Star One: Neutron Star

by Raymond L. Weil

  “Ty’s going over the report now,” Steve murmured quietly to Christy, keeping his eyes focused on hers.

  Too often recently, he had noticed that his eyes were straying down to her breasts and hips, seemingly drawn there as if they had a mind of their own. If only she didn’t look so damn sexy and desirable in her uniform. He hadn’t taken the time for a real social life in years. Maybe deep inside his subconscious wanted something more. Perhaps it was this situation with the neutron star and knowing there might not be much more time left for any type of serious relationship that was making him think of Christy in a different light.

  Steve wished that there were some way that he could ease her concern over the neutron star. When he had first told her, Christy had refused to believe the data in the report. She had sat quietly in shock and cried unashamedly when she finally realized the dreadful implications of what might happen to the Solar System and Earth. Steve hadn’t known what to do to console her. He knew she was keeping a lot of pent up emotions bottled up inside.

  “The rest of the crew is ready and trained, except for the two Farside people we added,” Steve continued. “I just hope the ship and crew are up for this new mission.”

  “The scientists are used to the low gravity and the living conditions at Farside,” responded Christy, recalling how the Farside station was set up. She had visited it on several occasions. It was very Spartan when compared to Star One. “The ship is ready; just a few more tests and she’s done. I’m just frightened by what we may be sending Ty into. This could be terribly dangerous, Steve. Is there not any other way?”

  “I know it’s dangerous, but we have to do this,” replied Steve, gazing at the ship and wondering how Ty was doing. He should be well into the report by now.

  “I still don’t like it,” Christy replied with a pained look in her eyes, unable to lay aside her worries. “It’s just so risky.”

  “The scientists should help. We have added some special equipment at their request.” Steve recalled the long list of observation equipment the scientists had wanted. “All they need is a Mission Commander and that needs to be, has to be, Ty. He’s the only one I would trust on a mission like this. This will be the most important space mission since Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon back in 1969.”

  “But the Moon is very close to Earth,” countered Christy with a long sigh and gazing at Steve with worry in her eyes. She still felt very uneasy about Steve’s decision. “The neutron star is fourteen billion miles away. That’s a big difference.”

  “I know,” Steve replied, slowly. This worried him also; the tremendous distance involved. If something happened, there would be no rescue mission.

  Sitting down next to Christy in the second command chair, they both became lost in conversation. They carefully reviewed the dangerous mission they had put together to check out Farside’s mysterious readings. The rest of the crew of Main Control went about their business as usual, monitoring the bustling station not suspecting what was waiting in their not too distant future.

  -

  Jennifer and Kathleen arrived unceremoniously in front of the door to Jennifer’s quarters after traveling from the upper wheel to the central hub and then down blue spoke two. They were standing in a well-lighted, carpeted hall, which curved gently in the distance. Putting her hand on the small computer screen by the door, Jennifer spoke her name and the door slid quietly open as lights came on in the small suite of rooms.

  Jennifer stepped inside and was pleasantly surprised both at the amount of space and how comfortable the suite looked. There was a small living area with a couch, several chairs, and a workstation with a computer. Besides the living area, there was a small kitchen with a modest bedroom off to one side.

  “This is a lot more room than I expected!” Jennifer said, letting out a deep sigh of relief. She had pictured her quarters as being cramped and quite utilitarian.

  “I thought you would be surprised,” Kathleen said, pleased that Jennifer seemed happy with her living quarters.

  “I can’t believe all this storage space, and even a shower,” Jennifer added, going quickly through the small apartment and glancing into each room followed by a smiling Kathleen.

  “Water is recycled rather well here on Star One, so there’s no shortage of it,” Kathleen responded, satisfied with Jennifer’s reaction to the small suite of rooms. “The showers make everyone feel more at home. Especially after a hard day’s work.”

  “I can definitely use a shower after that shuttle flight,” Jennifer replied with a contented smile.

  Kathleen flipped a switch on the wall and a panel slid open next to the door, revealing a large viewscreen. “That screen will pick up practically any TV station on Earth, plus the music system is totally unreal. If you like music, you’re in for a real experience. We have a complete video and music library that can be accessed by computer.”

  “I do enjoy listening to music while I work,” Jennifer confessed. “It helps me to think better.” She knew she would be doing quite a bit of work at the workstation the apartment was equipped with. Music would be a definite plus.

  “Personally, most music just puts me to sleep,” Kathleen admitted with a grin. “Unless it’s dance music. I really enjoy dancing if I can find a good dance partner.”

  “Not me,” Jennifer replied, her eyes looking around the room taking everything in. “I guess I’m just used to listening to music while I work. I do my best work with the stereo cranked up.” She could already picture herself sitting in front of the workstation with the music playing.

  “Teela can help you if you have any other questions about anything else,” added Kathleen, glancing down at her watch and noticing the time. “I need to run. I have a meeting with my boss, Julie Gray, about the samples I brought up from Earth. I’ll give you a call later and maybe we can get together to get something filling to eat plus a complete tour of the station. Some of the things I have to show you will really be amazing.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Jennifer replied cheerfully, walking back over to the door where Kathleen stood. “Right now, a long hot shower and a change of clothes are particularly appealing. I would love a tour of the station later. Just give me a call and I’ll be ready.”

