The Comet's Curse

by Dom Testa

  Not everyone believed the computer controlling Galahad should be so easygoing. Roy’s supervisor, Dr. Carl Mynet, felt that the brains of the ship should command a little more respect. When trouble struck (and he assured them it would), the 251 space travelers would need a strong, commanding force to rally behind, not some wispy, wisecracking “best friend.” That was no way to toughen up the crew.

  “Dr. Mynet,” Roy argued, “these are fifteen- and sixteen-year-old kids. They’re not marines in boot camp.”

  “Mr. Orzini,” Mynet said, “perhaps you should start treating them more like marines and less like schoolkids at recess. How do you expect them to perform under stress?”

  “I expect them to perform rather well, actually. I’m also thinking of the ninety-nine percent of the time when there won’t be an emergency, and they’ll need a friendly voice. They’re leaving their families behind, Dr. Mynet. Two hundred fifty-one teenagers, thrust into a very stressful situation, and with no help other than a computer. That’s a tough order.”

  “It’s not going to be a picnic here after they’re gone, either,” Mynet said. “We won’t get a second chance to get this right. Experts now say we’ve got about six years before the Bhaktul contamination hits one hundred percent of the adult population. And, as soon as our children reach eighteen or nineteen, it will strike them. We can’t afford to coddle these kids. They need to know the seriousness of this mission. And some laid-back, fluffy computer is not the answer. They need to be tough, so it needs to be tough.”

  Roy Orzini held his tongue. It obviously would do no good to debate the issue with Carl Mynet. His only hope was Dr. Zimmer. Roy was confident that Zimmer would agree with him.

  7

  You know, couldn’t we at least have reached the asteroid belt before the first crisis? Apparently not.

  Triana, Gap and Lita could hear the violent screams before they reached the Clinic. Actually, the designers of Galahad labeled the department as the Clinic, while each of the kids on board simply called it Sick House. Lita Marques was the Council member in charge, but even she relied mainly on Roc to handle most emergencies. No one expected the room to be busy so quickly.

  As soon as they rounded the corner and came within sight of Sick House, they were able to pick out some of the words in the jumble of screams. Triana heard someone shouting “I saw him,” and “turn around, turn it around, we need to go back.” The voice was that of a boy, obviously in a highly excited state. He didn’t sound angry; he sounded frightened.

  As soon as she saw him, Triana recognized him as a fifteen-year-old from Canada named Peter Meyer. But his face was a dark shade of red, splotchy and sweaty. He was worked up into a frenzy, and Lita’s assistant, Alexa, was right up in his face trying to talk to him while he was held by two other Sick House workers. Each was struggling to hold on to one of Peter’s arms as he jerked wildly back and forth. Without hesitating, Gap and Lita hurried over and took charge. They helped to secure the screaming boy, and Triana stepped up beside Alexa.

  “What happened?”

  “I don’t know yet,” Alexa said, a small trickle of sweat beading her forehead. Her blond hair was held out of her face with a small clip. “He was running up and down the halls, screaming just like this. He broke a couple of windows in the Recreation area before a few guys got hold of him. They managed to get him here, but not without a fight. They’re in the next room, getting treated for some cuts and scratches.”

  Triana looked directly into Peter’s eyes, and putting her hands on his face, she steadied him while speaking loudly and forcefully.

  “Peter. Peter! Stop it, do you hear me?” She gradually lowered and calmed her own voice, causing the panic in the boy to subside. Soon he was whimpering quietly. “Peter, tell me what happened,” Triana said. “What’s going on?”

  “I … I … we need to turn around … we need to go back,” he blurted out between sobs. “We need to …” He finally collapsed. The two workers led him across the room and placed him on a bed. Triana and Lita stood on one side, Gap and Alexa on the other.

  Triana said, “Peter, I need you to relax and talk to me. We can’t help you like this. Now, take a few deep breaths and tell me what’s going on.”

