Chapter 17

…[ ANDREW ]…

Andrew’s communications with his family had cooled down as the weeks passed by. Abby and Rachel had been sending messages every day at the start of the expedition. That had soon slowed down to the current one a week message. Jake and Jamie on the other hand had maintained a consistent one a week message routine from the start of the expedition.

Jamie’s recent message had Andrew happy and anxious at the same time. She had started crew training she had said. He had known she was interested, but he had thought that she would wait until he returned before trying. Fail that, she would at least inform him first before joining the training program.

During her previous messages, she had shown no indication that she was even thinking about it. She had said nothing of the training program at all. He had learnt that it had started from Rachel and Abby. The fact that neither stated anything about Jamie wanting to join meant that she hadn’t told them either. And still hadn’t told them, if their messages were any indication.

Since she had already joined, forcing her out would just be counterproductive. Supporting her was his only option. They would still have words about her informing her family before doing something that drastic. In his replies he congratulated her and reminded her to inform her mother and brother and sister about what she was doing. He also asked Rachel to think about checking out the crew training program. The sooner they started training, the more prepared they would be for space. Maybe Jamie had the right idea.

Andrew wondered whether there was a kids’ version of the training program. One that Abby could participate in. He was a firm believe that the younger a kid was when they started learning, the higher their potential was to reach great heights. Maybe there was; so he asked Rachel to check on that too. There was no point raising Abby’s hopes only for them to be dashed. As he finished with his messages, his stomach grumbled, alerting him that he was due for a meal. As it was around suppertime, he decided to go the Mess Hall for his supper.

The Kitchen Deck was bustling with activity; at least on the Kitchen side of it. The Mess Hall was sparsely populated, with around thirty people, most of them sequestered to one side engaging in conversation. They were all waiting for the meals to be ready.

Normally, the Mess was arranged with tables capable of sitting two people leaving enough space between each table to create somewhat of a privacy. Low conversation couldn’t be heard by the next tables. But since the tables and chairs were movable, the crew had taken to joining tables to create long-tables capable of sitting up to twelve people.

And that was what they had done. There were two long-tables holding more than twenty people in total. There were conversations going, and they easily jumped from one table to the other and back. Seeing some familiar faces in both tables, Andrew took a chair and joined them.

“Good. You’re here.” Aquila said as he sat down next to him. “Help us settle a debate.”

“Okay.” He simply replied as he took a spot as Jonah and Strom moved their chairs to create room for him. The group was a mix of people Andrew had seen all over the ship, but he could only remember a few of them by name correctly. Hundred people weren’t enough to cause confusion between them, but what they were doing was.

“Of all the places on the Saturnian System, which one was the best to visit?” Aquila asked him once he had settled down.

“We haven’t visited all of them yet.” Andrew tried to wiggle out of having to give a clear answer.

“Other than Titan…” But Aquila still insisted. As he tried to think of a place that was genuinely liked, someone else spoke up. And he was thankful for it.

“There is also the dive into Saturn itself.”

“We told you, there will be no dive into Saturn.” Jonah was clearly tired of having to make that statement.

“That doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be the best place to visit.”

“We are talking about the ones we have actually visited here. How many times do you need to be reminded of that?” Aquila asked them, clearly exasperated by the constant suggestions of irrelevant options for the top tourist destination around Saturn.

“He is just disappointed that he wasn’t one of the people chosen to dive into Jupiter.” Strom commented.

“No I’m not.” They tried to argue, but it was clear even to Andrew that that was the problem. There were things they all wanted to do but couldn’t. As much freedom as the crew was afforded, the ship was still private property and they were nothing more than employed workers on the property. There wants and needs were of no importance unless they aligned with the wants and needs of the property owner.

“You know you can always come on the next expedition if you want to so bad.” Asmo told them.

“We don’t know if we would be allowed to come for free in the next expedition.”

“You’re still crew.”

“We are getting off track here.” Someone else tried to bring the discussion back to the question that had been raised when Andrew arrived. “We wanted to determine the best tourist spot in the Saturn System.”

“It isn’t that easy. Different people have different tastes in things.” Silence reigned for a few seconds after Andrew’s statement. It unnerved him a little. Had he said something they had already discussed before he joined them? But Strom’s question put that doubt to rest.

“Why didn’t we think of that?”

“Okay. New thing. How about we create a poll to see how people liked different places?” Asmo offered a new option to the group.

