Authors: DENNIS MILLER
To human eyes, up so close to these colossal structures, the view was breath-taking; the black oblong form being fifty miles in length by five miles in height and ten miles in depth. At this distance the massive docking bays appeared as pinpricks on the outer fabric of the construction.
These cities in space had been built, for the most part, by the use of nanorobotic technology, whereby vast amounts of small parts were assembled by micro robots to make larger programmed machines which were then left to get on with the task of the major build. Machines and tools were constructed or dismantled as necessary by the nanorobots, so keeping the need for raw materials to a minimum; these having to be ferried from Earth. Human participation had also been kept to a minimum, thus eliminating the risk of man-made error or potential sabotage.
Along half the length of the space station were the docking bays; there being three on each face of the structure making twelve bays in all, nine of which had the capability to receive military and civilian craft which were both small and medium liners and war craft. The remaining three bays had been constructed specifically to accommodate only the deep space exploration vessels; the newly appointed and massive Subluminal class vehicles.
In this man made city lived fifteen hundred people who were stationed here on a two yearly trickle draft system: all were military personnel and all were of departmental specialisation and once in every five months they were allowed one month’s leave, which had to be taken back on Earth.
Here was self sufficiency, made possible by the use of bio-nanotechnology which supplied a continuous resource of food that subsidised the artificially grown vegetable material for the community, thus reducing the weekly umbilical of re-supply from Earth that had been so necessary in the early days. These molecular size machines had also been largely instrumental in eradicating almost all known diseases on Earth, thus making deep space exploration possible with little risk of spreading contamination to other species on other planets: to date this theory had been deemed successful although not yet proven, as no new species had yet been encountered.
As the liner reversed towards the docking bay the pilot’s computer system announced “Station capture mode imminent.” This message was repeated again one minute later, after which, came the new announcement “Station capture mode in progress: vessel flight co-ordination facilities are now manually inoperable.” At this point the pilot released the liner’s drive pads. Now redundant, he sat back in his seat and relaxed; the station’s bay controller would dock the vessel from hereon in.
Thirty minutes later the door to the station’s conference chamber slid silently open and Andretta stepped in through the doorway. Once inside the room she paused briefly as she casually scanned the faces of the people seated at the conference table. All wore civilian clothing, as she did, but these people had the air of military personnel. The door closed with a whisper behind her as six faces turned towards the newcomer: three women and three men watched as she made her way to the one vacant seat at the table. They were immediately aware of a civilian joining them; therefore protocol demanded a postponement to introductions.
The ensuing silence seemed a little strained, for these people had probably been speaking together before she entered, but she was accustomed to such behaviour whenever she found herself amongst military personnel. No further words were spoken and no eye contacts were made.
After a few moments, the globe screen at the centre of the table flashed its softly-toned green glow and then the head and shoulders of a man appeared on the screen. The small circle of six red and white stars on the collar of his light blue uniform announced him as Commander of Missions.
“Thank you all for your time,” he began. “This will be but a brief introduction, namely, the outline of the project and your possible participation being the only two items on today’s agenda. Please refrain from asking questions at this meeting as none shall be answered.
Two months ago the last of three unmanned
probes returned from a mission; this was an exploratory fact-finding exercise that had been a year in the making. The venture was successful in part, revealing new opportunities in space exploration and the plan now is to send a manned vehicle.” He paused while observing each of the people in the room, allowing the information given so far to be absorbed.
After a few moments he went on. “Data recovered from the probes show that there is some uncertainty of the distance travelled: the time element of travel is approximately a six months round journey, Earth time. The mission shall be one of observation and data analysis only, therefore the vessel shall not be armed and there will be no personal weapons allowed on board. The risk to life analysis for this mission has been assessed as minimal to nil.”
After another pause he added, “Each of you has been invited to participate in this venture by virtue of your past record and by your individual specialisation. Should you, however, decide not to accept this mission you may return to your respective units with the understanding that you have been on short term leave.
As this mission is classified under active service regulations no
further contact with your families will be allowed until end of mission: in the meantime appropriate notification to your families shall be determined by this administration. You may now return to your quarters and consider your response to this mission: you will be contacted in due course.
Please be advised that
this information is of the highest classification and may not be divulged to anyone without authorisation from this sector. Thank you.”
The globe screen cleared, signalling that the meeting was over.
Upon leaving the conference room each sought out the accommodation that bore their name, where some busied themselves until the next briefing and others just relaxed while speculating as to what the mission might mean to them.
Rachmel stepped into her accommodation and was deep in thought as the door closed silently behind her. There had, of course, been rumours of an agency on Earth having located, what was believed to be, a stable worm hole out here in space, but nothing had been announced officially. Could this be the reason for their summons? Were they to be the first people to travel through a worm hole?
