Chapter 40

On Dóchas, the morning meeting had just finished and the crew members were leaving for their duty stations when Erin of Sarah’s Clan said, “Lorelei, Melinda, Earl, what do you have planned for today?”

Lorelei said, “This morning we planned on going up to the observation platform to watch the task groups gather for departure.”

“You are welcome to join us on the bridge, although the view won’t be quite as good.”

Lorelei looked at her companions then said, “Great. We will take you up on that offer.

“Are you guys on the bridge for this exodus?”

“No. Briana’s Clan has the bridge but they’ve asked us to join them. Our shift begins at 19:00 hours, so after the task groups have departed we plan on resting until it is time for us to follow them.”

“You won’t get much rest,” replied Earl. “Doesn’t the 12 hour shifts make it a bit awkward at times to accomplish your tasks?”

“With our multiple responsibilities, it can,” replied Erin.

“Multiple?”

“Yes. There are times when fulfilling our duties requires us to be away from the bridge. Although our presence there is not absolutely necessary, we prefer to have people on the bridge when we are is underway. Currently, we have two other clans qualified to handle the bridge. Both are always willing to fill in when we are needed someplace else. The downside is that it cuts into their rest periods.”

“That’s Amy’s and Briana’s Clans?”

“Yes.”

“Saying that you ‘prefer’ to have people on the bridge at all times implies that you don’t have to.”

“That’s correct. Through our active link with Star we can perform our bridge duties either from any place on the ship or somewhere nearby. Most of the time those tasks can be accomplished quite easily. However when there is a rapidly changing situation, perception and timing can have a significant impact in responding. Essentially, these issues go away when there are people on the bridge with whom we can interact.”

“Does that mean you are telepathically working through those on the bridge?”

“A better way to think of it is as us working together or jointly. By connecting telepathically with those on the bridge we are sharing information in real time. When managing the bridge remotely there is a bit of a delay due to relaying information.”

“So this is another example of the benefits of telepathic communication.”

“Yes, it is a blessing, a very significant blessing. While it is a very significant tool, it is important to remember that it is only one of a set of unique tools. We need to be careful to keep all of our tools well honed. Maintaining them is much like maintaining our physical fitness level.”

“We noticed when we joined you at An Clochán that everyone is physically quite active. In some respects the level of physical activity seems to have increased since starting our voyage. Those who joined us at J3 have even picked up the fitness bug.”

“Some think that is due to the constant danger of where we are. As many have said, “Space is a harsh mistress.” We hope the interest in maintaining our fitness and skills continues after we settle on a planet.”

“We think it will,” replied Lorelei, “because we do them together. I know that before I began living here I didn’t exercise as much as I should. There were always other things that seemed more pressing. In hindsight, I think that was because my exercising was usually done alone or surrounded by strangers. It is much more fun to do it with someone you are close to.”

“We agree,” said Sarah’s Clan.

“Can we back up a second?” asked Earl.

“Sure.”

“I am puzzled by your comments about managing a situation remotely through those on the bridge. I would think that that would slow a response even more rather than improve it.”

“Depending on the sharing criteria it could,” replied Joyce. “When we do that, those on the bridge take the lead in making the choices. They have too. We act as a knowledge, or analysis, resource which we think shortens response time.”

“Okay. So you’re saying that it’s like having a bigger computer managing the situation.”

“Since we’re drawing analogies, how about thinking of it as a larger neural network rather than a bigger computer?”

“I agree,” replied Earl just as they walked onto Dóchas’ Bridge.

“Good morning,” said Briana’s Clan.

“And a good morning to all of you,” replied Sarah’s Clan and their friends.

“How are we doing?” said Sarah.

“Right on schedule,” replied Briana. “Both task groups are forming up now. Dearg will depart in 30 minutes and Bán group will follow 5 minutes later.”

“Why the staggered times?” asked Lorelei.

“That is so that they arrive in Celia system at the same moment, but on opposite sides of the system.” Earl and Lorelei looked puzzled. “Looks like a little more information is required. Abaigeal, would you fill in the details?”

“Sure. Have any of you hunted birds?”

“Not really, well except for skeet shooting,” replied Lorelei

“Well what we are doing is kind of like that. From our perspective Celia system is moving from left to right as we move closer. Both task groups are using the same coordinates relative to us and will travel at the same speed. The difference in departure time will place them on either side of Celia at, or close to, our matrix of surveillance satellites.”

“So Celia system is moving toward us?”

“Yes, sort of. If we maintained this position, it would cross our path at an angle in several light years’ time. Once our task groups have left, we will shift our position so that we will intercept Celia system and arrive above Celia’s north pole. After a brief pause there, we will make a short jump to end up near A-Celia.

“By using the axis of our fleet as a reference, we are providing our task groups navigation systems with a more precise reference point. Although not really necessary, it does tighten up their point of arrival. If you want, I can put up a graphical display showing how it works.”

“Your explanation is just fine,” replied Lorelei. “Skeet shooting is easier.”

“Yea, it doesn’t take eight clock cycles to know whether your timing was correct.” Everyone chuckled on hearing Abaigeal’s response.

