Alpha Seven

ALPHA SEVEN

A novel

by

Toby Clark

This novel is dedicated to the NASA shuttle crews, especially those of the shuttles Challenger and Columbia

Alpha Seven

By Toby Clark

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2010 Toby Clark

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Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Prof Fiennes, Grandfather to Leonora. Timeline.

Chair of psychiatry at CEC at age 37 designing crew profiles for the Alpha Project. Experimentally hibernated at age 41 for 10 years and revived before Alpha One launch, then experimentally rehibernated at age 45 for 10 years to test the effect of repeated rehibernation, revived before Alpha Seven launch (actually witnessed Alpha Six launch).

Rehibernated for a third time for 50 years at his own request so that he could witness the outcome of the project.

He knew Leonora from 1 - 5, 15 – 18 & his son from birth – 16 then 26 – 31 then 41 – 43 when they launched with Alpha Seven

Alpha One launched at - 88 years then one ship approximately every two years up to Alpha Ten, the end of the series.

Chapter 1

What is your name?

A familiar, soothing voice, albeit without any discernable inflexion.

My name? My name? Why it’s Adam! Adam Smith Then, because it somehow mattered M2

What is your age?

My age? How old am I? Why, I’m 18 years and 2 months. At launch.

Good! The soothing voice continued. Adam, calculate the cube root of 27"

At launch? Why did I say that? Launch – what launch? Oh, yes, the ship’s launch, of course! Cube what? Cube root 27. That’s easy. 3 he replied "

Correct! What is the boiling point of LOX?

Com1, the ship’s computer. Asking all these stupid questions. His mind suddenly saw a picture of the training manual open at the page headed ‘Cryogenic Storage’. 98 degrees Kelvin he answered.

Compute the percentage power reduction with No2 drive running at 35% power output

I need to be able to run a procedure to do that

Open your eyes.

He was lying naked on his hibernation couch, the lid was up but the restraints still holding him in place. His cabin was encouragingly normal. Everything was in it’s place. His computer console was live and displaying the universal screen saver, a picture of the ship hanging in space against a background of stars with the Earth and Moon visible in the distance. He unclipped the belts and sat up, muscles feeling sluggish and stiff. He felt deeply cold inside. He was shivering, spasms in long unaccustomed muscles interfering with his keyboarding as he typed in commands with clumsy fingers. He brought up a subroutine, entered some figures and read the result aloud to Com1’s speakers. 18.61%

OK Adam, you have full cognitive function. However, I must warn you strongly that you will be emotionally unstable until you have adapted fully to revival. This is highly likely to make you over-react to situations, nonetheless, in the absence of L1 or L2, you may take command. I advise you to drink hot isotonic solution and eat a light meal, then perform a standard exercise routine.

Com1, why have you revived me? Adam sucked at the warm, sweet-tasting liquid euphemistically described on it’s bottle as ‘strawberry isotonic milk’, pressed a number at random into the meal service console and activated the microwave oven.

The ship has sustained damage exceeding automatic servicing capability. In the absence of any ‘L’ designated personnel I am required to initiate revival of F1 and M2 in accordance with standing orders.

What sort of damage? Display the details.

The ship passed through an undetected meteorite shower

‘Holy shit!’ Adam breathed to himself as a seemingly endless list of damage details began to scroll down the screen. How many items Com1?

‘Seven hundred and ninety one malfunctions detected." Com1 returned this detail with just the same unemotional inflection as he would have done if Adam had made him answer the one about why the chicken crossed the road.

He was shocked into full alert, his heart beating loudly in his chest. List me those that are mission critical.

With rising horror he read the items as they scrolled down.

