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
Chapter One
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 Discovery’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.”
“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 02:45
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 made
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 Mission Control’s concurrence with our
findings and have them clear the EVA.”
“I have already informed Mission Control of our condition,”
HAL replied.
Ranma smiled. “Efficient as always HAL.”
HAL seemed not to hear him.
Chapter Two
Spacecraft U.S.S. Discovery
Nearing the planet Jupiter.
23 December 2001 CE
23:55 UMT.
Ryoga relieved Ranma twelve hours later on the flight deck.
Ranma was surprised Ryoga had showed up on time. Discovery
did not have a very complicated deckplan, but somehow his
partner had a predilection for getting lost. It had been true since
Ranma had met Ryoga during their astronaut training. Ryoga
had worked very hard at concealing this shortcoming from the NCA
-with a little help from friends like Ranma.
Their sparring match had been okay -both had fought harder
and better on other occasions. It seemed neither astronaut was very
focused on the match. They seemed to be in the initial stages of
‘La Cafarde.’ -A term the French Foreign Legion used to describe
the melancholy and loneliness of duty.
Ranma of course was worried about the AE-35 unit, and also
dreading the transmission from his parents that was just a few hours
away. They were probably transmitting it at that very moment
back on Earth. HAL was a little less talkative than usual as well,
although that was easily attributable to his preparations for orbital
insertion and the reanimating of their three passengers.
Ryoga was his usual dour quiet self. He had spent two hours
talking to the three girls in hibernation, and at least an hour of that
time with Akane. Ranma knew this because he had surveillance
cameras in most of the habitation areas of Discovery. He refrained
from engaging the audio pickups, but would check every so often to
see if Ryoga was still talking to Akane. HAL clucked a few times
in what passed for a laugh among the 9000 series.
Ryoga set to work on some of the minor administrative duties
to be handled at midnight as Ranma floated gracefully aft. Whereas
Ryoga always used his Velcro shoes to tread ‘upright’ along the
carpeted decks, Ranma always preferred to float in free-fall.
Discovery would remain in free-fall for another six hours, at which
time the Main Engines would begin their test burn and subsequent
course correction burn. For a brief time their would be the semblance
of gravity outside the rotating habitation compartment, with ‘up’
being the spherical bow of the ship. The decks and equipment were
arranged such that the ‘floors’ were facing aft.
Ranma had a few duties to take care of as well. The first involved
preparing his and Ryoga’s pressure suits for that afternoon’s EVA
to replace the AE-35 unit before it failed. Ryoga would be the one
actually leaving the ship to do the job; procedure dictated that
Ranma be suited up on the flight deck to monitor him and be ready
to go outside to assist should Ryoga get into trouble.
After that he would have to get two of the three EVA pods ready.
They hadn’t used them since the Discovery left lunar orbit and
suffered a minor micrometeriod hit in the superstructure. Mission
Control had insisted on a full EVA inspection, and so he and Ryoga
had spent the better part of a week alternating in the pods as
Discovery began it’s slow orbital egress burn to preposition for the
final transit burn to Jupiter. It had not been fun.
He wanted to get the pressure suits done first. They would
take about 45 minutes apiece, and he wanted to get them out of
the way and still have time to eat before his parents called.
He was just finishing up his bland curry chicken and stir-fried
vegetables when HAL informed him of an incoming A/V
transmission. He set aside the tray and switched on a display
near his head.
The NCA logo appeared for a moment along with a date/time
stamp. It wasn’t a prerecorded message. The face of Doctor Tofu
Ono appeared on screen. Doctor Ono was the NCA Director of
Flight Operations for the Discovery mission.
“Good Morning Discovery,” Tofu began in his friendly voice.
“We received your transmission concerning the Alfa Echo-Three
Five unit. We have run a series of simulations and cannot at this
time refute the possibility of a failure within the time frame
proscribed by your 9000 series computer.”
Ranma nodded his head. He thought as much. There wasn’t
much they could do back on Earth except run simulations based
on what they *thought* was happening. Tofu went on.
“Furthermore we are in concurrence with your plan to go
EVA to replace the faulty AE-35 on the second shift. It’s going
to be tight with the orbital insertion coming up, but if it has to be
done, better that you do it during a time period where you wouldn’t
be able to communicate with us anyway.”
