Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

L5 CERT
L5 CERT
L5 CERT
Ebook286 pages4 hours

L5 CERT

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

The year is 2055, and mining helium-3 on the moon is Earth's salvation from a global energy crisis. In addition to the moon base, there is a secret space station at Lagrange Point 5, and apparently none of the colonists know why.
Life on a space station is fraught with danger. Damage from meteorites, accidents, equipment failure and ordinary medical problems are all threats to the well-being of the colonists.
To deal with such situations the station has emergency response teams. In addition to their normal work, these volunteers are on standby to render what assistance and repairs they can.
They never expected to find that sabotage was being added to the list of potential problems. Terrorism adds a new dimension to their work and their subsequent way of life.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 2, 2015
ISBN9781310157936
L5 CERT
Author

Charles G. Dyer

Charles Dyer is a consulting engineer, former senior lecturer and former technical magazine editor. He creates 3D models to help with visualisation and realism in his writing.

Read more from Charles G. Dyer

Related to L5 CERT

Related ebooks

Science Fiction For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for L5 CERT

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    L5 CERT - Charles G. Dyer

    L5 CERT

    CHARLES G. DYER

    Copyright © 2015 Charles G. Dyer

    All rights reserved.

    ISBN: 9781310157936

    Smashwords Edition

    License

    Thank you for purchasing this book. Names, characters and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. It remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to purchase their own copy at Smashwords.com, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

    It would be greatly appreciated if you could post a review on the site where you purchased this book.

    CONTENTS

    Chapter One

    Chapter Two

    Chapter Three

    Chapter Four

    Chapter Five

    Chapter Six

    Chapter Seven

    Chapter Eight

    Chapter Nine

    Chapter Ten

    Chapter Eleven

    Chapter Twelve

    Chapter Thirteen

    Chapter Fourteen

    Chapter Fifteen

    Chapter Sixteen

    Chapter Seventeen

    Chapter Eighteen

    Chapter Nineteen

    Chapter Twenty

    Chapter Twenty One

    Chapter_Twenty_Two

    Chapter_Twenty_Three

    Chapter_Twenty_Four

    Chapter_Twenty_Five

    About The Author

    The Lagrange Libration Points (L2 to L5) are points in the Earth-Moon system where stable gravitational equilibrium can be maintained. An object placed at one of these points will stay there. The object will then orbit the Sun, remaining in the same relative position with respect to the Earth-Moon system.

    Chapter One

    The access tunnel between the two habitat units did not have the benefit of artificial gravity. Nathan Bell clung to a fluorescent green grab handle on the low ceiling as he watched equipment and supplies being transferred to the docking area. Can't they move any faster than this?

    He checked the items off against the list on his ePal. OK, it looks as though that's the last one. How's the fuelling going, Henri?

    Henri Rondot was a member of the L5 Colony Emergency Response Team. It was the first time that the CERT had been called upon to leave the space station colony.

    This is all new to me, Nate, Henri said from his seat at a control computer. Xenon, LOX and helium are all loaded. It's just the life-support systems that still need recharging. We're pretty close to the payload mass limit.

    Hmm, these ferries can carry a lot more than they're certified to. Nate slipped his ePal into a pocket on the sleeve of his spacesuit. Carol, is the mass driver online yet?

    The mass driver was not entirely essential, but it did save a lot of rocket propellant during launches. The electro-magnetic levitation rail, commonly called the mass driver, served to accelerate spacecraft to Mach 1.4 within a few seconds, after which the main engine took over.

    Not yet, said Carol Fang throwing her hands in the air. You'd think they'd have a backup generator for something as important as that.

    Thanks to the lack of gravity, her black pageboy hair stuck out like a bottlebrush. That, coupled with the rainbow of highlights, belied her intelligence. The lighting made it look as iridescent as a glossy starling. As a physician and a veterinarian, she was the team's doctor, but she could turn her hand to almost any task.

    Electricity's not like water, Doc. You can't just store it in a dam or a tank. As you generate it, you have to use it or waste it. The kind of power we're talking about is way too much to be kept in batteries or capacitors. Dominico Tiberio was an electrical engineer, and the final member of the CERT. We have to do maintenance on every kind of power station and…

    I know that, Dom, Carol closed and opened her eyes slowly. "No other part of the colony gets its power cut during reactor maintenance. Why should the mass driver be the exception? Surely you could reroute power to it from other reactors?"

    Dom shrugged. You're right. That's how it should be. It should be on the grid. The only time any area should be without power is when repairs are being made to circuits. When we get back, I'll convince admin that it and anything else that isn't, he gestured dramatically, "is included."

