Idealogy 4109. When knowledge changed humanity

ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA

– Sorry, you are busy, and I'm interrupting you with my questions.

Terry looked at Anastasia and smiled.

TERRY TAYLOR

– Yeah, a little. Though you can sit next to me at Igor’s place.

Anastasia was very surprised.

ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA

– No, please! I’m not sitting at Igor’s place. I had enough of his screams during the preparation for our journey.

Terry laughed heartily.

TERRY TAYLOR

– Yea-a-a-ah! Igor is a serious man.

ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA

– Now I’ll tell you how I first met him. I came all dressed up. I was wearing a pantsuit, did the styling in a beauty salon, light makeup, put on my favorite shoes from Jimmy Choo. After all, I was invited to «Roscosmos» and I wanted to make an impression. They met me and escorted to the office. The door opened, and in the office I saw a bunch of ragged men. Everyone's eyes were wild, all faces were red, rumpled, shirts worn out, ties loosened and the ashtrays were full of cigarette butts.

Terry looked at Anastasia in surprise.

ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA

– Then I realized: they were clearly discussing my nominee. Having noticed me, they calmed down, straightened their, so to speak, shirts and ties. Baranov Sergey Antonovich, the head of «Roscosmos», started introducing me and telling them who I was and that I was one of many candidates for the position of linguist and psychologist. The management wanted to have two Russian cosmonauts on board of the shuttle, as this would increase the prestige of our country. After a short meeting Sergei Antonovich led me to introduce Igor Vladimirovich. Then Igor came up to me and looked at me with an appraising look.

Anastasia Gradeckaya frowned and put on deep voice.

ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA

– Hi, my name is Igor Vladimirovich. I’m your mentor and will prepare you for the flight in orbit. From your personal files, I know that you are a professor of psychology and linguistics at Moscow State Technological University named after N.E. Bauman. Perhaps, these skills will be useful to you on the Earth, but not in space. So don’t expect pity from me. Neither I’m going to see your tears during the training! If you don’t like it, the four doors on the first floor are always open.

Terry turned to Anastasia.

TERRY TAYLOR

– Did he really say so? Don’t expect pity from me and don’t pour tears?

ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA

– Yes! Can you imagine? And then it started: eight months of hell, torment, cries and tears.

Terry laughed.

ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA

– He is a physical education coach – I'm in tears. Survival courses – I'm in tears. Fire training courses – I'm in tears. He is at the controls of an airplane – I am unconscious, but without tears.

Anastasia and Terry laughed.

TERRY TAYLOR

– I didn't know these stories.

ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA

– In general, it sucks. But I’m not what they think of me: they press me and I push harder in response.

TERRY TAYLOR

– Wow.

ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA

– But then, eight months later, after passing the tests, he came up to me with grades and congratulated me on being a member of the «New World» shuttle team. I had competed with 10 applicants from different countries, and even men were among them. But they chose me, a simple teacher from the university, because my indicators were better than others.

TERRY TAYLOR

– Since they chose you, it means that you are not so simple.

Terry confused Anastasia with his gaze and words.

ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA

– Igor Vladimirovich is a great fellow! I am very grateful to him for my training and for being here now.

Igor Vladimirovich flew up to Terry and Anastasia. The girl stood up, giving way to the second pilot Igor. Her mentor put his hand on her shoulder and thereby stopped his colleague.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Sit, sit. What about diagnostics?

TERRY TAYLOR

– I checked 8 out of 12 nodes, so there is work.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Will you manage it yourself?

TERRY TAYLOR

– Yes, of course.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Moreover, you have a great assistant, she is the future of the Russian space.

Anastasia with her head held high, looked at Igor, as she liked his words about her.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– If you need me, I’m in the cabin.

TERRY TAYLOR

– Good.

Igor went on the first level again.

TERRY TAYLOR

– Well, you see, Nastya, he isn’t so scary.

She appreciated Terry's sarcasm. They continued the conversation and performed diagnostics of the orbital nodes. 20 minutes passed, and the team gathered again in the cockpit. Everyone took his or her place. Terry and Igor discussed further actions and possible contingencies. Igor nodded his head, and the captain opened a channel of communication with the FCC.

