Dark Star Rising Second Edition (Pebbles in The Sky) (33 page)

“I guess that means it is my turn,” said the general.  “As you know
, Space Station Alpha has been fully operational for some time now.  We have a total of eight tugs that can transfer cargo from low Earth orbit to the station or to lunar orbit.  We have four lunar landers for doing the same between lunar orbit and the lunar surface.  Right now, Alpha is the command and communication hub for all of our space based activities.  Houston Control no longer coordinates anything but shuttle launches or shots into low Earth orbit.  Schackleton Base at the Lunar South Pole is up and functional.  It is sending up full cargo loads of water, hydrogen and oxygen about three to four times a week now.  These supplies cover all our needs in those areas and we are no longer dependent on Earth for those supplies.  We expect to increase its ice processing capacity by two to three hundred percent by E-Day.  Farside base is coming along very well.  The phased array radar system is being constructed and should be operational in a little over a year.  Until it is needed post encounter, we can use it for other study purposes.  It is planned to be used to probe both the dwarf and the planet Elpis as they approach.”

“The Phobos mission is due to launch in about two months.  It is not meant to establish a permanent outpost on Mar’s moon Phobos, but they will do a lot of preliminary planning and exploration and determine the best way to establish the base there in the future.  The Phobos base is to have a phased array radar system identical to the one at Farside base as well as having a couple of interdictors stationed there.  About a dozen nuclear tipped missiles will also be pre-staged there in case they are determined to be needed to deflect any really huge objects thrown our way.  On that subject, the testing of the propulsion pods for asteroids was a pretty good success.  There were a few wrinkles we have to iron out, but that will be no problem.  The use of photo-absorbing or reflecting solutions, or paint if you want to be simplistic in calling it that, has been tested also.  We do not think that method is going to be very viable on rocks with an estimated impact time of less than four to five years.  Looks like it will be robotic or human placed propulsion pods or nukes for our defenses at least for the foreseeable future.”

“In reply to Marybeth’s little hint, let’s say that we might possibly have the parts needed in orbit to build an additional transfer ship in a short period of time.  That would give us three of those available as well as four interdictor class ships.”

“The last topic is the new magnetic rail launch system that is being built in the salt flats out west.  Progress on that is moving along and we hope to have it in testing in a few years.  The successful completion of that project will make putting crew and light cargo into space much more affordable than the present booster and shuttle method we have to use at the moment.  And that’s where we stand in a nutshell,” said the General.

David sat back and nursed his beer for a minute before he spoke.  “I will tell you what I think is going to happen, and I am a little worried.  In a little over eleven years from now, we are going to get the crap knocked out of us as the Dwarf goes by.  Some of the world governments are trying to get ready, but I am not sure how well that is going to work out.  Our own government has some wonderful plans, and ex-President Montgomery did her best to get the ball rolling, but plans are only as good as the execution.  Come E-day, I am afraid many of those grandiose plans will un-ravel.”

“Since it has been nearly fifteen years since the dwarf was discovered, the general public has become somewhat complacent.  Until people look up and see the dwarf growing in the sky and the tidal surges and earthquakes start, everyone is blowing the whole thing off.  When the shit starts hitting the fan people are going to panic.  I seriously doubt that half our countries population will voluntarily re-locate in advance.  Then, when the troubles start, people will be screaming for rescue from their own stupidity.  The more advanced the country, the more complicated it is going to get.  I really worry about our countries ability to maintain the shuttle launch sites during the encounter.  If knocked out they would probably be off line for at least a year or two afterwards.  I think all of you, especially you General Seale, need to do some under the table planning to make sure you could continue to function for a couple of years without regular supply.  Your assets in space are going to be vitally important when the dwarf passes through the asteroid belt and the Oort cloud.”

“I had a computer simulation run that none of you are aware of.  It estimated that in the next one hundred years that we will have between eight and eleven rocks of dinosaur killer size that will impact the Earth. It also predicted three to four dozen rocks big enough to cause regional devastation will come our way.  The Earth is already going to be reeling from the change in its orbit, and the close encounter of the dwarf.  Those rocks must all be intercepted and stopped.  Hopefully, we might even be able to capture some of them for mining and processing.  The others need to be sent into the sun or at least put into a non-threatening orbit.  Although of lesser importance, we need to also protect Mars and the new planet Elpis from impacts.  Someday, we may have the ability to visit and colonize those planets and we don’t want them all busted up before then.”

“So gentlemen, and gentle lady, I raise a drink to you and wish you luck in your endeavors.  You have a huge part to play in the continued existence of our race.  Your job is not going to be boring, and it will probably have its moments of sphincter clinching terror, but you must press on and do what you have been trained to do.  Now, I believe
my wife has prepared a delicious meal for us.  Let’s eat and enjoy our time together.”

Chapter 37

February 24
th
, 2033

Mars Orbit

Colonel Mike Pierce “stood”
, if you could call it that, as he planted a US flag on the surface of Phobos.  He knew that on board the Paula Montgomery, the video cameras were recording the moment when humans made footprints somewhere in the solar system other than on Earth or the moon.  He was presently fifty seven million miles from Earth, and the first human to touch the surface of Phobos, the larger of Mar’s two moons.  It was a misnomer to say that he was standing as Phobos had no gravity to speak of, and if not for the two pitons with a connecting cord that his feet were wedged under, he would drift off into space with the slightest movement.  The view of Mars in the background did make for a good picture though, and he felt a distinct bond with Neil Armstrong, the first human that had stepped onto the surface of the moon.

