The Noah Satellite

by Allan E Petersen

  “Is there not a way we can be rescued?”

  Sullen eyes squashed that hopeful question.

  Santo, still looking out the window saw a blue planet getting smaller and smaller. They were drifting farther from Earth. He turned to Maria and asked,

  “Do we still have communication?”

  Thank goodness she nodded and he said,

  “Contact Dr. Marls and ask what he can do.”

  Thinking that it was a good idea, she snapped back to the computer and coded in the Swiss laboratory. It was not a happy response.

  “You keep bothering me Professor. What is it now?”

  Fighting the urge to respond in very colorful and highly inappropriate language, Maria gained control and calmly said,

  “Yes Doctor. I understand that we are bothering you but I have a major problem that needs your expertize.”

  “Well then hurry along, I’m a busy man.”

  She explained the problem and asked what he could do for them but his initial response was not helpful at all.

  “I warned you about that craft. We do not understand those computers well enough but you insisted.”

  Santo cut in with a loud and abrupt demand,

  “We don’t have time for that. Just analyze what you have and tell us what went wrong.”

  When he was slow to respond to the command, everybody on the ship knew that bad news was impending. They were right. The Doctor said,

  “According to what I have, there is nothing wrong with the programs. You have somehow activated an auto pilot and are on course for the moon. There is nothing I can do about that from here.”

  Pia said.

  “There isn’t enough oxygen for a trip like that. We can’t survive that long.”

  Suddenly Santo remembered something Dr. Marls said to him when he had lost computer control over an island in the Atlantic. He pointed to Maria and said,

  “How about if we try a reboot from here? Can you turn off the whole system and then back on again?”

  After a long thought she said,

  “I don’t know. Besides, that’s a risky thing to do. The computers might not come back on at all.”

  Santo was not concerned, saying,

  “It doesn’t matter. What harm can it do? We will die regardless.”

  Doctor Merles heard the conversation and said,

  “I don’t think I would do something like that. There is no shutdown and reboot system in those programs. There is nothing wrong with the computers and therefore nothing to repair.”

  Maria asked,

  “Would it be possible for you to piggyback a corrected program on this communication signal?”

  “No. There are two things wrong with that. First of all, you would have to send me your programs and the alien universal computers are not compatible with our simpler system. Second, even if I had those programs you are too far away for something like that. You are not on Earth anymore. The complicated signals would fragment to nothing before even reaching outer space. For that to happen, you will have to come closer.”

  Therein was the problem. In order to retrieve the reboot they would have to come back, but to do that they needed the reboot program. They were drifting deeper and deeper into the voids. With a defeated expression, Maria looked out into the voids of space and instead of seeing the magic of the universe she saw only a cold dark coffin. There was no help coming and dying in space was now a bitter reality.

  Chapter 24

  Jessika and Kirk were back in their House of the Nazarene cottage with their newborn baby. Jessika, having spent all her energy on childbirth was sound asleep in the bedroom when Kirk rushed in and jolted her out of a restful sleep. She was about to snap at him demanding to know why she couldn’t rest, when though sleepy eyes she saw his great panic and concern. Thinking the worst for their newborn she frightfully asked,

  “What’s the matter? Is something wrong with the baby?”

  Shaking his head, he explained,

  “No, Katerina has everything under control. There is a major problem that demands your expertize.”

  After Kirk had blurted out everything about Maria and her crew being stuck in outer space and drifting deeper, she threw the covers aside and practically jumped into some clothes. Outside, as she ran to the computer cottage he had trouble keeping up to her. Once past the entry codes and into her office, blurred fingers sped across the keys and finally there was a communication connection to the wayward space craft. Maria repeated the problem of how Doctor Merles did not have a boot- up program and even if he did, they were too far out to transmit it. Although Jessika had such a program, she knew that her computer was operating with the Great Gray quantum harmonic vibrations and was not compatible of transmitting through the voids to human super computers. If she sent it, it would fragment before reaching them.

  She turned to the concerned Kirk, held up a small crystal the size of a zip drive and said,

  “They need this program but there is no way of getting it to them. It will only transmit a very short distance and I mean by only a few feet before disintegrating. They need to come closer but can’t.”

  Suddenly an idea hit him. He grabbed the crystal and ran out the door. Very quickly she knew what he was going to do and ran out after him. She shouted,

  “No Kirk. It’s too risky. They cannot function in deep space.”

  In the Nazarene hangar, Waldorf was preparing to fly to France and set up another laboratory in Grenoble to experiment with and understand the ‘multi-verse’ theory. He was just about to board when he saw Kirk coming through the door and frantically running toward him. What compounded his interest was seeing Jessika running right behind him and yelling something.

