LOCATINGย Beta has given this crew a much-needed morale boost. Everyone feels a renewed sense of purpose, that weโre on the right track, and that weโre going to figure this out, one way or another. Any team, no matter what youโre doing, canโt go too long without a win. Finding the artifact is a big win for us. But this isnโt close to being over.
Yesterday, we launched Madre to seek out the Janus fleet. It will refill their fuel cells and redirect them to Beta, which is much closer to the Sun than we expected. In fact, the Icarus drone that found the artifact had a far-out search vector, at the edge of Minโs projections. He believes the artifacts are solar-powered, and that their acceleration increases rapidly as they approach the Sun.
If heโs correct, there are several implications. For one thing, weโre pretty sure the original artifact did accelerate beyond our search grid.
The discovery has forged consensus among the crew on several issues. Yesterday we launched comm drones to Earth and theย Fornax. The drones are loaded with all of our data and everything we know so far. Weโve also altered course to intercept Beta.
When I asked Grigory if we could reach it, he was cagey. โPossibly.โ He shot Harry a look, then went into a long diatribe about the artifactโs unknown acceleration capacity, variable solar output, and the effect of gravitational pull.
Somethingโs going on. I know Harry, Min, and Grigory have been meeting in private. I suspect itโs about meโthey change the subject every time I get near them. And theyโre not the only ones meeting in private. Iโve spotted Izumi and James whispering in the med bay. And Iย knowย thatโs
about me. Specifically, my bone density. Itโs bad. My gums are receding and my grip strength is waning. My fingernails are brittle too, and Iโm getting cramps more often, especially at night. I feel as if Iโm aging at an advanced rate, like someone in a time warp, literally disintegrating. But the fact remains: besides exercise and mineral supplements, thereโs nothing anyone can do.
And this is a far better fate than dying back on the ISS or in that rescue capsule. Iโve had a chance to be part of somethingโan incredible mission with some of the best minds and the best people whom Iโve ever known.
None of us will stop fighting for this mission.
MADRE DISPATCHEDย one of the scout drones from the Janus fleet back to theย Paxย to report. The mother drone found the fleet, powered them up, and has them en route to Beta. Theyโll arrive in two weeks. Iโm counting down the days.
Because Beta is behind us and moving fast, weโll reach it long before we would have reached Alpha. Thatโs the good news. The bad news is that Beta could be going so fast it zooms right past us before we can intercept.
The clock is ticking. Weโll know soon.
HARRY, James, and I are working in the lab when Grigory drifts into the hatchway.
โBubble meeting.โ
His expression is blank. I sense bad news.
In the bubble, when everyone is present and tethered to the conference table, Min says, โThe comm drone is back from theย Fornax.โ
The fact that theย Fornaxย is out there is a relief. From Minโs expression, Iโm guessing thatโs the extent of the good news.
โIโm going to read their return message verbatim,โ Min says, staring at a tablet. He clears his throat. โBe advised,ย Fornaxย compromised. Six capsules never reached assembly point.โ Min holds the tablet up. โThereโs a list. Grigory and I already looked it up. One was Harryโs capsule, of course,
and four were supply capsules. The sixth was Oliver Karnes. The other aeronautics engineer.โ
Grigoryโs counterpart on theย Fornax. Thatโs bad.
Thereโs a long silence. As someone who never met the original crew and has gone through losing people in space, Iโm probably able to process this a bit faster. I try to make my voice neutral. โI expect that explains why Harryโs capsule was sent to theย Paxย rendezvous point. Once Karnesโs capsule was lost, meaning there would be no aeronautics engineer on theย Fornax, mission control must have felt that Harryโs skills would be underutilized there.โ
โThatโs an understatement,โ Harry says. โWeโd be lost without Grigory.โ
The Russian shrugs. โThe truth finally emerges.โ
Thereโs controlled laughter around the room. Itโs a weak attempt to conceal the disappointment we all feel. And responsibility. The mission truly falls to us now.
โThe message continues,โ Min says. โThe crew of theย Fornaxย favors transferring our drone stock to theย Pax. Be advised: our delta payload is intact.โ
โDelta payload?โ I ask.
James leans over and responds. โThe only thing that was different on the two shipsโ supply manifests: they had a nuke, we got more drone parts.โ โAnd one crewmember was different,โ Charlotte says. โMe and Dan
Hampstead.โ
โTrue,โ James says.
