Just a little teaser for a fic I started writing after listening to Aram
Khatchaturian's "Gayne" ballet adagio one too many times... (For those
of you familiar with Kubrick's sci-fi epic, you will understand what I
mean.)
It's a teaser, so don't freak when it ends abruptly, okay?
Oh yeah, Merry Christmas all!
The characters and situations of this fanfic are the property of
Rumiko Takahashi and Arthur C. Clarke. They are used without
permission.
_______________________________________________________
J. Austin Wilde and Fission Park Press proudly present:
2001: Odyssey 1/2
Spacecraft U.S.S. Discovery,
Nearing the planet Jupiter.
December 23, 2001 CE
National Council on Astronautics (NCA) Astronaut Ranma
Saotome jogged leisurely along the circular track that was the
centrifugal hub of Discovery’s habitation compartment. The hub
spun perpendicular to Discover’s long axis to provide the simulation
of gravity for the crew.
Ranma had long since become used to the sight of consoles,
lockers, chairs and other such furnishings hanging upside down over
his head on the opposite side of the compartment. He had been
aboard Discovery for almost two years now, even though most
of it had been spent asleep.
He neared the hibernaculums in his 30th circuit of the hub. Two
of the five coffin shaped units were dark and silent. They were the
two for himself and his partner, NCA Astronaut Ryoga Hibiki. The
remaining three were in use.
He stopped before them. The three hibernaculums had been
loaded aboard Discovery just prior to the ships’ departure from lunar
orbit. All three scientists (at least that was what Ranma was led to
believe they were -there was something odd about this mission.)
were already in hibernation. They weren’t due to awaken until the
25th of December.
He had never met any of them. At least not awake. Over the last
two months he and Ryoga had been thawed for the Jovian approach
he had come to know each of the three faces very well.
His fingers traced along the plate of high strength clear
polycarbonate that served as a window for the coffin. Not that there
was any need to look at them -HAL took care of monitoring their
vitals on a continuing basis. it was more for the psychological needs
of the person inside when they woke up. ‘Coffin Dreams’ were not
uncommon experiences for those in the final stages of ‘thaw’, and
to regain consciousness with nothing to look at but the inside of your
coffin was sometimes enough to send an Astronaut off the deep end.
The Russians had learned that early on during their first manned Mars
probe.
The first coffin’s stencil read “Tendo, Kasumi; NCA-95455A.”
Kasumi was likely a pretty woman. Ranma wasn’t sure of the rest of
her, but her face was lovely and kind looking. She looked very peaceful
in her sleep. There was a bit more color in her face today, as they were
slowly ‘thawing’ for their awakening in two days.
The second coffin read “Tendo, Nabiki; NCA-95467C.” Nabiki
also had a pretty face, with a short bob of mahogany hair that poked
from the sensor studded hood they wore so HAL could monitor their
EEG patterns. Nabiki slept like a rock, even in the final stages of thaw.
Ranma knew this, because part of his and Ryoga’s ‘off duty’ time
was spent reading and talking to the three in hibernation. Psych
studies indicated that even in hibernation, the brain retained a moderate
level of activity, and required stimuli for the sake of the subject’s
mental health. For some reason recorded voices weren’t as effective
as a living voice, and so Ranma and Ryoga alternated one-way
conversations with their three charges.
The last coffin’s stencil read “Tendo, Akane; NCA-95499A.”
Akane was the prettiest in Ranma’s opinion, and he looked forward to
seeing her up and about. She was probably a very energetic woman,
as she was the most animated of the three in hibernation. (Granted this
amounted to rolling onto her side or onto her back perhaps once every
three days, but it was more than Kasumi or Nabiki ever did.) She also
seemed to respond to Ranma’s voice when he spoke to her.
“Hello Akane,” he said to her over a small microphone.
Akane’s face moved ever so slightly into a smile at the sound of his
voice. By tomorrow she might actually be able to move the corners of
her mouth more than a half millimeter. She had a cute smile, subdued
as it was.
“Two more days and you’ll be awake,” he told her. “You should
see how big Jupiter is in our telescopes. It’s amazing.”
Akane shifted her eyes slightly. A glance at the display above her
hibernaculum indicated that she was in Delta sleep. Soon she would
be shifting back into a dreamstate. For a moment Ranma hoped she
was dreaming of him.
He looked at his watch. He was three minutes late in relieving
Ryoga. The guy was probably steaming mad.
