CHAPTER 18 “Departure”
Thursday 2 February 2812
The departure ceremony is turning out to be a simple affair, probably to the chagrin of Gregor Pfalz who always wants ceremonies to be like over the top. It’s not lacking for attention, however. It’s estimated that already over 60% of the world’s population is watching the pre-show that we previewed last week. Each of us had to correct errors and misrepresentations that were in our bio videos. There were even errors in the physics of the mission.
The President came up the elevator with his action staff. I heard they almost ran out of barf bags.
We waited in the canteen wearing our green & blue uniforms and our ‘Z’ earrings. I looked around for spots of my blood on the canteen walls, ceiling, and floor but saw none.
“¿Hey Esty, what are you doing for an encore today? ¿Battling an alien army?” Danika teased. “You’ve already done everything else.”
“Yeah, except beating you at poker.”
The pre-show broadcast drew to a close and Gregor Pfalz’s voice announced, “Please welcome Dr. Yves Bardot, Director of the Federal Space Agency.”
“Thank you. Interstellar space travel and the colonization of a far world have been a siren song for me since my youth. I have been privileged in that my entire adult life has been involved in its realization.
“None of this would have been possible without the foresight, dedication, and planning of the brilliant people at ISTRI, the Inter-Stellar Travel Research Institute.
“None of this would have been possible without the millions of hours spent by FSA specialists designing every component.
“None of this would have been possible with the tens of thousands of people who built every component with prideful care.
“And finally, none of this would have been possible without the support of people everywhere. Without the support of people like you, without your willingness to devote a fraction of your income, none of this would have happened.
“It is my privilege and honor to present to you today the remarkable people that anchor this relay of humanity across the heavens.
Somberly he spoke, “Captain Celeste Perry.”
There was no shouting and screaming this time. Hearty applause from dozens of ZERO staff greeted Celeste as she flew at a moderate speed through the canteen door into the converted classroom. She sailed to a post bolted to the floor of the classroom, grasped the post to halt her momentum, stuck her Velcro slippers to the floor in front of it, and faced the small audience and a dozen video cams.
“Sitara Ramachandran”
As Sitara sailed to the post, Celeste Velcro-walked over to the side of the room and stood at ease.
Again, I was the last to be presented and was so glad there was no embarrassing preamble to announcing my name.
“Estrella Ramirez”
I sailed into the room, grasped the post and planted my slippers. As the polite applause waned, I stepped over to stand next to Danika. On cue from Captain Perry, we bowed in unison.
Again, the voice of Gregor Pfalz: “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Earthlings everywhere – The President.”
Two ZERO Station security officers accompanied and mostly carried him to the makeshift stage where they helped him plant his feet next to the post. He raised a hand for quiet and without notes or a prompter began to speak.
“Three and a half billion years of the evolution of life on our planet of birth have gone before us. Six million years have passed since we shared an ancestor with our closest living cousins, the chimpanzees. A hundred thousand years ago, ancestors of ours not only crafted elegant tools using varied materials at their disposal, they crafted objects of beauty, objects of art. Our ancestors went on to craft societies, religions, governments, cultures.
“Our ancestors were not content to live in one place, doing one thing. They struck out across mountains and across seas and across time, domesticating animals and plants as they went. They re-invented themselves as they invented new ways to thrive. The great philosophers of half a millennium BCE in cultures around the globe planted a signpost in time announcing that humans possess intellectual potential beyond mere cleverness and adaptability. Twelve hundred years ago, a brilliant few created a world view that demanded measurements, that demanded evidence, that partnered with mathematics, and that became science.
“But science without wonder is stale. Science without creativity is stifling, and science without vision, without imagination, will not carry us into a better future. It is our task as humankind, indeed our mission as humankind, to be ever filled with wonder at our universe of life and non-life; to exercise our creativity in large ways and small; and last, but not least, our mission as humans is to envision, to imagine, our destiny in this universe.”
