Two Dimensional Man - The second in the series
The drama continues as the crew of Challenger discover even greater mysteries in the archelogical find of the century. The Codes of Oxbow have been broken, vistitors appear with an ominous warning, "
“Your people are not ready for what lies ahead. There are things out there beyond your comprehension, and there are beings that have existed long before creation. There’s a war that has raged on since before the beginning of time, and there are dangers you have yet to conceive. Believe us when we say, the destiny of man lies in the choices you make, and you‘re not ready. Our destiny is contingent on the choices you make, and that is not acceptable.”
Then there's Doctor Vladimir Putin, a Russian scientist who's discoveries unlock what some might call another dimension and other lifeforms, others refer to it as the re-opening of Pandora's box. Join the crew of Challenger as they continue the quest of a lifetime.
Chapter Fifteen: In good hands
(Wednesday March 27, 2041)
The trip from Challenger to the
“Good day to you Chaplain,” it was obvious Frank Dent came from down under.
“And a good day to you too.” He replied.
“Your first trip in a Raptor I gather.” and with that the smile got even bigger and his steely blue eyes almost disappeared in the laugh lines that covered the upper part of his face.
“I checked with the boss, and he said it was ok if we took a slight detour.”
Paul looked at him somewhat anxiously, and then spoke.
“How slight?”
Frank bent over and put his arms on the edge of the cockpit, his face was only inches from Paul’s, “How about a little trip around the moon and back, and if you like we could even set down in the sea of tranquility, I hear tell its quite a scene this time of year.”
“You’re kidding!”
“Nope, talked to the Colonel himself this morning, matter-a-fact he’s the one that prescribed it. He said, and these are his exact words,
“Frank, he says. That’s me, Take the padre out and show him a good time, he needs a little relaxation. Not in those words of course but that was the gist of the conversation. So, how about it, want to see the moon up close, or even the rings of Saturn, only take a couple of hours.”
“Paul nodded, “Sounds like fun.”
Frank nodded, “Isn’t that what life was meant to be. Ok boys, move this thing over, we have a plane to get ready.”
And with that the flight crew was back in action prepping the craft for takeoff.
A member of the flight crew rode the lift up to where Paul was seated, then proceeded to attach hoses and cables from Paul’s flight suit to the life support system of the craft, all-the-while he was working he explained the function of each. When he was finished he placed his hand on a scanner, punched in a code on the control panel and waited, moments later a holographic figure appeared. The technician had Paul place his hand on the scanner and then enter his security code on the console, moments later the holographic figure spoke.
“Paul La Baugh, your security clearance has passed inspection, palm print verified; you are cleared for passenger status only. With that the figure disappeared and the cockpit hatch was closed, in his headset Paul could hear the final countdown check list.
“All tie downs released?”
“Check.”
“All personnel clear of launch bay?”
“Check.”
“Electrical power transferred from generator to craft?”
“Check.”
“Pre-flight power to engine?”
“Check.”
“Pre-flight temperature within guidelines?”
“Check.”
“Reactor temperature within guidelines?”
“Check.”
“Laser power ready for decompression of launch bay?”
“Check.”
“Cockpit pressure ready for decompression?”
“Check.”
“Decompress launch bay.”
Paul watched as the bay doors slowly opened, there was a slight shutter as the plane reacted to the change in air pressure, an environment that once supported life gave way to the hostile environment of space. The co-pilot seat sat much higher than the pilots, so Paul could watch Frank at work. He watched as Frank’s hands and fingers manipulated a series of switches and buttons on the flight controller, slowly the craft came about and then like a bird on the wind it slowly moved through the launch bay doors and out in to the vast emptiness of space. Paul watched breathlessly as Frank slowly rotated the craft, as he did so Challenger came into view, silhouetted against the blue planet called earth, Paul gasped in disbelief.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I never tire of this maneuver, every time I do it; it’s like seeing it for the first time.”
“I’ve seen it from the conference room view screen, but I never imagined anything like this!”
“It does take your breath away.”
“May I ask a question?”
“Ask away.”
“Why does the co-pilot seat set up so high?”
“It was designed so that if there was trouble the co-pilot could see the condition of the plane and the pilot. It also guarantees that if either pilot or co-pilot needs medical attention they can get to each other, one of the problems with the fighters of the last century. This craft was designed to fly in both inner and outer space, so out here we can release the canopy and exchange places, that’s the reason for the longer hoses and cables. When flying in inner space there is a crawl space beneath the cockpit, a lot of the guidance equipment is there along with life support and medical supplies, but there’s also enough room for pilots to change places if need be.
Paul nodded, and then looked out through the canopy at the blackness of space, and then at the piercing light of the stars, he spoke aloud.
