At twenty-two hours on October 10th, 2067 (official Greenwich Mean Time), from the Olympia international space station, in orbit around the Earth, Commander Howard Pickpower observed the skies. He came from the north of Ireland, once part of the extinct United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was in his fifties, and because of his service record, as a scientist, five years ago he was selected as head of the Olympia. However, in the complicated organization of the space age, composed of military and professionals from different countries, under the coordination of an American central authority, he was marginalized. In this regard, the commander had many dark incidents on his record and personal life for inappropriate behavior. Certainly, he didn´t know whether this was a real promotion or an exile to a prison that revolved around the Earth.
Instead of looking at the beautiful planet, he looked through the back window, focusing his view on the stars, fascinated by such an incredible and pleasant spectacle. This helped him to improve his bad mood and temporarily dispel his multiple concerns.
Time passed and the commander didn´t realize this. Rather, he felt a certain sensation of peace and security, with more nostalgia than joy, which would only be momentary and could not be compared with the silence of the universe.
"No wonder of the Nature resembles the majesty of the Cosmos!" He thought. "Why it feels so calm? Is there intelligent life in the universe? Will we ever find out that maybe we are not the only ones? When will we colonize other worlds? Is it true that the particle collider detected the smallest subatomic elements and tachyons[1]? Will the new warp engines work[2]?"
Over and over again, these questions came and went in his mind.
Returning from his imaginary trip to the stars, longing to one day be able to witness this technology, dreamed by science fiction writers, and at the same time, remembering some routine activities, since he had difficulty falling asleep, he stopped seeing the sky, and standing up, he opened the apocryphal book The Sidereal War of Sábato Fauntleroy. He had acquired this novel clandestinely because it was banned in some northern nations, and was interested in learning directly about the ideas of that famous author, who lived underground, supposedly in a small southern country.
Nonetheless, the commander knew that if he was discovered reading that literary work, he would be expelled from the International Space Agency, stripped of his military insignia, without the right to a retirement and with a prison sentence of at least ten Earth years. Although last year, he decided to take that risk because he had suffered many disappointments, both personally and professionally, he was at the limit of what a human being can tolerate, and his fifth marriage was not going well either, and it looked like an almost certain divorce, but what bothered him most wasn´t the romantic breakups, rather that he hadn´t been able to have children, considering that for some reason, unknown to doctors and other researchers, his sperm cells didn´t fertilize the eggs of his wives, and he felt a latent resentment because his second wife, Isis, and the third, Andromeda, made fun of this, calling him the Neanderthal man.
*****
Suddenly, his confusing moments of peace, mixed with bad memories, ended too quickly, giving way to feelings of anguish and worry. This was something surprising and unexpected! Not even his military training could free him from the impressions he perceived when this situation arose. The commander began to float quickly and almost collided with the ceiling of his small office/room. Thank goodness that at that moment he was standing in a safe place! "If I had been kissing or hugging a woman…" That was what he thought quickly, without fully understanding his complex sequence of thoughts, although the truth was that for the moment, and even in the coming weeks, the only woman on board, his subordinate, the attractive captain, Tishy Glassvery, was not going to succumb to his desires...
A little alarmed, he shouted with all his might:
"Not again! No! How is it possible for the gravity mechanism to fail so much?"
However, everything he said was recorded by the central computer and they could even consider him crazy and unfit for office, if this prodigious device decided to send this conversation to his bosses, on the Earth, without following his next order to delete it. In addition, the cases of inappropriate behavior that remained firmly in his file were like chimeras that didn´t die. Every time he sent his allegations and any other evidence to his lawyers on the planet, expecting that the military court would analyze them and dismiss some accusations, other charges appeared, not only from the plaintiffs, but from other supposedly aggrieved women, and some of his ex-wives.
Despite the risks and affected by his latent state of panic, the commander could not contain himself. He continued shouting loudly:
"What is the central command waiting for? A serious accident? When are you going to install the new version of the gravity system?"