“That would give us a more accurate representation of likes and dislikes.” Jonah’s comment was met with several nods of approval.

“Dislikes? What is there to dislike?” But Aquila was of the opinion that everything was to be liked in the Solar System.

“I for one didn’t like being buried under hundred kilometers of icy crust.” Was that Rincon, or one of his teammates. Andrew couldn’t properly recall the faces of the Team they spend two weeks digging out of kilometers of icy crust. He had been too tired by the end of the of the rescue attempt to remember anything.

“That wasn’t here in Saturn.”

“It could have been, if we had tried drilling in to Enceladus.”

“Change of topic. Does anyone know how the crew for the expedition going out of the Solar System will be selected? Or when it will be?” Mwaũra asked. As he turned and looked at Andrew after posing the questions.

“Why are you all looking at me?” looking around had proved that the whole group, including those from the second table, were all staring at him like he had the answer.

“You are one of Mativo’s closest scientists. You must know something.” Aquila said.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t. All I know about is the crew training program currently going on back on Earth.”

“We all know about that one.” Mwaũra exclaimed. “It’s for the ships that will be going around the Solar System.”

“I think the crew will be picked from the currently existing crew at the time of selection.” Jonah said.

“We will be competing with thousands of other people then.” Aquila sounded apprehensive. Was it possible for the new crew to be chosen over them? Andrew didn’t think so, but the sheer number of people who had enrolled for the crew training program was enough to give them pause. Especially considering they didn’t know how many would be on the next expedition.

“I guess that means we’ll have to join the coming expeditions through the Solar System to have a fighting chance.” Breuer said in resignation.

“Us having been on this expedition will give us an advantage.” Mwaũra said. Andrew could tell that not many were of that opinion.

“Not necessarily.” Jonah said, taking the wind off his false sails. “They will have the same experience as us, plus the added skill of knowing how to manage civilians on a ship.”

“You never know. Inside all that exploring being, there is still a profit seeking person. And people would pay a lot of money to be on the first ship out.” Strom added.

“Why are there no those big money paying people on this expedition?” Mwaũra asked.

“Think of this as a proof of concept. People are scared of space; of all the dangers it presents. But when we get back, he’ll have proved even the first ship out can be successful.”

“I still don’t think there will be civilians on the ship.”

The announcement that the food was ready prevented the discussion from continuing further. But Andrew knew that sooner or later, that discussion would be picked up again. As he moved to the queue, he thought he might ask the others if it was okay to ask Mativo about the selection of the next expedition’s crew. It couldn’t hurt to be prepared ahead of time.

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The food on the ship was as varied as it could be on one of the most luxurious hotels back on Earth. Mativo had packed the ingredients for some of the most delicious and mouthwatering dishes that Earth had to offer. Based on the crew’s likes of course. The food fabricators were barely used; that was how well packed with food the ship was. Add to that the fact that the Kitchen Deck was the only deck with fully dedicated crew on the ship.

At the start of the expedition, Andrew couldn’t tell the difference between the fabricated foods with the packed and the grown and reared ones. But after weeks of eating them, he could finally tell the difference. Some had been able to tell the difference from the first day. He knew that even though they didn’t rely on them much in the expedition, for the next one, the fabricators might contribute more than a third of the food they consumed. All Mativo might just pack enough for the whole expedition. It would still lose its freshness as the expedition wore on.

…[ MATIVO ]…

I had finally gotten a response from Control Center about the Light-speed Shield factor from the Jupiter-Saturn trip of the expedition. Sadly, when the Light-speed Shield check messages had arrived, an hour and several minutes after our arrival, Robin had still found that there was a factor to the protection.

Control Center still held the opinion that it was human interaction that caused the factor. Saying that if Robin accelerated the ship, the factor would disappear. That didn’t make sense to me, but what did I know. I wasn’t exactly an expert on that field.

When I had informed Mũsango of Control Center’s opinion before we left for Saturn, she had been crestfallen. I tried to cheer her by telling her she was the fastest Helms known to humans. She had reminded that she was the only known Helms at the speeds of light. Something that would quickly change after we reached Neptune. It was too bad that the race couldn’t also be used to determine whether the Light-speed Shield had any issues. The shuttles did have their own Light-speed Shields but only Robin had the necessary computing power to accurately record the data necessary to determine the Shield’s efficiency.

