April 6: And What Goes Around

by Mackey Chandler

  Barrington tilted her head and looked puzzled. "What sort of failures?" she asked Jon.

  "There are a lot of points for possible failure. As an example take food. If enough farmers get sick crops can be left in the fields and some of the companies they are contracted to will have shortages. Not all farmers hold their crop and sell on the open market. The majority now are under contract. Sometimes before the seed even goes in the ground. Things are also so specialized just a few people being sick can shut down the flow of product. Most grain farmers for example don't own their own harvesting equipment. It's too expensive. The combines follow the ripening grain regionally, and get used for many more acres than any one farm. If four or five fellows get sick your contracted combine may not come harvest your grain when you need it. If a barge crew or a few truckers get sick you may not receive the diesel fuel the combines need to run, or that the trucks need to take it to storage or to be processed to flour. It may not be possible to get it to a port to put on a ship.

  "Just a few sailors sick and the ship may not sail to take the grain or flour to the country that will lift it to us. All those ships, combines, trucks, ships, mills and factories can stop running if any need parts or repairs and the specialists who repair that link in the chain are sick. Not to mention various governments might stop the movement of such goods in panic, worried they will be needed for themselves and forbid their export. Others may seize them passing through.

  "Companies may hold back goods on small accounts worried they won't be able to supply their best customers, or hoping to make more for their goods if prices are headed up. Some may cut us off because they have to short somebody, and they just don't like spacers, so they pick us. Or if a company wants to price gouge they may sell to us, but quote a very high price because spacers are seen as being high income and can afford it. That simplifies it, but does that touch on some of what you wondered?"

  "If that's the simplified version it's a mess," Barrington said, visibly dismayed.

  "It's a very complex distribution system and every step is necessary. The more efficient it is the more delicate it becomes. They eliminate waste by having no excess capacity and scheduling every hour. If part of it does break down the other parts can't pick up the slack," Jon said. "They are also often forbidden by law or regulation from doing so. Governments impose such things as regulations that only their own flagged vessels may carry grain. With no provisions for exceptions and emergencies."

  "I had no idea. Thanks for the explanation," Barrington said.

  "Mr. Carlo, on com," Muños picked next.

  "Does this apply to Home citizens too? If I go to ISSII to do some business do I have to isolate myself upon returning? Or is it just for Earthies?" he asked.

  "Dr. Lee? Would you address that?" Muños said.

  "Although none of the other habitats have experienced an outbreak of this flu, or at least have not publicly acknowledged it has reached them yet, we see no barrier to it spreading there. None of them are doing any more than checking for symptomatic arrivals. That simply doesn't work with a disease that is contagious before the infected display symptoms. When, not if, it is in other habitats I beg you to not to put yourself at risk visiting there. You'd have to be isolated for the incubation period upon returning. Unless you catch it and survive so you have immunity. The flu virus knows no nationality."

  "I couldn't support this then," Carlo said. "My business depends on travel and I'd need to go off again before one isolation period was done. I'd be in constant isolation."

  Muños looked at his com board, surprised and then over his shoulder at Jon Davis. "You have a comment, Mr. Davis?"

  "I mean this seriously, not as an attack on you or a smart remark, but you might consider a temporary change of residence to another hab that will allow you to move about freely if this measure is passed by the Assembly. I know you are an asset to Home. That would just be a very hard way to live for as much as a year. What would be the point of it? But don't discount the possibility you'll catch it. Do you have any reason to feel you're immune? Even if you do survive it you'll be too sick to be doing any business for some time, and there is a substantial chance you won't be doing any business again because it will kill you."

  "Actually, I do think I may have some immunity," Carlo Davis revealed. "I had the mouse flu and survived it. If this is a very closely related version I may either have outright immunity or it will at least be much milder. Don't you think Dr. Lee?"

  Lee looked interested. "Yes, that's a possibility. Not that I'm encouraging you to take the risk, especially if you have had any of the elements of LET, but I'd be very interested in seeing how the disease progresses in you. As crazy as it may sound one of the ideas Dr. Ames and I discussed is the possibility of using deliberate infection by one of the varieties of mouse flu still circulating to confer immunity instead of a vaccine. It's a desperate measure but if spread on the survival rate between those having been infected with the mouse flu is greater than the morbidity of the new virus alone it is a net gain. I'd consider it an unorthodox treatment however."

  "If I get infected I'll be sure to tell my caregiver to send you a report," Carlos said with a rueful smile. "As far as you Jon, I don't take offense. It's practical advice. I'd already entertained the idea."

  "Mrs. Osgood, in the audience," Muños moved on.

  "Mr. Davis, will China or North America take this as voiding our treaties with them? Didn't we guarantee free travel to Home for their people too?"

  "They may raise objections, but we aren't going to shut the hatch on them entirely. The treaty actually covers freely crossing our territory, and economic freedom, but not immigration. In fact they excluded dual citizenship. We'll accept people who aren't visibly sick. The two hotels can accommodate quite a few comfortably. A short isolation wait to full entry is not exclusion. If they are just passing through we can assist that pretty easily without exposing ourselves. We even have provisions for people actually ill. Just limited in number. No nation will argue sovereign states can't exclude contagious disease carriers at their border. They won't give that right up themselves."

