Escaping the Cradle

by Karen Page

Part 16

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Part 16
DATE:FC+42

"We lost the link," said Becky with a frown.

"We aren't reconnecting," added Liam.

"Perhaps they've moved to the next destination," suggested Jessica. "They said they were going to."

"But they didn't drop the link," said Liam, looking at the logs. "It was torn."

Ashleigh had been enjoying her time with the group. She had been finding the social media reports fascinating. "That reddit group is saying another ship has appeared where Aurora was. Aurora was moved."

Liam looked across at Ashleigh. "We did wonder if something opening at the exact spot would cause it to shift."

"I still have telemetry," said Becky, looking at that system. "That goes via the satellites."

She donned her headset for the old voice link to the ship. "Aurora?"

"We're glad to hear you," said Sam. "Exact coordinates are being calculated. We've got an alien ship in front of us."

"So the gossip site mentioned. Are you in danger? Can you use the drive to move elsewhere?"

"We don't want to move until we know where we are. We don't want to get lost. We're still triangulating."

"Understood. Did you see any other ships while you were at the council meeting? Do you recognise it?"

"It doesn't match anything I saw on the alien space station, but Eos looks different to Aurora. I'm sure different races have different designs."

"Could it be Yvestigans?"

"We hope not," said Sam. "James says we've finished triangulating. Nothing seems to be happening with that ship. They aren't shooting. They're just sitting there."

"Do you want to move away or are you going to wait to see what they do? Could they be here to just talk?" asked Becky.

There was a pause and James answered. "Another ship has just turned up. They're about half a kilometre away. Same ship design."

"Acknowledged," said Becky. "Use your judgement. No quarterbacking from here. We'll listen in. Good luck Aurora."

It dawned on Sam that Evan had been very quiet. Sam glanced around and saw Evan sat still as a statue.

"I think we should move," Sam said to James, indicating Evan.

James looked back at the scientist. "Okay, but not to base. I'm not happy for us to lead them there."

The hologram of an alien appeared which startled James, who was looking towards Evan. The alien said something in a language that James didn't understand. Sam did though and translated. "We're being asked to wait."

"What the hell is happening?" swore James.

Sam's Hytuna must have been good enough, as a small dialog started with the alien. It didn't last long, and the team were soon alone again.

"And?" asked James.

"These were the nearest and quickest ships that could get here in time. An Yvestigan ship is jumping here."

"Coming here?" croaked Evan.

"Yes. They want us to stay so the Yvestigans don't abort. The council aren't happy with them."

Evan's curiosity overcame his fear. He unbuckled and moved to the back of the ship to check the stored spares and analysis tools. After a few attempts, he found what he was looking for. It was a small box, which he plugged into an auxiliary port near where he'd sat and another cable which he connected to another port.

"Sam," Evan said, sounding more himself. "Can you ask Becky if she can get the feed from Auxiliary two."

"What is it?" asked James, after Sam had relayed the request.

"After the incident during the first jump, few antennas were added next to our normal communications link. It was just in case we hadn't solved the issue; external interference would be the next checks. It was to be analysed onboard but that second cable has linked it to the telemetry system. It won't be a big range but might be interesting. Especially if you can orient the ship so it is facing one of the spaceships."

"Ooh, some proper flying," said James. A flick of cold gas thruster moved the angle of the ship, and a few seconds later, a touch of opposite thrust brought them back to a stationary position.

Earth below them continued to rotate. James asked. "Evan, a question for that fabulous brain of yours. We are at 200km altitude. How long before we aren't visible from Australia?"

Evan mumbled to himself. "Okay. Rotation at equator is 1670km/h. We are further south, so say about 1500km/h. It depends where the people watching are, but say we were overhead, probably forty-five minutes or so."

"So, the world probably is still watching."

A third ship arrived. This one they recognised as being Yvestigan. It appeared between the other two ships, which then shone some type of light on it. Seconds later, all three vanished.

"Wow," said Sam in awe. "It's like they picked it up and marched off with it."

"That's one way to put it," said Evan.

"Evan, how are you doing?" asked James. "Sam and I have both been in the military. You haven't."

"I'm okay," he responded. "Well, I am now. I panicked a bit earlier, but I got over it."

