Star One: Neutron Star

by Raymond L. Weil

  “All internal environmental controls show normal,” Lieutenant Strett reported in a calm voice, her eyes scanning her console.

  “Fusion reactor and ion drive functioning within acceptable tolerances,” Winston reported briskly, keeping his eyes closely riveted on the readouts for the two. At the slightest hint of trouble, he was prepared to shut down the ion drive or the fusion reactor.

  “All ship systems functioning normally,” Karl Velm reported from Engineering.

  “Star One control, this is FarQuest,” Ty reported, grinning at Captain Simpson. “All systems are in the green, and we are on our way!”

  “We confirm, Ty,” Christy’s voice came back with a tinge of excitement. “You are really creating a spectacle. The FarQuest will be visible from Earth, or at least your ion tail will be!”

  -

  Steve watched the main viewscreen as the FarQuest begin slowly to accelerate away from the station and the platform. A bright, luminous twin tail extended out behind the ship as the highly charged argon particles flowed out the ship’s two exhaust tubes. Steve felt a sense of relief knowing that the drive was functioning. It looked as if the simulations had been correct.

  Steve and Christy both knew that the launch of the ship would be visible from Earth, and a lot of questions would have to be answered soon for this unscheduled launch. The rocket tubes themselves were almost too bright to look at. They looked as if twin miniature suns were trapped just inside.

  On Earth, the questions would be starting very soon. Senator Farley would learn of the unscheduled launch shortly and would be outraged as soon as the news reached him. NASA would have questions, as well as numerous others. Steve was about to make a lot of people down on Earth terribly unhappy. He just hoped the president and Tim McPhryson were ready for this. They would be the first ones Senator Farley would go after.

  “This looks fantastic,” Christy spoke with excitement in her voice as she listened to reports from various Main Control people on the functioning of the FarQuest. She could also hear Todd Williams confirming that everything looked good.

  “She’s a beautiful sight,” Steve said wistfully, his eyes watching the slowly receding ship. He just wished that he were onboard.

  -

  On the Flight Deck of the FarQuest, the first minute of acceleration passed, they were now traveling 193 feet per second, or 132 miles per hour, which was extremely slow for space speeds. That would change shortly. Ty checked several of his instruments and glanced briefly at the cabin monitors to see how the crew was doing.

  Everyone seemed to be calm and enjoying the ride. The rumbling in the ship had leveled off into a steady, almost quiet drone, and there was no sense of vibration or shaking at all. This was by far the smoothest launch that Ty had ever experienced. You could hardly tell that the ion drive was even on.

  “This is really something, Commander!” Captain Simpson exclaimed a few minutes later, as he adjusted several sensors on his board and changed the main viewscreen to show the view behind the ship.

  They were awestruck as they looked at the luminous thread that led back toward the now shrinking Space Platform. Soon the platform and Star One would be nothing more than brilliant points of light far behind them.

  “Coming up on five minutes,” reported Simpson, checking his console.

  Ty checked the speed indicator and was pleased to note the steady increase in velocity as their steady acceleration continued to pile up an additional 3.2 feet of acceleration every second the drive was on. They were now up to 965 feet per second, or 660 miles per hour and accelerating.

  “Everything is still green here, FarQuest,” Lieutenant Commander William’s voice came over the com. “Good luck and have a safe flight. You are really creating a spectacle with the drive.”

  Ty acknowledged over the com and turned to Captain Simpson.

  “I guess now we’ll find out what kind of ship we have.” Over the ship’s com, Ty continued, “We have confirmation from both Star One and the Space Platform that our launch was picture perfect. The ship is functioning within specs, and we are well into our specified flight trajectory. Congratulations to everyone for a job well done, Continue to monitor your instruments and let’s hope our good fortune continues.”

  -

  On Star One, the communications board was lit up with frantic and inquisitive messages. NASA wanted to know why there had been an unscheduled launch. They had turned several of their large orbital telescopes on the Space Platform. NASA had already figured out it was the Jupiter Probe that had launched without permission. The flight director at NASA was demanding to know what was going on. He made it a point to mention that he had not authorized a launch. Steve had sent them a brief message stating that there was no problem, and he would get back with them later.

  “They won’t like that,” commented Christy, watching as Margaret handled the incoming messages. Some she was ignoring, others she was taking the time to explain that there would be a public announcement later.

  “I don’t think we have anything to worry about from NASA,” replied Steve, glancing over at Christy. “Jane Kinsey and Warren Timmons have been instructed by McPhryson to keep NASA out of this. I doubt if we will hear anything else from them. That flight director will be told very shortly not to be concerned about the launch.”

  Christy nodded, looking over at Margaret. She could see that the young communications officer was a little aggravated at all the messages lighting up her board.

  Margaret glanced over at Christy with a weak smile as she accepted another call. Too many people were demanding her attention. This was going to be a long day.

  -

  For the next hour, the ion drive continued its steady thrust as it accelerated the FarQuest. From Star One, Steve watched as the ship dwindled in size until only its brilliant drive flare was visible upon the station’s main screen. He was standing behind Christy, stretching his legs. He glanced over at Margaret at Communications and could see that her board was still lit up with lights as people were trying to contact the station. He let out a heavy sigh, knowing that President Kateland would also be under fire shortly if she wasn’t already.

