Expedition of Discovery - Chapters 1 to 3

SERENDIPITY QUADRILOGY

 VOLUME 1

Expedition of Discovery

 

Copyright:  October 21, 2013

Registration Number:  TXu 1-896-090

 

SERENDIPITY QUADRILOGY

 

 VOLUME 1

 Expedition of Discovery

  

Preface

  

Are we alone? 

 

 

 

Are we special and unique? 

 

 

 

That question has plagued Humanity since the time of our sentience.

 

 

 

So far, no one has come a’callin, and SETI has not yet picked up any alien transmissions. 

 

The myriad of space probes, landers and rovers which we have sent throughout our Solar System for the past 49 years has not provided even the slightest hint of life existing beyond our own beloved Planet Earth.

 

 

 

From the Luna 9 landing on the Moon in 1966 to the Curiosity Rover on Mars in 2012, each and every one of these missions has increasingly demonstrated that the stuff of life is out there, just not life itself.

 

 

 

This makes me wonder if we are truly special and unique……but maybe only to our own Solar System and that maybe life IS out there, but in another Star System or Star Systems. 

 

 

 

And what if, once we were capable of Inter-Stellar Travel, we came across an alien species that were at a vastly and dramatically lower level of evolution and technology? 

 

 

 

What if WE were the Aliens?

 

 

 

This hard Science Fiction Quadrilogy examines the possibility that Humans are the ones who have initiated First Contact on another Planet. 

 

 

 

Would they plunder their world, exploiting their natural resources for our own benefit? 

 

 

 

Or have they learned as a Species from their conquering and violent ways and invite them into their Inter-Galactic family as equals?  

 

 

 

What would they do if they could travel to a distant Star System?

 

 

 

What should they do if they could travel to a distant Star System?

 

 

 

Indeed, what will they do when they can, in fact, travel to a distant Star System?

 

 

SERENDIPITY QUADRILOGY

 

 VOLUME 1

 

 

 

Expedition of Discovery

 

 

 

Introduction

 

 

 

Greetings and welcome to the first installment of my hard science fiction Quadrilogy, Serendipity.  This first novel starts out with a heavy dose of science and technology, though this is just to set the tone of the level of technology available to our travelers.

 

 

 

Serendipity can be loosely defined as an event or series of events which may seem random, unwarranted or otherwise innocuous but leads to a surprising gift or good fortune. 

 

 

 

In this Quadrilogy, Serendipity refers to the fact that Humans had discovered an obscure Planet through an accidental miss-calculation of a trajectory into a Star Jump. 

 

 

 

After discovering this Planet, the United Peoples of Earth Council, or UPEC decided that it was the perfect place to undertake a project to enhance the evolutionary progress of five species of Class B Primates inhabiting Planet 303417.3 or 417.3 for short, Project Serendipity.

 

 

 

The Serendipity Quadrilogy takes place over 48,000 years on 417.3 and over 40 years of the life of Orlando De La Viega, the man at the center of this Quadrilogy. 

 

 

 

Serendipity tells of Orlando’s journey through life as seen through his continued missions to 417.3, as it also tells the evolutionary story of the Planet inhabitants.

 

 

 

Serendipity Volume 1-Expedition of Discovery is also filled with the inherent dangers of the Star Jump and the Galactic Web, comedy including a singing space surfing robot, a spine chilling horror scene, adventure, action, a smokin’ hot love scene, Human compassion and honor, twelve alien species, mystery, surprises and cliff hangers, as in plural but please, don’t jump to the end because you won’t get it, LOL!

 

 

 

This book will also tell the tale of Orlando and Vai, Orlando’s wife, which through flashbacks invoked by certain events in this novel causes Orlando to remember back to earlier times in their lives which establishes their undying love for each other.

 

 

 

I hope that this first book of the Quadrilogy will make you think, learn, wonder, laugh and relate to all that we are as a species.

 

 

 

Here we go……

 

 

 

 

SERENDIPITY QUADRILOGY

 

 VOLUME 1

 

 

 

Expedition of Discovery

 

 

 

Prologue

 

 

 

 

 

It was a wondrous and exciting time for the inhabitants of Planet Earth……

 

 

 

The Alphans had Star Jumped into Earth’s Star System and answered their age old question……”Are We Alone?”

 

 

 

The Alphans did not come bearing gifts, nor did they come to plunder Planet Earth, rather they came simply as explorers while mapping out the Star Systems of the Galactic Web, much like cataloging the inventory in a warehouse. 

 

 

 

They did, however, send greetings and information of just who and what is out there beyond the Cosmos and how the inhabitants of Planet Earth could join an elite group of sentient Species that could travel to the Stars.

 

 

 

But it would not be easy or quick.  At the time, the Humans of Planet Earth lacked the unity, technology and resources to make Interstellar travel possible……

 

 

 

Many decades later and armed with the knowledge of Star Jump technology, and finally united as a species, Humans from the Planet Earth banded together and put away their differences and formed a global governing body, the United Peoples of Earth Council, or UPEC.

 

 

 

Working together countries, nation states, corporations and companies all the way down to the mom n pop’s joined in the effort to make travel to the Stars possible for all Humans of Planet Earth.

 

 

 

The people of Earth were then bound to identify themselves by the Star System they were from, just as the other sentient beings capable of Interstellar travel had identified themselves by their Star System names.

 

 

 

A vote was put up to the children of Earth, the future of the Human species, to name their Solar System.  They chose the name Sol.

 

 

 

The Humans from Planet Earth would now be known as the Solans to the rest of the Galaxy.

 

 

 

Once this was determined, the Solans pulled together all of their resources and worked towards a common goal, a goal to build Space ships capable of travelling to the outermost regions of their Solar System.

 

 

 

Out there, amongst the coldest, iciest bodies, the Alphans had detected the presence of the as of yet undiscovered element, Sulfultanium.

 

 

 

It was Sulfultanium that allowed for the building of Starships capable of taking the Solans to any Star System in the Galaxy.

 

 

 

The Interstellar explorations that these Starships accomplished eventually led to an accidental discovery of an obscure Planet sitting at the lone end of a string of the Galactic Web.

 

 

 

This unnamed Planet, known only by its catalogued designation SA8-Q4-S73-303417.3, as it sits in Sector 73 of Quadrant 4 of Spiral Arm 8 of the Milky Way Galaxy, resides at the farthest most reaches of the known Galaxy.

 

 

 

The remoteness of this Planet led the UPEC to approve Project Serendipity which had noble intentions, but unforeseen consequences.

 

 

 

Inhabiting this obscure Planet were a series of five species rated as Class B Primates.  The UPEC’s objective was to enhance their evolutionary process and monitor their development from primates to sentient beings. 

 

 

 

Making this possible is the fact that the life spans of these Class B Primates were greatly shorter than the Solans on a one to six-hundred-year scale.  

 

 

 

For every one Solan year, six hundred of their years would have passed.  This life span difference would allow the Solans to observe and research their evolution at a vastly reduced time frame to learn about their own evolution.

 

 

 

While the Solans initially thought this was a beneficial plan for both species, something has gone wrong.  Of the five Class B Primates, only one survives and they are in danger of extinction…………………

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

LOCATION:  ABOARD MONITORING AND COMMUNICATIONS PROBE MCP-1101, IN ORBIT AROUND AN OBSCURE PLANET LOCATED AT THE LONE END OF A STRING OF THE GALACTIC WEB

 

 

 

 

 

Inside and at the heart of the MCP-1101 is its five monitoring stations, each receiving live video feeds from the original expedition sites that were part of Project Serendipity.

 

 

 

Built deep into nearby mountaintops are camouflaged camera positions overlooking each site with an underground rocket complex that will take the monitoring equipment to the orbiting MCP-1101 at the end of its forty-year mission, which is just about to come to an end as the year-date-time stamp in the upper left hand corner of the monitors reads, in Planet time……

 

 

 

 

 

MISSION TIME ELAPSED:  YEARS:  23,000    DAYS:  364    HOURS: 12    MINUTES:  36    SECONDS:  10  

 

 

 

 

 

While in the lower right hand corner reads……

 

 

 

 

 

MISSION TIME REMAINING:  YEARS:  0    DAYS:  0    HOURS: 11    MINUTES:  23    SECONDS:  50

 

 

 

 

 

The monitor observing the former Expedition Site 1, or ES-1 shows a dramatically different landscape than what it was twenty-four thousand years ago.

 

 

 

Far from the lush and fertile landscape that it was, the area is now a dry, flat plain situated at the base of a small mountain with scant vegetation on its slopes.

 

 

 

Naturally occurring climate change has brought drought conditions to the area and it has become uninhabitable, save for a few who dare to cross its path on their way to better hunting and foraging grounds.

 

 

 

On the horizon appears a black dot.  Then a second dot appears.  Then a third……and they are moving.

 

 

 

It soon it becomes clear that it is a group of inhabitants headed into the area.

 

 

 

As they close in on the site, the cameras are better able to identify separate individuals. 

 

 

 

There are five males, three females and four children, two of which are babies who are being carried by the women and two appearing to be at an age whereby they are unable to care for themselves and are under the protection of the females.

 

 

 

The group is attired in hides culled from various animals covering just their loins with leggings protecting their feet from the rough surface of the Planet. 

 

 

 

A few of them have larger hides draped over their shoulders while the adults are carrying a rudimentary form of a wooden backpack.

 

 

 

They also carry with them an assortment of wooden spears fashioned from tree branches, which were first ground against a boulder, then sharpened further with their stone knives which are really just shards of rock picked up along their many travels.

 

 

 

They carry no water or food and only a few large skins to use as cover during the cold of the evening.

 

 

 

As the group comes into better view, their faces and bodies are revealed to be weary, weathered, gaunt and frail.

 

 

 

They are walking at a labored pace with the children struggling to keep up.

 

 

 

Their hair is matted and dirty.  The men are sporting unkempt beards and all appear ready for a bath.

 

 

 

Suddenly, one of members of the group spots a small vegetation patch and points it out to the others.

 

 

 

With a look of surprise, the entire group begins pointing to the patch, grunting and groaning, then begin moving towards the patch at a fast pace.

 

 

 

As they quicken their jaunt, one individual is beginning to separate from the rest, as he is moving at a much faster pace and reaching the patch before the others.

 

 

 

He immediately begins to dig into the soil with his stone knife and bare hands. 

 

 

 

The rest of the group soon arrives and join in. 

 

 

 

After they clear away the rock and soil from underneath and around the root of the plant, the inhabitant that reached it first, takes charge and begins wiping off the soil from around the root.  He then breaks off the extended roots reaching out from all around the tuber. 

 

 

 

He holds it in hands and it is so big that it fills both of them as he lifts it up to the group to see.

 

 

 

They all let out collective moans of anticipation and hunger, while the children are reaching out with their arms, in a ‘give me some’ gesture…….clearly, all are hungry.

 

 

 

The adults are now gathered in a circle and are passing the tuber around, yet no one is eating it.

 

 

 

Every time one of the inhabitants receives the tuber, they look at it with a longing desire, but then shake their heads and try to pass it off to someone else.

 

 

 

Finally, one of males takes the tuber from one of the females and makes a few grunting noises as he addresses the group.

 

 

 

He then holds the tuber up to his face and takes one big bite.

 

 

 

As he does, the rest of the group looks on, mouths watering in anticipation. 

 

 

 

There is one big crunching noise as he takes the first bite, followed by the sounds of his teeth grinding the chunk his has bitten off.

 

 

 

He lets out a moan of approval and smiles and begins to laugh as his saliva and juices from the tuber run out of his mouth and down the side of his face.

