Alpha 1472 (5 page)

The pilot and co pilot had elected to sit near to computer terminals and was now each becoming engrossed in two totally different ROM publications. The captain had selected to further his knowledge of the martial arts and meditation techniques, whilst Marius Hatch was passing his downtime studying the technical data and specifications of the ship in which they were now travelling.

Mary and Anne passed out drinks amongst the crew and then retired to the back of the cabin began to become more acquainted with each other. It was the first real chance they had had for any form of social communication and they had both been looking forward to this time.

They had been en route for approximately two hours when Captain Daniels had decided that it was time for them to get into their sleeping modules. Each of the crew began to busy themselves securing all loose items that were free floating around the cabin. Having done this they proceeded to strip down to their underwear and stow their overalls in their personnel lockers. One by one they harnessed themselves into their modules and closed the glass covers. With the closure of each cover came a hiss as each one was hermetically sealed. As the seventh and final capsule was secured doctor Anne homer opened a small door which was set at the head of her capsule. When it was opened it revealed a small control panel. She then proceeded to activate the system that would flood each module with the odorless gas that would trigger their endorphin release. Within minutes all seven of them were asleep.

As they slept the onboard computer began to systematically shut down all nonessential functions including life support, these systems would not be needed as each individual capsule housed its own. Finally all lighting was extinguished. Their lives now were dependant on the computer and on ground control. The shuttle was now in almost complete darkness and silent. The only noise that could be heard was the deep quiet rumble of the engines as they continued to power their way towards their destination.

Somewhere in the history of every civilization, there were documented cases of people who possess certain uncanny abilities, abilities which seem fantastic and implausible, yet however preposterous they appear to be, they were the basis of a technique which had enabled long haul space travel to become reality. During the early days of space travel, the agency had found that although the craft they were using had the speed and capabilities to travel from asteroid to asteroid, the crews were becoming over fatigued by the duration and the conditions of extended space travel. Consequently, upon arrival at a new asteroid, exploratory work that had been planned was being severely hampered, and very basic mistakes were being made due to the emotional and physical state of the crews. To overcome these problems, scientists began looking into all avenues to find a way to induce a prolonged sleep status within a crew member allowing him or her to awaken at their destination refreshed and alert. Their search for the answer had led them to a tribe of people whose ancestry spanned many, many millennia. Their way of life was based solely upon the belief that they and they alone controlled their minds bodies and their destiny. Through the almost total devotion they had towards their lifestyle, they had perfected an art of meditation that had allowed them to develop a technique of self induced coma. The more practiced amongst them could vary the length of their sleep state at will, slowing down all of their metabolic functions to an absolute minimum for survival. Whist in this state other members of the tribe would take their lifeless bodies and lay them upon a ceremonial alter in the middle of the village to await their return to the redivivus or the rebirth. To the scientists this was very impressive, but at the same time it was impractical to expect that any astronaut would be able to master this feat of self control that had took these people many lifetimes to perfect. The real breakthrough had come when the tribal elders had agreed to a small research facility being set up within their village with the express intention of studying this phenomenon. After many years of intensive investigations, the elusive secret had been uncovered. It had been found that the tribesmen had developed the ability to stimulate their brain into producing certain endorphins, which, once released into their systems, effectively closed down all non essential functions. The most surprising finding was that the endorphins detected were not unique to the tribesmen, they were in fact present in everyone, albeit in a dormant state. Armed with their findings, the scientists returned to their laboratories to develop ways to utilize their new found knowledge. It did not take long, however, for them to realize that they only possessed half of the key, and that it would be many years before they could take advantage of this technique.

The next step had proved to be the most dangerous, and the most sensitive. It was research that had been conducted behind closed doors, a top secret project that had been kept from the media and the public
for fear of the impassioned response that it would provoke.

It had produced, within its volunteers, a most unwanted side effect. During the efforts to produce a trigger mechanism to release the sleep endorphins all of the experiments had resulted in either the death or comatose state of its subject. The basic problem had come about due to the initial success of the ‘operation trigger’. Everyone connected with the operation had thought that it would be a simple pharmaceutical problem. Thanks to the tribesmen, the project researchers had been able to produce a derivative of a plant that was indigenous to the mountain regions. The drug that had been produced from the hyssop plant had proved highly effective in triggering the desired release. The real problem was that once the trigger device had stimulated the brain, the gland responsible continued via self stimulation, to produce the endorphin. Consequently, the facility had been filled with wards full of sleeping patients. What was needed was a second drug to halt the production and allow the body to cleanse itself and revive the subject.