"Good job," came Becky's voice over the link back to base.

"It looks like someone's watching out for us," said Sam. "Did the data Evan sent tell you anything?"

"We got the data, but until we analyse it, we won't know."

Evan leaned across and unplugged the device and then said, "Are we good to continue the test?"

"Are you sure?" asked James, concerned.

Since Aurora had been built, Evan's feelings had been in such turmoil. There was the thrill and excitement seeing the science in action. What had been such a mad idea by Becky had come to fruition. The cutting edge of knowledge pushed. It was rare for a scientist to get out of the lab. To see their creation in action. Yet, he'd never felt such fright. He'd never had his life in danger. Nobody had ever attempted to stop him doing his work.

But the exhilaration. The joy. The feeling of freedom. The feeling of worthiness. He and Liam had done something no other human had ever done. Cracked interstellar space travel. This wasn't star trek. This wasn't some fantasy. This was real life. He'd travelled over a hundred light years and met different alien species.

"Yes. Aurora has recalculated the new coordinates based on our current position and time."

"We're transitioning to Mars," informed James to base, and pressed the button before Becky or anybody else could reply.

The weak gravity of Mars was a jolt. It wasn't as much as Earth, but it felt strange, even after just a short time in space. Evan looked down at his watch. It had been just under twenty minutes since they'd left the factory, but it seemed like hours. So much had happened.

"Opening communication tunnel," said Evan. "Base, do you receive us?"

"Yes, we hear you," came the response from Becky. "How are you three? I thought you might have come home."

"I asked if we could continue," said Evan. "Why wait to do the test, when we know at the moment it is relatively safe. The Yvestigan ship was removed."

"There might be more of them," pointed out Becky.

"It seems to take them a while to detect us," said Evan. "As long as we stay for only a few moments, we should stay ahead of them. This call is coming through from Mars. So rotating planet to rotating planet. Liam really nailed those calculations."

"That's great. Okay, do you want to do a longer distance test?"

"How much further out?" asked James.

"Not out of the solar system," suggested Liam. "The Prime Minister mentioned that the Yvestigans thought of this area as in their sphere of influence. Perhaps other systems close by are occupied by them."

"I'm making a note to ask for a map of who claims what regions of space," noted Becky.

Arura was taken just beyond Neptune's orbit. There was still no lag. It was an amazing difference. This was ground-breaking for future exploration. Satellites would be able to be deployed and observe planets around the solar system. Science that had only been dreamed of would become possible. Long journeys to get there would be gone. The propulsion system to stay in orbit would now no longer be diminished by the requirements to get there.

"Let's go home," said Evan. "The tests show success, and now we need to build this into Eos."

"Home James," said Sam.

James groaned. "How long have you been holding that one in?"

"Just now when Evan said home."

They all laughed as they opened up the drive. The familiar sight of the basement was something that almost brought tears to Evan's eyes. At one stage earlier, he thought he would never see it again.

As they climbed out, Evan said, "Back home, and it's not even lunchtime. Do you two have a few minutes?"

James and Sam shared a glance and shrugged. "Sure. What's up?"

"How do you stay sane during things like that? You managed to get us to safety when the factory was attacked. Today we had alien vessels a few hundred meters from us, and you didn't seem at all worried about it. Just how do you not end up a bubbling mess."

"You weren't a bubbling mess," said James. "You kept yourself together."

"I was taught that in the military," said James. "When I'm flying a plane, if something goes wrong then panicking is the worst thing you can do. You need to keep your head in the game and resolve the issue."

"I learnt that while at school. But the first time I really had it in practice was when I learnt to scuba dive. One of the early things they teach you is what to do if your mask comes off. How to keep your head while replacing it. A lot of learners panic at that, even when in a swimming pool."

"How old were you when you dived?" asked James.

"In a swimming pool, I was fourteen. I was fifteen before I got a chance to dive in the Bahamas."

"Nice," nodded James. "I love scuba diving. My first was in Australia. Anyway, when I was in training, the mantra was: Things will go wrong. If something does go wrong, accept it, and work out what you're going to do about it. When you did your a-levels or uni exams, did you panic then?"

"No. Well, I might have been a bit nervous with my first one, but when I realised how easy they were, I actually had fun."

