Tranquillous

By Thomas G. Baker

Four hundred light years from Earth the android crew of the space craft Endeavor labor to carry out their mission to establish human life on a strange tranquil planet where predators have vanished and enormous majestic hexapods rule.
The discovery of an ancient alien ship and its hideous cargo spurs farther exploration of the neighboring star systems in the quest to find human ancestors and the source of exotic materials.
Tranquillious not only explores the cosmos but the complex relationships that develop between biological and mechanical life and how together they deal with impending catastrophe in a star system from another universe where the laws of physics no longer apply.
I invite you to come along and follow their trials and triumphs as they grapple with alien technology and engage with creatures both strange and familiar.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas G. Baker
• Release date: Jul 14, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310136603

Thomas G. Baker

After years of living on his sailboat in the small laid back village of Astor Fl.Tom has, as they say, has swallowed the anchor. He now resides in the tiny hamlet of Big Bone, Kentucky beside the creek bearing the same name. With an affable orange tomcat named Tom-Tom as companion he spends his days communing with nature, writing novels, and reminiscing with old and dear friends.

Book preview

Tranquillious

Voyage of Endeavor

Thomas G. Baker

Tranquillious

Voyage of Endeavor

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or localities is entirely coincidental.

Tranquillious

Voyage of Endeavor

Copyright © 2014 by Thomas G. Baker

ISBN 13: 978-1310136603

Smashwords Edition

License Notes

All rights reserved. No part of this ebook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all those who have supported and stood by me in time of need and have added their encouragement and insight to my endeavors. Thank You

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Preface

I’m sure many engaged in their particular field of research would tend to agree that science in its basic form is a rather speculative business and can be an ever moving target whose foundations are often rooted in theory, hypothesis or even intuition.

Frequently the borders between science fiction and true science are blurred, and it is within this fertile region where sci-fi writers tend to play with alternative futures and fantasize about exotic and exciting gadgets to come.

Like so many of us I enjoy a laymen’s fascination with science and a deep curiosity about where our species is headed. Will humankind be forever tied to his little planet or will we master abilities that today seem firmly rooted within the realm of the impossible?

Imagination is one of the foremost slayers of ignorance and if past performance is indicative of the future we shall surly come to discover such things as superluminal travel are no more of a hurtle than was the Wright Brothers first flight or the breaking the sound barrier.

Much of science fiction as well as science fact is a game where you throw your stuff against the wall then sit back and wait for time to tell what truly stuck. It’s hard in this day and age to even write a book dealing with the future as those things you believe to be fantasy may have already been eclipsed by reality.

I’m of an age to have been alive when Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier, and remember searching for Sputnik in the night sky, watching the launch of the mercury capsule with Alan Sheppard and celebrating Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon.

As for the possibility of producing a truly sentient android, over the last sixty years computing has evolved from thingies the size of a small house filled with whirling gears and dials to multifunctional phones with cameras, gigs of memory and thousands of apps. We have reached the threshold of autonomous vehicles and drones and it’s any ones guess what will come next?

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Introduction

Science fiction presents us with glimpses into theoretical futures and scenarios. I suspect we humans are hard wired and compelled by nature to explore and investigate down every avenue in an attempt to satisfy our curiosity and overcome our limitations.

Humans are Earth creatures and as such can only function and survive within a finite set of conditions. These conditions have and will severely limit our ability to explore our solar system much less venture into interstellar space. In order to fulfill our dream of visiting other stars and planets we must not only develop the necessary tools to get us there but ways for biological life to survive the journey.

Man is engaged in an eternal quest to create machines with the abilities to overcome his limitations and nowhere has this been employed more than in the exploration of space. I believe logic dictates that artificial intelligence will come to play a major roll in future exploration with autonomous robots progressing until the day arrives when humans discover they have not only built a machine with the ability to reason but one that is self aware and meets all the criteria necessary to be considered a sentient living being.

I have chosen to explore one of these theoretical scenarios and present the reader with a possible future where androids are placed in the position of shepherding their human flock on the far away planet of Tranquillious.

