The Beacon: Hard Science Fiction by Brandon Morris (red white and royal blue hardcover TXT) 📕

star with magnitude -1 (mag -1) is more brilliant than one with +2.

Glossary of Acronyms

5G – 5th Generation (Telecommunications)

ADC – Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector

AGILE – Astro-rivelatore Gamma a Immagini LEggero

AGN – Active Galactic Nucleus

ASI – Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (Italian Space Agency)

ASTRON – ASTRonomisch Onderzoek in Nederland

AI – Artificial Intelligence

API – Application Program Interface

CCM – Command & Control Module

CNSA – Chinese National Space Administration

CORONAS-Photon – Complex ORbital Observations Near-earth of Activity of the Sun-Photon

DEO – DEOrbiting device

DLR – Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (German Aerospace Center)

DRAMA – Debris Risk Assessment and Mitigation Analysis

eLISA – evolved Laser Interferometer Space Antenna

ESA – European Space Agency

ESO – European Southern Observatory

EU – European Union

GOES – Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites

GRB – Gamma-Ray Burst

ISRO – Indian Space Research Organisation

HXMT – Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Chinese space observatory)

IPO – Initial Public Offering (stock market term)

IR – InfraRed

JPL – Jet Propulsion Laboratory

JWST – James Webb Space Telescope

K – Kelvin

keV – kilo (1,000) electron Volts

LIGO – Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory

LOFAR – LOw-Frequency ARray

LTE – Long Term Evolution (Telecommunications)

MeV – Mega (a million) electron Volts

NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration

SIMBAD – Set of Identifications, Measurements and Bibliography for Astronomical Data

SNEWS – SuperNova Early Warning System

TESIS – TElescope-Spectrometer for Imaging solar Spectroscopy in x-rays

TeV – Tera (a trillion) electron Volts

UV – UltraViolet

VR – Virtual Reality

VLA – Very Large Array

WENSS – WEsterbork Northern Sky Survey

WISE – Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer

XFFTS – eXtended bandwidth Fast Fourier Transform Spectrometer

XMM-Newton – X-ray Multi-Mirror Newton

Metric to English Conversions

Length:

centimeter = 0.39 inches

meter = 1.09 yards, or 3.28 feet

kilometer = 1093.61 yards, or 0.62 miles

Area:

square centimeter = 0.16 square inches

square meter = 1.20 square yards

square kilometer = 0.39 square miles

Weight:

gram = 0.04 ounces

kilogram = 35.27 ounces, or 2.20 pounds

Volume:

liter = 1.06 quarts, or 0.26 gallons

cubic meter = 35.31 cubic feet, or 1.31 cubic yards

Temperature:

To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, multiply by 1.8 and then add 32

Excerpt: Helium-3 – Fight for the Future

43rd of Frien, 298

“Watch out for the wall! Be careful!”

Kimikizu turned away so she didn’t have to see the collision. She’d thoroughly explained the situation to her protégé three times already—since the day before, the ship had been braking full force, and thus Niribinu should have been angling her wings more slowly when she was making turns. Why was she stuck giving flying lessons to this smug girl who was just 43 days old? Surely her skills were more urgently needed in the navigation department.

“How was I?”

Unbelievable. Niribinu had smacked against the wall like a wet cloth, and she still expected praise?

“Come on! The nosedive before, I mean, that was amazing, right?”

No. She wouldn’t give this good-for-nothing praise she didn’t deserve, even if it was just a matter of months before Niribinu would be her boss. It had been a matter of pure luck. When the Supreme Navigator had died 73 days before, this girl’s egg had happened to be the one next in line. It was the Supreme Mother herself who had hatched her, and Niribinu’s wingspan was now almost as wide as her own. Yet her ego was about ten times greater.

This once again confirmed Kimikizu’s hypothesis that weak character was innate. In this case, it couldn’t be from the Supreme Mother. She was considered an exceptionally humble Iks who had seen it all over her 320 life cycles, including the launch from the home world.

“I’m going to complain about you to the Supreme Leaders, Kimikizu. I certainly can’t learn if you don’t give me any feedback.”

Feedback! Kimikizu had to keep her beak from clacking at the very thought. The chickie wanted flattery, but she just wasn’t going to deliver. She looked at the ceiling of the vast hangar where they were doing the flying exercises. It was already two-thirds dark, meaning her shift would be over soon.

“All you need to do to get feedback is to take a look at yourself in the mirror, Niri.”

She deliberately used the abbreviated form of Niribinu’s name, which was used for chicks—no adult Iks would have responded—but the insult was lost on Niribinu. Either she hadn’t noticed, because she was still used to it, or she had the talent of simply filtering out anything unpleasant. But, it was impossible to ignore the effects of her collision with the wall. Three of the feathers on her head were broken. On the side, where her bare skull protruded, a distinct lump was slowly turning brown.

“Oh,” Niribinu said, turning as if there was a mirror behind her rather than the wall she’d just slid down.

“Yes. The landing was not optimal,” Kimikizu said. She had to pull herself together to keep her beak from clacking loudly.

“Attention. Attention,” an announcement suddenly boomed. “Navigators to the control center, please.”

Ha, she thought, I’m saved for today. “Unfortunately, I must be off. See you tomorrow for flight training, same time.”

Niribinu parted with the traditional greeting, “Steady upwind.”

At least she was polite.

To get to the control center, Kimikizu used one of the large wind tunnels that ran through the entire ship. Although it took longer than with the pneumatic tube capsule, she enjoyed exerting herself. When she arrived, the other Navigators had already situated themselves in their seats. Hers was on the edge. She pattered in, spread her wings, and settled in. It was unnecessary at the moment, as the course was locked in and couldn’t be changed from the control chairs, anyway. But the Navigators traditionally held their meetings while lying down, although Kimikizu didn’t connect the motion sensors to her wings and legs, as she otherwise would have done.

“Brides of the Wind,” Supreme Navigator greeted them.

According to tradition, Navigators were only female. It was said that the female sex had a better sense of which course to take, plain and simple.

“The Knowledge Guardians have finally managed to compile the data from the reconnaissance flights, the automatic probes, and the on-board telescopes,” said the Supreme Navigator.

It was about time. If they