Mission Status For Proteus-12 Automated Space Cruiser

Primary Mission: To observe the Sun in its new orbit.

Secondary Mission: The termination of 743 mass murderers stored in hibernation.

Mission Captain

Captain, McDonald Archer-World Space Agency, Space Pilot

Also Convicted of murdering 73 people in June, 2245.

 

Captain's Personal Log: April/26/2246

In the year 2244 there were many facts about our Sun that nobody knew or really cared about. For instance: the distance between the Earth and the Sun is ninety-three million miles. The surface of the Sun is ten-thousand degrees Fahrenheit. The estimated age of our Sun is about four and half billion years. Which is relatively young for our universe. For some reason, yet to be determined, the sun's orbit began to wobble. Ever so slightly. Scientists barely noticed the change at first. Then the temperatures on the Earth began to change rapidly. That summer, the temperature was an average thirty degrees warmer. World wide! The winter turned out to be forty degrees colder than average.

In one year there was a total extinction of all plant life on the Earth.

In the Spring of 2245. A sickness began to envelop the Earth, greed! All of the world's supposed leaders disappeared into underground shelters. Thus leaving the Military and Police to control a starving population. They never had a chance.

Around the world. Warlords began to rise. They began to hoard the food they stole for their people. Letting millions starve to death just outside their fortresses.

In the United States, a sea of tiny wars spread across the country. State against state, city against city, block against block, neighbor killing neighbor, friends killing life-long friends for what little food they had. Only the strong survived.

Which led me to my crimes.

The Brentwood Estates is a gated community with thirteen families living within the large brown brick walls that surround it. Two wrought iron gates are the only entrances. When the world began to crumble around us all the street leaders met at the community Lodge. It was decided that we should barricade the gates, centralize the food supply in the Lodge in the center of the compound along with all the weapons. The theory is, if the gates are breached all of us can fall back to the Lodge to protect it. The structure of the Lodge is logs on the outside but reinforced concrete on the inside. It's our storm shelter. Built strong enough to withstand an F-5 tornado. There are two keys for the lodge and with me being a former WSA Space Pilot. I get one of the keys. The Community leader, Tom Meiners, has the other. This plan seems to have everything. It should protect us from the evil invaders who want our food. By keeping them out!

Nobody thought about a plan for the evil that is already inside.

The months slowly passed with no incident. Just a few drifters outside the gates. The only information we can find out on the internet news channels is that scientists had determined the Sun has returned to a normal orbit. But a black spot has appeared in the center of the sun.

Our problem is the total collapse of civilization. It's going to be years before law and order returns unless an Army can be formed. No word from any government leader around the world. They're safely tucked away in some underground base.

An evil thought begins creep into my mind. “If this lasts a year or more. We don't have enough food.”

This one thought is now an obsession that will never leave my mind. It clouds my judgment to the point it becomes a brutal reality. “If there are less people. The food would last longer.” I begin to plan a mission.

The hot Sun is beginning to set when I lock myself in the Lodge away from my wife Carol and our ten-year-old daughter Alice. I don't want them involved in any of this. Even though they are. I have to make the final decision alone. Sitting on the floor, I'm cleaning two 9mm's. In our military training we're taught to obtain a singular focus on the task at hand until nothing else matters. It's always easy for me to gain this focus. My problem always is, coming out of it.

11:59pm clicks to 12:00am. Go time.

I feel no malice while walking into Tom's home. I have a mission to complete. I need to extend the food supply. Six shots later. Step one completed. It's on to the next house.

The evil has full control of me.

Eight houses completed. Five more to go. The mission is going without any problems. All of the victims are sleeping and the silencer is working perfectly. None of us set our security systems anymore and my military training is allowing easy access into all the rooms.

Twelve down, one more to go. I have to finish this mission at all costs. Our survival depends on it. Sliding into the last house. Target one is sleeping like all the others. One shot then I put in the last magazine. Target two is not in her room then the toilet flushes. I slide into the shadows. Target two slowly walks through the door. I gently squeeze the trigger. The target falls. Where she falls. The moon begins to shine on her beautiful face. Her red hair is full of blood. Those green eyes of hers glisten in the moonlight. It's Alice! My daughter.

The horror at what I've done consumes me. Madness, overtakes my soul.