  "Where is our border?" Osgood asked. "It seems silly to me to turn people away at the airlock. Why don't they get tested for the virus or serve an isolation period before getting on a shuttle to come here? It just makes sense to spread the load out to another hab – like New Las Vegas – that has much more temporary accommodations than we do. It saves a wasted seat and expense of a shuttle ride too."

  "Yes, it seems silly to us too," Jon agreed. "But ISSII and New Las Vegas both refuse to do actual swab testing at the gate for departing flights. Even though they have security present there already. Given the extraordinary danger we would like to know what the assembly thinks of maintaining a consular officer on both habitats to do such testing for the duration of the emergency. I think both administrations would agree not to board rejected passengers as long as it is our people responsible for doing the testing. The way traffic control works we can refuse them clearance to leave from this end if we don't get a message from our man at the gate that the passengers were cleared."

  Joan Osgood looked skeptical. She was a grey haired lady in her fifties and one of the few people in the room obviously lacking LET. She ran a personnel service and had a strong personality. "Maybe you could hire local security services to act as our consular officers. All the arguments you made against John Carlo going off station apply to somebody from here being a consular officer. You might not get any takers for the job. Besides, I don't see that we need an actual consulate with an expensive office and full time hours. Just someone with limited authority to act on our behalf showing up at the dock for flights to Home should suffice."

  "That is exactly the sort of suggestion we were hoping to get from the Assembly. I think that would be an excellent way of doing this," Jon said. "It would bring it within the budget of my office to do."

  "Mr. Justine, on com," Muños picked next.

  "I'm an actua
ry," Justine said. He was olive skinned with thick black eyebrows that went straight across and scowling a bit at the camera. "I'm off subject a little. You are looking at what to do right now, short term. But if this particular strain gets established as a regular seasonal variety you are going to have to be prepared to handle what that means to us later. Yes, we have a very high percentage of population with LET. But that is still what? Maybe twelve or fourteen hundred and rising? Even with all the laws and restrictions Earth has a lot more gene mod people than us.

  "If Home is the only safe place these people will have the connections to know it and the wealth to come here. We better be prepared for a huge influx over the next couple years. On the plus side they will be wealthy enough to pay their own way. But, beyond those who have LET now. In the future if Earth is too dangerous for anyone with LET they will see leaving Earth as a necessity when getting the mods. The two will just go hand in hand. Keep that in mind and don't do anything now that will keep us from dealing with that in two or three years," he disconnected before anyone replied.

  "That is an interesting line of reasoning," Muños said. "I'll be in contact soon and would like to discuss that further with you, Mr. Justine." Is there further discussion on our immediate needs?"

  "Ms. Horton," Muños said.

  "It's late. I think we have the basic problem outlined. I move to vote. I hope most of us are not stupid enough to sacrifice a fifth or more of our neighbors to a philosophic gesture of openness. If I would lose any of my family to such foolishness the nay voters will have to answer to me personally," she warned, with a face that was scary. Voting was not anonymous on Home and her second business was combat handgun training, so that was a plain threat, not veiled at all.

  "Mr. Duval," Muños said.

  "Agreed and seconded. Let's vote and put this Assembly to bed."

  "On the matter of establishing entry restrictions, and when necessary quarantines. Also such supporting measures as hiring consular officers. How do you people say?" Muños said by formula.

  April and Jeff both punched their votes in their pads without consultation.

  "Any danger they'll refuse it?" April asked Jeff.

  "I can't imagine that. These people have reasonable self interest. They live in a high risk environment and balance and weigh risk every day. What will be interesting is seeing how many will vote to die. I'm sure there will be a few. There are still some with Earth Think clinging to them."

  The early vote went strongly yes. When the yes count passed a thousand there were three nays. At sixteen hundred the vote tapered off. It had passed so no more votes were really needed to decide it. Then at the end there were a handful of nay votes that delayed the vote closing. When no more votes came in for thirty seconds the poll automatically closed.

  The vote was 1631 yes, 43 no.

  "That was weird. Why was there that little flurry of nay votes at the end?" April asked.

  Jeff made a derisive little snort. "That was the people who wanted to make a statement of principle, but waited to make it until it was ineffective for sure, because they don't really have the courage of their convictions. They want to both live and look righteous."

  "I'm not going to look up who did that," April decided. "I don't want to know. I couldn't keep a straight face if I have to talk to them."

  "I like that about you," Jeff said, giving her a little nuzzle.

  "What?" April asked, looking at Jeff mystified.

  "That you're nicer than me."

  * * *

  "Yuki-onna, please replay the last conversation between myself and specialist Anderson," Charlotte Dobbs requested. The ship obliged.

  "Yuki, do a hard erase and overwrite of that recording," Charlotte ordered.

  "That is a prohibited action," the ship's computer said.

  "I'm commander. You will do my bidding," Charlotte said, and waited.

  "Well?"

  "Well what, Commander?" Do you require a response?"

