REAP 23

by J J Perry

  11.1

  Beads of sweat covered Maricia’s forehead. She twisted and moaned in pain. Zhivago administered more hypothalamic blocker and waited until she was able to be still. Imaging was repeated. She had been on Medical for two days. She had a common duct gallstone. Her sclera had started to yellow. Surgery had been delayed because of several factors including anemia, altered mental status, and a transient reaction to the antibiotic. It could not wait longer.

  Her blood pressure hovered around eighty, her heart rate 130, and her temperature above 38.5 degrees Celsius. Jekyll was benched, so one of the med-bots, Lola, would assist. A short acting narcotic was given, and Maricia became still. Several small incisions were made in her abdomen and instruments placed. As Maricia looked straight ahead, blinking but otherwise motionless, her gallbladder was removed. Removal of the stone lodged in the common duct would not be so easy. Placement of the stone retrieval tool into the duct caused Maricia to squirm. More medication was given. Ivanna came to help, controlling two of the instruments. Blood pressure and heart rate fell, requiring a change in pharmacology. More blocking agent was given. Finally, there was a metallic clank as a large 1.5-centimeter stone hit the pan. If Zhivago could have issued a sigh of relief and pride in his skill, he would have done so at that moment. What he communicated to Lola and the system was a probability statement about possible damage to the common duct and potential leakage. Lola placed a long thick tube through Maricia’s mouth and into her esophagus. She threaded it though the stomach and into the duodenum, stopping at the ampulla of Vater. With this in place, they confirmed that the duct was intact albeit weakened in two areas of laceration from the wires of the basket used to extract the rock. They then began to sew and seal as the operation drew to a close.

  Savanna followed the progress of the procedure as she sat at the pilot’s console in CAC, working feverishly to confirm and occasionally modify the computer’s analysis and plan for the undocking. The clank wrenched her attention to the screen, and the concern about a leak moved like a news ticker across the bottom of the picture. Her attention refocused on the dilemma at hand. If she chose to put her craft between the moon and Yord, they would need to separate about two hours from now to have the ion engine miss orbit and drift into the sun. This was her preference. The computer preferred the slightly higher probability course of separating later, using the ion engine to slow the craft down instead of lunar gravity. This would leave them with more fuel in the auxiliary rocket engine for maneuvering and landing. However, in this scenario, the spent engine would assume an orbit around the planet and enter the atmosphere years or centuries later. This would be catastrophic, of course, but the primary objective was to find out if the planet was habitable and begin populating it. By the time the engine hit the planet, it should have been populated enough so that the species would easily survive despite potentially considerable loss of life.

  Savanna tested the electronics of the auxiliary engine successfully. It was stored in the LBS. The computer had accepted her plan, and separation would occur in forty-six minutes. She opened the storage bay doors and extended the arm that held the rocket, placing it several meters outside the skin of the LBS. The crew module and the auxiliary device would detach within the same millisecond.

  She reached for a pill and a bottle. The pill was a type of amphetamine. It served to enhance cerebral function for several hours, peaking in thirty minutes. Savanna had not slept in over twenty-four hours and needed all the attention she could muster. It might also wake the baby. She had twenty minutes of waiting before she needed to oversee the process. She took yet another bio-break, made more frequent by pregnancy, then took the lift down to Medical.

  Maricia was groggy but awake. She looked pasty and pale; cold forehead and blue fingers. She was making sounds but no sense. Savanna patted her and comforted her with words as well. On return to CACthe colors, normally muted, seemed brighter. Everything was in sharp, surreal focus. The mundane, familiar room looked strangely beautiful. She was feeling happy and peaceful. The amphetamine gave an entirely different feeling than the diethylamide she had used so often. She liked it. She sat at the console, mind focused and creative. Data flew by on the screen. She noticed something questionable as it passed and retrieved it. Was a tiny correction needed? She ran it by the computer. It was deemed optional and ignored. Minutes prior to firing, she issued the final order to batten down. All floors but Medical and CAC had been secured prior to this moment. Maricia’s bed was locked in. She was belted down. The robots were docked and locked. Nothing was loose.

