Parallax

parallax technosense

Wesley Frakes never made a mistake.

A Short Story º by Thomas Mills

Parallax Copyright © 2017 Thomas Mills • All Rights Reserved

Prologue 2018 Wesley Frakes never made a mistake. About to enter a half-orbit around Mars while testing the new PhaseSlip Dimensional Propulsion drive, he knew he’d have time to conduct a visual inspection of the LifePod bays. Just one of the constantly required tasks for every C.H.O.P.S. pilot to ensure the efficacy of all on board safety measures. As he knelt to make sure LifePod.4 matched the ready status of the other three pods on the Endeavor, tendons supporting his right knee gave way, propelling Frakes through the static energy field of Pod.4’s open hatch.

Character(s)

Commander Wesley Frakes (Wes): Main Character C.H.O.P.S.† Pilot – † Commander º Helios º Operational º Planetary º Survey Hal Simpson: Jet Propulsion Lab, Junior Engineer

parallax

LifePod Parallax The Planetary Survey Ship Endeavor deviated from standard procedure as a LifePod ejected with a human passenger while Endeavor was still intact, still in-flight. The ship’s computer detected the launch and disappearance of the pilot. Decelerating to a dead stop, it conducted a near-space search for the missing crewman. In the Pod, redundant systems were unable to compensate for an intermittently firing attitude thruster, causing Pod.4 to spin slowly along its lateral axis. Unable to make a conventional landing, the craft spun in a long flat spiral to the planet’s surface, skidding into a small crater and smashing against the far rim. Pilot Wesley Frakes was tossed from the wreckage, still alive, though badly injured.

technosense

– Thomas Mills Artist/Entrepreneur (269) 203-5400 thom.mills@me.com This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Images are licensed through Adobe Stock Images.

PARALLAX – Technosense Copyright © 2017 by Thomas Mills All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

mars

“Damn!.” Frakes had grown accustomed to verbalizing his emotions during long periods of deep space isolation. He spat blood angrily onto the inner rim of his CarbonClear helmet ring, but was alive. “Barely alive,” he mumbled considering his situation. “ExoSuit intact...” offered a mechanical voice within his helmet. “...functioning at 80%, MedVac suit components providing temporary stasis, sub-dermal anesthetic and negligible repair.” “My leg’s busted in two places!” Frakes groaned, between waves of searing pain. Again the voice offered, “ExoSuit diagnostics: post-triage immediately required. Surgery is mandated.”

He tried to concentrate. Frakes knew that he must administer medication judiciously to survive with minimally-affected senses and that his recovery would depend upon survival instincts and external circumstances.

The banged up suit issued a muted proximity alert. He turned awkwardly from the waist in response, plasma rifle recoiling three times, as a bloody haze clouded his vision. Frakes fully understood the nature of his predicament. Pinned under a section of ablative shielding from an engine nacelle, he’d reduced a perceived alien threat into scattered, smoking technojunk.

But now...he had to get off this planet.

Cumulative experience had motivated him to instinctively destroy the alien device that had rolled over the crater rim. No quarter. None requested.

“SynthConstructs,” muttered Frakes grimacing. Full mobility would have enabled him to evaluate the situation, including the mechanized device and its probable programming. No chance now.

Frakes drifted in and out of consciousness. Choking on bloody saliva, gut-heaving coughs wrenched him back to life. He felt welded to the crater wall by the smoking debris immobilizing his fractured leg. Frakes thought nothing of the need for violent action just now. His race had defeated the SynthConstructs, devices of their own engineering that had turned against humans. He had no idea what that thing was nor what it was capable of doing.

Pain wracked his body. He’d need to use lower levels of medication to stay alert. His thoughts drifted incoherently. Frakes had no way of knowing the LifePod had crushed one of the alien constructs as it tore through the crater.

But, it was angrily noted by NASA Mars mission team engineers as the delayed messages from two multi-billion dollar Rovers simply ceased... ...one, shortly after the other.

