by Zaslow Crane
Her fingers danced on the reader, and sent out a half dozen inquiries.
Dr. Groves was as concerned as everyone else, but he held back his comments until everyone else had, at least for a time, fallen silent. Each now doing preliminary planning in his or her mind.
“Janus?” He drew his employer aside and spoke quickly; quietly, but urgently. “Are you certain you want to do this? This is a significant portion of you we’re planning on taking away. Do you understand? Have you really thought this through? I know that this is important to you…I know that the press wounds you when they do sensational stories about your umm…individual foibles. If this were to get out, and I can’t see how we’ll be able to keep this secret for long, they’ll talk about you all the more! You’ll be a freak!”
Janus scowled. He had thought of this too, but had devised no real workable plan for containing the information. He couldn’t very well imprison the doctors, technicians and specialists on La Cuesta, as much as he’d like to! The Egyptian pharaohs had all the workmen who toiled on the pyramids killed the better to keep the pyramid’s secrets.
For all my wealth, influence and power that choice is still beyond me! Groves continued in his last ditch attempt to dissuade the singer. “But we’ve already replaced much of your lower extremities. Now we’re planning to take away much of your upper torso…I mean…what does it take to be human? I mean, what percentage of a person needs to reside in there for him still to be considered human?”
He gently poked Janus on his chest as he said the words: In there.
Janus replied coldly: “Enough, Doctor. Enough. I still have my brain and I need this. Do it.” He turned and exited the room.
Grove sighed. He had already known how this conversation would play out, but he had to try; he owed it to his conscience.
“Is your brain enough? I wonder…”
How to Delouse Your Spaceship
(…in Three Easy Steps)
BY ZASLOW CRANE
…with heartfelt thanks to Professor Jon Pedicino, Astronomy Professor / College of the Redwoods, Eureka, CA
“E
arth Handoff, come in.”
The vibration, extra grav and noise of the thrusters was finally abating. The last three minutes was the longest three minutes of Tonya Grill’s life.
She opened her mike and spoke with a thick East Texas drawl, “Earth dockmek 12, comeback.”
There was a pause. She tried again.
“Earth handoff, we’re passing into Space Source Two’s sector. Acknowledge, please.”
“You are entering Space Source Two…acknowledged.” The technician on the other end was crisp and precise.
“You’ll be out of contact for thirty-three minutes, please re-establish contact ASAP with International Far Earth Two after that time period.”
“Of course. We’ll get right back to y’all…Be ready. We’ll be on top of our…stuff.”
“Roger that, Mars Leap 4. We’ll be standing by.”
“Excellent. Leap 4 out for now, back-atcha in 33.”
She closed the mike.
Tonya felt the gravity fall away as she discontinued the burn of the rockets. She was saving the fuel for when it was really needed…like when they were nearing the Mars station at
Tharsis Plain and for corrections as they drew closer to Mars. “Far Earth Station coming up in 39. Just relax folks. We got
nothing to do but enjoy the view. You might wanna check out
that little blue ball, ‘cause you won’t see it up close again before
you’ve had another birthday, maybe two.”
Tonya saw rather than heard the other two crew members
unstrapping and getting up to stretch and yes, to look out the
windows as their home rapidly receded behind them. Rhonda
Saruwatari, seated next to her in the second pilot’s position
looked at her sideways smiling, “We gonna walk an’ talk the
Cheyenne way today?”
Tonya made a sour face.
“You mean all official and formal-like? Yeah…for now, and
only when they call us. We’re still Canaveral Kids right now,
but once those Cheyenne types toss a few more missions up, all
those stuffed shirts will mellow out. Just watch.”
Rhonda was flight engineer and second pilot. She just made
a face that expressed a healthy bit of skepticism.
“Rhonda, what’s our approximate speed?”
She gently tugged at her black braids as she calculated for
the answer.
She idly thought about how important it was to control hair
in a no gravity situation, hence in her case—the braids. A moment later she answered, “Right in the neighborhood
of 48932kph, boss.”
Claudia P leaned in, “In the neighborhood?” She laughed.
“Engineers! You call that in the neighborhood? That’s more precise than the data from our last physicals!”
Rhonda spun slowly and playfully hissed, “Go outside and
play.”
Claudia was Lead EVA, also repairs and systems expert.
She was much bigger and darker than her crew mates, with close-cropped jet-black hair, and an upturned nose that had a
few freckles sprinkled across the top.
“Oh, I imagine I’ll be going outside before long, and then
you’ll miss me!” She laughed.
Rhonda grumbled, “I doubt it…”
The last crew member was Arna Siggurd. She was second
EVA, medic and maintenance, in charge of the air scrubbers and
life support. Her face was pale as the moon on a clear winter
night with short-cropped black hair that rose on her head like
a marine’s flattop haircut from nearly 100 years earlier. She was
also quite tiny, so she appeared a bit incongruous in her suit
without the helmet. She looked almost like a child trying on
adult’s equipment.
“Cap?”
“Yes, Arna?”