  An audible countdown started. This ended with rumble that grew to a loud roar and a huge pressure as the LBS “ejected” the crew module, slowing it down, creating a 3 g force temporarily followed by weightlessness.

  The crew module had no fuel or rocket. Savanna had to remotely maneuver the auxiliary propulsion stage to the moduleand dock them. A jolt and shudder as well as a screen message confirmed it was successful. On screen she scrutinized the enormous LBS as it receded in the distance. It was pocked and scarred. The painted numbers, letters, symbols, and seven flags were gone. It was now gray, not the proud white structure it was when built. Now it was headed to the sun, destined for annihilation in a year or so.

  After reconfirming that docking was complete, she fired up a small thruster that continued to slow them down. The amount of thrust was small, resulting in perceived gravity, about 18 percent of what they had been experiencing. She gave the order to resume activity appropriate for a weight-reduced state.

  The trajectory placed their craft close to the barren, cratered moon. The moon’s gravity combined with the gravity of the parent planet would tend to accelerate them initially, but when the craft came between the two, the moon would slow them as it tried to capture them. This would bend their course. Savanna might need to fire the rockets to escape the gravity of the moon; they were coming that close. Alternatively, she might need to fire up to correct the course as they left. But for the next twenty-two hours, she needed to do nothing as pilot.

  As she walked to the lift, she chose to take the stairs. She bounded down three at a time, happy. Her tiredness was gone, her mind still on overdrive, and she had lost over a hundred pounds, or so it seemed.

  Maricia was still not talking, so Savanna went to the mess hall and had a large meal. She craved a glass of wine for so many reasons but did not drink it for one. The amphetamine was wearing off, and fatigue was quickly catching up. She needed sleep and went to her room. As she grasped the door handle, she realized she had not oriented the approach to the moon so that the final orbit would include a decent look at Yord’s poles, which appeared intensely white where they were not obscured by cover of clouds. She could not make the course correction from her room so retraced the route to CAC. It took half an hour to reprogram and triple-check. On her return to quarters, she was asleep within two minutes.

  11.1

  BEGINNING -5 DAYS

  The reduced effective gravity made for good sleeping. Savanna’s back did not hurt when she arose after eight full hours in the sack, a welcome change. Her communicator was flashing with nonurgent traffic. She read the message and went to Medical. Maricia’s speech had regressed. She still had a fever. Otherwise, the surgical recovery was as expected. There was nothing Savanna needed to or could do other than spending time with her. They had breakfast together, puree for one and a burrito for the other. It was a happy moment for both.

  Savanna savored a leisurely morning. She spent time on the treadmill but gave up quickly. The reduced gravity made it too easy, and sometimes she bounced a little high, hitting the ceiling. The bike was much better exercise, but the seat was not made for the gravid. She did part of a course around Lake Tahoe, a place familiar to Lucinda but one she had never seen. After the much-needed relaxation and a long, hot shower, she returned to CAC. She felt pressure and anxiety even though the computer would not allow an error that would compromise the miss
ion. She wanted the orbit to be perfect.

  The telescopes imaged the blue planet, so similar to the one she left, looming ahead. A spectral analysis showed an atmosphere primarily of nitrogen with about 20 percent oxygen as predicted. The surface was mostly water, huge blue oceans speckled with clouds. She magnified one area where small dots of land with tiny clouds, probably over peaks, appeared. Islands. Her excitement grew. The destination appeared to be perfect. There were large expanses of tan or red tinged cloudless land. Desert. Some mountain ranges were visible. The analysis showed no toxins in the atmosphere. There were huge expanses of green around the equator, and in the temperate regions, river valleys teaming with life!

  She wanted to send the positive signal back to base, but the computer kept the room locked until orbit had been achieved and until a sequence of studies had been completed. At that point, most of the data would be in. It would take at least a few orbits to complete the process.

