The Return of the Manhattan (2 page)

CHAPTER 3

Marie no sooner disconnected when the incoming message light on her pcom began blinking. She hadn’t changed the mode after landing. While flying, she always left it in the blink only mode to allow for no distractions during a critical flight phase. She pushed the talk button, “Lieutenant Ashton.”

“Hi sweetheart. Are you home yet?”

Marie stammered, “What… What do you mean? Where are you and what’s wrong with your pcom? How did you know I was on my way? I’ve been trying to reach you.”

David chuckled, “I should be at your mother’s in twenty minutes. There isn’t anything wrong with my pcom; I’m talking to you, aren’t I? I turned it off while in conference with President Gardiner. What time will you be home?”

Marie was totally confused, “Don’t change the subject! I’ll be there in five minutes. What about the president?”

Marie was waiting with Laura outside her mother’s home as David’s vehicle came to a stop. Laura didn’t want to wait any longer before squirming out of her mother’s arms taking a few faltering steps until David swept her off her feet. She babbled contentedly as her Daddy whirled her over his head and then held her in one arm while holding her mother close with the other.

After the evening meal, Marie’s mother took Laura getting her ready for bed allowing David and Marie a few minutes alone together. Marie’s curiosity was getting the best of her and she wanted a blow by blow account of David’s experiences at the White House. “How long have you known about this morning’s meeting and you never said a word?”

“Well, remember that envelope I was given when we arrived at Norfolk? That was it and my orders were to speak to no one about it, and that included you. However, you must remember that you were the one who has been away from me for most of the week.”

“I suppose, but a meeting with the president? Marie sat on his lap while playfully feeding him grapes.

“Yeah, exciting huh?”

“Don’t tell me that. I know what that type of exposure means! Tell me all about it.”

“Well, he asked me to volunteer for a long space voyage and I said yes.”

“Without consulting me!” Marie slid off his lap and moved away, pouting. “We just got back and I want a long time back on Earth before I set foot on a starship again. How could you?” She demanded. “How many are going on this mission?” As the full impact of his statement sunk in, she asked reproachfully, “Can I go?”

“I had about two minutes to decide and I think you would have done the same and you will volunteer. But that’s up to you. If you decide not to go, then you will know nothing more, and I must tell you, anything I have already said or even the fact that I’m going somewhere is Top Secret. I assumed you want to go.”

“Okay, what can you tell me, and how long before we leave?”

“We? You mean you’ve decided?”

“If you think I’m going to stay here and raise Laura by myself, you’ve got another think coming! Of course, I couldn’t leave Laura behind!”

“I wouldn’t leave her behind either, that is, unless you decide not to go. I have already told President Gardiner we are going.”

“All right. Tell me all you can.”

“We will be going on a voyage beyond the solar system and it could take up to fifteen years or more. It’s a vital mission essential to the survival of the United States and that’s about all I can say before you officially volunteer. There will probably be several couples going although I don’t know yet who or if there will be any other children. Laura can go, if we decide that would be best for her.”

“That’s it?

“Yup!”

“Who do I see to volunteer?”

“Just me.”

“All right. I’ll probably regret it, and Mom’s going to kill me, but I’m in.” She climbed back onto his lap content with her decision.

“Good!” David pulled her closer and kissed her deeply while his hands roved over her body, keeping her from asking more questions for the moment.

Marie responded hungrily for a couple minutes before pulling back and poking him in the ribs, “Well, where are we going?”

“I don’t know exactly. It’s a small earthlike planet in a solar system on the southern edge of the Milky Way. All I know is; it’s over one hundred light years away.”

“Are you sure we can do that? Nobody has ever traveled that far.”

“No, we aren’t sure if we can do it nor do we know if it’s safe. But we do know, we are doomed if we don’t accomplish this mission one way or another. President Gardiner probably has other options, but this is our shot. You remember meeting Admiral White? He will be the commander and I will be his Executive Officer. Our mission is very simple, and that is to bring back the largest cargo of crude oil that we can possibly load on a starship. Not too many people are aware of the problem, but the world is running out of oil. President Gardiner says if our supply is not replenished in the next thirty or forty years, we cannot continue to survive economically.”

