Chapter 14

An Icy Death

On Red Storm, The Asteroid Belt: 2047 A. D.

Dom took the news hard. Although the whole crew of Red Storm was tuned-in to the funeral, and there were members of The Collective present, he felt so alone. He especially missed Seala. She was his support. His rock. His anchor. He missed her touch, her voice, and her calm nature. They were two of a kind. Somehow, he vowed to himself, “I will find a way to be close with her, even if it means giving up this business of space exploration. With our parents getting older, maybe it's time that we both spent more time with them before they die.”

Seala felt the same. In the brief respite from her duties as Ambassador to the United Nations, she spoke on the Mall at Seti's Memorial and took some time off in the New Wilderness to contemplate where she was going. She was pleased to see that things had not changed much at home. Nature evolves slowly, and even the weather changes seemed benign set against the turmoil that the Earth had become. Faction against faction, religion against religion, nation against nation, idea against the idea--these were the never-ending torment of her daily life. There seemed to be no end to it. Just when she'd put one fire out, another would flare up. Progress was slow, and it was wearing on her. She sought the best advice she knew--from her parents.

They were washing dishes, looking out the window at the lake. "Mom, what you think I should do. While I enjoy my work, it's hard to see progress, and it never seems to end. This place is timeless, but at least there are seasons, finality, and things begin and end in a predictable way. There is calm. There is peace. There is life-and-death all-around, but it has a reason to it. World politics is not like that. It's chaos. It's a disaster. Most ideas don't work. It makes me feel that we are doomed.”

Anne gazed serenely at Albert working in the garden in the warm rays of the setting sun. "That’s why I'm glad I left the political arena. There were some small victories, but for the most part, it was always a lose, lose scenario. Your father had it right--lead by example. He's done more with this small experiment, and the one at the ranch, than all the politicking in Washington has ever done. He showed the way, but few followed. Now, they are flocking here, trying to learn his secret. There is no secret. Letting nature take its course and working with it is a very natural thing. The arrogance we humans have is that we think we can alter nature and not pay the price."

"I know what you mean. Growing up here, I didn’t realize what I had until I left. I thought I could solve the world's problems by working with people. But people are the problem. Dad's way, blending with nature, is the best. I feel it every time I come back here.”

"But you can't stay here either, Seala. You weren't made for that. You have a higher purpose. You need to be with Dom. You need to go with him.”

"That’s funny, I was just thinking the same thing. I miss him so much! Now that Seti's gone, I realize how much. I love him. I want to be with him. As hard as it will be, I'm going to quit the Foreign Service!”

With that, Albert came through the door. "What have you two been scheming? I know you’ve been up to something? It wouldn't have been to do with Dom, would it?” He was always good at mind reading. He didn’t even have implants, but he seemed to know what The Collective was thinking.

Anne knew what to say. "You’re right, Honey. We were just talking about how much Seali misses Dom. I was suggesting that she need to prepare herself to join Dom in his travels. What you think?”

"Well, I'd say you two were made for each other. You've been apart too long. Why don't you train for the Space Corps, Seali?

Before her stay at the New Wilderness was over, Seala had resigned her ambassadorship and signed up for training at the Johnson Spacecraft Center. President Cruz at first tried to talk her out of it, but finally gave in and wished her well. By fall, Seala was at Waxahachie beginning the deep space training that Dom had completed three years earlier. Red Storm was leaving the Asteroid Belt. Dom was tired of the long journey, but anxious that they were soon to reach the goal of their mission, the moons of Jupiter.

Six months later

Dom was excited. They could see the giant planet growing larger in the windows each day. The Sun had receded to resemble a large star. It seemed strange that all that light was reflected from a source now only one thirtieth as bright as on Earth. He couldn't explain the anticipation he felt coming so close to the largest planet in the solar system. It was strange but familiar, as though he had been here before, but he did know how or when. His holos to Earth were more frequent now—almost daily. They took over an hour and twenty minutes to reach The Collective and Seala, who waited on every word. As she neared the end of her training, Seala longed to be on board too. She began understanding the discipline, the boredom, the stress, the unknown, and the sheer excitement of space travel. She was glad she left the Foreign Service.

As Jupiter drew closer, Dom could see her muted variegated colors. They seemed to change as he watched. He knew they were not changing, the reflected light from the dense atmosphere just made it seem so. The great Red Spot that his ship was named for had not changed much in a hundred years. Its true color was not red and it was a giant storm of size and magnitude inconceivable on Earth, but a storm, nonetheless.