  “They’re safely away, Steve,” Christy said softly, reading his thoughts from the expression on his face. “Ty has a good ship and a good crew. We couldn’t ask for anything more.”

  “True,” replied Steve, putting his hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently. He knew she was right. “But this is a very short trip compared to the one we’re sending them out on in a few days, and they still have to go around the Moon. Ty is taking that ship dangerously close to the Moon’s surface to test her. I just hope the ship continues to perform as she was designed.” They gazed at the dwindling brilliant pinpoint on the screen both deep in thought.

  “Sir, I have Senator Farley on the line,” reported Margaret, glancing inquiringly at Steve with a slightly irritated look upon her face.

  “Tell him we are involved in monitoring a shuttle launch and will get back with him later,” replied Steve, gazing at Margaret.

  Steve heard Margaret speaking to Senator Farley over the com and could tell from the aggravated look on her face that the conversation was not going well. He saw her finally close the connection and gaze back toward him.

  “I don’t think he believed me,” Margaret reported. “He kept asking about the Jupiter Probe and if it was still on the Space Platform. I told him I didn’t have that information, and he would have to talk to you later.”

  “You did very well, Margaret,” Steve spoke, knowing he could count on the young communications officer. She was a fine officer and very dedicated.

  “Farley will be after the president next,” murmured Christy, looking over at Steve. “He won’t give up until he gets an answer.”

  “I know,” Steve replied, uneasily.

  He wouldn’t want to be in the president’s shoes right now. Farley could be an ass when he wanted to be, and right now he would have his sights set on the president.
He would be demanding some answers.

  -

  Down in one of the observation rooms on the outer rim of the main wheel, Jennifer and Kathleen had watched the launch. Both had gasped in awe as the drive had ignited and the FarQuest had hurtled off into space.

  “That was beautiful,” Jennifer said with envy. She almost wished she were onboard with Ty.

  “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Kathleen breathed, awed by the sight. “I’ve watched shuttle launches from here before, but they don’t compare to this.” Both stared out into space where the brilliant dot that was the FarQuest seemed to blend in with the sea of stars. It was the brightest star by far, putting the others to shame.

  -

  Onboard the FarQuest, the minutes passed rapidly as the ship plowed through the cold vacuum of space. Those aboard her were experiencing a new thrill at being aboard the first ion powered spacecraft. For the first time, Ty began to feel better about the impending neutron star mission. He was beginning to feel that with this ship and crew they could go anywhere and do anything.

  The hour passed uneventfully and both Ty and Captain Simpson watched as the computer automatically shut down the drive. The ship coasted on its chosen trajectory. The artificial gravity was set at one-third Earth normal, making the crew feel much more comfortable. Fortunately, they could have artificial gravity due to the power generated by the fusion power plant.

  “Current speed is 11,473 feet per second or 7,920 miles per hour,” Ty said with satisfaction checking his instruments. “That’s almost exactly the speed predicted by the computer simulations.”

  “Not bad,” replied Simpson, loosening his acceleration harness and punching in a few commands on his computer keyboard. He quickly confirmed their orbital trajectory. “We will probably have to make a small engine burn to refine our flight trajectory. We’re off by less than one and a half degrees and 82 miles per hour in speed. Not bad for a first flight.”

  “All crewmembers report,” Ty ordered over the com, even though he could see everyone on the ship’s viewscreens.

  “Environmental and backup systems functioning normally,” replied Lieutenant Strett, checking her monitors and instruments.

  “Fusion reactor and ion drive systems showing green,” Winston reported.

  “All engineering boards are green,” Karl Velm stated from Engineering where he was still making some minor adjustments to the ship’s systems, bringing them up to optimum performance.

  “Permission to begin equipment checks and observations?” Pierre LaRann asked from the deck below.

  The three scientists planned to test all their equipment on this short flight to ensure everything would function as they expected when they neared the neutron star. They had a lot of equipment to check and had worked out an intensive observation schedule for the short duration trip.

  “Permission granted,” answered Ty, loosening his own harness and beginning to relax some.

  Captain Simpson reached forward and switched the main viewscreen to show the view ahead. The full Moon glowed brightly in the center of the screen, seeming to beckon them with its quiet, eerie light.

  “Commander Erin, this is Star One control,” Christy’s calm voice came clearly over the com. “We show that you will need a 20-second course and speed correction burn in two hours and ten minutes. Do you confirm?”

  Ty glanced at Captain Simpson, who nodded from his board where he had been double-checking the figures from the flight computer.

  “We confirm,” Ty replied. “We are beginning equipment tests and monitoring the ship’s systems for any potential problems, FarQuest out.”

  Ty unbuckled his acceleration safety harness and moved free of his acceleration couch. Walking to the hatch that led into the next section, he climbed down the ladder. He noticed upon arriving that the three scientists were already gone. Moving quickly through the different sections, he arrived at section seven and found the three scientists already at work.