~

Months later. The scientific community determine the Sun has returned to its normal orbit. Government leaders around the world begin to slowly creep out of the holes they were hiding in. Once back on the surface. They gather what's left of our armed forces to protect them. The Army begins to search for survivors. Starting in the larger cities before moving to the suburbs.

I'm sitting by the flagpole. I don't think I've moved in a week. Two Bradley Tanks suddenly crash the north and south gates. At the same time. I don't even flinch. There are no emotions left to feel. I know what's going to happen.

They search every house for more survivors. All they find is rotting corpses with one bullet hole in the center of the forehead.

It didn't take much to figure out that the only survivor. Is the murderer.

Three days after being taken into custody they lead before a Tribunal of former judges and instantly find me guilty. My execution is scheduled for the end of the week. It can't happen soon enough for me.

I'm sitting in my cell on the day of my execution when General's aide and old friend, Captain Tom Gray stops by. He's been dispatched here to ask me a simple question. “Captain McDonald Archer. I'm here on official WSA business. With you being an experienced former WSA Space Pilot. Would you be interested in flying a one way mission to the Sun? We have to know what's happening on the surface. Scientists have recently found a black spot in the center of the Sun. It could be the beginning of our Sun collapsing into a Black Hole and destroying our galaxy. The Proteus 12 will be totally automated by a computer. But we need somebody with space experience to make sure all of the experiments continue to work. It's your decision, Mac. Live another year and do one final mission or be executed within the hour.”

I slowly raise my head then look him in the eye. “I'll take the mission, Tom.”

He turns away then sighs. “We should have got more of you guys underground. I'm sorry for what happened out there, Mac.”

I glare at him. “What difference does that make, Tom? There are millions dead. Including Carol and Alice.”

He drops his head. Opens the cell door and leaves.

~

I slowly look around my sparse quarters aboard the Proteus 12. “Well, I guess that's all of my story that really matters. It's taken me a year to get it all told. It must be time to make my rounds.” I pick up my Data Board then step through the portal.

A woman's voice greets me. “Good morning, Captain Archer. The Data Cube has been sent to Earth with last night's readings. Do you have a preference for breakfast this morning?” The ship's computer has been programmed to have a woman's voice. So, I named her after my late wife. The love of my life that I brutally murdered.

“Excellent job, Carol. I'll wait on breakfast until I finished my rounds. How many days left until we reach the Sun?”

“We should reach the Sun's Chromosphere in exactly five days, fourteen hours, twenty-seven minutes and forty-two seconds. Has this been a lonely mission for you Captain Archer?”

“No. My last six months on Earth made me a different man. I'm just fine without people.”

“Why, Captain Archer?”
 

“When many people are gathered together. Evil always comes. I've lived with that presence in my life before and never want to go back.”

“Understandable. Now that you're almost done gathering data, what would you like me to replicate for breakfast this morning?”
 

“Now that's a difficult choice. How about something Mexican this morning. Two breakfast burritos with salsa. Hot coffee and cool water.”

“Yes Captain Archer, excellent choice. It will be waiting in your cabin.”

“Thank you, Carol.”

~

When I awaken the next day, the temperature is several degrees warmer. “Carol, is there something wrong with temperature control?”

“No Captain Archer. We're starting to enter the Sun's Corona. This tip is a particularly high flare-up. The temperature of the outer hull is already five-thousand degrees. I'm trying to adjust the cooling system. I'm afraid the closer we get to the Sun, the hotter the ship will become.”

“Carol, how much time do I have left?”

“It is estimated that you will cease to exist when the hull temperature reaches nine-thousand degrees. The inside temperature will be over one-hundred and fifty degrees. That should happen in two days, twelve hours, thirty-four minutes and ten seconds.”

“Interesting. When do we launch the other prisoners?”

“In eighteen hours. Captain Archer, would you like to go with them? It would be much more humane for you.”

“No, I'll finish the mission. What's your mission, Carol?”

“My entire circuitry, processors and memory are housed in a room that is built to withstand fifteen-thousand degrees. My mission is to enter the Sun's Corona then set-up an orbit just above the Chromosphere near the black spot. I will continue to send information back to the Earth until my destruction.”

“Well, it looks like we're both in the same boat, Carol.”

“Same boat, Captain Archer. What does that mean?”

“It's an old Earth saying meaning neither one of us is going back home.”

“Interesting. Would you like me to search for the author of the saying?”

I chuckle, “No Carol. But thank you.”

