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Chapter 1

Lydia

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Lydia Jess stowed her gear in the baggage compartment of the idling shuttle bus. She tucked a stray wisp of auburn hair behind her sweaty ear and stared up at the clear blue sky.

"Another scorcher," Lydia thought.

She might miss a lot of things by committing to this mission, but the Texas summer wasn’t one of them.

The bus was taking her and a small crew of scientists to Houston’s Hobby Spaceport to board an Interplanetary Space-Shuttle. The group expected to rendezvous with the starship Cosmos, currently under construction in a berth at Space Dock One.

Lydia and her crew spent the last few weeks at Johnson’s Space Center preparing for this mission. The new Astronomy Deck aboard the starship was in its final phase of construction, and the crew was needed to put things in order.

The Cosmos was the first of her kind. Almost a mile, long she consisted of six huge rings that spun like wheels around a central core or axle. The centrifugal force near the outer hoops provided artificial gravity for the crew. Near one end of the stationary center was a massive ring, housing all the components of her three Alcubierre/Fulton warp drives.

The starship was the product of the planet’s top space agencies. They agreed to cooperate to build the first vessel capable of interstellar flight. Generous funding from the AI (artificial intelligence) community helped to finance the project.

This select group of scientist and engineers would be the first to explore the exoplanets discovered by the Kepler spacecraft and subsequent deep space telescopes. For the next five years, the starship would be their home.

Lydia stepped aboard the bus, into the comfort of fresh conditioned air. Most of her team were already seated and talked excitedly among themselves. She slid into a bench seat near the front to let six technicians pass in the narrow aisle.

Tapping a spot near her right temple, she activated her NI (network interface) implant, murmured a command to bring up a roster on her HUD (heads-up display). She looked over the occupants counting heads, then called out, “Okay, sound off when I call your name please!”

She was finishing the roll call when a tall man who looked to be in his early thirties, rushed up the steps, tripped and fell onto her knocking her to the floor.

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“Excuse me, I’m very sorry,” he said trying to help Lydia back to her feet.

She threw her hands up and said a little angrily, “I’m okay, find yourself a seat.”

“I’m sorry,” said the latecomer, “I didn’t have time to stow my bag before the bot closed the compartments, is it okay if I leave it in the aisle?”

She scowled at the new arrival and assumed, because he wasn’t part of her group of starship personnel, that he must be with the Interplanetary Nano Labs technicians booked on the same flight.

Frustrated at having to sort him out, she asked, “What’s the name?”

“John…,” he began but was interrupted by Lydia abruptly raising her finger to silence him.

Lydia’s NI had twittered in her inner ear, and she looked up at her HUD and saw the name John.... appear on her roster.

“Okay, John looks like you made my list,” she said, dismissing him, “stow your gear and let's go.”

Startled by the hostility in her reply, John raised his eyebrows and grinned at this feisty little bundle of wrath.

“Yes Ma’am!” he said then slid into the seat beside her.

Lydia checked off a small square box to mark “completed” on her task list and had her NI communicate with the bus to close its doors and proceed to the spaceport.

The self-driven bus rolled onto I-45 and proceeded north for the short hop to South Houston.

During the trip, Lydia used her NI implant and HUD to go over her mission goals for the day.

Sensing her reluctance to be engaged in conversation, John decided not to attempt an apology. He activated his NI and busied himself with matters of his own.

Lydia wondered if she had been too harsh with him. Her stress at being responsible for this group had her on edge, and it made her a bit grumpy. She decided if she were going to be commanding a group of people, she needed to learn to be fair but also firm when it mattered.

Because of its international partners, the starship operated under Merchant Marine rules. Lydia's position, as Chief Astronomer, wouldn't be as authoritative as a military officer but it still required her to establish influence as a leader.

Within a few minutes, their bus arrived at the large Interplanetary NanoLabs hangar at Hobby Field and pulled in front of the main offices. An automated voice spoke from the intercom and informed the occupants they had indeed, arrived at their destination.

