Mayflower II Colonists from Earth

By Art Marquis

COLONISTS DEPART FOR DISTANT PLANET
The first attempt to establish a permanent settlement outside the solar system departs in-about a hundred years.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Art Marquis
• Release date: Apr 19, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301669004

Art Marquis

Art Marquis Is a family physician who switched to emergency medicine after 24 years in private practice. He maintains that practicing family medicine is the best possible way to understand people on the most intimate level.

Book preview

Mayflower II,

Colonists from Earth, Volume 1

By Art Marquis

Published on Smashwords

Copyright 2013 by Art Marquis

Formatted by eBooksMade4You

* * *

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

* * *

Chapter I

It was not a pretty ship. From a distance, it was just a line in space; like a hair in your telescope. Up close, the IMCO Mayflower looked like a giant sewer pipe going nowhere: just a plain cylinder, 987 meters long. No wonder that the people who had designed and built it had never felt right about referring to it in traditional feminine terms. John Steiner was up close to it now, making the pilot’s final pre-flight inspection in a small service craft. This was normally a solitary task, but three TV news crews were following every move he made. One crew had a craft like his; a simple vehicle, designed to transport material between the space station and any ship that couldn’t dock there. The other two crews had to settle for the two assembly modules, which had been designed for work on Mayflower. Each had four telescoping arms which, even fully retracted, gave them the look of a predatory insect. That appearance fit pretty well with the way Steiner felt about the TV coverage.

The bastards, he muttered to himself, can’t even give a guy a few minutes to himself. He knew what they were looking for, some short segment that would play well on the evening news; maybe a shot of him with the spaceship in the background and Earth or the space station visible beyond that. If he kept close enough to the ship, all the viewers would see was just how plain this ship really was. There were no markings, no windows, no fins. Even the seams where the sections had been joined were invisible at this short distance.

He worked his way to the tail section. Three small side vents were virtually all the steering apparatus this ship had. The outlet for the central core was nearly the full diameter of the ship at this point. The service craft’s light was only strong enough to illuminate the nearest portion of the core, which ran the full length of the ship. He maneuvered into position to sight down the side of the ship. All he saw was a smooth, unbroken line. Sixty-two segments had been joined together as carefully as twenty-second century technology would allow. He set his craft in motion to follow the ship to its nose, keeping to the side away from Earth in hopes of spoiling the camera crew’s shots. They’ll still get what they came for, no sense in making it easy for them. He thought. As he approached the shop’s nose, he could see the shuttlecraft which would take them to the surface. The camera crews approached closer now. The shuttlecraft made a much more attractive picture than the spaceship. It almost looked like the shuttle was the real ship, with the nearly 1km of pipe attached to its tail just a booster rocket. As he circled the shuttle, Steiner realized that the camera crews were finally going to get what they wanted: a shot of him inspecting the ship and the shuttle, with Earth in the background. He tried to put on a confident face for the cameras, something he’d had to do often over the past year. Three more hours; just keep up the act for three more hours. After that it’ll be too late to replace me. Such a careful selection process, such brilliant people going; and they have a pilot whose only qualifications are that I can fly that shuttle and I’ve been to that planet before. Well, at this late stage, there isn’t much that can stop me.

He continued his inspection. Mounted forward of the shuttle was the umbrella, a very tapered cone secured to the ship by a fragile looking tripod. The experts estimated that, at maximum velocity, this shield would protect them from an impact with an object up to the size of a pea. Anything larger than that would likely be fatal. Even a smaller object could destroy the umbrella but there were ways to jettison it without damaging the ship. The inspection was uneventful. Everything seemed to be in order. Steiner took a long look at Earth. The planet looked beautiful from 2000 km away. Fusion energy had eliminated the use of fossil fuels and the atmosphere had recovered. The thoughts of over 18 billion people living on that planet’s surface made him feel like he should almost be able to see some movement and for a moment he had an image of a piece of fruit covered with tiny organisms. He’d never really felt at home there. For that matter, he hadn’t spent much time there. At 13, he’d been one of two students at the Texas Air and Space Academy selected to become pilot interns on interstellar flights. It was supposed to be a competitive selection, but Steiner always felt he’d been chosen because he had no family, or at least none with whom he was in contact; could tolerate boring tasks, and never, ever broke any of the rules.

