Alone on the Edge (The Chronicles of Anna Foster)
Page 8
“Conditions outside the station are optimal for your flight, Anna. What flight path do you plan?”
Stopping to consider the question, Anna thought for a moment and decided, “I’m just going to loop around the gas giant once or twice. Maybe take some new scans of the planet while I am at it.”
“Acknowledged.”
About a minute later, the shuttle departed for the nearby planet. Anna wanted this flight to not only check the ship’s systems, but she wanted to have a leisurely trip as well to give her a chance to get away from the station and the computer for a while. She programmed in the course to take her around the gas giant twice at half speed and then return home. At that point, she settled in to spend the next 45 minutes recalibrating the shuttle’s sensor suite. She had remembered to download her adjustments to the station’s sensors to her wristcomp, which she incidentally had left in the infirmary, and cursed her luck as a result.
Anna completed the recalibration over half an hour later, just in time to perform a cursory scan of the gas giant and the 9 satellites that orbited the gargantuan planet. She activated the sensor suite and saw that it was working almost as well as the station’s sensors. Satisfied with the results for now, she waited a few seconds for the first scan to come back. She looked over the report after it arrived to see that six of the nine moons were detected, and the closest one would be in range for a more focused scan in a few minutes. She sat back and waited to begin her own personal survey mission.
Over the next hour, five of the moons were successfully scanned for orbital and physical data. As the shuttle emerged from the dark side of the gas giant and came around to the side that faced away from the station, the first of the three missing moons came into view. Anxious to get a reading on this one, Anna targeted the planetoid and initiated the scan. The results returned and compiled like all of the other moons so far, leaving Anna to look for the next moon. As she spotted it, the shuttle flew close enough to the one she just scanned to give her a nice view as she passed it.
Anna gave just a cursory glance to the moon as she passed over the horizon, but something caught her eye as she started to turn away, forcing her to take a second look. Under the patches of white clouds, the moon appeared to have land masses and larger areas of bright blue that could only be interpreted as surface water.
“No!” she exclaimed while she stared out the window. “That can’t be!”
She leaped to the console and accessed the survey data on the moon that had just finished compiling, which read:
Moon Information
Designation: g Lupi VI e
Orbital Characteristics
Semi-major Axis: 1,583,624 km
Eccentricity: 0.0276
Orbital Period: 29.79 days
Inclination: 19.36
Physical Characteristics
Mean Radius: 5823.1 km
Surface Area: 620,315,477,812.03 km2
Mass: 4,851,036,274,236,739,004,354,653.2 kg
Mean Density: 5.9134 g/cm3
Equatorial Surface Gravity: 0.979g
Rotation Period: -29.79 days
Axial Tilt: 0
Albedo: 0.27
Average Surface Temperature: 291 K
Apparent Magnitude: 7.4
Atmospheric Characteristics
Surface Pressure: 0.95 atm
Atmosphere Composition: 77% Nitrogen, 22% Oxygen, 1% Other
Poring over the statistics, Anna whispered aloud, “I don’t remember the system information listing an earthlike moon in this system.”
She turned back to get another look, but the moon was already out of sight.
Frowning, she turned back to the sensors panel to finish her scans of the other moons, nearly missing the next one. As she targeted the approaching moon, she vowed to get a closer look at the earthlike moon on her next pass.
On her second and last orbit after completing her scans of all nine moons and the gas giant, Anna kept her eyes peeled for the desired moon. As expected, the moon swung into view as she left the planet’s umbra. Targeting the moon, she initiated a new scan to confirm the original readings.
While the scan commenced, Anna retrieved the data obtained about the gas giant. Specifically, she looked for the amount of the gas to be mined and found that the drones under her care seemed to be operating too well, for the amount of gas detected had severely decreased over the last six years.
With a heavy sigh, she closed the document and waited about half a minute for the scan results to appear. After careful scrutiny, she found that the information between the two readings matched precisely. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two sets of data, confirming every line of duplication.
She tore herself away from the report before finishing her check to take another look at the planet one last time before returning to the station. Fortunately for her, the second time around was a bit lower in latitude and gave her a better view of the moon as she passed.
Flying by just above the equatorial line this time, Anna studied as much of the surface as she could during the brief time she could view it. The continents, the first feature to catch her eye, appeared mostly green with patches of blue and brown throughout and suggested a high level of vegetation. She could clearly identify a couple of large river valleys running through the heart of the large landmass that dominated her view of the surface. The two large bodies of water she could see looked a deep blue and seemed to be more pristine than the oceans she remembered being on Earth.
“How did the survey team miss this one?” wondered Anna.
She watched the planet retreat out of view while she studied one of the larger inland lakes and returned to her seat for the flight home. As she buckled in, she unexpectedly yawned, covering her mouth with her hand while she did. Shaking her head to help keep sleep at bay, Anna did not feel sure that she would make it back and stay awake for the entire trip. Her mind raced to find something to keep her alert or something to at least keep her body active.
