Argos pulled slowly out from the dock while the strains of Amazing Grace played on the Korean pipes of the Tae Pyong So filled the ship.
“Godspeed Argos” floated across the ship’s general push from the Skyport Control as she accelerated away from humanity’s home. The journalist turned his eyes forward to the gibbous moon that now lay before them, growing in size as he watched. They had launched!
“Hull surface cleared of two major spindizzies, sir,” announced Ensign Waverly. “Three minor spinners remain; navigation is tracking and compensating.”
“Very well, Ensign.” Captain Lee replied.
The journalist watched in fascination as the aft image of the Skyport faded to a pinpoint. Without turning he asked, “How fast are we travelling? I thought we wouldn’t accelerate until we were at the Jovian Well.”
“Oh, we aren’t even moving at a sizeable fraction of lightspeed.” Nolen replied. “The original pioneers took more than three days to go from the Earth to our moon. Were we speeding along at a hundredth the speed of light we would have reached lunar orbit in about two minutes. At our current rate, we have about thirty minutes before we pass. When we do reach the orbit you’ll have to look quickly but we will pass close enough for you to see the new base construction on Tycho Crater.”
The journalist rose from his seat, “Thank you. Since I have a half-hour, I have time to head to the underside lounge. I want to record some thoughts on the launch and I don’t want to disturb you. I’d like to return before we get to Jupiter if I may?”
“Certainly, Mr. Bradley. We’ll see you then.”
*~~*~~*~~*
Tom Bradley sat in a small compartment that looked more like a coffee-break room than a lounge until you noticed the floor-to-ceiling walldisplay of the outside cosmos. The journalist was quietly thinking about the best way to enter this grand beginning in his journal .
The vids taken by the Skyport’s cameras had been astounding. The very skin of the Argos came alive when the engines fired, even the photon rays of the sun bent before the wave drive. The journalist liked a strong, eye-catching start to his documentaries and these shots were now his.
A lounge door opened behind him and through it walked a tall, blond girl who looked like she was still in her teens. She was laughing as she spoke to a thin, older gentleman. The girl spotted Bradley and projected a smile that fluttered the big guy’s heart.
“Mr. Bradley! We wanted to watch the flyby from the lounge. I hope we aren’t intruding. I’m Sandy Shieve and this is Venu Vellanki, our chief programmer. I greatly enjoyed watching your interview.”
“Thank you. Unfortunately, that was Linda’s meeting not mine. However, I get the better end of the deal ‘cause … well, here I am! Just what do you do here on the Argos, Miss Shieve?”
“I’m a geophysicist and it’s Doctor Sandra Shieve if you wish to be formal. I don’t really expect to be very busy until we get to Tau Ceti, so perhaps we could pass some of the travel time together.”
“Thank you, I look forward to it.” Bradley replied as he turned to the older gentleman, “Nice to meet you Doctor Velanki. Chief programmer for the science team, huh? Why do we have to bring programmers along? I thought this ship was fully operational.”
Venu replied with a bit of a lilt colorfully edging his speech, “Ah, you are most kind Mr. Bradley but I manage to get along as ‘Mister Velanki’, thank you. As to the ship, she is the first of her kind. As we’ll be going on a very first trip to new places, I’m sure this will be a learning experience for all of us including my friends with artificial intelligence. I am sure they will have much need of me.
“Please excuse me one moment,” the programmer continued on to the back of the room, “I want to get Sandy and myself a snack and a drink. We don’t have much time before the Argos passes by the moon and the captain
“Godspeed Argos” floated across the ship’s general push from the Skyport Control as she accelerated away from humanity’s home. The journalist turned his eyes forward to the gibbous moon that now lay before them, growing in size as he watched. They had launched!
“Hull surface cleared of two major spindizzies, sir,” announced Ensign Waverly. “Three minor spinners remain; navigation is tracking and compensating.”
“Very well, Ensign.” Captain Lee replied.
The journalist watched in fascination as the aft image of the Skyport faded to a pinpoint. Without turning he asked, “How fast are we travelling? I thought we wouldn’t accelerate until we were at the Jovian Well.”
“Oh, we aren’t even moving at a sizeable fraction of lightspeed.” Nolen replied. “The original pioneers took more than three days to go from the Earth to our moon. Were we speeding along at a hundredth the speed of light we would have reached lunar orbit in about two minutes. At our current rate, we have about thirty minutes before we pass. When we do reach the orbit you’ll have to look quickly but we will pass close enough for you to see the new base construction on Tycho Crater.”
The journalist rose from his seat, “Thank you. Since I have a half-hour, I have time to head to the underside lounge. I want to record some thoughts on the launch and I don’t want to disturb you. I’d like to return before we get to Jupiter if I may?”
“Certainly, Mr. Bradley. We’ll see you then.”
*~~*~~*~~*
Tom Bradley sat in a small compartment that looked more like a coffee-break room than a lounge until you noticed the floor-to-ceiling walldisplay of the outside cosmos. The journalist was quietly thinking about the best way to enter this grand beginning in his journal .
The vids taken by the Skyport’s cameras had been astounding. The very skin of the Argos came alive when the engines fired, even the photon rays of the sun bent before the wave drive. The journalist liked a strong, eye-catching start to his documentaries and these shots were now his.
A lounge door opened behind him and through it walked a tall, blond girl who looked like she was still in her teens. She was laughing as she spoke to a thin, older gentleman. The girl spotted Bradley and projected a smile that fluttered the big guy’s heart.
“Mr. Bradley! We wanted to watch the flyby from the lounge. I hope we aren’t intruding. I’m Sandy Shieve and this is Venu Vellanki, our chief programmer. I greatly enjoyed watching your interview.”
“Thank you. Unfortunately, that was Linda’s meeting not mine. However, I get the better end of the deal ‘cause … well, here I am! Just what do you do here on the Argos, Miss Shieve?”
“I’m a geophysicist and it’s Doctor Sandra Shieve if you wish to be formal. I don’t really expect to be very busy until we get to Tau Ceti, so perhaps we could pass some of the travel time together.”
“Thank you, I look forward to it.” Bradley replied as he turned to the older gentleman, “Nice to meet you Doctor Velanki. Chief programmer for the science team, huh? Why do we have to bring programmers along? I thought this ship was fully operational.”
Venu replied with a bit of a lilt colorfully edging his speech, “Ah, you are most kind Mr. Bradley but I manage to get along as ‘Mister Velanki’, thank you. As to the ship, she is the first of her kind. As we’ll be going on a very first trip to new places, I’m sure this will be a learning experience for all of us including my friends with artificial intelligence. I am sure they will have much need of me.
“Please excuse me one moment,” the programmer continued on to the back of the room, “I want to get Sandy and myself a snack and a drink. We don’t have much time before the Argos passes by the moon and the captain
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