by Hylton Smith
The transmission ended and the screen went black. Julien’s first inclination was to check this out with Brandt, but then he sensed that this could either be genuinely important information or payback for reneging on the previous arrangement which had been offered to Kolorov. Perhaps he should take advantage of starting a new relationship with Kolorov. He could always tell Brandt later, but he could never undo telling him now, if that proved to be a mistake.
*
A three-way meeting between Muller, Kenji and Back concluded that it wasn’t acceptable to authorise an EVA until mission control ran another check on the software at their end. They asked Brandt to join them and Muller briefed him.
“So, we should ask Delacroix to get on to this without delay. An EVA is a last resort as far as I’m concerned.”
Volker Brandt stared at the floor, appeared to wince and nodded slowly.
“Very well, Captain Muller, go ahead and while you’re at it ask Julien to give me an update on other projects in a password protected zip file.”
“Thank you, sir. I’ll send our response with the relevant software data through to him now, he should receive both sets of our diagnostics within the hour.”
Brandt knew that Julien would handle the request with utmost urgency but it was difficult to predict how he would chase down any infiltration of the mission control system if their second scan came up with the same concern over propulsion efficiency as the first sweep. He also pondered the possibility of false results having been orchestrated on board Kepler. He had to engage with each crew member individually, but in an innocuous, paternalistic way.
He began with first officer Deborah Winchester. The fact that Volker Brandt even had an opinion about the captaincy of the mission was perceived as derisory by many of the candidates, including the one who’d landed the job. Brandt had already noted that Muller was less than overjoyed at the appointment of Deborah Winchester as his prime confidant within such a small crew.
“Hello, first officer, don’t mind me, I’m just filling in time. Unlike the rest of you, I don’t have a long list of responsibilities. What is it you are doing at the moment?”
“Well, sir, it would take a long time to explain and I must concentrate; it would be better if you came back to see me when I’m finished. If you have nothing to do, why did you take up valuable space and life support function which could have been better allocated to a person of relevant expertise?”
“As you quite rightly suggest, I’ll come back later. But you may want to think about what I can authorise mission control to do that you cannot. Expertise is crucial, that’s why I want to see what it is that you’re doing, but it can wait.”
He struggled a little with the artificial gravity and literally bumped into Nina Knudsen. She apologised, knowing it was his fault.
“Thank you, Nina. It is Nina isn’t it? Are you in a hurry? I’m trying to familiarise myself with all the tasks on board and who exactly does what. But if it’s inconvenient, just tell me and I’ll pester someone else.”
“No, it is not a problem for me. You see, as I am a microbiologist, my real work will only begin when we are on Mars. I am making sure all calibrations are correct and ready for when we get there. I can show you what equipment we have and how it can help us. I hope I am saying it right, my English is not the best.”
“Your English is fine. I’d like to see how you calibrate the equipment. I do, however, need to be aware of the crew’s schedules, as the first officer has just reminded me.”
“Oh, yes, Miss Bossy. Excuse me, I should not be saying such things. I did not mean it in a bad way, she is very good at her work, but she asks or answers questions without discussing things too much. Everything is yes or no, well almost all of the time. She needs no small talking, but I must say she is very good. She could easily be captain if Muller was ill.”
“Well that is comforting to know, Nina. Knudsen is a Swedish name isn’t it, where is it you live?”
“I was born in Russia, because my father worked there when he married my mother. She was at the same company in St. Petersburg and they stayed until she had me. The family moved to Malmo before my brother was born, and we still stay there. Ok, should we begin the calibrations?”
“Please do, and tell me if I’m asking too many questions.”
Chapter 12
Julien had a wad of printouts in his hand and they all said the same thing – ‘the propulsion efficiency of Kepler was not as it should be’. He wasn’t normally as touchy about forwarding results, no matter what they implied. They had to be verbatim – exactly as they were generated, and had been checked several times. There should never be any leanings toward ‘sanitising’ information just to make the implications easier to deal with.
At least that was his previous life. He now had no upward delegation option, the buck absolutely stopped at his door. It simply would not do to invoke any reason for fudging or delaying the truth, whether or not his family situation continued to deteriorate. He needed a quiet place to think, somewhere his thought process would not be interrupted. He left his office to find a quiet phone booth from which he could call Kolorov.
“Ah Delacroix, I was beginning to think you had no interest to speak with me.”
“Well you indicated you had information which could prove to be important. I’ve had to deal with a lot of difficulties in the last couple of days. They were problems of a finite nature, whereas your subject ‘could’ be interesting. Can you elaborate?”
“I should not have to, you must have an idea, surely?”
“Look, I called you didn’t I? I’m extremely busy but I’ve made time to speak with you. What is this about?”
“Before I reveal all, I need to determine how valuable my participation would be.”
“Participation? That sounds like you expect to work with me in some way.”
“Correct. That is what I was promised by Brandt. Now you are the man. The past is the past as long as it is not repeated. The subject is propulsion requirements to get to Mars. That is what you are trying to do, is it not?”
“Keep talking.”