โFinal line of message,โ Min announces. โWe are altering course and preparing for rendezvous and docking. We await further orders fromย Pax.โ Min looks up. โEnd message.โ
After a pause, he says, โletโs talk about our options.โ
โI need a minute,โ James says. โI need to think about this. We all do before we make this decision.โ
IN THE LAB, James pulls me aside. โYouโre getting sicker.โ
โI know.โ
โBut you donโt know how bad it is.โ โI do know, James.โ
โWeโIzumi and Iโcanโt treat you here. Youโve got to get to a real hospital and to stronger gravity soon.โ
โThat ship has sailed. We both know it.โ
โNot necessarily. Weโre on a rocket ship. And weโre about to have another. One with no real purpose other than to release a nuke and then fly back to Earth, double fast.โ
โNo.โ
โNo what?โ
โNo, Iโm not going. Youโre not putting me on theย Fornaxย and sending me home. Iโm staying here and working. You know we need theย Fornaxย in the hunt for the artifact. If for no other reason than to observe and relay findings to Earth in case theย Paxย is compromised. You canโt waste that ship on hospital transport back to Earth. Weโre all expendable.โ
โWeโre not.โ
โWe are. End of discussion.โ
โDo you have any idea what your deterioration and death would do to this crew?โ
โThis crew is strong enough to take it.โ โDonโt be so sure.โ
โAre you speaking for yourself or them?โ โBoth. Please, Emma. Think about it.โ
โI donโt need to.โ
He throws up his hands. โYouโre nuts, you know that? Nuts! And youโre drivingย meย nuts.โ He barrels out of the lab. Itโs a good thing spaceships donโt have gravity or slamming doors, because he would have been stomping away and rocking the hatch off its hinges as he shut it.
I believe Iโm doing the right thing for the mission and everyone on Earth, including my sister and her kids. I feel miserable about it.
AN HOUR LATER, we reconvene in the bubble and make the decision: weโll rendezvous with theย Fornaxย and transfer all drone components toย Pax.
James is still sullen, either from our conversation or the weight of the decisions upon him. His plan isnโt elaborate, and thereโs no mention of my going over to theย Fornaxย or of the other ship turning back. But I wonder if heโs planning it.
IN THE LAB, James, Harry, and I discuss what to do with the new influx of parts. It will almost triple our available stock. Most importantly, weโll get more engine parts.
I voice my first reaction. With the exception of the contentious conversation I just had with James, the lab is a safe zone, where we are free to throw out ideas, and debate is civil and productive. It reminds me so much of the ISS.
โWe could take more readings. Send a fleet ahead of the artifact, see how it reacts after our encounter with it.โ
โTrue,โ James says, eyes on the table. โBut we need to consider the big picture.โ
โAttaching my wide-view lens,โ Harry says jovially.
That gets a chuckle out of James and me, but neither of us looks at the other. Heโs still mad at me. That sort of makes me want to be mad at him.
โWeโre out here for more than these two artifacts,โ James continues. โOur mission is to get Earth the data they need to survive.โ
I cock my head. โI donโt follow.โ
โThink about it: two artifacts on the same vector. Think about what that implies.โ
It hits me then. โA mother ship.โ
Harry pinches his lower lip with his fingers. โWhat are you proposing?โ โA massive drone search fleet. Sent along the artifactsโ vector. Running
silent, collecting their findings. Another mother drone, larger than Madre, to coordinate the other drones and send comm bricks back to Earth with the data.โ
Harry smiles. โAย motherย mother drone? You should have led with that, James. You had me at โWeโre gonna need a bigger drone.โโ
โYouโre so shallow, Harry.โ
โSize matters. E equals mc squared.โ
Itโs got to be the nerdiest joke Iโve ever heard. But I laugh, and so does James. He glances over at me, and I can tell he doesnโt really want to be mad at me. And I donโt really want to be mad at him. Weโre fighting, essentially, because he cares about me and I care more about the mission.
IN THE BUBBLE, we present our plan. To my surprise, the crew is pensive. Maybe itโs because weโre technically going outside of our mission objective, which is to find and assess the known artifacts.
We donโt reach a consensus. We break and return to our departments. Shortly after, Grigory drifts into the lab.
โIf we send the other drones on search, we need to be ready to support them.โ
โMadre Two,โ Harry begins, but Grigory holds up a hand.
โNot talking about bigger mother drone. Talking about fact we have two ships now. One possibly without purpose.โ
To my surprise, he doesnโt elaborate. He nods and floats out of the lab. His meaning isnโt lost on James, Harry, or me. But we donโt discuss it. We all return to our work, stewing on the idea.
THE NEXT DAY, James, Harry, and I form a plan. We donโt include theย Fornaxย in it. Mostly because weโre scared to make plans for the shipโ because those plans might sentence that crew to death.
IN THE BUBBLE, the meeting about the drone deployment is contentious. Battle lines are drawn. Harry, James, Grigory, and I are for sending the remaining drones along the vector to search for more artifacts and a potential mother ship.