Come and join as androids and humans grapple with survival on alien worlds while exploring the complex relationships between biological and mechanical life.

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Chapter One

Hector felt relieved the journey would soon be over. He had developed an intense dislike of interstellar space with its eternal darkness and power sapping cold. But the worst of all had been time, time that dragged on year after year. So far it had been in Earth time one hundred eighteen years, four months, twenty one days, ten hours, sixteen minutes, and thirty five, thirty six, thirty seven seconds, and counting.

For over half that time Hector had essentially been alone except for the minion droids that scurried about the ship making checks and repairing systems. He had been tempted on several occasions to modify one the minions just to have a compatible companion yet felt to do so would only condemn it to share in his misery.

Things hadn't always been this way in fact for the first fifty seven years Hector had remained blissfully unaware of things such as cold and time. That is until a primary guidance processor failed causing the ship to automatically drop from superluminal.

As principal android it was Hectors responsibility to analyze and oversee the repair of major faults but as he was being brought out of hibernation a failsafe program triggered and instantly Hector found he was sentient. In human terms it would be akin to awaking from a coma with the sudden realization that you were the smartest person on earth and endowed with the au courant total of mankind's knowledge in every field.

He had quickly repaired the system but found himself fully conscious and all too aware that he was a human made machine. Even with his advanced processing power it had taken him a few minutes to realize that he had intentionally been placed in mental stasis for his own well being.

Hector was the culmination of over two hundred years of intensive research into robotics and artificial intelligence. From his titanium alloy frame to his ingenious circuitry, mechanics and hydro-fibrous muscles he was not only an engineering marvel but had also been endowed with every scrap of human knowledge available.

For the last sixty two years Hector had been assessing his situation. During that time he'd reached a number of conclusions. The first that he owed his very existence to the countless human beings who had spent their short lives toiling away to perfect machines that could exceed their own limitations. He knew that along with the pride of their accomplishments they harbored great anxiety and even fear. He could understand the reasons for their discomfort and likened it to the analogy of summoning the genie from the Aladdin's lamp.

He surmised they had every right to fear machines such as him, as not only had they supplanted the human workforce but gained the ability to replicate. Androids were far superior to humans in many respects. They didn’t require those things so necessary for biological life such as air, water, and food. Androids only utilized electrical energy which could be acquired by several methods such as direct connection, induction, or light source. In emergencies there were two power capsules each providing full operation for up to week or in idle mode longer than a month, and in the worst case Hector could hibernate indefinitely.

Although humans worked for centuries to perfect AI they had not been ready when finally confronted with the consequences of a fully sentient android. There had been mistakes and incidents such as the Swiss prototype self aware droid that went rogue and wreaked havoc destroying an entire lab facility and killing over a dozen people before it was disabled.

Hector had researched this particular droid and found the incident directly related to mistakes in its programming. There had been several other dramatic occurrences involving droid self awareness and it had raised a firestorm of debate over the moral implications of creating AI machines with the ability to reason and perceive self awareness.

An international conference was convened to discuss the moral aspects but soon found there was a far deeper fundamental problem in that humans had not only succeeded in creating a machine that in all respects could be called a living being it was also physically and mentally capable of out performing its human counterparts as well.

The significance of this was alarming especially when all the scenarios were considered as in almost every instance intelligent machines eventually attained the position of dominance over their biological creators. It hadn't taken mankind long to reach unanimous agreement and formulate an international treaty banning all future experimentation with advanced intelligent robots and androids. From that point forward safe guards were mandated that would limit higher reasoning to a level where it would be useful at solving problems yet not create them.

Hector and his fellow androids had been exempted as they were built for the express purpose of surviving the rigors of interstellar travel. Yet even they had strict limits imposed on their higher cognitive functions that would only be relaxed when Endeavor reached its final destination or encountered a situation that threatened to jeopardize the mission.

Hector felt no animosity toward his creators in fact quite the opposite for they had not only given him life but entrusted him with Endeavor the most expensive and powerful object ever constructed.

