Beyond the Sun

By J. D. Inman

It's been called "The Shack" meets the "Left Behind" series. While in the vein of science fiction, there's a lot more to this story than spaceships and astronauts. Murder, deception, espionage, an adulterous affair and an ending you won't see coming. Think you know where this one is going... better think again.

This is the story of the discovery of New Earth, the mission to her surface and the crew that was chosen to represent our world. As it turns out, we have neighbors and, after all this time, they’re just around the corner.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John D. Inman
• Release date: Feb 28, 2012
• ISBN: 9780615530055

Book preview

Beyond the Sun

Beyond the Sun

J. D. Inman

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Copyright 2011 by John D. Inman.

Published by John D. Inman in the United States of America.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means –electronic, mechanical, photographic, recording or otherwise- without the prior written consent from the author. Except in the case of brief quotations within critical articles or reviews. For more information visit http://www.readbeyondthesun.com

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Doing so is unlawful. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to http://www.readbeyondthesun.com and purchase your own copy. Noncompliance with this law is stealing. Thou shall not steal –God. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

ISBN 10: 1477477527

ISBN 13: 9781477477526

Table of Contents

Sworn Testimony

Forward

One ~ October 13, 2053

Two ~ Speaking of History

Three ~ Discovery

Four ~ A Mystery Is Solved

Five ~ Speculations Abound

Six ~ New Faces

Seven ~ Logistics

Eight ~ All Dressed Up

Nine ~ The Economic Effect

Ten ~ Send Off

Eleven ~ Underway

Twelve ~ The Dream World

Thirteen ~ A Knock at the Door

Fourteen ~ Surprise, Surprise

Fifteen ~ A Troubling Discovery

Sixteen ~ A Storm is Brewing

Seventeen ~ Back to the East

Eighteen ~ The March Goes On

Nineteen ~ In the Valley of Souls

Twenty ~ Life and Death

Twenty One ~ The Mission Changed

Twenty Two ~ Mission Accomplished

The End

Authors Note:

Sworn Testimony

These are the eye-witnessed accounts of the single most important event ever documented in our human history. Along with the rest of the world, those of us directly involved were forever changed by what we experienced. What we claim to have happened may be unbelievable, but it is validated by the fact that the reports of all who were present for these events are virtually identical. Many other sources of record also verify facts surrounding these events. While this report may never be fully proven, no evidence exists that it may ever be denied. This is sworn testimony, the facts of which are indisputable. Whether you chose to believe these events happened –or not –is up to you.

Colonel Cameron Bradley

Mission Commander, NEM1

August 23, 2058

Forward

Mike Carleton had been without any solid food for nearly one hundred days and it had been weeks since his cracked and bleeding lips touched anything liquid. He lay helplessly against the fuselage of the landing craft surrounded by the shallow graves of three others from his team. One by one, each of them had succumbed to the pain of starvation and lack of water.

He was alone now, the last survivor. He could barely see through the visor of his helmet as it was covered on the inside with dried spit and blood and, the outside had been etched by the dust and wind. Turning his eyes to the sky however, he could see it just over the horizon –Earth. It twinkled in the night sky like a beacon begging him to return home.

Only a few short weeks ago, he was there, in Virginia with his wife, Linda and children, Donavon and Danielle. He was once a celebrated hero, honored and proud. Now, he lay pitifully, slowly giving in to the inevitable. For years he had longed for this place –Mars. Now, Earth was all he longed for and home was getting further and further away.

His mind was slowing; he could feel it. His vision was blurred by dryness. His pulse weakened. His breath was shallow and the pain in his abdomen was excruciating. He could not go on. He could no longer endure. He knew it. He could feel it. His time had run out.

How had it come to this? What went wrong? Obviously something –everything. He thought back over the past few months. They'd trained for this. There were contingencies for everything. But the graves of those in front of him proved that training was not enough. It saddened him that there would be no one there to bury his body. He would have no grave. They had set out to conquer Mars but she would not be conquered.

