Nova Llar- Training Days Read online

  Chapter 12

  The sun shone brightly through the windows of the transport as it hovered low across the base. Buildings, vehicles and people zipped by as it followed the predefined route to the shipyard. There had been various meetings and committee reviewed to decide on what to call it, spaceport and sky forge had been contenders from the beginning, but in the end, there was something about the history associated with shipyards that won out. The idea of human history and recorded exploration starting with great sailing ships had an almost romantic quality to it that needed to be maintained. At least that's what Joseph thought as he checked the timer to their destination. Only another 4 minutes and they would be there. The shipyard was clear on the other side of the base from their accommodations. This area looked to be dedicated exclusively to manufacturing components required for surface to air vessels. As well as the odd spaceship, thrown in for good measure. The earth's history of space flight was still just a drop in the ocean of human history. Since the Ketchaca virus there had been a renewed interest in exploring other worlds. Something about humanity facing extinction made people stop and wonder if spreading out would somehow ensure someone survived the next catastrophe. Sure there had been the colonies on Mars and the Moon but they had been small operations based on private organisations wanting their natural resources. The idea of a fully fledged human population anywhere but earth had been a pipe dream at best. Since then the Moon had gone from a population of 200 to 30,000 and Mars wasn't far behind. The progress had been astonishing and even Joseph had to admit the changes is his own lifetime showed great testament to what mankind could accomplish when they worked together. The Nova Llar mission was just another grasp at a future for humanity, should the worst happen again. As the transport rounded a building the main dock came into view. It was maybe 600 meters high, 1 kilometre wide and 2 and a half long. It was currently working on two projects, one was the Nova Llar ship, The Isabella, and the other was a supply ship that would go ahead unmanned to establish some of what they would need when they first arrived. The mission pack outlined all of this and Joseph has reviewed it extensively since their arrival. He wasn't doing brilliantly in the training, he was someone towards the bottom of the call in everything but practical applications, such as engineering and maintenance. He needed every edge he could get to succeed. He hoped seeing the ship today would give him a little extra boot to climb higher in the class. The transport settled at the platform and the 5 other candidates exited with him. Walking purposefully towards the large structure they could already see some of the work going on through the large glass panels on the side of the building. To call them windows wouldn't do them justice. They were 100 meters square and ran down the length of both sides of the building, breaking only to allow support struts to run up to the ceiling. Since the sun was behind them the view was difficult to make out, they couldn't wait to get inside and really see her. Upon entering the main reception they all signed in and turned over any and all recording equipment. The carcase of a ship could appear fragile and there was clearly a concern any pictures getting out could jeopardise the mission. An official gave them hard hats and high-vis vests, leading them down a series of corridors into the main hanger. Despite the external size, the internal space felt somewhat cramped. Catwalks overhead, machine shops dotted around and various robots moving around overhead with components and tools at the ready. Joseph was impressed by the sheer scale of the operation and the efficiency with which the robots navigated the airspace without colliding. What he was really here for was the ship. They proceeded up two flights of stairs to a long catwalk. Surprisingly it was a conveyor belt of some sort, almost like the ones they used to have in airports. It moved them along, down the length of the building at not an inconsiderable speed until the ship came into view. From the entrance, it had been obstructed by machinery but up here and this close it was obvious what it was. The first thing Joseph noticed was the sublight engines. They were securely mounted to the superstructure of the vessel, sections of the hull had already been built around them and a clear floor plan on view of the engineering section. Despite the fact no humans would occupy the vessel in physical forms there were corridors and sections to traverse in the LF63 forms they would have available. This was for any maintenance or emergency work they would need to undertake. The corridors stopped and started at random intersections throughout the body of the ship, almost like someone was building a 3D jigsaw, just putting in the pieces that matched as they went. The main computer was in place at least, taking up 3 levels within the ship and 130 meters square on each floor it was the largest to ever go into a spaceship by a long way. Robots and technicians were installing various modules and servers, getting the wiring aligned and tucked away neatly in the access panels. The rest of the ship was mostly superstructure. A frame for everything to go into, and on. Even at this stage, Clara found it very impressive. She was 400 meters long, 90 meters wide and 60 meters high. Consisting of 7 decks she could have housed 200-300 people easily. Unfortunately, due to the length of the mission, there would be no other colonists, just the 6 people going on the mission, living in a virtual world for nearly 300 years. It almost seemed like a shame to Joseph, they could have made it a generational ship and gotten the same result. The decision to have no humans onboard was down to the extreme accelerations the ship would need to undergo to get to Nova Llar in the 300-year time frame. People tended to become jam somewhere around 30G's and this thing would be capable of closer to 200G's on a hard burn. Ultimately the decisions had been made and the volunteers selected, he was just glad to be one of them. As they came to the front of the ship there were two more sublight engines being mounted facing forward, this was for quick deceleration and when used in conjunction with the rear engines could serve as a space anchor of sorts, setting the ship in place. The designed had been modified slightly from the projected images in the packet. The front was flatter and less pointed, it also had harsher lines where an edging bezel was supposed to be, maybe that was going on later. Either was Joseph saw the inspiration he needed looking back up the length of the vessel. This was humanities greatest endeavour to date. Since a man first orbited the earth, since the first footprint on the moon, this was a new chapter in history before them, and he would be a part of it, no matter what. Clara tapped him on the shoulder, “It's big alright. But it doesn't look overly inviting as a home for the next few hundred years.” she said to him. “It's not exactly finished yet.” he smiled back at her. “Construction is scheduled to complete 6 months before the mission launch date. That's still 2 years and 11 months from now. Considering they only started building this thing 8 months ago I think it's shaping up to be a perfect home for us.” he winked at the home part. He certainly felt affection for Clara after the short time they had been together. She certainly didn't seem to mind he cheeky side from time to time. “It's crazy to think we have all only really known each other for 2 weeks yet there seems to be a real bond forming.” Clara remarked casually. “Well spending 15 hours a day together will do that, or cause some implosions.”Joseph replied. Everyone knew about the events with Griffin the night before, even those that had already left got the full story from the people still in the classroom. Some people just couldn't handle the stress, or maybe he was just a jackass after all. Joseph really wasn't bothered. Griffin was gone and Clara seemed to have relaxed remarkably in the few hours since. This would definitely work in his favour in the long run. A few of the other candidates remarked on the ship and it's design changes, it was good his team had studied the materials enough to notice it too. He hasn't mentioned this little excursion to anyone outside of his select group, he was hoping it would act as a sort of bonding exercise, inspiring them to stand out as a unit. So far all looked to be going well. When they reached the end of the conveyor belt the last section slowed slightly to allow them to disembark. Below them was the supply ship, as yet unnamed. It would be ready in 13 months and leave shortly after that. Onboard would be everything they would need to esta
blish a colony, including DNA samples from 3000 volunteers on earth. I mean it's not like you can build a fully fledged colony with just 6 people, part of the deal was they would become parents after the colony was established, these samples would germinate and mature at a normal human rate, they would be taught, grow and learn on a new world, a world they would know only as, home.

