"Where in the hell are we?" The captain looked as frustrated, and as frightened, as everyone else. Daria quickly got her feet under her, and pulled herself down into her seat. She had been thrown unexpectedly to the floor, and into another console display.
"We are not back in our own solar system, and the ship we just put to our rear is not in sight." She frowned. "I am receiving some signals though." She focused her windowed display on the signals. "Its our probes. In the system we jumped to." The captain turned towards her.
"Wait, does that mean we are back in that system?" Tara let out a breath of relief. "Specialist? What just happened?"
"I think we were spit out the other portal, captain. It might be a fail safe feature. If it starts to go offline, it pushes us out to the closest working portal." She gripped her console firmly. "The original builders of these portals must have encountered this themselves, and built in this feature." The captain rubbed his chin.
"Options?" Daria was still shaken, so her voice reflected that.
"Return to the other portal, and see if we can get home, sir. Its about our only option." He pressed a button on the arm of his chair. It was a whim, but the builders of their ship had put the intercom functions into the captain's chair arms, just like on an old television series. Future designs of the ship were to incorporate proper crew stations, but not like the series. It was designed for television, not actual space flight, and crew usage.
The new designs were considered to be major steps forward for space flight and communication during a voyage. They would have displays all focusing on the center of the bridge, while the main display would be in the center, and the captain would be able to access all the information when he needed it. His seat would also be recessed into that circular design, with safety being its key feature.
"Agreed. Sampson?"
"Sir?"
"How is that gravity generator doing? Is it offline?" He heard him clear his throat.
"Yes, sir. It appears the designers built in some capacitor banks that would allow it to operate for an extended period without power being fed to it. The sandwiched switches were to discharge the built up power and allow it to go offline." The captain let out a long breath and took a few more before he replied.
"So it appeared to go offline for a brief moment while the capacitor bank kicked in? Fine, but if we want it back online, can it be turned off with complete certainty that it will not spontaneously reactivate?" Again, the engineer cleared his throat.
"I am uncertain at this time, sir. I am disconnecting it for now. Until we get back to our own system, and possibly back to Earth, there are too many unknowns to keep it attached to our power systems." The captain nodded.
"Understood. Make sure you discharge it completely, disconnect it, and crate it up. When we try the portal again, I don't want another wild ride to remind us how bad things can get when we're unprepared."
"Message received, captain." He nodded, and closed the intercom.
"I'm sure it was, Sampson." He turned towards Tara. "Did we get any information during that trip?" She shook her head.
"Nothing I can make sense of. We don't know how the portal works really, so these readings will need a large amount of time to analyze. Lets just go home, and get that stuff figured out either on the way, or let NASA figure it out when we get back." He sighed quietly.
"Agreed. Thompson, take us back to the original portal. Mark this one as 2B on the map. The other one will be 2A, and our side will be labeled as 1A. Just in case there are others buried in the atmosphere that we missed." Tara smiled.
"When we figure out which system this is on the star map, we can start mapping the network, add the information the probes are gathering, and really get to work." Her smile grew wider. "I can't believe it! A portal network, mapped and explored! And we are the first humans to do it!" The captain shook his head.
"That didn't dampen your enthusiasm a bit, did it?" She shook her head.
"It would take a lot to do that, sir." Daria cleared her throat.
"Then prepare yourself, Tara. A big bucket of cold water is coming up right now." She put the portal on the large screen at the front of the bridge. It continued to flicker madly.
"Oh for fuck sakes!"
The captain took a long slow breath, and let it out just as slowly.
"Right now, I'm kind of glad we messed up with that low powered signal. We would never have known about how to reboot the portal if that hadn't happened." The captain nodded.
"Too true, Specialist." He took another deep breath. "Damn! Its great to be back in our own system!" His outburst was unexpected, as was the action to jump out of his chair. The bump to the head reminded him of why that wasn't a good idea. "Ouch! Dammit! Alright, start transmitting the information we picked up, in small packets, that way it can be opened and given to the appropriate departments without having to wait for the whole thing." Tara smiled.
"NASA is going to ape over what we brought them." She had a small smile on her lips. "Captain, request permission to leave out the information on the gravity generator until we are about to dock." He frowned.
"Why?" She smiled an evil little grin.
"Not only do I want to see their faces, but we may also want to keep this played close to the chest. If this gets let out of the bag while we are on route, and it doesn't power up again, it could hurt us badly. Also, I'm feeling a little gun shy. What's been going on at home in our absence? We've received few and far between updates from home, even though they know we are out here. Its almost like someone else is at the helm, and he doesn't like where we've been." The captain frowned.
"Come to think of it, you're right. We were to receive monthly updates, but those turned to two months apart, and we haven't had one in about six months. Almost like they've written us off as lost in space." Daria rolled her eyes.
"We almost were! If not for some real dumb luck with that low powered beacon resetting the portal accidentally, we would be stuck over there with no way home! And when I get home, I'm going to get loaded, and forget that we were ever up here for about three days!" She began to smile. "And I'll also thank God himself for making me come up here in the first place." She said in a low tone. Tara smiled.
"You and me both."
"Alright, Sampson, lock the ship down to stationary rotation and parallel to the Y axis. Once that procedure is complete, turn on the gravity generator." He turned towards him. "Are you sure that it will work properly, and can be discharged completely, if need be?" Sampson turned a slightly brighter shade, and nodded.
