nova sol: freechapter

8/2/2019 NOVA SOL: FreeChapter

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PROLOGUE

Asok Klein

Asok Klein was a fraud. His entire personal history as recorded in various

colonial government files was a lie. A fiction. More precisely, the personality he had used

for the past forty-five years was a shadow self. One that he constructed from bits and

pieces of his original life. He had been born and lived like any other man, woman or child

at the end of the 2oth century but when he reached the latter stages of middle-age his

body started to fall apart. The best the doctors could tell him was that he had some

unidentified genetic instability. One medtech even used the word turbulence to

describe what was wrong with him. Genetic turbulence.

Luckily, Asok had resources with which he could fight his condition. He had

compiled a great deal of wealth in his career as a free-lance pharmaceutical researcher

and his work provided him with plenty of connections that would aid his fight. Some of

those connections were above board and perfectly legal. Most were not. Upon

confirmation of his diagnosis (after a visit to a fifth specialist), Klein retired and devoted

all his time, money and intellect to developing a cure for himself.

He began by learning about genetics. His medical research background made it

easy for him to bone up on the details of the field. It was a disorganized field. He haddabbled in physics and chemistry when attending university before settling upon

pharmaceuticals. Those fields of study had widely accepted paradigms that guided most

research. Paradigms that had stood the test of time and become entrenched. Genetic

research, after the determinism doctrine was overthrown once and for all in the early

2020s, was wide open. It was like the intellectual equivalent of the western frontier in the

early days of the United States of America. One group would establish a known zone in

one area while other groups established other such zones. These separate groups would

defend their new territory from outsiders. The groups could and did communicate with

each other but sharing of resources was rare. The resources in this regard were data and

any insights gained from the data. Private researchers hoarded their findings while those

engaged by governments or universities were limited by lack of funds and mundane

ethical guidelines.


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As Asok reviewed the literature of the field for the past twenty years, he began to

sense a subtext. It was as if there were an unstated secret that most genetic researchers

knew about but would not openly acknowledge. Something big. There seemed to be some

form of intelligence that was manipulating or, at least, had in the past manipulated the

genetic code. Using some digital tricks that masked his holonet identity, he posed as one

member of a gentech company and contacted a researcher who worked for that same

company but at a different laboratory. Asok ventured a question as part of a larger,

routine conversation, And how does that impact the replication studies? Does it shed any

light on the difficulties there?

The man began to answer, Well, of course, it doesnt solve the embryonic

dissolution problems but it might be applicable to the development of the artificial

transposons that the Jurgens group is. . . The man went silent on the other end of the

feed for several seconds. When he spoke again his tone of voice was low and hushed,

You do have clearance for this dont you?

Asok forged ahead blindly, Clearance for . . .? Oh, for the Jurgens findings? Of

course. Yes!

The contact said quickly, Whats your signifier? You wont mind telling me.

Must dot the Is and cross the Ts and all that.

Asok guessed blindly, My signifier? Of course. Cant be too careful with theinformation, can we now? Im cleared for Alpha level. Alpha signifier. The man on the

other end of the line disconnected immediately. Asoks ruse had been discovered. He

disconnected from the pubnet and lost himself in the city for several hours before

returning home. He didnt think anyone could track him but he didnt want to take any

chances. Despite being stymied by the companys security protocol, Asok was very

satisfied. He had made a guess and gotten confirmation. He didnt have any details or

data to back up his confirmation but he was sure of himself.

The literature of genetic research from the late twentieth into the first decade of

the twenty-first century was full of discussion of epigenetic mechanisms. In the end it

was the studies of epigenetics that led to the overthrow of the genetic determinism

paradigm. That was all openly discussed and debated and finally accepted by the

scientists in the field by the early 2020s.


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researcher to open up was a vague enough genetic phrase that it could apply to many

different areas of research. The mans statement about artificial transposon was the

point from which Asok continued his digging into the field.

Colonial Science Committee Report on the Planetary Rebellion

Appendix Cii, selections

The various cosmological, geological, cultural and economic effects of the

systems planets temporarily leaving their standard orbits have been detailed at length in

earlier sections of this report. The focus of this section is to note other correlations

presented by the collected data. These correlations are of minor importance but are

surveyed with an eye toward thoroughness. The correlations to be discussed briefly in

this section are: 1) crop and livestock viability on planets directly effected by the altered

orbits and subsequent plasma strikes, 2) minority sociological responses in community

organization, 3) potentially unique technological adaptations to and developments

spurred on by effects of the orbital alterations and 4) the existence of unexplained deaths

amongst the population of Central City, Gondon during the first few months after the

orbital alterations and their possible link to neuropsychic trauma release mechanisms.

. . .no need for continued discussion on that point which leads us to the second

topic. At this time the gathering of people into the so-called holds on Gondon needs to be noted. The movement so far has included only a small percentage of the overall

planetary population. The behavior of these people is peaceful and non-threatening to the

remaining segment of the population. The committee expresses no concern regarding

these new communities. However, as they are removing themselves from the mainstream

culture of the colonies, it is advised that they be monitored discretely in case the

behaviors of the hold populations should shift towards more active resistance to authority

especially if an ideology develops which begins to take on violent or messianic

overtones. There is, it is emphasized, no apparent unifying ideology amongst the hold

populace currently. It is, however, noted that isolated groups of people tend to develop

unique mindsets and/or worldviews. The potential for a worldview that would promote

aggression to the mainstream culture exists but is deemed to have a fairly low probability

of occurring in these new hold communities on Gondon. These projections are based on


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assumptions of community size and make-up that should remain accurate for the next

several years. If those assumptions prove to be inaccurate, the projections should be

reassessed. The holds seem. . .

. . .overall level of health in the colonial populace due to selection procedure

screening for genetic deficiencies, the relative health and, for lack of a better term,

vibrance (i.e. cleanliness of and significantly lower amount of toxins) of the biospheres

of the Nova Sol planets and the generally more active lifestyles engaged in by the

majority of the colonists. Therefore, the unexplained deaths that are clustered in Central

City become of particular interest. All the bodies involved in these deaths showed no

signs of physical trauma or infectious agents. All the cases died during sleep. All cases

showed a particularly quick process of decomposition. That is, the bodies decayed at a

faster than normal rate. This rate has been estimated to be approximately three times the

normal rate of decomposition. As of this writing, all environmental factors for this

increased rate have been ruled out and the investigators are willing to listen to any

suggestions for further testing as. . .

Giants

The dragons were an ancient species. Ancient and powerful rulers of their world.

Then the giants came. Tall and shining, shrouded in bands of mist that circled aroundtheir armored-enclosed bodies like snakes. Dozens of giants strode across the land en

masse. The dragons sent soldiers to face the giants. But even with their tremendous

strength, weapons and skills the soldiers could not stop the giants. Nothing the soldiers

did had any effect on them. They attacked again and again only to be repulsed each time

by the giants. As the soldiers attacked one more time, the giants gathered themselves into

a circle. They all faced outward toward the attacking dragons and shot beams of energy

out of their eyes. The beams immobilized the soldiers. Held them still. Mute and

motionless witnesses. Then the giants began to build.

