Blue Planet Rising (Pebbles in the Sky Book 2) Read online

  Peter looked up as a group of five civilians came into the observation room to watch the departure of the expedition.

  The Admiral nodded at them. “They’re the group of engineers from the big South American conglomerate that’s wanting to buy this station when we finish Space Station Beta.”

  “I heard before I took the shuttle up that Congress and the other three alliance nations were going to approve the sale of the station. From the numbers I saw, the proceeds from that will front almost half the cost of the new station.” Peter said.

  “Yes, and the new station will be slightly bigger, and much more modern. Most of the construction work will eventually be done at the Lagrange station since it is easier to get materials up from the moons gravity well than from Earth. The components for the new station can then be moved down to low Earth orbit. They’re also going to be parking a big asteroid at the Lagrange point that we started steering that way a while ago. The metals in that thing will contribute a large portion of the metals we need to build the new station.” said the Admiral.

  “How are the new cadets from the alliance nations doing?” asked Peter.

  “We’re due to receive the second group in about a month,” said the Admiral. “It’s going to be interesting mixing all the different cultural backgrounds, but I think we’ll be a better force because of it.”

  The Admiral’s PA buzzed and he tapped it. “This is Admiral Ellis,” he answered.

  “Admiral, Captain Jenkins is requesting permission for the expedition to get under way,” Captain Chamness, the station commander said over the communication channel.”

  “Permission granted Captain. Please patch me through to both ships,” ordered the Admiral.

  …

  On board the transfer ship Mike Pierce, Captain Jenkins opened the channel so that the entire crew could hear the Admiral.

  “To the crews of the Mike Pierce and the David Honstein, this is Admiral Ellis. I want to personally wish you all Godspeed and good luck on your mission. All of us here left behind at Earth will have you in our prayers and be cheering for you.”

  Hank flipped off the external communications and spoke over the ships intercom to his crew. “Everybody to your acceleration stations, prepare for acceleration in five minutes.” He then called over to Commander Brian Edwards, the Commanding Officer and pilot of the David Honstein. “Commander, we are maneuvering clear now. You will leave one hour after us.”

  “Roger that,” said Commander Edwards.

  Hank looked over at Lieutenant Debbie Howell in the co-pilots seat. “Lieutenant, pull us clear with thrusters. When we are one thousand meters out you may engage the VASMIR drive.”

  “Yes sir,” the young woman said excitedly.

  The Mike Pierce responded to her controls and slowly drifted farther away from the station and the David Honstein with a series of bursts from her maneuvering thrusters.

  “Ramping up power in the propulsion reactor to eighty percent,” she said. She called to the crew on the intercom. “Initiating VASMIR drive in five, four, three, two, one, now.”

  The computer introduced a stream of xenon gas into the huge radio wave emitters in the ships two main engines. The gas was whipped into a super excited plasma cloud by the intense heat and exhausted out the main engine nozzles. To those observing on the space station, a bluish/purple glow started extending behind the ship as it slowly started to move away. The engines were only capable producing a combined acceleration of a fraction of normal gravity, so the crew was not uncomfortable at all. The acceleration was just powerful enough that there was now a slight relative up and down. Up was toward the ships nose and down was toward the engines.

  After about thirty minutes of acceleration the rear video imagers showed a long tail of ionized gas behind them and the station was nowhere in sight. Hank called below to operations. “Are we stowed for spinning up the habitation rings?”

  “All crew reports ready for spin up sir,” was the reply from the operations watch.

  He initiated the spin up procedure and called over the intercom, “Spinning up crew habitat rings, standby for gravity.”

  The two rings containing operations and the crews living and berthing spaces slowly started spinning in opposite directions. Their torque effectively canceled out the torque force of its sister ring that was spinning in the opposite direction. They spun up to a speed fast enough to give a simulated one quarter Earth gravity. The effects of the centrifugal gravity and a lot of mandatory time on the exercise bikes would help prevent bone and muscle loss on the long voyage.

  “Captain, Alpha Control reports that the David Honstein is under way,” said operations over the cockpit speaker.

  “Very well operations. Lieutenant Howell, you have the con, I’m going to tour engineering.”

  “Yes sir,” said the Lieutenant.

  Hank pulled himself down the tube to the crew habitat and then slid down the ladder to the galley. On his way to engineering he was going to make sure he ate his share of those fresh eggs they had smuggled on board before they were gone. He couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten a real honest to goodness omelet. There was no telling how much it cost to bring the things up from Earth. Command does have its privileges, he thought, as he started looking for some other omelet ingredients.

  Chapter 25

  April 7th, 2047

  Interplanetary Space

  Brianna sat with Doctor Beatrice Doucette and Petty Office Sarah Mullen as they looked at the live images of Elpis from the Mike Pierce’s small telescope. The Mike Pierce was decelerating at full power as it neared the planet Elpis. Even though they still had a little over a week left before they settled into orbit around the planet; preparations had reached a frantic pace. The robotic supply landers that were secured to the Mike Pierce’s cargo trusses were being checked out. There were four of the supply landers and they contained the bulk of the expedition’s supplies. The crew lander itself, the ascent ship, and the robot lander with the expedition’s two ground vehicles, were attached to the David Honstein which was about six hours behind the Mike Pierce. Those landers were also undergoing a battery of tests and preparations.