 

 

 

The rest of the group then reach their arms forward to take hold of the tuber, when it has suddenly become clear that something is wrong.

 

 

 

The inhabitant that has taken the first bite suddenly stops all motion. 

 

 

 

His body stiffens up and as his eyes roll back in his head, all that can be seen are the whites.

 

 

 

He drops the tuber as his body collapses and falls to the ground…..lifeless.

 

 

 

Stunned, the group steps back and lets out collective sighs and moans. 

 

 

 

Their heads drop in disappointment.  They stare at the dead body of their comrade in utter dejection. 

 

 

 

A few seconds later, they then lift their heads collectively, turn and look at each other.

 

 

 

With a look of despair, they slowly turn away and head back to their original path, when suddenly, one of the children breaks away from the group, trying to go back to the tuber.

 

 

 

Her hand is grabbed by one of the females who points to the tuber and makes some grunting and groaning noises as she jerks the child’s arm, then whisks her away and back to the group, all the while, the child is resisting, crying and trying to get back to the tuber.

 

 

 

The group begins to move on as the females begin covering the children with hides. 

 

 

 

Evening is approaching and the cold is about to set in, as is winter in just a few short weeks.

 

 

 

As night falls and with no supplies to make a fire, the inhabitants find themselves huddled together in a circle on the hard, flat ground, covered in hides.

 

 

 

With the children centered in the middle, the adults rotate their positions in the circle during the night so that no one adult is on the outside of the circle for too long, allowing the groups body heat to keep everyone warm enough to last through the cold night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next morning, as the Star of this obscure Planet rises above the horizon and begins to warm the surface, the inhabitants are preparing to move along in search of food, water and shelter…….

 

 

 

 

 

Inside the MCP-1101 the year-date-time stamp monitors reads…..

 

 

 

 

 

MISSION TIME ELAPSED:  YEARS:  24,000    DAYS:  0    HOURS:  0    MINUTES:  0    SECONDS:  0  

 

 

 

 

 

While in the lower right hand corner reads……

 

 

 

 

 

MISSION TIME REMAINING:  YEARS:  0    DAYS:  0    HOURS:  0    MINUTES:  0    SECONDS:  0

 

 

 

 

 

The five monitoring stations then all display the following prompt:

 

 

 

 

 

Monitoring of Planet SA8-Q4-S73-303417.3 complete

 

 

 

Monitoring of Planet SA8-Q4-S73-303417.3 complete

 

 

 

Return to base

 

 

 

Return to base

 

 

 

Initiating launch sequence in three, two, one…..

 

 

 

Initiating launch sequence……

 

 

 

 

 

Suddenly the mountain top portals of the rocket launch complex burst to life, shaking the ground underneath the inhabitants who have just awoken.

 

 

 

They huddle in a low stance in preparations to ride out the tremors, as they are accustomed to quakes in this area and others.

 

 

 

A few seconds later, they hear three distinct, loud “BOOMS”, the group then looks up to see that there are three points in the surrounding mountain skyline that have exploded and have sent out rock and debris shooting up and out in a streaming pattern.

 

 

 

One to the left of the mountaintop at a forty-five-degree angle, one to the right at a forty-five-degree angle, and one distinct explosion dead center of the mountaintop and straight up towards the sky.

 

 

 

The two sides of the mountain are now spewing out red flames of fire and billows of black smoke, while in the center of the mountain, white steam can be seen shooting out in a concentrated plume.

 

 

 

Not knowing what this is, the inhabitants are frozen in amazement.

 

 

 

Slowly, at the center point of the mountain, the white steam is replaced by a white sphere attached to an also white and long cylindrical object moving slowly up and out of the mountaintop, and as it does, the flames and black smoke from the mountains two sides begins to reduce as does the shaking on the ground.

 

 

 

Now completely exposed, the Monitoring Station Return Rocket has cleared the mountain and is on its way to rendezvous with its Mother Ship, the MCP-1101. 

 

 

 

It is a thin, lean rocket with a large bubble shaped tip containing all of the equipment from the mission, the Payload Carrier Module, or PCM.

 

 

 

The massive amount of exhaust from the launch of the Monitoring Station Return Rocket has also effectively destroyed all evidence of extra-terrestrial Involvement on this obscure Planet, leaving the area looking like the remnants of an extinct volcano.

 

 

 

With the tremors over, the group of inhabitants rise and stare in amazement of the events that are happening before them. 

 

 

 

They point their fingers at the departing rocket and follow its path across the sky, which is leaving a trail of white smoke behind it as it streaks upwards to an eventual docking with the MCP-1101.

 

 

 

They grunt and groan, hoot and howl and as the rocket reaches higher and higher into the sky, when the group then looks around, looks at each other and begin to grunt and groan at what they just witnessed, pointing a wide range of three fingered gestures at each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A scant few moments later, the rocket has reached orbital altitude and as it does, its engines shut off, leaving the rocket and the PCM on top of it in a coast, out of the gravitational pull of the Planet.

 

 

 

As it silently streaks across the surface of the Planet in the vacuum of Space, the separation bolts explode, disconnecting the PCM from the launch rocket.

 

 

 

The PCM’s single engine then blasts to life, sending it away from the launch rocket which slowly falls backwards and down to a fiery grave as it will soon burn up in the atmosphere on its way back to the Planet……again leaving no trace of extra-terrestrial involvement.

 

 

 

The outside of MCP-1101 reveals itself to be of a bullet shaped designed fuselage connecting a long tube to the rear of the craft where the engine module is housed. 

 

 

 

The rectangular engine module contains four nuclear fusion engines at each point of the four corners, while the nuclear boost exhaust is mounted at the center of the rear of the engine module.

 

 

 

As the five PCM’s approach MCP-1101, they fire their maneuvering rockets so that they each line up in their respective flight paths which will take them to the Docking Ring.

 

 

 

The Docking Ring surrounds the bullet shaped MCP-1101 right at its mid-point, looking like the chambers of a revolver.

 

 

 

Slowly, one by one, and in the silence of Space, the ball shaped PCM’s make their way to their docking stations in a constant state of maneuvering and rocket thrusting to stay in the flight line path.

 

 

 

Once a PCM has reached docking distance, it comes to a complete stop, just twenty feet from the docking station.

 

 

 

After all five PCM’s are ready to dock, the MCP-1101 activates is Electro-Magnetic Docking Sequence maneuver.

 

 

 

Shooting out from the docking station portal is a blue and white electro-magnetic streak of energy in a tubular form.

 

 

 

It reaches out to the PCMs, enveloping them in its grasp and pulling them to the docking ports. 

 

 

 

A few seconds later after the PCMs have successfully completed their docking sequence, the four nuclear fusion engines of the MCP-1101 roar to life.

 

 

 

First, the four engine wells begin to glow a dull orange which soon turns to a bright orange when just then, there is huge blast of bright orange plasma energy streams from all four engines streaking out and away from MCP-1101.

 

 

 

The probe then begins to slowly drift away from the Planet and towards its parent Star.

 

 

 

MCP-1101 is then enveloped by an incredibly bright white and blue light which is crackling and buzzing…… an electro-magnetic force field to protect the probe from cosmic debris as it travels through Space. 

 

 

 

The probe is soon travelling at its cruise speed and will reach the Planets Star in four hours.

 

 

 

Fast enough for even a spec of cosmic dust to destroy the ship if the two were to collide, but with the electro-magnetic force field, the probe is completely protected.

 

 

 

As the probe reaches Star 303417, a bright flash of light appears from the rear of the ship with an eerie silence.

 

 

 

Its speed suddenly increases to three hundred fourteen million miles per hour, and as the probe then closes in on the Star, it becomes caught in its gravitational field.  

 

 

 

The probe begins to orbit the Star at a dangerous and fiery fifteen thousand degrees Fahrenheit. 

 

 

 

The probe then rounds the Star and appearing around the corner, is a blackness in the blackness of space, a spot in Space-Time devoid of all light and matter. 

 

 

 

Another bright flash of light from the rear of the probe shoots it out of the Star’s gravitational field, and in a slingshot effect, it is propelled towards the blackness.

 

 

 

In the silence of Space, the probe enters the Galactic Web, which is accompanied by a bright flash of ultra-violet light, and when the flash is over, the probe has disappeared from sight as has the blackness in the blackness of Space……the Stars have returned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOCATION: PLANET EARTH, THE UNITED PEOPLES OF EARTH COUNCIL MEETING ROOM, SIX SOLAN MONTHS LATER

 

 

 

President and Council Member 1:  We have analyzed the data from Project Serendipity recently returned from Planet SA8-Q4-S73-303417.3 and the information is not encouraging. 

 

 

 

Council Member 2:  And what do you mean by not encouraging?

 

 

 

Council Member 1:  The evolutionary enhancement conversion experiment has begun to abate.  Apparently the species that we set out to help and change has stopped its evolutionary progress.

 

 

 

Council Member 3:  Explain.

 

 

 

Council Member 1:  To review, Project Serendipity was an experiment which a previous Council many years ago decided to take upon themselves.  This project was undertaken to attempt evolutionary enhancement to assist the development of intelligence in lower primates rated as Class B to see if they could evolve into intelligent sentient beings which we could monitor to help us understand our own evolution.

 

 

 

Council Member 4:  Yes, at the time this Planet was inhabited by five Class B Primate species.  These five species, numbering in the millions, were stuck at a particular level of evolution and not progressing.  Eight attempts were made to carry out this project. 

 

 

 

Of the eight attempts, only the eighth and final attempt was successful and only one of the Class B Primate species, but something has gone wrong and population numbers are dwindling rapidly. 

 

 

 

We estimate the numbers of this final species at less than fifty thousand covering various locations on the planet with some groups as large as ten thousand and some as small as four and even some individuals roaming about on their own. 

 

 

 

If this species becomes extinct, there will be no higher intelligent life left on the planet, our plan, our experiment, indeed, our responsibilities would have failed.

 

 

 

Council Member 3:  Do you have any conclusions as to why their numbers are dwindling?

 

 

 

Council Member 4:  While they have evolved to their current point according to the pre-set timeline, to the use of hand held stone tools they have not progressed beyond that point to say, the of making of hammers, saws or any other tools which combine one or more elements of the tools they are currently using. 

 

 

 

And while they have developed a rudimentary form of language, mostly grunts and groans, they still have not developed any writing systems. 

 

 

 

More importantly, they have also failed to discover the concepts of a centralized civilization, agriculture or animal domestication and are not getting enough amino acids in their diet to support higher brain functions. 

 

 

 

Therefore, they are still foraging for food and moving about from place to place where the food supplies are, using up all the natural resources then moving on to other areas leaving behind natural resource destruction. 

 

 

 

Those resources are too few and far between to sustain the population.  Additionally, the scarcer the food supply becomes, the more they are increasingly hostile toward one another.

 

 

 

Council Member 1:  Yes, their development was predicated on higher amounts of amino acids.

 

 

 

Council Member 5:   What can we do?  Suggestions?

 

 

 

Council Member 4:  We could send an emissary and instruct them on the benefits of a sedentary civilization, teach them the basics of the seasons of the Planet and how that relates to agriculture, domestication of animals as a food supply to get those amino acids and building of dwellings so they can settle in one area and have all of their essentials for survival met.

 

 

 

Council Member 5:  Direct intervention on a personal level?  Aren’t we supposed to remain anonymous to these beings now that their intelligence level has improved to the level they currently possess?

 

 

 

Council Member 2:  Yes, but at this point intervention is critical to save the species.  May I remind you that after the previous Council’s decision to embark on this experiment, it is our moral and ethical responsibility to ensure their survival “no matter what the circumstances”?

