They had been trapped for two weeks.
Bailer and his crew had been following the Project Leader’s transport ship through the red giant’s solar winds.
It was a costly operation – more than four million credits per day – so the amount of time they could remain in the lava-swirl nebula was predetermined.
Bailer had requested a longer stay, but the Project Leader had rejected his request. Two weeks was all they would need, according to him. Bailer knew better. It took the Station an additional three weeks to safely break the barrier, and another three to fully position itself at the end of the wormhole. That meant another twenty days before the Station could move into the 'maze'.
Bailer didn’t know how the Project Leader’s calculations were based on the kind of calculations that could not be trusted. When the Station transferred into the 'maze', there was a catastrophic failure that caused the Station to leave its desired position and end up on the far side of the planet. There was no guarantee that they would survive the journey.
Bailer worried about having to fight his way through the planet’s radiation and poisonous atmosphere to reach the Project Leader’s transport ship.
The Station’s sensor readings indicated that the transport ship was still safely inside the red giant, and Bailer hoped that he would be able to ferry the Project Leader safely to Angelis IV before it was too late.
He watched as the transport ship’s thrusters fired, and the ship settled down into the red giant. It would take three weeks to position itself exactly at the end of the wormhole, but he knew that during that time he couldn’t get through to the planet. The volatile gases would kill him before he made it to the transport ship.
Bailer wondered if they would be able to outrun the planet’s gases. If the Station did not run through the red giant, it would be too damaged to escape the planet. Even if they had to get through the red giant, the odds of reaching the transport ship after so many weeks trapped inside the nebula were slim.
He watched as the transport ship’s atmosphere began to climb and the atmosphere masks retracted gently, creating positive pressure inside the ship. The Project Leader’s voice came through his communicator; he was beaming up his personal items and taking up residence on the planet.
Bailer thought about accepting this mission on two lives’ but decided against it....
Humankind’s first mission outside of Earth had been a complete success.
They had been orbiting the planet since the day Humanity left the Earth.
The Angelis System appeared to be perfect for a new Human civilization, the problem was that when they were originally launched, the power of the solar winds would have destroyed the ships if they hadn’t built the Station to act as a sort of shield. That meant twenty years of time spent waiting for the solar wind to die down.
The first two years in orbit were spent trying to understand the intricacies of the solar winds. The Station was filled with scientists who tried to understand the nature of the solar winds and how to shield the Station. But, about that time, the research would be duplicated by the Committee, and a new kind of ship would be created for FTL travel.
The Committee had decided to create escape pods with cryogenic suspension systems to protect the occupants while the ships were traveling through the nebula. The problem was that the first six ships that were designed to be the shield had their own crew and research teams aboard. The Committee decided that it would safer to clone the six ships instead of trying to physically transfer the people.
Bailer had been chosen to man the second ship from the Angelis IV. His name was now listed second on every roster in the whole system. The Station was his home, but the planet below was his new home.
His job was now to help the rest of the plan succeed. That meant safely escorting the Angelis IV’s Project Leader to the surface below.
They had been doing that for years, and this was the first real test because now the Station was in place, and they could leave the shield. Bailer knew that this would be the most challenging part of the mission; there wouldn’t be any coming back if they hit something.
This was the first time The Angels had ever left the Station, and it had already been twenty years since the last Angel had left the protection of the Station. Without the Station’s protection, the planet seemed to be more threatening than ever before.
Bailer finally pulled himself away from the viewscreen and walked back to the controls.
He had the power settings the way he wanted them, and he couldn’t reach the controls from the main control panel. His arms had all the strength of a twelve-year-old boy despite being well over two thousand years old. The Station tried to duplicate the physical characteristics of the Angelis they had cloned. Aging was almost impossible.
The ship’s computer was wired into his nervous system. Bailer could control the ship with the barest thought. He was one of the few that had mastered the ability to work while controlling the ships computer.
Bailer glanced at the space outside of the Station’s door. It was hard to distinguish the planet under three million lights. It was much darker away from the Station, but that didn’t mean it was safe. Bailer knew that every time they left the Station, they left the protective shield and that’s when sudden death lurked.
Bailer stared at the door, wondering what secrets it held. It looked ordinary at first glance, but it was impregnable. The Station was made to be the Angelis home. This was the last home they had.
Bailer considered joining the Project Leader on the planet, even though leaving brought a feeling of urgency to his solar plexus. Some took their chances in the unknown, while others chose to stay inside and wait for their end. The Angelis were young, and they hoped to live a long life.
