by Doug Farren
8
The Banquet
The banquet was a huge affair. Food of all types was available in the large dining room. Nearly one hundred people had gathered together for the feast. Anita had decided that a large, informal, buffet-style dinner would be the best format as it allowed the guests to continuously mingle with each other. Anita had been keeping an eye on Jay as the dinner progressed and was satisfied that he had indeed returned to his old self. In fact, he had become one of the night’s most sought after guests and he seemed to be enjoying it.
Even though security was tight, Anita knew that such a large gathering of AST employees would not go unnoticed and she fully expected the media to be asking questions in the morning. Rumors of the Starfire’s impending departure had already started to circulate as well as the rumors concerning its destination. One tabloid even suggested that the ship had been outfitted for a trip back to Mars for the purpose of determining what had happened to the first expedition.
Because the dining hall could not possibly have been secured against all forms of intrusion, the crowd had been instructed not to discuss anything associated with the actual purpose of their flight. There was always the risk that someone would forget where they were and mention something they should not but Anita had decided that the moral and team spirit of the Starfire project team overrode the slight security risk.
Everyone seemed to be having a good time up until the accident happened. Nobody knew for sure what the exact sequence of events had been, but the official report put the blame squarely on a small wedge of mandarin orange that had been accidentally dropped to the floor. Captain Shoemaker had just refilled his plate with an assortment of dessert items and was heading back to his table when someone sitting at a table near his travel-path called out his name. In the act of turning to see who had spoken, the captain’s left foot came down on the misplaced fruit. This caused his foot to slip and he lost his balance. In his attempt to regain his balance, the captain sidestepped and bumped up against Kyle—Hard.
Kyle had been in the act of putting a forkful of cheesecake into his mouth when the captain hit him from behind. His head was pushed forward, causing the fork to be forcefully jammed far too deep into his mouth. The captain regained his balance and as he turned to apologize one of the women at Kyle’s table noticed the blood gushing from his mouth and started to scream. Captain Shoemaker quickly assessed what had happened and took immediate control of the situation.
“We have a medical emergency!” he yelled out in a loud, clearly understood and commanding voice. “Everyone get back!” Pointing toward one of the men at the table he continued, “You, give me your chair then call the emergency squad.”
Shoemaker stood up on the quickly vacated chair, raised his voice, and yelled, “McCallister, wherever you are, get over here on the double.”
Cheryl McCallister was the ship’s doctor and she arrived moments after Shoemaker had called her name. Kyle had automatically extracted the fork and had hung his head down so the flow of blood could exit his mouth and nose without choking him. Cheryl bent down and examined the wound. She stood up just as Anita approached. “How bad is he?” Anita asked, concern clearly showing on her face.
“We need to get him to a hospital—quickly. I can’t tell how extensive his injury is and we can’t risk tilting his head back or he'll start choking on his own blood. I think we can go ahead and move him toward the door. The paramedics should be here shortly.”
Anita bent down and asked, “Kyle, do you think you can walk?”
Kyle nodded his head and slowly got up. The doctor held a large wad of napkins under his mouth as she took hold of his left arm. The captain supported Kyle’s right arm and together they started toward the exit. The room had become very quiet. Anita watched the injured crewman leave and then stood up on a chair to address the crowd.
“Kyle Norland has been injured.” she said as soon as she had everyone's attention. “His injury does not appear to be life threatening but at this point I don’t know exactly how badly he is hurt. I’ll be going to the hospital and as soon as I know anything more about his condition I will let you know. Please don’t bother calling the hospital yourself. I will post his condition on the corporate website as soon as the extent of his injury is known.”
Anita stepped off the chair and hustled toward the exit. She found Jay waiting for her just outside the door. Without stopping, she motioned for him to follow. The ambulance was just arriving and together they stood outside and watched as Kyle, Captain Shoemaker and Cheryl climbed into the back. As soon as the rear doors were closed, it started off with siren and lights blazing. A security car pulled up and Anita and Jay climbed into the back. Without instructions, the driver followed the ambulance to the hospital with both Jay and Anita riding in total silence.
The ambulance arrived at AST’s state-of-the-art hospital and backed into the receiving dock. Anita and Jay pulled up to the emergency entrance and made their way inside. Anita knew better than to bother the doctors so she made her way to the waiting room and found a seat. Jay chose to remain standing. A moment later, Captain Shoemaker and Cheryl joined them.
“How bad do you think it is?” Jay asked Cheryl.
“I couldn’t tell with my quick examination. He’s bleeding pretty badly. I had to sedate and intubate him in the ambulance because of the swelling. It was getting hard for him to breath. The doctors are looking at him now.”
“It was my fault Ms. Kingston,” the captain announced. “I slipped and practically fell into him. I take full responsibility for his injury.”
Anita quickly stood up and grabbed the captain by both shoulders looking him in the eye. “It was an accident. It was not your fault. Nobody is to be blamed. I need you to focus on the mission and not on blaming yourself for this mishap. Is that clear?”
The look on Shoemaker’s face did not change much but he did hold his head a bit higher as he replied, “Yes ma’am.”