After he stood and saluted the flag, he posed for the pictures as he looked back at his ship.  The USSF ship Paula Montgomery was the first Mars Transfer ship and had been named for the late President who had drastically stepped up the National Space Program budget that made construction of the ship possible.  The ship was presently floating parked and positioned about three hundred meters away from the surface of Phobos
.  The ship was over his head and except for occasional maneuvering thrusters firing to maintain position she seemed to just hang there.  She had a remarkable resemblance to the Lunar Tugs that he had first test flown a few years ago except that instead of the Nuclear/Thermal propulsion system she used a high powered VASIMR ion propulsion system.  She carried a crew of twenty one and had made the trip to Mars orbit in a little over forty days.  Although she could only accelerate at a little more than a tenth of a G at full power, she could do it continuously for up to six months if needed before she exhausted her fuel.

Mike and his friend Hank had been chosen as pilot and co-pilot with the addition of Lieutenant Kristy Nichols as the flight engineer.  The rest of the crew was made up of specialists from both NASA and Space Force.  Their mission, besides the testing of the ship, was to choose a site on Phobos for the proposed base to be built there.  Mike pulled out his own video camera and pointed it back toward the ship.  As it hung there in space, the vista of Mars was spread out beyond it.  It was
frustrating that they were this close to Mars and no expedition would be going to land there on the surface of Mars any time in the foreseeable future.  It was a shame that President Montgomery, whom the ship had been named after, had no children or family that he could send this video to.  They would have been proud.

Mike pulled his feet from under the tether and gently fired a few puffs from his EVA backpack.  He started slowly drifting back to the ship as a cloud of dust stirred up from the packs thrusters started slowly dispersing.  That dust, he knew, was going to be a problem.  “Montgomery, I am on my way back,” he radioed to the ship.  “EVA parties are approved for disembarkation as soon as the Bumblebees are undocked and fueled.”

“Roger that,” came back from Lt. Nichols.

Mike smiled.  The personal dynamics between Major Hank Jenkins, his co-pilot and best friend, and Lt. Kristy Nichols on the flight from Earth had been quite amusing to watch.  Although the Paula Montgomery had four other females on her crew, in pure physical presence, they could not hold a torch to the gorgeous and physically fit flight engineer.  The interesting part of it all was that Hank had hit on her one day at Farside base and had been so re-soundly rejected that he still grumbled constantly about it.  Although they had maintained a professional demeanor and pretended to hold each other in disdain, it was obvious to Mike and the rest of the crew that they were attracted to each other.  It would be interesting to see how
their relationship played out on the way home he thought as he entered the ships airlock and cycled the hatch shut behind him.

…

Mike sat in his cockpit seat monitoring the EVA presently in process.  Hank was out in one of the Bumblebees with three of the mission engineers.  The Bumblebee was floating about ten feet above the surface of Phobos with two of the engineers holding onto the Bumblebee’s work frame while the third engineer was waist deep in regolith on the surface of Phobos.  Things were not going well.  Previous studies of Phobos had shown that between the surface of Phobos and the actual harder inner core of the moonlet there was about ten to one hundred meters of loosely packed regolith.  Radar probes conducted since their arrival showed an average of about twenty to thirty meters of the dusty regolith coating the surface of the moonlet.  The regolith was causing no ends of problems.  Since there was no gravity, the slightest disturbance caused a cloud of it to rise and it took forever to dissipate.  A puff of maneuvering gas from one of the bumblebees caused a huge fog of the fine dust to rise and severely limited visibility.  You could not dig a hole in the stuff because the sides collapsed as fast as you could dig.  They had tried spraying the sides of a hole with a soapy water solution that one of the mission specialists had concocted and it had worked until the hole was about five feet deep and then it collapsed.  The result of that experiment was the engineer now waist deep in the stuff.  Hank was trying to use the bumblebee to pull him free.

Hank was cursing up a storm in the cockpit of the Bumblebee.  The Bumblebee was a small open frame work and excursion ship that was about ten feet long and about five feet around.  They were called Bumblebees by the astronauts because of the stubby wing looking platform on top of it that astronauts could ride on or cargo could be attached to.  They had four short stubby landing legs and the rear legs had small tanks on them that appeared to mimic the pollen sacs on the rear legs of terrestrial insect bumblebees.  At the front was a small open cockpit big enough for one pilot.  At the moment, Hank was trying to hold the bumblebee in position while tugging upwards on a lanyard passed underneath the stuck man’s arms.  The other two engineers were holding on and leaning over the side of the Bumblebee trying to give directions to Hank.  Suddenly, the man’s legs popped free and he flew up and collided with the bottom of the Bumblebee.  The Bumblebee rebounded
away spinning wildly and the two engineers on top were holding on for all they were worth.  The newly freed man was trying to pull himself free of the lanyard and swung under one of the thrusters just as it fired.  He was sent spinning off away from the Bumblebee when the thruster exhaust hit him.

Mike sat up straight in alarm.  “Jenkins, this is the Montgomery, what is your status?”

“I am ok,” said the space suited engineer as he drifted away.  I will need someone to come get me though.  I do not have an EVA pack on.”

“Bumblebee one, this is Montgomery, are you guys ok?”

Mike could see that Hank had the Bumblebee just about back under control.  “I have control again,” said Hank. “We may need to refuel to go after Jenkins though.”