Captive Galaxy 1: The Bellerophon: Ambush Read online

  The Bellerophon: Ambush (Book 1: The Captive Galaxy Series)

  by J. W. Kurtz

  Copyright © 2014 by J.W. Kurtz

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher or author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Comments can be left on the Amazon.com author's page or at: jwkurtz.wordpress.com

  This book is dedicated to a group of special people. My Wife. My Mother. My Father. These folks have shown me nothing but support, without the least bit of hesitation, as I pursued this project. I know I can count on them for anything.

  Thanks.

  Table of Contents

  Timeline/Prologue: Reference

  Chapter 1:

  Chapter 2:

  Chapter 3:

  Chapter 4:

  Chapter 5:

  Chapter 6:

  Chapter 7:

  Chapter 8:

  Chapter 9:

  Chapter 10:

  Chapter 11:

  Chapter 12:

  Chapter 13:

  Chapter 14:

  Chapter 15:

  Chapter 16:

  Chapter 17:

  Chapter 18:

  Chapter 19:

  Chapter 20:

  Chapter 21:

  Chapter 22:

  Chapter 23:

  Chapter 24:

  Chapter 25:

  Chapter 26:

  Chapter 27:

  The Bellerophon: Ambush (Book 1: The Captive Galaxy Series)

  by J. W. Kurtz

  Timeline/Prologue: Reference

  *Denotes Approximate Date(s)

  *50,000 B.C.E - Minervan civilization flourishes in system 64.3 light years from Earth. Most rocky planets and planetoids within the Minervan system have been settled and terraformed. Minervan science, though greatly advanced in many fields, has been unable to achieve faster than light travel.

  *49,999 B.C.E. - Minervan civilization disappears overnight for reasons unknown. Great cities, infrastructures, and technologies are left behind. Evidence points that a mass exodus to the heavens may have occurred via craft utilizing propulsion technology allowing speeds of only sub-light. The ruins of the Minervan civilization will one day be discovered and exploited by humanity.

  *3000 B.C.E. - Neolithic observatory of Stonehenge is built. Human eyes look to the heavens.

  *1st Century C.E. - Simple gunpowder is invented by the Chinese. Bamboo filled tubes with gunpowder were tossed into fires to cause explosions during religious festivals. Some of the bamboo tubes were propelled from the fires, propelled by expelled gas from the burning gunpowder. Early reactive propulsion witnessed.

  1054 C.E. - Chinese astronomers observe supernova in Taurus constellation. The supernova would create the Crab Nebula. Several other cultures throughout Earth, such as the Anasazi Pueblo Peoples, observe and record this supernova in the heavens over the next two years. Eyes look to the heavens with wonder.

  1200 C.E. - Black powder is experimented with to propel rockets in China. Rockets are first used for communication signals, light artillery on the battlefield, and decorative fireworks.

  1500 C.E. - Wan Hu, a Chinese Ming Dynasty official is reported to have attempted to travel to the heavens in a rocket chair. The rockets under the chair are ignited and they explode. When the fire, smoke, and debris clear Wan Hu is nowhere to be seen. He is not believed to have made a successful journey to the heavens of space.

  1543 C.E. - Nicolaus Copernicus posits that the Earth and other planets rotate around the sun and that the Earth is not in fact the center of the universe. Eyes look to the heavens.

  1633 C.E. - Galileo Galilee is placed under house arrest with the charge of "possible heresy" for sharing astronomical observations that are unpopular with the church. Western eyes that look to the heavens also must look over their shoulders in fear of angering the church. The rest of the world still looks up at the heavens with awe, amazement, and wonder.

  1665 C.E. - Sir Isaac Newton conducts private studies and research at home after Cambridge University is forced to shutter their doors temporarily due to the Great Plague ravaging Europe. His studies include infinitesimal calculus, optics, and laws of motion and observations of gravity. The perceivable laws of the heavens are being understood.

  1898 C.E. - Russian schoolteacher, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, proposes that rocketry will allow exploration of space. Tsiolkovsky is called the father of modern astronautics as he has given plausibility to the exploration of the heavens.

  1901 C.E. - Gustave Whitehead flies the first successful powered airplane, the Condor, at Fairfield, Connecticut. One of his first flights covers 1 1/2 miles while maintaining an altitude of approximately 50 feet. The age of powered flight has been quietly ushered in, though the altitude is far below that of the heavens.

  1919 C.E. - American, Robert H. Goddard, publishes a pamphlet concerning rocketry and reaching extreme altitudes. He conducts experiments on different types of rockets. Goddard is considered the father of modern rocketry. His aim is to reach the heavens.

  1942 C.E. - First ballistic missile is tested and travels 118-miles. German scientists, including Werner von Braun and Herman Oberth, have created a rocket with strong enough thrust to reach space. The science of reaching the heavens is sometimes overshadowed by the fact that the first sojourn was made by a weapon of war that would kill thousands.