  Savanna went to CAN and inspected the locked door. She polished and lubricated the lock and hinges. She then sat at the COM terminal and entered a message into the daily log.

  Day 231 of deceleration. Yord is clearly visible ahead. Orbital preparation will be finalized in six hours. The planet’s appearance is compatible with human life. Abundant carbon-based life is present, as predicted. The atmosphere contains approximately 20 percent oxygen. Oceans appear to be large, but a great deal of habitable land is present. Mean planetary and regional temperatures are acceptable. A detailed life scan is lacking and should be completed after several orbits. Only one moon has been seen. It is relatively large, and significant tidal influences are predicted. It is anticipated that this planet could provide a habitat for humans. It is gratifying to see a hopeful sign in this difficult expedition.

  Maricia, the only other surviving crew member, had surgery yesterday for gallstones. She has regressed mentally but otherwise is doing well. The two of us expect to deliver in six weeks as previously reported.

  Back in CAC, Savanna went over the trajectory data once again. The slight course correction had them aimed for an orbit that was at a sixty-five-degree angle with the equator. This would enable a complete look at Yord everywhere except directly above the poles. She kept returning to images of the beautiful perfect planet ahead. She posted a few of them in a folder she could show Maricia.

  Maricia looked at the screen but did not seem to appreciate the good news. Back in CAC, Savanna watched the moon enlarge. They were coming in fast and tight. It was good it had no significant atmosphere. The ship passed seemingly slowly by the moon, and the trajectory curved to conform to the moon’s surface. The slowing resulted in a sensation of gravity again. The force increased as the rate of slowing increased. Savanna was thinking about second derivatives from her calculus days. It seemed the spacecraft was grinding to a stop between New Earth and this moon. However, the measured velocity was still two hundred kilometers per minute. It slowed to less than half than before they began to fall toward the planet. She cut the engines, and weightlessness returned. Savanna floated up and away from her chair and wiped the palms of her hands on her pants. The approach had gone perfectly. The rockets would fire a few times, each preceded by a tone to alert her so she could secure all loose items including personnel.

  She sailed to the stairwell and propelled herself down to Medical. She laughed as she frolicked weightless. A frivolous, outlandish thought led her to detour to her quarters, shed all her clothes, and summersault back to Medical. She felt free and happy. The sound of her laughter made Maricia turn her eyes to see a naked eight-month pregnant woman suspended in the air, making swimming motions, running in various styles, fast and slow, pushing off the walls in a surreal ballet. Maricia reacted with a smile. Savanna laughed even harder, exhilarated by this moment of ultimate freedom within the shell of captivity. She finally settled down and showed the pictures of their destination to Maricia. She thought it was pretty. After a while, Savanna tumbled to the stairwell, floated down a flight, and slid into her sheets. With her daughter kicking in delight, she was bursting with confidence that the ordeal was going to end well—if she could just make a good landing.

  11.2

  BEGINNING DAY 0

  They had been weightless for five days other than an occasional rocket burn to achieve an optimal orbit. The life scan had taken longer than Savanna wanted, but it was now complete. There was no evidence of unusual or obviously harmful life or environment. The lock on the door to the signal room clicked as Savanna stood outside. She grasped the handle and tugged. It resisted. When she placed a foot on the wall and jerked hard, it opened.

  Inside was a small space for an operator and a simple set of four lit, labeled buttons, a switch, and a small, black screen. The back of the room was a shielded container from floor to ceiling. Within the container were several electrons, paired with electrons back on Earth contained in an almost identical box located in a bunker in Switzerland near the Great Hadron Collider site. The direction of spin of these electrons had never been determined. Three of these buttons, labeled with etched writing on gold plates, were for determining the message to be sent. Button number one said “habitable, optimal target planet.” The label on button number two read “borderline habitable, not optimal.” The message above button three said “not suitable for habitation.” Pressing a button resulted in determination of the spin of certain electrons. Once the spin was determined, the paired electrons on Earth would simultaneously “flip” to the opposite spin. Electron spin information was conveyed instantly, not bound by the constraints of traveling at the speed of light but governed by a quantum mechanical property. The identical message was sent twice, a redundancy for confirmation. Earth could know immediately that REAP 23 had found the perfect place. Savanna moved the switch up, activating the four buttons. The black screen lit up, and writing appeared. Holding down the top button, a fail-safe mechanism to prevent inadvertent sending of the message, Savanna punched button one three times in a row, as instructed by a message shown on the screen.

