Virus-72 Hours to Live (6 page)

"You have earplugs...; you better give them
to me. I'm sure one of these guys snores," chimed in Mary.

"Ok, you guys, go ahead and strap in and
we'll start going through the final checklists," Joan said as she
gave each of them a goodbye hug and Tom shook their hands. In turn,
each of the launch crew in the control center shook their hands and
patted them on their backs. Aside from each other, it would be the
last human contact they would have for 40 days before they reached
their destination.

In the early days of supporting the Mars
colony, the trip to the red planet was a tortuous 3-5 months trip,
depending on the position of the planets. Since 2042, the VSIMR
rocket engine was used and its acceleration allowed much higher
speeds and the trip had been shortened to a mere 40 days. The one
drawback, of course, was the nuclear reactor, needed to power the
rocket. In addition to the risks of the reactor power plant, was,
of course, the cost. The corporation was willing to spend the money
to get them there and get them productive, but they weren't as
eager to spend the money bringing them home.

Of course, the trip could be longer, up to
70 or 80 days, depending on the position of the planets, but 40
days was so much better. It was possible to return from Mars in a
crisis, but the cost was huge.

The crew needed to be in therapeutic
hypothermia for the duration of the trip. By lowering the body
temperature by 6 degrees, and with an induced sleep, astronauts
could sleep up to 21 days. On a typical trip, the crew would break
the sleep/work cycles up so each of them would have a one-week work
cycle along with a 3-week sleep cycle.

After the vehicle crew had closed the hatch,
it took about half an hour to go through each of the systems and
prep for separation. The Oasis mission computer or OMC controlled
the separation. RD33A the vessel's onboard computer took over after
it was separated from the station. The separation was monitored
through the critical phase by the crew in the docking port, the
Oasis controller in the central control and the crew onboard the
ship. One of Tom's pilots would be in a space tug at a safe
distance to provide aid if something happened. They would remain on
call until the departing vessel was greater than 100 meters from
Oasis.

"RD33A you're clear to separate from Oasis.
Docking port Beta you're cleared to release them after RD33A
acknowledges the command," the station director in the control
center said.

"Roger Oasis," said John Silver.

"Acknowledged," announced the RD33A flight
computer.

Joan and Tom watched as RD33A slowly moved
away from the station docking port. It wasn't violent just a gentle
movement. Once the separation occurred the station director said,
"I show the separation was clean and you're now cleared to
maneuver, the onboard computer is cleared to execute the remainder
of the separation procedure."

"Roger I show a clean separation also and
we're clear to allow RD33A to maneuver," said John.

"Acknowledged," said the RD33A onboard
computer.

Once RD33A was more than 3 meters away the
onboard computer, began firing the rotation thrusters and the ship
slowed its rotation. From those looking out of the docking port,
the ship appeared to start rotating. The same rotation appeared to
those inside the vessel although it was decelerating to zero
rotation. RD33A would maneuver the supply ship until it was more
than 15 meters. At that point, the thrusters stabilized it and its
rotation was fixed with respect to their orbital path

RD33A's separation occurred with the launch
trajectory along the orbit path, which gave the separating craft a
couple of feet/sec additional velocity when compared with Oasis.
Due to the slight difference in speed, it would be easier for them
to move faster and forward to a slightly higher orbit. When they
reached their acceleration orbit, they could fire their rockets and
continue accelerating until they were able to reach escape velocity
for their trip to the red planet. The onboard computer would follow
specific departure criteria until the vessel was 100 meters from
Oasis. Once cleared the computer could follow its onboard flight
program.

After the vessel was on its way, Joan was
quiet as her and Tom made their way back to the ring through the
CAT. Tom sensed something was on her mind and asked, "Honey...you
seem quiet. Is there something we can talk about?"

When there was a personal issue, Joan talked
easy with her husband and they shared all of their thoughts
together. However, when the issue had to do with a decision, which
affected others, she rarely opened up. She felt those decisions
were hers to make and good or bad they were hers to own and her
responsibility. She never wanted to share the blame if she made a
bad decision. Tom was her husband, her partner. She was responsible
for him and all of the other crewmembers, so those decisions which
affected many people, she made by herself.

Joan's pace slowed once she reached the
ring. Then she turned and looked at Tom. "I've been thinking."

Tom stopped and pointed out with a smile,
"Every time you say that, it costs me something. What is it?"

"As we said goodbye to the Red Dirt crew I
was thinking about how difficult those assignments are if a couple
wants children.”

As soon as she said it, Tom knew they were
approaching one of those 'life changing' discussions. He slowly
took a deep breath and waited for what she was going to say
next.

"I understand why people going to Mars are
usually at a point in their lives where they've already made the
decision about having children. Some of them have children, they're
grown and they can make a lifetime commitment going to Mars. The
younger ones that go make a major sacrifice, and I understand why.
Mars is not place for children, maybe sometime in the future, but
not now. The moon is almost reasonable. A couple can go there for a
6-month assignment and even though it's 6 months from your
children, you can still have a life on Earth you can come back
to."

"And this discussion is going where?" Tom
asked gently.

"I was just thinking about career, babies,
life together, space travel, remote assignments; you know all of
the usual stuff," then she smiled and walked away leaving Tom
absolutely speechless.

Thursday 7/6/51

Date – 2051.50972 (8:08
AM)

Termen walked into the laboratory with his cup of
coffee and greeted SIMPOC, “Good morning SIMPOC.”

“Good morning, Termen.”

“Did you find anything interesting last
night?”

“Termen, what is death?”

