by D G Hervey
“So,” Simona asked of the scientists she hoped would pay attention, “how do we avoid impacts that may be significantly damaging? How much thrust is required to overcome the loss of velocity the small impacts cause? How far ahead do our scout ships need to be to find objects too large for our shield’s protection to be assuredly adequate? What sensors do our scout ships need to most thoroughly detect potentially damaging impactors? How quickly and accurately can our personnel manning the scout spaceships assess the orbit of a potential threat? How fast can Calypso safely go during any leg of our journey? How slowly can Calypso safely go and still protect our tail from damaging impact? What diameter should our protective frontal cone have to optimize protection, reducing the risk of damage to Calypso, while minimizing the loss of velocity due to the impacts it sustains? How much fuel can be safely used in accelerating Calypso with our ion thrusters, while retaining a sufficient reserve of fuel to slow us down when we approach our destination?”
Lieutenant Ebesh responded, “I hope our experts know how to address those issues.”
Simona paused to allow her concerns to sink in and see more of the crews’ reactions. They all seemed to be just accepting what she had said with no one itching to volunteer other ideas.
After a long pause, it seemed that Lieutenant Hetem reluctantly offered, “Admiral, how big or massive does an object have to be to pose a threat to Calypso? Or how much momentum must it pack in its punch to threaten our home base?”
“Excellent.” Admiral Simona commended, “I’m pleased to have some input from the staff. What a good addition to what has been troubling me. Yes, lieutenant, that is a most relevant question. It impacts not only the direct issues you raise, but also the sensitivity of the instrumentation on our scout ships.”
Now, overcoming her reluctance to speak up, Lieutenant Paksie asked, “Admiral, how are the orbits or trajectories of both Calypso and any asteroid ascertained to assess the risk one poses?”
“That is certainly a relevant issue,” responded Admiral Simona. “The trajectory of Calypso is continuously changing because we experience continuous acceleration. We are no longer in orbit about the sun. Having achieved escape velocity we are on a hyperbolic trajectory. Your Parrot, through our computer, can provide that information. If you really want to understand the mathematics and physics, get your Parrot to inform you. It is not simple and sometimes a longer time of observation may be necessary to reduce the uncertainty in the calculations involved in determining the trajectory of an incoming object which also may not be in orbit about the sun. So, for the safety of Calypso, it might be necessary to alter her thrust, speed her up or slow her down or just coast for a while. We really want to know of any threat in sufficient time so that we don’t have to reverse the thrust of Calypso and waste the material that went into achieving our velocity.”
Simona thought that Lieutenant Paksie looked disappointed that she had not gotten as glowing a response from her as Lieutenant Hetem had elicited. Well, she had tried to be diplomatic. So, on second thought she added, “We will have a meeting tomorrow at 0600 of our staff of fleet officers. Lieutenant Paksie, at that meeting, give us a five- to ten-minute briefing on the determination of the risk that an asteroid or comet poses to Calypso. Include the means for developing timely approximations of trajectories in your presentation. Try to address it in a manner that will permit everyone to understand the important aspects of the issues.”
Lieutenant Paksie responded, “Yes, Admiral.” And she thought she was sorry that she had spoken up at all. Now she’d have to speak to the group and she’d need to be thoroughly comprehending the subject matter by 0600 in the morning.
Admiral Simona asked, “Does anyone else have anything to add?”
She paused, expecting no more comments.
“For your information,” Admiral Simona stated, “I have several other issues that need to be addressed. Most of them involve the use of Calypso resources, the reserve of cash that ML left our government, and the time of experts who are currently involved in other, important research. I need to bring them up to our President Agni so she and the Taxers branch of our legislature can establish the priorities of the community as a whole, to decide which projects to pursue and in what time frame. I welcome input from any of the staff of the fleet officers regarding expenditures that may improve the safety of Calypso or of the fleet.”
Admiral Naqvi responded, “That should be an interesting meeting.”