“We’re all green across the Big Board; working on the little
one ATM and will do so one at a time until I’m finished. I’d
estimate another 30 mins or so….”
“While we’re on the subject of status checks, Cap…?” “Rhonda?”
“FYI, Cap, per regs, I checked the cargo, the gussets and
gyros; the linkage and internal status…”
“And?”
“All green. I say again, all go, Cap.”
“Well that’s the reason we’re doing this, ladies. It should be
a milk run, but if those folks don’t get their milk to put on their
Cap’n Crunch in the mornings, they get testy. Please monitor
all systems as an SOP procedure every six hours.”
“Six hours? Cap…Don’t you think that’s a bit obsessive,
after all Arna’s work?”
“You know what I think Claudia?”
She sighed audibly, “Yesss, Cap.”
“Say it with me then, ladies: “A little paranoia goes a long
way.”
There was a slightly sullen pause.
“Divide up the monitoring any way you see fit, just make
certain I have status of everything in six. Every six. Until then,
I’ll stay with the comm and drive this train for a while, Claudia
and Rhonda you can kick back. Arna, please apprise me when
you finish with a status report on the minors, and then you can
kick back too.”
“Ay, Cap.”
lll “Mars Leap 4, please come in.”
“Mars Leap 4, here. Is that you Teddy?”
“Tonya? I heard that they’d bumped you and your crew to
the front of the line. Congrats!”
“Thanks. I’m…we’re anxious to put all that training and
all
those simulations to use at the Real Deal.”
“Real Deal City?” Teddy offered.
Tonya smiled. “We’re making progress, but it’ll still be years
before we can call it a city without a strong sense of irony.” “True that. Anyway, we’ve been tracking Mars Leap 4, and
you’re ‘go’ from everything I see here. You might course correct
a couple of degrees for maximum Mars-side braking. Sending
data.”
“Will do, Teddy. I was waiting until we passed you. Didn’t
want to scrape your lovely paint job.”
“Ha. Ha. We’re the only pale blue thing out this far. We
want you to be able to find us easily if you need to.” “Always thoughtful.”
“That’s why Ellie married me.”
“I’m sure…”
“Ummm, Tonya, you also seem to have a little wiggle in
your rear end.”
“Why Teddy, you old sweet talker!”
Teddy plodded on despite Claudia’s attempt at joking with
him.
“But it’s well within parameters. Just something to watch,
probably nothing….”
There was a pause in the transmission and Teddy added another thought, “Just residual from launch and hitch. It’ll subside
in time, I’ll bet.”
“Exactly what I was thinking. I’ve seen this before out here.
It’ll quiet.” Tonya wasn’t worried.
“One last thing, Tonya.”
“Go ahead Teddy.”
“That Solar activity that was in the preliminary reports…
Just before your lift off…?”
“Yeah?”
“Well our good old sun is ramping up. We’ll keep you apprised but be prepared to suit up and shield up.”
“Radiation…yeah. Was hoping that it wouldn’t get worse,
but you’re saying that it is worsening?”
“That’s a confirmation. Please acknowledge. Solar activity is
ramping up. Be prepared to shield.”
“Understood. Thanks for the heads up. And, say hi for me,
to your lovely wife when you talk to her next.”
International Far Earth Two passed by in the Eternal Dark and Mars Leap 4 was in ‘international waters,’ with nothing ahead of them at all for over a month; nothing except Mars.
The ship settled into a routine with one crew mate always sleeping; one always on duty; one doing monitoring or experiments; and one who had free time. Exercise was strongly encouraged.
Tonya trusted her crew, but they were only human…. This is the worst part. And this is why I opted for constant monitoring of all systems. This should be boring as Teddy put it, but I want everyone sharp and ready if anything happens…Then there’s that damn Solar activity….
lll
A few days later…. “Mars Leap 4, please respond. Canaveral to Mars Leap 4 come online.”
Rhonda was on comm duty. “Co-pilot Rhonda Diaz here. Come back.”
The delay was something that took some getting used to.
“Commander Diaz, please be advised the Solar activity we’ve been monitoring has become extreme. I say again “extreme.” Please acknowledge.”
“I understand.”
“Canaveral Command has determined that it warrants suits and shields.”
“Understood. How long do we have ‘til shake and bake time?”
“Two hours, four minutes.”
She sighed. Just time enough to check everything one more time and lock it down into hibernation mode. We’ll be flying blind.
“Thanks, Florida. I’ll see to the precautions. Thanks for the heads up.”
“Understood. Happy to do it. Be safe.”
She smiled grimly. This had been covered in the drills. She opened the ship’s comm and relayed the news.
There was a chorus of groans. They all knew that this might happen; they just hoped it wouldn’t.
“Shields too?” Tonya asked. She’d been lying down and unstrapped from her bunk poking her head out of her ‘cabin.’
“Yeah, they said Canaveral wants shields too.”
Tonya shook her head.
“Okay everyone…Arna, Systems check. Rhonda Ops check.”
“Ay Cap.”
