Yesterda's War 5 - Untimely Conflicts, page 33
As long as the vast majority of the people within the Commonwealth have enough so that they are reasonably comfortable, there is absolutely no reason why any of our leaders should be encouraging others to covet what we have worked so hard for.” Judith pointedly noted.
“Miss Cavill, I’m just telling you what I am hearing from various groups in Canberra. Certainly, many of them are proud of what your family has done. But others want you taken down, possibly even nationalized for the benefit of the country.”
“To be perfectly blunt, Sir. If certain politicians were to stop engaging in the politics of envy and fearmongering, Australians, as a whole, would not be concerned about the wealth that my family has earned over the decades. They would instead be quite happy about the benefits that they now enjoy because of what we have created.
We have not taken anything away from them, nor have we attempted to infringe upon their rights and freedoms. Those particular maladies have, unfortunately, been exclusively something that politicians have been responsible for.
Don’t you realize what you could very well destroy by listening to those envious fools who desire our wealth and fear our influence so badly, Sir? We are trying to save the future of humanity here. We’ve already paid a terrible price in the course of that goal.” Judith passionately explained.
“As you know, there are others in our country who have different priorities than those of your family. I have to consider those too.”
“I would suggest that when you return to Canberra that you tell those ‘others’ that sending you here to threaten us with dissolution does not serve your best interests or the best interests of the Commonwealth. We will most certainly argue our case vigorously both in the halls of Parliament and in the courts of public opinion.
Anyone who truly knows my family also is fully aware of how effective we are of defending ourselves and our interests, Sir.” Judith calmly, but firmly warned.
She left unsaid something else that they were both aware of. At least half of the news organizations that attended the launch of the astronauts today were owned mostly or completely by the Cavills. She also didn’t mention that more than a few elected officials in the Commonwealth owes their positions to the financial support that the Cavills had given them in previous elections.
“I see, Miss Cavill. I would hope that you would still bear in mind that not everyone agrees with your priorities.” A subdued look of disapproval on his face.
“We always do. But we bow down only to our God. We always pray to do the right thing in His eyes and seek to lift up all of our neighbors according to His will. I hope that you will convey that to your friends in Canberra and ask them to do the same.”
By then, Sarah had finished with her briefing about the Cavill Shipyards.
“Are there any questions?” She asked, completely unaware of the conversation that had been going on between Judith and Prime Minister Wilson.
“No, Ma’am. It is obvious that you and your mates have all done fine work here. I’m afraid that my time is limited though. I must return to Canberra to attend to my work there. I’m sure that you will convey my congratulations to all of the astronauts who began the first stage of their long journey this morning.
I and the rest of Australia will keep you all in our prayers.” Prime Minister Wilson finally said to everyone there. Then he and his staff turned to walk back to the waiting vehicles that would take them back to the airport.
After the Prime Minister left, Judith stood there calmly watching for a few moments before saying.
“Well, that was interesting.”
“What was?” James asked.
“I guess that the ‘powers that be’ in Canberra are a little afraid of us right now. But they really can’t do much about us right now, fortunately.
Everything is still going alright with our people on the way to the space station?” Judith then asked.
“Yes. They will be making their rendezvous with Space Station One in a few hours. Obviously, everyone up there and down here is totally stoked about how well the mission is going so far.”
“So am I, James.” Judith said with a smile.
Chapter Forty-Four:
Ares Mars Interplanetary Vehicle
Low Earth Orbit
January 6, 1969
Cavill Space Station #1 orbited at an average of 1800 kilometers over the Earth’s surface. Orbiting a few kilometers away from the station’s three large habitat rings was the long roughly tubular structure that was the new Ares interplanetary vehicle. The Ares had been moved by its secondary chemical rocket motors from the second space station to its current location.
At one end, was the powerful nuclear-thermal rocket motor that would be pushing the Ares to rendezvous with the red planet while spending less than three months in transit. At the other end were the command section and the landers that would deliver twenty men and women to the habitat facilities that had been safely landed on the Martian surface nearly a year earlier. In between were a series of fuel tanks and additional cargo modules that would not only fuel the craft during its journey and supply the Ares’ crew, but would also provide additional materials for the burgeoning human installation on the Martian surface. Those modules also helped provide radiation shielding for the crew from any emissions coming from the craft’s nuclear reactor. Mixed in among the modules were a pair of return vehicles that will enable personnel to fly back up to Ares from the Martian surface.
Also located in between the command section and the rest of the huge spacecraft was a rotating section made up of six modules connected to each other by angled joints. This section would be rotated during the flight after the initial acceleration to provide the simulation of gravity for the Ares’ passengers during the journey to Mars.
There were finally four arrays of photovoltaic panels fore and aft of the rotating habitat ring. These would be providing power for the Ares while the nuclear reactor was not yet critical.