[Applause]
“Humankind is setting another signpost in time today when all of us, united all across this grand mother Earth, send a ship across a vast sea of space to expand our presence in this universe and assure that this marvelous legacy continues unbroken for three and a half billion more years into the future – and beyond.”
“Thank you.”
[Applause]
The video monitor cycled from pubs to homes to factories to schools to offices around the globe and to groups of off-planet workers showing people applauding. A ticker tape message across the screen’s bottom claimed that the portion of the world’s population watching was estimated to be over 85% and climbing. The President did a pretty good job of Velcro-walking over to me and shaking my hand; an incredibly special moment for me. He continued on down the line shaking the hands of each of us. He then turned to the cameras and spoke.
“I wish to extend an apology to Ensign Estrella Ramirez and to every person and their families who have suffered from the acts of people of whom we are not proud. As President, I and my staff work hard to eliminate and protect us from the evil acts of persons who are twisted by disease, by selfishness, or by dogma. I choose as President to spurn actions and policies and technologies that would possibly achieve absolute safety, but at the cost of our precious individual freedoms. It is difficult to know what constitutes a proper balance and I welcome your participation and assistance in finding and maintaining an equitable balance of societal constraints and our individual rights. Thank you.”
The applause was strong, long, and respectful. Without waiting for it to abate, Captain Perry took Sitara’s hand and pulled herself into flight toward the post. She used the post to then launch herself back through the doorway into the adjoining canteen.
Sitara took Xingxing’s hand and did likewise. Then Xingxing, Hvezda, and Danika followed suit. At my turn, as scripted, I stepped over to the post, faced the cameras, blew them a two-handed kiss, gave a big smile, waved good-bye to the camera, and used the post to launch myself through the doorway.
Hvezda closed the door and we all shed our monogrammed uniforms for Trillium jumpsuits. In no particular order we stepped through the airlock into Alberto’s shuttle and back into the global view of video cameras.
All was going so well, like perfect even. I had resisted an impulse to pick a booger I felt in my nose – it would have been the booger picked around the world.
Each of us was wrapped in our own thoughts as our shuttle approached the docking ring at the Command Module. The video feed switched from us to an exterior view of the tiny shuttle against the kilometers-long starship with its disk folded along the fuselage. The camera switched to a view from the Command Module showing the approaching shuttle with ZERO Station in the background.
All of us shook Alberto’s hand and traded pleasantries as we passed him on our way into the Command Module. Missing were the off-color jokes. As Celeste and Sitara took their positions, Hvezda and Danika flew off to their module while Xingxing & I flew around to the Nursery. There we donned our space suits, locked on our helmets with their colorful ears, took our positions, and buckled in.
I asked the controller, “¿What is my name?”
“Estrella Ramirez, Trillium dash one.”
The display showed our 22-hour countdown sequence paused at 25 minutes. I had nothing more to do at the moment, so I switched on my heads-up display allowing me to look around while watching the display at the same time. I could see Xingxing in the next room of the Module at her own controller station through the connecting doorway. The silly ears on her helmet made me smile.
Shortly, Celeste’s voice sounded in my helmet. “Controller, resume countdown.”
All I could think of was, ‘Oh shit, we’re really going to do this; I’m really going to do this.’
There was another pause at 2m 44s while the controller double-checked a pressure reading for a cooling circuit in the #2 chemical rocket engine. Apparently one of the three sensors went wacko but the other two agreed perfectly as the controller cycled the pressure up and down a few percent in a pre-programmed diagnostic routine.
Countdown resumed and I badly wanted to hold someone; hold someone’s hand; have someone hold me.
At 1m 10s the door between Xingxing and me slid shut and sealed. At every high-risk situation, we are supposed to be individually protected as much as feasible to minimize multiple losses.
“… two … one … zero.”
