The Accidental Explorer

by George Deeb

  Chapter 22

  Diplomacy

  1

  December 2014

  Earth's first battle in space, that no one knew about

  It had taken almost two hours to clear a path to the surface, from the only still operational pressurized access chamber leading to the underground section of the moon base. Many sections of the base closest to the surface had been destroyed or were impassible. The five base shuttles, the damaged Folly, and the two Orysta shuttles sat at a clear spot near the center of the crater, their reflections coming off the fused silica that had been turned into glass by the tremendous heat of the bomb blast. With them were several fighter craft from the Eowaar. More ships and personnel from the battle carrier were constantly traveling between the behemoth war ship and the surface. It was only by chance that the Eowaar had stationed itself on the moon's far side, and could not be seen from Earth. Other Eowaar fighters had set up a security patrol, while still others went out farther hunting for any pirates that may have survived the battle.

  The above ground structure of the moon base no longer existed, unless you considered the torn, twisted and melted heap that had been blasted up against the side of the crater to be part of the base. The Orysta was gone – literally. It had not been anchored to the surface, and speculation was that the tremendous force that had ripped the thick steel pylons which supported the base had also blown the Orysta out into space. Eowaar search and rescue vessels were assigned to search for whatever was left of her and the four people inside. This was officially designated a rescue mission, but most believed it to be a recovery operation. Eowaar had calculated possible trajectories the blast could have sent the ship on, which defined the search area.

  Base personnel were quiet, moody, somber, scared, and sad, but they all did what was asked of them. No yell for assistance had to be asked twice – someone was always willing to lend a hand. Cooks helped hold things steady while they were being welded or cut. Communications techs went to all levels of the remaining structure checking for pressurization leaks. Flight crews helped remove the surface obstructions with heavy machinery. Cleaning robots were put to new use as they moved through conduits to check for damaged cables and optical fibers. There was no worry about the essentials. All of the stores for the moon base had been kept in the underground part of the structure. The Eowaar stood by to supply anything else that might be needed.

  A transport from the Eowaar had been sent to Earth to get Farber-Chatwell and Ransen Ramsdel, and the first group of construction personnel. Doctor Blin had been on planet and was also coming back, as were a few Orysta crew members that had been off duty. Several pallets of communications and office equipment had been put together by 361 logistics on Earth, to get the base back into operation as quickly as possible. Also being brought to the moon base on the Eowaar transport were miscellaneous packages and one very large, freshly cut pine tree. It was the morning of Christmas day.

  2

  Kalinor Gorheel-sil-Planna held his niece in a tight, crushing hug. It wasn't until this moment that his fears of returning home without finding her dissipated. He had received the report that she was alive, and he had talked to her over the comm. It wasn't until he held her that it all became reality. She had been lost and feared dead for a long time.

  “I promised your mother I would find you and bring you home.” he said with tears beginning to form in his eyes. “I was afraid I would find you dead after all this time.”

  Mersuul returned the hug, and held on to family. Holding her uncle was almost like being home at that moment. Her tears were already flowing freely.

  “We wondered if we would ever go home again. We had the greatest luck. These people are not just allies, or friends. They have become our family here. It is because of them we did more than just survive. We lived productive lives.” She moved back and looked up at he uncle. “You have to find the Orysta. Grilik Munen and the others could still be alive.”

  “Don't worry about that. We will find her and your crew. Everyone in our SAR section is working at finding that ship. Come over here and sit with me. I want you to tell me how you are doing, and everything that has happened to you here. When you are done, I'll tell you how scared for my life your mother has made me.”

  Mersuul laughed at his jest about her mother, who in truth was a very strong willed person. Her mother also only came up to her uncle's chest. It was funny to think she could scare the commander of one of the most powerful vessels in the IGT.

  3

  36 HSB

  36 HSB. That's how everyone on the moon base were noting time now – HSB – Hours Since the Bomb. Even Ganaphe' on the base were using that reference. It was now thirty-six hours HSB, and still nothing found of the Orysta.

  Doctor Blin looked at the unconscious body in the stasis chamber. She was here at the request of General Farber-Chatwell and Commander Travellor, who wanted a report from someone they knew and trusted. On the chamber walls, written in various colors of marker pen, were Get Well wishes, messages of thanks, prayers, invitations to recuperate at several family homes on the planet, and signatures of all the base personnel. Blin had before only seen one other patient whose body had suffered anything near this much insult – and she had survived. This case was worse. As Blin scanned the patient's medical record it seemed the list of injuries to the body was endless. This life was clinging on only because of the support machinery – internal organs were either not functioning or not functioning well enough to do the job. The Eowaar had the latest and best medical technology, as well as doctors experienced with the trauma caused by war. They were capable of growing new replacement organs, but that took time. She would not have been able to do better even if the Orysta was still available to her.

