Gone - Chapter 2

Gone – is a serial short story that will be released here over the next several weeks. I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to follow my blog in order to get the latest.  - Peter-John Campbell

If you would haven't read chapter 1 feel free to click here.

Chapter 2

The morning wind whistled quietly through the grass and save for one hawk circling in search of his pray, the skies were clear and warm. As the sun rose slowly, guinea fowl and pheasants bobbed through the field pecking at the strains of wild wheat and grains that flourished in that long forgotten place.

Then came an odd sound; a low boom beat across the plain with a pop and hiss of a piston releasing. Suddenly a new shape rose upon the horizon.

“Stand by for launch in T-4 minutes.” The robotic voice of Ethel, Jackson's computer, echoed through the silo. A hydrologic hum spun through the chamber as the launch pad slowly rose.

“Thank you, Ethel,” said Jackson, climbing into the pilot's seat. The nose of the Sphinx had reached ground level and the orange sunlight was now beaming into the cockpit. He wore a black and gray pressurized suit with an old patch sewn on the right shoulder, which bore the insignia of his once great company. The J and P intertwined and were made to look like a ship flying through the stars.

Below, Elise entered the control room and sat at her station. Danny, next to her, read a book with his feet propped up on his desk. “Did you know some archeologists believe that the Sphinx predated Egyptian culture?” Danny mused, sipping his coffee.

“Humm,” was Elise's only response, attempting to not encourage him. Grabbing her headset, she put it on and scanned over the monitors.

“It truly is fascinating. That there might have actually been an entire world of civilizations we’ve never known about, and all that’s left is the Sphinx...”

“Danny,” Jackson's voice broke through the com-link. “Enough with the history lesson for today.” He snapped his helmet into place. “I'm ready to make some of my own.”

A deep pulse flowed through the room. “Launch Pad secure,” Ethel announced.

“Thank you, my dear lady,” Danny flirted. He dropped his feet and set the book down. “And might I might I add that you are sounding rather beautiful this morning.”

“Don't get fresh with me Danny-boy, you're not my type,” Ethel retorted. Elise cracked a smile. Danny laughed.

“Alright, Romeo. I'm ready to run through final checks.” Jackson, now fully strapped in, could be seen on the center monitor.

Danny quickly scanned over the screens to look for anything unusual. “All systems are go.”

“Pressurization looks good. Environmentals are stable,” Elise said, taking one more quick look. “Ethel?”

“The Second magnetic clamp on the stabilizing tower is not fully charging.”

Jackson turned to his right to look at a screen. “Do we need to abort?”

“I don't think so sir,” she responded. “It is operating within minimal parameters. I have compensated the needed load between the remaining five clamps. We are go for launch.”

“Excellent. Ethel, clear the field.”

“Confirm. Clearing field.”

Three short air-bursts sounded on the empty field above. The flock of pheasants and guinea fowl kicked up out of the tall grass and flew off to the east.

Jackson flipped a few switches. “How're the skies looking, Danny?”

             

“I'll check,” he said spinning around in his chair to another station. “But considering that nothing has flown over this airspace in twelve years, I think we'll be fine.” He punched a few buttons and pulled up the radar. “We are clear.”

Jackson flipped a final switch. “Ethel, prepare for launch.”

“Confirm. Preparing for launch.”

“Initiate launch sequence.” 

“Confirm. Initiating launch sequence.”

           

A warrrfam accompanied by a high-pitched whirl spun deep in the heart of the Sphinx as the oxygen and hydrogen began to mix.  

“Stand by for Launch in Sixty...Fifty-Nine...Fifty-eight...” Ethel’s voice counted down.

The control room shook; a subtle tic-tic-tic was heard from Danny's coffee mug walking across the desk. He reached for it as it slipped off the edge on it's way to the floor.

Jackson, along with the rest of the ship, shook. He gripped the armrest of his seat and smiled. “We are go for launch.”

The sound grew louder, a resonate mix of bellow and whine, until all in its presence succumbed to the overwhelming song. And then when it seemed that it could not become any louder, the rumble of the engines, for a second, stopped. A piercing dead silence was all that could be felt as the frequency of the roar dropped far below human hearing. Elise and Danny cringed, feeling the deep sickening bass vibrating their internal organs. Then as fast as it had come, the feeling was gone, released with a startling ear-splitting crack. The fires of the engines lit and the sound of thunder rolled across the plain.  

“We have ignition!” Danny yelled. 

Plumes of white smoke poured endlessly from the pad as the wind rushed with the urgency of a coming storm. 

           

“Five...Four...Three...Two...One.” Ethel counted.

The magnetic clamps of the stabilizing tower disengaged one-by-one. Slowly the Sphinx lifted from the pad; its beastly tone crescendoed, reverberating across the morning sky.

“We have lift off. The Sphinx is in the air.”

The flickering pop and crackle of firelight flared with immense beauty. As the ship rose, its majestic weight flung skyward with an ease of grace, causing all creation to shudder at the very sound of this mighty voice. The moment was so tremendously terrifying a dreadful silence fell upon the plain out of fear and respect. In a word, awe. 

