Arlette joined the ISEA as a trainee cosmonaut and very quickly found herself on the operational list. Physical and mental duress seemed to bring out the best in her, not just in implementing emergency procedures but in solving complex problems in highly original ways. At twenty-eight she was assigned her first mission and from then on she was on every commander’s preference list.
In 2104 the ISEA was a haven for the elite, able to select the most exceptionally talented people from around the world. Founded in 2075 in a triumphal period of economic progress some twenty years after the G25 had reached an epic agreement to manage economics, natural resources and scientific research centrally, the ISEA was ostensibly the vanguard of human civilisation venturing out into the universe. Behind closed doors, however, it was the vehicle to develop an escape route for humanity from the climatic catastrophe that was inexorably enveloping the world. Originally a Sino-US–Russian–European joint venture, it had rapidly thrown off its unworkable national origins and become a powerful, independent global institution, financed in accordance with a set of G25 rules that was rarely challenged by governments eager to ensure that they remained on board.
The ISEA high command was answerable to a G25 committee that was primarily preoccupied with ensuring that there were no financing glitches, while its strategic decisions were reviewed by a very supportive scientific advisory board. It had full military autonomy beyond the orbit of the moon and its operational decisions could only be questioned by a two-thirds majority in the G25.
Consequently, it got on with the job while the academics and intellectuals of the world argued ineffectively about its activities.
Despite the grand pillars of progress that were in place for the greater good of the planet, it was politics with economics as usual on an international level. While the great powers succeeded to a large extent in avoiding large-scale military conflict, the world was plagued by technological and economic burglary on a huge scale. The standard of living of the poorest and most backward communities on the planet progressed agonisingly slowly and the wealth gap widened persistently. Regional factional disputes produced horrific consequences for local populations, which were, however, economically insignificant and were treated as such.
Economically China was by far the greatest power, slipping comfortably into the role it had occupied for most of the two previous millennia, but now completely global in reach. India was arguably more influential, not so much as a superpower, but rather because of the skill of Indian communities around the world in integrating locally to obtain positions of power and influence.
The US was prosperous but had retreated into comparative isolation after it became obvious that its global military reach was no longer affordable or effective. Europe had achieved full economic and political integration and was very efficient economically, but risk-averse and politically impotent.
With the decline in the relevance of its fossil fuel industry, Russia had lurched from one despotic regime to the next until it was finally taken under the wing of the Chinese, who restructured it along the lines of their earlier political system. It had now become a low-cost agricultural and industrial goods production satellite for the world’s sophisticated economies, although it maintained a strong presence in global space technology.
The Arabian leaders on the other hand had shown astonishing vision in responding to the changes in global power structure, investing their declining oil wealth in social infrastructure to create great centres of learning, diplomacy and international finance. Instead of allowing factional rivalries to flourish after the signing of the Arab–Israeli peace treaty, they engaged in huge projects which resonated deeply with the population, such as the transformations of the ruins of Damascus and Babylon into ‘Peace Cities’. While the divisions within Islam were not resolved, they had progressed to a largely academic and intellectual competition in place of the horrific blood-letting of the first half of the twenty-first century.
Initially, Africa had shown a dramatic transformation, becoming a hive of entrepreneurial creativity, producing new global mega-companies, consumer-related technologies and billionaires with dizzying rapidity. The peoples of Africa had emerged from their docile history and took to this opportunistic life style with alacrity, charming the world with their music, their entertainment and their refreshingly original approach to creating fun in every aspect of life. However, the remorseless encroachment of the Sahara southwards drove such large numbers of refugees into central and southern Africa that social order was undermined and the continent collapsed into anarchy.
While Arlette viewed the cultural diversity in the world with fascination, she had grave misgivings about its affordability. History seemed to her to have been a succession of very similar learning experiences, repeated over and over again, with, apparently, very little permanently absorbed in the process. She viewed planet Earth as something of a lost cause, but she was quite determined that the new habitat of mankind would be a working Utopia. She knew how to get the best out of people. All that was needed then was to surround herself with the best of them and point them in the right direction. And now, the tools to do so had been placed in her hands.
8
The Grilling
Functional familiarisation progressed smoothly for the next five days. As the crew settled into their roles and began to interact operationally, their self-confidence blossomed and informal but disciplined professionalism emerged as the natural modus operandi.
With the subsequent commencement of operational mode simulation, the tempo picked up and stress levels were increased. Once all standard procedures had been practised and honed to perfection, random system failures were introduced and the tenacity of the crew tested to the point of ‘certain catastrophe’. Arlette was, however, conscious of two serious deficiencies in the training process; firstly insufficient time to test responses at the point of prolonged physical exhaustion, and secondly that responses to loss of induced gravity could not be simulated virtually – they had to get off the planet to do that.