  Dhona was being kept in a medically induced coma, to spare him the agony of his injuries and to allow his body to have a chance to heal. The force of the blast had splintered, twisted, and compressed his ship into a lump of metal and synthetic trash, pieces of which had been forced through Dhona's body. The damage to his ship was so bad that it had to be taken apart piecemeal to get to Dhona, who was barely alive. If Blin had to put a word to his prognosis it would be 'unknown'. Even the medical technology available on this ship could only do so much. There were some similarities between Dhona's condition and what Delores del Rio had experienced. They both had suffered the force of a tremendous blast. Del Rio was protected only by her space suit, but had no penetrating injuries. Dhona was hit by a much larger force but had the protection of his ship and its systems to mitigate his injuries.

  Blin looked around the outside of the chamber. There was a collection of gifts on the table next to it, from moon base personnel and flight crews. They had learned about his actions to reduce the force of the bomb while placing his own life at risk and they were more than grateful. Some of the items were expensive, and others were more personal. There was a small trophy with a dancing figure on top engraved with 'First Grade Dance Recital' and an attached note in technician Jenny Simmons five year old daughter's childish scrawl that read 'My mommy said you saved her life. Thank you. This is for being my hero. This is your trophy now. You can keep it. You can come to dinner on Saturday we are having pizza.'

  Blin placed the trophy back on the table and headed down the hallway. There was another patient she had to check on. Personnel on the Eowaar recognized Blin as an Orysta crew member. They had all been surprised to learn the crew had survived. Everyone on the Eowaar had believed their journey to this galaxy was to find and bring back bodies. The discovery that not only had they all survived, but were in excellent condition mentally and physically was amazing. They greeted her as she walked through the ship, and asked if there was anything they could for her and the others. Blin thanked them and promised to pass on their invitations to the other crew members.

  She turned into the next room in the ward. Slouched in the chair by the bed of the unconscious man was John Smith. He had fallen asleep, and the condition of his clothes indica
ted he had been there for a long time. Blin quietly touched the instrument screen and pulled up the patient's medical record. George Washington's condition was serious but stable. He had had an undetected brain aneurysm which resulted in a subarachnoid hemorrhage caused by the physical stresses of the second FTL journey. While being treated, doctors on the Eowaar detected two other aneurysms in his brain and were able to repair the weak blood vessels, eliminating any future chance of a recurrence. Some brain damage had occurred. He would have to undergo a long period of rehabilitation with speech and physical therapy, but his prognosis was good. Luckily his vision had not been affected, but it still meant the end of his flying career.

  4

  39 HSB

  The moon base was as busy as an ant colony, as transports from the Eowaar set up a continuous schedule from Earth to the base. Where the Orysta had had two shuttles to transport people and supplies, the Eowaar had hundreds. Even with that many vessels traveling between the two locations, the Eowaar's transports remained undetected. What had taken months and years to bring to the base before, was now taking hours. 361 logistics personnel were living a nightmare, but none failed to come through with the supplies needed. The operation was on a war recovery footing, and Farber-Chatwell and Ramsdel made sure that those who needed to know that were aware of it.

  Kalinor Planna used the situation as a real life training exercise. He had his engineers working with 361 engineers. His transport pilots were put under the control of Flight Commander Balfour, whose own small team were getting a crash course in working under pressure. Spare medical equipment was sent to the base where a field hospital was setup for the inevitable injuries that would occur during reconstruction of the surface structure. Language databases were updated on the Eowaar with the copy of the Orysta's data that was kept on base servers. This made the battle carrier's translators more accurate and nuanced, and reduced misunderstandings.

  5

  70 HSB

  The conference room on the Eowaar was huge – and completely practical. Except for the chairs there was no other thought given to the comfort of the occupants. The chairs, table, and other fixtures were secured to the floor, but had enough built-in adjustments to make them suitable for anyone's use – this was a battle carrier after all. Comfort was a secondary consideration in its design.

  In the short time period between his arrival to now, Kalinor Planna had learned a lot about the people and the organization from the planet Earth that had established a colony on the only orbiting moon. Under IGT law this organization and its people were the legal authority on this moon. That alone made the interaction between them and the crew of the Orysta a legal and proper first contact situation. Even more important to Planna was the way they had accepted and nurtured the stranded travelers. Mersuul's connection to, and affection for these people told him the most important thing he needed to know – that they could be trusted. The Eowaar was the only instrument of representation of the IGT in this galaxy, and as such made Planna the authorized representative. It was a role he had played before.

  At the request of his hosts, the Eowaar was kept camouflaged and on the side of the moon opposite to the planet's. Planna wasn't sure how helpful this would be as the satellites orbiting the moon must have detected the battle and transmitted the anomalous data back to the planet – but that was not his concern. Earth's business was the business of Earth's people. It was up to the 361 organization to deal with this.

  Representing the moon base were General Robert Farber-Chatwell, Ransen Ramsdel, Moon Base Commander Anthony Travellor, Doctor Eckelberry Cove, and Flight Commander Brighde Balfour. From the Orysta crew were Tahn-grilik Intul-sil-Califas, Chief Engineer Benua-sil-Plessa, and Doctor Toisae-sil-Blin. Missing from that group was Grilik Artau-sil-Munen. Also present by Planna's own request was his niece Mersuul and moon base specialist Delores del Rio, the latter there to satisfy his curiosity about the person who had suffered some similar injuries to Dhona. She had agreed to let the Eowaar's medical staff scan and analyze her in the hope that something helpful to Dhona's recovery might be learned.