The second reviving drug had been discovered quite by accident. The agency had always taken great care when selecting the guinea pig volunteers who would receive the treatment, however, on one occasion one of the volunteers had not been screened correctly. He was the only one ever to have been taken into the program who still had a living relative. The relative, who had been thought dead, turned out to be the man’s brother.’ He had been working for the government and had been involved in covert operations; working in such environments had facilitated several changes of identity, much to the extent that his true identity had all but been lost. Upon returning to civilian life, he had felt the need to try to pick up some of the pieces of his former life. By using his connections within the various government departments he had discovered that he was not the only member of his family and further than that his brother had been placed in the program by the hospital that had been treating him. Having left the world of espionage he now found himself doing the same type of work for himself. His investigations had led him to the research establishment of the space program, where by now his brother was incarcerated and comatose in the overcrowded observation ward. Using the skills he had gained during his time as an undercover operative, he had decided to mount a rescue bid to save his brother. His prowess in this field had allowed him to slip in and out of the facility and execute his rescue virtually unnoticed. Carrying his lifeless brother, fireman style, he cautiously made his bid for freedom. He had barely cleared the perimeter fence when the alarm was raised. Bundling his brother into his getaway vehicle he sped away in the direction of the city. He was aware that they were being perused, and what ensued was a cat and mouse game of capture and evasion. Finally they had found refuge in a perfume warehouse on the outskirts of one of the industrial zones. The rescuer and his charge had found a place to go to ground, and there they lay in a storage hopper of raw materials. It was uncomfortable, but it was, for the moment, safe. The decision had been made for them to stay here, in hiding, until the coast was clear for them to move on. They had been there several hours when, unseemingly, the life began to return to the unconscious brother. The other having researched the condition, knew that this was not possible. But there it was, happening before his eyes. His thought turned for a while to all of the other patients he had seen lying in the ward, and in that instant he knew that if the others stood any chance of recovery they had to return, regardless of the consequences he may have to face.

After the furore of their return had died down and investigations were complete, scientists had finally found the missing part to their puzzle. The antidote was held within the raw materials of the perfume.

They sped silently through the blackness of space towards their target. The automatic guidance system would be operative for the next four days. It would hold them to a course which was almost a complete replica of the orbit on which their own planet was travelling. By journeying ahead of the planet, they would in effect create a time span as their planet came into and out of range of Epsilon Omega. This window would allow for vital surface research to be carried out before the shuttle would have to take off and assume a trajectory that would allow them to catch up with their departing home world.

It had been four days since they had departed from home, and during that time the shuttle had travelled through the vastness of space under the control of the on board navigational computer. In the darkness of the flight deck it had continued to make minor adjustments in the guidance of the craft ensuring that, when the crew returned they would be exactly where they expected they would be. The entire craft was still, dark and silent. The engines continued their dull roar. The crew slept.

1472 Alpha was a new generation space vehicle, the first of its kind. It was able to travel at speeds greater than had ever been achieved before. This was largely due to the breakthrough of anti matter reactor engines which afforded greater power output and incredibly reduced fuel payload. Consequently, they were now travelling faster than anyone had ever travelled before.

The dark, silent, serenity of things came to an abrupt end as the entire shuttle sprang to life. Oxygen circulated around the vessel
, environment controls began to heat the cabins and lighting systems flickered to life. It was time for the crew to be revived. Each of the seven capsules was flooded with the antidote gas and all of the locking restraints which had held the crew stable and the glass covers were released. One by one the crew experienced their own ‘redivisus’ and before long they were all awake, and ready to resume their journey.

When they had all been fully revived, they proceeded to take a meal and to freshen themselves before the real purpose of their mission was to begin.

Mary had been busy calculating all of the variables required for the approach, the landing and subsequently the take off. For her, this would be the most important part of her personal mission.

Having completed her brief, she contacted Captain Daniels “Captain, this is Mary. I’m ready with my results now”

The captain informed the rest of the crew who spun their chairs around to face the circle of monitors which occupied the centre of the command deck. As Mary began to address her colleagues the monitors displayed the simulation she had created.

“Right, this is our present position, in two hours we will be taking up orbit around
Epsilon Omega. Here is our planet which is now three days behind us, at its present speed it will pass through this system and be out of range in ten days. This gives us a maximum time on the surface of six days seven hours precisely. I can’t, at this moment, say where we will be landing, not until the captain and Mr. Hatch have evaluated the terrain and the predisposition of the planet. All of my figures are based upon the information thus far obtained by J.D”

The crew’s attention now turned to the geologist, J.D. who now leaned forwards in his
chair.

“The system we are now in is one of nine planets orbiting a single sun. The one that we are interested in is this one, third out. I estimate that the system is some four and a half billion years old, and completely stable. I have been observing
Epsilon Omega and by calculating its rotation around the sun in conjunction with its axial rotation rate, it would appear that, because of the size and mass of this planet in comparison to our own, we share a similar time scale. Now, when our planet passes though this system, it will pass between the orbits of the fifth and sixth and avoid this asteroid belt here. As it makes its pass both the largest planet and the ringed planet will be on this side of the sun, allowing safe passage for the home world. It is fortunate that the third planet is the only one that seems capable of supporting life. Projected interference reports suggest that the distance between Epsilon Omega and passage orbit will result in only minor disturbance to this system”.

As each of them outlined their findings the monitors were displaying the various points that they were making. Mathew Watkins was the next to report.

“Taking into account the density and mass of this sun in direct comparison to that of our former system, the size of Epsilon Omega, its distance from the sun and the intensity of the sun, its reasonable for us to assume a similar distribution of the temperate zones we will encounter will be much the same as we would find on our own planet. At present we are not close enough for me to produce an accurate assessment of the atmospheric condition present on the planet, but, from long range, it would appear that this will be a place that will well suit the needs of life as we know it to be. If you look at the weather systems now in progress you will see several large windows of non clouded activity, I would suggest that if, at closer inspection these areas are free from turbulence or wind systems, that one of these areas would be ideal for a landing attempt”.