Chapter 2. First Light

Jack Matson awoke from a six-month sleep and. after disconnecting probes from his body and climbing out of his hibernation capsule, realized that he was the first of a crew of twelve to be revived. He looked over at the other capsules and saw that only three were active. The only conclusion he could come to was that something was very wrong, but he would deal with that later after he found out what his Hyper-ion-drive-engine- deep-space-cruiser's status was.

With much effort he managed to shuffle to the ship's shower unit immediately next to the hibernation chambers. He was anxious to remove the antibacterial lotion that had been applied to his body to prevent infections. The shower chamber was open to the corridor. He was clueless as to why that was the case, but he didn't care. All he wanted was to feel hot water on his flesh. After entering the chamber, he was repeatedly soaked with a soapy mix that covered his entire body. This was followed by an equally strong blast of hot-water and then a less powerful rinse with cold water followed by a warm air-drying session before he could exit the chamber.

He sat down at a robotic grooming station next to the showers that used metallic arms and hands to cut his hair and shave his beard. There were no scissors or knives on the ship, nothing that could be used as a weapon, a safety protocol to prevent suicide or violence.

After the grooming procedure had been completed, he proceeded to find his quarters. He was surprised to discover that his name was on the door to the commander's Taj Mahal of quarters right next to the showers. It consisted of a full-sized bed, two comfortable chairs and a large cabinet that contained his allotted clothing, consisting of briefs, short-sleeved Tees, shorts and step-in-sneakers. He realized that this spartan allotment was probably common for long distance space missions.

After walking to the food station, he downed an energy drink to revive his wasted feeling so that he could go to the command center and find out was had happened to the rest of the crew.

The vessels' command center consists of chairs at various stations, including ship control, engineering, telescope and communication. These stations employ projected keyboards and screens to avoid mechanical breakdowns.

The ship's computer guidance system is controlled by a robot that had a human like artificial face on an otherwise robotic body. His chest plate had a tag that indicated his designation was 'Tog'.

Jack sat down next to him. "What's our status?"

Tog turned to look at him with his bright blue robotic eyes. "Everything is operating within designed parameters. We are three days away from contacting the A-20 Probe." His voice was that of a normal human, not an android. It had a soothing quality, never exhibiting excitement, anxiety or stress.

"Where is it now?"

"It is in orbit around a planet."

Jack squinted at him. "What planet?"

"It is a six-thousand-kilometer radius planet fifty thousand kilometers from our present position."

Jack knew that a planet that size shouldn't be out here in the Kuiper belt. A planet Nine Neptune-like planet was theoretically supposed to be out here, but it had not yet been discovered. He would wait until the other three crew members were revived to discuss the issue.

His first action was to determine why there were only three other active hibernation capsules, instead of the eleven that should have been occupied. He entered his password into the main system and began studying the ship's status. According to the vessel's condition lists, the ship was in good shape with plenty of fuel, water, oxygen and supplies. All systems, including the artificial gravity system, were up to full functional status. There were no indications of a problem.

What surprised him was that his three remaining crew members were females. He didn't have a problem with their gender. What concerned him was the fact that they were rookies like he was. They had PhD degrees and NASA academy accreditations and training, but they had no experience on actual space missions.

What was even more surprising was how similar they seemed, being alike in age and physical condition. Their photos displayed that youthfulness. Jessica Fenton was a blond with a classically beautiful face, Lorrie Wells was a brunette with a more serious appearance, and Natale Nadir was a saucy looking red head with more vivid features. They were not what he had expected, but this was also his first mission into space, and he had no idea what they were capable of.

He was about to find out when they showed up at the command center.

"Where is everyone?" Jessica asked, her pretty face projecting concern.

"You're looking at them," Jack replied with a stoic expression.

"What? I thought there was supposed to be a crew of twelve on this mission."

He gave her a subtle grin before he projected a more-serious demeanor. "That's what I was told, but it seems that they decided not to join us."

"We're not experienced with space missions," Lorrie cried jamming her fists into her hips. "Why would they trust us on a mission like this?"

Jack's expression changed to a more contemplative one, avoiding looking at her. "I don't know, but there must be a reason." He turned to her. "Maybe they figured that this mission wasn't important enough."

"I don't think NASA is that careless with taxpayer's funds," Lorrie said. "This mission has to be costing at least a billion on a crazy chase out here in the space boonies."

"Yeah," Natale said "They have a space-capable-remote-repair platform that could have done what we're supposed to do."

Jack stared at her for a moment before replying. "I don't think this mission is about repairing the probe. It's the Earth-sized planet the probe is orbiting that's why we're out here.

"There isn't supposed to be Earth-sized planets out in the Kuiper belt," Natalie said. "Most of the objects out here are asteroid sized rocks and planetoids like Pluto."

Jack shrugged. "Maybe the experts were wrong."

"If this planet is that important, why wouldn't the planetary experts want to be here to explore it?" Lorrie asked. "Why leave it to a bunch of rookies."

Jack turned away before replying. "Maybe they were concerned about a possible risk that we don't know about."

They stared at him, trying to discern if his statement represented a real danger or he was just toying with them.

Jack pointed to a station to the right of the pilot station. "Activate the telescopic system and see if you can spot anything on the planet."

They stared at him for a few moments before sitting down in the chairs at the telescopic station.

The Command Station was on the forward side of a large cylindric wheel deck that spun fast enough to create artificial gravity. This command center consisted of five computer stations next to one another.

The so-called mess hall, hibernation capsule chamber, shower unit and the crew's quarters were on the opposite side of the wheel. A second independent deck wheel contained science labs and replacement storage. A third larger deck wheel was dedicated to robotic farming. The three cylindric chambers were separated by tubes that ran through the separate axles that these wheels rotated on. Traveling to these other wheels required floating through the shafts in free fall.

The rotating wheel decks were humongous. Imagine being able to look up and see someone upside down walking above. It required getting used to, but like most situations that seem impossible, one can eventually adjust to a supposed weird situation.

Jack continued plowing through all the systems data to make sure that everything was copasetic. Whatever would happen on this mission, he had no intentions of returning to Earth in a hibernation capsule. There was a remote chance of suffering a stroke if his metabolism wasn't regulated correctly. He realized that he would have to put up with a boring trip back, but he didn't care.

Lorrie turned to him. "That planet's atmosphere contains oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water."

That revelation startled him. It meant that it could foster life. He realized that this mission was more important than he realized. If NASA command knew about this, why didn't they send exo-planet experts to explore it. He concluded that there was something weird about this mission, and he was determined to find out what it was.