TERRY TAYLOR

– Rich, are you receiving me?

Rich was walking around the FCC with a tuna sandwich washing it down with tea. He was going around his colleagues, asking them about their personal life. Having bitten off a good piece, he enjoyed it with pleasure. Hearing Terry's voice in the headset, Rich spat out the chewed leftovers in the first ballot box before he could swallow them.

RICH RUDIGER

– I’m receiving you, Terry.

TERRY TAYLOR

– The shuttle and the crew is ready to start spatial move.

RICH RUDIGER

– Roger that.

Walking to his workplace, Rich ate in a hurry the rest of the sandwich and drank some tea. He put the mug on the table and turned on the speakerphone.

RICH RUDIGER

– FCC team! I’m announcing a three-minute preparation for the start of spatial displacement.

In a separate room of the FCC, where the high society and guest stars were located, after the announcement of a three-minute readiness, the eyes of all gathered guests turned to the huge central screen of the FCC. Television and Internet broadcasts started gaining viewers massively.

Rich's colleagues set aside their personal affairs as well as fast food and drinks. They began to prepare for the next phase of the «New World» mission. The excitement and tension in the FCC had been growing with every second. Rich switched the communication channel to the International Orbiting Satellite.

RICH RUDIGER

– IOS, this is FCC, come in!

Indian astronaut Sadhir Bin Osman, Russian astronaut Ruslan Nikolayevich, British astronaut Andrew Scott and Charlie Holond from the United States of America sat in one of the IOS residential modules at the monitors and computers. They were getting ready to launch equipment for spatial movement.

CHARLIE HOLLAND

– Rich, this is IOS, I’m receiving you.

RICH RUDIGER

– Charlie, the «New World» shuttle is ready for spatial displacement. I give permission to run the collider.

CHARLIE HOLLAND

– Rich, roger that, starting.

Charlie Holland began to lead his colleagues, preparing IOS for the launch of the collider. Ruslan Nikolaevich and Sudhir Bin Osman activated huge solar panels and aligned them in the direction of the Sun. Andrew Scott and Charlie Holland were watching the indicators and the data arriving on computers.

SUDHIR BIN OSMAN

– Energy is at the maximum, we are ready to run the collider.

CHARLIE HOLLAND

– Great.

On his touchpad, Charlie clicked on the button «Launch». Terry, Igor and their comrades were watching as the collider turned on and began to rotate. The lower part was rotating to the left side, the upper part was rotating to the right side.

ANDREW SCOTT

– Indications are ok.

Charlie gradually added energy to the collider.

CHARLIE HOLLAND

– Sudhir, launch electromagnets and enter the Peter Pachus’s formula for the spatial displacement.

SUDHIR BIN OSMAN

– In the process.

Sudhir activated electromagnets, maximized their values and introduced the spatial displacement formula into the program on a touch-screen monitor. The upper and lower parts of the collider began to move faster, which was making the collider glow slightly with a violet-blue color.

CHARLIE HOLLAND

– Andrew, what are the indicators?

ANDREW SCOTT

– The indicators are normal. The purification of dark energy from impurities has begun. The reaction is currently stable.

CHARLIE HOLLAND

– Ruslan, bring energy to the maximum.

On his touch-screen monitor Ruslan raised the level of energy, supplied to the collider to ten thousand gigaelectron-volts. A minute later, a dark substance began to grow from the edge of the structure to the center. Another minute passed, and the dark substance merged in the center and took a stable etheric form.

RUSLAN NIKOLAEVICH

– Pure dark energy received.

ANDREW SCOTT

– The reaction is stable, we are holding it.

Applause was heard at the FCC. Billions of viewers watched the launch of the collider and the creation of pure dark energy. Charlie Holland introduced the coordinates of the solar system «Alpha Centauri S» on his 3D model of the Universe. With the help of shunting engines the collider made an adjustment. Shuttle pilots also made a small adjustment to the trajectory.

CHARLIE HOLLAND

– FCC, this is IOS. Coordinates entered. I’m waiting for a command to start spatial movement.

