Chapter Seventeen
Distant Star
Rosa's room began to shake violently as it transformed into the bridge of a small spacecraft. An alarm began to sound. A small, dim planet of ice could be seen on the view screen. The information display listed its diameter at a little more than 1400 miles. The faint image of a single moon could be seen beyond.
"Ensign Costas, take the helm. We're going down!"
"Yes, sir!" said Rosa. Ensign Costas? Ensign Costas! She had made Cameron a captain, and all he made her was a lowly ensign! She glanced at the man who had given her the order. He was obviously the Captain of the ship, and the ship was obviously in trouble.
"Sparks, send out an SOS," said the Captain.
Rosa glanced at Sparks as she took her seat. He was a rather large man with blond hair and a friendly face. Sparks was speaking into his headset, "Shuttle craft Lowell is going down! Our position is unknown. Repeat. Shuttle craft Lowell is going down! Our position is unknown." Rosa could detect an accent in his voice. European? Scandinavian, perhaps?
The lights on the bridge flickered, then went out. Red emergency lighting clicked on. By punching a series of commands into the keyboard, Ensign Costas was able to turn on the shuttle's navigational controls.
"Emergency landing procedures engaged," said the navigational computer. "All crew members please take crash positions. Fasten all safety belts. Thirty seconds to impact. Twenty-nine… Twenty-eight…"
"Attention all hands," said the captain into his com unit, "secure yourselves for a crash landing."
"Nineteen… Eighteen… Seventeen…"
Sparks turned to Rosa. "You better fasten your restraints, Ensign." Rosa was not sure what to do. "Like this," Sparks offered, as he showed Rosa how the safety restraints worked.
"Three… Two… One."
The ship shook and rocked violently. Rosa was tossed about as if she were on a roller coaster that not only twisted and turned, but spun about like a top. There were loud crunching and scraping sounds as the vehicle impacted and slid along the icy surface of the planet. The spacecraft seemed to skid forever. Finally, the motion slowed, and the craft came to rest.
The Captain unfastened his safety restraints and got to his feet. "Sparks, get me a damage report. Costas, prepare emergency survival gear and get a fix on our position!"
Rosa glanced out the front view screen. A cloud of ice crystals, created by the crash, obstructed her vision. Slowly, the low gravity of this unknown planet pulled the crystals back to its frozen surface. The landscape was hard to make out in the dim light.
What was this dark and cold ball of ice on which they were stranded? But of more immediate concern, what should the crew of the shuttlecraft Lowell do to survive until they were rescued? A chill ran through her body. Was it nerves? For the first time she noticed the light cotton jumpsuits the crew was wearing. Perhaps she was just cold.
She accessed the computer to gain information. She discovered there were eight compartments and sixteen crew rooms in the ship. The Lowell was a science observation shuttle that could carry a crew of twenty-five on a nine-month mission. There were only three others on board besides the captain, Sparks and herself. Chief Engineer Felicia Buto, Engineer Henri LaBelle, and Science Officer Beth Stein. The Lowell was heading out to deep space with its operations crew to pick up sixteen scientists at Way Station GX03 for an encounter with a comet. She located a supply of nutritional items stored in the rear cargo compartment. Compartment "F" held specialized comet exploration equipment and clothing.
"Damage report, Captain," said Sparks. "Our engines are damaged beyond repair. We are running on battery power. Our solar re-chargers are working at minimal capacity; we have only one week of power at the current rate of use. All life support systems are functional."
"Very good, Sparks." The captain turned to Rosa. "Ensign, we need your recommendations ASAP!"
"Yes, Sir!"
Life support systems were functional as long as there was a power supply. And, as long as life support was functional, there would be a dwindling supply of recycled water. Rosa knew that people could survive many days without food, but without water, they would die quickly. The ice outside! The planet's icy surface could save their lives.
