Galactic Startup

by Brian Whiting

  The video showed footage of Jack’s team and its vehicles that Zeek had recorded with cameras fitted to their own cars, and the shuttle. There was a segment showing agents searching Timmys house. Though, that was a while ago.

  The video continued. “Due to the unlawful pursuit of our technology by the government, we have been forced into hiding while we complete our fully-functional space vessel.” The video transitioned to a drone-operated aerial view of the hangar facilities, a skeletal view of the spacecraft in its early days, and finally what appeared to be the completed product.

  “We are fortunate to have been joined by NASA astronauts Mason Freeman and Cindy Crowell, who will come with us in our first voyage into the cosmos. They will be joined by the most qualified personnel from a range of fields.”

  “We will explore new worlds and seek out new life in the pursuit of a better future for humanity. Our organization and all of our missions will be fully documented and transparent. I am pleased to say that this will be just the first step in ushering in a brave new world of exploration.”

  The video faded to an emblem. A large upside-down V, the right side curved outward. Behind it were three stars, and a comet passed in front.

  The screen faded to black, and the room was quiet.

  “My god,” said Amanda, quietly.

  “You know, if you had show me that video at the start, I might not have taken a month to sign on myself,” said Gloria to Cindy. She turned to Amanda. “Amanda, my name is Gloria Humal. I’ll be the ship’s doctor. I’ve known Cindy for several years. When they approached me with a position, I wasn’t sure about it. The money is okay, but more importantly, I wanted to be on the cutting edge of discovery. I hope you’ll join us.”

  “The main goal of this video is to generate public sympathy, or at least awareness. The government has been hunting us since the start. It’s time to shine a light on their activities,” said Alex.

  Mason addressed Amanda. “Now that you know who we are, could you tell us a little about yourself?”

  Amanda looked into the eyes of everyone at the table. The online application hadn’t prepared her for anything like this. Mason wore a simple t-shirt with the UEF emblem. To her, it meant this thing was very real, despite the age of its leader. She realized her heart was racing and her palms were sweaty. She eyed the door, and took a deep breath.

  “My name is Amanda. I’m a micro-biologist. When I was sixteen, I was admitted to Cornell, and later transferred to MIT. Completed my master’s at Columbia. I spent two years with Professor McGill, researching nucleic acid and its role in the origins of life. I have since worked with research groups in California, and with the Merrick Company in Virginia. I’ve been there for the last two years.”

  “What are you currently researching?” Mason continued.

  “There’s a beetle in the Amazon that’s been found to carry a unique compound. It may allow cells to divide without degradation of nucleic coding.”

  “Immortality!” exclaimed Mason.

  Amanda smiled. So astronauts really did know it all, she thought to herself.

  When Amanda remained quiet, Mason sat back in his chair and cracked a smile.

  “Family, hobbies? Anything we should know about you as a person?”

  “No family. My parents are not around, and I am more interested in work than with men so. I love Italian food and animals.”

  She looked away as if she were embarrassed about something.

  “What did everyone think of the video?” Zeek asked, breaking the awkward silence that had followed.

  Jerry was the first to speak. “It’s good. I think it will do very well.”

  “Are you sure we’re ready to go public? The ship isn’t even finished,” Timmy frowned.

  “That’s why we have to. The feds will come back, and take everything,” Alex replied. “I’m hoping the video will buy us more time to complete construction.”

  “It’s not finished?” asked Amanda.

  Alex reached over and hit a button installed in the desk. One of the walls began to retract, revealing a large glass window. The ship was on the other side, facing the room head-on. The left side looked complete, with its large, curving, smooth white flank. The right side still had exposed interior decks.

  “Does it work?” Amanda’s eyes grew wide. She arched her neck to get a better view.

  “It can fly, yes. It’s not quite ready for space yet,” Alex said. He looked at Timmy, who returned his gaze. He pulled out a three-page employment agreement and passed it to Amanda. “This isn’t so much an interview as an offer. We want you to fill the position.”

  Mason pushed another two sheets of paper towards her.

  “This one is a confidentiality agreement. To know anything more will require you to sign. The other one is an agreement of non-disclosure for two years. If you turn down the position and abide by the non-disclosure, an account of your choice will be credited twenty thousand dollars at the end of two years. Sign that one if you have no interest in joining us and would like someone to take you home.”

  Amanda stared at the ship being constructed in the hangar. She eyed both sheets of paper.

  “Can I see the ship first?”

  Mason and Alex looked at each other. They had spent a lot of time together recently, but not enough to know what the other was thinking. Alex shrugged his shoulders. Mason leaned forward.

  “I’m afraid you have to sign first. The ship is highly confidential,”

  Amanda took another deep breath. Her early dreams of going to space had been rekindled. It was an easy choice. She signed the first paper.

  Alex reached out a hand.

  “Welcome aboard, Amanda.” They looked into each other’s’ eyes as they shook. Amanda smiled warmly.

  “Well let’s go on that tour you wanted.”

