To The Stars (The Harry Irons Trilogy) (9 page)

They passed him a bowl filled with a putrefied liquid and watched him, giving no indication of what they expected. Harry sniffed at the disgusting concoction. He knew it was a holographic image, but it looked, smelled, and even felt like it was real. After a moment's hesitation, he turned up the bowl and drank the liquid.

Immediately, the holographic display disappeared and an image of Mr. Thanopolous appeared.

"Sorry, Harrison," he said. "You died. If you had looked closely enough, you would have noticed that the aliens poured the liquid on their heads. It wasn't meant to be consumed. Let's try another one." With that, Harry was transported to another scene and underwent a similar exercise.

This time, he was on the bridge of a spacecraft. A man dressed in the uniform of a survey team commander looked at him expectantly.

"Well?" He said and pointed to a display readout. "What does it mean?"

Harry looked at the display. It contained a series of hieroglyphs. Next to the display Harry noticed a scratchpad in his own handwriting that contained a matrix of symbols and glyphs. He began to compare the symbols on the screen with those in the matrix.

A woman's voice came over the intercom. "Sir, we're detecting some unusual solar activity. Radiation levels are climbing."

The commander frowned and urged Harry to decipher the message.

Harry concentrated and, within minutes, translated the message. It was a warning: a solar flare was imminent. Harry reported his findings to the commander who then ordered the ship to be taken out of orbit and directed towards deep space.

The bridge disappeared and Thanopolous reappeared. "Very good, Harrison, that'll be all for today."

Harry was almost disappointed the session was finished.

As usual, afterwards the team gathered to discuss their experiences and run additional exercises. Doris moderated the sessions.

"Help Nadine plot a course." Doris instructed Bonner. Bonner shrugged and stepped to the navigations console where Nadine sat. Nadine ignored him.

"Bart?" Doris hated speaking to the wirehead. "Would you assist Harry with his calculations?"

Bart sat at his chair with his eyes closed. His expression never changed.

"Bart, did you hear me?"

He opened his eyes. "What do you want me to do?"

"Help Harry with his calculation."

Bart sighed. "Okay. Harry, the approach vector is 5 degrees from the initial entry. That's with a correction of plus or minus .23659 degrees thrown in for drift."

Doris stood with her arms folded. "That's not what I meant. I want you to watch him go through the steps to see that he knows how to do it. It's very important that we cross-train in our various disciplines in case one of you has to take over for the other."

Nadine said. "I can't be expected to learn umpteen dozen different languages to take over for Harry!"

"No, you can't," replied Doris. "There are accepted limitations. On the other hand, Bart can access the language archives in the data bank. Similarly, Kathleen is cross-trained by Charlie to perform the standard corporation tests on bio-organisms."

Parker reacted. "Please call me Charles."

Harry almost winced. Earlier, he'd overheard the doctor speaking to Kathleen in a training session. Parker complained when Kathleen mixed substances in a different order than Parker had.

"Do the acetic acid first, then the base."

"What difference does it make?" Kathleen asked.

Parker stared at her. "Because it's the order I learned. It's the correct method."

"But the results are the same."

"As far as you know. Is it necessary that I give the standard lecture on lab practices?"

"No, no," Kathleen backed off, laughing, "I'll take your word for it, Chuck."

Parker bristled at the nickname but said nothing.

If Harry found Parker to be the most abrasive, with Doris running a close second, he found Bill Bonner to be the most easygoing among the group. Usually, the engineer was paired with Nadine, but he got along with everyone equally well. Bill had been raised on a hog farm, pursuing engineering, so he said, to get away from the smell. As a result, he was friendly, earthy, and used an array of pithy, down-home phrases to prove it.

"How are you today Bill?"

"Content as a hog in mud."

Of them all, Bart was the smartest. His implants allowed him to perform calculations with amazing speed and accuracy. Whenever the opportunity availed itself, he would plug into whatever was available and lose himself in cyberspace. His particular weakness was his taste for pleasure realities, places where he could tap into sensory stimulations.

He carried a portable player that provided him with a variety of digitized pleasures when he couldn't plug into a larger database. By his own admittance, he was addicted. Still, he was a prima donna, hand-picked by Fagen for crew membership. It was all too apparent why: Blane could soak up data at an amazing rate; if the onboard computers failed, Blane could run their programs. In effect, he could access and manage all the ship's systems in an instant.

His telecommunications implant made him and Kathleen seem like mentalists. Still, Blane preferred the company of his machines to that of flesh and blood.

Of the group, Fagen was the most enigmatic. Harry didn't see him very often. As far as he knew, neither did any of the others. Occasionally, Fagen would look in during a training session to see how they were doing. He was friendly enough, but he didn't say much. He never mentioned the limo accident to Harry.

Finally the day arrived, exactly six weeks since training had begun, when Fagen showed up at the afternoon training session.

"How are they doing, Doris?"

"Oh, they're ready to go, but I think they could use a few more weeks."

"Well, we don't have a few more weeks."

Fagen's comment stopped everybody.

"We've received our departure window. Two days from today, 2100 hours."

"That's a little sudden, isn't it?"

"Yes, well, we got bumped up on the departure list. I'd like to suspend the rest of the day's sessions and let everybody off to take care of any loose ends."

Kathleen spoke. "You wouldn't have anything to do with the new departure schedule, now would you, Edward?"

"Just the luck of the draw, Kathleen."

"Yeah, I'll bet."

