Kuiper Station Read online

Jacob worked on the report overnight. He ran scenarios for one to twelve weeks of water supply on his ANI (Artificial Narrow Intelligence) based assistant usually called and Annie. With the working estimate of the remaining water that Clements had given him Jacob found that the water supply would be depleted sometime between four and six weeks. He would refine his estimates later after the meeting with Captain Ellis. Right now he was going to see his dad and discuss the situation.

  “Hi dad,” said Jacob as he entered his parent's quarters. “Where's mom?”

  “She's working in the kitchen I think son.”

  “Well I've got some preliminary results from my calculations,” said Jacob.

  “What have you found?”

  “It looks like if we continue usage at the rate we have been since leaving Neptune we've got some four to six weeks of water supply left. That is assuming no problem comes up with the recycling.”

  “So basically,” said Jonah. “We can continue the mission and decelerate into a rendezvous with Tharsis but if we do we had better find water there fast or we are in trouble.”

  “And I don't know that we have a choice,” said Jacob. “There aren't many alternative destinations this far out. And there isn't enough water to make it to a destination that isn't as well researched as Tharsis.”

  “That will be the Captain's decision but I believe you are right I think we need also to come up with a water reduction plan that we can present to the Captain.”

  “Okay dad we have a few hours before the meeting, let's see what we can do.”

  Jonah didn't respond immediately. “What is it dad?”

  “I've been wondering what got us into this mess to begin with. What hit us?”

  “I've got an idea about that also,” said Jacob. “But let's get the water reduction plan first and then I'll tell you what I'm thinking.”

  The meeting was attended by Jonah and Jacob and all the crew except for two. Ahab was recording. Captain Ellis opened by saying, “I don't have to tell you all the serious problems we face. We need to make an immediate decision as to how we should proceed with this mission. I want options and I have asked several of you to present your findings on relevant concerns. We will start with Jacob Jackson. I asked Jacob to look into the water situation and its effect on the mission.”

  “Thank you Captain Ellis, with Lieutenant Commander Clements' input I have run several scenarios for the water situation. I've sent copies to all your Annies but for now, I will only present what I feel is the bottom line. We have enough water left to last us for four to six weeks. You are all probably aware that this is almost exactly the amount of time we will need to decelerate and rendezvous with Tharsis. I don't see any other choice but . . .”

  “Thank you Mr. Jackson,” interrupted the Captain. “The information we needed was your water estimate but how we act upon that information will be up to myself as the commanding officer of this vessel.”

  “Navigator,” said the Captain. “Were you aware of Mr. Jackson's water estimate?”

  “Yes sir,” said Lt. Wilson. “Lt. Commander Clements informed me early this morning.”

  “So you have had time to come up with the effect it has on our mission and propose alternatives?”

  “Yes sir, Mr. Jackson is correct in his estimate if we continue to pursue our original course. We should have enough water to rendezvous with Tharsis. However sir, knowing that you would want all alternatives I have come up with some other destinations.”

  “Go ahead Lieutenant.”

  Lieutenant Wilson proceeded to present several alternative destinations. Besides Tharsis, he had also calculated the possibility of returning to the Neptune system. Although this would completely exhaust the water they could request a refitting vessel be dispatched from Neptune when they got close enough.

  Another possibility would be diversion to the Terran Federation outpost orbiting Pluto. This would take the least amount of water and the course corrections were rather small at this time. They could arrive there between two and three weeks. Upon arriving at the outpost orbiting Pluto there should be plenty of water left and replenishing the supplies would be possible as well as repairing the tanks. Then the Captain could decide to continue the mission to Tharsis or return to Neptune.

  “Thank you Lieutenant. You've provided me with alternatives which I always appreciate. Now I would like for Lieutenant Commander Clements to present his findings on exactly what hit us.”

  “Thank you Captain. Samples of the material that punctured the tanks were acquired by the hull bots. What they returned was assayed by Chief Engineer McGraw and Starman Lewis, it seems to be debris that would be commonly found in an M-type nickel-iron asteroid. The fragments contain heavy iron ore. The density of the fragments and their suspected velocity supplied more than enough energy to puncture the water tanks.”

  “Where did they come from Lt. Commander?” asked the Captain.

  “From the hole alignment between tanks, I would say the source was quite outside the elliptic and inbound into the inner Solar System.”

  Jacob stirred. “Are you sure Lt. Commander?” he asked.

  “Yes Mr. Jackson the Chief and I both concur. But you may study our data if you wish.”

  “That won't be necessary,” said Jacob. “I was just surprised at the direction, I expected more of an orbit in the plane of the solar system.”

  “That's understandable Mr. Jackson. The Chief and I were both surprised also.”

  “Okay,” said Captain Ellis. “I think I have all the information I need to make a decision as to our next move. I want to thank all of you for your efforts. Gentlemen you are dismissed.”

  5

  Back in the family quarters, Jonah asked his son, “You seem concerned about what you heard in the meeting?”