Again Ranma nodded. Discovery would be swinging around the
far side of Jupiter just prior to the orbital insertion burn, and Earth
would be blocked by the great reddish orange gas giant that was their
destination. They would be incommunicado for twelve hours with
or without a functioning array.
“Keep us apprised of your situation, Discovery. We shall await
your final telemetry and survey data burst immediately prior to loss
of contact. NCA Mission Control out.”
Tofu’s friendly bespectacled face was replaced by the NCA logo
over a dark blue screen.
“It seems Mission Control has given us their blessing,” HAL
observed. Sometimes Ranma forgot that there was an interface station
for HAL in the habitation compartment.
“Looks that way,” Ranma replied.
“Flight Officer Hibiki has asked me to inform you that we are ‘go’
for Main Engine test burn sequence Alfa,” HAL added as Ranma
looked to the red bead of light that was HAL’s video pickup. In
many ways Ranma considered that light to be HAL’s ‘eye’, and
often wondered if the boys from Urbana had intended it that way.
There were times Ranma thought indeed that it was the ‘window to
HAL’s soul.’
“Is there a problem, Ranma?” HAL asked him. “You don’t seem
to be focused on the situation at hand. Would you like a stimulant?”
Ranma shrugged off his musings. He wasn’t ordinarily an
introspective person; but several months of enforced isolation from
the rest of the human race (save Ryoga and three girl-sicles) had
given him nothing but time to think the big thoughts of purpose and
reason for being. Even questions about HAL having a soul.
“No, no problem HAL,” Ranma replied. “I was just thinking.”
He looked back to the video pickup. “The countdown proceeds as
scheduled then?”
“Yes. Propellant tank pressurization is at 90 percent of rated
value. Voltages are stable. Cryonics systems are idling. Fusion
furnace output is ramping up in proscribed increments, with the
neutrino detectors ranging in accordance with indicated furnace
power.”
HAL went on, posting a status report for Ranma on another
display. The astronaut looked it over thoroughly. He trusted both
HAL and Ryoga to be precise and complete, but this was something
where they could not afford any mistakes.
“You have an incoming transmission,” HAL informed him as he
double checked his own double checks.
“My parents?” Ranma asked without looking up from the display.
“Yes,” HAL replied. “Shall I hold it in memory with the others?”
“Thanks, HAL.”
“I understand that there are many things to be done in preparation
for the test burn and subsequent orbital insertion Ranma, but I am
often puzzled as to why you always delay in receiving personal
transmissions from your parents.”
Ranma winced. HAL could really cut to the bone, even if the AI
didn’t mean to. Perhaps that was why he liked HAL so much.
“Ryoga is always very excited about transmissions from home,”
HAL added for comparison.
“I think Ryoga has a better relationship with his parents than I
do, HAL.”
“Human personal relationships are often puzzling to me,” HAL
replied. “I don’t think I shall ever fully understand them. I often
wonder how our relationship is, Ranma. How my relationship is with
Ryoga as well. While I am programmed to be fully interactive with
human beings, I am often confused by them.”
“I think we get along just fine, HAL. If it makes you feel better,
Ryoga never has anything bad to say about you either.”
HAL’s video pickup seemed to glow brighter for a second.
“That makes me feel much better Ranma. Thank you.”
Ranma started to blush a little. It was a little eery the way HAL
had sounded so pleased to receive approval. Perhaps it was the
vestiges of his early learning algorithms during his initial activation
and path to sentience. Perhaps HAL really *did* have a soul.
“I’m going to prepare the pods for EVA,” Ranma said after a
bit. “By the time I’m done I should have just enough time for a
sweep of the ship and get everything stowed for the burn.”
“I shall have Pods ‘A’ and ‘B’ standing by on the hanger deck.”
Ranma waved to the pickup and started for the hanger bay. True
to his word, HAL had EVA Pods ‘A’ and ‘B’ standing by on their
platforms for his inspection. He flicked his pigtail into the collar of
his red jumpsuit and started on his checklists.
