Ethan Site 39 - Hardcover

Goodwin, Otis V

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1450066429 ISBN 13: 9781450066426

Publisher: Xlibris, 2010

Synopsis

While exploring a mesa near his farm, Ethan MX163, a young geologist and farmer, finds a tiny artifact from Old Earth civilization. The artifact is the first tangible evidence of civilization found since a small colony of Alpha Centaurian humans landed on Earth three generations ago, 5,000 years after near-complete devastation of the planet by impact of a giant asteroid-like object. Ethan traces the artifact and uncovers mysteries about the fate of Old Earth civilization. Solution of the mysteries involves Ethan, his fiancée, Laine, and two close friends, Si and Xana, in exciting exploration and discoveries that change all of their lives. Discovery of Site 39 and exploration of its suprising ancient, complex and historical contents lead Ethan, Laine and their friends through a maze of surprises, mystery and challenges, with promises of greater adventures and challenges to come.

About this title

About the Author:

Otis V. Goodwin III was born in the Acipco, area of Birmingham, Alabama in 1935.

His early life experiences were those of a boy in small southern town, with Fourth of July celebrations, a lot of Baptist Church exposure, swimming in a muddy creek, bicycling all over the countryside, helping to build a house, hayrides, football, and summers working on an aunt and uncle's farm.

The B. B. Comer Library in Sylacauga, Alabama became an important part of the Author's life after World War 11 and through 1950. The kind, friendly and patient librarians there provided guidance that led through many books by authors such as H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, Roy Rockwood, Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, and even Raymond Ditmars and William Beebe, to name a very few. They sometimes looked the other way if there were occasionally more books than the limit, in the checkout pile, on a summer Friday afternoon. That early life reading stimulated an inquisitive streak, and interests, that led to life-long continuing education and a career of public service with the US Government in the business end of the aerospace industry. The language of missiles, rockets and spacecraft became very familiar tools.

As with many, a story line began to evolve over many years, without ever a pen set to paper. After the career ended, it was time to write something. There was nothing better to do than to write an up-to-date version of the type of story that evoked the young boy's inquisitive streak and led to the interesting, and sometimes exciting, especially fine career of a young boy from the Deep South. Those Librarians in Sylacauga deserve a very special thank you.

"Ethan - Site 39" is but the first volume. To set the entire story in a single cover would make a volume requiring wheels to move it about.

The author is retired, writing at leisure, at home in the state of Washington his wife of 30 years, Elizabeth, and two miniature Schnauzers, Abigail and Archibald.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Prologue
The Starship appeared to its occupants to be approaching the planetary system at an agonizingly slow pace, despite its speed of 65% of the speed of light relative to its destination. To those on board, it seemed an anxious eternity as the ship began slowing to match its velocity with that of the third planet.

As the Starship slowed, it passed near the fourth planet from the sun. It launched a small shuttlecraft that established itself in a stable circular orbit around the fourth planet. After collecting data during several circuits, the craft made a slow descent over Valles Marineris, lingering over a region that bore evidence of prior habitation. It then shifted into a polar orbit, bringing the entire planet under surveillance as the orb rotated on its axis. After several rotations, scouring the entire planetary surface, it found no evidence of any living humans. The small craft departed orbit and made its way toward the third planet to rejoin the mother ship.

The Starship began a planetary survey from a stationary orbit, about 24,000 miles above the equator of the third planet, a blue, green and brown orb with large areas of bright white clouds. It began the survey by achieving altitude and velocity that maintained a nearly constant equatorial position over a deep blue open sea occupying a majority of the entire hemisphere. In the northern half of the hemisphere was a continent with three massive mountain ranges divided by two large inland seas. The easternmost mountain range gradually diminished into plains with rolling hills that extended about 500 miles to the continental eastern seashore.

The southern half of the hemisphere was dotted with thousands of scattered islands. A long range of very high mountainous islands ran north, from south Polar Regions, in a sweeping crescent. Most of the islands had steep descents to the sea on both their eastern and western slopes. The survey continued as the ship adjusted its velocity and direction of flight. It reduced altitude slowly and increased its orbital angle relative to the equator of the planet. Eventually it established a stable polar orbit at an altitude of 250 miles. From this orbit, detailed continuous data collection from the entire planetary surface was possible as the Earth rotated below and the Starship circled from pole to pole.

While the survey was underway, the small shuttlecraft once more launched itself from the mother ship and sped to the largest satellite of the orbiting planet. The small ship’s instrumentation identified many small, scattered moonlets and large masses of rocky material in the slow process of forming rings between the planet and the orbit of its single large moon.

The small ship went directly to a location at the South Pole of the moon. It landed alongside a collection of small structures. Human figures emerged from the ship wearing equipment designed to protect them from extreme temperatures on the airless surface. A small personnel transporter exited the shuttlecraft. The space-suited figures mounted the vehicle. It proceeded to the long deserted collection of structures. Its passengers visited all of the structures, collecting and recording data. They then returned to the shuttlecraft and departed the moon.

Days later, the entire population of passengers and crew of the ship, totaling 590 men, women and children, either gathered in the auditorium of the Starship or watched their communicator screens and listened.

At a dais in front of the assembled group was a man who could have been in his sixties, straight, alert and strong, but who was actually 110 years old. This man was Nathan MX160, the leader of the voyage to return to Earth. His numeric designation indicated his direct generational connection to a single identified ancestor who departed Earth on the original expedition to the Alpha Centauri System over 5,000 years ago. His ancestor’s name was Maia.

The historic records showed that Maia had recorded her twin first children’s father as Nathan X, an officer in the United States of North America Aerospace Service. Nathan X did not join Maia on the expedition. The X indicated that Maia had chosen not to include Nathan’s family name in the records. No reason for the separation of Maia from Nathan was in the records. Nathan X was the 160th generation grandfather of Nathan MX160. Maia had borne twin male children named Nathan MX1 and Ethan MX2 less than a year following departure of the ship from Earth. Nathan MX1 and Ethan MX2 became important historic figures in the government of the first settlements and in early development of the new worlds. They left a benign heritage and model of strong leadership that continue to be honored and emulated by their descendants to the present time. The records also showed that Maia had taken as her second mate, Josiah Ciber, a Starship officer. Maia bore another child during the voyage, a female named Maia MC1, who also became a member of the governing body along with her half-brothers, Nathan MX1 and Ethan MX2.

Nathan MX160 began, "No one feels or realizes more than I do, the importance of this voyage to humankind. Since shortly after the departure of the first Starship from Earth over 5,000 years ago, followed almost immediately by the collision of an asteroid with the planet, there has been no communication with anyone on Earth. There was no indication that anyone survived the collision for any significant length of time. There were those among our ancestral colonists who urged an immediate return to Earth so they could assist any survivors. Eventually, the agreement to continue to the intended destination gained acceptance by all as the correct decision. Earth had experienced a blow that was fatal to all of its humanity in a very short time. If the colonists had returned at that time, they would have found the planet in such great turmoil that their survival, if possible at all, would have been under most dire conditions."

About this edition

• Publisher: Xlibris
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1450066429
• ISBN 13: 9781450066426
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 280