Evacuation (The Seamus Chronicles Book 2) (11 page)

Dad arrived with the space plane yesterday. Unfortunately, it was a major let-down. While the craft looks cool and according to Dad handled like a dream, it is tiny. Seating for eight is not going to help us. Also, seating alone is not going to help us. If we wind up traveling through space for days instead of hours, people will go insane if they have to remain seated the whole time.

I’m a little bit surprised that there was no secret program for a massive craft that would allow humans to work and live a semi-normal life while leisurely traveling through space. The space station works for extended stays, but there is no artificial gravity and it only functions well in orbit. But maybe with warp capabilities we can jump from orbiting the Earth to orbiting another planet.

Suddenly I like the idea of using the space plane to ferry people and supplies to the space station and then making a warp jump in the space station. This would let us bring the scanning tools we need to identify the planet’s characteristics before we try and go to the surface ourselves. It would also allow for plenty of storage space for supplies and give us a fighting chance if we need to stay in space for longer than a few days.

The biggest drawback I see to joining with the space station is the actual link-up. Would Dad be a good enough pilot to accomplish that feat without knocking the station out of orbit? Could he do it without smashing into the station and damaging critical components?

What is it that makes the space plane special? Or maybe not even special, but different from a regular plane? I know the wing configuration is a little different, but it still functions like a plane in the Earth’s atmosphere. Is it the temperature shielding that protects it from reentry? What if we don’t have to worry about reentry? If we warp into a planet’s atmosphere, we can avoid the need to slow down from tens of thousands of miles per hour and avoid most of the heat generated from that.

Is there any radiation shielding on the space plane? My questioning is leading me somewhere but I am not sure where. It has something to do with a plane and traveling in comfort. It’s odd because I never considered commercial air travel to be that comfortable. The seats are too close together and the only place you can stand at full height is the center aisle. If the trip were not rigorous, could we survive in a 747 that suddenly appeared in space?

Regardless of where my mind is headed, the space plane is not going to be the sole means of getting everyone off the earth and safely to another planet. I think we are moving into plans D through F. Plans A and B went by the wayside weeks ago.

“Jane?” I say. I’m not sure if she is in the lab with me or not.

“Yes, Seamus,” she answers. She is in the lab. She also seems to be annoyed with my growing habit of just calling out when I have an idea.

“What can you tell me about radiation in space?” I don’t like open-ended questions like that.

“You never cease to amaze me,” Jane says, shaking her head.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m trying to get my head around what makes the space plane special. More pointedly, do we need radiation shielding to put a regular airplane in space?” I want to be clear and honest with her, but I’m not sure where I am headed yet.

“What amazes me is that you don’t know the answer.” She has come over to speak with me at my workstation. “Space radiation is mostly protons and heavy ions. You have been working with these since you developed your idea for the reactor. I thought for sure it was your dream to poke a hole in the Earth’s atmosphere so you could get your hands on all the energy streaming down from solar energetic particles.”

“Honestly, I’ve never thought too much about space,” I explain. It feels like an excuse for not knowing the answer. “It just seemed to me that there was so much to do here on Earth that space could wait.”

“Mom, isn’t there a story about Einstein and some GCR loop?” Cassandra says, standing with us now. No matter how intelligent, it is difficult to resist the intrigue of human interaction.

“Actually, for the physicists that need to stoop to storytelling, it is the one good piece of physics folklore that exists,” Jane says. She seems to be admonishing her daughter for gossiping, but is excited to tell the story at the same time.

“I don’t know what GCR stands for. I also don’t know why we would spend time on it if the story ends with Einstein not able to figure it out,” I say. “Which is what I assume happens since we don’t currently have anything called a GCR device today.” I am truly curious, but based on Jane’s comment about physicists that stoop to stories, I feel like I am not supposed to ask.

“GCR stands for Galactic Cosmic Rays,” Cassandra answers, filling in the blanks. “And if no one ever thought about problems that weren’t solved, we wouldn’t even have the wheel, let alone space planes and computers.”

“Dear,” Jane has her hand on Cassandra’s arm, signaling her to be quiet. “Seamus, this is not a secret we have been keeping from you. To my knowledge it isn’t recorded
anywhere
except in the spoken word. There are a few versions, but the facts are consistent. The story changes only based on speculation and a flare for the dramatic from the storyteller.”

“Can I hear the story already?” I ask. I feel suckered in, so why not own it.