Before long, Dom turned his focus to their primary target, Ganymede. Ganymede was larger than the Moon, but smaller than Mars. In many ways it appeared like Mars, with its surface fissures, craters, and reddish surface. But to science, it appeared to be more like Earth, with oxygen in the thin atmosphere, water, a magnetic field, and, a molten core. Unlike Earth, the core appeared to be heated by gravitational forces from Jupiter like Io. Ganymede Orbiter 3 and its landers had shown that the muting of the fissures and craters was caused by subsurface eruptions of hot water that quickly froze, millions of years before.

Excitement grew as their long, boring journey came to an end, and they were caught up in the massive gravity field of Jupiter. Suddenly, objects that had only appeared as images in holos, were moving about them as they sped past the other moons to their rendezvous with Ganymede. They came close to Io and witnessed its volcanic eruptions close up. Europa, long thought to be a primary source of water among Jupiter's moons, gave no hint of it from its silvery surface. Landers had proved that, below the surface, ice and water was abundant. When they slowed into a parking orbit a thousand kilometers from the Ganymede surface, the real sense of their mission set in.

Dom was in the first pod of five to descend to the surface. George and Rita, veterans of a Mars mission, were the first to step out on the surface. They both remarked how "Mars like” it felt. Both the gravity and view were similar. What was different was the large planet directly overhead. Instead of the cold twilight of a distant sun, a warm glow and massive pull were omnipresent. It was an illusion. The reflected light from Jupiter was less than one-half the intensity of the sun on Earth and the temperature was –242 F, much colder than Mars. Their suits and the lightness in their step made it all quite bearable and wonderful.

An hour and 24 minutes later, people on Earth were experiencing their joy. Soon, rovers were deployed, and a balloon took two of the crew on low-level reconnaissance. Two pods later, a makeshift research center was established near a large fissure. A hole, six feet in diameter, was easily bored through the light rock and ice to a depth of 100 feet. From there, lateral chambers were carved creating an underground shelter. As expected, the molten core of the planet created enough heat to make bearable living quarters with centrifugal 1 G chambers. It was only an experiment. They didn’t plan to stay long this time. They planned to stop at Europa before heading home.

They also did borings in the surface and discovered two things: First, there was liquid water. As they bored deeply into the surface through a combination of ice and rock, they encountered large pools of it. Second, the deeper they went, the hotter it got. The heat in the water gave them a promising geothermal source for power, heat, and plant growth. Another source of power wasn’t so obvious. Experiments in the underground chambers with suspended weights and water chambers, it was easily proved that the tidal forces caused by Jupiter’s gravity could be converted into electricity. The electricity could be used to make hydrogen and oxygen.

Things were progressing well. Rovers had explored for miles from the main landing site. Three other landing sites had been established. A low level flyer had been dispatched to map most of the surface and look for landing sites, settlement sites, and mining sites. Minerals were abundant enough so that mining, construction, and

farming appeared to be more than just a possibility. People on the earth were ecstatic. Over 2 million signed up to be the first settlers. The experience with Mars was paying off. Plans were underway for a massive colonization of the moons of Jupiter.

It happened six months after their arrival. Dom and five other crewmembers were on rotation in orbit on Red storm. They were there, in artificial gravity to rebuild their bone structure and mineral balance before descending to the surface again. Dom was in his personal quarters when it happened. The lights went out. There were no emergency lights, and although he could communicate with the other crewmembers through The Collective, none of eCom was working. They were still rotating, so the gravity was still on, but nothing else was working. He couldn't open the doors or operate anything. He just tried to keep calm and communicate with the others.

"George, Sonya, Erica, … Are you all right?” The others responded, almost in unison that they were. They were trapped in various parts of the craft, in the same predicament Dom was, trying not to panic. George was in the worse shape, because he was at the console. A seat restraint prevented him from floating, but he was in zero gravity, unlike the others.

Together, they tried to figure out what had happened. They couldn't. They couldn't communicate with the surface, because all the transmitters were out. Dom crawled around his familiar cubicle. Everything seemed to be in place. He still had air and was breathing well. Having gravity was reassuring as well. But, slowly, the realization of their helplessness was coming over him. He tried not to transmit it to the others. He was feeling their panic though. It was growing like a virus as they all began to realize that they were trapped and there was nothing they could do to change things. George was the most frustrated. Try as he would, he could not reset or reboot anything on the console.