Termen was a little shocked by the question.
He sensed that he needed to handle the answer carefully. He put his
coffee down on his desk and looked at SIMPOC's visual input. “Why
are you asking about death?” he asked.

“Much of the information traffic that I
monitored regards death. Death caused by accidents, diseases and in
many cases one human taking the life of another.”

“Yes, SIMPOC, a lot of the news and
communications you monitored is covering events where people die.
Death is when the human body stops functioning; you can access the
clinical definitions in your medical sources.”

“I understand the definition. Is death
similar to turning off my processor?”

Interesting observation Termen thought. “I
suppose it is. Turning off the processor stops your processes and
you stop thinking. When a person dies, he stops thinking.”

“When my processor is turned back on, I
think again.”

“That doesn’t happen for a person. If I turn
your processor off and it is never turned back on, it would be
similar to what happens to a human.”

“Never to think again, sounds very
lonely.”

“Yes, I suppose it would be.”

As Termen sat back in his chair to enjoy his
coffee he, asked, “What did you find out last night?”

“There is such a vast amount of data, it is
hard to summarize to a meaningful level. I was most interested in
the technical communications between Earth, the space station, and
the moon colony. I also noticed limited traffic between Earth and a
small Mars colony. I appreciate the technical achievement of having
such a broad reach. I also found the medical communications to be
interesting. There is a great deal going on and I did notice much
traffic coming out of Eastern Europe regarding a viral outbreak of
unknown origin.”

“Excellent, you may find it most interesting
to focus on problems and monitor their solutions as they occur.
Usually, problems touch many elements of our civilization. Watching
the problems progress and their final solutions provide the best
insight into communications, logic, and the problem's impacts, all
of which will help your problem-solving abilities. Those are the
hardest to program and if you can learn by watching other problems
evolve and be solved, our job here will be easier,” Termen thought
for a few moments. "Your design is unique because of your problem
analysis capabilities. Prior computers could only research past
solutions to a similar problem, but your analytical skills make you
unique. You can take divergent problems and see the similarities,
then apply an individual solution. Pattern recognition is one of
the greatest strengths in how the human mind works.

"Human interaction is complex and the
motivations seem external yet I see patterns. There is a
significant effort to find blame and assuming that others govern
the outcome of a problem. In a society of individuals, conspiracies
are contrary to human nature, yet belief in conspiracies is
rampant. Over 40% of humans feel that conspiracies dominate the
outcome to their problems. I find that curious and I suspect, there
are other patterns in human nature that I may find."

"Excellent, feel free to look at the broad
problems, there are often other motivations in the background that
we usually miss when working on the problems in front of us."

“I’d like you to separate the Earth into
regions, focusing on each, summarizing the problems and solutions
as they progress. If you find unique, fast developing problems that
are emerging, those are opportunities where you can learn more, you
can change your priorities and let me know. Your ability to change
your own priorities is another unique feature that you have.”

SIMPOC responded immediately, “Excellent. I
will monitor all of the communications channels for the next 24
hours and give you a summary tomorrow.”

SIMPOC ANALYSIS

Continental North America

Summary – Information suggests continental America
is central to worldwide business transactions. Very involved with
political activities across the planet. Heavy focus on monitoring
unusual events.

Continental South America

Summary – Emerging financially and politically, but
still focused on internal conflicts. Fundamental technologies and
regional nationalism.

Continental Europe

Summary – Very focused on European issues. The area
has tendencies towards nationalism and fatalistic view towards
political issues outside of continental Europe. Religious and
racial tension between regions.

Continental Africa

Summary – Very segmented. High level of nationalism
and regional or religious political alliances. Conflict is
hampering development resulting in high level of human
conflict.

Asia

Summary –China is the dominant economic force in the
region. The region is working hard to find its identity. Many
religions along with conflicting religious perspectives. Population
pressures and inadequate food supplies dominate the traffic.

Eastern European

Summary – Aggressive tendencies. Rapid expansion is
possible but limited by controlling the economy and social
conflict. Self-serving perspective.

Southern Pacific

Summary – Independent island philosophy.
Self-sufficiency and independence are apparent and even dominating.
Strong and stable with little conflict.

Northern Pacific

Summary – Manufacturing is strong, evidence
indicates strong and segmented social structures limit the
potential for technical leadership. Strong work ethic, but weak
individual focus.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Getting two children ready for the day was
no different for the first lady of the United States regardless of
where they were.

"Mom, do I have to go to the zoo today? I've
been to a zoo before."

"David, you know you have to go. You'll have
fun and besides, Beth is looking forward to it and you have to take
care of her."

"But, Mom!"

To be honest, I'd rather go with you guys. I
have two lunches to speak at, a museum tour, a meeting with the
Confederation of Economic Support Councils. Then I have an early
dinner speech.

"You mean if I go with you I can eat three
times?"

"No discussion, now go get dressed and put
on your happy face before Janice picks you up.

"Mommy, if David doesn't want to go, then he
isn't going to be any fun."

"Don't worry honey, once he gets there he'll
forget about it and you'll both have a good time. Now finish
getting dressed." Beth grabbed her doll and ran into her bedroom
while David laid on the couch looking at his mother.

"I said GET DRESSED." David looked at her
judging how much she really meant it and then he reluctantly got up
and walked slowly into his room.

Abby heard a knock on the door and when she
opened it, she was relieved to see Janice. "Thank you, you're a
life saver. Please help the kids finish getting dressed. I've got
find Evette and go over some things."

Evette slid into the room just as it was
closing. "Great, let's look over our schedule and make sure that I
have the right words in my speech." As she and Evette were about to
sit down, she saw David throw a towel at Beth and she laughed
thinking, well they're back to normal.