In the year 2900, mankind had reached the beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto on their slow march to the stars. The Second Great Space age of man was coming to a close and massive shipyards were being completed on the skirts of the planetary solar system preparing for man's imminent exit to the unknown. Finally, mankind was ready to set sail on the cosmic ocean.
Not a day passed, however, that didn't see every man, woman and child look towards the Sun, straining to catch a glimpse of a mote of dust, caught in some mighty beam of light. Hoping to see that pale blue dot, one more time.
Image is of Earth, from the Pluto orbit, called "the pale blue dot." Carl Sagan penned an essay by the same name, which is used in this piece of music. Please learn more about Mr. Sagan's work and make a donation to the Planetary Society today!
After
the loss of Devin Langshire in 2653 the human race waited and tested
for another ten years before trying to launch another man into orbit.
This time, the entire event went off perfectly and Captain Bashir
Alvarez became the first man in nearly half a millennia to
successfully orbit the Earth, before splashing down safely in the
Indian Ocean.
Alvarez
and his development team based in Australia then proposed and began
leading the effort to return man to the moon – and not just for a
visit. Mankind knew, thanks to the vast amounts of history stored in
the Vaults, that we had visited the moon several times in the past
and had countless legends about our nighttime companion. Entire
religious mythologies, pseudo-science arenas and even popular
entertainment in the form of movies and rock music in the 20th
Century all dedicated themselves to Luna, our mistress.
The
initial set of proposals were ambitious: establish a permanent, self
sustaining base on the moon by 2690 with a rotating population. Each
Vault agreed to take a set of problems from the goal and solve them
independently, if possible. Food, fuel, water, radiation shielding,
shelter, habitat design/construction, and the logistics of how to get
it all to
the moon in the first place. In 2672 the initial equipment launches
began when the first non-test flight of the Roman I freight rocket.
Transporting heavy digging equipment from the familiar-looking lunar
backhoe to the exotic of the newly engineered Lunar Tunneling Drill.
The
Tunneling Drill (often called Touchdown by the design engineers due
to the abbreviation of “TD” used in shorthand notes) was half of
the main habitat building module specifically designed to allow for
quick excavation with minimal human input. Weighing in at 15 tons,
the drill will sit face down on the surface of the moon and, after
being secured with the scaffolding to be place by human hands, will
begin it's journey below the ancient surface. Each turn of the drill
itself brings the regolith and other debris up a corkscrew conveyor
which leads to the top exterior of the alpha base tent, spraying it
in a radial pattern around the tent to create a slight bunker around
the base itself. Once the TD has reached a depth of 3 meters, the
gyroscopes mechanically shift and the drill begins turning into it's
horizontal position, using vacuum suction, air pressure and a series
of track gears to push the drill forward.
If
the Touchdown drill was to accomplish its mission, it relied on the
much more complex and impressive Regolith Automatic Metallic
Arranger, named in honor of the first Vault discovered in India. The
RAMA machine was designed to follow directly behind TD, using scraps
of metal from earth and the geology of the moon to seal the drilled
tunnel using a plasma heat generator and the most powerful, perfectly
balanced pressure pistons ever created by man. RAMA helped to ensure
stronger radiation resistance, a seal from the toxic cosmic vacuum
and a support structure for the habitation tunnels themselves.
2690
arrived just as the drill began it's horizontal journey, the last and
longest of the drilling process. The human colony that had been
living in temporary quarters in the Alpha Base tent (except in the
case of emergency solar flares, at which point the tunnel was flooded
with breathable air and the machines placed in standby mode) finally
made the permanent move underground in 2694, as “Touchdown” and
RAMA were finally powered down.
In
2760, the declining health of Sir Bashir Alvarez forced him to leave
his home planet. The time he had spent in space and on the moon had
done enough damage that his nearly 130 year old body could no longer
thrive in the gravity of Earth. In 2783, at the age of 150, Bashir
Alvarez became the first person entombed on the moon.
Before
his death, Alvarez helped lay the groundwork for a grid of buried
power cables linking the Earth side to the Far side of the moon, onto
which kilometers of solar arrays were placed, allowing for use of
non-essential energy consumption during the long lunar nights
(including more aggressive farming), when all the colonists could see
was the Earth. Construction on the grid was rumored to have inspired
the anonymous Hymn, “Earthrise,” which quickly became the
unofficial anthem of the lunar colony. The Translunar Power (or
'Bashir') grid was turned on with few hiccups in 2790, creating man's
first permanent home in space.