  “I'm concerned that we didn't hear the truth dad. Something about the results Lt. Commander Clements and Chief McGraw came up with doesn't make sense to me.”

  “What do you mean son?”

  “Well unless I learned my orbital mechanics completely wrong, and my Annie is totally confused, whatever hit us was not in the orbital plane of the solar system.”

  “But isn't that what the Lt. Commander said?”

  “Yes he did say that. But what they were saying doesn't make any sense. The strikes to the water tanks lined up with the orbital plane of the solar system. I know this from reviewing the hull bot data myself. They said the projectiles came from outside the plane.”

  “That's right,” said Jonah. “But you just said that the projectiles couldn't be in the plane of the solar system because of their velocity.”

  “I know. They couldn't be naturally occurring projectiles because they were moving too fast. See at this distance any orbiting material wouldn't be traveling fast enough and therefore would not have enough energy to do all the damage we witnessed. Maybe the first tank could have been pierced but the orbital energy should have been expended in that tank without enough energy left to pierce the back wall. That is what the design engineers of the Starfisher expected.”

  “So the projectiles weren't naturally occurring. Then the question is where did they come from?”

  “The only thing I can think of is that we were fired upon by another spaceship from an extreme distance. Far enough away that they wouldn't be detected. And I would say a ship with an electromagnetic rail-gun. That would explain the velocity and accuracy of the projectiles that hit the water tanks.”

  “That is incredibly risky, who would have done such a thing?” asked Jonah. “And why?”

  “My best guess is a Terran Federation patrol ship. They are the only ones out this far with the necessary weaponry on-board to initiate such an attack. It could have been a ship stationed at their outpost on Pluto.”

  “But why son?”

  “I don't know why. But did you notice that one of the options that Lt. Wilson proposed is docking at the Pluto outpost for repairs? That's not something that would have occurred to me since we should be
able to effect the repairs ourselves once we reach Tharsis. And then we can restore our lost water.”

  “But the Captain has to consider that the advance intelligence about Tharsis could be wrong. We could get there and find that the water we need is non-existent.”

  “There is a chance that's true,” said Jacob. “But it is a small chance and there are other bodies near Tharsis that we would have the time and resources to explore. You know that most of the asteroids in the Kuiper Belt have frozen volatiles such as methane, ammonia and water.

  “So I think this diversion is deliberate but what I don't understand is why they went through all of this, especially as it was a dangerous ploy, to get us to Pluto?”

  “Maybe I can answer that,” said Jonah. “The outpost orbiting Pluto is a Terran Federation base and the Federation has found itself playing catch up with the Solar Federation ever since the days of the national breakups on Earth some seventy years ago. They've also seen their influence on Earth diminish. They've seen their influence in space diminish. That is why they've hop-scotched to Pluto, to get some relevance again.

  “Now they find that we are going to establish a base in the Kuiper Belt that they won't control. We could essentially make their outpost orbiting Pluto superfluous. But what if they could stop or at least control the settling of the Kuiper Belt? They would be of importance again and it would enhance their influence on Earth and around the Solar System.”

  “I don't understand.”

  “What's that son?”

  “The Terran Federation is a representative of some of the same governments that support our mission. Yet those governments are allowing this interference?”

  “Well support is probably too strong of a word son. They may not be directly interfering but they have no qualms about interfering through their proxy, the Federation.”

  “Plausible deniability,” said Jacob.

  “Yes,” said Jonah.

  It was the next morning and Captain Ellis had gathered together the colonists to tell them his decision.

  “I've called you here,” said Captain Ellis, “to let you all know my decision concerning the future of this mission. As you know we have to make this decision because of the damage to our water supplies. My decision has been guided by this basic point, we have no mission without the necessary water.

  “Taking into account this need for water to achieve our eventual goal, which is to deliver you colonists to Tharsis, I believe the mission will be best served by diverting the Starfisher to the Terran Federation outpost orbiting Pluto. They've got the necessary resources and tools to repair and resupply this mission. I've already contacted the outpost and told them our needs. They wholeheartedly agreed to help us with our repairs and resources at no cost.

  “Any questions?”

  Jacob spoke up, “What about other supplies Captain, like food? Will they be able to replenish those also?”

  “To a certain extent,” said the Captain seemingly annoyed. “They will be able to help us with all our supplies but we will have to institute some rationing I'm afraid to make sure we meet the mission requirements.”

  “I see,” said Jacob. “Thank you Captain.”

  “Any other questions?”

  No other questions were forthcoming so the Captain dismissed the assembly.

  6

  Jonah and Jacob talked quietly on the way back to their quarters stopping whenever a ship bot came rolling by.

  “They seem to have it all planned,” said Jacob.

  “Yes son they do but I'm still not sure how many are involved.”

  “I think Lt. Wilson is involved,” said Jacob.

  “Maybe.”

  “What should we do?” asked Jacob.

  “I'm not sure. The question is what do they want us to do?”

  “Obviously to go along with their mission interference.”

  “Obviously,” said his father. “But I was thinking more about what the end game might be. I think either they are going to want us to agree to founding Tharsis under the umbrella of the Terran Federation or . . .”

