The Time Was Past Read online



  The Time Was Past

  By Stephen Brandon

  Copyright 2015 Stephen Brandon

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  Author's Notes

  This book is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, incidents, and dialogue are from the authors imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or other persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Real and fictional locations are used for background only.

  With a review, I will send you a coupon code for a free book.

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  Table of Contents ~(ToC)~

  Authors Note

  Acknowledgments

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  About Stephen Brandon

  Other books by Stephen Brandon

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  Acknowledgments

  My wife has put up with me for over forty five years. Without her support and love I don't know who, what, or where I would be, so I thank her from the bottom of my heart, and I dedicate the Saturn series of books to her!

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  Prologue

  Scientist from all 5 continents gathered together to lobby their governments for the change. Mars exploration was no longer a priority. The new Saturn moon had a diameter of 900 Km, yet its gravitational effect on the rings was that of an object 10 times as large. Eighteen years was a speck of time in the lifetime of the Saturn rings, yet they were already showing changes that a 200 mm reflector telescope with a good eyepiece on Earth could see. Amateur astronomy grew by leaps and bounds after the first reports of ring disturbance.

  The mission statement was simple!

  Mission Statement for spacecraft Saturn 1

  Saturn 1 with an operational and scientific crew will proceed to the Saturn system and investigate the disturbance caused by a meteoroid observed entering the Saturn system.

  Travel time from Earth to Saturn is approximately 3 years.

  Saturn 1 will remain within the Saturn system for approximately 2 years.

  Primary Mission:

  The scientific crew will use their specialties to investigate and catalog all possible information.

  Analysis of hazards caused by disruptions of the Saturn moons orbits and rings will be computed.

  Data will be transmitted to Earth weekly.

  At the end of the two year investigation the crew of Saturn 1 will complete the following:

  Saturn 1 will set up monitoring equipment in the vicinity of the Saturn system.

  Upon their return Saturn 1 will proceed to the orbit of Mars and set up more monitoring equipment at Sun Mars L3.

  Saturn 1 will return to Earth for refitting, crew change, and resupply.

  Length of original mission is estimated to be 9 years.

  That's why we all spend an hour of our shift on the computers answering questions and transmitting pictures to Earth. All data was transmitted back to Earth without encryption for everyone with a UHF television, shortwave receiver, or internet link to view. Information and those four reporters were the only condition that every government agreed to. Ever see a reporter try to read a technical report and try to make sense of it.

  My personal opinion is that all of them are spies. At least the vetting eliminated six nominated members that were radicals and possibly saboteurs. After all the panels and analysis, our crew has the personality of a snail darter, except when their specialty is mentioned. I know, I'm just as bad. All the enthusiasm of my youth was burned out of me by eleven years of intensive solar technology training in four different countries. I watched half my group quit, burn out, or go insane. The rest of us were zombies except when we talked solar. Some of our inventions or improvements were X-ray and Gamma ray solar panels.

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