The Plan and other short stories

by Stephen Brandon

  All three were sweating when they emerged 4 hours later. The old man sitting in the chair had his feet up on the end of the control panel and called all three over to him. He simply said, someone way upstairs called me to come in today and monitor your training and report to them. Two of you are simply good and need more seasoning, but one of you is ready to train for a master pilot position. Debriefing will be in two hours. Go get lunch and cool off.

  As they walked to the door Jan looked back and saw all four trainers standing at attention in front of the old man. He still had his feet on the control panel and was talking in a low voice.

  When they returned 2 hours later there was another uniformed individual sitting by the old man. One after another starting with Frederick they started briefing them on the scenarios they had gone through in order and their mistakes and shortcomings. Jan ended up with a slightly better score than Fred. Then they started on John. Jan noticed that the old man had a slight smile on his face as the trainer briefed John on his results. Then he said there are three more scenarios that you need to run through now. Take your stations.

  John strapped in and the scenario started. It was one he'd never seen before. He knew that it was another no win scenario as soon as he finished his calculations. Then he maneuvered the rocket to a 33% angle to the trajectory and fired the main rocket at full thrust. When the fuel indicator indicated ½ was gone he used the thrustors to change the trajectory to 90% from the star. As soon as all fuel was exhausted he signaled that all personnel were to report to the mess sections and enter the refrigeration units in their space suits. As he watched the readouts he saw the hull temperature sensors climb to max and then fail. Then the readouts indicated that the hull melted and ruptured. Then another set of sensor reading came up and he saw the readouts were from the refrigeration units. One failed but the other stayed just below maximum and then started to cool down. Then the scenario ended. The panel blinked twice and then a new scenario came up, another one that he had never seen. After running it the Jupiter orbital insertion scenario came up and his fingers moved as if they had a mind of their own. At the end a voice said get out here. As John came out the room was full of middle aged men. The uniformed man called him over and said when anyone passes the Jupiter insertion scenario an alarm is sounded and some old farts assemble to see who thinks they are good enough to try to fly a brick with nothing but firecrackers up his ass. Jan and Fred came up behind him just then. By the way I work for the Pilots Certification Board and all the results of you three were officially recorded. All three of you passed re-certification and the I entered the codes while you were at lunch. Now on the first scenario there were 6 survivors out of a crew of thirty on a close in solar exploration expedition. The spacecraft was hit by an extra powerful solar flare and it scrambled the computers. The pilot didn't survive but he told the crew in the 2nd freezer what he had done. They survived although all suffered medium radiation poisoning and died within 2 years. John you were the only one that passed and your solution by our calculations enabled the crew to survive with slightly less radiation exposure. Now on the 2nd scenario all three of you failed although Jan came closer to surviving. Now on the 3rd scenario Jan and John are the only 2 that successfully completed the correct maneuvering sequence, although Jan your actions would only last for 3 orbits. Enough time for a rescue of 50% of the passengers and crew. All three of the scenarios were real and you may thank whoever trained and kicked your butts to make you as good as you are today. Jan and Frederick you may train for the Senior Pilot position if you want to starting tomorrow. John, you are now a re-certified as a senior pilot, however just before you came out I was informed that you have orders for a different position. I expect and demand of you that you kick ass, teach, and train any pilot that comes within your reach some of the lessons that you learned. We need excellent pilots and it is the responsibility of everyone that holds a senior pilots license to train those coming up. Dismissed.

  John snapped to attention, turned sharply and started for the door. However his way was blocked by a mob of middle aged men that wanted to congratulate him, shake his hand, and wish him well.

  Jan and Fred were waiting in the hall as he finally emerged. They immediately headed for the cafeteria. They sat at the table sipping tea and eating a light snack. As they each checked their email they found that they all had a re-certification letter and a set of orders to report to a ship owned by the company. Fred was looking over John's shoulder as he opened his email orders and whistled when he saw that John was going to the Phoenix. Then he squealed like a little girl and grabbed Jan's arm and pulled her to a position where she could see the screen. Then he pointed out that John was assigned as 2nd officer in training with the secondary of Senior Pilot. They plopped down in their seats and looked at John with their mouths open.

  After about a minute Jan said who did you kill to get that plum.

  John simply answered, its the crew that I didn't let get killed, and the fact that I bluffed my way upstairs. A Veep had his eye on me and once I overcame the minor obstacles he put in my way I get the plum. I just hope that it doesn't turn out to be sour because I also made a very powerful enemy. Now lets plan our celebration, we have three days before we have to report.

  * * *

  John reported to the company dock and was told that he would be going over on a cargo shuttle. Expecting to sit in a jump seat for the 4 hour flight he quickly changed into a jump suit and packed his dress uniform. When the call came to board he walked through the forward airlock and stopped in amazement. Looking around the small passenger compartment he saw a steward serving drinks to two women sitting in plush chairs that had the normal 5 point safety belts. He thought that his new jump suit made him look like a bum compared to the way they were dressed.