He fixed his eyes on the twinkling light overhead. He must have thought it strange to be dying in plain sight of home but having no way to get there. With his last bit of strength, he peeled the camera from the Velcro on his uniform and laid it on his chest. Directing it at the twinkling light of home, he began slowly taking pictures, one after the other, of that twinkling light.

Colonel, this is Flight Control, came a voice over his VOX channel. Colonel?

He attempted a response but could make no sound as his throat was dried shut and his lips and tongue were badly swollen and covered in sores. He simply lay there, slowly taking pictures of his beloved home. He could do nothing otherwise. With his eyes fixed on Earth, he finally gave in. His breathing stopped and his heart would beat no more. The biometric sensors confirmed it. Back at home, Col. Mike Carlton was pronounced dead at 3:56am CST on August 30, 2036.

~~~*~~~

The Universe is a big place, trillions upon trillions of miles in all directions. It is unlimited. It is nearly impossible for the mind to grab hold of the ideas of unending and forever because everything in our existence has a beginning and an end. Our days, our years, our lives, our governments, our countries, our history, yes, even our history has a beginning and –it will have an end.

While many have postulated about its beginning, most agree, the Universe has no end. Somewhere in our minds we can accept the concept but to really understand it is beyond our abilities. We have all studied the planets from Mercury to Neptune and Pluto, our dwarf. We all have an idea of how much bigger our Sun is than Earth and how many miles high the moon is in the sky. But few really grasp the enormous scale of the Universe.

Here’s a quick exercise on space. Pretend you’re in the crowd at a large football stadium with good seats –around mid-field. Someone places a basketball on the fifty-yard line. For this exercise, it will represent our Sun. Believe it or not, on this scale, Earth would be the size of a BB. It would be orbiting around the basketball in a large ellipse that would stretch from the 20-yard line on one end of the field to the 20-yard line on the other. From the best seat in the house, you couldn’t even see it.

Mars would be even smaller and would be circling from the back of one end zone to the other. The largest planet, Jupiter, would be the size of a racquet ball circling out in the parking lot well beyond the outer walls of the stadium.

Neither Saturn nor Neptune is quite as large, maybe a marble or ping-pong ball. You’d find them probably on your way back to your car, depending on where you parked. Pluto, the farthest from the Sun, whether you believe it to be a planet or not, would be a grain of sand orbiting around our basketball well over half-mile away. A grain of sand –circling around a basketball –a half-mile away.

Now, in your mind, take away the crowd, the stadium, the parking lot, the cars and every other thing. Take away the ground and surrounding structures and wipe clean everything except the basketball, the BB, the ping-pong ball, marble and grain of sand. Other than these few exceptions, there is nothing else out there but empty space. Literally –that is why they call it space.

Beyond Pluto, the closest star in our Galaxy is named Alpha Centauri. It is so far away that its distance can only be measured in light-years. In other words, traveling at the speed of light it would take four and a half years to get there. Say you walked the half-mile from the basketball to the grain of sand. At a normal pace, you could cover that distance in around ten minutes which would equate roughly to light speed at this scale. To reach Alpha Centauri, you would have to continue walking forty-six days at that pace. That would be the equivalent of walking, nonstop, from Seattle to Key West.

It would take nine years, at this walking speed to reach the tenth star. Scientists estimate that over four hundred trillion stars make up our Milky Way Galaxy. It would take 100,000 years to cross traveling at your speed and there are literally hundreds of billions of galaxies that make up our Universe. If we could travel at the speed of light, it would be sometime around the year 102900 –give or take a few thousand years, before we left our own galaxy.

~~~~*~~~~

The universe knows no bounds. It is so big, it can’t be held to laws of physics, mathematics or nature as we know them. Because it is infinite, there are infinite possibilities. Where possibilities are infinite –anything must be possible. Therefore, life on other planets must also be possible.

Mathematically, life must exist on other planets. Since life exists here and we are only one of what has to be trillions upon trillions of planets, it is mathematically impossible that it exists only here. There simply has to be life other than us out there –more advanced civilizations and greater technologies and primitive places, without rule of law, without order, without even love.