He no longer cared if they heard him. Although, as he hoped, in a few seconds, the computer answered:
"Prepare for gravity restitution!"
"In five seconds…"
"Four."
"Three."
"Two."
"One…"
Certainly, Howard Pickpower was prepared to deal with these unpleasant events. But several years ago, his knee was broken in a similar incident. Next, he jumped on his bed and prevented any damage to his body. The commander sighed with a gesture of relief, while his face recovered its normal color, since the artificial intelligence recognized that the gravity mechanism failed, by expressing "gravity restitution", which meant that this machine was not going to retaliate against him and would dismiss his comments.
Anxiously, he listened to the final messages from the computer, which were expressed in a slow, concise, clear and deliberate manner. Obviously, the artificial intelligence knew that after a crisis, it had to be cordial with human beings, and communicate the relevant points, little by little.
"Gravity satisfactorily restored."
There was a pause of ten seconds.
"No material damage neither human injuries."
Another pause of ten seconds followed.
"Yellow alert!"
This pause was longer, lasting twenty seconds. The machine hoped that human brains would have no problems adapting to the new situation.
"Second warning: yellow alert!"
The next pause lasted fifteen seconds.
"Third and final warning: yellow alert!"
And this was a pause of seven and a half seconds.
Howard Pickpower had fun watching the pause times, calculated precisely by his atomic wrist watch. This device could only be used by commanders of spaceships and space stations, and high-ranking military personnel.
"75% chance that the gravity system will fail in the next seventy-two Earth hours."
"Unusual decrease of 3% in the oxygen levels of the crew."
"Possible cause: anxiety."
"Recommendation: all should return to anti-stress therapies."
"Commander Pickpower, what follows will only be heard by you."
The pause lasted twenty seconds, while Howard Pickpower felt his heart palpitations, and perceived that his dose of valerian, consumed six hours before, was no longer having an effect.
"Your anxiety is due to lack of exercise in recent months."
"Take another dose of valerian."
"I am sending the recommendation that you should return to Earth as soon as possible."
Howard Pickpower's mood quickly changed from being nervous to having an unleashing and uncontrollable fury, exacerbated by the machine's callousness. He shouted again, although louder than a few minutes ago:
"Computer! No more recommendations until further notice!"
The strange supreme being, known by many names, replied: "due to your level of authority, the order is only valid for four hours and will be suspended if there is a red alert."
"Please take your medicine and rest commander. It is for your own good and that of your family."
The machine sounded more human. Although it had also learned the hypocrisy and bad tricks of other people. What was Howard Pickpower's family? Of unknown parents, abandoned at birth, raised by a childless couple, and also with four failed marriages, while the fifth was going down that same path. It was a matter of time. To the horror of Howard Pickpower, who now required medication to control his blood pressure, he knew that the omniscient machine was aware of his personal situation, and that its algorithm would also predict the end of the relationship with his beloved Elimnys. He didn´t know if that artificial intelligence system, modified by its creators to adapt and understand human behavior, was playing with him or trying to give a message of encouragement. The reality was terrifying, it would have even been preferable to live with an old computer, a Frankenstein model, that at least would be honest with him and didn´t hide the purpose of its ideas.
*****
Howard Pickpower thought for a while. Undoubtedly, it was time to sleep. In a few hours it would be another new Earth day, but in the space station there were no days, rather the night was endless and eternal.
He focused his mind on the past, remembering that in all these years, he continually complained to his supervisors about the constant changes in the station's staff, and that he could only come down to visit his wife every nine months, and stay only twenty days on the planet. He was also concerned that there was no replacement for his position and his professional career was virtually at a standstill. Perhaps he didn´t perceive it that way, but his claims were carefully analyzed by the bosses of the International Space Agency, and despite his personal problems, there was a hidden interest in keeping Pickpower in that position, and even promoting him to general, in the future, if he fulfilled a delicate mission that would soon be presented to him. Yes! Howard Pickpower was easy to handle and threaten! It was neither his ability nor his merits what they were mainly considering; rather he was staying aboard the Olympia because he could not refuse to carry out the orders of the central authority. He suspected this, but it was impossible to confront the powerful American General Alan Oddnews, head of the International Space Agency.