"I bet others weren't as comfortable as you were," said James. "Knowing you could do something gave you a different attitude than those who was worried they would fail."

"Ah," said Evan, realisation dawning.

"When mercenaries came here, we had warning and was able to escape. Today, we could have opened a tunnel and gone elsewhere. It was easier for me, as I had my hand on the button."

"Why didn't you get us out of there then?" asked Evan. He wasn't angry or screaming. He was calm and seemed genuinely intrigued to know.

"We didn't seem in immediate danger. There was an alien spacecraft there and I wanted to see what it was doing. I suppose they could have suddenly fired missiles at us or used some sort of laser beam to cut us in half. However, my gut told me they didn't seem to be in an aggressive posture."

"I never imagined I'd be involved with something with danger. "

"How did you get involved?" asked Sam as they made their way out of the basement.

"Becky came to see me. She outlined the project and what she thought I could bring to it. I was so scared then, worried what I'd do if it all fell through. We met up with Laura who outlined the financial security of the company." Evan bowed his head slightly in shame. "I suggested Liam. If anything happened to him, it would be my fault."

"Nonsense," said Sam. "You suggested Liam. He signed up on his own accord. He could have said no."

"And has the project been what Becky said it was going to be?"

"And more. We've done so much. We've pushed the boundaries. I've done research that I never thought I would. I've achieved so much more than I thought I would."

"Would you prefer Liam in the ship?"

"We take it in turns. He's had his own scares in Aurora during the first tests."

"With your hard work, we now have communications with base no matter where we go. Well, within the solar system. We need to do mappings for further afield."

"We will probably work out some star references, so we always know where we are to Sol, or the nearest communications satellite. This is going to take time."

Since they were now back, the basement was unsealed, and the team working on Eos got back to work. They were testing all the components in the ship. Tomorrow, Evan would be back to get the new communications system installed. There was a slot waiting for it, so no fundamental changes. Just installing and testing.

* * *

Becky waited at the school for the end of day. She nodded hello to Grace Brown, Kelly's mother who was waiting.

"How's it going?" she asked Becky, coming across.

"Busy days, but at least I've been able to collect Jenny. It helps."

She didn't have to wait long before the pupils came streaming out to be met by those waiting. Some children lived in the little village the school was in. However, because the area was so rural, there were a lot of pupils from neighbouring villages, and there were always a few cars parked outside the gates.

Kelly and Jenny came out together, busy chatting.

When Jenny got to Becky, she said, "Ma, Mr Carpenter wants to see you."

Mr Carpenter was the headmaster. A summons to see him wasn't something that happened often.

"Okay, lead on."

Jenny waved bye to Kelly and took her Ma towards the school. "Any idea what this is about?"

"We'd been in maths when someone got an alert that an alien ship was close to Aurora in orbit. I got a bit worried about them."

"They're all okay."

"I know. I sent a message to Mum."

"How? You aren't supposed to have your phone with you in school."

"We were doing computer studies and was on one of the laptops."

"But they are not supposed to get out of the classroom."

"Oh."

They'd got to the headmaster's office, so Becky wasn't able to ask more questions.

"Come in," he called when he saw them approaching.

"You asked to see me," said Becky, sitting on the seats that the headmaster pointed to. Jenny took a spare seat from the wall and moved it to sit next to her Ma.

"This might be best if Jenny waits outside. Discussions between parents and the school usually don't include the child."

"I disagree," said Becky. "Jenny is very intelligent. I have found it best to be fully open with her. Let her know exactly what is happening. That way she knows that I know that she knows."

Mr Carpenter paused for a few seconds, digesting what Becky had said. "That is a lot of knowing. As I said, it isn't usual but as a parent, it is your decision. There were two things I wanted to discuss. First, I was just wanting to make sure all was okay. There was a family emergency recently and so soon after the death of your wife and young son. I just wanted to check if Jenny needed more recovery time or if the school could help in any other way."

"Thank you, but the two events were unrelated. Jenny, do you feel you need more time off school to recover?"

"Sitting at home will not bring them back," said Jenny plainly. "And then I'd miss out on school."

"Jenny got unexpectedly upset during class today."

