The Alpha Premonition: Book 1: A Gathering Storm

by Steve Catalano

  AG was working hard, analyzing the Martian soil and rock samples, including the Martian “blueberries” or soil/rock with a bluish tint. These blueberries were originally discovered by the rover Opportunity, and point to the possibility that water may have existed on the Martian surface at one time.

  “Whatcha think, AG?”

  I think I could spend the next decade in a lab working these samples!”

  “I’m not much of a geology guy, but I think when you run these samples, they will confirm that there was once water here, and still may be under the surface. But on a different note, I have an idea.”

  “Fire away. I’m all ears, Paul.”

  “I will, but we should probably let Houston know we are back onboard the Alpha.”

  “Houston, AG and I are back on board the Alpha, with about ten pounds of Martian soil and rocks.”

  Eight minutes later, the Alpha received the message, “Roger that Alpha. Great pictures and video feed. Congratulations again, this time for a successful EVA.”

  “AG, I was thinking. I did some calculations and simulations, and I think we can send a high-speed pulse using the quantum drive.”

  “How high-speed?”

  “AG, if my math and AIMI are correct, several times the speed of light - just a few seconds of lag instead of minutes. Of course, we will still have to wait the same time on incoming transmissions.”

  “Sounds great to me. Let’s give it a try.”

  Paul powered up the Quantum drive, made a few computer program changes, and typed out a message explaining the communications experiment he was attempting.

  “Here goes a data link message, with a time stamp at the end.” Paul had his finger on the data link transmit button, which he had outfitted on the Alpha for telemetry and communications back up. “AIMI, on my mark, synchronize the data link message with a quantum drive pulse. Three, two, one, mark and transmit.”

  Less than three seconds later, the message displayed on the NASA monitor. Everyone’s eyes went to the screen.

  “Holy cow, look at that time stamp. It’s only three seconds old. That’s impossible!” The NASA technician looked stunned.

  Steve typed away on the AIMI console. He then picked up the MIC, “Alpha, your transmission was received with a downlink time of 2.4 seconds. Unfortunately, we do not have a quantum drive to piggyback communications on, so you will most likely be hearing this message in four minutes.”

  Everyone looked at Steve Christian intently. “Ladies and gentlemen, if my math is correct, Alpha just sent us a message at one hundred times the speed of light - another Alpha first!”

  The NASA administrator smiled, “Son, like your Father, you appear to be a master of understatement. We had theorized that some particles could travel faster than the speed of light. In fact, a Nobel prize-winning theoretical physicist from South America wrote a book about faster-than-light travel. Your father is the first man to turn that theory into reality. It does shake up Einstein’s theories a bit as well.”

  “2.4 seconds, I was .559 seconds off.” Paul looked at AG in an almost questioning way.

  “So much for the speed of light being the universal speed limit, Paul! This does change many theories and offer some truly amazing possibilities.”

  “That it does, AG.”

  “So, Paul, I know we have discussed this before - the storm, your building AIMI and the Alpha - but this technology, and your knowledge of theoretical physics, and astrophysics, there has to be something deeper at work here.”

  “AG, I know there is a higher force at work here; there has to be. When I launched this ship yesterday, I knew I would be doing more than a test flight out and back. I did play it very close to the vest, but things just seemed to happen as they were supposed to. My plan was to do everything that had transpired, just with a longer timeline. It’s hard to believe that just yesterday I left Oregon, and just this morning we left Earth’s orbit, and in the last few hours we had come to Mars and walked on its surface. I’m a bit hungry, and could use some food and some rest as well.”

  “Yeah, me too,” added AG.

  “Houston, we are going to have some chow and rest for a bit. We are planning to depart at 1600 GMT.”

  Paul took some fruit and vegetables out of the cold storage compartment, with some bread and cheese, and even some champagne to commemorate the occasion. After some pleasant conversation, and a recap of the day’s events, Armstrong Gagarin and Paul Christian drifted off to sleep in their reclined Alpha seats.

  In Houston, Steve Christian, Burt Roberts, Jon Lohman, as well as Paul’s mother Louise and his brother Tony, had retired to their accommodations as well. Paul’s daughter Michelle had also arrived from college and was resting.

  7

  AG awakened to the smooth sound of jazz.

  “Morning, AG. How did you sleep?”

  “Like a baby, Paul.”

  “AG, it must be the gravity, or perhaps the champagne.”

  They both laughed.

  “How ‘bout some coffee?”

  “Paul, I could sure go for Cafe Mocha!”

  “Go, being the operative word, AG. You would have to go over 45 million miles. But I do have some coffee in storage. Your partner on Freedom gave me a fresh batch before we left.”

  “Wow, what a guy! You know, Paul, it just doesn’t get any better than this - drinking coffee on Mars!”

  “Well, AG, it just might be even better. I have been up for a couple of hours running some programs and simulations that I would like you to take a look at. I think you will be impressed and perhaps even intrigued.”

  Paul then went over his calculations, simulations, and program changes, from the theoretical to the practical. The last time he had seen that look on AG’s face was when he asked him if he would like to go to Mars.

  “You can’t be serious! It’s just not possible! Have you run this by your support crew and NASA?”