Acceleration smoothly eased up to twenty percent g. A glance at the public video feed showed a close-up of Trillium inching past before it switched to a wide-angle view from ZERO Station. The rocket exhaust was a multicolored funnel shape; gorgeous. As the chemical and FECS engines increased their thrust, the acceleration got uncomfortably strong.
Captain Perry’s voice: “Holding at point three g. Report.
“Ramirez, A-OK.”
“Johansson, A-OK.”
“Lo, A-OK.”
“Dubcek, A-OK.”
“Ramachandran, A-OK.”
“Roger. Increasing to point four g.”
I was crushed into my seat as I was during the propulsion tests, but that acceleration was only for ten seconds at a time. This was relentless.
“Holding at point four. Report.”
“Ramirez, A-OK.”
“Johansson, A-OK.”
“Lo, A-OK.”
“Dubcek, A-OK.”
“Ramachandran, A-OK.”
“Roger. Increasing to point five.”
Groans and squeals from the complaining ginormous superstructure resonated with the Nursery Module walls. I could feel the vibrations in my gut.
“We are at maximum; zero point five. Report.”
“Ramirez, A-OK except for squeals and groans.”
“Johansson, A-OK except for Esty’s squeals and groans.”
“Lo, A-OK. She’s louder here in the Nursery module.”
“Dubcek, A-OK.”
“Ramachandran, A-OK.”
“Roger. Remain where you are with helmets locked until you hear otherwise.”
A cartoon voice squeaked, “Otherwise.”
“Captain. I’ve changed my mind. ¿May I go home now?”
“Somebody turned up the gravity.”
“Toto, something tells me we’re not in orbit anymore.”
“Dubcek, I’ve got failure to report for LPCP 205 Golf.”
“Roger that Hvezda, we see that here too.”
“I find it difficult to believe that Earthlings live at one point zero g.”
“Mission Control. Captain Perry here. We are at maximum acceleration; zero point five g. Controller reports one minor issue. We lost the data stream from LPCP 205 Golf. No other issues reported.”
“This is Mission Control. We confirm lack of data from LPCP 205 Golf. Congratulations on an optimal launch. Spectacular and colorful.”
“Save your congratulations for those responsible. We’re just along for the ride.”
“Copy that. Shirt sleeves at your discretion, Captain.”
“Trillium Crew, Perry here. You may remove helmets and walk around. For now, stay in your space suits.”
It was a relief to have the helmet off but walking around in half a g sucked. Flying around was far superior to trying to balance on two feet while being crushed to the floor. Not only that, my innards were like all shoving down on my bladder, but Xinxing got to the commode first. Dang. I didn’t want to wet my diaper. “Xingxing, don’t take all day!”
Half an hour after launch, the chems had just about used up their hundreds of tonnes of fuel. Over the intercom, I heard Sitara order the controller, “Reduce chemical rocket thrust to 25% over a ten second span starting now.”
My lightness was heavenly. I pushed off with my legs, touched the ceiling, and settled gently back to the floor.
“Execute shut-off of chemical rocket engines when imbalance exceeds 10%.”
To get every last joule from the liquid fuel, we will run the chem rockets at reduced power until either the LOX or the liquid hydrogen is depleted. To kill the time, I popped up the nav display. We were already over 15,000 kilometers from ZERO and every second put us nearly another 9 kilometers farther. The nav display also told me that our closing velocity to New Sol was more like 40 kilometers per second since it figured in the orbital velocities of Zero Station and of the Earth.
I felt a new sort of shaking for a brief moment before the chems shut down. We were at eight and a half percent g. I can fly, I can fly, I can fly.
“Commence Chemical Rocket separation sequence.”
The controller replied in the voice of Jean Luc Piccard, a video character starship captain from long ago, “Chemical Rocket Separation sequence initiated. Safety latches released. Backup data connections released. Power connections released. Structural connections released. I have tactile and visual confirmation of units one, two, and three separation. Recession velocities increasing. Process completed optimally.”
