Stasis Launch
- 13 minutes read - 2606 wordsOpening the van door, the heat poured in. The dry air seemed to pull the moisture from Serica, as she stepped into the sun. Before her was one of the largest buildings she had ever seen, outside of the massive data centers she had reported on fairly frequently over the last decade. Before the white behemoth of a building stood a short man, white lab coat pulled over top of a tee-shirt and shorts, sandals tying it all together. He was looking up at the sky.
As she approached, he spoke, “No one looks up, anymore.”
“Meteor streaks are consistent, if not common.”
“They’re not meteors, it’s debris.”
Of course she knew this, everyone knew it. The last war had destroyed most of the satellites, and the debris would continue to rain down for years, if not decades, to come.
The man continued. “Perhaps it is shame.”
“I’m not sure most people are ashamed,” Serica replied.
“They should be.”
“Mr. Doms, I presume?”
“Call me ‘Chatterton,’ or simply ‘Chat,’” he said, extending his hand.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.” They had spoken briefly on the phone. “So, why am I am here?” she asked, shaking his hand.
“I enjoyed your reporting on our fusion project.”
“You mean the one that has changed our lives so dramatically in the last five years?”
“Yes, I don’t believe there was another one.”
Serica smiled. “Not as far as I am aware.”
“Smart. See? That’s what I like about you. You might want to begin recording, get some shots of the outside of the building, before we enter.”
Serica motioned to the cameraman, before gesturing to Chatterton and attaching a small wireless microphone to his lapel. “We are here on invitation from Chatterton Doms, outside of his latest project.”
The cameraman panned the length of the building.
“So, Chatterton, why did you invite us to this particular building?”
“As everyone knows, the last war effectively ended space travel. The barrier of debris swirling around Earth has effectively stopped our pursuit of the stars.”
“Something we are reminded of every time we look to the sky.”
The cameraman panned to the sky, the setting sun igniting the sky purple over the high desert, meteor streaks adding to the majesty.
Serica continued. “Some say your efforts to penetrate the barrier were mad, others genius, some simply foolish, and even others claim it just added to the problem. But, no one else is even trying. Who is right?”
Chatterton rubbed his forehead briefly. “All of them. But, you are right, we had to try. And, what we learned, as everyone knows, is that even getting one in five rockets above the debris field is not worth the effort.”
“Everyone else has given up, but something tells me that you have not?”
“Let’s head inside,” he said, holding the door open.
Serica smiled and nodded as she walked by him, her crew in tow.
Chatterton continued as he closed the door behind them and began ascending the stairs along the right wall. “Even before the war, even with all of the progress we had made with reusable rockets, lowering costs, space travel was still expensive. Of course, none of that matters if rockets launching from Earth is currently impossible.”
As Serica reached the top of the stairs she found that the building was not simply the two stories it appeared to be. Through a window on her left, the inside of the massive building extended down into the ground. Even more strangely, there was a rocket suspended in the middle of the building. She turned back to her crew and pointed down, urging the cameraman to capture what she was seeing.
“So, why is there a rocket in this building?” Serica asked.
“Well,” Chatterton said, a smile blossoming across his face, “we’re going to get to that. First, let’s make our way to the observation room.”
The observation room was at the far end of the building, another half-flight of stairs up to a windowed room overlooking the pit contained in the building below. The rocket was facing them, appearing incomplete, the main stage missing. There were plenty of people walking around, some even crossing the few bridges connected to the rocket itself.
Serica turned back to Chatterton. “What are you testing here?”
He smiled. “We’re not testing, we’re launching. You’re here to cover the launch itself.”
“Why no other reporters?”
“Everyone stopped covering the other attempts, why bother inviting them now?
“Okay, I’ll bite. Given what happened to the other attempts, you would not have me here unless you were certain this was going to work.”
“I knew you were the right choice.”
Serica smiled. “But, all I see is a rocket in a building, looks more like a museum.” She looked up, “Doesn’t look like the roof is going to open. The rocket doesn’t even seem to have anything to help point it in the right direction.”
Doms interrupted. “Oh, it’s already pointing in the right direction.”
“And, there is no main engine, nor fuel for the engine.”
