Tonight we continue with Part Four, Heroes and Scapegoats. The decision to transfer Young-Min Jo to the Matter Pod section pays dividends almost immediately. Within months of reporting to duty he detects one of the devices is mysteriously out of place. Were this to go unnoticed, Captain Stehter and the rest of the crew would have had no idea why Nautilus was not awaiting their arrival at the rendezvous point in September 2106.
It has even more dire implications for the overall success of their mission however; especially in regard to their counterparts likely speeding toward them from Kapteyn B. Worst case scenario, the captain and crew of Santa Maria will be forced to continue toward Earth for the next ten years. But that's a far better fate than their unfortunate colleagues onboard Nautilus. Those poor souls might very well find themselves lost in space.
Tonight we continue with Part Four, Heroes and Scapegoats. The decision to transfer Young-Min Jo to the Matter Pod section pays dividends almost immediately. Within months of reporting to duty he detects one of the devices is mysteriously out of place. Were this to go unnoticed, Captain Stehter and the rest of the crew would have had no idea why Nautilus was not awaiting their arrival at the rendezvous point in September 2106.
It has even more dire implications for the overall success of their mission however; especially in regard to their counterparts likely speeding toward them from Kapteyn B. Worst case scenario, the captain and crew of Santa Maria will be forced to continue toward Earth for the next ten years. But that's a far better fate than their unfortunate colleagues onboard Nautilus. Those poor souls might very well find themselves lost in space.
Hello, and welcome back to Twin Paradox. I'm King Everett Medlin and what you're hearing is a SciFi trilogy I wrote four years ago under the pseudonym Purple Hazel. Twin Paradox follows my first podcast series entitled Deathwalker Colony, which is now a full length novel available for purchase on Amazon. Go online and check it out! It's on sale today in E-book format, as well as the first two books in the Rijel 12 Series, The Rise of New Australia and Return of Anarchy.
Tonight we continue with Part Four, Heroes and Scapegoats. The decision to transfer Young-Min Jo to the Matter Pod section pays dividends almost immediately. Within months of reporting to duty he detects one of the devices is mysteriously out of place. Were this to go unnoticed, Captain Stehter and the rest of the crew would have had no idea why Nautilus was not awaiting their arrival at the rendezvous point in September 2106. It has even more dire implications for the overall success of their mission however; especially in regard to their counterparts likely speeding toward them from Kapteyn B. Worst case scenario, the captain and crew of Santa Maria will be forced to continue toward Earth for the next ten years. But that's a far better fate than their unfortunate colleagues onboard Nautilus. Those poor souls might very well find themselves lost in space.
Twin Paradox is a SciFi series encompassing three full length novels; all of which will be read in their entirety during the coming weeks. You can go online and download the E-books ... or if you prefer, tune in and listen to me read them to you.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Twin Paradox, Part Four: Heroes and Scapegoats. Chapter Twenty-one, Missing Link....
It was not long after that when the shake-up of crew assignments paid off. True, it was quite an inauspicious turn of events when Captain Stehter – and Lt. Guerrero - realized this. But the move to bring Young-Min Jo onto the Matter Pod Monitoring team proved to be a wise decision, for the bright young man ended up identifying an even bigger threat that could have easily gone unnoticed if it hadn’t been for his keen eye for details. Ozzie was off-duty when it occurred. He could only thank God that he'd had his old friend running the show in his absence.
Non-baryonic matter pods had been jettisoned from the Santa Maria in intervals throughout the Away Team’s journey to Kapteyn B. Absolutely no one expected anything less than those diesel-engine-sized devices to float in space undisturbed for decades without needing to be replaced or even requiring maintenance. There just weren’t that many chances of them becoming defective or being moved out of place, save for a random space anomaly. Not impossible of course, but highly improbable, scientists theorized back at Space Programme. Unfortunately for Santa Maria – and for that matter the unsuspecting crew and captain of the approaching Nautilus – such an improbable event did occur and when detected there was nothing anyone could do. It was far too late by then.
It was during one fateful duty shift while Young-Min Jo was supervising the Pod Monitoring Team that the young Lieutenant noticed something strange: one, and quite possibly a second Matter Pod were out of position. Upon closer inspection it was revealed that one of them had completely vanished! He spent nearly an hour scouring the screen in panic before he finally had to conclude, regardless of how it sickened him, that at least one pod was missing from the long string of devices trailing all the way back to Earth. To make matters worse, there was less than half a light year’s journey remaining before their rendezvous point with Nautilus! The implications almost made him vomit. He paged the captain, trying hard as he could not to alert too many of the crew as to what had happened – despite how terrified he was.