Europa,
icy tomb
While
construction and scientific research continued and blossomed on the
Moon at the beginning of the 28th
Century, the earth-based authorities began focussing on the question
that started the entire space-race: are we alone? The Alvarez
Foundation in Australia were given the resources and authority to
continue the Luna project and the remaining resources trained their
crosshairs onto Europa. In 2710, the Europan lander the Santa Maria
landed and began it's melt through the icy surface.
The
lander's main platform anchored itself to the thick ice surrounding
it and dropped a pill shaped piece of metal the size of an industrial
refrigerator, attached with an impossible thin cable to the lander
itself. Glowing red, the metal pill slowly began its descent through
the frozen surface of this alien world. All seven Houston Controls
were inundated either gathering or analyzing new data being sent
continuously via a complex relay of solar system satellite way
stations. For nearly a week the hot pill slowly melted downwards,
giving up no signs of life or ocean.
Shortly
after one week had passed since the melting began, the data
drastically shifted as the probe's external temperature dropped
without warning. As the scientists back on Earth held their breath,
the hot pill cracked open, and a tiny automated submarine (to which
the thin cable was actually attached) emerged, slowly coming to life.
Cheers of jubilation erupted in control rooms across the world as
the predictions made centuries ago proved true – Europa was a water
world.
Early
picture transmissions from the Santa Maria were featureless black,
leading engineers to fear that either the cameras or the lights had
malfunctioned, even though the spec readings of the probe itself were
all optimal. The tiny submarine robot began it's dive towards the
bottom, dispensing more of the thin cable from inside its shell to
maintain direct connection with the surface. Three hours after being
born into the frigid Europan Ocean, the submarine component of the
Santa Maria changed the human perspective forever – a wisp of
debris rushed into the light of the camera which had been working the
entire time. The realization that there was simply nothing to
reflect the light initially gave way to relieved sighs, until the
cause of the debris swam past the submarine, never taking notice.
Europa
was a world of life.
Twenty
four hours after man's first glimpse of alien life, the Santa Maria
finally discovered the first volcanic vent - the hypothesized source
of energy for all Europan lifeforms - and the view was both
spectacular, and stunningly familiar. Worm-like plants heaved and
gyrated in the volcanic heat, as tiny shrimp-like creatures flurried
about eating something invisible to the eyes of the camera. As the
view of the Euroshrimp became clearer, their physical appearance was
disturbing: while their shell was transparent like many deep sea
creatures on Earth, the top half of the crustacean was shaped like
that of a man with no face: two arms on a rectangular torso, topped
by a neck and 'head' which had no eyes, and only an mouth at it's
top. The thing had 'hands' with four main fingers and two rows of
thumbs on each hand.
Small
samples of the surrounding water were tested and confirmed that these
life forms were carbon based. Within 36 hours, the first strand of
DNA of isolated and the world was turned on it's head: this life may
have been from a similar 'seed' as life on earth. That, or life
simply has fewer paths than had previously been assumed.
In
2770, the first of the modified and updated TD and RAMA equipment
landed on Europa, near the Santa Maria, and began the slow work on
creating a livable environment for mankind to lay down roots outside
of the Earth system for the first time. Additional probes were sent
(after the Santa Maria discovered life) to analyze the natural
resources and found trenches of metal from impacts that had yet to be
swallowed by the icy world. A predictable amount of trace metal in
the ice itself was also discovered, becoming more concentrated in
deeper cuts of ice. Using the lessons learned from the moon and the
more abundant resources on Europa first human settlement on the moon
of Jupiter was officially founded in 2800.
The
first humans to settle began immediately studying the biological
aspects of this new world. After the first 90 days of scientific
preparation, an average of 300 alien species a day were being
cataloged. The amount of data gained was going to take the greatest
minds on Earth decades to digest and analyze – and the scientists
making the discoveries were beyond celebrity – they were the
paragons of the age.
