Dark Star Rising Second Edition (Pebbles in The Sky) (48 page)

“Finally, we have the space ship or lander.  The ship itself is nearly as big as the David Honstein.  We have no doubt that it landed vertically.  From what we can see of the landing gear that has not sank into the soft ground, we do not think there are wheels on the gear but probably landing pads like we have on our own landers.  The design of the ship is totally unlike our landers though.  Our landers for the moon are utilitarian in design and not made to operate in an atmosphere.  This ship has a lifting type body design.  We believe that it was launched from a planet with an atmosphere and has the ability to fly and land in an atmosphere as well as on an airless world such as Elpis was when it arrived there.

The ship could not have contained all the material needed to build what we can see of the sit
e.  It would have required multiple trips or another ship that was a cargo carrier to carry the bulk of the materials.  As you can see here on the front and top of the ship, we have a similar but larger control bubble as compared to the tracked vehicle.

We can only guess at the ship's engine design.  These features here look like some more of the iris door features that have closed and could cover a rocket exhaust nozzle such as we use.  We believe the ship probably uses an expansion type rocket engine similar to what our own heavy lift rockets and orbital tugs use.  This does not look like our VASIMR ion engines.  We can see no hatches or doors so we must assume they are on the underside of the ship.”  The general sat back indicating he was done.

The President looked at them thoughtfully.  Finally he spoke “Ok, I need an answer from you three.  Is there anyone or anything alive there at the alien site, and does what we have seen constitute any danger to us here on Earth?”

Mike shook his head. “The site is dead and deserted from what we have seen. The beacon is obviously an automated response to our own radar signals.  It is our impression that the builders wanted the site found by someone with the capability to look for it.  We believe that the planet may have been a distant orbiting planet of a sun much like our own.  It was way out there in a far orbit where it was eternally frozen.  An intelligent race, probably from a warmer planet in that system, had the technology to build an outpost on it.  The planet was ripped away by the Dwarf when it passed that star system and now our own sun has claimed it from the Dwarf.”

The General interrupted Mike. “My biggest question is why?  If they deserted the outpost because the Dwarf was coming, why would they would leave that ship?  It would have taken considerable resources to build.  I would not think that it was expendable or a throw away model.”

“Maybe it was broke, or damaged, or out of fuel,” volunteered Peter.

“I just don’t think anyone that could build all of that would leave it there when they left,” said the General.  “They would have had plenty of time to fix or refuel it before the Dwarf arrived.  Hell, we have had years of warning before our own encounter with the Dwarf.”

The President sat in thought for a few minutes.  Finally he spoke “You have deployed the ground robot from the lander, right?”

Peter nodded “Yes sir.”

“Then send it into the site to explore.”  He raised his finger in warning.  “If there is any type of hostile reaction from the alien site then pull the robot back.  General Seale, upon the appearance of any aggressive response from the site, I want you to carry out the precautions that we have previously discussed and use the robot to deliver the package close to the site.  If the robot is disabled by any alien action then you will detonate the package where it is and hopefully it will be close enough to destroy the site.”

Both Mike and Peter looked at the general with the question on both their lips.  “What package?” demanded Mike.

The President answered him.  “Doctor Banscott and Doctor Rockwell, as a precaution and at my direction
, the landing pod also contains a compact fusion warhead.  It is similar to the ones developed for the Space Force units to use to deflect incoming asteroids if needed.  The robot is capable of carrying that warhead to the site and Colonel Pierce has the ability to detonate it from orbit.  If the robot is destroyed, he will detonate it where it is and the alien site is at the very edge of the warhead's kill zone.  We can only hope it will be enough to damage or destroy the site before it can become a danger to us or the ship we have in orbit.  If all goes well, this will not be necessary.  I am going to instruct General Seale to give orders to the Colonel Pierce on the Honstein to put the fusion device at the site when the David Honstein leaves orbit there to come back to Earth.”

Both Peter and Mike both jumped up in protest. “Mr. President, you cannot destroy this site.  There is no telling what we can learn from examining these artifacts,” Peter exclaimed.

“Gentlemen, what you do not know is that both the Russian President and the Chinese Premier have been demanding that I share what we have discovered on the planet with them.  They have detected the signal from the beacon also.  Although they are in no position to launch an expedition to the planet yet, you can be assured they are racing to do so.  I cannot, and will not, allow those artifacts to fall into their hands."

"They have actually had the audacity to hint that withholding that information could be an excuse for war against the United States.  Although they cannot easily attack our territory with conventional weapons or troops, they do both still have considerable nuclear arsenals.  As a last resort, I will destroy the site to prevent a nuclear war here on Earth.

"Now, to ease your anger I will tell you this.  I agree that we need to get down there on the planet’s surface and examine that site with boots on the ground.  I am going to get my purse pinching Congress to authorize the building of a new ship that will have the means to put a manned lander on the ground.  I want NASA to start getting some preliminary plans together for construction of this ship.  After the encounter with the Dwarf Star, I would like to have construction started at the new Lagrange Point Station.

There is the very real possibility I may not be re-elected in the fall, so if the construction has already started it will be harder for a future President or Congress to stop it.  I expect to be kept briefed on the findings of the ground robot.  If there is any sign of activity at the site, inform me immediately.  Good day gentlemen, General.”  The President’s image faded from the screen.

Peter shook his head.  “It just can’t be more exciting than this, can it? I can’t believe they sent a nuke down to the planet.”

Chapter 54

February 14
th
, 2043

Elpis Geostationary Orbit.

“Excuse me, Colonel; we just received a message from Mission Control.  They want us to deploy the ground robot to the artifact site.  There is also a security locked addendum to the message marked for your eyes only.  The message is in your message queue.”