Rosa knew that the two most important items they would need to survive were oxygen and water. Given the icy conditions of the planet's surface, warmth was also an item of concern. The shuttlecraft, designed for nine-month missions, would certainly be stocked with a supply of foodstuffs. These could be rationed. She checked her computer for the information she needed.
"Captain, I would like to suggest that first, all the crew members should put on thermal clothes from the comet exploration supplies to help conserve body heat. Then, once the ship is secured, we close down and seal off all areas and equipment that aren't needed. Only the equipment bay and bridge should be heated. This will help conserve our power supply. We will have to ration our food and be very strict on water rations."
"Excellent, Ensign. What else?"
"Well sir, all the food stuffs and crew members should be gathered together here, on the bridge."
"And why is that, Ensign?"
"The combined heat of our bodies will help keep us warm, sir, and oxygen would only need to be pumped into one small room. As long as the ship's generators can run, and we control our drinking, we should have a limited supply of fresh water. Drinking may not be a problem if we can use the ice on the planet's surface."
The captain nodded his head in approval. "I agree. See that it is done, Ensign, then find out where in the worlds we are!"
"I'll distribute the thermal clothing, Rosa," said Sparks. As he stood, Rosa noticed how tall he was.
Rosa made her way to her cabin to change into her thermal flight suit. Next, she went to the equipment bay where she found Chief Buto and Officer Stein already preparing the craft's equipment for minimal energy use. "Henri and Sparks are gathering the food stocks," said Felicia.
"Terrific," said Rosa, "Beth, I'll need you on the bridge as soon as possible."
Beth Stein smiled. "Will do, Rosie."
ROSIE! She hated being called Rosie. Cameron knew that she hated being called Rosie. "Pause, please," said Rosa. Felicia Buto and Beth Stein froze in position. "I'll get you for this Cameron Rush!" She could hear Cameron's chuckle in the distance. "Program override, Costas E-3. 'Rosie' is not allowed. I don't like being called 'Rosie'. No character can call me Rosie. Enter. Resume."
"Beth," said Rosa, "I'll need you on the bridge as soon as possible. We need to gather as much information as we can about this planet."
Beth Stein smiled. "Will do, Rosa."
"Very good," said Rosa.
"What can you tell me about this planet, Beth?"
"I detect a single moon in a close orbit."
"How close?"
"About 10,000 miles from the planet. It is about 800 miles in diameter."
"And what about the surface conditions on this planet?"
"The outside temperature is 350 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, and the thin atmosphere contains methane gas. In fact, much of the surface of this planet is frozen methane."
Rosa was shocked. "Methane? Frozen methane gas? Not water?"
"No, ma'am. No water. Only methane gas."
With water, they could survive. They could even break it down to produce oxygen. But methane gas... Wait a minute, Rosa thought, the methane gas could be burned for an endless supply of power and heat. Chief Buto could build a crude gas generator. But then it hit her. They would have to burn the gas. BURN the gas! That meant oxidizing the gas. Burning required oxygen. They could not afford to use their oxygen supply to burn the gas. And what of the planet's methane atmosphere? Could a single spark from the ship cause a gigantic explosion? They needed to be rescued as quickly as possible!
"What can you tell me about our position in the solar system?"
Beth adjusted her instruments. "The closest star around which this planet orbits is a yellow dwarf. It is directly overhead at the moment."
Rosa looked out the view port at the dimly lit landscape. "That would make it 'noon' local time, yet it is no brighter than twilight out there. How far are we from the central star?"
"It is more than 3.6 billion miles away. I can detect at least one other planet closer than us to the star. It is a bluish gas-giant only 2.8 billion miles from the star."
"Anything else?"
"Several small planetoids and smaller objects can be detected in orbits beyond the orbit of this planet." Beth worked the sensors for several minutes. "That is all the information I can get, Rosa."
Was it enough to figure out where they were?
In order to send out an SOS, Rosa Costas needed to use the information Science Officer Beth Stein had gathered to determine their location. Sparks returned to the bridge and was ready to send a message telling Rescue Patrol the location of the crashed shuttlecraft. He was typing something into his multiCom as he waited anxiously at the radio.
