by George Deeb
Erika leaned over towards her uncle, and spoke in a low voice.
“Commander, may I speak with you?”
“Miss Aimsler.” he said, also in a low voice and with a large smile on his face. “What can I do for you?”
She looked around quickly, and saw that only Mersuul was paying any attention to them.
“Do you remember the conversation we had about special treatment for your niece?” she asked, now in whisper.
“I remember very clearly.” he answered, wondering what she getting at.
“Well, I had one of the few remaining implantable translators put in. Don't you consider that special treatment?”
“I certainly do consider that special treatment!” he said, wide eyed with surprise. “But I didn't have anything to do with that.”
Erika was surprised by his answer. She had been sure it had been favoritism shown to her because of her uncle.
“Wait a minute.” said Travellor with a suspicious look as he slowly turned to Mersuul. “What do you know about this Mata?”
“Who's Mata?” asked Erika.
Mersuul gave a knowing smile to both of them.
“It was Chief Engineer Plessa who requested that she be given one. He thought that her work with him was too important for her not to have the most efficient device. He didn't want any misunderstandings in their work together.” she said.
“This is Mata.” said Travellor. “My own personal Mata Hari. She knows everything and never tells me any of it.”
“Oh! So it was Plessa's idea. Great. That's OK then.”
“I did not inform you of this because it seemed reasonable and unimportant.”
“Uh huh. I'm keeping my eye on you.” he jokingly said to Mersuul. “See,” he said turning to Erika, “no special treatment from me. So how is the job going?”
Before Erika could answer, the dinging on a crystal goblet caught their attention.
“I'll tell you later.” Erika said.
It was time for the hostess to perform her duties, and Delores del Rio stood up while tapping a fork against her glass to get everyone's attention.
“Good evening everyone.” said del Rio, “Thank You so much for coming tonight, and allowing me to say Thank You to the people who saved my life. All of you had something to do with my being here tonight. I couldn't say Thank You enough times to properly express my gratitude. Some of you flew into space to find me. Some kept the communications links going to the right people. Some watched and prayed for me. I was lost in space, and getting further lost by the second. It was the worse case of finding a needle in a hay stack, and you kept at it until you found me. Thank You.” she said, finally stopping for a breath. Her eyes started to wet.
“When I was brought back and taken to medical, I was a mess. A terrible mess. I know because I was allowed to review my complete medical record of that time. Under the guidance of Doctor Krather, the medical team worked around the clock, repairing piece by piece – literally – all the damage that had been suffered by my body.” Del Rio sniffed and a visible tear flowed down her face. She continued, “If it wasn't for the medical technology on the Orysta I would be dead. Even with every amazing thing their medical equipment was capable of, I was still a mess after they had finished. After I had read my medical file I couldn't believe that I had survived.” Her lips pursed, and she choked up a little.
“You should have seen the pictures of me – I did. I was barely recognizable..., I..., Excuse me for a second.” she said, trying to regain her composure and clear her now closing throat. She took a tissue from her pocket, and wiped her eyes and nose, and then continued. “During the years of rehab I learned more about what everyone did during my rescue. Thank you – again. I can't say it enough. Those of you who knew me more personally will notice small changes in how a look. My face is a little rounder. Some of my movements have a glitch in them. My eyes are not the same color anymore. There are some other minor differences, but none of it affects my functioning. Today I am actually stronger than when I first came here. I could go on, but you get the idea.” She took a sip of water and cleared her throat. “Sorry... something in my throat.”
“So tonight is my way of saying Thank You in a small way...” She choked up, then took a minute to gather herself. “Enjoy this dinner with all my gratitude. Thank you again. Let's eat!” she finished with a smile, as the tears flowed freely now.
Erika looked to her uncle and Mersuul with a questioning expression.
“What happened to her?” she asked.
“That is a hellova story. We'll tell you the whole thing later. There are lessons to be learned by that incident.”
“Yes.” said Mersuul. “I helped transport her to Earth after the operation. She is correct. She did not look like a person, and she was barely alive. I do not think anyone expected her to survive. Doctor Blin told me that they had to perform procedures no one had tried before. That is how badly she was injured. I understand that she had to learn to control her body again, like a newborn. She appears to have overcome all the problems. It is amazing.”
Krather gave del Rio a hug, and said something no one else could hear. The tears stopped coming out after a while, and a smile took over del Rio's face. Then the serving staff zoomed into action, and several large covered silver trays were rolled out on serving tables and stationed against the wall. The covers were lifted to reveal a small roasted pig on one, surrounded by fruits and vegetables. Another had squares of deep dish pizza with various toppings. A third had hot dogs being cooked on rotating steel rods and surrounded by buns and condiments. A fourth had a large roast with bowls of sauce, and steamed vegetables around it. A fifth had a stack of steaks surrounded by French fries and hot biscuits with lots of butter. A sixth had various fresh vegetables surrounding a large bowl of salad, and several kinds of dressing.
