Enterprise : Hunting Hydra

By Sasha Nexus

Chapter One: SLC-6

Archie, Andrew and I are triplets attending Georgia Tech as Sophomores.   Archie had been bitten by the space bug and his major was aerospace engineering.   Andrew loved being an electrical engineering major even though with his ability with information systems may believed that he would become a computer engineer.  I had not gotten bitten by the engineering bug, but I still wanted to go to college with my brothers.  I was a psychology major since emotional and social interaction were what I was thrilled  to discover.

We all are Georgia Tech Cheerleaders and were part of the gold team which is the cheerleaders who are the most visible.  At tryouts last year, I made friends with Atina, who was one of identical quadruplets.  I spotted her well and treated her with respect so she put in a word for my brothers with her sisters to give them a chance to work with them too.  That partnership brought success for both the triplets and quadruplets since contrary to the conventional wisdom we had made the gold team! As we scattered to take our showers after practice each of us, triplet, had our eye on a different quadruplet.

 Atina had managed to not declare a major yet, choosing to delay her first major courses and make getting prerequisites in difficult.  She delighted in learning and She really wanted to learn it all but she knew eventually she would have to choose one area of study. Atina and I seemed to be studying together as well as I being the one who spotted her on her stunts.  She was the one person in the world that I had told my secret which not even my brothers knew.

Aquata delighted in knowing what exactly the forces of nature were so she was a Earth and Atmospheric Science Major. .  Andrew spent time together with her when they both were focused on cheerleading.  Andrew spotted her stunts and with their growing trust of each other evolved into a brother/sister kind of relationship with her.  They both were students of all aspects of cheerleading and that common interest led to them spending quality time together outside of the mandated time we all spent together practicing cheerleading.

 Arista was fascinated with high energy physics so was a Physics Major.  She didn't mind that she was the one left without a triplet, since she had her mind on social advancement.  Her spotter for the stunts is Jean Luc Chirac, who is from a wealthy, powerful family in France.  Arista loves being flown to Paris to attend social events escorted by Jean Luc.  Her main lament is that she does not get to be with Jean Luc more.  When Jean Luc misses practice, Ted Knight, one of the Gold team alternates, spots her on stunts instead.

Like Archie, Adella was a Aerospace Engineering Major and the two worked together well being study partners as well as Archie spotting her for stunts.   I suspected the two of having consummated a committed relationship but neither one spoke about their private time together.  Adella like Archie was a pilot as a result of being in the Yellow Jacket Flying Club and they both spent a lot of time at Charlie Brown Airport where the club's planes were kept.

Adella and Archie had a project over at Fernbank that they wanted to work on.  Ordinarily that would have meant that the whole lot of us would have ridden a MARTA bus over there.  Atina knew that I had an appointment and could not go with them so instead she snagged Arista to keep her company and of course Andrew and Aquata came along too.  I had a different bus that I had to catch at the bus stop.  So it was decided that all of us would walk to the bus stop together.

Atina and I lagged behind the rest which gave Atina a chance to tell me, "Just tell her what you told me and don't be nervous.  From what I hear she's the best at helping someone like you.  No matter what, I love you and we'll be friends forever!" After Atina gave me a peck on my forehead and a great big hug, I told her, "Thanks Atina for everything!  I love you too."  Atina caught up to get in step with Arista while I had to run because my bus had turned the corner and was coming toward the bus stop. I was fast enough to be at the foot of the stairs when the bus opened its doors.   I turned back and waved at my brothers and friends as I deposited my token for the bus fare and went back to find a seat.

As I sat on the bus by myself, I patted the utility bag beside me that contained everything that I would need for my change prior to the meeting.  You see, the meeting was not for Alan but for Alana to attend.  This was the latest of the steps that I had taken once I had discovered that I could not wait any longer to get the outside of me to match my inner self and inside I have always been female.  A chain of events had started since I had found the Atlanta Chapter of Gender Trek, an open transgender support group.  I had attended a few previous meetings as Alana when I was able to change at the meeting location, which is kept confidential and revealed only to those who are able to be screened in order to maintain a safe, discreet environment for our meetings.  At the support group I had been introduced to Dr Erika Johansen , an auburn haired, green eyed, tall beauty. She herself is a transwoman having been the first  Minister to retain ordination in the Methodist church after transition.   She was an associate minister and maintained her counseling office at Harmony Methodist Church which is where my meeting would take place. 