Lawrence Piper was standing on the space station’s observation deck watching the Ares when he noticed that someone else had quietly walked up next to him. Larry was a Cavill Aerospace mission specialist who would be responsible for the biological systems for the Ares vehicle and the Mars settlement’s life support systems. He was slightly startled when he heard a voice next to him, but managed to keep from showing it.
“She is an incredible piece of work, isn’t she?” Beatrice Cavill calmly said as she looked out at the massive interplanetary spacecraft.
“Yes, she is. I can’t believe that we are finally going to be leaving for Mars in just a few hours.” Lawrence replied while still watching out the observation window.
“We are going to make history, Larry. We are also going to be the people who will start humanity on the path to being a multi-planetary species, perhaps the first one in the universe.”
“I am totally stoked about that too. The one thing that worries me is that we are going to be flying on top of a fission pile. Are you sure that we don’t have to worry about it malfunctioning and leaving us stranded in space?”
“I am completely confident in the technology that has gone into our nuclear-thermal rocket motor. In the remote case that the reactor would have to be shut down, Ares will have auxiliary rocket motors that can be employed to get us either safely to Mars or back to Earth, depending upon our location.
Ares is also fitted with very effective shielding against radiation, both from the reactor and cosmic radiation that we will be exposed to during the journey. We would not send people out into deep space for this journey if we could not take every measure possible to do so safely.”
“That’s good to know. It is going to be hard being away from home for so long. I am looking forward to returning home to my family when the mission is complete though.”
Beatrice doesn’t say any in response to Larry’s statement at first. Then she looked down at her new wristwatch for a moment.
“I think that we better get on the shuttle now. It’s just about time for us to board Ares.”
A smaller Skyfire spaceplane was docked at the ‘south’ docking port of the space station. Because it was located on the station’s axis, it was effectively at microgravity, unlike the rest of the rotating space station.
When Beatrice and Lawrence arrived at the docking port, they saw the other nineteen personnel that would be travelling onboard Ares, along with several other men and women who are assisting them with final preparations. They were all already wearing their spacesuits except that they were each carrying their helmet and gauntlets instead of wearing them.
Beatrice heard a familiar voice as she drew closer to the group.
“Hello, Ma’am. My wife Clara and I are very pleased to see you.” Tommy said when he saw Beatrice gently ‘swimming’ towards him in microgravity.
“I’m very happy to see that both you and your wife were able to find a way to join Ares’ crew. It also pleases me that we have Aborigines as part of our team.” Beatrice replied before turning to speak to the entire group.
“Greetings, everyone. My name is Beatrice Kenniman. I am in charge of the Ares transport craft and the mission to Mars. I have met most of you in person. Several of you who came from America are personally still new to me. I have read all of your histories before we accepted you for this mission, however. While not everyone here has been working for Cavill Industries, those of you who came from elsewhere have been highly recommended by the nations and organizations where you came from.
“Everyone has been trained though on how to operate our systems, emergency procedures, wearing space suits and on what we will be doing from the time that we step aboard Ares to when we return back home to Earth.
“We are flying over to Ares aboard the space plane, seven at a time. Once we get everyone there, we will go over our final checklists before we begin our journey to Mars.
Are there any questions before we get the first group on the way?”
“Who’s leaving first, Ma’am?” Joseph Cantwell, who was a compactly-built man with short brown hair that hinted at a military background. The American astronaut had degrees in geology and mechanical engineering also.
“One of my people here has lists of who is leaving on each trip. Your personal baggage and equipment have already been palletized for easy loading into the space plane’s cargo bay. Carrina here will start calling off names.” Beatrice pleasantly announced while pointing to a dark-haired woman wearing a lightweight pressure suit of her own.
The first seven astronauts whose names were called out were directed towards the docking port. They ‘swam’ through the docking port and subsequently into the attached spaceplane. About ten minutes later, the docking port was closed along with the pressure door in the top of the space plane where it was connected to the docking port.
There was a quiet metallic sound as the space plane detached. The others could see through a nearby viewing port as the space plane slowly turned and moved towards the Ares. The process for each round trip took about an hour before the space plane returned for another load of personnel and cargo.
Beatrice waited until the last group before she boarded the space plane. Tommy and Clara were there with her in that last group.
“Are you ready to go to another world, Tommy?” Beatrice asked with a sad smile. She knew that few Aborigines would be willing to go so far away from their tribal home.
“Yes, Ma’am. If you can leave your family for so long, so can we. We are here for you and to represent our people.”
“Alright, so let’s go.” Beatrice replied before making her way through the docking port with the last six others.
When she arrived onboard Ares, the craft’s pilot Captain Scott Dillard was already getting everyone organized in preparation for the massive craft to leave orbit. He and two other crewmen had already boarded Ares ahead of time. They were all busy taking their personal equipment and stowing it inside of lockers that would prevent it from being hurled around while under acceleration.
One of the women looked down at several large canisters that looked like oversized coffins.
