The Stars are Ours
Chapter I - To The Stars
Part I - The First Voyage
The cabinet was back together again after another election season. Plenty of new faces surrounded the table, appointments by Étoile to shake up the cabinet she inherited from Jun He. She felt confidant that, after winning an election in her own right, changes were warranted. She had chosen MA's from non-traditional Federalist regions to make it clear this was a new era for a government that was already ten years old. With her cabinet eagerly awaiting her command, she powered on her desk panel. Her ministers followed suit.
"Shall we begin?"
The orders from the Federal Space Agency were quite simple: Survey everything. The government's priority was resource collection to bolster the economy back on Earth. Sol was close to tapped out; resources were needed. At great political risk, the construction vessel procured by the government was outfitted with its own hyperdrive before the highly theoretical form of space travel had even been practically tested. Étoile's cabinet had devised a very simple method for expansion - survey first, construct second. Rinse and repeat. Zhen Shen was to to complete a survey of the local systems before returning home.
Zhen Shen and her ship orbited slowly around Jupiter. The first time spacers on the GRV Najem's crew were glued to the windows watching the bands of gas slowly churn and move around. For Shen, it was a a familiar sight. Jupiter was, after all, where she had made the first warp flight so many years ago. Jupiter was the final checkpoint before moving beyond. She was waiting on word from the FSA to proceed with the mission.
Out here audio or video communication was impractical, instead they had to make do with short text messages. Even if it didn't seem like it, sending a few kilobytes across the void of space near-instantaneously was a modern marvel of engineering. That is not to say audio and video could NOT be sent, however no one wants to way six or more hours between messages. It was simply not practical in a solar system populated by civilian ships and stations.
"Message from Earth, Commander"
Shen took the readout from her subordinate.
Code:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
//Begin Packet 2197.10.10
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
//////////////////////////// FSA PRIORITY MESSAGE ////////////////////////////
TELEMETRY RECEIVED X GOOD DATA X PROCEED TO URANUS AND BEYOND X GOOD LUCK
FSA
//////////////////////////// FSA PRIORITY MESSAGE ////////////////////////////
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
//End Packet
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
They looked at
each other and smiled in excitement. This was the message everyone was waiting for.
"Inform the crew, and send our reply back to Earth," ordered Shen.
For the next few months, it would be slow going on warp power. It was a fine way to get around the solar system, but it would still take decades or more to reach the nearest star on warp power alone. If everyone did their jobs right, a multi-generation journey would take a week. They passed Uranus in November, and by December they were at the edge of the Solar System. From the cockpit they peered out into the void. Out of the endless stars in front of them, only one had a valid hyperlane. Trappist awaited. It took the hyperdrive seven days to spool up, and the last five minutes were critical.
At that point, a chain reaction would begin and there would be no turning back. To ensure an accurate jump the coordinates had to be inputted as close to the five-minute window as possible. The minds behind the hyperdrive were not quite sure what would happen otherwise and no one wanted to find out. With ten minutes to go the cockpit became a haven of activity.
Shen and her navigator were rapidly calculating the first set of variables to plug into the supercomputer.
"Variables calculated," announced the navigator.
"Same here," replied Shen. "Checksum F5UA7SB?"
"Checksum F5UA7SB."
They nodded at each other.
"Plug 'em in."
They inserted their datapads into the slots on the supercomputer. After about a minute of whirring, a blue indicator light flashed on; SECONDARY VARIABLES CALCULATED. They ripped out their datapads and started work on the final set of variables. A high-pitched buzzing went off. They glanced at the timer, only three minutes left to input final variables. By this time the humming of the hyperdrive was loud enough to be heard across the entire ship.
"Variables calculated!" yelled the navigator.
"Checksum 6H2H13N!"
"Checksum 6H2H13N!"
They slammed their datapads into the slots on the navigation computer. A minute and a half left. For what felt like an eternity, the navigation computer hummed. Forty seconds left, thirty seconds left, twenty seconds left... the five minute window was almost here.
Ten seconds to go.
"We have no solution! we have to abort!," yelled the navigator.
Single digits were now counting down. Shen flipped open the panel for the abort button and just before she was about to punch it the cockpit lights flashed blue, and the navigation computer let out a loud beep. An indicator light came on; SOLUTION CALCULATED. Shen and her navigator let out a sight of relief.
"Accept solution?"
"Accept solution."
"Begin final preparations for the jump, make sure everyone is strapped in tight," commanded Shen. "And don't forget to send a packet back home."
Code:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
//Begin Packet 2197.12.03
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
//////////////////////////// FSA PRIORITY MESSAGE ////////////////////////////
FINAL COUNTDOWN X SEE YOU ON OTHER SIDE
GRVNEJEM
//////////////////////////// FSA PRIORITY MESSAGE ////////////////////////////
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
//End Packet
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The message was received enthusiastically back home. For the next few weeks, the coverage was nonstop. It was an estimated weeklong journey between Sol and Trappist through hyperspace. A week came and passed. Then the second week passed. Where was the GRV Nejem? The theories were running rampant. Perhaps it was possible that communication through hyperspace would not be as easy as it was thought to be, or maybe the communication beacon they dropped at the edge of the solar system malfunctioned. As the days passed on, people started to think the unthinkable. Maybe they never made it.
It was a somber holiday season. Prayers and well-wishes for the crew of the lost GRV Najem were abound. Carole Étoile had two speeches drawn up before the launch and it was increasingly looking like she would be using the one she dreaded the most.
Then, finally, it came.
Code:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
//Begin Packet 2197.12.25
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
//////////////////////////// FSA PRIORITY MESSAGE ////////////////////////////
BUMPY RIDE X HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM TRAPPIST X SURVEY DATA TO FOLLOW
GRVNEJEM
//////////////////////////// FSA PRIORITY MESSAGE ////////////////////////////
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
//End Packet
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It was going to be a good 2198.