“Captain Stehter to the Matter Pod section,” he nervously broadcast over the ship’s intercom. “Urgent. This is Lieutenant Jo. Please come to Matter Pod Section immediately. Captain Stehter … please come quickly. Over.”
Captain Stehter and B.J. were at the time just getting ready to enter “the Virch”. Steinhart froze in his tracks. An urgent call from Pod Monitoring? Such a thing had never happened before. A surge of icy fear ran through his veins. It electrified him like a pair of jumper cables sparking on an old car battery. He got a pit in his stomach, then sprinted over to an intercom transmitter located in the VRC’s lobby area, bounding over people seated awaiting their turn in one of the chambers. Didn’t bother trying to reassure anyone that things were alright. This sounded like an emergency and there was no time for pleasantries.
“Captain here. I’ll be there straight away. Stand by,” he uttered breathlessly into the speaker, then took off running. Within minutes he’d rushed across the big ship to Young-Min’s post … and by the time he’d arrived, Young-Min was in a panic. Ozzie Guerrero had been dining with Shamiso in the mess hall right about that same time. He’d also heard the page and sensed it was something big. He arrived only a few minutes after the captain.
“Report, Lieutenant!” exclaimed the captain excitedly. He could only hope it wasn’t terrible news – yet he could see in his young officer’s eyes that circumstances were bleak. His shoulders slumped as he stood anxiously, gasping from the half kilometer-long sprint through ship corridors and hallways to get to Young-Min’s section. Yes, it was as bad as he possibly could have envisioned. He was still panting when Lt. Guerrero got there minutes later.
"One of the pods, sir," stammered Lt. Jo. "It's missing ... could be two of 'em, I'm not sure."
"Missing?" repeated Steinhart. "Was zum Teufel? How in hell could that happen?" Young-Min Jo could only shrug his shoulders defeatedly.
Matter pods had been spaced apart every one quarter of a light year. A light year is roughly nine trillion, four hundred and sixty billion, seven hundred and thirty million, four hundred and seventy-two thousand, five hundred and eighty kilometers long. This meant every 2.365 trillion kilometers the Santa Maria’s Away Team had been launching the devices all the way to Kapteyn B. For one relatively tiny matter pod (given the immensity of space) to be knocked out of place, the chances were slim to none. That two pods could actually be out of place was preposterous, but it seemed to Young-Min Jo that this had somehow happened. It boggled the mind. One was surely gone though, and there was no way of identifying either which direction it had gone or whether it was even functioning. Whatever had banged into it, the force of impact had swept it away and it would likely never be found. This could only lead to two possible conclusions: either the pod had been destroyed or the pod had been carried away by interstellar debris still functioning. Between the two alternatives, the three officers standing in a group of confused and quite anxious crewmates could only hope it was the previous.
For example, if the pod had been demolished by a hurtling comet, meteoroid, asteroid, or whatever else might be in the vicinity, then Nautilus would simply come out of its disrupted warp bubble to find it was in the middle of deep space with only auxiliary power to propel itself. If this happened, it would then have to travel at one tenth light speed, and arrive at the next matter pod in about two and a half years. Only then could the crew reactivate the ship's ADM drive, program a new destination into its computer and continue on toward a new rendezvous point. Steinhart knew of the giant ship’s capabilities because he’d studied its backup propulsion system three and a half years earlier when the Santa Maria had secured the message pod from Space Programme in Kapteyn B’s orbit.
The other alternative was unthinkable, and the captain quashed any further discussion of it. What if the matter pod was still active? Could it have been carried by some unknown object many millions of kilometers away from the original pod line and still be functional? If so, the consequences would be catastrophic – for not just the Nautilus, but the Santa Maria as well. If that happened, the Nautilus would divert its course and end up way out in infinite, unknown space with its captain having no idea where he was, nor how to get back home. Using nothing but its auxiliary propulsion system, the crew of Nautilus could spend several years in space puttering along toward Earth, desperately attempting to reacquire the trail of non baryonic matter conversion devices. Only God in His great mercy could save them from a very long journey home. As a result, the Santa Maria might spend the next ten Earth years in space never knowing where Nautilus was. No one could have the slightest inkling who would make it home first.