Simona sat back and reflected for a while. “It seems that both Ek and Dui are short staffed at the moment,” she commented. “Nevertheless, I want one of them to be out on scout duty at all times now that Calypso is past the worst radiation we can expect from Jupiter. So, Captain Nusa, tomorrow at 0900, you are to take Dui out for a 17-day cruise. You are to go a bit more than about half-a-day ahead on our trajectory. If Captain Opa, Lieutenant Eveleen, and Lieutenant Daliborka are not pregnant or expecting insemination within the next three weeks, then they will accompany you. We need to know who is pregnant and who is expecting insemination. Provide that information to Admiral Naqvi, who will be making the duty roster for my approval. And Admiral, three of Hidden’s AI-bot-controlled spaceships should be promptly deployed ahead. I’ll expect you to keep abreast of their search for hazards. Until more definitive rationale are provided, keep them ahead of Calypso by approximately one, two, and three days. They should also be in the midst of what the nominal speed of the prograde rotation of the debris in the ecliptic plane will have in Calypso’s path by the time she transits that region. Three of Subtle’s AI-bot-controlled spaceships will be deployed similar distances ahead, but on the retrograde side of Calypso’s trajectory, because comets can come from any direction. For now, I will track their results with help from the Subtle bridge.”
“I’ll see to it,” replied Admiral Naqvi.
Admiral Simona looked over her staff. They were so bright and competent. None seemed to have anything to add at the moment. She stood and stated, “Dismissed.”
Chapter 6 - Pod Sweet Pod
Marie and Jon were in their pod’s common room. Marie was playing her clarinet to accompany Jon as he sang some old favorites. It was evening according to the clock and all of the pod’s residents were there. They did not know the old songs that Marie and Jon liked to perform, but they enjoyed them immensely.
“This next song,” recounted Jon, “is my love song for Marie. It has been ever since she was so ill and we thought she might die soon. It is John Denver’s song, Today.”
Marie played an introduction and Jon sang, “Today, while the blossoms still cling to the vine . . .”
When they finished, all of the women in the room had tears in their eyes.
Ykon requested, “I have a favor to ask of you, Jon, and I hope Marie won’t object. You are the father figure for Calypso. I’d like for you to be present when my baby girl is born, as my father was when I was born. Somehow, it just seems fitting.”
Jon looked at Marie who responded, “What a lovely and loving idea.”
“I’d be honored,” replied Jon. “Perhaps I can even be of help with the baby somehow. Have you selected her name yet?”
“I intend,” Ykon answered, “to call her Zarifa Ykon. The Ykon is, of course, in keeping with your suggestion that our children take our given names as their last names, which will track the maternal lineage for our descendants. Zarifa is Sudanese. It connotes honesty, enthusiasm, responsibility, and a passion for everything about life.”
Marie noted, “Ykon likes to keep her heritage alive. The quilt she made for Zarifa is full of animals from the Sudan. It is bright with earth colors. It seems to me, that Ykon does not intend for Zarifa to be a soft pampered girl.”
“My sperm donor was strong, but gentle,” Ykon responded, “at least according to his bio. He was smart, athletic, tall, and I liked his looks. Jon’s gentleness reminds me of what I think he must be like.”
Jon responded, “Thanks.”
“Jon,” M
arie commented, “has always been gentle with me.”
“It is such a difficult decision,” interjected Tameena, “selecting a sperm donor. We’ve just heard what Ykon thought of hers. Marie, what were you looking for when you were looking for a man?”