"I've worked it out, sir. We acquired the external discharge unit from the alien ship, hooked it up, did a test run, and there were no hiccups. It will work as expected." He nodded slowly.
"Alright." He turned to Daria. "Thompson, send the signal to the International space station. Inform them we are an hour out, slowing down for docking procedures, and confirm that they are aware of our return to Earth." He turned back to Sampson. "Sampson, engage the gravity generator. I want those vibrations to be over with before they can see us."
"I can't believe it!" He turned to Tara. "You were right. Not only did they write us off, but we are supposed to be dead!" He growled, turned away for a brief moment, and thumped his fist down on the arm of his chair. "Now we have to wait while the bureaucracy gets their heads out of their asses so we can be granted permission to dock!" He turned back to Tara.
"It was a good idea to keep that gravity unit a secret. If they forgot we even exist, they would use that unit's secrets to do a real snowjob on us. As it is, I'm not even sure we have a job to go back to right now." Tara nodded, but kept her smile small.
"We have information on the portal that is ours alone, and the alien vessel footage. Along with the gravity generator, we have the power here, sir. The politicians are going to be all over us, pretending they didn't forget us, and using us as a photo opportunity. Not just the first humans to orbit Jupiter, but the first ones to go into an unexplored star system, and return. They won't bury us, sir." She kept her final remark to herself.
But I will bury the one responsible for removing my former boss from the helm.
The Russian astronaut frowned as the dock hatch opened, and he found himself feeling the weight of his own body, for the first time in several months.
"What's happening?" He said in a thick accent. He spoke fluent English, but his confusion was easy to read.
"Nothing, Commander. You're just enjoying the effects of the artificial gravity generator we removed from the alien vessel and installed in our own." The commander's jaw dropped.
"Artificial gravity? Its....its possible?" He jumped, and smiled. "Its possible! I can feel my weight on my muscles!" He then began to laugh. "Someone down there will face uncomfortable questions, I believe." The captain chuckled.
"Of that, commander, I have no doubt." He turned to Sampson. "Discharge the unit, Sampson, and disconnect it. We'll need to get it crated and ready for transport planetside." He looked at the commander. "Don't worry. As per our agreement almost six years ago, whatever technology we've discovered will be shared with the Russian Space Agency. Maybe next time, they will want to come with us. Go explore the other star system." The Russian's eyes went wide.
"Other star system?" He stepped forward, then caught himself as he realized he was going to board their ship, instead of them coming onto the station. "Come in! Come in! We have a lot to talk about! The RSA will be happy that you've decided to uphold our agreement! Very happy." He laughed even harder. "And someone who thinks he runs NASA will be very unhappy."
"Captain Rainier! We'll be holding the press conference and debriefing in twenty minutes." The director of NASA tried to shake his hand, but the captain refused to hold his out.
"We just received a message from Specialist Tara Timmons about some important information. She has asked us, and my crew and I have agreed, that we'll hold the debriefing in seven days." The director looked ready to chew a few heads off.
"Can I ask why she decided to delay this?" Sampson put a hand on Daria's shoulder, to hold her back from spilling important information.
"She just wishes to make sure that all those who were involved are present and accounted for. She also hopes you'll be able to attend as well, Director Shelby. She can't say enough about you." He frowned.
"Oh? I don't think I've met the specialist." Sampson smiled.
"Don't worry, sir. You'll recognize her immediately." He put an arm over Daria's shoulder and pulled her along. "We'll be heading to the hospital now. Our bodies need some TLC, not the politics."
The director stood in the foyer of NASA's headquarters, and fumed. He then turned as a former employee was leaving with a box in her hands, and the guard behind her.
"Make sure she leaves! Not coming in for years, but still expecting a job to be waiting? What is this world coming to?" He turned away, and didn't hear any other conversation.
"I'm sorry, Tara. He's a bloody fool who was able to toady up to the right people." She smiled.
"Don't worry about it, George. Just make sure you're there in a week. You'll be my backup, and you'll have the pleasure of escorting him out." She turned towards him and gave him a brief hug. "I'll tell father that you asked about his health." He smiled.
"That fool didn't know what kind of enemy he made when he fired you, did he?" She smiled.
"He's not my enemy, George. He's just a fool who found a bit of power, but we need the right person at the helm for this. Someone who busted his ass to get it started, and made the right friends in the RSA to get things done we couldn't get done on our own. The tech we uncovered...." she shivered slightly at the memories of the alien vessel. "Well, disgruntled politicians would be the least of our worries if we screwed up that relationship." He smiled.
"I'm just a grunt, Tara, but that's why you were on board that ship, and part of the whole endeavor. You could always see the bigger picture, the potential, and the looming disaster." She smiled and hugged him again.
"Its really good to see you again, George. Make sure you tell your wife I'm home. I've missed her home cooked meals, and I'd like the both of you to meet Daria. She's a hell of a woman." He smiled and watched her leave.
"She would have to be a celestial body in order to catch your eye, Tara. Even noticing her is a big compliment." The older guard smiled softly, then went back inside. He couldn't help but chuckle about the situation, and how his former boss will love the outcome of whatever Tara had planned.
If she didn't see the big picture, there would be war on the horizon. War between two superpowers over the failings and feeble grasping at power by a small minded fool.
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