RICH RUDIGER

– IOS, roger that. The data received and verified. Hold on.

Rich turned to the VIP box side and looked for Peter Pachus. Their eyes met and Peter Pachus nodded his head.

RICH RUDIGER

– IOS, this is FCC. Permission granted.

CHARLIE HOLLAND

– FCC, roger that.

Charlie said a prayer and pressed the «Shift» button on his touch screen. The shuttle team was watching while the viscous substance froze. A glow appeared from the center, it gradually grew, became brighter and moved to the edges. After some time, the crew of the shuttle could observe the distorted projection of the yellow star «Alpha Centauri S» and one of the exoplanets, as well as the outer space surrounding them. The objects were extended in width, length and connected in the center.

CHARLIE HOLLAND

– That's crazy! Rich, do you see it?

RICH RUDIGER

– Yes.

Billions of people, watching the creation of a tunnel for spatial movement, were stunned by what they saw.

CHARLIE HOLLAND

– Indicators?

ANDREW SCOTT

– Normal.

CHARLIE HOLLAND

– FCC, this is IOS. The spatial tunnel is stable, you can launch the shuttle. Wish the team a great journey from us.

RICH RUDIGER

– Be sure, I will. IOS, great job!

CHARLIE HOLLAND

– Thank you.

Rich switched the communication channel from IOS to the shuttle.

RICH RUDIGER

– Terry, come in.

TERRY TAYLOR

– Receiving you, Rich.

RICH RUDIGER

– The spatial tunnel is open, MCC and MOS give the permission for entry.

The crew was observing with excitement the formation of the spatial tunnel in front of them.

TERRY TAYLOR

– Yes, I’ve already understood that it is open. Got you, FCC, we are starting the entrance.

Terry pushed forward the thrust levers of the main engines of the shuttle and the ship slowly moved towards the spatial tunnel. His actions were watched by workers and guests of the FCC, astronauts of the International Space Agency, guests of the «Babylon» space launching complex and billions of people around the globe. The captain looked at the distance to the entrance. It was slowly contracting and stepped over a mark of 100 meters.

TERRY TAYLOR

– The team is ready to shift!

Astronauts tried to hide their nervousness, but confusion and fear of the unknown were visible on their faces.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– God bless us all!

TERRY TAYLOR

– FCC, we’ll meet in 30 days.

RICH RUDIGER

– Have a good journey and God bless you!

Terry pulled the levers forward and the shuttle speeded off. Entering the tunnel, the shuttle instantly disappeared from screens and monitors. The world was briefly shocked by what was happening. Seconds later people, who were watching the broadcast around the world, celebrated a new step in the conquest of interstellar space. An enchanting, festive mood reigned in the FCC. FCC employees, high society, investors, guest stars lit cigars and opened champagne. Astronauts and Charlie Holland's team congratulated each other at IOS. Rich switched the communication channel to IOS.

RICH RUDIGER

– IOS, come in!

CHARLIE HOLLAND

– IOS receiving.

RICH RUDIGER

– Disconnect the collider, prepare it for the return of the shuttle.

Passing through the spatial tunnel, Terry and his team watched as the head and cockpit of the ship stretched into the distance. The captain glanced at his hands, holding the steering wheel and traction levers – they also extended in length, like his whole body. He felt a wild and violent heaviness throughout the whole organism and thought about telling Igor Vladimirovich about this, but his consciousness fell into darkness, as did the consciousness of the whole crew.

Star system «Alpha Centaur S». 1.67 light year from the Earth

An active white-yellow star was producing thermonuclear reactions, during which hydrogen was transformed into helium. In this case, energy was released, giving light and heat. On the surface of the star, plasma substance was mixed, sunspots were forming and prominences were erupting. Fountains of hot gas and energy eruptions of ionized particles went into space at great speed and formed a solar wind. The solar system had many diverse solid planets, small planetoids and gas giants. In the inhabited zone of the Star there were three exoplanets closely spaced to each other.

At a distance of 160 million kilometers from the Star, a small planet was moving in its orbit, having the color shades of turquoise, azure and pale pink. There was interspersed dry land of green-blue, green-violet and red-green colors on the planet.