“But, we don’t use oil for fuel any more. What’s the problem?”

“Most importantly, the propulsion units we use all require raw materials found only in crude oil.”

“I see. What chance do we have of finding oil? Isn’t this really a wildcat expedition?”

“Maybe, but President Gardiner sent out a geological team a few years ago and they should have already exceeded light speed. They are accelerating and apparently all is going well. If no oil is found on the planet they selected, there are a few other sites near by which show promise. We will be getting reports from the earlier team so it won’t be completely unknown territory. If they can do it, we can too.”

“What about me?”

“You will be a key member of the crew. The starship will only be capable of orbiting the planet. You, with whatever number of pilots you need, will shuttle to the surface delivering supplies and bringing oil to the ship.”

“And what are we supposed to do during the voyage?”

“You will continue to train and remain current with your simulator. If you agree, you will be the flight commander for all the pilots. Admiral White was a starfighter pilot, but I certainly don’t have any expertise in that area. The rest of your time will be spent however you choose. Of course, there will be excellent opportunities to get advanced degrees, or to do research in a number of fields. There will be education facilities available for whatever children are aboard. You could teach school. Most of the education for the children will be in virtual reality using the computers, but human teachers will provide that personal touch needed for that age group. Best of all, we will be together as a family.”

“Sounds like something I wouldn’t want to miss,” she said sarcastically, “When do we leave?”

“Don’t know yet. Depends on how soon Tom and I can get our plans developed and get the volunteers we need. It’ll be months if not longer. President Gardiner wants us to be underway as soon as possible.”

“Well, that’ll give us a little time with our family and friends. Mom won’t be happy, but she’ll get over it. That is if she is alive when we get back, or should I say, if we get back?”

CHAPTER 4

“Two weeks on a houseboat?” Marie was never sure what David would spring on her next especially on short notice, but she liked the idea although she wasn’t ready to acknowledge that fact to David.

“Yup, that’s what it’s all about. We were lucky to get reservations. I don’t know how, but President Gardiner probably had something to do with it. He suggested a vacation at Lake Powell. I think he grew up in that area. It’s one of the few remote areas that has not been developed, and one of the few vacation spots not overrun by hoards of sightseers. But it won’t be entirely fun and games, Tom and his wife Elaine will be aboard, and it will be a working vacation. We have a lot of work to do before we start interviewing crewmembers.”

“Well, I guess it will be all right.”

“It’s only two weeks and you can plan another vacation for the two of us if you’d like.”

“Maybe I will. I think a romantic cruise through the Greek Islands, or maybe a trip to Acapulco.”

“Anything you’d like. We can’t waste time though. Every day, we have work to do. We want you to review the list of volunteers from the astronaut corps. You will need to interview all of those you select without divulging much information. Most of the volunteers will know nothing of the mission until after we depart, and they will have to confirm their volunteer status before they can be accepted. President Gardiner wants a tight lid on this.”

“I’d like to spend some time with Mom and my old friends. At least the few I have considering the amount of time I’ve spent in space.”

“You know what they say—space, the final frontier—. Anything worthwhile has a price to pay.” David reached over and turned on the entertainment system and requested vacation previews. He found what he was looking for and they settled back to relax. The opposite wall seemed to open up to the expanse of Lake Powell and they were sitting in lounge chairs feeling the warm sun, light breeze and occasion spray of mist over the bow of the boat. The sales pitch wasn’t necessary as they experienced part of the thrill of being there without the hassle of travel and packing.

The days and weeks passed quickly and almost every moment was spent in developing plans and selecting personnel for the voyage. Their pool of volunteers was smaller than they had anticipated. Many of them had been weeded out immediately due to psychological profiles or qualifications. Every conceivable effort was made to match qualifications with requirements. Their two weeks on the lake were filled with work constantly in communication with volunteers by video phone and checking references and recommendations.

Occasionally, they took breaks swimming, waterskiing, or relaxing on the water. These moments allowed a time to prepare themselves mentally for the months and years they would spend aboard ship en route to O-2113. David never tired of watching Marie and enjoyed himself immensely taking every opportunity to watch Marie in her bikini cavorting in the water, especially when she had Laura in her arms, thinking how blessed he was to be married to such a gorgeous gal, and fortunate enough to have such a precious, beautiful daughter.