 

 

 

Council Member 1:  Yes, I agree.  The actions we have undertaken in the past with this species obligate us to ensure their survival as best we can. 

 

 

 

Council Member 5:  Weren’t you on that particular mission?

 

 

 

Council Member 1:  Yes…..Yes I was.  I spent over ten years of my life on Project Serendipity, some in the lab and a lot on Planet 417.3.

 

 

 

Council Member 1 remembers back to the mission and the day when IT happened.  The day which begat two of his most dark and deepest of secrets………..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A much younger Council Member 1, as leader, was given the Project Serendipity code name Serendipity One as he embarked on his and the UPEC’s most ambitious experiment to date. 

 

 

 

An experiment which was taken lightly at the time, as with the discovery of the Galactic Web and having already decoded and sequenced the DNA of the Human species of Planet Earth, the UPEC thought nothing of doing so as the Class B Primates could not understand what would be happening to their species during this experiment.  Serendipity One was the lead scientist of a team of twelve sent to 417.3 to initiate the plan.

 

 

 

Prior to leaving Earth, he and his team worked for five years in his lab manipulating the HAR1 gene and exposing strains of bacteria to the DNA of test subject inhabitants of 417.3 taken captive in an exploratory expedition and if he got the results he was looking for he would get the green light to splice the DNA/bacteria hybrid into the Class B primates.

 

 

 

After years of research, Serendipity One found what he thought at the time would be a successful batch and was given the permission to travel back to 417.3 to begin the process.

 

 

 

Upon arrival at 417.3 with four test samples Serendipity One and his team were on site for one year and at the end of this first mission, none of the Class B primates showed any increase in evolutionary improvement.

 

 

 

He returned to Earth and was authorized three more testing samples which took another three years to complete and another year on 417.3.  At the end of this latest experiment, again none of the Class B primates had shown any improvements. 

 

 

 

Serendipity One was very disheartened and the UPEC’s patience was growing thin.  They were contemplating using another scientist or scrapping the project all together and try another Planet. 

 

 

 

Serendipity One would not stand for that.  He was incensed.  He had already spent ten years of his life on this project and he felt it was going to make him a prominent member of the scientific community and increase his stature in Earth society.  He convinced the UPEC to let him try one more time and after they agreed, he returned to his experiments, something happened in his lab that made the project a success. 

 

 

 

An accident.  A scientific anomaly.  Something that Serendipity One did not report to the Council.  Building on those results, he arbitrarily added his own stamp on the project to ensure enduring success.

 

 

 

After another year of development, Serendipity One once again travelled to 417.3 and he and his team set about gathering some inhabitants of the planet and taking them back to his lab this time in orbit above the planet. 

 

 

 

There he spliced in the modified DNA into the HAR1 gene of the Class B Primates.  After the procedures were complete the test subjects were released back into their natural environment at various sites around the Planet. 

 

 

 

From their ship in orbit, Serendipity One and his team began to monitor the Class B primates.  This monitoring would be the longest and toughest part of his mission.  Either it works and he’s a success or it doesn’t and he goes home a failure. 

 

 

 

For six hundred years Planet time and one year of Solan time Serendipity One and his team patiently watched and waited, studying the Class B primates for changes in intelligence. 

 

 

 

Over the many generations that past on the planet, Serendipity One saw them develop tools for hunting and witnessed them skinning the hides of the animals they killed for food and using those hides for warmth and clothing but also saw a marked increase in the level of aggression towards each other. 

 

 

 

Fighting over food resources would happen from time to time, but as they were still migratory, if conflicts persisted they were soon defused by attrition.

 

 

 

Serendipity One and his team did not consider this a problem but a necessary side-effect of higher intelligence, all were in agreement.

 

 

 

As the change the UPEC hoped for was for increased intelligence, this had made the experiment a success.  He was now proud of himself as was the UPEC.  Upon his return to Earth, he was given a hero’s welcome and as he stood before the Council……..

 

 

 

Council Member 1:  Serendipity One, now that your mission has been successful, what is the next step?

 

 

 

Serendipity One:  We have constructed five monitoring stations complexes deep inside the mountains near the expedition sites.  The timer on the monitoring is set for twenty-four thousand years, Planet time.

 

 

 

At the end of that time, the Monitoring Station Return Rockets will transport the monitoring stations to an orbiting Monitoring and Communications Probe, then back here to Earth for analysis, while also destroying any evidence of off Planet involvement.

 

 

 

Council Member 3:  Twenty-four thousand years?  Why wait that long?  What if something goes wrong?

 

 

 

Serendipity One:  I am confident in the fact that their intellectual growth so far is sufficient for them to survive and eventually develop sentience, a discernible language and technology.

 

 

 

The only thing I can see going wrong is some type planet borne natural disaster or maybe an asteroid or comet impact, but we couldn’t do anything about those things anyway.

 

 

 

Council Member 1:  Very well, we will wait 40 years for the return of the monitoring.

 

 

 

Serendipity One’s mind fades back to present day in the UPEC’s virtual meeting room……………………….

 

 

 

Council Member 4:  What is your estimated time frame of extinction?

 

 

 

Council Member 2:  We estimate that without assistance, this species will become extinct in thirty of their generations.  Now thirty generations may sound like a lot but please understand their life span is very short and if they don’t get the help they need those life spans are expected to be shortened.

 

 

 

Council Member 1:  It appears that we have no choice in this matter, very well.  We will send one team of five missionaries for eighteen of their generations.  Begin with one area and see what works and doesn’t work.  Once we have defined a successful plan of action, we will expand our efforts to other areas of the Planet.  I will prepare the necessary arrangements for the expedition to 417.3.  Any dissentions?

 

 

 

Council Member 2:  No dissention.

 

 

 

Council Member 3:  No dissention.

 

 

 

Council Member 4:  No dissention.

 

 

 

Council Member 5:  No dissention.

 

 

 

Council Member 1:  Then it is agreed, the mission will proceed as discussed.  I will have a crew assembled and prepared for the mission.  I know just the man for the job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

 

 

In his study sits Council Member 1, Marshall De La Viega, a man large in stature and also formerly known as Serendipity One from his younger days as the leader of Project Serendipity. 

 

 

 

His broad shoulders protrude out over his torso as he sits behind a desk made of a fine dark red polished wood as he puffs ever so enjoyably on a cigar. 

 

 

 

His study is filled with pictures and artifacts from his various travels to distant Stars and the Planets that orbit them.  There is a window door to his left which reveals a garden where a variety of plants adorn the yard. 

 

 

 

Marshall’s plush chair is made of fine Anterian leather from the hides of the Moffs of Antera, the outermost habitable planet of the Delberian Star System and it is relaxing and comfortable. 

 

 

 

Marshall’s chair is just one of the many products made available to the people of Earth with the advent of Intergalactic commerce, which Marshall helped develop many, many years after the arrival of the Alphans and the discovery of the Galactic Web. 

 

 

 

He stares out his window and sees the rising of the moon as he awaits the arrival of his son.

 

 

 

There is a knock at the door of the study.

 

 

 

Marshall:  It’s open.

 

 

 

The door opens and in walks Marshall’s son, Orlando De La Viega. 

 

 

 

Of a smaller stature than Marshall, but equal in complexion and sporting facial hair, the younger De La Viega is an energetic and idealistic man eager to be out amongst the Stars much as Marshall was in his youth.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Hi Dad, you wanted to see me?

 

 

 

Marshall:  Yes, Orlando, please take a seat.  I have something to tell you and something to ask you.

 

 

 

Orlando walks across the room and gives Marshall a loving embrace and as they end their hugs, Marshall takes his seat behind his desk while Orlando sits comfortably in his chair in front of Marshall and is intently listening……..

 

 

 

Marshall:  Son, I want you to listen carefully.  What I am about to tell you is known only by the UPEC, but we need your help. 

 

 

 

A long time ago when I was a young explorer like you are now, I volunteered for a mission to a Planet very similar to the Earth, though it sat at the lone end of a string of the Galactic Web and very far away from any Space travelers which might stumble upon it.

 

 

 

There we found various species of Class B primates who, in our arrogance after learning the science of DNA sequencing and the travel possibilities of the Galactic Web, thought we could take our science to another level and change their evolutionary path and bring them to sentience while studying our own evolution.

 

 

 

Orlando:  I remember that mission.  You were gone for a long time, and twice at that.

 

 

 

Marshall:  Yes, yes, I was.  The mission of the expedition I was on was to alter the DNA of the five various hominid species rated as Class B Primates that inhabited the Planet, a Planet we called SA8-Q4-S73-303417.3, or 417.3 for short. 

 

 

 

The first seven attempts at this project failed and it looked to the Council like the experiment would as a whole, not fail.  The last and final attempt at this project of altering the HAR1 gene of their DNA was successful, but with limited effects and they are now in danger of extinction.

 

 

 

Question………Would they have become extinct without our intervention?  We don’t know, but we do know from a recent survey that though they are now more intelligent and can fashion some rudimentary tools, they have not figured out how to build a sedentary society and are still moving from place to place wherever a food source is and when it runs out, they move on. 

 

 

 

They are also not getting enough amino acids in their diet to support higher brain functions and that is hindering their intellectual growth.  Sometimes they find a new food source, sometimes they don’t, and when they don’t, they are starving themselves to extinction.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Well that’s not a good thing.  Is the UPEC going to do something about this?

 

 

 

Marshall:  First off, Son, let me confess this……

 

 

 

After the first seven attempts failed, the project was about to be cancelled.  I had worked for almost ten years on Serendipity, both in the lab and on 417.3.  I wanted this project to be successful.  I needed this project to be successful.  In my eyes, it HAD to be successful and I was determined to do anything I could to make it successful. 

 

 

 

Just then something happened in my lab, an accident, a scientific anomaly.

 

 

 

An event that made the project a success.  I then took a risk and took it upon myself to ensure the continued success of the experiment.  A scientific experiment that I knew had risks and possible complications, but it worked.

 

 

 

Orlando:  What kind of risks?

 

 

 

 Marshall:  That is not important now, for now you just need to know that you we need your help and to answer your earlier question, yes, the UPEC is going to do something about this.  They have authorized a return expedition to 417.3 to intervene.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Intervene?  Intervene how?  What can we do?  More experiments?

 

 

 

Marshall:  No, son.  The UPEC from that time to now has learned from our mistakes.  No more experiments on other species. 

 

 

 

We now understand that we are not superior to any other species.

 

 

 

 We are all equals in our known quarter of the Galaxy which we have explored so far. 

 

 

 

Yes, some of us are more technologically advanced, some are more spiritually advanced, some are more ecologically advanced and some can control matter at the sub-atomic level.  There is a wide range of evolutionary levels that the various sentient species in our quarter of the Milky Way Galaxy have achieved.

 

 

 

Long ago, we were so arrogant to think that we were Godlike and took it upon ourselves to play God.  Diverse yes, but Gods?  No. 

 

 

 

We now know that we should not force those who do not understand to understand.  We can only convey the facts of the known Galaxy to those who do not know or realize.  It is up to them to make that determination themselves and if they don’t believe, they will when their evolutionary journey takes them to the point of this realization.

 

 

 

Having said that and to answer your question, what can we do?  This is something which requires me to ask something of you. 

 

 

 

I would like to ask that you lead an expedition to help them one more time.   I am asking that you teach them what they have not figured out for themselves.

 

 

 

Orlando:  But you just said we are not to intervene?

 

 

 

Marshall:  Well, actually I said we would not experiment on them.  Rather, UPEC feels that because we did intervene when they could not understand our presence and the fact that they are faltering as a species, it is our responsibility to help them again and help them now.