When
lead biologist Shari Cho took ill six months after arriving, no one
gave it a second thought. Per protocol, she was quarantined to her
personal quarters and lab, where she continued her work seamlessly.
Her symptoms grew progressively worse over the next week by which
time half a dozen other members of the colony had been quarantined
for wildly different symptoms.
As
the illness spread quickly through the settlement, the scientists on
Europa, Earth and Luna all worked feverishly on the data to discover
what was causing all of these varied sicknesses. In all of their
hubris and joy over finding life on the hostile Europa, mankind had
overlooked the most important lesson: life was opportunistic.
Shorty
after mankind arrived, an otherwise benign alien bacteria found its
way into the living and work areas of the colony. After infecting
its first human, the bacteria quickly began multiplying in the new,
much friendlier environment. Each new generation grew more
aggressive, slowly destroying its host – but each time the
infection spread, it destroyed its host differently, but always at
the same pace. Fifteen days after her first symptoms appeared, Shari
Cho died in a fit of screaming psychosis, exclaiming that she was
burning away.
Once
the video images of her gruesome death leaked to the settlement at
large, and then to Earth, panic ensued. Demands were made to send
emergency help from Luna to Europa with medical aid. Each day
brought more death to the settlement. Petty Officer Daniel Rogby was
elected to represent the ailing and dying Europan population, as he
had yet to develop any symptoms and was thought to have some natural
immunity. The devastation was that much more complete when Rogby
died mid-sentence while trying to finalize a deal with the command on
Luna to send emergency aid.
On
February 9, 2801 the Earth and Luna command issued their final stance
on the issue: no aid would be sent to Europa. By the summer of 2801,
Europa was nothing more to humanity than icy tomb.
Titan,
methane seas
Odyssey
I, II and III science probes were launched in three successive months
in the year 2775 bound for Ganymede, Iapetus and Titan, respectively.
With the massive success of the Luna colony and the promise of the
colony on Europa the exploration of the other massive satellites
began in earnest with the Odyssey program. Each probe was outfitted
with complete science laboratory, as well as deployable all terrain
automated vehicles to explore more than the immediate landing zone.
Soil and rock sampling kits and hardware like drill bits helped to
ascertain the composition of the moons.
The
first mining operations were set up on Ganymede and Iapetus to gather
a ranger of silicate rock and minerals in 2780. Often, the materials
were launched off planet to orbital processing facilities designed to
refine and ship the materials to the rotating lagrangian space
station near Titan, established during the initial stages of the
resource gathering.
Odyssey III's mission to Titan had hoped to find life, but was met
with the chemical precursors of life seemingly stuck due to the
inability of the chemicals to dissolve into liquid methane. There
was, however, more slow burning fuel than another other visited body
in the solar system – and an atmosphere thicker than the Earth's.
Plan to colonize the bizarre world began in 2795 with plans to launch
the first TD and RAMA machines at the end of 2801. Full human
occupation of the icy world was set to begin in 2807, but was
postponed indefinitely after the world witnessed the slow demise of
every member of the Europan colony early in the year.
Finally,
in the year 2812 the new Automatic Tunneling Metallic Arranger, which
was more a compact, faster and more powerful tool that acted as a
combination of both the TD and RAMA devices used on the Moon and
Europa, was launched towards the distant world of Titan. Exactly
three months after the launch of ATMA, the Abraham science lab was
launched from the the new Houston base on the moon. The Abraham
itself was designed to gather samples of local minerals, gasses and
quasi-organic material and expose it to several types of human
biological material, cataloging all responses.
~----~
By
the middle of 2816, the first human crew to travel to Europa was
being assembled despite some pleas from the public to abandon the
project. Replaying the footage from the Europan catastrophe and
audio of Devin Langshire's fateful mission next to images of the
Titan Cruiser waiting in orbit around the moon. The public outcry
was outstanding, despite the many assurances from the Houston
collective that there were absolutely zero potential infectious
agents that have been detected in the Titan atmosphere or soil.
The
date set for departure of the Titan Cruiser (itself a fully operative
living module that will land permanently on the surface of the moon)
approached with the public outrage building to a fever pitch.
