Battle Group Titan: Beyond Warp ((Battle Group Titan Series Vol 1)) Read online

  Battle Group Titan

  Battle Group Titan

  Beyond Warp

  By

  Michael J. Adams

  Battle Group Titan

  Ramona, California

  Copyright 2015 by Michael J. Adams

  Published by Michael J. Adams

  1798 Keyes Road, Ramona, CA 92065

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book can be used or copied without the prior written permission of Michael J. Adams

  To those who dream of

  traversing the stars.

  Contents

  Chapter One – Arrival

  Chapter Two - Departure

  Chapter Three – New Beginnings

  Chapter Four – Other Worlds

  Chapter Five - Attack

  Chapter Six – Battle at Dulang

  Chapter Seven – The Prometheus of Speed

  Chapter Eight – Andromeda

  Chapter Nine – Genius of the Young

  Chapter Ten – Friends

  Chapter Eleven – Home

  Chapter Twelve - Corruption

  Chapter Thirteen – Knowing Thy Enemy

  Chapter Fourteen – Earth Leadership

  Chapter Fifteen – Encounter at Listor

  Chapter Sixteen –Earth

  Introduction

  Battle Group Titan was born out of a love of space science fiction, the idea of humanity visiting the stars and experiencing great adventures meeting other species, saving humanity from extinction and developing innovative technology.

  The science behind the book will be recognizable to some as existing technology and knowledge injected with lots of imagination. But what is science fiction if it is not an adventure in creative ideas about what could be.

  The idea for the book came out of an ongoing story I was consumed with for more than a year. I finally decided to write down some of the ideas to see if I liked reading it. I was hooked. Two months later the initial draft was completed, and I loved the story, I hope it will set off some ideas in your mind of what could be, it has mine.

  There are two places in the universe where time stands still,

  as it turns out, the key to exploring one, is to enter the other.

  ~ Dr. Leo Bennett

  Chapter One – Arrival

  G round crews were just wrapping up their shift as the last of the sensitive cargo was loaded, and the much-heralded research team headed by German physicist Dr. Leo Bennett is settled in aboard the shuttle. Within minutes, the shuttle’s passengers are jarred slightly as the tug attaches itself and drags the shuttle and its passengers across the tarmac to the transporter.

  The shuttles coupling and separation can be a little chilling, so the crew includes some of the more unnerving details of the process in the preflight speech they have become so rehearsed at during the twenty-five-year development of the orbiter research labs.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, one hundred years ago we shuttled astronauts into space using rocket boosters and expendable hardware, however, today we will fly into orbit in three stages. As we transition from one stage to another, you will experience the effects of high-speed flight and all the noise that comes with it.”

  Just as the attendant completes her often repeated spiel the shuttles First Officer Aaron Logan begins the docking procedure with the shuttle’s booster carriage waiting under the transporter. The enormous transporter dwarfs the shuttle and the sliding rails that guide the shuttle into place jar its harnessed passengers in their seats as it searches for the massive locking system. All outside light fades as the shuttle, and its booster pulled into the belly of the transporter. In perfect unison, the shuttle comes to her resting place, and the reassuring slapping sounds of metal on metal and glowing instruments inform the crew the docking procedure has been successful.

  The sophistication of the vehicles and the staged flight demand the flight crew perform tedious preflight checklists on the part of the booster, transporter, and shuttle crews. All the systems checkout and within fifteen minutes the transporters engines are spooled up, and the pregnant monster makes its way to a well-marked concrete platform at the takeoff end of the runway designated as a run-up area.

  The shuttle's pilot on this fateful day is Major Will Inman, the senior officer stationed on the orbiter. Inman’s First Officer Cal Brittan completes a few more checklists, and the three piece ensemble is on its way to the orbiter. The first stage is uneventful as the transporter carries the shuttle and her booster carriage to a service ceiling of 43,000 feet. Things now start to get a little tense for passengers as the docking rails rotate to the rear and release the booster and shuttle.

  The booster carriage is a giant aerodynamically graceful rocket sled with a flight crew of three. The booster crew ignites the bird’s rocket engines slamming the shuttles passengers back into their seats as it accelerates them in a steep climb to Mach 4.5.

  It takes a speed of Mach 4.5 to engage the ramjet engines of the shuttle which in turn propel it through the thin upper atmosphere. Powerful orbital boosters then fire and bring the shuttle into a synchronous orbit with Earth’s orbital research station affectionately known by her two thousand occupants as “Tre.”

  After releasing the shuttle, the booster crew engages the autopilot which sets up a glide path and follows the transporter back toward home.

  The automated docking sequence operates perfectly as the 25 member science team, and shuttle crew arrives at the Earth Orbiter. The orbiter gets its name from the three rotating gravitational rings which provide living quarters and workspace to its occupants. The rings have segments between them making the orbiter look somewhat like a three ringed insect.

