Stairway to the Stars

CHAPTER 1—STAIRWAY TO THE STARS

Let’s build a stairway to the stars.

- Glen Miller


And it’s something quite peculiar / Something that’s shimmering and white / Leads you here despite your destination / Under the Milky Way tonight. 

- The Church


HYPNOS: JANUARY, 2191

The first thought Carlos had when consciousness began to flow through his body was, Fuck, it’s cold.

His breathing was rapid and he was shivering uncontrollably; but, he reminded himself that the nano heaters (quaintly dubbed ‘Neaters’) were already working, and his body would soon feel warmth from the inside out. A sudden fear swept through him that maybe something wasn’t functioning properly but he reasoned that if it was the Neaters he’d still be asleep… or dead.

After breathing a sigh of relief, he then had to wait forty-five minutes until his body was able to function on its own again. At that point, his suspended animation chamber would open and he could activate the nav computer in the Stasis room to determine if he was in the right time, and nearing orbit of the long awaited destination—the planet Salacia.

If everything worked according to plan, he and his crew would be thirty days from locking orbit with the planet near the equator. He closed his eyes and tried to relax.

What he didn’t know yet, was that his team would not be alone as the first human explorers to orbit this new world.

As his body began to warm and the shivering subsided, the sensors attached throughout his body detected that he was healthy enough, and the restraints that had held him unlatched. He moved his arm, acutely aware that it was near a half century since it was last moved; although for him, it seemed like just a long night sleep.

He wiped the fog from the chamber glass, and peered out into the dimly lit Stasis Room. Suddenly, the door opened, and he stumbled out naked, and looked around. In the cabinet next to his chamber were his personal belongings which included a long, silk robe—which he insisted on bringing aboard since he was never planning on returning to earth. He put it on, enjoying its comfort and warmth.

He was the first to wake, and once he determined the status of his ship, Hypnos (The Greek god of sleep), he could manually melt the others. There were redundancies in place of course. In case his chamber failed to open or he died in flight, Anya would assume command, and she would have been automatically melted by the on-board computer. Hypnos also had an AI backup that could do repairs and keep the ship flying for thirty-five light years—theoretically speaking. Carlos and his crew were the first humans to ever leave the Solar System.

He walked over to one of the chambers. Still frozen, he couldn’t see the crew member inside but he wished he could. The name on the chamber door read “Terry L Daniels - C.S.T.”

Over the course of the endless days of training and the first few months of flight before entering stasis, he had grown fond of the Chief Science Tech, but he knew the mission would prevent any such romance, determined by all to be a distraction until they safely reached Salacia when their new lives could begin.

He also had to admit that he was scared. He never had a relationship that worked out, which turned fortuitous since he had no one to leave behind. He was close to his grandfather, Carlos Belgrado, Sr., known by many as the father of artificial intelligence for his breakthrough work in nanotechnology. But even his parents, although brilliant, had no empathy. They had him when they were in their sixties, feeling it was something they should get around too before they got too old. It did give him some satisfaction that they would never know if he made it alive or not.

He shook his head clear from the distractions, but not before he fantasized about the dark-skinned science tech falling naked into his arms, but he shoved those thoughts aside and went to work.

After he was satisfied with the results, and everything was where it should be, including Hypnos herself, he sent a micro-burst transmission back to earth. Even at the speed of light they wouldn’t receive it for another thirty-five years, and many more transmissions were to follow, but for now, the only thing they needed to read was:

“Hypnos is home.”


JANUS: FEBRUARY 2191

Suspended, floating, falling, but never reaching the ground, he groped and grasped, wishing to hang on to something tangible, but he knew that wouldn't happen.

“Now remember Teagan, that as you traverse space and time, through the bending of spacetime itself, we theorize that you will feel some... let’s say... interesting side effects...”

He could see himself now about twenty-five meters in front of his mind and for a brief moment he didn’t know which was the real him; then it dawned on him that they both were.

“We don’t know the full physical side effects or even physiological and psychological effects that may occur. However we are reasonably certain that any adverse conditions are temporary.”

Off in the distance he could see a two headed dragon and out of one head he could discern the voice of his father.

“Alternate realities may come to you like a dream...”

Intuitively, he knew the other dragon head was his mother. His mother’s head then detached and floated away like a large helium balloon.

“The important thing to remember is to allow the nanos to work; for they will enable you think clearly and to help distinguish this reality from whatever else you may believe to be true....”

He threw up.