Since we first looked up into the heavens and saw the stars, we have known that we could not possibly be alone. With all this space, there must be another one like our Earth. The belief that we are the only one place in the universe where life exists is mathematically impossible. We’ve known it from the beginning. We just never expected to find it so close to home.

One ~ October 13, 2053

Cam was awakened early in the morning by a voice announcing that, in five minutes, the White House would be calling. Colonel Bradley, The President of the United States has requested you. Do you accept the president’s invitation?

He jumped from the bed grabbing his pants from the floor. Yes, I accept, he shouted from the closet as he hurried to get his hair in place and get a shirt on.

The automated voice came back on. Your meeting is confirmed and will begin in four minutes thirty-seven seconds. A digital clock appeared on the screen in the main room counting down the time until it began. Every minute the voice returned, Your meeting begins in three minutes.

Cam had met the president earlier in the year on a trip to Martha’s Vineyard and had been expecting to get a call but still, excitement raced though him at the sound of the voice.

His wife, Grace, sat up in the bed and watched him as he hurried to get dressed.

Where’s my blue dress tie? he shouted digging through a rack in the closet. Honey –my tie?

She came into the closet pulling the tie for his dress blues from a hanger on the back of the door.

Thanks, Babe.

She wrapped the tie around his neck and quickly tied it without a word then smoothed down the back of his hair as he turned back for the bedroom.

He moved quickly to his study, hiding a few empty glasses and unfolded laundry from view. All the while the clock continued to count backward. Grace hurried in, tossing him his coat. With only one arm in it, he sat in front of the large glass screen –under a minute to go on the clock. With a few final touches, she made him presentable –tie straightened and collar sharp.

Finally, as the clock on the screen neared zero, the automated voice returned, Colonel Bradley, the President of the United States is ready to speak with you.

The presidential seal appeared on the screen in front of him. Tell the President I am ready, Cam said and in a few seconds, he was face to face with the President of the United States.

The voice returned with the introduction, Mr. President, I have Colonel Bradley.

Good morning, Sir, Cam snapped with a perfect salute.

The president returned it with a much more relaxed version typical of his lack of military service. You’re looking well, Cameron. How is your wife –oh, and the little one?

Just fine, Sir, just fine. Thank you for asking.

Cameron, I’ve got good news. It looks like you’ve been vetted. The information we’ve got on you is good and there doesn’t seem to be anything we can’t overcome in front of the committee.

That is good news, Sir – what about those college days in Boston? he asked jokingly. I was afraid they’d find something from back then that might come back to bite me.

Well, you aren’t the only one who has poor recollection of their college days, the president responded with a laugh.

Yes Sir, Mr. President. Cam answered with a nervous chuckle of his own.

The president was surrounded by staff-members shuffling in and out of Cam’s view. As they talked, he was continually bombarded with matters of the state –a job hazard that he seemed to brush away as easily as shooing away flies.

Cameron, I wanted to personally thank you for stepping up for this mission. We’re going to need a man like you on this and Colonel, I am just so proud for our country that you to have been selected.

Thank you, Sir, he answered as he choked up a little.

Colonel Bradley, I’ll see you in Houston tomorrow morning. The president snapped another odd salute and with that, the conversation was over as quickly as it had started. The monitor went blank and the presidential seal reappeared. The automated voice of the operator came back on.

Your flight has been confirmed. A driver will pick you up from your home at eighteen hundred hours to deliver you to Dulles International Airport. There you will board Air Force Two to be flown to Houston. The Press Secretary will brief you on the way. I have arranged accommodations on the base and tomorrow morning you will be meeting with the joint chiefs and the president at zero seven hundred with a press conference to follow. I have sent a complete itinerary to your personal interface. Are there any questions?

No, none. He was unable to come up with even one of the thousands of questions in his mind.

Have a good trip, Sir, said the voice and the words Signed Off appeared over the image of the president’s official seal on the monitor.

Cam sat still for a second or two to make sure it was over and then jumped to his feet hollering like a man who’d just won the lottery.

Are you going? came a soft voice from the bedroom.

Yeah, I’m heading to Houston –in the morning he replied.

And the mission –are you going?