  Each massive orbiter segment was built and operated independently of one another until they could be coupled and operated as one self-contained orbital colony. The orbiter is self-supporting with commerce, local government and educational facilities and the insect-like segments house food biospheres and water purification systems.

  “Welcome to Tre” the PA blared within the shuttle as weightless passengers and crew tether themselves by their flight suit harnesses to the catwalk conveyor system connecting the Orbiter with the Shuttle.

  Dr. Bennett makes his way onto the orbiter's center rotating ring where he can finally walk upright again. His mind is racing with an anticipation of tomorrow's events swirl through his mind. Bennett, like many of his colleagues, is focused, brilliant and deliberate. Bennett’s unusually strong leadership and communication skills serve him well as Tre’s senior civilian leader. His counterpart is Major Will Inman who in an unprecedented (and unofficial) flight had piloted the shuttle with her precious cargo back to the orbiter.

  “Welcome Dr. Bennett,” as he walks into the lab's control center, “it is nice to have you back, how was your trip?” asked his cheerful and overly nervous colleague Dr. Evelyn Reeder, “were you able to secure the last of the components and materials?”

  “Yes, they are being unloaded and transported here as we speak. We need to complete final assembly by late tomorrow to meet our deadline. Inman has everything lined up on his side; we should be good to go by late tomorrow afternoon.”

  Will Inman had often wondered if Reeder and Bennett had a more than a professional relationship. It was hard for him to tell if the more than cordial relationship was one of the highly respected peers or a close relationship. Inman had long felt his work left him no time for personal relationships, but he envied what he saw between Leo and Evelyn.

  “Who could blame Leo, Evelyn is a beautiful, sensitive and engaging woman. With her five
foot three, slight build with dark brown hair and blue eyes she could trade in her lab coat and computer for a career in the movies with her looks” reasoned Inman.

  Dr. Reeder’s secret involvement in Inman and Bennett’s seditious project has worried her from day one, but the prospects of finally realizing her dream of extended interstellar travel were too compelling for her to pass on.

  Reeder is a loyal and conscientious astrophysicist whose brilliance played a lead role in the early research and development of Faster Than Light technology at JPL where she worked while completing her doctorate at UCLA. As history so painfully reminded her, the enormous power requirements rendered the research and development of the two FTL drives she and her team developed practically worthless.

  Of course, the outcome of her research has been known to everyone involved, being understood by physicists for decades, there is not enough energy available to power such technology, but that dirty little secret was kept from the powers to be to protect the enormous funding needed to advance the science.

  All the advancements completed, the devices built and subsequently stored away as the two projects she worked on canceled and her life’s work got put on hold until they were picked up by Bennett and Inman.

  Bennett’s doctoral degrees in particle and astrophysics made the deep relationship that had formed between the two prodigies a natural fit.

  In a twist of irony, they had come to work together on the orbiter where their life’s work and subsequent failures had become the catalyst for the great discoveries that would propel them and many of Tre’s workers and residents into a future none of them could have anticipated.

  “Meeting in my quarters at 16:00” barks Inman to Bennett and Reeder.

  “What’s that all about?” quips Dr. John Cerro.

  “Not sure, it’s probably just about getting on the same page again” reply’s Bennett.

  “Should I be there?” replied Cerro

  “No, he just wants to meet with his immediate team” Reeder answered in a defensive tone.

  That just frosted Captain Cerro, the science team liaison appointed by the US military command because of his science background and rank to keep an eye on everything and everyone in the lab. When operations people keep him out of the loop it frustrates the process, and this time he has an intuitive feeling that something is going on, but he cannot put his finger on it.

  Dr. Cerro’ expertise in one-upmanship tended to leave the impression he was not the kind of guy you learn to trust. Cerro’s constant inquiry comes off as a second guess, always looking for what one might be doing and trying to read everyone’s motive. Inman, Bennett, and Reader had long ago stopped sharing their plans with him for fear of government snooping and funding cuts from the military back home.

  “Tomorrow, we learn where everyone stands” thought Reeder. “Everything will have to go off without a hitch, but Inman has a knack for getting things done, and his ability to get people pulling together is precisely why so many on the orbiter admire him.”

  Evelyn caught herself thinking about Inman in more than a professional capacity again. She like most of her colleagues found strength in his determined yet gentle spirit. It didn’t hurt she found him handsome and engaging. He had a way of setting a mood of confidence with everyone around him and in everything he did. Unfortunately, Will Inman seemed not to notice her, of course, it did not surprise her; she felt she was so normal, one of those people who just blend into the background, kind of like a piece of equipment needed to accomplish the mission.

