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AD 2506 Term 2
Mission Briefing: Investigate Star System JUC-5111 for suitability for colonization. Prepare survey results, make formal recommendation.
Ship: JSS Extrapolator, Corvette Class, Hyperdrive mkII
Pilot: Pia Reed (replacing Liza Kantry)
Ground: Virgil Grokovsky1 (replacing Bertram Trodd)
Sensors: Argan Brooks
Specialist: [vacant]
Previously: After another attempted interception, a crewmember rises to the occasion and shares some surprising information.
In This Episode: All hands on deck: a mostly new crew venture into a new system, hoping for a more conventional survey. What could possibly go wrong…
INDEX | Mission 1 | <(Mission 7) Previous | Next (Mission 9)>
On The Ground
Argan did not want to be a superstitious man but felt like he was being forced into it. He put a lot of effort, between missions, to cultivating a blissful ignorance. He didn’t know what was true and what was not. The latest headline being pitched as an atrocity and broadcast across all wavelengths was ‘the siege of Koslov’. Argan was from Tyn’s Star—couldn’t be farther from the relevant battlefront if he tried. Some pictures of Theysian ships in orbit around Koslov penetrated his bubble, some anecdotes here and there about a heroic civilian defense floated past his ears on the wind. Not enough to latch on to, but enough to notice. The first casualty of war is truth—he figured something about it was true, but wondered how much.
So when Argan returned to the Extrapolator to find their new ground-man was from Koslov—he noticed. Argan was not superstitious. And yet…he couldn’t help but see the presence of Virgil Grokovsky on the ship as evidence of something.
The new pilot was also a stark difference from Liza, whom none but Argan knew or would ever know. Pia Reed was all professionalism; to her, he was Mr. Brooks which felt about as alien as these worlds they orbited.
Before their second jump, the one that would take them into their intended survey target, Pia called a meeting in the mess hall. Argan took the seat where he could thumb the small carving of the winged horseman. Pia was sitting on his left, Virgil took the seat opposite Pia on his right.
“Just wanted to run through the plan before we make the jump,” Pia began. “There’s a lot that’s not ideal,” She linked the fingers in her hands together—a bridge, or perhaps a wall. “The JU is prioritizing military personnel so we’re lucky to have the three of us. Mr. Grokovsky, I understand this is your first tour with the Surveyor Corps—I know they wouldn’t have selected you if you weren’t the right man for the job, so welcome aboard and I’m looking forward to seeing what you can do,” Argan couldn’t help but wonder if that was a threat. “Mr. Brooks, I hear you’ve been a steady hand at Sensors for more than a few tours, you’re the seasoned vet on this ship so if you have anything to say I know we both want to learn from you.”
Argan nodded, more than anything desperately sad that he was a veteran by virtue of being the last one standing. “I understand,” he said.
“Me too,” Virgil echoed.
“The system we’re heading to has three rocky worlds and six small moons around two jovian planets. No indication of atmosphere or not, so we’ll find out when we arrive. We’re short handed so we may need everyone to step up and help out as needed. Mr. Grokovsky, normal protocol says we’re to start at the closest planet to the star and work our way out. I’m willing to break from protocol if you find anything about these planets that piques your curiosity. Mr. Brooks, you are our eyes and ears. If you see anything that suggests the possibility of a Theysian presence, we need to know immediately. I’d rather waste time and keep everyone safe than take needless risks. That goes for you on the ground, Mr. Grokovsky—a sure thing is better than a dangerous risk.”
Virgil and Argan nodded.
“Great. We’ll be jumping in an hour. Make sure your stations are set up and ready to go—let’s run this by the book and there won’t be any issues. Let’s go.” Pia stood while smacking the table top with her open palm, pumping her other fist. Argan couldn’t help but wonder how much of the speech was for her benefit more than his.
While Virgil was on the ground, the Extrapolator held it’s breath. Argan watched and listened for the tell-tale sign of hyperspace or foreign radio chatter. Nothing. The system was quiet.
They’d found a world with an atmosphere, which Virgil immediately identified as the place he’d like to visit first. Argan had figured out how to use the specialist scanner and took some basic composition analysis. Water, a possibly breathable atmosphere—there were worse worlds out there, shoot there were worse worlds in this system. Virgil made his case, Pia assented. The game was on.
Argan didn’t like to listen to the radio anymore, but he could hear that Virgil and Pia were keeping in regular contact and that was enough. The sensors screen was uninteresting. It looked like, at long last, they were going to get an easy run.
He regretted the thought as soon as he had it. Some excitement from Pia’s station caught his attention: “Virgil? Virgil!”
That’s how Argan knew it was serious: she didn’t say ‘Mr. Grokovsky’. He launched out of his seat and down the hall to see what was the matter.