It sure looks that way, he said. I passed the congressional review.

I thought we were going to talk about this, she said in a disappointed tone.

I thought we did talk about it.

"No, I talked… you yelled… then I yelled," she said as she came into the room. It was obvious she’d been crying. Cam looked in her teary eyes and took her by her arms.

"Grace, there is no way I can’t go. The President of THE UNITED STATES just handpicked me. They’ve been crawling up my rear end now for the last eight months trying to get me cleared. I’ve been poked and prodded by every person with a doctoral degree in the world and I passed. I’m their man."

She pulled away and turned back to the hallway. "What was I thinking? Here I thought you were my man," she muttered as she walked through to the kitchen.

That’s not fair, Grace! We’re a team here! We’re in this together. I need you to be there for me –to support me in this. He was nearly begging.

"Yeah, well, I need you to be here for me, she said as she picked up the baby. You know, to support me with this. I don’t want to have to raise our daughter without you. The last time they tried this kind of thing people died, Cam. People died! I can’t sit here and watch you kill yourself because you were handpicked by the President of THE UNITED STATES!" she yelled.

With her yell, the baby started to cry, too. Sweetheart, please –I’m not going to die out there. I’m going to come back here and grow old with you and Emma. I’ve got plans for our future and this mission is our opportunity of a lifetime. It guarantees our future. How would you like to one day be married to a congressman or a senator, or live in the governor’s mansion? What about the White House? This is the kind of thing that can lead to a life like that.

"All I care about is this house –you, me –in this house. She turned around and put both hands across her belly. And –while we’re on the subject, I know what we can put in that extra bedroom upstairs."

Totally surprised, he sprung from his chair. Grace? –You're not... He went to her and squeezed her as tight as he could. Honey, that is so awesome, when did you find out?

I did the test yesterday –you’re going to have a son.

~~~~*~~~~

He held her for a long time that morning. By evening, his bags were packed and he was off to the airport. Grace was home alone –and she would have to get used to it. This mission, even if successful, would require years of preparation and time commitments that are not conducive to family life. The voyage alone would not be possible for months –maybe even years, and no one knew how long the mission itself would take. If he did manage to come home alive, his kids may be half grown and Grace might be years older.

She couldn’t help it. Grace already longed for the time she would miss with him and the time he’d miss with their children. She tried to be positive and supportive but it was obvious with each expression on her face, she was heart broken. She felt selfish for not wanting this for him but she couldn’t. She knew it was an incredible honor for him but her honor, her sacrifice, was not voluntary. It was required –and that angered her.

~~~~*~~~~

The next morning, the president called a news conference to make the announcement about the decision. It was time to introduce the world to the mission commander of New Earth Mission One, Colonel Cameron Bradley.

Grace sat in bed and watched her monitor as the president took the podium and began to welcome the press and assembled dignitaries to the event. Cam stood behind him in full dress blues. It was the first time she’d seen him in that uniform in a long time. He stood next to the most powerful man on the planet. She zoomed to his face and listened as the president began to introduce him.

"Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. I would like to welcome you all to Houston on this momentous occasion. I would like to thank Governor Ridell, Representatives Martinez and Brown and Mayor Gentry for their hospitality in hosting us. I welcome the other leaders that are present and watching from around the world. This is a great day for us all. With this selection, we are one step closer to the realization of New Earth.

"The mission commander will not only have the important role of leading the crew but he also will be the leader and spokesperson for the entire mission throughout the training and development stages. His face will be on every aspect of this mission and his word will be absolute.

It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you –a husband, a father, a son and a brother. He has served his family, his community, his country and now will serve his world –our world in an unprecedented way. It is also my honor to now call him a friend. Ladies and gentlemen, I present Colonel Cameron Bradley, United States Air Force and Mission Commander for the first ever manned mission to New Earth."

The crowd applauded wildly as Cam took the podium. Grace could barely see the image in front of her through her tears. She had never felt so proud and so ashamed at the same time. As Cam began to speak, Grace heard Emily come crying down the hall. Come here, baby, she said helping her climb onto the bed. Look, daddy’s on. Emily stopped crying and reached out toward the screen with a sweet call to him, daddy?