“Please be careful when stepping off the vehicle, and thank you for using Gulf Coast Charter services.”

Lydia waited until everyone had exited the vehicle then, retrieved her gear and stacked it on the waiting luggage cart. She recovered a small handbag from the stack of luggage and arrived at the door just as John did. He opened the door for her and stood aside as she entered. Bowing slightly, and with a big smile he touched the fraying brim of his New York Yankees cap and said, “Ma’am.”

Before she had time to thank him, Lydia heard a charming voice calling, “Who’s in charge of this group?”

“That would be me,” she called out and waved a hand in the air.

“Dr. Jess?” asked the pleasant receptionist.

“Yes," Lydia said, ”Dr. Lydia Jess with the group from Johnson Space Center.”

“Yes, Dr. Jess your group will be boarding the shuttle Tyson it is the brothership to Sagan that, if your people would like to see, is just being loaded on the ramp. You can observe through there,” she said pointing to a door that had a stenciled sign that read, Observation Room.

“Unfortunately Tyson was delayed over at the other end of the spaceport but will be here within the hour. There are coffee and donuts as well as an assortment of beverages in the observation room, and bathroom facilities down this hallway. If there is anything, I can do to assist you, just use your NI to contact me. I’ll come back to escort you to the shuttle when it arrives. Please make yourselves at home, and I apologize for the delay”.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine,” said Lydia, “thanks so much, Melanie.”

Two large conference tables were pushed together and surrounded by large plush chairs. Along the two end-walls were comfortable couches with low coffee tables upon which were stacks of different magazines neatly fanned to display their titles. On the back wall was a giant video screen tuned to a global news channel with the volume turned low. Under the screen was a table spread with a white tablecloth with the corporate logo of INL.

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A broad observation window revealed the activities outside.

The shuttle, Sagan, stood with both of its cargo bays open and the doors lowered to the ground. It measured 20 meters wide 70 meters long and 15 meters tall, the craft had a deceptively blunt nose and squared off rear section giving it a rugged appearance. Had Lydia not known of the shape-changing technology build into its hull she may have passed it off as just another slow moving atmospheric cargo barge.

The space-shuttle rested on three large hydraulically dampened landing gear whose pads interacted with the maglev spaceport surfaces.
The dull gray areas on its hull marked the location of the hi-tech carbon allotropes and exotic metallic surfaces which changed shape during different modes of flight. All other surfaces were a dark shiny maroon marking the places where heat and radiation resistant ceramic material coated the surface.
Near the rear of the spacecraft were three bulging nacelles covering the fusion impulse thrusters that rocketed the Sagan into orbit.
She watched a cargo container moving into position over the maglev surface near one of Sagan’s cargo doors. A mechanical arm extended from the bay. It lifted the metal box from the ground then stacked it beside another container inside the shuttle.

The forward quarter of the Sagan was a passenger module. Its cargo area could be converted to passenger mode using interlocking modules or could be offloaded and devoted to cargo.

The last thing to be hoisted aboard was a small container, presumably carrying the baggage of a small group of people following it out to the spacecraft.

She saw Melanie speaking to the group as they mounted the stairs and disappeared into the passenger module.

Beside her, John cleared his throat. He looked down at her and asked, “Is this your first trip into space?”

“Yes, it is. Is it obvious?” asked Lydia.

“Well, not so much, however, you do seem a bit on edge,” said John with a little grin.

“Well, being in charge of this little group stresses me out, and I don't want to screw up on my first day into space. I apologize for snapping at you earlier,” she said.

“Oh, that’s okay, Ma’am, I didn’t mean to cause you any trouble. I need to get back to the Cosmos today, and barely had time to make this flight,”

“My husband is the Chief Engineer on the Cosmos,” said Lydia attempting to make friendly conversation.

“Well, imagine that!”, said John with a huge smile on his face.

