Retepin and Gergin sat at the command console. They had altered the New Dawn's course slightly 23 days ago to approach the best place to make the crossing. There were more of the larger asteroids in this region, but they were farther apart and fewer small ones.
The New Dawn was still traveling with the main engines oriented forward and the thrust at the lowest power setting.
“We’re getting close. Is the radar scanning showing anything?”
“Radar scanning is on! Nothing detected yet,” Gergin replied.
“Steering thrusters activated and showing ready?”
“Thrusters are ready,” Retepin confirmed.
They continued through a short checklist. Gergin had sent a message to Enaida alerting her they were entering the asteroid belt.
After several minutes, the radar detected a massive asteroid off to the left of their course.”That one could be a small planet,” Retepin remarked. The pattern was one here or there for more than an hour, but none required altering their course. One oblong asteroid passed close enough for them to see small craters left by meteor strikes.
“How deep is the belt here?” Gergin asked.
“Based on our observations, we should get through the worst of it in about eight hours.”
“Halkopez”, Retepin gasped. “Straight ahead, a cloud of smaller ones!”
“See it. On the right.”
“Hard right!” Retepin reached overhead, selected a thruster, set the thrust duration, and pushed the execute button. They both felt the pull from the ship veering away from what would have been a disaster.
“OK. Wait… Wait… OK, bring us back to our heading.”
Retepin changed the settings and pressed execute. This course correction was smoother. Gergin turned and grinned at Retepin. The first dodge always got their adrenaline flowing, and both astronauts felt their hearts beating faster.
“No matter how many times you do this, it never gets easier,” Retepin muttered.
Asteroids, both large and small, were now visible everywhere. Some looked like they passed close to the ship but were actually several miles away.
Both officers kept their eyes on the screen that showed the radar image. Markings on the console display allowed them to determine which might threaten the New Dawn. Like a skier going through a slalom course, they were tweaking the ship's flight path left and right. They felt a certain satisfaction with each twist and turn.
“If this were a computer game, it would be fun,” Gergin said tensely.
“Yeah! Too bad there is no respawn feature.”
“Crocit! Look at the size of that one,” Gergin exclaimed.
The asteroid belt didn’t disappoint. It kept the two officers focused, and short bursts from the steering thrusters pushed the ship on a tortured path between the irregularly shaped obstacles. Periodically, the monitor that showed the image from the camera pointed directly ahead revealed a brief flash of light from a small object vaporized by the ship's engine exhaust.
“How are you holding up?” Retepin asked.
“Could use something cold to drink.”
“Me too.” Without taking his eyes off the radar, Retepin spoke into his mike. “Crew Galley. Bring up two cold dianoma.”
Whenever the ship undertook complex maneuvers that required the officers to stay in the Command Center, one of the assistant medical specialists was assigned to the Crew Galley. Today, it was Yelrihsa. She brought up two tall, transparent containers filled with a carbonated fruit drink.
“Thanks, Yelrihsa. We needed your special cocktail,” Gergin said.
Yelrihsa blushed and floated away. She was the youngest medical specialist and had only been on two previous missions.
Down in Passenger Module Three, Enaida was patiently sitting with two passengers. She had gotten those not in sleep mode into a seat just before they entered the asteroid belt. There had been many questions, and the same Rabizut woman who had complained about the ship abruptly changing course was at it again.
She knew this was a lost day. It wasn’t safe to use the exercise equipment when their ship was turning unpredictably. She had explained to her passengers that the asteroid belt was the last dangerous region they would cross.
Enaida had Gergin on her mind. She wondered how he was doing. She knew the officers constantly had to watch the monitors and make snap decisions. She understood how the men seemed to relish danger and thrived on facing new challenges, but that didn’t comfort her. She took a deep breath and tried to look confident.
“Have you gone through asteroids before?” asked a young passenger sitting beside her.
“Yes, several times. They are common in many star systems. Think of an immense field of boulders with many much bigger than our ship. Fortunately, these rocks are rarely close together. Flying through them is like running an obstacle course.”
“But why do we get thrown around?” he asked.
“We are all traveling at high speed. So when the ship turns, we keep moving until we hit something. It feels like being tossed around.”
“The older passenger sitting on Enaida's other side spoke up. “I’m a teacher and like young people who are full of questions.”
Enaida nodded and smiled. “Curiosity is good, but gaining experience by doing is good too.”
“I agree. I came on this adventure to do something new.”
Suddenly, they felt their seats fall away, leaving them floating above them. The magnets in their clothing slowly drew them back. A few minutes later, the seats kicked upward, pushing them even higher. Upstretched hands cushioned collision with the ceiling.
“What was that?” asked the younger passenger, obviously scared.
“Dodging another asteroid. When it feels like that one, it usually means a smaller one. The small ones don’t give the officers much warning. The monster asteroids show up farther away. A gentle course change avoids them.”
Turning to the teacher, Enaida asked, “Are you excited about creating a new home from scratch?”
“Well, I assumed there would be facilities already there.”
“No one from Tridon has ever been to this planet. The astronomers don’t even know what's on the surface.”
The teacher looked at Enaida as if she was speaking gibberish. “That can’t be right. They told us how much we would like this planet. I don’t understand why you would say that.”
Enaida changed the subject by enquiring about hobbies or special interests. The diversion worked. He told her about his garden and his love for seeing flowers bloom.
While sitting around with little to do, her mind turned to how prepared the passengers were for life on a strange planet. Slowly, she compiled a list of simple tasks everyone would have to do. She assumed their life would be like any group stranded in a wilderness. However, her contact with the future colonists convinced her they could not comprehend what lay ahead.
They would have to find food, likely different from anything they had ever seen. Then, the colonists would have to prepare it. None of the travelers, except for some of the Amilikut, had ever done that. On Tridon, food packets just showed up. She whispered a note for the Commander into her sleeve microphone.
Enaida was deep in thought, stepping through an ordinary day. She was shocked by how, on Tridon, other people provided most of the necessities for living. Soon, they would be the “other people.” There would be no stores or way to place an order on your computer for prompt delivery. Most everything they used required sophisticated factories. The more she thought about their future, the more afraid she became. She had to talk about this with Gergin. He always had a way of calming her down and putting aside her fears.
The cabin lights signaled the passage of afternoon into evening. An hour before, a message from the ship's pilot said the New Dawn was nearly through the asteroid belt. That boosted spirits and triggered a flurry of conversations.
The travelers were passing around food packets and small drink containers. Eating on a spacecraft requires care to keep food crumbs and drink droplets from escaping. The food came in chewable tablet form, and the liquid was in spill-proof containers with special straws.
After the meal, the civilians wandered off to their resting capsules for some alone time and a night's rest. The passengers didn’t need any help from the medical specialists for a night in their sleep capsules. Lighting would gradually awaken them when it was time to get up.
Enaida knew she would be busy getting the next batch of passengers out of sleep mode tomorrow. They had three days to get everyone ready for the Commander's briefing.