperating – which meant the main engine control computer was not working. Whether the engine held together or tore itself apart now depended on how well the crew at the maintenance dock had done their job.
"Sensors indicate hull distortion. Plus one point three arcleesons." came a clear, rarely heard male voice over the comm – It was the main computer's voice, and it had changed!
This was a bad sign. It was a standard feature on all commercial and military ships. Munen wasn't sure if it was the ship designers or military psychologists that had determined that during conditions of great stress, a strong male voice would be heard more clearly and was less likely to be ignored.
“Confirmed,” said the Engineer, “and hull distortion is increasing.”
It didn't matter what your job on a ship was, there were some things outside your expertise that every crew member learned to understand. Even the cook knew what hull distortion and pressure level was, and what it meant if it got out of control.
Munen could feel the sweat on his face. 'Why would the hull bulge,' he wondered, 'when the problem is in the containment chamber? If it reaches plus five arcleesons we're all dead.'
It was strange, but because he was so busy following the emergency procedures, he didn't have time to be scared - and he should have been. Very, very scared. A hull breach in space has the lowest survival rate of all known mechanical failures. Such an event was also very rare - which was one reason it had a ninety-eight percent fatality rate. The only reason it wasn't statistically one hundred percent fatal was because a few lucky individuals had survived in sealed compartments. But even this was not a sure thing - someone had to rescue you before you ran out of air.
In the center of all the display screens on the bridge, was a bright red, repetitively collapsing circle that reminded Munen of a solar system collapsing into a black hole - the automated distress beacon had activated. Then Munen thought he heard, more than felt, the thump that signified the first emergency beacon had been launched by the ship's main computer. In it was the recording of all the ship's systems status up to the time it launched. As each additional beacon left, it would carry data updated to the time of its launch. Alarms were going off on all panels and speakers throughout the ship. He had already blocked out of his mind all the alarms that went off initially, and he was only aware of the beacon alarm for the first few fracins it sounded because he was so focused on the emergency procedures. Just another piece of background noise - acknowledge it in your mind when it first goes off, and then shove it aside.
"Shutting off audible alarms." said Califas.
"Thank you." Munen replied. His copilot was a very competent man.
The cockpit got slightly quieter.
"We need to vent the engine room, Engineer." he said into the comm, while looking over his shoulder at Benua-sil-Plessa, the Chief Engineer.
Plessa nodded confirmation.
"Report engine compartment clear." commanded Plessa into the comm.
There was no response. One of the engine room technicians should have responded.
"REPORT ENGINE COMPARTMENT CLEAR." he repeated loudly. Still no response.
"What is going on ....?".
"I'll go look!" said the navigator, cutting him off, as she jogged off of the bridge. Navigation was not a priority at the moment, and Mersuul-sil-Vaana had to make herself useful. It wasn't in her nature to be an observer.
"THE ENGINE WILL TEAR ITSELF APART IF WE DON'T GET IT SHUT DOWN." said Califas in a loud voice. They had to talk loudly now, to be heard over the increasing engine noise. "WE HAVE TO CUT OFF FUEL TO IT - ONLY WAY TO STOP IT!"
"AGREED." Munen said. "FUEL CUT OFF CHECKLIST."
“I DON'T THINK WE HAVE TIME FOR A NORMAL SHUTDOWN.” yelled the copilot.
'Of course we don't,' Munen thought, 'how stupid of me.'
"FUEL SOURCE TERMINATE EMERGENCY PROCEDURE - GRILIK AUTHORIZATION." read the copilot loudly, from the checklist.
Munen took a deep breath. 'Grilik Authorization', he thought. That was the procedural phrase meaning this was going to cause a lot of damage to the ship, and all responsibility for it would be his. The damage would be unavoidable. The sudden shutdown of fuel flow would cause uncontrolled cooling of conduits and junctions, which would crack and split and be unrepairable. The only fix would be to replace the damaged items. It was going to be very expensive.
"FUEL SOURCE TERMINATE EMERGENCY PROCEDURE." he responded, as he placed his hand on the instrument display screen and commanded "POWER REACTOR EMERGENCY SHUT DOWN – GRILIK'S AUTHORIZATION.".
An array of lasers traveled from the heel of his hand to his fingertips and imaged the external features, as the computer scanned to confirm his identity. Infrared light sources then pulsed underneath, and sensors created an internal map of his blood vessels and sinews from the reflected light. Voice print identification was also performed. This was compared to Munen's physiological measurements the ship's main computer was taking in real time. White light then outlined his hand and turned green to indicate the computer recognized Munen and his authority.
The voice of the computer came over the comm, "Identity confirmed – Artau-sil-Munen, Grilik of Mining ship Orysta. Terminating Reactor operation – Emergency Shut Down - Grilik authorization."
'How calm you sound,' Munen thought, 'and why not? No one ever fired a computer.'
At the Engineer's station were several display panels showing different diagrams of the ship's internal structure, so that different systems could be mon
itored at a glance. The orange lines that had indicated the path of the charged particle flow from the Level Translators to the engine and other smaller generators faded from the screen, followed by an almost complete silence as the engine shut down from fuel starvation.
Munen could now hear the rapid breathing of the others. He could feel the thumping in his chest. It was done. It was over. They had come through the emergency. They had survived it. No damage to the hull. No one injured. He felt a bit of anti-climactic shock from the sudden change in the situation. What they were going to do without an engine was another matter. Being adrift in space was definitely not a good thing. He was half holding his breath, waiting for everything to suddenly fall apart again. It did.
"TEMPERATURE STILL RISING," said the Engineer loudly, forgetting that the ship was now quiet again, "AND HULL SENSORS STILL INDICATING INCREASING HULL PRESSURE IN ENGINE COMPARTMENT! - PLUS 2.7 ARCLEESONS DISTORTION – INCREASING!"