  Dr. Bennett, Reeder and three other members of his inner circle worked deliberately making the last of the preparations for engaging the Lead Shell Generators the next day when they were interrupted.

  “When will you speak to the crew Dr. Bennett?” asked Reeder.

  “Inman will address everyone by segment once we are inside the shell, we will start with the lab segment, and then move to the commerce segment, then the government and education segment” exclaimed Bennett. “We can use a progressive process so anyone who is not wanting to participate in the project can opt out and be moved to the last segment after we have recruited from it. We can then seal everything up and proceed to implement the warp drive.”

  “Let’s get this thing installed and get some rest while we can” barked Bennett, “I don’t want to have any last minute tweaking going on tomorrow.”

  Leo noticed the anxiety his comment brought over Evelyn Reeder, she was very thorough, always looking for what she might be missing. When everyone else was sure things were ready, Evelyn Reeder ate up time testing and retesting, looking for the one thing she missed which might put the mission at risk.

  Leo Bennett, on the other hand, seemed to have a mind where everything lined up in the exact sequence it has to be carried out. A necessary quality for someone engaged so closely with both the science and the politics of such a massive undertaking as the orbiter and it’s soon to be historical innovations.

  Dr. John Cerro was the youngest of four boys born into a long line of distinguished military officers including his father who served as a four-star General during the Chaldean wars and helped birth the Alliance of Nations which came out of them. Cerro attended the Air Force Academy where he graduated with honors earning a Masters Degree in Aeronautical Engineering and a Doctorate of Philosophy.

  John Cerro was a short man with slight features and what his brothers described as an inferiority complex which drove him to overachieve in everything he tried. John’s standout older brothers all failed to excel, but John was sure to become a master. It was this drive which propelled him to be the first in his family to earn a doctorate and to be accepted into the Alliance’s space program.

  Dr. Cerro made his way to his quarters and set up a wearable visual com link with Orbiter Operations in Huston. “I need to speak with General Lockman, please.”

  “Lockman here” came the reply within seconds. “I hope this is important; it is the middle of the night here!”

  “Yes, sorry sir, you wanted an update on any suspicious activity with Reeder, Bennett, and Inman.”

  “Yes yes, get on with it Cerro” commanded the irritated Lockman.

  “Sir they are working on some secret experiment utilizing some equipment that is all red tagged top secret. I got a glimpse at what they are working on, they are integrating the equipment into the orbiters’ systems, it is setup in the undercarriage of the orbiter's main platform, I have tried to gain access to this project team, but they have been stonewalling me.”

  “That project was approved by Washington, something to do with particle physics and controlling gravity. They needed the equipment from Reeder’s old lab; we provided the security details to get the equipment onboard the last shuttle. Why would you believe something is wrong, they are engaged in experiments all the time? I cannot get much real intelligence on what they are up to, and the politics involved in pushing security protocols is very delicate, I cannot get them to budge without actionable intelligence. You will have to do better than “some secret experiment,” everything you guys do up there is a secret experiment. Do what you can to discover what is going on, but do not put me in a sensitive position Cerro!”

  “Aye sir” as Lockman abruptly ends the conversation.

  General Lockman was a career officer and politician. With all the fanfare, Lockman always came through as a man of the people, intensely loyal to his men, his country and more specifically to his family. An uncommon blend of common sense, brilliance, and ambition Lockman worked his way through the ranks to command the Alliance Space Program.

  Cerro was distraught; he has never been able to get the complete trust of General Lockman or any of the officers in Huston.

  “I don’t get it,” Cerro thought, “I have more advanced degrees than anyone else on the crew. I have been the Generals lap dog, played second fiddle to Bennett, Reeder, and Inman and done all the dirty work in keeping both the military and civilian crews informed of Huston’s every wish as
they micromanaged anything either team worked on. I’m still nothing more than a gopher for everyone; something has to change.”

  It was a long night, Inman decided to go out for breakfast, although his quarters have a mini kitchen, he liked to eat with his colleagues and crew members at the forward diner. The Diner is all that its name implies and is a great place to come and spend some time with friends, do business and have a high-calorie meal to start the day. Coffee was very good, and the staff treated everyone like old friends.

  Inman spots Bennett and Reeder sitting along with other trusted members of their team. Tradespeople all around greet Inman as he makes his way to his comrades, pulls up a chair and begins to listen in. The conversation is light and exciting. It seems that a friend of Reeder gave birth to the couple’s third child in the orbiter's Health Care Center, Reeder’s excitement over the event does not go unnoticed. Inman wonders why Reeder has never married, in her early thirties she was still young and in Inman’s estimation a truly beautiful woman in every way, she could have her choice among hundreds of suitors on the orbiter.