“Are these the hibernation chambers?” Barbara Collins asked. The young scientist from Sydney was the specialist who would be studying the Martian atmosphere, finding any dangers from it and determining its feasibility for supporting Terran lifeforms.
“Yes, Barbara. We brought seven chambers with us for the mission. Scientists and doctors from England and Canada have developed a means of allowing at least some of us to sleep our way through the journey. This would test its feasibility in reducing the amount of life support needed for long space flights.” Beatrice explained as she packed her own belongings. She had already decided to fly with the rest of the crew instead of being up in Ares’ command section.
“Which of us will be sleeping our way to Mars?”
“Three of us have already volunteered to participate in the experiment. But we can always set up for more. They will initially be placed in what is called therapeutic torpor for no more than thirty days. This process has already been tested on Earth for up to ninety days. But this will be the first time that it will be done while in microgravity. Doctors Fairborn and Sears will be supervising the process. They are also going to take care of the rest of us while we are out here. We have facilities set up on this trip for up to twelve people to be placed in therapeutic torpor at a time.
For the most part, the trip to Mars is going to be pretty boring. So, more of us may want to sleep their way back home, especially if you didn’t bring a good book or three to read on the way.”
“I understand. I will have to see how everything works out before I consider trying it out.” Barbara wryly replied.
“The hibernation process will not be the only new technology that we will be testing during our journey. We are already very aware of the potential danger of cosmic radiation during our journey in deep space. We are going to test a device that we hope will create a miniature magnetosphere for the inhabited portion of our vessel much like the one that Earth has naturally. If successful, the magnetic field created by this device will deflect much of the cosmic radiation away from us. It will also supplement our protection in the event that a solar event sends charged particles in our direction during the flight. This device will be powered by our vessel’s nuclear reactor.” Beatrice explained.
One of the other Australian men, a tall, lanky man with blonde hair named Brent McGee called out from the other side of the cargo bay where the personal gear was being secured. He was an astrophysicist and electronics engineer that the Australian Ministry of Science had sent
“Hey, Captain. I understand that the nuclear reactor that will be providing us with both propulsion and power during the trip is supposed to be very reliable. What happens if there is a problem with the reactor and it has to be shut down?”
Captain Dillard quickly responded to the question.
“If we lose power from the reactor and are unable to restart it or are forced to eject it for safety reasons, we do have a secondary set of methane-fueled conventional rockets that can take us either back to Earth or onward to our destination. We can refuel them with fuel being generated currently on Mars.
If we have to rely on the secondary rocket motor to get us back home, the trip is going to be a lot longer since they simply cannot provide the specific impulse of the nuclear thermal rocket. Electrical power will be generated by the solar panel arrays that you saw on Ares’ exterior while you were on the way here.
Does that answer your question, Mister McGee?”
Brent silently nodded his head and went back to work stowing the last of his personal equipment. At the same time, Captain Dillard left to go to Are’s command section.
About thirty minutes later, a loud dual-tone signal came over the vessel’s intercom system, followed by an announcement by Captain Dillard.
“In a few moments, you are going to feel a small bump as an orbital tug of ours will be attaching itself to Ares. It will be pushing us into a slightly higher orbit so that we will be a safe distance from the space station. We will be then pulling out the control rods on the reactor and starting the main engine. Please prepare for main engine start immediately.”
“We need to all get into our acceleration couches, put on your helmets and connect into the ship’s air supply now.” Beatrice told the rest of the astronauts.
“How much acceleration are we going to experience?” Amos Martin, another scientist from the British contingent asked as he strapped himself into his couch.
“Actually, not all that much. At most, we will feel perhaps one half of a G. However, if we are not secured in our seats, it could be enough to cause a person to fly around in the cabin and possibly get injured. Naturally, we wouldn’t want that to happen, now would we?”
“No, Sir. I wouldn’t want that at all.” Amos replied with a chuckle.
“What happens if we hit something while en route to Mars?” Patrick Cornwall asked as he prepared to put on his spacesuit helmet. He was one of the British scientists whose engineering skills complemented his work with life support systems and work with earthmoving equipment.
“First, we will be using radar continuously to watch out ahead of us to look for anything that might be in our path. If we identify any threats to our craft, we will use maneuvering thrusters to change course and avoid the object.
However, if an object is too small to be easily detected, the forward surfaces of the Ares have been reinforced and shielded to minimize any damage that we might receive. We also have multiple redundant elements in our critical systems so we are very damage tolerant. This way, we can take damage and still be able to continue on to Mars.” Beatrice explained.
“I heard something about the Cavills designing a new motor for use on the next Ares craft to be built. It is supposed to have some sort of sail that will supplement the nuclear rocket that we are using now. I don’t know any other details on it though, Mate.” asked Patricia Loggins, a biologist from Cavill University whose long blonde hair was tied up into a bundle behind her head so that she could wear her helmet.
