Quarantine

by William Hayashi

  “That’s affirmative, we’re at six, I repeat six liters per second,” came another voice over the network.

  Benjamin gently tapped Everett on the shoulder and whispered, “When you have a second.”

  “I’m clear. What’s up?”

  “Why only six liters per second. Isn’t that kind of slow?” asked Benjamin.

  “At the beginning, when we have no idea the composition of the asteroid, we melt and collect slowly to see how much foreign contaminate is embedded in the ice. Plus, we’re not taking any chances on hitting a gas pocket that might shoot fragments into the collector’s input at some ridiculous velocity,” he explained.

  “Wow! Didn’t think about either prospect.”

  “I didn’t either when we set out. But we tried to imagine any possible issue we would face getting an asteroid the right size close enough, what it might be made of, and what various materials we could melt or even explode in the process. The best way to safely melt is to start off slow,” explained Everett.

  “Okay, I get it. How full is the reservoir?”

  “We’re just under half full. The other bottleneck is that we filter and treat before it gets into the tanks since it’s going to be used for hydroponics, fish, algae, and drinking. Oh yeah, showers, some cooling, growing grass and trees. To make things easier and as hygienic as possible, we want the stored water to be potable. This is the most exciting project I’ve ever been on,” Everett said with a smile.

  “Me too,” Benjamin admitted.

  “The coolest thing is that we’re the second manned mission to the rings. Your dad was here decades ago! And even without the embargo, no one on Earth was able to come here before now. The opportunities we have for exploration are endless.”

  “The Titan team members were just discussing how we tend to take living in space for granted. Look at the upcoming Jupiter Moon mission, they’re supposed to be tunneling under the ice crusts to get to the water oceans below. That’s epic!” Benjamin said excitedly.

  “Are you going on that mission?”

  “Don’t know. I signed up, but Ops back home isn’t even taking applications for the mission yet. I have some friends on the planning team so maybe I have a shot.”

  “Hold on a second,” Everett said, clicking on his headset. “Ops, incoming flow is passing ten liters per second and increasing.”

  “Ops, aye. We read your ten liters per second and increasing,” came back over the radio.

  “Here, let me throw the schematic of the collector on the big screen so you can see it in operation,” suggested Everett.

  “Thanks,” said Benjamin, pulling over a seat for himself.

  The two talked tech, watching the flow rate of the incoming water climb to fifty-five liters per second, then leveling off. Everett asked about the Titan mission, fascinated with not only the planning of the mission, but the team’s execution. Benjamin laughed when Everett asked if they had spotted any big, black monoliths in their explorations. Benjamin confessed that the team actually discussed the possibility and retold several of Sam’s funniest monolith jokes.

  Benjamin watched the flow rate climb to ninety-five liters per second as the environmental team determined that the ice asteroid was relatively free of solid contaminates. He thanked Everett for his time, promising that they would get together in the future to talk science and missions, then he headed to the Titan mission lab to catch up with the rest of the team.

  * * *

  Aidan and Valerie built a portable projector to display a full 360º degree scene on walls eight feet away and focus all the way to thirty-six feet when placed in the middle of a room. The projector sat on the floor, sending the imagery straight up to hit an elevated pod of special mirrors that redirected the projected images toward the walls. The elevated mirror pod would allow people to sit or stand in the room and observe the display on the walls with minimal obstruction of the projection.

  The entire system, including laptop and the necessary cables, fit in a hard-sided travel case about the size of a standard footlocker. In the three weeks it took for the redesign, the build out and the extensive testing of the portable unit, along with help from Bob Nakamura, Valerie and Aidan worked with almost flawless ease. Each seemed to understand what the other was doing almost telepathically knowing exactly what the other needed. Behind the work, the attraction between them was apparent, nor was it lost on Bob.

  While he and Valerie were debugging several speed improvements in the display driver software, Bob quietly asked, “So, you and Aidan an item yet?”

  “Why the hell would you ask me that?” she whispered back even though Aidan was over in the shop area drilling holes in some aluminum panels.

  “Are you kidding? It’s rather obvious you two have more than a casual connection,” was Bob’s surprised response. “Sorry, I meant no harm. I’m not trying to get in your business, but you could do a whole lot worse. He’s a great guy.”

  “Well, nothing is going on between us. He’s just a really good friend, maybe my closest friend, but there’s nothing going on,” she protested.

  “Whatever. Just in case you don’t know, he’s pretty taken with you, too,” Bob said, then went back to his debugging.

  Valerie was silent, appearing to study the screen before her. Yes she had noticed, but given how far away they lived from each other and her natural resistance to a relationship that would interfere with her work, the idea was one she normally dismissed out of hand.

  When the building and testing was completed, Valerie toyed with the idea of bringing Aidan along on a sales call but realized that she had monopolized his time enough. She had little idea what his specific responsibilities to Harmony were, but she was lucky enough he made time to assist her in the first place. This time when he prepared to return to Harmony, after a farewell dinner at one of San Francisco’s toniest restaurants, Valerie brought up the issue of their working together, and in a sideways manner, their mutual attraction.