  Despite Gloria having been recruited by Cindy first, she had not yet been on the ship. Unlike Mac, their new astrophysicist and chemist, who had also been helping with the final stages of construction.

  Everyone stood, and Mason led the way to the hangar. Alex caught up to Cindy as she left the room. “Cindy, are you sure you want to do this?” Alex asked, knowing she had a long drive ahead of her.

  “Please. They won’t even know that junk is gone,” she replied sarcastically, and jogged to the parking lot.

  Zeek sidled towards Alex.

  “That was an incredibly fast hiring process,” he said softly.

  “She’s qualified. Cindy wouldn’t let someone on the ship who wasn’t ready for it.” Alex replied, not looking at his friend.

  “Hey,” Zeek stopped Alex in the hallway. “This thing we are building. I am not so sure about it. I’m not talking about the ship. Soon this thing is going to be big, interplanetary, even. Who are we to be creating it? We’re picking people based on Cindy’s hunch. Doesn’t that bother you?”

  “What better reason is there to choose anyone? We both know the smarter a person is, the easier it is for them to skate through all the rigorous personality tests and crap you can buy. Let’s face it, we need the cream of the crop when it comes to intelligence.”

  The group made for the rear of the ship, the only way to gain entrance on foot. They had to pick their way through cabling and construction material lying about the hangar floor. Finally, they reached the ramp and continued up and into the ship.

  “Welcome to the Starship Destiny,” said Mason, theatrically gesturing with his hand.

  There were three levels. Amanda noticed that the hallways were wide, big enough for the forklifts to drive down and even turn around. The floor was well worn with their tracks. The deck and walls were white and grey. LED lighting embedded in the walls produced sophisticated accents.

  Entering the lowest level, they encountered roomy cargo bays on either side of the ship, with space for large equipment to be loaded. The same ramp led up to the second floor, where Mason turned right. That hallway brought them completely around and back to where they started. It w
as a large loop, with a couple window spaces to look outside. This floor contained additional living quarters for the crew, a cafeteria, and more.

  The second floor wasn’t painted yet, with dull or shiny steel exposed. Halfway down the left side of the hallway, the outer hull wasn’t finished, and was open to the hangar. They could see the meeting room they had just left.

  They took the ramp to the first floor. The highest level, this floor also required further work. It was even less complete than the second floor. It was designed to house the core work areas. Mason led the group down the one hallway in its center, leading to the bridge at the front.

  This, at least, looked complete, aside from a few stray cables hanging from the ceiling and several tools left negligently un-stowed. There were three huge screens at the front, with two computer stations positioned in front of them, and another two on the back wall. In the center of the room were a few large chairs arranged in various locations. Attached to the arm of each chair was an adjustable touch screen device, able to control various parts of the ship or to monitor its functions.

  Amanda walked to a large desk in the center of the room behind the line of chairs, followed by the rest of the crew. She tapped a large, spinning United Earth Fleet icon on its touchscreen, which resolved into several options. She was about to select Navigation, when Mason spoke out.

  “Mimi. Please display our current location on the command desk.”

  A feminine, computerized voice answered.

  “Yes, Commander Mason.”

  A map appeared on the screen before Amanda’s eyes, showing a satellite view of the compound’s vicinity, with a blue dot at the center representing the ship. Amanda chuckled at the use of showy technology. But Mason wasn’t done.

  “Mimi. Display camera one on the main screen.”

  The three large view-screens that dominated the room blazed in ultra-high definition. They showed footage of the hangar from a camera mounted at the front of the vessel.

  “Camera six, please.” Mason continued.

  The image changed to show the mess of construction material situated directly beneath the ship.

  “Status report,” Mason said. Once again, the female voice spoke from hidden speakers.

  “The Destiny has sustained significant damage. Decks one and two are exposed to space. Power is down to twenty-four percent capacity. Air recycling is operating normally. Water and waste are nonfunctional. Control systems are operational. Emergency systems are offline. Computer systems are operating at ninety two percent efficiency. Temperature control is nonfunctional.”

  “I need to find a way to shorten that,” Mason mumbled to himself. Amanda couldn’t help but smile again.

  “Ninety two percent. I thought you said you would fix that,” Alex said to Zeek.

  “It’s not the only thing that needs my attention. We’ve all been pretty busy.”

  “Sustained damage?” said Gloria.

  “The computer thinks the unfinished parts of the ship have been damaged. Once the ship is complete, the terminology will fit,” said Mason, with pride in his voice. “I spent a lot of time on Mimi before I even went to the ISS. She’s kind of my hobby.”

  Alex wondered if Mimi could be programed to do more. He imagined an artificial helper who could be more involved in his daily routines. His thoughts were interrupted when Amanda took a seat at one of the back-wall work stations. She considered the several options displayed on the glass console. Navigation, communication, internal systems, entertainment, tactical.

  “Tactical?” Amanda asked, warily. “Are we expecting trouble?”

  “Oh heavens no,” Jorge answered. “The operating system on these computers came from third party vendors. They thought it was for a gaming platform. If you click tactical, you’ll get an error message. We don’t really have any… fighting capabilities.