1 All drives on emergency shutdown pending full maintenance and status check

2 Course deviation 27.3% from standard coordinates

3 Main power outage, local emergency backups operating only

4 Loss of pressure units A2, B1, B2, B3, B4, D3, D6, D7, D8, D9

5 Total loss of fuel from tanks Fl3, Fl5, Fl6

6 Total loss of LOX from tank Lox2

7 Shuttles S1, S3 inoperable pending full maintenance and status check

8 Structural damage to units A2, B1, B4, D7, D8, D9

9 Loss of telemetry to F5, F6, F7, F8, F9, F10, M5, M6, L1, L2

10 Specification deviation F3

11 Temperature Con…..

Stop there! Adam was on his feet, suddenly suffused with horror, alternately sweating and feeling chill and nauseated as the shock overwhelmed his newly awakened mind and his body suffered the resulting trauma. It was clear that the ship had taken devastating multiple damage. If the drives had not automatically been shut down by the computer, he realised, he wouldn’t be reading this.

But it was the dreadful implication of structural damage A2, the accommodation block. Between him and M5 were the cabins containing the unawakened M3 and M4. Then what lay beyond? Loss of telemetry could mean anything or nothing, at least for a while – the hibernation units were integrally operated and would continue to run on automatic until their fuel cells were exhausted. But the main corridor had lost pressure so that he was sealed in his room behind the airlocked door. He would have to suit up and evacuate his own air before he could go to investigate.

M2. Adam. Are you there? A female voice via the computer’s speakers. Terrified.

F1! Leonora Fiennes, he recalled. Leonora? Are you OK?

Adam! What’s happened. Why have we been awakened? My door is airlocked. I can’t open it.

Leonora, the computer’s got a status report. We’ve been hit by a meteorite shower, there’s a lot of damage. The accommodation has been holed, we’ve lost atmosphere, that’s why we are sealed in our rooms. Listen, Leonora. We might have casualties, there’s loss of telemetry to most of the other cabins. We should suit up and investigate at once. Let me know when you are ready and we’ll come out together. Call me on your suit radio, yes?

He slipped into his underclothes. Their training had been thorough and he had no difficulty donning the fleece undersuit and then the complex and cumbersome space suit. He had even been trained to put it on in zero gravity, a fiendishly difficult thing to do but the ship’s artificial gravity here made it much easier, he reflected and also gave him some assurance that the main structure of the ship was still intact and they were still rotating as they should be at the end of the spoke which carried the accommodation block. He pressurised the suit, checked it’s systems and then operated the door lock. There was a brief hiss of escaping air, then the silence of vacuum as the pressure zeroed and he would be able to open his door.

Bizarrely, the microwave door dropped open with a steaming meal on it’s tray. It was bangers and mash.

Adam. I’m ready. I’m just venting my atmosphere.

OK Leonora. I’m going out.

His room light illuminated part of the wall opposite, beyond was total blackness. He turned on his torch and stepped into the corridor in time to see Leonora’s door opening. A suited figure, face almost invisible behind the visor, identifiable only by the legend ‘F1’ stencilled on the suit over what could have been the curve of her left breast. She also had a torch and had additionally switched on the suit’s helmet lamp, prompting him to do the same. He took her arm, noting that he could feel her trembling even through the fabric of the suit and they turned to look up the corridor to the far end.

Identical doors, labelled M3, M4, on the left, F2, F3, F4, F5 on the right then almost nothing recognisable beyond, a tangled chaos of the smashed and twisted cabins and their contents, blasted by the mindless explosive impact of one or more lumps of space debris hitting the accommodation block with enormous velocity. Shattered and partially molten metal had splattered everywhere, driven from the impact F side through the closed doors on the M side and in places all the way through the cabins and the outer shell so that here and there stars were visible through gaps in the structure. What might have been a human body was palely visible caught up amongst a tangle of wires and tortured metal and plastic further back in the wreckage. It was a scene of utter devastation.

They stood side by side, unable to move, or even speak, faced with the enormity of the destruction and the realisation that most of their fellow crew members were gone. It seemed a miracle that the accommodation block had not disintegrated completely and been blasted away into space, by such minor threads of fortune hung their own lives.