“Well,” answered Marie, “Jon had a well-developed list of criteria for a wife, before I met him. I guess I was not quite so organized as to have criteria written down the way he did. My mother always said that I needed a husband who was as hard headed as I was as a child. But I don’t think I had that in the front of my mind when I met Jon, although there are times when he fulfills my mother’s wish. No, I desired a smart man. One who was educated. Jon has a big vocabulary and he speaks with good grammar that was better than my family used. So that put me off initially. But then, I had worked hard at improving my own grammar to be better than what my family used, so why should I hold that against him. Jon was generous. I liked that. He had drive, as evidenced by his pursuit of higher education. Jon was thoughtful. He bought me a nice birthday present when he had known me only one week. He was not pushy the way some boys were. But when we got around to it, I liked the way he kissed me. I realize that much of what I’ve said is about his behavior, and I’m not sure that what you can get out of a bio reveals a sperm donor’s behavior. But of course I liked his looks and athleticism. His parents were never divorced, so he had good examples there. They were gentle and considerate. I felt as though they liked me the way they’d love a daughter, if they had had one. They were smart, healthy, long lived, and well educated. They provided a home of above average culture. They liked to go to plays, musicals, and the symphony.”
“You sound,” Tameena observed, “as though you felt that you were lucky to find all those qualities in one fellow. I think you have provided me with some useful guidance. Selection of my sperm donor shouldn’t be based just on how a man looks. What traits a sperm donor has to convey to my daughter are important. So intellect, athleticism, longevity, looks, health, and stature and perhaps drive are important. But I’m not sure that drive is genetic.”
“I agree with you,” responded Marie.
“I like your list,” Niki commended. “But my order of importance is intellect, health, longevity, athleticism, mother’s age at her onset of menopause, duration of mother’s lactation, looks, stature, and level of stress the man felt at the time of his donation. I agree that drive may be inculcated mostly through culture. However, aspects of it may be inherent, but still there is probably not much of a genetic component to it. How do you measure someone else’s drive anyway?”
“Niki,” Haley commented, “I like your additions. They seem especially important here on Calypso, with no men expected to be born during our fertile life times. But, I have not found that the bios of the potential sperm donors provide that data for the donor’s mother, much less for his stress level at the time of donation.”
“Well you can use the mother’s age at the birth of her last child as a minimum age for the onset of menopause,” suggested Niki. “The database can research that information even if it is not in the sperm donor’s bio. Also, stress can be a function of occupation.”
“I guess,” Fawn considered, “I rate stature higher than the rest of you. Height certainly provides its own advantages, at least up to a certain point. That point is a height of about two meters. I think that it is advantageous to be somewhat above average height.”
Jon commented, “And the wonderful thing about it all is that there is no need for you to agree. Each woman makes her own choice. She can learn what others value, but in the end, the decision can be hers alone.”
“So it is,” interjected Marie, “just as it should be.”
“Thanks,” Tami stated, “to all of you for the food for thought that you have provided. I like my selected donor, and you have armed me with confidence that I’ve made the correct choice for me and my daughter.”
Ykon commended, “Good for you, Tami. I also am pleased with the sperm donor I selected. Now the issue for me is, do I get a picture of him so Zarifa will know what her genetic father looked like from the get go? Or do I have her accepting Jon as her father figure until she figures out that he isn’t her actual father?”
“There are other possibilities” Jon suggested. “But just suit yourself. I am here to support mothers’ decisions so long as they are honest. I’d want not to try to deceive Zarifa or any of the daughters.”
Ykon commended, “I’m glad that you are so accepting.”
“That has always been his way,” commented Marie. “Tell me, Tami, is there any sort of ceremony when you are inseminated? Or is it just another visit to the doctor’s office?”
Tami responded, “Well, there was no ceremony at all. But the doctor and her staff did seem to understand how special it was for me. They understood how difficult the selection of a sperm donor had been. They affirmed my selection, talked of how perfect the timing was for a successful insemination. They talked about how healthy I am and how I should have a successful pregnancy.”
“We are all hoping for that,” assented Marie.
“Tami,” Ykon agreed, “your description fits very well what I remember of my insemination. The doctor and nurse were thoughtful, considerate.”
