Read Online Godlike Machines by Jonathan Strahan [Editor] - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jonathan Strahan [Editor]
Tags: Science-Fiction, Anthologies
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everything in the book. I know what that Progress can do, Dimitri. It isn’t an escape artist.”
“We do have the Soyuz,” I said.
“We need it to take us home. Anyway, the Soyuz isn’t rigged for remote control or sampling.”
“I wasn’t thinking of remote control. I was thinking, we fly the Soyuz all the way in. It’s the same size as the Progress, right? It has similar capabilities?”
“Give or take.” Her tone told me she wasn’t exactly signing up for my idea with enthusiasm. “And then what?”
“We reach the Progress, or get as close to it as we can without getting ourselves stuck. Then we EVA. It’s a micro-gravity environment so we should be able to move around without too much difficulty. It’ll be too risky to attempt to free the Progress, but there’s nothing to stop us transferring the artifacts. Plenty of room aboard the Soyuz, to bring them back to the Tereshkova.”
She breathed heavily, as if she’d just come off the exercise cycle. “This wasn’t planned for. This wasn’t in the book. No one ever mentioned going in with the Soyuz.”
“It was always an unstated option. Why do you think they sent us out here, Galenka? To operate the Progress in real-time? Part of the reason, certainly, but not all of it.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“It was, but now we’ve got a much clearer picture of what’s inside Shell 3. We can load in the Progress’s trajectory and follow it all the way in.”
“And if we damage the Soyuz? It’s a fiery ride home without it.”
“Why should we? We’ll be taking excellent care of it.”
“Because our lives will depend on it. You’ve become very courageous all of a sudden, Dimitri. Don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s not what I expected of you.”
“I’m not trying to be anyone’s hero. My blood’s running cold at the idea of flying the Soyuz into that thing. But I happen to know the way their minds work back in Baikonur.
They’ll have thought of the Soyuz option by now, realized that it’s feasible.”
“They won’t force us to do it, though.”
“No, that’s not how they operate. But if we don’t raise the possibility, if we don’t put it on the table, they’ll be very, very disappointed. More disappointed than they’ll already be at us for losing the robot.”
I watched her reflect on what I’d said. In this instance Galenka would have no option but to admit that my grasp of Baikonur politics was superior to hers. I had been a cosmonaut for much longer and I had seen how our superiors punished failings. The best you could hope for was incarceration. The worst was returning to your office to find a loaded revolver and a bottle of vodka.
“I hope you’re right about this, Dimitri. For both our sakes.”
“We have no choice,” I said. “Trust me, Galenka. Nothing that happens in the Matryoshka will be as bad as what they’d do to us for failing our country.”
An hour later we’d informed Baikonur of our decision. Two hours later we had their reply. I went to Yakov and told him what was going to happen.
“You can let me out now,” he said, through the bulkhead window.
“Not until we’re back.”
“You still don’t trust me?”
“It’s just not a risk we can afford to take.”
“Don’t leave me alone on the Tereshkova. I’d rather go with you than stay here on my own.”
“Not an option, I’m afraid. We need the extra space in the Soyuz. But I’m opening comms to your module. You’ll be able to talk to Baikonur, and you’ll be able to talk to us. You won’t feel out of touch.”
“I’m all right now,” Yakov said. “Please believe me. I had a bad turn, I got confused—but everything’s all right now.”
“I’m sorry.”
An hour after that, we were checking our suits and prepping the Soyuz for departure.
“I need bread,” Nesha says. “Let’s go for a walk.”
“In this weather?”
“I need bread. If I don’t go early, there’ll be none left.”
I peer through
“We do have the Soyuz,” I said.
“We need it to take us home. Anyway, the Soyuz isn’t rigged for remote control or sampling.”
“I wasn’t thinking of remote control. I was thinking, we fly the Soyuz all the way in. It’s the same size as the Progress, right? It has similar capabilities?”
“Give or take.” Her tone told me she wasn’t exactly signing up for my idea with enthusiasm. “And then what?”
“We reach the Progress, or get as close to it as we can without getting ourselves stuck. Then we EVA. It’s a micro-gravity environment so we should be able to move around without too much difficulty. It’ll be too risky to attempt to free the Progress, but there’s nothing to stop us transferring the artifacts. Plenty of room aboard the Soyuz, to bring them back to the Tereshkova.”
She breathed heavily, as if she’d just come off the exercise cycle. “This wasn’t planned for. This wasn’t in the book. No one ever mentioned going in with the Soyuz.”
“It was always an unstated option. Why do you think they sent us out here, Galenka? To operate the Progress in real-time? Part of the reason, certainly, but not all of it.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“It was, but now we’ve got a much clearer picture of what’s inside Shell 3. We can load in the Progress’s trajectory and follow it all the way in.”
“And if we damage the Soyuz? It’s a fiery ride home without it.”
“Why should we? We’ll be taking excellent care of it.”
“Because our lives will depend on it. You’ve become very courageous all of a sudden, Dimitri. Don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s not what I expected of you.”
“I’m not trying to be anyone’s hero. My blood’s running cold at the idea of flying the Soyuz into that thing. But I happen to know the way their minds work back in Baikonur.
They’ll have thought of the Soyuz option by now, realized that it’s feasible.”
“They won’t force us to do it, though.”
“No, that’s not how they operate. But if we don’t raise the possibility, if we don’t put it on the table, they’ll be very, very disappointed. More disappointed than they’ll already be at us for losing the robot.”
I watched her reflect on what I’d said. In this instance Galenka would have no option but to admit that my grasp of Baikonur politics was superior to hers. I had been a cosmonaut for much longer and I had seen how our superiors punished failings. The best you could hope for was incarceration. The worst was returning to your office to find a loaded revolver and a bottle of vodka.
“I hope you’re right about this, Dimitri. For both our sakes.”
“We have no choice,” I said. “Trust me, Galenka. Nothing that happens in the Matryoshka will be as bad as what they’d do to us for failing our country.”
An hour later we’d informed Baikonur of our decision. Two hours later we had their reply. I went to Yakov and told him what was going to happen.
“You can let me out now,” he said, through the bulkhead window.
“Not until we’re back.”
“You still don’t trust me?”
“It’s just not a risk we can afford to take.”
“Don’t leave me alone on the Tereshkova. I’d rather go with you than stay here on my own.”
“Not an option, I’m afraid. We need the extra space in the Soyuz. But I’m opening comms to your module. You’ll be able to talk to Baikonur, and you’ll be able to talk to us. You won’t feel out of touch.”
“I’m all right now,” Yakov said. “Please believe me. I had a bad turn, I got confused—but everything’s all right now.”
“I’m sorry.”
An hour after that, we were checking our suits and prepping the Soyuz for departure.
“I need bread,” Nesha says. “Let’s go for a walk.”
“In this weather?”
“I need bread. If I don’t go early, there’ll be none left.”
I peer through
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