EPILOGUE
Chapter 77
Moon Base – 2175
The General has made one of his now infrequent visits to Moon Base and was staring intently at the console in front of him.
Now well into his eighties, he had long ago retired as supreme leader of the World Cosmological Council but still retained an active role in Project Omega. He was desperately hoping for two things before his own final journey to the stars, as he liked to think of it.
Firstly, he hoped that he would receive the signals from the star, Seren, that LifeSeeker-1 had arrived successfully and that all the crew had ‘awakened’ safely from cryo-hibernation. Secondly that there would be an explanation for the existence of the strange blinking planet and a solution to such an unusual signal.
Oh, and, of course, that he lived at least another 5 years to hear this news!
He was in the Mission and Flight Control centre, a large domed structure sitting adjacent to the landing ‘roof’ of the Moon Base. Nearly 500 personnel manned, ‘twenty four seven’, the various missions and controlled the flights of hundreds of rockets and shuttles between the bases of Earth, Moon and Mars. Their consoles were arranged in several rising concentric circles such that the operators could view the dome display in front of them which carried the essential data for their mission or flight.
He had studied the replicated data for the LifeSeeker missions, which were being monitored in depth at Mars Base, and satisfied himself that all systems were still working in a satisfactory manner. Now he stood behind the 50 operators supporting Mission TitanLife-3 and could see, on the dome display, the ROL lander at the camp set up on Jupiter’s moon, Titan. In the distance, astronauts were finalising the complex drilling platform that would allow them seek out new life forms that may exist in the seas below the frozen surface of the moon. This mission was also exploring the nearby regions to determine a suitable location for a future base.
What a project that would be, he mused, and suddenly he was startled by a cry from an operator on the other side of the dome.
This technician had risen from his own console and rushed to one that had hardly been manned in the last 40 years!
‘A signal! A signal!’ shouted the operator, who then noticed the General.
‘General! A signal from StarGazer-1! Commander Chuck Parker’s mission!’
Both the operator and the General rushed to the console where some of the lights that had been red for 50 years now flashed green. The operator took up position at the StarGazer-1 desk. He hadn’t been born when the massive solar flare of 2125 severed communications 50 years ago.
‘It’s a short communication from StarGazer-1, audio, plus a few seconds of video!’
‘What’s it saying?’ The General could hardly contain his excitement.
‘I’m just processing the digital feed, here it comes, audio first.’
Astonishingly and for the first time in over 50 years a familiar voice boomed out,
‘Where in Heavens’ name did that come fro...?’
‘Is that it?’
‘Yes sir, plus this video clip coming up,’
Many eyes now looked up at the dome where the screen showed a grainy image of a light grey background with a darker shape in the centre. The shape quickly grew in size until it filled the screen. Then the video stopped.
‘Play it again!’ barked the General and they listened and watched.
‘That’s it Sir, that’s all there is. The video is the forward view out of the spacecraft. And there’s no further communication from StarGazer-1.’
‘It’s his voice! It’s Chuck’s voice,’ the General confirmed. ‘I’d know it anywhere. Where’s the transmission coming from?’
The coordinates came up on the dome.
‘That’s 33 million kilometres away, General, and it’s nowhere near the original flight trajectory. What does it mean?’
‘What else is in that region of space?’
‘Nothing, Sir! Nothing at all in our records!’
‘But it looked as if Stargazer-1 was moving towards something, and Chuck said ‘where in Heavens’ name did that come from?’’ The General persisted.
‘Yes, General, but something could have been moving towards StarGazer-1. Also one other thing - the computer has analysed the dark shape and it has straight edges! – it is a 2 kilometre wide regular hexagon.’
There was silence in the control centre.
The General sat down, stunned at the evidence that Chuck Parker was still alive. After 55 years! How could that be? It did not seem feasible.
‘I need to send a message,’ he ordered. ‘To LifeSeeker-1.’
He found it difficult to phrase the words. After all, he had to tell Scott that his father was still alive after all these years but they had little clue as to his whereabouts.
‘It would be 10 years before this message reached Cloud Planet but surprisingly Scott was going to find this out much sooner than that!’
Approximately 1 minute after the sensational transmission from StarGazer-1, the control room erupted with gasps and shouts as operators stood and pointed at the section of dome that displayed news from Earth.
‘General! Look! Something weird is happening, I can’t believe it!’ cried one of the operators. ‘A huge number of asteroids, meteorites or something has crashed into the Pacific ocean!’
‘That’s preposterous,’ the General retorted, rising awkwardly from his seat. ‘Anything like that would have been detected well before arriving at Earth.’
The General stared, open-mouthed. He listened and watched in awe and horror as satellite pictures showed large objects crashing into the ocean as far as the eye could see causing huge explosions of water.
The newscaster was broadcasting, over this unbelievable scene, that there was no forewarning of this vast shower.
‘Experts are completely baffled that such a large number of enormous objects could have arrived at Earth undetected. Furthermore, and of immense immediate concern is the formation of gigantic tsunamis heading in all directions from a point in the centre of the southern Pacific Ocean.’
‘But how?’ cried the General. ‘How could this happen without warning?’
Then the newscaster spoke again but this time his voice was higher pitched and carried a tone of incredulity.
‘Further video is coming through from the southern Pacific, I can’t believe what I’m seeing! A tsunami wave over 500 metres in height – that can’t be right surely? – is racing at speeds in excess of 300 kilometres per hour on an expanding front towards southern Australasia, the tip of South America and directly at the ice-shelf of Antarctica. Already hundreds of SOS messages have been received from shipping and energy fields in the south Pacific and most have been followed by ominous silence.’
The broadcaster continued to say that the World Disaster Council was in full session and emergency evacuation plans have been activated for the whole western coast of continental America and the eastern seaboards of China, Asia, Australasia and Antarctica.
Satellite pictures then showed the scale of these tsunamis, which, although thousands of kilometres from landfall, would cause a calamity on Earth of unprecedented proportions. However, the Ross ice-shelf of continental Antarctica was only 500 kilometres away.
Continuing footage showed the gargantuan curved wave as it raged towards the ice. It was both awesome and frightening in its proportions.
Even more disturbing was the enormous black mass that followed in its wake.
The General could only watch, helplessly, wondering what had caused this calamity and what the consequences would be for planet Earth.
Chapter 78
What next for Earth?
‘It is going to be another five long years before the events at Cloud Planet reach Mars Base.
‘Another 5 years before Earth learns about the menace of the Black, molecular computers, discs that travel faster than the speed of light and melt planetary icecaps!
‘However,
on Earth the huge estuaries, rivers and lakes are, of course, fresh water and no barrier to such an advanced, sophisticated ‘bead’!
‘The only safe place is in the chlorinated swimming pools!’
‘It is time to bring this first part of my story to a close. I think you have had more than enough for now but you may like to ponder......
...... where in the universe will Olivia and Scott meet again?
...... where is Scott’s father?
..... how and where does he bump into Olivia’s sister?
..... and how do they unravel and start to learn the chilling truth that is......’
Quest of the Dicepterons
Volume Two: Disaster Earth
THE END
The Blue People of Cloud Planet Page 39