“Don’t worry about sickness, your envirosuit will take care of any... let’s say... messes.”

The dragon disappeared. His HolHUD (Holographic Heads Up Display implanted in the retina) began to blur into his vision as his eyes opened. Nanos must have been cleaning up the mess because his visor was clearing and the smell of vomit that he was just beginning to notice was already fading.

He thought he smelled tea tree oil.

He was gradually returning to reality (at least his own reality), which was somewhere light-years from where he started. He had a sudden rush of panic in the center of his gut that maybe they screwed it up and he wouldn't be where he was supposed to be. But everything else that doctor Eisengard said was true so far—which gave him little consolation, but for now, a little would have to do.

As the dreams faded and consciousness returned, he was able to open his eyes fully and watch the HolHUD transmit that acceleration was at zero. They were now only two days from orbit around Salacia... or so he hoped. After all, it was the farthest jump ever attempted and only the third jump of any distance following the terrorist attack that killed his father and three other explorers as they were trying to reach Alpha Centauri.

Another rush of panic flooded his senses, and he had a briefly wondered if he was cut out for interstellar space travel. Then, the subtle nag of guilt crept into his gut as his next thought was, At least I didn’t die like Dad.

The restraints unbuckled and Teagan rose slowly, floating in zeros g’s, gaining his bearings. As the captain, he was the only person on deck during the jump. The damn thing wasn’t big enough for anyone else, and someone had to be near the controls in case some quick decisions had to be made. His taller-than-average height didn’t help with the maneuvering, but the deck was much larger than the ships of early explorers to the moon, and even Mars. For that he was thankful.

From his perspective, the trip was about thirty minutes, which was noticeably faster than his father’s jumps which were actually shorter in distance. If the calculations were correct, about six weeks had passed on earth. They actually had the ability to shorten that time considerably, but felt the risk was still too great. In the future, they hoped to jump back and forth from Salacia to Earth in a matter of days, weeks at the most. But when Teagan left earth with his crew, no future jumps were planned.

This was his first time experiencing FTL (faster than light) travel, and he knew that even though he was more than qualified, he had earned this honor and the command of this crew because of his father who had pioneered space-time jumping. But others knew he was as good as, or even better than his father at exploration. He chose his crew carefully, knowing it was one of the most critical missions in history. If Hypnos was still on course, Janus should be giving her a big surprise ‘hello’ in about a week. Until then, they had the chance to study Salacia from orbit and gather the findings from the rovers, which by now had succumbed to the environment on the surface, but still held valuable information if they could retrieve it. The orbiting probes still functioned, and Janus could now receive that information thirty-five years ahead of Earth.

“Good morning Captain. Nice trip?”

The voice startled Teagan. It was Alma, the Med-Tech. She was the first to leave the rotating center of the ship—called ‘Centerpiece’ because engineers just aren’t creative at naming things sometimes—and headed down the long corridor to the bridge.

“I threw up.” He said. It was more like a confession than a statement.

“That’s normal. Don’t let your ego get in the way.”

“Did you?”

“Are we where we are supposed to be? Or should I get a refund?” Alma changed the subject with questions of her own.

“Everything looks normal Alma. We got a week.”

“Good. You relax, while I make sure all our asses are safe from whatever we might find down there.”

Teagan laughed. Alma was always to the point, and he liked that; although she was a bit too serious for anything more than just a close working relationship and a few drinks, “Okay, you’re the doctor. How’s everyone else?”

“They’re fine. They threw up too.” Alma replied.

“Nice to know I’m not the only one.”

“I’m going to make some coffee. Want some?”

“Please.”

“I’ll be back in five. Oh and Teagan?”

“Yeah?”

“Strictly off the record, I threw up too.”

“It’ll be our little secret. Hey, when you come back, can you bring my toothbrush?”

“It’ll be our little secret.” And with that and a wink, she disappeared through the automatic door and down the tunnel that separated the bridge from the rest of the ship.

Teagan smiled and floated to one of the windows. Janus had a rotating center for living quarters, the science deck, and the shuttle bay, but the command deck was at the front of the ship. No one needed windows anymore, as holographic cameras and HolHUD’s could give you a visual of anything—and usually clearer than just using one’s eyes—but there was still something inside human nature that just wanted a command deck at the front of a ship with windows to peer through.

For the first time in human history, a human gazed with naked eyes at what many optimistically called “Earth II.” It was a sight he would never forget.

Next Chapter: Not the next chapter but a excerpt that seems timely.  :)