Jon noted, “With the desired birth rate, the expected time between pregnancies, and the population of Calypso, there must be about five inseminations per week. It is nice that they can make it seem special for each woman, especially when it is her first pregnancy. I wonder what the rate of miscarriages might be. The health and age of the women should significantly reduce the rate. I’ve read that most miscarriages back on Earth are male fetuses. With virtually all pregnancies on Calypso being female, I’d expect a great reduction in the rate of miscarriages.”
“The doctors say that all pregnancies, so far, have been female,” Ykon informed. “The probability is over ninety-nine percent that a female will result. With Calypso being seven months into having pregnant women, I’ve heard of only one miscarriage.”
Marie questioned, “I wonder how long that woman will have to wait for a second try?”
“I know her,” replied Ykon. “She was inseminated again after three months. So far her second pregnancy is progressing well.”
“My understanding,” commented Jon, “is that most miscarriages occur in the first three months. Ykon, has your acquaintance passed that milestone in her second pregnancy?”
Ykon replied, “I believe that she has. The doctor tells her that this one is progressing nicely and that she did not want that first child to come to term. It would not have been a healthy child, if it could have survived at all.”
“That,” commented Marie, “seems to be a common supposition about miscarriages. I believe it is probably true.”
“It seems to me,” considered Jon, “that with miscarriages being quite rare, that the donors’ sperm must be well protected from degradation or radiation. It would be interesting to know the rate of successful insemination.”
“My Parrot,” Haley responded, “says that the rate of successful insemination is over ninety-two percent.”
“I did not have to wonder long, did I,” remarked Jon. “With all of you around to address the things I wonder about out loud, why do I need a Parrot? I don’t.”
Chapter 7 - Priorities
Admiral of the Fleet, Simona, in her official capacity, was going to President Agnieszka’s office for a private meeting, not viewable by the citizens, and with Parrots left outside. Simona did not know the financial pressures on the young government, especially with the extensive repairs that the combination of Jupiter’s radiation and the CME had mandated. She did know that future spaceships of the bot-controlled and human-controlled designs were to be built. She did not even know the schedule for their construction or whether any updates in the designs were to be included.
President Agnieszka knew what had transpired at the staff meeting of the fleet, it was a public meeting. But Admiral of the Fleet, Simona, h
ad not divulged what her additional items were. Agni appreciated the opportunity to have a closed meeting in which she could privately consider her own priorities of whatever Simona had in mind. She decided that she needed her nominated Secretary of the Treasury, Ilaki, and her nominated Secretary of the Fleet, Uleran, to be at the meeting and hoped that Simona would not object. At least she’d be easily able to keep Simona’s items confidential. She did not even need a holographic communication with Hidden, because Ilaki and Uleran are Subtle residents. Agni was beginning to appreciate the ability to have private meetings, the way ML had been able to just do that at her whim. As an added benefit, this way she could learn whether or not Ilaki and Uleran could be trusted with confidential information.
Simona left her Parrot outside the president’s offices and Bettina, the president’s secretary, ushered her into the president’s small conference room. Ilaki and Uleran were already there.
President Agnieszka greeted, “Simona, you know Uleran, the Secretary of the Fleet, and Ilaki, the Secretary of the Treasury. Lacking information regarding your, what shall I call it, wish list, I thought it prudent to invite them to our meeting.”
“Hello,” replied Simona. “It seems appropriate for them to be included. You are both welcome.”
President Agnieszka asked, “Will you need any projection equipment?”
“No,” Simona replied, “I’ll just be talking. I have not even made any notes that someone else might see me making. But, I’ve gone over what I have to say in my mind.”
“Then please begin,” President Agni prompted.
“Well,” began Simona, “an issue that may be either moot, or very important, is the efficacy of our shield that is intended to keep Earth-based observers from ascertaining our trajectory, our location, the location of the stars that are our potential destinations. If our shield is ineffective at a distance, do we know why? Have we ascertained enough information from ML’s interactions with her attackers to know for sure that they have compromised our shield, how they did so, if they did so, and what we might be able to do to improve our shield’s effectiveness?”