Canticle Blue

30. The Future

After a successful first mission, Pa'Keh quietly guided the Castel back to the central crater at night. All of its E-matter containers were full except one, and Annibet's team was very encouraged to get them. They were already building a second spacecraft and had plans to improve the original.

The following day, Pa'Keh addressed a large gathering in the Great Room. "As all of our speakers are accustomed to saying, my part today will be very short."

Again there was laughter at something he said.

He cocked his head for a moment, as if studying the phenomenon. "Thank you for the adventure you have allowed me to take. Our teams of scientists and engineers have created a fine spacecraft. This flight has shown outer space to be accessible to us. I hope you will consider that it has also outlined a future for our colony. The Castel, and our next spacecraft will be able to carry interchangeable modules between drive units, and some of those will be suitable for humans. But these are only the first steps in what is planned. Professor Ravi will speak now." After bowing to those in attendance, he then flew to the back of the audience and settled next to Keh Sem.

Grahmen was laughing at the subtle humor in Pa'Keh's introduction as he came forward. When  looked out into the crowd, he began with, "If I fail to keep my enthusiasm in check, please forgive me for being me. But, it's a new world, isn't it? Up until now our people—and the Colony of our heritage—have been part of a vital social and spiritual experiment. For hundreds of years we have been drawn together by commonly held beliefs and values. Inherent in those was the affirmation that there was design and purpose, not only in the universe, but in our our lives as well, purpose which infused our existence with hope and direction and promised a meaningful future. Now, it appears, we have the opportunity to become a space-faring people.

"And I believe this opportunity comes at a most significant time. Ours is not a healthy world, after all, at least in terms of how people treat one another. We are somewhat sheltered here from problems on the mainland. But human rights in our country are steadily being eroded, and incivility has become the rule rather than the exception seemingly everywhere.

"One of the great conclusions of our ancestors was the recognition that core beliefs in non-violence would have to be balanced with the need to protect our loved ones. As an outworking of this belief, our people have always sought to employ deterrence when they were threatened by those with malicious intent. Sometimes our resistance has taken the form of secrecy and stealth, as has been the case, to some extent, on this island for the past seven years.

"But now we are beginning to get glimpses of protective options that even our most optimistic planners did not envision. We have an opportunity not only to explore outer space but to to live in it. As we begin to decide whether to take this enormous step, I believe it will be invaluable to consider the possibility that the choice and the way are providential.

"Annibet will now describe our current prospects for space travel."

She stepped up to the podium and began her talk with: "Well, I'm not a rocket scientist, but that's okay because, as it so happens, we do not seem to need rockets."

This raised considerable laughter and applause.

"And, as you will soon see, that was a good segue into my part of today's celebration. To get right to the point, we hope to salvage the original colonist space vessel, Terreska."

Many of her listeners gasped and others took to talking so loudly among themselves that she had to wait for their reaction to subside.

She continued, "Feel free to prepare questions as I talk about this, but I think I know what one of the first ones would be: 'How could we do that? The Terreska is at least two thousand years old.' And the answer to that would be that we hope to find out during the next flight of the Castel."

Someone in the audience asked, "Do you mean salvage it to live in or for some other purpose?"

Annibet answered, "As outlandish as it may sound, we would want to make it livable, if possible. As you know, the Terreska was both a very large habitat vessel and an interstellar ship. It was cylindrical in shape, with living areas on its inner surfaces. On its way to this planet, it used a combination of rocket-engine thrust and rotation to simulate gravity. According to all historical documents, it was out of fuel when the colonists left it in solar orbit. But our first indications from Pa'Keh's flight are that it is still rotating on its long axis. That should bode well for anyone attempting to board it.

"Most of the Terreska habitats consisted of compartments within tubular rings along the inner circumference. We believe the design of the rings was such that they could be isolated from from one another, if necessary. If that's true, we hope to begin restoration in one or more of those rings."

Another listener asked, "Would you have to alter its orbit?"

"Yes, certainly; and that is probably the biggest obstacle at the moment. Ideally, we hope to boost it into an orbit well-clear of Innis, not only for safety, but to conceal it. Pa'Keh was able to capture a few long-range images of the Terreska. I will pass one of them around, and the others are available on the C-link. They appear to show that the aft section, where the main engines were located is currently facing the planet. We don't think it is tumbling, but, if necessary, we would try to correct that. We would also adjust its rotation as needed."

Which prompted another question, "How will you be able to move it?"

Annibet replied, "A future mission will involve two spacecraft. The Castel is being upgraded, and the second vehicle will be ready for testing in about two weeks. By the way, Ip has requested that new one be named 'Maire Gan-Meid,' or, as Elyse has suggested, 'Maire Meid' for short. Middi will pilot both vessels, two of them in each. Both spacecraft will consist of two potentially autonomous drive sections, separated by interchangeable utility modules. If all goes well, their constant thrust applied to the Terreska will lift the vessel to safety. If they can do that, the R-drive sections of one ship will remain connected to it for course and attitude adjustments."

The last question was from Os Andis: "Would we need to supply the Terreska with air, water or soil?"

"I think that is a certainty, Os. And, of course, we would have to provide heat, power, light, and many other things too. We're hoping the Middi can get inside during the next mission and make an assessment. It's doubtful that any airlock controls are still powered, but there should be manual controls. Not that the Middi need an airlock, of course, but they would still need to find an entry point."

Os added, "At least they probably wouldn't set off any intruder alarms."

Annibet finished with, "Thank you all for coming. I want to let you know that the Bryn Institute does support this endeavor." She laughed. "They tell us that people are already volunteering to move into the Terreska, though it's way to early for that. We look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas, both in person and through the C-link."