Kearth

[livefree75]

Kearth is a short story I am writing. It is my first attempt at KSP-oriented writing, and I hope you like it! It is a WIP for now.

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Chapter 1

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Gene Kerman looked out the window of the Tracking Station for the 542^nd time. He had been assigned to watch the incoming data for the night. Nothing interesting had come in for years, and he didn’t expect an eventful night.

Gene was just dozing off when a light on the console flashed. It was a very faint radio signal, just barely visible over the cosmic background radiation. He adjusted the giant tracking dishes to the signal’s frequency, and heard… static. He sighed heavily and was about to shut off the receiver, when all of a sudden, something came through. Gene couldn’t understand it, but it definitely wasn’t static.

He immediately started recording the transmission and paged the Kerbal Space Program’s top scientists. They concluded that the signal was coming from a system with a yellow-white star, some 65 light-years away. The scientists directed their most powerful telescope, the James Kebb Space Telescope, at the system. “Eight major planets,†said one scientist. They focused the telescope on the third planet from the star. It was hard to make out, but there were definitely cloud structures and possibly liquid water.

After much study, it was determined that the planet (nicknamed “Kearth†after a clue in the transmission) had a temperate environment. Due to patterns in the incoming signal, Kearth probably supported some sort of intelligent life. Gene became an instant celebrity, and an intensive project was launched to travel to Kearth.

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Chapter 2

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TWENTY-THREE YEARS LATER

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Far above Kerbin, a space dock glittered with the power of hundreds of lights along its hull. It was made of four thick rings filled with living space, connected by smaller modules used for scientific research. The entire structure rotated to provide artificial gravity for any Kerbals that lived there. A huge spacecraft had been flown through the rings to dock with the immense station. Called the Dauntless, the spaceship was equipped with its own rings. These rings were not for living in, though. They were an essential component of the Dauntless’s complex warp drive system.

“100 meters, closing in at 5 m/s,†Jebidiah Kerman said over the comm. He deftly maneuvered the shuttle Learstar A4 toward the space dock. He was very careful, because the Mission Controllers would almost certainly abort the mission if he so much as scratched the paint. Jeb personally didn’t care; he liked danger, speed, and everything that came with them. Resisting the urge to punch the throttle and fire the RCS at the last minute, he brought the Learstar in for a docking. Clunk-BANG! The docking ports latched together, and Jeb, along with his comrades Bill, Valentina, and Samantha, floated into the spacedock.

The Dauntless was almost finished charging with exotic matter. After doing some last-minute EVA checks of the spacecraft, the three brave Kerbals strapped themselves to the seats in the cockpit. So many buttons Jeb pushed the thought away and focused on the event countdown: 30 minutes until departure. While he waited, Bill thought about the sheer scale of this project. Every Kerbal was watching this on TV, but all they saw were the Kerbonauts. Jeb, Samantha, Valentina, and himself really represented millions of Kerbals who had funded, researched, and built the mission from the ground up.

As the event countdown neared 20 minutes, Bill turned on his com set. “First of all,†he began, “I think there are some people who need recognition. This expedition would not have been possible without the extraordinary efforts of every Kerbal in the KSP, as well as all of you who donated to the mission. Also, I wanted to quote a message heard in the legendary transmission discovered 23 years ago, translated into Kerbish:

‘The Kerbin is the cradle of Kerbalkind. But Kerbalkind cannot live in the cradle forever.’â€Â

Back on Kerbin, everyone in Mission Control cheered. Bill’s message even brought a tear to old Gene’s eye. “Thanks for that message, Bill. It was much needed,†he said.

At T-minus 15 minutes, the Dauntless undocked from the space station. It floated gracefully out of the structure as Kerbals in the space dock watched in awe. Samantha, of course, was taking countless selfies with a smuggled smartphone. Valentina was helping Jeb with the complex calculations required for a warp trip.

T-minus 10 minutes: Samantha was reminded by Mission Control, “No texting while flying!†Jeb and Valentina did more last-minute checks of everything and ensured the stability of the exotic matter. Bill looked out the window at Kerbin. It looked immense, but it was only a small speck in the vast expanse of space. Bill felt a little lonely as he thought of leaving Kerbin, the Kerbals’ home for the amount of time they had existed. Now they would be going to a strange planet in a far-off solar system.

T-minus 5 minutes: Jeb and Valentina were on the verge of losing their cool because they couldn’t push the Big Red Button just yet. Samantha was perfecting her invention that would allow instantaneous communication from light-years away, with anyone who had a computer with the device. She had originally meant to use it to instant-message her friends on Kerbin while she was at Kearth. Bill was contemplating something dramatic and poignant about the Kerbal exploration of space; he planned to say it upon the kerbonauts’ arrival at Kearth.

T-minus 1 minute: The kerbonauts settled in for the trip, which would only take about an hour due to the speed capabilities of the Dauntless. Mission Control started counting down aloud.

T-minus 30 seconds: The Dauntless’s warp rings started to glow a bright cyan. Arcs of electricity flashed between the rings as huge amounts of power and exotic matter were channeled through the warp drive. Valentina pointed the spacecraft toward a faint yellow star, just barely visible despite the blackness of space. Jeb’s hand hovered over the Big Red Button.

“T-minus 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…â€Â

Bill held his breath.

“Engage!â€Â

Jeb pushed the Big Red Button.

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