  Three seconds later, a series of clicks was followed by a few words displayed: “Habitable planet message sent, have a nice life.” She wondered what the message said if she had hit the other two buttons. Would it have been different? She left the room coming up with messages for the last button. “Thank you for your sacrifice.” “Heaven waits.” She decided that the second button should say, “Still in hell, different division.” Or “Good luck with your bad luck.”

  Maricia was awake when she returned. “I sent the message,” Savanna said.

  “Is that good?” Maricia asked.

  “I think so.” Savanna began to wonder if anyone was going to respond to the message. Was anyone listening? Did the bunker still exist? How had life changed since they left? Had she known the circumstances on Earth at that very instant, she would have been deeply distressed.

  Part Two

  12.0

  An eight-thousand-year journey is immense when viewed in the context of a single human life span. Viewed against the life of Earth, it is as long as one hour, fourteen minutes, and forty-eight seconds of an eighty-year human life span. It was 0.00018 percent of the age of the planet.

  The REAP project began about a hundred years following a pandemic that winnowed human population to less than two billion and reset world calendars, named AP, after pandemic. After REAP, an ice age occurred, covering the Bunker where paired electrons were stored, where the messages from REAP travelers were to come. The site was abandoned and left with heat from an automated nuclear reactor power plant.

  A religion grew around the REAP missions. Pilgrimages of the faithful visited the Bunker for centuries, but, eventually, the numbers waned; the location was lost. Millennia later, the Reaper religion resurged, and missions were sent to locate the site, now in a hostile country, Atlantica. Only the borders near the seas of southern Atlantica were habitable, most of the land mass under hundreds of feet of centuri
es old but slowly melting ice.

  A more expansive history is found in appendix 1, to which the reader may need to refer to clarify some otherwise indecipherable historical references.

  12.1

  2051 AA

  In early spring, the last week of 2051 AA, a group of sixteen Reapers started on a journey to find the Bunker, lost since antiquity. They left from Perlagio, a growing coastal city built on the ruins of what once was Marseille. It was the third mission sent by the church. The first two had failed to either find the location or return alive. These hardy pioneers had little food, poor equipment, no motorized transportation, but fervent motivation.

  “Looks like grave markers over there,” young redheaded Brandt said, pointing to a hill profiled against a mountain range in the distance. “I’ll go check it out.” Catelyn, a woman two years older, followed him. The rest of the group sagged to the damp ground, wasted with fatigue. They were clad in heavy wool coats covered with waterproof fabric of various styles and colors from white to bright to black. Four carts loaded with their supplies rested with yokes pointing slightly upward. Each person carried a small backpack containing their personal items. Banks of ice and snow punctuated the surrounding forest. Deer and elk occasionally crossed paths, sometimes fatally as their unwilling sacrifice provided food for the company. The day was getting warmer after a shower of sleet in the morning. Clouds were thinning, and sunlight sifted through the pine and fir trees that seldom accommodated human traffic.

  Brandt was a freckle-faced teenager, well fed and muscular, the youngest of the group. His orange coat matched his outgoing personality. Catelyn was an olive-skinned young woman with abundant and wild hair, especially in the primitive conditions without her array of conditioners and gadgets. Like the others, they were both deeply religious, committed to living a life consistent with the Reaper doctrines. Less than ten minutes later, they returned to the bedraggled group of fourteen resting on the ground in late May 1803 AA.