Doctor Chen’s hypothesis was correct, as word of the mission to investigate the missing star has spread around the ship like a wildfire. It was easy to see that having something to look into and even solve sparked everyone’s creative juices. Everyone appeared to have their own theory to why telescopes on Earth could no longer see the star. Even though Olivia would never approve of crew members partaking in gambling of any kind, she didn’t believe the creation of a sun pool was going to hurt anyone as long as the wagers didn’t get out of control. Members of the crew were placing bets on what they thought could be causing the sun to vanish from sight. Some theories were more popular than others but if more than one person bet on the same cause, and that turned out to be the reason, the pot would be split amongst those who had bet on the same option. While Olivia wasn’t fond of the idea she let it pass as there wasn’t a lot of money being put down and the contest seemed to be lightening up the mood on the ship, which was rather pleasant. During her dinner break Olivia approached Lieutenant Carter in the mess hall, as he was the officer who was put in charge of the sun pool and taking bets for it.
“Lieutenant Carter,” She started, “Talk to me about this pool, and tell me which options are the most popular.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Carter said, as he sat up in his chair. “Right now, black hole and human error are the ones most of the crew appear to be betting on.”
“Human error?” Olivia repeated, “Explain that one.”
“Well, it could be a range of things,” Carter started to explain, “All related to the telescopes they’re using from malfunctioning to being improperly cleaned.”
“That one doesn’t seem likely,” Olivia disagreed.
“How come?” Carter asked.
“Well, there isn’t just one telescope down there,” Olivia explained, “There are close to a hundred of them around the world. So, the odds that all of them are suffering from the same malfunction or error at the same time is beyond belief. Whoever is putting money down on that is just wasting their credits.”
“Well, if you don’t want to put your money on that,” Carter retorted, “There are dozens of other theories to why we can’t detect this sun you can wager on.”
“You’re assuming I want to wager at all,” Olivia countered.
“Jeez Olivia, do you have to be such a wet towel about it?” a scruffy voice called from behind her.
Olivia turned to see the face she preferred would remain below deck in engineering. His name was Baxter McGregor, but everyone just called the grumpy man by his last name. While McGregor was about as cliché as a head engineer could be for a spaceship, but he still was one of the best. Olivia put up with his questionable behavior and attitude towards women, especially those who were of higher rank like she was.
“Baxter,” Olivia said, turning to face him. “I’m surprised you haven’t put down a month’s salary on this thing already.”
“Oh, I’ve been biding my time, Liv.” McGregor said, grinning at her. “I’m also tempted to bet on something that hasn’t even been suggested yet.”
“Is that so?” Carter said, as he was curious. “I like to think we’ve covered all of the possible theories. What have we left out?”
“The most brilliant one of all,” McGregor replied, “A Dyson Sphere.”
“Wait, are you serious?” Carter said, trying not to laugh at him. “That’s not even a theory; it’s from cheesy works science fiction from centuries ago.”
“Oh, I strongly disagree,” McGergor said, feeling rather proud of himself. “I happen to think it’s quite plausible that a Dyson Sphere could the reason why this sun can’t be seen anymore.”
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“I’m sorry,” Olivia said, as she was confused. “What the hell is that?”
“Oh, Captain,” McGregor started with his usual sarcastic tone, “You need to brush up on your scientific theories of the twentieth century. A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure that encompasses a star for the purpose of using a large percentage of the sun’s solar power output. It was inspired by science fiction written by Olaf Stapledon, a physicist and mathematician named Freeman Dyson was the first to formalize the concept of what became known as the ‘Dyson Sphere’ in 1960.”
“It’s not plausible!” Carter continued to protest.
“So, your theory is the sun is trapped?” Olivia said, trying to wrap her mind around the actual theory of it. “How big would this thing have to be in order to keep an actual sun inside it?”