 

 

 

Orlando:  I understand.  What is it exactly you want this expedition to do?  Teach them what exactly and how exactly do you expect this to be done?

 

 

 

Marshall:  Well, I want you to assemble a team to include an anthropologist, a zoologist, a botanist and a biologist. 

 

 

 

You will be the team leader and liaison as a Cultural Advisor from our species to theirs.  I want you to also have a second cultural advisor as your backup.   I want you to teach them the advantages of a sedentary civilization. 

 

 

 

Teach them agriculture, farming, livestock domestication, irrigation and building dwellings.  Get them to eat more amino acids to increase their intellectual capacity as my project was predicated on their getting enough amino acids to feed their growing brains. 

 

 

 

By doing these things you will be saving the species and bringing them a better life.  A better life in the sense that they will have time to slow down their lifestyle from constant hunting and gathering just to survive, to be able to have some time to contemplate their surroundings, contemplate their being. 

 

 

 

This will lead to sentience and will eventually bring them along as a species to someday join us as travelers amongst the Stars so they can see what a great big Galaxy we all live in.

 

 

 

The expedition will be accompanied by a Military Strike Force should you encounter any trouble along the Galactic Web or on 417.3.  Your team and the military force will be taken there on the Starship, The Heavens. 

 

 

 

Because 417.3 is so remote and at the end of a lone string of the Galactic Web we don’t expect any trouble, but you never know and it’s better to be safe than sorry. 

 

 

 

We expect the mission to last three years.  Now that is three of our years, but eighteen hundred of their years. Please understand they have a very short life span as compared to ours. 

 

 

 

One of our years is equal to six hundred of their years, so one of the difficulties will be to maintain a presence and constant contact with them so that you and what you teach them will not be forgotten by subsequent generations. 

 

 

 

Also, you will see from the survey reports that though they are similar to us as in their anthromorphic appearance, yet they are remarkably smaller in size, approximately one third our size. 

 

 

 

Oh, and one last thing, the journey there will take ten Star Jumps through the Galactic Web. 

 

 

 

Orlando:  Wow…..that’s a lot to take in.

 

 

 

Marshall:  Yes, son it is.  What do you think?  Will you do it?

 

 

 

Orlando:  You said I could build my own team?

 

 

 

Marshall:  Yes, son.  The UPEC has authorized that you can procure anything you need for this mission and the freedom to personally choose your expedition team members.

 

 

 

Orlando:  If I go, I want to take Vai with me as my cultural advisor backup.

 

 

 

Marshall:  Vai?  She doesn’t have any experience in inter species relations.

 

 

 

Orlando:  I understand that, but she’s in school for that now and how can she get any experience unless someone gives her a chance?  Plus, I don’t want to be away from her for that long.

 

 

 

Marshall:  I see your point, yes, like the UPEC says, anything you want, but please, son take care of her and make sure you two come back safe and sound.  You know, your mother is very fond of her, as am I.

 

 

 

Orlando:  I will take this mission on as a continuation of your mission…I will not fail you, Father.

 

 

 

Orlando then places his hands on the edges of the chair as he rises, then walks to his left to meet Marshall who has done the same.

 

 

 

They embrace, then part ways.  Orlando takes a slow walk to the door of Marshall’s study.  As he stands in front of the door, it opens at the realization of his presence.

 

 

 

Orlando, with his hands clasped behind his back, turns and looks at Marshall one last time.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Anyone?

 

 

 

Marshall:  Anyone.

 

 

 

Orlando’s face then produces a smirk as he replies to Marshall.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Sweet.  See ya later Pops!

 

 

 

Orlando then walks through the doorway and to his right as the door closes behind him.

 

 

 

As Orlando is driving away from Marshall’s house, his mind is racing ‘who could I get for this expedition?’.  His first thoughts are his old crew from a survey expedition of Planet Straits in the Gallarian Star System.

 

 

 

Since that mission, Orlando and that team have become the best of friends, living the best of times, but this time Orlando would be the mission leader and not just a co-worker.  Would they do it?

 

 

 

How would they react to him being the mission leader and not just their co-worker?  

 

 

 

He decides to check in with the person who he wants to be his backup on this mission, the love and partner of his life.  She is, in fact Orlando’s best friend, confidant and his wife, Vai.

 

 

 

After driving to the coast, Orlando pulls over at Sunrise Beach, where he spots Vai playing in her Semi-Pro Beach Volleyball League.  As he walks down the wooden path from the parking lot to the beach, he sees Vai about to serve and he remembers back to the first time they met………..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eight year old Orlando De La Viega is carefully constructing his sand sculpture, an intricate city of buildings, pyramids and spires, spritzing sugar water on the structures to carefully bond the sand grains together and keeping them from falling apart. 

 

 

 

Orlando has spent all morning on his structure as he woke up early and well before the rest of his family to begin his work on the structure as sunrise was just beginning.

 

 

 

He takes a step back to get an overall view of his sand city when suddenly, a volley ball comes streaking across the beach and pummels his structures into a lumpy pile of sand. 

 

 

 

Outraged, he looks toward the area from where this ball came from. 

 

 

 

He turns to his right and sees a young girl running his way.  Angry and fuming he is ready to give her a piece of his mind, but something happens as she approaches, stops and places her hand on her hips.

 

 

 

Vai:  Hey, your pile of sand got in the way of my ball!

 

 

 

Orlando:  What?  What?  Your volleyball messed up my sand castle city that took me all morning to make.  Look at it, it’s ruined!

 

 

 

Vai:  It’s just sand!

 

 

 

Orlando:  Just sand?????

 

 

 

Orlando then looks into her eyes as she smiles at him with her dimples sinking into her cheeks and with her light blonde hair and bright blue eyes and smiling directly at him. 

 

 

 

Orlando suddenly gets this overwhelming feeling in his gut, like riding on a roller coaster and suddenly he is no longer angry at her and can barely speak.   His heart is racing and he fumbles for words to say

 

 

 

Vai:  Are you okay?  You look kinda funny.

 

 

 

Orlando:  I, uhhhhhh.

 

 

 

Vai:  Hey, I tell you what, how about I help you rebuild it?

 

 

 

Orlando:  Uhhhhh, sure.

 

 

 

Vai:  Okay, after lunch, you wanna come and meet my family and eat lunch with us?

 

 

 

Just then a voice screams out in the distance, its Vai’s mother.

 

 

 

Wilma McHenry:  Vaiolet Mindy Vectoria McHenry, you leave that little boy alone and come eat your lunch!

 

 

 

Orlando:  What did she just call you?

 

 

 

Vai:  My name, Vaiolet Mindy Vectoria McHenry.

 

 

 

Orlando:  You sure do have a lot of names. 

 

 

 

Vai:  Yeah, but I just go by Vai.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Oh, I see.  Are you sure it’s okay?  She sounds mad.

 

 

 

Vai:  She ALWAYS sounds mad; it will be fine.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Okay, if you say so, just let me ask my mom.

 

 

 

Vai:  We’re over there.  Do you see the orange tent?  That’s our camping spot, just come over when you’re ready.  I’ll be waiting………

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orlando’s mind then comes back to the present as he watches the conclusion of Vai’s volleyball game. 

 

 

 

There is Vai, standing with her statuesque body glistening in the Sun from the sweat and suntan lotion. 

 

 

 

She is trim and athletic, her fine blonde hair flowing in the wind, tanned in just the right spots and those dimples on her face, a far cry from when they first met. 

 

 

 

Vai spots him looking at her and offers that smile that he remembers so well, while it still gives him a funny feeling in his belly. 

 

 

 

Vai kisses her hand and blows the kiss Orlando’s way.  Though it is just a gesture, Orlando feels the kiss. 

 

 

 

With her game completed, Vai comes over to Orlando, they embrace and kiss.  Vai tells him that she is all sandy but Orlando doesn’t care, he takes her hand and leads her off the beach to the parking lot.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Hey, Babe, I’ve got something for you.  How would you like to accompany me on an expedition to a secluded planet at the lone end of a string of the Galactic Web?

 

 

 

Vai:  Secluded?  Oooh, that sounds romantic.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Well…..we won’t be alone.

 

 

 

Vai:  You want ME?  On an expedition with YOU?

 

 

 

Orlando:   Yeah, you and I out travelling amongst the Stars together, and the best part is we will be helping another species in their development and survival and I want YOU to be my second in command as cultural advisor.

 

 

 

Vai:  Wow, just like you, that’s what I’ve always wanted to do, but the road to get there is a long and tedious process.  A lot of training and assisting limited expeditions and years to accomplish.  How can this be possible?

 

 

 

Orlando:  The UPEC has asked me take on this mission.  They said I can assemble my team as I see fit and I can pick anyone I want and Babe, I want you.  This mission is going to take three years and I just can’t stand to be away from you for that long.

 

 

 

Vai:  Really?  Awwwe, teardrop!

 

 

 

Orlando:  Really!

 

 

 

They hug and kiss and feel the warmth in their hearts connecting as they are very much in love.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Now we are going to need a small team to assist us and I was thinking of the crew from the Gallarian mission a few years back.  What do you think?

 

 

 

Vai:  I think that is a great idea, do you think they’ll do it?

 

 

 

Orlando:  I’m sure they will, we’ll all make a great team.  I’ll set up a meeting with them at Athletes Sports Bar for later this week.

 

 

 

Orlando and Vai then travel home completely excited about their mission.

 

 

 

Later that week at Athletes, Orlando has gathered the team from the Gallarian expedition which consisted of Geologist Dan Stephenson, Anthropologist Leo Taylor, Zoologist Hector Rivera and Hectors wife, Botanist Carmen Rivera, and after laying out his plan to the team, a few drinks, some dinner and few more drinks………

 

 

 

Orlando:  So?  What do you guys think?

 

 

 

Dan:  I’m in.  I’d like to get a look at this Planet, what did you say, SA8-Q4-S73-303417.3 and see what a Planet that is on the lone end of a string of the Galactic Web looks like, what type of intelligent life is on there and what level of evolution they are at.

 

 

 

Leo:  Yeah, and you say they’re tiny?  I know I can’t but I’d love to cut one up and see what makes them tick.

 

 

 

Vai:  You’re a sick man, Leo.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Sorry, no cutting, no dissecting, just teaching.

 

 

 

Hector:  Hey, flora and fauna are our specialties and we just love the opportunity to get out there where we belong......for now, right Babe?

 

 

 

Carmen:  You got it Hun, but just this one more time before we start our family.

 

 

 

With that, the married couple of Hector and Carmen look into each other eyes, press their lips together and kiss.

 

 

 

Dan:  You two need to get a room!

 

 

 

Orlando:  Okay, so the overall plan is this……

 

 

 

The inhabitants are at the Stone Age tool of evolution.  They have harnessed fire and can hunt animals but they also need a varied diet.

 

 

 

Dan, I’ll need you to help them find the best rocks to fashion and develop as tools. 

 

 

 

Leo, you will work with the physiological aspects of the mission to identify and find animals suitable for domestication and to expand their diet with protein and amino acids at the top of the list. 

 

 

 

Hector, you and Carmen will help identify plants to aid in the digestion of the larger amounts of proteins the inhabitants will be eating as we help them, most notably animal protein….meat.

 

 

 

 Vai and I will be the main points of contact, though later on in the mission we will all work together on dwelling structures and other types of buildings as well as an irrigation system to build a farming system. 

 

 

 

So, what I will need from each of you is your perspective on how you would like to go about doing that, so do your homework and, please feel free to touch base with me while you are working on your mission proposals.