Even after he had been selected, there had been an element of luck. The other ship, IMCO Venture had been sent to explore the planets of the star Canartuss, seven - point- four light years distant. After Venture reached light speed, there were no more transmissions. There was always the hope that they had reached the planet and would transmit from there; but, by the time that should have happened, IMCO Leader had reported its findings, thereby ending any interest the company might have had in other exploration. There would be no further missions to Canartus, not even an unmanned ship. The company had found what it wanted elsewhere. The data brought back from the planet Wilamar, of the star Phirris, soon became the talk of the world. They had found enough platinum to supply Earth’s fusion reactors for hundreds, maybe, thousands, of years. Furthermore, the planet was inhabitable, meaning they could send out a crew to mine the platinum and not have to bring them back. Leader’s crew was treated like the saviors of the planet. The three of them; Captain Evers, Rudi Moralis, and John Steiner, were suddenly more famous than any of them had ever wanted to be.

That fame ended whatever chance Steiner may have had to lead a normal life. The celebrity status left him no escape. The only refuge he could find was in the space station where his peers understood that he had not done anything brilliant, but had merely been lucky. The other shuttle pilots had homes on earth and rented cubicles on the space station when necessary, while Steiner lived on the station and rented a room on Earth during layovers. There were occasional vacations on Earth, but there was almost no place he could go without a reservation, so there was no chance to travel incognito.

Now, when he began to take leave of his home, he looked not at Earth but at the space station. There were people there he would miss, but most people were there for limited assignments and his relationships with them never had a chance to get very deep. He took a deep breath and headed his small craft toward the station.

The space station had been substantially modified 38 times since construction was first begun over a century ago. Every one of those modifications had been an addition of some kind. Nothing had been removed. The lack of gravity made it possible to attach an addition from any angle, and that’s just what had happened. The addition installed for the Mayflower crew didn’t match the rest of the structure any better than most of the other 37 modifications. It was a living quarters built in the shape of a wheel, rotated to simulate gravity. That rotation had now been stopped so that the service craft could dock directly onto that unit, rather than at one of the stationary ports.

Steiner docked the small craft, checked the seals and looked at his watch. He didn’t want to go in there any sooner than he had to. It was time to say goodbye to the Nierman’s, the designated alternates. After screening 4 billion applications and 72,000 resumes, the selection committee had narrowed the applicant pool to 268 people, who were then weeded out through a series of trials. The people left were arguably the 22 healthiest, smartest and most stable people on earth; but there was room for only 20 of them. All 20 had offered to give up their personal weight allowance to make room for the Nierman’s. Steiner had even agreed to give up his cabin for them. That’s one reason he was just the pilot. The commander, Malcolm Peters, had had to make the hard decision.

He opened the hatch slowly; the entire unit was at zero gravity now, for the first time in 40 days. Maybe that would make the parting a little less painful. As he pulled himself into the room, he found most of the group in one mass. They had to hold on to each other to keep from drifting apart, or maybe they would have been holding each other anyway. The cluster opened up as he approached and he found himself included in the group. Every once in a while he would collide with a floating sphere of water, which he assumed to be a tear. He’d prepared a few words to tell the Nierman’s how much he respected them and would miss them, but the words were never spoken. There was no way to say, We’ll be seeing you, because they wouldn’t; or Keep in touch, because there would be an eight- year delay in sending messages. This separation would be complete. The Nierman’s would return to Earth and all the comforts an advanced civilization could provide, plus excellent medical care and a safety net which ensured that nobody would be denied the basic comforts of life. They were going to live out their lives with very little prospect of facing privation or physical danger; and that prospect, along with the imminent separation from the colonists, had reduced them both to uncontrolled sobbing. They had just missed the greatest adventure of the century, and were returning to a world in which a walk in the park required a reservation.