In the center of their circle the giants proceeded to construct a great tower of

metal and crystal. A tower that stretched up into the heavens. They drew the metal out of

the very air itself. Condensed it. Streams of liquid metal swirled around the giants. The

crystals rose up from the ground beneath them and floated up into the air to join with the


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metal and together the giants guided them to twist and blend and flow into one

spectacular form after another. The forms then joined together to create the tower. Linked

together like pieces of a puzzle they rose ever higher into the sky. One dragon -

foolhardy and young and grieving for his trapped friends - attempted to attack the tower.

A lone giant waved one great arm and the dragon froze in the sky. Alive but motionless.

Immobile and terrified.

The giants remained for many weeks. Sometimes one or a few would fly off into

heavens only to return a few days later. When they came back the giants carried with

them metal spheres which they inserted into openings in the side of the tower. There were

always at least three giants standing guard. Facing outwards as the dragons watched

them. Otherwise they were heedless of the dragons. Focused only on the tower. Many

dragons came from around the planet to watch the giants. Many others chose to leave.

Taking the risk to go away - they knew not where - until the giants left or were defeated.

One day the tower began to glow and pulse with a terrible light. Rings of energy

formed around the tower at various heights as it stretched into the clouds. Each ring was

twice as high as a dragon. They started as clouds of mist circling the tower like massive

smoke rings. Then the rings grew denser and heavier. Over the course of days all the

rings slowly sank down to the ground and began to encase the tower. After ten days had

passed the tower was completely enclosed by the rings. All the rings contained manycolors and were inscribed with intricate designs. Some were bright and flowing. Others

were dark and jagged. They were made of the same crystal/metal alloy as the tower. No

two were the same.

All along the dragons carefully observed what was happening. The giants allowed

dragons to fly around and watch all that happened as long as they did not interfere with

the building of the tower or the coalescing of the rings. After the rings had fully enclosed

the tower several more days passed. Then, finally, the patrols reported that the rings at the

very top of the tower were shooting off into space. One ring would shoot off then a few

moments later the next ring. The dragons patrolling the space around the home world

reported back that the rings shot out into space for many miles and then just disappeared.

The leaders of the dragons gathered and planned. They all hoped that when the

last ring had shot into space that the giants would leave and all would be as it was before.


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That the soldiers would be freed. That life would go on. It was not to be so. When the

rings were all gone the giants - there were twenty-one of them now - gathered around the

base of the tower and faced in towards it. They lifted their armor-clad arms up above

their heads towards the tower. The dragon soldiers who had been immobilized for these

many weeks were drawn in close to the tower. The metal of the tower flowed to create

openings in its surface. From inside the tower, several objects floated out into the air and

gathered across from the soldiers facing each one. The objects were hominid figures. No

taller than three feet high. There was one hominid paired with each trapped soldier.

The giants lowered their arms quickly and the dragons and the hominids drew

rapidly closer to each other. The energy fields that held them merged together and the

dragon and the hominid inside each field wavered and warped and their bodies became

insubstantial. The mist that was their bodies now flowed together. The essence of each

dragon joined with the essence of each hominid. Each combined mist swirled around

inside the energy field for several minutes. Then the mist separated back into hominid

and dragon forms and solidified once again. The dragon soldiers were at last freed. The

hominids floated back inside the tower and the giants shot off into the sky never to be

seen again.

Then the tower started to glow and huge lightning bolts arced high into the

heavens. All the skies of the world gleamed with flashes of color. The flashes opened aninfinite depth into the heavens. The ground began to shake and cities crumbled. The

world came apart. The dragons fled.


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PART ONE

CHAPTER ONE

Sheen

Remembrance Day, 2190

The recent history of humankind is enthralling and mystifying. The parts of

history that are important to our current, unique situation. The parts that came shortly

before and shortly after the Transition. The move to the new solar system. Nova Sol. Our

current solar system. The time referred to as The Age of Wonders by historians.

There is another name for that time. One not used much anymore. The

Expansion. Humanity was expanding out from its traditional habitats to settle other

ecosystems. Lunar colonies were built. Mining of asteroids commenced. Surveys of all

the planets of the Sol Prime system were undertaken. Undersea colonies established and

grew. Then with the discovery of the Mars Gate a host of other worlds was made

available to us. A host of worlds that had - seemingly - been provided specifically for

humanity. Provided by some ancient and now lost or extinct alien species, by the hand of

god or simply by great good luck on a cosmic scale, no one was able to say for sure.

Everyone had ideas on that point. Wildly different ideas. But none have been proven one

way or another and thats a conversation for another time.The Expansion was seen in the context of serving Earth, humanitys home

world. There were resources that could be utilized. Food that could be grown and

harvested. Colonies to be established. All with the understanding that Earth was still the

primary location for humanity. Those other planets might have something of interest or

even value but Earth was where it all started. Earth was the source of humanity. Earth

was king.

For a while. Then, as is so often the case with colonies of a far-distant nature,

differences started to develop. Differences of opinion. Of preference. Of culture. Of focus

and of desire. They were minor, at first. The beginning of a distinct accent on one colony.

The development of a local cuisine on another colony. The popularity of a new sport on

a third.


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The differences began to grow and solidify. And given a bit more time these

differences may very well have caused discontent for all the parties involved. But before

that could happen, the Planetary Rebellion occurred. Usually referred to now simply as

the rebellion. For what other rebellion of note is there? What other rebellion in the

previous history of humankind could equal in scale or importance or sheer destructive

power and the way in which it directly altered humanitys evolutionary path than a

rebellion by the very planets on which it lived. Not the people who lived on those planets

but by the very cosmic spheres themselves.

The acts that comprise the rebellion took place over a twelve-day span of time.

Twelve standard colony days. They ended with the Splitting. That being the destruction

of Landing Rock - the area that housed the gate that was the colonists only way to travel

back to Earth. Our only way back to Earth. With that area destroyed, the colonies were

severed from their home planet as surely as a mans arm can be severed from its body by

a sword.

Pre-Colonial Era. The Expansion. The Rebellion and the Splitting. These are the

great watershed events in the recent history. And here and now, on the twentieth

anniversary of the Rebllon and the Splitting, let us pay our respects to all those who lost

their lives in the course of those events.

After he ended his speech, Sheen Johns stepped back from the podium and satdown in the presidential delegation. The president followed Johns speech with a too

long, too political for the occasion harangue about the downside of isolationism and the

merits of interplanetary and intercolonial cooperation. The crowd was polite but

disengaged. Smiling absently and clapping reflexively.

Sheens thoughts drifted as the President wore on. He had not wanted to be here

tonight. Remembrance Day was his least favorite of the holidays but it usually provided

an excuse for him to escape the university. He had begun to sketch out a new hiking route

through the Shell Range of the Southern Mtns. the very morning that Dean Davenport

walked into his office unannounced. She had that look on her face before the door fully

closed behind her.

Sheen, she remained standing in the middle of the room as he spun around from

his desk to look at her. He had been grading mid-term reports. Had to be done. Very


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important. Well, not important enough to keep him from bringing up maps of the Shell

Range on his screen but important enough.