“Standby, Sphinx,” Danny instructed through the com. “Stage 1 burnout in Four... three... two... one.” The flames ceased and the thin air grew quiet.

Jackson reached out his left hand “Detaching Stage 1 boosters.” He clicked a switch, which was immediately followed by a loud metallic ch-chunk. The magnetic loop that held the first and largest stage of the ship released its grip and drifted quietly away.

“Ground, this is Sphinx. Stage 1 has detached. Let me know when we're clear.” 

           

Danny watched his monitor carefully, counting the seconds. The first Stage fell quickly and soon was out of range. “You’re clear. Hit it.”

With the simple flick of the tiny switch, the ship jolted into action. Jackson, tossed back into his seat, caught his breath. “Stage 2 engaged.”

The sky boomed for a second time as the Sphinx hurled itself through the thermosphere.

“She's all yours, Ethel.”

“Confirm. Initiating Stage 1 reset.” Chutes deployed, and small flames begun to spurt out here and there to guide thruster back home. 

“Sphinx, this is ground,” Elise said, monitoring speed and altitude of the lunch. “Prepare to roll thirty degrees.”

“Copy that, preparing to roll thirty.”

The ship screamed ever upward, casting off the surly bonds of Earth. Into the growing black it flew, leaving only a stream of white, a dissipating trail of bread crumbs, futile for guiding lost souls home. And cresting that threshold where gravity and inertia are one, the Sphinx hung in a precious balance. “Sphinx, roll thirty degrees.”

           

“Copy that, rolling thirty.” The circlets of sunlight bent around the cockpit.

“Standby, Sphinx,” Danny's voice was heard once again. “Stage 2 burn out in Five... four... three... two... one. Drop it.”

Ch-chunk. The loud metallic break of the disconnecting loop popped through the vessel. “Number two is away.”

With the detachment of the second stage, the protective shielding that encapsulated the Sphinx fell away. The two parts, cloven like an egg cracked in half, suspended momentary, wavering undecided upon the precipice of space. To voyage onward or home? On each, a small blinking red light began to beat. Blue flames flared, pressing down. 

“Confirm. Initiating Stage 2 reset.” A moment later, the hollow bong of Stage 1 touching down on the launch pad rang through the empty silo. The stabilizing tower rose and reconnected itself to the partial rocket. “Stage 1 recaptured. Initiating refueling.”

“Sphinx, let's power up that main engine,” said Danny.

A small yet powerful burst ignited from the back of the long, sleek, cigar-shaped vessel. The Sphinx rose gracefully, rolling and pitching.

“Stand by to cut main engine in four…three…two…one, cut main engine”

“Copy that. Main engine stop.” The flame went out and all was quiet.

“Congratulations Sphinx. You’re now in orbit,” Danny smiled. Leaning back in his chair, he reached his left hand over to Elise, palm up, to receive a high-five.

Elise popped a piece of gum in her mouth and laid the wrapper on Danny’s outstretched hand. “Thanks,” she said, trying not to smile.  

The Sphinx hung in the air, floating upon an unseen sea, basking in the glow of the celestial sphere below. Land, clouds, and sea filled the window of the cockpit. Jackson smiled silently with wonder, taking it all in. 

“Sphinx, this is ground.”

Jackson nodded in response but did not speak.

“Sphinx? Danny, did we lose com?” Elise’s voice held a mix of concern and annoyance.

Jackson broke from his trance. “No, sorry, we have com, Ground. This is Sphinx.”

Danny's voice popped in. “Do we need to give you two a minute?”

“You think you’re cute, don’t you?”

Danny leaned back in his chair and crossed his hands behind his head. “Well, when you're finished ogling our planet and want to get on with this little science experiment, feel free to let us know.”

“I'm sorry, Ground, you broke up on that last transmission. Please state again.”

Elise reached over and slapped Danny in the chest. “Sphinx, this is Ground. We're ready for you to power up Bert.”

“Copy that. Powering Bert.”

Bert. The next great envelope of human travel. The stuff of science fiction, the idea had been long ridiculed and proclaimed to be an impossibility. A machine could never be built to travel at the speed of light, let alone faster than the speed of light. “But the same was once said of sound, and Chuck Yeager broke that. All he needed was the right plane,” Jackson was known to say when mocked for his ideas. He was seen as too much of a dreamer. “Audacious” was the word his Board used the day they voted him out of his own company. But, bent on proving them wrong, Jackson set out to rebuild.

Bert was named after the father of relativity himself, Albert Einstein. His equations were the start of Jackson's work, but they wouldn't be the end. After years of building and rebuilding design after design, Jackson couldn't find a way to resolve the foremost problem of E = mc²; the faster an object moves the greater the mass of the object.

Elise held the theory that, just as energy is expelled through heat, the object's extra acquired mass gained by the increased speed could also be expelled, maintaining steady mass of said object. It was a great theory, one that had earned her both respect and ridicule in her former life.

