Comet Riders — Part Five

We all must serve

The Year 10,497 of Life — The Royal City

Queen Bright-sky selected a yellow gown for the ceremonial day. In the company of her husband, Granite of the North Mountains, and her two children, First Prince Long-hair and Princess Golden-sky, she climbed into the Royal Carriage. As the four horses pulled them along the streets of Royal City, children cheered and tossed flowers onto the boulevard before them. Leaving the city, hundreds of people lined the roadway leading to the aerodrome.

She had long awaited this day, and it would be her final achievement as Queen of the Royal Family. She was ready to abdicate to Long-hair and spend her days with her grandchildren. She wished her father, Long-stick, could have lived to witness the rocket launch.

The Year 10,779 of Life — The Ice Station

In the morning, Gray-rock prepared for his mission. He showered and donned a clean flight suit. He packed his uniform, other changes of clothing, and toiletries in a bag. Munching a protein bar, he headed for the docking station. He knew there were no other flights scheduled that morning; thus, he was not surprised to find the place deserted.

The primary airtight doors were open, and he passed through them.

“Oylo, There’s the man of the hour.” The dockmaster, Bent-quill, greeted him. “I’ve got the kettle on. You can have a cup and still make your 0800 departure schedule.”

“Yes, please.” Gray-rock wanted a cup of tea, and he was not in the least concerned that he might be a few minutes late leaving. Who could possibly care? “I’ll drop my bag off and be right back. Which berth am I in?”

“That lovely new ship of yours is resting in Bay Ten.”

Leaving Bent-quill to brew the tea, Gray-rock walked along the docking ring. He passed the berth where the Royal Yacht was docked. A mate, standing in the open hatch, nodded to him, but said nothing.

Reaching Bay 10, Gray-rock stared at the open hatchway. Each docking collar was fitted with an inner and an outer door, creating a small airlock between them. This was never used, but it was a precaution. However, it was standard practice to always have one door closed when the docked ship was unattended. Additionally, the hatch to the Lancer was also open. Gray-rock could look through the three open doors, into the Lancer’s interior. This was not normal. He dropped his bag on the gravity side of the docking collar and returned to the dockmaster’s station. The crewman of the Royal Yacht was gone, and the hatch to that ship was closed.

“Oylo, brother, is my cargo aboard?” Gray-rock asked Bent-quill.

“No one’s been along since I got here at 0750.” The dockmaster examined his status display. “Aye, it says here, the cargo was placed aboard at 0735. And, yer already warmed up and,” Bent-quill touched a spot on the panel. “And, yer flights already logged with Layall Station. Hmm, I wonder who did that?”

Gray-rock’s thoughts briefly returned to Bird’s-eye speculation of a secret mission. These tasks were normally completed by the pilot. Who was doing them for him?

“Easier for you, eh?” Bent-quill handed Gray-rock a steaming mug.

Gray-rock accepted the beverage and dropped two sugar cubes into it. He blew over the rising steam and sipped it. He glanced at the clock: 0803.

“What do you reckon yer secret cargo is?”

Gray-rock sipped the tea, and answered, “No idea. Commander called it an artifact. Must be something found in one of the ice blocks.” Scientists had long speculated that life originated on comets as they formed in the planetary primordial soup. Perhaps, evidence supporting this theory had been found.

At 0806, he took a final swallow of tea and set the mug down.

“Thanks for the tea, but I best be on my way.”

“Oylo, brother.” Bent-quill raised his mug in a salute.

Gray-rock returned to docking berth ten, picked up his bag, and crossed the transition pad to the zero gravity side of the docking collar. He held the handrail as his innards adjusted to the sudden weightlessness. He swallowed and floated through the hatch door. He pressed the two buttons to close the inner and outer doors of the docking collar. After ensuring the indicators turned green, he floated into the Lancer.

The ship smelled of cleaning fluid and fresh paint. He had never been inside a brand new ship before.

He touched the button to close the Lancer’s hatch. Again, he waited until the indicator turned green. The back-half of the cabin interior was closed off by a plastic sheet stretched from one side of the cabin to the other. Gray-rock reasoned the mysterious cargo was secured behind the sheet. At some point along the six-day voyage, he would have to sneak a peek behind the curtain.

He floated through the small space left for him to occupy and into the cockpit chair. Indeed, all systems except the torch were operating, and the pre-flight board was dotted with green indicators. Gray-rock snapped on the microphone.

“Dockmaster, this is Lancer 112 ready to depart Bay Ten.”

“Oylo, yer clear. Have a safe flight.” Bent-quill’s voice boomed out of the speaker.