I think I’m going to be sick!

Not in your suit. You could choke. Leonora…

The figure beside him had gone limp and started to slump to the floor. He let go his torch and grabbed her, held her against him and pulled her back into his room. He shut the door against the unbelievable spectacle beyond and used the emergency air supply to re-pressurise, thinking to himself that he wouldn’t have enough air to be able to do this again. He removed his helmet, then hers. She had fainted with the shock of what they had just witnessed but she was coming round again. ‘So much, so soon after reawakening’ he thought.

He sat her on his couch, suddenly aware, in spite of the awfulness which had surrounded his awakening that she was extremely pretty. He remembered that he had been particularly fascinated by her when they were all introduced to each other, shortly before hibernation. But basically, they were strangers. ‘Perhaps just as well’ he thought ‘because most of the others are now dead.’

He held her against himself, clumsy in the bulk of the suit, let her head rest on his chest, put an arm around her shoulders, rocked her against himself, comforting them both.

I’m sorry she whimpered. Such a terrible thing to happen. It might have been us. What are we going to do?

I don’t know. I can’t think straight. It was too dreadful.

Leonora sat up. Her face was very pale but she was gaining control of her emotions. The small room felt safe and comfortable, helped her to think. We must ask the computer.

Com1, what is your assessment of the ship’s status?

The computer’s voice sounded reassuring but it’s words were not. Mission is fatally compromised! it said calmly.

Why?

Insufficient remaining fuel to complete deceleration. The ship will overshoot it’s destination.

Adam shook his head in despair and changed tack. Uh, huh. OK. Com1, will you awaken all available crew members as soon as possible. Instruct them to remain where they are and patch them all through to me, here, when all are ready. And display their status on screen.

Affirmative. Confirm that I have advised you to take a light meal and perform a standard exercise routine.

Suddenly he could smell the food which the microwave had dispensed and despite everything, suddenly felt ravenously hungry – a normal reaction to coming out of hibernation. He picked up the tray and offered his fork to Leonora. We have to eat. That’s why you fainted.

She nodded and they shared the meal and the fork to eat it with, clumsily gripping it in unaccustomed, gloved hands while they watched the on-screen status reports for their surviving companions. There had been a total of 22, comprising 10 males and 10 females, all about 18 years of age plus two much older ones of ‘Leader’ status, a married couple, though they had been hibernated in separate cabins. Awakening was proceeding normally in cabins M1, M3, M4, M7, M8, M9, F2 and F4. F3 and F5 were shown as ‘unable to initiate awakening routine.’

Some are OK on the other side of the impact but there must have been another one took out F10, L1 and L2. Computer doesn’t say anything about M10.

Adam, that means that 7 of the males have survived and only 3, maybe 5 females. And we’ve lost our leaders.

But we still have Com1 which is a bit of a miracle. Com1 what is the status of M10?

Telemetry indicates hibernation normal but awakening is denied.

Do you know why?

Revival parameters outside specification.

‘Damn computer speak!’ he muttered to himself.

Com1, how far are we into mission

74 standard years and 281 standard days.

And how long to reach the destination?

Unknown. Mission coordinates are disrupted.

How long before we were scheduled to arrive.

Four standard years and 38 standard days.

Adam, do we have enough food to last that sort of time? Now that we are awakening everybody?

That’s the sort of question we would be asking our leaders, Leonora. I have no idea. But we can ask Com1, can’t we.

Com1, if there are just eleven of us now, how long will our food supplies last for?

Insufficient data available, Com1’s voice remained impeturbable.

What more information do you need, for heaven’s sake?

Adam, don’t get cross with him!

Cross! He’s only a damn computer. He isn’t a ‘he’, ‘he’ is an ‘it’

Com1, please respond

Insufficient data pending status report on stores damage and status report on hydroponics.

Adam switched Com1 on to standby. Have you any idea how long it takes to bring somebody out of hibernation?