“And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for seasons, and for days, and years. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth; and it was so. And God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.”
“When Moses penned those words little did he know that one day man would look out from a man made star and revel in what God created. You know Frank, I know what revel means, being here and seeing all of this, one can become intoxicated by the beauty of it all with out the use of spirits.”
Paul heard a chuckle in his head set, “I couldn’t agree more. When I was a kid my dad and I would sit out at night and look up into the heavens for hours, then he’d tell me stories how he thought God had created everything. My dad was quite a guy.”
“Where is he now?”
Frank moved the ship ever so slightly, “Look to your left, do you see the bright star, that is the star a Centauri C, the third member of the triple star system a Centauri, one of the brightest stars in the southern skies. My dad believed that heaven was somewhere in that direction. He didn’t have a reason for why he believed it other than the fact that it was one of the brightest stars in the night sky. Later on in life when he had a chance to read some of my astronomy books he told me he believed that those three stars made up the one star that appeared over Bethlehem at the birth of Christ, who was I to argue.”
“And what do you believe?”
“I never had any reason to doubt my father, I guess I’m in the minority like you padre, but I believe as he did, and it’s kept me in good standing.
Frank paused for a moment as he checked one of the instrument clusters, then looking back over his shoulder he spoke.
“We’re just about ready. You see the orange colored gauge just to your left?”
Paul looked, “The one labeled LSSP?”
“That’s the one. Its short for Life Support and Suit Pressure, unlike Challenger we don’t have an artificial gravitational field at our disposal to displace the act of acceleration on our bodies. If I were to push the pedal to the metal without LSSP as they use to say in drag racing our bodies would cease to function. However with LSSP we can fly like a bat out of Hades and without to much discomfort. LSSP is set on auto, if you start to feel a little light headed or feel like your stomach is up in your mouth there’s a control on the left joy stick.”
Paul nodded, “I see it.”
“Push forward on the thumbwheel and it will increase suit pressure and adjust your oxygen accordingly. Pull back and it does the opposite.”
“How will I know if I need to pull back on it?”
Frank Laughed, “Trust me, you’ll know.”
The craft moved slowly to the right with the nose facing up, slowly the moon came into focus.
“Reminds me of a roller coaster back home when it first started out.”
Frank laughed, “It will probably feel like one in a few minutes.”
Paul watched as Frank made some last minute adjustments then he could hear Frank on his head set.
“Raptor one to ground control, do you have me on visual?”
“Roger Raptor one, we have you on visual and all systems are clear for take off.”
“Roger that ground control, breaking linkup with you and transferring link to Challenger.”
Roger that Raptor one, ground control breaking linkup and Challenger picking up transfer.”
“Challenger you copy?”
“Roger Raptor One, you are clear for take off, we have you on linkup.”
Before Paul could ask Frank spoke up. “While we’re in earth orbit we have to be careful of satellites and such, so we have to wait until they give us a course that will safely take us out of orbit without damaging anything. Linkup is sort of like an autopilot.”
“Raptor, this is Challenger, turn to 157 by 243 you will be clear in one minute and twenty seconds at point 00003 light speed.”
“Roger Challenger, turning to 157 by 243 at light speed of point 00003 for one minute and twenty seconds.”
Moments later Paul felt the ship move, very slowly at first and then it picked up speed. His heart was racing and his back bone felt like it was stuck to the back of his seat. He watched the clock as the time tick away. He turned and looked back over his shoulder, Challenger was growing smaller and smaller and earth was starting to look like some of the pictures he had seen at NASA. Then he heard Franks voice again.
“Challenger, this is Raptor One, we are past departure point, we are preparing to leave orbit.”
Paul turned back to watch Frank when suddenly the ship seemed to come to life as it shot forward, Paul was glued to his seat, he couldn’t move anything, he couldn’t even bat an eye, then slowly the sensation left and he could see the moon in front of them growing larger by the second.
Paul heard Frank’s voice on the head set. “When we were preparing to leave orbit we were orbiting earth at about eighteen thousand miles an hour. At point 00003 light speed we increased our speed from eighteen thousand miles per hour to just over twenty thousand miles per hour. When we left orbit we increased out speed to just one tenth of one percent to point 0003 light speed, which mean we’ll be orbiting the moon in about twelve minutes, the Sea of Tranquility is our next stop.
For the next ten minutes Paul sat quietly and watched as the moon slowly filled his viewing area, small craters were only now becoming visible; the large ones took on a whole new dimension to Paul as he took it all in. The craft made a loop and suddenly they were on the dark side of the moon, as Paul watched Frank brought the ship into an even lower orbit, then slowly they started their decent. The Lunar surface suddenly came into view as they left the dark side and headed for a spot Frank was familiar with. As they approached their landing site Paul saw something, at first it was small and unrecognizable, but as they continued their decent he recognized the land rover the astronauts had used during Apollo eleven. Then before he realized, Frank set Raptor One down, they were sitting no more than a few yards from where Apollo Eleven had landed so many years before. Paul turned and looked to his right; the earth was now just a blue marble in the sky.
