Space Pioneer 1 - 13. Chapter 13

III

Mission to Earth

They worked for the Mohic Empire again. Jeff took Le’Ton’s place on the bridge, while the navigator was running time jump simulations. His training and practice on Earth helped Jeff a lot. He got accustomed to the Daglon navigation system quickly. He had also studied the Daglon language and with Doctor Midad’s help and the computer lessons had made quick and successful progress. He understood all relevant computer messages. His neural implant was also a highly effective tool. Lest let Jeff plot the course from Cyrus to the Mohic Empire and back. The captain had an eye on Jeff in the beginning, but soon let him work on his own. Hulton, the man Lest had hired to train Le’Ton was a reclusive and quiet man, however smart and observant. The captain and the crew members were suspicious in the beginning, but Le’Ton told them that the man did an excellent job. The first navigator trusted Hulton, although the man was secretive and withdrawn. Finally, the time had come to run a test in space. They planned to make a time jump to an uninhabited solar system and visit a small planet.

The men gathered in the galley.

"This planet is a hot and uninhabitable planet in our time, but geological investigations have shown that the climate was mild about 60,000 years in the past," Lest said. "The planet was of interest some twenty years ago when scientists were looking for mineral resources. They didn’t find what they were looking for here, but they studied the planet closely. The scientific reports are documented and verified. Corr and I have been looking for a good place to run a time jump test. This planet appears to be an excellent target. We’ll jump back 60,000 years and have a look at the planet."

"Isn’t it too big a time jump?" Doctor Midad asked with a skeptical look.

"It doesn’t matter how far we jump back," Hulton said. "Sixty years or sixty thousand. It doesn’t make a difference in case we get lost."

"I think he’s right," Doctor Midad said reluctantly.

The men exchanged uneasy looks.

"Is there a chance we can jump back to the position in time and space that we will jump off?" Jeff asked.

"Sure," Hulton replied with a grin. "The software works properly, the hardware, too. Nothing can go wrong. I will personally monitor Le’Ton."

Le’Ton shot Hulton a dark look, but then straightened. "He’s right. It’s my first time, so he’ll better assist me with the jump," he said.

Lest nodded. "All right, when do we get started?"

"We’ll check the systems once more," Hulton said with a nod at Le’Ton. "We’ll be ready in an hour."

***

The men assembled on the bridge. Lest sat down in the commander’s seat. Hulton and Le’Ton finished connecting the time jump drive and the software with the main computer. All eyes were resting on Hulton when the man focused on the system and ran the final checks.

"Ready," Hulton finally announced.

"Okay. Jeff, have you plotted the course to a safe position in space?" Lest asked.

"Yes, captain," Jeff replied. "I’ve entered the co-ordinates. They’re based on the computer’s calculation of the sun and the three planets’ orbits and their spins for the past 60,000 years. We’ll do a short jump in space to a spot that is safe in our time and that was safe as well 60,000 years ago. 95% safe, I must say. We won’t collide with the sun or the planets after the jump, but of course we don’t know if other objects, asteroids for instance, happened to pass by there in the past. The computer calculated co-ordinates that suggest that any object from outer space would have long been deflected by the planets’ gravity and the computer is supposed to detect any objects upon arrival and make an emergency jump if necessary, but you’ll never know for sure, of course."

"That’s the residual risk," Hulton said, turning to Lest.

Lest gave a nod. "We’ll take this risk. Corr and Jeff, navigate the Horus to that spot in space."

The spaceship arrived at the planned position after a brief jump in space. The men looked at Le’Ton and Hulton. The atmosphere was slightly tensed.

"Okay," Lest said calmly, watching the men. "We’re ready. I’d say we jump back in time."

"Roger," Le’Ton replied promptly.

The navigator focused on his displays and entered a code. Hulton watched him and nodded.

"Ready for the time jump," Le’Ton announced.

"Countdown time jump," Lest said.

"Countdown...5...4...3...2...1...jump," Le’Ton said, reading the countdown from his screen.

The light in the ship grew brighter for a millisecond, but then everything looked exactly as it had before.

"Time jump completed," Le’Ton said.

"Jumped back 60,000 years exactly," Hulton added.

"Absolute space co-ordinates unaltered," Jeff said.

"Relative positions have changed. We’re closer to the third planet," Corr said.

Lest rose to his feet and looked over the bridge. "Check the solar system for any changes. Once this is done, we’ll fly to the second planet of the system," he said.

"Everything’s much like it was before," Le’Ton said a couple of minutes later. "Three planets are orbiting around the sun. The orbits of the first and the second planet are the same, the third planet is closer to the sun."

"We should arrive at the second planet without any problems," Corr reported after a quick scan of the solar system.