Sheen Helena said again mildly but firmly. The way a teacher spoke to a young

child in order to get the child to listen. He remained sitting - these two had done this

dance with each other so many times they had long ago given up the usual formalities - as

she continued looking down on him from the center of the room. Ill make this brief. Just

received a call from the Presidents office. Not the president of the university, mind you.

THE President. Of the Colonies. She waved off his protestations before he could begin.

I know. Youre not political. Thats fine. The university is a publicly funded entity and

despite your personal leanings or lack of leanings that makes you as a member of the

faculty of the university political by association, if you will.

Anyway, Helena looked around the room as if she had just realized where she

was and decided to sit down in the chair next to his desk. Sheen shifted in his chair to

keep his eyes on her. Dont let the viper get too close he thought to himself.

Anyway, Sheen, you know what Im about to demand of you. She looked

across at him and arched one of her eyebrows to emphasize her point. You know it and I

know it. And, yes, I understand why you dont want to do it. I do. Honestly. Just as I am

sure you understand that I dont like having to ask you to do it. But I have to. She

paused and unconsciously smoothed out the fabric of her pants and shimmied her shoulders a bit to settle into her suit jacket. She was attractive for a woman her age. Sixty

was the new forty, right? He focused back on what she was saying.

. . .on Remembrance Day in the Gondon orbiter. Not too long, they said. Think

in terms of a long introduction. Throw in the history appropriate for the day. The

rebellion, the splitting. Maybe something about the progress weve made in the past

twenty years. You know what to do. She stood brusquely and took a step towards the

door without any transition. She reached for the handle then just as brusquely as she had

risen turned back to him and inclined her head slightly and tensed her mouth into a thin

line, I do appreciate this, Sheen. I do want you to know that. Then the door was open

and she was gone.

The somewhat louder clapping roused Sheen from his reverie. That meeting,

which has led to his speaking engagement this night, had been a few months ago. He had


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not wanted to do the speech but as Helena had pointed out to him it would do the

university good to do THE president a favor. It couldnt hurt to have Helena owe him one

either. He disliked her but he understood she was just doing her job. He just wished she

didnt carry out her orders so officiously.

The president shook his hand vigorously as the group moved off stage at the end

of the presentation and said, You think the age is over, do you?

This is why Sheen didnt like politics. It was this type of situation that he could

never read. Did the president mean that statement as a joke? A compliment? A sideways

insult? Sheen responded hesitantly, How do you mean, sir?

The president looked him in the eye and stopped short as his group of aides and

attendants swirled about him like a flock of startled birds unsure why he was no longer

moving. Sheen returned his gaze directly. What else could he do? Maybe Helena and the

school wouldnt owe him a favor after all. Not if he just upset the president in some way.

The president squeezed his hand strongly one last time before gesturing to the

stars outside the viewing bubble. A quarter of the view was taken up by the planet below

them: Gondon, the prairie planet. The rest of the view showed Nova Sol and past that

stretching out towards infinity a swarm of stars that comprised the nearest branch of the

galaxy. If stars could be thought of as near. The other planets of the system were not in

sight. A rare occasion that as usually one or more of the twelve planets was in viewingrange at any given time.

The rebellion was disastrous. No argument there. It may very well have been the

most significant event in human history. Its either that or the discovery of the telecenter

on Mars by the Hoight Expedition or Gargarins first orbit around the Earth. But thats

not what Im talking about. My point is that I think the Age of Wonders is still going on

but you talk about it as if its dead and gone. He waved vaguely to the crowd that was

now milling about in the conference room. Some of them staring out the observation

bubble (a sure sign of first time visitors to the orbiter) while others mingled with drinks

and finger-food. Whats not to wonder at, heh?

Sheen looked out into the stars as the president was now doing. He stood next to

him and said, I only meant that particular time period, say from the start of Luna 1 up

until the Splitting, was so full of. . .well, Id guess youd call it action. Like the


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Renaissance for painting and sculpture. Like Elizabethan England for literature. That

time period was similar to those in regards to technological development and travel. The

sense of expanding out to more than one planet. You have to agree that time period was

one of great action. Great shifts in population and discovery of resources and the

changing of the political landscape.

Of course, it was. Any schoolboy could tell you that. No, you misunderstand me,

I think. Its not that I disagree with your assessment of that time period and how fruitful it

was for us all. Its just that I dont think its over yet. As he said that last word, he poked

one short, broad tipped finger into Sheens chest to emphasize the point then gave him a

quick wink and a nod and turned around to his assistants, one of whom rattled of the

presidents schedule for the rest of the night. Then he was gone walking away as the

swirling attendants and bodyguards flocked around him.

President Benefacio

President Benefacio rolled out of bed quietly and padded into the adjoining

stateroom. The lights were out but he navigated through the blackness flawlessly. Many

was the night hed spent in this suite over the past years. The admin section of the

Gondon orbiter ring housed the colonial government when it was in session and as such

he lived most of the year on it. In this suite. His home address was still listed as hisfamilys compound on Cirron, his home planet, the one his family had settled along with

50 or so other families back in the early days of the transition. But his life was on the

orbiter.

He had been ten years old when his father and mother took him, their only child,

on the one-way trip to Mars and then through the magic (even as an adult he still had no

better term for how the formation worked) of the telecenter. The Mars Gate. He crossed

over to his favorite chair and lowered himself silently into it. He did not want to wake up

Seema, the woman who had come back with him that night. He wasnt being

inconsiderate. He just wanted some time alone with his dreams.

The fabric of the chair warmed instantly and molded itself to his body as he

reclined into it. His square bulk of a head rested heavily on the pillow. Dark hair rested in

flat bands across his scalp. A second later the chair followed the preset routine and angled


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itself so he could look out the observation bubble of the suite without having to turn his

head. Not nearly as big as the one in the conference center but all the better for the fact

that there was no one else there to spoil the view. He looked out into the solar system, the

planet below and the stars beyond. Simply looked. Maybe Sheen was right, he thought

to himself as he began to drift off to sleep. Maybe the glory days are over and we are

here just to preside over the maintenance of humankind. Caretakers instead of explorers

like the last generation was. His eyes closed and he began to snore softly.

His dreams were what his dreams had been for the past twenty years. He was

down on Gondon. He had come to the prairie planet as part of a trade delegation from

Cirron. He was learning the ropes of the family business from his father. Gondon was the

breadbasket of the system while Cirrons prime resource was tourism. If that can be

called a resource. Cirron was called the Eden planet by other colonists. The people who

lived on the planet shied away from that name. Too many expectations with that name.

Too many complications. They liked to keep things simple.

The dream began with the shuttle from the Cirron orbiter ring settling down on

the landing pad in Central City, the main transportation hub of Gondon. Central City was

a located at the mouth of a wide, slow moving river. About 60% of the food that was

grown or raised on Gondon passed through Central City on its way off planet. The grains

and fruits came down river on boats while the livestock came in via shuttle from all partsof the planet. The combination of the sea air, stockyards and huge granaries gave Central

City a. . .distinct odor. Not necessarily an unpleasant one but it definitely took getting

used to.

This was Junior Benefacios third trip to the planet but it was his first by himself.

His father, older now and not as eager to travel the system as he was in his younger days,

had gladly told Junior a few months ago that he would be doing the marketing trips on his

own from then on. Junior had felt a quiet pride when his father told him that. His father

trusted him to do business on his own. That must mean hes a man now.

