The Galileo Conspiracy
by
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Taken from Chapter 5: Race against Time: Perry entered the pod and closed the door. He gave a “thumbs up” sign to Wilson who left the bay, sealed the air-lock and initiated decompression. The outer pod bay door opened and the docking arm extended taking Perry out into the daunting vastness of space. It was a sight that never failed to leave him feeling awed. He allowed a moment to view the clarity of the stars, the beauty of distant galaxies and the mystery of gas nebulae. He had his favourite star constellations. During times of stress, these few moments dedicated to the majesty of space calmed him: he was ready. Perry took a deep breath, it was now or never. “Releasing docking clamps... Now clear of docking ring...” The pod, looking like a baby spider clinging to the side of the GALI, drifted only a couple of metres before Perry turned it with very delicate touch of the thruster controls. Perry could visually see how he was progressing through the pod main window. He could also see a schematic on his monitor that showed his location in relation to two red lines that indicated the limits within which he could manoeuvre without being seen on Mars. As he went, he reported on his progress and the status of the pod’s systems. This was an unnecessary routine; Longman and Wilson were tracking him on their monitors and had their own readouts to confirm his status but it kept his thoughts ordered whilst allowing them to gauge their companion’s state of mind. “I’m in position... Extending upper and lower arms to maximum reach... Grabbing walk way with upper arm mandibles... Fixing to body with lower arm adhesive pads...” Longman watched the exterior view on the main monitor and acknowledged his reports. “Roger Eva Braun, we have visual confirmation of successful attachment... Proceed as planned.” Perry continued after only the briefest of pauses, the adrenaline was flowing and there were several beads of sweat on his forehead. He adjusted the temperature control on the left sleeve of his suit and as he had kept his visor open, wiped his forehead with the back of his right glove. “Activating laser cutter on low power, setting two...” Perry watched as the red beam moved across the metal surface in silence. It left a fine black line as it went which provided the only evidence that the cutter was indeed fully penetrating the metal. Perry watched nervously as the beam reached the middle of the first run. GILSON had assured him that on maximum extension of the pod arms, the beam would miss it by a full centimetre, yet it seemed to get very close to the curvature of the structures dome. He prayed that the arms had indeed fully extended and that the dome had been made with the same precision as those covering the real sensors. Perry could now do nothing except watch his monitors and status displays. He could not operate the laser controls with the same precision as the onboard computer, so tried to rest his arms on his lap. This they refused to do and instead floated at just below shoulder height. His tiredness suddenly returned and he found that his concentration slipped. His mind drifted back to his time at school when he was only seven years old in the junior engineering lab and his lecturer was just finishing an explanation on the theory of buoyancy using a displacement of water experiment. The students had a bowl containing a glass measuring beaker. The beaker contained water into which he has to put various objects to see if they floated and how much water the objects displaced; those objects that sunk, weighed more than the volume of water they displaced. For one test, the young Perry tried to place an orange in the beaker but it was slightly too big. One of his friends decided to help the orange into the beaker and thumped it in. The Jar broke and Perry was covered in water. The imaginary shock of water on his face brought Perry around. The computer was flashing to indicate the cut was complete. “John, are you all right? The computer indicates the cut is complete?” “Affirmative, the cut is complete... I’m OK Denise, just trying to relax while the laser and computer did their work... Please confirm that everything is still stable inside section 215...” “Everything appears fine John, proceed when ready...” “Detaching lower arms from main hull... Attaching lower arms to panel... Frank, release inner clamps...” This was one of the danger points. If one of the clamps inside section 215 did not release properly, then, when he tried to manoeuvre away from the GALI, its resistance could cause the pod to tumble with the structure attached. This risked setting off the bomb or causing the pod to impact into the GALI’s hull. Longman acknowledged his last request. “Confirmed, inner clamps released... You may proceed... Watch that you stay shadow side of Mars and good luck John.” Perry took a deep breath, “This is it,” he thought to himself. “Let’s get it over and done with.” “Detaching upper arms... Vectoring away from GALI on minimum thrust... 10 metres... 100 meters... 500 meters... The pod started to drift towards the red line but Perry easily compensated to remain in GALI’s shadow... 1000 meters... 5 kilometres. Rotating through 180 degrees... Releasing structure... Clear...” He allowed the structure to drift a few kilometres then as he relaxed a little he contacted the GALI. “Everything is fine, I’m returning to the pod bay.” “You can relax John Mars Observatory has just slipped back over the horizon. Come in direct and well done.” Nobody had a chance to feel good. The only warning they had that something was wrong come from GILSON. “Commander; the structure is beginning to tumble...” He didn’t get the chance to say any more; everything, even time itself seemed to be interrupted by a blinding flash.
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About the Book
It is the twenty-second century. The Earth is an ecological mess where the UN has become the dominant political influence. To reduce the exploitation of resources and pollution on earth, mining colonies have been established on the Moon and Mars. The jewel in the UN space development program was 'Project JUPITER', centred on the UNSV GALILEO, a deep space, survey and mining vessel built to exploit the vast mineral resources of Jupiter and the asteroid belt. Jan Maldrick of the Central Intelligence and Security Service had been given a simple close protection assignment. However, he found himself being dragged into the centre of conflicting conspiracies to save the human race and obtain global dictatorial power, with the GALILEO as the target for both. With no way out, he becomes embroiled in a complex plot involving espionage, sabotage, assassination and corruption. The GALILEO was the key. The vessel needed to be protected and fate had selected him to achieve this. Only the GALILEO and her crew could guarantee the future of mankind. Confined to the Earth, humanity remains vulnerable. Extreme climate change, volcanic activity, asteroid impact or global nuclear war; any one of these could threaten us with extinction. We have the technological capability; isn’t it about time we expanded beyond our planet to ensure survival of the species? The story of the GALILEO Conspiracy seeks to create a fictional future situation that might lead to a small band of humanity taking that leap and leaving them in a state of affairs that sets the scene and raises questions for future stories. What might happen if a small band of talented and dedicated people made their home in space? How would they survive? What kind of society might they build? What would their challenges be? Are we alone?
About the Author
Steven J Patterson was born in Coventry, Warwickshire and following 16 years service as an officer of the British Army continued public service with the Welsh Development Agency and subsequently Welsh Assembly Government. Now living in Swansea, Wales, this is his first novel. The concept and outline was first penned in 1988 when he was stationed with the MoD in London. Having just bought a family home and struggling with a new mortgage as well as expense of rent and commuting, he needed to pass the time during the week in a way that didn't add debt. A life-long fan of science fiction and avid reader of authors such as Isaac Asimov, Arthur C Clarke and Frank Herbert, he felt inspired to try writing for himself and soon became hooked. Science fiction allowed his imagination and creativity to flow freely resulting in many ideas for a number of linked stories. However, career and family commitments got in the way as they do with many aspiring writers and it was 1996 before the first draft of the novel was completed. Following another change in direction, it was 2009 before the pressures of work eased enough to allow him to finally review and complete the novel. Surprisingly, even though it has been twenty one years in the writing, few amendments have been required to incorporate real world technology advances. His Children have grown up; the home doesn't need any major work, so instead of producing military, business or public service reports, he can at last dedicate the time to being creative and fulfilling his prime interest, Science Fiction writing.