Tom and David chose a newly commissioned military starship, the Excalibur, which had recently returned from her shakedown cruise visiting planets and space stations nearest Earth. The Excalibur was the largest starship ever built and normally carried a complement of over one thousand starfighters, crews, and close to 10,000 in support staff. The Excalibur was designed for deep space travel and could remain in space almost indefinitely. The waste recycling and food producing decks were artificially maintained but capable of supporting the crew and their families for long periods during military missions. The main computers aboard the ship were capable of storing the world’s vast data base of knowledge that could be accessed in flight to solve problems or to educate the crew and family members. Tom directed the renovations required to tear out most of the starfighter storage and maintenance facilities along with much of the housing areas, and convert that space to cargo storage.

The Excalibur had been built in space connected to a space station while in Earth orbit. Many of the exotic alloys were processed aboard the space station from minerals mined on other planets within the Solar System. Many smaller electronic and highly technical equipment items had to be lifted into orbit with the Space Shuttle System operated by NASA. This system had grown into a routine operation with shuttle craft operating to and from orbit several times daily.

The Excalibur was over 10 miles long and 2 miles wide, boasting fifteen levels with number six level three hundred feet in height capable of launching and retrieving starfighter and freight shuttle craft. Each craft would be launched into space or retrieved using a powerful invisible power beam that could move the craft easily within short range of the battle cruiser. The Excalibur when stripped of its starfighters could not be considered an offensive weapons system, but its defensive capabilities with powerful force fields and massive laser weapons made it near impregnable.

The first or top level was the command and control deck with officer living quarters. It would also house the conference and education facilities. The second and third levels contained quarters for the rest of the crew, passengers, and recreation facilities. The fourth and fifth levels were devoted to food production and waste recycling. The sixth level was the hangar deck with the seventh and eighth levels providing for aircraft storage and maintenance facilities. The next deck down was the power plant which David and Tom also decided to modify to double the thrust available in cruise. They wanted to insure enough thrust to obtain and maintain light speeds. The remainder of the ship could be used for any purpose, and they intended to fill those areas and the excess aircraft storage decks with crude oil on the return trip. The Excalibur, as modified, would be described as the supertanker of the space age.

There was a vast ground support system to get the bulk of the job done and the ship properly prepared for such a voyage. On normal space missions, the ground control system operated out of the Houston Space Center controlling every aspect of the mission. This mission was different on several levels. Houston Control had a more difficult job since most of the ground support personnel had no idea of the destination and would not be flight following on any portion of the mission after they left the solar system. First, any ground control or contact would be impossible after warp speeds were attained, and the overall shroud of security kept most out of the loop when considering the destination or the mission objective. All the ground support teams needed to know was that deep space computer navigation was required along with sufficient supplies to maintain self-support over an unknown number of years. The ship, the Excalibur, was more than capable of providing that part of the mission objective. Another difference from routine missions was that Tom was the mission director, but would also be part of the crew and when leaving Earth orbit, they would be on their own. After providing their requirements to the ground teams, Tom and David were primarily interested in the personnel makeup of the crew and the technical expertise required while operating within all the flight parameters they expected. There was some training involved, but it would be minimal since they were recruiting from experienced crews with many months of time already served in space.

Their pool of volunteers did not include the expertise level Tom and David wanted and they got President Gardiner’s approval to get out and recruit on their own. Marie made the rounds of space pilot squadrons while Tom went after a medical doctor specializing in inflight medicine. David set out to find a physicist who would understand the problems associated with velocities exceeding light speed. After visiting several universities and consulting with the science department heads to find who they considered the best in their fields, only a few names were repeated again and again. At the top of the list, the name Roger Dorn from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology appeared most frequently. David decided to start there.

