Part 1:

His face felt warm, as the light began to shine more brightly into his room. He watched the sunrise earlier until it was too bright to stare at. Jonah liked having his bed facing towards the window. His Dad had moved it there a few years ago so that he could watch the stars from his bed. On the nights that he could not sleep, he would lay there for hours staring out at the heavens. Tonight was one of those nights that seemed to last forever. His birthday had finally arrived and he was just too excited to sleep that night. He was expecting to receive a special present this year. Uncle Jack had promised to get him a telescope on his next birthday. He had wanted one for such a long time and now his wait would finally be over. The desert, where he lived, was very dry and the clouds were almost non existent. This made it perfect to view the stars at night and with a telescope, he could only imagine what he could see.

As he laid there in bed, he started thinking of his dad. They would spend hours staring up at the stars at night and talking about the universe and all of the wonders it contained. He missed the stories his dad would tell him about the constellations and how they got their names. With his help, he had learned to name every constellation that was viewable from their yard. He wished he was still around so that they could both enjoy his present, but this was one wish he knew he would never get.

He jumped suddenly when he heard a noise near his doorway. It was his mother standing there. "And what would the birthday boy wish to have for breakfast today?", she asked as she walked into the room. "Mom, I'm not a little boy any more. I am 12 now." he said back to her quickly. She smiled and with a soft voice asked a second time, "What would the young man want for his breakfast?" He thought for a second, then reluctantly he replied, "Pancakes and sausage." He waited to see the expression on her face. He was not sure if they had sausages, or if they could afford to have some. She walked towards his bed, sat down next to him and kissed his forehead. "Happy Birthday Jonah...", she said smiling. Then, she stood up and walked quietly out into the hallway.

This is turning out to be a very special day, he thought to himself. After getting dressed and making his bed he headed for the kitchen. As he sat down at the table, he asked his mother again, "Is Uncle Jack coming to my party later?" Jack, who was his dads younger brother, was the only other family member Jonah had left. When Jack graduated from high school he, unlike his dad, decided to go into the air force. After years of hard work he eventually became a pilot and then went into the space program. Jonah liked listening to his adventures about space and the things that Jack had accomplished. Jonah dreamt about someday going into space himself. But he did not want to be a pilot like Jack, he wanted to be a scientist. "He said he was going to come, but with his busy schedule...", she trailed off as she turned with his plate and placed it in front of him. He knew that Uncle Jack would come, he had promised him the last time they were together and he had never broken a promise.

The morning seemed to drag on, as Jonah did his chores around the house. He was now trying to fix the broken gate on the fence around his garden. He had decided to grow vegetables this year to help with the groceries. He did not like his mom working long hours and he tried to help out as much as he could. As he turned to grab the hammer, he saw a small cloud of smoke coming up the road heading toward their house. He recognized Jack's vehicle immediately. A feeling of excitement came over him as he tried to finish fixing the gate as best he could. He tried not to think about what was waiting for him in the house, but it was very difficult.

A few minutes later, Jonah came running into the house and right into the kitchen. He saw Uncle Jack sitting there drinking a cup of coffee and talking to his mother. He quickly scanned the room. He did not see it. There was no box. All he saw was his mothers present with a card taped to it next to his birthday cake. As he turned to Jack with a look of confusion on his face, Jack smiled back at him. "You thought I forgot did you?", he said with a little chuckle. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys, "It's in the trunk of the car, Jonah... Happy Birthday!" Jonah grabbed the keys from Jack's hands and without hesitation, ran towards the door. "You shouldn't spoil him like that, Jack." Olivia said. "He needs it more than you think. He wants to be a scientist some day and this will help him with his dream."

He stood there for a moment as he searched for the right key. Underneath was one of the best birthday presents he would ever receive. As he turned the lock slowly, he felt both nervous and excited. The trunk sprung up quickly and a large dark blanket came into view. He slowly moved the blanket to the side to uncover a large box beneath it. On the side was written the name StarMap 600. He stood there staring at it, breathless. It was bigger than he had imagined. He was not expecting Jack to get him such a large telescope. He must want me to see the flag he planted on the moon, he thought to himself. This is going to be the best summer ever, he thought and then, with both hands, he pulled the large box out of the car.