“Of course,” Jane says. She has more storytelling skills than she lets on. “It’s said that Einstein was working on a theory referred to as the ‘synergistic cycle of radiation.’ Different people will tell you that he completed the work before his death or that he was never really close and felt that it was a shortcoming of his genius that he could not solve the problem.”

“But we would know if he completed the work. So clearly he didn’t,” I say. I want to eliminate as much legend as I can.

“Not true.” Jane might as well be sitting by a campfire. “Almost all parties agree that Einstein had solved many problems that he did not document. He felt that the world was not ready for the answers he had found. Some think that if he had solved these problems in his youth, he would have shared them with no thought for their impact. After living through two World Wars, he clearly saw the worst of what humans are capable of.”

“Fine. So what is the synergistic cycle of radiation?” I’m slightly regretting that I asked to hear the story.

“When Einstein was working on the Manhattan Project to create the atom bomb, he is said to have used the term ‘completing the loop’ on many occasions,” Jane says. She does not want to leave story mode. “Before they had completed their work, it was taken as a terminology quirk for some aspect of the bomb. But even after the bomb was invented, he used this term when referring to nuclear reactions.”

“He wanted to build my reactor,” I say. I think I see where the legend ends.

“No. It was much bigger than that,” she says. Jane looks at me as intently as ever. “He envisioned a concept that would not only protect humans in space from Galactic Cosmic Rays, GCR’s, but also generate propulsion and power.”

“A solar sail, radiation shield and power generator all in one!” I exclaim. Why haven’t we talked about this before?

“Imagine a craft that worked
only
in outer space,” Jane says. She’s smiling and seems ready to wrap up the tale. “The very radiation you need to shield yourself from would be used to generate the energy needed to shield you. Oh, and by the way, help you travel at the speed of light.”

“Add a warp unit and that is one pretty awesome craft,” Cassandra can’t help but interject at this point. “Seamus, how does it feel to have your name linked with Einstein?”

“In a folk tale,” I say. I can’t help but remind her that this hasn’t happened yet and there is no documented link to Einstein.

“For now.” Jane does not want this to become contentious. “Seamus, if we can leverage your field generation technology to build a solar sail and position the sail correctly, it could shield us from the radiation in space.”

“That means we can use craft other than the space plane to get to where ever it is we are going,” I say, finishing her thought.

I knew there was a tie between my reactor and the solar sail. There is even a synergy with the warp unit that will need to be figured out before I’m satisfied. I wonder what Jane and Cassandra are thinking about right this moment? Are they wondering how to use my field generator to accomplish this feat or are they waiting for me to come up with the answer?

“I have been working on the solar sail in my downtime,” I say. I have to tell them what was intended to be a surprise. “I wanted to come up with some solutions for Cassandra to say thank you for all the work she has put into my inventions.”

“Our inventions,” Cassandra says. She does not seem amused.

“Right, our inventions.” I don’t need to argue with her. “I know I’m not an easy person to work with. Thank you and I appreciate all that you have done to make things smooth and comfortable here in the lab.”

“You’re welcome,” she says. At least she’s smiling now. “What have you come up with for the sail?”

“First things first.” I hold up my hand. “We are going to need at least nine core units of the reactor.”

“Why nine?” Jane knows that these will double our manufacturing load.

“Two live units and a spare for each craft.” There is only one space plane, but we’re going to be taking three ships across the galaxy.

“You want to take three ships into space?” Jane asks. Her face contorts in confusion.

“I don’t want to, we have to.” My turn to give a knowing smile. “We need the space plane and two of the C-5 Galaxy’s. You saw how small the space plane is. We can’t travel 40 light-years away with just an overnight bag.”

I feel like I’ve just stepped out of an airplane and realized I never packed a parachute. Or maybe that I’ve reached the bottom of the ocean and looked at my air supply only to realize that I don’t have enough to get back to the surface. There is something big and glaring that I am going to forget; I wish I knew what it was.

We are all at the dinner table, but no one seems particularly talkative. I don’t know if it is that we are a small group of people or that there is little variety in our lives. There is talk—“please pass the rice”—but there is little communication. If someone is afraid, I don’t know what they are afraid of. If they are excited, I’m not sure why. I can’t tell if this bothers me or if I need to use them to get to the bottom of what I’m forgetting.

“I’m getting nervous about forgetting something,” I announce. I might as well start and be honest.

“We’re trying to bring a bunch of the little things that everyone forgets,” Liam says. He is always ready to talk. “Like we have toothpaste and shampoo and even underwear.”

