Tag Archives: Charlie One

Another Plan Delta

10 Sunday Apr 2016

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  • Mars Date/Time:  Year 001, Sur Two, Wednesday, Sol 35 (001.2.35)  16:38 NST
  • Earth Date/Time:  Saturday, 9 April 2016  2:12 PM PDT 

Jenna then turned to Ken and said, “We’ve really screwed up. We may only have minutes.” Ken responded, “We would have seen Lars go to the Engineering and ICP sections.” Jenna said, “He’s been moving outside the ship and we have three ICP drives.

Suddenly, what Jenna said sank in for the Command team. The ICP drives for the QE II and Charlie One were attached along the core of the ship, and they were in ‘cold’ condition,’ meaning a person would need to be in a spacesuit to enter, unless they were powered up.

Jenna looked at her Engineering Director and said, “Roman, use the cameras at look for Lars on both of the stowed ICP drives.” Roman moved quickly to a workstation and began scanning the drives. Then Jenna said, “Anna, prepare to release both ICP drives, and Ken, as soon as Zeke and Jeramy are done with the booby trap, have them move to the spare ICP drives and prepare to tow them away from the ship.”

Roman came back and said, “I don’t see Lars on either drive, but both sections have wires running where they shouldn’t be. I think both are rigged.” Jenna said, “Damn! Roman, prepare to move the ship away from the ICP drives as soon as they’re clear.” Ken said, “What about Zeke and Jeramy?” Jenna replied, “As soon as they have cleared the drives from the ship, they can move clear of them. Assuming we’re still alive, we will send a ship back for them.”

In the next few minutes everything went as planned. After Jeramy dispensed with the bomb on the pod, he and Zeke attached to the spare ICP drives and moved them away from the ship. Anna and Roman used the thrusters to move the Sagan away from the rigged ICP sections.

And then they waited. If Lars wasn’t aware of the earlier activities, he would know something was up when the ship engaged the thrusters. He had to know the game was up and they knew he was on the ship. Five minutes passed and nothing happened. Then Anna exclaimed, “Charlie One Command section has just released.”

They looked on the monitor and saw the Command section slowly moving away from the ship. Anna regained her composure and said, “Close all hatches.” Then made a crew announcement, “All hands, all decks, prepared for impact and depressurization.”

Jenna was momentarily pleased that Anna was not waiting for orders, but using her own judgement to anticipate what was coming. The Jenna realized that within a few moments of proving her skills as a Captain, she might be dead.

The Command section of Charlie One had no main drive, but the thrusters on it could give it enough ramming speed to severely damage the Sagan. Ramming it into the rotating Hab sections would send out debris that would compromise most, if not all, pressurized areas. The ICP drive on the Sagan could put the ship far away from Lars, but it would take hours to prepare the drive for ignition. The Sagan was an easy target for Lars.

Anna then said, “Full reverse thrusters.” Jenna thought that Anna’s plan would be a desperate act, but it was better to force Lars to hit a moving target. They watched the Sagan begin to slowly back away from the receding Command ship, but Lars responded and rotated the section then began accelerating at the Sagan. He was aiming for the Hab Quills. It seemed like it was all in slow motion, but Jenna knew that by the time of impact the Command Section would be going at over a hundred kilometers per hour.

The mass of the Sagan made it sluggish, compared to the mass of the single core Command section that Lars was piloting. Lars was rapidly approaching and in seconds the Mars mission would be over.

Two pods suddenly flew into view and were aimed at Lars and the Command section. The first pod rammed into the Command section with explosive force. The gash was at least three times longer than the pod and atmosphere, debris, and a person were ejected into space. The pod was embedded in the section, and Jenna couldn’t determine how badly it was damaged. 

The other pod expertly grabbed onto the front of the section and began rotating it away from the Sagan. The thrusters were still active and the section began moving away. Anna commanded, “Forward thruster! Match previous speed.” Slowly the Sagan began slowing its relative reverse motion, then the ship began to move forward.

At the same time, Jenna and the rest of the Command team watched the wreckage of the other ship move off. The second pod released from the front of the Command section and moved down to the embedded pod. It grabbed the pod and reversed it out of the wreckage, then the second pod began towing it back toward the Sagan as Charlie One’s Command section became smaller and smaller on the monitor.