  Peter lay back, closed his eyes for a moment, and soon his breathing slowed a little. The panic attack was apparently over. When he finally spoke, it was almost in a whisper.

  “We need to go back. We can’t leave.”

  “Why, Peter?” Triana said. “What are you afraid of?”

  “I saw him. He smiled at me. He … he talked to me.”

  Triana and Lita looked up at each other. Neither could understand what Peter was talking about. Lita spoke to the boy in a soothing voice.

  “Who did you see, Peter? Who was it?”

  He licked his lips and opened his eyes, staring straight up at the ceiling. His voice was still a whisper. “I don’t know who it is. He looked familiar, though. I’ve seen him somewhere before.”

  “Peter, you should know everybody aboard. Try to remember his name.”

  He shook his head. “No, he’s not one of us.”

  This time Triana looked across at Gap. He met her gaze, and his eyes were wide. She knew he wanted to say something but instead let her handle the situation. She made a mental note to speak with him later.

  “What do you mean ‘not one of us,’ Peter?” Lita said. “You mean not one of the crew?”

  Peter didn’t answer. Instead he closed his eyes again and put his hands up over his face. He was still frightened.

  Triana placed a hand on his shoulder. “Peter, we can’t help if you won’t talk to us. Are you telling us you saw a kid you didn’t recognize? That’s okay, there are two hundred fifty-one of us—”

  “No!” Peter yelled, suddenly sitting up. “No! Not one of us! Don’t you understand? He was an adult!”

  There was silence as the three Council members and Alexa exchanged glances. Then Triana looked back at Peter. “Where did you see this man? What did he look like?”

  “I was near the Storage Sections. I was just walking around, looking for a window to see if I could see the moon. I was tired of watching Earth, you know? I just wanted to see something else. And … and all of a sudden he was just there. He smiled at me, and I froze. He said … he said ‘Are you ready to die?’ And then … he was gone. He just disappeared. But I heard him laughing after he was gone. A horrible laugh.”

  Triana said, “And that’s all you can remember? What did he look like? What was he wearing?”

  “I don’t know. It only lasted a couple of seconds. He was in the shadows, hard to see, really. I remember he had a beard. But I don’t remember anything else.”

  “When you say he disappeared, you mean he ran off?”

  “I don’t know. One minute he was there, then he just vanished, like into thin air.”

  Triana looked down at the shaken boy. “Look, Peter, you need to get some rest. We’ll go down to the Storage Section and look around. But everything’s going to be okay, right?” When Peter didn’t answer, she said it again. “Right?”

  He nodded, then closed his eyes again. Leaving Alexa at his side, Triana, Lita and Gap walked into the next room and looked at each other for a moment without saying anything. It was Lita who broke the stony silence.

  “Well, it was bound to happen. Severe strain. Homesick, too, I would imagine. I’ll be surprised if someone else doesn’t crack before too long. It might take a few weeks or months before everyone is completely settled.”

  Triana nodded and bit her lip. Then she turned to Gap. “I know you had something on your mind back there. What was it?”

  Gap took a deep breath and rubbed a hand through his hair. “Well, Lita is right. I was just thinking about a talk I had with Dr. Armistead a few weeks ago. She was doing another one of those tests on me, and we started talking about the mental part of this trip. About how you take two hundred fifty-one kids, throw them into a tin can and push them off into space.
No matter how well conditioned they are, no matter how bright they might be … some are sure to have problems. It’s only natural.”

  He looked toward the room where Peter was lying still on his bed. “This guy is doing exactly what Dr. Armistead said. He’s been trained to do a job that usually would take someone at least twice his age. He’s ripped away from his parents and sent out on a mission to save the human race. No wonder he’s seeing things. Did you notice he said the man was familiar looking? Dr. Armistead told me about some of the early colonists on the space station several years ago who claimed to see family members floating outside the windows. Floating out in space, but looking in at them.”

  The thought gave all three of them the shivers. Gap finally shook it off and looked at Triana.

