AUGUST 2091
The second Pluto mission has successfully launched this morning at 6:23 a.m. local time at Kennedy Space Port. The Orcus 2 is a joint mission between NASA and CSE with a mandate to further investigate the artifact known as Dis Pater, and study its relationship to the Kinemetic influence known as the Manez Effect. With pressure from the European Space Agency as well as the Japanese and South American Organizations, NASA has begun to organize a third Pluto mission, Orcus 3, and has invited representatives from every nation to accompany the flight to our farthest planet. Captain Justine Churchill Turner, Captain of both the Orcus 1 and Orcus 2, is scheduled to helm the third mission as well.
NOVEMBER 2091
A NASA spokeperson has announced in a press release today that surveyors have discovered a small cache of the element Kinemet on the small asteroid, Nimow. According to preliminary tests, Dr. Caven Oahe estimates that the 102kg find contains enough potential energy to send a ship to Centauri and back. Although the Jet Propulsion Lab, in conjunction with Quantum Resources of Canada Corp., has not yet released a timetable, sources indicate that designs for such an interstellar craft are in the works. Physicists and Engineers at the University of South Carolina estimate the first light speed ship could be ready within four years.
MARCH 2092
In today’s technological society, organized religion has long been relegated to history books and small gatherings in basements. But in Central America, there is a growing religious movement that some say is a doomsday cult. The Mayan Spiritualists, who have been gaining in number over the past year and a half, foresee the end of the world’s civilizations as they stand. When asked, a high-standing member of the organization indicated that, as the Mayan Culture was once the most advanced society in the world, it will again inherit mastery of the Earth.
MARCH 2092
Scientists from the Orcus 2 have not been able to discover the origin or intent of the Plutonian artifact, Dis Pater. After weeks of investigation, members of the Orcus 2 mission are no closer to solving the puzzle of the huge monolith on the Dark Planet. A NASA spokeswoman says this is not unexpected. The last time the artifact showed any kind of activity was during the first Orcus mission, when it responded to the triggering of the element, Kinemet. The Orcus 2 mission is not mandated to conduct any Kinematic experiments; instead, that will be reserved for the Orcus 3 mission, an undertaking which will be shared by all active space agencies of the Earth. The Orcus 2 will takeoff from Pluto tomorrow morning, and is scheduled to arrive on Luna in an estimated six months.
AUGUST 2092
Quantum Resources Inc. of Toronto, Canada Corp. has released the latest results of its joint research project with the JPL of NASA. The mystery of Kinemet, once referred to as Element X, has been solved. With recent discoveries of Kinemet deposits on more than twenty asteroids in the past year, research has been shifted into high gear, and has yielded fantastic results, says a Quantum Resources spokesman. “It is only a matter of time before we can outfit an interstellar ship with a Kinemet-powered engine.” The complete report on Kinemet can be found on the Quantum Resources Meshsite, mirrored at NASA.
NOVEMBER 2092
The Orcus 2 has returned to Earth, and its seven-member crew is in debriefing in Houston. NASA and CSE declare the mission a success, even though very little new information has been accumulated on the artifact, Dis Pater. A complete sensor array was left behind on Pluto to document any future reaction from the artifact.
JANUARY 2093
NASA and CSE have announced the upcoming schedule for the test launch of the first interstellar spacecraft. The Quanta, as the ship has been dubbed, is a one-man ship designed without a payload. Its primary mission will be to achieve the first recorded light speed flight. The ship will travel from Luna Station to Pluto, where it will rendezvous with the Orcus 3 mission for the jet-propelled return trip. A date for the launch has not been announced, but analysts from the Canadian Astronomy Association say the next window for a flight to Pluto will be October 2094, landing on the farthest planet seven months later, approximately May 2095. The most probable date for the light speed test flight will be then.
OCTOBER 2094
Major Justine Churchill Turner is on her way to Pluto for the third time. The Orcus 3 successfully blasted off Luna Station early this afternoon. Three and a half years ago, Major Turner played a key part in the capture of international criminal Chow Yin on Luna Station; she is something of a celebrity there, with a planetarium named after her.
Of historical note, Major Turner is a descendant of Percival Lowell, the astronomer who first theorized the existence and possible location of Pluto.
MARCH 2095
NASA has announced the name of the pilot who will take the helm of the first light speed flight. Captain Mitchel Kincardine of Canadian Space Exploration has been selected from nearly three hundred qualified applicants to undertake this historic mission. Capt. Kincardine, father of two, has long been a pilot for CSE.
APRIL 2095
The Quanta, NASA/CSE’s interstellar spacecraft, which is scheduled to make the first light speed flight next month, is en route to Luna Station where it will be outfitted with a Kinemet engine and tested in zero gravity a few thousand kilometers above the Moon’s surface. Captain Kincardine is accompanying the ship, and has been quoted as saying that he is looking forward to seeing his name written alongside those of Christopher Columbus, Yuri Gagarin, and Neil Armstrong.
