“We need to get back to Earth.” Mike said to everyone as they ate breakfast in the main habitat area.
Todd looked over at the virtual calendar on the wall as if to comment upon how long until they made their return voyage.
“Sooner than that Todd.” Mike interrupted. “I made a discovery last night before bed. There are some things that I want to implement on Earth to provide power to everyone.”
The others continued eating as Rebecca made a lightning ball in each hand and peered into them as if this were going to be her power source.
“Not like that.” Mike said. “By using the Flux-Grav engines to provide electricity to everyone on the planet.”
Rebecca popped her lightning balls and continued eating her breakfast as if unconcerned with this epic news flash.
“Is that even possible?” Sebastian asked, gaining a nod from Paige.
“It is.” Mike answered. “That is the primary method of power control in the galaxy where Flux-Grav drives are used.”
“What about this place?” Paige asked.
“We are wasting our time here anyway.” Sebastian suggested. “If we can tap into that power source then we can abandon this little project and go full blown expansion on the equator. We could have this planet manned up with a thousand or more within a year or 2, and ten times that much the following year.”
“Bullshit.” Lane said. “We don’t know that we can make these things. I would just as soon believe that it could be done with solar power, which it also can’t.”
Mike gave him a questioning look. Lane had been his best friend for half his life, and he had never opposed him like this in front of people.
“Lane, could I have a moment of your time please?” Mike asked as he wandered into a more secluded area of the ship. Lane followed obediently.
“What gives?” Mike asked.
Lane stared at his hands for more than a minute as he gathered his thoughts before answering.
“Remember that time when we were at the con and you found that box?” Lane asked.
Mike nodded silently and pursed his lips slightly.
“I didn’t think you were the chosen one, or the prophet, or anything.” Lane said. “I was just there with my Bruh enjoying his company and celebrating his birthday. I am not ready to accept that you are going to save the galaxy.”
Lane stopped examining his shoes and looked his friend in the eye. “This has been a rollercoaster ride ever since then. And it’s not the rollercoaster ride that I am opposed to. It’s the danger that we keep getting ourselves into.”
“The power source isn’t dangerous...” Mike tried to interrupt but was cut off.
“Do you think that you are the prophet?” Lane asked.
“I...” Mike pondered. “Sometimes I think so. When Rubin and his minions call me that. When the events that we do are all stuff that was written thousands of years ago, and it looks like things are playing out as they were preordained... It’s hard not to.” Mike tilted his head back and closed his eyes and took in a deep cleansing breath before resuming. Lane just waited. “I don’t know. Part of me wants to believe it to be true, but part of me wants to stay as far away from that line of thinking as possible.”
“If you think that you are, then you will become a zealot.” Lane said softly.
“I already have.” Mike admitted with a laugh. Lane’s eyes went wide before he could stop them.
“Why?” Lane asked.
“Ever since I got the prophecy and started to read it, I have been convincing myself that I am. There is no way that all of these things can come true.” Mike said.
“A couple of things bother me about that.” Lane said. “We were not traveling far enough away to get to another star system, let alone one that could support life like that. I do not think that we went to another planet.”
“Do you think that we all shared the same dream?” Mike asked.
“I think that Jiirdrian is a mining vessel that was roaming between planets when we happened upon it.” Lane said. “But according to the prophecy we were supposed to lose somebody there. But we all came back. Even Sebastian.” They shared a chuckle.
“Do you have the vision?” Mike asked. “Can you see the colors of the fuel and the runes?”
“I don’t see any runes. You are the only one that can see those.” Lane said. “These aren’t my original eyes though. Is that what you are referring to?”
Mike nodded.
“The prophecy states that I will bring prosperity to Earth, and nearly obliterate world hunger before a threat from an underground movement threatens to take our prosperity away.” Mike said.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Is there a timeline?” Lane asked.
“It’s vague.” Mike said.
“Like all prophecy.” Lane said before exhaling in exasperation. “Look man. If you commit to not being the profit, then I am with you. We can go along to get along like I have been from the beginning. But if you commit to being the prophet then I can only promise to be supportive. I don’t buy all that bullshit.”
Mike held his hand up to forestall his friend, but Lane knuckle bumped his palm in jest and continued. “If that is your current path then you need to keep me in the loop. You, me, and Sebastian are just eating all of the food and taking up space on this trip. We could hop in your new ride and blow this joint any time we want.”
“Todd too for that matter.” Mike said. Both men laughed.
“I’ll bet Paige could do everything by herself if it came down to it.” Lane said with a laugh.
The men headed back into the kitchen / dining area to finish breakfast.
Mike sat by the computer and accessed the drawings for the power plant he discovered. He opened the page and showed it to the rest of the astronauts.
“This is the power plant that I want to build, and man up on Earth.” Mike said. “It can produce about a half a gigawatt of electricity but can be installed in a vertical plane that takes up very little space.”
“How little.” Rebecca asked.
