The Accidental Explorer

by George Deeb

“I assure you Commander that I didn't know the solarium was closed to men this evening.” said Cove, pleading his innocence. “I would swear there was no sign on the door.”

  Joshua Kibbee leaned back against the wall, chuckling and barely suppressing outright laughter, as he watched Cove try to explain his actions. He thought the situation was very funny. Cove, who sat in his gym shorts and a T-shirt, looked very much like a kid who had been called into the principals' office.

  “We don't have a sign on the door?” asked Travellor, looking at Kibbee.

  “Uh, that's true sir. There is no sign. We never really formalized Ladies Night. Never had to. Everyone on the base knows about it.”

  Travellor leaned back in his chair, looking at Cove. He believed what the man was saying. He believed he had walked in on Ladies Night in total innocence.

  “So you went into the solarium in your gym shorts, and walked in on - how many naked women were there?”

  “I..., I don't know, Commander. I wasn't thinking about counting them. I was caught by surprise, and I could only think about leaving there quickly. I remember apologizing to them, although I wasn't sure what I was apologizing for at the time. I knew by their yelling at me that I shouldn't have been there so I left as quickly as I could.”

  “Maybe not that quickly.” said Kibbee, still suppressing his laughter.

  “What does that mean?” asked Travellor.

  “Uh, nothing sir. Forget I said that.”

  Travellor grabbed the computer mouse and clicked a few times while focusing on the monitor. It took a minute to confirm what he was looking for.

  “You're right. There's nothing in the Rules and Regs about Ladies Night. It's never been made official.” he said as he typed an email to his assistant. “There. That will be corrected in the morning.” He looked back at Kibbee. “Do me a favor and make up a sign for the solarium door. Put it on with tape if you have to, until we get one made up and mounted.”

  “I'll take care of that right after.” said Kibbee.

  “Well Doctor,” he said, now looking at Cove, “you have now been officially notified of Ladies Night on the base.”

  Cove nodded his head rapidly up and down.

  “I suggest you wait until tomorrow before you use the Solarium. Give things a while to calm down.”

  “Yes sir. Of course I will. Maybe I'll just pass on it this trip.”

  “Doctor, your going to be with us for a while. You can pass on it for as long as you meet the medical requirements in the regulations. Otherwise you will use it.”

  “OK Commander. Of course.” said Cove as he stood up to leave.

  “Have a good evening Doctor. And remember, if you run into any of those women and they seem a little angry with you – well, the base is fairly large. I understand you're a runner so you should be able to get away.” said Travellor, also now chuckling.

  Cove didn't see the humor in his embarrassing situation. He walked out of Travellor's office, closing the door behind him.

  “What did you mean by that remark, that Cove didn't leave that quickly?”

  Kibbee broke out in a large smile, and moved closer to the desk.

  “I spoke to Specialist del Rio before I brought Cove here. She couldn't stop laughing about it. Apparently none of the women could.”

  “So I won't be hearing any grievances about this?”

  “Not likely Sir. So anyway, what she said happened was that Cove walked into the solarium, looked around and slowly realized something wasn't right. He was as surprised as the women were. They start yelling at him to get out and come back tomorrow. He's so caught off guard he's not sure what to do. Eventually his brain gets into gear and he starts to leave. Now this is the interesting part. As he's turning to go his gaze falls on one of the women, and he can't turn away from looking at her. Delores says she thinks his brain locked up.” Kibbee took a deep breath and started laughing.

  “Can you picture it. This young genius loses his self control at the sight of a naked woman – well,... one particular naked women. He so lost in what he is seeing that he can't move. After a couple of minutes Doctor Blin and Delores have to take him by the arms and walk him out of the room – all the while his head is twisted around as he continues to stare at this girl.” Kibbee laughed harder, and couldn't continue talking.

  “Oh great.” said Travellor. “You said I wouldn't be hearing about this anymore. Sounds like I'm going to be getting a harassment notice filed. So who was the woman Cove couldn't take his eyes off of?”

  Now Kibbee started laughing harder. He tried to talk, but each time he would start laughing again. After several minutes he was able to regain control of himself.

  “Well?” said Travellor. “Who is she?”

  Kibbee held a large grin, but he didn't say anything. Travellor waited for the name, but after a few seconds he realized why Kibbee didn't say.

  “Erika.” Travellor said. “That's who it was, wasn't it?”

  Kibbee just nodded in affirmation, and almost started to laugh again. He took some deep breathes and regained his composure.

  “Apparently,” said Kibbee, “he found your uh... naked niece to be so captivatingly beautiful that he couldn't look away. Not even as he was being pushed out of the room. But on the positive side, if she does want to complain, she'll probably just tell you about it and not file anything on paper.” He was still grinning.