  Out of breath, Kirk came to a grinding halt in front of Waldorf and struggled to repeat the dire situation out in space. He then pointed and said,

  “I need to get this program to them right away and your D-wing is the only one available right now.”

  Waldorf understood that the life or death situation easily cancelled out his important meeting in Grenoble but he still had questions.

  “How far out are they?”

  “I don’t know but it’s getting farther and farther away by the second.”

  Jessika demanded,

  “Don’t let him go. It’s too dangerous. The D-wings have never been in deep space and with the lesser gravity we don’t even know if they can function that far out.”

  Waldorf knew she was right. The hastily thought out rescue mission could easily fail. However, there was still the fact that despite the leader of the House of the Nazarene being on that ship, so were other lives. He looked to the concerned Jessika and knew what he had to do. He took the crystal from Kirk and said,

  “You get back to your young family. I’m the man for this job.”

  Kirk protested,

  “No way, I’m the one that should be going.”

  As Jessika pulled him by the arm Waldorf said,

  “I out rank you and that’s an order.”

  With a new plan and direction, Waldorf flew out of the hangar and called Doctor Marls in the Swiss Lab. Coming back to him in the usual gruff manner, the Doctor protested,

  “What is it now? I’m a ----.”

  But before he could finish the caustic sentence, Waldorf quickly cut him off.

  “I swear Doctor if you tell me you are a busy man I’ll come over there and punch you right in the face. This is important. I don’t have time for games.”

  Surprisingly and almost instantly, Doctor Marls responded in a soft and creepy tone.

  “What can I do for you sir?”

  He explained the plan of racing into outer space to catch up to the wayward Maria.

  “What I need to know Doctor, is can my D-wing function properly away from Earth’s gravity?”

  Although suddenly grovelling to superiority, there was still a tone of mockery in his reply. It was as if he couldn’t abide stupidity.

  “Yes, of course it c
an. Gravity is a constant force throughout the whole universe. However, that far away from Earth, you can expect slow and weaker responses to your controls.”

  “But I can still reach them and get back right?”

  After an exasperated gasp, he said,

  “I just finished saying that you will still have control. However, I cannot vouch for the craft responding to a safe return. It might just be a one way trip.”

  While zooming through the upper limit of the planet’s atmosphere, Waldorf coded for a conversation with Presha Bhat in India. When she came back, he asked,

  “Do you have knowledge of the situation?”

  Knowing that Maria was on a course of no return, there was trepidation in her voice.

  “Yes, their computers have been overridden by one more powerful.”

  “Are you still able to track them?”

  “Yes, I have their location.”

  “Good. Program my navigation computer to intersect with them.”

  Seconds later she came back,

  “Done. I shall keep our lines open.”

  Now feeling secure in being able to reach Maria, Waldorf had one other concern.

  “Jessika, are you back in the computer room yet?”

  “Yes, I just sat down. I heard your conversations with Switzerland and India.”

  “Good. What are my concerns now?”

  As if she had already calculated the impossibility of the rescue mission, her reply was quick.

  “There are many. The biggest problem would be proximity. With weaker gravity shields you will have to navigate dangerously within inches of their ship in order to successfully stream the data to their computer. Also, they have now lost all communication capability. I can’t reach them to explain that you are coming and what they need to do to download the program. You will have to somehow link with them. In order for them to receive what you will be transmitting, they will have to restart computers that they have probably already turned off.”

  Never one to project a mood of utter defeat to others, it was impossible to keep one from himself. His deep sigh was the result of two sentiments. He feared that he was only following them to their death in the cold voids of space and the near impossibility of getting close enough without crashing into them with weaker and sluggish controls. However, this was his job and retired or not, he had sworn to protect the House of the Nazarene as well as the leader. It was a proud oath and he was determined to stand by it. This was just another time when he was doing what he had to do. He reported back,

  “Okay, no problem. I’ll keep my line open and you in touch.”

  As he zoomed past the thermosphere and entered the exosphere, the cold and darkness of outer space, the impossible odds of a rescue never stood a chance against his dogged determination to reach them. While letting Presha Bhat’s intercept program take control of his navigation computer he knew there was one fatal flaw in his hopes of ever returning to Earth. The sealed cockpit of a D-wing derives oxygen for its passengers by pulling in air from a membrane under its belly. Oxygen does not exist in outer space. In his mind and clear as a bell, he saw a giggling Helga running through a meadow chasing a laughing Robert. He dearly hoped that would not be his last clear image of those he loved.