Part 2:

Jonah had been standing there in front of the control panel for over an hour. He waited patiently for the reply that the spacecraft had reached it's designated position. Eight years had passed and Jonah was just too excited now to relax. Everything was close to becoming completed. With the last piece reaching it's position soon, they could finally start doing some real science.

“Are you still waiting for that signal, Jonah?” said Walter, as he entered the main lab of the orbiting science station. “Why don't we get some lunch, we still got a little time before its scheduled arrival.” Jonah turned to him and before he could reply, felt his stomach growl. Maybe it has been a while since he had last eaten. With an expression of gratitude, he replied, “Sure. We've got a little time.” He then followed Walter across the lab and into the hallway.

Walter had been with Jonah for over seven years now. He hired him about a year into the project when he finally realized the magnitude of his work. After interviewing over fifty candidates he found Walter. The two of them seemed to hit it off right from the start. With his help, Jonah had taken his dream and made it a reality. They designed and deployed twenty seven deep space telescopic platforms. Each consisting of a large sensor array and a large transmitter used to send signals back and forth to the space station. The units were designed to look at the same distant area from different vantage points from within our galaxy. This allowed them to focus on distant objects, with such precision and clarity, it was like reading a newspaper with binoculars. All this was to happen in less than an hour. Just enough time for a quick meal.

They were just finishing their food when one of the engineers came running into the cafeteria. He ran directly towards the two of them, paused for a second to catch his breathe, then anxiously said “It's finally in place.” Jonah stood up so fast that he flipped his chair backwards and it hit the floor with a load metallic thud. “Is it sending back any telemetry?” Jonah asked. “Yes, it reported that it is 100% operational and awaiting commands.” All three of them quickly departed and ran down the hall towards the main control room. Jonah and Walter spent the rest of the afternoon going over diagnostics for all the platforms and double checking all systems on the station. Everything seemed to be ready for them to send their first commands to the array.

Jonah estimated that they could view objects so far that it would take them back in time well before the controversial big bang. But they needed to test the array first, on something a little closer. They were going to view a section of the universe that was as far as todays modern telescopes could see.

“All platforms have checked in. They all received their instructions and are positioning themselves as we speak.” Walter said with a huge grin on his face. Jonah stood there watching the main display in front of him. All the images received by the telescopes will be combined and displayed on the screen. As he waited for the first images from deep space, he felt both nervous and excited. He thought back to when he was a young man and he had received his first telescope. He felt the same way as he did back then and could only imagine what he would now see. “we're receiving a data stream from all units!” Walter said in a louder than usual voice, “We should have a picture momentarily.” Everyone in the room turned and faced the main screen.

No one said a word. Within a few minutes an image appeared on the screen. It started out a little hazy then, in time, became crystal clear. Jonah stood in the corner, near a console, staring at the large image. A small tear fell from the corner of his eye as he opened his mouth in awe, “It's even better than I have ever imagined.” he whispered to himself.

They spent the next 24 hours going over all the data and confirming all of the results. It had worked better than anyone had imagined. With this new technology in place, science could take giant leaps forward on the exploration of deep space. At the end of the day they agreed on which part of the universe they were going to view tomorrow. They entered the coordinates of the new location into the computer. It would take most of the night for the calculations to be made for the twenty seven platforms. Some of the engineers wanted to celebrate on the success of the project but Walter talked them out of it saying “We don't want to jinx our real test. We'll get to see how far these platforms can really see tomorrow, then we can celebrate.”

Jonah had a hard time sleeping that night. He knew the real test was yet to be accomplished. To see just how far man could peer into the universe. When he could not stand another minute laying there, and sat up. He stared into the dark room, trying not to think of the project but it was futile. He got dressed quickly and headed back down to the main control room. When he entered the room he saw Walter sitting at one of the control panels. “You can't sleep too?” he said. Walter looked up at him and replied, ”No, not really, not with those calculations being almost done. We should be able to send the new coordinates soon and, within a few hours, see your dream come true.