"If you knew the full circumstance, then it wouldn't have been unexpected at all," said Becky, briskly. "Do you expect all your pupils to be unfeeling?"

"No, but—"

"Did Jenny calm down?"

"Yes, but it caused disruption to the lesson."

"And telling pupils events happening around the world, unrelated to their lesson, wasn't a disruption?" retorted Becky.

"That wasn't the teacher, but one of the pupils got an alert on the laptop during Computer Studies."

"It sounds like you've got a firewall issue. If I remember correctly, the Department of Education stipulated that lessons should not be connected to the internet, unless required by the lesson plan and agreed by the governors."

Jenny looked enquiringly at her Ma. This was a side she rarely saw. This wasn't the normally mild-mannered person she normally was. The collaborative person she saw when in the office. This was combative.

Mr Carpenter looked surprised too. "Well, yes–"

He didn't get further before Becky said, "There is a Parent Teachers Association meeting in two weeks. It would be helpful if you could confirm at that time that the teaching environment is safe and pupils aren't able to be distracted by visiting unauthorised sites."

Mr Carpenter gaped.

"Perhaps an official compliance certificate," Becky added, piling on the pressure. "Now, you said there was a second item you wanted to discuss."

"Ah, yes," he flustered. "Jenny is ahead of her peers for mathematics, science and languages. We are already giving her some differentiated work during those lessons, as she seems to be able to handle self-learning. The only areas where she seems on par with the rest of the class are humanities, though her geography seems to have been picking up over the last few weeks."

"And your point?"

Becky was beginning to wonder if the headmaster had gone off his trolley. Was he going to criticise her for letting Jenny learn beyond her years? His job was to make sure the pupils got the best education, not cripple it.

"We are looking to bring in some additional help. We don't want her to lose out. We would like her to take some tests, so we know her current academic level. That will help us guide her better."

Becky began to reevaluate the headmaster. He'd taken over the previous September. This was the first time that someone had suggested help pushing her even further.

"School isn't just about learning from books. It is also about learning how to interact with others. Social things. She misses out on that a lot, so I wouldn't be willing for her to be isolated."

"Agreed. Social interaction is very important. Some gifted children don't know how to interact. Jenny seems to have a good group of friends, and I wouldn't want that to change. And the testing?"

"That is a decision I will leave to Jenny. What I do want to know is, where is the funding coming from for this additional teacher. I thought schools were always in need of extra money."

"They are, but there are trusts and companies that we can make requests to. The first stage is to have evidence, which is where the tests come in."

Both the headmaster and Becky turned to Jenny.

"What do you think?" asked Becky gently.

"I'm happy to do the tests. Even if no additional support can be found, at least everyone will know what I know and don't know."

When they were in the car, going back to the old Anchor pub, Jenny asked, "Ma, you seemed a bit upset with the headmaster. You aren't normally like that."

"It put him on the defensive. He was no longer asking why you got upset but worried about the school and if I'd make a fuss at the PTA meeting."

"Oh," responded Jenny, sounding intrigued.

"Oh no. This worked because I had authority as a parent. If you tried something like that at school, you would get suspended. I'm sorry you got roped into this. It's not fair on you having to keep our secret."

When they got to The Anchor, Jenny saw that Evan, Sam and even James was there. She rushed to them and gave each a hug.

"I'm so glad you're safe," she said. "I was so worried about you."

"It was an interesting time," said Sam with a small smile. "It even got a mention in parliament."

"How?!"

"It was all over the news. People actually keep watch to see if they can spot Aurora in the sky, or one of the aliens. You'd think they would have better things to do, but there you go. We were testing the comms link, with Aurora over Australia. People spotted Aurora, and the news agencies started streaming it. So, there were quite a few watching when the alien ship arrived."

"We were showing off a bit," said James a bit shamefully. "We heard people were watching, so we hung around. The Yvestigans decided to pay a visit, and a different council race sent two ships to protect us. Thank goodness the Yvestigans have the slowest ships."

"Did you have a red flashing light and the ship go ‘red-alert, red-alert'?"

"No," laughed James. "Though perhaps add to the list for future versions and proximity alert."

"I never thought we would need something like that," said Becky. "We already have a list of future enhancements. I'm sure we will be licensing the technology and better designers will fill it with things we can't even think about."