2

Milky Way Galaxy

2018

earth

PhaseSlip Dimensional Propulsion Drive – Test Run October 27- 31 (2018) Mars/Earth: Perihelic Opposition

(closest distance between the two planets occuring every two years)

35.8 million miles apart

Com delay: 3.7 minutes (each way)

Propulsion System: “Warning, Warning...FAILURE!” Alert! Entering...Mars Orbit

3

NASA Wesley Boyd Frakes

Mars Exploration º Mission Director

2018

“See if there’s any information that may have been delayed in transmission before losing those Rovers,” barked Wesley Frakes, Mars Exploration mission director.

“I think we may have gotten lucky Wes,” offered Hal Simpson a junior Jet Propulsion Lab engineer. “It looks like a split-screen image may be coming in now. If this is the last data captured by the Rover, we may get a glimpse of what happened on the surface. Two Rovers going off line like that can’t be coincidental,“ he added cynically. No one ever paid much attention to Hal’s cryptic comments, especially now...as the room filled with gasps of disbelief.

2020

2020 º NASA de-briefing: “At the time of this exchange, Mars was closest to Earth in its solar orbit, (perihelic opposition), limiting delay rates to (3) minutes and (7) seconds each way. The following transcripts have been condensed to eliminate transmission delays between Earth and Mars for continuity and further review. Some reactions from the injured astronaut on the Martian surface were added for clarification following this incident.”

– Mars Exploration Mission Director Wesley Frakes,

2018

On Mars, the pilot, Frakes toggled his suit mike, “Testing, testing, testing.”

Amplitude meters projecting inside his helmet visor registered moderate signal range and frequency distribution. “This is Commander Wesley Frakes of the survey ship Endeavor. I repeat...Commander Wesley Frakes of the Endeavor broadcasting on all available frequencies.” He toggled the mike off and on again three times in quick succession, “Mayday, mayday, mayday.” Then,...he waited.

“We read you commander.” Jolted by the sound and the immediacy of the clipped response, Frakes hesitated, leg pain taking away his breath for a moment...then he replied, “Please identify.” A static burst filled his helmet, and then silence. “We require the same of you commander,” a disembodied voice snapped impertinently.

Frakes was dumbfounded. He hadn’t expected this treatment.

“I said, Commander Wesley Frakes of the Endeavor,” responding curtly, impatience growing evident in his voice.

“I’m sorry,” a different voice interjected. A very familiar voice. “It’s just that, well, you’re not supposed to be there...Frakes.” The informality of the second voice took him by surprise.

“I’ve crashed and need immediate medical attention.”

“That’s the point.” The second voice continued, “Humans have yet to set foot on the planet you’re transmitting from...” There was an ambiguous pause, then...“I think you should know commander, my name is Wesley Frakes.”

“So what! I...mean, I’m not sure why that’s of any significance... it’s coincidental perhaps but...” The second voice cut him off.

“At the present time, we have no resources that can place a man or woman in any capacity on Mars nor come to your aid in less than several months.” That answer made no sense to the pilot.

“Did Cunningham put you up to this?” Frakes responded attempting to mask the pain in his voice.

“I’m afraid the only Cunningham here, in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is our janitor and no, he’s definitely not involved.” Frake’s MedVac suit components were beginning to make him a little more comfortable.

“I launched from Earth yesterday on a test run around Mars and back.

Those were the essential mission parameters,” he offered cautiously.

I don’t know who in the hell I’m dealing with right now, especially the way they’re responding he reminded himself.

“I launched from Earth...” Frakes repeated.

“Unless you are supported by unknown private enterprise or governments foreign to the United States of America, then you cannot possibly be on Mars. So, let’s work through this together, ok?” asked the Earth-bound mission director.

“Director, 45 minutes to impact.”

“Noted.” was the terse reply.

The mission director began again, in earnest, “You’re a pilot, Frakes.

I’m an engineer. If there is anything we can possibly do to help you, we will.

You must trust us.”

