Quasar Mirror

By Stephen McCoy

This novel involves the future of space travel with a highly trained crew of six. The Osprey is a mining ship with seventeen months of successful journey to Jupiters moon Io for the gold and diamond resources then back home to their families on Earth. The crew has a secondary mission of delivering the emergency medical supplies to the outermost space frontier of La Grange. The base of La Grange was located on Jupiters moon Ganymede. Their previous supply ship had crashed in Mars asteroid belt. With the personnel at a total of 531, plus their families, the survivors depend on this precious cargo. At the present time, Saturns orbital path is in virtual alignment with Jupiters around the sun. Saturns two moons collide, and it produces a quasar and creates the time warp factor, which complicate the crews survival. The survival of the remaining crew depends on the conservation of precious commodities, food and water. It will demand for the survivors ability to adapt to the hardships while on their returning trip back home to planet Earth. Ospreys captain is Commander Kenneth Winter. He rules with a tight fist. Once his mind is made up, theres no turning back. With communication lost, theres no possible way of informing the Earth base of the dilemma. The Ospreys payload has a fully loaded bounty of gold and diamond, and the greatest fear is the pirates.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524538149

Stephen McCoy

Stephen McCoy grew up in the rural settings of northeastern Kentucky, living and working on his family farm. With the hardships experienced and the struggles of making ends meet for the survival of the household, he has felt the pain of not having his desired food but learned to live off the land. With his eagerness to learn science and business, he obtained a BS in science technology and a minor in business. He served in the United States Marine Corps and, after four years, learned leadership and strategy skills. Afterward, he spent his personal life applying management of logistics for a company in South Florida. His experiences of farm life, education and knowledge, military structure, and working skillsall these components created the foundation for writing this novel. The elements of adventures are caused by an action that generates reaction, a situation that must be solved in order to survive. Often, the author gives the reader pieces of information as the novel advances, and the complete puzzle is constructed. The element of not interfering with destiny is the viewpoint and goal of the author.

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Copyright © 2016 by Stephen McCoy.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2016914067

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5245-3816-3

      Softcover      978-1-5245-3815-6

      eBook         978-1-5245-3814-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 01/20/2018

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CONTENTS

Prologue The Osprey Crew Introduction

MISSION DAY 20

MISSION DAY 26

MISSION DAY 27

MISSION DAY 107

MISSION DAY 128

MISSION DAY 143

Preparations For The Mission

MISSION DAY 230

MISSION DAY 240

MISSION DAY 243

MISSION DAY 244

MISSION DAY 245

MISSION DAY 247

MISSION DAY 248

MISSION DAY 249

MISSION DAY 250

MISSION DAY 258

The Grim Outlook Of Survival

MISSION DAY 328

MISSION DAY 330

MISSION DAY 331

The Uninvited Guest

MISSION DAY 332

MISSION DAY 335

MISSION DAY 336

MISSION DAY 398

MISSION DAY 410

MISSION DAY 443

MISSION DAY 444

MISSION DAY 445

The New Beginning Of Life

December 15, 2015

December 16, 2015

December 17, 2015

December 18, 2015

December 20, 2015

December 26, 2015

January 05, 2016

January 22, 2016

As the Osprey is launched into space, the crew is fully prepared for its mission to retrieve the diamond and gold mined on Jupiter’s moon, Io. They also have a humanitarian goal: to deliver emergency medical equipment and supplies to La Grange on the moon of Ganymede. Hundreds of people are anticipating the delivery of this life-saving equipment.

As they delve deeper into space, the crew face countless challenges that threaten their safety and survival. Each encounter directly challenges the ideas they held about each other as well as themselves.

With their survival hanging in the balance, the crew encounter the greatest challenge of their lives: a battle against evil. In their fight for survival, tough choices need to be made.

PROLOGUE

The Osprey Crew Introduction

T he crew of the Osprey is preparing for their mission in the year 2151. Two rockets, which are larger than the Saturn 5 rockets, are attached to the Osprey. The weather is perfect for the launch; the bright sun warms the outlets as they release plumes of the cold stream into the breeze. Strapped into the front segment of flight seats is the commander, Captain Kenneth Winter, with his executive officer, Thomas Callaway, and chief engineer, Susan Winter. Captain Winter, age 43, has a gruff personality toward the crewmembers, especially toward his wife, Susan. Thomas Callaway, 62, graying and widowed, recently lost his wife to cancer. Susan, 39, has been married to the captain for the last four years. In the second row, the secondary crewmembers are John Minestone, 24 and Mario Gomez, 29—the Osprey engineering personnel—and Denise Klum, 23, the payload specialist. This flight deck is a space of twelve by eight feet, with a blast wall for a flight crew compartment. With enough room for the crew in bulky space suits being more comfort without the added controls panels; only monitors display critical data. The interior of the flight deck has only one flight control, which is used for flight overrides—or a so-called fail-safe. The main component of the Osprey is Crystal, an artificial intelligence computer system that fully controls the complete operation of the ship and the environment of the crew. Crystal takes command from Captain Winter, then by protocol the next in commander by ranking order.