The trip to Neptune would be piloted by Robin to help us determine whether it was human interaction that was the problem, or that the Light-speed Shield was actually not performing as perfectly as it had promised. Mũsango was still grumbling about that one. Claiming that we were taking more flight time from her. I really wished that human involvement was the problem. That would mean that I had one less thing to worry about. And there were a lot of things to worry about.

But the most disturbing message was the one I was staring at. From Union Space Industries.

Mativo,

Congratulations on your successful expedition so far. It was a tall order you left to achieve, and you have, and are on track to achieving it. I honestly wish I was there.

As it is, I am currently at the USK Mining Station on a business visit.

I request you to pay me a visit at the station when you visit the Asteroid Belt. I will be thankful to you if you spare some of your time from your busy schedule.

I will be looking forward to receiving you.

Warm regards,

1. K. Sotiris

Union Space Industries

I didn’t know what to do. I mean, I knew. Run away from them as far as I could. And with a light-speed capable ship, that would be pretty far. I had not yet ruled out Union as the perpetrators behind my kidnapping. And here they were, inviting me into their mining colony. What did they want to do with me there? Bury me somewhere no one will ever find me? Cut me into pieces and distribute them all over the Asteroid Belt? Adding my body into the many micrometeoroids that populated it.

I stopped myself from descending further down that abyss. Why did they have to conduct me? Stop. I quickly shutdown the computer and made my way to the Bridge. We were less than an hour to our scheduled departure time for Neptune. Leaving the luxuries of Titan behind.

Titan had offered plenty of time, environment and opportunities for the crew to let loose. And they had taken full advantage of it.

The missions to Titan had been completed in record time. Like the whole crew were rushing towards something. Ole, they had been trying to create time for vacation time. And succeeded.

Titan had been a fascination for many a scientist long before the first human satellite made its way to its vicinity. Then it was first photographed and the fascination turned to interest. The first landed probe created something akin to obsession with it among the scientists. It wasn’t because it was a prime candidate for life. Quite the contrary, life as we knew it on Earth wouldn’t exist on the surface of Titan.

First, it was too bloody cold. There was no where on Earth as cold as the surface of Titan. Temperatures low enough to turn water into ice harder than concrete. It’s atmosphere thick enough to exact forces more than four times at its surface compared to Earth’s atmosphere. Then there was the fact that there was no oxygen in the atmosphere to speak of. There was nitrogen, yes, a lot of it. Then methane in a small percentage. But no breathable oxygen.

Its equatorial region was dominated by large swaths of land covered by dunes similar in appearance to those found on Earth’s deserts. Samples had been taken to analyze the constitution of the particles that made these dunes.

There was a huge network of dendritic like drainage channels crisscrossing the surface. These were known to be made by methane coming from spring-like fissures on the surface and draining into bodies of liquids. Methane lakes and seas. There weren’t many of those though. Some of the Exploratory Teams had experienced the famous Titanian methane rain. I had not been lucky enough to be around one of such places when it happened. It really looked like a weird version of Earth, and the crew were eager to test what they could and could not do on it. All those different similarities made it all the more inviting.

The crew had come prepared. The ship had not packed any of the things necessary for the luxurious experiences of these alien worlds, but they had.

There had been the float balloon, relying on the thick atmosphere to keep floating as the crew went around taking pictures and selfies on the different iconic areas of Titan. It gave them a feel of tourists in a tourist attraction site. One would be forgiven for thinking them to be such; rather than the daredevils they were, out in an inhospitable place that could kill them at any moment.

The balloon had been the tip of the iceberg. From there, the more daring ones had jumped out of the balloon carriage with their winged suits. At first there had been pandemonium as more than half had plummeted down. They had soon realized their rate of descend was slower than if they had been at Earth. The panic quickly left and they had been able to bring their flights in control. They easily kept speed with the balloon. Flapping their wings as they rose high and dove low. The only disappointing thing about the dives was the terminal velocity. No matter how hard they tried to go fast, there was just too much working against them. The weak gravity, the thick atmosphere. The same things that allowed them flight.

To me, they went too far when they reached the lakes. I should have seen that one coming, but they still managed to blindside me. And that was not an easy feat, even if it was me saying that. The balloon, and the winged suits should have prepared me for the boats well enough. But they did nothing to prepare me for the water skis. What were they even trying to do?

