The Accidental Explorer

by George Deeb

  “Then you will be here for the next attempt.” said Farber-Chatwell. “You need to spend more time here to get first hand knowledge of the operation.”

  Ramsdel shook his head in agreement, while still studying the image.

  “Show Aimsler frame” said Plessa.

  The six shuttles disappeared from the image, replaced by a dark rectangular frame structure, internally divided with cross members into a three by five array. Projecting downwards at each cross member intersection were short stubs that ended in rocket nozzles. Twenty-four of them.

  “Please continue Erika.” said Plessa.

  “There are twenty-four solid-liquid hybrid fuel rocket engines that will supply the lifting force to pull the Orysta free of the ground. The solid fuel is contained in the chambers above the nozzles. The fluid oxidizer is contained in the hollow frame. By using the frame to hold part of the fuel supply we can carry more total fuel and extend the maximum burn time. Commander Farber-Chatwell has supplied us with the performance specs of the rockets, and has confirmed that the thrust control modifications we need will not be a problem to add. As in the first attempt, power output of all rockets will be monitored and controlled by the Orysta's main computer, since it has the processing power to monitor and control them in real time.”

  “Also, as in the first attempt,” she continued, “explosive charges will be placed. However, since gravity waves will be the force that keeps the smaller materials fluid, these charges will instead be used to fracture the large rocks and boulders that are in direct contact with the hull. They will be more powerful than before, but there will be fewer of them. This increases the possibility of outer skin penetration but Chief Engineer Plessa believes it will not cause any damage that can't be repaired.”

  She took a sip of water to soothe her dry throat, and gave everyone a few seconds to think about what she had told them.

  “There is one more major item to consider. There is a break-free point where the grip of the surrounding soil will suddenly give way, causing the ship to quickly shoot up and out of the ground. The ship would slingshot up before the thrust of the rocket engines can be cut off. This is a limitation of the engines and not of the computer controlling them. If we cut the engines when this happens the ship will impact the frame. The damage could be serious. If we leave the engines throttled up the frame will pull the ship away from the moon. Since the Orysta is not capable of normal flight and landing, it could be very tricky trying to bring her back to the surface without damage. So we propose an alternate option, which you will have to decide on. We believe the best choice to get the Orysta safely on the surface is to quickly shut down the engines at the first indication of the break-free point. The computer can easily detect this by monitoring the vertical rate of motion. Also notice in this simulation that as the ship is being lifted, the still fluid ground materials will flow under the ship, filling in the cavity that forms below and automatically building support underneath the ship.”

  Erika touched the projected image and it played like a movie, showing the ship being pulled up by the frame with its engines glowing white, and the soil and rocks flowing in underneath it. Then the engines went dim and the ship stopped rising.

  “Because of this back fill the ship cannot fall back down. We estimate that the break-free point will be six to ten feet below the surface, so this is where the ship will rest at engine shutdown. We can't estimate any closer than that because of the variation in material surrounding the ship. But with the ship at that level, it should by easy to remove the remaining ground material, and build a lifting frame to mechanically raise the ship the rest of the way. Thirty-six hours after the start of the attempt the Orysta should be free and on the surface, standing on its landing gear. Chief Engineer Plessa has all the calculations and test results. The decision is yours to make.” she concluded, as she looked around at the faces looking back at her. She suddenly realized she was tired.

  Munen and Califas called Plessa to them and began discussing more of the details. There was a lot of preparation to be done if the plan went ahead.

  Travellor looked at his niece, who had sat down in a chair at the front of the room. Vicious had moved next to her, and she stroked the robot's head like someone might do to a pet. He could tell she was physically and mentally drained. She must have pushed herself to make this presentation, and now that it was over the exhaustion was taking over. He wanted to go over and put an arm around her, but she wouldn't like that with everyone else around. He had promised to treat her like any one else.

  2

  Erika couldn't remember the last time she felt this tired, if ever. It wasn't just physical. After the presentation of the plan to lift the Orysta from the ground, she had decided to take up the open invitation from Mersuul to use her quarters on the ship. Her mind was fatigued and she was aware that her thinking was slow. She was especially aware of that after making the mistake of standing in the shower and telling the computer to 'Give me everything you've got.' The resulting impact of water was not what she was expecting. She was sure she swallowed most of the Orysta's water supply before being able to order the computer to turn the shower off. There was a lot about living on the ship that no one had told her – like drowning in the shower! Or maybe they had mentioned it, but with her thinking so impaired it was hard to remember. 'The Orysta gets kudos for its hair dryer.' she thought. 'It took only a couple of minutes.' She knew she was hungry, but was too tired to be bothered with eating.

  “Goodnight Vicious.” she said as she slid onto the bed.

  “Goodnight Erica.” replied the little robot. “Sleep well.”