  Chapter 13

  Steve was going through the progress reports for the candidates left in the training program. The two days of R and R did not apply to him and he was happy with the change in his schedule. Going over the various sections the candidates had completed since their arrival there were some clear front runners among them. Professor Forest was top of the class overall, although she was having some trouble with some of the practical application. Her assistant Charles was showing promise too, despite the fact he was only there at the request of the Professor and not one of the originally selected candidates. The only other person that was showing sufficient aptitude at this point was Mitaire Adeyemi, she was an Engineer with specialities in Mechanical, structural and bioengineering. While not quite on the same level as the other two she was demonstrating qualities that would assist in setting up the colonies. She had also shown the greatest progression in the LF63 bodies out of all of the candidates. As Steve scanned through the results he found Joseph lagging in the middle of the group, there were only 13 candidates left at this point and he was ranked number 6. Steve was the one who had pushed to have Joseph selected. His decision was based on his psychological profile and survival background, but there had been a lot of resistance from Colonel Jones. Steve couldn't quite comprehend why. Joseph was young, in good physical health and his mixed heritage gave him a strong genetic profile that would help the colony grow. The only explanation Steve could get out of the Colonel was, “His type, are only looking out for themselves, he's a spoiled rich kid who wants an adventure and I don't want him on my team.” Steve had yet to see any evidence of this. However, Joseph's polling in the group at these early stages did not look good. Admittedly this was limited data to base a final outcome on, they were barely three months into the training. It was very likely fatigue would wash out some of the other candidates before the training was complete. Steve just didn't want to have stuck his neck out for a candidate that could wash out at any time. His motivations for this desire were firmly entrenched in the relationships between humans and AIs. His people's opinions that contradicted logical reasoning had been largely dismissed and most people seemed resistant to higher level decision making being placed in the hands of machines. Joseph succeeding on in his training and earning a spot on the mission would go a long way to convincing people their opinions mattered. He had heard about the excursion some of the candidates had taken to see the Isabella in its construction bay. Steve hoped it would be the push required to get Joseph to increase his ranking in the group. He knew there were other challenges facing the candidates in the coming months and felt some of these could prove Joseph was made of the right materials to get on the mission.