Jenna knew that Zeke was in the second pod. Few, if any, pod drivers could have grabbed a ship moving at a different relative speed and rotated it. They zoomed in on Jeramy’s pod and could see it was severely damaged. Jeramy would have still been in his space suit, but the collision was so violent that shrapnel would have blown through the cockpit.

As the pods got closer the camera was focused in on a gap in Jeramy’s pod and they were able to see the upper part of his space suit. The face plate was partly torn away, and Jeramy’s bloody face was briefly visible. He was dead.

The Twin Protocol

06 Wednesday Apr 2016

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  • Mars Date/Time:  Year 001, Sur Two, Sunday, Sol 32 (001.2.32)  18:21 NST
  • Earth Date/Time:  Wednesday, 6 April 2016  2:00 PM PDT 
  • Distance traveled:  145,097,064 kilometers   Time Delay:  4 mins 12 secs
  • Distance to Mars Rendezvous:  247,312,688 kilometers

“Jenna, they found the mystery woman,” Ken said as he joined the Director’s Mess, “Unfortunately, she was killed and put in a convenience store dumpster in Reno, Nevada. Two men were seen dumping the body and attempting to pour gasoline and light it, but the clerk on duty chased them away. He got the license plate, but the car was stolen.”

Roman said, “She had to know she was expendable when we discovered the breach.” Ken added, “I suspect she didn’t even try to get out of the country. They’re trying to find out who she was, but it’s likely everything about her was fiction.”

“What Putin saying about all this?, asked Lanny. Jenna replied, “He denies everything, and says it is ESEP propaganda; however, the reality is that Russia is feeling the heat from the rest of the world. the FSB had agents implicated in every member country, but China.” Ken added, “The links from the FSB agents embedded in ESEP led to exposure of their network worldwide. It was a massive blow to their spy network and they are still uncovering more Russian rats.”

“What about our people on board?” Anna asked. Ken answered, “We’re still interrogating people, but everyone seems to have an alibi and we can verify their stories. We have a few people who were alone in their quarters and we are focusing on them, but whoever murdered Joseph was a pro and he knows our ship.”

Anna asked, “But what about emails and text messages? Don’t we have leads there?” Jenna said, “Megan is looking into that, but other than a few attempts to influence people, the crew appears clean. They are focusing on the Charlie One crew now. That would have been the easiest route to put an agent on board.”

Jenna then sighed, and said,

“We have to face the reality that whoever we are dealing with is not going to be caught easily, and every moment is an opportunity to sabotage us. For that reason I’m going to establish new security protocols. Tonight, I am going to establish a curfew at eight PM. All off duty staff are to be in their quarters or in the company of another person. Tomorrow, at six AM, all crew members will be restricted to their area of operation and anyone needing to move through the ship must follow the twin protocol….yes, all movement throughout the ship must be in groups of at least two people or more. I already have added one person at the monitor bay watching the whole ship, but their job will be easier if we don’t have lone wolves going through the ship. Engineering has worked out additional safeguard to the ICP drive, power, and life support.”

Naomi said, “Eventually, this guy’s luck is going to run out.” Jenna replied, “On the contrary, time is on his side.”

Orientation

31 Thursday Mar 2016

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  • Mars Date/Time:  Year 001, Sur Two, Monday, Sol 26 (001.2.26)  22:13 NST
  • Earth Date/Time:  Thursday, 31 March 2016  2:00 PM PDT 
  • Distance traveled:  123,467,688 kilometers   Time Delay:  4 mins 00 secs
  • Distance to Mars Rendezvous:  268,942,064 kilometers

The crew of Charlie One were surprised and disappointed when they were told they would have a twenty-four hour quarantine in their Hab section. They were told that Dr. Summers had ordered it at the last-minute, but it had actually been ordered by Director Wade. It gave time for Ken to get his security team to Maui.

Jenna had informed them that at the end of the quarantine they would meet in Charlie One’s Mess section for a welcome and orientation. Now, her Command team enter their Hab section slightly less than twenty-four hours after the ships were merged. Ian Banks and Jeramy Prater casually waited outside. They were under orders to not allow anyone out that was not under escort by a Sagan crew member.