All in all, Ryoga wasn’t a bad partner. He did his chores, performed
his maintenance and administrative tasks efficiently, he even enjoyed
martial arts -something Ranma himself indulged in. If there was one
thing wrong with Ryoga it was his temper. He had a temper that was
so bad that Ranma had no idea why the psych boys had ever cleared
him for a long duration spaceflight. Ryoga was suited more to Earth-
Luna hops, not the seven year hitch he had signed on for aboard
Discovery.
2006... It was a long time away, even if most of it would be spent
in the oblivion of deep hibernation awaiting the Discovery II to come
and rescue them.
“I’ve gotta go, I’m late to relieve Ryoga. Talk to you in twelve,”
he told Akane. Again she seemed to move slightly at the sound of his
voice.
Ranma made his way to the center of the hub, to the revolving door
that was the access to the rest of the ship. The rest of Discovery was in
free-fall without the mighty fusion driven rockets that were the ship’s
Main Engines on line. Their braking maneuver wasn’t scheduled for
another six days, although the propellant tank warm-up procedures and
gymbal cycling maintenance routines were already underway. They
would perform a minor test burn tomorrow.
Ryoga was not on the flight deck. Ranma expected that he would,
as that was where he would relieve Ryoga. They had been doing this for
two months now. It was so routine as to be reflex.
“HAL, where is Ryoga?” Ranma asked the ship’s computer; a
top of the line HAL-9000 unit built by Logic Memory Systems of
Urbana, Illinois. HALs had an infallible track record for performance
and speed. Ranma was glad a HAL unit had been selected as the ship’s
AI.
A pleasant voice replied. “Flight Officer Hibiki is in Number Two
passageway inspecting a minor pressure leak in the atmosphere ducting.”
**This was interesting.**
“Anything serious?” Ranma asked.
HAL replied again in a calm pleasant voice. “No, Ranma. The leak
is very minute; my probability functions indicate a micrometeriod
impact has occurred within the last seventy-two hours as the cause.
Without corrective action we shall continue to enjoy a sufficient reserve
of atmosphere for the duration of the flight plus 1.38 years.”
“Then why is Ryoga bothering with it? The chances of him finding
the leak are ridiculously small.”
“Ryoga mentioned that he was bored. I offered to play a game of
chess with him to keep him stimulated, but he refused,” HAL replied.
There was almost a touch of disappointment in the AI’s voice. Ranma
thought nothing of it. HAL was as much a part of the crew as Ryoga,
sometimes even more so considering everything the computer was
responsible for. HAL was quite capable of performing all duties should
he and Ryoga be killed or incapacitated. Indeed, to keep the spark of
manned spaceflight alive at the budget table, high profile missions like
this one needed a living crew -even if they weren’t necessary.
“Whatever,” Ranma sighed. “Could you tell him I’m ready to
relieve him?”
“Of course Ranma,” HAL replied.
“Anything else going on?”
HAL posted a few schedules and reports upon the six displays that
served the flight deck console. Ranma looked them over, satisfied that
all was well. Their propellant tank warm-up was getting a helping hand
from the distant glow of Sol. If everything went according to plan, the
great titanium globes filled with methane and ammonia would be warm
enough for the heating and stirring units to maintain as Discovery passed
into Jupiter’s shadow immediately prior to their deceleration and orbital
insertion burns.
“I have been informed of a personal transmission for you,” HAL
announced.
Ranma looked up at the display. “Oh yeah?”
“The transmission is scheduled for the 24th of December at 02:25
UMT. It is to be from your parents.”
Ranma nodded. “Merry Christmas -just before we go into Jupiter’s
shadow.”
“My thoughts as well. They would be unable to wish you Seasons
Greetings on Christmas day.”
Ranma sighed again. “I don’t mind talking to my folks, but out here
you can hardly call it a conversation.”
“I understand,” HAL soothed. “The time lag of 2.052 hours between
transmissions is difficult for humans to conduct a conversation.”
“You don’t have that problem I see,” Ranma observed.
“That is not entirely true. As my processor functions are many times
faster than the human brain, the span of two hours can seem much
longer to me. Fortunately this has been accounted for, and I receive
continuous telemetry feedback from the Earth to keep me occupied.”
“And I get to work out and read books,” Ranma replied.
“We must each seek out our own recreation as we can. It is
unhealthy to remain occupied solely with one’s duties.”
Ranma chuckled. “HAL, you’re trying to suck me into playing a
game of chess with you.”
HAL made his own equivalent of a chuckle. “Of course, Ranma.
Would you like to be black or white this time?”
“What difference does it make? You know I’m no good at this
game.”
“My analysis of previous games indicate that you have been
improving along a steady curve of development. I predict that you
will be able to win a game within the next three weeks. -Provided
that you continue to play at least one game during each duty shift.”