Captain Winter has anger management issues, which over the last year and a half have gradually become worse. Often, he is disrespectful to his wife, even in front of the crew. Captain Winter’s only brother Bruce has ill feelings toward him. He blames Captain Winter for the sudden death of both their parents. His brother thinks that Kenneth is generally mad at the world. The captain slowly turns around, placing his hand upon Thomas’s shoulder. With the generous gesture, Thomas focuses his eyes on him.

While he turns around, he is looking at Thomas with a pleasant smile. In a calming voice the captain says, Thomas, I am glad to have you back aboard the Osprey. You are an exceptional executive officer.

He tries to look directly at his executive officer while being strapped and wearing a bulky space suit. The commander knows that with his faithful second-in-command, the crew would respect Thomas Callaway knowledge of thirty years of service. The captain feels uneasy, unsure of how to gain his crew’s trust back since he was not by Thomas’s side when he was in need of comfort during the painful loss of his wife. He practices for a couple of hours, constructing the words together, and forming the body language for the full dramatic effect.

Thomas is shocked by the warm words being exhaled from the captain’s mouth. Thomas is looking at the pictures of his grandkids on his tablet, then finally inserts it into the storage pouch.

This is the first time he has been so gracious before launch, Thomas thinks. I am sure his true self should appear any moment now.

Thomas replies in a sad tone, Yeah, I had to, captain. You know, it’s been almost a year since that damn cancer took my wife.

Thomas clears his throat; he still shows the pain of losing the love of his life. He knows that this is his last mission before retiring after thirty years. His battle is realizing that most of his family life has been neglected. He was not there to watch his three kids grow up or take their first steps. Out of the three, he only attended one graduation. One wedding was rescheduled due to an unpredicted rocket malfunctioning on the return trip. He is grateful that his father was there when he departed from his family for two years at a time. He looks forward to helping his own son, who always travels on military missions.

The captain responds with a quick glance to Susan. Susan said she wished that I had spent more time with you and your wife during the final days. She told me the funeral was gracious with the extended family.

Susan felt uneasy about the fact that her husband had only attended the funeral briefly for one hour, then left unnoticed. Susan spent the last five days with Tomas at his wife’s bedside, while Kenneth only stopped in for a brief appearance. Why must he bring back the painful memories?

Thomas reaches over to turn off the tablet while clearing his throat. I understand what you’re telling me, captain. It’s not your grief to carry.

A short pause follows. Thomas, you know more about me than my own brother, who hasn’t spoken to me in the last fifteen years. I don’t understand why. What, it’s been eight years working together?

Thomas and Susan cannot figure out what the problem is between Kenneth and his only brother.

Thomas slaps the captain across his shoulder. No, captain, it’s been twelve years, including the Phoenix. You should remember your first command ship.

After four years of marriage, Susan has never met Kenneth’s brother and has no information about why they are so bitter with each other. Susan attempted many times to find out the secret hidden in the family’s closet, but she never learned anything.

Oh, yes, your brother, he never sends a reply and was a no-show to our wedding. A short pause follows, but no response from the commander.

Susan is laughing while trying to seek information. Wow, the astounding adventures of the captain. Many wild stories could be distinguished from the oldies’ years, right?

With a joking tone, Thomas replies, You recognize that he has the same charming personality. He hasn’t gotten rid of that devil.

We never will change Kenneth. He possesses the charm of a jackal. He genuinely loves the smell of fear and the sensations of winning, of getting the upper hand.

The captain fires off his remark. Yes, Susan, you know that love is overrated.

Thomas watching as the process of captain being pleasant, turning to his usual self in a span of ten minutes—or maybe twelve tops.