44
Luna Station :
Luna :
The unrelenting chorus repeated itself in his mind, and had done so for four long years.
The sounds of the planets were slowly driving him insane with their message of urgency.
Come to us, Alex. Come to us.
He was working towards that as fast as he could, but he had to wait for others.
Wait.
Always wait.
Watching every move, reading every word published, communicating with others who could provide him with any scraps that would help him complete his task.
They had announced a date, and he had to shift his preparations into high gear.
The Music of the Spheres told him so.
Come to us, Alex. Come.
45
The Quanta :
Luna Station :
Luna :
May 2095
Alex Manez took a deep, agonizing breath and ran his fingers through the thin wisps of his hair, once long and luxurious.
The fourteen-year old then strapped himself into the leather-back pilot seat of the spacecraft and began systematically flipping switches, turning dials, and pressing specific buttons on the panoramic console surrounding him in the cockpit. Every so often, he took readings from the diagnostics readouts and consulted the computer monitor, rechecking this figure or that.
He had to be sure that everything was running smoothly at this stage of the game. A project of this magnitude would ordinarily require the input and coordination of hundreds of personnel, and Alex was completely on his own. Alex was also undertaking this task of his without the permission of those hundreds.
Alex was stealing the light speed ship they had dubbed, the Quanta.
The highly experimental vessel was owned by the United Earth Corporate. Each member country had invested heavily in the project with the hopes of reaching the outer planets of Sol System in a matter of hours, rather than the months that it took at present.
Because of the unusual mission assigned to the Quanta, the only means of piloting and navigating the craft was via the onboard computer—the mission control’s part was only an observe-and-assist position.
Because Alex could manipulate electrical machines, it was child’s play to create enough distractions in the lunar hangar for him to pass unnoticed.
Once Alex had snuck onto the ship where it had been temporarily docked in Luna Station’s port—all the while ensuring no one else was yet on board—it had taken him only a few minutes to orient him
self and take command of the vessel.
The first thing he did was to disconnect all online communications with the mission control centers on the Station and on Earth. The only link he kept alive was to the docking computer, which, in turn, he had already fixed with a virus that would recognize launch requests from him, but disregard any commands from other sources.
Then he secured the hull, locked the ship electronically, and, finally, after obtaining the proper launch permission from the station’s docking computer, he fired the ship’s main engines. He had to do this before setting the trajectory and acceleration controls—the ignited jet fuel of the mundane engines would keep the security force that had just arrived at the port well away from the Quanta while Alex went through the rest of the preliminary launch procedures. Oxygen control, cabin pressure, launch stats—all checked. He reset diagnostics one more time, and aligned the launch trajectory to put him in a gosling orbit following Mother Moon once he lifted off. He could not rely on the mission control computer. Access to that resource was denied him.
As Alex programmed the ship, and prepared for takeoff, he smiled. It was the first time he had smiled in years, ever since returning to translunar space from Pluto.
Getting aboard the Quanta and pirating it had been easy; it would have put the Nova Pirates to shame. Nobody paid attention to a fourteen-year old wandering about.
He was certain no one would recognize him.
Four years ago, once the search for him had been exhausted, the world had turned their attention to developing Kinemet and their precious Quanta spacecraft. He had been left by the wayside to sink or swim on his own.
It was a simple bargain he had made with Captain Gruber and Klaus. They sheltered him in their station for the duration, and he loaned them his services. Alex did not participate in their illegal activities, but he was the perfect early warning system for when security patrols gave surprise inspections. And with his ability to scan more than a hundred kilometers away, he often accompanied them on salvage hunts and could detect wrecked vessels to which Captain Gruber could lay claim. It was a profitable arrangement for both parties.
It was only after a few months of his stay that Alex had started to develop the debilitating sickness in his bone marrow. Lunar gravity had helped prolong complete dysfunction, so long as he avoided any area powered by gravitons, but it was only a matter of time before a single step would shatter his bones.
Like Chow Yin.
It was the exposure to Kinemet that had done this to him. He knew it as well as he knew that to drink a liter of strychnine was to ensure you did not see tomorrow.
He also knew that, in order to save his own life, he needed once again to come in contact with Kinemet. Over the past years, his powers had faded somewhat, but even being within a hundred meters of the fantastic super-metal now onboard the Quanta, he was already feeling rejuvenated.
The launch countdown began, the numbers displaying on his DMR Casement.
10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 … Launch.
Alex tried to imagine the looks on the faces of those few hundred people at Mission Control, as well as those observing from the station lounges as they watched the eighteen-billion-dollar Quanta being hijacked on its maiden voyage. Alex wasn’t mischievous by nature, but just to see the surprise on their faces…
The Quanta, all thirty meters and 29.82 metric tons of it shuddered as the mundane jet-powered rockets started pushing the vehicle up and out of the launch port, giving off enough thrust to accelerate the ship above the 2.4 kps required to escape the Moon’s gravitational influence.
The ship picked up speed at an alarming rate.
