The Chandra Prophecy

Chapter No. 1

The Chandra Prophesy

Three scientists travel to a radio telescope observatory at the L2 Lagrangian location in a concerted effort to interpret an alien signal from beyond the solar system. What they discover plunges them into an incredible terrifying mystery.

Ok, this is different. It's a science mystery set in space in a more current time frame.

Story and illustrations Copyright © 2022 by John Shirey. All rights reserved.

Some photos are the property of Google.

Locations and Names are fictional even though they may be real. No offense is intended to any person, place or institution.

Chapter No.1

It was a typical summer day at the French Guiana Launch facility. A slight breeze stirred up some dust and provided a modicum of relief from the stifling heat of a blazing sun peeking over the nearby ocean. An Ariana 7 rocket stood like a sentinel pointing up at a cloudless sky with an Orion K3 capsule sitting on top of the rocket patiently awaiting its human crew.

Carl Walker is an astrophysicist who specializes in locating habitable exo-planets. His full head of curly black hair attests to his classic virility, and his proven leadership qualities were paramount to being chosen as the mission leader to interpret a radio signal from a distant planetary system in the Virgo constellation.

Margaret Spenser is a planetary astronomer with proven skills. She headed a team of astronomers in a concerted search for Earth-like planets within a thousand light years of Earth. Her sharply sculptured face is framed by long raven hair that contrasts with her silky complexion.

Janet Foster is a radio astronomer specialist who is completely familiar with the Chandra radio telescope that had been inserted into the L2 Lagrangian location over a million miles from Earth. She is a blond with a vivacious appearance that projects a desire for fun despite her all business decorum. She is also familiar with the latest theories about possible alien communication protocols.

All three of them are dedicated to determining the meaning of an unusual radio signal from what they believe is an intelligent extraterrestrial species. The reason that they must go to the radio telescope's location is because it needs upgrades to bring it up to the sensitivity that will allow them to increase the resolution of the alien signal, repairs that cannot be done remotely from Earth.

Unfortunately, this journey will be risky and require seven days to arrive at the L2 location approximately 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.

The three astronauts sat on a bench in the preparations room in their IVA spacesuits waiting for a transfer to the Orion capsule.

"I hate this waiting," Janet complained. "I've never liked these spacesuits."

"Unfortunately, it's part of the safety protocol," Margaret commented. "I'm not happy about the fact that we'll be stuck together in that metal can for days."

"The good news is that it's a capsule designed for seven." Carl said. "We're fortunate that they went with only three of us. It won't seem as claustrophobic. Besides these suits are designed to keep us comfortable in a pressurized space capsule during the launch."

"We're probably wasting our time," Janet said. "All of the previous signals we thought were from an intelligent alien civilization turned out to be bogus."

"You're the one who said that this signal was different," Margaret said.

"Yes, I know, but I'm not sure it deserves a risky mission like this."

Just then, the technicians came into the preparations room to get the crew ready to board the Orion crew capsule. They had to be helped to the elevator while their suits were air conditioned with portable service units. The ride up to the crew capsule on a lift provided them with a spectacular view of the Guiana beach and a magnificent ocean.

The technicians helped them into the capsule and made certain that they were properly strapped into their launch seats before they locked them in. Then, it was a nervous wait for the inevitable blast off.

"Hopefully, they get this thing properly launched," Margaret said.

"If not, the crew abort system will save us," Carl said. "Relax! There hasn't been an abort in the last six years of launches."

That did little to boost their spirits, and their concern spiked when the launch staff told them that the countdown was in its last ten seconds. They braced for the noise and vibration that accompanied a launch. The rocket came alive in a mighty roar of power to begin a slow rise into the sky, which became more violent as it gained velocity on a trajectory out of the Earth's atmosphere.

The main rocket's burn finally ceased before it was ejected, and the second stage continued its burn to place the capsule unit on a course to the radio telescope at the L2 Lagrangian location. At least the noise and the G-forces were not as violent during this stage of the trip.

"We're on course," Carl reported after checking his command screen. "This final burn should end in four minutes."

"Feels like we're in a mixer," Margaret complained. "The vibrations are giving me a headache."

"It's the price we must pay to get there," he retorted.

"I can't wait to get out of this damn suit," Janet said. "It feels like I'm encased in a cocoon."

Carl decided to remain quiet. No use rocking the boat, or the capsule, so to speak.

"What are we going to do with all of the time it takes to get there?" Margaret asked.

"Well," Carl said. "We have our laptops and can use them to go over the last signals we recorded. Maybe we can see something we missed before this."

"We should have done that before we embarked on this crazy mission," she retorted.

"Remember that this mission is primarily to enhance the telescope in order to make it more sensitive and enable it to isolate spurious signals. If we do discover something we missed, that would be a bonus."

"The signal we recorded is at the Tritium hyperfine line of 1516 Megahertz," Janet said. "That particular wavelength was searched before when they looked at every visible star and object with no results."

Maybe the senders just woke up after a long snooze," Carl replied with a smug grin. "Who knows what's going on here. It's our job to check it out."

The second stage rocket burn abruptly ended, leaving the three astronauts in a silent suspension that made them realize how isolated they were from Earth.

Janet was the first to unbuckle herself from the launch seat and float away in zero gravity. She began the task of removing her spacesuit, a process that involved very tricky moves to complete.

Margaret joined her in the process. Carl was more interested in determining how well the capsule was on course to their destination. He also wanted to make sure that the capsule's systems were functioning properly before he removed his suit.

The women were checking out their sleeping bags, basically a large body sock that was attached to hooks at both ends. Carl realized that they were not happy about the capsule's spartan accommodations, but when it comes to manned flight in space, efficiency of weight and space are engineering necessities.

It would be the next day before they got together to begin going back over the data that they already had from the Chandra radio telescope, a process that would bring up possibilities that they had not previously considered.