Rosa reviewed the few facts Beth Stein had gathered. Why had Cameron given her so little help? Rosa tried to get more information about this small, distant, frozen planet.
"Beth, there must be more you can tell me."
The young woman worked a few moments at the computer. When she finished, she turned towards Rosa. She had a sad look on her face. "I am sorry. There are no more facts that I can give you." Beth's head twitched slightly, and she sat silent for a moment. Another glitch to log in the database, noted Rosa. Sparks stopped his typing and looked anxiously at Rosa and Beth. Beth twitched a second time and spoke. "This may not help, Rosa, but I think this is a real Mickey Mouse planet... if you know what I mean."
Rosa was not at all sure she knew what Beth meant. It was a very peculiar statement, and it did not seem to fit with the rest of the program Cameron had written. However, Rosa knew that Cameron was trying to give her some sort of hint — a clue to the identity of this planet.
Okay, what do I know about this planet? First, I know it's very far from the center of the solar system. Second, it has a methane atmosphere and much of its surface is frozen methane. Third, it has one moon in a close orbit around it, and finally, I know that very little else is known about this planet. If it were, Cameron would have given me more information. I also know that 'Mickey Mouse' is supposed to be some sort of clue...
The answer came to her like a bolt of lightning. She smiled at the young science officer. "Thanks for the help, Beth."
"You're welcome."
Rosa found the captain with Felicia Buto and Henri LaBelle. They were in the operations bay. The captain was bent over plans of the shuttlecraft. "Excuse me, sir. I believe I know where we are."
The captain straightened up and gave Rosa a serious look. "Oh you do, Ensign Costas? And where do you think that is?"
"If you will come to the bridge, sir, I will explain." The captain followed Rosa back to the bridge.
"Well sir, we have crashed on Pluto. It was once thought to be the furthest planet from the sun but it was demoted from planet to planetoid early in this century, dwarf planet. Pluto is so cold becaus eof its distance form the sun."
She punched a button on the control panel. A faint image flashed onto the view screen. "That is Charon, Pluto's moon. When Pluto's orbit is at its closest to the sun, both the planet and the moon share a common atmosphere. Its nearest neighbor would be Neptune, the blue-colored gas giant Beth had detected. The more distant objects are in the Kupier Belt. Some scientists say Pluto is really just a large Kupier object even though it is spherical like a planet and has and atmosphers and seasons."
Sparks had a wide grin on his open, friendly face. He started typing into his com unit.
The captain's head twitched slightly. "Anything more, Ensign?" asked the captain.
Rosa was puzzled.
The captain twitched a second time. "I'm waiting, Ensign."
"Well… sir, uh…" said Rosa, "Well sir… Pluto is Mickey Mouse's dog."
Sparks let out a hearty laugh as the captain's mouth widened into a grin. "Well done, Ensign. Have Sparks radio our location to the rescue patrol."
Rosa turned to Sparks and gave the order. She had finished her task.
"Way to go, Rosie," said Sparks as the bridge of the shuttlecraft began to fade and Rosa's room took shape about her. Did he call me Rosie? Didn't I reprogram the simulation to not call that name?
"Good job, Rosie!" came Cameron's voice over her multiCom.
"Why you! You know I don't like being called Rosie!"
Cameron laughed. "Sorry...I must have made a typographical error when I was writing the program."
"Yeah, I bet it was! And that 'Mickey Mouse' clue! I would have figured it out without that clue!"
"Mickey Mouse?"
"Yeah, you had Beth tell me that she thought it was a 'real Mickey Mouse planet.'"
"Honest, Rosa, I didn't write a clue like that into the program."
"Was that another one of your typos, then? Programs don't just write themselves."
Without warning, both Rosa's and Cameron's room went black.
(The Conclusion: Chapters 18-21)