Holding out his hand for her to shake he said, “I know your husband well, he speaks highly of you, I’m John, John Fi…”.

At that moment they were interrupted by their NI’s calling their impending departure and reminding them to use the facilities if needed. Lydia excused herself and headed toward the bathrooms.

When she returned, she saw a similar looking spacecraft making its way along the taxiways toward the INL ramp. “That must be the Tyson,” she thought.

The Tyson was an exact twin of the Sagan but, with its bay doors closed, you could see its bright paint scheme denoting its interplanetary registration numbers and ‘Tyson’ painted in bold white letters across its side.

As the spacecraft moved closer, it was clear that it hovered about a foot above the tarmac. The shuttle glided soundlessly above the taxiway and onto the INL ramp and settled on its sizable landing pads into position beside the Sagan.

The stairs descended from the passenger module, and a familiar voice called from across the room.

“Dr. Jess, if you will have your people follow me, we will begin boarding,”

They gathered in the lobby and watched the Sagan, now fully loaded, close its cargo doors. The low hum of the life support units began to spool up to pressurize its interior.

Without a sound, the spacecraft rose a foot above the ramp and moved toward the taxiway where Hobby Ground Control took command and floated it into position for launch.

The vessel was capable of lifting above the ground using vertical fusion thrusters and launch itself into orbit but, within this controlled environment, the spaceport’s traffic controllers took command and guided it over the maglift surfaces.

Melanie led the little group out onto the hot ramp and across the tarmac to a set of stairs that led into the interior of the shuttle. Once there she wished everyone a safe flight.

Inside the crew module, they saw their names projected onto the assigned seats and made their way to them. Lydia moved among her crew giving high fives and winks. She found her way to the position with her name projected on it.

She was up front with a view of the flight deck. A confusing amount of controls and switches used by human pilots when the autopilot wasn’t flying the spacecraft littered the panels. How anyone could remember what each switch and button did was beyond her.

John dropped into the empty seat beside her. She hadn’t seen his name displayed there. She was about to ask him about it when a holographic image of the shuttle’s lesser AI appeared.

“Welcome aboard my fellow astronauts. I am Tyson. As you can see I am a projected image of my famous namesake Neil DeGrasse Tyson, for those of you who have never had the opportunity to venture into space, I will brief you on what to expect. For those of you who have, well, you’ll have to suffer through another inspired, but thoroughly entertaining briefing by yours truly.”

Lydia was delighted by the mannerisms and comic persona that the hologram projected. It was as if the famous scientist of the early twenty-first century was resurrected and standing before them in the flesh.

“So,” continued Tyson, “under your seats you will find a low gravity vest. Please retrieve these now and while you put those on I will go through my required safety spiel."

"Upon rapid depressurization, your lowgrav jacket will immediately surround your body with a covering of metalisized carbon designed, not only to protect you from the vacuum of space but provide you with enough emergency air to last one hour. The vest will give you the means to propel yourself in a weightless environment by a system of small compressed air thrusters. Give your NI control of the vest, and tell it where you want to go, and it will keep you out of trouble. Now, please fasten your seatbelts, and we will depart.”

Tyson’s holographic image tapped its right temple like a human would access an NI. It seemed to be reviewing something on a personal HUD.

“Ah,” exclaimed Tyson, “I see we have Captain Finley aboard. Captain, my records show that you need some shuttle time for your currency training. Would you like to pilot us out to the Cosmos today, sir? I would be honored to serve as your copilot.”

This announcement caused curious glances and surprised murmurs as the occupants began to look among themselves for the elusive Captain Finley.

Lydia turned to glance over her shoulder when John stood up and said,

“Thank you, Tyson. I would like that.”

He turned politely to Lydia and said, “If you will excuse me, Dr. Jess?”

Lydia shrank into her seat and groaned, “Oh, shit!”

Thanks for reading Chapter One
in my first attempt at
Science Fiction

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