Adrift Among The Stars — Part Three
Can They Survive
When Ka’rail awakened, he observed six hours had elapsed. Additionally, the message indicator on his communicator was blinking. One of the women had set it to “private” to keep him from being disturbed. He played the announcement the Captain had issued two hours earlier. The Captain spoke the truth about their situation, but he had left more room for optimism than Ka’rail thought the facts justified.
“While we don’t know our exact location,” the Captain said, “observations of objects outside of our galaxy indicate we are no more than a thousand light-years from the Ta’rus colony. From this distance, our usual navigation stars are very dim, but still observable. It is only a matter of time before the Astrogator locates them and determines our location. Then, when the primary generators are repaired, we can transmit a hyperspace distress signal.”
Ka’rail noticed several omissions from this report. First, from this distance the Abrogator’s position measurement would have an uncertainty of at least a quarter of a light-year. A trivial amount, given the size of the galaxy, but an impossibly large volume of space to be searched by a rescue ship. Second, repair of the primary generator was far from a certainty. Third, no amount of power could punch a transmission through 1,000 light-years of hyperspace. Finally, it would take a rescue ship more than a year to reach them and no ship currently existed which could sustain a hyperspace bubble for a year.
The most significant omission from the Captain’s report was any mention of how they came to be 1,000 light-years off course.
A second message was a request from the Captain for Ka’rail to report to the Control Room as soon as possible. Oddly, it was not an order. Ka’rail dashed through the shower and dressed in a fresh jumpsuit.
“Watcher Ka’rail reporting as requested,” he said, upon entering the Control Room.
“Ah, Ka’rail, good to see you.” The Captain was alone in the compartment His disheveled appearance indicated he had been there ever since Ka’rail had awakened him. “Please takeover for me. I’m in desperate need of rest. This is not a time for a sluggish mind to make an errant decision.”
“Of course, sir.”
“The Brain is busy searching for the navigation stars. We narrowed the search area, so it shouldn’t take much longer. The Engineer is inside the engineering section evaluating the damage.” The Captain turned to the doorway.
“Sir, is there a theory as to how we got so far off course?”
The Captain looked down. “The best guess is a wormhole. Ro’sim postulates we somehow crossed paths with a wormhole and surfed,” the Captain made an odd motion with his hand as he described the Astrogator’s words, “along its surface.”
“How does that work?” Physics theories postulated the existence of wormholes — otherwise known as rips in the space-time fabric which allowed a tunnel between two distant locations. None had ever been observed, nor was there was an idea how a ship could pass through a wormhole. Their diameter could be only slightly larger than a molecule.
“No real idea, but there is a theory. A wormhole has its ends in normal space-time, but it is really a folding of space-time. Our gravity engine makes similar folds in the fabric of space to allow us to travel faster than the speed of light. Thus, in hyperspace we can collide with the wormhole’s warp and be thrown in its direction.” He shrugged. “No idea if this is what happened, but it seems to fit with the data.”
Ka’rail nodded. He did recall reading a technical report where it was postulated that a ship in hyperspace could slide along the exterior surface of a wormhole at a speed much greater than normal. They could have traveled hundreds of light-years in a few milliseconds.
Appearing to suddenly remember something, the Captain pointed toward the astorgation display. “There’s a rather mundane yellow star about ten billion miles away. See what you can learn about it. See if there are any ice objects orbiting the star we can capture.”
“Certainly, sir.” Ka’rail smiled and realized there was a reason for optimism. Such a star would likely harbor a planet which they could use. Even if the planet contained no life, it would have materials they needed to produce oxygen, water, and food. Additionally, once they knew their location, they would know the designation of the star. This would give their rescuers an exact location to find them. It would still take a long time to be rescued, but Ka’rail was suddenly happy about their situation. Aboard ship, they had over a hundred mail-order brides. This was the one spot in the Universe where women out numbered men four to one. Spending a year or two between the likes of El’ban and Og’cun was not a bad plan.
***
El’ban moaned a carnal sigh, and then asked, “What’s next?”
Ka’rail did not think she was referencing their next sexual escapade. He had a private cabin, but his bed was a narrow bunk. It was quite uncomfortable when El’ban lay with him; however, he’d never dreamt of complaining. It had been two weeks since the hyperspace accident, and the women passengers had surrendered to the realization their marriage contracts were void. He guessed she was asking about the status of the starship.
“Well, the crack in the hull has been sealed.” Ka’rail didn’t mention that the Engineer declined to use the word repaired. “One of the primary generators is back online, but they had to cannibalize parts from the other. We have sufficient power to operate the water and air recyclers. With the food supplies in the hold, we can last a really long time. The hyperspace generators are a lost cause, but the sub-light engine works. The bad news here is that two of the three fuel tanks were cracked; thus, we have minimal fuel.” As of yet, there had been no distress signal sent, but he didn’t mention this fact either.