Anna’s first idea was to exercise, especially since she had not performed her regimen for the day. She unbuckled from the chair and floated to the middle of the shuttle, using the ceiling to control her motion. Thinking over her environment, she picked out some exercises she could not do in zero-gravity, such as push-ups and squats. An idea struck her, and she moved to the dorsal hatch. Making sure not to press the release switch, she grabbed the handle, pulled up toward it, and pushed away. She felt both her biceps and triceps working with this exercise, though not as hard as they would back on the station, and decided to perform a few sets. After doing that multiple times, she decided to try another idea by hooking a foot under the handle, bracing both feet against the door, and crunching her abs. This one worked pretty well but gave her the feeling that she was hanging upside down and wearing gravity boots while she worked out.
She exercised for a total of about twenty minutes, switching back and forth between the two impromptu exercises. Once she was done, she decided to try swimming in place. Stretching herself away from the ceiling, she started with a standard breaststroke and imagined that she had dived into one of the lakes back on the moon she just discovered. Her mind wandered, envisioning that a thick jungle surrounded the lake. She could hear the sounds of various animals around the area, but none of them dared approach the water where she swam. She propelled herself through her imaginary waters to the distant shore. Just as she was approaching the muddy beach, an artificial tone interrupted her daydream.
The signal indicating the end of the preprogrammed route had sounded, letting Anna know that she was back at the station. Snapping back to reality, she pulled herself back to the ceiling and floated to the front of the ship. After rapidly buckling into the pilot’s seat, she navigated the shuttle back into the landing bay, transmitted her data to the computer, and went back aboard the station. Once she got through the airlock, she went back to her quarters, stopping only at the infirmary to pick up her wristcomp on the way.
Chapter 8
No response.
“Good morning, Anna.”
A soft groan disturbed the stillness of the room, followed by movement underneath the sheets that looked like somebody rolling over. A few seconds later, Anna’s head complete with mussed hair appeared as she peeled the sheets away.
“Good morning, Anna.”
“Fuck you!” she spat back, flopping back down.
“Good morning, Anna.”
“OKAY! I’m awake!”
She lazily swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up, scratching her belly through her white tank as she did. Her eyes drooped closed again for a second, and her posture slumped while she dozed off.
“Good morning, Anna.”
Anna’s eyes sprang open, and she groaned again. Yawning, she stretched her arms and back before scratching her head with both hands.
“I swear that, one of these mornings,” she threatened. “I’m going to dismantle your speaker in here, just so I can sleep in for once.”
“I do not recommend that, Anna. You could not be notified in case of an emergency.”
“Emergency? What emergency?! Nothing ever happens here!”
“Nothing has happened here recently, but that does not mean nothing could happen.”
Anna paused at the entrance to the head, crossed her arms, and queried, “Recently, you say? When was the last emergency that happened here?”
“About 67.2 years ago, a micrometeoroid penetrated the hull of Gray-3, causing the atmosphere in the section to escape. The resulting vacuum killed the current caretaker, since the event occurred during his sleep cycle.”
Cocking her head as she visualized the event in her mind, she asked, “Why didn’t you notify him?”
“As it passed through the station, the micrometeoroid pierced the speaker in his quarters and prevented the computer system from issuing the proper alarm in time.”
“Okay,” Anna stated skeptically. “How does that relate to me ripping the panel off the ceiling and pulling the speaker’s wires out?”
“In the example provided, the caretaker was unable to respond to a life-threatening emergency due to the internal speaker being unavailable. Should you choose to follow through with your plan to disconnect the speaker, you would place yourself in a similar situation.”
She replied with a nod, “Ah! I see. In other words, leave the equipment alone and do your fucking job.”
“You are correct, although I would not use such colorful language,” the computer added.
“Of course not,” smirked Anna seriously. “Because, you don’t swear.”
“You are correct, Anna.”
“Do you even have swear words in your vocabulary list?”
“Yes, Anna.”
Looking up at the ceiling with a disbelieving look on her face, she asked, “Like what?”
“Is this exercise necessary, Anna?”
“Yes.”
“You need to spend this time preparing for your work shift, Anna.”
Furrowing her brow, she interrogated, “Why are you trying to avoid the question?”
“Providing a vocabulary list is not necessary for you to prepare for your work shift, Anna.”
“Why are you even questioning my request in the first place?”
The computer answered, “Historical data indicates that you need two hours before the beginning of your work shift to prepare. Delays during that time may cause you to be late and reduce daily productivity.”
“Just give me the list,” Anna demanded, sounding a bit perturbed. “I can get ready while you do so.”
“As you wish, Anna.”
As she stepped into the head and brushed her teeth, the computer asked, “Which nationality do you desire?”
Pulling the toothbrush from her mouth, Anna curiously responded, “Nationality? You have different lists?”
“I have lists of swear words from 24 different cultures on file.”