He stepped off the shuttle in the dream and looked out over the rivers mouth as it

gently merged with the Sungray Sea. Nova Sol was high in the sky and there were only a

few clouds. Otherwise, the sky was a bright, iridescent blue. A blanket of blue that

cradled a handful of gems in it. The gems being several of the systems sister planets. The


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yellow smudge of Bastin, the desert planet. The blue dot of Misken, the ocean planet.

There were a few others visible in the sky at that moment but Junior would not have a

chance to notice them all because thats when the flash came. The horrible red flash that

no one could explain. Then it came again. And again. Three times in less then a minute.

The electric red light seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It

painted everything and everyone around him an ominous shade of vermillion. He had

taken a few steps back to the shuttle thinking he could ask the pilot to check his

instruments when he heard a scream. He turned towards it.

On the opposite horizon from which he had been looking was Gondons moon,

Kalthas. Usually Kalthas was a pearly white, fuzzy snowball that hugged the horizon as it

followed its slightly angled orbit around Gondon. But now it looked much larger. It was

much larger than usual as it moved up over the horizon north of the city. It was larger

and rising too soon, way too soon. It should not have been visible for a few more hours

yet. Junior checked his watch to make sure of that.

Kalthas was the source of the red flashes. The moon was about 4 times its normal

size in the sky and was getting bigger. Which meant. . . .the thoughts stumbled to a stop

inside his head not wanting to finish. If it was getting bigger then it was getting closer.

The red flashes came again. Each time there was less and less time between one flash and

the next. The flashes were, Junior would learn this later, massive electrical bolts leapingfrom Gondons atmosphere out to strike the rocky surface of its satellite.

Too close! The moon was too close to the planet! The two orbs were completing

an electrical circuit. Their respective magnetic fields and the infusion of plasma from

Nova Sols ever-constant solar wind combined to make a cosmic-scale spark generator.

Years later some survivors would describe the red flashes and the subsequent

promethean-sized bolts of lightning that arced from Gondons surface to that of its moon

as if Gondon were trying to reach out an arm and push Kalthas away. To spurn its moon.

To reject it. Others would describe the violent, gigantic plasma columns saying it looked

like Gondon was reaching out to Kalthas and trying to drag it closer and closer while

Kalthas tried in vain to escape the clutches of its much larger neighbor.

Junior would never speak of that day. He had been there - he had jus landed! -

when Gondon and Kalthas began their electrical interaction. The red flashes confused


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him at first. The air was too thick to breath into his lungs. Then the flames roared to life.

Buildings and vehicles started to randomly explode and burst into fire. Wild fluctuations

of the planets magnetic field played havoc with all electronic equipment. Shuttles fell

out of the sky and into the river, the sea. Into the stockyards and into the highrise towers

of downtown Central City.

People screamed. Junior stood as a mute witness to it all. He knew he should run.

But where to? He wanted to get to safety but could think of no place to go. Caves? Where

there any caves nearby? Basements? He worried about flooding when he thought of

basements. So close to the river and the ocean. He couldnt bring himself to risk that.

There would be no one around to attempt a rescue if he got caught underground. There

would be too may calls to emergency services for fires and crashes and injuries. Someone

stuck in a basement would be very low on the priority list.

He could think of nothing to do and nowhere to go. The flashes came quicker and

quicker. Shuttles fell. Explosions. Fires. Screams. Everyone was screaming. He knew he

had fallen to his knees but he couldnt figure out why. He felt an indistinct pressure in

one of his thighs. The aerial display of lights coming from the moon and the planet was

mesmerizing. He couldnt look away. The fires grew. The screams seemed to be getting

farther and farther away.

He woke with a start when Seema put her hand on his shoulder. His eyes flewopen and for a split second he didnt know where he was. Then his brain registered the

woman standing in front of him. The outline of her body a more solid black against the

lighter black of the star field shining through the bubble. She spoke, Hey. Just wanted to

let you know I was leaving. . .call me next time youre free. My contacts in your

system. She pointed to the desk and the handheld on top of it then quietly walked

towards the main door, waited for it to iris open, stepped out and was gone.

He stared at the stars for a few more minutes then fell asleep again.

In the dream, he stepped off the shuttle and stared up at the blue sky of Gondon. .

.red flashes. . .screams.

Senior Benefacio


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Julius Benefacio squinted directly at the midday sun. His eyes creased deeply at

the corners. His eyebrows bushy and wild. He held the orb directly in the center of his

vision for several minutes. He could feel the cells of his retina burning out one by one. At

least, it felt that way. The doctors said that was impossible but what did they know.

Impossible was an everyday event for him now. For him and several others. There were

seventeen of them who had become, apparently, immortal.

He tilted his head back down to the ground and blinked his eyes furiously as tears

welled up in his sockets. He waved a hand back and forth in front of his face. His fingers

gently brushed his nose a couple of times. Completely black. Completely blind. Then he

waited a few more seconds. Gray streaks started to grow at the edge of his vision. Grow

and worm their way back to the center like the fast growing tendrils of a predatory vine.

His sight was filled with a monochrome kaleidoscope of gray shapes. Lighter and darker

shades mixing together like a lost DaVinci sketch. He kept waving his hand, slower now.

He wanted to find the exact moment his eyes started to sense real shapes again.

Gray serpents oozed and seethed silently in front of him. There! He could pick out a

curved line that matched the side of his hand. He held his hand still. The line was

smeared and indistinct at first then grew sharper and began to extend. The side of his

hand was outlined in full now. Then the fingers and where his hand attached to his wrist.

Dots of color first sparked back to life in the center of his palm then quickly allover his hand, arm and entire field of vision. It was like looking at the sun from several

feet underwater while swimming upwards. Images wavered and morphed. They looked

familiar one moment and then totally alien the next. Then, all was clear. Crystal clear.

He flexed his hand and touched his face once more. Scanning the path ahead of

him down the hillside he muttered to himself and then plodded slowly along. His slow

walk was habit now. Habit born of a decade and more of aching muscles and faltering

joints that he simply no longer had. He could straighten his humped back at any moment.

He could lengthen his stride and cover the distance back to the mainhouse in half the

time. He knew this by the very feeling of his body. Internally he felt strong, His bones

and muscles and lungs and heart all felt so much healthier inside of him. He had even

gone on a long ride on his own one day when everyone was out on errands off the


17/34

compound. They all believed that he had stayed home that day and gone over the books,

played with his pet dogs and taken a nap.

Instead, after staff left, he saddled up one of the resorts horses and took it for a

long ride into the back of beyond. He rode for two hours straight and felt as if he could

ride for ten more. He dropped off the horse lightly and tethered it to a tree on the edge of

clearing. Tall grass and a stream bordered the clearing. Shorter grass and a couple of

beaten down paths that crossed each other covered the center of the clearing.

It took him a moment but he remembered this spot now. It had been where the

first recon party had landed in the year after the gate was operational. When settlers

landed planetside years later all that was left of the research outpost was a small hut and

some broken laboratory equipment. The younger kids of the settlement would get taken

out here on field trips as they learned the history of the planet, Cirron.

