Torino Nine

by Mark Anson

  ‘We reluctantly had to declare the loss of the ship. The public announcement was based on the known facts – for instance, the loss of the transponder signal – but the precise circumstances of the accident were never released. We released a cover story suggesting that there had been a problem with the design of the ship’s reactor, which was an older design that is no longer in use. The new stasis techniques had to be put on hold until we could determine what had gone wrong. We continued to search for the ship, using all the assets we had available, but in the sixteen years since losing contact we have never relocated it.’

  Wesley paused.

  ‘All this changed two years ago. We were doing a routine deep-sky radar survey in the main asteroid belt. As you know, these searches routinely locate new objects, which are then catalogued, and their orbits calculated to assess any risk. We located a very small object that hadn’t been present on the previous survey twenty years before, located close to the main belt asteroid Psyche. An analysis of its orbit showed that it was positioned precisely at Psyche’s L2 libration point.

  ‘As you’ll appreciate, this is very significant. The L2 point is not stable over geological time, so it is unlikely to be a natural object that has somehow been captured by Psyche. Also, the L2 point is effectively hidden from view from much of the Inner Solar System, as it is behind the asteroid, and Psyche has a very strong radar return, so the object was difficult to resolve. It was sheer luck that the observation angle allowed it to be detected. As it is, the object is completely in the asteroid’s shadow, so it cannot be imaged. From detailed radar analysis, we know that it has a reflective, metallic surface and is approximately one hundred metres long.

  ‘It is a considerable distance from the ship’s last known position, and in a completely unexpected area, but we believe this object has a good probability of being the Ulysses, and this is what you are now closing in on.’

  Wesley paused to let the full impact of this sink in.

  ‘If this really is the Ulysses, we do not know what reason there could be for it to be here. There is nothing of interest on Psyche, other than it being the largest M-type asteroid and entirely composed of nickel-iron.

  ‘Your primary objective is to rendezvous with this object and identify it. If it is the Ulysses, you are authorised to board her, and gather all evidence you can relating to the incident sixteen years ago, and bring back any remains of her crew that you might find. Your secondary objective, fuel situation permitting, is to take the Ulysses in tow and bring it back to Earth. All mission data and an interception trajectory to your target will be sent to you shortly.

  ‘I realise that this is a lot to take in, and you will have a lot of questions, which we will cover off shortly. For now, I will answer the most obvious questions, which is why you were not briefed in advance, and who your passenger is.

  ‘You will now realise that this mission was pre-planned – we had to arrange for a ship to be travelling sunward on a suitable trajectory, with sufficient fuel on board, to be slingshot out and onto an interception course. The mission was originally planned to be undertaken by the Las Vegas, but following the loss of the ship during the interception attempt it was transferred to the Mesa. We have put a cover story in place within USAC that your mission was extended and you are on an urgent intercept. Not even your squadron commander knows the real reason for your mission change. As it is, you will be at the extreme limits of the Mesa’s delta-vee capabilities, and the fuel margins for the mission are extremely tight.

  ‘As to your passenger, whom by now you may already have met, he is Doctor Ephra Mordecai, of the University of Illinois, and he was the scientific director for the Ulysses’ mission. He is there to help you achieve your mission objectives, and you are to give him all possible assistance. While you are in overall command of the mission, if this object does turn out to be the Ulysses, Doctor Mordecai will be in charge of the investigation once you are on board, and you are to follow his decisions on any scientific or technical issues relating to the investigation.’

  A faint but encouraging smile crossed Wesley’s face. ‘Captain Foster, this is an exceptionally challenging and important mission that has been thrust on you, and we are confident that you will rise to the challenge.’ Clare’s senses were suddenly alert – something was coming.

  Wesley’s expression softened. ‘On behalf of USAC Command, I wish to convey my deepest condolences on the loss of your father. This must have been a terrible shock for you, especially coming immediately after a revival. I realise that you will want to get back to Earth to see your family as soon as possible, and that this unscheduled change has delayed that by a considerable time. Nevertheless, this mission is of the utmost importance to USAC, and we cannot miss this opportunity to find out what happened to the Ulysses. You will appreciate that all the crew had families and relatives, and they have been living in uncertainty for sixteen years. What you are doing will change that for them, and will help them reach closure after all this time.’

  He closed his hands, and his expression became stern. ‘We are of course aware of the circumstances surrounding the interception of asteroid 2010 TG4. As you already know, you will be attending a disciplinary hearing on your return, concerning your conduct immediately before the Class 1 near-miss incident. These are serious charges. We cannot have our interceptor captains putting our ships and their crews in unnecessary danger.’

  He spread his hands. ‘We have taken note, however, of the distressing personal news that you had just received, which may have affected your judgement in trying to bring about a successful deflection in difficult circumstances.’

  He paused for a moment. Here it comes, she thought, barely breathing.

  ‘Subject to your performance on this mission, we are prepared to take a wider view of this incident. You will still need to attend the hearing, but if you prove to us beyond any doubt that this was indeed an isolated incident, then any impact that it may have on your career will be substantially reduced.’