  “Yes, I have, AG. I sent it in text form. They were even more taken aback than you. NASA has MIT, Cal Tech, and even the Rand Corp running the numbers.”

  Indeed, some of the best minds on the planet Earth were looking at the data that the Alpha had sent. Many were still in denial that anything could travel faster than the speed of light. Many were just trying to get their minds around the theoretical possibility that in a short time a ship from Earth was going to attempt to do just that, travel faster than the speed of light.

  By the time AG and Paul had finished coffee, breakfast, and had freshened up, NASA had sent the following communiqué: “No data, or extrapolation of current theory is available.”

  Steve Christian followed up with a voice message as well. “Sorry, guys, both the human and electronic brains here have no definitive data, and the best we could come up with here is ‘good luck’.”

  “So, AG, just to review our flight plan, we lift off in two hours, run some orbital tests, then we test the theory that the quantum drive can collapse local space and create a targeted singularity. Our destination is the LaGrange point of gravitational equilibrium between Jupiter and Saturn. We will accelerate around that point and then use Jupiter’s gravity for a trans Earth trajectory.”

  “Paul, you made it sound so simple. All those books and shows I’ve seen about warp drive and hyper–space, and we are on the threshold of turning science fiction into science fact.”

  “All I can say, AG, is - hey, I’m a simple guy.” Paul smiled and patted AG on the back.

  They both worked securing the Alpha for departure, and running checklists with AIMI.

  “Mr. President, the latest update.” The White House science advisor handed the President a briefing sheet.

  “Ok, Bob. You want to decode this for me and give me the Astrophysics for Dummies version?”

  “As you know, Mr. President, communications travel at the speed of light, taking
just under four minutes to reach the planet Mars. Last night they used the ship’s drive-system to either short circuit or collapse the space/time continuum. They reduced that time to less than three seconds, which is almost one hundred times the speed of light. Yesterday, I would have told you that’s impossible. In a few minutes they are going to lift off and attempt faster-than-light travel with the ship. If they are successful, they will use Jupiter’s gravity to slingshot back on a trans Earth trajectory.”

  “How long will it take?”

  “At the speed of light, Mars to Jupiter, under 35 minutes, then another 44 minutes back to Earth, not accounting for acceleration or deceleration.”

  “Do you think they can do it? And what kind of speed will they be able to achieve?”

  “Mr. President, the scientific community is in so far over its head, we just cannot speculate anymore. We are just putting forward our best guess.”

  “Ok, Bob. What’s your best guess?” The President rocked back in his chair.

  “I don’t understand how, but I expect they will break the light barrier today, and perhaps even exceed it substantially.”

  “How are his people working with NASA?”

  “Mr. President, his people seem to be there just to monitor the mission. They are watching events transpire just as NASA and the rest of us are. Paul Christian is calling all the shots, and has not made a bad call yet. I think they are as much in the dark as we are. I will keep you apprised as events unfold, Mr. President. It’s going to be quite a day. Hard to believe we could top yesterday.”

  “Anything new on Paul Christian, Bob?”

  “Nothing you don’t already know - airline pilot, inventor, several patents pending; just a normal guy until recently.”

  “Thanks for the update and explanation, Bob.”

  “You are most welcome, Mr. President. I hope it helps when you speak to the Alpha during the press conference.”

  Paul and AG were ready for the press conference, or as ready as you can be under the circumstances of time-constrained communications. The President and NASA had sent the message four minutes ago.

  “On behalf of a proud nation, and perhaps even world, congratulations on yet another amazing feat. You certainly have done our nation proud. We wish you the best of success on your return journey, which for lack of a better term, we understand you will be taking the long way home?”

  “Thank you for your support, Mr. President, and yes, we will be on a different trajectory. In just under one hour, we will be departing the surface of Mars for orbit. After a few tests, we intend to travel faster than the speed of light. Our journey will take us between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn, then back around to Earth orbit.”

  “The hopes of this nation and planet are with you. We wish you a safe and successful journey.”

  Paul and AG checked and double-checked the ship for departure. AIMI had run diagnostics on every primary and secondary system and subsystem. All primary and secondary Alpha systems were green.

  Paul had left a camera mounted outside on the surface of Mars so the world could see the Alpha lift off from Mars. The telemetry was channeled through the Quantum drive system so the picture was almost instantaneous - just a time delay of 2.8 seconds. Besides NASA and the White House, over 3.5 billion worldwide were watching history in the making. The picture quality was excellent, but it would be a brief performance as the Alpha lifted off out of camera range.

  “Houston, all Alpha systems green. One minute to lift off.” As the ship’s chronometer counted down, AG counted down, “Ten seconds to liftoff.” As Paul modulated the Quantum drive from static to dynamic he also brought the thrusters on line from standby, and with a slight buffet, the Alpha slowly lifted off the surface of Mars.

  The Alpha was accelerating both in the vertical and horizontal planes. Less than a minute later, they were supersonic and climbing at 10,000 feet per minute and accelerating.

  “Houston, Alpha. We are 100,000, Mach 5, climbing and accelerating.”

