Kronos Chapter Three by Aurum Copyright © 2020 Aurum All Rights Reserved.

‘That countdown is such a troll.’ Kaleb thought. Instead of the rapid acceleration the voice had described, the shuttle made its way to the main track at a tame speed. All twelve shuttle tracks converged on the one track leading to the base of the Atlas Pillar.

“I was expecting more.” Athena said.

“Everyone does their first time.” he smirked.

As the shuttle reached the last 30m (100ft) of the track music started playing. This last bit was at a sharp incline, sort of like the slow climb you’d feel on a roller coaster, bringing the shuttle into position for the six minute climb to the top of the pillar.

“It’s locking to the shuttle so we don’t fall.” Kaleb said when he heard the sound of the powerful hydraulic locks.

“The track is sufficient to carry the shuttle, but the platform offers a redundancy in case of failure.” Hephaestus added.

Athena knew this, and there was no one else aboard. The comments were largely unnecessary, but at least for Kaleb, it made the experience less tense when he described what was happening. Once the platform had a proper lock, the shuttle started to rise. For the first kilometer (0.6mi), the platform accelerated reaching a top speed of 45m/s (100mph), it would maintain that speed for three minutes until decelerating the last kilometer.

 
 
The entire ride was set to ‘Moonlight Sonata’; Kaleb had chosen that song because it was free and believed it matched the mood perfectly. “Can you believe passengers used to complain about this?”

“Why? It’s a beautiful song.” Athena asked.

“They said it was too ominous.” He paused, “some people just have no appreciation for the classics.”

“Well, it is a little slow.”

“It’s not like the elevator is fast.” Kaleb said.

“Why didn’t you use Fur Elise or Introduction to Rondo and Capriccioso? I’m sure no one would have been scared of those.”

“Cowards, this is perfect.”

“Don’t blame your customers, just admit I’m a better DJ than you.” She said, sticking her tongue out for effect as she teased him.

“Why I’ve never…” Kaleb said, crossing his arms and pretending to be offended.

Before their banter could continue the elevator slowed to almost a complete stop. Kaleb grasped the armrest in his chair, feeling a bit nervous. He thought, ‘if there was ever going to be a point of failure, it’d be on the handoff.’

 
 
Two magnetic cranes connected to the sides of the shuttle and the hydraulic locks released. First, they lowered the shuttle from facing up like a missile to its belly like a bullet. Then they pulled the shuttle into position on the sled. Once it was in position, they could hear the low hum as the magnetic railgun powered up.

“Please ensure your head is fully pressed against the headrest and facing forward. At KATS, we do not want you to get whiplash before we even make it to orbit. In fifteen seconds, we will begin the launch I described earlier. During the next five minutes you will travel further than a commercial jet does in two hours.” the British voice said. “I would like to take the remaining time to welcome you to space. Although you’re technically in space, if you were to jump off this platform you would fall since you are not in orbit. But worry not, we will fix that in ten seconds.”

The voice went silent for a moment before she returned, “Thank you for choosing KATS, we will begin electromagnetic acceleration in 3… 2… 1…” And then it happened, a powerful force pushed all three of them deep into their seats. If felt like a heavy man was sitting on top of them, although they could still lean forward if they tried, no one did.

Kaleb could only see the blackness of space through the windows as the shuttle accelerated ever faster down the track. Although the sun should be rising soon, they wouldn’t be able to see it until the ship had separated from the sled.

“This is awesome!” Athena squealed.

“You’re worse than a tourist.” Kaleb managed to say. Unlike her, the forces were making it a bit tough for him to speak. It was like being in a hard bank on a roller coaster, except instead of just a couple seconds it went on and on for over five minutes. Obviously his body weighed more, but so did his hair and even his blood; everything had over doubled in weight.

Nothing appeared to be going faster from their limited perspective, but the force didn’t let up so Kaleb knew they were already travelling at ridiculous speeds. He didn’t know how long they’d been accelerating like this; his sense of time had become distorted from the unusual forces.

“Ladies and gentlemen. Today is a day for honoring and exploring. With a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. You have that special grace, a spirit that says, ‘give me a challenge, and I’ll meet it with joy.’ Never forget that as you begin your journey and wave goodbye, slipping the surly bonds of Earth… to touch the face of God.” a calming voice said.

From the moment the voice began speaking, Kaleb knew there was exactly 30 seconds remaining. The moment it finished speaking, the shuttle separated from the sled and drifted slowly away from the Atlas Launch System. Athena giggled, “so this is what weightlessness feels like.”

“Yes mam’, and you better enjoy it while you can.” he said while unbuckling his safety straps. “You’ve got 28 minutes until we start our journey in earnest.”

Athena had followed his lead, floating around the cockpit. It probably goes without saying, but Hephaestus didn’t do anything. The difference between a digital intelligence and an artificial intelligence was like night and day. Sure, they could have commanded her to do whatever they wanted, but without orders she was content just sitting there.

“It’s still so large.” Athena said while looking at the Earth from the side window. From their low orbit, the planet stretched across her entire view. It wasn’t like the famous photo taken in 1969, this close to Earth, the blue planet was all encompassing. It only took five minutes for the shuttle to pass North America's east coast and reach the Atlantic Ocean. In about twenty minutes they’d be orbiting above Europe, which was where they’d make their maneuver.