  “I guess it’s my job to at least check it out,” he said. “I’ll run down to the storage area and see if maybe I can find something that caused him to have this hallucination. Who knows, maybe someone around there said something to set him off. But I’ll have a look.”

  Lita looked at Triana and sighed. “Well, Tree, you’ve got your hands full already. No doubt everyone on board is talking about this by now. It was quite a scene. I’m gonna stay with Peter for a little while to make sure he’s okay.”

  “Sure,” Triana said. “Let me know how he does. And thank Alexa for handling the crisis.” She motioned for Gap to join her and together they walked back into the hallway.

  “You better check on repairing the damage, too” she told him. “Let’s get those broken windows replaced right away.”

  “No problem,” he said. “I’ll be back to the Conference Room in about thirty minutes.”

  “Don’t bother. I’m going to postpone the meeting until tomorrow morning. I have a few questions I need answered right now,” Triana said thoughtfully.

  8

  Wallace Zimmer had several crucial decisions that had to be made quickly. The process of crew selection was underway with Dr. Angela Armistead, a noted child psychologist. Young and energetic, she dove into the work with a zest that immediately impressed Dr. Zimmer. The two of them had spent hours and hours discussing the process of examining and evaluating the thousands of candidates, and the challenging prospect of eventually deciding on the 251 who would make the trip. Almost every country on Earth had nominated exceptional kids, which made the task of selecting the final team a monstrous responsibility. The world would obviously scrutinize the choices, with each finalist judged against the thousands of others who didn’t make it.

  “I appreciate your suggestions,” Dr. Zimmer said. “You know what makes these kids tick, and the changes they’re going to experience during the voyage.”

  Dr. Armistead nodded. “The pressure would be crushing on even a group of experienced astronauts, so we can only imagine what effect it will have on teenagers.”

  She paused, her face a mask of concern. Then she shrugged and added, “Who knows? Maybe the best thing going for them is that they’re not experienced space travelers.”

  They both thought about that for a minute, hopeful that Dr. Armistead might be right. A young, inexperienced crew essentially meant that Zimmer and his team would have a blank slate to work with.

  Zimmer broke the silence by clearing his throat. “Well,” he said, “we’ll have almost two years before launch. We should know a lot about their mental makeup by then.”

  Within a few weeks Dr. Zimmer realized that the crew selection was taking most of his time, and other important details were being neglected. It was obvious that he needed to find someone to help coordinate all of the day-to-day activities and act as his personal assistant. With time such a precious commodity, he quickly began to interview candidates.

  Zimmer sized up the man sitting across from him and guessed his age to be around forty. A quick scan of the man’s résumé, however, indicated that he was closer to fifty, and apparently took very good care of himself. His name was Dr. Fenton Bauer, head of a research center in Atlanta that worked primarily with the study of deep-space living conditions. He had helped to design the new domes currently being built on the moon, and was an expert on extraterrestrial living conditions. Some of his designs had been implemented in orbiting research stations around the solar system. He was married, with one child of his own, a son. He and Zimmer hit it off quickly.

  “Your accomplishments are impressive,” Dr. Zimmer said. “Honestly, I’m thrilled that you’ve shown an interest in this project.”

  “Well,” said Dr. Bauer, “it looks like my other developments are going to be put on the shelf. I want to work, and I can’t think of a more important task than this one.”

  They talked about the design of the living quarters, the recreational areas, the agricultural spaces and the life-support systems. Dr. Bauer was a wealth of information, and would be an amazing asset to the team. Toward the end of their interview, he asked about the crew.

  “Is it true that no one over sixteen will be on board at launch? I thought tests showed that Bhaktul doesn’t develop until a person reaches eighteen or so.”

  “That’s right,” Zimmer said, “but I’m not taking any chances whatsoever. When they leave, they’re definitely leaving any and all traces of Bhaktul behind.”

  Bauer sat quietly for a moment, a gray mask clouding his face. Zimmer stood up, walked behind his chair and leaned on the back of it.

