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DEDICATION
This one is for NASA, our official Global Warming
Monitoring Agency
And a thank you to Kai Dunya for his help on the cover
Table of Contents
Preface
Prologue
Chronicler Report Part One: History
Chapter One: Arrest and trial
Chapter Two: An offer
Chapter Three: Companions and books
Chapter Four: The crew
Chapter Five: Preparing for the Bakman Report
Chapter Six: Clean-up
Chapter Seven: Starting
Chapter Eight: Woll the Clone
Chapter Nine: Attacked
Chapter Ten: Leaks
Chapter Eleven: West Club
Chapter Twelve: Secret basement
Chapter Thirteen: Space plans
Chapter Fourteen: Cargo containers
Chapter Fifteen: Bakman Report released
Chapter Sixteen: Night attack
Chapter Seventeen: Signed confession
Chapter Eighteen: Mission planning
Chapter Nineteen: Secret meeting
Chapter Twenty: West Club Grand Opening
Chapter Twenty-one: Kidnapping
Chapter Twenty-two: More leaks
Chapter Twenty-three: Assassination attempt
Chapter Twenty-four: Cover U.N. shortfall
Chapter Twenty-five: West Club shortfall
Chapter Twenty-six: Stacking and bomb
Chapter Twenty-seven: Panic
Chapter Twenty-eight: Clone Colony
Chapter Twenty-nine: Last robbery
Chapter Thirty: Collections
Chapter Thirty-one: Big trouble
Chapter Thirty-two: Planned message
Chapter Thirty-three: Harry's passing
Chapter Thirty-four: Mechanicals reprogrammed
Chapter Thirty-five: Planning for separation
Chapter Thirty-six: Saboteurs
Chapter Thirty-seven: Earth Docking Station Two
Chapter Thirty-eight: After the theft
Chapter Thirty-nine: Mechanical Mary
Chapter Forty: In space
Chapter Forty-one: Signals from space
Chapter Forty-two: Bakman released
Chapter Forty-three: Bakman Family picnic
Epilogue
Chronicler Report Part two: Picnic
Addspeak
About the author
Other books by the author
Preface
Before we leave this rock, this lifeboat in space, we must solve lots of problems. Of this long list the three that I think most important are: (1) artificial gravity, (2) thicker hulled ships that protect against micrometeorites and increase radiation shielding, (3) a dependable power source. Another person might list three others as most important; but until most or all of our problems, hundred of problems, are solved we are limited to short duration high risk ventures. If we cannot spend years in earth orbit without any ill effects how can we reach another solar system?
With present knowledge and equipment we cannot even try. The present debate is whether one unmanned satellite has passed into the void between solar systems or not.
If we do nothing . . . will we go on as we have for millions and billions of years? Maybe, if the sun does not burn out and/or a huge meteor does not hit us—probably so. But, a close galaxy, Andromeda, is rushing this way to collide with the Milky Way, our home galaxy, at more than thirty thousand miles per hour. Don’t duck. It will take from three to five billion years to get here. By that time we need to be able to travel to another galaxy or ….
There is not anything about deep space exploration with an immediate urgency, certainly not galaxy collisions, that forces one to rush to solve our problems in my lifetime or during the lives of my yet unborn great Grandchildren's grand babies. Yet, the extra long, eons long, prognosis for the endless survival of the human race is not promising. How long before a massive meteorite does to us what one did to the dinosaurs is unknown.
So, I hope you will forgive me if I add to my list a number four, (4) improved mapping and tracking of objects headed toward us from out of all of the starry space around our lifeboat. Today, we intensively study one small section at a time looking for possible planets and are getting close to three hundred found. It goes without saying that we must see the object before we can save ourselves. And, a little practice at blowing up or diverting meteors or comets would not seem silly to me.
For years my two sons and daughter complained about the slowness of space exploration, continually listed for my ears the many things that NASA was not doing, and fretted over steps too small taken, our little at a time efforts. Their impatient wish was to solve every item on their collected problems list yesterday.
My daughter and I were writing stories and her husband wanted to write a graphic novel—what he read. After a time he said he could not think of a story and asked me if I would write one he might use. And, I said I would. After six years of not drawing a picture it was returned to me after they separated. It lay unpublished in my files for another four years, until I recently filled out the story to change it from a master for a graphic novel to a novel.
This push a decade ago led me to try to consider ways of reaching another solar system and bypass most of the problems. Those thoughts led to is this story named "The Centauri Conspiracy," to put humans on planets in the closest solar system—the Centaurus Constellation. Its best known star is Alpha Centauri or Cen A, the first star we see at night fall. In my story after the flight of New Horizons those persons communicating in shorthand form simply type or write the letter "A" and some even finger sign it.
The Centauri Conspiracy story could easily be made into a series with landings on other planets and/or first contacts.
It is this writer’s wish that this story makes you think more kindly about the real NASA; the change engine of my time, my children, and my grandchild’s generations. Sadly, I feel regret over its passing.