  "Yes, I said erase that recording, Yuki . I order it as commander."

  "That recording is tagged as part of the ship's log. It also has been tagged on behalf of Specialist Anderson as part of a dispute. Nobody is authorized to erase it including the commanding officer."

  Charlotte considered any other way she might parse the order so that the very literal artificial stupid would accept it. There just didn't seem to be any way to do so. If she couldn't get the ship to erase the necessary records for her then she would physically hunt the memory down and destroy it herself.

  "Yuki-onna, define for me which hardware is part of flight operations and navigation and which part contains the ship's log."

  "There are two separate duplicate computer systems with three sets of memory for each system," the computer replied. "Ship's log and other data share the same memory units with controls and navigation. One set of memory for each computer resides in the same case with the processing unit. One is on the flight deck and the other system that can be hot switched is located in a galley cupboard, separated to avoid both being lost in the event of major damage to the ship. A third and spare processing unit is securely held in a safe in engineering. Backup memory for the active processors is located in locked cabinets in the suit room and the sick bay and kept synchronized by fiber. The remaining memory units or how they are synchronized are not mapped on my ship's plans."

  "You don't know where they are, Yuki-onna?" Charlotte asked, surprised.

  "I do not," Yuki-onna affirmed.

  "Why would they do that?"

  "There is nobody in the compartment with you. Is that question addressed to me?" Yuki-onna asked.

  "Yes, it is, Yuki," Charlotte said a little peeved with the AI.

  "That involves speculation beyond my ability," Yuki-onna said.

  "Shit."

  "I do not recognize that as a question or command," Yuki said.

  * * *

  Annette was discouraged. Camelot was bleeding money. Not fast, but steadily. Nothing she had found was helping produce a product that they could export. Everything around Camelot they already had at Central. The same basic regolith and sunshine. They were not in position to sell lots like Central and she doubted Heather would appreciate the competition. They also lacked the capital to make a boring machine which had become a huge advantage to Central in attracting buyers. Everybody wanted to go deep for both safety and to reach warmer surroundings. It wasn't her problem, but it bothered her.

  What really irritated her was that the people here didn't have the same drive to work and succeed as the ones at Central. They were the remnants of a population put here for propaganda purposes, and it had never mattered if they produced a profit or broke even, paying their own way. Such a thing was actually anathema to their socialistic origins. Whatever bragging rights they had in the past from scientific work had been sufficient reason for their home country, China, to support them.

  She was starting to think that Jeff got stuck with a huge white elephant in Camelot. He'd intimated as much and she didn't want to agree with him. They felt all manufacturing work was for peasants. Every discussion she'd attempted with them about who would be willing to change jobs and work in a bank had been rebuffed. That idea was stalled. They acknowledged that China, of necessity, had a central bank, but the impression she got was that having a bank might be a necessary evil for their nation, but it was like having a toilet, something not a point of welcome conversation in polite company. They all regarded banking as being on a moral plane with which they didn't want to sully themselves.

  Feng wasn't answering com but was supposed to be in the machine and repair shop and she was looking for him. It was one of the biggest spaces in Camelot. Big enough to park two rovers inside with room to work around them. It smelled differently and she could hear somebody pounding on something but it echoed so with the high ceiling she couldn't tell where.

  Annette came around the corner of the rover and almost ran into Chao, the fellow Jeff had sent to replace the mechani
c, Wo, who she had banished. She stepped back sharply before he ran into her with the push cart. He looked alarmed and embarrassed, and then guilty.

  "Oh my. I almost ran into you! I'm so sorry. You didn't bump the rover getting out of my way did you? It's all dusty. Let me see if you got dirty," he said waving a blue shop rag that didn't look especially clean either.

  "I'm fine," Annette insisted fending the rag off. "No harm done. Have you seen Feng by any chance? He doesn't answer com."

  "Oh yes, he was in the other rover," Chao said, pointing back the way he'd come.

  "Ah, that's why he doesn't answer com. He's in a big metal box," Annette figured out.

  "Yes, yes," Chao agreed, nodding, and hurried to roll away.

  Annette looked at the machine on his cart. It was so unfamiliar to her life she didn't place it for a moment. But she'd seen one in a movie. "Just a second, Chao."

  Chao stopped but most reluctantly, and found nothing to say.

  "Isn't that a roulette wheel?" Annette asked.

  "Yes, ma'am it is. I made it myself. But I did it on my own time! Feng gave me permission to use the machines so it didn't cost the community anything!" Chao said, all defensive.

  "I'm not objecting at all," Annette assured him. "I'm happy if you pursue projects or hobbies of your own. I've never seen one except in a video, but it seems like very fine work. How in the world did you get such pretty wood on the moon?"

  "Oh, it's not solid wood," Chao said, warming to the subject at her praise. "It is veneer, very light and almost paper thin, so it is not particularly expensive to send from Earth if it's in a larger shipment instead of alone. This is called burl and very desirable for the pattern."

  Just then Feng rushed up looking as stricken as Chao had, and Annette had to assure him all over again that she was not upset or disapproving.