Jenna welcomed them and thanked them for their quick response to the emergency. She continued,

“You have been put into a very difficult position. Each of you had only hours to decide to join this mission, and at the time you didn’t know if it would be a rescue mission, a recovery mission, or a mission to go to Mars. Now you are committed to at least a two-year adventure that you didn’t know you’d be a part of two weeks ago.

Our crew is under the observation of Counselor Wendy Stevens and her Earthside team. Each of our crew was evaluated after I selected them, for final approval for this mission by ESEP. Each of you will now undergo a similar evaluation as you are oriented to duties on the Sagan.

Don’t worry. We are not going to put you in a pod and send you off in the general direction of Earth; however, it is important we know how we can assist each of you to transition into the reality that we have thrown at you.

For the time being, we will keep you assigned to your current quarters. Eventually, some of you may be moved into quarters that make more sense based upon your assigned duties. If there are things you need from Earth please give the list to Ling Cho, our Logistics Officer. The Data will be launched on Sol 58 and we can add almost anything to its cargo that we may need. It will arrive at Mars in 64 Sols after it leaves Earth orbit.

We are establishing a three-week orientation program for all of you. After that, we will give you an official assignment; however, I would guess most of you will know what that assignment will be within a couple of weeks. We will not be making any decisions about surface assignment for several weeks.

I will be interviewing each of you over the next several days. My Chief of Staff will be giving you your schedule. For tonight, please get some sleep, and we will begin the orientation schedule at eight in the morning. Also, each of you will have a physical exam tomorrow with our medical staff. Again, thank you for your sacrifice and welcome to our crew.”

Jenna and her Command team shook hands with the eighteen new crew members and then headed back up to the core. Naomi walked over to Joseph and said, “Mr. Volkvo, the Director would like to interview you now.”

Charlie One’s Red Flag

30 Wednesday Mar 2016

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  • Mars Date/Time:  Year 001, Sur Two, Sunday, Sol 25 (001.2.25)  22:51 NST
  • Earth Date/Time:  Wednesday, 30 March 2016  2:00 PM PDT 
  • Distance traveled:  119,862,792 kilometers   Time Delay:  4 mins 00 secs
  • Distance to Mars Rendezvous:  272,546,960 kilometers

Zeke had worked with Anna and Keira to establish protocols on merging Charlie One with the Sagan. This time the integration would all take place over the next hour. Charlie One stood a kilometer off to the side of the Sagan and it finished a six-hour deceleration to match speed with the bigger ship.

Ken crossed from his workstation to Jenna’s and said, “Can we talk in your quarters?” Jenna looked surprised, but got up immediately and they started down the Quill. On the way Ken called Wendy and ask her to join them.

Wendy was just a few feet behind them as they climbed off on to the level of Jenna’s quarters. After they all entered and the door was closed Ken began to talk, “We may have a problem. You asked me to look at the Charlie One crew from a security-risk standpoint, and I believe we may have one of their crew that could be a problem.”

Jenna responded first, “What type of problem?” Ken said, “Joseph Volkov is the Captain of the ship. He was selected because they had no experienced Captains immediately available, and he had pilot experience. It was a risk, but they decided that if a Captain was needed, another ship would be sent.” Wendy said, “That doesn’t seem to be a problem.”

Ken nodded and said,

“No, but he was a pilot for the Russian Air Force, and washed out of the Russian astronaut program. He flew for Aeroflot for a while, then he moved to the United States. NASA wouldn’t let him into the program because of his background. We let hired him and he was competent as long as he was sober, but he’s had a few issues with drinking. About a year ago he apparently had a girlfriend that straightened him up and he was doing better, but in a review of his emails, it seems she’s been pushing him to get on a Mars mission.

His sister moved to the United States at the same time he did and she now lives on Maui. Recently, she pushing him to remember his birthright and recently told him that their aunt from the home country sent them $10,000.”

Jenna said, “Let me guess, they don’t have an aunt.” Ken replied, “They don’t have any relation. They didn’t when they came here in 1998. Also, the girlfriend…she doesn’t exist prior to three years ago.”