“Let’s talk, You go first,” suggested Frakes hesitantly.

“Ok then, we need to determine how you got there…that is, managed to reach the surface of Mars in the first place.”

“It was like falling off a log actually,” Frakes quipped, though the effort at levity hurt.

“We need to share something with you, an unforseen event that could change your mind about working with us. One of our junior engineers programmed the booster stage of our new space station to detach and burn up on descent into the Martian atmosphere. Or so we thought.

Actually, he surreptitiously programmed the thruster array to impact the crater where you landed.

“Why?” exclaimed Frakes.

“I’m afraid that the mysterious loss of two Rovers unhinged him.”

“There have been no launches from Earth for many months and budgetary constraints mean no further launches will be attempted in the immediate future. NASA’s last mission launches were (3) (MER) Mars Rovers and the new, Interplanetary Space Station parked in orbit now above you, that is... if you are where you say you are.”

“Two? what?”

Obvious discomfort discernible in his voice, Frakes cut to the chase, “C’mon. I volunteered to test the new PhaseSlip Dimensional propulsion system. So...get someone else to do the same and get me out of this damn crater!”

“Does any of this make sense to you Frakes?”

“Frakes! listen to me! I’m the Mars Exploration Team mission director.

The resources I have available cannot possibly reach you in time.

And, there’s a deeper issue that cuts through the verbal fencing that we’re engaged in here...now trust me, time is of the essence.”

As he spoke, Frakes cloudy memory resonated with words just uttered by the mission director. He’d destroyed an alien machine after crashing...a SynthConstruct to him.

“I remember reacting to a proximity alert, firing so quickly that all I saw were burned parts of an alien construct bouncing around the crater.”

“That was our Mars Rover Resolve. Your LifePod came down on the Resilience Rover as you crashed through the crater.”

“I’m at a loss,” mumbled Frakes.

4

atmosphere:

2018 Martian Daily Temperature Range/Summer

70º F - (-) 130º F

Carbon Dioxide º Argon º Nitrogen º Other

96% CO2 1.9% Ar 1.9% Nitrogen

humans martian crater “At the present time, we have no resources that can reach you in lesss than several months.”

5

Hal Simpson, Jet Propulsion Lab junior engineer, surreptitiously uses aerobraking and the less-than-aerodynamic structure of the thrust assembly to drop on Frakes.

Arrival: October 25 (2018) Geosynchronous Orbit

He targets the crater using supersonic retropulsion in a pre-programmed descent, a highvelocity impact curve, down to the surface of Mars.

10...9...8.. aerodynamic retrobraking

6

Transmission Delay: 3/3 minutes (6m) during perihelic opposition.

“You’re time there is limited. I’m sorry. Our Rover Resolve, before you destroyed it, was able to send us fragmented images of you and your damaged LifePod. We were stunned. But, by then…it was too late to alter the instructions our engineer submitted to the thruster assembly.”

Silence from the planet’s surface was palpable. A third Rover is approaching your position as we speak.

Mayday!

Mayday!

Mayday!

“Talk to us about the propulsion system you mentioned,” suggested mission director Frakes. The other Frakes, pinned in a Martian crater was silent. “Please trust us! I think there’s more here than either of us can imagine even being possible.”

“If you were in my position Wesley, what would you do?”

“I’m an engineer. I solve problems. I’d probably do what you’re doing…working through the situation in an effort to understand it.”

“I’m a pilot. Have been for years, and I guess I solve problems too. Got very good at it. We’re not really that different are we?”

“No, we’re not” “How much time do I have?”

“OK. The PhaseSlip system enables our spacecraft to slip into an alternate dimension, set coordinates and reach a far flung destination…immediately. It’s actually a lot more complicated than that.”

“I’m sure it is. Frakes, do you think it possible that your test run did access another dimension, yet failed as you attained Mars orbit… leaving you here, in a parallel universe? Right now it’s my best guess.”

“15 minutes.”