  “Just look at her, she’s beautiful,” said Sarah

  Doctor Doucette nodded. “The planet’s like a virgin bride. She’s all dressed up in lace and waiting for the touch of her man.”

  “How appropriate,” agreed Sarah. “That’s a nice analogy. The ribbons of cloud are the lace and she’s never known the kiss of a man. Don’t you know that she’s getting excited now that her first time is approaching?”

  Brianna was blushing. She had confided to both of them during the long trip from Earth that she was still a virgin. She had endured quite a bit of good natured kidding during the trip. Sarah and Beatrice both suspected that Brianna and the man of her desire had been placed on different ships for a reason. It was quite funny to them that Brianna and Lieutenant Jason Greco hadn’t been able to have any private non-official contact with each other for over two months now. The discussion they were having, comparing the planet to a virgin bride, was a thinly veiled jest just to kid her.

  “Ok girls, let’s change the subject shall we?” said Brianna

  Sarah and Beatrice erupted in laughter. Lieutenant Allan Greco, the brother of Jason Greco, was working at his remote VR control panel in operations and looked at them in annoyance.

  “Can you girls take your woman talk somewhere else? If I don’t get these landers tested out, no one is going anywhere. Your virginity on the other hand isn’t going to hold up the mission.”

  Beatrice burst out laughing. “Oh, she can’t stand it much longer!”

  Brianna gave her a dirty look and climbed the ladder back to the central access tube. Allan looked curiously at her departing feet as they disappeared down the tube. “I’m not sure, but somehow I think I’m missing something,” he said.

  “Lieutenant, we’re so sorry to bother you. Please tend to your robot landers. We’ll leave y
ou to your toils,” said Beatrice as she and Petty Officer Mullen grinned at each other and went up the ladder after Brianna.

  Brianna was down in the galley when the Beatrice and Sarah caught up with her. They sat down at the small table where the other two ground expedition members on board the Mike Pierce were already sitting. Doctor Frederick Vaughn, and Master Chief Donald Sims looked up from their game of cards as the women joined them.

  Master Chief Sims nodded his head at the women. “Ladies, it’s nice of you to join us. It seems that none of us is finding it easy to sleep the past couple of days.”

  “I can’t wait to get down there,” said Brianna. “I’ve been stir crazy the whole trip out. Now that we can actually see details on the planet with the ships telescope, I’m really getting restless.”

  “Patience my dear, patience,” said Doctor Vaughn. “We are going to be down there for four years, so one more week in space isn’t going to hurt you.”

  “You had better enjoy the leisure time while you can,” said the Master Chief. “We’re going to be busy as hell the first two weeks we’re planet side erecting our habitat and getting gear set up. You’ll wish you were back up here in a soft bunk then.”

  “Even that will be better than this,” said Beatrice. “Nobody gets sick up here, and unless someone smashes a finger or something, there’s absolutely nothing for a doctor to do.”

  “Don’t forget what happened the last time the David Honstein was out here,” Master Chief Sims reminded her. They all grew silent when they thought about how Colonel Mike Pierce, the namesake of the ship they were riding in, had suffered a stroke and died while in orbit around Elpis.

  Petty Office Sarah Mullen broke the silence. “It’ll be good to see the other half of the ground crew when we get in orbit. It’s been over two months since we left. I those guys.”

  “I’m sure that Lieutenant Jason Greco and Commander Nichols are working their asses off getting ready. Both of them have been spending about six hours a day in the flight simulator program for the lander. They had better be proficient if we want to get down to the surface in one piece,” said Frederick.

  They all looked up as a familiar voice called from the access tube. “Why is he the glory boy while I’m the one who has his work cut out for him? He just has to land one personnel lander. I have to land six robotic landers by VR control. My job is a hundred times harder than his. If I don’t get the crew ascent ship down in one piece the whole mission is a wash and we all have to go back home.” Allan Greco came over and stood beside the little table they were crowded around.

  Beatrice grimaced. “There are fourteen other crew personnel on board this ship. How come you’re always showing up when we are discussing our plans for the ground expedition?”

  Allan gave a her a frown. “Because I’m jealous that my brother is getting to go down to the planet and I’m stuck up here flying robotic ships by VR command. He was the lucky one who got picked for flight school and I got chosen for my job because I had better hand eye coordination and better scores on cybernetic systems. It’s not fair. Besides, it seems the pilots get all the cute ladies,” he grinned at Brianna.

  “Are you as charming with your robotic lovers as you are with real women?” asked Brianna.

  “Touché,” said Allan as the others chuckled. “I am just getting some coffee before I run another check on the ascent ship. That baby is the backbone of this whole expedition. I didn’t realize I would get all this hostility down here or I would have waited,” he grinned. He poured himself some coffee in a no spill cup and hauled himself back up the ladder and to the operations center in the other habitat ring.