The radio crackled as he arrived: “I’m okay, I’m okay. Sorry for the alarm—I was exploring this cave formation and—well, there’s been some kind of collapse. I’m not hurt, but I’m stuck inside. These rocks are going to take some time to dig out.”
Pia’s arms were crossed, a frown pulling lines across her face. “What were you doing in the cave, Virgil? Don’t answer me—save your breath. We’ll debrief later. How long do you think it would take you to dig out?”
“I don’t know—a couple hours? And that’s only if it’s a pile of gravel, if there’s a boulder I could be stuck for a lot longer.”
Pia caught Argan’s eyes. Argan’s heart sank. “Mr. Brooks, I need you to go down and help extricate Mr. Grokovsky. I know this is above and beyond your job description, but we’re short handed, and I can’t expect you to fly the ship if I were to go down. It’s got to be you. Can you do this?”
Argan’s stomach was twisted in knots. “Yes,” was all he said.
To Virgil, Pia said, “I’m recalling the shuttle and sending Argan down to help you. He’ll be touching down in about an hour, make as much progress as you can and he’ll help you. Your mission is done the second you’re out—get back to the ship. We’ll re-assess.”
“All for little ol’ me? Thanks Argan. Your next microwaved nutrient powder is on me when we’re back in orbit.”
Argan laughed, despite himself.
The journey to the surface in the drone shuttle was worse than any journey Argan had ever taken in space. The shuttle was small, so he felt every bump and jostle. It was closed, except for the airlock portholes, which offered precious little in the way of a view. He had nothing to do except wait for the whole journey down. He couldn’t help but think about that winged horseman that seemed to mark the Extrapolator, like some kind of mascot. He wondered if it was something meaningful to earlier crews, a personal totem or something? He couldn’t help himself—he felt a strange kinship with the symbol, especially as he journeyed to extricate a fallen comrade. Some cavalry I am!
The black of space gave way to a deep blue of atmosphere, and eventually strange and alien trees and clouds heralded his arrival on the ground. He reported in: “Argan here, landing now. Virgil, how can I find you? I’m about to step out into the landing zone.”
“Welcome to my world, Argan! I’ll have passports made up as soon as I can. Let me know when you’re out of the ship, I’ll orient you.”
Argan stepped cautiously out of the airlock, saw some survey equipment set up and whirring peaceably in the shade of some trees.
“I’m out, I see the equipment you set up.”
“See, let the record show even when trapped I was working hard. With the shuttle behind you, look at the weather station. The cave is to the right, not very far, it was down hill. If you reach a stream or some water you’ve gone too far.”
Argan walked tentatively through the alien forest, over the alien ground, under the alien sky. There was something about it, something familiar, and yet wrong. Unbidden he remembered swimming at his grandmother’s lakehouse as a child, watching the ships coming and going from the spaceport in the nearby city.
The sound of falling rocks: Argan turned to look, and there was a pile of rubble on a hillside, freshly turned earth indicating a recent movement of some kind.
“Virgil, I think I found it. Pile of rocks on my left as I’m walking, hard to tell but I could believe this was a cave entrance.”
“That sounds right to me—start digging from the top, that’s what I’m doing. The second I can squeeze through we can get out of here.”
Pia’s voice crackled over the radio: “Be careful you two—if you both get stuck then we’re in a real bind.”
Pia was waiting for them, arms crossed, in the shuttle bay when they docked. Argan was the first to step through.
“How was it?” she asked.
“If I never have to set foot on the ground again I wouldn’t complain, but it wasn’t so bad!” Argan replied.
Virgil followed, and Pia’s face hardened: “What happened down there, Virgil?”
“I was exploring a cave,” he shrugged.
“What good do you suppose that would do?”
“All kinds of good. We learned that the ground isn’t entirely stable in that area. Helpful note for future colonists.”
“If you got hurt—”
“I’d have died and you’d have gone home. I didn’t! Here we are, everything’s fine. A little danger every now and then is part of the job.”
“Play it a little more safe on this next world, alright?”
“You got it, Cap.”
“I’m glad you’re both okay. Go take a break, we’ve got a lot more worlds to look at.”
Argan settled back into his chair at sensors, and hoped and prayed that he would never have to do that again.
To be continued…
Thank you very much for reading! This is Before The Maps Are Final, a science fiction adventure episodic serial set in the Sandbox Earth Universe. This will be a serial publishing every week, for a tentative total of twelve episodes. Please subscribe to be sure you don’t miss an installment sent directly to your inbox!
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God bless!
AJPM
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I'm getting a little bit of deja-vu from the start of the series, oddly enough. Curious to see this new dynamic play out!
A perfect length to read while grilling for Mother's Day dinner.