Captain Stehter sat down on one of the crewmen’s chairs and heaved a long sigh. Ozzie stood with his hands on his hips, shaking his head. Young-Min Jo began to weep. Several of the others on his team did so as well, with one of the women having to excuse herself from the area, she was so overcome with grief. This was truly the worst predicament that any of them could have perceived finding themselves in. No one ever dreamed it could happen – even though that’s precisely what the Pod Monitoring Team was there for: to detect any disruptions. They’d done their job; no question of that, and if it hadn’t been for Lt. Jo quickly detecting the missing link, Santa Maria’s crew would have never figured out why Nautilus was not waiting for them in a few months when it was supposed to reach the original link-up point. What’s more … and Captain Stehter was quick to note this … Lt. Jo may very well have saved the Nautilus as well. Thinking fast, Captain Stehter flew into action, bravely barking orders like some World War II kommandant.
“You, you, and … you, follow me to the cargo bay! Now! Mach schnell!" He was looking at both Young-Min and Ozzie but noticed B.J. had since arrived, her face flushed, sweating profusely. He knew if he was going to save the Nautilus, he’d need to get a message out to its captain and crew. He also knew he needed his best, most trusted officers with him at this critical moment.
There was just no way to know how far away Nautilus was! Was it already approaching them? According to the mission plan for the eventual link-up that would surely be the case, depending on when it had departed Kapteyn B. But Steinhart had been chosen captain for a reason. He could think fast when faced with a crisis. Speed was of the essence, and the only factor he could still control was in getting a message pod fitted out and logged with details of what had happened. It needed to be sent as quickly as possible. It needed to warn the relief ship that the pod line had been disrupted. It needed to reveal to them in clear, precise, and brutally honest language, that the mission had been sidetracked. Wherever they got the message - whenever they got the message - they’d have to be told the awful truth. Their trip home was going to be much longer and there was nothing they could do but soldier on, using all their fortitude and courage. No time for remorse or sadness. This was something no one could have foreseen. If folks on both ships hoped to be able to see their homes again, they’d have to marshal all their resources. This was no longer an “intercept and retrieve” mission. For Santa Maria to arrive back on Earth, it could only keep hurtling through space toward its home planet. Stopping the ship to wait for Nautilus was "auβer Frage". They’d never find them. The only option was to try and direct them to a new rendezvous point. Yet everyone pretty much knew the score at that point. If there was a second pod out of place – or even destroyed – Nautilus would be out there chugging along at one tenth light speed for many years before reestablishing a path home. That would mean a link up with Santa Maria was unrealistic. Steinhart realized this and told them so in no uncertain terms.
“All we can do is launch a message pod when we get to the next device location," he told them, upon arrival in the cargo bay. He'd chosen this location to speak privately. "Meanwhile we’ll send several more in the most likely directions the missing pod might have been diverted. Can we deduce this with our ship’s computers?” he asked. B.J. nodded:
“Yes Captain, most definitely. We’ve got the personnel to figure it out somewhere on this crate I’m sure of it. Give me an hour ‘r two and I’ll get you who we need.”
In response to this he gestured with his head for her to go make it happen. His eyes burned with intensity. She’d never seen the man this way! Close to it of course, but not nearly so fearsome. She saluted quickly and scurried away, taking the time to think of just who she needed. Who was good at math like she was – and especially who was damn good at astronomy? Steinhart continued, still panting but keeping his cool:
“Next … we need to send a message to Mission Control back on Earth's Moon. Tell them everything. Give them a new potential rendezvous point for Nautilus to intercept us, just in case they can still communicate with them. Do we have enough pods for this?” Ozzie fielded that one.
“Yes, Captain. We have five left I believe - but I’ll confirm it.”
To this Steinhart sighed and replied, “Good. Recruit everyone you need to get this done, and report back to me on the command bridge. I’ll record my transmission for the message pod and have it ready in one hour.”
At that, Lt. Guerrero snapped to attention and saluted before sprinting away at full gallop. He knew just who he needed, and ironically enough the man he would be looking for was back in the Garden Center.
“Now … Lt. Jo … my deepest thanks,” said Captain Stehter. “If there remains a way to save Nautilus – and ourselves – the only reason we could have done so was due to your attentiveness. I can’t begin to think what would have happened if you hadn’t detected this when you did.” At that point he gave Young-Min a nod of approval. It was as close to a smile as he could manage under the circumstances. “Now if you please Lieutenant, kindly return to your post and await Lt. Ariel. She’ll be bringing a team of astronomers and mathematicians to aid you. Your station is the best location to begin testing for trails of space debris. That is all Lieutenant. Carry on.” Young-Min saluted then trotted off down the corridor back to his station, returning to his now-petrified teammates awaiting him there. He couldn’t begin to picture how he was going to explain this to them.
Only Captain Stehter remained after that, standing alone, sulking in the middle of that massive cargo bay, muttering a short prayer under his breath. He looked up at the ceiling, as though it were heaven above, and sighed deeply. The weight of the universe was now thrust upon his shoulders. Just how he’d break this to the crew, he hadn’t the foggiest. It was as good a time as any to say a prayer.