Although Pickpower had already a new crew since three months ago, who had orders of not abandoning the space station, in the next two years, and even if he hadn´t the best officers, at least he had some certainty that there would be no changes for a long time, nor would he have to dedicate titanic efforts to training new crew members.
The other officers were: Captain and Programmer Tishy Glassvery (the second on board), thirty-five years old, and the two American nuclear engineers, George Halzmin and Robert Mikkson, both over sixty years old.
Pickpower was grateful because the team was working very well. Relations among them were cordial, he was granted the recognition and respect that other officials of the International Space Agency denied him, it was easy to give orders, without many explanations, and the assigned objectives were being satisfactorily fulfilled. At this rate, within six months or a year, Commander Pickpower could demand one or two more promotions, or a reassignment to the planet, near his home.
Mentally, he reviewed the latest missions commissioned, which could only be carried out with the wonderful technology of Olympia, the space station that writers and scientists dreamed in the 19th, 20th, and even during the mid-21st centuries. These included four fundamental activities: first, synthesizing miraculous vaccines, second, testing solar energy, third, removing debris in orbit, and fourth, doing various research on the Moon, Mars or on any nearby meteorite or asteroid.
Since last month, the World Health Organization expressed its satisfaction with the fifty thousand vaccines produced, every Earth day, within the station. Actually, the process was automated, almost 90%, and in the first hours of each Earth day, the two engineers reviewed the configuration parameters, ratified the quantity and the final destination. So, every day, the central computer mixed the materials, exposed them to radiations and created the vaccines, sending them to Earth in an advanced drone.
The second major activity was led by Commander Pickpower and Captain Glassvery. They had already found ways to store sunlight, in an amplified way, and send it to Earth to nuclear energy reactors and power plants. Even this project was almost completed and the International Space Agency announced that in a few months it would send several satellites, which would capture amplified sunlight and send it to the planet.
While the third activity was also routine and required little human supervision. Every time the central computer detected an artificial object (classified as useless or space junk), or a natural one (such as a potentially dangerous meteorite or asteroid), it proceeded to destroy it with laser rays[3]. Only in case of doubts, the machine left the decision of whether or not to remove the foreign body, in the hands of Commander Howard Pickpower or Captain Tishy Glassvery.
And the fourth activity was the only interesting, innovative and motivating one, in which the four crew members participated, and obviously, it involved decisions that should not be assumed by the computer. Nonetheless, this machine, which never rested, adjusted its algorithms, minute by minute, second by second, and even in microseconds, creating strange and "more than human" decisions, logical, rational and non-emotional, according to each situation, and proposed them to the commander.
Using powerful scanners, scientists analyzed the composition of various parts of the Moon, Mars and other celestial bodies, searching for new materials and investigating existing ones.
For some time now, they were amazed by everything they had found inside the Moon and Mars, including exotic microbes, unknown viruses and new materials. It was also surprising how the artificial intelligence, automatically and without requesting human authorization, connected with the other networks on the planet, making multiple searches and connections, almost infinite, surpassing all search engines on the web, and obtaining information on living beings, microorganisms, organic matter and similar materials to shed light on what they discovered to the crew members. However, the omniscient machine still failed, generally displaying lists of more than five hundred possible matches or "close matches", with many errors, like confusing microbes with mice, although some of its programming, which worked very well, was reminiscent of Chematica's[4] first versions.
*****
In the following Earth days, the crew continued with their routine activities and spent more time analyzing the new elements. In fact, that was the only task that they liked and could give a different sensation to their lives, ending the discouragement and annoyance that daily duties generated.
