Marlowe and the Spacewoman by Ian M. Dudley Page B

programs, first NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and then FSEP.  Underfunded mandates to explore space and expand the boundaries of human existence.  Both came to dire ends, NASA after the lunar landing deceptions came to light, FSEP after a funding misappropriations scandal involving, coincidentally, the second lunar landing program.”
    Nina continued, unaware of House’s interruption.  “We left Earth on August 11, 2007.  Our destination was the 55 Cancri B system.  Relative travel time was thirteen months until arrival, with a sixteen month stay for surveying and scientific exploration.  Then another thirteen months to return, also relative.”
    “I’m confused.  What do family members have to do with this?”
    “Do they not teach anyone physics these days?  Not relatives.  Relative.  As in relativity.  Relativistic effects?”
    Obedere broke in.  “That’s the real kicker of her story, old friend.  Their ship was traveling at nearly the speed of light, so time passed more slowly for them, or more quickly for us, or something along those lines.”
    “Ah ha,” said Marlowe without conviction.
    “Obedere’s explanation, although rudimentary, is accurate,” House reassured Marlowe.
    “We experienced a time dilation.  While time on Earth passed ‘normally,’ time for us during transit passed more slowly.  The relativistic effect of traveling at more than half the speed of light.”
    “So how much time passed on Earth while you were gone?”
    She answered in a tired, frosty tone.  “I left in 2007.  Take the current year and subtract 2007 from it and you have the answer to that question.”
    “2007, that’s the old calendar, isn’t it?”
    “I have no idea.”
    “Well, this is 8 HMHG, the 8th year of His Most Honorable the Governor’s reign.”
    “I’m afraid I’ve missed out on what you would call recent history.  The original PAT, wait, don’t ask, I know, Planned Absence Time, was one hundred and thirty eight years.  But we didn’t stay the full sixteen months.”
    “Oh, this is where the tale gets all weepy,” chortled Obedere, rocking back and forth in his chair, eyes intent on Nina.
    “When we entered the system, we passed through a debris field orbiting 55 Cancri.  In the early stages of the mission planning, the scientists swore up and down that there was no debris field, that what was actually being seen was background radiation misinterpreted as a sphere of debris orbiting the star.  Apparently the math was pretty convincing, but they were wrong.  The impact of thousands of grains, pebbles, rocks, and boulders severely damaged the ship.  If we hadn’t almost completed the braking maneuver when the collisions occurred, the ship would have certainly been destroyed.  As it was, the rest of the crew, my executive officer, engineer,” and then Nina choked up for a moment, “and doctor were all killed.  Only I survived arrival.
    “We had planned to survey the entire system, focusing most of our effort on a probable Earth-like planet named Hare in orbit a quarter AU from the star.  However, after the damage suffered upon arrival, I was barely able to get into orbit around the large gas giant, Tortoise.  The supply ship sent ahead of us was supposed to be in orbit there, and amazingly enough, it was.  Also damaged, but intact for the most part.  I managed to repair Odyssey’s drive system using parts from the supply ship and raw materials harvested from some of Tortoise’s moons.
    “The repairs weren’t perfect.  I had to reduce the amount of mass returning in order to achieve the necessary acceleration.  I dumped all of the equipment, entire sections of the ship, anything that could be safely jettisoned.  Then I fired up the engines and came back.  I miscalculated on the deceleration, though.  I entered Earth’s system too fast.  I abandoned Odyssey in the escape vehicle and managed to slingshot my way around Jupiter, then