Senior padded down the path and broke into a light jog as he approached the

center of the clearing. Last time here was years ago. What had happened to the remains of

the hut? Someone had fashion a small lean-to out of a few timbers and a piece of the old

roof back then. But there was nothing here now. He bent down and ran his fingers

through the grass feeling for screws or bolts or nails. The metal parts of the shed would

have survived longer than the wooden ones. Nothing.

He stood up and looked around the clearing. It was approximately a 50-yard by30-yard oval that had been cleared for the hut and the outside lab equipment. If he

remembered correctly, over in the far corner had been a small swing set at one time. One

of the settler families with younger kids had erected it. Good place to come bring your

kids to get away from the compound for a while. Nice days walk here and back.

He jogged over to that corner, back straight, arms pumping in an exaggerated

manner. He was warming up now. He stood at one end of the clearing, took a few deep

breaths then exploded down its length. He brought himself to an abrupt halt and looked at

his watch. Less than 7 seconds. He shook his head and used the heels of his hands to

press deeply into his quads and hamstrings. Everything felt fine. Better than fine.

Senior Benefacio and his wife Delores had been an older couple when they had

made the decision to become colonists. They had met and married late in life, relatively

speaking. When they landed on Cirron with their one son - Junior was ten years old at the


18/34

time - Senior was 55 and Delores was 52. Their older age compared to most settler adults

proved useful in those first few years. The younger adults looked to them for advice and

they became somewhat the unofficial arbiters of disputes for their compound.

There was no legal system in place back then. All the settlers had been warned

about that by the Joint Colonial Program when they signed up for the positions. Legal

systems, physical infrastructure, economic institutions would all be developed over time.

The first phase of settlement of which the Benefacios were a part was to focus simply on

establishing a colony on the planet. The J.C.P. had divided the volunteers up into 8

compounds: 4 in the northern hemisphere and 4 in the southern hemisphere. The

Benefacios compound (Compound 4) was the southernmost compound in the northern

hemisphere. It was set deep in a forest several miles distant from a mountain range and

near a largish river.

Arrival Day had been thirty plus years ago. Senior was in his 80s now getting

close to 90. He had just run faster than he ever had in his life. He felt like he was a young

man again. No! That wasnt quite right. He felt like all the energy he ever had in life, any

physical vitality that he might have spent during his lifetime had been gathered up and

returned to him. This was better than being young again. This was like being brand new

forever. He had some decisions to make.

The State of Space Travel, vol. ii, 2123

Galactic Clusters and Super clusters

It was discovered late in the 20th century that individual galaxies are connected

by massive celestial filaments into clusters of galaxies. Furthermore, these clusters of

galaxies are connected by more and larger filaments into a massive web of matter and

energy that spans interstellar space. These super clusters are the largest structures, outside

the universe itself, known to humankind. The filaments that form the clusters and super

clusters are comprised of extremely hot gases and are very hard to detect unless you

know how to look for them. These filaments are millions of light years long and have

been called the skeleton of the universe.

Dragonstar One - 2075 ce


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Hoight Expedition - 2150 ce

The Hoight Expedition was nearing its culmination. It was approaching Mars. The

first manned journey to the planet in 75 years. The first journey to the planet that had a

decent chance of returning to Earth.

Technically, counting the return journey the expedition was not quite halfway

done. The plan was to arrive at Mars, establish a planetside outpost, carry out various

scientific tests and surveys on the planets surface as well as in low orbit around the

planet then fire up the main ship and head back to mother earth. But the seven-member

wake crew felt differently.

After the disastrous outcome of the last, government-financed trip to Mars -

Dragonstar One - no one had wanted to make the attempt for decades. Lunar colonies had

been well established. Most other planets in the system had been thoroughly explored via

unmanned vehicles. Mars was the next logical step in terms of manned settlements. The

Asian Union launched the Dragonstar vehicle from its lunar base in Mare Ingenii. The

crew of 18 had been kept in a form of suspended animation via a drug-induced

hibernation-like state. The drug of necessity for the dragonnauts as the media had dubbed

them was a synthetic form of tetrodotoxin. The crew had been intentionally paralyzed for

the 8-month trip out to Mars. Paralyzed and hooked up to machines that provided

whatever minimal nutrients they required.Prior to the expedition, the longest any human had been in a tetrodotoxin coma

was one month. All was fine in the Dragonstar vehicle for six months. Then anomalous

readings began to filter back to Earth with the standard telemetry and data packages. The

brainwaves of the crew had changed. Had shifted suddenly. The brainwaves now

indicated that the crew members were conscious. They were awake. Still paralyzed but

fully aware of their surroundings.

Automated blood sampling via the robotized processes of the ship informed the

earth-based physiologists that the crews bodies had somehow developed a resistance to

the tetrodotoxin. Their blood showed minimal quantities of a chemical compound that

had begun to throw off the effects of the toxin.

They had one way to communicate with the crew. In their pods their eyelids had

been taped shut. They could direct the onboard, mobile robot to open the pods, remove


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the tape and push back the eyelids. Then they would order the robot to position its

audio/video display so that the crew members could easily view it without having to

move. They couldnt move. Not even their eyes.

There had been some debate whether to do this or not. The scientists were sure

that all of the crewmembers were now in the same condition: fully awake and completely

paralyzed. The crew had been expecting that. They had been told that they would pass

through that state for a few hours before being fully woken at the end of the trip to Mars.

The flushing of the toxin from their system required some time after all.

The crew had now been in that state for 30 hours. Some argued that to attempt

communication with them would only worsen the situation. Those suggested drugging

the crew with a more standard sedative and putting them into a more normal sleep-like

state for the next two months. But the interaction of the toxin and the regular sleep drug

could have severe side effects. The two together could cause irreversible comas in all the

crew.

Eventually, the decision on whether or not to communicate with the crew was

bumped up the chain of command until it got to the general in charge of the operation.

The Asian Unions space agency was fully a part of its military. General Shen assessed

the evidence and decided in favor of communicating instead of further sedation. Too

risky. The crewmembers were too valuable as assets to risk their deaths in that manner.He recorded the opening of the message that was shown to the crew himself. He exhorted

all the crewmembers to be strong, to remember that they were part of the glorious Asian

Union and that they could not let their government down. Then he let the scientists and

project head say whatever they needed to say.

The recorded message was played seven times for each crew member. The pods

were positioned in such a manner that only one crew member at a time would be able to

view the message as it was relayed through the robot. There were certain, specific,

sequential details that they were asking the crew to remember so it was decided to replay

the message for each crew member seven times then to move on to the next one.

When all crew members were shown the message they had been awake for a total

of 38 hours. There was no way that any of them could indicate that they had heard and/or

understood what had been communicated to them. At a set time the scientists monitored


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the brain wave information that was being beamed back to Earth. They had asked the

crew to try to generate certain emotions at certain times. These emotions should effect a

change in their brainwaves. If that happened they could then establish a simple yes/no

signal with the crew and communicate in that fashion.