“Doesn’t need one. Well, the main engine is the only engine, rather, but the days of those behemoth engines died with the formation of the debris cloud at the beginning of the last war.”
“Alright,” Serica stopped. “So, you have already succeeded?”
Chatterton nodded. “Yes, below is a satellite that will help us map the debris field in greater detail.”
“From the other side.”
“Yes.”
“The same satellite you were trying to launch previously?”
“Yes.”
“So, you have one up there, did it find a way through the field, then?”
“Nope,” Chatterton said, smiling.
“So, you’re somehow skipping the field.”
His eyes lit up. “Yes, perfect. We are skipping a stone across the pond of time.”
“Time? There were some rumors about slowing time a couple of years ago. Most people had just ignored them. What did you come up with?”
“Well, we didn’t realize what we had at first, we just kept losing things.”
“Like what?”
“Well, mainly clocks,” he said, laughing. “Really expensive clocks!”
“Wait, what do you mean when you say you were ‘losing’ clocks?”
“They just kept disappearing. We knew we were onto something, we just were not certain what. We were just trying to slow down time inside of a bubble, so to speak. But, where were the clocks going? Well, we decided to put a beacon on them and see if we could answer that question. Took some time, but eventually we got the idea that perhaps we were not just slowing time, but stopping it.”
“How was that realized?”
“Back then, the bubbles we created were really small. Well, during one experiment, we noticed some paper close by pulled toward the bubble, after it had dissipated. So, we setup some small streamers all around it and, sure enough, they all pulled in toward the bubble once it was gone.”
“Air pressure.”
“Exactly!” Chatterton said, offering an awkward high-five.
Serica gave him five and continued, “And, this is why I see these flags all around the edges of the pit?”
“Yeah, more of a tradition, or reminder, these days.”
“Okay, so the air was going the same place as the clocks?”
“I knew I was right to choose you. Yes, everything in the bubble disappeared. We dialed the duration of the bubble way back, and got our first signal from a beacon.”
“From space,” Serica said, a grin caressing her cheeks.
“Yes. We had actually been stopping time inside of the bubble, but the Earth was still moving. Heck, the solar system, the galaxy, everything was still moving! And fast! You only need a mere fraction of a second, at precisely the right moment, all dependent on where exactly you were on Earth and where that spot had been that fraction of a second earlier.”
“Hence the orientation of the rocket below us.”
Chatterton nodded.
“Given the speed of the rocket at this latitude, you will still need to accelerate to establish orbit.”
“Correct. But, it is much easier to achieve that speed up there than from standing still on the surface. We are just beginning, but if this can be successful at larger scales than just a rocket . . .”
“We are no longer trapped,” Serica interrupted.
“Think bigger. It is the stepping stone to the stars. It will enable us to very quickly put infrastructure into space. How many trips did it take to build the International Space Station? Piece by piece, everything added and assembled. Once perfected, we can begin putting a much larger station into orbit immediately. Once we have a base of operations, we can begin experimenting with zero gravity fabrication, and put an entire forge and factory in space. At that point, we just need to feed it resources and let it build what we need.”
“What about getting people and resources back?”
“Difficult, but not impossible. It is one of the considerations for the orbit of a base of operations. The math gets complicated, but at some point, along the point of something like a transfer orbit, if not fixed at an orbital speed the same as that of the surface of the Earth, which would put it well beyond the moon, the orbital velocity can equal the rotational velocity on the surface. At this moment, a stasis bubble could be used to land something on the surface of the Earth. A minuscule miscalculation or error would mean immediate tragedy. We will likely start with very small tests that place small objects in the atmosphere over the ocean as tests, then perhaps move onto a descent in a glider that is placed several kilometers above the surface. Placing something squarely on the surface is the end goal, but it will take time.”
“Perhaps start with some more of those beacon clocks?”
Chatterton grinned. “Not a bad idea.”
“It seems you have thought a great deal of this through.”
“Well, we had to do the math to determine where something was going to end up. Why not have a little more fun and try to bring it back in the same way, too?
Serica smiled. “Fun?”
“Oh yeah, definitely fun.”