“You really have no experience in this kind of dealing, do you? Goodbye.”
The line went dead. Julien had no idea what he’d said to provoke such a response.
He was lost in a fog, but then again, he’d always been in a fog when tracking asteroids, and he wasn’t going to concede defeat. After all, Kolorov had contacted him in the first place.
*
Having slept on the propulsion quandary, Brandt pondered over which crew member he should check out for a second time. He didn’t need to single out Hiro Kenji. The discussions he’d already had with the Japanese engineer and Captain Muller served as good yardsticks. Kenji seemed to be totally focussed despite his sarcasm. He couldn’t really say that about Muller. Having been apprised of the spat between him and Julien, he was disturbed. Julien Delacroix was a straight-talking man, he hadn’t communicated directly with the captain because he’d have wanted Brandt in on any potential problem. Muller’s reaction was not one of building bridges or even mending fences. Everyone aboard Kepler depended on perfect synchronisation with mission control for their survival, so what was the point in antagonising the top man so early in the journey?
Hans Back had made a good impression, but Brandt decided to get to know him better, simply because any incoming communication would almost always be seen by him before anyone else.
“Nothing new from Earth, Hans?”
“Not yet, Herr Brandt. I can ask them for an update, even if there is nothing significant to report yet.”
“If you think it’s appropriate. I wasn’t suggesting that we should push them for a reply before they are ready. Maybe I conveyed too much concern with my question. By the way, why is it you address Captain Muller as boss, and me as Herr Brandt?”
“Oh, it is just habit I suppose. I have worked with Arnold Muller many times. Captain Muller would sound a little formal after all these
years. I hope he doesn’t mind. You are the man who is putting money in my bank account, at least until we get back from Mars. That requires me to be very respectful. The grapevine says you have handed over the running of the company to some guy named Delacroix, but as long as you are alive you will be Herr Brandt to me.”
“I see, well, don’t let me interrupt what you’re doing. I’m sure Julien will be thorough in checking out the data before sending it on.”
“Yeah, I suppose that is what is taking so long. My usual contacts know nothing yet, otherwise I would know by now.”
*
Julien returned to his office and felt there was no point in further deliberation over the new diagnostics. The big question was how to handle the raw information. He opted to send the data directly to Muller and let him stew on the implication that mission control officially confirmed their initial concern over propulsion efficiency. It was Muller’s call to ratify or decline a procedural EVA. At the same time he used Brandt’s request for a password protected zip file to update the more clandestine side of VB Aerospace espionage. It read – ‘Flight deck observations have been useful with respect to other reasons for the lack of correlation in diagnostics between Guiana and Kepler. This line of enquiry will be pursued and further observations passed on’.
He preferred to leave Ivan Kolorov’s name out of this for now.
*
The incoming data threw Muller off script, he was certain that Kenji’s pronouncement of ‘all clear’ on Kepler would turn out to pinpoint a glitch back on Earth. The two of them pored over the detail and asked Brandt to join them. He responded immediately as he was already in receipt of Julien’s hint at possible sabotage in VB Aerospace. It placed him in an awkward position if the prior decision to rule out conducting an EVA was reversed.
“Sorry to summon you to hear more bad news, sir,” said Muller, “actually, confusing would probably be a more accurate adjective than bad, but we still have to deal with the Delacroix report. Take a look for yourself, he insists that the first tests they ran were correct, the values being virtually identical. As I see it we have two options. We can return to Earth or authorise an inspection of the propulsion mechanisms, a physical check rather than relying solely on electronic interpretation from sensors. I don’t want to paint a picture of immediate danger to the crew, but if Delacroix is not in error, the sooner we estimate whether we can expect to achieve Mars orbit the better. In order to do that we need a handle on projected deterioration rate of our propulsion capability. To achieve that with confidence I’m afraid we have to consider an EVA.”
“I guessed that’s where you were going with this, Captain. And I suppose you’ll remind me that Julien Delacroix cannot do this for us. What is your prognosis, Hiro?”
Kenji shifted uncomfortably, being put on the spot like this was potentially awkward.
“The captain has said it all, sir. The only other possibility I can suggest is to consider an ‘unnecessary’ short burn. I’m happy to follow Captain Muller’s plan, as I’ll be doing the EVA. It occurs to me, however, that a burn of minimum duration would give us a more definite match or mismatch of what the electronics see compared to direct energy expenditure. If there is no discrepancy, then I’d have to say Delacroix needs to think about the poor correlation again, and investigate the hardware back there. If there is still a mismatch we would have to go EVA.”
Brandt looked at Muller, half expecting him to prickle at Kenji’s suggestion. He did the opposite.
“Brilliant idea, Hiro. I should have thought about that myself. I’d like you to get on preparing for it right away. Of course I should inform mission control of our request, so they could approve and monitor this ‘quantum burst’. It will be interesting to compare each other’s findings. I assume you have no objection to this Herr Brandt, the fuel loss will be minimised and it could avoid either an EVA or turning back to Earth.”