When the brain waves info package reached Earth all the members of the project

gathered around the wall screen on which it was displayed. They waited silently as the

three neurologists studied it and then conferred with each other. They turned to address

the project members and the general himself who was watching from Chang Sha via

satellite link up. There was no sign that the crew had felt any emotions. No change in the

normal waking brain wave pattern. They had no signal by which to communicate with the

crew. The robot was commanded to reopen one of the pods and to use one of its arms to

inflict pain on the crew member inside. The robot was programmed to start with minor

pokes and prods of the crewmans body and then to systematically intensify the stimulus.

No bones were broken, no skin punctured, no permanent damage.

The telemetry showed no changes in that crew members state. The robot was sent

to the next crew member. Similar negative results. The robot was commanded to repeat

the process with all the remaining crew members. All negative results.

After another conferral with General Shen who had included the Ministers Prime

in the process now, it was decided to pick the least valuable crew member - Ensign ShanHo, geologist - and have the robot break his arm. Break the arm and then twist the broken

parts in opposite directions for one full minute. They made sure to program the robot to

break the arm of his non-dominant hand.

The neurologists told General Shen that severe pain could be detectable via the

brain wave telemetry. At this point, the general wanted to know for sure whether the crew

members were conscious or not. Since the emotion generation had not worked the

neurologists could not tell him. They could not tell him whether the crew members were

generating emotions that their equipment was not sensitive enough to pick up, or if the

crew could not generate the emotions due to the presence of the toxin in the body, or if

the crew had even been able to understand the directions given to them via the recorded

message.


22/34

The general pushed the neurologists to come up with some way to communicate

with the crew. This is when they mentioned that pain might be a strong enough stimulus

to break through the effect of the toxin. The pain signals would allow them to know that

indeed the crew was fully conscious and could sense the goings on of their environment.

The general was hoping to get confirmation that the crew was: 1) conscious and

2) hoping against hope that the pain signals might provide some sort of break through

against the toxin. That somehow the massive amounts of pain would cause Ensign Shan

Hos body to fully fight off the toxins effects. The neurologists were hoping to see some

sign that the brain wave telemetry which indicated the crew were awake was somehow

wrong. A misreading. Or perhaps the brain waves were being recorded accurately but

somehow the crews brain functions had been altered by the hibernation to such an extent

that the readings indicated a different level of awareness than it did for normal people. If

that were true then maybe, just maybe they could risk the regular sedative. This was all

uncharted territory.

Their hopes were thwarted once again when the telemetry came back. There was

an indication that Shan Ho had perceived the pain but only very minimally. No break

through, no throwing off the effects of the hibernation drug. Also, the previous brain

wave readings had been correct. The crew had some level of awareness. Enough that the

neurologists thought there was still a high likelihood that the sedative combined with thetoxin would kill or cause the brain death of the crew if used.

Seven hours after the telemetry was received and interpreted, General Shen came

out of his meeting with the Ministers Prime of the Asian Union and beamed his decision

to the project head. There were 18 crew members total. They would be divided into three

groups of six. One group would be given the sedative. The second group would be given

nothing. The last group would be run through the detox/wake up routine. The theory was

that the most basic of the expeditions goals could be met by a crew of six. The crew had

been purposefully assembled with redundancy taken into account. Every crew member

was a specialist but also had significant training and skills in many different areas. The

actual piloting of the ship even in low orbit could be handled mostly by the automated

systems. General Shen proposed the solution to the minsters, who grudgingly agreed.


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There was the tacit understanding in the room that whatever happened with the crew

blame or praise would land squarely on the generals shoulders.

The robot carried out its new programming efficiently. There had been the usual

feedback loop query that was present when any change to the preprogrammed timing

sequence was altered but that was quickly acknowledged and over-ridden with the proper

authority codes. The project head recommended running the group of six to be woken up

first. The whole process took about seven hours. The thought was to have some crew

fully revived and on hand to help in case any problems arose when the sedative was

administered to the other group of six. Also, the revived ones were to monitor and test the

remaining six crew members to whom no changes were being made. Perhaps a human

observer on-hand could get a more accurate sense of their level of consciousness.

The first difficulty came when the detox process took far longer than it should

have. The sensors indicating the level of toxin remaining in the crew members systems

indicated that the toxin was still at high levels even after eight hours of flushing their

bodies with chelating agents and nutrients. They stayed high into the tenth hour and then

began to drop slowly. The total detox time took 20 hours, almost three times longer than

anticipated. The project doctors could provide no answers as to why this was so.

The main screen in project central was crowded once again as the feed from the

ship showing the first stirrings of the revived crew came through. This time General Shenwas present in person. The main robot and secondary units in the pods carried out their

sequences flawlessly. Detox completed, heat raised slowly, bodies rehydrated via the

inserted feeds, gentle lighting and soft music that slowly increased in volume over several

minutes.

The ship cameras provided a spilt screen feed of all the involved pods. The vu-

thru canopies popped open and the self-contained atmosphere whooshed out into the air

surrounding each pod. Nothing happened in the first minute. That was not unusual. It had

taken subjects a handful of minutes to come to after being down for a month under the

hand of the toxin during research for the trip. A few minutes of slow recovery to

wakefulness was expected.

The neurologists monitored their data on a smaller, separate screen. It took up less

bandwidth so arrived slightly earlier than the video feed. At one point they pointed to the


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screen and said simply, Pod4. Pod 4. Something in their data indicated that the

crewman in pod 4 would be the first to stir. Lt. Pradha Bakman, physicist.

The lieutenant came to slowly but followed the drilled in wake up routine

perfectly. Detach all intravenous tubes and bio-sensors first. Then initiate another

stimulant shot in the upper arm. Then exit and check on the pods of his fellow crewmen.

Pradha Bakman carried out all these steps flawlessly up to the point of checking on the

remaining pods. At this point the main robot had been programmed to play another

message to him informing him of the change in plans and what to do instead. The

message indicated that the first crew member conscious should begin to directly check

the onboard sensors for the remaining 17 pods. The earth-bound crew wanted to make

sure that the readings they had been receiving by telemetry matched those that were being

recorded on the trip. It was a small, necessary step to make sure they were all working

with the same data, that the situation on the ship with the pods was indeed what had been

beamed back to Earth.

The lieutenant could be seen in the video viewing the message played to him by

the robot and then signaling the onboard cameras with the agreed upon hand signal

indicating he understood the instructions. A wave of relief washed over all the members

of the ground crew. The tension level lessened a notch. Progress was being made. Pradha

moved off screen as he went to check on the others. No one else had revived from theother five detoxed pods yet. The neurologists continued to hover over their screen while

occasionally looking back over to the main feed. They said nothing.

Pradha moved back into the screen. He walked up to the main robot, which was

standing near the pods at this point motionless. Pradha bent down and checked on the

pods that had been opened. He flashed a thumbs up to the camera after checking each

one. The tension in project headquarters dropped even further. General Shen sat back in

his seat and let his shoulders drop. This was going to work after all. It was all going to

work.

Pradha continued to check the pods, adjusting dials and reading meters. None of

the other detoxed crew had come to consciousness yet. Pradha signaled that he would be

sending a report back with the telemetry then went over to a console and typed in his


25/34

findings. Pradha then went off screen after that signaling he needed to use the restroom

and wanted to change his clothes.

