The Way Station

A Series by Cy Sherman

Part: 1

With a yawn and the opening of his eyes captain Michael Terrance sat up on the edge of his cot looking out into the stars of deep space. "Today's the day," Michael said to himself as he prepared for the day ahead. Eventually making his way down to the meeting place held every morning for all updates, from the health of the ship to the health of each individual member of the team. As he walked and climbed downward he could see all things that could go wrong with today's landing. So he became resolute to make sure every detail was checked and rechecked before the final decision to land.

As Michael sat down, the rest of the team was still filtering in from their own areas of the ship, eventually everyone got seated and prepared for the morning meeting. Each member bringing up their information and statistics for their individual responsibility on their display screens that were apart of the oval table in front of them. Michael spoke as the room became quiet, "You all know how important today is. We've been on this trip for months at almost half the speed of light. Everything has gone precisely as it was planned to, and we are to the point of landing and getting started on the furthest necessary way station for travel to the super earth planet people are in need to reach." With that captain Michael Terrance looked sternly at each member of the team. Each member nodded in the affirmative and said the word green. Michael then walked to each individual station and reviewed the information himself, then asked each person to recheck it again. After this was done they each donned their suits for space's atmosphere and strapped into their chairs.

Michael then said in a much louder excited tone, "Team! Are we still green?!" In unison the others yelled, "GREEN!!" and with that Michael hit a button that caused the center table to retract and the shutters opened. "There it is people and here we go!" exclaimed Michael and with a key stroke the landing began. As the ship slowly rotated for the landing captain Michael said, "Aahhh yes, the green lights of home." On the surface of the giant moon that was chosen for the site, sat small unmanned ships that were sent ahead of the team. Each ship had a green light upon the top to help identify the landing site. They all contained edibles, materials and/or equipment that were to be utilized in the building of the way station. The United Earth Space Alliance or Tuesday as it was nicknamed, had sent eight such ships to this destination. "Umm captain, we may have a bit of a problem here." Said William Stein, one of two Master Engineers. Michael responded "What is it William?" "Well I'm only counting seven pod ships down there captain." Michael then ran his fingers over his keypad and the ship began a surface scan as far as the ship could reach. "We may need to have someone go on a walk, but only if it's feasible and if the cargo of said pod is immediately needed people."

There were a total of 6 people sent, along with one bot. Bot's (Biomechanical Autonomous Talent) have a multitude of abilities, anything from carrying excessive weight to constructing things as the Engineers do. They can also withstand extreme environments, so they also navigate and work in mines to get to the precious ores needed to make it to sustainability. More people are scheduled to come to the new base and help in the process of building it and making it a place people will want, and enjoy, to come to. However, that's only after a confirmation is sent to Tuesday letting them know all is well with the team, along with the most current schematic of the base. Then, if all goes well with the next team, they would arrive in around three to four months. The team could be X amount of people and bots, or a large non manned with nothing but bots. Either way it would be very beneficial for the team and allow them a much needed rest by then.

The ship made it through it's final rotation and the landing gear came out successfully, it then released enough upward propulsion to allow it to land very softly in the strange low oxygen environment of the moon's surface. The glowing green lights of the pods could be seen within several yards of their landing. "Perfect" thought Michael as the ship powered down and the team excitedly prepared to exit the ship in order to get the base up and running. After Michael coded the door and put his hand on the release lever, he paused and said, "Are we ready to make our new home?" The team responded with a unanimous and unison, "YES Sir!" With that the Captain pulled down the lever until it locked into place. Time seemed to standstill for the team as the oxygen was pulled out of the ship for use later. The door then slightly hissed and the door opened from the top down and became a staircase to the moons surface. The team slowly exited down the stairs, being very careful on the first time stepping on this type of surface. It was chemically very close to the same composition as the moon that rotates the earth, but not quite..."It's a bit fluffier." said Michael as he stepped out upon the moon's surface. "Okay people let's get started. You all know what to do." said Michael. "As do I." he thought as he started walking towards the near by pods. "The captain has all the necessary skills to do the work of any and all team members." Michael thought, "But with such a skilled crew I always become a runner for materials. Laughing he thought "And I'm complaining?!"

The second Master Engineer, Billy Stafford, was the first to reach the pods. A smile broke across his face as he came to recognize the Engineer symbols on the side of the pod. "Captain I found our pod!" he said as he began the sequence to open it. Michael knew exactly what he meant and replied, "Excellent Billy what do you need to get started?" "A strong back!" Laughing slightly Billy added, "sorry captain." "No, no Billy don't be sorry, that's good news! I'm on your six and on my way." Michael replied. Then he said, "I just hope Smithy wasn't on the missing pod." "NO WAY! You brought Smithy!...THE Smithy with you captain?!!" Exclaimed Wendy Polowski, the only medical doctor on the team. "Yeah Wendy, I just couldn't see leaving him behind. If this is going to be home, we'll need him." "You got that right!" replied Wendy. "What's the big deal? It's a bot right?" William asked after a bit of silence. "Not just any bot, captain has him programed better than any I've ever encountered. The only one to ever help me in intricate operations. I'm glad he's here captain." "Me too Wendy, me too."

Billy finished opening the pod and accessed his engineering tool, getting it to full operational status. Just then a hand touched his shoulder, startling him into jumping slightly. "Sorry Billy." Said Michael as he went around Billy to get to the crates of materials used for building the structures needed. "Okay Billy, stack me up. Don't be shy either the gravity here is a little less than what we thought so let's use it to our advantage." "You got it captain! Hey everybody! Captains' going to break the old record! You watch and see!" Said Billy in an excited tone, and began stacking on the bricks of base metals and Plastics. The record stood at six bricks, at least three of each. Billy reached the sixth and said, "tell me when to stop captain." "Okay." Michael replied. Billy placed ten bricks in the captains arms before he said good. "A new record!" hooted Billy. The captain walked to the site that was planned for the needs of the base, all eyes on him.

Billy loaded one brick of each into the backpack that fed into the engineering tool, strapped it to his back, then fed one more brick of each onto the easy load shoulder tracks that would keep him working longer without stopping. He then connected the ports and nozzles from the backpack to the tool and made sure the harness was properly secured on him. Rechecking that all was in full operation, he stooped down and retrieved one more brick of base metals and plastics to carry over to where the first structure was to be built. He was always excited to start building new structures, the engineering tool was the most state of the art mankind had ever created. It was a combination of a 3-D printer and a plasma cutter, it also had the capabilities to break down an existing structure so that the materials could be recycled for later or immediate use. The tool simply atomizes the materials it needs from the material bricks, and the blueprint is programmed into the tool's settings, so it just codes each individual atom for the job it has been programed, and chosen, to build. Upon setting the extra bricks down the excessive weight of the habitat engineering tool caused him to stumble slightly. Michael was there to help brace him up if he needed it, "you okay Billy? Are you in need of some rest already?" "No captain, just need to get used to it again is all." "Good to hear Billy." Michael then addressed the entire team. "Team we are about to start the first structure of the way station! However it will take a day or two to be able to utilize it for the water and oxygen it provides. We have plenty on the mother craft that will last us much longer than we'll need, as well as, plenty of food. If you need a break take one, and give a shout out if you need help, and most importantly be careful!" With that, the construction of the way station was under way.