At the end of the line of the food tables was the bar, with any type of beverage you could want, and prominently displaying large champagne bottles ready for their corks to be popped. It was more food than they all could eat, but nothing remaining would go to waste. Before it was gone everyone on station would have a chance to try some of each item. Food was never wasted out here.
Everyone got up to go choose the culinary delight that would satisfy their taste buds. The conversation level rose and everyone began to relax and enjoy themselves. One by one people were going over to del Rio and personally welcoming her back. When either a shuttle crew member from one of the ships that searched for her or a member of the medical team that had worked on her came up, del Rio gave them a long hug and thanked them again. With each hug came more tears as emotions of happiness and gratitude swelled within her.
Chapter 17
A Busy Month
1
August 2014
“If you want to find the secrets of the universe,
think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”
Nikola Tesla
The meeting took place in the Orysta's planning room because the ship was the focus of the problem, and because the three dimensional image capabilities of the projections would make the concept clear to everyone. The idea was conceived by Erika Aimsler, and developed with the help of Chief Engineer Benua-sil-Plessa. They had spent weeks refining the concept and working out the details of its execution. They had used the ship's main computer on an almost twenty-four by seven basis calculating and confirming the concept. Now they had to get the plan authorized by both the ship's Grilik and the Commander of the moon base. They had kept the overall idea a secret until they were sure of success – or at least a ninety percent chance of it. This wasn't easy to do since Grilik Munen would often ask his chief engineer about the project.
In the room were Grilik Munen, Tahn-grilik Califas, Commander Robert Farber-Chatwell, Moon Base Commander Anthony Travellor, and a special guest visiting the moon base for the first time – Ransen Ramsdel. No one else on station knew much about Ramsdel but both Farber-Chatwell and Travellor listened closely
when he spoke. Rumor had it that Ramsdel was the man responsible for making the operation here financially possible. Judging by the pay scale and benefits packages for 361's employees he was doing one hell of a job. This was a small gathering, to judge the response of those in authority. If they accepted the plan almost everyone on station would be involved in some way. When Erika was ready for her presentation, Plessa got the attention of the others.
“Everyone, let us begin.” he said in a voice loud enough to override the ongoing conversations. “Miss Erika Aimsler of, I am pleased to say, the Orysta team,” he paused to smile at her, “and I have developed an idea to lift the Orysta from the crevice she is in. Since Miss Aimsler came up with the concept she will be giving the rest of the presentation.”
Plessa moved away, with a wide smile on his face, looking like a proud daddy showing off his child. Erika stood up and moved to the front of the room. She had a small smile on her face, but hers was a sign of nervousness. It wasn't presenting the plan to this group that made her nervous, it was the possibility of having it rejected.
“I've read the report on the first attempt at getting the Orysta out of the position it is in. At the time there were two shuttles from the ship and four from the base. The combined lift generated by all of them should have been enough to lift the Orysta if it wasn't being held by tons of rock and soil. To compensate for that explosives were used to loosen the soil's hold on the ship. Unfortunately it didn't work. I believe the concept was basically sound. The problem with the attempt was that all the earth... ” She stopped in thought for a moment. 'All the moon? - what do we call the rock and soil here in general – yeah, the moon. On Earth it's earth, so on the Moon it's moon. OK.' “...all the moon that the explosion loosened up didn't stay loose long enough for the Orysta to be pulled free.”
“The idea that I suggested to Chief Engineer Plessa is demonstrated by these Youtube videos. Of course, this is the general concept in its simplest form. They show what we intend to achieve, but with a different principle than what is used in the videos. I will explain as you watch it.” she said as she gestured over the table with her hand.
A video began to play. Since it was a two dimensional image, the Orysta's main computer displayed it in a unique manner. The video was displayed in a single plane of polarized light. That plane was replicated and rotated one half of a degree until a cylinder of projections was created. The resulting effect was that anyone looking at the projection would clearly see only the plane that was perpendicular to their eyes, so that everyone saw the same thing and from the same perspective.
The video showed a metal plate supported on an audio transducer. Grains of sand were then sprinkled on the plate. The demonstrator then fed the transducer with different sound frequencies causing the plate to vibrate at that frequency, and the sand grains to move to form different geometric patterns on the plate. As the frequency was changed, the sand danced over the plate to coalesce into different patterns.
