Beyond The Blue

By Kent Mason

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2009 Kent Mason
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-1479-7

Chapter One

As Dyane was leaving the shop his personal phone rang. Taking it out of the case at his waist he checked to see who was calling. "What's up Ern?" he asked.

"On my way to the Snake Pit for a cold one. Why don't yuh meet me there? I'm buying."

"That's the case I'll be there. See yuh there."

"See yuh there."

The Snake Pit was a beer bar on the base where any man in uniform could buy a drink, regardless of his age. The building was a perfectly round structure built of bamboo. The thing would have looked at home on a tropical island but it looked grossly out of place where it was in the dry desert country of New Mexico.

He found Ern sitting at a small table away from the crowd.

"Well whutta yuh think of the con-trap-shun?" Ern asked in his best imitation of Colonel Miller's voice. "Will she fly?"

"What do I think?" Dyane contemplated his next words. "Impressive-will she fly-uh she's mighty big."

"We've gotta fly er. We've got our orders."

"Yes we have." Dyane said. "So we'll fly er. Just seems so big."

"We said that same thing about the N. class when we first saw it."

"The N. is a runt compared to this thing. By the way what have you been doing all day?"

"Been monitoring the information coming in from the Betsy Ross. Veeery interesting. They say that planet shows all the signs of having an atmosphere, water and plant life. If that's true there's a very good chance we will find living creatures there."

"What do you think about taking marines with us?" Dyane asked. "Why do we need an armed guard? We carry weapons. The ship is armed. We can protect ourselves. Think they know something we don't know?"

"About there being mean people or mean animals there?" Ern asked.

"It's just that since cuss-ix was formed no ship has ever taken an armed guard with them. Now we have to. Makes me wonder."

"You think they're keeping secrets?" Ern asked. "Naw.-No way you know the military would never do anything like that. If they did have secrets would they have let me sit there at that computer all day monitoring every word that came in from the Betsy Ross?"

"It just seems strange to me." Dyane said.

"I agree. It is unusual. Here's something else for you to chew on. The Marines will be commanded by a first lieutenant, a guy named Hardy, but a Marine major named Jacobson will be going. He is an expert linguist, knows a whole lot about a whole bunch of languages. Knows what he's talking about in a dozen or more. A real brain-e-ack when it comes to languages. Why is he going? We will have a translator box with us why can't it do the job?"

Dyane knew that the translator box Ern referred to was a small computerized box that contained every language, dialect and accent on earth. If the operator wanted something translated into any language, say Spanish for instance he only had to enter the code for Spanish into the box. Then he could speak into the receiver in any other language on earth and the box would repeat his words back to him in Spanish. When it picked up the sound of someone speaking in any language known on earth it could then translate what had been said into any other language known on earth. No one knew how it would work trying to translate a language it was not familiar with. A language not known on earth.

"Well if we do meet up with some real folks out there they probably won't talk like we do. Their language may be different than any language on earth. A language brain-e-ack may come in mighty handy. He may be smarter than the box, or he may be able to get it to do something we can't get it to do."

"Think about this." Ern said. "What if we should meet up with people who don't talk at all? Who are like animals and don't have any language? We could kick this back and forth until we wear it out and still not come up with a sensible answer."

"And" Dyane contemplated. "If we were to ask we would most likely run up against that mother of all military cop outs. The one about that being on a need to know basis." Dyane had been in the U. S. Air Force and CUSSEC long enough to know that it was futile to question any decision made by the upper echelon. 'Ours is not to wonder why.' The words were burned into his mind. He had long ago lost track of the number of times he had heard them repeated.

"In the end." Ern said. "We will just go and do our jobs like good little mushrooms. The answers will be given to us when the time is right."

Later that evening Dyane lay in his bunk in the base officer's quarters intently studying the tech manual pertaining to the new version of the Warner Omega thrust engine. He was very interested in the modifications and improvements that had been made to the engine. The original version of the engine which was used in all N class ships would sometimes overheat when operated at or near maximum horse power for extended periods of time. He had encountered the problem himself when on the return leg of his second flight the temperature on number three engine had increased to the point that he had been forced to bring that engine down to an idle speed to allow it to cool down. Several times he had made an attempt to put that engine back on line with the other three but each time he tried the needle on the temperature gauge would start to edge up toward the danger zone. They had been forced to make the last two months of that flight with that engine operating at 35% of normal power output. This had delayed their D. O. R. [Date of return to earth] by ten days.