  Both knew that long distance relationships were difficult at best. Aidan was devoted to Harmony and Valerie to her work. However, the more they talked, the more they realized how much they had in common. Perhaps it was just time, or maybe the wine, but by the time they went back to Valerie’s, something had sparked.

  Valerie got into something comfortable while Aidan opened a bottle of wine. When she returned, they settled on the couch in front of the television. They started chatting about the uses of the portable unit. Aidan talked about the IT projects he had lined up for the next year. Then he asked if Valerie would keep the next project he was going to work on strictly confidential, and of course she agreed, moving closer to him on the couch.

  “I’m working on a long-range communications system that I hope can contact the colonists,” he said, waiting to see her reaction.

  Valerie was speechless, then whispered, “Do you think you can really get them to talk to you?”

  Lowering his voice, he replied, “Why not? It’s for damn sure they aren’t likely to talk to the government, or anyone else official. But a black nerd who is testing out a new means of long-range communications? Hopefully, I have at least a fifty-fifty shot.”

  “But how are you going to set this up? Do you know something about their comm systems that no one else has figured out?”

  Aidan whispered in her ear, “Not specifically. But I’m relying on the fact that their space station out in lunar orbit has pretty sophisticated sensors pointed in this direction. And I’m just putting the finishing touches on an x-ray band, pulse-modulated laser. I already have an x-ray sensor that attaches to our telescope. This all assumes they will detect the laser’s output, that they will be able to decode the message, and that they will respond.”

  Valerie thought through the ramifications of what Aidan was trying to accomplish while he leaned back sipping his wine.

  “What are you anticipating if you do make contact?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure.
I have so many questions for anyone living in the colony, but getting any answers is doubtful. Just getting an answer is a long shot. Their message when they left the moon was pretty unambiguous. They really don’t want to have anything to do with us, at least officially.”

  Valerie chuckled, “Maybe there’s something you can do to quickly establish your bona fides as completely nonthreatening; tell then right off the bat you’re a black nerd or something.”

  Aidan laughed, almost spilling his wine.

  “It’s not like you have to send prime or Fibonacci numbers in order to build a common language, they already understand English,” Valerie reminded. “They’ll know exactly what a nerd is.”

  “Okay, smarty-pants. How do you suggest I do that?” he asked.

  “I have no Earthly idea. Trouble is, you don’t know who’s manning their Earth station so looking at their roster from before isn’t going to be any help. I can see why opening communications has been hard. Where are you in the development of the new laser?”

  “I’m working on extremely rapid modulation of the signal so I can send digital or analogue output. The detector is connected to a high-speed computer which I hope will be able to process whatever they send back. I’m also hoping that they would allow contact with Harmony as an Earth-bound community of like-minded black folks,” explained Aidan.

  “May I ask you a personal question?”

  “Sure.”

  “If they invited you, would you go and live in their colony?”

  “I haven’t let myself give it much thought,” he paused. “If it had been before I met Constance and moved to Harmony, I very well might have gone. But now, I’m committed to Harmony’s mission, and don’t tell anyone, but I’m kind of fond of you, quiet as it’s kept.”

  Valerie looked down into her glass, avoiding Aidan’s eyes. A few moments later she said, “Yeah, there’s a bit of that going on here, too, Bob even mentioned it.”

  Aidan’s eyebrows shot up, “He did?! How did he know? Or was he just talking about you?”

  “No, he mentioned you first,” she said raising her eyes to look at Aidan. “But he also said it was obvious it was mutual.”

  “He’s right. But with living a few states over and knowing how committed you are to your work; I never raised the subject. I figured if it was going to happen, it would be when you let me know it was right for you,” Aidan said easily.

  “You have a girlfriend back home?”

  “Not really. I have friends; I date. Nothing serious though. Back home, I’m a lot like you. I have a ton of work on my plate teaching and managing the IT resources of the community, mentoring our next generation of white hat hackers. Why do you ask? Want to be my long-distance girlfriend?” he asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

  Valerie laughed, leaning in to give Aidan a peck on the cheek. “How about we start with friends—friends with benefits, perhaps?”

  The look on Aidan’s face was priceless; a combination of surprise and anticipation as Valerie got up and held out her hand, leading him to her bedroom.

  The next morning dawned bright and clear, a seeming omen of their changed circumstance. They showered together, got dressed and pulled together a light breakfast. sharing smiles and familiar glances.

  When they were seated, looking out over the city to the distant bay, Valerie asked, “You okay with everything?”

  Aidan nodded, “I’m happy. I’m also not looking to make more out of it than what it is for now. I’m feeling very lucky that we seem to mesh well together. But I’m also aware that I have to return home tomorrow. What about you?”

  “I’m happy. You’re exactly what I need. I feel like we would probably do well as a couple living together, but I’m happy to let things play out and see what happens. I’m not ready to seriously think about resettling in Harmony, but I can see spending a lot more time in Colorado. How does that sound?”