Susan lets out a deep breath, slowly releasing the tension from her diaphragm. You are a total jerkoff, Kenneth. Catching herself, she almost says this in front of the whole crew, but she wants peace. Susan can feel the internal heat of embarrassment from the words. Lately, Susan can see that Kenneth has gotten worse. At her family gatherings, he is a loner, speaking to no one. If a question is asked, he answers back with a short phrase. Susan was raised in a close-knit family environment. She adores her little niece, even though she’s only a couple months old. Susan sees that Thomas wants no part of the discussion and remains quiet. Thomas suddenly grabs his tablet, checking through the next set of pictures of his late wife with their grandkids without a glance at the others sitting next to him. He knows the boundary of his commander when he sees the blood vessel along his forehead. The captain and Susan are completely uncommunicative.

With the front segment of the crew compartment becomes quiet. Young man biggest adventure is about to begin his name is John Minestone. John is an only child; both parents have worked all their lives in the space industry. John grew up with rockets and spaceships as toys and dreamed since he was a small child of being an astronaut. His major in college was space and physics, but space travel is his number one priority as a grownup. His love life has suffered. He cannot understand why the girls do not appreciate him being an astronaut. The possibility of not returning frightens the young women. He’s always felt that he’s not actually loved by his partners since there is a lack of willingness to wait with open arms for his arrival back to Earth. A flight crew assistant, a young woman in her early twenties, is slowly making her way around the second row of seats. She pulls the straps and harness of each crewmember. John is putting forth his best smile as she gets closer. John, on his first mission, has been watching her since she entered the flight deck. John hears her Southern accent, which is music to his ears. He stares into her eyes as she pulls on his harness and gradually holds her hand with the palm up. John caresses her open palm, which she draws back. John reads her nametag.

John asks quietly, What’s wrong? I only want to be friendly, Lilly.

Lilly questions John, You are chewing gum, are you, before your liftoff? She extends her hand once again with a small napkin for John.

Lilly lets out a smile. I don’t want my handsome astronaut to be chewing and gagging on his gum.

John firmly places his gum into the napkin while winking at her. What about a dinner date a year and a half from now, at a five-star restaurant, with a bottle of wine? He can see she might be willing to wait. The only information he has about her is a name. To him, like being on a blind date with which will be take place in 18 months. Apparently, she feels the same way. Her eyes are following his every gesture.

Lilly bends down, gently kissing John on his lips. My answer is sealed with that kiss as a yes. I’ll be waiting for you when you come home.

Lilly walks over to the hatch and secures it while giving John a smile. The air lock seals, making the familiar vacuum sound. Mario hits John on the shoulder while shaking his head.

Mario tells John, You’re always a big flirt with the women. Everywhere we go, there is, John trying his luck. You know the odds of her waiting for you, I’m willing to place a month pay as a no show.

Mario gives John a fist bump. Both are laughing. Denise, you should have seen him the other night. He was like a lost puppy at the bar, trying his best with the ladies, but struck out.

Denise is also on her first mission. She is a young brunette with freckles scattered across the bridge of her nose. She narrows her eyes when she hears Mario’s comment. She pushes her hair tighter with her clips and places a skullcap to keep away her hair. Denise reaches down to caress the cross her parents gave her before the mission. John watches her as she displays her affection for the symbol of her beliefs.

Denise speaks with a slight German accent, even though she’s fluent in English. Eager to perform her advanced training, her ambition is to be the best astronaut from her homeland. She knows she has much to learn from the great astronauts before her.

Yes, Mario, he’s harmless. What’s wrong with a little flirting? Denise is now looking at Mario. It seems you are jealous of John. At least he tries his luck. You have a great wife and perfect children—what, happily married, what, six years?

Mario spoke with a firm tone and excitement. Wow, now seven years with five-year-old twin daughters. High school sweetheart. Now that’s what I hold deeply in my heart, and they’re my life. Mario raises hands in the air, cheering to himself, being proud of his lifestyle. This mission will be Mario’s third one over the last ten years. He knows his wife is one in a million and that she deserves the credit for raising two well-managed kids.

Denise says, Yes, one day I will have someone to share my life dreams.

She recently ended a two-year relationship. Her boyfriend’s mistake was to demand more time with her, which led to their demise. He interfered with her goals. She has someone in her prospect. She’s been carefully giving off well-placed hints toward John. They’ve spent three months together, often side by side, training for the upcoming mission. They spent time together at Mario’s house and enjoyed each other’s company. She can feel the passion building for John she not sure about him. While John is taking a slow approach since he had fallen for her definitely wants not to mess up the friendship. An anger woman with a bad relationship for the next several months has its consequences. Being trapped together with the working environment in deep space. Besides the fear of the captain’s objection of the relationship. Captain Winter wouldn’t be understanding of affair within his ship.