“Claudia, please run diagnostics on all our suits, and when you’ve finished, break out the shields.”
lll The thing about gamma waves is that they pass right through almost everything. They don’t arrive like a Dopplershifting fire truck with loud noises and lights and activity. They arrive and leave, and you wonder: Is this it? Your primitive brain speculates: If I can’t see or hear anything, does it exist?
In a word, “Yes.”
What you can’t see or hear or touch can still kill. This was why they had the shields specially manufactured to protect them in just such an event.
They were trained on where and how to position them between the Sun and their bodies and while not perfect, they reflected over 95% of the harmful radiation.
The ship was shielded against all sorts of ‘normal’ radiation; it would be impossible to completely shield the ship from this much activity. Much more efficient to stow in the shields—one per crew member.
Rhonda consulted the readings. “Uhhh, Cap?”
“Yeah?”
“Looks like Canaveral was right on the money. The vector coordinates and time frame were damn near perfect. Looks like we’ll be in the clear, in two, no three minutes.”
“Noted. Everyone log your exposure readings, and compare them with your baselines. I want to check to make certain that we’ve suffered no long-term damage.”
Claudia was next in the comm. “After crouching holding a shield in front of me for an hour, I darn well hope not!”
“As do we all, Ms. P.”
“So I can stow the Roman legionnaire shields now?”
“Yes. Please do.”
Claudia paused. “Wait. Everyone…Heads up. I want to make certain that nobody is going to go all “Incredible Hulk” here today.” She paused for effect.
“Wait…wait…me feel…funny.”
Claudia rose slowly from her crouch, and rumbled, “Hulk… smash!”
Rhonda laughed, “Of course, it had to be you, Claud.”
“Hulk not find humor in that remark.”
lll 22 days into the flight, and Earth was a receding blue ball behind them; Mars was still a tiny rust colored ball slowly growing and resolving details, ahead.
Arna was the duty officer. “Uhhh, Cap?…Getting some weird readings from the hull skin captures.”
Tonya who was on down time, exercising, roused herself. Rhonda paused in doing more experiments in Zero G.
“Weird? How…weird? What are you seeing?”
“Well, nothing…exactly. Exterior sensors are gathering info…just as they normally would…I can’t explain it. I’m seeing a slight but noticeable degradation in hull integrity in numerous areas…”
“Degradation? Should we be worried?”
“It’s tiny. But to go along for so long with all the numbers rock solid, and then one day it changes? That change worries me.”
“Me too. Maybe it’s time for a look-see.”
Tonya looked around for Claudia, who had already risen and was breaking out her EVA gear.
“Claudia P to the rescue, folks! No need for applause, just remember me fondly in your will.”
The EVA gear made movement slow and difficult; progressing through the airlock tedious. She was finally outside.
On the sun side of the ship, it was blinding. Her sensors automatically darkened her visor and she tied off on one of the many secure points with her carabiner.
“Ok, Arna. Guide me. Where are you sensing these anomalies?”
The ‘skin’ of the ship was sort of like human skin in some ways. If one were to take a toothpick and poke a section of skin, your brain would have a close i
dea of where that ‘poke’ was.
Arna’s readouts were similar. Sensors were buried every few inches all over the ship.
“Forward…”
Arna monitored Claudia’s progress in exterior cams. “Still can’t see anything, but there has to be something there…More forward.”
Claudia clambered forward, tying off again with a new line and then untying with her old.
Finally Arna spoke, “Stop. You should be right on top of one of the areas.”
Tonya spoke next, “Do you see anything? Can you put what you see on your chestcam, so we can see it as well?”
“Sure thing, Cap. One sec.”
Then, “There you go!”
“I…don’t see anything…”
“You have to lean in close…There’s some sort of…scuzz. Say, when was the last time you guys ran this heap through a car wash?”
“What do you see?” Tonya demanded.
“Well…the exterior finish is…tarnished a bit…Right there at the seams…there seems to be some scum accumulated….” She couldn’t keep the wonder out of her voice.
“Tarnished?” Tonya muttered.
This ship has been in Earth orbit for months awaiting the hookup with the Mars supplies and the ‘go’ from Canaveral. Before that it was new. Right out of the showroom…new spaceship smell and everything!
“Can you scrape off a bit and bring it in? We might examine it and learn something important.”
“Sure. I’ll go back for my tool kit. I ‘parked it’ outside the lock, just in case I needed something. I’ve got a few tools that might work, depending on how tough this stuff is….”
lll They brought in a sample and subjected it to the best anti-contamination procedures they could manage on a non-research tasked ship.
Finally, Arna was examining the specimen under a microscope. She murmured in surprise, “Tardigrades?”
“Tartigrades? What are Tartigrades?” Claudia asked.
Arna looked ‘up’ at her. “Extremophiles. They can live almost anywhere. Normally in lichen and so forth….”
“We’re pretty thin in the lichen department out here, Arn….”
“But they’ve been proven to be able to live anywhere.”
“In space?”
“There are instances of crew members needing to clean them off a window on the original space station….”