Leaders were pictured as sadistic and the cosmonaut crew were framed
as ignorant lambs being lead to slaughter. Worse, the idea that the
cosmonauts could bring back some mankind ending disease spread
through society like a spark to a dry tender box. When June 15, 2817
finally arrived after months of sometimes violent, the crew boarded
the craft and awaited command from Earth to ignite their engines and
set sail.
For
six hours, the crew of thirty men and thirty women, sat restlessly
listening to the authorities bicker back and forth about public
opinion and budget wastage. Finally, three hours before the launch
window was to close, the call came to the Titan Cruiser's crew,
“Titan Cruiser 00-1A-38, this is mission control, Luna,” the
voice crackled through the cabin of the bridge. “Commence vehicle
shutdown and depressurization – you're not going anywhere.” For
a full minute, all sixty men and women that had trained and prepared
for years for this moment sat in stunned silence. They would likely
never see Titan.
“Titan
Cruiser 00-1A-38, please confirm orders and comply,” the growingly
impatient voice on the other end of the radio tether called out
again. Bridge Commander Daphne Colbert stood from her seat at the
helm of the ship and turned to the crew without word. She scanned
the faces she had trained with in complete isolation for over a year
– these were her family and she was their leader. “We have been
ordered to abandon our mission. To not explore. To not push
forward,” she started brokenly to her crew. She breathed deep and
steadied herself as the crew looked to her for direction.
“As
I see it,” Commander Colbert said with a steely gaze coming over
her eyes, “we have been ordered to disobey.” The crew erupted in
a jubilant cheers as the radio buzzed back to life - “Commander
Colbert – why have you not responded? We are sending a boarding
party in case your communications system isn't working properly, even
though all systems read normal. I don't know wh-” the voice
stopped suddenly. “COMMANDER COLBERT, I ORDER YOU TO CEASE YOUR
ACTION IMMEDIATELY!” a stronger voice barked across the radio as
the ship began it's launch maneuvers. “This will be seen as
treason, Daphne!” the voice continued.
“Commander?”
first engineer nervously asked the expressionless woman, trying to
read her thoughts. “Set course for Titan,” she responded evenly.
~----~
In
the year 2825, relations between the rogue colony of Titan and the
Earth system had resumed and started to level off. The Titanians had
technically stolen the Titan Cruiser against orders and had landed on
the surface of the Saturnian moon without the support from Luna or
Earth – but they had thrived.
The
thick atmosphere of Titan enabled humans to walk outside without the
need for pressure suits. Combined with the low gravity, the colonist
quickly realized with 'wings' strapped to their arms (and a fair
amount of practice) the thick air allowed them to 'swim' into the air
and fly without the aid of engines or additional aircraft. When
regular trade and relations resumed in 2830, the Titanians had
already developed a series of basic human flight equipment, self
sustaining subterranean hydroponic farming and flight bikes used for
traveling long distances at altitude with minimal energy input.
Incoming
engineering students from the Earth system streamed in with ideas and
designs for structures impossible on Earth. Floating platforms,
giant steps, precariously positioned pillars and other mind bending
structures quickly covered the 100 square miles the colony had come
to cover by 2840 after the surge of immigration. The New Olympic
games officially opened in 2844 and saw human from the Earth, Luna,
Titan and the Iapetus and Ganymede mining operations come together in
the name of sport for the first time in over five hundred years.
After the discovery of the
first Vault in India, the information quickly disseminated into the
local communities - where the first reforms of technology where
instituted to help with farming and living conditions. Water
sanitation was the most urgent need, followed by mechanical processes
to ease farming and basic electricity enabling easier travel at night
as well as more expansive subterranean exploration.
Each community volunteered
their brightest children to be immersed in the new information at the
pre-designed learning modules included in each of the vaults. There
were detailed instructions (in each of the three most prevalent local
languages) on how to power these modules with the remaining
batteries, or by using methods such as solar and wind supplies.
Diplomatic exploratory teams were sent around the continent to the
other Vault locations as mapped out in the Vault named for the Indian
Epic hero, Rama.
By the year 2480 all but the
Vaults of the America's had been discovered and preliminary long
distance voice communications had been established in each of the
seven major population centers, now located near each Vault (or its reported location). The Vault of the Central South America was
discovered in 2483 which had recorded unusual tectonic disturbances
near Central America. After nearly a decade of searching, the final
Vault was discovered in 2492, nearly a mile further underground than
previously thought, as a massive cavern had opened during the quake
recorded in 2350.