He arrived outside the physics lecture hall where a student directed him to the classroom where Roger was teaching. He took a vacant seat near the back and listened as Dr. Roger Dorn made his classroom assignment wrapping up his lecture. “Your assignment for tomorrow is to research Dr. Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. What did he have to say about the speed of light?” He paused for effect as he paced across behind the podium. “There is a little ditty that says ‘There once was a gal named Miss Bright. She could travel much faster than the speed of light. She left one day in an Einsteinium way and returned on the previous night.’ I want you to find out what that riddle is all about and if there is any credence to that view.”

Dr. Dorn stopped to chat with a few of his students while David made his way slowly toward the front holding back waiting for the rest of the students to leave. Apparently, Dr. Dorn was a popular professor and all their conversations were not about physics. He started to leave and David had to call out to get his attention, “Dr. Dorn! Please sir, a moment of your time.”

He waited curiously, “I’m sorry; I don’t think we’ve met, have we?”

David held out his hand and noticed the firm grip offered, “No, but I talked with your secretary this morning and she said I would be able to catch you after class.” He flashed his ID and White House credentials.

Roger arched his brow, “I guess I can spare a few moments, what’s on your mind?”

“You’ve worked with NASA on several projects, and we have another project you might be interested in. Why don’t we go get a cup of coffee?”

They chatted about inconsequential matters while settling in a corner booth at a local campus cafe and ordered coffee. Roger cut through the chatter, “All right, you’ve come all the way up here from Washington. But my time is valuable, please get to the point.”

David grinned, setting his coffee on the table, “Admiral Thomas White and I have been given a deep space mission and I’m out recruiting. You come highly recommended and…”

Roger cut in, “You’re wasting your time and mine. I’ve wasted too many years on worthless government projects. Nothing they ever do in Washington has ever been worth a hoot!”

“Maybe. I don’t know whether you fit the bill anyway. But I’d like your views on our project and if you don’t fit, maybe you can recommend someone else for the job. Besides, if you don’t hear me out, you will always wonder what we are up to.”

Roger sighed, “I suppose. I don’t really have anything pressing for the next couple of hours so keep talking.”

“Dr. Dorn, what do you consider the most pressing problem facing America today?”

“Anybody except those fools in Washington knows the answer to that. We have squandered our sources of raw materials. We have wasted our natural resources for centuries. Hundreds of years ago, there were warnings, but nobody listened.”

David asked for a refill before acknowledging, “I believe you, I just recently returned from Mars with a cargo of uranium.

“Ya, but that isn’t the most critical raw material?”

“Oh! And what is?”

“Fossil fuels and oil in particular!”

“Why?”

“Other materials are available within our solar system even if they are expensive, but not oil. We have not found any sign of life in the solar system except on Earth, and without life, there cannot be any fossil fuels.”

David changed the subject, “I heard the assignment you gave your students. Do you think it’s possible to travel faster than the speed of light?”

“I shouldn’t answer since few agree with me, but yes I think so.” His gaze centered on some distant object out the window as he paused. “Someday, I’d like to prove it.”

“I don’t think you will.”

“Why not?”

“I must tell you this information is classified, but if you have any interest, we may be able to talk. I can’t tell you much more unless you at least make a commitment to advise our group.”

Roger was hooked although he didn’t want to admit it. “I have my family to think of and a mission of that magnitude would mean considerable time away from home. I’m not that interested.”

“I know you’re married, but I checked and know you have no other immediate family. Believe me, that’s not a problem. I’m married too, and I have a little girl that was born on our last space cruise. Both will be an integral part of this mission.”

“Are they going with you?” Roger’s interest jumped up another notch.

“Going where? Who said anything about a trip? You’re jumping to conclusions which I can’t and will not deny or confirm.”

“How can I make a decision if I don’t know any details?”

“All I have to know is, are you interested and will you consider my offer? That’s all.”

“All right, you have me hooked and you know it.”

“I thought so. I was particularly looking for someone like you interested in the Theory of Relativity and the speed of light. We are talking of a voyage of over one hundred light years and we expect the round trip to be less than fifteen years. As a minimum, we need a man of your expertise to check our theories and plans.”

“All right I will be your man!”

“Good, now I can tell you that an advance expedition left a few years ago and radio reports are beginning to come in; they have exceeded the speed of light!”