  “Since I mentioned the long training period,” he said, “let me make something clear right now in case it’s an issue for you. I’m not going to mislead you about your commitment. You might not get a lot of time with your family until this project ends. We’ll relocate all of you, obviously, to our base here in California, but your days will be brutal. Fifteen, maybe eighteen hours a day will be routine. Are you ready to take on that type of responsibility, given the situation?”

  Dr. Bauer sighed and rubbed his chin. “Dr. Zimmer—”

  “No, please, call me Wallace.”

  “All right. My family is important to me, Wallace. But I feel like this is something I have to do. My wife and I have already discussed it. She’s very supportive. My son …” His voice broke momentarily and he paused to compose himself.

  “My son and I are not close. He left home last year and I’ve only heard from him a couple of times since then. He’s living with my wife’s parents near Lake Tahoe. I’d like for him to come back home, but …” Again he trailed off, this time without finishing the thought.

  Dr. Zimmer kept quiet for a moment, and then gently said, “How old is your son?”

  “He’s sixteen.”

  Zimmer realized that this meant the boy would be too old at the time of launch, and immediately he understood the pain that was evident on Bauer’s face. He decided to change the subject.

  “One more thing. You’re aware, of course, that not everyone is behind our project. Are you familiar with Tyler Scofield?”

  “I know about him,” Bauer said. “I know that he’s leading quite a publicity campaign to discourage people from participating with you.”

  “Have any of his speeches raised issues with you?” Zimmer said. “Maybe I can address some of the untruths that he’s spreading.”

  “I don’t think so,” Bauer said. “Anytime someone proposes something that’s never been done before, there will be people who cast stones. Shake their comfort zone, it seems, and they would want nothing more than to see you knocked down. History is full of examples. They operate out of fear, which I refuse to do. I’m comfortable with your plan. And I’d like very much to be on your team.”

  Zimmer smiled. He ended the interview with the stock statement “I’ll get back with you,” but in his mind he knew that he had found his man.

  9

  Triana Martell, exhausted from the stressful start to the voyage, fell onto the bed in her room. After lying facedown for a few minutes, she flipped onto her back and stared at the ceiling, the small plant hanging from one corner. Then she turned to look at the poster of Rocky Mountain National Park be
side her, its collage of bighorn sheep, hawks and elk set against the stunning backdrop of Long’s Peak. Her left hand drifted up and gently rested on the poster. She remained that way, quiet, for a full minute.

  Then her mind turned to the event with Peter Meyer. The boy had lost himself for a while, and might have caused more damage if not restrained. The crew would indeed be buzzing about it, as Lita had predicted, and she wanted to make sure it didn’t cause others to freak out.

  “Roc,” she called out.

  “Yes, Tree,” came the response, and the voice pattern of Roy Orzini instantly made her more comfortable.

  “Has Lita given you an update on Peter?”

  “Just that he’s resting quietly,” Roc said. “She thinks he’ll be okay.”

  “He scared all of us to death, you know.”

  “Are you kidding? I was almost the first computer to wet itself.”

  Triana smiled for a moment before getting serious again. “You heard what he said, didn’t you? That he saw an adult down at the storage area?”

  “Yes, I heard that. Alexa opened up communications with me as soon as they brought Peter in. I wasn’t able to catch what happened in the Rec Room, though. I heard a couple of kids got hurt.”

  “They’re okay,” Tree said, “just a few bruises and scratches. I’m worried about Peter, of course, but I’m also wondering what this does to the rest of the crew. If they see one person go off the deep end so soon after we’ve started, they might get a bad attitude regarding the entire trip. We’re gonna be locked up inside this can for a long, long time.”

  She sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Roc, I’ve never really asked you this, maybe because I didn’t want to know. But now that we’re off, I guess it couldn’t hurt. What do you think of our chances? Are we crazy for making this trip?”

  “Yes, you are. What else do you want to know?”