“On this first video you see sound frequency signal causing a metal plate to vibrate. The sand particles come together to show you a visual presentation of what different sections of the metal plate are actually doing. Notice that it does not vibrate as a single unit as you might imagine, but has different areas of the plate acting as separately vibrating sections. Notice also that as the frequency is changed the shape and size of these vibrating sections also changes as they interact with each other. Now let's watch one more video.”
She gestured with her hand again, and a different video began to play. In this video small, light foam particles were held suspended in the air by sound wave energy emitted by strategically placed speakers, where they formed and maintained a geometric pattern while being levitated. The intact pattern was then moved around to different positions in the air when the energy level was varied in each speaker. The video became more interesting to those watching when different heavier items such as electronic components, hardware, and various plastic parts were levitated and manipulated in the air. The group quickly began to realize the practical applications of what they were watching.
“This second video,” she continued, “shows materials of different size and density being levitated and moved around by sound waves generated by the surrounding speakers. What material, and how much of it that can be manipulated depends on the frequencies of the sound and how powerful the sound waves are. Of course, in both of these videos even the heaviest object being moved and levitated are still relatively light.”
“So much for the introduction.” she continued. “Now to the point. By applying a similar technique to what you just viewed, we believe we can shift the moon material pressing against the Orysta. We believe, and our experiments have shown, that moving this material just a fraction of an inch and keeping it in motion will remove the pressure on the ship's hull, and we should be able to lift the Orysta out of its prison.”
“Of course the problem we have here on the Moon is the lack of an atmosphere for the sound waves to propagate through. Any gas molecules held by the moons reduced gravity are so few and far apart that sound waves can't travel through them. But the Orysta has a very special capability that will allow us to achieve the same results. The Orysta can create and control gravity waves! It is with gravity waves, or to be more precise a gravity field, that we will place the ground material in motion, and keep it in motion while the ship is lifted from the ground.”
Everyone's eyes were wide with surprise and excitement – especially Grilik Munen and Tahn-grilik Califas. The thought of having their ship free again had their hearts beating quickly. The room was silent, but for just a little while.
“You've already tested this?” asked Travellor.
Erika's smile widened. She knew her uncle would be the first to ask the question. She had even bet Plessa that he would.
“Yes, on a small scale.” said Plessa. “We will have to reconfigure the ships field projectors, but that will not be difficult to accomplish.”
“It will take a tremendous amount of power, but we can do it.” added Erika. “The Orysta is capable of generating an unbelievable level of energy by Earth standards. This ship, in its present damaged condition, is amazingly capable of supplying the peak power requirements of the entire North American continent on a continuous basis, for a period of twenty months or more. It's mind blowing! During the attempt we will have to eliminate the field extending to the base for the short period of time it takes. All personnel will have to be aware that they will be under the influence of the reduced gravity for that period. Even within the Orysta normal gravity will be suspended.”
Her statements hit Travellor, Farber-Chatwell, and Ramsdel like a shock wave. It just couldn't be possible for a single machine the size of the Orysta to generate that much energy. Their first thought was that Erika was either exaggerating or mistaken. Travellor stared at his niece, and soon realized she was stating the facts as she knew them. She had been working closely with Plessa, and no other human had before been given the information on Ganaphe' technology that had been made available to her. His mouth hung open at the realization that what he had believed the Ganaphe' capabilities were hadn't come close to the reality. Why hadn't he realized this before. He – no, not only he – everyone had become so comfortable with what the Ganaphe' had shared with them that they failed to consider how much more they were capable of.
It made sense now that he thought about it. How else could you move a ship this size through galaxies and in practical time periods without tremendous amounts of energy. And from what the Ganaphe' had told him about their war ships the Orysta was a comparatively small vessel! He sat silently in thought as the others conversed with each other.
“That's the simple explanation of course. There is a lot more to it, but that's the basic idea.” finished Erika.
“How will you lift the ship?” asked Califas, excitedly. “The Moon Base ships no longer have the same engines that were used for the first attempt. I believe the new engines are not s
uitable for this application.”
“That is correct.” said Plessa, as he gestured over the table. “We are all familiar with the Orysta's present situation.” Several small images appeared high over the table. He touched one and dragged it downward. It blossomed into a larger image of the Orysta, complete with all the rocks, gravel and sand pressing against its hull. “Indicate attachment points and show shuttle craft positions during first recovery attempt.” he instructed the computer.
Now six bright red spots showed on the upper part of the hull. Dark blue lines went from them to the smaller images of the shuttles. Plessa continued.
“For our first attempt we ran cables from the attachment points to the six ships above the surface. They provided the lift necessary for the attempt. Most of you are familiar with this.” Plessa gave everyone time to look at the image.
“So that's what you did.” said Ramsdel, looking closely at the image. “I'm sorry I missed that.”
