Warp speed

CHAPTER 10

It took almost all of the time we had left to prep the probe for warp since Tabitha was out of propellant and had to use the crawl, grab, and tether method. Tabitha looked at her DCM and whistled.

'Cutting it close, Anson. I have about sixty minutes of air left. How are you doing?'

'Not much less. I have about fifty-nine. My body weight is more than yours. No matter, we're about ready to fire this thing. Jim you got those last calculations completed?' I broadcast over the makeshift communications network.

'Here comes, Anson. Gee zero one is zero point zero zero zero one seven. Copy that?'

'Roger Jim. Gee zero one is zero point zero zero zero one seven. Go next sequence.'

'Gee zero three is zero point zero zero zero zero zero zero zero six zero one two five.'

'Got it. Gee zero three is zero point zero zero zero zero zero zero zero six zero one two five. Next sequence.' This continued for about seven more sequences. We were rewriting our gravitational metric for an inward travel vector. Jim had—in just a few minutes—completed calculations that had taken mankind millions of years to achieve. He should have gotten accepted to MIT, Princeton, Harvard, or Yale. He didn't get a scholarship and he sure couldn't afford it. Neither could I. We were both products of the state university system. That's okay. We went to the Harvard Karate Open two years ago and put a couple of those Ivy League geeks in the emergency room. Yeah I know, karate is for self-defense and self-defense only. We both had axes to grind. We felt both better and worse afterwards. We never acted like that again and we sent cards to the guys we had fought. I think we both matured some because of that tournament. Besides none of those guys were even close to warping space. We were damn sure going to give it the old state college try.

'Okay, Anson. That's it. All that's left is hitting the little red button.' Jim said.

'I hope our numbers are right, Jim.'

'Well, you were right about the frame dragging due to Earth's rotation causing position errors mostly along the surface. My calculations suggest maximum x and y position uncertainty of more than five kilometers, but errors in the z direction are only about two meters. And if you come out of warp just a couple of meters low you want have that deep of a hole to crawl out of. And if you're high, that won't be too far to fall.'

'You guys better be waiting on us in New Mexico when we get there.' I told him.

We had decided to try and warp to the desert in case something went wrong we would probably be the only ones killed. Jim, of course, was kidding. There really is no red button on the probe. The sequence is automated and initiated either from the GUI interface or the uplink from Earth. Tabitha and I decide to do the initiation sequence ourselves. The only thing to do now was wait for New Mexico to roll up underneath us. According to Houston that would be in about fifteen minutes.

'Tabitha, are you ready for this?' I asked her. I touched her helmet and looked at her.

'Just as soon as New Mexico rears its ugly head.' She laughed. 'We'll punch a hole in it.'

'Jeeze! I hope not. The plan is to land gently,' I told her.

'Anson. What about the atmosphere? What happens when we slam into it at the speed of light or however fast it will be?' She looked concerned.

'We've talked about this a little before remember. General Relativity and Causality won't allow anything to penetrate the forward and rearward portions of the warp bubble. We should be completely shielded.'

'What about Earth?'

'Well that's why we're aiming for the desert. The air is a little less dense and nobody lives there. Mostly, nobody lives there.'

'Hal, this is Anson. Jim, Tabitha and I are go for the firing sequence. I can see the coast of Lower California,' I claimed.

'Roger Anson. Good luck you guys. God speed. Hal out.'

Jim piped up. 'Good luck, you guys. See you soon. Anson, thanks for everything, you know?' He sounded sad.

'I know, Jim. Don't worry. It's going to work.' I held Tabitha's hand and depressed the warp sequence start command.

'Warp sequence is go,' I said.

'Jim, if we don't make it tell my daughter and my parents that I love them!' Tabitha cried. Tears were slowly running down her cheeks. Tears were running down her cheeks!

Then the communications went blank. I could see New Mexico rolling up beneath us, then Tabitha and I were in total darkness other than the GUI panel illumination.

'It'll be just a few more seconds before the ECCs are powered up completely. The bubble must be forming nicely,' I said as I surveyed the GUI panel. Then we were surrounded by a sphere of blue flashes of light.

'When will we know if it worked—aheeey!' Tabitha screamed.

The world got very bright all of the sudden and I could tell that I was falling. We were falling at one gee. We were at Earth, but where? Then something hit my back hard and rolled me over. Now I was facing downward and I could see that I was falling through a canopy of very thick pine trees. We were at least thirty feet from the ground. Another pine tree limb smacked my faceplate and cracked it, whiplashing me. The fall seemed as though it took hours. It really only took a few seconds for me to crash into the sand at the base of a very large tree. I had landed on my back staring upward. I heard Tabitha thud against the sand a few meters to my left.

The probe had become entangled in the limbs of the tree and was hanging twenty feet or so above us. I did a quick survey of my body and could feel no breaks or puncture wounds, but I felt like one large bruise. My muscles were still slightly traumatized and I couldn't move yet. The EMU made moving even more difficult. My PLSS was buried no telling how deep in the sand.