  Aidan’s grin was answer enough. “I’ve got a spare room you can use as an office, a quiet place to work, maybe even sleep if I start to snore. Also, if I can make contact with the colonists, I want you there.”

  “Really? Why is that?”

  “Are you kidding? That would be the most exciting thing to happen on the planet in decades!”

  Valerie frowned, “You’d tell people?”

  “Well—no. just those in Harmony and you,” he answered.

  “Also, what would you want to say to them or ask them?”

  “Like whittle down my thousand questions down to a manageable number?” he said laughing.

  “Exactly.”

  “I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I still have a couple of weeks work left on the laser and the communications interface.”

  “Need any help?” Valerie offered.

  “Maybe after you hit the road hawking your new display technology and get a boatload of orders, you can take a couple of weeks off in Harmony!”

  “That sounds like a plan. I can’t wait to see Constance again. But I’m itching to see your laser in action. Have you given any thought to what to do next if the colonists ignore you?”

  “There’s still a whole host of point-to-point communications applications, especially with the kind of bandwidth I’m shooting for, where people want super high-speed transmission combined with real-time encryption. A perfect application would be in the hills around here. Running cables is simply out of the question in terms of cost and getting the needed rights-of-way, so using a modulated beam that can cut through most weather is the only cost-effective answer,” explained Aidan. “I’ll find customers, don’t you worry about that!”

  * * *

  It was late afternoon when Christopher wandered into Sydney and Lucius’ office. Finding them both, he asked if they had a minute to talk something over.

  “Sure, son. What’s on your mind?” Lucius asked as they settled in the conference room.

  “I have an idea that I would like to throw at you. I was thinking about the whole recruitment issue. We’re about a year out from the completion of the hab and we could use several recruits from Earth. Have the two of you come up with any practical means of safely getting some new blood into our community?” Christopher asked.

  “I can’t see a way that would be anywhere near as safe as the way we both did it before,” confessed Sydney. “All we need is one joker in the pack and we’re screwed.”

  “Two things, Chris. The first is: how many people are we looking at? And second: how do you plan to get them off Earth? From what we know, they can track our ships anywhere in the solar system,” asked Lucius.

  “We will soon have the additional capacity for another three thousand people, not that we’re going after that many. Hold on a minute, Genesis?”

  “How may I be of service, Chris?”

  “Doc Long, please.”

  In moments Doc Long was on the line. “Hey, Chris. What’s up?”

  “I’m sitting here with Lucius and Sydney and I wanted to ask you to share the conclusions of the study we’ve been working on.”

  “Hey, Syd, Lucius. In a nutshell, Chris and I have been looking at the long-term genetic health of the colony, whether the gene pool of our community is diverse enough for long-term viability. We don’t want bad recessives to raise their ugly head. So far the children of the community have been extremely healthy, with only a couple of genetic problems cropping up. We have some with bad eyesight, a few allergies, but nothing serious.

  “We have two-thousand, six-hundred-eighty-one adults of reproductive age. I would like for us to try to add another five hundred to a thousand non-related adults into the mix,” he explained.

  “I have been conducting this research along with Pat so I can best estimate how her retrovirus plays into the long-term viability and general health of the members over time. Lucius, you, Phillip, and Alma are the oldest people here, and we still don’t know what the retrovirus’ effect on the long-term aging of our people,” said Long.


  “I guess what you’re looking for is for the two of us to pull a rabbit out of the hat in terms of getting all those new people up here?” Lucius said sardonically.

  “For the most part. It’s not like everyone is waiting for the two of you to solve this problem; we’re all trying to figure out the means. But after the authorities grabbed you and Julius last time, the planning to get someone safely off-planet, and thoroughly screened is a monster problem that we need to solve,” Christopher added.

  “Need anything else?” asked Doc Long. “Otherwise I have to set a broken ankle from a wild volleyball game.”

  “No. Thanks a heap, Doc!” Christopher replied as the connection was broken.

  “This isn’t something that you all just started thinking about, is it?” Sydney asked.

  “It’s not. Therefore, I revisit the recruitment issue with you two as much as I do. And with the new hab moving right along, we have the capacity to accommodate a healthy increase in population. I also think that we will probably see some new ideas with the infusion of new blood,” explained Christopher.

  Lucius nodded, “We really can’t remain a genetically insular community, hard as it’s going to be to promote diversity within our own circles. But expanding our habitats, and populating them with a good genetic mix of people, is going to be essential.”

  “But we still fall back to the same problem: how do we recruit people who are earnest, and not plants who will sabotage our home, or try to take our technology and give it to those on Earth?” Sydney said.

  “That’s at the top of my list of horrors if we guess wrong and make a mistake. I was discussing with Peanut the addition of Genesis overrides in all of our ships,” Christopher said.

  “You’re not talking about a self-destruct, are you son?” Lucius asked in horror.

  Christopher chuckled. “No, nothing like that. But up until now I resisted the idea of giving Genesis control of our birds, but after all this time, the A.I. has never done anything questionable. TJ’s a programming genius!