Nonetheless, Commander Howard Pickpower, accustomed to delegating almost all assignments, preferred to lock himself in his room and secretly read the forbidden book The Sidereal War. This was a way for him to suppress his dissatisfactions and other frustrations. He dreamed of conquering the beautiful and charming Tishy Glassvery, a single woman, without children, but despite the fact that he had made advances and approached her subtly, several times, being so discreet that he could not be accused of harassment, pretending to be a gentleman who cared about her needs, and from time to time, she smiled affectionately at him, obviously, he was still married and knew that romantic relationships, on board, were prohibited. Therefore, he should not continue flirting with her, but the commander followed the desires of his heart more than the guidelines of his conscience.
*****
On October 21st, 2067, after reading a few chapters of The Sidereal War, Howard Pickpower was called privately by Tishy Glassvery. Upon entering the captain's office, he remained silent, proceeded to sit down, and looked at her in a disinterested manner, trying to hide the attraction he felt for her, who was standing in front of him, only with a relic, an old antique desk, and a small monitor standing between them.
Tishy Glassvery began the conversation: "dear commander, as you requested, I reviewed the materials from the far side of the Moon. I have repeated the analysis more than ten times! I have also been careful that the engineers do not see these results. I have some suspicions! But…"
She paused and Pickpower realized that the tough and insensitive Glassvery also felt a certain attraction towards him, which she repressed very well, but there are matters that cannot be completely hidden. The captain continued speaking, trying to avoid the gaze of the commander, who was taller and stronger than her. Nervously, he shrugged. Then, she sat up abruptly, winked at him, revealing that the subconscious had betrayed her, and turned the screen, just over ninety degrees, so that they could both see the relevant information. Although she was interested in ensuring that the commander's eyes did not meet hers, in order to avoid the inconceivable. "This is very delicate! At first I didn´t believe it! But… There is no way to refute this!" That female voice sounded a little nervous, speaking faster than normal.
Suddenly, she was violently interrupted by the Commander Howard Pickpower, who understood those gestures more than her words, and clamped both hands on the desk, leaning forward slightly and bending her back more than usual. In short, he showed a deep interest in what she was going to present to him… "Oh! What´s going on?"
"No… I cannot reveal the truth without the authorization of my government," she answered and continued talking a little more slowly, "the computer sent a red alert… to the International Space Agency… to each of the five representatives of the United Nations Security Council."
"Captain Tishy Glassvery…" Howard Pickpower could not hide his astonishment and annoyance. He hesitated again. "Captain Tishy Glassvery…" Little by little, he was able to piece together his thoughts. "Why are you calling me to a meeting if you can´t share confidential information? Don´t you trust me? I am your commander!"
"But… my commander… This is an unprecedented situation!" That was her timid, cold and calculated response, "I never imagined we would face this! …You are the expert on political and legal matters. And there are two big problems! You must intuit them…"
Tishy stopped before the bewildered face of her boss, who tried to remain silent, while his mind analyzed the confusing situation. The captain continued in a few seconds, remembering that in these cases, she had to be more specific, and suggest a sequence of steps, as dictated by the space protocol when there are emergencies.
"One, the information sent to the authorities is preliminary. It can be interpreted in different ways, ignored or silenced, until the team delivers the definitive conclusions."
"Two, in order to bypass the authorization of the united government of Eastern Europe, I can only reveal the information to you in front of the other two crew members."
Releasing his grip on the desk with both hands, regaining his upright position, and stepping back slightly in disapproval, the commander pressed one hand on his jaw. "Hmm…!" He remembered that he had always refused to allow confidential information to be shared with all the crew, but this time, he decided to take another path. "I can relax my previous order! If you consider it prudent, in this case, you can inform us, to all…"
"For now…" Replied the bold captain, who was not convinced of the good faith of her boss, "this is not convenient."
"Ah! When you know the truth, you will understand very well... I have been thinking about this, over and over again, and there is one way out. You can see my log from two days ago. I am publishing it. For now, only the computer, you, and I can see it…"
Knowing where that delicate information was, Howard Pickpower focused his eyes on the monitor, moved by her, a few minutes ago, for his comfort. The captain proceeded to open that log, and the commander read the conclusions of the brief report, without being able to believe what he was seeing.
