The Pathfinder Project (20 page)

The Doctor sat quietly,
thinking carefully as to how much to say. “As you know, he’s been diagnosed
with a sleeping disorder and stress-related issues,” she said. “Doctor-Patient
confidentiality prevents me from giving you all the details, but I can tell you
that we’re setting up a treatment plan for him since this is no short term
incident. He’s been burying stress deep down inside of him for years without
any way to let it out… it finally reached out and bit him.”

“So he’s going to need some
time to get himself back together, followed by a lighter duty assignment?”
guessed the Captain.

“Yes sir. Once someone develops
this kind of sensitivity to anxiety it can easily recur. I wouldn’t at all be
surprised if he has to take a
permanent
lighter workload.” She shook her
head and looked across the table at Adam. “He
wants
to be as successful
as his big brother and he’s been working toward that goal his entire life, so I
don’t think he completely realizes yet how much happier he’d be if he just
throttled back his work schedule a notch or two.”

“Then I nominate Thomas Roh for
the ninth position,” the Captain said. “I know he’s a software technician like
Glen, but we’ve got
lots
of computers in both the Lab and Observatory
wings… not to mention the rest of the systems all over the ship. We’re going to
need someone to act as a liaison, and this would also allow us to more directly
control how much we throw on his platter. If he starts having a tough time
again we’ll just lighten his workload accordingly or assign him some extra
help.”

“That sounds like a good idea,”
Karen agreed cautiously. “But he may not be able to assume that role for a
couple of weeks yet. Perhaps even a month or two. Right now the
lack
of
scheduled activities is more important and will be healthier for him in the
long-term than having deadlines and to-do lists assigned.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,”
replied Dennis. “Father Dixon for spot eight – all opposed?” He looked around
the room and saw no hands in the air. “Father Dixon is in. We also nominated
Thomas Roh for position nine – all opposed?” Again there were no raised hands.
“That settles that.” He leaned back in his chair for a moment, deep in thought
before very carefully pouring himself another half cup of coffee. “Mary, I need
you to review the meeting notes after we’re through and strike the items
relating to Thomas and his condition. I know we promised an open forum, but for
his situation I want the record to show only that he is ill and unable to
attend meetings or resume his duties until he has received proper treatment
from the Medical Ward.”

“Aye, sir.” She replied. “I’ll
E-Note you a copy for review. That way you can make any modifications you like
prior to publishing the transcript onto the shared database.”

The Captain looked pleased. “Murray, how is security so far?”

“Acceptable,” Colonel Neeland
replied. “We’ve been able to establish round the clock patrols at all key areas
of the ship.” He smiled slightly. “As long as you quit reassigning my people to
positions that are millions of light years from the
Pathfinder
I think
we’ll be in great shape.”

“Ben
had fun
on that
shuttle ride,” Mary laughed. “He told me so himself!”

“He’s also in the history
books,” pointed out Glen. “Lightning, Hopper, and Corporal Benjamin Henderson
were the first three people we know of to travel outside the boundaries of our
home galaxy and return to their departure point inside of it the same day they
left.”

The Captain leaned forward,
pressing the fingertips of each hand together and leaning his chin on them.
“Which eases me back into our earlier topic,” he said enthusiastically. “Where
do we go next?”

“I’ll have coordinates on your
desk by 1300 this afternoon,” Julie said without hesitation.

“Oh, I’m sure of that,”
Kaufield replied. “But
after
that. What do we do
long-term
? Just
where should we take the
Pathfinder
?”

“Out there!” Glen said firmly,
pointing at the nearest window. Everyone around the table turned and just
looked
at him. “I’m serious,” he continued. “We know we can use Canary probes
periodically to check back home. So let’s put this ship to use.”

“Are you asking for a full-scale
exploratory mission?” Julie wondered hopefully.