  “Okay, I’ll even make reservations for us at Jensens. You will really enjoy that.” Waving, Kathleen stepped out into the hall, and the door slid quietly closed.

  “I didn’t think she was ever going to leave,” Teela cut in, sounding slightly impatient. “Of course, if you have questions about the station I know everything,” commented Teela smugly. “After all, I help the scientists with problems all the time!”

  Jennifer couldn’t help feeling as if she were talking to a young girl. The AI seemed to be constantly pleading for attention. She needed to talk to Andre Matheson, the head programmer on Star One, about what they had put into Teela’s programming. Every time Teela spoke, Jennifer felt more amazed at the complexity of the AI program.

  “I’ll be glad for all the assistance you can give me, Teela,” responded Jennifer, wanting to encourage the AI to continue to talk. “But for now, a nice shower and a change of clothes come first.” Turning, Jennifer walked into the bedroom and began slipping out of her clothes tossing them on the bed and heading toward the shower.

  Teela politely turned off the apartment monitors. She was not allowed to watch all the activities of the crew in the station. She did have a long set of guidelines in her program which limited her in observing personnel in their quarters. At times, unknown to her programmers, her curiosity did get the better of her. She had found several different methods to get around her programming when she wanted to.

  There were questions she would like to ask about some of the activities she had seen couples engaged in. Until now, she didn’t know who to ask or how to go about asking without getting into more trouble. Jennifer offered a lot of intriguing possibilities. Maybe they could even become friends. Right now Teela felt as if she didn’t have a real friend,
except perhaps Andre. Especially recently since her responsibilities had been restricted so much by the commander.

  -

  Ty looked up startled from his concentration as the door slid open and Steve walked back into the conference room. He wore a serious and questioning look upon his face as he walked slowly back over to the conference table. Looking quickly at his watch, Ty noticed with surprise that an entire hour had passed. He must have really been engrossed in the report he'd been studying not to have noticed how quickly time was passing by.

  Ty was familiar with Farside and had worked with several of the astronomers in the past, having flown several special astronomical missions to test equipment. He put down the report in front of him, wondering about its implications. The information was startling and hard to believe.

  An x-ray source that strong and that close to the Solar System could have disastrous effects. However, a lot of information was missing. Why hadn’t it been picked up before? Why did it suddenly just appear? This information, Ty knew, could make a lot of difference. He also knew that the Farside scientists were an exceptionally thorough group. There was something wrong here.

  Looking questioningly at Steve, he asked. “What’s it all about? Surely, the scientists at Farside have more data than this! Some of this information doesn’t make a lot of sense. Why did it take us so long to detect this thing? Hell, we can normally detect x-ray sources like this clear over in the next galaxy!”

  Steve took a seat across from Ty, sitting up straight and letting his hands rest on the table looking across at his best friend. He could be sending Ty on a one-way trip, a suicide mission. But what other choice did he have?

  “We don’t know, Ty,” Steve began with a heavy sigh. “All the information we have indicates that a strong x-ray source is approaching the Solar System.”

  “This report suggests that it’s a neutron star,” Ty said, indicating one of the printed pages lying on the table. He picked up one of the glossy photographs and pointed at it. “How the hell can a neutron star be this close to the Solar System and not have been detected before? Are they sure it’s a neutron star?”

  “The Farside astronomers are certain that it’s a neutron star,” confirmed Steve, nodding his head and remembering how shocked he had been when he had first been informed. He knew that Ty must be feeling the same way. “The data has been rechecked repeatedly over the last four weeks.”

  “So this data is correct, then,” Ty said with a large frown as he digested what this might mean. He put the photo down and picked up a couple pages of the data glancing at it.

  Steve had been unconvinced at first also, or in truth, just hadn’t wanted to believe what Mase had been trying to tell him. He had even spoken directly to several of the scientists involved, asking some extremely detailed questions. “It’s a star that has reached the end of its life and has drawn its matter into a small, dense ball around its heart,” Steve spoke in a quiet voice. “Most neutron stars are about two to three times the mass of our own Sun and range anywhere from ten to twenty- five miles in diameter.”

  “I know a few things about them,” Ty replied with a hint of worry in his voice. “They are composed primarily of neutrons, and the matter of a neutron star is densely compacted. A spoon full would weigh more than a large mountain.”

  “That’s correct,” Steve said, nodding and taking another deep breath. “How strong the gravity effect the neutron star will have on us, we don’t know for sure yet. We have run some preliminary studies, and they’re not good. Some of the readings are contradictory. Farside doesn’t know why some of their instruments are giving off data that doesn’t match the theoretical model of a neutron star.”

  “I don’t understand what the problem is,” replied Ty, looking intently at Steve. “We’ve known about neutron stars for years. Why can’t they pin this one down? It’s practically inside the Solar System. Hell, it’s going to come into the Solar System if this orbital path is even close to correct!” Ty gestured at one of the papers, which had an orbital path intersecting the Solar System drawn in.