Much later he was finished with his inspections and had laid out
Ryoga’s tools in a special capture bag that would hold them in place
in zero gravity. All Ryoga would have to do was suit up and go
outside for a little spacewalk. Removal and replacement of the
AE-35 unit plus transit times both ways would take perhaps ninety
minutes.
He made a tour of the ship, stowing anything that was loose for
the acceleration forces of the test burn. It would be little more than a
brief jolt, but after the burn they would be in free-fall again, and
things that broke loose would become dangerous missile hazards.
Finishing his tour, he stopped by the hibernaculums.
He told Kasumi and Nabiki that they would be performing a test
burn on the engines. Even though they were still in hibernation, they
were almost completely ‘thawed,’ and he didn’t want them worrying
about the jolt. Both women seemed to respond ever so slightly to
his voice. There was a great deal more life and color in their faces
now.
Akane was even prettier so close to ‘thaw.’ Her smile was
quite apparent when she heard his voice. He spoke with her a little,
wishing he could spend more time with her than he had. Finally he
told her about the burn, and that she shouldn’t worry. Then he said
good-bye, and that he would see her awake very soon. Akane smiled
again.
Ranma left the habitation compartment and headed for the flight
deck to supervise the test burn. He was unaware that the other two
members of the crew had been watching and listening to his
conversation with Akane.
HAL seemed very pleased, although the AI could not answer the
question of why. His memory banks contained a few blocks of time
restricted data. Data which could not be revealed to his higher brain
functions until the proper time. It puzzled him that this was so.
Ryoga switched the monitor back to Number 2 Passageway in
disgust...
When Ranma appeared on the flight deck, Ryoga shunted away such
thoughts to another part of his psyche. They had a job to do. He had
worked very hard to get this mission, and he wanted it to succeed.
“Any problems?” Ranma asked.
“Countdown proceeds as scheduled,” Ryoga replied. He gestured
to the displays.
“Course correction burn calculated and standing by in my
astrogation subroutines,” HAL added pleasantly.
They waited as HAL directed Discovery’s Main Engines to
come on line. Far aft of the spherical crew module, along the long
narrow span of the superstructure, the propellant tanks began to
reach full pressurization. Blocking valves which had been frozen
shut for two years were now thawed and flexed open and shut in
programmed sequences. Status lights blinked on the flight deck
displays as the valves cycled.
The fusion furnace began to preheat the reaction mass fuel as it
was circulated by massive centrifugal booster pumps through the
secondary waste heat exchangers and then on to warm the massive
cone shaped thrust nozzles. Methane ice which glazed the house
sized nozzles began to flake off, and caused Discovery’s aft end to
glow in a faint sparkle of refracted light from distant Sol.
Discovery itself began to oscillate in the subsonics from the
vibrations of the pumps and the motion of so many tons of circulating
fuel. Ranma and Ryoga could feel it in the pits of their stomachs as
they sat strapped into their acceleration couches.
“Test Burn Alfa commencing in sixty seconds,” HAL intoned.
“Fuel pressure stable... Temperatures rising in engine cores to nominal
tolerance values... Fusion furnace stable at fifteen percent thermal
output... Voltage stable.”
“Time to see if they’ll fire,” Ranma said quietly. Discovery’s
engines had been through all manner of torture tests, but never had
they been evaluated to function after two years of inactivity in the
frigid void of the outer solar system.
“If they don’t fire it’ll be a long walk home,” Ryoga joked.
“Even longer if you’re the astrogator,” Ranma jibed
Ryoga scowled at this. He was thin skinned to begin with, but
there was a flicker of hate in his eyes as he looked away to his panel.
Ranma immediately regretted saying it.
“Test Burn Alfa commencing in ten seconds,” HAL announced.
They could feel the main fuel pumps pick up through the acceleration
couches. Discovery began to drone in a deep bass rumble.
“Nine...Eight...Seven...Six...Main Fuel Pumps on-line...Four...
Three...Two...One...Ignition -Ten percent thrust...”
Far aft of the crew module, the three thrust nozzles exploded
in a blast of white light. The fusion reactor heated methane and
ammonia belched forth in a two second burn. Discovery shivered
with a heavy jolt as the Main Engines fired and then stood down.
“Test Burn Alfa complete,” HAL informed them. “No
abnormalities noted with the engines or engine subsystems.