    The team was one of four similar teams that were strategically placed around the two habitat units of the L5 Station. The call for help from the moon implied that none of the teams based on the moon were able to cope with or respond to the situation. It was frustrating not knowing exactly what had befallen the moon base.

    A haggard and dishevelled Japanese man in a grubby spacesuit bumped into Nate. Oh sorry, I misjudged… I'm looking for the CERT leader, uh… Bell.

    That's me.

    One of the man's eyes was almost closed, and there were dark rings and bags under both of them. I am Doctor Takashi Wakamoto. I will be accompanying you to the moon.

    Humph, Nate grunted. "Says who? My team is complete, and there's no room for passengers. This is a rescue mission."

    Wakamoto stifled a yawn. I'm a medical doctor… physician actually, and you will need my services.

    Nate said, I've already got an excellent doctor. You can…

    Check your mail, Wakamoto said wearily.

    Nate eyed the man suspiciously. I sure wouldn't want him to operate on me. Not even to remove a splinter. Is he drunk or what? He can barely stand and we're in the zero gravity zone.

    He took out his ePal and saw that a new message had arrived. Take Dr Wakamoto with you to the moon base. Obey his every command except where crew and spacecraft safety is at stake. Gillian Swanson, Director of Space Operations.

    Nate shook his head. Ha! Commands! Geez, who does she think she is? This isn't a bloody military operation. We'll see about that.

    He selected the number for Ting Kang-Hu, the L5 Station Director. Hi Ting, this is Nate Bell here. I've got a couple of problems. One, the mass driver isn't on line yet. Two, some guy has been authorised by Swanson to hitch a ride on my ferry.

    She said, I'll be right over in five. Meet me at Observation Lounge Two.

    Hey guys, if the driver comes on, buzz me. I've got to meet Ting and sort out a new problem. Nate turned around, caught Wakamoto's eye and said, Follow me.

    Ting was short, but her well-proportioned body was shown to advantage by her skin-tight white body suit. As usual, her long hair was neatly held in place in an ancient Chinese style, her favourite being a high bun. Any wispy ends were brushed into a hair band and secured in place with bobby pins. Such grooming was almost essential in the absence of gravity.

    She made straight for a couple cuddling near the observation window. Please excuse us for ten minutes. It's urgent business. Thanks.

    The couple muttered, and stared at Nate and Wakamoto as they left the room. Ting strapped herself to a chair and gestured for the men to do likewise.

    Wakamoto made an effort to be courteous and bowed while hanging onto a grab handle. Ting dipped her head. The CERT cannot afford to baby-sit passengers. We don't even know the full extent of what's happened on the moon. I cannot allow you to go with the CERT without full justification. I don't care what Swanson says.

    Wakamoto sighed as he settled into a chair. As I told Mr Bell…

    "It's Doctor Bell, actually," Nate said cuttingly.

    Wakamoto ignored the interruption. I am a highly qualified and experienced physician. It is essential that they take me. I am an expert in dealing with radiation and other space-related exposure medical conditions.

    Ting held up a perfectly manicured hand. That's not good enough. My CERT teams are trained to deal with more than their qualified skills. I know just about all the significant people on this station. With the responsibility of over a thousand four hundred souls I need to, but I've never heard of you before, Dr Wakamoto. Care to explain why?

    Nate was sure that Wakamoto's head would sag to his chest if they were not in a weightless environment. Just look at him, Ting. He's going to be a liability before we even start. He thought, OK, that's a lame excuse, but who the hell is he anyway?

    She partially lifted her hand to silence him and looked expectantly at Wakamoto. You have a minute to satisfy me. I can and will countermand Swanson, if necessary. By the way, Nate, I laid on the pressure about the mass driver on the way over.

    Thanks Ting. Nate nodded and glared at Wakamoto.

    "You do know that there are several people who never leave the moon base?" Wakamoto said.

    Ting inclined her head. Yes.

    He brought his hands together. You might not be aware that mining the moon has met with much opposition on Earth. I'm not talking about foolish groups of environmentalists and sentimentalists. Powerful people and organisations in several countries are strongly opposed to it. So much so that there is a very real threat of military action. Wakamoto yawned.

    Excuse me. You probably also do not know that there is a secret highly equipped listening post at the moon base. They monitor everything that leaves Earth. They are especially keeping watch for nuclear missile launches.

    If Ting was aware of any of this information her expression gave nothing away. So, where do you fit in?