To avoid the muddy shores, the balloon and landed inside the lake. They had then proceeded to offload their water vehicles, methane here I guess, on to the lake. The first few trips had been done with only the methane vehicles, zipping across the lake surface at safeish speeds. Then the skis had come out and the lunatics had taken to the lakes like a kid to a tub of water. The number of times the skiers had clashed against something hidden just below the lake’s surface had easily outnumbered the safe skis. But they still kept on going. Since no one had visited the sick bay at the end of it all, I assumed no one had suffered any damages. Injuries, I meant injuries.

They had spent days there. Some going, others coming back. I might be the only one of the crew not to take the vacation, while Mũsango might be one of the few said to have spent the whole period on Titan. The morale and mood of the crew was vastly different than what it had been during our stay at Jupiter. And if the expression of their craziness was what it took to get that, then who was I to stand in their way.

The amount and level of technology they used to overcome the handicaps thrust upon them by Titan so they could enjoy their time there, brought to focus how much my companies were working on that I wasn’t aware of. Or that it had simply slipped my mind. If this kept up, one of my companies might end up working on something without me having a clue about it. I needed to find a way to keep track of everything that was being done in my name.

As our departure time creeped closer and closer, the vacation had slowed down and came to halt two days to the mark. Being the me that I was, I had of course stored everything from that vacation in my separate personal storage. It had joined the rest of the crazy collections of things happening on the expedition. The storage group I had started calling propaganda material. It would come in handy in the coming days; I was sure of that. All I had to do was keep adding to it, and I might soon have enough to bare the juiciest of fruits.

I found the rest of the Bridge Officers already at their stations.

“What’s up people? What have you being doing?” I asked as I settled in my seat.

“We thought you would sleep through this one,” Cindy said.

I turned to her aghast, “What kind of Commander would I be if I wasn’t there when my own ship was departing?”

“The sleepy kind.” She didn’t even hesitate.

“I have been meaning to ask,” Kalũki began, then waited. When it seemed like she had our attention, she continued, “Do you expect to meet aliens in the expedition out of the Solar System?”

“Yes.”

“But don’t you think it is highly unlikely? The conditions for the existence of life are very delicate and demanding.”

“Quite the opposite, actually. It would be highly unlikely not to find extraterrestrial life out there.”

“It being intelligent enough for us to communicate with will be the problem.” Chantel added.

“Not necessarily.” But I refuted. “We could all be at the same evolutionary point. Or maybe with differences of several centuries. Maybe a millennium or two.”

“Don’t you mean technological advancement stages?” Matt asked, confusing me a little bit.

“That’s what I said. I think.”

“No. You said evolutionary point.”

“Is there a difference?” I asked. “Our technological advancements are a kind of evolution, aren’t they?”

“What? No they are not.”

“I think they are. Different species of the human genus are sometimes differentiated by their technological use.” Mũsango agreed with me.

“I’m not saying it is the determining factor. Only that it was used to differentiate between the species.”

“So, the more we evolved, the more complex our technologies became?” Pon asked.

“Something like that. Though, over the last few thousand years we have seen advancements that are too huge compared to the thousands of years before.”

“And its only getting worse.” Cindy next to me added.

“Don’t you mean better?” Mũsango asked, looking at her in confusion.

“That would imply our technological advancements are slowing down in this context.”

“What?” She was thoughtful for a while. “Yeah! Wow. So, who worded it wrong.”

“No one. It is called reading the context. Anyway, will they be ahead or behind us?”

“Who?” Mũsango looked confused.

“The aliens!” Chantel clarified.

“Behind or on par. Not ahead.” I answered her.

“Why not ahead? They could be.”

“We would know by now. They would have come.”

“Maybe they are too far away.” Matt opinioned.

“If we make it to them before they make it to us, then we are ahead of them.” Cindy said, mirth clear in her voice.

“Maybe they think we are too boring.” Pon expressed a more age-old argument.

“Really?” She turned on Pon. “Back in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when the Europeans went to Africa, did they think them boring and leave them alone?”

“Or the Americas in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.” Kalũki added.

“Any living creature is a curious creature.” Mũsango commented, as Chantel exclaimed,

“But those led to some of the worst periods in human history.”

“That’s why we have to be the ones heading out and not the other way.” I told her.

“What if they are already ahead but are bogged down by politics, or ethics?”

“Then we steal that which makes them better and get ahead of them.” And the Bridge laughed at that. They thought it funny, me making a joke. They were wrong. I was dead serious. If there was a more technologically advanced civilization out there, I was going to take what they had and make it mine. Or I would die trying.