  They were sitting in front of several consoles that controlled delicate sensors and sensitive monitoring devices located on the FarQuest’s outer hull. The sensors could monitor radiation, density of matter in space, detect fluctuations in gravitational attraction upon the ship, and perform a myriad of other tasks. Ty knew that the next section contained controls for the long-range detection instruments. There were several sophisticated telescopes that were situated in a small cargo hold. The cargo hold could be opened and the telescopes pointed at any object by simply using the ship’s thrusters to align the ship.

  “Everything looks good, Commander,” reported Pierre LaRann, seeing Ty standing behind him. “The instruments seem to be functioning properly. We are just beginning our observations.”

  “Very well,” replied Ty, noticing that all three seemed to be busy at their consoles. “Let me know if you encounter any problems.”

  Continuing, Ty went on down to main Engineering, encountering Karl with his hands and head inside an engineering access panel on the wall. “Is there a problem?” Ty asked, concerned as Karl glanced questionably in his direction.

  ”No, Sir,” replied Karl, attaching a sensor wire to a clip inside the panel from a small handheld monitoring device he was holding in his left hand.

  “I’m just fine tuning a few of the engineering systems for better performance. Everything is working within specs, but it can always be improved some,” he stated, looking at the readout on the hand monitor and nodding satisfyingly to himself.

  “This is the first time the drive has been on for an extended period of time, and it allowed me to run some system checks we haven’t been able to do before. Some of the systems need some minor adjustments to bring them up to optimum performance levels. I’ve asked Winston to come down and help with some of the changes. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours.”

  “Very well,” replied Ty, knowing that engineers were always trying to fine-tune their equipment. They never seemed to be completely satisfied. “Just remember, we have a course correction burn in approximately two hours.” Turning, Ty left the Engineering section, going back up to the Flight Deck and passing Winston who was making his way down to Engineering.

  Arriving back on the Flight Deck, Ty saw that Captain Simpson and Lieutenant Strett were bent over her environmental control panel in heavy discussion.

  “Something wrong?” asked Ty, coming to a stop next to them.

  “Temperatures are fluctuating in some of the compartments. Engineering is nearly 80 degrees, and the galley is down to 68,” Lieutenant Strett reported uncomfortably, her hand flying across her board, calling up readings on various instruments and checking her control console.

  Ty recalled that Engineering had seemed slightly warm, but he hadn’t thought too much about it.

  “This is the first time the ship has been completely clear of the Space Platform,” Simpson said, watching Lieutenant Strett. “We may be seeing the affects of the coldness of space and possibly some residual heat buildup from the ion tubes from running the drive for so long.”

  Lieutenant Strett made several adjustments on her board and keyed in several commands through the environmental computer. Watching the different compartment monitors, Ty saw the temperature in the various cabins slowly move to 72 degrees and hold there.

  “What did you do?” he asked, curiously.

  “I adjusted the air flow to the compartments. It allows the air to circulate quicker. And I reset the system to adjust the air circulation as needed to maintain compartment temperatures at 72 degrees. The system seems to have stabilized now,” she responded, smiling slightly. “We will need to modify this program for our longer flight to ensure stable temps in all the compartments, but that shouldn’t be a big problem. A programmer can probably do it in a couple of hours.”

  Ty sat back down in his acceleration couch and checked his controls. Everything was still functioning normally. So far, other than a few minor things, the ship was performing remarkably well.

  “This
is platform control,” Todd’s voice came over the com. “Everything still looks green from here, how are things on your end, Ty?”

  “Looking great,” replied Ty, gazing at the main viewscreen and the slowly growing Moon. “The ride is very smooth, and we have found only a few minor problems. Nothing to be concerned about.”

  “I just finished talking to Mase Colton on the Moon, and they are preparing for your near approach,” Todd continued. “They will have shuttles in position if they are needed.”

  “I hope they enjoy the view,” replied Ty, feeling confident about the FarQuest. “We won’t be staying long.”

  -

  Two hours later, after they had made their course correction burn, the entire crew except Captain Simpson was in the galley trying out their first shipboard meal. It would be a very light meal, as they would be exposed shortly to considerable G-forces as they made their slingshot around the Moon.

  They were all seated around the large table in the center of the compartment. A large screen on one wall was focused on a view of space in front of the ship, with the Moon steadily growing larger by the minute. Various storage compartments on the walls contained prepared food packets, water, two compact microwaves, and several refrigerated spaces.

  Ty pulled the red tab on his prepackaged meal and waited as it heated itself up to its serving temperature. A small dot on the top of the package turned green, indicating it was ready. Roast beef, potatoes, carrots, and a roll. Attaching the container to the Velcro strip on the table, he peeled the top back and gazed reflectively at his food. He was only going to eat a small part of it and felt a little guilty about the waste, but he didn’t want to become ill from a full stomach as they swept around the Moon.

  Even though the FarQuest was operating in one-third Earth normal gravity, it was best to keep everything secured. Ty took a cautious bite and then smiled. This sure beat the food served on the shuttles. This stuff actually tasted decent!