Sep 28, 2015

Here's a section of my book introducing Xue, a character my readers seem to like a lot - 

Chapter 2 – Feb 2191 - A Day Later

I see you at last, but most a ghost on this end of the telescope - Jakob Dylan

“What is it?” Teagan asked entering the auto-door to RL2 (Research Level 2) where the data was being collected from the Orbiters around Salacia. The room was packed with scientific equipment. A scientist himself, Teagan understood how to use most of it, but as Crew Commander, he was adequate at everything, but an expert of nothing. “You sounded like it was urgent.”

“Look at this.” Xue said without averting her gaze from the holograph displayed on a table in the center of the room.  

It was a map of the planet’s surface, and she was studying one particular geographic area just south of the equator near one of Salacia's two large seas. The center was only a few strides from the edge of the room, and for some reason, it was at this moment that he noticed he felt lighter than he would on earth, as the centerpiece rotated at seventy percent of earth's gravity.

Xue had still not turned away from the holograph. Teagan began to focus his eyes on whatever it was she was so intent on studying and he noticed again the beauty of the planet they were orbiting.

It was indeed earth-like; about eighty percent the size, and slightly less dense, which made the gravity there feel just a bit more than they felt on Janus. The planet was covered mostly with water and had two continents, one along the equator and the other exclusively in the southern hemisphere.  Ice caps covered both poles and the southern continent had some snow accumulation at its higher altitudes.  The temperature was about 20 degrees celsius, two degrees warmer than earth, and most of the planet was covered in rain forest.

They were fairly certain both continents had been connected just a few million years ago, which supported the hypothesis of plate tectonics; another possible reason that life emerged since the planet had the ability to regenerate herself.

Teagan remembered the night before, staring for what was probably an hour out of the command deck window at Salacia. The sea was blue, clean and untainted. There was absolutely no pollution, no unnatural climate change, and no war had ever ravaged this place. Findings revealed vibrant life on both the land and in the sea, and yet no signs of intelligence. It was pure, innocent, and virginal. And once rendezvousing with Hypnos, they would be the first to explore her beauty.

Xue took off the glasses and looked up at him for the first time. Vision was corrected at birth with lasers, but holographic images were not as clear without the aid of 3D glasses. It was a subtle difference but an important one for scientists and explorers who understood more than

anyone that the devil is in the details.

Xue handed him the glasses and he smiled with fond affection at the most brilliant person he had ever known. The petite, thin Xue Huang was born in China, and at the age of four was correcting her older brother's Trigonometry. The nanobots implanted in her brain during the final trimester before birth certainly helped—but they helped everyone who could afford the procedure.  She was different.  By seven she was performing long abstract math theories in her head.  By fifteen, she had received her doctorate, and at seventeen she accepted the invitation to join JSC (Joint Space Command).

Teagan knew her from mutual scientific circles and personally requested her to join.  Her knowledge—and her fame—gave her reason to leave. She now had a chance to work, make new friends, and leave the celebrity status behind. In China, she had become a national hero and a cultural icon.  She was intimidating even in scientific circles because of her IQ. But Teagan saw a young girl who just wanted to live.

He put on the glasses and the planet became vibrantly clear.  He watched as her finger entered his more limited field of vision and she placed it on the red area that she was observing. The image zoomed in.

“What am I looking at?” Teagan asked.

  “Well, mostly it’s the dirt of Salacia.” She responded, her accent barely detectable.

“Mostly...” Teagan meant it as a question but it came out as a man deep in thought.

“I was just running an analysis of the data from Observer 2 which was performing imaging radar scans about a thousand meters beneath the planet's surface in an attempt to discover specific geological formations, very similar to what satellites did to find oil two hundred years ago on earth.  I found this instead...” Her voice trailed off.

“It’s hard to tell but it almost looks like your highlighted area has some sort of structure.” Teagan put his forefinger on the image and rotated it.

Xue stopped him, “There. See that?”  

Her fingers entered his field of vision again and pointed to what appeared to be a cube-shaped structure that was crushed on one side. The image was so smooth and the angles were so exact—most of them ninety degrees—that it was logical to assume it was built, not naturally formed.

Teagan could not quite wrap is brain around what he might be seeing. “And this is a thousand meters underground?”

“It goes as deep as seven hundred or more, but some areas, like here, are only about two hundred meters below the surface. These images are sharp, meaning it’s something of a much higher density. What do you make of it?”

“Could it be naturally occurring?” Teagan asked with some hope in his voice.

“I thought so at first, so I ran a Chemical Analysis Spectrum. Look at this.” The holograph dissipated and Xue handed him a flex-pad with the CAS results. Teagan took off the glasses and looked at the paper-thin, flexible screen than most people wore around a wrist for easy access.

“Wow.”

“That’s what I said.” Xue responded and took the flex-pad back.  

Several seconds passed before Teagan spoke again. “Okay, Hypnos is scheduled to arrive in two days..."

”Have you made contact yet?” Xue interrupted.

“Not yet. We figured we’d wait till they were about six hours out. Time enough for them to soak it in, but not time enough to think about it too much until we can all meet face to face. I can imagine it’ll be quite a shock for them. I’m guessing we should be able to track them at about t-minus ten hours. So in the meantime, get as much data as you can so when we reach the surface we can start digging. I know there’s a lot of prelim work too, but let’s make this a priority.”

“Will do.” Xue replied, “Also, there’s a faint radar spike, not a spike really, but just a mild fluctuation that seems a bit odd. Nothing to be concerned about. It might just be an equipment glitch. Do you want me to look into it?”

“Have Brent check it out first. If it is on our end, he can fix it. I want your attention on this.” Teagan smiled at her.

Xue smiled back, “Aye, aye, captain.”

Teagan paused a moment in thought before he headed out the door. He knew full well that if this was what they feared, hoped, and expected it to be, it would be monumental. One major discovery after another, and this would be the one that would set the course for the rest of human history—there might be sentient life outside the confines of earth’s solar system.  

Xue was apparently thinking the same thing at that moment, “Do you understand the ramifications of this?” She said quite seriously.