 

 

 

Dan:  How far can we go with the tool making?

 

 

 

Orlando:  I’d say just enough to fashion say hammers, saws and other implements with handles.

 

 

 

Carmen:  And the structures?  I’m assuming mud brick?

 

 

 

Orlando:  Yes, exactly.  We don’t want to go any farther than that.  Just enough to show them how and let their intelligence take over from there.

 

 

 

Vai:  What about language?

 

 

 

Orlando:  Like I mentioned, they are only at the grunt and groan stage at this point so yes, though we want to teach them our language, I’m not talking about have them reciting an entire encyclopedia.

 

 

 

Vai:  Understood.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Alright then, we’re on.  I’ll inform the UPEC.  I’ll need your mission proposals on my desk in thirty days.  We leave in six months. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                     

 

 

 

 

 

3

 

 

 

LOCATION:   IN ORBIT ABOVE PLANET EARTH

 

 

 

The Command Crew of the Starship, The Heavens is on the Bridge docked at the Venture Space Docking Station in orbit, two hundred thousand miles above planet Earth.

 

 

 

The Venture Space Docking Station is an orbiting platform where various Space ships and Starships dock to allow the transfer of travelers to and from the Earth. 

 

 

 

It is concentric in design with one large circular ring in the middle and six sets of double horizontal arms extending outwards.  When a ship arrives, it slowly maneuvers into the middle of the two connecting arms and docks the Nose of the ship to the circular ring of the docking station, holding it in place.

 

 

 

 The double horizontal arms then close in on the ship “grabbing” it and holding it to the docking station.  After docking, the travelers can then move into or out of the docking station.

 

 

 

The Heavens, is an Endeavour Class Starship.  A five deck Ambient Plasma Fusion Drive Starship capable of travelling not just to and from the planets of our Solar System, but also to and from the Stars of the Galaxy.

 

 

 

The first three compartments grow larger in size from the horizontal and pyramidal shaped Nose of the ship which is unsupported by The Heavens artificial gravity system and housing communications, navigation and electro-magnetic force field components

 

 

 

Behind the Nose of The Heavens is the outwardly rectangular shaped and artificial gravity enabled Mid-Deck.  Inside of the Mid-Deck are four long tubes, aligned two by two on top of each other.  These tubes spin at a rate of 33 1/3 revolutions per minute creating an artificial gravity field equivalent to the natural force of gravity on Earth. 

 

 

 

The Mid-Deck contains the Control Room, Engineering Room, the Crew’s and Guest Quarters, the Mess Hall, Stores Room, the Star Jump Transit Rooms and the Ward Room.  On top of the Mid-Deck is the Bridge with its impressive and unique bubble shaped clear diamond dome.

 

 

 

Behind the Mid-Deck is the Bay-Deck which supports and houses the various Space and air craft which The Heavens will be carrying along on this journey and is unsupported by The Heavens artificial gravity system.

 

 

 

The Bay-Deck has three main doors on both the port and starboard sides, six all together.  These three main doors run from the bottom of the Bay-Deck to the top. 

 

 

 

In Bay Deck-One, closest to the Mid-Deck, is the Planetary Transfer Bay.  This where the Planetary Transfer Craft, or PTC’s enter and exit The Heavens, dropping off and picking up travelers to and from Earth.

 

 

 

Bay-Deck Two is the Alien Exo-Planetary Transfer Bay housing the numerous space craft which are used to take travelers to and from the various planets that The Heavens will visit.

 

 

 

Bay Deck-Two is where the Alien Exo-Planetary Transfer Craft are stored and used to take Space craft to the edge of a Planets atmosphere.  From this point the air breathing ships are dropped off so they can enter the atmosphere of a planet which takes the crew and passengers to the surface of a Planet. 

 

 

 

Upon return from the Planet, the Alien Exo-Planetary Transfer Craft will retrieve the Planetary Lander Craft at the edge of the atmosphere and take them back to The Heavens.

 

 

 

Bay Deck-Three is designated as the Military Bay where all the military ships of all types accompanying the mission are housed.  Here, the full might of the Military Contingent is housed………and under constant guard.

 

 

 

Behind the Bay-Deck is the Quarter-Deck, a long tube section of The Heavens, and again unsupported by the ship’s artificial gravity system.

 

 

 

The Quarter-Deck separates the Nose, Mid and Bay Decks from the dangers of the possibility of radiation exposure from the Ambient Plasma storage which feeds the Ambient Plasma Fusion Drive engines in the Engine-Deck. 

 

 

 

In addition to the separation of the dangers of radiation exposure, the Quarter-Deck also houses the fuel for The Heavens rocket thruster engines, and the weapons magazines. 

 

 

 

At the very end of the ship is the Engine-Deck which is larger than the rest of the other Decks of The Heavens in height, width and girth.  The Engine Deck is where the four Ambient Plasma Fusion Drive engines are located along with the Ambient Plasma storage units and also where the nuclear boost exhaust is housed.                                     

 

 

 

As we travel back to the Bridge, it is found to be a circular room with seven Command Consoles surrounding the Captain’s Console which sits commandingly above the others 

 

 

 

The entrance to the Bridge begins with a short ramp up from the doorway to the main floor behind all of the consoles. The walls rise up from the main floor six feet encircling the Bridge and on the main floor are the crew’s Command Consoles. 

 

 

 

Each Command Console consists of a two-person seat connected to a semi-circular countertop containing a myriad of monitors, buttons, switches, levers and controls.  A semi-circular cabinet filled with two rows of monitors sits on top of the Command Console counters, one monitor for each of the positions of the Command Crew. 

 

 

 

Each Command Console also sits on a three hundred and sixty-degree swivel which is controlled by buttons on the seat’s armrests so that the occupant can spin the console around and see his or her shipmates and when necessary to speak to them. 

 

Situated at the center of the Bridge and on a raised platform, three feet above the main floor sits the Captain’s console, also on a three hundred and sixty-degree swivel with armrest controls and also has semi-circular monitor cabinets containing the same number of monitors as the rest of the Command Crew. 

 

 

 

All consoles are locked on a set of tracks which will retract and position themselves from their active stations to a spot against the outer wall of the Bridge when the inertia dampening field is activated during a Star Jump or other fast and sudden maneuvers. 

 

 

 

Rising up from the walls and encompassing the entire Bridge is a twenty-foot-thick clear dome made of pure diamond mined from the solid diamond Planet of Physidria.  With this clear Diamond Dome, the Captain and crew can see out into space and around the outside of The Heavens. 

 

 

 

Lastly, a ten-foot-wide walkway encircles the entire Bridge just at the edge of the Diamond Dome, which acts as a viewing area.

 

 

 

While on the Bridge, which is unsupported by the artificial gravity system, the command crew wears their E.M.A.G.S. and their Sulfultanium head caps to protect them from the intense electro-magnetic fields generated by the force field surrounding The Heavens.

 

 

 

This force field protects the ship from solar and cosmic radiation and from the debris, gas and dust in the interplanetary medium which can travel at speeds in excess of thirty-thousand miles per hour and also protect the ship when it or exits a Star Jump, which will see The Heavens travelling at speeds of five hundred million per hour, the speed The Heavens achieves while entering a Star Jump.

 

 

 

A collision at those speeds, without the force field would be disastrous.

 

 

 

Sitting in the Captain’s Command Console is Captain Guy Strom. 

 

 

 

His Command Crew sitting at their respective consoles, are to his right 1st Officer Mark Haynes, to his left, Science Officer Marla MacReady, to his right rear, Communications Officer Eleanor Garcy.  At his left front sits Navigator Carl Delmar and below the Captain’s console are from left to right, Weapons Officer Brock Sierra and Pilots Doug Leftler and Mikiko Kobayashi.

 

 

 

Captain Strom:  1st Officer Haynes, has the expedition crew arrived?

 

 

 

1st Officer Haynes:  Not yet sir, they are undergoing final preparations and are scheduled to launch within the hour.  Captain, request permission to greet them upon arrival.

 

 

 

Captain Strom:   Permission granted.  Communications Officer Garcy, contact the Voyager Space Center and have them inform us upon launch of the Planetary Transfer Craft.

 

 

 

Communications Officer Garcy:  Aye, aye, sir.  Voyager Space Center, this is The Heavens, do you read?

 

 

 

Just then, the door to the Bridge open, and in walks Colonel Jess Baja Military Strike Force Commander.

 

 

 

Colonel Baja:  Captain, Colonel Baja requesting permission to board the Bridge.

 

 

 

Captain Strom:  Permission granted.  JB, it’s great to see you again!

 

 

 

Colonel Baja enters the Bridge and as he walks over to the Captain’s Command Console Captain Strom descends and greets Colonel Baja.

 

 

 

As they meet, Colonel Baja salutes Captain Strom then shakes his hand.  They walk across the Bridge floor and up a ramp to the walkway that encircles the Bridge.  They gaze at the Stars above and the surface of the Earth below and as they stroll along the walkway, they begin their conversation.

 

 

 

Colonel Baja:  It’s been a long time, Captain, too long, but that’s a good thing, I guess.  My men are assembled, the weapons, Space and air craft are loaded and we are set to go.

 

 

 

Captain Strom:  Well, JB, let’s hope you and your men are not needed, but if you are, I can’t think of anyone else I want on this expedition.

 

 

 

Colonel Baja:  What’s the mission?  I was only told by Mission Command that we were to be a security assist to some expedition.

 

 

 

Captain Strom:  Some type of assistance, cultural interchange or something like that.  Six months ago a survey probe returned from this planet SA8-Q4-S73-303417.3 with some information that the UPEC felt needed attention to.

 

 

 

Colonel Baja:  I see……What dangers are you expecting?

 

 

 

Captain Strom:  Well, one of our Star Jumps will take us through the Seellian Star System and as you know they don’t like anyone entering their Star System and will forcefully eject anyone who travels too far in or stays too long.

 

 

 

Colonel Baja:  Yes, but they are bound by the Galactic Web treaty to allow Star Jumps to and from their Star System.

 

 

 

Captain Strom:  That is correct.  We can enter and depart their Star System but can only stay for what is necessary to make the next Star Jump, two Galactic Space Time hours.

 

 

 

Colonel Baja:  Well, at least that is within our twenty-four hour Solan Star Jump interim protocol.

 

 

 

Captain Strom:  Yeah, but with only three hours to spare.  They have also set proximity limit of one hundred million miles distance from their Star, more than enough room for us to maneuver in and out of our Star Jumps but we cannot cross that boundary and enter their Star System. 

 

 

 

Additionally, we might need your team if any other Species attempt to enter your destination Star System.

 

 

 

Colonel Baja:  Understood, my men and I are ready.  With your permission, I will now brief them in the Military Bay.

 

 

 

Captain Strom:  Very well, see you JB.

 

 

 

Colonel Baja salutes Captain Strom, and as they descend the ramp, Colonel Baja exits the Bridge and Captain Strom returns to his Command Console.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOCATION:   THE VOYAGER SPACE CENTER ON PLANET EARTH

 

 

 

Orlando and his team are seated along with 46 other people in the Flight Preparations Room.  They are sitting at desks which are aligned in two groups of twenty surrounding one group of six travelers. 

 

 

 

The Flight Preparations Room is a very large room which is basically, a warehouse.  With a ceiling protruding up one hundred feet and dimensions so large that echoes can be heard as the last of the attendees mill about and take their seats.

 

 

 

The Flight Preparations Room is also cold as it is used to house aircraft, equipment and supplies.

 

 

 

At the far end of the room, a door opens and as it closes to a loud echo which crosses the room, Major Jana Kovina can be seen walking towards the seated travelers and as she approaches, the echoes of each of her steps become softer and softer as the sound of her actual steps becomes louder and louder.