The colonists, on the other hand, were heading toward an uninhabited planet. They would have only what they could bring along or produce themselves. No government agency would be there to bail them out or tell them what to do. They were making a nearly complete break from the rest of the human race, leaving behind the physical and emotional support that their fellow humans had provided. This goodbye was not just to people they’d grown to love, but to everyone and everything they’d ever known.

The small transport was built to work in an environment without gravity. There were no seats. Pilot and passengers simply strapped themselves into their respective places. The first contingent Steiner transported consisted of the four young people. (After they had endured the same trials as the adults, they felt they had earned the right to not be called children.) They were facing over four years confinement in the ship but still couldn’t wait to get on board. The docking with the ship would involve some exchange of atmosphere between the transport and the ship, so the atmosphere in the transport was the same oxygen and helium mix that they would start with on the ship. The use of helium rather than nitrogen in the air mix saved nearly 17 kg of total weight. Helium, though, made everyone’s voice sound about an octave higher than normal and the young people thought this was hilarious. This, combined with the weightless state, insured that the young people didn’t take this transport ride too seriously.

Steiner located the small docking port at approximately midship, docked, checked the seals, verified the atmospheric pressures, and opened the port. His passengers all drifted through the opening, each carrying their 10-kg of belongings – nearly all of it was to be clothing. They were still at zero gravity, their voices still sounded funny, but the party was suddenly over. The passenger space was so small, so sparsely furnished; their little bags of belongings so pitiful. Their short hair, shaved off only three weeks ago as part of the decontamination process, had seemed like a joke up to this point. Now they looked like refugees or prisoners. Steve Ryan and Nadia Grishov, at ages 9 and 8 respectively, were still fairly small people. They had put on a show of confidence around the adults, but they couldn’t keep it up any longer.

This space looked bigger on the diagrams.

This is really it, isn’t it, Captain?

He took them to his own compartment and showed them how to use the monitor, then turned to leave. Finally, Brock Hilliard, at twelve, the oldest of the group, said We’re going to be OK, Captain.

I know. I’ll see you in about two hours.

He closed the port and headed back toward the space station. The camera crews were still following every maneuver. The radio on his craft was capable of receiving commercial stations and there was a relay unit on the space station. He decided to see what the media were saying about the expedition. The third station he hit had something that sounded pertinent.

… eighteen years proven reserves.

What are the prospects for further discoveries?

It’s hard to say. Every year we develop new sources of ore, but we always seem to use more than we find.

Has the company abandoned efforts to develop sources on Mars?

Not completely, but there are no plans for any more expeditions in the immediate future. It’s just too expensive to transport men, equipment and supplies to the planet, and then have to bring all your people home, along with whatever ore you‘ve found.

And there are no plans for a settlement on Mars?

Correct. It’s just too hard to keep it supplied, and the ore deposits are not concentrated enough to allow mining without heavy equipment. We’ve been looking at this for years and we’ve never found a way to make it cost effective, even at today’s prices.

Do you have a contingency plan in case the Mayflower expedition is…unsuccessful?

Well, we’ve obviously considered the possibilities. The platinum deposits are more than we could ever use, and the prospect of having a resident work force capable of sustaining themselves with minimal resupply is too attractive to ignore. The scouting expedition proved it’s possible to make the trip. Unless there is something about that planet we don’t know- yes, I’m sure we would try again.

What about the rumors that some people are thinking of restarting some of the old fission reactors?

That would be difficult. Nearly all of the planet’s fissionable material was secured in the Deep Disposal Reservoir. Recovering that would be…

Steiner turned off the radio as the service craft approached the station. He didn’t think the rest of the group would be interested in any more media coverage. There had been a great deal already. It was time to look ahead.

The last group to be transported was the expedition commander and his three assistants. As they docked with the ship, Commander Peters said, Well Johnny, are you ready?

Yes sir.

Any second thoughts about your plans?

