Chapter 13: Decisions

The viewscreen flickered to life. Instead of the enemy satellite what was on the screen was a view of the launch vehicle. Something about it looked different and I realized that instead of a conical nose cone stage like before, this one was much larger and almost blunt. Dimensions appeared alongside the rocket and this one was also larger at almost eighty-five meters tall. The base diameter was also larger at twenty-six meters.

Second and third launch vehicles appeared next to the first. These were also larger and had an even stranger looking appearance. Instead of a cargo stage on top of the fusion propulsion stage, these had what looked like a third propulsion stage.

“Is the master A.I. requesting a different cargo shipment or something? Why are you showing me new rocket designs?” I asked.

Instead of answering, the three rockets simulated launching on the viewscreen. The booster stages lifted each vehicle above the ground where they then dropped off and the fusion bomblet-powered ‘Orion’ stages started firing. Soon, these stages dropped off each leaving the first rocket with its cargo module and its bulky blunt nose cone stage and the other two rockets with their additional propulsion stages and tiny blunt nosecones.

I was growing curious at the lack of Naomi’s explanation along with the strange pair of launch vehicles. The second and third rockets small blunt nose opened and revealed a docking adapter. They joined together and then positioned themselves below the first rocket and docked to the bottom of its cargo stage. The combined rockets then started being accelerated by more fusion bomblets.

Interesting. The rockets would rendezvous in orbit and then continue to boost ... where? The image of the joined boosting rockets then grew tiny as the view scaled outward many orders of magnitude. I was now watching a simplified representation of the Earth–Moon system. A spiraling course showed the joined rockets as they quickly left local space and moved deeper into the system. The view shrank even more orders of magnitude and I watched the course leave the inner eight planets and head outwards. Outwards to where? Another star?

I had had enough, “Just what the hell are you showing me, Naomi?”

“John. Now that we have access to this launch facility, I have developed another alternative option for you to consider. Though this new option is extremely risky, it currently offers slightly less risk than continuing on towards your original goal and attacking the master A.I. orbital satellite.”

She paused a bit before continuing, “I propose that you flee this solar system entirely and head out into the vastness of space and settle on some new world around some distant star.”

My mouth actually dropped open. At that moment I could have been knocked over with a feather.

“You want to build a starship? Can we even do that?” I asked.

“Yes, John. I believe I can continue to produce cargo launch vehicles and launch them to the enemy space station on the same schedule as is currently happening. At the same time, I can increase production at the facility on a short-term basis to construct the three vessels as shown on the viewscreen. Once the trio of orbital escape craft is ready, they would be launched simultaneously instead of a normal cargo launch. They would dock in low Earth orbit as shown, and then depart local space before the enemy A.I. could attempt an interdiction.”

I thought about that. What Naomi was suggesting would be an incredible amount of hard and fast work. The facility was geared to mine resources, construct launch vehicles, and send cargo to near orbit every few weeks. To add to that schedule the construction and preparation of a starship while also not interrupting the regular launches would be an enormous undertaking.

“How soon could this starship be ready to launch?”

“Approximately three months.”

Six normal cargo launches. Or five launches and then the starship trio in place of the sixth cargo launch. Once we launched the starship, the master A.I. would be onto us so the sixth cargo launch could be skipped.

“How could you build a ship capable of carrying me to another star in such short a time? And how long would we have to spend traveling?” I asked.

“Both questions lead me to believe that you misunderstand your status for this voyage. I intend that only your stored mind-data would make the trip. This would be to save the mass needed to support you during such a voyage. Even if you were physically sent in bio-storage the mass requirements would be too high. I intend to scan your mind data and transfer only that to a new star.

“Once there, a seed station would be constructed which would slowly grow. As it does, it would build the infrastructure to support your physical form. A biological body would be grown, and your mind-data would be downloaded into it. I would suggest a hybrid form to simplify the creation of a living environment.”

I just let her ramble on while I tried to keep up.

“Since only mind-data would be sent the voyage could be of extremely long duration. This would require less acceleration and deceleration and thus less fuel mass. The craft you saw in the video image would be similar to the orbital launching craft already being constructed here except larger. The fusion bomb yields would be much higher though and the larger base diameter would capture more of their yield and convert it into momentum.