While not required to dress as my true self for my counseling session, Erika had always seen me as Alana and it felt right for me to be outwardly the person I was inside so I would be more transparent with her.  I had already found that the convenience store near the MARTA stop had a single use restroom that was roomy.  I planned to change in there.  All of the skin prep had been done before so all I had to do was to get dressed and put on some makeup

Once the restroom door was locked I removed my clothing and,. I clasp the bra behind me and put the hand thru the straps with the breast forms in the cups and seated everything in place.  My tummy was tiny enough that I didn't need a waist nipper so I put on thong panties which acted like a gaff as everything was tucked up out of the way.  I sat down to roll the panty hose up my legs.  I had a cute black skirt and a flowered top that  I put on along with some 1.5" pumps.  I put the wig on in the way that I had been shown and all that was left was the makeup.  I had been getting pretty good at it so it didn't take long for me to apply foundation, powder, blusher eye makeup and lipstick.  I took a look in the mirror and approved of the woman I saw reflected looking back at me.

 I gathered the male clothing and my makeup into the bag and took a deep breath and exited the restroom  Then I confidently took a drink, a diet coke,  from the cold box and went to the counter to pay for it.  The girl at the counter rolled her eyes at me as she rung me up but she didn't say anything.  I guessed that I wasn't the first of Erika's clients to use that trick of changing there.  I enjoyed the short walk to the church .  Soon I waited by the side door after ringing the doorbell to be let into the building,  Erika came out and let me in and directed me to her waiting room since she still had someone in her office.  While I was waiting my cell phone rang (I made a mental note to remember to put it on vibrate after the call for inside Erika's office.

"Hello " greeted Atina who appeared to be around the others so she couldn't speak freely but I could.

"Hi this is Alana.  What's going on Atina?", I asked

"Adella, Archie and Andrew hacked the Hubble telescope and found out why the number of images archived per day has decreased and it has nothing to do with a malfunction.  NASA has placed most of the pics in hidden archives because it has been keeping track of a huge asteroid bearing down on earth.  Adella and Archie have done an orbital analysis and there can be no mistake.  The asteroid will impact with Earth and destroy it in six days. "

"Goodness, Atina, how do you feel about all this?" I asked

"Hopeful, you see Archie has a plan to take care of it before someone makes it worse by exploding missiles up there.  He figures that our elemental powers combined may be enough to deflect it without splitting it into problematical pieces. Us girls and Andrew would stand around the points of a pentagram and Archie would be at the center, pulling the strings to coax the powers to combine and do our bidding." she explained

I paused as I considered that indeed each of the girls were psionic and had access to something akin to elemental powers.  Atina psionic ability to control cryonics, Aquata controlled the weather, Adella controlled gravity and Arista controlled plasma.  Andrew had a psionic power to control knowledge, and Archie controlled emotions and social interaction  "Do you think this could work?" I asked.

Atina answered, "I'm not sure of the outcome, but I am sure we have to try. Archie needs a clear view of the sky away from the skyscrapers so we will be taking a bus out to Charlie Brown Airport.  It should take us an hour to get over there and set up and try it. Alana you need to stay there for your own good.  Your abilities are duplicates of Archie's so you wouldn't add any power to the attempt. "

I agreed, "You are right.  Please tell Archie to be careful and don't try to out muscle the force as he is accustomed to doing.  I wish the best for you all on your heroic action. "  

Atina finished, "Bye Sweetie!  I'll call and let you know how it comes out."

I finished ," And Atina... All my hopes! (whispered) good bye."

I had a bad feeling about the whole thing but Archie was determined to see this thing thru his way like always so there is nothing that I could say to alter his plans.  All I could do is take care of myself so I would be around to pick up the pieces, hopefully. I changed my cell to vibrate and saw Erika's office door open as her last client left and ushered me into her office.

We started out with pleasant conversation and finally got down to my telling my story of my life and why I felt like this was the time that I had to quit being false and start being true to myself on the inside as well as the appearance I presented outside.  With active listening I was active in telling my story and I knew she understood yet it seemed like I was entranced as I told my story and the time flew by. 

