Read Online The Omega Project by Steve Alten - Free Book Online Page A

mission as a potential replacement on the Europa voyage without causing suspicion, but who also had the experience to diagnose a possible psychological disorder.”
    My uncle, curse him, smiled at me. “Congratulations.”
    “Who … me? Exactly how did I make GOLEM’s backup list? I’m no astronaut.”
    “Neither are most of these other scientists. You were, however, the man who developed GOLEM’s biological software, and you did graduate with a dual major in psychology.”
    “No, I didn’t.”
    The VP’s assistant winked. “We sort of fudged that one. Fortunately, the computer bought it. You’ll join the crew aboard Oceanus in two days. Once you submerge, you’ll have two weeks to evaluate GOLEM for a potential closed-logic loop, or determine whether DeFriend or any of the others purposely sabotaged the helium-3 results on the moon.”
    “Two weeks? I thought you said the training mission would last six weeks.”
    “The Antarctic mission is six weeks,” the annoying woman said. “The last four weeks you’ll be asleep.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “The journey out to Jupiter’s moon will take thirteen months. That presents a few challenges. Exposure to zero gravity over such a prolonged period of time can result in a serious loss of bone density and muscle mass among the crew. Because all available storage space aboard the solar shuttle must be relegated to transporting the Oceanus habitat, the voyage out will also be quite cramped. Cosmonaut and astronaut training programs showed that the psychological effects of being kept in a confined space caused bouts of depression that divided the crew and led to physical confrontations. It won’t be so bad aboard Oceanus once gravity returns, but the voyage out to Europa and back is especially risky. GOLEM’s solution was to place all twelve astronauts in cryogenic suspension. This will not only remove the physical and mental duress of the trip, but will also save fuel related to not having to transport thirteen months worth of food and water.”
    “Cryogenic suspension? Yeah, I can see how that makes sense. I just hope for the crew’s sake it isn’t the same freezing technique used by those life extension foundations thirty years ago. Didn’t one of them freeze Ted Williams’s head?”
    “That was an entirely different process, used specifically to deep-freeze recently deceased patients so they could be revived at a future date—assuming their disease had been cured by then. Using cryogenic suspension—cold sleep—on healthy, living humans is not only safe and proven, but fairly simple. After receiving a series of injections designed to internally nourish and preserve the body’s vital organs, the crewman or woman is sedated, then secured in a cryogenic pod filled with a gel composed of tetrodotoxin. The subject neither ages nor feels a thing, their mind simply slips into a deep hypnotic state—a new type of ultra-slow brain-wave activity now officially classified as ‘Omega waves.’ The thawing process includes a series of minor electrical shocks and, in a worst-case scenario, an injection of epinephrine directly into the heart. I’m told the hibernation process is quite soothing, like taking a long nap.”
    Uncle David squeezed my arm as if giving advice to the bar mitzvah boy. “Omega’s training exercise will conclude with the crew being placed in cryogenic stasis for thirty days. GOLEM will control the entire process, maintaining the cryogenic pods within a sealed chamber aboard Oceanus . There will be a thirteenth pod rigged outside of the cryogenic chamber outside of GOLEM’s control … for you.”
    “General, you can’t be serious.”
    “It’s the only way. You have to convince GOLEM that you’re preparing in earnest to take over for the crewman in question. If the computer suspects otherwise, who knows how it will react.”
    “With all due respect, there’s no way in hell I’m climbing into a cryogenic pod so