    I would appreciate it if you both could keep this discussion strictly confidential. He waited for signs of acknowledgement from Ting and Nate. As we all know, the L5 Colony is supposed to be a secret that nobody on Earth knows about. That situation may have been compromised. Earth is, or was, under the impression that all of us are on the moon, mining precious helium-3 for their consumption, and that was meant to be all. There are several people on this station and on the moon, including me who try to be inconspicuous. We are here to ensure the safety of everyone, both here and on the moon. In short, we are a secret security detail that was formed during the selection process.

    You think this incident, explosion or fire or whatever it was on the moon was sabotage? Ting asked.

    I do, Wakamoto said and closed his eyes.

    Ting took her ePal from a pouch on her belt. She opened an application and studied it for a few minutes. Fine. Nate, you're going to have to trust me on this. He goes with you, and he's effectively in charge. I hope he's wrong. Good luck to you both. Now I must leave you.

    Nate gaped in disbelief as he watched her propelling herself out of the observation room. Geez, what next? Secret security detail? Why secret, why not just have a police force?

    Wakamoto sighed. I'm sorry to burden you with this… Er… can I call you, Nate?

    Hey, Nate smiled, that's my name. What should I call you?

    Taki is easier than the rest. He yawned. Forgive me. I hardly know what I'm doing. I haven't slept for three days.

    I guess that explains a lot. Maybe he's not so bad after all. Nate unbuckled his lap strap seatbelt. Want to grab a bite before we go, Taki?

    No thanks. Taki shook a hand in front of him. I've eaten, but I can't wait to get aboard your ship and catch up on my sleep.

    Nate said, You can do that right now. Who knows when we'll be able to launch though. We could've been halfway to the moon by now if the mass driver's power hadn't been out of commission.

    ***

    A quarter of an hour later, the four CERT members and Taki were securely strapped into their seats in the ferry. Nate went through a systems check once more.

    The transmissions from the moon base were becoming weaker by the minute. The last intelligible message had been an hour ago. It had been a desperate call for help without disclosing much in the way of details of the damage or casualties.

    To avoid detection by any observers on Earth, communication between the L5 Colony and Lunar One and the mass receiver or catcher at L2 was all done using Free Space Optical Communications (FSOC). The same system was used to communicate with the fleet of spacecraft operating under the control of L5.

    Instead of using radio or microwaves, a laser beam was used to transmit data. Secure communications were established using a laser N-slit interferometer in which the laser signal was in the form of an interferometric pattern.

    The interferometric pattern collapsed if any attempt was made to intercept the signal. Unlike radio and microwaves that could be detected all around the transmitter, only the intended recipient at whom it was aimed could receive the focussed laser beam that contained encrypted data.

    It was therefore unlikely that anyone on Earth or in the consortium of space agencies were even aware of the problem. Besides which, they were too wrapped up in their own problems to help. Lunar Base One was the primary base on the moon from which mining operations were conducted, and materials were processed there too.

    As far as Earth was concerned, Lunar One was only mining helium 3, and shipping it to Earth to supply the new generation of fusion reactors that were powering the blue globe. In fact, the helium shipments were minimal when compared with the wealth of other minerals that were being processed.

    All that was known for certain was that the base had suffered an explosion followed by a catastrophic fire; men and women had died, and many were seriously injured. Internal communications had broken down, so the full extent of damage and loss of life was unknown.

    One of the first messages claimed that most of the habitat and supplies had been destroyed. Subsequent garbled contacts said that the survivors were holed up in one room with no food and minimal heat. They were afraid that if help did not reach them quickly, they would die.

    The six metre long ferry looked more like a glorified shipping container than a spacecraft. The faceted nose with six triangular windows had the mean look of an attack helicopter. Its robotic arms were folded away under its twin headlamps. Each top corner of the hull had a set of retrorockets, and there was a radar dish on the roof. The cylindrical docking port and airlock on the port side ruined the symmetry of the spacecraft.

    Below the passenger module was the engine pod that also contained fuel. It too was a singularly simple rectangular shape. The back end was open to expose the big rocket engine to space.

    The interior of the ferry was functional and somewhat cramped for the seven seats. The only luxury being the comfortable seats. The seatbelts were full safety harnesses for maximum restraint. The airlock used up a fair bit of floor space.

    Nate disengaged from the docking port and fired a few short bursts on various retrorockets to manoeuvre the spacecraft towards the mass driver rail. The yellow carrier had a wide red stripe at each end of its sides and a large black arrow on top that indicated the necessary orientation.

    Through the bottom windows of the cockpit, the massive array of solar photovoltaic panels could be seen suspended below the access tunnel. Behind those, the two 31.2 metre diameter, 100 metre long cylinders of the colony habitat units were slowly revolving in opposite directions at 7.9 revolutions per minute to simulate gravity.