Now just the 9 disposable FECS engines are tasked with accelerating us for the next year. The discarded chem engines and fuel tanks are receding behind us. FSA will track them for a time, but they already have enough speed to leave the solar system forever.
It’s now time to face the public for our first in-flight media interview. Celeste told the controller to vocally interrupt us for any anomalies. It probably would anyway; it’s pretty smart.
Xingxing and I settled slowly to the floor and sat together in front of a cam. The video monitor was segmented into thirds with two of the crew in each segment.
“Mission control here. We will be live in 22 seconds.”
I took the opportunity to make faces at the camera. Danika must have seen me since she started goofing off as well.
“Live in 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1. Welcome to the Trillium Starship and its crew of six remarkable women.” As he named us in turn, we each smiled and lifted a hand.
“Captain Perry, we understand that the start of your interstellar journey went very smoothly. ¿Would you describe that for us?”
“I’d be glad to. After we boarded Trillium, we put our space suits on just in case there was a rocket malfunction or structural failure. When the countdown reached ….” Celeste pretty much told them every little thing that happened except for the rush on the commodes.
Then Mission Control introduced Juan Mendez, a schoolteacher from Peru, who had a question from his class.
“Captain Perry and all of the Trillium crew, my students decided on this question they have for you. ¿Do you have any pets traveling with you or plan to have pets?”
The voice of Mission Control asked, “¿Who would like to take that question? Danika, go ahead.”
“Back at ZERO Station I kept wondering how a pet cat would like manage getting around in zero g. You could probably figure out ways to … uh … for it to get food and water and I think a smart kitten would learn to maybe bounce around where it wanted to go, but I could never like figure out a zero g cat box for it.” We chuckled at that. “But here on Trillium we experience a gravity, although much less than yours. You know, we’ve got cat zygotes – fertilized cat embryos – frozen here. We even have a programmable womb that could like produce a baby kitten. Uh. Captain. ¿Are we allowed to have pets?”
Celeste sat silently for a moment before answering. “This is a question that will need to be referred to ISTRI. I am concerned that a non-housebroken pet here could destroy sophisticated and essential equipment. Even a hairball could cause serious problems. We thank you and your students for such an unexpected question, even if it has opened a can-of-worms.”
“Now, from California, eight-year-old Lissy Eubanks has a question for you.”
She was red-haired and freckled and read mechanically from an e-pad. “Hello. My name is Lissy Eubanks and I live in Stockton, California. I want to know why people say there is gravity in Trillium. I thought gravity came from the Earth and other planets and the sun.”
“I’d like to try answering that,” Xinxing said.
I turned toward her skeptically. I couldn’t imagine how she was going to explain General Relativity and the Equivalency Principle to an eight-year-old.
“Lissy, that is a super-smart question. ¿Have you ever traveled in a train, Lissy?”
“Lot’sa times”
“¿Remember what it feels like when it starts moving? You are pulled toward the back of the train car. It feels like there is a planet back there for a few seconds. You see, we’ve started moving just like that train, but Trillium just keeps going faster and faster making it seem like there is always a planet behind us. Centuries ago, a young man named Albert Einstein asked the very same question you just asked us: ‘¿Why is it that a change in motion feels like gravity?’ It took him years of studying math and science before he figured out the answer. His answer is marvelous and wonderful and explains much more than anyone imagined it would. I hope you study math and science because if you do then you will see the beauty in his answer and feel the wonder that Albert felt. And perhaps you will figure out some of the questions that still need answering.”
“Thank you Lissy, thank you Xingxing, and our thanks to the entire Trillium crew. Please join us tomorrow for another visit with Trillium. This is Mission Control signing off.”
The live feed became a commercial for a banking firm. I switched it off.
The intercom came to life. “¿What about an aquarium?”
“I’d love to have an Abyssinian kitten.”
“Gerbils are fun.”
“I once had a tarantula.”