The message he typed in read simply, CBC levels somewhat low on all revived

crew, same with insulin levels, neurotransmitters nominal except for acetylcholine which

is very high in all of the revived crew - even me, vital signs stable, brainwaves in delta.

Raw data to follow. How shall I proceed?

Pradha never appeared on the main screen again. After several minutes in which

the raw data promised by his message did not arrive with the next scheduled data

package, a low murmuring began in the project room. General Shen barked an order at

the neurologists. They turned and nodded at him several times then turned back to their

screen. Several more minutes passed. General Shen ordered the main robot to be

activated again and told to search for the lieutenant. The command was beamed

immediately. It would be a few minutes before the video feed of the robot activated

would get back to them. The room was silent except for the mumbling of the neurologists

as they talked amongst themselves.

When the robot came to life on the screen, all attention focused back on the ship.

The minutes of down time waiting for the signals to travel back and forth from the ship

via hyperbeam seemed like an hour or two. The general would report later in a rare

interview that he could feel something bad had happened. That he knew it in his bones before the feed made it back to earth. How did he know? He said the control room had an

unmistakable energy to it at that point. It felt like a battlefield.

The robots video feed showed the ground crew Pradhas body lying awkwardly

on the deck half in the restroom, half in the hallway. The robots subroutine for

emergency medical care kicked in and it closely examined the body before attempting to

move it. No obvious signs of anything wrong. When the robot did move the body and

turned the head upright, a trickle of blood leaked out of its left ear. If there had been any

hope in the room, it died at that moment. Pradha was dead. Or soon would be as there

was no one able to help him.

General Shen ordered a message beamed up immediately to the robot. It

commanded the robot to check on the crew in the open pods. Several agonizing minutes

later the video feed made it back to Earth. The robot checked each revived crew member,


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paying special attention to the ears. Each officer had the same terrible trickle of blood

coming out of his or her left ear. The blood had mostly dried and darkened but there were

spots of glaringly bright red mixed in on top of the dried encrusted mass that led from the

ear down the side of the head and onto the pod pillow. Arterial blood? A side effect of the

toxin? An oxygen feed malfunction during revival? No one knew.

General Shen ordered everyone in the room to scan through all the telemetry that

the ground crew had received. He wanted to know about anything unusual, out of the

ordinary. Any mundane fluctuation from the expected, he wanted to know about it. At

this point, he had started mentally shifting from being the hero that saved the crews lives

to being the voice and face that 10 billion people would associate forever with the news

of this disaster. He wanted to be able to answer every question. Something in the process

had failed. Some detail had been overlooked. Some doctor or physiologist or engineer

had missed a point that led to this calamity. When he answered all the questions that were

sure to come, he wanted to know all the data. At the very least, he would appear

competent in his explanation of the tragedy.

A knock came on his office door about an hour after he had left the control room.

A thin, pale man entered after he shouted back at the knock. Some minor engineer, he

seemed. He was literally shaking inside his lab coat as he addressed a question to the

general. Part of the general reveled in the fear he inspired in his underlings. Another partnoted that he would not have such a reputation for long. He focused on the mans

question, . . .to do about the other crew members, sir?

General Shen looked stiffly at the man as he got up from behind his desk. What

is their condition? Can any of you tell me with any surety what their physical and mental

condition is? He waited for a response.

The technician was silent and ducked his head. He had no information.

General Shen mustered the energy of his anger and stormed back to the control

room. He shouted at the project head, who hurried over to him and launched into a review

of all the data they had amassed so far which was not much. The general asked him the

same question, What is the state of the other crew members???


27/34

The project head swallowed hard and said, The six crew who were sedated are

apparently. . .if the brain wave data is to be trusted. . .they seem to have slipped into. . .a

coma. A deep, deep coma.

The general stared the man in the eye fiercely. His brow was beginning to sweat

under his ceremonial cap. He began his own silent calculating of the worst possible

outcome. And the others? The ones we left alone? What about them?

Their status appears nominal, sir. That is to say, they appear . . .again, if the

telemetry can be trusted. . .to be in the same state as before: awake but paralyzed. And we

still have no idea how to communicate with them.

General Shen allowed himself to laugh a little at this point. The whole situation

was absurd. Cosmically absurd. How could one not laugh? He caught himself quickly as

he saw the changes in the expression of the project head and the ground crew assembled

behind him. He could tell they thought he was going crazy, overcome by the pressure of

being in charge of this disaster. He quickly reapplied his commanding scowl, shouted a

few orders and marched back to his office.

He paced methodically back and forth. Why had they not woken up just one crew

member to see how that person responded physically to the process? Why had they not

sedated just one other crew member to see how that would go? Why did all his decisions

that seemed so logical and precise and measured and competent before now seem sofoolish and risky? He could not get past this point. It sat in the middle of his stream of

thoughts like a huge dam. Too high to get over, too strong to knock down, too big to

avoid. He was helpless. All that was left was for him to admit it.

The project head appeared on the wall screen and waited to be acknowledged.

General Shen turned to the monitor and spoke, Yes? What is it? What news do you

have?

Sir, we have to decide what our next step is. The project manager sounded

calmer now. More sure of himself than just a few minutes ago. The worst had happened.

Crew members had died. He wanted to save the rest. He needed the general to approve a

course of action and he needed that approval now.

The general stared at the screen silently waiting for the man to continue,


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Our safest approach at this point would be to simply keep the crew members as

they are and continue to monitor their brain waves. The ones in coma will most likely not

change. The ones who seem to be awake . . .should those brain waves change, should

there be any sign that perhaps we could more safely attempt to revive them, we would

then have to agree upon that. Any further intervention on our part might do more. .

.damage than good. . .as we have seen.

The general asked, Can they survive two more months being awake and

paralyzed? Two months of conscious immobility? With no guarantee that we can revive

them safely upon arrival at Mars? Was this contingency planned for? Was any of this

planned for, commander?

The project head shifted at the use of his official title. Yes, he was a commander

in the Asian Union army but had been granted that rank more as an honor. He had come

from a private firm that had been planning a privately funded moon colony for the past

several years. His work had been recognized as excellent and he had been promoted

quickly. Unlike most of his scientific peers, he had a knack for seeing the big picture of a

project and allocating resources when and where they were needed without getting caught

up in the placating of individual egos.

I would prefer to focus on the task at hand, general, instead of reviewing what

may or may not have been planned for. I suggest we monitor the remaining crew as Ihave said and hope that they can hold on mentally for that time period. I suggest we get

whatever experts we can get, whatever experts there are in these matter - sensory

deprivation for long periods time combined with immobility - and devise some course of

action that could help those crew members survive.

The general sat behind his desk and waved dismissively at the screen, Fine,

commander. Do as you wish at this point. Report back to me in an hour to tell me what

progress has been made. Three hours from now I want a full report on my desk assessing

all the data we have received in the past two days. I want some answers. Tell me why this

happened. Give me a way to explain this to people.

The world grieved at the news of the deaths of the Dragonstar crew. Leaders of all

the unions of the world relayed public messages of sorrow and offers of aid to the leaders

and populace of the Asian Union. The horror of the entire crew having succumbed to a


29/34

rare infection while in a state of suspended animation was horrifying to most. But not

nearly as horrifying as the truth.