“
Exactly
. We’ve studied Intelligent
Design versus the Big-Bang theory all our lives. Now we can go and look for
ourselves if we want. If the universe
is
a massive explosion with
galaxies and other debris flying apart and slowly cooling over time, we can
prove that in under a year… maybe even in under a month.
Plus
…” he said
intensely. “
If
the Big-Bang did occur, then we’ll discover that our universe
is a giant expanding sphere of debris and eventually the
Pathfinder
will
run into its event horizon. Aren’t any of you curious as to just
what
is
on the other side?”

“A mission like that could be
dangerous, not to mention faith-shattering to some of our passengers.” Mary
said softly. “Believe me, Father Dixon can tell you all you want to know about
that subject.”

“I don’t
get
some of
those people,” Julie said. “I really don’t. As if a scientific solution to some
of our biggest mysteries somehow disqualifies the concept of Intelligent Design.
All it does is confirm that God took his time and really put some serious
thought into it!”

“I want to find out, too,”
stated Kaufield. “That’s
why
I signed on to this project.” He held up a
hand and pointed directly at Glen. “We’re going to use Canary probes the entire
way… stopping as frequently and for as long as Julie’s team requests. And – a
lot of this depends on the civilian team yet to be assigned to complete our
Council. We’re going to turn the ship around and find somewhere to settle if:
(1) we find it’s too dangerous to continue or (2) a quorum of nine of our
twelve Council members decides to do so.”

“But we can start?” Julie asked
excitedly.

“Yeah, we can start,” Kaufield
decided. “Let’s pick a direction and start exploring.” He stood up and smiled
with noticeable relief. “Meeting adjourned.”

THE PATHFINDER PROJECT

Two F-175 fighters and a large
cargo shuttle eased cautiously toward a distant point of light in the dark void
surrounding them. On board the shuttle were the infamous Walter ‘Lightning’
Douglas and his history-making co-pilot, Bruce ‘Hopper’ Mendez. Flanking them to
starboard was a fighter piloted by Nori Andrews, and she was closely followed
by one of their newer pilots, Terry ‘Dashboard’ Benson. The three ships were
quickly closing the distance, with all four pilots carefully watching the star
in front of them grow larger and larger.

“
Whaddaya think, Dash
?”
Walt asked curiously.

“
I think I’m glad that all
of our support ships are back up and running
,” he replied with a harsh
chuckle. “It makes me feel safer knowing we have fighter support.”

 “
Aren’t you glad you were
reassigned from the
Avenger?
How do you like scouting missions in the
middle of nowhere
?” He wasn’t kidding. Aside from the star they were
approaching and a few other distant speckles, the light from their own ships
was the only thing that separated them from the surrounding darkness.

“
No complaints here fellas
,”
replied Dashboard. “
It may be a little dark and it may be a little spooky
but at least I’m alive and piloting a ship that works properly
.” To
demonstrate, he kicked in the thruster boost on his fighter and quickly eased
in front of Nori’s ship.

“
Whoa, there – easy boy
!”
Nori snapped quickly, trying to reign in her enthusiastic wingman. “
Let’s
not get too carried away at first, okay
?” She glanced down at the computer
systems in front of her. “
Keep your eyes on motion sensors. If there is
something else floating around out here in all this nothingness we’re going to
have a lot less time to take evasive. So keep a tight grip on those controls,
flyboy
!”

“
Are you talkin’ dirty to
me, Siren
?” Dashboard asked, doing his best to push her buttons.

“
You wish
!” Nori replied
smugly. “
Remember… whatever you do in the privacy of your own cockpit is
your business. It’s not my fault you can’t handle yourself with the ladies
.”

“
Ouch
,” Dashboard
replied. “
I think I’m hitting the sauce alone tonight
.”

“
Whaddaya mean
tonight?”
Bruce said, his tone full of sarcasm. “
You drink alone every night you can’t
find a good card game
.”

“
Okay, changing the subject
…”
decided Dashboard, realizing he wasn’t going to get any help from the guys. “
As
I understand it, there are quite literally billions of stars to choose from –
so why are we heading toward this lonely little place
?”

 “
Because
,” said Walt in
response, “
According to Dr. Markham, this particular star has a very unique
wobble.”

“What?”