  Clare felt a huge wave of relief wash over her. They needed her to do a good job, and if she did, they would go easy on her. That was all she needed. From that moment on, she was committed to the mission, and would do whatever they wanted.

  ‘That’s all for now. Please acknowledge receipt of this message. You have my approval to brief your XO on your mission. Doctor Mordecai is already aware of the content of this message and can provide a more detailed briefing on the Ulysses and its scientific mission.

  ‘Major General Simon Wesley, USAC Deputy Chief of Staff, eleven seventeen Zulu, transmission concluded.’

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Clare hit the pause button, and Wesley’s image froze on the displays, just before the part about the hearing.

  Collins sat next to her on the flight deck, wrapped in a blanket. He had insisted on coming up here the moment that the medical console indicated he was well enough to move. He was certainly looking better; his black skin was back to its normal healthy colour, and he had stopped shivering. He sat in the copilot’s seat, riveted to the screen.

  ‘So now you know.’ Clare glanced across at Collins. She kept her voice down; Mordecai was on the other side of the command deck, but could easily overhear what they were saying.

  ‘Now I know. Holy shit, that’s a whole load of explaining they’re going to have to do, if it really is the Ulysses.’ He shook his head in disbelief. ‘So they held information back. And now we get to be the first people to find out what happened. That’s quite something.’

  ‘Yeah.’ Clare was having similar thoughts herself. Cover story upon cover story, and would there be another cover story needed, for whatever they discovered had happened to the Ulysses? She didn’t like it.

  Collins pulled the blanket closer about himself. Mordecai had checked him over earlier and said that he would be fine, but that he should get plenty of rest in the next few days.

  ‘So what about him?’ he whispered, throwing a glance over his shoulder at their pa
ssenger, who was busy tapping away at his computer tablet.

  ‘We’re to give him all possible assistance.’

  ‘I heard. What does that mean?’

  ‘It means, until we’re docked, I’m in charge. And if he says or does anything that I don’t like, I call USAC pronto. Are we agreed?’

  Collins nodded.

  ‘Right. Let’s get him across for a briefing.’ She lifted her head and spoke up: ‘Doctor Mordecai?’

  ‘Yes, Captain?’

  ‘Have you had something to eat?’

  ‘Just one of the ration bars.’

  ‘Come and join us for breakfast. It’s time we ate.’ She got up and walked over to the small kitchen area. ‘It isn’t exactly first class, but it tastes okay. Are you okay with meat?’

  ‘Yes, but not pork.’

  ‘Sure.’ She selected one of the meal packs, and shoved it in the microwave. ‘You want some coffee?’

  ‘Yes, please, that would be good.’ Mordecai sat down at one of the bench seats at the small table. Collins came over and got out some cups, poured some orange juice.

  ‘Your health,’ he said, raising his cup to Mordecai’s.

  ‘And yours, lieutenant. It’s good to see you see looking better. How are you feeling now?’

  Collins shrugged. ‘I’ve felt better. I guess I’ll live.’

  ‘Yes, I think you will, thank goodness. You certainly gave your commanding officer a scare.’

  ‘What do you think caused it, doctor?’ Clare asked, placing a steaming meal tray in front of him, followed by a mug of coffee. ‘Go ahead, don’t wait for us.’ She placed another tray in the oven and pressed the timer.

  ‘It could have been anything.’ He picked up his fork and speared a piece of minced lamb. ‘Bad revivals are more common than you might think. I suspect you had some kind of muscle spasm as you came round, and pulled your sleeve open. The system was then unable to maintain the correct blood serum levels. Of course, this is just conjecture; I don’t know for sure.’

  ‘Do you think I’ll be okay on the return journey?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said between mouthfuls, ‘the return journey is much shorter – much less risk.’

  ‘How can you be so sure?’

  Mordecai finished his mouthful, and put his fork down. ‘I can explain, and it’s related to the briefing that I need to give you both. May I?’He looked up at Clare.

  ‘Sure, go ahead. Here –’ She handed a meal tray to Collins, and put her own into the oven.

  Mordecai put his elbows on the table and steepled his hands.

  ‘You know now that I was the scientific director on the Ulysses’ maiden flight, and the circumstances behind the loss of the vessel and its crew. You also know that we suspect we have located it, after all these years. Many things were withheld to keep this mission’s true aims secret.’ He sighed. ‘For this, and for having delayed your return home, I give you my sincerest apologies.’

  He paused a moment to let Clare sit down with her meal tray. She nodded for him to continue.

  ‘As you know from the initial briefing, the Ulysses was the first trial of a new human stasis technique that we had been working on for more than ten years. Although we had tested it thoroughly in a lab environment, it had never been tested on a long space voyage, and the Saturn mission was an ideal opportunity. It is important to understand what was different about this technology, so allow me to explain for a moment.

  ‘Conventional hibernation techniques were developed over a period of nearly fifty years, and rely on reducing a subject’s metabolic rate to very low levels. Through decades of perfecting the technique, we have successfully extended the maximum safe duration to fifteen months. The safe duration, however, decreases rapidly with the subject’s age, which is why we maintain strict age limits for deep space voyages.