The 26th Century
saw unprecedented technological growth and advancement. Each step
forward, each new breakthrough, aided by the fountains of knowledge
that were the Vaults, brought mankind closer to the heavens – and
their eyes were universally cast upward.
They had finally accepted
their destiny.
In 2620, the first unmanned
science satellite was launched into low earth orbit. The M-0 series
rocket had been designed to allow small observational payloads to be
thrown into space for fairly cheap. It had taken the engineering
teams at each of the seven Houston bases (the name “Houston” was
decided upon as the name for all Earth-Based space command centers in
homage to the pioneers of extra-planetary exploration) nearly a
decade to complete the first acceptable design of the M-0 series
rocket.
Naming the craft was a much
easier task. In following suit with the First Age of space
exploration, they decided to dig into mythology and choose a figure
that would best symbolize the splitting of the gulf between near
extinction and our return to the infinite; the Moses Class 0 rocket
returned the first view of a distant hurricane from space that any
living human had ever seen on July 15, 2621.
By 2653, the yearn to
reestablish man's physical presence had become to much. The M-1
rocket, originally designed for larger scientific loads, had be
refitted for the first human orbit of the Earth in over three hundred
and fifty years.
The
airlock sealed shut and the quick hiss of the last bits of air
escaping the pod echoed in Captain Devin Langshire’s ears for far
longer than he had expected. His last moments on the planet Earth
were fast approaching, not that he knew.
He
checked and rechecked his ship’s systems and fail safes. “Triplet.
Check everythingin
triplets,” he whispered to himself as he went over his pre-launch
checklist. His entire life had built to this moment: mans’ return
to space. The Great War that dominated the latter half of the
21stcentury
had set back progress into the cosmos almost to the point of starting
over from scratch. Entire populations were wiped out between the
constant fighting and the coast lines across the globe slowly pulling
back as the oceans reclaimed land that had been dry for millennia.
The warm
hum of Devin’s radio fizzed to life before the even voice on the
other end reiterated the launch angle, mission time and estimate time
the pod would crash back into the Indian Ocean after a quick orbit of
the Earth. In his mind, Devin went through the checklist of
preparation that had been rehearsed to the point of each movement
being as natural as breathing.
“Launch
angle verified, Houston. Pre-atmospheric ejection process complete –
commence countdown,” the Captain called back to the disembodied
voice. Time
to re-make history,
he thought quietly to himself has his heart rate quickened slightly.
The cosmos was still patiently waiting, even more than 500 years
after man had first tasted her sweet and terrifying glory
directly. This
time,
he continued to himself, this
time, we’ll do it right.
A jolt
shook him from his musings as the mechanical claws clamping his
enclosed reality, his eternal tomb, pulled back to expose the
entirety of his craft - poised to slingshot its way through the thin
veil of Earth’s atmosphere. “Ten.”
The
countdown was thunderous. “Nine.” Each number ticked by like an
eternity unwinding slowly before the dawning of everything. “Eight.”
Each number thrusting Langshire irreversibly towards his
fantastically terrible fate. “Seven.” Each number echoing through
time in what would be the last real human language the Captain would
ever hear while on Earth. “Six.” History would be made – not
only would Devin be the first man to space in several centuries, he
would be the first human in history to visit another planet. “Five.”
“Four.”
“Three.”
“Two.”
His heart
stopped the moment before launch was declared. His brain screamed
“ONE! ONE! ONE! ONE!” over and over at his reality, standing
still in the shadow of years of training and preparation for this
last inevitable event, yearning for the resolution.
“One,”
the deadpan announcer erupted from the mounted speaker in Devin’s
helmet, shaking him to his core and catching him at his most unaware
in years. He stiffened his body by instinct before he was pushed
violently into his seat. The rush of air outside his enclosure roared
as the rumbling jets shook his body wildly. With his eyes fixed on
the bright blue sky, he found himself fast becoming nauseated from
his violently shaking field of view. Pulling himself further into his
seat with his arm bars to lessen the vibrating, he forced his eyes
closed for the first sixty seconds of thrust to allow his body to
adjust to the sudden change in conditions.
