Chapter 5

Kaywell

Exiting hyperspace, Athena adjusted her course to approach the most likely place around the star where a life-holding world would exist. Checking her system scanners regularly showed some objects outside the life zone, but when she reached the distance just inward of the life zone, she recorded a considerable mass. Moving closer at hyperspeed, she entered the sphere of influence of the mass.

What she saw shocked her completely.

An ellipsoidal grey object appeared, and its properties were completely unlivable. No atmosphere, gravity varying from less than two at the equator to over eight at the poles, it was clear this was, in essence, an old gas giant, just without the gas.

Further scans showed several moons around the central object. Checking each one out with her optical telescope, she finally spotted a green and blue sphere. She began the process of carefully moving to the promising object. As she reached the object, she noted the proper atmospheric balances of nitrogen and oxygen, with the other gases as well.

Thinking, she finally decided on a name for the object. Since it properly resembled the descriptions of Old Kerbin, she decided on the name "Kerbmun", meaning the Kerbin Moon. The battered moon just inward she simply named "Mun", and decided to leave the other objects for others to name.

Having seen enough, she accelerated in her orbit to raise its apoapsis for hyperspeed travel. Reaching the proper orbital height, she pointed northward, then entered hyperspeed for about thirty seconds, moving her clear of the orbital plane. Exiting hyperspeed, she turned her ship to the direction of the B component of the stellar system, since it was a long-term binary system.

After several hours, she reached the vicinity of the B component and began mapping out the various objects around it. Checking out each object took more time, but Athena was certain that the system was available for settlement, since she had found no evidence of any people on Kerbmun, and there was likely no chance of any populations on its primary, due to its high gravity and lack of atmosphere.

The mystery of the Manifest Destiny would be solved another time, it seemed.

So, having explored as much of the system as needed, she followed a path out of the entire stellar system and began the 12 light year journey back home.

KSPTT

Unknown to Athena, questing eyes scanned the heavens from the gas core planet. Checking the instruments daily (Kerbin-wise!), any single two hour shift would let one cover the entire skybox and then some.

At this particular time, the observer, one Jokath Kerman, observed unusual light flares around the only habitable object in range, named Kerbmun by the occupants of the central planet.

Long ago, it turns out that the U.S.C. Manifest Destiny had made it to the system. A piloting error caused the ship to crash on the surface of the central object, and instead of bewailing their fate, the survivors had decided to burrow underground and live there.

Over the many millennia, they had established surface settlements under domes, some opaque and some transparent. It was under the latter class of domes that astronomy bases were established, some by higher educational institutions. They often employed students who worked their way into their careers.

Thus, astronomy student Jokath Kerman was on duty at this time.

Making notations in the observatory log about the transient light, she recommended further studies of the Kerbmun region, then left at the end of her shift.

Over the next twenty Kerbin days, no further sightings were recorded at any other observatory either, so the entire matter was dropped.

Jokath Kerman eventually graduated on time with honors.

The eventual report cited lack of corroborating sightings of the reported phenomenon, thus it was decided that no action was to be taken.

The space program ground on, oblivious to the report.

If they had been made aware of the report, they might have done further exploration of Kerbmun, maybe even establishing a permanent base in orbit or even on the surface, but that never happened.