  She lay down and closed her eyes, thinking that the bed was surprisingly comfortable. As she began to fall asleep she realized how perfect the room temperature was, and that she didn't need any covers. Then for some reason she opened her eyes and looked down at the bed. It was ten inches below her. Her body was floating in the air, perfectly supported at all points. It was unbelievably comfortable.

  “I have to get one of these.” she mumbled, while closing her eyes again. “Vicious, remind ...me to get … ”

  She never finished the sentence. Sleep had finally caught her. It was eleven hours later when she woke up.

  3

  “Hi aunt Jen. Hi uncle Phil. Hi guys.”

  “Hi Erika. How are you?” came the delayed combined reply over the computer screen. They were all trying to adjust to the lag between remarks.

  “I'm doing alright. How are you?”

  “Erika, sweetheart, you look tired. What are they doing to you there?” asked her aunt. “Don't they give you any time to rest?”

  “Oh, that's my fault.” she replied, letting out a deep breath. “I've been so involved with my work that I've been pushing myself. Putting in a lot of hours. I'm working with a really great mechanical engineer. I've learned a lot of new things. Do I look that bad?”

  “Well your eyes are dark, and you look like you could use a good nights sleep.” said her uncle Phil. “And maybe some time on a beach. I thought Tony would take better care of you.”

  “Can't blame Uncle Tony.” she said. “I told him when we arrived that I didn't want anyone to know I was his niece, and I didn't want special treatment. But it's OK. I've got some down time for the next couple of days, and I plan to catch up on my sleep.”

  “How is Tony?”

  “He's fine. I'm having dinner with him tonight. He's been very busy also. There is no lack of work around here. This place is like a bee hive.”

  “When are you coming for a visit E? I miss you.” said Ernst.

  “I miss you too. All of you. I want to give each of you a big hug. Probably won't be able to get some time off for a month or two. I'll talk to uncle Tony about it, and let you know. So what have you all been up to?... ”

  4

  Travellor heard the page tone from the comm box and pushed the answer button.

  “Commander, this is Browning in Comm. Orysta's number two shuttle is approac
hing the base.”

  “Number two? They've been gone for days. Wonder where they've been.”

  “Sir, the General is aboard. He requests that you meet the shuttle outside when they arrive.”

  “Outside?”

  “Yes sir. They won't be landing in the Orysta.”

  “ETA ?”

  “Forty minutes.”

  “Tell him I'll be there.”

  “Will do.”

  Travellor took a last sip of his coffee, and left his office. It would take him about thirty minutes to suit up and get outside. That would leave him ten minutes for a quick visual inspection of the base while he was out.

  5

  Travellor had just finished his walk around the structure when the landing pad lights turned on. When he looked up he couldn't see the shuttle clearly. It was obstructed by a large dark object underneath it. When it was closer to the ground he could see the shuttle piggy-backed on top of it. Landing gear then dropped from underneath the dark object, and it made contact with the ground.

  “Travellor? Is that you?” came a voice in his helmet.

  “Yes General. What have you brought me?”

  “Stand by. We have to uncouple from the other ship.”

  That caught Travellor by surprise. He wasn't notified about a new ship, or that it was being delivered to the base. Not to mention the fact that it was already completely assembled, something that was normally done in the base hangar. What surprised him just as much was its size. Taking into account its manta ray shape, he guessed that internally it was as large as one of the Orysta's shuttles. It took a few minutes, but slowly the shuttle lifted off from the top of the new ship and landed next to it.

  The shuttle's door opened and one person got out of it. When he was clear, he waved back at the shuttle which lifted off and flew to the Orysta's open access doors.

  “Hello Commander.” said Farber-Chatwell through the comm link.”I've brought you a new toy. Let's get a crew out here and tow it inside. I hope keeping one of the Ganaphe' shuttles for so long didn't inconvenience. We had to travel a lot slower than normal with it attached.” He turned and looked back at the ship. “I think we got it here without scratching the paint.”

  6

  The hangar bay was noisy from the conversations of people who had time from their duties, both human and ganaphe'. It had been a constant rotation of faces once the word got out about the new ship. Some had been here more than once. Everyone was curious about it, and apparently not even Grilik Munen had been made aware of its existence. For the first time in the moon base's short existence a completely assembled and operational ship had been delivered there. People were curious about that also. Was this to be the new modus operandi for the base? No details had yet been released about it.

  “It's beautiful!” said John Smith. “I can't wait to get my hands on the controls.”

  “I wonder what nav and instrumentation is like.” said George Washington. “You can bet this is not like our present ships. One of the techs said it had an experimental quantum computer that is interfaced with all the systems.”

  “You're right, and we're the ones who get to fly it first.”

  “You think so?”

  “Hell yes! We have seniority on this base. We BETTER be the ones, or I'm gonna have a word with the brass. Huh! Look at this. It looks like most of the skin has been dimpled – like the outside of a golf ball.”