“Then let me provide you as much information as I can that might possibly help your world. I’m sorry this unforseen contact had to be so brief…for both of us.”

“We’re sorry too Wesley.”

..7...

“I, don’t know, everything happened so quickly.”

Time passed quickly. Conversation waned.

“Frakes, on a hunch…what’s your dad’s name?”

“How long?” asked Frakes.

“Robert Boyd Frakes.”

“7 minutes…Wes?” “And his father?”

“Yes?” “Richard Boyd Frakes.”

“That’s enough, Thank you. My paternal father and grandfather have the very same names!”

“My team has been crunching all the numbers.

We believe this event is survivable.”

“How so?”

“Do you think…?” Frakes was dumbfounded, at a loss for words.

2018

“Yes! I think you did leave Earth, your Earth…and set out for Mars.

Again, the Mars in your reality. But somehow you merged into our reality.

You don’t belong here.”

“The absence of oxygen and the low amount of combustible fuel remaining in the thruster tanks means impact will largely be a concussive event. The assembly should hit your crater dead center. If you can protect yourself in any way to avoid shrapnel, you might survive.”

“I’m still not following this exactly…”

“Thanks.”

Wesley Boyd Frakes C.H.O.P.S. Pilot

Triton Galactic Enterprises

“We have the same name and ancestral lineage…yet, we’re slightly different, following different, yet similar, life paths. That has to be due to the decisions each of us as individuals have made and the circumstances within which we made them.”

The bond established between the two men was obvious.

“Gotta go,” sighed Frakes.

“if so...what now, what next?” asked Frakes, his predicament now clear.

“Goodbye commander.”

“We’re not certain,” came the belabored reply.

“Goodbye Wes.”

7

“We have to look at all options if Frakes is going to survive... everything from atmospheric composition and pressure, to the gravitational pull of the planet.”

I’m wondering about the impact itself, given the thruster tanks are almost empty and the atmosphere on Mars, which is mainly CO2, lacks the combustiblity of oxygen?

NASA 2018

“You’re right...We better get creative, right now.

The 500 lb. engine nacelle could be a factor as well.

With 62.5 % less gravity than Earth, it only weighs 190 lbs. on the surface of Mars. But I doubt that will be much help.

He’s pretty badly banged up.”

8

Epilogue.1 2018 2020

martian crater

Interview: Mars Exploration Mission Director – Wesley Boyd Frakes

– The pilot...Wesley Boyd Frakes lives!

We had a third Rover fairly close to the crater, and against the better judgment of most of my engineering and telemetry groups, we sent Reliant to search the aftermath of the thruster crash to determine Frake’s status.

We all knew at the time...that either way, he was doomed. Surviving the scattering debris would simply mean a protracted, yet certain death.

He had survived the impact blast and careening, high-speed shrapnel.

As the crash reverberations subsided, Frakes squeezed a plunger inside his Exosuit...applying a significantly stronger dose of meds to ease his leg pain. He was still inextricably trapped against the crater wall by the engine nacelle. Frakes also wanted to detach from the harsh reality of his degenerating situation. He wanted to sleep and he wanted to live as long as he could.

Besides, his people probably had no idea of his location. They were even less likely than us to reach him in time. With that dimensional drive failure, where would they look? A universe is an unbelievably huge place.

A multiverse would be prohibitively unsearchable.

But, in the short time we had together, Frakes provided data and physical descriptions of his PhaseSlip drive that will advance our space program by more than a century. He unlocked a door to space travel that exceeds our wildest dreams. He realized that he had so much to lose, and we had so much to gain. Frakes was in an untenable position, yet he made the best of it.

As he began to slip away, a last cogent thought cut through the mental haze caused by the meds...relative gravity! He’d considered the nacelle an immovable object. But here on Mars, that chunk of smoldering metal weighed considerably less. He could do nothing about it now...the meds would see to that.

There, this time he was certain he saw something. Whatever it was... moved closer. Frake’s adrenalin levels spiked, overwhelming the increased dosage of drugs. His immediate response was to flee.

