Chapter 11

"To set foot on the soil of the asteroids, to lift by hand a rock from the Moon, to observe Mars from a distance of several tens of kilometers, to land on its satellite or even on its surface, what can be more fantastic? From the moment of using rocket devices a new great era will begin in astronomy: the epoch of the more intensive study of the firmament."

~ Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

WarpStar

It may have been thirteen hundred hours shipboard time, right in the middle of a standard shift for the senior crew, but the bridge was being manned by junior officers looking to get experience and credit for advancement. The “babysitter shift” is what sailors have began to call it. Worse than a graveyard, babysitting implies just sitting around and making sure nothing goes wrong when nothing is actually happening during a time when no action of any kind is expected. Main power systems are powered down to idle, engines are offline, sensors are set to passive. The most exciting thing that could possibly happen is trying new techniques in creating anti-matter for the new power reactor on board the ship.

Heidi Watney took full advantage of the babysitting shift right in the middle of the day. She was well rested, and had plenty of security reports to finish. While Captain Henderson was making rounds around the ship, boosting moral, and Commander O’Connell was inspecting the lower engineering decks, Lieutenant Commander Watney sat in the command chair in the center of the bridge. Seeking a fast track to command, the best way to gain experience was to volunteer for any command positions she could. The babysitter shift may be the perfect time for sleeping, but it was still considered command experience.

Born on Olympus Mons, she had spent her life working hard towards one goal. Command of a Starship. The Martian spirit was rich in her, coming from a long line of Martians that can be traced all the way back to the original colonists. Her family had helped Mars develop from the first colonies, to creating the first few mega-cities on the red planet, to the Martian uprising that pushed Mars into becoming the first interplanetary nation to be invited into the United Federation of Nations. Military service was part of the Martian blood. From the Martian Marine Corps, to the Federation Navy or the Martian Planetary Defense Force, every Martian takes pride in service. Heidi was no exception.

At twenty-five years old she is considered on a fast track to command. She joined the Mark Watney Martian Academy when she was fourteen years old, finalizing her entry into life of service. Most Martians choose the Marine Corps, as the MMC is revered as the mightiest Marines in all of humanity, even rivaling the ancient and proven United States Marine Corps. Unlike most Martians, Watney had a passion for the stars over her love for her home planet. Always watching the stars at night, she dreamed of sailing into the unknown.

She had seventy-five security reports to go through. Since the ship has been idle for two days now, incidents have been hopping up all around the ship. Federation Marines getting bored picking fights with sailors, security drills and even planned equipment upgrades. She had no idea how long she was staring at the terminal. Letters and numbers began to blur into each other. Reality began mixing with the dreamworld. She had been awake for almost thirty hours, choosing to maintain watch rather get sleep. It was her own delusional mind that delayed the most important event they were all hoping for.

“Oh look, it’s a fairy!” she lightly said as her head bobbed up and down, left and right. Struggling to stay awake, she dismissed an unknown object flying just outside the viewport.

No one on the bridge saw it either. Most of the crew was either asleep, or checking reports from their respective departments, deep in thought as music or com chatter played on their headsets. The obnoxiously loud speaker of the 15 M.C. threw everyone back into the world of the real.

“Con, C.I.C. New contact bearing zero-zero-zero twenty five meters. EM Signature reports Federation X-401 Fighter. F.O.F. confirms. Betsy has returned!”

The blurred lines vanished faster than they had come on. Reality came into clear focus as the fighter they were all waiting for was hovering just outside the front viewport of the WarpStar. Heidi silently cursed herself, as she had let boredom get the better of her. Completely unprofessional, her conduct could have cost the crew valuable time in recovering an asset they were waiting on. She was grateful the Command Information Center had a commanding officer like Carrisa Kennedy, who always kept a close watch.

The full command staff was properly notified, and the fighter was recovered. The message was clear without the A.I. even sending a report. The Legion had finally left the system, and it was safe to traverse the skies. John had felt a little caution was prudent, as he ordered the download of the sensor logs while engineering teams brought the reactors back online. The Wardroom was full with the senior officers awaiting the briefing report from the small fighter that spent almost three days in the void under minimal power.

“Alright, let’s see what was out there,” John stated as he watched a replay of the A.I.’s logs in the Ward.

The crew watched and read the reports. Any text reports were displayed not only on the main viewer, but on each officer’s personal datapads for easier access. The text reports were mostly dull, almost putting a few officers asleep. Slandered reports of raw data filled the majority of them. Then the video started playing and caught everyone’s eyes.