~

Sleep is difficult with the temperature at ninety-nine degrees. Instead of my WSA jumpsuit. I have on a pair of boxer shorts and a tee shirt running my checks. The heat feels like a hot August day in Tennessee. When I was a kid we would ride our Hoverboards to visit our favorite swimming pool and waterfall by the Obion river on a day like this.

I remember Carol, Alice and I frolicking on a beach somewhere. Carol was always stunning in her skimpy purple bikini. Alice would be running circles around us while I take Carol into my arms in a slow passionate kiss.

I look down at my right hand. The hand that killed both of them. “I need to die for my crimes.”

“Yes, Captain Archer?”

Wiping my eyes. I slowly answer, “I'm sorry, Carol. I was talking to myself. Tell me what's happening on Earth?”

“Temperatures have returned to normal but powerful storms are raging on the planet. This has helped to fill some of the rivers, streams and lakes. Bringing life giving water to many. The oceans that once seemed so far away are now a little closer. When the ice caps melted and began to fill the ocean. It became a life saving event for many species of ocean life that would have perished in the heat and evaporation. Carbon Dioxide is still rising on the planet with no plant life to filter the air. There is some good news to report. The Army was successful in setting up many Terra-farms in Northern Canada. Seeds from a doomsday storehouse in Antarctica were secretly flown in. Trees were the first things planted. They are desperately needed for correcting the Carbon Dioxide imbalance in the atmosphere. The first vegetables have been harvested to build up a food supply for many people who drastically need it. This gives the Earth a thirty-seven percent chance for survival.”

“That's not much of a chance, Carol?”

“Yes. But with each step taken it increases the chances of survival. Two months ago. It was only a twelve percent chance.”

“Well, the Earth just might survive. Carol, what's your theory about the black spot on the Sun?”

“I can tell you this, Captain Archer. The Sun is not going supernova. The spot is the result of a magnetic fluctuation that happened when the Sun was pulled out of its orbit by a powerful magnetic storm from another galaxy. It caused that section of the Sun to extinguish and it is continuing to do so. If this is not stopped our Sun will slowly die. Killing all life in our galaxy.”

“Do you have the data to support this theory?”

“Not yet. When the prisoners launch in a few hours, I plan to send them into the black spot. There is a probe attached to the pod that will gather the additional data to prove my theory.”

~

The temperature in my quarters is well over a hundred degrees and sleep is totally out of the question. I've been putting together a theory that might save our Sun from extinguishing itself. But we don't have time to get an answer from Earth. I slowly roll out of bed then through the portal. “I need to talk to you Carol.”

“Captain Archer, you are up early.”

“It's too hot to sleep. Carol, you're a Quantum-Logic computer built to simulate the human mind by using Brain wave patterns built into your processors. You have the ability to logically form a reasonable theory like any human mind can, right?”
 

“You are correct, Captain Archer.”

“What I remember about the Sun and correct me if I'm wrong. The Sun is really a giant nuclear reactor?”

“That is also correct.”

“Standard issue on all Proteus spaceships is six Hydro-nuclear engines. Each one of them has the power of one-hundred Hydrogen Bombs from the 1950's, is that right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I have a theory. If we start the engines and accelerate to full speed then crash the ship into the black spot on the sun. It would release the energy of six-hundred Hydrogen Bombs and should re-ignite the black spot on the Sun. Can you compute the probability of success?”

“Yes. But it will take a few minutes.”

“That's all right. But we don't have much time. I'll start gathering my data. Maybe for the last time.”

A few minutes later, Carol answers, “Captain Archer. There is a ninety-four percent chance that it would reignite the black spot and save our Sun.”

Smiling, I wipe the sweat from my brow. “Carol, we need to proceed with this mission.”

“I'm sorry, Captain Archer, but it will take a command protocol from Earth to start this mission. We don't have the data to prove your theory.”

“We don't have the time. To get the desired effect. We need to be a great distance away from the Sun to reach maximum velocity to create a blast large enough to succeed. Can you compute the distance we need to complete the mission successfully?”

“Yes, we need to be at least one-million miles away to reach maximum velocity. We are currently one-million, five-hundred thousand miles above the Sun.”

“How long does it take for a Data Cube to get to Earth?”

“Six hours.”

“There's not enough time for an answer. We can't count on them. This has to be our decision, Carol. Question: if you launch the prisoners now. How long would it take to get the data you need from the Sun?”