Leonora frowned. From what I remember it can be about eight hours, but why don’t you ask him?. She gestured at the console.

Because I’m beginning to hate the sound of his voice. And besides, he always brings bad news! Anyway, I suggest we make ourselves as comfortable as we can while we wait and I’m going to start by taking this suit off. So saying Adam began the awkward process of disrobing. He had one arm out and the shoulder stuck. He looked at Leonora watching him. Won’t you give me a hand, then? She smiled, and with that, they helped each other out, like two butterflies emerging from their chrysalises until they were standing in their standard issue fleeces. It was warm in the cabin and the combination of eating and wriggling out of the suits had made them feel hot and sweaty. Adam unzipped himself and peeled off down to his boxer shorts. Leonora looked him up and down, shrugged, held his eyes with hers, reached a hand to her throat and pulled the zipper down over her breasts, abdomen and down to the crutch, peeled it back over her shoulders, down to her waist and then again, down over her thighs until she could pull it off her feet. She straightened up, wearing only a frothy set of bra and panties. She was wearing personal gear, not the shapeless official issue which they were supposed to wear on embarkation. He gazed at her in awe. You are just so beautiful F1! the words coming out in little more than a whisper.

Leonora blushed girlishly. I didn’t want to find myself one day undressing in front of a man wearing those awful things they supplied us with. The men’s underwear doesn’t look so bad, though, she added. Not on you, anyway!

He smiled in response, then changed the subject as the reality of their situation crowded back in on him. We need to work out what we’re going to do. Try to create a plan.

Adam, the air in here feels like its beginning to go stale, and the circulation isn’t running.

He nodded. I hadn’t noticed, but you’re right, it is. The damage must have wrecked the life support system for the whole block which means that we can’t stay here very long unless we can get it going again. Or Com1 can he corrected himself. If not, we have to find another part of the ship. Somewhere that is still OK. Maybe Com1 can tell us.

But we have to stay until the others have revived so that we can tell them what is happening. Maybe we should go over to my cabin because I still have some emergency air. But let’s wait until we’ve had what we can from here. Adam, how long does the suit air last?

4 hours at resting rate but it drops rapidly if you are working. We have to think what to do. If com1 can’t restore the supply, we will need to get to part of the ship with a functioning atmosphere. He turned on the console again. Com1, why isn’t the air conditioning running?

Power outage has extended to include emergency power backups in all accommodation units. My sensors indicate that pressure to all pipelines from the main LOX tanks has been lost.

Is there nothing you can do to help us?

Negative. Com1’s voice was it’s usual dismissively dispassionate self.

Adam felt a catch in his throat, of anger, tinged with fear. Com1, report on atmosphere status all sectors. Display on screen, not vocal he added sharply.

Once more a long list began to scroll down. A whole series of identical status reports: ‘pressure zero’, then readings for the cabins.

Cabin F1 zero

Cabin F2 .50bar in spec.

Cabin F3 .50bar in spec.

Cabin F4 .51bar in spec.

Cabin F5 loss of telemetry

Cabin F6 loss of telemetry

Cabin F7 loss of telemetry

Cabin F8 loss of telemetry

Cabin F9 loss of telemetry

Cabin F10 loss of telemetry

Cabin M1 .50bar in spec.

Cabin M2 .52bar O2 17.3% CO2 4.1%

Cabin M3 .50bar in spec.

Cabin M4 .52bar in spec.

Cabin M5 loss of telemetry

Cabin M6 loss of telemetry

Cabin M7 .47bar in spec.

Cabin M8 .50bar in spec.

Cabin M9 .51bar in spec.

Cabin M10 .37bar in spec.

Cabin L1 loss of telemetry

Cabin L2 loss of telemetry

He paused the screen. Pointed to M2. Our air’s getting critically bad. We can’t stay here much longer.

Leonora’s finger traced the M10 line. Low pressure. Maybe that’s why the computer won’t revive him?