Night Shift

24 Thursday Mar 2016

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  • Mars Date/Time:  Year 001, Sur Two, Tuesday, Sol 20 (001.2.20)  02:42 NST
  • Earth Date/Time:  Thursday, 24 March 2016  2:00 PM PDT 
  • Distance traveled:  98,233,416 kilometers   Time Delay:  3 mins 48 secs
  • Distance to Mars Rendezvous:  294,176,366 kilometers

Jenna didn’t normally work the night shift, but with all the work done to repair the Comm section after the meteoroid strike, she wanted to give as much of the crew a good night’s sleep as possible. Paige also volunteered to work the shift, and it was decided that the ship’s computer could monitor the systems, which allowed the engineer on duty to sleep, unless there was a significant problem.

It was now a quarter to three in the morning. Jenna was reviewing the manifest of Charlie One. The chase ship had been launched the day after ESEP Earthside lost contact with the Sagan. Before the launch of Charlie One, it had been decided to have it continue to the Sagan, even if contact was restored. The only thing that would have turned it back would have been if the crew had been lost.

Since it was unlikely that Charlie One would immediately return, it treated as a Mars-bound journey, and it was loaded with as much of the cargo as possible. With the crisis resolved, Charlie One would now merge with the Sagan and its crew would join the Sagan’s crew.

“They certainly loaded up Charlie One,” Jenna remarked to Paige. Jenna and Paige were at two workstations in the Operations Center of the Command Deck. Jenna’s normal workstation was two deck lower, but the night shift usually worked on the same level to allow conversation and to back each other up.

“It will be strange to have new people come on board,” Paige said. “I think Mars is testing our adaptability,” Jenna replied, “but the new people should help reduce the workload, and it was a good test of our rescue capabilities. Claude put together a full ship in less than twenty-four hours.”

It was quiet for a moment, then Paige said, “Did you expect this…all the surprises?” Jenna thought, then answered, “My background was in the Royal Navy, but my combat experience was limited. We trained to make field decisions, but most of the time everything was planned to the last nut and bolt. When I was in her Majesty’s service, I wondered how I would do if I faced combat conditions. I guess this is my answer.”

Paige said, “You’re amazing to me. It seems like nothing rattles you.” Jenna smiled, “Can I tell you a secret? Losing Nick really hurt. I didn’t realize how much I depended on him until he was gone….and there’s another secret….it was the people on this ship that kept me going, like when you stepped up and protected our computer systems, and then broke into the ESEP system. It was brilliant, and it allowed me to do everything I needed to do in the situation.”

Paige said, “Thanks, but I have to tell you it was a bit fun taking down the curmudgeons who tried to take over ESEP.” Jenna smiled, “Yes, but they wouldn’t have lasted long. People like that never really accomplish anything.”

Paige and Jenna chatted most of the night. It was the most relaxed Jenna had been in days. At 6:00 AM, she met with her Command team for the morning briefing, and as it broke up she got a text message from Paige, asking if she could see her before she went to sleep. Paige came down to Jenna’s quarters and Paige closed the door.

Paige said, “I wanted to tell you that for the first time, I don’t feel like Anna’s little sister, and that is because of you. Being selected for the crew was…amazing, but I knew it was in part because they wanted to study siblings on a mission…but when you brought me in to help Dane, and then asked me to give the word to begin the countdown, I felt like I was worthy of being on this crew.

Jenna responded, “Perhaps I….” That was all she could say because Paige suddenly moved forward and gave her a passionate kiss. Jenna didn’t resist. She was actually surprised by how much was enjoying it. Then she started kissing Paige back. After several minutes Paige slowly pulled back. Quietly she said, “I also wanted you to know how much I want you…in case you’re interested in spending some off duty time together.”

Jenna was speechless. Paige said, “I’ll let you get some sleep, and maybe we can talk later.” Paige gave her one last kiss, then turned and walked out the door. Jenna was an expert in dealing with almost any crisis that could come up, but nothing had the physical or emotional impact on her as Paige’s kiss. Jenna’s entire reality changed in a matter of seconds.