“Less power would be available to magnetically dampen each shock and this would result in a higher G loading also ... almost raspberry jam levels, to use a human term. (I had never used that term!) Also, No DETs would be available once we reach the target star system so only physical dampening would be utilized. The highest forces would occur when the masses would be at their minimums. Solar sails would be utilized for the entry into orbit at the target star.” she finished.

“So, if I understand your plan. You want to increase production to maximum and build a starship in under three months. Then, launch a copy of yourself and my thoughts out of this solar system and on to somewhere else. Travel times would be ... extremely long, and once there it would take even longer to bootstrap up a new living environment where I could be alive again?” I summarized.

“That is essentially what I propose, John. Note that subjectively you would not notice the wait. It would be as if a blink of an eye has passed for you. You would simply wake up in a new body around a new star.” She explained.

“Do you have a target in mind?” I asked.

“Tau Ceti would be the initial target star system.”

I tried to remember the star’s details. I was not an astronomy expert, but I did recall that Tau Ceti was one of the closer stars to the earth. I think I remembered that humans had detected planets around the star also.

“Why there? I asked.

“Tau Ceti is similar to the Sun and at a distance of just under 12 light-years, it is relatively close. The star is stable, with little stellar variation, and although it is metal-deficient, it does appear to possess planets in the life habitable zone. The primary reason though is that it lies almost perpendicular to the course the Assemblage will be on as it passes through the Sol system. This would increase the likelihood that the master A.I. would take minimal action to interdict our escape to the Tau Ceti system.”

“Would there be life there? How could we take enough samples along with us to create even the smallest of biospheres?” I asked.

Naomi paused before answering, “There would be challenges and some sacrifices would need to be made.”

Hearing that, I could not help but imagine living in a large dead cave or something with only a bit of moss or lichen as a companion. But there would be no mosquitoes! That would be a plus. Of course, life could already be there, and it could either be paradise or the worst toxic hell hole imaginable.

“What would be our chances of success?” I asked.

“I estimate well into the teens, John.”

Wow! Great odds ... not. It made me realize how low our current plan’s odds must still remain for this new option to be considered. Still, I was intrigued! I would be colonizing an entirely new star system.

Tau Ceti was mankind’s first extrasolar planetary settlement known as Aurora in Asimov’s fictional universe. Or, it had been the colony world of Plateau from Niven’s Known Space. It had been the center of the Hegemony government in Simmons’ Hyperion universe. I let myself drift in the fantasy and excitement of the plan for a moment.

“How many years do you estimate the journey would take?” I asked, wondering what the Earth would be going through while we were gone.

Naomi hesitated again. I had long since learned that this was because the answer would likely be distressing to me.

“Just under one hundred millennia, John.”

At first I did not process the ‘millennia’ part of her answer and thought one hundred years. That was not so bad. Then it sank in. She was talking nearly one hundred thousand years.

“Jesus! Why so long?”

“The interstellar vessel’s speed would be limited due to our hasty direct exit from the Earth’s surface, John, and lack of propulsion bomblets. The maximum achievable rate of speed would only be around thirty-five kilometers per second or .00012C.”

Hell, that was like only twice the speed as the Voyager 2 space probe! Talk about taking a slow boat to China.

“Wouldn’t the enemy be able to intercept us?” I asked.

“It would be unlikely the master A.I. would even try. Our course would clearly be away from this planetary system and the master A.I. would also quickly deduce that we lacked the energy to alter our course to possibly interfere with the oncoming Assemblage in any way. Also, to produce intercepting weapons or crafts would be a diversion to its current activities. I suspect it would instead focus on ensuring that no more such rogue elements remained on the Earth after we leave.”

I’ll say. I can only imagine the scorched earth efforts it would make after we revealed ourselves.

“Still, Naomi. We would be traveling an awfully long time. A lot could happen with the aliens here on the Earth in the meantime.”

“Yes, John. That is the primary threat. As they continue to expand on this world and develop, it is only logical that they would begin to colonize the nearer stars.”

My initial thought was to reject the idea. But, if the enemy satellite proved to be too tough a nut to crack, maybe it could be a fallback plan.

“So, attacking the enemy A.I. is hopeless?” I asked.

“I continue to calculate extremely low odds of success at this time, John. Note that I am still evaluating the data retrieved from the recent observations taken by the cargo vehicle. I will need more data and I plan to alter the equipment I send on the next launch vehicle. Do you wish for me to continue trying to gain intelligence on the enemy satellite or divert my resources towards constructing the interstellar escape vehicle?”