Those on the bridge watched the large video monitor showing the two groups of ships moving into their positions. On the visual display they could clearly see the marker lights of each ship, and a hint of a shadow when one moved. If it wasn’t for the marker lights, it would have been very difficult to see them due to their low reflectance.

A second large monitor switched between two views every few minutes. One view showed the relative position of the ships in the two task groups. As each ship moved, their marker shifted on the display. The second view showed the current relative positions of all ships in Destiny group.

It wasn’t long before they heard Christina say, “Destiny Command, Dearg group requesting permission to depart.”

“Dearg group, permission granted, execute on my mark,” replied Briana. “Have a safe journey and may the Gods and Goddesses be with you.”

“Aye, aye. And with you. On your mark.”

“5... 4... 3... 2... 1 ... Mark!” With Briana’s final word, Dearg group began moving forward and within seconds disappeared, simply vanishing from sight. On the second monitor, a third view was added to the rotation which showed Dearg moving away from their location.

“Abaigeal, I think this is little more complicated than skeet shooting,” said Lorelei.

“It is, but the concept isn’t much different. The variables are the same but the distances are much greater. This makes the calculation a little more difficult as both numerical and timing precision have a strong impact on actual arrival point.”

“Well we should be thankful that you are doing the math rather than me.”

“Thank you. It is the support our AIs give us that make these tasks relatively easy to execute.”

Soon they heard Cathan say, “Destiny command, Bán group requesting permission to depart for Celia system.”

“Bán group, permission granted, execute on my mark,” replied Briana. “May your journey be safe and the Gods and Goddesses be with you.”

“Aye, aye. And with you. Executing, on your mark.”

Briana watched the counter for a moment then began with “5... 4... 3... 2... 1 ... Mark!” Just as with the first group, once Briana issued her command Bán group began moving forward, and then within seconds just vanished from view. On the second monitor, in the third view, a marker now showed Bán group slightly trailing Dearg group.

“Sarah’s and Briana’s Clans,” said Earl, “thank you for the opportunity to see this from the bridge. Now I think we should be going so you can make your preparations for this afternoon.”

“You can stay if you want,” said Briana. “We know that Sarah’s Clan is leaving so they can rest for a while before our departure. Shortly, we will resume going through our departure check list.”

“Well perhaps, but only if we are not a distraction.”

“We’ll tell you if you are.”

When Melinda saw Earl and Lorelei nod to each other, she said, “As much as I’d like to, I am expected back in communications. So I’ll see you all at dinner.”

“We’ll walk with you,” said Sarah’s Clan as the group moved to leave the bridge. “Briana’s Clan we will see you about 13:30 unless you need us sooner.”

“Okay. We’ll holler if we need you, otherwise see you then.”

Lorelei and Earl took a seat at the back of the bridge. They watched and listened to Briana’s Clan as they went about the departure preparations for Dóchas and Destiny Group.

“Oh my,” said Lorelei to Earl a few moments later, “this is fascinating.”

“Yes it is. The graphical displays makes it easier to see how all the bits fit together.”

“Yes. I’m glad we stayed.”

It was a little over an hour later that Earl and Lorelei were startled by the chime for lunch. “Wow, where did the time go,” said Earl.

“I don’t know.”

Briana said, “Earl, Lorelei, we’re going to be rotating personnel through lunch. Do you want to join us?” As she was speaking Adam came over to join them.

“You can leave while all of this is going on?” queried Lorelei.

“On days like today, we go to lunch in pairs and plan on being back in twenty minutes or less. Our schedule today has a lunch break in it, but by doing it in rotation things are not quite as hectic.”

“It looks to us like everything is going smoothly.”

“It is. We are a little ahead schedule. Four ships and their associated freighters have run through their full departure sequence without any problems. They rolled their sequence back to a hold point so they can assist others. The remaining ships are going through it now.”

“Is that normal?”

“Pretty much. In the past we’ve each gone through the sequence at the same time, directly to launch. This time we added more validation points which means it takes more time. We compensated for the additional time requirements by doing it in two groups so we can assist each other.”

“So if you are ahead of schedule that must mean there haven’t been any issues.”

Briana laughed and said, “If that happened we would be scared to death, ‘cause nothing is ever perfect. Actually, there have been a number of issues. Most have been resolved as they came up.”

“Were these things the Tigsuma group was bragging about?”

“We don’t think so. They are likely because we are scrutinizing each process a good deal more closely than we have in the past. None of the issues we’ve found would have caused us problems in and of themselves. If they cascaded together then they could have been more severe and made life really interesting.”

“So you’re pleased with today’s efforts?”

“Oh. You bet,” replied Adam as they walked into the dining area.

Adam and Briana quickly made themselves a couple of sandwiches before sitting down.

When Lorelei sat down with them she said, “This morning went really quickly. I was expecting it to be kind of dull.”

“Oh, it can be. Preparations for group departures are usually pretty intense. That is largely due to all of us needing to stay precisely in sync. By this time tomorrow the bridge should be pretty quiet or routine, as will most of the work areas.”