 

 

 

Major Kovina is wearing her white flight suit, which is a one-piece form fitting suit, which clearly shows her form to be athletic, yet voluptuous.  Once she is standing in front of the group, she then addresses them.

 

  

 

Captain Kovina:  Hello, my name is Captain Jana Kovina and I am here to give you a briefing on your trip today to your respective Space craft now docked at the Venture Space Docking station, just about one thousand miles up that way (as she points her finger upwards).

 

 

 

You will also learn what to expect while traveling on the Planetary Transfer Craft and your time on the various Spaceships and Starships that you will be travelling to. 

 

 

 

As she looks over the three groups, she addresses them. 

 

 

 

Captain Kovina:  Let’s see who we have here today.  We’ve got this group here on the left, twenty people heading for the mining ship, Garamondi with a final destination at the edge of the Solar System to mine for Sulfultanium. 

 

 

 

We have you ten here to the right heading for the Star Trader with final destination of Planet Tsomas in the Calamacht Star System.

 

 

 

Aaaaand you six here, front and center are headed to The Heavens with a final destination of …..ooooh, Spiral Arm 8, huh?  Uuuuh, it doesn’t say your final destination.

 

 

 

Orlando:  That’s because our mission is considered classified.

 

 

 

Orlando’s reply causes a slightly consternated look on her face, and as she resumes her speech, she overlooks all of the travelers…….. Captain Kovina continues……….

 

 

 

Captain Kovina:  Oh, I see, well then, we’ll just get to the briefing.  For those of you who are on your first Space flight, please listen carefully and for those of you who are Space faring vets, try to keep the snoring to a minimum.

 

 

 

Okay, first off, let’s address your E.M.A.G.S., that stands for Electro-Magnetic Artificial Gravity Suit.

 

 

 

That would be the one-piece beige unitard you all are wearing which look like the onesies from when you were a kid, completely covered up and exposing only your hands, neck and head. 

 

 

 

Those dots you see evenly spaced out all over your E.M.A.G.S., from the feet, up the legs, to the torso and down the arm are electro-magnets, but don’t worry, they are not powerful enough to do your body any harm. 

 

 

 

On your left forearm you will see a control panel for setting your height and weight on your E.MA.G.S.

 

 

 

When set correctly and activated it will react to the specific corresponding electro-magnetic field in the transport craft, subsequent Space and Starships and you will be grounded to the floor and be able to walk about like you do here on Earth, though it will feel a little “funny”.

 

 

 

By “funny”, I mean to say that when you are in a zero gravity environment and as the two electro-magnetic fields pull on each other, it will feel like you have “weight” with the exception of your stomachs as they will feel like you are on a rollercoaster, just like your Zero G training. 

 

 

 

Questions?............No?

 

 

 

Well then, moving right along.  You will not activate your E.M.A.G.S. until prompted to do so which will be at approximately seven minutes after launch. 

 

 

 

You will keep your E.M.A.G.S. activated until you make your way to your destination ship’s Artificial Gravity Transit Room.   Once in the Transit Room and strapped in, only then and only when prompted to can you then turn off your E.M.A.G.S. 

 

 

 

Questions?.......No?

 

 

 

Good, we have a smart group today you paid attention in Space travel preparation classes.  Now for your Sulfultanium head cap. 

 

 

 

You will keep it on at all times once you leave this room, taking it off only when you are in an artificial gravity environment, understood? 

 

 

 

Questions?

 

 

 

Vai:  Yes, I have a question.

 

 

 

Captain Kovina:  Yes?

 

 

 

Vai:  Why the head cap when we are not in an artificial gravity environment?

 

 

 

Captain Kovina:  The amount of electro-magnetic energy generated for the force field to protect the ship, be it an inter-planetary Space ship like the Garamondi or one capable of Star Jumps like The Heavens, can have a variety of negative effects on the brain.

 

 

 

Vai:  What type of negative effects?  They weren’t exactly clear on that in the training.

 

 

 

Captain Kovina:  Hmmmm, well let’s there can be hallucinations, headaches, disorientation just to name a few.

 

 

 

Vai:  I see, head cap on at all times, got it.

 

 

 

Captain Kovina:  Any other questions? …………. No?

 

 

 

Okay, lastly, I’d like to brief you on what the ride up to your respective ships will be like.

 

 

 

The Planetary Transport Craft, or PTC, which will take all of you travelers to your respective ships is just outside those doors, sitting on an electro-magnetic rail system which, when activated, will power the PTC up to a speed of five thousand miles per hour in just a one-mile length of track. 

 

 

 

As you can see from the diagram behind me, at the end of the track, the rail system is raised up at the end like a ski jump.  This is to give the PTC a head start on getting airborne. 

 

 

 

In addition, just before the launch and throughout its time down the rail, the PTC will emit a repulsive force below the landing gear, a new technology that we are implementing which will in effect render the PTC lighter by a fraction of minus twenty that is to say twenty percent of the transport craft’s current weight making it lighter against the gravitational pull of the Earth.

 

 

 

Sam Weilman:  Uh, excuse me Captain, Sam Weilman here.  I’ll be heading to the Garamondi.  Won’t going from zero to five thousand miles per hour in one mile cause dangerous G forces?

 

 

 

Captain Kovina:  Normally, yes it would but the Pods of the PTC are also equipped with inertia dampeners.  You will all feel a little bit of a G force increase, but no more that say driving in a fast car. 

 

 

 

Now, if there are no more questions, let’s set your height and weight measurements on your E.M.A.G.S. and get ready to board the PTC. 

 

 

 

Mr. De La Viega you and your team will board Pod 1, at the back end of the PTC.

 

 

 

Next up is the Garamondi crew.   You will be in the next two pods, Pods 2 and 3 and finally the Star Traveler crew, you will be in Pod 4.

 

 

 

Captain Chen and Co-Pilot, Lieutenant Marx will be in Pod 5 at the front of the PTC and will give you all of your instructions on what to do and when to do it.

 

 

 

Questions? ……….Alrighty then, let’s do some Space travelling.

 

 

 

With that the travelers rise from their desks and form a line to exit the building and venture out to board the PTC. 

 

 

 

They exit the doors of the Flight Preparations Room which gradually open sliding outwards letting in a bright ray of sunlight and allowing the travelers to get a good look at the PTC, designated UR-2L8. 

 

 

 

The UR-2L8 is sitting, just like Captain Kovina said, on a set of electro-magnetic rails. 

 

 

 

The UR-2L8 is a sleekly designed craft.  It’s nose and fuselage is like that of a bullet or arrow beginning with a fine point at the tip and gradually increasing cylindrical in size to a diameter of forty feet and measuring some two hundred feet long. 

 

 

 

Along the length of the fuselage are five connected Pods, also cylindrical in shape to complete the PTC’s sleekness as a bullet shaped rocket ship.

 

 

 

Each Pod has its gull-wing doors open and awaiting its passengers, leaving the PTC looking like a bullet pointed frankfurter with windows opened all along its side.

 

 

 

The two wings of the PTC are of a Delta shape with a downward edge at the tip of each wing.  Behind the PTC itself are the After-Burner engines and under the wings are the Scram-Jet engines. 

 

 

 

The travelers walk up a ramp and into their respective Pods.   Once on board everyone buckles up and as the Pod doors close, sealing the passengers in, there is a whisping sound, the sound of the doors of the PTC being sealed up like a vacuum, pumping the air out of a jar homemade fruit preserves.

 

 

 

On the inside, the Pods themselves are round rooms with ten seats positioned up against the wall surrounding circumference of the Pod.

 

 

 

Each seat is equipped with multi-binding straps to keep the passengers securely fastened as a ground crew member then enters each Pod to ensure everyone is strapped in securely.

 

 

 

In the pilots Pod, Captain Chen addresses the travelers……

 

 

 

Captain Chen:   Attention, this is Captain Chen.  Just before take-off your respective Pods will begin spinning in a counter clockwise direction.  As the speed of the PTC increases, you will begin to feel the centrifugal force pulling you against the wall of the Pod.  This is normal.

 

 

 

Once the electro-magnetic rail system begins to send the PTC down the launch rail, this spinning will increase, thereby cancelling the effects of the inertia of such a dramatic speed increase.

 

 

 

You will then feel the centrifugal force begin to abate until you feel just a little acceleration.  As the PTC increases its altitude and the orbital phase begins, the pull of gravity will lessen, thereby triggering the inertia dampeners to slow down accordingly.

 

 

 

Lastly when we reach zero-gravity, you will then be prompted to turn on your E.M.A.G.S.

 

 

 

Until then, sit back, relax and enjoy the ride, Captain Chen out.

 

 

 

Strapped in and awaiting launch, Vai sits fidgeting in her seat next to Orlando’s as she is nervously clutching the arm rests.  Orlando looks over to Vai and gently hold her hand.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Hey, you okay?

 

 

 

Vai:  You know I’ve never been off Earth.  I know that if I want to do my job and get ahead I’ll have to travel in space, it just makes me nervous.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Not to worry, my dear, all will be okay.  People do this all the time.

 

 

 

Orlando’s thoughts go back to the time seventeen-year-old Orlando got Vai past her fear of heights………..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orlando and Vai are climbing up a trail leading to the top of the Labrador Cliffs as they prepare to take Vai’s first cliff dive. 

 

 

 

Thirty-five feet above the water sits the Labrador Cliffs, a popular spot for cliff diving into a small cove at Sunrise Beach where they first met…….and the waters are calm and warm.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Hey, you okay?

 

 

 

Vai:  No, I’m not okay.  Jumping off a perfectly good cliff is not my idea of fun.

 

 

 

Orlando:  it’s not jumping, it’s diving.  Just think of it as diving.

 

 

 

Vai:  Diving is for diving boards and swimming pools, not cliffs and oceans.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Just pretend you’re at the pool, just a little higher.

 

 

 

Vai:  Explain to me why we are doing this again?

 

 

 

Orlando:  Because it’s there!  No, seriously, you know why.  You have a fear of heights, you want to conquer that fear, and you want me to help you.

 

 

 

Vai:  Can’t we just take a plane ride?

 

 

 

Orlando:  Remember, you said that although you don’t like flying, you know the process is out of your control and you want to conquer your fear while controlling your surroundings, ergo a cliff jump.

 

 

 

Vai:  Oh, yeah, now I remember, what was I thinking?

 

 

 

Orlando holds Vai’s hand as they approach the cliff diving spot then stop to look out over the cove.  The waters are deep blue and calm.

 

 

 

Vai:  I have butterflies in my stomach, Orlando.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Funny you should say that, that’s how I felt when we first met.  I knew from that day we would be together forever.

 

 

 

Vai:  Awwwe, really?  I never knew that.  Why did you never tell me?

 

 

 

Orlando:  I was eight years old, how the heck am I supposed to know how to express my feelings at that age, but I can tell you now that is how I felt then and still do whenever I see you, whenever we are together and whenever I think of you. 

 

 

 

I would never let anything bad happen to you, I promise.  This is an easy thing to do.  Just get into your diving stance with your arms at your side and standing straight and true. 

 

 

 

Orlando then demonstrates for Vai, what she must do…..

 

 

 

Orlando:   You then take a deep breath and hold it..…..bend your knees slightly then bring your arms straight up and up and over your head, hands together.  Close your eyes for a moment and pretend you are just diving off the High Dive at the pool. 

 

 

 

When you open your eyes, take in the beauty of where we are then focus your eyes to a point in the water that you want to hit. 