  “I still think we should have installed photon torpedoes,” said Zeek, smiling. “For when we run into Klingons.”

  Amanda pushed the tactical button and received the error message. Then she selected the entertainment option, which revealed several additional categories. TV, movies, music, games and more. Idly scrolling through the movie options, she realized they had really invested in entertainment. The list felt like it contained every theatrical release of the last hundred years.

  “Obviously we haven’t finished configuring some of the options. Entertainment should not be available on the bridge,” Alex said, looking at Jorge.

  “The job description said I should be prepared to travel for long periods. What are we talking about here? Doesn’t it take years to reach other planets?” Amanda asked, looking at Mason.

  It was a sore point. Mason deferred to Alex. They still hadn’t told him how the propulsion system worked, or how fast it could go. The thing of it was, they really didn’t know themselves.

  “Flight time between planets will be short,” Alex said. “Days or weeks at most. It all depends on the position of the planets at the time and how much speed we can attain. How long we spend out there will depend on our goals for the mission at hand. We may be gone weeks or even months. Thankfully the position of our first target is currently favorable.”

  Mason cut him off.

  “Now may be a good time to advise you that while we are doing everything we can to build a safe and efficient ship, there will be no help for us in space. The missions will not be without risk, though we will do our best to minimize that potential. Most of the crew are civilians who have not received even a fraction of the training or evaluations NASA requires for astronauts. You will receive some training from Jerry over here, and we believe that the ease of functionality on the ship makes NASA’s intensive regime redundant. Nevertheless… I just want you to be aware of the dangers.”

  Amanda gave no indication that this information troubled her. As if she had already considered that possibility.

  Just then, Alex received a call from security on his cell.

  “Go,” he said.

  “The convoy returned to the local Sheriff’s Office. They’re seeking more federal agents. They’ll be going in on foot tomorrow morning.”

  “Thank you for the update.” Alex hung up the phone. He glanced around. “We have a problem. They are coming soon, we think tomorrow morning. There’s no more time.” He allowed a small pause, and said, “We need to launch Operation Sunshine.”

  Amanda looked at Alex.

  “You know I’m new, right?” There was another pause.

  “We’re not ready,” said Timmy.

  “The ship isn’t even finished,” said Jorge.

  “They are leaving us little choice,” said Alex.

  “The ship isn’t finished!” Jorge repeated.

  “It’s a simple choice. We go now, or let them come tomorrow morning.”

  “We could move to Bravo Site,” said Zeek. Even now he was gaming on his phone.

  “Montana? It’s empty. Doesn’t have anything we would need to keep working. It would set us back months and there’s no guarantee they wouldn’t find us there either.

  “Still an option, though,” Zeek said, calmly.

  Mason looked around the room. He was concerned about the ship. The founding four, as he called them, were very stingy when it came to supplying the exact specifications of systems any good commander ought to know. He had no idea if the ship was in real danger by taking flight.

  “We will launch Operation Sunshine,” Alex was saying, trying to project authority. “If it succeeds, we can continue as normal. If it fails, we will move the ship to location Bravo. Simple as that.” He waited for further challenges. After a moment, he looked over to Jorge and Zeek. “Get the website online. Gloria, go ahead and deliver the packages. Let’s light up social media. Operation Sunshine is about telling the world who we are,” he finished, speaking to Amanda. “and it’s about time.”

  The crew began to filter out of the bridge. Alex watched Amanda stand up out of the chair. She was certainly attractive. Amanda
caught him staring at her out of the corner of her eye and she turned to face him. His face flushed but he held her gaze.

  “Captain… Sir…” She shook her head a few times. “What should I call you?”

  “If we’re alone, call me Alex. Otherwise Captain or sir will be fine.”

  She glanced around the empty bridge.

  “Alex, you seem a bit young. How did you get to be the leader of all of this?” She extended her hands and gestured around the room.

  “Well it’s true, I’ve seen your application. You are three weeks older than me.” He cracked a smile and she returned it.

  “Where would I be working?”

  “There’s not enough seats on the bridge to fit the whole crew. Most of your work is hands-on. You can pick which science lab you want to use. They are identical. Give Commander Mason a list of whatever equipment you need and we will see about obtaining it.”

  They continued talking as they made their way out of the bridge.

  “Tell me, Alex. Why are you doing all of this? What motivated you to run from the government and build this massive ship?”

  “My friends had an idea and I had the means. Initially, I just thought it was cool. Then I think I was doing it for fame. Now I realize it’s none of those things. There’s something big here, an opportunity. Over the last two years, while we built this thing, there’s been a lot of time to think about our purpose. What we are about to set out and do. I’m beginning to understand the power we wield. I want to use it for good. I intend to make changes. Changes that benefit everyone. For once, the little guy on this planet will be able to do something.”

  “Yeah? With a space ship?” asked Amanda, raising an eyebrow.

  “See, that’s where I started. Open your mind. It’s not the ship. It’s what we will discover. What we can accomplish, without politics or corporations getting in the way of the common good.”