  ‘The effects of exceeding the safe duration vary with the subject, and most effects are confined to the revival sequence – as Lieutenant Collins has experienced himself. The real problems start when the subject experiences some degree of cognitive impairment on revival – temporary memory loss, not recognising where they are, for instance. This is an early warning sign that brain function is beginning to be affected. Once it starts, the brain suffers long-term, permanent degeneration each time the subject is revived after stasis, in what has become known as stasis syndrome. The brain cells themselves are healthy, but the neural pathways formed during an individual’s lifetime are damaged, resulting in progressive impairment of mental function.

  ‘From your symptoms –’ he looked at Collins ‘– I am confident that your revival incident is unlikely to be related to stasis syndrome. Firstly, you are too young. Secondly, you had no neurological symptoms, and thirdly, you recovered swiftly. As a precaution, I would suggest that you are not revived on our return until you are in a medical facility, but provided there is not a repeat of the incident, I do not see that this would affect your deep-space career.’

  Collins had been listening carefully, and nodded, seemingly reassured. Clare watched Mordecai intently. She couldn’t help thinking that it was strange that Collins had managed to shake free not only from his stasis sleeve, but all his monitoring lines as well, or that Mordecai had been awake for some time before this. She kept these thoughts to herself for the moment.

  ‘That’s good to know, doctor. So, tell us some more about this new technique,’ she prompted.

  ‘Yes, of course.’ Mordecai seemed pleased with the interest. ‘So – current stasis technology is limited by neurological degeneration, especially damage to learned neural pathways. Much research has taken place to try to understand the mechanisms, to limit the effect. Most of this has been fruitless. But twenty years ago, we had a breakthrough. We found that we could counteract the effects, by making an exact recording – a detailed picture, down to atomic level – of an individual’s memory engrams just prior to the onset of stasis, and then playing them back into the brain as the subject went through revival. We found that there was a narrow window during revival, before full consciousness was regained, when the brain’s existing neural pathways could be reinforced – or damaged ones re-established – by this technique, resulting in a total recovery even after long-term stasis.

  ‘The method was successful in initial trials on animals. We then moved on to short test periods on human volunteers, and we slowly extended those tests past one year, to eighteen months, then two years. None of the subjects developed any sign of neurological impairment on revival. We had some animal tests that ran for nearly six years, with similar success.’

  Clare and Collins stared at him. Mordecai smiled at their astonishment.

  ‘As you can imagine, USAC was very keen to develop the technology to exploit this breakthrough. This proved to be the most challenging part. Recording and compressing an individual’s neural engrams, acquired over a lifetime, required enormous amounts of processing power and data storage, and the equipment filled a data centre; it was difficult to get small enough to fit inside a spacecraft. But we did it, and finally it was ready for a trial on the Ulysses mission.’

  He shook his head. ‘We were so hopeful. We had done so many tests, and felt that we understood the technique. Everything pointed to a success. But of course, you now know what happened, and that we lost contact after an unscheduled revival.’

  Mordecai’s face became grave.

  ‘Not a day has gone by, in these sixteen years, where I have not wondered what went wrong on the mission. I knew the captain and the crew personally; we trained together, I briefed them, and I designed the modifications to the Ulysses so that she could perform her mission. I gave that mission my life, and I would give anything to know what happened.’ His eyes seemed to look into Clare’s, willing her to believe.

  ‘As you will appreciate, it is of vital importance to USAC to know if this technology was at fault, and if it can be made safe or not. This is where we come in. We must establish if the loss of the ship was due to some issue with the st
asis equipment, or from some other cause. All trials of the new technique were put on hold immediately after the accident, so we have no other information to go on.’

  ‘If it is the Ulysses, what is it doing all the way out here?’ Clare asked. ‘It must have taken most of its fuel to have changed trajectory at Jupiter and come here instead.’

  Mordecai opened his hands. ‘I am at a loss to explain this. It does explain, however, why all the searches were unsuccessful – we were looking for the ship in completely the wrong place; it never occurred to anyone that it might have gone off in such an unexpected direction. And as to why Psyche …’ he shook his head. ‘There is nothing on Psyche of significant scientific interest – it’s just a big, irregular lump of nickel-iron.

  ‘Of course, we may be wrong; this object may not be the Ulysses. But we know it’s metallic and approximately one hundred metres in length, and it wasn’t there twenty years ago when the last survey was done. I find it hard to believe that it’s a natural object, but we will soon see.’

  He sat back, and spread his arms.

  ‘So that’s the whole picture as to why we’re here. I apologise for the level of secrecy, and I hope you will forgive me.’

  Clare and Collins stared back at him, digesting what he had told them. Eventually Clare spoke, putting into words something that had been at the back of her mind since the message from Wesley: ‘Okay, I can see why it’s been kept secret. Tell me, was the threat risk from 2010 TG4 overstated, to facilitate this mission, to get a ship in place that could do it?’