“That will be really helpful, I’m sure,” I say. I’m serious, but it sounds like I’m teasing. “I was thinking more along the lines of failing to calculate for the gravitational pull of a distant sun. You know, something that could throw our warp calculations off by light-years.”

“I’m worried about scanning the surface of a planet,” Sofie says, getting the tone of my fears. “We have the equipment, but it takes time to learn and it will take time to verify the results. And what if we’re wrong? Someone will have to be the first to take their helmet off.”

“I’m worried about communicating between ships,” Mom says, joining the conversation. “I know simple walkie-talkies are supposed to work, but what if we find out that they don’t? How are we going to tell another ship that the planet we found is not good enough and we need to warp to different one?”

“I’m worried about people left on Earth,” Grace interjects, struggling to keep her composure. “What if there are tribes in the Amazon or nomads in Asia that would never be affected by the virus? We are going to be the ones who kill innocent people when we nuke the planet.”

“Grace, there is no one left on the planet that is not or would not be affected,” Jane says coolly. She believes in the science completely.

“What about Sofie? Remmie and the twins?” Grace has thought about her concern and is not just throwing out fears. “None of them should have survived the first wave, but they did. Scientists make mistakes all the time. When it happened, Seamus said that statistically speaking 100 percent of humans were dead. Well, we know that statistical and actual are pretty different now, don’t we? If there are survivors out there, they may not be statistically significant, but they sure should be considered actually significant.”

“I did not mean to imply that anyone was insignificant,” Jane says. It sounds like she is disappointed with the unintended turn her comment took. 

“I’m sorry,” Grace apologizes quickly. She wants Jane to know that she is not mad at her, but mad at the situation.

“I guess that’s my fear, too,” Sofie contributes. “That this is all a big mistake. Instead of destroying the planet and leaving, that we should be hunkering down and rebuilding. There will be no undoing what we are planning to do.”

“In addition to saying ‘ditto’ to all of your concerns, I’m worried about the last mile,” Dad says, finally ready to chip in his two cents. “Say all our hard work pays off. We find a planet that will support human life. Through some miracle we can get to that planet. How do we land on the surface? There are no runways. There may not even be grassy fields. Is a wet landing the best we can hope for? That scares the daylights out of me here on Earth; how would it work on an alien world?”

“I don’t suppose you have a transporter up your sleeve somewhere?” Randy asks, looking at me. “
Star Trek
made things look so easy. They never ended up at a planet that could not support their life form. Their ship never had to enter the atmosphere and oxygen and water were never even called into question.”

“Assuming that we colonize a new planet safely, I think that we will be able to take care of ourselves pretty well,” I say. My turn again. “My fear is that we will not be able to scale. Growing food for one hundred people is a lot different than growing food for ten people. I think most of us understand the concept of a septic system, but how do we build one without PVC or concrete?”

“Seamus, you have invented space warping and constructed a solar sail. Your father has mastered heavier-than-air flight,” Randy says, smiling and looking around the room. “I have complete faith in the ingenuity we possess together. We will solve common problems and, who knows, possibly come up with some better solutions.”

“On that point, I agree with Randy,” Dad says, rising from his chair. “While this is not a handpicked team, there is not another group of people on this planet that I would rather go into space with than all of you.” He laughs at his own stupid joke and walks out the door.

Jane rises and goes to the sideboard and pours herself a drink. I’m not sure what she has for a
digestif,
but I’m going to guess it’s sherry. She surveys the room and the walks over to stand behind Cassandra. This is how she shows affection; physical proximity, not contact.

“One of the big knocks on my profession and even on myself specifically is that we think because we cannot do,” Jane says. She is looking around at all of us as she speaks. “All of you are people who think only so that you can do. From you, I have learned that we need to look at things based on what is possible. Do not dwell on what we don’t know or problems we cannot solve. If we tackle one challenge at a time with no bias in our thinking, we can solve any problem. I truly believe that.”

“Thank you Jane.” Mom appears interested in wrapping this up. “It’s healthy to be afraid. It means that you are aware of the risks that lie ahead. The challenge we all face to is to move forward, regardless of fear. So keep your eyes and your mind open, and let’s get through this together.”