Part of the passive sensors were old-fashioned optical cameras placed all around the fighters to easily record any optical data around them. What a human would see with their eyes, the cameras also captured. The video started by showing the exit from the WarpStar, and quickly skipped past the majority of the seventy hours Betsy had drifted in space. The action came when a pair of Legion ships entered view of the fighter, coming up alongside the craft that was attempting to act like space junk. The Legion ships scanned the fighter with everything they had. Light emitted from one of the frigets shining into the cockpit of the fighter. As Betsy slowly rotated in space uncontrollably, the armada came into view. The crew had an up close and personal view of three Legion capital ships, including a Dreadnaught and two Carriers. Seven Battleships, thirteen Cruisers and a dozen destroyers. The hearts of every officer in that room skipped several beats as they looked into the force that had chased them down and nearly killed them.

The crew thought they had seen everything when one of the battleships fired a large energy beam into a random point in space, creating a rip in the fabric of reality. Jaws dropped as they saw a miniature black hole form and begin to pull space junk into it, including Betsy, who had started to gravitate towards the singularity. Three separate cruisers fired separate pulses into the forming singularity, making the black hole pulsate and create what the crew speculated to be a wormhole. The battleship ceased its assault on the universe as the Legion ships passed through the event horizon. The large Dreadnaught was the last to pass through it, ejecting a small object just as it had entered. Five minutes after the Legion ships had entered the wormhole, the object detonated, collapsing the artificial wormhole they had created. Thirty minutes later, Betsy powered up and headed back to the planet.

“Holy shit!” Donovan burst out after a few minutes of silence. “Did you see that shit? What the actual fuck!”

“So, these ‘Legion’,” O’Connell threw up his hands and made a mock quotation, “now have the ability to create wormholes?”

“Well, that would explain how they seem to be able to get in and out of systems without using the Hyperbuoy,” Heidi added.

“My pilot.” Charlene was staring at her tablet as the room became silent. Everyone glanced at her, not knowing what to say. As the video of the Legion shining light into the cockpit of Betsy kept playing on a loop on her tablet, a tear dropped from her eye. “If my pilot had been in there, we all would have been dead.”

“Now, we don’t know that,” O’Connell attempted to defuse the tension.

Charlene brought up the data from the passive sensors. “Look, Betsy recorded a thermal scan and E.M. scan directly targeted in the life support system. There was no heat being generated, and the life support systems were offline. If they would have found a person in there, they would have searched every square inch of the system for us.”

“You’re right,” John interrupted. “It was a fear of mine when you brought the plan to my attention.”

“Then why the hell did you go through with it?” Charlene scowled at her commanding officer.

“Because it was the best plan at the time, I did not see any alternatives.”

“Sir, if I may,” O’Connell interrupted again. “What happened, happened. It could have went differently, but it did not. We had no idea if the Legion would have got close to the fighter anyways. It was a risk, and it was a risk the captain and I agreed was worth taking.” Charles looked at the young pilot, attempting to stop any further protests from the woman. “We should proceed with original plan. Head to Orion, then back to Sol. We will give the information to Naval Intelligence in person and let them decide how to proceed with the Legion.”

“I agree with that recommendation,” John replied. “Does anyone have any objections, or reasons why we cannot proceed?” He asked the room, where no one nodded. “Alright then. Ensign Carr,” John looked over at the helmswoman. “Take us into orbit, have Nav plot a course outside the gravitational influence of Bernard towards Orion. Then we will engage the F.T.L.”

“Sir, what about that com relay at the Hyperbuoy?” Heidi interrupted the order.

“Calculate a fire point, and release a dart towards it. We know its position when we entered the system, we should be able to calculate where it’s at and take it out with a single railgun shot. I am authorizing weapons free as soon as you have a firing solution,” John ordered, then addressed the room. “We do not engage F.T.L. until we have confirmation of the destruction of the relay. I want all departments ready, this is the big moment we have been waiting for!”

“Aye, sir!” the room said in unison.

The WarpStar lifted from its prison on Hoth a few hours later, setting a course for the outer edge of the system burning at fifteen-g’s. It would take the ship four days to reach the point in space where the gravitational influence of Bernard was so minute, it would not affect the ship’s ability to create a disruption field, allowing it to traverse faster than the speed of light. Two days after entering Hoth’s outer orbit, Heidi was able to calculate the quickest impact point to destroy the Legion Com relay. Locating the relay was a simple task, as it was not doing a good job at concealment. The relay was broadcasting on nearly every signal detectable by the WarpStar, signaling the Legion to return. Six days after the railgun shot, the relay was destroyed.