Erika stopped me prior to the session's end chosing to continue my life story to another day.  What she wanted to know about was the specifics to the wierd dream I had made an off hand remark earlier.  When the dream started, I was up in space talking to the President of the United States in a video conference. Amazingly enough something had made me become Alana for real! The president asked me "My God! What was it that did that to you? And I answered "What it was, was Magic!" And then I woke up.    Erika wanted to take longer with me but she had a closed support group scheduled next so she made sure I knew when my next appointment was and told me to take heart that we could make it thru this journey together. 

When I was out into the hallway I turned on my phone again.  I noticed a unisex sign on a door between 2 ordinary restroom doors and I reasoned that it was set up as a changing room so I went in and locked the door.  I put the phone down having looked and noticed that I had just missed a call.  Reversing the process to restore the appearance of Alan was really easy especially since I had just the right products with me to remove the makeup.  When Alan's image was looking back at me in the mirror I picked up the cell phone to retrieve the message as I was gathering everything else up to leave. 

"Alan! you need to get down to the ICU in Crawford Long Hospital ASAP.  There was an accident and Archie might not make it...." , Atina told me as her voice trailed off into huge sobs.

I replied without waiting," Atina, I will be there ASAP.  Send my love  Bye"

I hung up the phone and placed a request for a cab to pick me up and take me to Crawford Long Hospital.  Crawford Long was named for the Doctor who first used anesthesia and now it was part of a world class Emory Hospital system so Archie was in the best hands that he could be.  I thanked my lucky stars that the cab seemed to appear as if by magic seconds later and it sounded its horn to let me know it was there and I scurried out and got into the cab and directed the driver to take me to Crawford Long.  I explained that my brother was in critical condition.  it seemed that he was even more amazing the skill and the luck which he navigated thru the traffic to stop in front of the hospital in record time.  He swiped my card and bid me good luck as I rushed inside and followed the signs to get to ICU. 

 I walked quickly to ICU and was met by Atina running up to me and giving me a big hug and pulling me aside.  "Alan I'm glad you are here.  Archie could die anytime.  They only are letting 2 be with him at a time and Andy and Adella are in with him now.  Andy will leave to let you come in."  I told Atina "Thank you!" then I rang to be let into the ICU and the nurses buzzed me in.  Andy came out of the room and patted me on the shoulder as I walked by and into the room with Archie and Adella. 

Archie seemed to be waiting for me with a purpose because he skipped right to the chase, "You were right, Alan,  it needs to be finessed like a woman might handle it instead of over powered.  My body was just too fragile.  It wasn't anyone's fault but mine.  Alan you got to take my place and do it again.  Away from interference but not too far away from earth, Alpha in low earth orbit and that new room, Harmony should be the perfect place.  Promise me you'll try, Alan so that everyone I love and the earth itself will be safe."

I fought back tears but I clearly told him, "Archie, I promise"

Archie looked at both Adella and me and continued," One more thing.  I wont try to get you to promise not to grieve over me but I would like both of you to work together to make sure my body is cremated and my ashes fired off into interstellar space,  Promise, Adella?"

"Yes, Lover, now and for always, I promise." Adella promised with a brave smile for Archie's sake

"And Alan?" as Archie looked calmly and peacefully into my eyes

"Yes Archie, I promise too." I finished and Archie closed his eyes as everything being monitored approached flat line and Archie had passed peacefully from this life.  Adella and I cried on each other's shoulders as the support staff started to take care of getting the room ready to receive the rest of Archie's loved ones .Arista took my place comforting Adella while Atina came and got me and took me out to the waiting room to meet with Andrew and a mystery man.

"Alan, this man says he is Zack Smith and he is here on behalf of the US Military.  The military discovered our hack and discovery of the Asteroid so they were keeping a spy satellite focused on us while we made our attempt.  They know what we can do and they feel like Archie was on the right track so they want to give us what we need to make another attempt that will succeed." explained Andy

"That's right, Sir! The military will make anything happen that has to happen in order to make this work."

"First we need all to avoid the temptation to make my brother a guinea pig.  He told me what we needed to do to make it work and the only thing that he asked in return is for us to dispose of his ashes in a special way.  I'm going to use this as a test just how much we can trust you to do as you say.  Let's see how fast you can get my brother's actual ashes delivered to us.  Don't even think of making a switch because we have the means to independently verify that the remains are genuine."

"Yes, Sir! We will meet the terms of your test.  It will save time if you go ahead and let us know about your other requirements so we can concurrently work on them as well."