"Thank you all. I’d like to thank you, Mr. President, and the members of the selection committee. This mission will not only go down as the greatest achievement of our time, it will surely shape the future of our existence and the very history of man. I can think of no higher appointment, no more worthy endeavor, no more important mission than the one we all undertake today.

I would like to recognize that it would not be possible for me to command this mission if it were not for the support of my beautiful wife Grace, whom I love deeply. I'd also like to say hello to our daughter Emily, whom I am sure is watching right now from home –Daddy loves you Emma." The crowd awed at the sweet moment as Cam smiled away a tear in his eye.

They will sacrifice as much in this mission as anyone and I would like to thank them for allowing me this opportunity.

Allowing, Grace thought. I didn’t know I had.

Cam continued, Grace and I also just found out that we are now expecting a son, and although we don’t know his name yet, the crowd chuckled and applauded again as Cam grinned widely, "I’d like to also thank him –in advance, for giving up so much of his daddy’s time for this cause.

You know, when I was just a little boy, I always dreamed of being an astronaut. My mother tells me it was the only thing I ever wanted to do. Even though it was a long shot, she believed in me and encouraged me to believe in myself –and to pursue my dreams. Today, in a time when very few have the opportunity to even go into space I have been able to realize my dream and make a living doing what I love.

But no one, not even my mother, would have ever believed –not in a million years –that I’d be standing here today, in this place, with the President of the United States –and all these great minds. That we’d be planning a mission –to again travel to another planet –not in search of a hint of life –but in search of relationship with a life we already know is there. I would have never believed it. None of us would have believed it –not in a million years.

But, these past few months, we’ve all started believing a little more in the impossible, he said with a knowing smile. Now, maybe one day my son or daughter will dream of becoming an astronaut, too. I’m proud to know that I will have had a hand in making those dreams possible again. I look forward to the adventure and I thank you again for the opportunity. I thank you for allowing me to serve on this mission. I thank you for entrusting me with the role of mission commander. Thank you all."

Applause erupted again. Cam turned and eagerly shook hands with the others on the platform who congratulated him. As everyone turned to exit, reporters hurled questions over the cheering crowd.

What is the time line of the expected launch?

Will there be equal representation from the other members?

Can the ISA guarantee the safety of the crew on this mission?

What about the Chinese? Rumors are they are nearing mission ready status.

Cam followed the other men and women behind the podium back into the hallway from which they had entered. As the doors shut, Grace strained to see Cam hoping to catch one last glimpse.

~~~~*~~~~

Following the press conference, Grace put Emily down for a nap. She watched the commentary on the mission and Cam’s naming as its commander. Most of the networks had a favorable reaction to his appointment, believing him to be fully qualified for the job. One inaccurate or negative statement in their story, however, would send her scanning for more intelligent commentary elsewhere.

The ISA had prepared an hour-long press-production detailing Cam’s childhood, military and professional career. Grace sat on the edge of the sofa where Emily was sleeping and watched the story of her husband’s life. The videos and images were mostly from back when she’d first met him, nearly twenty years before. He was so good looking she thought seeing him in his early Air Force days.

Seeing the younger man –the one she used to know, made her eyes tear up. She could already feel the change in the house –like a cold wind, loneliness had already begun to blow in. As Emily began to wake from her nap, Grace picked her up and pointed to the screen. That’s daddy.

The story of his father’s death when Cam was only two years old was depicted as she’d never heard before. She knew he died in a service accident but in all the years they’d been married, she never heard how the accident happened – it was a training accident. His helicopter went down in bad weather during an exercise in the Smokey Mountains National Forest.

An Army Captain, his father served in the Army National Guard –Air Calvary. He was a combat veteran of the Venezuelan Conflict. Cam had no memories of him at all and spoke of him very little. In all their time together, Grace could only think of a few occasions when Cam even mentioned his father’s name.

She sat on the sofa watching Emily play with her dolls. In the background, story after story ran about the man she loved and their life together. She felt it ironic, watching him but unable to be with him. Seeing all