A little over a week since they left the icy planet nicknamed Hoth, the crew had all but forgotten the near-death chase by the unknown aliens known as the Legion. Morale was high and the ship was pointed towards the star system known as Orion, humanity’s first colony outside the Sol system.

“Alright Charles, give me the go or no go!” John gave the order to his executive officer, while observing the terminals on the command island. All senior officers were working, no one willing to miss this opportunity, even off-duty members gathered in observation points. The Crew’s galley was full with everyone staring out the viewports, the Wardroom was opened to junior officers and chief petty officers ready to enjoy the show. Every possible porthole exposing the void of space along the outer hull was occupied by a crew member.

“Alright, ladies,” Charles said loudly enough the whole bridge could hear as he stood from his chair next to the command island. “Operations, go or no go!”

“Ops, board is green,” Robert reported.

“Tactical,” Charles continued.

“Shields holding, weapons on standby. Tactical is green,” Heidi reported.

“Engineering.”

“Fusion reactors are stable, anti-proton production is stable. Antimatter reaction is producing positive power. All engines are stable. Engineering is a go!” Donovan chose to be on the bridge for this moment rather in engineering. His team knew how to handle their jobs. Dr. Søviknes opted to remain in engineering to monitor his new engine system during the maiden flight.

“Navigation.”

“We are on course straight for Orion, Nav is a go!” the junior officer on duty for the nav station replied.

“Helm!”

“Flight systems are holding steady, we are traveling at seventeen thousand kph, all engines and thrusters are green. Helm is a go!” Charlene gave her report.

“C.I.C., Con,” O’Connel picked up the 18MC. “Give me a board go or no go.”

“Con, C.I.C. All scopes are green,” Jennifer replied.

“Sir, all departments are reporting we have a go,” Charles sat back down on his chair, inputting his report to the ship’s log.

“Attention all hands,” John started to speak over the 1MC. “We are about to embark into a new age for humanity. This isn’t just for the Federation, Humans are about to break past the known barrier that is the speed of light. We are no longer relying on an alien technology that we discovered, this is pure Human Ingenuity! We are about to unlock true exploration, and chart the stars for the first time! You all know your jobs, let’s show the universe who we are! HOORAH!” The crew replied ‘HOORAH’ in return, vibrating the bulkheads throughout the ship.

“Helm, all ahead flank. Take us to point zero two of c,” John ordered as he set down the mic.

“Helm aye, all ahead flank,” Charlene replied as she set the thrust limiter knob to fifteen g’s and pushed the thrust lever all the way forward, sending reaction mass propelling out of all five main thrust engines at a rate of fifteen times the standard pull of Earth’s gravity. The WarpStar only took a few minutes before they reached the desired velocity. “Helm answering point zero two of c, setting neutral thrust,” Ensign Carr replied again as she pulled the thrust lever back to the neutral position, cutting all thrust from the ship. The WarpStar was now adrift, traveling at twenty percent the speed of light towards the Orion Starsystem.

“Helm, set FTL drive to twenty five percent, and engage!” John gave the historic order.

“Helm aye, setting FTL to twenty five percent.” Charlene grabbed the smaller lever just to her right, and above her in the indented cockpit, pushing the lever into the first notch, setting the power output of the Antimatter reactor to twenty five percent. “Reactor output is responding, power is being fed into the drive coils. Capacitor systems are at seventy five percent. Engaging warp field.” She proceeded to push another lever just to the right of the power selector above her, slowly pushing the lever all the way forward. The viewport began to change, the stars all around them began to move. They did not change positions as they would while entering Hyperspace, but actually start to move and stretch. Charlene was staring at the speed indicator, which was rapidly increasing, faster than she had ever seen. “Sir, we are approaching thirty G’s of acceleration!” She yelled out with concern, shock and surprise. They were accelerating faster than their inertia stabilizers and gravity subsystems could compensate for, yet they did not feel the effects of the force.

Not even a second after her report, the stars melted into a streak of light, splitting into the various visible spectrums of light. A rainbow of colors flooded the viewports as the speed indicator finally broke past 1.0 of c, and continued to climb. “Sir, we have broken the light barrier! Speed currently at One point Five of C, One point Seven. We are now at Two point Zero of c!” The crew erupted in a enormous cheer—they were the first humans to travel faster than the speed of light!