Gray-rock sensed the light bump as the docking collar released the Lancer. He applied a short burst from the maneuvering thrusters and watched the Ice Station drift away. He noted his departure time in the log: 0811. He fired another burst from the thrusters to accelerate his departure, eager to get the show on the road.

As the ship drifted away, his thoughts turned to Layall, his family, and Cinnamon. He hoped the Fleet Commander would allow him to go down to the planet’s surface. He doubted there would be sufficient time to travel to the land of the Crescent Lake to visit with his mother and father. His Lancer could cover the two billion miles from the Ice Station to Layall in a week; the journey via horse-drawn coach from Royal City to Crescent Lake took the same amount of time. He had not been home since he joined the Space Service 20 years ago.

Visiting Cinnamon was much more likely. They had been betrothed since their days at college, thirty years ago, but he had not seen her during the past five years. Since she worked at the medical university in Royal City, seeing her during this trip was a real possibility.

At 0830, the Ice Station was ten miles away. Gray-rock aligned the Lancer to a point at a spot of empty space above the plane defined by the orbits of Layall and the other planets around Helos — the planetary elliptic. He brought the fission power generator up to full power and watched as the gravity engine capacitors charged. As the gravity energy built, he closed a space-time bubble around the ship. He engaged the gravity generator. Instantly — that is, at the speed of light — the Lancer projected a gravity wave which grabbed the space-time fabric fifty miles ahead of the Lancer. The two points — the ship and the location ahead — were pulled together, folding the space-time fabric between them. In a wink, the Lancer jumped across from one point to the next. If Bent-quill was watching the Lancer, and Gray-rock was certain he had been, he would have seen Lancer 112 vanish.

As the gravity engine, in its new space-time location, released its hold on the previous location, the gravity energy was projected to the next location ahead.

The Lancer jumped forward again.

Gray-rock examined the display. Satisfied that the computer had control of the repetitive process, he released his safety harness and floated out of the pilot chair. Turning, he saw that the sheet dividing the Lancer’s cabin had been pushed aside.

Floating before him were two people.

Stunned, Gray-rock examined the two people who now shared the Lancer with him. The mystery of the cargo was solved.

“You are Gray-rock of the Crescent Lake?” the man asked.

Gray-rock, not trusting his voice, nodded.

“We are very sorry for the deception,” the woman said.

“Do you know who we are?” the man asked.

Gray-rock cared nothing about the ins and outs of the Royal Family, but he knew the man was Duke Brown-wood, brother of the Queen, and the woman was his daughter, Sapphire. The Queen had two sons which were the first and second people in line to inherit the throne. The two people addressing Gray-rock were the third and fourth in line.

“Yes, your Grace,” Gray-rock croaked out.

“You certainly deserve an explanation,” Princess Sapphire said. “We were inspecting the Ice Station, but, ah, a development back on Layall required us to make a hasty return.”

“Why not use your yacht? It must be faster than this ship, and much more comfortable.” Gray-rock assumed the Royal Yacht was equipped with artificial gravity.

“This is true, but we need to return without anyone knowing we had left the Ice Station.”

Despite the shock and stress of the moment, all Gray-rock could think about was the plot for Bird’s-eye’s secret mission which had just unfolded before his eyes.

“But, you don’t need to know the details of that, eh, brother?” Duke Brown-wood added.

“We are to arrive at Layall Transit Station in a week?” Sapphire asked.

Tongue-tied, Gray-rock nodded. Then he realized they intended this to be a quick trip; there would be no time to meet with Cinnamon. There was also no meeting with the Fleet Commander.

“We don’t wish to intrude with the operation of the ship,” Brown-wood said. “But, you must not make any communications with either the Transit Station or the Ice Station. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Your Grace. No communications.” Gray-rock now understood what had happened at the docking station. At 0735, the crewman from the Royal Yacht had moved Brown-wood and Sapphire aboard the Lancer. He had energized the ship systems and made the entries into Bent-quill’s log. Then he watched over them until Gray-rock’s arrival.

“Just to be clear, sir, there was no flight plan filed with Layall Transit Station?”

“No, no one is expecting us, and we won’t actually approach Layall. Will this be a problem for you?”

“No, Your Grace, just keep me advised of where you really want to go.”

“Excellent, but let’s dispense with the formalities for the duration of the voyage.”

“Yes,” Sapphire added, “in these close quarters, we are sure to get to know each other very well.”

Gray-rock was certain the sly smile which followed her words indicated she meant something more than playing games of chance.

THE END of Part Five

Part Six, There is no turning back

Copyright ©2023 by S. M. Revolinski All Rights Reserved

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