Astrogation subroutines now surveying for concurrence with
indicated inertial navigation variances.”
“I’d say the taxpayers got their money’s worth,” Ranma said
in the silence that followed. He unbuckled his restraints and floated
aft.
“I’m gonna get a few down before turnover. All the suit and
pod preps are done, and your tools are in the ready service locker,”
he told Ryoga.
Ryoga grunted a reply.
“After the EVA, it’ll be about time to wake up the girls,” Ranma
said to him. “Lucky you, you get to be the one to help them get back
on their feet while I rot up here on the flight deck doing the insertion
burn preps.”
Ryoga nodded casually, but once Ranma was gone, he began to
glow at the thought of seeing Akane awake.
Chapter Three
Spacecraft U.S.S. Discovery
Crossing the orbital of Ganymede.
24 December 2001 CE
15:16 UMT
Discovery had invaded the Jovian system just before noon. Her
many telescopes and sensory arrays began surveying the planet and
its moons. HAL gathered the data up into a neat package to transmit
back to Earth just prior to Ryoga’s EVA.
They were very close to crossing over the terminator into Jupiter’s
long dark night. With the magnetically energetic gas giant between the
ship and Earth they would be in a period of communications blackout.
They would remain in blackout for three days following the insertion
burn that would slow them down enough for Jupiter’s immense gravity
to fling them into a stable orbit around the planet near to the moon
known as Io.
The sound of Ryoga’s breathing inside his pressure suit helmet was
a rasping in the speakers on the flight deck. Ranma was also wearing his
pressure suit, with the helmet stowed behind him on a clip. The video
monitor display of the flight deck showed Ryoga stepping into the ‘A’
pod.
HAL depressurized the hanger a moment later, the dull throbbing
of the compressors vibrating below Ranma’s feet. The circular outer
door opened, and a few crystals of water vapor floated off into the
void, sparkling in the reflected light of Jupiter. The massive red planet
was only an angry sanguine crescent in the viewing window and
telescope displays.
‘A’ pod rolled out of the ship along it’s platform track. Ryoga was
a deft hand on the controls, giving the pod just enough velocity relative
to Discovery to ease it off the platform. The pod traveled about a 100
meters ahead of the spaceship. From that distance Ryoga began
cycling all of the reaction control jets to ensure they worked properly
when he moved in close enough to Discovery to be a danger.
That accomplished, Ryoga jetted the pod leisurely along the length
of Discovery to the amidships superstructure. The large dish array was
flanked by two smaller direction finding and auxiliary arrays. The
AE-35 unit was along the base of the rotating tower that supported
and positioned the arrays.
Ryoga was keeping the pod depressurized, and so he parked it just
a dozen meters distant of Discovery and tethered himself into the pod.
The access door opened in the rear of the pod. Ranma could see
Ryoga exiting the pod with his tools using the internal video pickup
in the pod’s cockpit. From there he switched to one of the hull
mounted pickups.
“Just a little step,” Ryoga panted, His breathing was a little
heavier.
“Don’t get lost on the way,” Ranma said warmly. Ryoga didn’t
take offense to it this time, he was too busy focused on the ship.
The last thing he wanted to do was think about how huge space
really was. How insignificant even Discovery was in the immense
black void.
He stepped off and drifted slowly towards Discovery. His
magnet lined soles clamped onto the hull and he sighed in relief.
>From there he was all business, walking slowly and methodically
towards the array.
“Initiating final telemetry and data transmission,” HAL announced.
“Hear that Ryoga?” Ranma asked over the suit radio. “Stand
clear for a minute or two until the burst gets off. I don’t want you
getting cooked by the array if you slip off the hull.”
“That’s makes two of us,” Ryoga managed in a pant. There
was the sound of his own breathing in the helmet. Space was
cold and silent around him. Only the low crackle and hiss of
Jupiter’s radio emissions over the suit comm told him that there
was anything at all sharing the void with Discovery and himself.”
“Transmission complete,” HAL informed them. “Deenergizing
the AE-35 unit for removal.”
With that the massive array swung into it’s default position -the
dish shaped array now faced directly aft and parallel to the long axis
of the hull. Communications and telemetry feed from Earth stopped
abruptly. Discovery and her crew were now alone in space.