“What about the planets around the star?”
“Surprisingly, this star has never been cataloged. It would be very dim, as seen from home, but it should be visible. The Astrogator suspects there is a dust cloud or such that keeps it invisible from home.” Ka’rail hugged her nude body and shifted her weight from his numb arm. “But then, it’s an unimaginable blessing. There are three planets in the habitable zone where the surface is the correct temperature for liquid water. If they have an atmosphere, they are likely to have oceans and such. Life is a real possibility, but not a necessity. We have supplies to create our own habitat. All we need is water.”
“When will we go exploring?”
“That’s a problem. This ship was never intended for extended sub-light travel. With only one fuel tank, it would take us a decade to reach the inner planets. We’re searching for a block of ice orbiting the star to use for fuel. It’s taking a while as they are so widely spaced and small. Looking down toward the star, we can’t visibly see them, so we are relying on observations of their gravitation fields.” Ka’rail sighed. “We just have to wait until one drifts close enough.”
Two days later, the ship’s company celebrated the discovery of a small object a mere three million miles away. “It’s about a quarter of a mile in diameter and preliminary density measurements imply it is mostly water-ice,” the Captain reported.
The Astrogator plotted a course and the sub-light engine was ignited. Gingerly, they approached the tiny fragment left over from the creation of the planetary system.
Four days later, they had matched the object’s orbit around the star. The starship was a hundred yards from the object and, with only the backdrop of the stars for a visual reference, they appeared to be stationary.
Everyone else was occupied with the process of capturing the object, leaving Ka’rail to watch the Control Room. He had snuck El’ban into the room to watch.
“It’s beautiful,” she said.
Ka’rail was quite pleased to see the icy object, but he could not see any beauty in the grayish surface. It was a dumbbell-shaped blob; giving the impression it had originally been two separate ice bodies which merged together billions of years ago. Since then, it had slowly collected other primordial debris and was now covered with a dusty layer of gravel. The oblong object was slowly tumbling. Ka’rail imagined landing the shuttle on its surface was going to be a tricky maneuver.
“There,” Ka’rail pointed to the shuttle entering their view, “that’s Dy’low piloting that shuttle. The Engineer has located its center of rotation. A beam from the gravity generator will be projected to a specific spot. We will give it a carefully measured push intended to stop its rotation. Dy’low will land on it and attach three tethers. Then, we’ll simply slowly winch over to the ship.”
Over the next two hours, they watched the scenario play out. If there were in upsets in the plan, Ka’rail did not observe them. When requested by the Engineer, Ka’rail initiated the gravity generator to hold the object close to the starship.
“How are we going to get the ice into the fuel tanks?” El’ban asked.
“The engineering assistants with Dy’low will attach a heater-collector to the surface. It uses decay heat from uranium material from one of the ship’s reactors to heat the surface, and then the moisture is collected and pumped to the fuel tanks. All this has to be done smoothly, before the water vapor is lost to the vacuum of space.”
“How long will it take?”
“A very long time, but that won’t matter. As soon as a thousand pounds or so of the water is collected, the flow will be diverted straight to the sub-light engine. We will carry the object like an external fuel tank as we accelerate down toward the star. At some point, the ship’s fuel tanks will be full, and we’ll cut what’s left of the object loose.”
“It all sounds very complicated.”
“While no one aboard has actually done the maneuver, it is one of the standard emergency refueling procedures and the equipment to perform the operation is always aboard.”
“Won’t the big, heavy object drastically slow our acceleration?”
“Yes, but overall, this is the most efficient procedure.”
The ship was now overdue at the Ta’rus colony. For a few weeks they would presume the starship had suffered the loss of one of the primary power generators and was proceeding at a reduced speed. But eventually, they would have to consider the ship was lost. There would be no search attempt; it was simply impossible. All too soon, Ka’rail, El’ban, and the others would be forgotten.
Ka’rail was not particularly distressed by their predicament. He could not remember the last time he had been on the surface of a planet. For the past several years he had lived aboard one ship or another, or a space station. Being stranded in this starship was no different. However, he was surrounded by beautiful women who were searching for a means to distract their minds from the desperate situation. Thus, Ka’rail was happier than he could remember ever having been.
El’ban pressed her finger to the collar of her jumpsuit.
“Do you remember how we made love here the day of the jump?”
“Of course. How could I ever forget that day?”
She smiled and pulled her finger down, opening her suit. “Let’s do it again.”
THE END of Part Three
Part Four, A Taste of Salvation
***
Copyright ©2023 by S. M. Revolinski All Rights Reserved
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