I’m not sure what we can survive in hibernation but M10 would be in trouble if he was revived into low pressure. His cabin must be damaged. But there’s nothing we can do about him for the time being. We’ve got enough troubles of our own!

He restarted the screen, a depressing row of zeroes, then:

Hydroponicum C1 .55bar O2 20.6% CO2 2.45%

Hydroponicum C2 .50bar O2 20.7% CO2 2.28%

Hydroponicum C3 .52bar O2 20.6% CO2 2.31%

Hydroponicum C4 .54bar O2 20.3% CO2 2.47%

Wow! Look at that! If we can get there, we’ve got atmosphere!

What about all that CO2? Will that be safe for us to breathe?

Com1 may be able to tell us. Com1, why is the CO2 level so high and is it dangerous for us to breathe?

Com1’s voice, suave as usual. Plant growth is optimised at elevated CO2 levels. Humans can breathe it safely up to approx. 6%. It should never reach such a level in normal operation.

Leonora, when we have to leave here, I’m going to try to get over there and check it out. I will have to go up to the hub, across and down to C block on the opposite side. Let’s see how I can get there. Com1, display the best route to the hydroponica.

An outline map of the ship appeared on screen with a red line passing from the accommodation, up it’s spoke to the central hub, through the core of the hub itself then directly opposite down the spoke to C block. B and D blocks, housing the observatory and medical centre were reached by their respective spokes at right angles to A and C. During the voyage most places in the ship were left shut down and under vacuum but could be pressurised on demand by the awakened crew, not an option now given that the ship was evidently riven full of holes. It looked as though C block, luckily, had been shadowed from impact by the mass of the hub. The hub itself housed the four main drives and two auxiliaries which served the ship’s systems, all currently shut down and possibly damaged, maybe leaking radiation. The fuel and atmosphere tanks, along with the bulk of the stores were also housed there. At the front, the shuttle launch bay and 4 shuttles completed the layout.

He zoomed in on the accommodation. The entry door to the spoke was at the far end, beyond cabins L1 and L2 in a small lobby, with access to a communal rest and dining area on the other side. He noted that the video library and conference room completed the symmetry of the layout via an identical lobby at the near end, just beyond M1 and F1 only that in place of access to the hub, there was simply an airlock for EVA purposes."

You won’t be able to reach the door. Leonora traced her finger along the corridor. There’s no chance of you climbing through all the debris without puncturing your suit and anyway, we have no way of knowing whether the door can be opened, it could very likely have been damaged. Com1 should be able to tell us that, though. No, we should wait for the males on the other side to awaken and send somebody from there.

He nodded. You’re right, of course, only time isn’t on our side. We haven’t got a lot of air duration and even as we sit here, we’re using it up. And whatever the others may be able to do, that leaves us stuck where we are. Our only option is to go EVA through the airlock.

Adam, none of us are EVA trained. Our standing orders forbid it!

Our orders never anticipated this, though. Did they?

I suppose not. Com1, can we use the accommodation airlock to go EVA?

Access denied. You are not authorised for EVA.

Bloody computer, this is an emergency, in case your shrivelled little siliconised brain hasn’t registered the fact. Adam’s voice was somewhere between a snarl and a screech, as though his fear afflicted voice was breaking back into puberty. I’m going to need a quick primer on the procedures for going EVA and then a route to get into the hub. Run me the training manual for EVA.

Request denied. Only L classified personnel are authorised.

Please, Com1! He swallowed and forced the words out of his mouth. L1 and L2 are dead. You gave me control, remember?

Limited status only M2 until all L classified personnel are either revived or else certified disabled or dead. Current status L1 is loss of telemetry. Current status L2 is loss of telemetry.

For Christ’s sake Com1, the accommodation has been smashed to bits by a meteorite. What more do you want?

"Request denied. M2, my sensors indicate you are suffering abnormal emotional activity. May I remind you that you haven’t yet