  Chapter 25

  Back in the secret chamber under the castle, a mist was forming through the solid stone wall. When it had formed into a thick cloud, two figures awkwardly fell onto a stone floor. Just as they realized where they were, safely back on Earth, they heard a strange sound. The bottle of water that Robert had accidently knocked off the altar when jumping into the cloud to save Belle was only now crashing onto the floor. Although it was a very significant event, neither realized its complicated meaning. While looking around and revelling in the sensation of returning to Earth, they both slowly and with great relief accepted the miracle as true. It was only then Belle realized that something was making her uncomfortable. She was still holding on to Robert’s hand. Not wanting this to be a sentimental moment or a need for the security of hand holding, she snapped her hand away. Robert didn’t even notice the quick disconnect.

  While looking at the door leading out of the chamber, and they were about to take steps toward it, from behind both heard a maniacal chomping sound. Belle snapped around and saw that the strange bird was still clinging to her pant leg. It had been dragged into the dimensional portal with them. This time there was no mean and crazed look about it but rather one of confusion. It was scared and wondered where it was.

  Suddenly it opened its mouth wide and the chamber filled with a terrible high pitched scream that hurt their ears. Robert ran to the three steps leading up to the door with Belle right behind him. The bird started madly running around screaming and blindly bumping into the altar, chairs and walls. In a flash, the door was opened and both escaped leaving the bird to its own fate. After slamming it shut and still hearing the screams of a scared strange animal in a frightening new world, Belle said,

  “Let’s hope it can somehow enter the mist and find its way back to the others.”

  With flashlights in hand and the beams this time obeying the proper behaviour of the land, something that greatly pleased Belle, they once again navigated the maze of tunnels. Just over an hour later, both knew something was wrong and Robert was the first to voice it.

  “We seem to be lost. Coming here, the whole direction was on a gentle downward sloop and it didn’t take an hour to reach the door. We should have been traveling upward and back by now but we are not.”

  Belle understood the danger. They were walking in the wrong direction and deeper under the castle. Recognizing the error, there was only one way to correct it, turn around and go back. After another hour of following a tunnel that they hoped would conclude in their escape, Belle saw another problem. Their flashlights were dimming. She said to Robert,

  “Turn yours off and we will only use mine until it shuts down.”

  When he did, suddenly the tunnel got a little bit darker and ominous.

  A little while later, Belle understood why they had been off course. She remembered that the tunnel they started in only led to a dead end, the door to the chamber. Somehow, while walking back to the library they had obviously inadvertently entered an adjoining tunnel leading them in the wrong direction. She turned to Robert and said,

  “Look for a merging tunnel on our right side.”

  Although not understanding why, he obeyed. Only a few minutes later, he pointed and said,

  “Do you mean something like that?”

  She pointed her fading light onto the ground and saw footsteps in the dust leading off to their left. Knowing that it was theirs, it was now a simple matter to follow those footsteps. An hour later, though they had been lost in a complicated maze, luck and some good reasoning eventually returned them to the bottom of the stairs leading up to the library. With rejuvenated energy, fast legs ran up the stairs and into the light.

  Filled with the pleasure of not having to spend the rest of their lives in a strange and destroyed world, many obvious things escaped them. The first one was why the floor was open for two days and why nobody come looking for them? With that important question put aside for now, thinking that they might still get away with what they were not supposed to have done, Belle sprang into a cover-up mode.

  “Come on, we have to get the floor closed and that page back into the book before somebody discovers what we have done.”

  When the page was lifted off its spot, as Belle hoped, the floor slowly closed. While watching it seal back into position Robert asked,

  “How come mom and dad didn’t come looking for us? They knew we were here.”

  Having placed the page back in the book and walking back to the shelf with it, Belle said,

  “I don’t know but it is strange.”

  With the book back in the proper spot, she turned to Robert and said,

  “Something is wrong for sure but from now on we are going to act as if nothing happened. We will
stay here and leave at the proper time. What time is it now?”

  Looking at his watch, he paused as if not understanding how to tell time. She eventually snapped,

  “It’s not that hard of a question.”

  With a look of confusion he responded,

  “It’s two days from now and eleven o’clock at night.”

  Knowing that couldn’t be right, at least hoping that it wasn’t she walked over to the table and looked at the watch she had left beside the book. She said,

  “Something must have happened to yours. It’s 2:15. We are going to sit here till three and leave at the proper time.”

  As Robert sat filled with confusion, he again looked at his watch. It was a gift from mom and dad and as dad had proudly said, “It’s a cesium atomic clock. It’s accurate to one second every million years. Now you will never be late again.”

  He was willing to bet that it told better time than hers.

  At exactly three o’clock she closed her book and said,