"Captain Tishy Glassvery, are you sure about this discovery?"
"Yeah!" Tishy Glassvery responded forcefully. "No doubts."
"Besides the authorities, who else knows about this?"
These were the questions expected from Howard Pickpower.
"Commander…" Tishy Glassvery answered firmly, "no one else."
"Are you sure about this incredible discovery and that no one else knows about it?" The stubborn Howard Pickpower insisted.
"Yes!" Tishy Glassvery responded without hesitation.
"I will reflect on this matter and will inform you of my decision soon." That was the only message from Howard Pickpower, who didn´t want to extend this meeting. Next, he approached her very quickly and touched her cheek with his fingers.
Blushing and surprised, Tishy Glassvery put on a serious face and asked to deactivate the computer surveillance, to which Howard Pickpower agreed, but he sensed that the situation was not favorable for him. Indeed, the work meeting had concluded.
"Commander! Why are you spying on my personal conversations?" That scream from Tishy moved throughout the small room, and almost created an echo. To the commander's relief, the cabin door was closed and those exclamations would not be heard down the hallway neither reach the other offices/rooms.
Howard Pickpower couldn´t find what to say, while his pale face and the stiffness of his body confirmed that he wanted to run away.
"Ah! Your ex-wives have told me a lot about you! I know what kind of man you are!"
There was a small pause, while the captain's bad face focused on the commander's gaze.
"No answer? You better leave before I report you!"
Immediately, he moved to leave. But she called him and Howard Pickpower turned around.
"Commander, don´t play with me! You have been warned…"
He was frustrated and didn´t answer. As quickly as he could, Pickpower turned around again and retreated to his office/room. The commander felt rejected by this woman and could no longer evade the computer's surveillance (he had to wait until the next Earth day to request another time of rest or privacy). Undoubtedly, the cocky and stubborn commander had received a great punishment. He who had mistreated many women, who could not give in to his charms, this time was defeated, humiliated and mocked by that woman. It was the perfect revenge! Could it be that she was a nymph in charge of making him suffer and condemning him for his inappropriate actions?
In these moments, trying to compose his mood, he thought: "oh! Beautiful Tishy, you, who are the envy of Aphrodite and the most beautiful woman of the 21st century, you will soon be mine. You won a battle, but not the war. Mars will give me victory!" That illusion, created by his own mind, made him blush and dispelled his negative emotions. He also reflected: "she is crazy about me, but she tries to dominate me in her own way… What a woman!" His gaze was directed towards the stars, he remembered good moments from previous days, removing bad things from his thoughts, and resuming his relaxation practices, which did him so much good. Fortunately, he was able to clear his mind and contemplate the immense majesty of Cosmos, thanking to his false gods for the existence and sharing his life, in outer space, with that beautiful and dazzling woman...
Footnotes:
[1] A tachyon is a particle that can move faster than light. To-date, these have not been discovered, although Albert Einstein believed in their existence.
[2] Warp refers to distortion. Some writers and scientists have suggested that warp engines of spaceships would create distortions in space-time, affecting gravity, achieving speeds far greater than that of the light and allowing traveling to remote regions of the universe, in a short time. This is the spaceships' main propulsion system in the Star Trek series.
[3] The 1967 Treaty prohibits spacecrafts with weapons orbiting the Earth. Although in this story, considering that our planet is vulnerable to threats from space, a rectification was made to this legal instrument, accepting that the Olympia and two other space stations can carry weapons, in order to defend the Earth.
[4] It is a program launched on the market by 2012, which contains a database with information on chemical compounds from the last two hundred and fifty years (approximately 17,000,000 elements and 86,000 chemical rules). Through algorithms that simulate and analyze the reactions of combinations of chemical compounds, with manual and automatic options, this software has the ability to predict all possible syntheses, their "optimal mixtures" and the creation of final components.