Below, he knew, people would be scurrying about in a panic. They would try to figure out how he had overridden their security redundancies and cracked the internal security codes.
Alex had managed to interface with both the Quanta’s computer and the Luna Station port computer without alerting the electronic alarm reticulums from Mission Control, or from Luna Station itself.
Most of all, they would try to figure out how he had gotten onboard the craft, waiting until the ship had been vacated for a mere five minutes while the ground crew offloaded, and the pilot had been preparing to come onboard.
Yes, the electropathic power had faded, but it was still there, to use as he wished. And little Alex had used that power.
The Quanta required 737,765 kilopascals of thrust just to escape the Moon’s gravity. Ordinarily, a ship of comparable size would need less than half that output. The extra thrust was needed because of the Kinemet store in the Kinemetic engine attachment, which increased the ship’s overall mass by nearly 175%.
All of the requisite information of the mission and operation of the Quanta was ingrained in Alex’s photographic mind—another side-effect from his exposure to the Kinemet on Macklin’s Rock; the exposure that had cost his parents their lives.
It was almost second nature, even though he had physically never performed the operations himself, to guide the ship out beyond the gravity well of the Moon. He drifted out and away, and slowly decreased the engine thrust until he fell behind the Moon’s trajectory around the Earth. Once he had attained an orbit around the Earth mimicking Luna’s, he increased thrust to match the Moon’s 3,700 kilometers-per-hour velocity.
When the onboard computer confirmed a stable orbit, Alex cut the engines, took a deep breath and reveled in his accomplishment.
Even if it ended here, he would be satisfied. How many fourteen-year-olds had successfully flown a spacecraft by themselves, and achieved a stable orbit around the Earth?
But there was so much more to do.
Alex leaned back into his seat and wiped his forehead with his sleeve. Already the null-gravity was taking much of the pressure off his laboring lungs, and his bones seemed to be getting stronger every minute. He was in his environment; he could never leave the Kinemet for any extended amount of time; that was a fact of his life, now.
Glancing at the digital clock on the console, he noted that the entire procedure had taken less than six hours. To Alex, every second he was free of the Earth and the Moon was an eternity to be cherished forever. The familiar comfort of the Kinemetic influence so close to him was enough to make him cry with joy. He could already feel his bones knitting, his health restored to him. If he wanted to make it all count for something, he couldn’t quit now.
Running his fingers expertly over the keyboard, he brought up the current flight stats and requested a quick diagnostic scan of internal systems. Everything was up and functional.
For the next part of Alex’s plan, however, he had to contact Mission Control on Luna Station. Even though he had cracked into their computer and downloaded every byte of information stored within, the fact that so many countries had worked together on this project—countries that were by nature untrusting—had precluded the omission of many of the more sensitive mission objectives and data.
He needed those to continue with the mission; more specifically, the cooperation of the Director of NASA, William Tuttle, who had temporarily traveled to Earth’s Moon for the occasion, along with many other top-shelf space executives from differing agencies. Michael Sanderson, Lassen Kruger, Vic Tong, Tung Jo, Henry Franks, to name a few.
It would be nearly impossible to persuade them, but there was no other option. Alex had to convince them of that.
Alex reached over to the console and flipped the AV switch. Indicator lights came to life, and abruptly, two-way communication was established with the Mission Control center on Luna Station.
His DMR casement revealed a frantic Ops room. Dozens of administrative clerks, techies, computer operators and even a few Canadian, American, and Japanese soldiers were rushing around in a heated frenzy of activity.
It took a few moments for one of the technicians to notice that his monitor was active and showing the smiling face of a fourteen-year-old boy seated in the command chair of the Quanta.
The man hastily thr
ust his ear-mask on and started flipping switches and pressing buttons. He leaned in to his microphone.
“This is Luna Station Mission Control for Operation Quanta chartered under the authority of the United Earth Corporate Council. I hereby order you to cease and desist all activity and prepare to be boarded by a tug which we will shortly be sending to rendezvous at your position. Young man, you are in deep shit!” His face was bunched up with rage.
Alex cocked his head, deciding not to take offense at the man’s inflammatory remark. “Please get someone with authority on the line,” he requested politely. “Preferably Director—”
A new face popped into view. Michael Sanderson, the Director of Quantum Resources, was aging by the minute. His shirt was bereft of a tie, and the top two buttons were undone. Sweat glistened off his forehead, and the look on his face was a mix of desperation and outrage. He was getting up there in years. The trip to the Moon had cost him.
∞
Michael recognized Alex as the hijacker, rather than some industrial spy or foreign agent they had obviously all suspected. Since Alex’s kidnapping four years before by Chow Yin, when the Chinese felon had pirated the Orcus 1, relations between the People’s Republic of China and the rest of the world had been more than strained.
Michael quickly recovered from his surprise, and donned an ear-mask as he struggled to find his voice. “Alex Manez. You remember me?”
Forbidden The Stars (The Interstellar Age Book 1) Page 21
