Ancient Birthright (23 page)

Beldon pulled a microphone in front of him, and got a nod from his dad that he was online. “Saigg this is Beldon. We have had a couple of developments in the last few hours that may affect our situation…”

Chapter-24

“Team Leader Garuu, I’m receiving a message from Beldon,” reported the radio tech.

Dantee scampered to the radio console and used the radio tech as a ladder to climb up. After her first trip to the staff meeting with him, she’d become a regular fixture in the team space.

“Feed it to the room audio,” ordered Saigg as he pulled out his desk chair.

“Saigg this is Beldon. Colonel Striker has gotten the go-ahead to use the space transportation system or space shuttle as most people call it. We will launch a rescue mission to save the Russian crew. If we can rendezvous with the
Universe Explorer
, is there some method of bringing our vehicle into your ship? I will send you pictures, but its outside dimensions are approximately sixty feet tall by one hundred and twenty-three long and eighty-feet wide. We have worked out a method to get to
Nauka 7
. If we can’t transfer the fuel remaining on their craft to the shuttle tanks, or are unable to fix Nauka 7’s main engines, we will be unable to join with your ship.”

After the transmission delay, Saigg responded, “Beldon, if you can get to us, we can bring you into our ship through the launch-bay airlock doors. However, we have a serious problem. During our transjump from Danuaa 3, we had a dropout, and a portion of our fuel supplies did not materialize. The
Universe Explorer
does not have the fuel to establish orbit around Earth. We were hoping you could help us out and get the fuel we need to complete deceleration and establish a stable orbit. This also means the
UE
can’t come to your rescue. We simply don’t have the fuel to bring the ship to you. We have several smaller craft that we use for short distance flights, but they are planet-to-orbit craft, and do not have the airlocks to permit transfer of personnel. I’m sorry, Beldon we just don’t have the aluminum to get to the intercept point if it’s not on our current flight path.”

Beldon used the next hour and forty-five minutes to ponder the problems.

“Saigg, if aluminum is the problem you wanted to talk to us about, I believe we have a solution. The shuttle orbiter is constructed of somewhere between eighty and ninety percent aluminum alloy, and the Russian craft is probably close to the same. The orbiter weighs about one hundred and seventy thousand pounds. If we can get one or both of the craft to the
UE
, could you extract the aluminum you need from the alloys?”

Saigg replied, “Beldon, our recycle units can process any type of aluminum alloy you can make. The planet-to-orbit lift craft I mentioned have an engine burn time of about sixty hours in space with a full fuel load, but with additional aluminum, they could provide power until the additional fuel is exhausted. The limiting factor is the amount of aluminum they can carry as the fuel catalyst. The waste-recy units on these craft are rudimentary. They don’t have the capabilities of the full sized units on the
Explorer
. If we send one out to assist you, it would require a hundred pounds of pure refined aluminum powder or chips for them to make it back to us. They do have a small airlock. It will accept a volume of approximately one cubic foot.

“At full boost, we could get one of the small ships to the Russian missile in less than two months, but it would be totally out of fuel once it arrived and matched velocity. I can’t imagine what help that would be.”

Following the transmission delay, Beldon said, “Saigg, we will bring along several packages of aluminum that will fit through the air lock. It would provide us with another means of power if we used your craft to move ours. We’ll let you know if we need it. How large is your vehicle and how many crewmembers are required to operate it? Colonel Striker just told me that we are moving to the shuttle launch facilities in Florida. I have his assurance that Cindy and I will be on this mission. There are a lot of unknowns, and this may well turn out to be a one-way trip.”

“Beldon, make sure to continue sending the fictional materials. Many souls have started reading the stories you’ve sent. It’s become a very popular pastime to read of alien cultures and the problems of planet-bound beings. But I must ask, do your authors write anything besides comedies?

