Chapter Sixteen
Star of Calcutta
The semester break swiftly came to an end. Rosa and Cameron gained access to the GundTech monitoring reports, which they used to verify reports from their fellow students. Vee and Sam carefully analyzed all the collected data and could not find anything unusual or suspicious other than the embarrassing fact that their own simulations seemed to have the most problems.
Rosa stared at the error report. "¡Mierda!"
"If I swore, I'd be echoing your sentiment," said Cameron. "I didn't realize we sucked this bad."
"Suck isn't the word for it. ¡Mierda! ¡Mierda ! ¡Mierda! We need to be more careful."
"¡Mierda!" said Cameron succumbing to his frustration.
With the start of the new semester, the students' imaginations were captured by the new simulations, which were literally out of this world. Rosa's birthday came and went, and the Spring equinox was quickly approaching. It was mid-March when something peculiar happened.
"Emer...cy ...gency!" The multiCom's speaker crackled with static. "Have los... ...er... Only ...ergen... ...adio ...upport sys... working..."
Captain Cameron Rush of the Solar Rescue Patrol turned to Sparks, the radioman. "Someone's in trouble, Sparks. Lock in on their signal."
There was no one better than Corporal Sparks when it came to electronics. Sparks turned dials and typed complex codes into the multiCom. "Signal locked, sir."
"Emergency! Emergency! We have lost main power. Only emergency radio working. Help us. Does anyone hear? Repeat. Emergency! Emergency! We have lost main power. Only emergency radio and life support systems working. Help us," came the distant female voice.
"Come to dinner, Cameron," came a closer female voice.
"Save, please," said Captain Rush. Corporal Sparks froze in place. The SOS from the troubled spacecraft fell silent.
"Exit," said Cameron. Sparks turned to look at Cameron as his radio console faded into a cluttered desk with a multiCom screen mounted on the wall above it.
That was strange, thought Cameron, a computer character moving like that after the program had been stopped. He shrugged. Another program glitch. I guess we didn't work out all the bugs after all. The control center of the Solar Rescue Patrol dissolved into Cameron's messy bedroom.
Rosa's image popped onto the screen. "What's going on?"
"Mom just called me for dinner. Can we continue in about a half-hour?"
"Sure thing. Give me a flash when you're ready. I've got some good programs for you."
"And I've a couple to stump you, too. See ya in a bit. Power off, please." He hollered down the stairs, "Coming, Ma!" Cameron removed his IDO from his pocket, set it on the table next to his bed, and went down to eat supper.
As he climbed the stairs after dinner, Cameron thought of all of the simulations they had used in the Academy, some of which were suggested by the students themselves and executed by GundTech programmers. They then used the simulations to program their own scenarios, or stories. Next fall, these simulations and scenarios would be shared as GundTech installed inexpensive IHT classrooms in schools around the world.
Today Cameron was Captain Rush, Head of Rescue Operations for the Interplanetary Space Command. It was a program created by Rosa to test Cameron's knowledge of the solar system.
"Power," said Cameron as he entered his room. The screen came to life. "Sam?"
"Yes, Cameron?"
"Please send a flash to Rosa."
Rosa's face was soon smiling back at Cameron. "Ready?"
Cameron picked up his IDO and slid it into his pocket. He looked at the screen and saw Rosa's IHT hanging around her neck. "Ready."
"You froze the program, Cameron, so you need to execute the reboot. Good luck, Captain!" Rosa's patented mischievous grin was on her face as she faded from the multiCom screen.
"Resume 'Rescue Patrol Rosa-0-1,' " he commanded. His bedroom transformed into the control room of Solar Rescue Patrol Headquarters.
"Signal locked, sir," said Sparks as he finished punching in his codes.
The multiCom sounded the message of distress. "Emergency! Emergency! We have lost main power. Only emergency radio and life support systems working. Help us. Does anyone hear? Repeat. Emergency! Emergency! We have lost main power. Only emergency radio working. Help us."
"This is Captain Rush of the Rescue Patrol. Please identify yourself."