Several other ships had encountered the same problem. One flight had been aborted when only three months out from earth two of their engines overheated forcing them to turn around and return to earth.

The manual simply stated that the overheating problems encountered in the earlier Omega engines had been addressed and corrected. Dyane was not satisfied with this explanation. In his thinking it was no explanation at all. He wanted to know exactly what had been done to correct the problem. If he should encounter a problem with an engine overheating out there in space a first hand knowledge of what changes the factory had made to address and correct the original problem could help him to deal with any problems he may run into in the future.

An intimate knowledge of every single part in those engines would go a long way toward helping him do his job. He made a mental note to himself. 'Ask Colonel Miller who he could talk to in order to get the information he felt he needed.'

The next two weeks were busy, hectic times for Dyane. His days were spent at the shop observing the work being done there. At night he would return to his quarters where he would lie awake until long past midnight doing his best to absorb every last bit of information he could find in the tech manuals Pertaining to the operation and maintenance of the X. class ship.

Dyane called Colonel Miller's office and made an appointment to see the Colonel. When he and the skipper were alone in Miller's office He explained his misgivings about the wording in the tech manual pertaining to the overheating problem in the Omega engine. "Sir." He explained. "The book states that the problem was addressed and corrected. That's all it says and-."

"And you would like to know more. You want to know what the problem was. Not just that it has been fixed. Is that it?"

"Yessir.-Since I'm going to be in charge of operating those engines. I want to know everything I can about them."

"I see your point. But you do realize you-uh-might be stepping in it."

Dyane knew that asking the engineers and craftsmen who had designed and built an engine to explain the changes they had to make in order to correct a defect in that engine would be asking them to admit they had made a mistake in the original design. They most certainly would not want to do that. They would much rather sweep the problem under the rug by stating as they did in the manual. "The problem has been addressed and corrected."

"Sir." Dyane said. "Men's lives may be at stake here. I think that should be more important than some engineer's foolish pride."

"I agree with you all the way. I'll shake the tree of command and see what falls down from the top. Understand it might be nothing."

"I understand that sir."

"Well what did you get out of your meeting with the skipper?" Ern asked. Dyane had agreed to meet him at the Snake Pit for an early evening relaxer.

"Not much actually--. He'll take a run at it. Told me not to expect much in the way of results."

"Good advice."

"Chances are it may never be a problem. Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill here?"

"Mole hills here can be mighty big mountains out there." Ern pointed his thumb out the window at the sky. "Sides we're supposed to use these days of preparation to get prepared. Oh by the way I went by and checked out the ship. Gave her a nickname, 'Hippopotamus.' Rather fitting wouldn't you say?" These last few words were spoken in a quaint English accent.

"Yes rather. Bloody appropriate. I say." Dyane tried to mimic an English accent himself but he was unable to make it sound nearly as authentic as Ern had.

"What's the latest from the Betsy Ross?" Dyane changed the subject.

"Nothing earth shattering. Lots of mundane facts and figures. They-uh-believe that planet rotates on it's axis every 26 hours."

"So it has 26 hour days instead of the 24 hours we have."

"Yeah." Ern said. "Not much difference there."

A few days later Dyane received a phone call from Colonel Miller. "Got an answer to your question about the overheating problems in the engines." He said. "I will forward their letter to you. They say they have taken care of the problem so you have nothing to worry about. And they go on to say that if you should encounter any difficulties out there you can contact the base here, the base will contact them and they will forward information through the pipeline to you telling you how to resolve the problem."

"Sooo we definitely won't have any problems but if we do we can contact them and they will tell us what to do about it."

"That's the gist of it. Those engines are perfect and you will have no problems. But if you do give us a call. Sorry we couldn't get more out of them."

"That's okay Colonel." Dyane said. "Thanks for trying. Under the circumstances I really didn't expect to get much out of them. Let's just say it's the nature of the beast. We will have a good supply of spare parts on board. We'll be able to take care of most problems ourselves."

"While I've got you on the line." The Colonel said. "We are scheduled to lift off on our four day shake down cruise Tuesday. The briefing will be at 0400 hours. On the shake down we will basically be running empty but when we lift off on our mission we will have her loaded to the gills. Going through the preliminary motions on the shake down won't give us much of an indication of what to expect on our mission lift off."