Everyone gets up from the table and starts to leave. That was not really helpful in the way I had hoped it would be. I think it was my chance to say I’m sorry before anything goes wrong. While I acknowledge that all of us are doing important projects to continue humanity, there are degrees. If William and the response team forget a type of mustard seed they really wanted to bring, it won’t have a huge impact on us. If Randy and Dad have one warhead fail to detonate, we are never going to know about it. If a warp unit fails or a solar sail fails, everyone is going to experience pain from my mistake.

“Thank you,” Sofie says. She is standing next to me; her hand is on my shoulder. “Would you go for a walk with me?”

“I’d love to,” I say while getting out of my seat. I’m starting to understand how Jane and Cassandra approached the lab in a nine-to-five manner. Having things outside of lab work and projects is refreshing. It helps keep the mind open. I may not be a nine-to-fiver, but I like being able to pry myself away for time with Sofie.

Outside, the early evening is still warm and there is a slight breeze. Sofie and I walk side by side at a comfortable pace. If there is a destination, I don’t know what it is. Recently, instead of just watching the kids, Sofie has been riding bikes with them. Maybe she found a something neat to show me or there is just a nice loop we can walk.

“What did you thank me for in the dining room?” I break the silence.

“For owning up to being nervous. For admitting that you make mistakes and forget things,” she says. She smiles warmly but does not look directly at me.

“Oh. I was a little worried that you would be nervous about trusting your lives to me,” I say. I can’t seem to force the same smile.

“Of course not.” She’s looking at the ground now and the smile is gone. “I can remember when I was little. I wanted to be able to tie my own shoes so badly that I practiced making knots in everything. Plenty of things got so knotted up that I couldn’t undo them. I would bring them to my Mom and tell her that I made a naughty knot and ask her to untie it. Every time, she would untie it with no complaints and scolding. It always seemed too easy for her.”

I slowly reach down and take her hand. She doesn’t need me to say anything, but I feel like she needs to know that I’m really listening and that I’m here for her. I’m a little surprised that she doesn’t pull away and in fact gives me a little squeeze.

“When I was in high school, I asked her about it.” Sofie does not want this pleasant memory to end. “I asked her how she knew how to untie all those crazy knots.”

“Knots are easy,” I say, not sure if I should be injecting myself but I do it anyway. “You find one thread and then work on that until it is free.”

“That’s basically what she said.” She’s smiling at me now. “And that’s what amazes me about you. So many things seem like a knot to you. You see a problem, find a thread and work until the problem is solved. ‘Stuff’ doesn’t get in your way.”

“Thank you. I think,” I say. We’ve stopped walking and have turned to face each other. “I don’t know if that’s true, but I am worried about the problems that I haven’t thought about yet. I feel like there is something sitting out there and I should know it, but I don’t.”

“Maybe the problem is that you are used to throwing the weight of the world around with ease and now you are having trouble?” She’s talking softly, almost like a therapist.

“I don’t get why ‘the weight of the world’ is always used with a bad connotation.” I can’t help the nerdy things that come into my head. “In fact, it’s the weight of the world that gives us gravity. The weight of the world is perfect for keeping our specific atmosphere in just the right consistency. The weight of the world is actually a pretty cool thing.”

“Then I’ll start using it as a compliment.” Sofie rises up on her tiptoes and gives me a long, gentle kiss on the lips. “Like saying that kissing you is like the weight of the world,” she says. She can’t help but giggle; it sounds so silly.

“That’s it!” I exclaim a little louder than I need to. “Gravity is the answer I have been looking for.”

Sofie leans her head into my chest and I wrap my arms around her. “Ugh” is all she manages to say.

“It’s not the gravity of a distant sun that I need to take into account,” I say, working it out. Normally I would think through this in my head, but since I am in an embrace with Sofie I’m thinking out loud. “It’s the gravity from the mass of electrons created by the warp unit. We can use that to oppose the force created by traveling at the speed of light.”

Sofie breaks our embrace and takes my hand again. We start walking slowly in silence as I think about the final piece of the puzzle. There are details to work out and three highly advanced systems that need to be integrated for this to work correctly. I know I have the final answers for not just creating a space warp, but for being able to travel across it intact.

Before I realize it, we are standing outside the lab building. I don’t remember any of the scenery we passed on our way here. I feel bad about not being more present when I’m with Sofie. She deserves my full attention.

“I know it’s not on purpose, but I’m still trying to deal with the way you zone out like that when an idea comes to you,” she says and looks at me with puzzled eyes.

“I’m sorry.” I don’t like letting her down. “Does it help that my last thought was about focusing on you when we’re together?”

“A little.” She smiles and suddenly we are kissing again.