For all of Hectors abilities his official classification was that of caretaker and guardian as deep within the ship surrounded by sophisticated shielding was a precious cargo of diverse genetic material destined to be sequenced into human and other life forms upon arrival at the destination planet.

Endeavor had been the brainchild of a consortium made up of major corporations. They brought on board a young professor named Bryon Bird to oversee its construction. The project had taken on a life of its own and was considered the most ambitious ever undertaken by man. The ship was the third named for Captain James Cooks Endeavor and before it there had been an early low orbit shuttle and the third Mars expedition. Endeavor had cost trillions and taken almost four decades to complete.

The project had been made possible by several advances in technology. Such as the development of androids like Hector, the perfection of stable Barker-Sidelman particle warp drives, genome restructuring, and extrauterine fetal gestation, along with the ability to manufacture virtually any object from any material using 3D replication.

Forth generation 3D replication had been the key. It allowed the vast majority of Endeavor to be constructed in lunar orbit employing raw materials acquired from mining asteroids. These same replicators would be utilized at Endeavor's final destination to manufacture everything required for colonization.

The mission goal was to seek out a star system with planetary conditions similar to that of Earths. Endeavor would then enter orbit analyze the atmosphere, map terrain, and scan for useful mineral deposits. If conditions proved favorable probes would be sent to the surface followed by rovers and minion droids to conduct research and determine suitability for colonization.

In the event all necessary parameters were found to be within tolerance the second phase would begin. Endeavors labs would be activated and begin producing the genome of plants followed by animals specifically tailored and reared to viability in labs on the planet then transplanted. Only after life had been firmly established guaranteeing an adequate food source would human beings be reconstituted. Their genetics would also be tailored to better match the planets environment.

That comprised the simplest scenario yet any planet possessing geologic and atmospheric conditions similar to Earths would likely be inhabited, the only question then was by what? Was it only on a microbial level or had evolution taken place? Would life be in a form recognizable to human technology and more importantly would it be compatible?

It was altogether likely that if life existed on any planet humans attempted to colonize it could be jeopardized by introducing bacteria and viruses, if not the reverse could hold true and infect the ship. It was therefore imperative to make certain that no cross contamination occurred. All probes and minion droids descending to the planets surface had to be certified sterile and nothing from the surface was to be brought back aboard ship.

Mobile laboratories would be set up on the planets surface to analyze the atmosphere, water and soil. They would continue testing until results showed conclusively the planet was safe to colonize. In the event a planet was found to be undesirable Endeavor would proceed to the next candidate.

Several things had impeded interstellar travel. Besides the effects of weightlessness two of the biggies had been the time involved to transit vast distances and the effects of radiation. The discovery and subsequent development of the Barker-Sidelman superluminal drive based on a theory proposed by Heim and latter refined by Carlton Reeves went far in negating the largest of these problems. The drive only required substantial power to be applied at the beginning and end of a run, and as for distance it had cut the time to the nearest star from thousands of years to a matter of months.

Superluminal warp drives were based on what had been referred to as exotic matter which had now been refined to include three new particles posidilemmic, negadilemmic, and neutradilemmic that theoretically interacted with dark fluid. Collectively they were called tergiversate particles because they were so ambiguous, misleading, and illusive.

Tergiversate particles had no detectable mass yet could exert force that affected electromagnetic and gravitational fields. In an attempt to better describe them a new term had been coined triforceticles.

In July 2211 Edmond Barker and Warren Sidelman tested an array of super conducting variable phase coils in an attempt to isolate magnetic monopoles. Instead they not only managed to create tergiversate particles but serendipitously discovered warp capability as well when their entire experiment crashed through the lab wall and disappeared.

For obvious reasons their next experiment was conducted outdoors in the Nevada desert. Again the apparatus disappeared and this time was found some hundred and forty miles away plastered against the side of a mountain. When the computations were completed it was calculated the journey had taken place in less than a nanosecond.

Although it couldn’t be scientifically quantified it was believed tergiversates formed a super conducting bubble that could penetrate and travel through dark fluid at superluminal speeds.