“How utterly awesome he thought, yet how utterly alone they were.”
Frank sat quietly; this was a special time for any man, especially a man like Paul who under normal circumstances would never have had the chance for such a trip, so he was silent as he gave him the time to take it all in.
.”I wish Ozan were here, he’s going to be so jealous. What I wouldn’t give to share it with him.” Paul paused for a moment, and then continued. “You know what I really wish?”
Frank responded, “What’s that?”
“I wish Angelique were here to see this.” Paul sat quiet for a moment then continued. “She was my best friend as well as my wife. Angelique Marie Shaubouie, the most beautiful girl in
They sat in total silence for some time before Frank spoke.
“I lost my wife to cancer too“
He paused briefly. “She was the girl next door, and we sort of grew up together. At the start of our senior year we applied for the
He paused for a moment and then continued. “It was like I had lost my right arm and all of my heart. Everything we had planned and worked for was gone. Growing up in the outback one has time to plan. Our plan was to come to the
Frank paused and then pointed, Paul followed his finger, a meteor shower was taking place in the southern hemisphere of the blue planet, everything was quiet as they watched the event, then Frank continued.
“Normally in a situation like this I would call my dad because he always had the answer, but dad had passed away a couple of years earlier and my mom had passed on early in my childhood, so I had no where to turn. When Jonathan called and asked if I would be willing to work with Reggie in testing the Raptor I jumped at the chance, anything to keep me occupied. I also knew it would lead to a possible mission in space and I could maybe put her death behind me. One day while Reggie and I were making test runs I made a low level pass of this place, next thing I knew I was just sitting here like we are now admiring the view. After that I would come here every chance I had to just sit and think. It was also a place I could get alone with God. He never answered the question why, but I always sensed his presents and I came to realize he did care, and in his overall plan I did have a part. What that part is I don’t know.
Frank reached into a pocket of his flight suite and pulled out a picture, looking at it for a moment he handed it to Paul. “Our dream got put on hold, but I promised Kay Lauren that I would do everything in my power to keep her dream alive of some day having a series of health centers that would be operating and functioning across the outback for those like our parents who might still be alive today if they would have had a place close by for medical treatment. I buried Kay Lauren at the site of what was to be her first clinic. The land is bought and paid for; it’s just waiting for someone else with the same dream.
Taking Kay Laurens picture from Paul he placed it in a slot next to his check list. “She fly’s everywhere I do, and speaking of flying we need to start heading back towards that big blue marble, you have an appointment with destiny and I have a boss who gets a little antsy when I’m gone to long.”
“Ground control this is Raptor One, how do you read me?”
“Read you loud and clear see any moon maidens?”
“Negative on the moon maidens, Dick Tracey I’m not. Breaking link up with Challenger and preparing for re-entry in about twenty minutes, flight plan for re-entry and flight plan for Iraqi buffer zone locked in, do you copy?”
“Roger Raptor One, there was a pause and then a chuckle.
“Maybe we need to change your call sign from Raptor to Rabbit, and then we can say Roger Rabbit One.”
Frank smiled and shook his head, “Been watching the old cartoon channel with your kids, have you.”
They heard a small laugh, “Roger, Flight plan locked in, linkup complete.
Moments later Paul felt the craft move, silently it moved up and then hovered about ten feet above the lunar surface, the craft then rotated and slowly gained altitude until the rover and the landing site were no longer visible. Once again Paul felt like his whole body was being pushed against his backbone as the craft accelerated and headed towards earth, in his left hand was the left joy stick, Paul remembered what Frank had said, so he pushed on the thumbwheel that controlled LSSP and suddenly the sensation left and he was able to move again as the computer adjusted his pressure suit. As Frank made his approach towards earth he changed the direction in which they were flying, instead of a dead on approach Frank was now flying at an angle. Moments later it felt like they had hit a pot hole and the craft seemed to bounce, then slowly Frank Lowered the nose and they started a circular decent. The craft shuttered and shook as the outside skin started to glow a fiery red, looking back behind him Paul could see a trail of smoke reaching almost a mile. In space there had been no reference point to judge just how fast they were going unless you remembered that it took the Apollo astronauts better than three days to reach the moon and they had done it in less than ten minutes, but now as they entered the upper atmosphere of earth Paul understood just how fast they were moving. Then there was an explosion that seamed to come and go and he realized they must have broken the sound barrier as they entered the atmosphere. Then slowly the craft started its decent and moments later he saw the