  “I understand, Commander Travellor, that Trailblazer Moon Base has been renamed the Giell-sil-Dhona Moon Base. As Dhona's commanding officer I thank you. Giell would appreciate the gesture.”

  “He will appreciate it, Kalinor, when he comes out of the coma. Then we will thank him properly. When the story of what he did got around to my people, it was as one mind to rename the base in his honor. We will tell him so when he awakes.”

  “Yes,” replied Planna with a contemplative expression and his eyes down, “when he awakes.” He choked slightly, then continued. “We have a lot to discuss. Presently our peoples are operating well together, to the benefit of both the moon base and the Eowaar. My crews come back to the ship complaining that there is too much to do, then go to bed with satisfaction on their faces. I see them smiling when they go back to work on their next shift. The Eowaar doesn't face many situations that challenge her crew. Some times it can be boring and routine on board a battle carrier. Not many would dare challenge us. The sections that are working with your people end their shift with a feeling of accomplishment each diest. I have a list of requests from other sections asking that they be included in the ...”

  “Kalinor Planna, this is Kolaaho in Signals.” came the interrupting voice over the comm system. “We have her sir, we have the Orysta!”

  “WHERE?” yelled Mersuul, jumping up. “IS EVERYONE ALIVE?”

  “Where did they find her?” asked Planna.

  “Well that's the strange part sir. The Orysta is on the moon. We are getting an extremely weak comm signal from her. Grilik Munen is transmitting that all on board are alive, but injured.”

  Confusion lasted only for only few seconds before Plessa realized what had happened.

  “THEY SANK HER!” he yelled. “They sank her. She's underground!” It only took a fraction of a second for the others from the base to understand.

  6

  76 HSB

  The self-guided boring cables going down into the ground had finally attached to the Orysta. On the other end they were attached to two tugs from the Eowaar. Just one tug vessel would have had the power to do the job, but two would make it easy and much faster than the first time the Orysta had risen.

  “You are able to turn the soil into a fluid?”

  “Yes Kalinor.” said Plessa. “The concept of Orysta's newest crew member, Assistant Engineer Erika Aimsler. She is the niece of Base Commander Travellor.”

  “She is a member of Orysta's crew?”

  “By authority of Grilik Munen. It is all properly recorded in the ship's logs.”

  “Where is the Assistant Engineer?”

  “She is on her way back here. She had talked her way onto one of your SAR vessels. Told them her familiarity with the Orysta could be useful when she was found.”

  Planna laughed at this.

  “I want to meet Engineer Aimsler. I believe this fluidization process could be useful in many ways.”

  “I have no doubt she would want to meet Mersuul's uncle. The two have become very close friends.”

  The cables went taught as everyone in the area watched. Anyone who could get a hold of a space suit was outside watching. Camera feeds gave the people in the underground structure a view of what was happening. The ground changed from the static dry soil they had been watching to undulating, marsh looking land. The tugs began to rise higher, but there was nothing to see except the cables feeding out from the ground. Planna expected to see the soil become wet but it never did. A couple of mirlots later the ground bulged upward, followed by the Orysta penetrating the surface.

  7

  The Orysta had always been considered a large ship by moon base personnel, especially considering the internal capacity and industrial capabilities it contained. Compared to the Eowaar it looked more like a dinghy. It had taken over twenty minutes to cut a hole through its side, and Grilik Munen and the crew members who had helped
him man the ship's guns hobbled out to hugs and shouts from the rest of the crew. Shortly after that they had the chance to look around at the destruction in the crater. Then they turned and looked at their ship.

  Orysta sat on the ground, tilted to one side. Its port side landing gear had snapped. That was minor damage compared to the ship's hull, which looked like a Tonka toy that had a steel canon ball dropped on it. Even though the ship had been below the surface, the fraction of the tremendous force of the explosion that reached the Orysta through the soil had been powerful enough to cave in the center of the ship.

  All four men had been rendered unconscious for hours by the shock of the blast. The only reason they were alive was their having worn space suits as a standard safety procedure when under attack. The internal pressurization and atmosphere of the ship had been lost through the many breaches in the dual hull.

  The four were put on levitation boards and taken to the field hospital underground. Broken bones and torn ligaments were mended, and braces applied where needed. Medical scans showed no serious internal organ damage. Each was given a pain control wrist band and a monitor pill. The wrist band intentionally reduced the pain until it was tolerable but did not eliminate it completely. Ganaphe' medical science believed that conscious awareness of pain helped the body heal faster. The pill could not be digested. It was designed to travel through the gastrointestinal tract for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours or so, while continually monitoring and transmitting physiological data to a medical analyzer in the hospital, which provided real-time analysis of the patient's condition.