Part 3:

Once the calculations were done, the coordinates were sent immediately to the platforms. The time afterwards seemed to slow to a near standstill. Jonah stood there patiently staring at the console, not noticing the crowd quietly gathering in front of the main display. Everyone stood there waiting, as each platform reported back, one by one. Within the next few minutes, the platforms finished positioning themselves and were beginning to transmit data back to the station. Walter sat nervously at the main console biting what little nails he had left. Just as he turned to face the gathering crowd of spectators, one of the technicians yelled, “Look!”

The main display lit up brightly with an image no one could make out. Unlike the one from the other day, this image did not seem to clear up. “What's wrong with the array?” Jonah yelled over. “I'm running diagnostics on it now”, Walter said back, as his fingers raced across the keyboard. “It looks like platform seven is sending back a distortion that is confusing the computer. I'll filter out the signal until we can get a more detailed analysis of the problem.” Seconds later, the distorted image began to fade as a new crisp image replaced it on the main display.

The sound of cheering filled the room immediately afterwards. They had officially done it, and now was the time for celebration. But Jonah did not feel like celebrating, not just yet. He did not like the possibility of something being wrong with one of the platforms. Would this problem affect the other units too, or was it isolated to just this one. As the crowd began to make their way into the cafeteria for a celebration party, Jonah stayed at the diagnostic console going over the results. He was determined to get to the bottom of this.

When the party started to die down, Walter decided it was time to head back to his quarters for the night. On his way back, he remembered he had left his notebook in the lab so he stopped there first. He was surprised to see Jonah still sitting at the same console when he left earlier. “I thought you left hours ago.” he said, ”It's kind of late, why are you still here?” Jonah turned to him with a puzzling look on his face, “All the diagnostics came back fine and the array seems to be in working order. But we are still getting an unknown distortion back from the sensors. I can't make any sense of the data we are getting back from the platform.” Walter sat down next to him and looked at the data himself. To his amazement, he could not figure out what any of the readings were implying either.

It must be something in the vicinity of the array that is causing the distortion, Jonah thought to himself, but what? Walter suggested moving the platform to another location away from the distortion, but Jonah wasn't listening. He was too busy thinking of what this anomaly could be. The platform did not have the type of sensors needed for this type of thing. After a few seconds, he stood up and left the room. He knew what had to be done. Someone had to go there and he was the one planning on doing it.

Jonah's lab was just one of many occupying the science station. Robert Fish's lab was located two levels down from his. Robert had been working on a new deep space exploration vehicle. His vehicle was built using all of the latest sensor technologies and one of the most advanced computers ever made. It was designed to explore the universe unmanned, but it was also capable of carry passengers. His project was close to completion and he was planning on using data from Jonah's deep space telescope project to decide what interesting parts to explore. He had no idea that Jonah had already decided on the first destination for his spacecraft.

Robert sat at his desk going over the results of tests performed the previous day. He did this every morning before working on the schedule for the current day. As he was finishing up this morning ritual he heard a knock at the doorway. “Jonah, what a pleasant surprise, come on in. What can I do for you?”, Robert said intrigued by the early morning visit. Jonah walked towards the chair closest to his desk and sat down. He looked at Robert for a second. He was not sure how he was going to react to his request, but he had to try. “I need your spacecraft to travel to one of my telescopic platforms. There seems to be some sort of anomaly in the area and I need your ships sensors to analyze it.” “An anomaly you say, interesting. We are close to completion and this would make a good field test for the ship's computer system.” he replied, with a grin on his face. “Robert, I do not plan on sending the ship out there alone.” Jonah said, with a serious look on his face. ”I plan on going there with it.”

Part 4:

The metal skin of the craft glistened under the bright work lights. Engineers were working both inside and out, making last minute checks in preparation for the launch. From the outside, the craft looked large and spacious, but from the inside, a different picture was painted.  With all of the sensors, computers, and other equipment needed, not much room was left over for the passengers. It seemed that every inch of space inside the ship had a specific purpose. As soon as all the supplies and materials were loaded, the external power was disconnected and the three main power cells were brought on-line. Once the craft was on internal  power, the main computer started it's pre-launch diagnostics. All that was missing now were the two passengers for this mission. 