John quickly winks flirtatiously at Denise, who only looks away but expresses a warm smile. John is distracted by the view. He is amazed at the replica Apollo and the space shuttle at the old launch pad LC-39 with a shadow silhouette over the landscape.

Everyone look toward the east. What a breathtaking view of those spacecrafts, John says with the exhilaration of a child. Susan rotates the camera view for everyone to see on the overhead monitors.

Thomas asks, Would you love to be strapped to those rockets? With seven and a half million pounds of thrust during liftoff, Saturn 5 rockets for the Apollo Mission. This Saturn 9 has in total of thirty million combined. It rattles the ground for twenty miles away.

Denise asks Mario, Hey, how do you stay so calm like you’re in meditation?

Well, it’s the same as holding the ropes just before the raging bull breaks through the chute. The bull and I, you know, battling one on one. I am clinging on for dear life, and he is trying his best to throw me off his back. Yes, I accept the scars to show for enjoyment while my wife is in the stands having a stroke each time.

John remembers seeing the seven-inch scar that runs around Mario’s armpit. Mario spent three days trying to convince John to try his luck at bull riding. Mario seems to always put forth a great effort of showing off a macho personality, but has a phobia of scorpions.

Susan finally breaks her silence. John’s great-grandfather, five generations ago, flew two missions on the space shuttles. On both missions, he was a flight specialist and conducted many scientific experiments regarding the effects of zero gravity on small mammals.

Everyone lets out a loud applause for John’s distinguished family history. John has studied his great-grandfather in detail for the two missions. He considers himself knowledgeable after reading the notes on how each experiment was performed. Johnathon Minestone investigated the effects of zero gravity on mammals— specialized in the development of artificial gravity on a modest plate. With two groups of mice who had the same diet and exercise, he noted that the mice with artificial gravity were as healthy as they were on Earth. He also conducted three spacewalks, mainly dealing with satellite upgrades. His last satellite repair was in unison with a young, famous, female Russian cosmonaut updating the hardware on two old communication satellites. The two nearly escaped certain death while the satellite attached to the European robotic arm. Luckily, the courageous crew of the ISS was able to untangle the cable. During the last repair, she was killed when the boom finger unexpectedly released, which caused her catastrophic death. The satellite ripped and tore her space suit; she died instantly. The crew of the International Space Station watched as her body naturally disappeared into the darkness of space. Her wish upon her death was that her body and soul would remain in space for a course into the heavens. Many historians and others have a theory of conspiracy about this accident, but it did not add up, with America, Russia, and China in agreement. In a couple of unsanctioned documents were rumors of a relationship with a young American astronaut, which distracted her, causing the unfortunate accident. Even though he was a married man, apparently, the rumors had fuel to burn. John admits to himself that he got his handsome looks from his great-grandfather. John notices that in the last few days of his great-grandfather’s second mission, the notes were concentrated only on the mice experiments. There was no mention in his ancestor’s transcriptions of details of his everyday life during the space mission. Even with the other astronauts, logs were vague. It was as if suddenly, life on the International Space Station got rather monotonous. That has always stuck John as being peculiar. John figures that this could be due to suffering the loss of a space crewmember, which affected their acceptance of the dangers of space.

Captain Winter clears his throat. He does not want to anticipate in celebration with the rest of the crew. He feels that they should be honored have him as their commander rather than cheer on a dead astronaut. This is his time in control of the Osprey, which he wants to rule with an iron fist. Crystal, good morning, are the system checks complete? Interesting conversation the crew is having, right?

Yes, commander, the rocket’s gross weight has been calculated. Fifteen percent has been added to the escape velocity as a precaution as requested.

With the latest information, the captain turns around to check his crew with a grumpy grin. He wants to light the candles and blast into space. With the brilliant minds of the crew he has now every obstacle is solvable.

The captain shouts, Prepare for two-minute liftoff! Let us light the fire and hold on to the seats.

Susan instructs the crew to mount their helmets for liftoff. She worries about whether the new crewmember, Denise, can handle spending months in deep space. Denise reminds her of herself ten years ago. She remembers her first blast into cold, dark space. On her first trip, Susan was the only female. She learned how to defend herself with a man twice her size. She glances back at Denise and John to make sure that they heard her command. Sees Mario with his hand motioned in a circle; telling to speed up in mounting their helmets. John and Denise had their helmets correctly locked the first time when they saw the green blinking light indicator.

Yes, commander, as ordered, in firing sequence with two minutes and counting.