He
couldn’t move his head to watch the Earth sink below, but the slow
purposeful tumble of the ship turned him upside down as he exited the
hold of his home’s gravity. The oceans, glistening in the light of
the sun, swept together with the massive white clouds that smeared
themselves across the surface. Cities and countries faded into a mass
of land as the sun was approaching the opposite horizon, preparing to
set as he settled into orbit.
His chest
heaved as his eyes widened and sweat poured from his brow. The burnt
remnants of Sri Lanka struck him from this height, as the scorched
black islands made themselves abundantly clear against the deep blue
of the Indian Ocean and sweeping greens and browns of India into the
white of the Himalayas.
Devin
absorbed all he could – the sensations of lift off, the color of
the burning plasma, the blue sky fading into the black of space and
the great monster of the moon swinging slowly overhead. Briefly, he
tore himself from the splendor which no human had seen for almost
half a millennium to radio his current position and speed back to
Houston. His descent would begin shortly, he reassured himself, time
to enjoy the view while I can.
“Houston
to Captain Langshire, Houston to Captain Langshire,” the sudden and
slightly frantic call rang across the air in the pod. “This is
Captain Langshire,” he responded automatically, never dreaming that
something could go wrong. “Captain – can you confirm your
trajectory?” Devin sighed to himself and checked rechecked his
diagnostics to confirm. “Houston, I repeat, we are currently
settling in at -17.0 MJ/kg….” He stopped abruptly as the
number jumped to -17.1 Mj/kg, then -17.5, eventually to -25.0 Mj/kg.
The trajectory of -25.0 Mj/kg seemed to hold steady. “-25.0 Mj/kg,”
he announced finally, with an air of absentminded confidence.
“Captain…” the voice on the other end start, gravely before
trailing off.
The
weight of the situation finally dawned on the Captain. I
must be wrong, he
thought checking again and again. What
am I missing?Langshire
checked his maps and calculations, he pushed the panic down as he
began re-estimating and confirmingthat
his trajectory couldn’t be right – he should be in low earth
orbit now, starting his descent – but as it stands he’s going to
skip right off the atmosphere and simply drift away.
“Captain,”
the trembling voice on the other end of that awful squawking box cut
into the deafening ringing in Langshire’s ears bringing him back to
his training – to his purpose.
“Houston,”
he began somewhat unsteadily before strongly reasserting himself, “my
calculations tell me that my orbit will continually widen until I
reach the moon. Could I use the reserve landing thruster to go into
lunar orbit? My pod's first aid kit contains an emergency
biostablizer which should incapacitate my metabolism for up to four
days. If we fire the thrusters at the right time, I could slingshot
back into Earth orbit and possible re-enter.” The silence in the
pod was deafening as the moments seemed to stretch into nothingness
as Devin's eye's drifted back longingly towards his home; Earth.
“Captain
Langshire,” came a strong voice over the radio minutes later.
“Captain Langshire – this is Lead Engineer Gupta of Houston
Command.” A surprisingly warm smile forced itself onto Devin's face
at the sound of his dear friend Amit Gupta. They had been working
together since early in their adolescence when they began their
cosmonaut training as one of the thirty match pairs of theoretical
and practical learners. “Captain, your calculations are sound. If
we time the blast of the emergency reserve engine, you can enter a
return course...” his voice trailed off in an unfamiliar fashion.
Something
was wrong.
“Devin,”
Amit dropped all pretense of professionalism, “We just detected a
massive ejection from the Sun. The particles will reach the Earth in
a little less than 36 hours. It will reach your craft before you
reach the Moon... Your pod has essentially no shielding... Our
estimations show that you will die immediately once it reaches you...
I'm... I'm so sorry, Devin... we failed...”
The radio
transmissions fell silent for many minutes. The fate of the first man
to reach space since the Great War sank in across the world. Inside
his private pod, his coffin, his tomb, Devin Langshire steadied his
nerves and and breathed. “Houston,” he began after more than 15
minutes of almost complete silence. “What went wrong?” He felt
oddly calm and detached has his old friend came back with his
astonished explanation, “Devin, it seems there was a
miscalculation. The M-1 series rocket's science module was replaced
with the habitation module as planned.”