“Copy that,” Ryoga said. “I’m going to open the access panel.”
He clamped the tool pouch along its magnetic base to the hull.
Each tool had a lanyard that kept it secured to the pouch as he
withdrew it. Working carefully, he loosened the bolts that held the
access panel closed.
It was a simple procedure. He removed the AE-35 unit, which
was little bigger than his tool pouch, and replaced it with their
redundancy unit. HAL reenergized the system, and the array began
to search for Earth stations. Soon Discovery was back on line -but
only for a moment.
The spacecraft crossed over the terminator into the Jovian night
not a minute after establishing contact. Ryoga found himself in a
darkness more vast than he had known in his life. Not even training
exercises on the dark side of the moon had been so bleak and empty.
HAL switched on ‘A’ pod’s floodlamps for him to guide him
back to the pod. Ryoga pulled himself back on his tether and strapped
into the pod. He couldn’t wait to get back aboard Discovery.
Spacecraft U.S.S. Discovery,
Rounding the nightside of Jupiter.
25 December 2001 CE
01:58 UMT
Ranma ate a piece of fruitcake as he celebrated Christmas.
Fruitcakes as a general rule were usually not very good, and this
one had been sitting in Discovery’s food freezer for two years.
The egg nog wasn’t much better, especially as it contained no
alcohol.
Laying in his bunk in the habitation compartment, he punched
in the request to view his parents’ transmission. After that he would
punch up a movie, something having absolutely nothing to do with
Christmas, and then go to sleep for eight hours. He would wake up,
shower, exercise and eat, and continue the routine as if it was just
another day. Which is all that it was he kept reminding himself.
His mother appeared first on the display. She was so beautiful
and graceful. He loved his mother very much, but for various
reasons he had spent little of his life on Earth in her company. She
had endured a life without her son around for so long on Earth; how
much harder was it for her now that her son was a few billion miles
and seven more years away?
Her grief was there in her eyes, even though she put on her best
smile for him as she wished him a Merry Christmas. Ranma choked
back a sob, hoping Ryoga wasn’t wandering around on his duty tour
of the ship to hear him. There was only the whir and sigh of the
recirculation fans outside his cubicle.
Ranko stepped into view next to his mother. His sister was even
more beautiful than she had been when he left the Earth two years
ago. She had grown a little taller and her figure even more voluptuous
in her tight red dress. He wondered how many hearts she was
breaking now. She still wore her bright red hair in a matching pigtail
just like her brother’s. Perhaps that was her way of keeping him
alive in her memory.
Ranko wished him a Merry Christmas and told him that she
loved him very much. She wished him a safe trip and then ducked
away out of sight. He was sure that tears were spilling down her
face. He had told his sister not to cry when he saw her, only to
see her smiling and happy. Now he hated himself for saying it. He
would rather watch his lovely sister cry her eyes out on the display
than force her to duck away and never see her save for a brief
instant in greeting.
As if to twist the knife his father appeared next to his mother.
His bald pate was once again covered by a bandanna, his glasses
catching the glare from the studio lamps behind the video camera.
He grinned and wished him a Merry Christmas as well, then bragged
about how the family was getting so much media attention because
of the Discovery mission, and how it was bringing in the students
to the Saotome Dojo.
He wanted to stab his finger at the ‘stop’ button on his A/V
control deck, but his love for his sister and mother held him in check.
In a way he pitied them for having to live with Genma day in and
day out, while he was so far away from the man that he was merely
an abstract most of the time.
It was his father that pushed him into the Space Program. He loved
martial arts, but his father was so obsessed with making him the next
Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan (and all the movie deals that entailed) that
he had jumped at the chance to join the NCA.
Space was his other passion, next to martial arts. If he couldn’t
have the one (without his father’s detestable influence) he would
have the other. As such he had devoted himself to math and science
in school even though he hated both subjects with a passion. He was
willing to endure the classwork and studying for his shot at the NCA
Academy just to escape his old man.
And so here he was, an astronaut on the single most important
space exploration mission in the history of the human race, the very
leader in fact. Even then his father had found a way to pervert his
son’s achievement to his own personal ends. His hatred for the man
swelled within him.
