star where water could exist as both a solid and a liquid. This was critical to the Nu, because the seeding of life had to begin in large bodies of liquid water.
In addition, the planet had a large moon that stabilized the planet’s tilt and prevented the wild swings in climate that would have resulted due to the ever-changing tilt of a moonless world. Most planets they had encountered so far on this survey had only a few smaller moons. The effort required to guide enough material from the planet-forming debris to collect into a large moon, though not impossible, was very time-consuming and delayed the critical work of seeding the planet by more than 100 rotations of this galaxy. That was time they could not afford. The Esss would not be contained forever. Their jump to this galaxy was inevitable.
For AlvaResh, the decision was simple. “Establish our base of operations in the outer shell. We will begin the process of sending water-laden debris down the gravity well to impact the planet. In addition, send a signal to the scouting operations center to dispatch additional resources to this system.”
A simple scouting mission was not designed to have a staff large enough to guide so many water-laden bodies down to the planet. It did, however, have the capability of sending the first candidates down into the system as well as identifying all of the necessary candidates to be sent once reinforcements arrived.
After arriving at their first star system in the new galaxy, AlvaResh concentrated all of his race’s efforts on reproduction. Because they essentially lived forever, the Nu had restricted reproduction long ago to avoid overpopulating their worlds. Replacements were needed only when individual Nu members decided they had lived long enough and wanted to return their personal resources back to the universe.
This unprecedented crossing to another galaxy, however, necessitated accelerated reproduction and training. After only one rotation of the new galaxy, they had expanded their numbers from the 200 members that crossed the void to almost 30,000. This was considered enough to support their efforts of expanding throughout the galaxy in search of habitable planets for breeding a warrior race.
This was only the fifth such system the Nu had discovered since they jumped to the next galaxy, and of the five, this was the most ideal. Hopes ran high among the crew. They would not be continuing the survey in this star nursery. That would have to be delegated to another team. Much work needed to be done, but a short celebration period was definitely in order.
Chapter 27 – Delta One Major Glitch
Three days into the trial, they hit their first major glitch. Sted had Delta One stationed just twenty kilometers off the mining platform for the first basic tests of both the mining laser and the defensive laser clusters. To save time, Sted ordered that testing of both lasers be done independently. The mining platform had sent up one target for the mining laser and three missiles on a slow ballistic path toward the Delta.
Bill Overton, their mining engineer, had cycled up the mining laser for drilling holes into his target. When he had the target in the laser’s crosshairs, he pressed the firing button with no noticeable result, at least for the first ten seconds. Then smoke started pouring into the cabin from beneath the mining laser console.
“Lock down your suit helmets, everyone!” Sted yelled just before he locked down his own helmet and engaged the suit’s independent air supply. “Marty, check Bill and Bundy’s suit integrity. Aidan, we need you on the bridge! We have smoke coming from below the main laser console.”
Aidan was already pushing his way through the confusion on the bridge with a small fire extinguisher in hand. He pulled out his floor jack and inserted the leading edge into the floor panel slot in front of the laser console and twisted the handle, which
In addition, the planet had a large moon that stabilized the planet’s tilt and prevented the wild swings in climate that would have resulted due to the ever-changing tilt of a moonless world. Most planets they had encountered so far on this survey had only a few smaller moons. The effort required to guide enough material from the planet-forming debris to collect into a large moon, though not impossible, was very time-consuming and delayed the critical work of seeding the planet by more than 100 rotations of this galaxy. That was time they could not afford. The Esss would not be contained forever. Their jump to this galaxy was inevitable.
For AlvaResh, the decision was simple. “Establish our base of operations in the outer shell. We will begin the process of sending water-laden debris down the gravity well to impact the planet. In addition, send a signal to the scouting operations center to dispatch additional resources to this system.”
A simple scouting mission was not designed to have a staff large enough to guide so many water-laden bodies down to the planet. It did, however, have the capability of sending the first candidates down into the system as well as identifying all of the necessary candidates to be sent once reinforcements arrived.
After arriving at their first star system in the new galaxy, AlvaResh concentrated all of his race’s efforts on reproduction. Because they essentially lived forever, the Nu had restricted reproduction long ago to avoid overpopulating their worlds. Replacements were needed only when individual Nu members decided they had lived long enough and wanted to return their personal resources back to the universe.
This unprecedented crossing to another galaxy, however, necessitated accelerated reproduction and training. After only one rotation of the new galaxy, they had expanded their numbers from the 200 members that crossed the void to almost 30,000. This was considered enough to support their efforts of expanding throughout the galaxy in search of habitable planets for breeding a warrior race.
This was only the fifth such system the Nu had discovered since they jumped to the next galaxy, and of the five, this was the most ideal. Hopes ran high among the crew. They would not be continuing the survey in this star nursery. That would have to be delegated to another team. Much work needed to be done, but a short celebration period was definitely in order.
Chapter 27 – Delta One Major Glitch
Three days into the trial, they hit their first major glitch. Sted had Delta One stationed just twenty kilometers off the mining platform for the first basic tests of both the mining laser and the defensive laser clusters. To save time, Sted ordered that testing of both lasers be done independently. The mining platform had sent up one target for the mining laser and three missiles on a slow ballistic path toward the Delta.
Bill Overton, their mining engineer, had cycled up the mining laser for drilling holes into his target. When he had the target in the laser’s crosshairs, he pressed the firing button with no noticeable result, at least for the first ten seconds. Then smoke started pouring into the cabin from beneath the mining laser console.
“Lock down your suit helmets, everyone!” Sted yelled just before he locked down his own helmet and engaged the suit’s independent air supply. “Marty, check Bill and Bundy’s suit integrity. Aidan, we need you on the bridge! We have smoke coming from below the main laser console.”
Aidan was already pushing his way through the confusion on the bridge with a small fire extinguisher in hand. He pulled out his floor jack and inserted the leading edge into the floor panel slot in front of the laser console and twisted the handle, which
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