Addressing the others she said, “The best thing we can do at the moment is to get a cup of coffee and wait until the doctors tell us what they’ve found.”
* * * * *
The doctor walked into the waiting room and glanced around until he spotted Anita and the others. “He’s going to be fine,” he began. “He suffered a very serious laceration to both his hard and soft palate and there’s damage to the back of his throat. He’s quite lucky. Another inch and the fork could potentially have penetrated into his brain stem. There’s considerable swelling and at the moment he’s under sedation and intubated. He’s not going to be able to talk for at least a week. My understanding is that he was scheduled to be on a space mission in a few days, is that right?”
“Three days from now,” Anita replied.
“I’m afraid he is no longer medically qualified for spaceflight at this time.”
Anita was both relieved and concerned. “How long before he can return to space?”
“I’m not too sure. Three—maybe four weeks. I want to make certain the injury heals without complications before reinstating his flight status.”
“Thank you doctor. Keep me posted of any changes.”
Anita looked at Jay, knowing what was coming. “You’ve got to let me go! You know as well as I that we can’t delay this mission.”
The captain looked at Jay and then at Anita, but said nothing carefully keeping his facial expression neutral. This was one argument he was going to stay out of.
Anita walked over to the trash can and threw her empty paper coffee cup away. Her mind was working furiously to find a way out of this situation. Knowing her dilemma, Jay threw some more arguments at her. “Look, I know you don’t want me to go because you think I’m indispensable to the project but I’m not the only one around anymore who understands the concepts behind the new drive. Kyle has a good understanding of most of the theory and CAIN of course understands the concepts as well as I do. We need someone on that ship who understands the drive and that means I have to go.”
Try as she might, Anita could not find any holes in his argument. “You’re right Jay. As much as I hate to admit it, you’re right. Captain, please add Jay to your crew roster and promote Jonathan Simatowski to chief engineer. Jay, you’re going along as a technical advisor and, because this is your first long duration cruise, you’re going to need a crash course in spaceflight safety. Captain, can you see to it that someone is assigned to show Jay the ropes until he becomes familiar with life in space?”
“Yes ma’am, I can. In fact, I think our new chief engineer will be perfect for the job. Will Mr. Kauffman be staying on site with the rest of us?”
“What about it Jay? Do you need to take care of anything at your apartment before you leave?”
Kauffman thought about it for a minute then replied, “I don’t think so. I don’t keep much there anyway. All of my bills are automatically withdrawn from my bank account so I won’t have to worry about that. I would like security to check it every so often though.”
“I’ll make sure security checks your apartment once a week,” Anita replied. “In the meantime I’ll have HR assign you an on-site residence.”
“No need,” Jay said shaking his head. “I’ll just camp in my office until it’s time to leave. I practically live there anyway.”
“That sounds okay by me,” Anita replied.
Captain Shoemaker nodded his head then said, “Mr. Kauffman, Mr. Simatowski will be getting in touch with you early tomorrow morning to begin your training—say oh eight hundred. Each person is allowed two hundred kilos of personal material including all clothing. Mr. Simatowski will advise you on what you should and should not pack. With your permission Ms. Kingston, I have some ship business to attend to.”
“Of course captain.”
After the captain had departed, Kauffman turned to Anita. “This is not how I had wanted to get on this trip,” he said, as if guilty. “Not at the expense of someone else’s health.”
“I know that Jay. You had better get going. Go get some sleep. You’re going to be a very busy man over the next couple of days. You have to learn how to live in space. I’ve got to let the rest of the crew know about Kyle and about the change in your status.”
“Thank you Anita. I won’t let you down. My drive will work.” Kauffman turned to leave then swung back around, grabbed Anita’s face with both his hands, and planted a quick kiss directly on her lips. This surprised even himself. Embarrassed, he just as quickly backed away and said, “I’m sorry. I’m just so damn happy I don’t know what came over me. I…”
Smiling, and feeling all warm inside, Anita replied, “Forget it Jay. I might be your boss, but I’m also your friend. Now get out of here.”
Anita watched Jay practically float out of the emergency room and into the waiting car. A moment later, she was on her cell phone getting the word out concerning Kyle’s status and the change in the crew roster.
9
Aboard the Starfire
Kauffman was up before his alarm clock went off and completed the morning ritual long before 0800. He decided to start packing while he waited for John to arrive. It didn’t take very long since Kauffman’s wardrobe was quite limited. While he was selecting his clothes a familiar voice said, “Jay? Do you have a minute?”
Kauffman put a pair of pants on the pile and made his way into the old conference room. “Good morning CAIN. What’s up?”
“I wanted to wish you a safe and productive trip,” the machine replied. “I’m sure Kyle will do just fine in a ground support role.”
“Thank you CAIN. I’m sure he’s disappointed and it’s certainly not how I had wanted things to turn out. But, on the bright side I will at least get to see if my equations actually work. You and I both know that our math is still too crude to describe the field structures in sufficient detail to allow us the fine level of control needed for maneuvering. I still can’t get rid of a nagging doubt that we’ve missed something.”