Nodoka hushed Genma then and began to talk to the screen as
if Ranma were there sitting across the dining room table from her.
Ranko had wiped away her tears, sat next to her mother and tried
to smile. Genma crossed his arms over his chest and added little
useless and inane comments here and there.
Tears began to well at Ranma’s eyes as he watched them. He
knew at least that his mother and his sister loved him. He missed
them so much. He longed to hug them and hold them close and
become the family they had never quite been.
At last they said good-bye and wished him a Merry Christmas
for the second time. Genma waved like an idiot and said something
like ‘make me proud’. Nodoka waved sadly and tried not to cry.
Ranko blew him a kiss and told him that she loved him again, and
the screen shifted to the NCA logo.
He caught his breath with a few shudders as the transmission
ended. Soon the message would be like all the others; the parts
with his father carefully edited out of the memory banks, leaving
just his mother and his sister and those friends that joined them
from time to time like Ukyo and Daisuke.
After awhile he punched up a Schwartzenegger action movie
and fell asleep in one of the few obligatory slow moments where
they tried to inject a little plot.
The 12 hour cycle repeated as it had for the last two months.
Ranma was on watch on the flight deck, staring out into the
darkness of space and to the dim curvature of Jupiter to the left.
He could see tiny yellow and red flashes of lightning from the
distant cloud tops of the planet’s upper atmosphere. It was
something no man had ever witnessed before with the naked eye.
HAL informed him of the three scientists’ reanimation progress
every now and then. He would periodically observe Ryoga helping
Doctor Kasumi Tendo out of her hibernaculum and working the
circulation back into her half frozen limbs over the video pickup.
Doctor Nabiki Tendo was starting to wake up. Akane wouldn’t
be far behind. For the moment Ryoga had his hands full with Kasumi.
Kasumi managed to look cheerful even as she stretched out
muscles with two years worth of kinks in them. She sipped at the
squeeze bottle of warmed electrolytes, remarking that they tasted
horrible but at least helped wash away some of the morning mouth
she had.
She was nauseous and woozy, but that was to be expected. It
would pass in an hour or two. When she was steady on her feet she
was going to take a long hot shower. They could dock showers from
her water ration for next month if they’d just let her have the one
she had been wishing for from the moment she woke up.
Nabiki sat up in her hibernaculum, looked around, and thought
better of it. She settled back down into her coffin with a groan.
Kasumi giggled softly. Her sister was never a morning person under
the most normal of circumstances. Nabiki looked positively hung-over.
Ryoga pressed the squeeze bottle tube to Nabiki’s lips and gave
her a little. That seemed to enliven her a little -even if it was only to
grouse about the taste. Kasumi laughed again.
“Oh ha ha, sis,” Nabiki growled. “I’m sure you’re already bright
eyed and bushy tailed. The rest of us normal people don’t recover
quite so fast -I assure you.”
“Don’t be such a pest, Nabiki,” Kasumi countered. “It will only
prolong the misery.”
Nabiki sat up and managed to stick her tongue out at her older
sister. Ryoga began to massage her arms and legs, trying not to look
at her and blushing furiously. Nabiki was too far out of it to notice
how shy Ryoga was.
“So immature for a Doctor of Astrophysics,” Kasumi scolded
gently.
Nabiki got to her feet with the help of Ryoga.
“I could really use something to eat,” she said.
Akane sat up with a sigh and a long hard yawn. Ryoga’s eyes
nearly started from their sockets. Ranma trained the video camera
around to get a better look at her. Even in a skimpy hospital scrub
green gown, covered in biosensor pads and the orange gel that was
smeared over her skin for insulation, she looked radiant.
“Hello Akane,” Ryoga said warmly. “How are we feeling?”
He pressed a bottle of electrolytes into her hand, trying not to
blush and failing miserably. Akane, like the rest of her sisters, was
still too far out of it to notice what an ass Ryoga was making of
himself.
Akane looked at the name stitched on Ryoga’s coveralls.
“Where’s Ranma?” She asked. “I’ve been wanting to meet him
ever since I first heard his voice.”
Ryoga’s heart constricted in his chest, and his blood went cold.
End of Part One