“Let’s progress this plan then,” said Brandt. “Look, you should concentrate on corroboration of Hiro’s theory. Leave the politics with mission control to me this time around. I’d rather have answers than guesswork. Your assumption was right, Captain Muller, I have no objection. So, why don’t you and Kenji get the detailed calculations ready? I’ll get Hans Back to connect me with Julien Delacroix, pronto. Well?”
“I’m good with that. Let’s go Kenji.”
*
Kolorov surprisingly made contact out of the blue. Julien’s waiting game had paid off.
“I don’t have the luxury of time with this situation. You do know why your Mars mission was brought forward?”
“Only what Volker Brandt told me. That Soyuz were about to launch before our original departure date.”
“Yes, but how did he know that?”
“Because you told him, expecting he would employ you to assist in our mission.”
“Fine. Well, I also told him that the Soyuz plan was dangerous; it was unsafe for many reasons. I could have explained all of the flaws in their plan when I joined VB Aerospace, but that never came to pass.”
“Look, Kolorov, I was told by Brandt when he put me in charge of both the asteroid tracking and Mars mission, that you would be coming to assist with the latter. That’s all I know.”
“In that case you must realise that when Volker Brandt made his speech to the world about your new launch date and that he was prepared to die on Mars, he blew my cover. It didn’t take Soyuz long to put the jigsaw together, with a little help from NERO. I became a leper. Now, I know you have poor correlation in propulsion efficiency between Kepler and Earth data. How do you think I know that? And, do I know why this problem has surfaced? Yes, I do. The price of this information is a belated fulfilment of the promise to work with you. I trusted your old boss once and got stung, can I trust you?”
“Only you can decide that. However, I think we should cut this crap of clandestine contact. If you’re prepared to come here and discuss this face-to-face, and what you tell me makes sense, you’ll have to take my word that I will hand responsibility for the Mars mission over to you. I could use your expertise, like yesterday. Does that reassure you or not?”
“It helps, but that’s what Brandt said. Could you prepare a written contract for my employment and then judge the information on offer? If I can see the unsigned contract when I arrive, I’ll tell you all I know. Then we can sign the documentation, if we are both happy.”
“Agreed. Now, can you get here as soon as possible? Where are you now?”
“You do not need to know that. I can be in Guiana within twenty-four hours, I’ll let you know the exact time in thirty minutes.”
“Fine, I can’t meet you at the airport, so call me when you are through customs, there will be a driver waiting for you while you collect any luggage.”
Chapter 13
Having received Brandt’s message indicating the proposal to implement a short burn of fuel, Julien was forced into a corner. He had to make Volker Brandt aware of the probability that the cause of poor correlation was somewhere within VB Aerospace.
The reply read – ‘It is of utmost urgency that you prevent this unnecessary waste of fuel. It has come to my attention that the problem is at this end. I will have details within twenty-four hours. We should also forget about any EVA. Delacroix’.
It was again sent in a protected zip file.
Brandt was deep in thought when Hans Back informed him of the incoming message. He’d already decided that he could rule out both Kenji and Back as suspects. That left only the two women and Muller. Upon opening the zip file, he breathed a sigh of relief, but didn’t entirely understand why Julien hadn’t explained what evidence he’d found to substantiate his admission of a problem in VB Aerospace. His gut told him it must either be complicated or a different cause for concern. No matter, he had to tell Muller to abort the burn immediately.
Brandt studied the body language of Muller and Kenji as he showed them the message. The latter patently displayed joy; he was off the hook. Mul
ler began by challenging Julien’s competence.
“I can’t say I’m surprised, Herr Brandt. Perhaps he should stick to what he knows – chasing rocks! How in hell can he get it wrong twice and then admit they messed up. Then he has the nerve to try to distance himself in the process? ‘It has come to my attention’, as if he wasn’t responsible for overseeing the diagnostics, especially when a second run was needed. I really do look forward to the full explanation. Does he even realise that six lives are in his hands?”
“I can see why you’re so unhappy, Captain, but let’s at least reserve judgement until we hear his evidence. You’re absolutely correct when you say all our lives depend on this ‘umbilical’ with Earth, and that will remain so for some years, even if we arrive at Mars orbit on time, reach the surface safely, and kick-start a colony. I urge you to stay calm. It will be counter-productive to alienate those on whom we depend without good cause. I know Delacroix better than anyone else, and I can tell you he’d never falsify evidence, no matter how much pressure is imposed upon him.”
Muller nodded, but in what appeared to be silent protest.
*
Julien collected Elise and Geraldine from the airport and detoured to show them the land he had acquired for his foray into house design. Both women had to confess that it was an exquisite location, perched on a peninsula, with the ocean at one side and an estuary at the other. Standing in the onshore breeze, they appreciated the contrast in climate to the sultry, draining cauldron of the spaceport. He didn’t attempt to talk up the advantages of such a spot for everyone. Commutable for him and Eugene, if his son accepted the job offer, conducive to Sophie’s recovering status in the art world, and Elise having the whole family together once more. They stayed longer than he expected. He reminded them that they still had to check into the hotel and then meet up with the kids.