They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
—Genesis 11:3-4
GROOM LAKE, NEVADA
There was little diversity but much repetition in their training for their flight on the Aurora and their work on the lunar surface. On the trip up, they would ride in a windowless chamber, strapped into padded seats in a semi-reclining position, wearing helmets and special pressure suits designed to compensate for the g-forces they would experience. They were taught to operate the radio, regulate their air supply, and monitor each other for signs of respiratory or cardiac stress. However, once in flight, nothing could be done except abort. Packed like sardines in a can, locked in the hold, and accelerating to 25,000 miles per hour, emergency aid was impossible. There was no escape system for the cargo—Nick and his crew—or even for the pilot, Captain Smith, or navigator, Rosa Perez.
Most of the training was for the lunar surface where they would have to work in clumsy environment suits in one-sixth
of Earth’s gravity. The simulator used counterbalancing weights to imitate light gravity. Nick expected weighing less would conserve energy, but he constantly overestimated the effort necessary to move or lift and then had to compensate with other muscles to slow or stop his motion. It was exhausting. Slowly, they reprogrammed their muscles for a low-gravity environment. There would be as much time spent in a micro-gravity environment. However, they had not trained for that environment since they had no duties other than to keep out of the way and not push any buttons.
While astronaut training would normally take months or even years, they had only a few days’ worth. Since no one knew what they would find in Flamsteed Crater, they had no idea of what to train them for. What tools would be needed? What skills? What knowledge? With nothing for the mission planners to work with, and a short timeline before launch, they were trained to walk, breathe, eat, and eliminate in environment suits. They practiced with a variety of instruments used to examine the structure and with a variety of tools they would bring with them, learning how to pry, twist, hammer, and jab in one-sixth of normal gravity. They were essentially lunar tourists.
Nick had finished his last day of training before the flight and was back in his room, computer hooked up to the Internet. He had permission to access the PresNet, but to read only, not to send without screening. He had accepted the limitation and now logged on and downloaded e-mail messages. There was one message from Elizabeth with an attachment. Nick opened it.
LEAVING FOR THE SITE NOW. I THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW I SLEPT WITH SOMEONE ELSE LAST NIGHT. HE IS THE ONE IN THE FUR COAT. HIS NAME IS KAMIAK.
Jealousy flared in Nick. Although he and Elizabeth had no more commitment to each other than friendship, his
jealousy suggested the depth of his feelings for her. He always guessed that she had other lovers but he repressed the thought. Now he grew angry. Why would she send him a picture of a lover? Why tell Nick his name? He almost deleted the photo, but perverse male curiosity made him open it. It was a photo of a dog with patches of fur shaved off. Nick was embarrassed. He fell for Elizabeth’s trick, but found himself thinking about Elizabeth in a different way.
The crew of the Aurora and Nick’s team ate dinner together, but only Captain Smith and Rosa were talkative. Even Phil made only a few comments about the afternoon’s training. Phil continued to surprise Nick with his stamina. He was faring as well or better than Nick. Smith and Rosa left immediately after dinner to preflight the Aurora. Nick, Phil, Emmett, and Reggie went back to their rooms.
Nick tried to sleep but could only toss and turn, worrying about Elizabeth’s quest for the secret building. He was still awake at midnight when they called him to the preflight room. Nick logged on one more time before he left, typing a message to Elizabeth, scolding her for the joke, but wording it carefully so that she got some hint that it made him jealous. He then sent the message to the security officer, with others he had written earlier, who would screen it and release it in a day or so if the mission was going well. The delayed e-mail messages would give the illusion that Nick was still on the planet and checking in occasionally. Nick was about to log off when he checked his inbox out of habit. There was another message from Elizabeth with another attachment.
HERE’S YOUR DAMN BUILDING. YOU WOULDN’T BELIEVE WHAT I WENT THROUGH TO GET THIS PHOTO. DOESN’T LOOK SPECIAL TO ME. I’LL SEE WHAT ELSE I CAN FIND OUT. MORE LATER.
The photo was poor quality, the lighting bad, but Nick was at once elated and disappointed. The structure looked rectangular, and could or could not be similar to the structure on the moon. While the size was hard to judge, it was at least a few stories tall, but nothing to suggest it was some exotic form of power. Nick studied the photo more closely. He could tell nothing about its composition but as he studied the building one thing did strike him as unusual. The framework of this building was on the outside. It was as if the building’s skeleton was never intended to be covered. Nick knew that the skin of buildings was often designed to add strength. Certainly, one could engineer a building without an exterior skin, but why do it? In a northern climate, the space between the interior and the exterior was insulated to conserve heat. Where was the insulation?
Nick, Emmett, Reggie, and Phil were helped into their flight suits. The tight black flight suit exaggerated curves making Reggie voluptuous and Phil comic. Nick tried not to stare at Reggie during the dressing process and especially after she had her suit on. Nick also tried not to think about what he must look like to Reggie and was glad there were no mirrors.
They were loaded into the belly of the Aurora through a top hatch. Phil went in first, then Emmett, Reggie, and Nick. Lined up like bobsledders, each seat reclined into the lap of the one behind. Hoses and cables attached to their suits, their black helmets locked onto the collars. The visors were open and airsickness bags were taped to the seat in front of each passenger. Captain Smith and Rosa entered through a second hatch and as soon as they were in place, their hatch closed. There was a dim light to keep it from being pitch dark and a screen to show them what the pilot was seeing. The screen glowed blue.