  “Yes father?”

  “Or they do not want Tharsis founded at all and then the question becomes, what happens to us?”

  Late the following day Lt. Commander Clements called Jonah and Jacob to his wardroom for a brief meeting.

  “Thank you for coming,” said the Lieutenant Commander. “I've been tasked by the Captain to come up with the necessary adjustments to the supplies to see that we can complete this mission. Here are my conclusions which I have already shown to the Captain.”

  He showed Jonah and Jacob his summary, cast from his Annie so all could view.

  “As you can see,” continued the Lt. Commander, “we will have to make some adjustments, especially in our food supplies. But I believe that with an expansion of our food production centers we can keep these adjustments to a minimum. After conferring with the Captain we were both hoping that you gentlemen might take on the task of expanding the centers.”

  Jonah briefly looked at the numbers and said, “Of course Lt. Commander my son and I will do our best.”

  “Oh thank you,” said Clements obviously relieved. “We really appreciate your attitude in this matter as we do all the colonists.”

  After further discussion of the necessary resources needed to expand the centers, Jonah and Jacob left the Lt. Commander.

  “You were quick in agreeing?” questioned Jacob.

  “Yes son I was, for a reason. You see the fact that they are interested in reducing the imposition upon us as much as possible tells me that they still have future plans for us. That is good and we must do whatever we can until such time that we can gain the upper hand in negotiations. It is for the safety of ourselves and the rest of the colonists that we act.”

  “I understand father,” said Jacob admiringly.

  The Starfisher had made it to the Pluto outpost. In the two weeks since the docking none of the colonists had been allowed aboard the station, supposed security protocol required the quarantine. It was then that the Captain informed Jonah that the station Commander would be coming aboard to discuss the future of the mission with him and Jacob.

  The following day station Commander Vasily Bogdonich came aboard the Starfisher. He met with the Captain, the Lieutenant Commander and Jonah and Jacob in the Captain's quarters.

  Sitting around a small table Commander Bogdonich began, “Captain, Lt. Commander, Mr. Jackson and Jacob Jackson I thank you for attendance. I am sorry that we have had to keep you here on the ship for the past two weeks but it is standard procedure for the station, I hope you understand.”

  “Of course Commander,” said Jonah. “We understand the need for procedures.”

  “Thank you Mr. Jackson we in the Terran Federation welcome you to our advanced outpost. I want to assure you that soon you and the rest of the colonists will be allowed to freely come and go from the station. What I want to discuss with you and your son as representatives of the colonists is our concerns for completing the mission you are set upon. I can assure you that the Federation fully supports your goals.”

  “Thank you Commander,” said Jacob. “May I ask when we will be able to continue our flight to Tharsis?”

  “Yes Mr. Jackson that is the question. Captain Ellis do you have an estimate on the time required to repair the Starfisher?”

  “Commander Bogdonich we believe we can have the Starfisher ready for deep space in a month's time.”

  “Very good Captain,” said Bogdonich. “Now Mr. Jackson, Jonah and Jacob, what we would like for you to do is to continue your expansion of the food growing facility not only on the Starfisher but also on the station. In this way, we can be more assured to have the necessary food supplies ready when the Starfisher departs. You would of course, have at your disposal as many station bots and men as we can spare.”

  “Very well Commander,” said Jonah. “My son and I and the rest of the colonists will do our best in the time we have. But Commander
may I ask you one question?”

  “Of course Mr. Jackson.”

  “A month will not be very much time to expand and increase the food production at the station. I doubt that we will get the benefit of the first crop in just four weeks.”

  “That may be true, Mr. Jackson. But although the repairs may be finished in a month the departure of the Starfisher may be held up until we get that first harvest. And besides, don't you think that it is an equitable trade, you expand the station's food supply while we repair your ship?”

  “I do indeed Commander,” said Jonah.

  “Alright then,” said Bogdonich. “If there are no more questions I suggest we all get to work.”

  “What gives?” asked Jacob of his father after they had separated from the others.

  “Well son I find it curious but an equitable trade of labor.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I think the Starfisher will be ready to leave in a month and will leave at that time.”

  “But then why are we increasing the food growing capacity of the station?”

  “Because we colonists are going to need it to survive at the outpost when the Starfisher leaves us behind,” said Jonah.

  7

  “That don't make no sense Jonah,” said Lars Stendahl, one of the colonists. “You know we can't build up the infrastructure and get a crop of food in a month.”

  Jonah had called a meeting of all the colonists.

  He replied to Lars, “Well the Commander did say that it might be longer than a month before the Starfisher departs. And he did make the point that it was an equitable trade of labor. Expanding their food production facilities in return for them helping to repair our ship.”

  “I still say it's suspicious,” said Lars.

  “That's as may be,” said Jonah. “But I suggest we get to work and do the best we can to show our hosts our gratitude for their help in repairing the Starfisher. Are there any more questions?”

  Upon hearing none, Jonah dismissed the meeting.