That evening, Harry went to his mother's house to say good-bye to his family. They all knew it might be years before they saw Harry again, if they saw him again. Mrs. Irons tried to keep the occasion light, but Harry's little sister kept crying. They gave Harry gifts like it was his birthday. He didn't tell them, but he couldn't take anything with him. There were severe space and weight restrictions aboard the spacecraft. Besides, the corporation furnished everything he needed.

Afterwards, Frankie and George stopped by and the three sat at the kitchen table and talked until the hour grew late. For a long while they talked about their days at public school and how they shared a common yearning to become space explorers. All three had applied for corporate survey teams, but only one made it. Only one of them ever really had a chance and all three knew it. Harry knew he would miss his friends.

In the morning, Mrs. Irons waited until Harry was gone before she cried.

An air-limo picked him up outside his mother's door and took him south through the miles of city to the spaceport located in the foothills. As they neared, Harry marveled at the great acceleration ramp pointing up into the sky. Harry had learned the procedures. First, a quick jump into orbit, then a docking at a station high above the Earth's atmosphere, and then finally, transfer to the ship that would take them through the wormhole to parts unknown.

He found the others in the spaceport lounge.

"Where's Edward?"

"He's already in orbit, waiting for us."

Harry didn't have time to wonder why. Doris called them together and directed the seven survey team members to the waiting shuttle. Aboard the shuttle, they stored what gear they carried and just had time to sit down and strap themselves in before the ship began to slide forward on the magnetic rails.

Upon reaching maximum acceleration, the jets ignited. The rumble from the engines coursed through the craft; the vibrations shook Harry like one of those expensive massage chairs the furniture stores sold. Harry knew when they left the ramp because the high, screeching sound that accompanied the motion suddenly ceased.

The rush of acceleration pushed him into his seat and made breathing difficult. In a few minutes, the pressure eased as the engines switched off and the shuttle entered zero gravity.

They took turns looking out the single port until Doris spotted the space station. "All right, let's buckle up for our approach."

On arrival, Fagen greeted them as they stepped through the airlock into the station.

"I trust everyone had a pleasant trip?"

"Outstanding," Bonner said, "like being shot from a cannon. Smooth all the way." Even Blane was excited. He didn't bother to plug into his portable pleasure machine. Kathleen laughed at his silent messages and, like the others, she kept glancing about, trying to take everything in at once.

"Please follow me." Fagen directed them through the station to a pressurized hanger bay that also served as a good place for viewing the stars. Save for a small service vehicle and a handful of personnel, it was empty.

Harry walked to the nearest portal, a window reaching from floor to ceiling, and stood gaping at the view. Wordlessly, Kathleen moved to his side. The stars spread out before them.

Nadine exclaimed, "It's like  a hologram!"

"It's better!"

Fagen smiled a little after that and took the crew to a large viewing port, directing their attention to a starship held in parked position adjacent to the station.

It was a larger version of the Braithwaite Scout-5, one of the better equipped survey crafts.

"This is our vessel. She'll treat us as well as we treat her, so, I insist we use the utmost respect. Shortly, we will transfer over and set up housekeeping, but first, I'd like to do something I do with every new crew prior to departure." Fagen signaled to a waiting valet. The man popped a bottle of champagne and poured the golden liquid into long-stemmed glasses.

Holding his drink aloft, Fagen turned to his crew. "The first toast is to the success of our mission." He lifted the glass to his lips and the others followed in suit.

"The second toast is to our ship, which I have taken the liberty of naming the Magellan, after the intrepid explorer who first circumnavigated the globe."

This time everybody voiced their approval before draining their glasses. On impulse, Kathleen hugged Fagen then turned and kissed Harry. Harry blushed and looked at Bart. Blane grinned and winked.

Nadine and Dr. Parker clanged glasses together while Bonner draped a meaty arm over Doris' shoulders. The crew would never feel as close as they did at that moment.

Chapter 9

Harry's first impression of the Magellan was that it was larger than expected. The second impression, after the crew had transferred over, was that it was more luxurious than he'd imagined. It contained numerous conveniences designed to help pass the time while in transit. For Blane, there were, of course, plenty of places to plug directly into the ship's computer. In the extensive database were games, pleasure realities, histories, technical information, procedures, and thousands of various other programs.

Unlike the simulator, the bridge aboard the Magellan was spacious. Crew's quarters were compact but sufficient to allow for a modicum of privacy. Each was fitted with a bunk, a small table, and a locker. An intercom was located beside the bunk. A terminal and built-in keyboard were built into the table. Save for the bridge, none of the cabins had ports. If the crew wanted to look at the stars, they either had to go to the bridge or use the remote cameras to see through one of the monitors.

After stowing his personal effects, Harry joined the rest of the crew in the galley. Fagen came in last and tapped the table for silence.

"I know you're all wondering just where it is we're headed. The corporation chooses our destination and pre-programs our navigations. Of course, we have the ability to override, but only in case of an emergency.

I realize that other than Doris and myself, none of you have crossed through the wormhole. I'm sure you've heard all the stories about bent space and time anomalies, and the inherent danger in passing through. Allow me to assure you that these dangers are minimal. If everyone performs their jobs properly, we won't have anything to worry about. In any case, the ship's pre-programming will take care of practically any eventuality."

Fagen looked at Bonner. "Bill, if you would, give everybody the quick lecture on how we use the wormhole."

"Sure." He took a sip of coffee, then started. "As you probably know, the wormhole was discovered over seventy-five years ago by miners on their way to the asteroid belt. In the beginning, only drones were sent through, but they weren't capable of finding their way back. Only through years of trial and error were we able to discern that the wormhole could be used as a means of two-way travel.