  The steward looked at him an demanded his ID. After running the ID through the scanner his scowl vanished and he ushered him to a seat near the forward bulkhead. He then returned to his station and made a call. A few minutes later a middle aged man came through the bulkhead hatch and took a seat beside John.

  After a once over the man said to John, I hope you didn't spend to much on standard uniforms. As soon as we arrive and you are settled in I'll send the tailor around to see you. Now I think that you might be more interested to see the controls and later I'll call you forward as we approach the Phoenix. Our SOP on flights without VIP's is to do a complete orbital inspection when any shuttle returns. The real Phoenix looks nothing like the pictures that are put out by the public relations office.

  The Phoenix was not the best ship in the company fleet, it was the most luxurious. It had started out as an engine research spacecraft. It actually had 2 engines, the first a standard oxygen hydrogen chemical jet and second an matter antimatter reactor that used water converted to plasma and ions propelled by strong magnetic coils for propulsion. After 15 years of testing the company bought the whole research company. The Phoenix can fly for over 50 years without refueling the antimatter engines although the chemical rocket has to be refueled on a regular basis. Because the hysteria about antimatter matter reactions the Phoenix is not allowed within 5000 miles of any manned space station or habitat. One of the companies original Veeps liked the idea of flying all over the solar system without refueling so he had additions built on the the original hull. After over a century of hull additions and engine improvements the Phoenix now looks more like a collection patched together from a kid's toy box, rather than a sleek fast spacecraft. It has seven conventional shuttles. 3 of them was so luxurious that they are the envy of the solar system. The military has purchased an engine and basic hull every 20 years for the last 80 years. Those ships after being refitted and fueled have disappeared from public sight.

  John was taken forward and introduced to the Senior and Junior pilot, navigator, engineer, cargo master, and then the shuttle Captain introduced himself. John then questioned the C
aptain with one simple sentence, a crew of five plus yourself, how big is this shuttle? The Captain then told the junior pilot to give John an interior tour right after launch.

  As soon as John returned to his seat the steward brought him a glass of mint tea. After one taste John told him to take it away and bring him some coffee. After one taste, John realized that he was going to have a problem adapting to the fancy drinks aboard the Phoenix. John set the coffee on table before him and leaned back and relaxed. He felt rather than heard the separation from the main station. There was a gentle acceleration. During that time the steward hustled around the cabin and collected all the drinks and snack plates from the passenger tables. As he finished he pressed a button on the panel by his station and sat down and strapped in. Then an announcement came over the intercom speaker in a female voice stating, Strap in please, maneuvering and acceleration in one minute. the Captain welcomes you aboard Phoenix cargo shuttle number 2. Our flight time is thirty eight minutes. Enjoy you flight.

  A few seconds after the announcement ended he felt the shuttle rotating and then the feel of about 1 G acceleration.

  You may remove you safety straps now and move around the cabin until midpoint turnover. Thank you.

  After a few minutes the junior pilot came back and asked John to follow him. After stepping through the hatch he turned left and walked about 30 feet to the left to another hatch. After stepping through and securing the hatch he started down the ladder. On the other side of the tube John noticed a set of thin brass poles about shoulder width apart. Twenty rungs down was another platform. The junior pilot pointed out that this was one of 7 hatches into the cargo compartment, each 20 feet apart in. Six levels down he opened the hatch and showed John the top level of the engine room. Then he closed the hatch and the went down two more level and entered the engine room on it's main level.

  The chief engineer came over and introduced himself and said just call me monkey. I started out as a cargo handler and earned my nickname there. Here we have a standard O/H engine with a small U236 reactor. The tour was very compact and neat. Now I'm sure you don't want to climb the ladder all the way back to the bridge so here is the lift.

  When they arrived on the bridge the navigator invited John to sit at his position as he explained his instrumentation. Then John was ushered over to the junior pilots position. After the standard explanation the junior pilot retook his post and the senior pilot invited him over to sit in his position.

  He then gave him the standard briefing and then pointed out several instruments that John hadn't seen before. As John watched he brought up the displays related to those instruments and then announced that turnover was in 2 minutes. The senior pilot took his post and told John to grab the jump seat. Then he pressed the intercom button and keyed the turnover announcement. He explained he was going to do a VIP turnover even though only crew members were the passengers. You know how centrifugal force works. Well instead of cutting power, rotating, and then resuming power this maneuver powers through the 180 rotation utilizing centrifugal force to keep the passengers from going weightless or experiencing more than 1.25 G. What they will feel is a sideways pull like that similar to the entertainment rides on Station 3. It takes 10 minutes. After the maneuver I'll show you how to figure the primary trajectories so the start and destination require minimum mid-course corrections. I know the stuffed shirt steward didn't give you a briefing on the seating arrangement in the cabin but each seat is on a pivot. When the maneuver starts each seat pivots so the back is toward the outside force. That makes it feel like they are partway laying down. Execution start now.

  John felt the shift in G forces and watched the calculations and sensor readouts scroll across the senior pilots console. When the maneuver was completed and course verified John commented, I need to fly with you a few times and learn that maneuver. That's one that isn't taught in any manual I've ever seen.