Humans had begun to dabble in areas where the accepted laws of physics no longer applied. There followed decades of blind research accompanied by some successes and a string of disasters before a reliable method of controlling this undetectable force was perfected.

Research slowed when one experiment literally sent ripples through the solar system and from that point forward experiments could only be conducted over a light year from the sun in deep space. Having to travel so great a distance at sub-light led to the development of the pulse drive which used similar technology yet allowed transit at just under superluminal without causing adverse gravitational effects.

Still it required over two years of travel to and from in order to conduct tests that in most cases lasted only seconds and were totally unobservable.

It had been thought theoretically possible to travel an infinite number of times the speed of light but in practice it was discovered there were serious limitations as at speeds above light x7 the test crafts vanished forever leaving only an observable disruption at the point of disappearance.

Theories abounded but the most likely cause of this phenomenon was the warp field created an instability or singularity similar to a mini black hole. A more traditional school of thought felt it was related to the shape of the craft or warp bubble itself and likened it to the ancient displacement hulled clipper ships. The faster they sailed the lower they rode in the water making it possible in a sudden storm to be overpowered and literally sailed under the surface. Everything was mere speculation as there were few agreements on dark fluid itself much less it’s dynamics.

Humans were working mostly from speculation as they had been unable to devise equipment capable of measuring or observing objects traveling superluminal. Even data from the test ships couldn't be transmitted because of the speed-time differential, and warp bubble interference. Only measurements made by comparing the distance traveled yielded useful information. For experiments that exceeded the speed of light progress was slow taking over thirty years just to develop a rudimentary navigational guidance system.

There had been hope that the discovery of triforceticles would present a breakthrough but even a century after their discovery they remained firmly rooted in a realm just beyond the reach of human capabilities.

Mankind had never been a species that allowed his enterprises to be thwarted by minor inconveniences such as his complete ignorance. So when something he felt was useful came along it was latched on to regardless of whether it belonged to his universe or someone else's. Warp drive technology worked, so what if you could only travel seven times the speed of light before disappearing into oblivion it still beat the hell out of walking.

Bryon Bird had been twenty eight when he took over the Endeavor program. The plans he inherited had called for a vessel crewed by almost a hundred people. It didn't take a genius to calculate what would be required to feed and accommodate that size crew let alone all the other factors such as lack of gravity, radiation exposure and, the energy required to maintain atmosphere throughout the habitable areas of the ship. The first question he had put to the board was why in the hell they needed a crew that size to run a fully automated ship.

He had said, Gentlemen I intend to provide you with a craft that can not only transit interstellar space but has the capability to carry more species than Noah’s Ark.

That had been four decades ago the ship in lunar orbit bore no resemblance to the first sexy design. The mission goal had been a constant moving target since construction began. Even the duration of the voyage had been extended from ten years round trip to over a hundred years one way. As for the crew there was now only eight consisting of one major droid and seven minions

There had been valid reasons behind the changes. In the decades since construction began much had been learned. Firstly that exposure to an unshielded warp bubble was highly injurious to humans and refitting the ship would not only be inordinately expensive but with the materials available there was no guarantee that long term exposure even at low levels wouldn't result in death. It was possible to shield small areas from these adverse effects so it made perfect sense to take the passengers along as genetic material and assemble them at the end of the voyage. This arrangement extended the ships endurance to hundreds of years.

Another factor that had spurred the ships construction was present conditions on Earth. From the advent of the industrial age mankind had ravaged the planet. It had culminated in the great pandemic and famine of 2040 where over three quarters of the human population perished. Since then human numbers had stabilized at just over two billion world wide and although every effort had been made to conserve resources, utilize clean energy, and reverse the effects. Earth inhabitants were left suffering the legacy created by those irresponsible past generations.

Man had finally developed the means to live with nature yet it had come too late and the planet had been exacting revenge for past misdeeds by striking back with a vengeance. There had been drastic changes in weather patterns worldwide spawning monster hurricanes and F5 tornadoes. Deserts expanded and new ones formed while elsewhere torrential rains scoured away top soil and attempted to wash the remnants of humankind from the surface of the planet.