 

 

 

Once you are ready to go, take a deep knee bend and launch yourself off of the cliff and perform your dive as you would at the pool, totally focused and in the Zone!

 

 

 

Vai:  Oh, nice, I never thought of it that way, I’ll try.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Okay, I’ll go first you just watch.

 

 

 

Orlando then holds his left arm out and presses it against Vai’s torso to slowly move her backwards.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Step back and hold on now Honey!

 

 

 

Orlando then goes through the steps he outlined for Vai and springs off the cliff.  As his body drops from the cliff to the waters below, it forms a not quite classic diving position, outstretched hands leading his body to towards the water while his body is slightly contorted and his legs are wide open.

 

 

 

Orlando enters the water in a less than perfect dive, churning up the calm waters and sending ripples outwards from his entry point.

 

 

 

After reaching maximum depth from the dive, Orlando then turns around and heads back up to the surface.  As his head breaches the surface of the water and after he has shaken off the dripping water off of his head and out of his eyes, he looks up to see Vai looking down at him. 

 

 

 

Orlando then pumps his fist in the air and yells out, ‘Beat that!’.

 

 

 

Vai then places her hand on her hip……“That was so WEAK!…..Check this out!”.

 

 

 

Vai then goes through her pre-dive process and leaps off the cliff in a Swan Dive.

 

 

 

As she thrusts her body off of the cliff and falls towards the water, her arms move slowly from down along the side of her body up and out finally ending up and over her head, hands clasped together and leading the way.

 

 

 

As Vai’s clasped hands reach the surface of the water, the rest of her body quickly follow, streamlined as to cause just a slight splash and ripple of the water………a 10!

 

 

 

After reaching maximum depth, Vai quickly returns to the surface and as she pops her head up out of the water she swims over to a waiting Orlando who is a few feet away treading water.  They hug and kiss and swim over to the shore.

 

 

 

Vai:  That was fun, let’s do that again!.................................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orlando mind drifts back to the PTC and smiles at Vai.

 

 

 

Orlando:   Where we’re going, out there, past our Sun, that’s where Space travel is really at.  Star Jumps, taking us across the Galaxy farther from home than we could ever hope to get without the Galactic Web.

 

 

 

Vai:  I know that we use the Galactic Web to get to different Star Systems, but just how exactly does it work?

 

 

 

Orlando:  See?  This is why you got a D in astrophysics.

 

 

 

Just then their conversation is interrupted………

 

 

 

Captain Chen:  This is Captain Chen.  We are all set for take-off, in 3, 2, 1….Lt. Marx, release brakes

 

 

 

Lt. Marx:  And released.

 

 

 

The PTC travels down the rail system, accelerating to five thousand miles per hour and at the end the ski jump sends it skyward.

 

 

 

Vai:  Did you feel that?

 

 

 

Orlando:  What?

 

 

 

Vai:  That little tug.  It’s gone now, but somehow something doesn’t feel quite right.

 

 

 

Leo:  Yeah, a little flighty?

 

 

 

The after burners violently kick in sending another slight jolt to the PTC.

 

 

 

Vai:  How about that?  Did you feel that?

 

 

 

Orlando:  Not a thing.

 

 

 

Three minutes later……..

 

 

 

Captain Chen:  Lt. Marx, on my mark, ignite the Scram-Jet engines and I’ll cut the after burners……and on 3, 2, 1 Mark!

 

 

 

The Scram-Jets roar to life, sucking in the thin air of the upper atmosphere, causing yet another brief jolt.

 

 

 

Vai:  Now there, don’t tell me you didn’t feel that?

 

 

 

Orlando:  What?  Stop it, there’s nothing to feel.

 

 

 

Four minutes later…..

 

 

 

Captain Chen:  Okay passengers, please activate your E.M.A.G.S, we are now entering orbital phase.

 

 

 

Lt. Marx shuts down the Scram-Jet engines and after another fifteen minutes, Captain Chen pilots the PTC alongside The Heavens five, hundred yards off of the Port bow in the cold vacuum of Space and as he brings the ship to a full stop……

 

 

 

Captain Chen:  Attention, The Heavens, this is Captain Chen of the Planetary Transfer Craft UR-2L8 requesting permission to dock in Bay 1. 

 

 

 

Captain Strom:  This is Captain Strom, permission granted.  How are you Jian?

 

 

 

Captain Chen:  Doing just fine Captain, the Misses says hello.  I have a load of passengers for you.

 

 

 

Captain Strom:  Sounds great.  I am having my 1^st Officer Mark Haynes greet them.  Mr. Haynes, if you will.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Aye, Captain, on my way.

 

 

 

Captain Strom:  Captain Chen, the force field frequency for today is set to 802.20 hertz.

 

 

 

Captain Chen:  802.2 hertz, got it.  Lt. Marx, set the frequency to 802.20 hertz and initiate docking sequence.

 

 

 

Lt. Marx:  Aye, Captain, 802.20 hertz set…….initiating docking sequence now.

 

 

 

As he says that, Lt. Marx, types in a few commands on his keyboard…….

 

 

 

The doors of the Planet Transfer Bay slowly slide open, revealing a lighted landing strip lined up horizontally across the Bay floor.  

 

 

 

As the PTC approaches, Captain Chen and Lt. Marx can see two Heavens crew members on both sides of the landing strip adorned in their E.M.A.G.S. enabled Excursion Suits going about their duties in the zero G, atmospheric-devoid and eerily quiet environment because in Space, there is no sound.

 

 

 

Captain Chen:  Lt. Marx, set guidance system for landing and drop off sequence.

 

 

 

Lt. Marx.  Aye Captain, guidance system on…….now.

 

 

 

As the PTC slowly approaches The Heavens, its electro-magnetic force field finally makes contact with the force field of The Heavens and as because both force fields are set at the same frequency, in this case 802.20 hertz, the two electro-magnetic force fields meld into one, allowing the PTC to pass through the force field of The Heavens and into Bay 1 like a hot knife through soft butter.

 

 

 

After passing through The Heavens force field, the PTC slowly maneuvers itself to a specified landing spot on the Bay floor. 

 

 

 

Hovering ever slowly, the PTC then begins to descend to the Bay floor and as it makes contact, the electro-magnetic docking system locks it into place and holds it on the floor of the Bay.

 

 

 

This time, however, there is a large jolt on the sides the Pods as contact is made. 

 

 

 

Lt. Marx then unlocks Pod 1 from the PTC. 

 

 

 

The PTC’s thrusters roar to life in a short burst raising it up off the floor of The Heavens leaving Pod 1 securely attached to the floor of the Bay. 

 

 

 

Once the PTC has reached the required safe distance from Pod 1, the rear thrusters shoot out a few short blasts of thrust, sending it forward and out of the Starboard Bay doors and on to the Garamondi to deliver its next load of passengers……….Suddenly, a voice comes over the speaker in Pod 1.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Mark Haynes:  May I have your attention please?  This is 1^st Officer Mark Haynes.  Please remain seated as your Pod is on a tread way headed for the Planetary Transfer Bay’s air lock into the rest of ship.  Once there and the air lock is sealed, the doors will open.  At that time, you may exit the Pod and into the Fourier of The Heavens where I will greet you.

 

 

 

Just then the Pod comes to a sudden stop and there is whirling grinding noise emanating from outside the Pod door, followed by the sounds of air rushing into the Fourier, then silence. 

 

 

 

The Pod doors open and the group is addressed again.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Mark Haynes:  You may now exit the Pod and follow the green line directly in front of you to the Artificial Gravity Transit Room.

 

 

 

The doors of the Pod open and the group un-buckles their harnesses and slowly rise up from their seats and immediately feel a strange sensation.  While they remain firmly on the floor, it feels like they should be floating.

 

 

 

Orlando, Dan, Hector, Carmen and Leo then slowly walk out of the PTC and into the Fourier.

 

 

 

Vai, the last one to un-buckle her harness, finally does and as she rises to stand up, she keeps on rising up and off of the floor as she begins to flail her arms and legs.

 

 

 

Vai:  Whoa, hey, what’s going on here?

 

 

 

Orlando:  Babe, hold on.

 

 

 

As Vai rises uncontrollably and in a panic, she pushes her leg off of the inside wall of the Pod and her momentum propels her out of the Pod and into the Fourier where she continues to float up and away.  

 

 

 

Orlando and the rest of the group reach out to grab a hold of her, but it is too late.

 

 

 

As Vai continues to float away while she trying to reach downwards to no avail……….

 

 

 

Vai:  Uhhhhh, guys, this E.M.A.G.S. thingy isn’t working…….a little help, please?

 

 

 

Just then, the doors of the Artificial Gravity Transit Room open and out walks 1^st Officer Mark Haynes.  He looks up and detaches from a side holster what looks like a large pistol with a circular device attached to the top.  He presses a button on his wrist communications device and brings it close to his mouth.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Mark Haynes:  Captain, this 1^st Officer Haynes, we have a floater, sir.  I’m on it.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes, then point his device towards Vai who is continuing to float away.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Just hold on there little lady, I’m going to shoot you a line.  I need you to grab it and attach it to the belt on your E.M.A.G.S.  Do you understand?

 

 

 

Vai:  Of course I understand, just get this broken thing working again!

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes then takes aim and squeezes the trigger and out shoots a carabineer attached to a cable which slowly begins unreeling from the wheel attached to the device in his hand which is now clearly defined as a cable shooter and not a weapon. 

 

 

 

The cable reaches Vai who then eagerly grabs it and fastens it to her E.M.A.G.S belt. 

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes then releases the trigger and sets the cable shooter to reverse and as the cable retracts into its housing it slowly brings Vai back downwards toward the floor.   He looks toward Orlando and Dan.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:   Okay, you two grab her arms and keep her stable.

 

 

 

As Orlando and Dan take a hold of Vai’s arms, 1^st Officer Hayes reaches out and unhooks the carabineer and as the cable completely retracts, he houses his cable shooter to his belt.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Hand me her right arm.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes looks at the control panel of Vai’s E.M.A.G.S.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Okay, let’s see here.  Height five foot six, yeah that looks right and weight, one hundred and five pounds, is that correct ma’am.

 

 

 

Vai:  Yes, why isn’t this thing working?

 

 

 

Orlando:  Hold on a minute.  Vai?  One hundred five pounds?  I don’t’ think so.  1^st Officer Haynes, my name is Orlando De La Viega, I’m her husband and there is no way she weights one hundred five pounds.  More like one twenty-five.

 

 

 

Vai:  Orlando!  What are you doing?

 

 

 

Orlando:  Honey, come on now.  One hundred five?  1^st Officer, set the weight to one twenty-five.

 

 

 

As 1^st Officer Haynes re-sets Vai’s E.M.A.G.S. to one hundred twenty-five pounds, Vai suddenly settles down on the ground like the rest of the team.

 

 

 

Orlando and Vai look at each other, with Vai ultimately acknowledging her faux paux.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Now that’s better.  All of you please follow me into the Mid-Deck where we have a convenient artificial gravity system.

 

 

 

The team looks across the Fourier and they see four very large horizontally aligned cylindrical tubes stacked on top of each other, two by two running down the length of the Mid-Deck. 

 

 

 

On the front of each tube is a door at the bottom, but only for the two on their side of the Fourier.  The two cylinders at the top have their doors at the top of the cylinder.  

 

 

 

Vai:  Excuse me, 1^st Officer Haynes, is it?

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Ma’am?

 

 

 

Vai:  Why are the doors on those two cylinders above on the top and our doors are at the bottom?