“
That’s right… it has a
wobble
,” Walt repeated. “
The specialists in the Observatory usually
watch for minute fluctuations in a star’s trajectory over the passage of time.
That’s just one of the ways they use to determine if there are large objects in
orbit. Since planets themselves tend to have their own gravity, they tug at
their star as they orbit. And, according to the good Doctor, it only took two
days for her to tell that this little star – out here all by itself – has quite
possibly the largest and most unique wobble she has ever seen
.”

“
And you know all this
because…
”

“
Because I’ve been assigned
to the
Pathfinder
project for almost six years
,” Walt replied with a
satisfied chuckle. “
I’ve spent many a night reading up on our mission, as opposed
to your mission to take up space in a rack on someone’s boat
.”

“
We’re hoping to find
planets, asteroids, anything that could be a potential source of supplies for
us
,” added Nori. “
The fact that this star is all alone is an added
bonus. We search for supplies while the Observatory people study its uniqueness
.”

“
Well we found something,
I’m certain of that
!” Bruce said from his co-pilot seat in the shuttle. His
motion sensor console was beginning to plot a series of objects in various
orbits around the star. They were still very far away but he was definitely
detecting planets. “
Whooaaa
,” he declared softly with growing
astonishment. “
There’s dozens of them…
hundreds!
I’d say we’ve got a
Charlie Foxtrot of celestial objects orbiting that star
!
”

“
Not only that, but look at
their orbits
,” Nori said delightedly. “
The Observatory is going to have
fun with this one
.”

“
They sure are
,”
commented Bruce with satisfaction. He switched one of his monitors to a
3-dimensional image of the star system and whistled softly to himself. “
This
place is a mess, not at all like your everyday average star system. It looks
like a giant atom – most of the planets are orbiting on different planes
.”
He paused, reviewing the data flow. “
Not only that, but the computer
projects that most of the planets pass closer to the sun on one side and then
fly way the hell out to a more distant point when their orbit reaches the
other. When they travel that far out, how come they don’t reach escape velocity
and soar off into the great beyond
?”

“
It’s got to be the gravity
from all of them combining somehow and keeping what we see together
,” Walt
mused thoughtfully. “
Organized chaos, and everything that couldn’t find a
stable orbit probably did just fly off on its own... long ago. I’ll bet some of
those planets and moons collide with each other occasionally, too – what a show
that would be
.” He turned in his seat to get a better look at the
co-pilot’s monitor. “
There aren’t any other major stars nearby… that could
be a factor too. Nothing tugging at those rocks but their star and each other
.”

“
This sun either left the
galaxy it originated in long ago or it never was part of another star group
,”
Nori speculated idly. “
Most likely the former. Dr. Markham was hoping that
there would be planets or at least an asteroid field that we can study –
objects that have been here for millions of years and will yield clues as to
the building blocks of our universe
.”

“
Oh, there
are
planets,
moons and all kinds of asteroids
,” Bruce said excitedly. “
The computer
is estimating at least 1,083 planets and smaller planetoids. There are also
five – count ‘em FIVE – unique asteroid belts orbiting at various distances
from the star. I’m also detecting a spherical, comet-filled Oort cloud on the
outer edges of the system
.” He grinned. “
And that’s just what we’re able
to detect from
this
side of the sun
.”

“
It does look like some kind
of huge atom
,” Dashboard decided. “
I’ve plotted one planet orbiting in a
zero degree circle at about the same level as we’re coming in. A second planet
is orbiting at Z+24 degrees, a third at Z+112 degrees, and a fourth at Z-35
degrees. This is the most disorganized collection of planets and moons I’ve
ever seen
.”

“
Doesn’t matter if it’s a
little bit unusual
,” said Nori confidently. “
The Observatory folks
were
impressed by unusual, and it’s not like we’re going to stick around long enough
to live here or anything
.” She glanced out her cockpit at the F-175 still
flanking her to port. “
What do you read, Hopper
?” she asked. “
I’m not
getting any wireless, radio, or other signs of intelligent life. I think we’ve
got a winner for potential raw materials
.”