No, sir.

It seems like you have fame and fortune just waiting for your return. Why do you want to give that up to spend the rest of your life on a distant planet?

I guess I had a taste of being famous and didn’t like it.

Well, you can always change your mind later. You’re a company man, not one of the colonists, and the rest of the company men are coming back.

Just think of the platinum you can haul in my place.

The five of them finished strapping themselves into the service craft and set out for Mayflower. This group comprised the people who hadn’t been chosen by the selection committee but by a few senior International Mining Co. executives. Malcolm Peters had been given total responsibility for this mission. The other three men were his close associates. All participants had sworn to obey him. In addition, he was the landlord’s representative on this planet, which the courts had decided was legitimate company property. He would exercise complete rights of ownership over virtually the entire planet. His credentials as a mining engineer, and reputation as a leader, were solid. There was no argument when this expedition was referred to as The Malcom Peters Expedition.

The commander maintained a very professional distance between himself and those he was to lead. His close associates followed his example. The distance seemed to have been increased by the fact that the company men were all single and the colonists were all married, or at least the adults were. Steiner, as usual, didn’t feel really comfortable with either group. The whole party was to be together for a long time, though. They would certainly be a close knit group before too long.

The short trip to the ship was spent in relative silence. The docking was uneventful. Peters’ three assistants boarded the ship first. The commander gestured for the pilot to go ahead of him, but Steiner shook his head. Nope, thanks, I gotta close the hatch. He followed his commander, entered the ship feet first, and pulled the hatch shut on the transport as he did so. He then closed the port on the ship itself and released the transport to be towed away by the service craft standing by. As he completed his task and turned around, a cheer rose up from the ship’s complement. Commander Peters acknowledged the cheer, gave a short speech about this being the finest group of people he had ever commanded, and ordered everyone to their places. Steiner then added: You’ve got just over twenty-five minutes. This is the last time you’ll experience zero gravity for 328 days. I’ll holler when we’re down to 30 seconds. The commander said no more. He and his assistants pulled themselves to their assigned places and waited. The others floated around the cramped space as well as they could.

Station Control, this is Mayflower we are go in 124 seconds.

Roger, Mayflower, our instruments show your position to be correct. You are clear for ignition on your own timing.

Acknowledged, control.

Mayflower, this is Everett Sterling. I just want to say that the thoughts and prayers of everyone in the International Mining Co. go with you, Commander Peters, and the entire crew.

Thank you, sir.

Thirty seconds, everyone.

There were no special contour chairs, everyone just had to make sure they were in good contact with the surface that they would soon perceive as down. The acceleration of the ship would produce gravitational forces initially just 1.46X stronger than normal Earth gravity.

At the preset time, the computer energized the powerful ion accelerator that ran the full length of the ship. The ion stream could reach speeds of 8.4 times the speed of light(C 8.4) for hydrogen ions; C 4.7 for oxygen and C 7.31 for carbon. The stream was initially aimed at Earth’s moon. A course correction in 6.28 hours would aim it at the sun. They had gone to considerable trouble to avoid blasting that stream into space. An ion stream traveling above light speed would not only indicate the work of an intelligent species, but would also point out the direction to travel to find its source. The chance of this happening seemed remote, but after all: they were about to colonize a planet only a few million years behind Earth in evolution. What if the life form that picks up their ion stream is even a few thousand years ahead of Earth?

Once the ship started to accelerate, a perception of gravity returned. People could walk around normally. Those who could get near a computer monitor watched as the space station seemed to fall away from them while they stood still in space. Soon the Earth also started to recede, at a slowly increasing pace. The ship was quiet except for the people using the radios to say another good-by. It would be two months before radio communication became really impossible but people were already noticing a sense of separation that hadn’t been as evident while they were still on the space station. Communication would get progressively more difficult as the distance increased. It was a drawn-out, painful way to say good-by.

The elbow room on board seemed cramped in zero gravity; now with the G force of acceleration, space was even tighter. Nearly every horizontal surface was occupied. People were