"Okay," Lest said. "Let’s get there. We’ll be orbiting the planet for a while and have the computer gather weather data. This should suffice as a test."

Doctor Midad, who had come to the bridge to watch the jump, cleared his throat. "We must not forget to jump back into the future, captain. Outer space looks much the same, but we must not forget that we’re way back in the past," he said.

Lest nodded. He sat down in his seat. "We’ll return to the exact co-ordinates from where we started in a couple of hours."

The spaceship was orbiting around the planet and the computer was gathering weather data. The men looked out of the ship’s panorama window.

"Heavy clouds," Lest said. "Like the scientists said. They concluded that the climate was mild and humid in the past."

"I wonder what happened," Doctor Midad said. "It seems the atmosphere was suddenly gone."

"An impact," Jeff suggested. "A comet or a vast asteroid perhaps."

"Most likely," Lest said. He touched his temple and focused. "The computer has finished a rough analysis. Let’s have a look at the data. Le’Ton, please, activate the main screen."

Words and figures showed on the screen of the ship. The men were studying them.

"Mediterranean climate," Jeff said. The others gave him questioning looks. "A climate zone on Earth," he explained.

"Vastly different from the data in the future," Doctor Midad said. "This planet was a habitable place in the past. Maybe it is inhabited."

"The scientists didn’t find any trace of a civilization, but maybe there is primitive life down there," Lest said. He turned around and moved to his seat. "All right, we’ve made it into the past, but the test’s not yet finished. Corr and Jeff, get us back to the spot in space from where we will jump back into the future. Le’Ton and Hulton, get prepared also."

The men focused on their displays. Jeff looked briefly out of the window. The planet looked like a beautiful jewel, but something had turned it into a blistering hell. A comet impact? Jeff shuddered at the realization of what was meant with the term residual risk. What if the comet had crossed this supposedly safe spot in space just the moment they had turned up in the past?

The time jump back was successful also. The Horus was orbiting around the second planet on autopilot. The men gathered in the galley. Hulton joined the men for the first time instead of closing himself up in his room.

"Your software is excellent. Where did you learn programming?" Lest asked.

Hulton smiled. "On Cyrus. I grew up on the planet," he said.

"You grew up in this shady place. How comes?" Midad asked. "I would have guessed you were from Styphos."

"Why so?" Hulton asked, sounding astonished.

"Your dark hair, the tone of your skin, and the shape of your eyes," Doctor Midad replied. "Although you’re not as tall as they are. You’re more the Daglon size."

"My mother was Daglon. My father came from Styphos," Hulton said. He was hesitating for an instant, but then decided to continue. "My father was a space pirate. He joined a pirate crew when he was very young. He lived all his life on board of a ship. And he died when the spaceship was shot down."

Jeff and the Daglon men exchanged a look.

"He brought you and your mother to Cyrus?" Jeff asked.

Hulton shook his head. "My mother was on the spaceship, too. She was never without him. However, I was on Cyrus at that time. They wanted me to go to school there. I was thirteen when they died."

"That’s hard," Jeff said. "How did you cope with it?"

Hulton didn’t reply, he looked between the Daglon men and Jeff instead. "Jeff, you’re not from this part of the galaxy, are you?" he asked.

"No, I’m not from this part of the universe," Jeff replied, leaning back in his chair. Past memories were overwhelming him.

"We picked Jeff up in space," Lest explained. "His spaceship had an accident. He was the only survivor."

"That’s hard, too," Hulton said sympathetically, "but you’ve found a good new place, I think." He turned to Lest. "You’re not exactly a space pirate, are you?"

"Not exactly," Lest replied, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"But you know Cyrus well," Hulton carried on. "And you’re well known on Cyrus also. I was asking around a bit after you had approached me. You run your own business, I’ve heard, Captain Lest. Why are you so keen to jump back in time? First, I thought, you want to sell the software and the time jump drive, but now I think you want to use it yourself, don’t you?"

Lest narrowed his eyes. "I hired you and I pay you a lot of credits for doing an excellent job and not for asking me questions," he said.

Hulton smiled and took a sip of his drink. He placed the glass cautiously on the table, then looked at Lest.

"Like I said, I was asking around before I agreed on the deal. I heard you were asking around also. You were asking for Ezer Malk. The man bought my software, too," he said.

"That’s correct," Lest replied.

"I suspect you plan to go to where Ezer Malk wants to go to also," Hulton said.

"Possibly," Lest said curtly, seizing a bottle and pouring himself a drink.

"But you don’t have an exact idea where he wants to go," Hulton continued.

Lest didn’t reply. He took a sip of his drink and turned the glass in his hand, examining closely the liquid. Jeff and the Daglon men looked between Hulton and Lest. The atmosphere was suddenly tensed.