She informed Mission Control that she would be decamping to the lunar base four days early because, she said, “She was growing tired of being treated to flawless performances of procedures already practised to the nth degree and wanted to see how they would behave when seriously unexpected shit hits the fan.”
While acknowledging that her crew had been extraordinarily well prepared, she was uneasy that not a single one of them had broken down under the induced stress of disaster scenarios. It was all just a bit too polished.
Her request to Mission Control was approved. Arlette immediately called for a total crew conference to announce her decision. She addressed her central command in the control room, and the rest of the crew at their virtual stations via the ubiquitous projection system.
“Crew members, I have some announcements,” she began. “Firstly let me say how proud I am of all of you for your flawless performance in the pre-flight testing we have undertaken so far. Mission Control and I have done our very best to drive you to your limits in the situational tests we have devised, and we have failed to detect any significant weaknesses. However, we have assumed so far that you will always be operating in 1G. In the event that our ship is seriously damaged, we may well lose that luxury and, since we are currently well within the safety limits of our schedule, I have decided that we will conclude our pre-flight testing programme in zero gravity. We leave for Lunar Base in two days.”
A spontaneous shout of excitement arose in the control centre and ran through the entire crew. It was followed by a short burst of applause.
Arlette smiled. She went on: “I have been informed that IP262 has completed pre-mission testing and is in lunar orbit awaiting our arrival. Duplicates of all the gear and personal effects that you have with you here are already on board and in your allocated cabins. All you need to take with you are your phones and your professionalism.”
Smiles broadened.
“You will be airlifted to
the Wenchang Launch Centre, which is less than an hour’s flight from here, and then shuttled directly to the ship. Since the shuttles only have a capacity of ninety passengers, there will be two successive flights. Dimitri Kazarov will captain the first flight and Sanam Ghorashian the second. You are both very familiar with the hardware – please select your crews and coordinate with pre-flight testing command.”
A few heads turned almost imperceptibly towards the two pilots selected. Neither showed any visible response.
“The name of our home for the next 336 days will be Prometheus. Those of you whose early spaceflight mentors had a quirky interest in ancient Greek mythology, as mine did, may recall that Prometheus was the creator of humanity, and its defender against the jealous wrath of the Gods, whose omnipotence he challenged. In other words, just my kind of guy.”
There was a ripple of laughter, and more applause as Arlette stepped down and slipped away to her office. She called in Julia Rogers.
“We’ll need to do a presscon at Wenchang,” she said.
“Yeah,” said Julia. “Mission Control wants to keep it as low-key as possible. Routine mission. Absolutely no politicians. The press won’t like it a bit.”
“Well, give them as little notice as possible and we’ll dumb it out.”
“You can’t say you don’t know where you’re going, Commander. General Lee will cover with a story about testing the interstellar capabilities of IP262 for further human exploration. We’ll use the new induced gravitation technology as a smoke screen. Just pray that nobody asks what happened to Proteus.”
“What if they do?”
Julia sighed. “You raise your eyebrows and refer the question to General Lee,” she said. “Don’t worry. If the questioning gets really sticky there will be an unscheduled fuel emergency and we’ll have to clear the site.”
“They won’t buy that!” Arlette looked at her archly.
“Oh yes they will. Do you think we can’t organise some pyrotechnics and a nice blaze? This is China, you know!”
Arlette’s jaw dropped momentarily. Then she widened her eyes and said, “Alright Julia, it’s your show. I’ll just take the ticker-tape parade when we get back.”
“That’s the spirit, Commander,” said Julia quietly.
* * *
Dinner the following day was a sombre affair. The four of them discussed the latest outrage on the Armenian border, which had seen the destruction of an entire village and all eight hundred of its inhabitants. All parties in the conflict were accusing the others. They discussed the typhoon that was wreaking havoc in Japan but was not expected to cause any serious disturbance in their own airspace, and they talked about the drought now beginning to cause fatalities among farming communities in North America.
And, as usual, they talked about personnel. But there was very little to remark on. Everyone had been on their best professional behaviour, and if there had been one or two looks, perhaps a little jealousy, nothing to cause concern had been detected.
“Are you telling me, Julia, that there’s been no fallout from the Armenian situation at all?” asked Arlette incredulously.
“Nothing that I’ve noticed, or more importantly, that any of the psychologists have picked up,” replied Julia. “It’s far too early, and everybody knows that if they show any questionable behaviour they will be off the mission and replaced immediately. Things will pick up as soon as we leave lunar orbit.” She smiled brightly.
Nobody mentioned that this would be their last dinner on Earth for at least a year, but they all thought about it, and not without trepidation.