The Aurora flew only under cover of darkness and even now, patrols were scouring the perimeter lines of Area 51 for ufologists, conspiracy freaks, and sightseers. Once fueled and loaded with its crew, the Aurora was then covered
with a camouflage tarp and towed to the runway. Only when air traffic control confirmed the surrounding airspace was clear, and there were no foreign or commercial satellites overhead, did the tarp come off. At that point, Captain Smith did not waste time. The engines were fired up and tested, and then the Aurora began to roll. The Aurora’s secret was most vulnerable when it sat on the runway. Once in the air, nothing could catch it.
An image appeared on the screen at the front of the cabin. With no lights, Nick could barely make out the runway. Either Smith had an infrared view, or he was going to take off by memory. Instantly, the Aurora accelerated down the runway much faster than any commercial jet. Then the Aurora’s nose snapped up, and the craft shot into the air. The screen showed nothing but blackness.
Started in a reclining position, their heads were now tilted down, blood forced toward their heads. Their pressurized suits helped to control blood flow, but Nick could feel the pressure in his head. The airframe vibrated, but as they climbed, the vibrations diminished. Gratefully, the vertical flight ended more gently than it began as the Aurora leveled off. The screen showed darkness with bright twinkling stars on the top edge of the screen.
“Everyone okay back there?” Smith radioed.
The helmets fit tight and the headphones were built in.
“Let’s go,” Emmett said.
“Sure, no problem,” Phil replied.
“Fine,” Nick managed, trying to sound calmer than he really felt.
“I could use another bag,” Reggie said.
Nick tore one of his airsickness bags loose and forced his arm between the seat and the exterior wall that was lined with tubing. Nick barely had enough room to get his hand back far enough for Reggie to grab the bag.
“Was that the worst part of the flight?” Reggie asked hopefully.
“Depends on what makes your stomach churn,” Smith
said. “We don’t have any more climbs quite that steep left, but the biggest g-forces are still ahead.”
“Oh,” Reggie said, disappointed.
“You can relax for a few minutes while we refuel. The next leg takes every drop we can carry.”
Nick knew that the air tanker coming to rendezvous with them carried a different kind of fuel. The Aurora had many smaller fuel tanks, which were baffled in such a way that sections could be closed off and filled with different fuel. Most of the fuel for normal air flight had been expended at this point and those cells would be refilled.
The air tanker appeared on the screen as the Aurora closed quickly. Just when collision seemed likely, the Aurora slowed and the tanker extended a refueling probe. The ships coupled and then Nick felt the vibration of refueling. The tanker was in position only a few minutes, and then veered away.
“Now the fun begins,” Smith radioed. “We need to make a small adjustment in our flight path and in about three minutes we will reach our launch window.”
Again, without wasting time, the Aurora tilted right, like a normal airplane, and then leveled. A minute later it tilted slightly left, wobbled a bit, then steadied with its nose in the air, and their suits pressurizing.
“Stand by,” Smith said cryptically.
There were no armrests on the seat, so Nick gripped the harness that held him in place. Then there were motor sounds as windshield, antennae, and other exterior features were retracted and the wings reshaped.
“Here we go,” Smith said.
Now Nick fully understood the concept of “g.” He felt like he was in a vise, the back of the chair one of the clamps, the other invisible on his chest. His pressure suit hissed, and the pressure across his chest eased.
The engine roar became a thrum, made up of hundreds of individual detonations so closely timed as to be indistinguishable. Consuming fuel at an obscene rate, the Aurora became lighter, letting it climb through layers of the atmosphere. The
screen lightened as they raced toward the rising sun, but it was also changing color, the atmospheric filter thinning.
“Coming up on insertion point,” Smith radioed.
Now the pulse detonation engine became a rocket as the Aurora switched to onboard oxygen and hydrogen. The Aurora leaped toward space, the remaining tons of fuel combined in nozzles in a mix designed to maximize explosive power. The pressure became painful now, as they literally rocketed through what was left of the atmosphere, breaking free of Earth’s gravity. Limited to short gasps, Nick felt he was suffocating, his ribs bending, threatening to collapse and crush his internal organs. He knew nothing of Reggie, Phil, and Emmett. Just when he thought he would pass out it ended abruptly.
Gasping for breath like a drowning man pulled to the surface, Nick luxuriated in the ability to breathe again. It was several seconds before he thought to look at the screen. It was blue again.
“I hope you enjoyed your flight,” Smith called. “I can tell by the monitor you are all alive so the question is are you all still conscious?”
“Yes,” Nick said, irritated.
“Yes, I just wish I wasn’t,” Emmett said.
“I think I reached a new level of consciousness,” Phil said.
There was a pause.
“Reggie?” Nick probed.
Another pause.
“I’m okay,” Reggie said, softly.
“Good, you can relax for a while,” Smith said.
“Oh no!” Reggie said suddenly.
“What’s wrong?” Nick and Phil both exclaimed, the radio cutting their voices together as it tried to switch back and forth.
“My barf bag is floating.”
“Please catch it,” Phil pleaded.
Nick pulled his remaining airsickness bag free and let go of it. It floated before his eyes, drifting toward his chest on ventilation currents. Nick tapped it with his finger putting it into a
spin. Like every visitor to space since Yury Gagarin, Nick experimented with an environment that few had experienced. Soon, Nick was queasy and stared at the screen instead. Then with a blink, Nick could see the Earth curving below. Thankfully, it was mesmerizing and he forgot about his stomach.
“Beautiful,” Reggie said.
Those in the cargo hold were quiet now, enjoying the spectacular scene. Soon, an object appeared—Freedom Station. Despite orbital speed, the Aurora crept up on the station and soon Nick could distinguish large solar panels, and tubular modules. He could see the craft that would take them on the next leg of their journey docked at one of the modules. It looked nothing like the sleek Aurora.