Chapter 3
Day 263. Mark, our radio astronomer, reported an anomaly in the Saturn L4 point. It has a very strong radar return. It appears to be metallic, over 3500 feet in diameter and ball shaped. Attempts to confirm with the optical telescope are still underway.
Day 266. The Captain called a meeting. The anomaly at the Saturn L4 point was confirmed as a spacecraft of some sort. It could be a possible source of salvageable materials, however the distance and conditions at L4 may present as much a danger as remaining here. Everyone needs to think about it and submit their opinion with pros and cons for his consideration prior to any decision being made. He had ordered another radar and optical search of the Saturn system for other anomalies.
Day 274. Last night the Captain called another full crew meeting. He listed the problems we had and the solutions that had been proposed and approved. Then he listed the problems we would have implementing those solutions. He then gave us the engineering report on the distillation units and their evaluation that the first one would fail in two to three months. That left us with insufficient time to follow most of the solutions proposed.
The fact that the astronomy section had confirmed and double verified that there was a metallic object at the Saturn L4 point left him with only two survival choices. The first was to start a trip to return to Earth and attempt to land without any heat-shield on any of the spacecraft. The computer estimated that 93% of the crew would die on reentry and the rest within the first month due to injuries. The second was proceed to the Saturn L4 point. If the metallic object was a salvageable object the survival estimate was 71%. His decision was that we would proceed to the L4 point using a low thrust 1/2 G trajectory. If everything fails because we can not salvage the metallic object, then we will set an orbit for Earth. If we are still alive when the ship reaches Earth, we'll at least be buried in its atmosphere. Anyone wishing to make comments may leave them on my website to be included in the ships log. Should need arrive my log will be launched on a eighteen hundred year orbit to arrive in Earths vicinity after we launched.
The ice crew will complete filling the outside tank and processing will be done while we are underway. Navigation computes that our best orbital trajectory will be in six days. Travel time will be two months.
Day 283. We started on first shift today for the Saturn L4 point.
Day 325. We will be within spitting distance of the object during 3rd shift. The Captain has announced that we will send over an exploration team 2nd shift tomorrow.
Day 327. Yesterday the exploration crew entered the object through an impact hole in its side. They found a meteoroid fused into the object near its center. They said the death of the occupants was instantaneous. They brought 2 bodies back for analysis.
Day 328. Should I hate the Captain? He ordered me to form another team to analyze the spacecraft and determine if we can repair it. It is definitely more technologically advanced than ours. If we can repair it, he says our survival percentage goes up to 95%.
Day 330. Exploration continued and the autopsy report was published today on the news page. Everyone aboard was surprised when the report firmly stated that the bodies were those of men that lived in on a planet almost identical to Earth. The doctors ordered more bodies retrieved as well as samples of anything that could be construed as organic.
Day 343. My team from engineering says we can cannibalize part of our hull to patch its, or we can seal all ruptured passages and compartments. They found the engineering section and it is intact.
Due to the layout of the spacecraft they theorize that the occupants could create artificial gravity. Analysis of deck plates in several sections is underway. Some of the hull plates have the same type wiring going to them. I assume that means they used a gravity drive to propel the spacecraft.
Rosa from environmental is firmly convinced that if we recharge the environmental units of the ship we can breath the atmosphere.
Bud reports that from the half-life analysis of the reactor core the spacecraft is approximately nine thousand five hundred years old.
Day 345. The Captain has ordered engineering to enlarge the hole in the side of the alien spacecraft so that our ship can be inserted into it. Then run power to its engineering reactor compartment and then we will slowly power up the spacecraft and analyze all controls and test them.
Day 347. Dianne figured out the wiring and successfully activated one of the gravity plates brought back from a damaged compartment. She says that we can manufacture these gravity plates with our technology and the equipment we have on hand.
Day 361. Our ship was successfully inserted into the hole in the side of the alien spacecraft on first shift. Welding has started to secure it.
Dianne has rigged up enough gravity plates to give our ship normal gravity in the proper direction. Thank goodness, we were all getting tired of free fall.
Day 356. Alice and Heinz had a baby girl. Everyone just went ga ga over their baby, Melisa. Naomi is beginning to show!
Welding is completed. We had to build two new airlocks for access into the ship. We start running power cables tomorrow. The Captain gave everyone one work shift off.
Day 360. The Captain ordered me to transfer half the G & X solar panels to the exterior of the alien ship. The rest are to be configured to provide a radiation safe area in our old ship.