Go Time

Obsidian Arrows

Time of our Lord Creatos 1539, Sunday the 3rd of Novembar (Nov-em-bar)

Go Time

          The ship was overloaded as they rounded Blue Jupiter.  With the potential of being stuck on the other side for longer than normal, they had to find a place to load six more cycles of food stores on their little ship.  In the end they loaded the front of the two scouts with as much as they could not fit.  Placing it before the heavy bulkheads and adding some temporary shielding to keep it from being irradiated by the main reactor.  Three sensors were placed in the compartment to monitor the conditions and that was the best they could do.  This did create one other issue that their larger ships did not have to contend with. Once on the other side, it would be Cline’s job to spacewalk out and get both scouts disconnected and re-positioned on the starboard and port docking tubes.  The previous procedure was to do it remotely, but with all the extra weight the ships were hauling, it was decided that a human pilot would be best.  And of the humans aboard only two could climb over all the stuff to make it to the cockpit.  Clarish and Cline.  It just seemed odd that with all the Tech, they couldn’t find a safer way to accomplish this maneuver.  But they had no time to test the procedure, so it was up to Cline to crawl out and enter the scouts one at a time and bring them forward.  That was after they cooled off enough.  About a seventh would do.  

Lt Sweets was at the helm and Tarinnish was the second.  They were accelerating at .33 gees as the slingshot from the planet’s gravity was helping them make their final run.  They would be at the gate in two sevenths.  Like a dart trying to hit its target three quarters of an AU away.  They had to be perfect and their speed had to be at .45 light.  Their vector.  Point-zero-zero-one-one-seven-four by two hundred and thirty-seven, point-zero-six-one, had to be perfect.  Clarish was overseeing the gate console and Cline was nervously pacing back and forth in the commons area.  He had done his final checks and was trying to calm himself.  It was one thing to train and prepare, but this was go time.  They were about to make a blind jump.  And no one knew what they were jumping into.  It’s like falling off a thousand-foot cliff into a black pool just a few meters wide.  No doubt he was feeling absolutely useless.  His fate was in other hands right now and he didn’t like how Sweets took so many chances.  He was actually reckless at times and now he was in charge of their fate.  Everyone’s eyes were glued to the monitor that would tell them what their correction factor was and how to get it within tolerance.  But it would be hours before they were far enough from Jupiter to move without its influence.   Outer Space was about patience.  Moves had to be made alunars and even cycles ahead of the objectives.  Acceleration and deceleration were slow, but every move, every adjustment was painstakingly made, and they depended on every adjustment to have the desired outcome.  In some cases, like a jump.  All these factors are rolled into hitting a target that you could not have a visual on.  You had to depend on your ship. The ship showed the gate and your vector, but all of the visual ports and camera are shut down during a jump.  The radiation spectrum in the folding of space was such that it rendered humans blind and, in some cases, insane.  So, no visual record is ever taken during a jump.  You are absolutely blind for the few seconds it takes to make it to the other side.  However, in their case, they will be in the “between” for more than just a few seconds and it will be up to the gravity well of some unknown star that would bring them out.  If it’s big enough they would be a few hundred AUs from the star.  But smaller stars cause the jumpers to “fall out” much closer to the sun.  Once they have “Fallen out” then all their instrumentation and visual ports will automatically open. 

Cline was rounding the couch for the fifteenth time when Clarish turned her attention to him, “Take a damn sleeping pill and shut down for a rotation.”   

Cline looked at her, “I want to be awake when we jump.” 

“That’s almost half an alunar from now.  If you keep that up, you will drive us all crazy in just one seventh.” Clarish was just about to go Captain on him when he walked off to his quarters.  He did not return, so she assumed he did as she suggested.  

Tarinnish left the cockpit and joined Clarish in the commons.  He would have nothing to do for the next six hours.  They had a minor adjustment scheduled at the edge of the Jupiter’s system of moons then they would be on their own for the next thirteen rotations.  No other ships would be making this jump.  They should be on their own.  Clarish indicated that he looked at the monitor.
          “Wow.” Tarinnish said as he saw so many blips on the screen. “How many.”

“One hundred and forty-two.” She said.

“I bet they’re pissed.” Tarinnish responded.

“They were told.  I think many of them just want to see us off.” Clarish said.

“I doubt that.  They just want to be the first through after we’re done with it.” Tarinnish said as he crossed the commons to sit on one of the couches.  

“There are about a dozen moving towards the gate for tomorrow’s opening.  All but one is in final drift, so we shouldn’t have any issues with gravity trails.” She said to the monitor.  

Tarinnish looked at her.  His wife not the captain.  “Are we doing the right thing?”

“That’s not the right question?” Clarish responded.

“Isn’t it?” Tarinnish did not know where she was going with that statement.

“No.  That decision was already made.” Clarish said and Trent is now my mother’s son.”  She looked at him. “That was what he was meant to be.  Never ours. I did that for my mother.” She turned back to the monitors.  Not like anything was going to change.

“I wish I could turn it off like that.” Tarinnish marveled. 

“Nothing is turned off, just adjusted.”  Clarish admitted.  “I have a whole in my heart that will only be filled when we return.” with that she retired the conversation.