As they finished up their sandwiches Adam said, “Are you coming back up with us?”

“We need to check on a few things,” said Earl. “Would it be alright for us to come back up in an hour or so? We would like to see the FTL transition from the bridge.”

“Sure. If you are there by 13:15, you will be able to see all of it,” replied Briana.

“Okay. We’ll be there.”

Just as Adam and Briana got up, Cass and Ellie sat down, smiling, with two sandwiches a piece.

“You guys look pleased.”

“Yep. Engineering figured out the source of the issues that have been popping up. We haven’t seen these before because the program’s validation routine corrected them after a few moments, so all we ever saw was a lag in response.”

“Good,” replied Briana. “So what is the prognosis?“

“Engineering says it will be sorted well before our departure window.”

“Okay. We need to go. See you on the bridge.”

“We won’t be long,” replied Cass and Ellie as they began eating their sandwiches. “So Lorelei, Earl, what did you think of the preparations?”

“We think you guys work very well together. Your activity reminds me of synchronized dancing. It was fascinating to watch. We were amazed at how quickly the time passed, and all we did was watch.”

Earl said, “So which do you like better? Your Security Team duties, or working as a Command Staff alternate.”

“Security team,” replied both quickly. Cass continued with, “Learning the duties of the bridge has given us a better perspective of what the Command Staff does to direct and oversee ship operations. With this insight, we can provide them with better security in the future.”

“We don’t see any security issues on our ships.”

“There aren’t at the moment, but things can change. We need to try to anticipate those. Right now, we need to be going as time is moving along.”

“Okay. See you in a bit.”

It was 13:30 when Sarah’s Clan returned to the bridge. “You’re just in time,” said Cass. “We are now moving at 0.2 FTL. All ships are approaching their designated formation positions. Four Star Fighters are with each Badb cruiser. All others are on board. Formation will be locked in 15.”

“Okay,” replied Sarah. “Have there been any new issues?”

“No,” said Anita of Briana’s Clan. “Engineering solved the control problems that kept popping up earlier. It was in a routine that was getting its initial value from the wrong location. As the routine progressed it corrected itself, but the wrong initial value made it appear as if it was a lag in response.”

Briana said, “With the increase in the number of active ships in our formation the communication traffic has been very high.”

“Not surprising,” said Aoife of Sarah’s Clan.

“Even so, all sync checks are spot on. We will begin count down in a few moments.”

“What are sync checks?” asked Lorelei.

Tara replied, “Sync checks are to ensure all ships are on the same time base or reference frame, so that all of us enter FTL in the same envelope. This is accomplished by each ship executing FTL transition at exactly the same moment in time. If we don’t, we would be in separate envelopes which could cause us to arrive at slightly different destinations. Small time differences at FTL speed can translate into very large discrepancies in your arrival location.”

“Do we need to travel together as a single group?”

“No. We just prefer traveling in the same envelope as we can then interact with each other during the trip. The other advantage is that we all arrive at the same time and place.”

“So, what happens if we lose sync before FTL?”

“For Destiny group, our operational orders call for all ships to drop from FTL at +100 milliseconds and slow to 0.2 FTL, which is our speed now. At that point, we would regroup, resolve the cause and then transition to FTL again.”

“That’s a tenth of a second. How can a system react that quickly?”

“Our systems actually see the separation error before it occurs, but it takes a bit of time for them to respond. An alternative would be for each group or ship to continue on their own to their destination. We really don’t want to do that though as simulations indicate it could take a couple of clock cycles after reaching the destination to get back together.

“We think spending those clock cycles getting back together near the departure point is better than possibly spending more time at the destination. Especially since being in the same FTL envelope allows us to support each other during the voyage.

“Okay. It will be good to be on our way.”

“Are we leaving probes here like we’ve done in the past?”

“Yes. They will monitor this area for about 4 weeks and then depart for a predetermined location. A couple of Badb cruisers will pick them up in five weeks.”

“Destiny Group,” said Briana’s Clan as the J4 departure count down approached T-20 minutes, “begin acceleration to 0.4 FTL, per departure sequence, on command. 5... 4... 3... 2... 1 ... Mark.”

During the next several minutes the bridge was very quiet as all attention was focused on the monitors showing the status of Destiny group’s ships. All the ships accelerated smoothly to 0.4 FTL over a ten minute period.

As the countdown approached T-10 minutes Briana’s Clan said, “Destiny Group, begin acceleration to 0.6 FLT, per departure sequence, on command. 5... 4... 3... 2... 1 ... Mark.”

Destiny group continued their steady increase in velocity toward 0.6 FTL. All ships maintained position in the formation as their velocity increased. All consoles showed green lights.

At T-30 seconds on the countdown timer, Briana’s Clan said, “All ships execute FTL 4 transition on our command. Count begins at T-15.”

At T-15 Charlotte began the count verbally with, “15... 14... 13... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1 ... Mark!”

When Charlotte uttered the command all the ships in Destiny group began their transition to FTL4. It was only seconds after the ships reached FTL4 that the bridge erupted in cheers. Sarah’s Clan smiled as they heard the same response throughout the group.