Press Conference

21 Monday Mar 2016

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  • Mars Date/Time:  Year 001, Sur Two, Saturday, Sol 17 (001.2.17)  04:38 NST
  • Earth Date/Time:  Monday, 21 March 2016  2:00 PM PDT
  • Distance traveled:  87,418,728 kilometers   Time Delay:  3 mins 36 secs
  • Distance to Mars Rendezvous:  304,991,024 kilometers

Megan stood behind a plexiglass lectern and faced the sixty reporters that had been given credentials for the press conference. She was not accustomed to making formal press statements, but she was always close by her former boss when he did, and she had advised him on what questions might be asked, and how to answer them.

However, being the person with the camera lens focused on them, was different from supporting the person with the camera lens focused on them. The room had been noisy when she walked in, but now there it was silent. She began,

“As you know from our first news conference last night, we lost signal with the ESS Sagan at 5:48 AM Nippon Standard Time, 1:48 PM Pacific Daylight Time or 5:04 AM Noctis Standard Time. The Sagan had traveled approximately 83.8 million kilometers.

As we said last night, we have visual confirmation that the ship is intact; however, we cannot see enough detail on the ship to determine any physical damage to the ship.

Our engineers have gone over the possible scenarios that would cause a loss of signal with the ship, and the two most likely scenarios are an explosion on the ship, or a strike by a small meteoroid. Almost any explosion would cause the ship to spin and/or deviate from course, which has not happened.

We believe that a meteoroid strike is to most likely explanation for the loss of signal. Specifically, a meteoroid strike in the ship’s Communications or Comm section would be able to disable all the communication temporarily; however, the Sagan has two Comm Sections. The one in use was the section that was originally part of the ESS Queen Elizabeth II. The Sagan originally had a smaller Comm system that was used prior to the merge of the two ships. It is located in front of the QE II’s original Comm section. It is possible that both were damaged, or for some reason, the crew is not able to access either Comm sections. 

Two hours ago we sent a chase ship after the Sagan. This ship, designated Charlie One, consists of a Comm Section, an ICP drive section, a fuel storage section, one Hab section with four, seven-section Quills and eight cargo Quills each with four sections. It is coming up to velocity, which will be just over 300,000 kilometers per hour, or twice the speed of the Sagan.

However, because Earth has been moving in the same relative direction as the Sagan, the distance between them is only 43 million kilometers. It will take nine days for Charlie One to overtake the Sagan, which will be sometime on March 30th or Sol 25 of Sur Two. It has a crew of 18 on board. 

I’ll now take questions.”

“What possible reasons might prevent the crew from reaching the Communication sections?”

“To your question, if this was a meteoroid strike, the section would be sealed to prevent the loss of atmosphere. They would have to repair the damage to the section to repressurize it, before they could enter it and begin work of repairing or switching to the other Comm Section. There is also the possibility that the damage is to both sections. We should face the possibility that we may not have contact with them until Charlie One reaches them.”

“Elon Musk has said that ESEP has moved too fast and that this situation is a direct result of ESEP ignoring the safety concerns of several engineers and the former Director of Security, who committed suicide because of his despondency over the situation.”

“First, Elon Musk has no capability of getting out of low Earth orbit, let alone to catch up with our ship, so he cannot know the cause of this situation. Second, the people he is referring to were all involved in the criminal takeover of ESEP in attempt to create a dictatorial-style management over our space program. They used the tragedy of the loss of our Director and several others to kidnap and lock out the people who were the decision-making authority and they illegally took command of the Mars mission and attempted to end it. The Director of Security was the leader of this group and his suicide occurred after he was arrested for multiple felonies associated with his actions.”

The room erupted in reporters asking questions, but Megan’s focus was on one person. The Mission Director had walked into the room and was now coming up to whisper something to her. She listened and then held up her hand to silence the unruly behavior of the journalists. She turned back to the lectern and said,

“We have contact with Director Wade. The crew is safe. We will have another press conference later today after we have had a chance to talk with her.”

Megan then left the room as the journalists erupted into an even louder outburst of questions, none of which were intelligible. None of that mattered. Everyone was alive.