Tarinnish thought about that.  Put it away until they return.  They could have another child, they would still be less than a hundred and there’s plenty of time.  

In the next eight rotations the grav wheel and resistance equipment got a lot of use.  Everyone had a ton of energy to burn as they continued to accelerate. The Hōkūle‘a was sluggish and was just under its targeted speed for this point in the approach.  Captain Clarish called all hands for a 110% burn of the main drive.  It would last seven hours and she planned it at mid-shift.  If all went according to plan, they could shut down four in hours.  But if all was going well so far, they would have had to make this adjustment, so it was all hands to stations and watch every meter and gauge for the slightest issue. This was their last chance to safely hit their mark. They were behind in acceleration and therefore in time as well.  Two hours and six second, give or take a few thousands.  They had to make it up 98 percent of this in one maneuver without getting off course. 

Almost halfway through the burn Captain Clarish started a countdown.  It was to the end of the burn.  This would be down by the ship as it would be a gradual turn down.  It had to be perfect.  Their correction factor was down to three hundred thousand of a percent.  Damn near perfect.  Cline started clamping.  When Clarish looked at him he stopped, but you could see the relief on his face.  Then the correction factor turned red again.  It was climbing.

Clarish looked at the burn monitor, it was at 10% above set point. Clarish yelled out the issue “Main Drive is slow to respond to turn down.” She looked at the correction factor, “We are losing our window.”  

Lt Sweets grabbed the thruster control knob and gave it a sharp tug.  Then another.  He was totally playing it by feel. Nothing was telling him just how much to apply, but the correction factor stopped climbing, “How’s that burn?” he yelled into his microphone?” 

Tarinnish was on his calculator and determine just how much more they needed to adjust. “We have a point zero one-one role starting.” He pushed a series of buttons, “Compensating with the inertial dampeners.”

“Burns down!”  Yelled Clarish.

“Roger that. Burn is at nominal.”  Responded Sweets.  He turned to Tarinnish, “I need a thruster calculation to compensate for the final overburn.”

Tarinnish turned his attention to this issue and waited. 

“I need it now.” Sweets said, a little impatient.

“Captain, please confirm my reading.” Tarinnish said.

“Confirmed.” Responded Clarish, “Go for adjustment.” 

Sweets just looked at Tarinnish.

Tarinnish let him in on the adjustment, “No adjustment needed at this time.” 

Sweets let out a whistle.

“Lieutenant that was some bullshit maneuvers, but you managed to hit it right on the head.” Tarinnish looked at his calculator.  “It looks like we will have one minor adjustment in about two hours.  I want to let everything settle down before we do anything else.”

“Cline, please check us over for anything that might be loose or flopping around.  I want everything tied down from this point forward.” Clarish commanded.

“Right away captain.” Ensign Cline responded.  He unbuckled himself and started about the ship. Putting things away that had been left out.  He would pass through the galley next and then make his way to the shared quarters.  

The captain then turned her attention to the over burn. “Tarinnish, can you assist?”

Tarinnish released his restraints and pulled himself from the co-pilot's chair.  He returned to the commons and took up a station adjacent to Clarish’s.  She had the files pulled up and was reviewing the burn record.  She couldn’t see anything wrong with the instructions.

Tarinnish was looking over the actual burn logs.  And the PID loops used by the computer to determine how to drive the equipment.  He looked at it again.  Then highlighted a section.  Pulled up the telemetry and watched the number.  Someone had entered a derivative factor. This factor made the Proportional loop squishy. This had to be an error.  He showed Clarish, she pulled up the record.  This was a carefully planned burn and they had checked the calculations three times.  How could this one factor hide like it did.  She pulled up the entry files.  She found hers and Tarinnish’s.  She even pulled up Sweets, but his was not used.  They had deleted it.  It was too aggressive.  

While Clarish was studying the file step by step, Tarinnish went into the input files and looked at all the entry codes.  One by one he went through and looked at the file dates, console numbers and even the stroke rates.  That’s where he found his first clue. The stroke rates were very slow. It was Clarish’s signature, but the stroke rates were way off. Clarish was a master with the keypad and even when she slowed down, she was ten times faster than he was.  The next fastest was Sweets.  Then himself and finally Cline.  Whoever this was, may have altered their strokes for a few reasons.  One, stealth.  They certainly wouldn’t want to make any noise while doing it. And if they knew anything about the coding, they would know that keystroke timing would be a part of the record.  So Tarinish brought up a batch file that he used to analyze the stroke timing.  It would allow him to determine the size of hand they were dealing with.  Especially when it came to reaching strokes.  This was very subtle, but very, very hard to disguise.  When the file analyzed the four files that it was fed, it settled on one name. Sweets. 

Tarinnish showed his captain the results.  

“How definitive?” She asked.

“Eighty two percent.” was all he said.

“Why.” She asked.

“I think he had this whole thing planned.” Tarinnish pondered. 

Clarinsh looked at him as if to say “Explain.”

“He was just too accurate with that thruster maneuver.” Tarinnish was shaking his head, “Just too damn accurate.”