  The Senior pilot chucked and announced that that maneuver wasn't in any manual or taught to any pilots outside the company. Seven minutes later the senior pilot started pointing out features as they orbited the Phoenix. His final comment before starting the docking sequence was, she's an ugly ship from the outside. Wait until you get inside.

  John asked exactly how big is the Phoenix.

  With a chuckle the Senior pilot said it originally started out with a hull a ¼ mile long and 800 yards in diameter. The last measurement I saw was 4 ½ miles long and 1 ¼ miles diameter. Of course that is with all seven shuttles docked. Right now only two are here and we make the third. There are three high speed tubes directly from company headquarters directly to three shuttle docks. There are usually three shuttles at the space stations all the time. The sub-headquarters on the other big station has one shuttle dock. There are living quarters for every senior member of the company aboard the ship. The environmental system will support a population of 1400 for fifty years without resupply. Next year a second ship like the Phoenix is to be started. It is rumored that it will accompany the colony moon. It's not public knowledge, but guess what kind of engines will be used on the colony moon for power and maneuvering.

  * * *

  The training routine was exhausting and it only lasted six months. Then John finally got the privilege of pulling an unsupervised bridge watch. His 3rd watch involved getting the Phoenix underway to the main asteroid belt habitat to deliver several crews from the company. Since the habitat was in an orbit on the other side of the sun a reverse VIP mid-course turnover was incorporated into the flight plan a quarter parsec above the orbital plane. Transit time was calculated at 27 days. As he began watch he reread the flight plan and noticed that the first leg was above the orbital plane at 1 G using the old rocket. Only at a distance of 1 million miles was the antimatter engine allowed to be powered up. He realized that the antimatter engine would not be engaged until over half way through the next watch. A similar procedure was on the destination end of the flight. Looking back at the second page he realized that there was a full page checklist to be completed prior to firing up the antimatter engine and only 4 items of the list were checks with the engineering section. The third item was the most interesting, Navigation – radar array 4 and then the next item was Navigation – radar array 5. Then Communications – Doppler radio array 3.

  When he got off watch he ate and went to his quarters. As an officer in training he had read only access to every manual and checklist on-board the Phoenix. When he tried to bring up the Antimatter Plasma drive checklist he received a warning that he had to have Captain's authorization to access. He then tried to call up all the Pilots checklist. All nineteen were there but none of them covered anything that was related to the plasma drive. Then he tried the Engineering checklist, but again there was no mention of the Antimatter engine. He then went back to the Officers mess and got a cup of coffee. While sitting sipping his coffee the Captain walked in, got some coffee, and sat down across from him. Ships Captains walked on empty vacuum and he knew it. John was sure that the Captain knew that he had tried to access the plasma engine checklist.

  The Captain opened the conversation by asking how he liked it aboard the Phoenix.

  John replied, “It's fine now that I'm through the initial training. I was beginning to think that it had no end.”

  “Oh, this is just a break for you. As soon as we are underway phase 2 starts. I understand that you brought aboard several new jumpsuits.”

  “Sir?”

  “Well I think you would rather wear one of them than your tailored suits.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “Tomorrow you will start on 1st shift as an engineering novice under the Chief Engineer.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “When the Chief is sure that you can assemble the antimatter engine blindfolded you will graduate to the Quartermaster section. The only reason you aren't starting in the Cargo section is that you already had that traini
ng under a good man I know. He vouched for you.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “You better hit the sack now, in 7 hours you will find out that the bridge orientation was a breeze.”

  “Yes Sir,” as John got up and dumped the rest of his coffee and headed back to get some sleep. What the hell did I get myself into?

  After not enough sleep John grabbed a quick breakfast and headed down to the Engineering section.

  The Chief Engineer, Chief Brown met him at the lift as he stepped off. “You,” he hollered, “as a novice are not authorized to use the lift. You will use the ladders when coming and going to the Engineering Section.”

  “Yes Sir.” John replied.

  “Now get over there and grab a sweeper.”

  “Sir, what is a sweeper.”

  “It's that long thin pole with a brush on the end. There are several in the locker on that wall. I want you to sweep the entire deck and then you will find a bin over in that corner to put the sweepings in.” With that he walked away.

  John knew that there was an automated system to remove dust and such from the air and in a spacecraft the only dirt on the deck was when workers came in from outside. This was pure harassment and to show him that he was at the bottom of the pecking order. Well he could play that game too. As he swept the deck he noticed several of the personnel in the engineering section give him a glance and then scatter things on the deck where he had already swept. As he approached the collection bin in the corner he was wondering how to get the sweepings into the bin and then remembered an old butler that was a friend of his fathers. He had a small hand held sweeper and a tray that only had 3 sides on it and a short handle. He had described how his father used to sweep dirt and dust into the tray to dispose of it. He went over to the sweeper locker and looked and found a similar tray. When he returned to the pile of sweepings he found that they had been scattered. Sweeping them back into a neat pile and then into the tray he heard some laughter from the other side of the deck. As soon as the Chief noticed him looking at the two laughing engineers he started yelling at them to get back to work.