Denise speaks with a crackling in her voice. I hate being propelled against gravity. I am a believer of having my feet on the ground, not being hurled into space. Denise firmly grips the armrest after being honest with everyone. With no fear in training simulator, but the Osprey has no option of resetting after failure for more training with not a second chance.

Mario is laughing. I’m so glad. I had the biggest steak on that menu last night.

John looks over at Mario and says, Those were the last two beers we will have in months.

Yeah, our mouths will be dry as a Texas desert until we get to Ganymede.

Suddenly, the Osprey shales violently, with the thunderous roar of the dual rockets. A fine mist of dust is visible, which is now diffusing the light into the cabin compartment. Susan has her eyes closed, praying the Lord’s Pray, softly whispering to herself as the rocket engines blast. John and Mario are waving their hands as if they are riding a roller coaster. The captain’s face is rigid as he stares blankly.

Denise has her eyes closed, holding and releasing her breath sporadically. After five minutes, the first rings of the dual rockets separate with the shaking slowly subsiding. Then a few moments later, the second set of rings separates from Saturn 9. Then the last rings burn out with sparks floating around the exhaust port. Afterward, the Osprey’s main engine’s ignitions, as the rockets slowly burn to a warm gleam of crimson. Through the monitors, the crew watches as the final stages of the rocket tumble back to Earth, with the only slight glow of rocket propellant burning away into the darkness.

Commander, we have achieved low Earth orbit and are scheduled to link up to the payload modular, Crystal says.

The blast door unlocks and then slides to reveal the essential portion of the flight deck, which leads to the corridor of the ship. Directly behind the flight is the dining room, which only has one large table with bench seating on both sides. Across the dining room is the medical ward, operational for surgery. Crystal calls up the medical robots from the payload deck when needed. Then down the corridor are the captain, the executive, and then the chief engineer’s quarters.

The captain orders, Yes, let’s link.

After we link, can we finally get out of these space suits and flight seats? John asks Susan.

Mario loudly releases his seat harness. Come along, you two tenderfoots, feel the grace of space. Mario motions for the new recruits to join him, in the ritual celebration of achieving these zero gravities. Denise is looking over at John as he releases his harness. She hastens to join once John propels toward Mario.

Susan shouts back, I don’t want to find those suits thrown to the floor. Please set them into the storage compartment.

Denise tells Susan, One day, everyone will see how your maternal instinct will blossom.

Susan replies in a soft whisper, Hopefully soon, but as you know, it takes two willing partners. Kenneth is self-centered, oblivious not to my needs and desire for a child. Denise hugs Susan to comfort her since she can sense the pain in Susan’s eyes.

John notices Mario’s T-shirt from La Grande Rodeo with the fiftieth-anniversary logo. That’s a great T-shirt.

I would have had a pair of boots would be better than this advertisement for the rodeo if I hung on for half a second longer.

What would you need more boots for, to kill those pesky scorpions? John was trying out his best Texas drawl.

Denise is giggling while John makes fun of Mario’s phobia.

John, at least that rattlesnake gives you a warning. Unbelievable what I saw. When I was five, my mom had this huge cat named Roxie. Those scorpions, there must have been at least six of them, these creatures, killed her cat. Hell, she died in my mom’s arms as dad was driving us to the vet.

Both John and Denise ended their fun with Mario’s phobia, especially since hearing the heartbreaking story. John begins to perform cartwheels while Mario waves at Denise to join in on the fun. Denise finally tries her skills with the weightless atmosphere. Mario is gripping their feet to spin them faster. John and Denise are now bouncing from the floor to the ceiling. John understands that Denise is relaxed when he is around. John wants to be cautious as he doesn’t want to kill the friendship. He wants to know without a doubt that she has the same feelings of passion that he does.

Thomas is watching the show while holding onto the handrail. Oh my goodness. Now, you got to have fun. If you guys get sick and get cookies everywhere, I’m not cleaning up.

Captain Winter only looks back to giving everyone a loose smile without saying a word. Susan can already understand that Denise is attracted to John, but sees that John is overly cautious. She does not want to ruin a relationship by talking to John, knowing that if it builds upon itself, the bond of love will be flourishing. Proximity is needed. She also knows this closeness can be the enemy in disguise, a trigger point with her husband. Lurking around the corner, he disrupts her in performing her duties on the Osprey. She puts this in the back of her mind, but for now, she does not want to worry about the hardship of her relationship. Susan gently releases a water pouch toward the new recruits. John reaches for the bag and squeezes a couple of droplets toward Denise. She opens her mouth to catch the droplets and giggles with each one. One droplet of water clings to her nose. She shakes her head, but it only slides around. Mario looks at the 3D screen seeing the payload modular coming into view with the coordinates in the corner of the display.

