Read Online Orb by Gary Tarulli - Free Book Online Page A

a contributory factor to the affliction you are trying to describe. It is not a new phenomenon. After all, extrasolar missions have been preceded by three centuries of intrasolar spaceflights.”
    “New or not,” Kelly volunteered, “we cannot underestimate the psychological effect of losing every vestige of contact with family and friends. Whatever the cause, physical or psychological, stress levels onboard are likely to increase. I shouldn’t have to chase after
any
of you if you are experiencing a problem in this regard.” The admonition was deliberately phrased to be non-person-specific. Nevertheless, I thought I saw Melhaus’s features stiffen.
    “In the near term,” Kelly continued, “I want to see each of you, without exception, for a full exam. And I have a question for you, Larry.” (Now, undoubtedly, Melhaus tensed up, relaxing only after realizing the question posed to him was not to be of a personal nature.) “For the next eight days our exposure to artificial sunlight will be lessened, supplanted by the sunlight available on P5. How does that sunlight compare to Earth’s?”
    “Favorably,” Melhaus responded, “P5’s sun radiates a light that is—both in spectrum and intensity—more beneficial to human health. Blue, green, and yellow wavelengths of four hundred seventy to five hundred seventy nanometers predominate. The average intensity of surface sunlight as the planet reaches its perihelion is a relatively bright three hundred ten watts per meter squared.”
    “Thank you for that information,” Kelly said.
    Melhaus, avoiding what he believed to be useless discourse, failed to acknowledge the gratitude. Instead, he addressed me.
    “As to the idea prompting this conversation. First off, Mr. Lorenzo, your proposition should be identified as conjecture, not theory. Never a theory. A theory is formulated after careful observation and measurement. You’ve done no measurements and scant observation.”
    “You’re correct, Larry,” I replied, careful to keep any trace of irritation regarding his blunt manner out of my voice. I was grateful he appeared willing to give my non-theory consideration. “I should have been more careful with my choice of words.”
    “That being said,” he continued, “a well-designed study would entail submitting human subjects to conditions duplicating extrasolar spaceflight with subsequent administration of psychological tests on these same subjects. Barring that near impossibility, a more logical starting point is examination of those individuals who
have
left the solar system in order to determine if they experienced behavioral problems. A very rudimentary question follows: Excluding this crew, what information, if any, do you have on individuals that have been on extrasolar missions?”
    I hesitated a moment. “Not much,” I answered. I was being evasive, not sure if the information Thompson shared with me concerning the previous expedition was for general consumption.
    “Earlier today,” Thompson interjected, “I informed Kyle that I had gained the confidence of the prior mission commander. He alerted me to the inordinately high levels of stress, cause unknown, seen within himself and the members of his crew. That disclosure coincided with what I considered to be unusual attempts by the Agency to address stress on our mission.”
    “And you were going to notify the rest of the crew of this when?” Melhaus said in an accusatorial tone.
    “When I judged the need to know arose,” Thompson responded in an even voice. “Are you questioning that?”
    “And what prompted the release of information at this juncture?” Melhaus continued. His anger was building, but for the moment he was avoiding an overt challenge to Thompson’s authority.
    “An answer can be found in your recent deportment.”
    “I see,” said Melhaus, not at all satisfied. “Carefully phrased in what Kyle here would call a riddle.”
    “No, Larry, you’re way too intelligent to