7 Dec 2007
Final Destination, Chapter 8: August 7, 3094
I quickly discovered that Al was right. Trying to extract more information from their encrypted data core was like trying to piece back together a grenade after it has gone off: you know the pieces all had to be there at one point, but there’s just not much left and it’s anyone’s guess as to whether you’re reassembling it correctly.
Al and I had been trying to sort through the surviving data for the past 24 hours, beginning with the oldest data and continuing from that point. The key question was obvious: did they see the blast coming and, if so, what did they do to avoid it?
“So what do we have, Al?” I asked.
“It looks like your hypothesis was correct, Miles Porter. The inhabitants of the planet were aware of their impending destruction. I have been able to extract the following series of notes from the data core.”
Al loaded the following messages onto the cockpit console:
The Larson’s Folly Spatial Mechanics laboratory was placed in suspended mode on March 19, 2815 by the order of base commander Harold Webb. The power plant has been placed in standby mode and is only generating enough power to sustain basic lighting and panel interfaces. All personnel have been evacuated and are seeking shelter from the impending stellar shockwave.
All hardware components containing critical computer data have been removed to a secure, off-site location. Data and messages deemed unimportant or non-critical are all that remains in the system, so further information may not be available.
This laboratory has no contact with any other systems on the planet. Any restoration of base functions will have to be done manually. The link to the FTL Research Station has been lost.
Posted by AI unit Charlie on March 19, 2815
“You’re right,” I said. “It looks like they did know what was about to happen, but they were unfortunately still on the planet just a few days before the plasma hit. What else did you find?”
The computer brought up another note on the console:
Effective immediately, the function of this laboratory is changing. All lines of inquiry not related to spatial displacement will be abandoned, and every personnel will do everything in their power to assist Dr. Anna Braxton in her research. This is absolutely critical for the survival of everyone on Larson’s Folly.
As you may or may not know, depending on what sort of access you have to the local media, this planet is doomed. Astronomers working at the Belzoni Planetary Telescope noticed a month ago that a star one light-year away from us showed signs of becoming unstable. According to their calculations, which I am told cannot be in error, the star actually blew up last week, and the shockwave and debris from it will hit this planet in one year.
If you look up in the night sky you will not see anything out of the ordinary. It takes a year for light from that star to reach us; while the star has already exploded, we won’t see the actual explosion until a year after it actually happened. The light we are now receiving from that star is already a year old. However, the stages of instability in stars are well known and there is no question what is going on. There is also no question that when the shockwave hits us it will break our planet into small, charred pieces. All living things on this planet, regardless of how well shielded they are, will die.
Dr. Camdon was able to pinpoint the exact arrival of this shockwave with great accuracy. He predicts the arrival to occur at between 7am and 8am on March 28, 2815 A.D. We have between now and then to find a way to get off this planet. If we fail then all of us will die in a little over a year. We have put out a general distress call for help, but as far as we know all other colonized star systems are much too far away to send any help before the shockwave hits, and besides, none of them have starships any more than we do.
We believe that we have a fighting chance of getting off this planet. Dr. Braxton’s research into spatial displacement has shown great promise, and may overcome the fact that we have no way of building a starship.
It is too soon to tell if her research will pan out, but we are cautiously optimistic at this point. We are not all dead yet, so let’s work together and overcome this challenge!
Posted by Dr. Harold Webb on March 16, 2814
“This isn’t exactly what I would call good news,” I said. “A year before it all started they were aware of the problem, and a few days before the blast hit they were still trying to relocate things to “secure off-site locations”. Unless that was referring to another star system, they were in mighty big trouble. Is there any indication that they were able to make it off the planet?”
The computer brought up another note:
It has come to my attention that some people on this base are suggesting that we should abandon the attempt to build a working long-range transporter and, instead, focus our efforts on building a faster-than-light spaceship. Since the discussion on this topic has reached a point where it has become a distraction to the work being done, I have decided to address it and put an end to the debate.
The proponents of the wormhole drive say that building a wormhole that can span two light-years is incredibly difficult, and we just do not have enough time before the shockwave hits to master this technology. They say that it would be much easier to create a spaceship with a wormhole drive: the drive would create a small wormhole which the ship would travel through, and it would then create another one, and another one, until the ship reached its destination. Since smaller wormholes are created, the difficulties associated with creating extremely large wormholes vanish.
This idea was considered by those in charge of this base and has been rejected. It is true that small wormholes are easier to create than large ones, but at this time we have no way of creating a spaceship of any kind, and even if we could, we have no way of launching it into space. We believe that it would take a minimum of ten years to create such a ship, and we do not have ten years.
This topic should now be considered closed. We have a lot of work to do, and we should stick to it: if we become distracted and fail, we will all die.
Posted by Dr. Harold Webb on July 3, 2814
“So you have made some progress,” I said, “although the messages aren’t encouraging. I can’t believe that they were trying to develop a wormhole transporter; even to this day no one has been able to do that. Why on earth did they abandon the idea of a starship? That would have been so much more practical. It’s not looking good, Al.”
“I have found a few more entries,” the computer replied. “You may find them to be of interest.”
“Ok, let’s have them.”
Dr. Harold Webb
Born: October 9, 2761
Died: —-
Physical Appearance: Brown hair, brown eyes, 5′ 8″, slight build, weak stomach. Has a sharp temperament, and is not an easygoing individual.
Discipline: Has an advanced degree in higher mathematics with a specialty in relativity theory.
Occupation: Is currently the base administrator at the Larson’s Folly Spatial Mechanics laboratory. He also assists spatial mechanics research.
Security clearance: Alpha Prime
Last updated: January 1, 2815
Larson’s Folly: This remote planet, located near the heart of the galaxy, was named after a planet in a series of books published in the early 21st century. The title comes from a book entitled “The Lost Tomorrow,” which dealt with a wayward tachyon beam that traveled back in time and radically changed the future for the worse. In the adventure a Starman Joe Taylor lands on an incredibly inhospitable planet named Larson’s Folly, which no one really knew very much about.
This planet was named by the Planetary Engineering Core (PEC) on July 16, 2574 A.D. by someone who was evidently a fan of this very ancient series.
“Hmmm. So that’s where the name came from! I always wondered, as it was never recorded anywhere. I guess that’ll come in handy if I’m ever on a game show.”
It was late, so I decided to call it a day and get some sleep. Tomorrow I would try to find some more information. The base was filled with small computer panels; perhaps one of them would have some more clues.