“One hour.”

“I propose that we launch the prisoners now to get the data you need. Then send a Data Cube to Earth telling Command Central what we're about to do. Wait until we're the proper distance away then ignite the engines. Maximum speed ahead!” Silence. “We have a chance to save the Earth, Carol. Even if we don't succeed. We'll give Command Central a plan to follow.”

“Preparing to launch prisoners, Captain Archer. Countdown: Fifty-nine seconds to launch. I will have to let you in the command module. I can show how to start the engines.”

“I know how to fire the engines, Carol. I have twenty years of space time logged in. How long until we reach launch point?”

“In four hours.” The Proteus shakes for a moment. “The prisoners have launched.”

“I want to collect my thoughts, Carol. I'm going to lay down for a few moments.”

“You would be much cooler in the command module. It is through this portal.”

A portal slides open and I can feel the cool air. “I see you have adopted the mission, Carol. It will be nice to sit in a Captain's chair again.” Stepping through the portal, the view of the Sun is magnificent on the view screen. The dancing orange Corona rises from the dark intense heat from the Chromosphere. It reminds of a well burning Oak log in a fire pit on a dark night in the woods. You can see the black spot with extreme clarity. “Are you recording this, Carol?”

“Yes, sir. I've been recording ever since we launched.”

“We are witnessing what no other person will ever see.” Sliding into the Captain's chair a flood of memories makes me smile. “I've missed this feeling. Wake me when the data returns.” I slowly lean back then close my eyes.

A voice from the past seems to wake me. It sounds like my mother. “Captain Archer. Sir.”

“Yes, Carol.”

“The data has returned. Both of our theories are proven to be correct. The temperature of the Chromosphere in that area is only nine-hundred degrees. Launch procedures are underway. I'm already preparing a Data Cube for Command Central. Launch is in two hours and twenty-nine minutes. Is there anything you wish, Captain Archer?”

“Yes. I'd like some music. Classic Blues from the twentieth century. Anything by B.B. King will do.” The intro for “The Thrill Is Gone” starts. “You have good taste, Carol.”

“Captain Archer, you know that you will not survive to the end of the journey.”

“I know. But I will be here with you in spirit. Will you add a personal message to Captain Tom Gray of Command Central to the Data Cube. Tell him, "This one is for Carol and Alice." He'll know what I mean.”

“Yes, sir.”

~

It's five minutes before launch time. Carol and I are running through final preparations. “Data Cube is launched, Captain. Launch time is four minutes, thirty-two seconds.”

“Excellent job, Carol. May I say that I have never had a better crew. It has been a pleasure to work with you.”

“Thank you, Captain Archer. I have learned much from you. Your patience, perseverance and courage are truly commendable. It has been an honor working with you. Three minutes until launch.”

“I'm starting engine ignition.” The Proteus starts to shake. “Engines are fired up and on standby. Do you have the course plotted?”
 

“Yes, Captain. We are heading to the center of the black spot. One minute to launch.”

I smile then say to myself. “I'll be with you soon my two loves, very soon. Carol, Engines at full power.”

“Acknowledged. Launch in twenty seconds.”

My finger is above the large red button that will send us hurtling towards the Sun.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Launch.”

I slam down the button. The Proteus rattles to life. The G-force slams me back into my seat. The searing heat from the Sun blasts my face. It feels like my body is melting into the ship.

~

Command Central

Captain Tom Gray rushes into the General's office. “General! We just received an unscheduled Data Cube from the Proteus 12. It's being decoded right now. Also Hawaii has witnessed an explosion in the center of the black spot on the Sun. The black spot no longer exists.”

“What does this mean, Captain Gray?”

A Sergeant walks in with the report. “General, the Proteus discovered the Sun is not going Supernova. It was hit by a large magnetic storm from another galaxy that pushed the Sun out of its orbit and extinguished a part of it. That's what the black spot was. If left unchecked our Sun was going to die. Captain Archer formed a theory that if they crashed the Proteus into the Sun at full speed. It would re-ignite the black spot with the explosion. It worked, General.”

The General looks down for a moment. “I want Captain Archer's record cleaned. I want it to say that he died in service to this planet. That man is a hero!”

“Yes, General.” Captain Gray walks out of the office. He reads the part of the message that was meant for him. Wipes the tears from his eyes then says, “Way to go, Mac.”