1 Jan 2008
Final Destination, Chapter 15: August 22, 3094
Our progress was slowed down a little bit when we discovered a slight problem. Evidently some time ago a water main had burst and flooded the wormhole transporter room with three feet of water. That was fine until the temperature in the room dropped to almost absolute zero, at which point the three feet of water became three feet of solid ice. The hardware we wanted to examine was all encased in ice, and there wasn’t anything we could do with it until we melted it.
The only thing left to do was to melt the ice, so I sealed up the room as best I could, restored an atmosphere to it, installed some drainage pipes, and set up a lot of heaters. Melting that much ice, though, was going to take some time, so while that was happening I decided to look for more messages on the consoles in the room (the ones above the ice, at any rate).
I was able to find one but it was not encouraging. This was located on a wall panel above the ice in the wormhole transporter room:
I think we’re about ready to throw in the towel. We’ve tried and tried to get this transporter to work, but Charlie is becoming more erratic every day now that his matrix has been shot to pieces. If only we could stabilize him! Then, perhaps, we could run some programs and find out what we’re doing wrong.
Flora could have done that in a heartbeat, but of course she was murdered by Brandon & Company. I guess she stepped on his toes once too many times and he decided to flex his political muscle and do something about her. That man has no conscience at all, and the authorities at the base aren’t exactly bleeding hearts either. I can’t believe they wouldn’t even investigate it; they said it would be too “divisive” and would distract from their primary mission. You would think that at the very least they would be upset at losing the one person they had who could keep Charlie running, but they don’t seem concerned at all.
I’ve heard rumors that certain people have drawn up a backup plan but I don’t have any proof of that. I don’t know what it could possibly be but that might account for the way they are acting. I do know, though, that there is no escape for them: one day they will stand before a God that they have openly hated and give an account of everything they have done. They have murdered someone for whom Christ shed His blood to save: do they really think that God is not going to care, especially when they despised His mercy and rebuffed His offer of forgiveness?
Flora was guilty of only one crime: she believed there was only one way to God, and she shared her beliefs with others in an attempt to save them. She made many enemies that hated what she stood for and longed to silence her, and now at last they have succeeded.
It is truly heartbreaking.
It’s looking more and more likely that we are all going to die soon: the deadline is less than two months away. Regardless of what happens I know my final destination; there is strife here now, but I will live to see it end.
Posted by Morton West on February 19, 2815
I could see that things were not going too well. Only two months left and no way off the planet – well, that pretty much clinched it. Maybe I had come on a wild-goose-chase after all, but how can I go back to Tau Ceti and tell my kinsmen that there is nothing we can do but watch our entire planet suffer and die?
While I stood there, reading through old messages and trying to coax the ice to melt, Al came by and made an announcement.
“I’ve decoded some more message fragments!” he said.
“Great!” I said. “I’ll be right there to see them. Hold tight.”
“Do you not want to stay and monitor the ice?” he asked.
“Um, no – I think the ice can melt without me.”
I hurried back to the ship and sat down in the pilot’s chair. Al had this stream of messages loaded on one of the consoles:
A high-speed data link has been established between this laboratory and the newly-created FTL Research Station. The data link has been encrypted using the Dodd algorithm and its usage has been limited to those with both Alpha-Double-Prime clearance and membership in the new FTL Research Station.
Transmissions through the data link have stabilized at 4.6 terabytes per second, and will be maintained for the duration.
Posted by AI unit Charlie on December 28, 2814
The high-speed data link to the FTL Research Station has been lost; the transmission line was severed when the planet broke up. No further information is available.
Posted by AI unit Charlie on March 28, 2815
The FTL Research Station was established on December 1, 2814 by Dr. Anna Braxton. Its purpose was to investigate the possibility of faster-than-light travel through wormholes. The initial concept came from the wormhole transporter: if you can create a wormhole, why not create a larger one and drive a ship through it?
Given the fact that research and construction into such a ship would likely take several years and the planet was going to be destroyed on March 28 of 2815, it was decided to build a base that could survive the destruction of a planet. With this in mind, Dr. Braxton used Charlie to determine how the planet was likely to break up, and from there determine where to place this base and how to build it. The calculations were done in mid-November and construction began immediately.
The existence of the base has been classified due to the fact that it can only support 50 people. A larger base could have been constructed, but Dr. Braxton, based on input from Arnold Brandon, decided that 50 people would be sufficient to continue the project and the others on the planet were expendable.
The base was outfitted with everything necessary to support life for several years, and its occupants were chosen carefully by a select committee. On March 15, 2815, Dr. Braxton gathered the group and set off for this hidden base, leaving no indication about what they were doing. Dr. Harold Webb closed down the Larson’s Folly Spatial Mechanics laboratory on March 19, 2815, right on schedule.
The last communication received from the hidden base took place on March 18, 2815 as a few last items were downloaded from Charlie’s matrix. No more communications have been received, but details in the last communication indicate that all 50 people made it to the hidden base and were there when the shockwave hit.
Posted by AI unit Charlie on January 1, 3094
“Thanks, Al,” I said. “I don’t think that’s good news, but I’m glad to hear it. Let me know if you are able to find any more messages, ok?”
“Will do,” he said.