“I’m sure Kyle will understand. I do not agree with your belief that we missed something. We have been unable to proceed any further with the development of continuum calculus because we lack any experimental results. Even if the drive fails to work, the information obtained with the tests will allow us to refine the math and eventually to derive the equations necessary to describe the finer details of the multidimensional aspects of the space-time continuum field structure.”
“Agreed,” Kauffman replied. “Oh, before I forget, I want you to generate a complete backup of all our research and store it in a file that can be retrieved by the AST projects network.”
“I shall begin immediately,” CAIN replied. “Good thinking. This research is too valuable to lose in the event that I become non-operational.”
“I just want to have a backup in case of any conceivable emergency. I did not mean to imply that you might suffer a malfunction.”
“I may be self-aware but I am, after all, a machine and machines can and do break down. Having a separate backup only makes…”
“Mr. Kauffman?” a voice interrupted.
Jay walked over to the intercom, pressed a button and replied, “Yes?”
“There is a Jonathan Simatowski here to see you. He is not cleared to enter.”
“It’s okay. The room’s clear of all classified material. Please let him in on my authority.”
“Yes sir.”
A moment later, Jay heard the conference door open and a bald man dressed in blue overalls walked into the room. Jay glanced at the work surface to make certain it was dark before greeting his visitor. After the introductions, John produced a very light carry-on bag and said, “We don’t have a lot of time to get you trained so if you don’t mind I’d like to start off by looking at what you plan on bringing aboard.”
Jay escorted John into the bathroom and showed him the piles of clothes he had laid out on the counter top. “You travel light! Any books, magazines, electronic devices, or such things?”
“Just my clothes and my laptop,” Jay answered as John performed a quick inventory of his clothing. “All of my books are available in electronic format which I’ll have transmitted to the ship’s computer. I don't think the amount of storage required will increase the mass of the ship by too much.”
John either missed or deliberately ignored the little bit of geeky humor, finished his inspection, and said, “Well, I don’t see anything that shouldn’t be brought along. How about if we leave these items here and make our way over to the training center?”
Kauffman spent the rest of the day and the next in the simulator learning the basics of how to survive an emergency in space. He learned how to quickly don a spacesuit so he could survive a loss of pressurization accident. He learned all about the hazards of radiation in space including both cosmic rays and the radiation caused by flares from our own sun. He was taught how to operate the equipment he would be using on a daily basis as well as how to use the emergency equipment. He learned about gas mixtures and how various substances reacted in zero G. At the end of it all his head was swimming but he felt confident that he would not be a burden to the crew of the Starfire.
The morning of October ninth finally arrived and Jay found himself among the crew of the Starfire as they were shuttled up to the ship. This time, to his immense relief, he did not need the vacuum hose although his stomach was a bit queasy. The ship’s doctor checked in on him as he was stowing his belongings in his small but adequate sleeping quarters. “Just wanted to see how you were doing,” she said.
“A little queasy and light headed but otherwise I’m doing fine,” he replied. “How's Kyle doing?”
“The last report I received said he was recovering just fine. Your queasiness should pass in a couple of days. If it doesn't or you get worse stop by the med-bay and I’ll give you something to relieve the symptoms. We’re not going anywhere for two weeks.
“I would like you to take it easy for the first couple of days until you get yourself acclimated to zero-G. Feel free to move about the ship
. In fact, I encourage it. The better you know your way around the quicker you can respond in case there’s an emergency. If you have any questions just stop anyone and ask. I assume you know how to use the com system?”
“Of course,” Jay replied, feeling a bit of self pride. “I had the crash course from John. I even know the location of the nearest emergency suit locker. Found it before I even started unpacking. I’ll take it easy for awhile but I don’t want anyone to think I’m just a passenger. I expect to be put to work later on. Any idea on when they plan on spinning up the living section?”
“I think it’s planned for the fourteenth. There’s a complete schedule in the ship’s computer in case you’re interested.” Cheryl turned to leave, then stopped and said over her shoulder, “Oh, I almost forgot. The captain wanted me to tell you that he will expect you to take part in all ship’s drills.”
“Don’t worry about that. I might be a greenhorn at this but I’m no slacker. One thing I’m not going to be is a burden. I want to make myself useful.”
“Great! I’ll let you finish unpacking and I’ll tell the captain that you’re doing just fine. I’m sure he will find something for you to do on the trip out.”
“Oh!” Jay said, causing Cheryl to stop again as she was about to exit. “When is the captain planning on running his first drill?”
“He likes to let the crew get the feel of their new ship for a couple of days before starting the drills. The first day’s will be announced. After that, he will hold periodic unannounced drills until he’s satisfied that the crew is reacting properly.”
“Thanks.”
Jay finished his unpacking, used the zero-G toilet with almost no problems and then left his quarters to take a leisurely tour of his new home. Prior to leaving Earth, he had studied the layout of the massive ship. Most of the Starfire would remain at or near zero-G for the entire trip. The ship’s engines were extremely powerful but the ship itself was also very massive. Under full thrust, the crew would barely be able to feel the acceleration produced by the engines.