“Thank you Johnston.  Please wake up Lieutenant Allan Greco and tell him we have orders to move the robot to the artifact site.”

“Yes sir,” the communication specialist said as she backed out of the Colonel’s sleep cabin.  Colonel Pierce sat up slowly.  His head was pounding again and he had to fight to control a wave of nausea.  He debated going to see the medical technician again, but instead he got up and took two more of the pain killers he had gotten the day before.  He then took another of the anti-space sickness pills that were frequently given to newcomers in space.  He had never had problems with vertigo and space sickness before this mission.  Maybe I am getting too old for this, he thought.  I really should talk to the flight surgeon when we get back to Earth.  Holding on to the handrail in the small passageway, he made his way to a ladder and climbed to the center handrail and then pulled himself up to the operations deck.

Colonel Pierce paused in the operations deck when he saw that Lieutenant Allan Greco was already settling in at the control station for the remote ground robot.  “Lieutenant, make the best safe speed you can to the artifact site.  Pause on the hill overlooking the site and notify me.  I will be on the flight control deck.”  Colonel Pierce pulled himself up the handrail to the pilot station and then over to his flight seat.

Lieutenant Jason Greco looked over from his co-pilots seat.  “Excuse me sir, but you look sort of green about the gills, are you ok?”

“I still just have a little bit of vertigo left from when we spun the crew’s habitat back up.  It will pass.  I have the watch, Lieutenant, if you want to go below and grab some sleep or chow.”

The young Lieutenant’s stomach answered for him with a loud rumble and he grinned.  “Guess I will take you up on that sir.  Call me if you need me.”  He flipped over his seat and went below.

Colonel Pierce strapped himself in and laid his head back into his seats headrest.  Actually it felt better here in the zero G area of the flight control deck than down in the crews habitat with its centrifugal gravity.  Normally, the flight deck should not have to be constantly manned, but any time they were maneuvering or conducting remote ground operations it had been decided that it was a prudent precaution.  He activated his monitor that showed the video feed from the ground robot as it advanced toward the alien artifact site.   Then on a separate screen, he opened up the secure attachment to the communication from Mission Control.  It was the orders he had been expecting.  He frowned as he read them.  Although he rarely questioned his superiors, he was not in agreement with the paranoia of command staff on this issue.  He had also been less than happy when he had been notified of the fusion warhead that had been stowed in the landing pod.  Orders are orders though, he thought.  He laid his head back to try and ease the throbbing pain behind his eyes as he waited for Lieutenant Greco to guide the robot to the alien artifact site.

Approximately two hours later, Lieutenant Allan Greco thumbed his microphone.  “Colonel, the robot has arrived on the hill at the alien site.”  The screen before him showed the buildings, excavator and ship unchanged from the way they were two days ago when he had piloted the airship over the site.  He stopped the robot there as crewmembers started slipping into the operations deck to watch the reconnaissance video from the robot.  When the Colonel did not come down from the flight deck he called again. “Colonel, I am standing by on the hill overlooking the site.  I am ready to take the robot into the site.”

Allan's brother Jason was standing next to him.  “He was up on the control deck, I will go relieve him,” Jason said.  Lieutenant Jason Greco went up the ladder to the center of the compartment and pulled hand over hand to the flight deck.  Allan Greco had his hands on the controls, itching to move the robot down for a closer inspection of the ship and buildings there.  The ships announcing system clicked on “Medical emergency on the control deck, medical specialist to the control deck NOW!” 

One of the crew members in the back of the gathered crew grabbed a med kit off the wall near the center handrail and all but flew up the center passage to the control deck.  She arrived to find Lieutenant Jason Greco attempting to get the unresponsive form of the Colonel out of his pilot’s chair.  “He has no pulse and is not breathing,” the Lieutenant told her.

The Medical specialist grabbed the Colonels collar and pulled him to the center passage.  “Help me get him down to the mess deck, quickly now!”

Nineteen pairs of hands helped float the unresponsive Colonel to the Mess deck where he was lowered and placed on a table.  The medical specialist tore the Velcro zipper of the Colonels coverall open and slapped defibrillator patches on his chest and placed the leads of a bio-monitor on the Colonels chest and temples.  Another crewmember reached over and put an oxygen mask over his face and started pumping the gas bag.  The Specialist held up her hand to stop them.

“It’s too late,” she said in a quiet voice, “He has been gone for probably over an hour.  Cellular decomposition has already set in.  There is nothing we can do.”  Word that the Colonel was dead was passed quickly through the ship and the crew all stood around with stricken looks on their face.

Allan Greco looked at his brother.  “I guess that makes you the captain now, since you are the copilot.”

Jason shook his head “You are the same rank as me.”

“I am not qualified to fly this ship, you are Jason.”

Jason stood in silence letting it sink in.  “Do you have any idea what happened?” he asked the medical specialist.

“We have no real diagnostic equipment on board.  He had been complaining of the headache and vertigo for several days.  He told me that it had gotten better.  If I were to guess, I am afraid he may have had a brain aneurysm, a bleeding stroke in his head.  I cannot be absolutely sure of that though without a scan of his head.  I just do not have the equipment on board to confirm the cause of death.”

“What do we do now?” asked one of the female engineering specialists with tears in her eyes.

Jason stood up straight and spoke. “We do what the Colonel trained us to do, and we carry on just as the Colonel would have wanted us to.  Lieutenant Greco, would you please help Specialist Larson put the Colonel's body in a body bag.  Then I want two volunteers to go EVA and secure the body outside the airlock where it will freeze.  We will carry him home when we leave.  I will be on the control deck. I need to talk to Mission Control at Alpha Station.”