Serica looked down through the large windows. She noticed people beginning to clear the area around the rocket, moving outside of crescents positioned all around the outside of the rocket. Behind them, walkways retracted while hoses moved in, connecting to the rocket. “What role do the crescents play?”
“The spires define the boundaries of the stasis bubble, as well as keep it stable once it is created.”
“Spires?” Serica asked, turning to Chatterton. “Why call them spires?”
“Um, well, if you cut them in half, they are spires, sort of a reflection of one another.”
“You’re not a very good liar, what’s the real reason?”
Chatterton laughed. “Well, it is a reference to wizard spires in an old video game some of the guys still play, which allowed Wizards to teleport between spires that existed in the world. Strangely, they look quite similar, except that, as you noted, these are more aptly crescents.”
“That’s really nothing to be embarrassed about, good to know there is humanity and relaxation even in a project as serious as this.” Serica pointed over to a screen. “It appears the fueling is about complete?”
He nodded. “We will be ready in a few minutes and the countdown will begin right about . . . Now.”
A clock behind Doms began counting down from ten minutes.
“You mentioned the math before, but can you can elaborate a little more on what is about to happen?”
“Sure. So, time stops inside of the bubble, while the universe moves forward. It is actually sort of the reverse of skipping a stone across the surface of time, more like allowing the universe to move while the bubble does not. Of course, everything inside of the bubble is moving, the rocket is moving the speed of the rotation of the Earth at this latitude, not to mention the speed of the Earth moving around the Sun, and the speed of the Solar System around the Milky Way, and the speed of the Galaxy through the Universe. The time, however, is so small, because all we are doing is moving the bubble from the surface of the Earth to safe distance outside of the debris field. When it gets there, the rocket will be traveling relative to the Earth the same speed that it was traveling while sitting on the surface of the planet.”
“And, at that time, the engines will fire up to accelerate the rocket into a stable orbit?”
“Exactly.”
“If this works, it changes everything. The only question becomes next steps.”
“That is what I do not know.”
Serica shook her head. “You had all sorts of ideas earlier.”
“I know,” he said, shaking his head. “I know what I want it to be. But, the world has different ideas. The war may have ended, but could this start a new war? Does this usher in a worldwide space-race? Where does it leave the people?”
“Your fusion reactors are dropping the prices of electricity worldwide. Consumption of fossil fuels has dropped to lows not seen in over two hundred years, it is not even profitable to drill for oil or mine for coal, anymore.”
“And, still, we have trouble feeding everyone, still the powerful seek profit over all. The tables have been upended, and this will engender those with money to again use those resources to further enrich themselves at the expense of others.”
Serica pursed her lips and puffed out her cheeks before letting her breath audibly escape her lips. “I cannot say that I disagree with you, unfortunately.”
“All we can do is try to keep the initial efforts as cooperative as possible, until the technology is replicated. Use it for the people, or perhaps lease it in a manner that the percentage of profits are returned directly to the people, to make their lives better by meeting basic needs, providing stable infrastructure, and a good education. I don’t know, but we don’t have long to figure it out.”
Behind Doms, the counter reached the last minute, and a voice sounded out a countdown over the speakers. Serica and the camera crew returned their attention to the rocket chamber. The tubes retracted from the rocket, everyone had disappeared from below. A small hum was heard, and a translucent milky neon blue bubble appeared around the rocket just inside of the spires, seemingly made of some liquid swirling about. When the countdown hit zero, for the briefest of moments the bubble turned a single solid blue, like the surface of an easter egg pulled from the dye. And, when it disappeared, the rocket was gone, and the streamers were pulled toward where it had just been.
“Room is re-pressurizing,” the voice over the speakers said. “Connection to Clew established, altitude and orientation nominal, engines firing.”
Below, technicians streamed into the chamber with champagne, congratulating one another. Their cheers could be heard all the way up in the observation chamber. Serica looked over to Chatterton, who had taken a seat in front of the screens.”
Serica walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder. “You did it, you really did it.”
He nodded.
She looked at the screen, watching a graphic showing the rocket establishing orbit, its name, ‘Clew’ in the upper left corner. “Why that name?”
Chatterton looked up at her, a tear trailing down his face. “I am become Daedalus. I fear for humanity, now that we can escape this labyrinth.”