“Just under 1000 square feet.” Mike answered. “Forty feet by twenty-four feet. It can be scaled up or put side by side with other units. It doesn’t have any emissions and doesn’t need to be recharged.”
“What’s the catch?” Rebecca asked as she moved over to take a better look.
“You need to have a genetic defect for color blindness to make it operate.” Mike said. “Well, not to maintain operation, but to start it up at least. And you need to have been exposed to the Flux-Grav engines for an initial grace period to make it work.”
“Can anybody who is color blind make it go?” Todd asked. “Or do you have to have been altered in some way?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I do know that everybody that was color blind and been exposed to the Flux-Grav drives has been able to see the fuels.” Mike said. “Even Lane can see the fuel now, and he has some fake eyes.”
“My eyes aren’t fake.” Lane corrected.
“They aren’t your originals either.” Paige said.
Mike thought that Lane was going to go ballistic, but instead Lane smiled, winked at her, and even blew her a kiss.
“I want in.” Rebecca announced. “I want to buy stock in this company right now. How do I get some of these fake, Lane eyes?”
Lane and Rebecca shared a wink and blown kiss simultaneously.
“After breakfast we should get Rubin and go back to Earth.” Mike said. “We can have a close encounter of the fourth kind and start production on these power plants.
...
Rubin and the minions had only been gone for about an hour when they got the call to come back. They hadn’t left orbit, so they landed near the habitat buildings just a few minutes after they got the call. Todd sent a message to Huston to tell them what the plan was, but they thought it was a prank.
There was a factory set up on Uranus that would build power plants exclusively. Two of the plants were already loaded into Special Delivery. Rubin insisted that the prophet decide where to build the plants. The first one was going to go to Japan. They had the technological prowess, the need, and the security that Mike felt would be prerequisite for such an important device. The second one would be set up in the states. Mike needed to have it investigated for safety before he would sign off on it.
They hadn’t gotten the ship entirely calibrated for 144 G travel by the time they were slowing down to enter Earth's atmosphere. When they were within scanning distance from the planet they slowed down to a crawl and hovered in a far orbit from Kwajalein Atol where there was a large radar system that was designed to protect American interests with orbiting satellites and debris. They sent a message to Huston to let them know that they were there in hopes that no one would shoot at them. They did not need any hostilities.
The response was immediate and broken up. Like there were a dozen people vying for the frequency at the same time.
“Sensors are picking up an incoming missile.” Rubin said calmly.
“Um.” Mike said. “Now what?”
“I suggest we drag this thing out toward the sun so that it doesn’t do anything and come in with stealth.” Rubin suggested. “Like I said the first time we talked about this plan.”
“Do it.” Mike said and he checked the cargo area cameras. “Let’s put up the shields as well.”
Todd engaged the shields and checked the telemetry of the incoming rocket. Rubin adjusted their position to carry the rocket toward the sun. When the rocket started to run out of fuel a voice came over the communicator.
“Come to Roswell with that cargo.” Jonathan said. “Use stealth so that the locals don’t get to trigger happy. I have a surprise for you.”
Todd tried to get more information, but it was no use. Jonathan must have switched off the communicator from his end.
Huston was the only one that had the main frequency, but the radio that communicated with fast communications was void of chatter as well. They started calling it subspace after the old Star Trek reference.
...
Lane and Todd had made arrangements with mister Space X himself concerning terraforming Mars. He was excited for the prospects, and he had gathered a small think tank of members to decide the best way forward. He was excited to meet Rubin and find out about the manufacturing capabilities of the Flux-Grav generators and their function. He decided to go to Uranus on the return trip, and bring some of his prospects for engineers.
Japan did not want anything to do with the power plants until they had proven themselves. They were working from a six-month probationary period. Lane bought the land and got the permits where the power plants were going to be installed. It had been decided to produce power in the western United States first. The US was divided into three main power distribution grids. All the east was on one, all the west was on one, and Texas had one to itself. Texas was independent of the rest of the United States, and they wanted to keep it that way for the time being. They were open to the idea of cheap affordable electricity, but were afraid of complications that may occur. If it worked out, then Flux-Grav generators would be installed there later.
Jonathan’s secret was that he had stolen some of Mike’s DNA and cloned a bunch of eyeballs like Mike’s. Mike was not happy with this covert op, but he forgave Jonathan and took him back into the fold after doing a mind meld handshake with him and searching him out. Mike, Lane, Todd, and Jonathan would be electrical kingpins if it went well. They formed a company called Unlimited Power. Successful engineers and engineering graduates, operators, and technicians were offered jobs at the plants. They had a “Company Store” vibe to them in that the employees would undergo surgery to get a cloned eye installed and sign an NDA. The jobs paid well and had stock options. Todd also hired security personnel that were typically ex-military.
The first two power plants were installed less than a quarter of a mile from Hoover Dam. There was plenty of space, water, and infrastructure already in place. It took more time to activate the flux sensors in the crew’s new eyes than it took to get the place brought online and producing electricity for the masses.
“Power out of Uranus.” Mike joked. “Delivering power to them asses.”