But, he could not move.

Frakes tried to focus his mind, to analyze and remember what he saw.

He looked away for a second to trigger his suit cam and looked back to see...what? It couldn’t be!

Frakes felt the engine nacelle lifting easily from his body and could see it flung away as useless debris. He wasn’t sure he could see clearly, but he felt the presence of something all around him, then the sensation of being lifted, gently...from his entrapment in the crater wall.

For a flickering moment...Frakes thought he detected movement, but that was impossible. His proximity alert system was either frozen or...?

Hal Simpson º Jr Engineer 9

Epilogue.2

Interview.2 : Mars Exploration Mission Director – Wesley Boyd Frakes

2020

“There is something else you should know. When the Reliant reached the debris field around Frakes position, there was no body. As we watched the delayed images from the Martian surface, one of my team blurted out that the engine nacelle had moved. We compared prior visual data received from Reliant as it crossed the crater, with the final images sent from Resolve. We could see that the nacelle had clearly moved at least 20 yards from Frakes position along the crater wall. We knew that he had been incapacitated by his wounds and wouldn’t have had the strength to move the nacelle by himself...especially that distance. But, it had obviously moved and not of it’s own accord.

We scrutinized every piece of data sent by Reliant, from it’s arrival at the crater, to what we thought would be Frake’s grave site, and finally found something. It was so ephemeral! That’s why we missed it the first time.

Just before Reliant shut down for the cold Martian night, we detected flickering shapes, all around the nacelle, moving quickly and seemingly in accordance with each other. Our collective impression was that what we were seeing was purposeful and deliberate.

“Don’t ask me what we saw beyond what I’ve just shared with you,” the mission director continued. “The phenomenon was indescribable.

But, we now believe one thing...Frakes lives! How or why...we don’t know.

I studied both live motion and still frame data from the LifePod crash site.

It clearly showed that Frakes was not there, in any capacity. We had no idea what had happened. The known facts were that the engine nacelle had been moved and Frakes was gone. And, the ephemeral shapes had disappeared. So, we asked one last task of Reliant before returning to fulfill it’s mission parameters.” The ranking NASA official listening to the mission director’s incident report looked at him quizzically. “We asked the obvious.

We instructed Reliant to look down.”

2018

10

martian crater

2018

– Wesley Boyd Frakes C.H.O.P.S. Pilot - Post Impact Reliant crawled up to the edge of the crater rim from the west and raised it’s external camera up just enough to search for the engine nacelle which would clearly mark Frake’s position on the rim at the far eastern edge of the small crater. But communications with Frakes had been severed and there had been no further contact with him nor discernible movement in the area since the thruster impact.

NASA instructed Reliant to approach Frake’s LifePod crash site. But, the transmission delay and encroaching Martian night would prevent Reliant from reaching Frakes until the next morning.

Frakes awoke to darkness and an expansively brilliant field of stars in the Martian sky above.

He dialed back his meds to ensure he remained lucid enough to survive the cold Martian night.

Monitoring his suit’s environmental controls was the only way for him to remain alive until daybreak.

Frakes adjusted his suit temperature controls, fighting the cold that threatened to freeze him to the ground.

martian crater

aliens

11

2018

MARS

2018

– Wesley Boyd Frakes Mars Exploration mission director

“Ask Reliant to look down,” stated Frakes as the mission engineers sent the necessary instructions in computer code to the remaining Rover. It panned the area where Frakes had lain.

After the transmission delay they saw...nothing, absolutely nothing...thought the mission director.

Except.

Requesting a close-up of a small area of sand between two, flat Martian rocks, Wesley Boyd Frakes, the mission director, expected to see wind blown sand...a riffle between the rocks, a micro drift.

Instead, he saw a single, perfectly formed footprint.

An utterly alien footprint.

“We need to get to Mars as quickly as possible,” he muttered to himself.

2020 - ???

Parallax...to be continued?

– Thomas Mills