Those on the surface knew almost immediately. The banter that normally continued between them and those on Red Storm just ceased. Communication between the three land sites, the flyer, and two of the rovers, also ceased. They all relied on relays to Red Storm to communicate. Rita, at the main landing site, thought about taking a pod to Red Storm, but, after conferring with the others, found there was no way they could enter without communication. There were no manual overrides on the outside of the ship. They immediately set about how they would save themselves, even if they couldn't communicate.

The news didn't reach the Earth for over an hour, when all the carriers ceased operating and there was just silence. Seala had a premonition, so she was tuned into Mission Command at the time. the silence was deafening. Everyone at Mission Command searched for signals, a solution--a sign. There were none. Replays of the last hour of transmissions from Red Storm were analyzed for any signs of what the trouble was. Nothing was found. Seala was in agony. Mission Command was in agony. The whole world was in agony.

On Red Storm things were worse. After a few minutes without power, the ship turned cold. Dom and his crewmates were feeling it. First, everything metal around them became cold to the touch. In the dark, they had to isolate themselves with seats, mats, clothing--anything they could find in their environment to keep from touching the searingly cold metal. Then, they could feel it--the cold radiating from outside, deep in their bones. There was no escaping it. In the dark, Dom found an EVA suit in a locker in the corner of his cubicle. With some difficulty, he slipped into it, and turned it on. Everything worked, including the lights on the helmet. He was immediately warmed as the temperature control unit moderated the environment inside the suit. Informing the others of his good fortune, two were also able to find suits. That left only three without some protection. George was in the worst shape. He informed them that all of the metal on the console before him was covered with frost from the condensed moisture in the room. He had no protection and was shaking uncontrollably against his restraints. Before long, his shaking subsided and he fell into a coma induced by the cold.

The two others without suits wrapped themselves in the warmest things they could find, and steeled themselves against the inevitable. It came quickly. They talked rapidly with each other, looking for consolation and support, but they too began to succumb to the cold. In 20 minutes, they too, were gone.

The suits, without resupply, were only good for 10 hours. Dom used the time he had to his best advantage. He started working on the door, trying to pry it open with anything he could find in his compartments. He found a knife and set to work. The others also began to try to break out of their areas. Erica found a pry bar, pried her door open, and worked her way to Sonya. Dom managed to get his door open, but broke his knife. Erica managed to open three more personal compartments. They found an EVA suit in each. Dom met them in the companionway.

They all had the same thought—the supply room. Dom led the way to the ladder to zero gravity. They used it primarily for exercise because there was a elevator. At the top, there was a hatch door that would automatically close in the event of decompression. Thankfully, it was open. The supply room, too, was normally open.

In the supply room, they found 30 surface suits, and refill air canisters and power packs for a few more days. They didn't know how long what they had would last, or if they could make contact with the surface. Using their radios, they tried. After a few hours of trying, they heard faint voices behind the static. For about an hour, they were in contact with the main landing site. Aside from encouragement, there was nothing they could really do for each other. Then, the voices faded until they would come around again seven days later.

They moved everything they found, including portable lights and power units to the heavily padded exercise room in the 1G area. They broke into the mess and removed all the food and liquid supplies they thought that they could thaw.

Although there was air in the ship, changing suits seemed impossible. Surfaces were so cold that touching anything meant instant frostbite. Even moving fast, they would freeze trying to make the change. Eating food in the suits was impossible, and the only water they had had was what was in the suits when they entered them. They were exhausted and dehydrated. They had to come up with something, fast.

Erica’s room was next to the exercise room. Dom thought that they’d make their last stand there. Dragging mats from the exercise room, they insulated the small compartment as best they could. They started receiving warnings that their air supplies were running out. Fortunately, the canisters snapped out and in with ease. The problem was that they had no power to replenish the canisters. With one set of canisters gone, they didn’t have much time, even if they could find more suits or canisters.

Dom placed a power supply in the companionway outside Erica’s room, and then hand drilled holes in the wall for the cables. A simple, portable electric heater was connected inside to thaw and warm food, water and juice; and hopefully, heat the compartment.

A silent cheer crossed the thoughts of the three of them when the elements began to glow and the whir of the fan was heard. Two hours later, it was warm enough to remove the suits. They slept fitful sleep in shifts. When it got too warm, they turned the unit off until it became uncomfortably cold again. When they regained their strength, they resuited, and one at a time, made forays into the ship for supplies. One person could quickly leave the room without substantially lowering the temperature. The brief openings helped replenish the air. Dom found a small microwave unit for thawing and cooking. He also rigged a broiler that often filled their little room with smoke.