Ranma tapped the arm rest of his acceleration couch. “And if you
keep your difficulty rating all the way at the bottom,” he added.
“That was a factor I was unwilling to inform you of for the sake
of your ego,” HAL admitted.
“I’m used to getting trashed by you HAL, so don’t worry about
my ego.”
Ryoga appeared on the flight deck, his Velcro lined soles making
a sighing sound as he tracked along the carpeted deck.
“You ready to relieve me?” He asked.
“Yeah, HAL’s already given me the skinny. How’s that leak by
the way?”
Ryoga shrugged. “Couldn’t find it,” he admitted. “It was just
something to do.”
“Pretty soon we’ll be so busy that you won’t have to worry about
needing something to do. Once the scientists wake up, we’ll be
serving them hand and foot for the next two months.”
Ryoga nodded. “I guess so.” His face brightened. “You up for a
sparring match tonight?”
Ranma nodded. “After dinner and my tour of the ship, sure.”
Ryoga signed over the watch to Ranma on a writeboard. “Great,
see you then. I’m gonna go talk to the girl-sicles for my hour now”
“Just an hour?” Ranma teased. “I think you spent an hour with
just Akane by herself.” He grinned at Ryoga. “You wouldn’t happen
to have a crush on her would you?”
Ryoga began to redden. Ranma wasn’t sure if it was a blush or
a temper tantrum coming on.
“My logs indicate that NCA Astronaut Ranma Saotome has also
spent an incongruously long period of therapy time with NCA
Astronaut Akane Tendo during off-periods,” HAL informed them.
“Perhaps this is a mutual attraction to her?”
HAL wasn’t technically capable of humor. Nonetheless, there
were times when it seemed like the AI had learned it. Both astronauts
began to blush and make accusing faces at each other. Ryoga finally
went aft.
“Why’d ya have to say that?” Ranma asked HAL.
“I was merely informing Ryoga,” HAL replied.
“My point exactly! Why’d you tell him?”
“It is my duty to keep both crew members informed of all goings
on in the event one of you is killed or incapacitated,” HAL replied in
an even tone of voice.
“This doesn’t seem duty related to me,” Ranma sniffed.
“Would you like to discuss this in greater detail, or would you
prefer to end this discussion?”
“End it please,” Ranma said evenly. “I’ve got a few things to
take care of.”
“As you wish,” HAL replied. A few seconds of silence passed.
“I am reading an irregularity in the AE-35 unit.”
Ranma looked up to the display again.
“What kind of irregularity?”
“My onboard diagnostic routines indicate that the AE-35 unit
will fail within 48 hours. We shall be unable to maintain proper
alignment of our long-range communications array with Earth
after that time.”
Ranma knew that all too well. The main array was always
pointed directly at the Earth to maintain continuous contact with
the NCA ground control. The AE-35 unit controlled the servos that
positioned the dish shaped array and kept it constantly aligned as
Discovery hurtled outward to the depths of the solar system.
Without contact with Earth, Discovery would truly be alone
in the void. If anything went wrong, Earth bound support would
be impossible. The AE-35 units were built to the highest standards
accordingly. They weren’t supposed to fail.
But this was spaceflight, and things went wrong. They did
have a spare AE-35 unit on board in the unlikely event the unit in
use failed. The chances of two units failing were astronomical.
“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Ranma said at length. “Go EVA and
replace it.”
“Of course,” HAL replied. “The procedure is very simple.”
“Any ideas as to why it’s failing?”
HAL was silent for a very long time.
“It’s quite puzzling really. I’ve never seen anything quite like
this before.”
Ranma understood. HAL knew how reliable the AE-35s were
supposed to be as well as he did.
“Ryoga’s pod qualified. I guess we can schedule an EVA for
tomorrow. We just need Control’s concurrence with our findings
and have them clear the EVA.”
“I have already informed Control of our condition,” HAL replied.
Ranma smiled. “Efficient as always HAL.”
HAL seemed not to hear him.
-End of Teaser-
Author’s notes:
This is based loosely on Arthur C. Clarke’s “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
However I am keeping Jupiter as the Discovery’s mission goal in
agreement with the film. (They went to Saturn in the book.)
Other than that, I’m sure you can guess what will happen, but don’t
fall into the idea that I’m simply rehashing the story. It’s going to be
a bit more complicated. Who says HAL has to be the only one to go
nuts? Who says the three scientists in hibernation never get the chance
to wake up? As for the Monolith, it is meaningless in this story, so
don’t worry about it too much.