Mario says, Guys, you need to come down.

Yes, Mario, Denise replies, while coming face to face with John, almost bumping noses. I haven’t this much fun in years. In the deepest portion of her mind, she misses her opportunity with a kiss would be what needed.

John mentions, Hopefully we can link up on the first attempt. I would hate to sleep in those flight seats tonight.

Susan taps him on the shoulder and says, John, you can’t just enter right after you secure the modular. It must be vacuumed and pressurized, my friend. The process takes up to three hours.

Denise checks the coordinates and confirms with a thumbs-up that they are on target.

Slowly, the modular aligns perfectly and links with a loud thump that sends a shockwave through the Osprey.

Commander, we achieved modular linkup. Now we are in the process of establishing the artificial gravity once we maintain speed.

John rubs his jaw in pain, letting out an audible moan, which Susan can hear from ten feet away.

Susan asks, Hey, what are you whining about?

My tooth is killing me because of the G-force.

Susan shouts, John, you were going to take care of that tooth a month ago! What happened?

I’m not thinking of letting a six-inch needle and other equipment force their way into my mouth. It is only a slight annoyance. I can control it.

Thomas laughs. I don’t want to hear you crying about it again. I’ll pull the darn tooth out myself with my own pair of pliers. The captain is in the background with his hand acting as if he has the pliers, jerking a couple of times. He laughs at the image of Thomas pulling the tooth.

Commander, now we are in the process of establishing the artificial gravity.

Drifting like leaves, Denise and John have fallen toward the floor. Mario swings both of them a strap to grab to break the fall to the deck.

Susan notices for the first time the medallion John is wearing around his neck. John is striving to conceal it under his flight suit.

Thomas asks to see the medallion. Let’s take a closer look at it. Don’t worry, we won’t take your family treasure.

John unclasps the necklace from his neck and places it gently into Susan’s hand. Thomas flips the medallion; the other side is identical.

Susan says, The large, yellow diamond in the center must be the sun.

John nodded and said, Yes, you’re correct. The other ones look like the planets, and Jupiter is this huge, blue diamond.

Susan rubs the surface of the medallion, John, do you know the significance of the handprint on it?

No, I do not know. I was hoping you knew.

Susan slowly turned the medallion over.

It’s God’s hand holding our solar planets in orbit, Susan, Thomas said, shaking his head. That was easy to figure out.

John shows the edge and says, Please notice the engraving on the side.

Thomas pulls out his reading glasses to get a better look. That is too small for me to read. Susan, you have better eyes. I’m just like John, hate going to the doctors.

Susan slowly reads the quote. We acquire wisdom from our future, a treasured gift called knowledge.

Thomas is mouthing the quote repeatedly trying to figure the meaning of the engraving. As Thomas repeats it a couple of times, he has a confused expression. He says, That’s vague. It doesn’t make sense.

Susan nods and says, It’s got to be a riddle. Where in the world did you get the medallion?

It has been passed down in my family for generations. It will be my duty to pass forward to my son or daughter, John begins to deliberate. The strangest part is that it was addressed from a bank in Kansas with a note from my great-grandfather. Apparently, he made ad hoc arrangements that this medallion was to be given to the next one who adventures into space.

We are preparing for the ignitions of the plasma rockets. The system check is at 91 percent, Crystal says.

Crystal once accomplished, we will have ignition of the twin rockets, the captain states firmly.

From the external camera, the port doors open to expose the engine as they start to glow with a light yellow tint. The crew is quickly jumping back into their flight seats and securing the harness before the initial jolt from the acceleration in deep space. Quickly, the yellow tint turns into bright, blue, pulsating, intense light. Everyone is forced back into their seats. Mario is enjoying the view of the stars as they pick up velocity. Denise sees an old communication satellite with its blinking lights fading off into the darkness. In their frontal view, they discover a new ship under construction with several large conjoining portions. Then it disappears. After two hours, Osprey reaches its cruising speed of 53,000 miles per hour, heading for deep space.

We have made our project speed. You are immediately granted to go to your cabin, Crystal confirms.

Thanks, Crystal, Susan responds back. Let’s check out your living quarters. Remember, some of your gear could dislodge from the launch.

John’s quarters are 8 x 10 feet with a personal bathroom tucked into the corner. He works through his personal items