  7

  Promises

  Travellor stood back, sipping his coffee, as he watched the four way conversation between Cove, the Air Maintenance Chief, and two of his younger subordinates. He didn't know the names of the younger men, and that bothered him. They hadn't been stationed here for long, but he felt it was part of his job to know his people. The combined staff on the moon base just wasn't that big that he shouldn't. Had he been so busy lately that he couldn't do this before? He would correct that error by having lunch with the men and welcoming them to the base. It was obvious that something was going on. Cove kept reviewing the papers in his hand, and the airframe technicians were answering his questions. Travellor could always recognize a problem when he saw one. Solving it was a different matter.

  He walked over to the group. The Maintenance Chief saluted him, and Travellor returned the salute. His two technicians did not salute, and weren't sure what to do. They had never been in the military, and this was not a military base. Saluting here was more of a courtesy than anything else.

  “Good morning gentlemen. Sounds like you have a problem. What's going on?”

  “It's the Sensor Skin Paint.” said Cove. “It appears to have been mixed incorrectly before being shipped here. Totally my fault. I should have checked it before coming to the base.”

  “Can you correct the problem? Remix it?”

  “Not with what we have on hand. It requires special processing equipment that doesn't damage the MEMS. The only thing we can do is have more made on Earth and sent up to us.”

  “This ship is scheduled to fly tomorrow, Doctor.”

  “It will have to be delayed Commander. It will take several days to have a new batch made up, tested, and shipped here. We also have to strip off what's on the ship now and prep it for the new paint.”

  “You made a promise to the flight crew Doctor. You told them they would fly tomorrow.”

  “I know that Commander, and I'm sorry that they'll be disappointed, but I don't see any other way.”

  The group went silent for a while. Travellor sipped his coffee, and thought to himself for a minute.

  “And this is the only thing holding us up? All other systems are functional and ready to go?” asked Travellor.

  “That's correct.” replied Cove. “Once we have this fixed she'll be ready to fly.”

  “Where is the ship's maintenance log book?” asked Travellor, directing his question to the Crew Chief.

  “I've got it here, Sir.” the Chief said, handing the log to Travellor.

  Travellor opened the book, and found the equipment list. He wrote
at the bottom of the page, and then signed and dated it.

  “Problem solved.” he said, closing the book and handing it back to the Chief. “I've designated the Sensor Skin Paint as non-essential equipment.” He turned to the two technicians. “Gentlemen, excuse me for not welcoming you to the base formally. I'd like to make up for it by buying you lunch, and getting to know you if that's alright.”

  The two younger men were surprised by the invitation, but agreed to it enthusiastically. Travellor turned his attention to Cove and the Chief.

  “This ship flies tomorrow as scheduled. Any problems that will interfere with that will be brought to my attention immediately. I want the flight crew notified of that. So – that settles that little issue. Anything else I can take care of while I'm here?”

  No one brought up any other issues.

  8

  Erika was deep in concentration, and she rechecked her calculations on the tablet screen. The tablet was acting as a remote terminal, with the actual data processing being performed by the Orysta's computer. Her uncle had been right about the Ganaphe' wanting to leave for home the first chance they got. Now, as an official member of the Orysta's crew (which still seemed strange to her) and a temporary employee of Grilik Munen and the mining company he worked for, she had been tasked with the analysis of doing exactly that. Using the projected performance specs of the new Cove engine, she was to figure out if mounting multiple engines on the Orysta could get them to the inter-galactic trade lanes, how long it would take, how much fuel would be required, and most importantly could the engines be adapted to being powered by the ship's power exchange unit or vice versa. Her mind was completely focused on the task.

  Being so intently involved with a problem is not good when you are walking and not paying attention to what's in front of you. One second she was looking at the screen, and the next she was on her butt trying to figure out what had happened. She was in the passageway that connected the base to the Orysta. In front of her, also on the floor was Eckelberry Cove. He was surrounded by printouts, and an open laptop with a now cracked screen lay next to him.

  “I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going.” they both said in unison.

  “It was my fault.” said Erika. “I don't usually walk without looking where I'm going.”

  “Actually it was my fault. I always walk without looking where I'm going and I have a reputation for running into people. Oh, and I owe you an apology.”

  “For what?”

  “For staring at you the other night, when I walked in on Ladies Night.”

  “Well... yes... you did keep looking. I began to wonder just how bad I looked...”

  “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen!” he blurted out.

  She was caught of guard by his sudden statement. Then she started to laugh.

  “And you saw me for a long, long time.” she said still laughing. “Well, did you enjoy Ladies Night?”

  “I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me. I don't usually act like that. No one informed me about Ladies Night. I didn't know there was such a thing. I hope I didn't embarrass anyone. I'd be happy to apologize to each person if necessary.”

  “Oh, I don't know about that.” she said. “It looked like you had a lot of practice at staring.”

  “No! Really I don't...”

  “I'm joking. Just yanking your chain a little.”

  “Oh! ... uh, I'm Eckelberry Cove.” he said extending his hand.

  “I know who you are, Doctor Cove. I'm Er...”