When Arlette got back to her quarters she stood for a long time looking out over the Yangtze, breathing slowly.
* * *
There was something of a holiday atmosphere at the Wenchang Launch Centre when all the crew had arrived. They were herded into the rather grand conference centre for a formal welcome, of a type that most of them had already experienced on earlier missions. However, to Arlette’s intense embarrassment, a huge portrait of her appeared on the screen as the lights went down and the station commander asked all present to stand and show their respect for the heroine of the Dalian incident.
Arlette sat, damp-eyed, with her lips buttoned and her jaws clenched as the noise rose and everybody began to stamp on the floor. She remained perfectly still, her eyes fixed on a point just below the screen, as the noise subsided. The station commander made a pretty little speech of welcome to the crew of IP262, then wished them “good luck and happy landings”. The tension was gone and the crew were dismissed to prepare for extra-terrestrial travel.
Julia tapped her on the shoulder from behind. “Let’s go and talk to General Lee,” she said.
Arlette took a quick break and joined the General and Julia in the press room, still mercifully empty.
“What’s your take on their mood?” she asked after a peremptory handshake.
“Impatient and critical of the rate of progress.” came his curt reply.
“Wouldn’t it be easier if we just let it out?”
“Easier for who?” demanded the General. “The pressure we take in the short term is a small price to pay for the space we will then have to make the difficult decisions if we have to. Once you are in Omega 16 we will start to let out some good news, but not before. Is it clear that you will answer only questions related to our simplified mission objectives, crew readiness and hardware, and refer the rest to me?”
“Yes, General,” said Arlette, relieved that she had remembered to get her Crimson Star sewed back on before she left Shanghai.
The doors of the press room opened and the press streamed in, took their assigned seats and studied the three figures seated behind the table before them. Two Chinese ‘moderators’ sat on either side of them, glowering like bouncers.
Arlette turned to Julia and suddenly asked behind her hand, “How’s your Mandarin?”
“Not as good as yours but enough to stay in touch,” came the answer.
The TV lights came on. One of the moderators stood, raised his hand for silence, and said in clipped English, “Ladies and gentlemen of the press, we have twenty minutes to answer your questions. Please be brief.” He pointed to a woman in the front row.
“Commander Piccard, was your record of gallantry the reason for your selection to command this mission?”
Arlette hardly had time to raise her eyebrows before the General leaned forward with a genial smile and said, “The development and selection of commanders at ISEA is a process that takes many years, and requires potential candidates to prove themselves in a wide variety of analytical, technical and human skills. Commander Piccard has met all those standards.”
Another journalist was pointed out.
“Commander Piccard, what is the objective of your mission?”
Arlette glanced at the General, who gave her a calm smile and an almost imperceptible nod.
“IP262 is designed for interstellar planetary exploration,” said Arlette. “We shall be testing the capability of the ship to deliver exploration teams to potentially habitable planets outside our solar system.”
“What planets?” someone shouted. The moderator stood up, caught the eye of one of his colleagues at the back of the room, and moved his index finger fractionally to the right. There was a brief scuffle and the perpetrator was removed.
“This mission will test the ship’s capabilities in deep space,” went on Arlette, unperturbed. “We need more knowledge before we can send a ship to land on a planet outside our solar system. Don’t forget that our closest neighbouring star, Alpha Centauri, is four light years away.”
The moderator pointed.
“Will you be testing human hibernation technologies on this mission?”
“No,” said Arlette, and, grasping the opportunity, she added, “but we will be testing induced gravity, which will give us the capability to sustain normal healthy life for extended periods. The work that is being done on human induced hibernation does not re
quire it to be conducted in a spaceship.”
The moderator pointed again.
“General, please clarify for us why international governments are spending billions on this programme, while conditions are allowed to deteriorate on Earth, immeasurably increasing the deprivation of the poor.”
General Lee put on his concerned expression. “The purpose of the ISEA”, he intoned, “is to develop the capability of man to expand his reach into our galaxy, to increase his available habitat and the overall potential of his civilisation. Our agency does not conduct climate control research or operations.”
“But isn’t this just a bolthole for the rich and powerful?” insisted the questioner. The moderator glowered at him.
“Personal wealth and political influence are not criteria for interstellar explorers,” said the General with finality.
A chorus of questions erupted from the floor. The moderator stepped in front of the speakers and raised a hand. “The crew have a heavy schedule. We shall terminate this press conference if order is not maintained. Three more questions.” He pointed.
“The crew list includes members from all five countries involved in the Armenian conflict. How are you going to deal with the inevitable antagonism? Do you have a police force on board, arms, detention cells?”
Julia leant forward. “All crew members have been extensively screened and their loyalty to the mission confirmed. We have no…”
Omnipotence: Book I: Odyssey Page 5