Supernal

Chapter 34

8:30 pm Monday, 9th July 2029

Crew Room on the OCF

Toby explained the problem to the others and told them that, after dinner, he and Jayal were going to the blimp to move the bodies into the cold storage. Summers and Rob immediately offered to come with them but Jayal said the storage was near the flight deck and they could easily do it on their own.

When Toby started to object and say that it wasn't a job for a woman she kicked his ankle under the table. Toby got the hint, changed what he was about to say and agreed they could manage alone.

Summers brought them up to date with progress on Toby's plan. He and Rob had spoken to mission control in Houston and with SpaceX at Kennedy. There had been no need for subterfuge. The story they had concocted was not only believable but had come as a relief to the management at Houston, who were anxious to press ahead with the Mars Project.

Summers had told them that the 'oxygen system specialist' had finally traced the problem to a couple of crushed pipes in the main assembly bay. It was assumed that the pipes must have been damaged during the work to piece together the sections of the booster rockets used to construct the bay.

If mission control could get replacement pipes to the OCF on a Cargo Dragon by Thursday, the specialist was sure he could install them and do all the safety checks on the system in time for the arrival of the regular Spaceplane the following week. The test team could be recalled from their enforced vacation and return to the OCF on Tuesday 17th July.

The mission controller had said he would get on it right away, and then Rob had relayed the part numbers of the pipes they needed to one of the engineers.

Summers had then called SpaceX and asked them to start preparing a Cargo Dragon for launch on Wednesday evening. He told them they would receive authorization from Houston within 24 hours.

Summers made a call to his wife on the encoded sat phone and asked her to meet him at Kennedy at 10 pm on Tuesday night and to arrange for someone from the Mayo Clinic to collect the children. He told her about his return flight on the Cargo Dragon on Wednesday and that he wouldn't have time to travel to Washington and back.

Jane was used to reading between the lines of their conversations and gathered that her husband had some important tasks to perform. She said she'd do her best to be there but had prior engagements. If she couldn't cancel them she'd send Phil Taylor.

Without mentioning any details he also told her he wanted to make a short visit to Tampa on Wednesday morning and might need some official backup to accompany him. Jane was too savvy to start asking questions and, after the usual endearments, they hung up.

#

The cold storage on the blimp was chilling in more ways than one. The room was lined with a dozen Manitan size compartments that reminded Toby of a medieval crypt. Each compartment had a central strap to hold an occupant inside. Three of the compartments were twice the size and Jayal told him they were meant for Atikas corpses. Toby knew that rodents on Earth were cannibalistic and suspected that the Atikas were the same.

Once the three bodies were safely stowed Toby started to head back to the pod compartment but Jayal said no, she had a surprise for him. She led him onto the flight deck.

"I want to show you something beautiful," she explained, manoeuvring herself to the control panel.

"I'm looking at something beautiful," Toby smiled.

"No, I'm being serious. This is magical. You better sit down and strap in," Jayal advised.

She flicked a switch on the panel and Toby gasped in surprise. He gripped the armrests of his chair and stared around wildly. The entire top half of the flight deck had vanished, revealing the vastness of space in its full glory. The sun was an enormous white star surrounded by a billion smaller pinpricks. He swivelled his head to take in the bright white moon, every crater casting sharp black shadows. The massive bulk of the OCF right next to them blocked out most of the Earth, but Toby could easily pick out the edge of the Gulf of Mexico and swirling whirlpools of cloud told him it was hurricane season in the Caribbean.

There was nothing between him and the cosmos and Toby feared that if he let go of his seat he would drift into outer space, then he saw Jayal smiling at his reaction as she floated nonchalantly against a background of stars.

"Why, Toby," she said mischievously. "I do believe you're scared. Do you want me to hold your hand?"

"Yes please," Toby croaked.

"You don't have to worry," Jayal reassured him. "It's just one big viewscreen. Watch."

With that, she pushed herself upwards and Toby cringed, expecting her to go flying out into space, but she stopped dead against the backdrop and thumped it with her fist.

"See? Solid. We're perfectly safe."

After Toby had convinced himself there was no danger he released his seat belt and, hand in hand, the two of them drifted around the flight deck, gazing at the panorama.

It was full-on sensory overload. Toby didn't know where to look next and it was exhausting. He asked Jayal to switch it off and was relieved when outer space was replaced by the dull blank interior panel that formed the ceiling of the flight deck.

"It takes some getting used to, doesn't it?" Jayal remarked.

"It's the most incredible thing I've ever seen," Toby admitted.

"If you think that's impressive, you should see it when we're travelling at high speed. It's breathtaking."

"I'm not sure if my tired old heart could take that much excitement."

"Well, we'll find out tomorrow. I'll have to take this for a little trip to avoid your Spaceplane, and I'd like you to come with me."