    This artificial gravity varied from next to nothing at the core of each cylinder, through increasing amounts on each of the five concentric levels, to almost full Earth's gravity on the level furthest from the core.

    The numerous emergency airlocks at the ends of the cylindrical habitats were reassuring sight. They had only ever been opened for testing purposes. Nate hoped that it was never going to be necessary to use them for real, but it was good to know that they were there.

    This is the part of space travel I hate the most, Carol yanked on her seat harness.

    What, the mass driver? Dom fidgeted with his gloves.

    The acceleration, she said. I feel as though I'm being crushed. I'd rather have less, like maybe half the Geezs for a longer time.

    Henri smiled sympathetically. You and all the rest of us too. The problem is that to do that we would need a railgun maybe ten times longer than the 500 metre one we've got. It's only eighteen Geezs for two-and-a-half seconds.

    The ferry settled onto the carrier with a slight bump. Nate engaged the locking hooks and checked the monitor to see the external camera view that assured him everything was properly secured.

    He tapped the comms button. Ferry Six to L5 Control. Ready to launch.

    L5 Control to Ferry Six. So are we, at last. Good luck. Five… four… three… two… one… Go!

    By the time the ferry reached the end of the rail, it was travelling at Mach 1.4. The hooks were automatically disengaged, momentum separated the ferry from the carrier and the computer fired the main engine.

    For fourteen minutes the engine steadily burned propellant and accelerated them to 30500 kilometres per hour. Nate did a final check on the instruments and then removed his helmet.

    OK guys, he said, we can relax for the next twelve hours.

    Dom laughed and pointed at Taki. Can you believe it? He slept through all that.

    "Bof! When you're tired enough you can sleep through anything. I once slept through an artillery barrage," Henri commented dryly.

    Hmm, we'd better wake him up now, and get him out of that suit. Carol said.

    The unwanted passenger was barely out of his spacesuit before he was fast asleep again. The team pressed Nate for details of the conversation with Ting.

    To hell with secrets. My team comes first, and they deserve to know. After all, we're all putting our lives on the line. He gave them the basics. Just keep it to yourselves, guys. I don't know what his game is, or what instructions he's likely to give. Swanson says we have to do what he says, and Ting supports her decision.

    "Bof! Henri grimaced. I left Earth to get away from cloak-and-dagger stuff and all the rest."

    If it is sabotage, why's it taken them so long to make their move. Whoever they are must have been with us from the beginning. I've not heard of any new arrivals from Earth. Dom stowed his spacesuit away.

    I don't think there have been any, Carol said. As far as I know, the selection was limited to 1437 people, and every one of them came up during the first six months.

    What a peculiarly odd number. Henri stroked his chin. It'd be damned hard for a newcomer to pass unnoticed even if they did manage to stow away on a cargo vessel.

    Pretty risky to try to hitch a ride on a tug returning from low Earth orbit. Even if somebody did manage to do that, they'd have to figure out a way to get from the cargo catcher at L2 to either the moon or the colony. Nate waved a hand. These ferry's are the only means of normal passenger transport, and it's almost impossible to hide a person in one of them.

    ~##~

    Chapter Two

    The members of the CERT were volunteers and they seldom had the opportunity to spend extended periods of time together. The trip to the moon gave them the chance to chat about mundane things.

    Carol said, That's a strange scar on your hand, Henri.

    A strange person gave it to me. Henri ran a finger over the five centimetre long scar on his left hand. That crazy German should've been in an asylum. We were all convinced that he joined the Legion to escape the law somewhere. I made the mistake of saying something he didn't like, and he pegged my hand to the hood of a Jeep with his knife.

    The French Foreign Legion had been eighteen-year-old Henri Rondot's ticket to a better life. He had been assigned to the 1st Foreign Engineer Regiment and that gave him a taste for technology. When his five-year contract with the Legion expired, he got a bursary to study for his first degree in mechanical engineering.

    It should've been sutured, she said.

    Henri raised his hands, palms upwards and stuck out his lower lip. "Bof! We were far from the base, and we were lost. Our medical kit just had the basics."

    So what did you do to the German? Nate asked.

    Nothing, Henri said. "Before my hand was healed, the crazy cretin stood on a landmine. C'est la vie."

    After a quiet contemplative interval, Dom said, Did you know that genealogy played a part in our selection?

    That is surprising, Henri said. The little that I know of my roots has nothing to commend me.

    A smile flickered across Carol's face. I think they were more concerned with genetic disorders and recurring criminal behaviour than pedigree.

    Nate said, "The way I heard it

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1