  “I know. I know who you are also, Miss Aimsler.”

  She shook the offered hand. They started to get up off of the floor. Eckelberry jump up and offered his hand again, and helped her up.

  “I don't think apologies will be necessary. None of the girls are really very shy. Of course, this puts me at a disadvantage.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well... you've seen me completely naked, but you had shorts on when you came into the room. I think there's an imbalance there that needs to be corrected.”

  “Uh... are...are you... are you suggesting that I drop my pants so you can have a look at me?”

  “Well... that would be the only fair thing to do, don't you think?”

  Cove stood wide eyed, stammering and at a loss for a response. Erika started to laugh again.

  “Relax Doctor. I'm only joking.”

  Relief came over him, and he started to laugh also.

  “I may be out of line,” he said, “but I was wondering if you would have dinner with me tonight.”

  “In the Solarium?” she asked with a big smile.

  “I would feel more comfortable in the cafeteria.” he said, blushing.

  Erika laughed at the irony of his being the one who was embarrassed.

  Chapter 20

  Test Flight and Other Things

  1

  December 2014

  “... Checklist complete.”

  “Roger. Checklist complete.” said Smith. He pressed the transmit button on the joystick controller. “Flight Control, this is Folly. All preflight checks complete without discrepancies. We are ready for launch.” He took his finger off of the transmit button, which switched his mic back to the ship's intercom. “Are you ready for this, gentlemen?” Washington and Califas gave him a thumbs up.

  The three men were working smoothly as a team now. The hours spent in the simulator and on dry runs in the cockpit were paying off. Smith and Washington had become as proficient in using the Ganaphe' equipment, as Califas had in using the systems of the Folly. That was the way the Ganaphe' trained their crews, so that in an emergency any man or woman in the same section of the ship could do the job of any one else at least at a basic level of competence. Moon Base Commander Travellor liked that idea, and adopted it for training 361 personnel.

  Also on the ground, and facing the Folly was Orysta's shuttle number one. They would act as chase plane, and follow the Folly on its voyage. There were two reasons for this. First was to act as a safety backup ship in case something went wrong with the test flight. Second was that the Ganaphe' had a personal interest in how Cove's new engine performed. Looking at a data stream wasn't the same as watching it with your own eyes. On shuttle one those eyes belonged to PIC Mersuul-sil-Vaana, copilot and technical observer Benua-sil-Plessa, and in a previously non-existent (and not required) post of moon base representative was Delores del Rio, who herself had suggested the creation of the position. Del Rio had many friends on the base, and a small request like this wouldn't be denied. It also helped that on her own time she had been learning to fly the Ganaphe' shuttles by studying the flight manuals and by going out with as many shuttle flights as she could snag a ride on. As she became better known to the Ganaphe' she was given more time in the copilot's seat, watching and learning and asking questions. She could already fly the shuttles. She just couldn't land them. No one had a problem with her being there, and Mersuul and Plessa were quick to assign her small tasks which freed them to concentrate on the main mission.

  “Folly, this is Control. Stand by.” said Balfour. “All systems are up and ready to track the Folly sir. Chase ship is ready, and the Orysta will be monitoring telemetry and comms.”

  “So they went with Folly as their call sign. I'm not sure if I should be insulted or not.” said Travellor.

  “Sign of respect, sir. Those men know you have their backs.”

  “Are you ready gentlemen?” asked Travellor, looking at Farber-Chatwell, Ramsdel, and Cove. They all nodded. “Initiate the flight Commander.”

  “Folly flight, this is Balfour. Launch at your discretion. Good luck everyone. We'll be waiting for your return.”

  “Roger control.” came Smith's voice over the comm. “Folly flight, this is Folly leader. We are a go. Folly chase, delay for ten before following. See if we leave any pieces behind.”

  Cove's eyes went wide at hearing the last statement. He looked around at everyone in the Control Tower.

  “W
hat does he mean pieces? There won't be any pieces. That ship is solid.” he said confusedly.

  “Relax Doctor. That's just small talk between the crews. Just Smith's way of telling the shuttle to remain a safe distance behind.”

  There were a dozen people in the control tower, which was designed for a normal occupancy of four. That didn't leave much room for moving around, but it was the best seat in the house. Everyone watched as the forward landing gear on the Folly began to extend. It kept getting longer until the ship's nose was at a thirty degree nose up attitude. The ship was designed to take off without a runway if necessary, and that was one of the functions to be tested. The directional nozzle of the main engine was pointed at a downward angle for the takeoff. The glow of the main engine grew brighter as the throttle was pushed forward. The ship rolled forward less than ten feet, came off of the ground and began to climb. A blast trail from the engine's powerful thrust went back about three times that distance until it hit the surrounding blast shields, and was deflected upwards. Everyone watched as the Folly's landing gear retracted and folded into the body of the ship, and the flight path slowly curved up until it was vertical to the surface.