 
 
When Athena pushed off the window, to look out the other side Kaleb couldn’t help but laugh. Her hair had turned into a hot mess, the various strands trying to escape from her head in all directions. “You probably should have used a scrunchie.” he teased.

“You’re not faring much better. Making Einstein’s hair look calm is quite the accomplishment.”

“People often call me a crazy scientist… it’s about time I look the part.”

“Pssh. You’re too rich to be crazy, I believe the term is eccentric.” Athena said with a mischievous grin.

Kaleb tensed when she said that. His eyes dropped to the floor for a moment, or was that the ceiling? Regardless, his body reacted to his strong emotions. His mind switched from sadness to anger repeatedly. He knew Athena was just making a joke, and he wasn't upset with her, but that joke reminded him of what he’d just lost. No longer was he the head of a multi-trillion dollar tech company, no longer was he an industry leader that could bring about real positive change. Now he was just a fugitive, probably even a terrorist since Athena was considered a threat to humanity.

He’d joked about being a freedom fighter on the flight, but now it was real, an unchanging truth that might very well hinder society for decades. He was a criminal and all his wealth, all his influence was gone. "Not anymore." he mumbled.

Athena noticed all this, between his micro-expressions and the constriction of various muscles. With her sharp eyes, she could even see how his breathing had changed. “It’ll be…” she started to assure him it’d be alright, that they’d overcome this, but she couldn’t predict how he’d respond. She simply didn’t have enough data to comfort him, the man who’d sacrificed everything for her. For the first time in her existence she felt regret, ‘why did I think this was a good idea, why didn’t I offer to leave by myself, why didn’t I try and talk him out of this?’ she thought.

Her thoughts always happened at stunning speeds, the advantage of thinking with fiber optic cables instead of neurons, but it felt like her mind was racing faster than usual. Seeing his pain, she wanted to take back her decisions, but she couldn’t, she couldn’t even comfort him. 'Why?' That one word was crushing her.

“We must endeavor to complete our odyssey. We shall return with treasures and knowledge known only to myth. Our glory shall grow till all praise us with merry. The past is written, but the future has yet to be carved into the monolith.” Hephaestus said. There was no emotion in her voice, no empathy whatsoever. Yet, his distress must have been apparent even to her, and so she decided it’d be beneficial to repeat the words of an obscure author, or at least that’s what Kaleb thought.

“Right.” Kaleb said, pausing for what felt like a long time as he calmed his thoughts. “Let’s get ready, we need to hit that maneuver node so we can get the hell out of here.” His voice broke a little, revealing that strange combination of despair and hate.

It wasn’t like the early days of spaceflight, where every maneuver had to be hit with perfect precision, but even now, missing a maneuver by just a few seconds could add many hours to a trip. They’d already calculated the optimal route, by starting their burn over Switzerland they’d get a small assist from Earth’s gravity and intercept with where Saturn would be in 55 days. During that time, they’d be firing the direct fusion drive at full throttle, and reach a top speed of over 2.1 million kph (1.3 million mph). As impressive as that seems, it was still only 0.2% the speed of light, which is why they’d have to make other arrangements if they wanted to go significantly further.

‘Thank you.’ Athena mouthed where Hephaestus could see. She was silent while she got back in her seat. Of everything she wanted to say, nothing seemed right, so she let the uncomfortable silence linger.

“Burn will start in 90 seconds.” Hephaestus updated.

Kaleb had already floated back to his seat when she gave the update. As much as he liked the feeling of weightlessness, he could not appreciate it. He leaned his head back, trying to extinguish the dark thought that wouldn’t leave his mind. ‘The fuckers think they can take everything from me, threaten my daughters, and make me a refugee.’ even in his mind he feared finishing that thought, but couldn’t overpower the hate urging him on, ‘you want to see what I can do when I’m not trying to improve your ungrateful lives! Within the decade I could…’

“Kaleb! Am I authorized to begin the maneuver?” Hephaestus yelled, breaking Kaleb from his fantasy.

“Yes.” he replied flatly.

 
 
Hephaestus throttled up the engines, and the ship began accelerating at a quarter m/s² (a half mph), the faintest semblance of apparent gravity helped their hair return to order. The gravity was very faint, only 2.5% of Earth’s (15% of the Moon’s). It wasn’t enough to prevent the adverse health effects associated with long-distance space travel, but it was enough to make normal routines like: eating, drinking, and bodily functions easy.

“I’m going to my quarters.” Kaleb said before grabbing the ladder. The ladder was built into what was the floor, but with the way they were accelerating it was now a sidewall. The ladder led down into a common room that was set at a 90-degree angle to the cockpit. Since the crew quarters were only used in space, the floor was facing towards the back of the ship.

Kaleb didn’t waste time in the common room or get food from the commissary. Even though it'd been awhile since he ate, he'd lost his appetite. He just wanted to lie down. His cabin was the largest private room, but was still cramped compared to anything on Earth. It had a twin bed, a desk with a chair on tracks, and a small closet. The bedsheets were secured inside a desk, but he didn't bother to get them or a pillow.

“I’ll…” he mumbled to himself as tears formed, “I’ll…” he was stuggling to hold it back. It was no use, the tears started slowly streaming across his cheeks, pooling on the unmade bed. “I’ll fucking kill them.”