"I understand that sir-and I have a-uh-suggestion to make regarding our mission lift off."

"What have you got in mind?" The Colonel asked.

"Well sir I think that lifting that much weight we may have to fire the lift off rockets up to or maybe even beyond their recommended maximum output. Holding them there for an extended period of time will be putting one hell-of-a strain on them. It could damage them. I request permission to start up the thrust engines and put them on line at ten or twelve thousand feet elevation instead of the customary twenty thousand. This will cut down on the amount of time we will be running the lift off rockets. It will ease the strain on them."

"Can't see why that won't work." The Colonel replied. "As long as we clear the mountains."

"Dodging any mountains in the way will be your job Colonel. You'll be driving the con-trap-shun." Dyane said with a chuckle in his voice. "I have the utmost faith in you."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." The Colonel said with a note of sarcasm in his voice. "The marines-The few good men will go with us on the shake down. It'll give them a taste of what they're in for. Maybe they'll all change their minds and decide not to go."

"Don't think they'll be allowed to do that." Dyane said. "Do you?"

"No I don't."

Chapter Two

The shake down flight went off without a hitch. Everything worked exactly as it was designed to work. They put the ship through it's paces, checking out every single component. With everything performing up to or exceeding specifications. Dyane was impressed with the smooth operation of the thrust engines. While speeding through space in the N. class ship there was always a slight vibration accompanied by a dull rumbling sound coming from the engines that could be detected anywhere in the ship. In time the men grew accustomed to it until they reached the point where they didn't even realize it was there. They went to sleep with it, they woke up with it. It became a part of them like their own heartbeat or their own breathing. As he stepped off the ship after his first extended space flight Dyane wondered, 'What is that strange sound?' Then he realized what was strange was the absence not only of the sound of the engines but also the absence of the vibration from the engines which had been a part of his life for every second, every minute, every hour for the past two years. In the X. class ship there was no discernable vibration from the engines and the only place the sound of the engines could be heard was in the engine room itself.

Immediately after the Santa Maria sat down on the landing pad at the conclusion of her shake down run all officers and non-commissioned officers were taken to the briefing room for a post-flight debriefing. Colonel Miller opened the meeting. He stood beside the teacher's desk, assumed his police officer's stance and spoke. "Well guys we messed up big time. The purpose of a shake down run is to identify any and all defects in the ship so they can be dealt with before we lift off on our mission. But we were unable to find a single defect. This is the first time I have ever returned from a shake down flight with an empty bitch sheet. So okay we have had our Sunday afternoon walk in the park and it was nice. Very relaxing but- now it's time to get down to business. Everyone will be relieved from duty for three days. Report back here at 0800 hours Wednesday. Lift off is scheduled for 0500 Friday. That will give you two days to get your personal belongings on board and make final preparations. Don't forget anything. If you do you will have to live without it for the next three years. We will not circle the block and come back to get something you forgot. Cuss-ix won't allow that. Speaking of personal belongings on this run as on all others no one will be allowed to take a personal computer or any other personal communication device on board that ship. All of your personal correspondence, love letters to wives and or girl friends Etc. must be routed through the computers on the ship. Those computers are linked directly to the computers in the base communication center here. When your letters are received here they will be read and censored before being sent on to the person they are addressed to. Cuss-ix does not want you spilling the beans about anything that goes on out there. Don't worry those censors are not going to blab all over the base about anything you may write in your letters-we hope.

"Now are there any questions? If not.-Oh yes one more thing, for the benefit of those who have not been out before the non essential personal items, trinkets, pictures, keepsakes Etc that each man will be allowed to take will be limited by weight and volume. I of course will take my tree."

Dyane knew that the tree Miller referred to was a small replica of a Canadian blue spruce. The two foot tall tree was made of man made material and was planted in a gallon bucket filled with Canadian dirt.

"Let us now repair to the pit and do our best to get snake bit." Ern said as he and Dyane walked out of the briefing room.

"Yeah. One or two I guess." Dyane agreed.

"Well whatta yuh think of her?" Ern asked as they sat in their customary seats backed up against the rounded wall of the bamboo structure?

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Beyond The Blueby Kent Mason Copyright © 2009 by Kent Mason. Excerpted by permission.
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