Chapter 3 – Graceful Recovery
I sit and watch the power cells charge and the diagnostic run. So far the computer has asked that Life Support, Navigation and Communication to be switched to the main bus.
The Power Cells are charging nicely, even with the increased load. There are only three more to go before the Battery system begins charging.
Life support checks out so I can remove my helmet and turn off the suit pack. I decided to swap them out and leave the second one on standby while the original pack is being recharged. That way if I have to take life support off-line I will have a full pack to run on while I'm working.
With Navigation on-line, the computer begins an analysis of the star patterns in the sky to figure out where in space the ship actually is located. Communications began a scan of all normal channels looking for any signals right after it was activated.
With the computer now doing diagnostics and the power sub-system charging, there is not much to do, so I turn my attention back to the manual.
The H2IK sequence is a series of steps designed to walk someone with a modicum of knowledge about space flight through the re-activation of this craft and hopefully a safe return home.
You are currently in the first phase, the recovery of the system. As you have noticed there is a fusion reactor providing power to charge the cells and batteries. This reactor has 10 fuel rods, each rod should provide more than enough power for a full recharge. This does limit you to 9 uses of the reactor for recharge before you must come home, or be stranded.
The ship is stocked with food, water and air rations for 30 days of generous consumption. If the fusion reactor is running, then the environmental recycling system will give you air and water almost indefinitely. There are two suit packs. It would be in your best interest to keep one on the suit and one in recharge at all times.
Once everything is back up to full capacity the fusion reactor will need to be restarted. Now this ship does not have one of the commercial fusion reactors found in most ships. The design of this reactor allows for field restarting. We have done this several times in controlled test environments and have coded the best results into the ERS program.
The next phase will require all the power reserves in the power cells to jump start the fusion reactor. The ERS will build a containment field and divert coolant from the fission reactor to use as starting solution. A series of ion particle pulses will then bombard the mixture to start the basic fusion reaction. Once the first reactor is started and run up to capacity, the other three reaction chambers will be started from the contents of the first chamber and the normal fuel supply.
The third phase is the survey of the region of space you currently occupy. Hopefully this is somewhere near the Alpha Centauri system. The ship is equipped with several single use survey probes that will send back their data for archive in the main system records. I can not stress enough that all records should be backed up onto permanent storage prior to any attempts at activating the Hyper Shunt drive.
The fourth phase will be the use of the Hyper Shunt drive. You have a list of several target system coordinates, including just coming home. With this list is a set of transformation equations to adjust the coordinates for any changes in location based on Hyper Shunt induced anomalies. This is why it is necessary for the main computer to completely evaluate your location during the level one diagnostics.
As with this transfer, you will have no memory of the steps leading up to the transfer, or the transfer itself. With good notes and a complete archive it should reduce the learning curve the second time.
The main computer has the development tools required for any changes you need to make in the ERS or HSC. Including all source code and my development notes. If you have issues with any of the parameters you can change them with these tools.
If you have not remembered by now H2IK stands for Hell If I Know. It answers all of your questions, “Where am I?” “How did I get here?” “How do I get home?” You see where this is going, don't you? I knew you would.
Yeah, that's my sense of humor alright. Amazing that I managed to put all this together.
The main computer announced “System Diagnostic Completed. There are sub-system failures. Please investigate.”
“OK Computer, List failures.”
“Main Reactor – non functional”
“Propulsion – non functional”
“Communication – no usable synchronization signal present.”
“Navigation – no recognizable star configuration.”
Well, The first two are obviously because the reactor is down. The second is because there is no signal out here. I think I can help with that last one.
“Computer, Override Navigation Home coordinate assumption, new home is near Alpha Centauri Star system. Retest Navigation.”
This should not take too long. Just recalculate the position of 1.2 million stars, child's play for any computer.
“Navigation functional within specified parameters. New home coordinates are set. Please make a hard copy archive of the numbers.”
I note the string of digits in the back of the H2IK manual.
The Power Cells are charging nicely, even with the increased load. There are only three more to go before the Battery system begins charging.
Life support checks out so I can remove my helmet and turn off the suit pack. I decided to swap them out and leave the second one on standby while the original pack is being recharged. That way if I have to take life support off-line I will have a full pack to run on while I'm working.
With Navigation on-line, the computer begins an analysis of the star patterns in the sky to figure out where in space the ship actually is located. Communications began a scan of all normal channels looking for any signals right after it was activated.
With the computer now doing diagnostics and the power sub-system charging, there is not much to do, so I turn my attention back to the manual.
The H2IK sequence is a series of steps designed to walk someone with a modicum of knowledge about space flight through the re-activation of this craft and hopefully a safe return home.
You are currently in the first phase, the recovery of the system. As you have noticed there is a fusion reactor providing power to charge the cells and batteries. This reactor has 10 fuel rods, each rod should provide more than enough power for a full recharge. This does limit you to 9 uses of the reactor for recharge before you must come home, or be stranded.
The ship is stocked with food, water and air rations for 30 days of generous consumption. If the fusion reactor is running, then the environmental recycling system will give you air and water almost indefinitely. There are two suit packs. It would be in your best interest to keep one on the suit and one in recharge at all times.
Once everything is back up to full capacity the fusion reactor will need to be restarted. Now this ship does not have one of the commercial fusion reactors found in most ships. The design of this reactor allows for field restarting. We have done this several times in controlled test environments and have coded the best results into the ERS program.
The next phase will require all the power reserves in the power cells to jump start the fusion reactor. The ERS will build a containment field and divert coolant from the fission reactor to use as starting solution. A series of ion particle pulses will then bombard the mixture to start the basic fusion reaction. Once the first reactor is started and run up to capacity, the other three reaction chambers will be started from the contents of the first chamber and the normal fuel supply.
The third phase is the survey of the region of space you currently occupy. Hopefully this is somewhere near the Alpha Centauri system. The ship is equipped with several single use survey probes that will send back their data for archive in the main system records. I can not stress enough that all records should be backed up onto permanent storage prior to any attempts at activating the Hyper Shunt drive.
The fourth phase will be the use of the Hyper Shunt drive. You have a list of several target system coordinates, including just coming home. With this list is a set of transformation equations to adjust the coordinates for any changes in location based on Hyper Shunt induced anomalies. This is why it is necessary for the main computer to completely evaluate your location during the level one diagnostics.
As with this transfer, you will have no memory of the steps leading up to the transfer, or the transfer itself. With good notes and a complete archive it should reduce the learning curve the second time.
The main computer has the development tools required for any changes you need to make in the ERS or HSC. Including all source code and my development notes. If you have issues with any of the parameters you can change them with these tools.
If you have not remembered by now H2IK stands for Hell If I Know. It answers all of your questions, “Where am I?” “How did I get here?” “How do I get home?” You see where this is going, don't you? I knew you would.
Yeah, that's my sense of humor alright. Amazing that I managed to put all this together.
The main computer announced “System Diagnostic Completed. There are sub-system failures. Please investigate.”
“OK Computer, List failures.”
“Main Reactor – non functional”
“Propulsion – non functional”
“Communication – no usable synchronization signal present.”
“Navigation – no recognizable star configuration.”
Well, The first two are obviously because the reactor is down. The second is because there is no signal out here. I think I can help with that last one.
“Computer, Override Navigation Home coordinate assumption, new home is near Alpha Centauri Star system. Retest Navigation.”
This should not take too long. Just recalculate the position of 1.2 million stars, child's play for any computer.
“Navigation functional within specified parameters. New home coordinates are set. Please make a hard copy archive of the numbers.”
I note the string of digits in the back of the H2IK manual.
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