  1957 C.E. - First manmade satellite successfully placed in space by Soviet Union; Sputnik I. The space race is truly alive as Sputnik I transmits a radio signal and travels over the United States unimpeded.

  1961 C.E. - Yuri Gagarin is the first human to journey into space on the Vostok spacecraft. He is made a Hero of the Soviet Union. He is the first human to travel into the heavens and return.

  1964 C.E. - Miguel Alcubierre Moya is born in Mexico City, Mexico.

  1969 C.E. - Two American astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, are the first humans to set foot on the Moon, approximately 240,000 miles from Earth, aided by command module pilot Michael Collins, when their Apollo 11 mission successfully lands on the lunar surface. Six successful missions to the Moon follow but no permanent settlement is established at that time. The final Apollo mission explorers depart the Moon in December 1972. It will be several generations before humanity returns to the Moon.

  1977 C.E. - Voyager I spacecraft is launched. The probe will photograph numerous planets, moons, and asteroids prior to being pointed on an interstellar trajectory which will have the probe leave the solar system in an estimated 35-years. At the time Voyager I is launched it's the fastest manmade artificial construct traveling in a direction away from the Sun (a distinction that will be held by the small probe for more than 50-years). With the probe traveling at approximately 38,000 mph it will take 17,600 years to travel a single light-year. Manned interstellar travel is still a long ways away.

  1994 C.E. - In May of this year Miguel Alcubierre proposes a plausible means to travel faster than the speed of light. Though much work is to be done but there's hope in man one day traveling the interstellar reaches of space.

  2011 C.E. - STS-135 launches and is the final mission of the American Space Shuttle program. The NASA budget is half
what it was 40-years earlier. National and international missions to return to the Moon and Mars continue to be postponed for decades.

  2012 C.E. - Private corporations move in to fill the void left by NASA and other world space agencies. Space exploration and exploitation move closer to full commercialization but interest is still unsure and investment is tentative.

  2012 C.E. - The Voyager I probe, after approximately 35-years of travel, leaves the solar system. The probe is the first manmade object to reach interstellar space.

  2014 C.E. - Experiments in labs throughout the world proceed to create a superluminal (faster than light) capable bubble drive as theorized by Alcubierre but funding is greatly lacking as interest in the heavens has waned over the years. Humanity does not look up at the heavens for inspiration. Reasons include light pollution, smog, and self interests. Research into superluminal transportation proceeds at a dawdling pace.

  2020 C.E. - Amateur astronomers note an abnormal cluster of objects approaching Earth. Imaging proves the objects to be a closely packed formation of high speed asteroids. Most world scientists postulate that this cluster of asteroids will pass near the Earth and only spectacular meteor showers will result from the near miss. Calculations soon change, and it is determined that a large portion of the asteroid cluster will impact the surface of the Moon. The cloud of asteroids impact the surface of the Moon with tremendous kinetic energy. Substantial bodies of ejecta and debris, asteroid and Moon regolith from the impacts on the Moon's surface, now orbit the Earth in erratic and steadily decaying orbits. Many of the satellites used for communications, science, defense, etc are damaged or destroyed. A debris field of rock and destroyed manmade satellites nearly envelopes the Earth. This cloud of debris is named a "Kessler Cloud" after a scientist who had warned about such an obstacle inhibiting launches to space.

  2021 C.E. - Tracking the many, many large pieces of debris now orbiting the Earth is a great challenge. Daily, pieces of debris fall to the Earth and narrowly miss population centers. The city of Mogadishu is destroyed one night by a piece of falling debris estimated to be many thousands of tons. Though it is not traveling with a great deal of speed, the kinetic energy is enough to turn the city into a crater and throw a cloud of dust into the air that darkens most of East Africa and the countries neighboring the Indian Ocean for several days. Despite the civil and religious strife spurred in the region by the devastation, the world responds with aid but does little in the way towards finding a permanent solution. It is quietly hoped by many that political rhetoric and the political talking heads on the news will stop the sky from falling with words.

  2022 C.E. - A piece of debris, calculated to be twice the mass of the rock that fell on Mogadishu almost a full year earlier, falls to Earth and impacts in the center of Lake Geneva in Switzerland. The result is a new small inland sea that makes the previous lake look like a puddle in comparison. The new sea is filled by the melted glaciers of the nearby Alps from the thermal effect of the landfall. The city of Geneva is nothing more than dust motes drifting in the air to settle throughout Europe and Asia. Weather patterns are greatly impacted by the cloud of dust and smoke from the devastating impact. Crops are adversely affected for a decade in nearby Ukraine, the breadbasket of Europe. Numerous other environmental disasters are to blame from the landfall of the rock. The world finally awakes to the fact that the sky is indeed falling after approximately 100-million deaths in Europe are directly attributed to the tragedy. It will take Europe generations to recover.