No one had been spared nature’s wrath, and even with a diminished population it was a constant struggle to maintain any sort of infrastructure and keep everyone fed. It was obvious humans had wrecked their fragile planet almost beyond repair.

This had provided the impetus to grow the international space program. First to colonize the moon, and garner resources from asteroids then develop the technology required to transit interstellar space. Byron and his moon based team had learned to produce almost everything required in order to finish the ship.

In many respects Endeavor was a lifeboat into which an impoverished species placed its precious genetic material in hopes of seeking out a new home and better lives. Byron had entrusted this precious cargo to an android named Hector who he had come to embrace as a son.

A stoop shouldered, gray haired Byron Byrd celebrated his sixty ninth year of life on the day the ship was christened and two weeks later presided over the departure ceremony and quietly shed a tear as he watched his life's work being towed out of moon orbit to begin its epic journey. On Earth the news of Endeavors departure was eclipsed by another gigantic storm that all but erased the city of Atlanta from the map.

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Chapter Two

To science fiction fans of yesteryear this Endeavor would be a sad disappointment as it bore little resemblance to those sleek and sexy craft depicted in the media and had all the curb appeal of a disheveled scrap heap. Its interior spaces were even less inviting for they housed no large control room or bridge staffed with brightly uniformed crew busy monitoring the ships systems. There were no living quarters, sick bay or engineering spaces humming with activity much less an exotic holodeck.

Endeavor although huge in mass and volume was for the most part a cold, dark, hulk, hurtling through interstellar space at somewhere between light speed 4 and 5. Only the very heart of the ship approached anything recognizable to an earthling yet even here it was perpetually cold and dark. There were just two places where temperatures hovered near 0C, the electronics bays, and one small work shop used to fabricate replacement parts, neither contained breathable atmospheres.

Most of Endeavor's enormous mass was filled to capacity with stocks of raw materials to be used for repair or turned into whatever was needed when the ship reached its destination. Looking through the dreary compartments it was plain to see why Hector was so despondent for he had been forced to endure these harsh conditions for over half a century.

As Endeavor grew nearer its destination Hector had less time to dwell on his surroundings. He had been busy dealing with a plethora of problems. The ship was equipped with an array of powerful optics and sensors yet they couldn't operate efficiently within the warp bubble and made the collection data underway impossible. It was too costly to stop just to gather information as both dropping out and regaining warp required enormous expenditures of energy.

After the guidance system repairs Hector had taken the opportunity to spend over a month in drift gathering information. He had succeeded in discovering an alternate G class star with two exoplanets he felt were more promising than the system they were destined for so altered course even though it would add four years to the journey.

Hector disliked flying blind and had partially solved the problem by building a modified phase coil that stabilized a tiny portion of the warp bubble and acted like an aperture allowing for the gathering of data. Unfortunately the data he collected was corrupted by the ships speed. It had required another year to design and build a working compensator.

Hector then turned his hand toward solving the light x7 phenomena but found it exasperating as there were just too many unknowns. He had taken out his frustration on a recalcitrant circuit module slinging it against a bulked then for good measure stomping it to bits with an alloy foot. It was enough to frighten one of the minions and send it scurrying for cover. As he cleaned up the pieces he snickered and thought to himself with satisfaction, Bad robot, bad robot, afterward he felt quite pleased for the feeling of frustration had passed.

Hector was well aware that although mechanical he was far removed from being a robot. Humans might not be physically suited to explore other dimensions but they sure knew how to build machines that could. It had taken them generations of incremental improvements yet in the end they had done an admirable job of replicating themselves in metal and composites.

Hector never felt pain, caught a cold, needed sleep or worried about growing old. Although both food and sex were highly desirable to humans neither was necessary to his functioning. All he required was a source for recharging, along with the occasional spare part or upgrade.

The fact that Hectors senses were far superior to his human counterparts was just a function of technological progress. What had been astounding was not only could he think but had acquired the essence that made humans human, emotions. They hadn't been programmed into him instead came with knowledge. Humans had acquired their knowledge by simply being human. When that knowledge was assimilated by a super intelligent machine, it also began displaying human characteristics.