“I thought he just got lucky.” Clarish said.

“At first I thought the same, but then is just nagged me.” Tarinnish admitted.

“What about the role?”  Clarish said softly.  Now that they knew, she was unsure just when to spring it on Sweets.  They would need to discuss this and have a consensus.  This was a dangerous game, if it was a game.

Tarinnish turned his attention back to his terminal.  He secured the results in his personal file and then encrypted it.  He would put a sniffer on the file to watch and see if any one attempted to access it. “I think the roll was unexpected and why he let me correct that.”
          Clarish was already standing.  They didn’t need words for what they both knew was coming next.  Tarinnish went forward and poked his head in the cockpit, “Looks like we're clear for now.  See you in two hours for the final adjust.”  

“Roger that, two hours to final adjust.” He turned his head slightly towards Tarinnish. “I’ll try to stay awake.” 

“You do that.” Tarinnish sarcastically said and turned to leave.  Sweets was on duty for another four hours.  On his way aft, Tarinnish took to the upper level and passed through the galley.  Cline was busy putting things away and securing cabinets.  Tarinnish was confident that the crew was busy and continued aft.  He was to meet Clarish in their quarters.  There they would secure it and discuss how to proceed. 

Tarinnish picked up two boxes of juice and headed out the aft entrance of the galley and out the primary bulkhead.  The very same that he found Clarish in his dream.  He shook it off and continued.  The hatch closed behind him.  He proceeded aft until he was at their quarters.  Clarish was waiting.  She was at the console in their room.  

Tarinnish secured the door and place the room in class “A” mode.  

Clarish turned around, “It’s in the Scout as well.”  

“So, he does this on purpose.” Tarinnish shot back.

“Apparently.” Clarish said.

“He needs drama?” Tarinnish half asked.

“Why didn’t this show up in his profile?” Clarish was a little discussed

“He’s only had one phyc eval and wasn’t even finished with his classes.” Tarinnish reminded her.

“Green.” 

“No, Dangerous.” Tarinnish countered.

“Do you think it’s part of his rhythm.” Clarish asked.

“What.  Putting us all in danger so he can act the hero.” Tarinnish didn’t want to accept it as his rhythm as that would put them in a precarious position.

“Well.. yes.” Clarish said.

“I don’t care.  I’m going to take first chair and he can sit this out.” Tarinnish said.

“Is that an order.” Clarish started to stand.

“With your permission captain.” Tarinnish said. Turn his head slightly as to capitulate to his captain.

Clarish giggled. “No.”

“What!” Tarinnish was surprised.

“He’s the better pilot and you are, by far, the better navigator.”  She stood in front of him.  “I’ll watch the calculations and loops.  You keep an eye on him and make sure you keep up the telemetry.  I will have Cline watching your moves.  With all the overlap, he won’t be able to pull a stunt like he did a mid-shift.”  Clarish took his hand.  “He did the thruster pulses by hand.  I don’t care if he knew he was going to do it, he still did it manually and he was right on the mark.” 

She had a point.  And if they were wise to him and prevented any other antics then Sweets would be better at the helm and he would be watching.  Clarish would watch for any computer anomalies and Cline would be backing them both up.  If this was a part of his rhythm, then they were going to establish a new one.  His little antics will be eliminated. 

With the plan hashed out, Tarinnish wanted to get back to his station early.  He was going to watch Sweets to make sure he was not accessing navigation and Clarish will monitor him from the commons.  It was a shame these little ships did not have a bridge.  Just a cockpit with only space for two to sit and one to stand.  So, the Captain, in this case, captains from the commons. 

The next “adjustment” went off without incident.  They were well within tolerance and had made up their lost time. The Hōkūle‘a would be at zero g thrust right on que and drifting at a speed of .45 light.  They were about to make history one way or the other.  Tarinnish just hoped that it wouldn’t be more than a footnote, “they died so that man could expand.” He’ld heard the words a few times as they eulogies those that were lost out there, somewhere. “Stop it.” Tarinnish said to himself, forgetting that he was with Sweets.

“Stop what.” Sweets asked, “Was I snoring?”

          “No Lieutenant. I was letting my imagination get the best of me.” Tarinnish admitted.

          “That’s the worst part about being out here.” Sweets admitted. “The damn boredom.” 

          “Is that why to take so many chances?” Tarinnish asked.

          “Na.” Sweets said.

          “That’s not an explanation.” Tarinnish shot back.

          “There not chances when you know they’re coming.” Sweet was letting him know that he knew, they know.

          “So, we won’t be seeing much of that anymore.” Tarinnish didn’t want to say much more.  It’s better unsaid. He knew that the captain was listening.

          “What’s the point.” was all Sweets said.

End of Chapter 11

Next Chapter 12

This blog contains two books of the Remnant Series If you want to start at the beginning of Book 6, click the link below.

1st Chapter of Obsidian Arrows

If you want to read more about the Remnant Series see the links below.

            Book 1-3: Graham Heights available on Amazon.com

            Book 4: The Grey Abyss available on Amazon.com

            Bood 5: Chaos coming soon to Amazon.com

Book 6: Obsidian Arrows

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R. A. Legg

    
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