She was aware that the theory of sending a craft through such a device had been accepted as a workable hypothesis for over a hundred years, but without actually discovering a wormhole it had stayed only that, a theory. Now, it seemed, the theory may have been proven: however, these had been unmanned vessels that had been built of man-made materials; what would be the effects to a human body upon entering such a structure? Of course, they had been assured that the mission was one of minimal risk classification, but even with all of the data from the unmanned probes, which suggested this to be the case, there still had to be an element of speculation involved.
The calming voice of the accommodation computer greeted her. “Good evening Leading Engineering Officer Rachmel, may I be of service to you?”
Rachmel, still deep in thought and looking at the ground before her, paused for a moment and then, raising her eyes to observe the plain white wall sections of the honeycomb-shaped room, she replied “Green décor, subdued: central location seating and holo-link to Leading Engineer Miles please.”
The walls glowed gently to a soft pastel green as Rachmel walked across to the seat which had risen from the centre of the room. A moment later the computer announced “Personnel in this sector are denied access to the holo-link facility in the interests of mission security: is there anything more Leading Officer?”
She had wondered about the level of this mission and now she knew: she was sufficiently intrigued to have already made up her mind about accepting the mission.
Closing her eyes, she smiled briefly and then sat back with her head in the headrest.
“Relaxation mode, please.”
The seat began to tilt back gently and then the leg supports came into play. When she felt comfortable she said “Thank you.” The motion ceased as the room lighting decreased to a lower level.
“Leading Engineering Officer Rachmel, may
I have your decision please.”
They had been allowed the obligatory one hour to decide if they would accept or decline the mission and now the Mission audit system was requesting their response. Opening her eyes, she paused for a moment before replying “Yes I accept the mission.” Gently, the seat began to return to its original position and the lighting slowly upgraded to its earlier requested condition.
“Thank you Leading Officer, please prepare for conference.”
Rising from the seat she walked across the room and sat at the desk that had appeared from its storage position in the bulkhead. Placing her right hand into the depression on the surface of the desk she stated her credentials. “Flight engineer first class Leading Officer Rachmel: service number Echo Oscar 24297: D.O.B. 20082145 Earth time.”
From the centre of the desk appeared a globe-screen: on the screen was the image of Commander of Missions who had spoken to them earlier and who now began.
“Leading Officer, the first part of this instruction is being given simultaneously to the other members of the selected group. The second part, however, concerns each of you individually and is issued on a need to know basis only. Is this acceptable to you?”
Rachmel answered almost immediately. “Yes.”
The commander studied her face for a few moments, looking for any sign of uncertainty in her decision to accept the mission, but found none. He hadn’t really expected to, as her historical profile revealed an officer of great aplomb, who displayed a calmness that seemed more in line with someone twice the age and experience of her youthful 36 years. Her pass in flight engineering was one of excellence, as was her pilot officer pass.
During her service of twelve years she had been called upon to command three vessels, one of them being an Arrowline class fighter during the so-called inner-space wars that had occurred five years before, when two groups of terrorists had attempted to simultaneously take control of two of the six space stations in orbit at that time. The terrorists had been hopelessly outnumbered, outmanoeuvred and outgunned and, eventually, they had paid the ultimate price. During this time she had gained a reputation as a solid and reliable officer who was not prone to taking unguarded risks.
Unmarried, her family consisted of mother, 58 and father, 59; both parents holding positions as bio-chemists at the Eastern African branch of the James Harris Biotech Laboratories: her sister, 37 and professor of genetics at the European Central University, was married with two children; one boy and one girl.
The image of the commander disappeared from the screen to be replaced by a short clip of video of a man who wore the dark red insignia on the left shoulder of his light blue uniform, showing him to be a Flight Engineer.
“This, as you are no doubt aware, is Leading Engineering Officer Miles, 34: unmarried: length of service 12 years: family consists of mother, brother and two nephews. Miles has accepted the conditions of this mission. Do you have questions concerning this officer?”
She smiled to herself knowing that the real question was
Is there any reason you
can not work alongside this person?
Rachmel and Miles had served together several times in their careers and were old acquaintances: rumour had it that they had some kind of semi-marital relationship going on which amused them both as Miles’s preferences in that direction were strictly non-female.
“No questions” she answered.
The screen now showed a woman wearing white coveralls with the light blue insignia of Medical Officer.
“Leading Medical Officer Coles, 39, married: length of service 17 years: family consists of husband, one child female and mother. Coles has accepted the conditions of this mission. Do you have questions concerning this officer?”
Rachmel watched the woman briefly: she had heard of the doctor during the wars but they had never worked together.
“No questions.”
Next on the screen came another woman, but the youthfulness of her face seemed at odds with the premature greying of her hair: she was wearing the yellow insignia of the Intraphysics department.
“Leading Physics Officer Duarte, 25: unmarried: length of service 7 years: specialist classification Molecular nanobiotic engineering: family consists of one child female, father, two uncles and grandmother. Duarte has accepted the conditions of this mission. Do you have questions concerning this officer?”