General Shen had gone to the Ministers Prime with an idea. It was simple. They

would lie. No one need know about what happened to the crew. No one need know how

six had died in the revival process, how the other six went horribly insane by the time the

ship made it to Mars and only lasted for one hour of wakefulness before blood leaked

from their ears and they crumpled to the ground. Nor did they need to know about the last

six who were in a perpetual, deep coma.

Pradha Bakmans body had been placed back in its pod. With its airtight seal and

atmospheric management there was no better place to store the body. From the moment

the robot placed the lieutenant back into his pod Commander Simmons could not help but

think of all of the units as potential burial casks. From a simple visual scan of the cabin,

all looked normal. Only when the vital signs of each pod were checked did any anomalies

show. The technicians were commanded by General Shen to never talk about the deaths.

To not even acknowledge them. Even when they were off duty. If they needed

professional help, counselors would be provided but they were to never mention the

deaths on duty or off duty. They must, he implored them, focus on the remainder of the

mission. For the glory of the union!

That one hour in the cabin and in the control room had been the worst of it all.That hour when six crew members whose brainwaves indicated they were aware were

revived after their two months of paralyzed alertness. The entire control room crew had

been systematically replaced over the weeks following the initial crew deaths. Job offers

they could not have previously imagined were coming their way. Offers that, to a person,

they could not refuse. Yes, the jobs they were being contacted for were dangerous ones

(lunar colony maintenance staff head, lunar shuttle fleet supervision, underwater station

management, research and development of various volatile but potentially valuable

resources, etc.) but they were all in their respective fields.

Given how the tenor of the project had changed since the death of 6 of the crew

members and the coma state of 6 others, it was no surprise that people left the project.

The Asian Union Space Agency was particularly understanding in releasing members


30/34

from their service contracts. Once the first technician left, the rest went in a hurry. Only

Commander Simmons remained of the original ground crew. And General Shen.

That hour in the cabin was witnessed by only Simmons and Shen. Simmons and

Shen ordered the skeleton crew of staff out of the control room at midnight. Simmons

spent a couple of weeks memorizing the revival process and automating as much on the

ground as possible. There were certain parts that required a human to give final

acknowledgement before the computers and robots could proceed. Thats what he would

take care of.

The project head and the general had come to this decision mutually. Over the

past two months they had come to depend on each other. They were dramatically

different personalities on the surface. Shen all respect and rigid and military. Simmons

was cool and analytical and flexible. But they found out that they shared an ability to take

on seemingly impossible responsibilities. To take on the heaviest burdens available and

to make them their own. It was a trait with which both thrived and they both despised.

Part of each of them just wanted to leave, to escape. But the other part would not let

them. They knew they were the capable ones. They knew the horrible burdens would

break any others who tried to carry them. So they stayed and trudged onward.

In their regular daily meeting a couple of weeks prior, the general brought up the

subject, Who will be on duty when the revival attempt is scheduled?Simmons checked his readouts, Five are scheduled. Quan, Wan, Ladeep, Long

and Bengeng. He paused and looked up from his notes and tilted his head to the side.

Shen knew this meant he had an idea, What are you thinking?

The process can be automated more fully. Ive checked into it. Five are

scheduled primarily for redundancy. I could carry it out on my own or maybe with one

other per. . .

Shen felt like Simmons was reading his mind, Thats possible, eh? Good. Lets

plan it for late in the night but keep that to you and me. A day or so before the scheduled

date. Well need some time one way or the other to sort out what to do after the revival.

Hopefully, it will be a pleasant surprise for us all. But, on the other hand. . .What do you

think? How likely is it that the process goes smoothly?


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Simmons put down his tablet and leaned back in the chair, I would say less than

5 percent chance. And thats high. We dont know for sure that they are alive. I know, the

brain scans say so but still. I dont think we know enough about long term effects of the

paralytic agent to really understand what that data is telling us. You know that. Weve

been over that before.

Shen nodded knowingly.

Best case scenario is that the brain wave data is wrong somehow, someway. That

they have been in hibernation for 8 months as planned and that their detox and revival

systems work at close to 100% accuracy and they wake up feeling like they are getting

over the mother of all hangovers.

Shen shifted forwards in his seat. He knew what Simmons was going to say next.

He had heard it a dozen times before but wanted to hear it one more time before he made

this next decision.

Worst case scenario takes on a few different forms: 1) theyre dead already or 2)

they have been awake and aware for two months with the robot periodically opening and

closing their eyes, playing music, reading stories to them, providing the stimulation that

any brain and mind needs to stay sane or 3) they have been in a state of awareness that

somehow precludes sensing information from the outside world and have been left with

just a sense of self completely isolated from all sensory input. Which would in alllikelihood mean that they have gone insane by now.

Shen sat back in his chair, images of six lunatic crew members hijacking the

Dragonstar One and smashing it into the face of Mars swam before his eyes. He closed

them and shook his head, I need you to arm the robot with a pistol.

Simmons stared at the general obliquely for a moment or two. A question flashed

across his face and then he nodded silently, Of course. Of course. When was the

programming installed? At the factory? And the weapon? Is that secreted somewhere in

the cabin? Main storage?

Shen loved how Simmons had not bothered to protest the command. Or try to

deny that there were weapons on board or that the robot was not programmed to carry out

such acts. Simmons was sharp. All the scientific staff had been told those lies (no


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weapons, failsafe programming for all robotic devices, etc.) but the military had made its

arrangements as it always did.

Shen spoke, The sidearm is actually fabricated into the robots body. A piece in

one arm, another in the leg, etc. The ammunition is inside the ceremonial epaulets we

installed on it. All you have to do is send a command to execute program Delta 14 and

the robot will take care of the rest.

Simmons pondered out loud, Delta 14 arms the robot and prepares it for possible

action. Is Delta 15 the program to have him execute the crew? Delta 16?

Shen grinned a tight-lipped smile at Simmons. It was refreshing to not have to

deal with any moral handwringing with him. He replied calmly, Delta 21.

After the events of Dragonstar One, no one thought about heading back to Mars

for decades. In that time period, geopolitical alignments shifted significantly. With the

new world order, publicly funded space travel was very low-priority. The American

Block saw manned space travel as old hat. The New Asian Union was dogged by the

ghosts of Dragonstar One. Effort and resources were spent mainly on the lunar colonies,

undersea domes and drone trips to the rest of the outer planets. Eventually, as time passed

private companies became the main transporters of goods, people and services within the

solar system. That is how the Hoight Expedition came to be.

Excerpted from Nova Sol and Its Planets: A Compendium

A Short List of The Wonders of Our New System:

Natural:

The Grey Gardens (Kalthas)

The Southern Horn (Cirron)

The Cliffs of Azure (Misken)

The Shang Falls (Lalcen)

The Miserly Path (Bastin)

The Great Reef (Misken)

Man-made:

The Northern Farm Belt (Gondon)

The Orbiter Rings (all worlds)


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The Gate on Landing Rock (Landing Rock)*

*There is still some debate as to the exact nature of the gate. Some believe the gate to be

a naturally occurring formation while others insist that it was constructed by an unknown,

alien intelligence. No one knows for sure but we sure are glad it was discovered!


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nova sol: freechapter

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