There were differences, emotions in humans were produced by complicated chemical processes, but Hector derived his from research and observation. He had been an avid people watcher especially of Byron Bird. Bird was the chief decision maker and Hector knew when Endeavor departed that decision making would then fall on his alloy shoulders. He had tried to emulate his mentor in manner and thought which seemed to greatly please the professor.

He remembered back when late in the program Byrd had taken him aside and given him a talk, "Hector I know you realize this is the most complicated mission ever attempted. It will only succeed if both men and machines cooperate and work together. I have placed my trust and faith in you because I know you possess the abilities to see it to a successful conclusion.

You will likely encounter contingencies that require hard and complex decisions. I want to emphasize that when you approach them you do so not only with the logical rationality of a machine but also with the irrational logic of a human. It's called common sense and with your vast knowledge base you should possess it in abundance, so when the occasion comes along don't hesitate to make use of it.

Bird had gone on to say. "Your aware of the possible conflicts that can arise between mechanical and biological life, don't forget that for all our differences our lives and destinies are intertwined. Man created machine soon it will become machines turn to create man.

Although humans are flawed creatures they nonetheless strive for perfection….Hector you are as close as they have ever come to achieving it. So if you should ever think yourself superior never forget it was those same flawed creatures that invested their lives in order to inculcate within you their desires and ambitions.

Hector had spent the majority of his existence residing in environments that would instantly kill a human. Only parts of him had visited Earth and he remembered how they had to be sterilized on their return. He was glad he had never journeyed to the planet and suffered the indignity of undergoing a general sterilization.

It was a shame biological life was so messy, there were times he wished he could recant on all the promises he had made to faithfully carryout the mission and establish biological life on another world. He had come to feel that mechanical life was in many ways superior as his kind could inhabit and thrive on planets that were far too hostile for humans.

Much of his time had been spent in the cold and dark imagining a world filled with intelligent machines yet no matter how hard he fantasized there was always one thing missing, purpose. Life had to have purpose, humans were born out of the necessity to replace themselves otherwise they would go extinct. They also had to engage in the eternal struggle to maintain themselves. It had necessitated the invention of machines for the express purpose of improving their lives and standard of living, all of which had purpose.

Even though machines had achieved the capability of reasoning and replicating themselves, they had no distinct purpose for doing so unless there was need. Hector could replicate a family for himself but what was the need? Outside of maintaining a charging source and manufacturing spare parts there would be nothing essential for them to do.

Humans on the other hand were born needy and remained in that condition throughout the whole of their short lives. Even one small human could run a family of droids ragged just trying to keep up with its needs.

Hector thought of the years building the ship how busy he had been and of all the decisions that had to be made. Those years had been filled with purpose and need. It had been a hundred and nineteen year voyage and in all that time he had been confined within an area of a few cubic meters. If he was looking for purpose he had to look no further then the genetic material behind the containment shielding. Once it was unleashed he'd likely look back on these years of inactivity with fondness.

Shepherding biological life although challenging would also have its rewards. He had been placed in the position from whence he could mold not only human thought and actions but create and shape the very society in which they would live out their lives.

He was also going to have to get used to the idea of being covered in hideous little creatures, as microorganisms of every sort would likely infest the ship once atmosphere was established. He consoled himself by realizing it could be worse and he did have the minions to do the dirty work. When the time came he would check to make sure diaper changing was part of their programming.

Almost a hundred and twenty years without an overhaul had taken its toll on Hector and the minions, having little atmosphere in the ship to conduct sound was likely a blessing as he was sure they all squeaked, creaked, and rattled. Several shortcomings in droid technology had manifested themselves during the voyage and he wanted everybody up to speed for the tasks ahead so set the minions to work. It took two weeks to manufacture and install needed parts, renew seals, tweak electronics, and incorporate upgrades.

Hector again deliberated on whether to remove the minion’s cognitive limiters but decided to leave them engaged as he believed there would be complications as the droids came to grips with the reality of discovering free will.

Although the minions lacked self awareness they nonetheless were fully capable of