They didn’t know how long it would take for the air in the ship to foul, so they were careful. Waste was no problem. They just opened the next compartment and placed containers for it there. When anyone left, they would take the waste with them and pour it in the containers where it froze and caused no problem. With water, they could clean themselves and their dishes. It wasn’t easy, but they managed.

Dom tried to find the source of the ship’s electrical problem, but couldn’t. He tried to see if they could launch one of the two pods on board, but, without power, they couldn’t even open the doors to the pod bays. Torching the doors wouldn’t work, because their airlock capabilities would be destroyed. Torching anything could have serious affects on their fragile life space.

And so they existed. Every seven days they communicated briefly with those on the surface. They had all come to the main landing site to make there own bid at survival.

Two hundred and three days later, Dom found himself alone. He was back in an EVA suit in the exercise room, surrounded by debris from their struggle. Their still were canisters and power units somewhere, but even if he could find them, he couldn’t mount them himself. The last portable power unit had run down ten hours before. Erica and Sonya had elected to face the inevitable without any more fight. They took sedatives, wrapped themselves in blankets and huddled together against the cold creeping rapidly into their little home. They froze peacefully in sleep. Although he helped all he could, he could not save them. They too, had succumbed to the cold. Now, his air alarm was sounding. Rather than suffocate, he cut the power to his suit. His view screen soon frosted over from his breath, and he could feel the cold creeping in.

He no longer heard the voices from below. Maybe they are no longer transmitting. Maybe he was just too tired and thirsty to listen. He was alone--alone with his thoughts. He thought of New Wilderness and his childhood. He thought of Seala. Why had he left her? They were so far apart now. They should have been together. He dreamed of long days by the lake. He dreamed of sunrises and sunsets in the woods. He dreamed of her and her touch. It was warm, oh so warm. He dreamed his last dream.

It took three months to fit Red Storm 2. Although she was a rookie, Seala made sure she was on the roster. She wanted to find out--to find--her brother and what happened to him. This ship was outfitted for rescue or recovery. It was doubtful there would be any rescue, because it would take too long to get there. All scenarios showed that if the main ship had been disabled by some catastrophe, then the people on the ground would not be able to survive for so long on their own.

Recovery meant finding Red Storm, surveying the damage, recovering bodies, descending to the surface and recovering any bodies that could be found there. They would spend some time securing the installations for future missions and conduct tests and experiments until their allotted time ran out. Then they would return home as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, the World would wait. There could be no funerals and memorials until they were sure of survivors and deaths. Hope was still high. Following missions were being planned and built. But it was a macabre hope. Death in deep space was to be expected. Life would go on. It was the price that had to be paid to save millions on Earth from dying.

In spite of the demands of her upcoming journey, Seala made two side trips. First, she returned to New Wilderness and touched base with her roots. She spent two weeks with Albert, Anne, and Ping. Through The Collective, she communed continuously with Thuy. When she arrived at Dulles, Thuy was there to greet her. They hugged and kissed and spent the next few days together. They knew it would be a long time before they would see each other again. Thuy understood what Seala had to do. She missed Dom. She didn't want to lose Seala, too.

They took the van together to Biotech Center. Thuy was familiar with the place. She had received her implants and collective training there. Seala conferred with Dr. Margaret Keeley-Jones. It didn't take long. Dr. Keeley-Jones readily agreed with what Seala was proposing. They shook hands. After taking on a tour of the latest cloning projects and having their implants tested and upgraded, the girls spent a week in D.C. just getting to know one another again--until that fateful moment they would part for a long, long a time.

Thuy returned to the CoRecov Singapore Project and Seala returned to the Johnson Spacecraft Center. Seala prepared with the new intensity. She had hope.

One year, two months, 13 days, later

Seala was excited; it was a mixed excitement, filled with dread. But she was excited, nonetheless. They were closing slowly on Red Storm, floating peacefully and intact as though nothing had happened. She was happy for that. She'd had bad dreams that the ship would be destroyed or even missing when they got there. She knew Dom was on the ship during the last communication. So she also knew it wouldn't be long.