“Gegrüßet seist du Maria, voll der Gnade. Der Herr ist mit Dir … Heilige Maria, Mutter Gottes, bitte für uns Sünder jetzt und in der Stunde unseres Todes. Amen.”
********
Ensign Gary Orem had once been a fine young mechanical engineering student, straight out of California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. Halfway between New Los Angeles and San Jose, it was just the right location for a youngster like Gary who had the brains to get a valuable degree, as well as an affinity for the beaches nearby, where he’d spend many a lost weekend. He would have been an excellent choice for Matter Pod Launch team during the Away Team’s mission, but he’d been edged out during selection by a few candidates that Tommy Berwick expressed a preference for.
He’d certainly gone astray since those exciting days before launch, no doubt about that. But deep within his almost permanently stoned mind was still a man of (technically) forty-one whose body was still that of a 30-year old. He’d always been one to have a thing for the ladies back during college. Had decent looks and a generous endowment which he was bound to make full use of. On the Santa Maria though, as much as he tried adjusting to the reanimation process and getting his body ready for the surface, he was overwhelmed. Seemed he could never quite acclimate to it, and he was not alone in that regard.
Instead, he joined up with friends and colleagues who partook of THC-hybrid plants available in the Garden Center. Didn’t mess around with the food distribution system. Went right to the source. And when he was able to join the rest of the crew on the Return Team as they prepared to blast off from the surface, he was already a regular user and occasional abuser of cannabis laced foods – especially bell peppers and tomatillos - all grafted together in their root systems by Young-Min Jo's fellow scientists.
Now, three years later, his old boss Ozzie Guerrero had to look past all that. At the end of the day, he knew Gary Orem was a top notch engineer, when properly motivated, and though he’d watched the young man’s deterioration he realized he simply had to have him back. Young-Min Jo had certainly been smart enough - and alert enough - to detect the missing matter pod. No question, he’d been the right man for the job and saved them from a horrible disaster. If it had been Gary – the old Gary that is - the breach might not ever have been detected. Ensign Orem was notorious among his teammates for being a distraction; and usually frittered away most of his time on duty whenever Ozzie wasn’t around. Sometimes even when he was ... it just depended on when there was a new “harvest”.
In this situation however, Ozzie realized he needed him. Sober him up, tell him what was at stake. Get in his face. Give him a good talking to – like some angry coach getting nose-to-nose with an errant player who’d committed a penalty and cost his team field position. He knew the man would come around quickly and take things seriously if he did that. Best of all, Gary was a whizz at programming matter pods and had very nearly made the cut for Away Team. Now the situation was critical. Ozzie went straight to the Garden Center to recruit him ….
B.J. meanwhile went looking for astronomers. Oh, how she wished she could just awaken Kelvin! He had gone to MIT and that was the best astronomy school in the world - outside of maybe England. But she also knew there were a couple of Brits she could go see. Cambridge grads. Almost impossible to communicate with at times, but good at mapping the stars. She knew one in particular who’d work well with everyone on the team and one other gal from Switzerland’s Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich). She was the book-wormy type who largely kept to herself, but B.J. knew she wanted her.
They’d have only a few months to reach the next matter pod’s anticipated location, and both of those ladies had the abilities to try and project the path of any interstellar object that might have collided with their missing device. In truth, both girls had been saved for the return mission in part for just this type of task. They'd been prepared all these years to be called upon in case something unusual happened in space that Santa Maria would have to maneuver around. One was already performing tasks similar to this on the command bridge (the Brit), and the other was working over on the other side of the ship in “Cartography”. That was a solo position with no other staff, which worked on mapping the galaxy as they travelled through, creating accurate charts of the stars, asteroid belts, and comets that Santa Maria had been passing during its long flight. She was the shy, mousy type … like a bespectacled librarian one might find in the Old Stacks section of a city library. But she knew her stuff and the combination of the two gals would make for a solid team in tracking down the possible location of the missing matter pod.
Adding in B.J.’s skills at mathematics; they’d solve this mystery for sure.
This concludes tonight's podcast of Twin Paradox, Chapter Twenty-one: Missing Link. I hope you enjoyed it. Watch for episode twenty-two; which I'll be posting very soon.
Also, and don't forget, my latest full-length novel ... Deathwalker Colony ... is available right now in E-book format and can be downloaded today on Amazon.com ... along with the first two books in the Rijel 12 Series, The Rise of New Australia and Return of Anarchy. A link to these can be found in the transcript for this episode.
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I'm King Everett Medlin. Thanks for tuning in.
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