This is the eighth blog where I will be sharing chapters from my next book. Read the previous chapters here.

My second book in the Outbound series follows Virgil since his adventures in book one, Outbound: Islands In The Void. I will be releasing parts of my next science-fiction novel in draft form hoping to get some feedback from interested readers. You are always welcome to offer comments at: richard@richardandersonauthor.com. 

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Daria Aquila-Greenly and Simone Beaulieu did not want to think about what would happen should deceleration fail. Their ship could ‘slingshot’ around Mars and head for deep space at a velocity that would be nearly impossible for a successful rescue attempt. They weren’t fond of that possibility or of colliding with Mars or any of the outer planets.

On the launch date of May 10, 2260, the ship’s computers automatically sent the launch data to the Eternal Hope where Dr. Virgil Greenly received the message. He immediately sent a message to his wife and Simone Beaulieu.

Congratulations Daria and Simone. You made your deadline, so you are right on schedule. I confirmed your location, trajectory, and speed, and are on a line to arrive at Mars on your target date. The Eternal Hope will arrive in Martian orbit on August 10th. The Spindizzy should arrive a few days after that. I will track the telemetry and acceleration data on your ship until the Eternal Hope reaches Mars. Computers on the Eternal Hope will link with those on the Spindizzy and compare readings and calculations. At this moment everything is precisely where it should be. Bon Voyage.

Virgil did not wait for a reply. Through Ofelia connecting with Anni he sent a private message to his wife.

Daria, dear. I really miss you. I miss our home on Ellie 5 Zeta, and I dread the more than three months left stuffed in this spiraling wheel. I’m in the theater right now as its size and special effects give the best sensation of expansive space. Whoever dreamed this up must know me and my quirks. I thank them. I spend a lot of my time here or other common areas where it’s not quite as suffocating as my quarters. I guess I have become less reclusive, but I do miss solitary time for study and reflection.

I pass a lot of time studying schematics and spec sheets on the Martian projects. I believe there are enough projects to hold our separate interests for a long time. The Valles Marineris project is especially exciting to me. And it’s not just because it will be the largest enclosed space in the Solar System. There are many diverse opportunities when that massive enclosure is complete. It could challenge me for many years to establish a lush and diverse environment. I believe the design and engineering opportunities will excite you. But that is a discussion for another time… when we are together again. This time on Mars.

I hope you have a successful voyage and insert into Martian orbit perfectly. I will communicate with you every day if you don’t find that too much of a bore.

Always yours (at least for several hundred more years). Your Virgil.

For the rest of his time on Eternal Hope, Dr. Greenly and Daria Aquila-Greenly sent messages and videos to each other throughout each day and before retiring for the night.

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The Spindizzy was constructed around a central tube that contained life support, mechanical systems, food storage, and the electromagnetic ion drive powered by the Lightspeed laser at Ellie 4. Two long arms extended through the central tube, one opposing the other. Each contained a spherical pod twenty meters in diameter with two staterooms separated by an exercise/common area. The rooms were mounted on a platform that freely moved around inside the sphere on bearings to remain perpendicular to the line of acceleration force.

In each sphere, there was a platform ring that circled the living quarters and common area. A track ran around on that ring where the two engineers could jog or roller-skate. A combination of angular momentum created by the ships rotation and acceleration/deceleration maintained standard gravity on the platform.

The two pods had the same mass so the rotation, when it began would be smooth. The distance from the bottom floor in one pod to the bottom floor in the other pod was exactly one hundred and twenty meters. At rest or moving without acceleration or deceleration the Spindizzy adjusted its rotation to 3.86 times per minute to create the equivalent of standard gravity on the platforms in the spherical pods. In contrast, Ellie 5 Zeta with a radius of one kilometer rotated 0.9457 times per minute to create the same standard gravity on its inside edge. The faster rotation was a major reason the ship was named the Spindizzy.

At launch, the Spindizzy did not rotate. Two robotic rocket motors from Ellie 5 attached to the Spindizzy accelerated the ship at five standard gravities to leave Earth orbit and begin a trajectory toward Mars. Before the robotic rocket motors expended all their fuel, they detached and returned to Ellie 5. At that point, Daria Aquila-Greenly and Simone Beaulieu momentarily became weightless until the angular momentum created by rotation produced standard gravity. Simone checked all systems before activating the electromagnetic ion drive.

“Is everything ready Simone?”

“It looks like the calculations are correct. We just drifted a bit. I’ve made the adjustment.”

“Good, then let’s rock and roll.”

“Daria, what does that mean? You come up with the strangest expressions.”

“Sorry, it’s a habit. It means let’s begin with enthusiasm. Virgil got me started on this trivia game. He likes to find expressions that were popular hundreds of years ago. He pops them into casual conversation to see if I can identify the expression. At first, I had no chance of knowing. Now I spend too much time researching the ridiculous. I must admit it’s really a gas though.”

“I like it. Let’s rock and roll,” Simone Beaulieu said.