  2022-2035 C.E. - The collective contracts and incentives to clean up near Earth space, offered by the nations of the world fearing that debris will soon fall on them, grow to a point at which private industries and corporations see low risk in the venture while almost guaranteeing massive profits in the endeavor. Though launches from the poles is extremely expensive and inefficient, it is determined that only those locations offer launch points with windows free of orbiting debris. From newly built launch bases and platforms in the farthest reaches of North America, Russia, and in the south from Antarctica, private corporations and contractors work to collect, clear, and refine the debris in orbit. The contracts are rich and technology and space manufacturing techniques advance through trial, error, and need. Automated craft are put in place to scour near Earth orbital space for debris and transport much of the heavy metal rich debris to an orbital refinery. Near Earth space is cleared while the numerous large orbital industrial stations, refineries, and factories prove to be very profitable.

  2045 C.E. - An extremely violent and erratic solar cycle begins. Several coronal mass ejections and electromagnetic storms cause havoc with electronics and power grids of Earth. More than half of all satellites in orbit are damaged or destroyed by the severe solar storms. Scientists raise concerns that the Sun may be unstable due to the mounting evidence. Remembering the chaos and devastation from the ignored warnings from 20-years prior regarding the asteroid strikes on the Moon, worldwide united scientists, under contract from the major industrial minded corporations of Earth, garner enough support to fund research and invest into local system space travel and interstellar travel. Several generation ships, designed to carry a population of humanity beyond the solar system, are mocked-up and planned but a larger infrastructure is required prior to full commitment and construction. Mining of near Earth asteroids is heavily invested in while at the same time construction of long planned space elevators begin. The lone International Space Station (ISS) is expanded greatly, and a colony for more than research alone is planned for the Moon by the middle of the next decade.

  2050 C.E. - Earth population exceeds 10 billion.

  2055 C.E. - First permanent Moon settlement established (population 203). The settlement is dual purpose in that it is both purpose built as a scientific station and as a backup for humanity in case of disaster on Earth. Early in the setting of the foundations for the long-term modular habitats, the survey teams locate large quantities of frozen water and Helium 3 in the regolith. The colony is named after Carl Sagan, and though the settlement is multinational and private corporation operated, the flag that flies is that of the United States. Up to this point nearly 90 percent of all space projects are paid for by the United States of North America. To help shift the burden of solar colonial expansion, research, and industrialization from single countries or even small blocs, the UN agrees to an international treaty that places zero tax burden on corporation funded operations and technological breakthroughs that occur beyond the atmosphere of Earth. Corporations jump at the zero tax international treaty.

  2084 C.E. - First of 3 planned space elevators is completed. The Earth side anchor points for the space elevator projects are massive seaborne constructions that are mobile platforms and act as deep water ports in international waters. The first elevator operates primarily off the coasts of Panama, Columbia, and Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. Private corporations have heavy stakes in the elevator projects. Each space elevator is invested in by each of three major corporations. These corporations will later be known as The Corporation, Interstellar Industries (I2), and Maddox & Tokev Terraforming (MTT).

  2094 C.E. - Dr. Marius Zukovski born in St. Petersburg, Russia.

  2100 C.E. - Earth population exceeds 15 billion.

  2102 C.E. - Long standing fears that Sol was unstable prove to be unfounded. Scientists now believe Sol is a healthy star with a long life yet to live. The scare of 2045, though economically costly, has spurred important growth the fruits of which will greatly benefit the safety, security, and growing knowledge of humanity.

  2103 C.E. - The massive generation ship, Athena, is completed. The planned mission for this massive construct, approved when the Sun was believed to be dying, was to carry a crew of 5,000 with the intention of reaching Gliese 876 in an effort to save humanity. With no superluminal drive yet perfected the ship would travel via conventional means, with an expected travel time of approximately 100-years after 50-years of low level acceleration followed by 50-years of
low level deceleration. With fear of Sol being unstable now proven to be unfounded the ship is utilized as a colonial taxi throughout the Sol system. By the end of the year the Athena departs for Mars from the Anchorage Space Station (space-side anchor point for the space elevator operating off the coast of Ecuador) The Athena carries 10,000 colonists, workers, and scientists with enough food, gear, and materials to support the colony autonomously for 5-years.

  2104 C.E. - Mars permanent colony established. First child on Mars born the day after landing of first settlement craft. A heavy sponsor of the colony is the private corporation Maddox & Tokev. Early in the building of the settlement Maddox & Tokev workers begin fabrication and placement of atmospheric production engines (terraformers).

  2104 C.E. - Major efforts underway in earnest to found new and expand existing colonies and mining operations in the Sol system. Earth has become too crowded and polluted to maintain the current population. Massive worldwide funding for colonial missions is approved but the world economies face contraction due to super inflation. Private corporations fight against the growth of socialization across the globe as it is bad for business and industrial expansion. Corruption to combat socialist agendas grows.

  2105 C.E. - It is established, that for ease of communication, planning, and logistics, the keeping of time on ships, stations, and colonies in-system, and as planned one day out-system, will be kept using Greenwich Mean Time (GMT, Zulu).