At 423 thousand kilometers from the exoplanet a small black spherical base was formed. The «New World» shuttle was thrown from it at a tremendous speed. It was de-energized and it rotated around its axis. It was moving towards a multicolored planet. Igor Vladimirovich was the first to wake up on board the ship. His consciousness, like his body, began to recover after spatial displacement. The man immediately felt a wild aching headache. Overcoming the pain, the astronaut looked at Terry Taylor sitting next to him. He was unconscious. Igor shook his shoulder and muttered with difficulty.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Terry, Terry, wake up.

A severe aching headache gave no peace. Writhing from excruciating sensations, the astronaut continued to wake Terry. He raised his voice and tried to bring the captain to life.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Terry, Terry, wake up!

The man turned back and examined the crew. All of them were fastened to their seats, but were in an unconscious state, their limbs were floating in the air. The aching headache began to subside, which gave Igor the opportunity to orient and concentrate. He examined aerobatic instruments and shuttle controls: they were de-energized. The astronaut touched the screens and monitors, but they didn’t show activation signs. His gaze periodically fell on a multicolored planet, which with each appearance in the frontal window became larger and sharper. Igor once again patted Terry's shoulder and said loudly.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Terry! Terry, wake up! Fuck!

Terry remained unconscious. The astronaut heard a moaning female voice. He immediately turned around and saw Anastasia, who woke up and was touching her head with her hands and was groaning in pain.

ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA

– Oh, my gosh, my head is going to explode.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Nastya, be patient, the pain will soon pass.

Nastya muttered plaintively and inaudibly aloud. She lowered her hands and saw Igor Vladimirovich peeking from his chair.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Hold on, my dear, it'll pass.

Anastasia was twisting with pain and was looking around.

ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA

– Igor, what happened to us and why is our shuttle rotating so fast?

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– This is what I’m trying to find out, but first we need to restore the ship’s power supply. How are you, honey?

ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA

– Much better now, the pain subsides.

Igor Vladimirovich turned to Anastasia.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Nastya, listen to me, we don’t have time to bring our team to life. I tried to wake Terry, but all in vain, so we will deal on our own.

ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA

– Okay, I understand. What do I have to do?

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– You have to unfasten Terry and move him to his place. Then you will take the place of the second pilot, and I will fly to the power unit. The fuses may have tripped and the ship has been disconnected.

ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA

– I will do this.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Good girl.

Igor unfastened himself from the chair and flew up to the bag with the inscription FilPC. He took the device from the case and launched an operating system on it. The computer booted up and the intelligent assistant appeared on the screen.

FilPC

– Hello, Igor. How can I help you?

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Hi, FilPC, I need you to light my way to the power unit of our shuttle.

FilPC

– Have you got any problems?

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Yes, our shuttle is de-energized, it is rotating around its axis and, according to my calculations, if we don’t establish energy supply, we will crash into one of the planets with great speed.

The furry animal immediately changed into a military uniform.

FilPC

– If our shuttle is de-energized, I think the fuses of our reactor have tripped, and perhaps, we should start by checking the power unit.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Yes, I thought about that too, so make a track.

FilPC

– Right.

A shuttle map appeared on the screen of the monoblock, indicating the location of the power unit. Igor drew attention to Anastasi. She was moving the unconscious commander of the ship. His body was floating in zero gravity.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Anastasia, we are gone.

ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA

– Good.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– You will succeed.

He winked at Anastasia, she answered him with a smile. Nastya didn’t hesitate. She put Terry in her specialist chair and fastened him with straps. After making sure that he was securely fastened, she secured herself with belts on the second pilot’s place and was waiting for Igor Vladimirovich. In the frontal panoramic porthole, she was watching the alternating appearance of the star «Alpha Centauri S» and the multicolored planet, getting larger and larger with each turn.

Together with FilPC, illuminating the corridors and decks of the shuttle, Igor moved to the power unit. They flew into the dark transition between levels and moved down all the way. Having flown to the first level, they continued to move through the corridors until FilPC lit a massive door with a painted sign of radiative chemical hazard.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Well done, FilPC!