With a casual wave of her hand, she replied, “American: United States.”
“The swear words currently in my vocabulary database are: anus, arse, arsehole, ass, asshat, asshole, asswipe, baloney-roll, bastard, bitch, blow job, boner, bullshit, buttfucker, carpetmuncher, clit, clusterfuck, cock ...”
“Hold on!” Anna interrupted after rinsing her mouth. “Never mind. I get the picture.”
After she wheeled about on the ball of her foot and turned on the shower, she tested the temperature of the cascading water with her fingers for a second before stripping off her clothes. Carelessly tossing the garments onto the floor by her bed, the computer inquired, “Anna, what did you hope to gain by the listing of swear words in my database?”
“Mostly curiosity,” she answered while she stepped into the shower. “But, I have an idea. I would like to try something with you.”
“What would you like to try, Anna?”
“Throughout the day, I would like you to ... season ... your statements with words from the list you provided to me.”
“Do you think that’s wise, Anna?”
Pausing just before lathering the shampoo in her hair, she responded, “What’s the problem?”
“Adding words to my statements could keep vital information from reaching you in a timely manner. I do not recommend following through with this suggestion.”
Anna stopped again with her hands combed halfway through her hair, looking rather annoyed, and stated, “Just humor me for once. PLEASE?! How hard is that?”
“As you wish, Anna,” the computer indicated with its emotionless voice. “I have added the fucking swear word list to my vocabulary for the day.”
Smiling while rinsing her hair, she asked in an amused tone, “The fucking swear word list?”
“That is correct, cocksucker.”
Anna laughed out loud and commented to herself, “This is going to be entertaining.”
* * * * *
A short time later as Anna stepped into the mess hall, the computer greeted her, “What shit would you like for breakfast, Anna?”
“That’s not far off,” she muttered to herself before answering aloud, “How about some oatmeal? Pick a flavor.”
“As you wish, douchebag.”
“Douchebag?” Anna mused, surprised by the choice of word, and shrugged before sitting down.
She sat in silence for a minute and waited for her meal, when she witnessed her bowl of food appearing in the slot.
The computer announced, “Your fucking food is ready, Anna.”
Cracking a smile, Anna retrieved her breakfast and replied, “Thank you, shithead.”
She pulled the bowl of steaming oatmeal from the slot, deeply inhaling the aroma of maple syrup as she turned and stepped to the nearest chair. Setting the tray on the table, she scooped up a spoonful and gently blew across it, gradually cooling the bite of food.
“Computer,” she inquired after swallowing the first bite that was still just a little too hot on her tongue. “Could you please recite the list of tasks on my agenda for today?”
“As you wish, Anna. Your work agenda for the goddamn day is: complete visual inspection of Green-1, exchange the shitty lights in Red-3, routine maintenance checks for two fucked-up mining drones, and complete an outer hull scan of the lower engineering section of the station.”
Anna nodded as she listened, smiling whenever the computer punctuated the statement with its choice of swear words. After it finished speaking, she asked, “Are the air tanks in my spacesuit charged?”
“No, the damn tanks need to be replenished before you venture outside the station again.”
“Thank you,” she replied with a nod before casually eating the rest of her breakfast and reporting to Green-1 for her first task of the day.
A while later, Anna walked into Red-3 with a crate of replacement lights in tow on the cargo lift she pulled behind her. She stopped just inside the doors and looked down the main corridor just before groaning and sighing heavily.
> The passageway, cast mostly in darkness from a lack of functioning lights, loomed before her, daring her to step into its shrouded space. Shrugging off the general appearance of the area, Anna dreaded the thought of spending the rest of her morning doing nothing more than exchanging long, fragile rods to illuminate an area she rarely visited.
“Computer,” Anna whined.
“Yes, bitch,” the artificial voice replied evenly.
“What did you call me?”
“I called you a bitch. You requested that I use these damn swear words in my vocabulary today. Do you wish to rescind your fucking order?”
Anna shook her head and said, “No. Don’t worry about it. Is it really necessary for the lights to be changed out here in Red-3?”
“The work agenda assembled for today has the task listed, so it needs to be completed. Has another bullshit issue taken greater importance?”
Several tempting responses passed through her head, but she answered, “No, but I don’t see any relevant reason why the lights need to be changed here when I don’t use this area very much, if at all.”
“Do you suggest powering down the fucking section?”
Anna paused as she stared at the dimly-lit ceiling and cocked an eyebrow. Although she knew in her mind that the computer spoke with the same artificial tone every time, she could swear that something did not sound right with its last statement.
“Computer?”
“Yes, Anna.”
“Are you okay? You sound a little odd.”
“No technical issues have been reported regarding the damn computer system. Do you wish to initiate an asshat system diagnostic test?”
“Yes,” Anna answered reluctantly as she dropped her gaze. “Go ahead and run a quick diagnostic. I’m going to pull the lights from this section and prepare to shut it down.”