"Alright Zack, get the ball rolling .  Adella is to stay with the body and take possession of the ashes when they are ready to be picked up."

"Yes Sir!"  He made a cell phone call and shortly after a gurney left the room with a covered body and with Adella trailing it .

"Now about your other requirements, Sir?"

I asked him, "What are the possibilities to launch 6 novices into space and dock with Alpha within 5-6 days so the asteroid is not too close to earth to be dealt with.  We only have one chance left to try our method if I die like Arch did in the attempt.  We want to maximize chances of success by eliminating interference at the max distance from earth we can chance which is low earth orbit."

Smith told me with a grim face, "NASA has no possibilities for launch within the next 6 days.  Discovery has just come back and the other two are in the orbiter processing facility.  We couldn't even get an assembled shuttle to the pad much less launch before the deadline, even if one could be launched.  And the way that NASA goes to Alpha it takes 3 days.  But the Military does have an option in that area!. We have a secret shuttle on the pad at SLC-6 at Vandenberg AFB ready for lift off. We still would have to make enhancements to give us the best chance of this working. "

Andy took over," The Secret shuttle sounds like a viable possibliity.  I could mitigate us being novices by copying knowledge about shuttle operation from someone who knows and impart it to our group.  I imagine the women might like a women's perspective and I can arrange that too.  Is there a radical means of getting directly to Alpha instead of waiting for 2 days to do so?"

Smith told him, I know a pilot who proposed a radical rhondevous from a polar orbit to cross Alpha's orbit but a radical retro burn and directional change would be required.  We would lighten the shuttle by not carrying weapons or weapons officers and that would help with that radical procedure. However we would have to keep the space lab installed since it is a 4 day process to change out now since it is fully integrated with the shuttle."

Andy told him," We have someone who can break the laws of gravity at will so with some fudging from her the shuttle should be guaranteed of making the turn to be able to dock."

I told Smith," We need the means to launch a container of ashes out into space.  Can you handle it?"

Smith told him, "We could keep the rail gun launcher operational and load up a torpedo with the urn.  That would launch it out with velocity enough to not be a navigational hazard. "

Andy resumed," It seems like we are close to having a consensus.  We'll gather and discuss it but we need to see Adella and the urn before making a final decision.  You can arrange transport from here to leave directly after the test is concluded."

Smith told him, "I will make it so!" He used his cell phone to have a prolonged conversation.  The family was allowed the use of a conference room and everyone gathered as Andy told everyone what the situation was and asked for their assent pending Adella's preference.  All of us were weighed down with grief while we all knew that the fate of the world depended on us.  With our decision in, Andy sent me to catch up with Adella and find out her feelings concerning the attempt which I already knew from her promise to Arch.  She nodded her assent to me and I told Andy who in turn conveyed our agreement to the audacious plan.

Soon the 6 of us plus Zack Smith were on the way to the hospital's helipad where a BA 609 Vertical take off and landing aircraft like the military's Osprey was poised with its wings and large twin props in the air to jump into the air.  Adella being a pilot opted to observe the flight from the co-pilot's seat while the rest of us were very comfy in the passenger compartment of the plane.  After we got away from Atlanta airspace on the way to California, Smith opened a secret compartment that had controls and instruments relating to twin jet engines which deployed.  When the jet engines engaged, the twin props disengaged allowing the craft to maintain stability and allowing it to reach Mach 1.5.  As the plane approached California, the secret jet engines shut down as the props reengaged.  Those secret jet engines and their controls vanished from sight. 

Zack had the proper codes to clear us into Vandenberg AFB's air space and we were cleared to land at the helipad adjacent to the Launch control center.  Two jeeps were waiting for us as we exited the plane which now looked like a twin rotor chopper with the wing pointed up.  My group got into one jeep which consisted of me, Atina and Adella and we decided we were Team One. While Aquata and Andrew along with Arista got into the other jeep and they became Team two.  Both jeeps had a GPS and a map to direct us to the Launch pad SLC-6 where the next part would take place.  We took our time getting there enjoying having access to the base while they got ready for us. 