FilPC

– I'm happy to help you. I was created for this.

Igor examined the de-energized door control panel and tried to open it manually. He pulled the handle, but the door didn’t give in.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– I can’t open it manually, FilPC. Can you do anything?

Having flown up to the door control panel, FilPC pulled wires from its housing and connected them to the panel.

FilPC

– Let's see.

In less than a minute the astronaut and the intellectual assistant opened the door and flew into a small room. In the foreground they saw an inactive control panel, which had to monitor the state of an atomic reactor. An atomic reactor was in the background. It was in a protected radiative capsule filled with coolant. Thick insulating wires came from the capsule and they were connected to the control panel. Igor put his hand onto the dashboard scanner, but the scanner didn’t respond.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Everything seems to be out of order. To be honest, I'm confused. So how do we start the reactor now? Any suggestions, FilPC?

FilPC

– It’s good that you’ve got me.

The furry animal instantly changed its military overalls to jeans and a plaid shirt. A small suitcase appeared in its hands. An intelligent assistant flew up to the control panel. Wires came out of its case and it easily connected to the panel.

FilPC

– Let's see what happened to our shuttle.

He directed part of his energy to the panel, went into its system files and ran diagnostics in order to troubleshoot.

FilPC

– Yes, indeed, the fuses in the reactor and throughout the ship tripped. After starting all the systems, I will carry out a complete diagnosis and can tell you exactly why the fuses tripped.

A monotonous dull sound appeared in the room, signifying the start of the atomic reactor. The dashboard responsible for the power unit started booting…

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Well done, FilPC!

FilPC instantly changed into a tuxedo and turned on the music. It launched an animation on its screen, where crowds of viewers and camera flashes greeted it, while it was walking along the red carpet. It greeted its fans with a smile and signed autographs. Igor, seeing the animation, could not restrain himself and also patted it. The shuttle began to perk up, the lighting and illumination on the ship gradually turned on. The life support system began to work with renewed vigor. Operating systems were loading on all monitors and screens of the ship.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Great, it changes everything.

Igor flew to the power unit door.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– FilPC, are you going?

FilPC

– I will stay here and carry out diagnostics for errors and possible failures in the power system.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– This is right, okay. Do your business, baby.

The astronaut flew in a hurry through the illuminated corridors of the ship into the cockpit. Having flown into the cockpit, he saw that Nastya had done exactly what he asked. The man felt a slight relief from the fact that he would not have to spend precious time on unnecessary actions. Dashboards, screens and monitors started up and were performing system diagnostics. Igor began to settle down in the place of the commander of the ship.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– How are we doing?

ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA

– It’s alright, except for the fact that we will soon enter the atmosphere of the planet.

The shuttle made a revolution, and Igor Vladimirovich could see through the frontal porthole how a colored planet filled almost the entire panoramic windshield. They could make out the uneven outlines of the multicolored islands. There was a visible vegetation of green-blue, green-purple and red-green shades on them. The islands were washed with a liquid of turquoise, azure and pale pink shades.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– What a beauty!

ANASTASIA GRADECKAYA

– The planet looks like a paradise, and it seems to me that it is very suitable for life.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– Perhaps, but first we need to stop the rotation or, at least, try not to crash.

The shuttle made a revolution, and the planet disappeared from the view of the astronauts. Igor and Nastya examined the dashboard of the shuttle. On-board computer displayed incomprehensible data and indications, as well as interference on monitors and screens.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– What the hell is going on?

The astronaut was trying to fix the on-board computer and restart the system, to turn off the autopilot and to take control. Igor was pulling the levers responsible for maneuvering, but the on-board computer and the shuttle didn’t give a backlash.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– This is nonsense, nothing works.

He tried to workaround the shuttle automation in various ways and to start the shunting engines, but all his efforts were in vain. The astronaut has established a connection with FilPC.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– FilPC, FilPC, this is Igor.

FilPC was connected to the dashboard of the power unit and was scanning its system for detection and elimination of errors.

FilPC

– Receiving.

IGOR VLADIMIROVICH

– It seems that the on-board computer is out of order as well as the control of the shuttle. Nothing is working.