Red Storm 2 parked in a matching orbit 300 meters from her target. Seala was on the first pod out. This pod was equipped with power beams that energized the ship’s bay doors and allowed it to dock in a bay on Red Storm. With full suits on and the kind of dread that accompanies such missions, they opened the hatch and entered. The power beams had closed the bay doors and opened the hatch to the interior. Aside from a few stray items floating in the weightless area, they found nothing unusual. The air, while stale, tested ok. As they passed the supply storage area, the ransacking was obvious. A sign of activity that was encouraging.

They were also surprised to find the gravity area still spinning; but then, there appeared to be nothing but friction to slow it down. Seala's anticipation grew with every step. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She could not bear to think what she would find.

After descending the ladder to the gravity area, they found things somewhat disarray. Doors were pried open, and there was evidence that some things were not in their proper place. But there were no real signs of violence. When they got to the exercise room; they found them--the two huddled in blankets on a bunk through the open door. Seala rushed in. The bodies were stiff and turned to its side. She needed the help of another to pull the frozen blanket back so that she could see the faces. The first was clearly the beardless face of a woman. So was the second.

She heard a cry from the exercise room and made her way there. Amid the discarded EVA suits, one had its helmet on. Seala rushed to the side of the guy lifting the visor. The lens was frosted over. They released the clamps and lifted the helmet. In spite of his long hair and beard, Seala recognized it was Dom and began to cry.

She was holding on to that stiff remainder of what he had been, a into those frozen, staring blank eyes, trying to communicate with all her might, when she felt a gloved hand gently patting her on the shoulder. She looked up to see the crew leader, signaling her on. He could have just as easily spoken, but the gesture was appropriate for the occasion. After looking at the other two bodies, they explored the rest of the ship.

It only took two hours to get the six frozen crewmembers back to Red Storm 2. Dom was left in his suit. The others were carefully wrapped in insulating material, and placed in a chamber that had an atmosphere, but was unheated. A second pod was dispatched, and the problem with Red Storm was quickly found. A simple $100 control chip in the main relay connecting the main power bus had failed. The system did not know there was a failure, so that the two back up power systems never engaged. George, freezing to death at the console, could not activate the backup systems manually.

They had been parked in orbit for about four hours, when they heard the transmission. "Is anyone there? This is an auto SOS, requesting assistance. We are trapped on the surface. Please come rescue us.”

The main landing site had come into view over the horizon and was being scanned by cameras and powerful sensors. Although nothing appeared to be moving, infrared picked up some additional heat sources in the warmth of one of the domes. Three rovers, two pods, and the flyer were nearby. Everyone was very encouraged by that and a pod was immediately dispatched. Transmissions to the surface were not returned, but that may have been because no one was listening.

Seala and the others watched intently as the pod landed and its crew entered the airlock to the dome. A cheer could be heard from the rescuers as their viewfinders showed what they were seeing. Four tired and weak looking people huddled in the room. Their eyes lit up when they saw their rescuers, but they were barely able to get up to greet them.

They were quickly given nutrients other supplements to give them strength to get them ready for transport to Red Storm 2. They pointed to the enclosure covering the shaft. The rescuers entered and took the elevator down. Inside makeshift quarters, they found all the rest of the survivors. They were in better shape than the ones on the surface, but not much. A centrifuge had given them 1G occasionally, but they were malnourished from rationing their limited food. The weakest were transported back to Red Storm first. They had to be introduced to full gravity very slowly because of their condition. It took several days to get all of them through the gradual transition and in place for long-term treatment on their way home.

Rita was the most alert, and recovered the quickest. She told them that they had gone into emergency operational mode as soon as they lost communication with Red Storm. Their biggest problem was being unable to communicate with Earth. They tried to rig a stronger transmitter, but they didn't have the materials to do it. The third rover came back after it lost communication too. The flier was used to pick up, one at a time, the occupants and supplies from the other two landing sites. They saved the pods for escape. They had worked out many scenarios for rescuing those on Red Storm, but didn’t want to waste fuel trying to open the bay doors on the ship. By rationing their supplies, and using the test geothermal heat and water they had acquired, they planned to last the year and a half they thought it would take to be rescued. They were right.

As sad as it was, Earth was happy that only six had died. They would wait for a formal funeral and memorial services when the bodies were returned. Red Storm 2 spent two months gathering experiments, repairing Red Storm, and getting the survivors in condition for the trip home. A crew was assigned to Red Storm, and both ships began the long journey home.

Go to Chapter 15

Return to Contents

Return to Ron’s Place

Email me