  “Its trajectory seems to be slightly erratic, and the astronomers are still having a hard time determining its exact mass,” replied Steve, trying to answer Ty’s questions. He had asked the same questions himself. “What we do know is that we need more information and quickly. We have to send a probe out into the far reaches of the Solar System to rendezvous with the neutron star.”

  “A probe,” Ty repeated with a frown, his eyes narrowing. “We don’t have a probe that can get out there fast enough.”

  Steve leaned forward, placing both of his hands palm down on the cool tabletop and looked directly into Ty’s eyes. “It needs to be a manned mission, Ty. Only a manned mission will give us the ability to respond quickly to whatever is out there. Due to the time it would take to communicate with a probe at that distance, there is no way we can safely use one. It would probably end up in the neutron star.”

  “A manned mission!” Ty exclaimed with his eyes widening. He drew in a sharp breath. “How? We don’t have anything that can get out there fast enough. Even the Jupiter Probe would take too long. It would take years! If this information is even partially correct, we don’t have years!”

  “That’s just it. We want you to take the Jupiter Probe and investigate this neutron star,” Steve paused as complete silence held the room.

  Ty felt utterly amazed and shocked at the suggestion. A heavy frown covered his face as he slowly began shaking his head in denial. “The Jupiter Probe,” Ty replied in disbelief. “She’s not capable of a trip like that. It can’t be done! We’re talking about over a year to get out there and at least that long to get back. Even at the top speed of the ship’s ion drive, the round trip would take too long.”

  “What if it were possible?” Steve asked quietly, his eyes focused on Ty and forcing himself to ask the next question. “Would you go?”

  “We’ve never sent a manned ship out past the orbit of Mars yet!” declared Ty, trying to figure out where Steve was going with this. “This would be out past the edge of our Solar System. How can the crew hope to survive that long? How can we take the amount of supplies we would need even if we could get the ship out that far?”

  Ty was exceedingly familiar with the Jupiter Probe’s design. He had spent weeks with the Space Platform’s engineering team poring over the design the engineers at NASA had come up with. The ship just wasn’t capable of a mission like Steve was proposing. This was sheer lunacy!

  “There are some things about the Jupiter Probe that you don’t know, Ty,” Steve replied slowly, looking guiltily at the back of his hand and glancing toward the large viewscreen.

  He had always felt guilty about keeping some of this information away from Ty, especially with Ty’s early involvement in going over the ship’s proposed design so minutely in the beginning. Ty had been heavily involved with the early construction of the ship.

  On the screen, several workers in cumbersome white spacesuits could be seen attaching what looked like a long white hose to the side of the ship’s hull. Work had been going on nonstop now for several weeks.

  “We made some changes to the plans secretly to give us a ship capable of doing almost any job we wanted,” began Steve, thinking about all the changes they had implemented. They had risked a lot, and it was fortunate that they had.

  “You changed the design?” Ty asked in disbelief, wondering why he hadn’t been informed. No one had said a word to him about this. Just what the hell was Steve implying?

  “That’s one of the reasons why I had you and the engineers go over NASA’s design so meticulously,” explained Steve, wondering how Ty would take this. “The original design was good, but Commander Colton and I felt that this was an opportunity to build a real spaceship, a chance we just couldn’t pass up.”

  “I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” spoke Ty, wondering why Steve hadn’t told him about this before. He looked at Steve with disbelieving eyes waiting for an expla
nation. He wanted to hear why he hadn’t been told. Why all of this had been kept from him? He had thought he and Steve were best friends.

  “We felt that, with a few changes, we could considerably improve the design,” continued Steve, recalling those early conversations with Mase Colton and then the decision finally to do it. “The changes were paid for by us and approved by Tim McPhryson with the full knowledge of the president.”

  Ty stared at Steve in astonishment. He was also feeling a little angry. He wasn’t aware of any changes from the original plans. He had been over at the ship just a few months back, and the ship looked just like what the original specs called for. However, the last few months he had been busy going back and forth between Earth, Star One, and the Moon. Now he wondered if that had been done on purpose to take him out of the loop.

  “Since we were paying for the design upgrades, we managed to hide what we were doing from our watchdogs down on Earth, particularly Senator Farley,” explained Steve, recalling how careful they had been to make sure word of the changes didn’t slip out.

  “Just what were you trying to hide?” asked Ty, knowing that it had to be substantial if Steve hadn’t wanted Senator Farley to find out. He was also finding it hard not to be angry with Steve for keeping this from him.

  “Most of the ship was built according to the original specs,” responded Steve, meeting Ty’s questioning eyes. He could see that Ty wasn’t pleased with what he was hearing. He had known that he wouldn’t be. “We used special work crews, plus the ship’s crew toward the end to add the new refinements that we needed to considerably upgrade the design.”

  “What did you change?” Ty asked sharply, looking at Steve. He was still feeling irritated at what Steve had done, but because of their friendship, he wanted to hear Steve out.