  …

  On board the David Honstein Lieutenant Jason Greco and Commander Kristy Nichols had climbed through the airlock access tube and were sitting in the crew lander going over flight check lists. They had already done the same thing twice the day before, but they too were starting to feel the tension as they neared Elpis.

  Commander Edwards, the Captain of the David Honstein stuck his head in through the access hatch. “Mind if I come aboard?”

  “Sure Brian, come on in,” said Kristy

  Brian Edwards climbed in the cramped crew compartment of the lander and pulled himself down into the first seat behind the cockpit. He jammed his long legs in at an angle to keep from floating out of the seat. “How we looking for the landing, is everything in readiness?”

  “We’ve been through the checklists and simulators so many times we’re going crazy,” said Jason.

  “I bet,” said Brian. I just got a message from Captain Jenkins on the Mike Pierce. The sun watching scientists back on Earth are getting antsy about a large group of sunspots that are rotating our way. They’re concerned that there may be some massive coronal eruptions associated with them.”

  “Big enough to be a crew hazard?” asked Kristy.

  “We should be okay with the EM shields at full power here on the transfer ships, but they could play havoc with communications. What they’re really worried about is the VR circuits that we have to use to control the robotic landers. Since they’re controlled in real time, a loss of the control signal could mean bad news. All of that equipment is very important. It could really affect your mission if we lose one of the ships on the way down because of a loss of VR communication and control. Your crew should be ok with the radiation exposure during the short period of time you’ll be above the atmosphere in the lander. The planet has a pretty good magnetic field, so being in low orbit will give us all some additional protection. Communications are going to suffer though.”

  “So, what else are they saying?” asked Kristy.

  “They’re asking Hank if we could get everything down to the surface in two or three days if we absolutely had to,” said Brian.

  “Damn, we’re not even supposed to send the ascent ship down for at least a week after we enter orbit” said Jason.

  “What did Hank say?” asked Kristy.

  “He’s talking to Lieutenant Allan Greco. He’s the one who is responsible for flying the robotic ships down. It’ll be tough landing them all in that short a period of time.”

  “Jason, you finish the checklist. I need to go talk to Hank and the solar weather gurus back on Earth before they decide to do something stupid,” Kristy told Jason.

  “I’ll be here,” said Jason as Kristy followed Brian back into the Honstein. He started down the checklists again. If they had to bug out and land on short notice, things could get hairy. He had to make sure everything was ready.

  Chapter 26

  April 14, 2047

  Houston, Texas

  “How bad is it looking?” asked Peter as he looked over Robby’s shoulder at the computer display.

  “The solar guys are predicting it may reach X40-X50 magnitude,” Robby replied

  “Whoa, that would be up there with that big one back in the late 1800’s. I think that solar storm set all the early telegraph stations on fire from the EM induced current. That flare was so big that the EMP went back down the cables and fried all the stations. During the peak of the event they had Northern Lights visible as far south as Cuba.”

  “Are the personnel in space in danger?” asked Peter.

  “Well, the ones in low Earth orbit are protected. Any ships in deep space are at risk for problems. The Lagrange Point station is very exposed. They are pushing their EM shield up to its maximum power limits. Admiral Ellis is grounding all shuttles and Earth to moon traffic. The lunar based personnel can take shelter underground and the Phobos base personnel are also taking shelter. The Elpis expedition ships are the main issue. The flare will affect them much more than the ships here in low Earth orbit,” Robby replied.

  “Ok, we need a plan. Those ships are going to arrive at Elpis in less than twenty four hours. As much as I hate to, we may need them to swing around and head back home if that’s at all possible,” stated Peter

  “Admiral Ellis and his science advisors are already looking at the problem. The
y want them to leave orbit and take a course that will keep the ships in the planet’s shadow for as long as possible. Unfortunately, that trajectory will take them away from Earth and that causes issues with their consumable supplies. The crews will have to take cover in their hardened storm shelters, which were designed for this very reason. The engineers believe that with the ship’s EM shields at maximum and the crews spending most of their time in the shelters, they will receive only about five times the maximum annual dose of radiation,” Robby said.

  “We’ll have to scrub the mission then,” said Peter sadly.

  “Maybe not. They’re still trying to figure out if they can get everything down to the plnet’s surface in three days and before the transfer ships get the hell out and headed away from the sun,” said Robby. “The problem is that the storm shelters are only designed for fourteen people. They have nineteen on each ship with the expedition ground crew. IF the ships cannot take a direct course back to earth there are some serious questions if there is enough oxygen and consumables on board for all of them to survive. They’re not going to be able to return directly to Earth if they try and stay in the planet’s shadow for as long as possible. They’re looking at possibly making for Mars and re-supplying at Phobos base. It just takes too long to maneuver those ships and change course once they get moving. If they can get the expedition crew down to the planet’s surface, then that frees up enough consumables to be able to make it to Phobos.”

  “Ok Robby, keep me informed. I need to make sure that all the other NASA assets are being put in safe mode before the radiation from the flare hits.” Peter headed for his office. It was going to be another one of those long nights that his wife Susan hated so badly.

  …