In answer to your earlier questions about the ship we would send to you. The dimensions of the smallest craft are forty-eight feet long with a diameter of nine feet. Weight at the Earth’s surface would be thirty-nine thousand pounds, and engine thrust capabilities of ninety thousand pounds for ninety minutes and fifty thousand pounds for six-hundred hours unrefueled. The limitation on the higher engine output is due to system fatigue. The support systems can’t maintain the high flows required for extended periods. They need to rest. This size craft normally carries a one soul crew or operates in an unpiloted configuration from a preprogrammed flight plan.”

#

Two weeks later, Beldon sent, “Saigg, our launch is scheduled for five weeks from today. Cindy and I have been in physical training for six hours a day for the past two weeks to prepare for the rigors of launch. We’re getting accelerated courses in electronics, vehicle systems, emergency medical treatment, spacesuit usage, and celestial navigation. I have never worked so hard in my life. We’ll have five members on the crew, two pilots, Colonel Striker, and Cindy and me. One of the pilots is also a doctor and will attempt to treat the injured Russian crewmember. I’ve arranged for books to continue to be sent to the
UE
while we’re in transit, so let me know which authors you’re enjoying the most. If they have written multiple books, I will have them transmitted. Our reception from the Russian craft
Nauka 7
is fading. I am going to have them contact the
UE
. The forward antenna on their ship is undamaged, so they should be able to talk to you, and you could then retransmit their messages to Earth or our spaceship.”

Chapter-25

Anika groaned when she tried to move. Her body hurt in every muscle and joint. She didn’t want to think about what Iosif must be feeling. He’d awakened about six hours after the collision and screamed for five minutes until shock and the sedative Nadya gave him knocked him out again. They’d agreed to keep their pressure suits on for the first few days following the impact just in case one of the patches failed, and they lost cabin pressure. On the third day, they’d had no choice. The plumbing in the suits had reached full capacity. Removing Iosif from his suit had taken the three of them almost two hours. They’d taped his broken hip and leg to a long piece of angle aluminum Katya had removed from the side of one of the consoles. Iosif was zipped into one of the sleeping restraints mounted in the crew compartment.

It was now day forty-three since the collision, and they were still receiving messages from NRAO, but had been unable to answer them for the last two days. Beldon told them to try using their forward antenna system to contact Saigg on the
Universe Explorer
. Anika was about to try it when Nadya pulled her tiny frame through the hatch.

“Anika, if you can contact someone, see if you can find out whether there is a chance of rescue and when it might happen. I’m running out of painkillers and tranquilizers for Iosif. Once they’re gone, I won’t have anything to give him for pain. If there is no chance of rescue, we will need to talk about his treatment. If we are all going to die anyway, I don’t see any reason to prolong his pain and suffering.”

Anika swiveled her couch to face Nadya. “I’ll try using the forward antenna array and see if I can contact this phantom
Universe Explorer
that Beldon told us about. I don’t have much hope since all of the transmissions we’ve gotten from that section of space have been gibberish.” Anika turned her couch back to the control console. “Katya, switch the radio antenna to the forward array, please.”

“Okay, forward array selected and operational.”

“
Universe Explorer
, this is Russian craft
Nauka 7
. Are you receiving me?”

Anika repeated the call in several variations for almost an hour.

“There’s no one there. I think we will have to face the probability that we are alone out here, and the chance of rescue is just about zero. I know we all volunteered for this mission, but I think they manipulated us into believing we were doing something essential for our country. I had four more years of study at the Astronautic Polytechnical University before applying for the space program. I felt honored when they asked for my help with this mission. Now, I think they just asked me because I’m one-point-five meters tall and only weigh forty-two kilos. This is a hell of an honor...to die for mother Russia in a damaged space capsule that will eventually plunge our dead bodies into the sun.”

The three girls talked of their hopes and dreams. Their conversation eventually turned to their families, the boys they dated or wanted to, and what they had planned for their careers.