The rest are against, some more vocally than others. Min points at James. โThis isnโt our mission.โ
โOf course it is. Our mission is to do whatever we have to do to save Earth.โ
Min taps on his panel. โThe missionโโ
โIs more than whatโs written in the briefing, Min.โ James is mad. Heโs trying to hide it, but heโs losing control. โWhy do you think they sent us up here? To follow that document to the letter? No. Weโre here to use our heads and figure this out. We need to find that mother ship.โ
James looks at the group. โOdds are, itโs out there. And if these artifacts are responsible for the Long Winter, weโveย gotย to fight them at the source. There could be millions or even billions of these artifacts.โ
Arguing ensues, voices rising. The fight, more than any of our time here on theย Pax, reveals the personalities of the members of our crew.
Min, ultimately, is by the book. He favored finding the second artifact, but only because he felt that effort was well within the mission parameters. He canโt imagine going home and telling his superiors he went off on a completely different mission than what he was sent up here for.
Izumi is with him. Maybe her training as a physician has taught her to be conservative. Or perhaps sheโs against our idea because itโs so radical.
For Charlotte, the sticking point is the prospect of losing the dronesโof having a successful first contact and no way to adapt her approach.
Lina is somewhere in the middle. The German programmer is the least talkative of the crew. She simply asks what the risks and rewards are, which sparks another James-Min standoff.
I think Harry favors the plan mostly because he likes building the drones, and I think he would follow James anywhere. I would too. But I also agree with the plan on the merits. My gut tells me the artifacts are hostile. Thatโs not just because I think they destroyed the ISS and killed my crew. The evidence supports it.
Grigory is in that camp: he thinks weโre at war. He favors, in his words, โfinding our enemy.โ
In the end, Lina votes with us, and a compromise is struck: parts for three small drones will remain on theย Pax. That wins Charlotte over, leaving Min and Izumi. Neither of them is comfortable with the decision, but they will work to support it. And in private, James and Min apologize to each other for shouting.
Weโre becoming more than a crew. Weโre becoming a family, one that fights and compromises and cares about each other, even when we donโt
agree. Even when weโre mad at each other.
THE RUN–UPย to theย Fornaxย rendezvous is hectic. Itโs anybodyโs guess which will happen first: the Janus fleet reaching Beta or the docking.
James and Harry obsess over the drone designs for the third fleet, which theyโre calling โMidwayโ after the decisive naval battle that turned the tide of World War II in the Pacific. Harry, in addition to being a human repository of movie quotes, is a history buff as well. James is too, but to a lesser extent.
โWithout Midway, the Japanese could have run the board,โ Harry says, strapped to our work table in the drone lab. โBrilliance, thatโs what it was. The greatest game of naval strategy ever played.โ
I wonder if thatโs what Harry thinks weโre doing out here: an elaborate strategy game against an enemy that looks as if itโs winning. And will win.
โThe US fleet took down four Japanese carriers at Midway. Four of the six that attacked Pearl Harbor. The Japanese never recovered. Couldnโt replace those ships. Or the pilots they lost.โ
James is untangling a ball of wires. โYou could argue Guadalcanal was just as important.โ
Harry pauses. โTrue. But that was a land campaign.โ He smiles. โOur fight is in the air.โ
I enjoy listening to them debate history. Iโve never had much interest in military history, but their enthusiasm brings it to life. Iโve learned more about the War in the Pacific the last two days than I have in my life.
Theyโve named the elements of the drone fleet to align with their historical counterparts. There will be three carrier dronesโHornet, Yorktown, and Enterpriseโand almost a hundred small scout drones, which donโt warrant names, just the designation PBY and a number. I had to ask what a PBY was (answer: a sea plane used extensively for scouting, rescue, and anti-submarine operations in the 1930s and 40s).
Finally, there are two specialty drones. Vestal is a large, slow drone with all the excess parts. The carriers will be able to offload parts from it as needed. And Mighty Mo is a battle drone with four rail guns and a huge battery to power them. It even looks mean. James and Harry laughed when
they settled on the name. Apparently itโs the nickname for theย USS Missouri, a storied US battleship that hosted the Japanese surrender. It was the last battleship the US commissioned and the last battleship to be decommissioned.
It also turns out James and Harry are a bit superstitious. Theyโll only name the drones after โsuccessfulโ ships. Harry tells me the US never lost a battleship at sea, though four were sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Itโs amazing the history you learn on an impromptu space mission.
My only worry is that Izumi might take offense at the carrier names. I go as far as asking her about it, but she simply stares back with a blank expression and says, โWhy would that bother me?โ
โWell, you know, because of the war.โ
She nods absently. โNo. It doesnโt bother me.โ I probably just earned myself a psych eval.
IโMย in my sleep station, dead to the world, when the shouts wake me. I try to focus on the words, but I canโt make them out. Something in Chinese, and Japanese, and Harry yelling, โET phone home!โ
The curtain yanks back and James lets his momentum carry him into the cramped space. Heโs nearly on top of me, his lips inches from mine.
โWe did it. The Janus fleet reached Beta. Weโve got observational data.
And first contact. Itโs communicating with us.โ