“Exactly!” Carter called out, “Creating a full-on Dyson Sphere would necessitate an enormous, unrealistic supply of resources. In order to build such an incredibly huge structure, it would require more resources than all of Earth is capable of supplying! Even if we could pillage countless planets to gather the materials needed to get the job done, the Sun is so powerful that such a structure wouldn't be able to contain or harness its power. Instead, the sphere would collapse.”
“Oh, Yee of little faith,” McGregor said, thoroughly enjoying the debate. “I do concede that a Dyson Sphere is impossible for us to build, but if we were ever to encounter such a Sphere, odds are its creator did not originate from Earth. We’re not capable of making anything that massive, as it would take a thousand of years to construct, maybe even a few millennia.”
“Oh, so now you’re saying it was aliens,” Carter said, pointing to a part of the pool. “As you can see, we do have aliens covered in the pool.”
“I don’t care who made it,” McGregor sternly replied, “I just want the Dyson Sphere to be its own category.”
“There is no way it could be that,” Carter again protested.
“If you’re correct,” Olivia said, stepping in, “Then you should have problem trouble taking his money and watching him lose. Isn’t that right, Lieutenant?”
“I suppose not,” Carter conceded, “I’ll create a category for your sphere.”
“Thank you,” McGregor said, as he put down his money. “That’s all I wanted. I don’t care if I lose, I just love the idea of entertaining the notion that a Sphere could be out there. It’s so damn cool!”
“Of course, it is,” Carter said, “Forgive me if I don’t share your enthusiasm.”
“It would be a marvel to behold,” McGregor continued, “And I can assure you something that massive would make everyone’s jaw hit the damn deck. You would all be in awe of an engineering miracle, and I’d love every damn second of it.”
“I never took you for the fantasy type,” Olivia said, as she was impressed.
“I have my moments,” he said, winking at her. “You of all people should know.”
“Ugh,” Olivia groaned, as she passed a few credits over to Carter. “Put my bet under black hole.”
“That’s a bad bet,” McGregor said, even snickering a bit. “If it was a black hole, the other planets would lose their orbit but they’re still out there.”
“How do you know that?” Carter asked him.
“I got intel and photos from a guy who owes me back home,” McGregor said, smiling at his ingenuity. “I’ve been studying the data from the telescopes, and that’s why I happen to think this is being caused by a Dyson Sphere.”
“You’re assuming that anything outside the sphere would not lose their pull from their star,” Carter declared, “That would also break their orbit, just not as violently.”
“You’re assuming there are other planets left,” the engineer countered, “That the aliens who built it didn’t use them for materials.”
“Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound?” Carter asked.
“Just make the damn bet,” McGregor demanded.
“Let him has his fantasy,” Olivia ordered.
“Yes, Ma’am.” Carter said, taking both their credits and placing their best.
“Cheers!” McGregor said, taking his receipt and happily returning from whence he came deep in the ships under belly.
“Thank you,” Olivia said, as she took her receipt.
“How did you do it?” Carter asked her.
“Do what?” Olivia asked.
“Be married to that neanderthal for so many years!” Carter said, mildly annoyed.
“Oh, that,” Olivia said, as she wasn’t and less annoyed. “I ask myself that very question, and sometimes I’m not able to provide a decent answer.”
“Fair enough,” Carter said, “I apologize for prying.”
“It’s all good,” Olivia replied, “Please pack up before your lunch ends, I don’t want you being late to your station. Especially since we’re going to be entering the new system within several hours. We clear?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Carter said, nodding a lot.
Olivia walked away from the table and proceeded to get something to eat while she still had time to do so. She never had to rush but kept her breaks the same to make an example for the crew. This was also the reason why she placed a bet in the pool, to ease the worries of those who were afraid to do so themselves. If the Captain was able to place a bet, others would not feel afraid to do the same and enjoy the same comradery that was boosting morale. She also picked the one she knew was guaranteed to lose, because she didn’t want to win. Her former husband’s ideal was not smart but downright scary. Something she was now determined to investigate before they made it to the next system.