  “You are absolutely right. We should have first shot at it. I wonder if they've programmed the flight simulator yet?”

  “Don't think so. The flight lab guys are over there. That dumbfounded look on their faces tells me they're as surprised by this as everyone else.”

  “And speaking of the brass, I don't see any of them here.”

  “Kibbee said there was a big meeting going on. They're all probably there.”

  “What the hell!” said Smith as he looked at the ship's trailing edge. ”What are these holes for?”

  7

  “OK. I think everyone's here now.” said Farber-Chatwell as he looked at the assembled group.

  Around the conference table were all the command level personnel, several engineering staff, Mersuul-sil-Vaana, Brighde Balfour, and Erika Aimsler who was there at the request of Chief Engineer Plessa. Travellor smiled at his niece across the table, but said nothing to her. She returned the smile. The projector was turned on displaying an image of the new ship. It wasn't as impressive as the three dimensional depictions on the Orysta but it would get the job done.

  “This is our latest ship design. I call it Travellor's Folly...”

  “WHAT! Whoa. Wait a minute.” said Travellor. “Why is it my folly? I didn't have anything to do with that.”

  “... As I was about to explain,” continued Farber-Chatwell, “ over sixteen months ago Commander Travellor submitted a report which outlined several programs that he felt 361 should undertake immediately. The basis for this report was his belief that Orysta personnel and ship would not be around for much longer. He speculated that within a relatively short time the Orysta would be freed of its prison and that an alternate means of propulsion would give you the option of attempting the journey home.”

  “Although the report was not discussed much with the Commander after he submitted it, it was disseminated to a wide group at 361. No one could argue with its premises. It stated what many had known but didn't want to think about. Doctor Eckelberry Cove was one of the people that had read the report, and he told me it motivated him to many restless nights. He is a brilliant man as we all know, and this ship is the result of those lost hours of sleep.”

  “The Commander suggested we develop two separate flight platforms. One for atmospheric use and one for space. Cove is a man who values efficiency, and developing two different space craft, as the Commander suggested, made no sense to him. He felt that developing one ship that could operate both in and outside a planetary atmosphere made more sense than having two separate designs. Who was I to argue with Eckelberry Cove? I had him submit a proposal to accomplish this, and gave him the resources he asked for. This ship is the result. I'll cover the major features today, but more detailed documentation is available to all here. There are some classified systems, but they shouldn't keep anyone from understanding the design.”

  Farber-Chatwell pressed the button on the remote control, and the image on the screen changed to a rear view with labels indicating various features on the ship.

  “Lets start with the propulsion systems. This ship has two. The eight holes spaced along the trailing edge are the Ion Drive system. We studied what NASA has developed in their Evolutionary Xenon Thruster program, and Cove made some modifications to their system. The result is the Forced Ion Pulse engine. This is a high capacity sustained output compressed ion drive capable of propelling the ship at speeds up to two hundred thousand miles per hour for very long periods of time. This is a secondary system used to maintain the speed already achieved by the primary. Once the ship is accelerated to speed by its primary propulsion system the ship switches to Ion thrust for efficiency.”

  “The primary propulsion system is this engine.” he said, using his laser pointer to indicate the much larger variable duct exhaust nozzle. “This is the business end of the latest Cove engine. We've had it under development for the last six months, and Cove has been thinking about it for a lot longer than that. It's a good thing that 361 owns a lot of the companies that forge and fabricate the necessary components or we would never have completed it this quickly. When he was ready to build it, we prioritized the program. It's been extensively tested to failure. The engine is capable of safely developing two point five million pounds of maximum operational thrust...”

  The voices immediately rose around the table.

  “Excuse me General.” said Plessa, with a touch of disbelief in his voice. “Are you certain you mean 'million' pounds of thrust? In an engine that size? Is it a one use only engine?”

  Murmurs of agreement came from most in the roo
m. Farber-Chatwell broke into a big smile. He half expected the reaction.

  “Million pounds of thrust is correct, and no it is not a one time use engine. Of course it takes several minutes to reach that level of output. To instantaneously put out that much thrust would destroy the ship – and the engine. There are safety backups built into the engine that will stop the pilot from accidentally or intentionally doing that, controlled by an experimental quantum computer that interfaces with all of the ship's systems. If continuous acceleration is commanded the engine will put out maximum thrust as quickly as it can safely do so. Safely being defined as without destroying the ship.”

  “What's the TBO on the main engine?” asked Travellor.

  “When operated in space at seventy-five percent max thrust, the TBO is estimated to be over six months. That's six months continuous use! In atmosphere it drops to about one-sixth of that. The ship when fully equipped and crewed can carry enough fuel for forty-four hours of continuous max output engine operation. It's not designed to travel outside our solar system. It's a damn good first step in our inter-planetary spacecraft evolution, in my opinion. ”