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Well ma’am, in a weightless environment as the one we are in now, up and down are relative to the observer.  If you were standing up there on what to us is the ceiling of the Fourier, it would actually be the floor to you and the doors would be at the bottom of the cylinder.  Now if you all will please follow me.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes presses a button on the panel to right of the doors and they slowly slide open. 

 

 

 

He walks into what appears to be a small room which has the same circumference as the tubes but only twenty feet wide and at the other side of the room ten feet away is another door. 

 

 

 

Down the center of the room are two rows of back to back connected padded seats, five in each row.

 

 

 

The room is all white and completely padded.  Nothing in the room has a sharp or hard edge.  1^st Officer Haynes and the team walk into the small room in two lines and as they take their seats, they buckle in.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Now this is the Artificial Gravity Transit Room.  This room is now beginning to spin up to a rate of 33 1/3 revolutions per minute, just like Tube 1 of the Mid-Deck on the other side of those doors. 

 

 

 

As 1^st Officer Haynes says that, Orlando and the team, feel a slight downward tug on their bodies as the Artificial Gravity Transit Room begins to spin.  The room then spins faster and faster until the occupants can feel a semi-normal gravity holding them to the seats. 

 

 

 

Three minutes later the Artificial Gravity Transit Room has matched the rotational speed of Tube 1.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Ah, and we’re done.  Please, turn off your E.M.A.G.S and follow me.  This is where your quarters will be.  Also housed in Tube 1 are Crew’s Quarters separated by a door at the end of the Guest Quarters.

 

 

 

Now matching the rotating speed of Tube 1, the doors open to reveal a circular room with a straight pathway down the middle of the room.  All personnel exit into the Guest Quarters.  1^st Officer Haynes turns and addresses the group.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Now, it seems like a little formal introductions might be in order.  As you already know I am the 1^st Officer here aboard The Heavens, Mark Haynes.  And who might you all be?

 

 

 

Orlando steps forward.

 

 

 

Orlando:  Yessir, I am Orlando De La Viega, Cultural Advisor and leader of this expedition. 

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Very nice to meet you Mr. De La Viega.

 

 

 

Vai:  And I am Vai De La Viega, also Cultural Advisor on this expedition.

 

 

 

Dan:  Geologist Dan Stephenson here.

 

 

 

Leo:  Leo Taylor, Anthropologist

 

 

 

Hector:   I am Zoologist Hector Rivera this is my wife and Botanist Carmen Rivera.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Very nice to meet you all and welcome aboard The Heavens.  I’ll show you to your rooms, we have about eight hours until our first Star Jump and I thought you’d like to get some rest.

 

 

 

Vai:  I don’t know about the rest of you, this is my first trip aboard a ship with Star Jump capabilities.  If you don’t mind, 1^st Officer Haynes, how about a tour?

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  And about the rest of you?

 

 

 

Leo:  The Heavens is cutting edge technology insofar as Star Jump ships are concerned, count me in.

 

 

 

Carmen:  Us too.

 

 

 

Dan:  Why not?

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Well then, since your bags have already been transported and are in your room, I see no reason why we can’t take a tour now.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes leads the group through the Guest Quarters of Tube 1.  Evenly spaced along the length Guest Quarters are ten doors, one for each room and are numbered accordingly.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes begins pointing out the teams’ specific rooms as they walk past each one.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Leo, you will be in room one…….Dan, you are here in room 3, Hector and Carmen you two have room 5 and here finally, Mr. De La Viega and Vai will be in room 7.  Now if you will follow me.

 

 

 

 1^st Officer Haynes then turns to his right and motions for the group to follow him.  As they reach the end of the hallway, they come across another door.  1^st Officer Haynes pushes a button on the Control Panel with the palm of his hand and the door opens and the group walks through to the next compartment which is the same size as the Guests Quarters but this is Crew’s Quarters 1.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  This is Crew’s Quarters 1.  Here one third of the crew sleep and rest during their journeys or lock down during a Star Jump.  Beyond those doors are Crew’s Quarters 2 and 3.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes leads the group of intrepid travelers through Crew’s Quarters 2 and 3 and at the end of Crew’s Quarters 3, 1^st Officer Haynes opens the outer door and on the other side is another artificial gravity transit room.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Well, we’ve come to the end of Tube 1.  Now we must exit the back out into the Rear Fourier to access the other Tubes.

 

 

 

The group enters the transit room and after being seated the room begins to spin down to zero and slowly comes to a stop.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  E.M.A.G.S. on, please and follow me.

 

 

 

As the group activates their E.M.A.G.S., they can feel the tug of artificial gravity on their bodies and as they enter the transit room, they find themselves in the opposite side of the Fourier.  They make a right turn and walk over to the doors of Tube 2 and enter the transit room. 

 

 

 

After the transit room has been brought up to the proper speed they exit the transit room and into the Mess Hall, yet another round room which is filled with round tables each surrounded by four chairs and adorned in white table cloths and four complete place settings including cloth napkins.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  This is the Mess Hall.  This section here is the dining area and at the other end there is the kitchen.  The kitchen is fully staffed 24-7 and can also make anything you would want that is not on the menu, provided we have the supplies.  We can walk along this hallway here on the left of the kitchen so that we stay out of the way of the Mess Crew, please follow me.

 

 

 

After a brief walk down the hallway, the group comes to the Stores Room.

 

 

 

1^st Officer:  And this is the Stores where all the supplies to keep The Heavens running smooth and by the numbers. 

 

 

 

The Stores Room is yet another round room lined with concentric racks of supplies.  The group strolls down the centered walkway perusing the racks and shelves rising up from the floor all the way to the ceiling. 

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  There is enough food and supplies to sustain the crew of The Heavens for three months without having to re-supply.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes then bends his body slightly forward and holds out his right arm towards the end of the Stores Room.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Now if you will, please follow me and we’ll continue with our tour.

 

 

 

At the end of Tube 2 there is another artificial gravity transit room leading back to the front Fourier.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes leads the group out of Tube 2 back into the front Fourier of The Heavens Mid-Deck.  They walk over to the starboard wall and there the group sees a rotating cable with protruding handles jutting out at ten feet intervals, much like a tow rope on a ski slope. 

 

 

 

The cable travels in a loop from the “ground down here” to the “ceiling up there”.  Also on the wall is a series of bars anchored to the wall, following the path of the cable.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  As Vai noticed earlier, “up” there are two more tubes with two more doors.

 

 

 

Now to get “up” there, you will hold on to one of these bars with the hand that has the E.M.A.G.S. on it.  You will then take your other hand and turn off your E.M.A.G.S. and grab one of the handles on the rotating cable. 

 

 

 

This will take you “up there” which, when you get there will become “down there”.  Now watch me and follow my example.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes grabs hold of the bar mounted to the wall with his left hand, then brings his right hand over to touch the “off” button of his E.M.A.G.S. and turns it off.

 

 

 

Once this is done, 1^st Officer Haynes grabs the cable handle with his right hand and releases his left hand grip of the bar. The cable then lifts him up and off the ground and toward the ceiling.

 

 

 

As he approaches the “ceiling”, he rotates his body so that he is travelling feet first in what appears to the rest of the group as an upside down position towards the ceiling as he calls down to the group.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Now when you get to this point, you grab one of the bars mounted to the wall, release the cable handle and then turn on your E.M.A.G.S. on……….like that.

 

 

 

1^st Office Hayes is now standing “upside down” on the “ceiling”, from the perspective of the rest of the group.

 

 

 

Leo:  I’m an old hand at this.  I’m up next.

 

 

 

Leo performs his maneuver with the ease and skill and is now on the ground on the ceiling.  Next up is Carmen followed by Hector then Vai and Orlando and lastly Dan.  The team executes the maneuver without flaw and is soon in the first room of Tube 4.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Now this one of the two Star Jump Transit Rooms here on The Heavens.  You will see that like all the other rooms on the Mid-Deck, it is circular in nature with the seats up against the outer wall.  This is where you will be during the various Star Jumps we will be taking to get to our destination.

 

 

 

Vai:  These rooms are all round in shape, just like the Pod.  Is there a reason for this?

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Yes, just like the Pod.  All of the rooms in the Mid-Deck invoke the same principals of inertia dampening as the Pod on the Planetary Transfer Craft.

 

 

 

That is to say that as The Heavens begins its rapid acceleration during the Star Jump process, all of the rooms on the Mid-Deck, including the Star Jump Transit Rooms which are already rotating in a counter-clockwise direction inside their respective Tubes to create artificial gravity, will also begin to spin in a counter-clockwise direction, concentrically, as each Tube will also spin.

 

 

 

These two opposing spins in concert with the linear acceleration forces will have the effect of cancelling out all sense of motion. 

 

 

 

In fact, you will feel a slight sense of weightlessness.

 

 

 

Vai:  Uhhhhh, can you say that again?

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Uhhh, why don’t I just show you…

 

 

 

Vai:  Excuse me?

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Oh, I’m sorry, I meant the schematics of The Heavens….they are right over here on this panel.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  It’s like this.  This room right now is spinning in a counter-clockwise direction within Tube 4, which we are in now. 

 

 

 

When the rapid linear acceleration begins during the Star Jump process, that is to say going forward at great speed, this room will begin to spin this way (as 1^st Officer Haynes spins his finger in a circular direction). 

 

 

 

This room will have three forces acting on it.  The artificial gravity force, the acceleration force and the inertia dampening force.  These three forces will, in effect cancel each other out and you will feel more or less no motion at all.

 

 

 

Vai:  Oh, cool!

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Now, if you will walk this way, we will pass through two more Star Jump Transit rooms, the Medical Bay, then out and into the Ward Room.

 

 

 

As the group leaves Star Jump Transit Room 1, they cross into and through Star Jump Room 2 and the Medical Bay and finally into the Ward Room. 

 

 

 

The Ward Room, again round in design, is filled with two long curved conference tables lined up end to end matching the circumference of the Ward Room.  On the walls are a series of seven monitors, one for each of the Command Crews positions as well as live camera feeds of key areas of The Heavens such as each of the rooms of the Mid-Deck, the Transfer Bays, the Quarter-Deck and the Engine-Deck.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  And this is the Ward Room.  This is where Captain Strom holds his various meetings, plans strategies and communicates with other Space and Starships.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes then leads the group out of the Ward Room, back into the Fourier and into the Control Room, located in Tube 3.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Now this is the Control Room.  As you can see by the multitude of people sitting at their respective consoles, it is the nerve center of The Heavens. 

 

 

 

The crew here are monitoring all aspects of The Heavens operations including the Electro-Magnetic Force Field surrounding the ship to the environmental conditions and the Bridge Dome tinting just to name a few.    If you will follow me, we will continue on to the Engineering Room on the other side of that door.

 

 

 

After entering the Engineering Room, the group notices that is looks very similar to the Control Room.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Here in the Engineering Room the crew monitors all aspects of the Engine-Deck which houses the four Ambient Plasma Fusion Drive engines, the Ambient Plasma storage units and the nuclear boost module. 

 

 

 

And that’s about it for the Mid-Deck.  There is no time right now for any tours of the Bay-Deck and the Quarter-Deck and the Engine-Deck are off limits to non-crew personnel.

 

 

 

Leo:  How about the Bridge, can we and do we have time to see that?  I understand it has a clear Diamond Dome.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  I’m sure it would be okay, but let me just check with the Captain First.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes once again activates his wrist communications device.

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  Captain, I have Mr. De La Viega’s group here requesting a tour of the Bridge, with your permission, sir.

 

 

 

Captain Strom:  Yes, that would be fine, we’ll be waiting.  Where are you now?

 

 

 

1^st Officer Haynes:  We are currently in the Engineering Room, see you in a bit.