Jonah was in the lab gathering a few more items he wanted to take on his six week trip as Kelley Robinson walked into the room. Kelley was the pilot chosen to take the ship to the anomaly and was very eager to leave. She came to see if Jonah was ready and possibly expedite his packing. “Is there anything I can help you with?” , she said with an authoritative tone as she walked up to his desk. Startled by the sudden question, Jonah dropped some of the notebooks he was holding. “We're scheduled to leave in 30 minutes” she said with a little softer voice, “Do you need more time to get ready?”. Jonah stood there, for a second, staring at Kelly. He was not expecting a female pilot for this mission and was a little embarrassed of his clumsiness. “I'll be ready”, he replied, ”I'm just grabbing a few notebooks in case we need to do some adjustments to the platform. I need only a few more minutes.” She stared back for a second and said, “Good... I'll be on the ship waiting.” Before Jonah could pick up his notebooks from the floor, she vanished from the room just as quickly as she had entered.

As Jonah entered the main doorway to the ship, he could hear Kelley talking to the engineers in the control room. He quickly stowed his gear in one of the open rear lockers and then sat in the chair next to hers. He barely had time to buckle himself in when the ship started to move. Within seconds of the hangar doors opening, the ship darted forward, through the opening, into the darkness of space. Kelly wasted no time in creating distance between the ship and the station. Once they were far enough away, she throttled the engines up and plotted the course to the telescopic platform.  

For Jonah, time seemed to pass slowly. Each day seemed like a continuation of the last. There was not much for him to do other than to look over the latest data from the platform and speculate to what the causes may be. Initially he was excited about going into deep space, but now, he was starting to get a little bored. The telescope, they were traveling to, was on the outer edge of the array layout. It was a dark piece of space, with very few objects of interest in the region. Of all the telescopes, Jonah could not figure out why this particular one failed.

Kelly noticed that Jonah getting more and more restless as time went on. She tried to get him involved in some of her tasks, but with so much automation aboard, she barely could keep herself busy. She figured he would have plenty of work to do, once they reached the array and probably enough for the entire ride back. The ship seemed to handle itself pretty well, thought Kelly. A marvelous piece of engineering design. When she got back, the engineers would want to know, in great detail, how the ship performed in deep space. Because this was its maiden voyage, she tried to keep a detailed log of everything, so not to disappoint any of them. 

While she was copying some of her daily readings into the log, the vicinity alarm went off. She moved over to the other panel quickly to see if they needed to worry about it. Jonah came out of the back area with a look of fright on his face. He had never heard this alarm before and had no idea if it was bad or not. After checking the reading for a few seconds, Kelly turned to Jonah and said, "There's nothing to worry about. The sensors picked up a small comet traveling diagonally to our course, but it should pass us well before we reach that same position." Jonah smiled back and finally looked a little happy. "Good, I can test out some of the sensors on the comet and make sure they work." She smiled back, glad to see that he had something to keep him busy, even if it was only for a few hours.

Once the comet passed by and Jonah ran all the tests he could think of on the data, he began to get a little hungry. He was so excited about being busy, he had forgotten to eat something. "Do you want anything to eat, Kelly?" he asked. "No, I already ate, a while ago, when you were scanning the comet." "Well, OK, I'll be downstairs eating, if you need me for anything." He turned and walked to the back of the ship. There, he went down the hatch, to the lower deck, and walked over to the galley. Once there, he looked at the selection of food he had to choose from to eat. The food was not as good as the food on the space station, but they were out in deep space. He decided what he wanted and prepared his meal. 

Just as he was about to sit down at the table, the lights went out. He listened for a siren or an alarm, but heard nothing. As a matter of fact, he heard nothing at all, not even the sound of the engines. What happened, he thought to himself.  Panic set in him as he sat there in complete darkness. He started to yell for Kelley when the emergency lighting finally came on. He rushed up to the bridge to find all the instruments dark, and Kelley flipping through a paper manual. "What happened?" he asked. "Not sure, the ship seemed to just shut itself down. I'm trying to see what situation would cause it to do such a thing." "Can you fix it?" "Not sure, I need to figure out what went wrong first."

Part 5:

To be continued...