Langshire
interrupted by habit, “and the mass of each module was calculated
to be exactly equal per pound of thrust – how could have there been
a mistake?” “Right,” Amit came back with his usual cadence,
pretending not to notice the incursion, “but the thrusters
calibration didn't account for the extra thrust per pound of fuel –
the new, more stable, fuel was too light... We made a mistake.
Someone made a mistake...” he continued, his composure again
deteriorating into frustration.
“If
only -”
“Don't.”
Captain Langshire stopped his friend and colleague firmly. “If I
use 24 hours of my biostablizer, will you be able to calculate my
extended trajectory by the time I revive?”
“I
think, Devin, but that would leave you little time, we must try to -”
“Amit,”
the previously stoic Captain interrupted once more, finally allowing
his affection to show through, “my fate is written. Gupta, you have
been my partner for as long as I care to remember, and we have done
exactly as we trained for years to do. I hate that I won't see your
face again, but this is it. Earth won't be my tomb. But I would like
to know where I may be headed...
“I
am not the first to die for the noble cause of human exploration. Not
the first, and we all know damn well that I won't be the last. My
life now belongs to the cosmos – and it's the responsibility of you
– of all mankind to ensure none of this was in vain! These stars –
they call to us! We must, in the words left to us by the Saganites of
Hypatia, not only dip our toes into this cosmic ocean, but navigate
it's currents and deserts! Chart its depths! Never stop - never give
up in our quest to uncover all of this Universe's secrets! Our
survival depends on it!”
Before
Lead Engineer Gupta or Earth could respond, Captain Langshire
activated exactly 24 hours of biostablizer slipping into a
metabolically stable coma.
He awoke,
groggily 24 hours later as if no time had passed. He balked at
himself for thinking it had really been 24 hours – it was never
easy to accept, even after years of training. Three minutes after
awaking, the hailing beacon on his radio came suddenly to life,
jolting him harshly back into his bizarre reality. He activated the
communication module and began transmitting his computer's log back
to Earth. The computers had been collecting data dispassionately
throughout the crisis.
At
least they didn't forget the mission,
Devin thought to himself as the data streamed back to Earth, blocking
active communication with Houston for at least another seven to eight
hours. Despite his bravado in his previous interactions, he was not
looking forward to the next conversation. The fact was that it would
be the last human voice he would ever hear – the last interaction
with his home. He wasn't ready.
After the
final bit of data had left his pod, Devin steeled himself. There was
no more turning back or delay. This was it.
“Good
morning, Captain,” began a strangely familiar voice from the other
side of his invisible radio tether with Houston. “This is Prime
Minister Talbot III, how are you son?” “Sir!” Captain Langshire
responded immediately, saluting and doing is best to sit at
'attention.' “No need for formalities, Devin,” the Prime Minister
continued “I wanted to thank you for your sacrifice... and to give
you the news.”
Captain
Langshire thought he was going to vomit. He looked out towards the
Earth – that beautiful blue marble in the black sky. He knew every
living person on that planet was looking skyward, towards him. He
knew he was, somehow, humanities first emissary to the beyond. With
this he breathed in deeply, strongly and rallied his spirits. “Yes,
sir, Rufus,” calling the Prime Minister by his rarely used first
name. With a smirk he added “What's my heading?”
He could
hear the conflicted smile in the Prime Minister's reply:
“Congratulations, Captain Devin Langshire. You will be the first
human being to ever breach the atmosphere of the gas giant, Jupiter.
We have also recalculated the arrival of the radiation... It will
arrive at your location in roughly one hour.”
The final
words seemed to echo through his pod endlessly. There was no parade,
no news interviews, no celebrity, no pomp. His name would be spoken
for ages beyond - as the first man to give his life in the second age
of man for the sake of reaching the stars. The first man 'entombed'
on an alien world. Not that any of that mattered. Soon after he
received the news, his radio transmitter failed as the first wave of
cosmic rays and magnetic interference destroyed the electronics of is
pod.
He looked
intently towards the Earth. As every inch of his being stretched for
that distant world the light in the cabin brightened blindingly as
his consciousness slowly darkened.
Captain
Devin Langshire, World Medal of Honor recipient then knew no more.