Hulton seized his glass, emptied it and rose to his feet. "Good night," he said and moved to the doorway. There he stopped and looked back at the men.

"I could help you with tracking Ezer Malk," he said. "I infected his software. I installed a program that is sending his data to my computer system."

"Interesting," Lest said, still studying his glass. He placed it down abruptly and fixed his eyes on Hulton. "Did you infect my software, too?" he asked. "Because if so, I think you must leave my ship."

"Would you know if I did?" Hulton asked back with an arrogant look.

The predatory smile appeared on Lest’s lips. "I surely would. Your system is being monitored by our main computer. There are others on Cyrus who do an excellent job, too. A very skilled man was among the technicians who updated the ship," he said.

Hulton compressed his lips and shot Lest an angry look. Le’Ton and Corr rose to their feet. Doctor Midad and Jeff exchanged an anxious look.

Lest raised his hand. "Sit down," he said to Le’Ton and Corr. "And you, Hulton, come back, please. You have done a good job so far and I see no reason to dismiss you."

Hulton hesitated, but then returned. He sat down again, measured Lest and nodded.

"Okay," he said. "I know that Ezer Malk is interested in Daglon’s past. The Daglon originate from a planet called Seth and it is said that more settlers left the planet in the past in order to travel to a planet called Earth."

"We know this," Lest said. "We know Daglon history. We’re Daglon, just as a reminder."

"Just a brief summary to let you know that I possess the knowledge also," Hulton said, sounding annoyed.

"Would you please talk like reasonable men do," Doctor Midad intervened. "We really don’t have time for quarrels."

"You’re right, Doctor Midad," Lest said, shifting in his chair. He turned to Hulton. "All right, what is it you want? Do you have valuable information? What you’ve told us so far, is not new at all. We know that Ezer Malk wants to jump back in time and steal artifacts from the planet Earth, Jeff’s home planet, by the way."

Hulton turned his head to Jeff. "Your species originates from Seth? How can it be that the Daglon are so much more advanced? Don’t get me wrong, Jeff. You’re doing fine, but you’re apparently a space pioneer," he said bluntly.

Jeff cast him a dark look and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"He’s a trained pilot, navigator, and engineer. He had a fine spaceship, the Daidalos," Lest said.

"Suited for short distance trips. That’s what Ezer Malk said," Jeff added.

Doctor Midad intervened again.

"The planet Seth was doomed to ruin. Two groups escaped. They travelled to different planets. Seth’s civilization has survived on Daglon. The other group settled on Earth. We don’t know exactly what happened to them, but we must suspect that Seth’s knowledge and technology was largely lost," he said.

Hulton studied Jeff, nodding thoughtfully. "I understand. Your species had to start all over again." He looked from one to the other. "Ezer Malk wants to jump back in time to gather artifacts. That’s what he told me. They must have been stored in a secret place somewhere on the planet Earth and at some time in the past."

"I could imagine that many objects are still hidden somewhere. We have not found a lot, actually we have found nothing," Jeff said.

"The objects are still hidden in our time? Why does Ezer want to jump back in time then to steal them?" Doctor Midad asked.

"The planet was thinly populated back then and high-tech was not yet invented," Jeff said. "A jump back in time makes it easier for Ezer to steal the items."

"Where are these items stored?" Hulton asked.

"I suspect they are hidden in the pyramids," Jeff replied "And maybe in the underground passage between the pyramids and the Sphinx. NASA investigated the Great Pyramid a couple of decades ago. However, I don’t know if they found anything that was of use for them."

Hulton and the Daglon men gave Jeff questioning looks. Jeff cleared his throat and then told them of the Egyptians and their pyramids and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

"It seems to me that not only Ezer Malk is after what the Seth settlers left on Earth, but your space scientists are after those items also," Doctor Midad said.

"You say items and objects. What kind of objects? Devices, gadgets, machines?" Hulton asked. "Do you want to steal them also?"

"No," Lest said sharply. "We want to stop Ezer from raiding the planet and changing the timeline."

"Is it your business? Why does it bother you?" Hulton asked.

Jeff couldn’t hold back. "Earth is my home planet. I won’t let Ezer raid and plunder my home," he shouted.

Lest reached out and placed his hand on Jeff’s arm. Jeff calmed and leaned back in his chair.

Hulton looked between them. "I see," he said, rising to his feet. "It’s late and I’m tired. I wish you good night. We’ll talk again tomorrow."

Lest gave the man a curt nod and Jeff mumbled a good night. Hulton left the galley. Doctor Midad and the others followed him soon. Everybody withdrew to their quarters.

***