"It is a great relief to hear you, Captain. I am Commander Persis Kamatu of the Great India Trading Company vessel, Star of Calcutta."
"Can you state your position?"
"I am sorry, no. We are returning from a deep space mission. We were in suspended animation when the trouble occurred. All of our computer maps are lost, but I must assume that we are back within earth's solar system. All I can give you is some visual information we have gathered with our onboard telescopes."
"That will help, Commander Kamatu. Please transmit the data."
"We are within visual distance of a small planetoid approximately 600 miles across. There are many other smaller objects in the area. These range from pebble size to more than 125 miles across. Some are sphere-shaped. Others are oblong or irregular.
"Looking towards the star at the center of this system, there is a rust-colored planet with two moons. Looking away from the central star, there is a gas-giant. It isn't much, but that is all the information we have been able to get at this time. Can you find us?"
"Is there any more information you can give me? Anything at all?"
There was a moment of hesitation. Would Rosa give Cameron any more clues? Knowing Rosa, Cameron suspected not.
"It isn't much, but that is all the information we have been able to get at this time. Can you find us?" repeated Commander Kamatu. Rosa was not going to program any more information for Commander Kamatu to relay. Cameron would just have to solve the problem with the data he had.
Captain Rush reviewed the data Commander Kamatu had given him:
The Star of Calcutta was within visual distance of a small planetoid that was about 600 miles in diameter.
There were smaller, irregularly shaped objects ranging in size from a pebble to over 125 miles across.
Could the Star of Calcutta be stranded in the rings of Saturn? Cameron knew he must consider ALL the data before he made any conclusions. Rosa had used his impatience against him in the past. What else had Commander Kamatu told him?
Between the ship and the center of the solar system was a rust-colored planet with two moons.
This bit of data eliminated the rings of Saturn. The next planet closest to the sun from Saturn was the gas-giant, Jupiter. Jupiter had many moons, not just two. Cameron continued his review of the facts.
Towards the outer part of the solar system, away from the ship, was a type of planet known as a gas-giant.
With what he knew of the solar system, Cameron was able to figure out the general location of the Star of Calcutta. The many small planetoids were asteroids. The central star in the solar system was, indeed, our own sun. The rust-colored planet with two moons must be Mars, and the gas-giant was Jupiter. The Star of Calcutta had to be stranded in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
But Commander Kamatu and her ship were still lost. Knowing the vessel was within the asteroid belt was of little help. The area in which the asteroids orbited formed a ring all the way around the sun that was more than 340 million miles wide! It would be easier finding a needle in a haystack.
Cameron Rush had to study more about the asteroid belt if he wanted to save the crew of the Great India Trading Company ship.
It took only a few minutes for Cameron to find the answer using his handheld multiCom. He smiled as he contacted Ms. Kamatu. "Commander, I have good news for you. I know exactly where you are."
"Very good, Captain. While you were working, my crew was able to get power to a control computer. If you can give us our position, we should be able to make the proper calculations to journey home safely."
"You're in the asteroid belt of earth's solar system. Lucky for you, there is only one asteroid as large as the one you can see out your windows. In fact, it was the first asteroid ever discovered, back in January of 1801." He was sure to let Rosa know he had all the facts. "It's called Ceres. If you're ready, we can now transmit the current location of Ceres relative to earth so you can plot a course for home."
"We are grateful, Captain. Ready to receive transmission."
Captain Rush put a hand on Sparks' shoulder and said with quiet satisfaction, "Transmit."
Sparks turned and looked at Cameron. He had a smile on his face. "Good job, Captain."
Cameron took his first good look at Sparks. He was a large man with longish, thinning blond hair. There was something familiar about him — but then both he and Rosa re-used many of the IHT-generated characters in their simulations.
The Rescue Operations Center melted away as Cameron's room began to take shape. Rosa was on the multiCom. "Very good, Captain! Now, what do you have cooked up for me?"
"Just sit back and relax, Rosa. This should be a breeze for you! Sam, execute 'Rush Simulation C-386'."
– End Chapter Sixteen –
