Space Chronicles The Beginning

Chapter 8

Among twenty snowy mountains, the only moving thing was the eye of the Blackbird.

            - Wallace Stevens  

Angie looked over her crew and smiled. They were unlike any crew she had ever worked with. She was accustomed to military types, flyboys who considered themselves the best of the best, or astronauts that were like Marty--overzealous and overconfident. This crew was diverse and unpredictable. Despite being forced through an abbreviated basic training, these people were scientists not warriors. She had to keep reminding herself of that fact.

The crew had assembled in the briefing room expecting either General Wilson or Clarence to show up. They were surprised and alarmed when Arthur Wasserman entered the room, and worse yet, he looked upset.

"I am sorry to inform you that Clarence Wilmunson has passed away last Sunday evening. I have been appointed temporary administrator. General Wilson has been called back to the Pentagon."

Marty and Angie exchanged looks that said: Something's up.

Arthur pulled out some papers from a folder. "Your next mission is to beta Canum Venaticorum in the constellation of Canes Venatici. This is a yellow-white main sequence dwarf star much like our own and has been shown to have an Earth-like planet."

"Beta CVn was designated one of the top choices in HabCat,” George said. “Has SETI detected any signals from there?"

Arthur glanced down at a paper. “The ATA picked up one, but the signal doesn’t fit any anticipated pattern. In fact, they claim it sounds like bird chirps.” He looked up. “It sounds like they’re getting some kind of a background signal.”

"When are we going?" Angie asked.

"I believe it's the twenty-third. The repairs and re-fit should be completed by then."

“If I recall,” George said, running a hand through his thinning hair. “Beta CVn is around 27 light years.”

“Twenty seven point three five,” Arthur said.

“That’ll require two jumps,” George said.

“Not really. The worm drive has had some improvements made to it. You can jump at least ten parsecs at a time now.”

“Has anyone tested it yet?” Marty asked.

“That’s what you’ll do on this mission.”

Marty and Angie exchanged concerned looks. The rest of the crew seemed unconcerned.

Arthur continued. “The weapons have been improved as well as the scanning equipment. You should have an easier time of it on this trip.”

Angie raised her hand. “If there are intelligent aliens in this system, are we supposed to make contact?”

“That depends on the situation,” Arthur said. “Neither NASA nor the military has a master plan in place to cover a hypothetical contact situation. Despite the fact that the HabCat study and the Kepler Mission picked this star as a good candidate for a habitable planet and a possible home for intelligent extraterrestrials, there is no reason to believe that you’ll find either. If you should happen to locate the home world of the Roswell aliens, you are to return to Earth as quickly as you can. That’s the only order on the table. Otherwise, you may do any investigations you feel necessary.”

“What if the aliens attack us again?” Marty asked.

“Your orders are to defend yourself but not to commit any unprovoked acts of aggression. We have no delusions of destroying their species or their home world. To do so would establish an ugly precedent. On the other hand, we must show them that we are capable of defending ourselves.”