  Of course, Houston like the rest of the world had watched the lift-off from the camera left on Mars. They also saw the external view from the Alpha’s camera, as well as the telemetry from the AIMI console in Houston. In less than ten minutes, the Alpha was once again in orbit around Mars.

  “Houston, we are established in equatorial orbit.”

  “Roger that, Alpha. We have someone here who would like to say hello.”

  Four minutes later the Alpha received the message. Paul looked at AG and shrugged his shoulders, then replied. “Understand incoming message. Go ahead.”

  “After you transmit, it will take just under four minutes for the message to get to Alpha.”

  Michelle Christian pressed the mic button. “Hi, Dad, it’s Michelle. I’m here with Steve, Uncle Tony, Grandma, Bert, and John. I have been watching everything on TV. The papers are calling this the story of the century. You are an instant celebrity. I’m so proud of you!”

  “I can’t wait to see you all again. I should be back tomorrow.”

  Back tomorrow - a difficult idea to accept, considering the Alpha was this morning going to attempt to travel faster than the speed of light, slip around Jupiter, then, if all went as planned, be back in Earth orbit tonight. Theoretically, if they were to travel faster than the speed of light, years might have passed upon their return ‘tonight’.

  Paul spent some time checking and double-checking system read-outs and AIMI-assisted calculations. He then dropped back into his seat to contemplate what was next. “Any questions, AG?”

  “Only a lifetime full!”

  Paul grinned at AG. “AG, what’s a nice Stanford and MIT graduate like you doing in a place like this?”

  Paul had keyed the transmitter and Houston heard the question a few seconds after AG did. The room erupted with laughter.

  After three orbits around Mars, the Alpha was ready to break orbit. Paul had programmed the spatial coordinates for the LaGrange point between the Jupiter and Saturn.

  Curious, it was like programming the inertial reference units and the Flight Management computer systems in the Boeing 767 he flew for Universal Airlines. This trip however was not over a few thousand miles of ocean at eighty percent of the speed of sound to some tropical destination; this was across millions of miles of space at a velocity that would exceed the speed of light. He was just not sure by how much.

  “AG, you ready to give Einstein a run for his money?”

  “I’m ready when you are, Paul.”

  “Houston, we are preparing to break orbit for the LaGrange point.”

  Paul slowly modulated the Quantum drive control, just enough to take them out of Mars orbit. The time display showed it had been one hour and five minutes from Mars liftoff, and thirty-six hours was their estimated time en route to LaGrange. That of course was based on sub-light velocities. At the speed of light, it would take about 34 minutes; faster-than–light, even fewer minutes, at least for AG and Paul. If Einstein was correct they would not be able to achieve light speed, let alone exceed it. And how much time would pass on Earth?

  “AIMI, departure view of Mars in the view screen please.”

  As Paul continued to accelerate away from Mars, it appeared smaller and smaller on the view screen. The other view screen displayed the computer generated navigation plot to LaGrange. Visible in the forward windows were a cascade of stars. In the not too distant future, if all went well, the planet Jupiter would fill them.

  The Alpha had accelerated past ten percent of light speed, and was still accelerating.

  “Houston, Alpha. We are on path to LaGrange, and on the acceleration profile.” The inertial dampers were doing their job; Paul and AG could just barely sense the acceleration, which was now past twenty-five percent of light speed and climbing.

  “Systems check please, AIMI?”

  Paul could see all systems were
green, but there was something reassuring about having AIMI back up his observations.

  “Life support green; structural integrity green; inertial dampers green; Quantum drive green; navigation green; communications green with a time delay factor of 5.2 seconds out and 5.2 minutes in; velocity thirty percent of light speed; power levels at eighty percent.”

  “Houston, we are at thirty percent of light speed and slowly accelerating at a rate of one percent every five seconds. All systems are green. The view appears normal out the windows. Normal star field with no distortion.”

  Of course, Houston could see all this on the AIMI display screen that was networked by now to the big NASA screens overhead. “Velocity sixty percent of light; power level at seventy percent; all systems green.”

  “Thank you, AIMI, I concur. AG, we are well below my power-use projections. At this rate, we will have ample power to take us up to light speed.”

  “I agree, Paul, and I can’t explain it either. But considering the circumstances, understandable - I’m in way over my head!” AG looked up and grinned at Paul who responded with a nod and a smile.

  Three minutes later, the Alpha had reached ninety percent of the speed of light.

  “Houston, we are at ninety percent of light speed and holding, unfortunately and unexpectedly our power level has fallen off. We used just under a third of our power to get to seventy percent of light speed, another third to get us to ninety percent. Based on my projections, the last third will not be enough to make light speed. Perhaps Einstein was right.”

  Seconds later, when Houston received the message, the world’s greatest minds went to work on the problem. Computer, slide rules, theoretical brainstorming, but like Armstrong Gagarin, they were all in over their heads - way over.

  “OK, AG, we are less than thirty minutes away from Jupiter. Our power levels are holding at thirty percent, make that thirty-five percent. Looks like we recovered a bit of the power fall-off. At our current velocity using Jupiter’s gravity, we can be back in Earth orbit in less than two hours, counting deceleration, with an acceptable energy reserve.”