"Team two to team one!" came Andy's voice over the radio.  "We have found the vessel!" he continued  and I replied, "Very good team two!"  Andy continued, "And Alan,  it is the Enterprise!" "Thank you Andy, we'll be right there!" When we pulled in besides the other jeep, we were met by a couple of men who were waiting to escort us thru the security so we could get the first look at the inside of our ride that looked ready to leap off the pad that very second.  SLC-9 the military designation for the shuttle launch pad was a beautiful sight with the Enterprise sitting ready to launch into space.

We soon found out that those men were more than just our escorts but also the Commander, Colonel John Robinson and Pilot, Major Don West.  who would be with us on our journey to Alpha.  When we arrived up at the white room, Zack Smith was waiting for us with a specially designed Torpedo casing made to hold Archie's ashes which Adella handed over for them to be fitted inside and then she went with Smith and the Torpedo to see it loaded on the shuttle.  First we all put on our orange spacesuits and helmets.  Then, I and the rest of us followed the Commander and Pilot as we were helped to climb up into the seats that we would occupy in the dead of night for launch.  The Commander and Pilot sat in the 2 front seats on the flight deck.   Andrew and I climbed into the chairs behind them on the flight deck.  Andrew was told he was MS1 and I was told I was MS2.  Adella (MS3) came back then and she had the first of the 4 seats on the mid deck followed by Aquata(MS4), Atina (MS5) and Arista (MS6).

Since everything fit, it was time to get out of the shuttle and take off the suits and go to Launch control to work out the details where we had promised help to do the impossible.  Once there Andrew was led to a private room where he made good his pledge to provide the knowledge we all would need to be shuttle crew.   Andrew copied  the knowledge of a  male shuttle pilot, and passed it to the two of us .  Visiting the facility was  Dr Shannon, the capcom at MCC Houston.  She agreed to let her memories be copied for the girls.  They gave us written tests to evaluate our readiness to participate in a shuttle flight and we all made perfect scores.. 

Each of us had to be given a flight physical and while the rest of us were waiting our turn, we were filled in on some of the background how they managed to cope with such a secret.  Vandenberg used  the Space Shuttle Enterprise for Launch checks of their Shuttle Facility (Just like had been done at KSC prior to the first shuttle flight).  The public outcry in the wake of the Challenger disaster was to scrap the Vandenberg Shuttle program and send Enterprise to the Smithsonian on Nov 18, 1985.  What actually was done was to camouflage the secret shuttle program by seeming to convert SLC- 6 for Titan IV flights and sending a replica Enterprise to the Smithsonian and converting Enterprise to be both the largest (carrying 8) and most advanced second generation shuttle.

The physicals concluded and everyone was declared flight ready.  It was time for our evening meal which we would be joined by the Commander and Pilot.  It was a lovely night and we tried to relax as best we could.  The food was first rate and the company superb.  It suddenly dawned on us that even though we were not going to do the televised version of the Astronaut's walk to the rocket we would do it in actual fact tonight.  

When Vandenberg launched the shuttle, it was only in the dead of night using its deflector which distorted the shuttle's image  On top of that an actual Titan IV was launched at the same time as the shuttle.  Thus far they had gotten away with the Titan IV cover story.   Launching from Vandenberg in what amounted to a 2nd generation shuttle allowed us to use a polar orbit and a more direct intercept, so that was why Enterprise now had ISS in its sights.  Adella had to combine with the pilot to do the imposible to transfer from the polar orbit to the ISS Orbit at the point of intersection.

Just as in any shuttle launch all of the systems and details were double and triple checked as the countdown clock got smaller and smaller. Everything was in readiness and we knew that our commander and pilot could get us where we were going even if we refused to believe that the names we were given were their real names.  Perhaps one day we would be trusted with the truth.  For right now we had to prove ourselves just as we had been right to test them to make sure they would deliver as promised. 

Being inside a top secret shuttle meant that we had to have a mostly independent command and control.    I remembered now that Mission Control Center (MCC) Huntsville was assigned payload duties which could have been absorbed into the MCC Houston ISS Control after Spacelab quit flying.  It still existed so that the Huntsville MCC could be used as a cover and resource for Shuttle Enterprise flights.

Finally it was time in the count that we were to make that journey from the Launch Control Center to SLC-6 into the white room and finally into the bowels of the Space Shuttle Enterprise, back into the seats that we had been assigned.  Eventually our wait would be over but till then we would be patient being really glad that  the existing Military Shuttle Enterprise, which was ready for launch already, is able to give us a ride to the International Space Station Alpha and a chance to save the World!