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Chapter 1

Chapter One

March 12th 2157

            The stars lazily and gently pulsed their light.  Light that had traveled thousands of light years.  Absorbed on the surface of a planet, and turned into heat energy, or pulled by the gravity of a black hole, never to escape again.  On a rare chance the human eye might absorb it.  Not rare by human standards, but by the millions upon millions upon millions of photons that leave any given sun, an extremely small fraction of a percent reach lived in space.

            The stars pulsed rhythmically and threatened to force Jake to fall back asleep.  It had been almost two weeks sense he woke from hibernation, but he still felt the side affects.  He knew the side affects would leave eventually, but now he only had lethargy.

            He didn’t hate space travel, but this has been a long trip.  He left earth by way of one of the two space elevators.  He then boarded a shuttle that took him to Lunar Orbital Station Three.  On the Lunar Station he had a two-day layover, waiting to board the Star Skipper.  The Star Skipper was a thirty-year-old solar sail ship.  It wasn’t the fastest ship around by a long shot, but it was among the cheapest.

            Then began the longest leg of his trip.  Shortly after boarding the Star Skipper he had been shown to his hibernation chamber and helped inside by one of the two ship doctors.  Electrodes where placed on all major muscle groups to prevent atrophy.  An I.V. was placed into the vein in his left arm, to keep the occupant hydrated and full of all the necessary nutrients and deliver any drugs that were needed.  Tubing was connected to special briefs to extract waist.  Sensors were placed on the scalp, and connected to a visor to provide mental stimulation.  Finally a specialized mask was fitted to make sure the right amount of air was given.

            Hibernation wasn’t quite like the movies made it out to be.  In some ways it was better, and in others worse.  It was better because you came out in the best shape of your life.  But at the same time there was at the very least a month of side affects.  Side affects included lethargy, but also headaches, muscle aches, lack of apatite and a few others.  Another draw back included the fact that you still aged.  Interstellar travel was still not an option for someone who wanted to see the galaxy.

            Jake had entered into hibernation before the Star Skipper had even left the Lunar Station.  The Star Skipper set a coarse to intercept the orbit of Mars, or more specifically the Mars Orbital Station.  Mars had five orbiting stations, but only one served as a docking station for large inter system travel.  He was awaken two days before arrival, and spent those two days in a large room on board the Star Skipper among the other passengers.  This was known as “recovery.”

            Upon reaching the Mars Station, Jake’s wrist DNAC chimed.  It was a message from the deck hand on the Caprica.  The Caprica was a container vessel that ferried equipment food and personnel to the near asteroid ring mining stations.  The Caprica had already taken on its load and was waiting for him to board.  He shouldered his nap sack and followed the maps displayed on his DNAC.  It took him about twenty minutes to find the Caprica and board.

            Jake’s mother was so proud when she learned he was accepted to work on a mining station.  His father had died in an accident working for the company.  He was five at the time and had a hard time dealing with the sudden loss.  His older brother Logan also had a hard time, but took it upon himself to take care of his younger brother.  The two were always together, right up until University.

            Logan had been accepted into the Linguistic courses at the New Congo Government University.  The two years separated from his brother was hard for Jake.  After graduating from secondary school Jake applied to the New Congo Government University, and was accepted, into the geology courses.  He didn’t like geology, but it was the only way to stay close to his brother.  Logan decided to pursue his doctorate in Linguistics, and would graduate at the same time as Jacob.

            After graduation Logan was given several choices for employment, and accepted a job working as an official translator for the company.  Jake, however, didn’t have any jobs lined up.  He continued his unemployment for eight months.  Checking daily with the government’s database for job openings in the field of geology.  On three separate occasions he applied for jobs, but didn’t receive any of them.  Then the job posting for Near Asteroid Ring Station Geology Specialist, popped up.

            Jake didn’t think he would get the job, and he hoped he wouldn’t.  He applied mainly because the company would cut his benefits if he didn’t.  Seven weeks passed and he didn’t give the mining job a second thought.  Then he received the notice that he had been accepted for the job.  His mother was so proud.

            He packed three days worth of clothes, and met his mother at the Boma Sea Port located on the west coast of New Congo.  His mother had surprised him with a message spike.  Communication between space stations was very expensive.  Spikes allowed for a much more affordable method of communication.

Several gigabytes of video or text message could be uploaded onto the small computer on the spike.  It would then be shot into space using air pressure in the direction of its destination.  Message spikes were still not cheap, first it had to be loaded with fuel, and this small amount of fuel would make sure that the spike made it close enough to the mark.  The second reason was a one-time use high-powered directional transmitter that would transmit the message to a near by satellite.

From on board the near ring station Jacob could upload a message and send it within a thousand miles of earth.  The message would then be transmitted to a satellite and then passed to it’s recipient.  High-powered radio signals could be sent back and forth from Earth to Mars with in ten minutes.  But the price to send and or receive these messages was immense.  The company didn’t like to use them unless it was necessary.

Jake knew that his mother had spent at least three months salary on this spike.  The value of the gift made him feel guilty, but he suppressed this emotion.  He knew that his mother would not take the spike back.  He would have to make sure that he made a wise choice about what to send back to earth on the spike.

Logan had not been able to see him off.  His job in Brazzaville in New Congo was busy with any number of official duties.  It raked at Jake’s heart, that he couldn’t say good-bye.  He boarded the Maglev train that would carry him out over the Atlantic Ocean to the space elevator platform.  The space elevator’s platform was located about half way between New Congo and Brazil in the Atlantic Ocean.  And his journey began.

Jacob currently found himself aboard the Caprica speeding across the void at close to sixty thousand kilometers per second.  He was tired, and worst of all he was home sick.

“Attention crew and passenger, we are beginning our approach on Near Asteroid Ring Station Four.  We will arrive in one hour.  Thank you, that is all.”

The haze in his mind combined with the homesickness and the news that he was at his destination made him cry.  He was happy and sad all at the same time, and the emotion flooded out of him.

After several attempts he was successful in calming himself.  He didn’t want anyone on the Caprica to see him that way.  The last thing he needed was a weak reputation at the beginning of this job.  He wiped the tears away from his face and looked out the port view into space.  The stars continued their gentle pulsations, but now the ring could be seen with his bare eyes.

The asteroid ring stretched beyond what he could see.  The sea of grey rock was beautiful and vast.  Jake manipulated the digital view that overlay the port view and panned across the ring.  He slowly moved across the ring until it came into view, the Near Asteroid Ring Station Four.

It wasn’t anything special, it was a station designed for function.  A large tube in the center made up the living spaces labs and storage areas for equipment.  A large ring circled the center tube; this ring spun and created artificial gravity.  Everyone aboard the station was required to spend at least two hours in the artificial gravity.  Half an hour of that time was designated for exercise.

            On either end of the center tube there was airlock connections.  On the far side a small ship was docked, and the near side was empty, waiting for the Caprica.

            “Home,” Jake said to himself, as a tear slid down his cheek.