An hour and twenty-nine minutes later, a voice on the radio interrupted their conversation. “Russian
Nauka 7
, this is Saigg Garuu on the
Universe Explorer
. Beldon told us you might be calling and asked if we would relay messages. He has informed us of your situation. Have there been any changes? How is your injured crewmember? Beldon told us he will launch from Earth in three days, but it will take several months for them to reach you. Unfortunately, we do not have the fuel to alter our flight path to intercept you. Our instruments show your craft at approximately nine hundred and ninety-eight million miles from us. We will pass you in about nine months, at that time you will still be almost 250 million miles from our position if you remain on your current course. Beldon said you could not use your main engine due to structural damage but that you did have attitude jets that might work. I would suggest you try using the attitude controls to slow down your ship so that Beldon and his rescue team can reach you sooner and to maneuver back toward your original course. That will close the gap between our ships.”

Anika and Nadya stared at each other as Katya pulled through the hatch to join them.

Anika turned off her microphone. “I don’t believe this. When briefed on this mission, they told me we were testing systems necessary for a trip to Mars. What did they tell you two?”

Katya answered for the two. “Pretty much the same thing. We were to do long-term system testing then return and link up with the International Space Station so we could be shuttled back to Earth.”

“Somehow I don’t think it was a coincidence that there is another craft almost a billion miles further away from Earth and on a direct line with our original course,” added Nadya.

“Do you think it is an American spaceship?”

“I can’t believe the Americans could launch a mission like that without us knowing about it,” Anika said.

“The Aeronautic Directorate obviously did know about it since we’re here,” Katya said.

“Would you two settle in one place and quit floating around the cabin? I’m getting a headache watching you,” Anika said.

The twins settled into comfortable positions, one at ninety degrees to Anika, the other upside down.

Anika said, “I guess there’s only one way to find out who’s out there.”

“
Universe Explorer
, this is
Nauka 7
. Where did you launch from? How long have you been traveling, and where are you going? We didn’t know you were out here. We thought we were alone in this segment of space. Our injured crewman is heavily drugged due to extreme pain, but we are almost out of pain medicine. We have him immobilized for the time being, but he needs major surgery to repair the damage. Our life support is holding. We have patched the pressure hull leaks and closed off the ruptured oxygen line. We lost about one-third of our oxygen supply. Remaining oxygen will last approximately eight months. I will attempt to use the attitude thrusters to slow the ship and move it back toward its original course,” Anika transmitted.

One-hour twenty-Eight-point-nine-minutes later.

“
Nauka 7
, we launched from Earth, traveled to Danuaa 3, delivered our cargo and are in transit back to Earth. The how long is a little more complicated. We should have taken 135 years to reach Danuaa 3, but we were delayed. The return trip has taken 132 years to this point. We will reach Earth within three years. The delay in our outbound journey lasted about 230 million years. Beldon says we launched sometime during what your scientists call the Jurassic Period. Our ship is a colonization vessel. We have deposited our shipment of colonists on Danuaa 3, and we are returning to Earth to acquire critical supplies of calcium and aluminum for Danuaa 3. The entire Danuaa star system is extremely short of those elements…”

Chapter-26

“Go for auto-sequence start, nine...eight...seven...six...main engine start...two...one, lift off of STS-1R at eight-twenty-seven on November 23
rd
,” the announcer’s voice boomed over the Kennedy Space Center PA system. “This historic flight is the first ever attempted rescue of another manned spacecraft. The Russian craft
Nauka 7
was damaged when it collided with a Global Positioning Satellite forty-six days ago. Communications with
Nauka 7
faded seventy two hours ago, but it is hoped that once the shuttle orbiter boosts in its pursuit of the Russian craft and closes the gap, contact can be reestablished.
Endeavour’s
main engines have been throttled back to sixty-seven percent as it passes through the sound barrier.
Endeavour
is go for main engine throttle up.” Duane tuned out the announcer’s resonant voice and pulled Linda and Terrie closer.

“They’ll be all right. Striker won’t let anything happen to them,” Duane said, trying to reassure the two women. “Let’s get out of here before some of these reporters begin wondering why we’re in the VIP section.” He signaled to their MP escort and pointed Linda and Terrie toward the parking lot and the blue Air Force SUV.