Elise, though not a super model, was tremendously beautiful. This made her stand out amongst the crowd, and she was never really taken seriously as a scientist. She expected this from the men in her field, but never from the other women. Her time in school was lonely and miserable; she was top of her class but seen by her peers as nothing but a blonde bimbo. Because of this, she kept to her books, pushing herself daily to prove to herself that there was more to her than looks.

Her lack of self-confidence was not lost on Jackson. When they first met, Elise was working through her second doctoral program in Atomic Physics. Jackson knew that he had met his match in her. But it took Elise far longer to come around and appreciate his charm and insanity. In the end, they were a match made for the celestial heavens.

Elise's theory on expelling mass still hung on and confident they would find a solution, the two pressed on with the project. However, it was when Danny met Elise that things changed. Danny had a mind for electrical engineering that was second to none, and with his help, he and Elise perfected the design. Jackson's dreams, at least in theory, had become a reality.

Eight long fingers fanned out from the hull, like spreading wings, creating a blue ring encircling the ship. Looking straight on, one would think they were viewing a wheel in space. From the side, it resembled that of a misshapen umbrella. Each spoke of the wheel was called a petal. With the flower in full bloom, the new extension made up more than half the length of the craft.

“Ground, this is Sphinx. The Array is extended and locked in place.”

“We copy that, Sphinx. Go ahead and boot up Petal One and we'll begin running the diagnostics.”

For the next two hours the team worked vigorously; checking, calibrating, and rechecking each petal. The work was long and tedious, but for them the hours flew by quickly. 

“Looks good, Sphinx. Go ahead and take her once around the block and bring her home. We're ready for tomorrow.”

“Copy that, Ground. I'll see you in a few.” Jackson set his flight path. “Oh, and Danny?”

“Yeah?”

“I think it's your turn to buy.”

Danny smirked. “Sorry, Sphinx, you broke up on that last transmission. Please say again.”

              

Jackson sat quietly in the ship, thinking, musing. Then with a mischievous grin he clicked off the voice activation on his com-link. “Ethel, let's set Burt for a ten second jump.”

“Pardon me, sir, but I would strongly advise against that. The purpose of today's mission was only to calibrate the Light Speed drive.”

“Yeah I know. But we're already here. Don't you just want to give it a go?”

“I do not have wants, sir. You did not program me for that.”

“Man, apparently I programed you to be really annoying, didn't I?” Jackson muttered.

           

“Please restate the question. I am unable to comply.”

Jackson manually dialed in the coordinates for a short ten second jump.

“I do not mean to object, sir, but I think you should consult with Ground before you--” click. Jackson switched off Ethel and continued working.

Danny sat back in his chair and took a sigh of relief. “What a day.” He turned to Elise. “How are you feeling?”

“I'll feel a lot better when he's back on the ground.” Elise stared at the small yellow dot representing the Sphinx on the three-dimensional display as it sailed around the globe. Jackson was approaching England. The room was quite except for the steady rhythmic beat of the tracker blipping every few seconds. 

“You know what I was thinking? We should install a catheter system in here.” Danny said with a smirk, trying to help take Elise's mind off her fears.

“What?” Elise turned, surprised and disgusted.

“Well, you know, it's like, we're in here and I really have to go to the bathroom, but I can't leave. Like on the ship, we could just be hooked up with a catheter, and the line could run down the inside of our pant leg, with a little BNC type connector at the end, and we could just hook into a tube that would lead to the drain.”

           

“What is wrong with you?” Disturbed, Elise went back to her screens.

           

“What? I think it's a great idea.” Danny said a little defensively.

Elise held up her hand in an attempt to get Danny to stop talking. “Just go, I'll take care--”

Ethel interrupted. “Warning. Data link with Sphinx has been lost.”

The yellow dot had vanished from the monitor.

“Whoa.” Danny leaped forward and franticly clicked away on his keyboard.

Elise stood up. “What just happened?”

“I don't know!” Danny voice was shaking.

“Sphinx, this is Ground. Do you copy?”

“I got nothing.”
           

“Try again.” Elise was pacing. “Sphinx, this is Ground! Do you copy?”

She turned back to Danny. “Any sign of system failure?”

“Not that I can tell.”

“Check for residual flux!” She commanded  

His fingers flew at a fevered pace. “I'm on it. I'm on it.”

Elise zoomed the map in over northern Europe. “Ethel, calculate possible crash sites based on last known telemetry.” 

“Confirm.” Ethel began ticking away. The screen held a yellow dot in place over the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Estonia, the last registered ping of the Sphinx. Slowly lines began to draw out.

“Sphinx, this is Ground. Do you copy?”

The next few minutes crept by like an eternity; Ethel calculated, Danny searched, Elise paced. But no sign of the Sphinx could be found. 

Suddenly the com channel fuzzed.

“Jackson!”  

---

To read Chapter 3 click here.

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Gone by Peter-John Campbell @2014