The Orthogonal Galaxy (43 page)

“
Understood,” Paol
acknowledged the order.

“
Mr. Edwards,” said the
warden as he turned his attention to a young man standing to the
right of the prisoners. “I release these prisoners to the custody
of NASA.”

Edwards thanked the warden
and escorted the pair to a van, waiting to drive them to the
airport. As the pair left the prison building dressed in brand new
street clothes, Slater paused on the front steps in a dreamlike
state of wonder at his release.

“
What’s the deal with the
blue water, Paol?” Slater asked as they walked a few feet behind
Edwards. He continued to gaze around at the outside of the prison
and took in views which were new. He had not seen anything but the
same concrete walls, whether inside the prison cell, or outside in
the prison court. Trees, flowers, grass, cars and pedestrians
passing by… it all seemed so new.

“
It’s a little concoction
that was invented several years ago. It’s called a minimum security
beverage, or MSB.”

“
But what’s it
fo’?

“
It’s a cocktail of
chemicals—all FDA approved, I assure you—which will track any
individual in the USA.”

“
The devil, ya’
say.”

“
No, really. It works like
this. Each prisoner has a specific ratio of two different
chemicals. The combination of these chemicals will prevent the
passage of a high-frequency signal. Around the US, there are
transmitters which send a constantly-emitting variable-frequency
signal. That signal disperses until it reaches your body. The
chemicals in the blood stream will reflect the exact frequency
which is tuned to your chemical composition. It then bounces back
to the receiver, and based on the location of detection and the
time of flight, your exact location is calculated and mapped in
Knoxville. So, it’s like a tracking device which you can’t get rid
of no matter how hard you try.”

“
And it stays inside the
body fo’ three weeks?”

“
At least.”

“
And there’s them
transceivers placed all over the US?”

“
You got it.”

“
And they can cover the
whole country?”

“
Except for the
non-continental states.”

After a pause of
reflections with some low, quiet grunts, Slater spoke up. “What if
I get me a transfusion?”

Paol appreciated how
quickly this thought came to him. “Who’s going to do
that?”

“
Maybe I got me a friend
or uncle who’s a doctor.”

“
Well, what would happen
is that you would fade on the map, go blank, raise an alarm, and
have local law enforcement at the doctor’s office within minutes.
Your friend would either have to turn you in or spend time in jail
himself for aiding and abetting a criminal.”

“
Ok, but what if I decide
to hop on an airplane and fly outta the country?”

“
You have to register all
air travel. If you’re on a flight that you haven’t registered for,
your speed will become an alarm, the flight will be tracked by
radar, and the plane will be diverted to land in the States by
federal law enforcement jets. The bottom line is that there have
been thousands of petty criminals tracked this way. Instead of
being stuck inside of jails for months or years, they are able to
continue a semblance of a normal life. They can work, be with their
families, and as long as they keep themselves clean, they can serve
their sentence.

“
It was actually invented
to track cattle on open ranges. Ranchers would get an alarm if the
herd wandered towards the edge of the network and be able to track
and intercept cattle more quickly. Politicians dealing with prison
over-crowding realized that it could be used to track criminals
more cheaply, without the expense of putting them in
prisons.”

“
But, what if the criminal
goes back to his old behavior?” Blade asked.

“
Well, because they are
very trackable, it’s nearly impossible to get away with subsequent
crimes, because they can be tracked back to the scene of the crime,
and then they are taken back to jail. Some opponents claim that it
actually hurts crime, because people know that if they have a free
pass on small crimes, then they are more encouraged, because they
know that even if they’re caught, they can be back in society after
a conviction. There really isn’t a whole lot of data to back up the
claim, though.”

“
Right over here,
Gentlemen,” Edwards interrupted the conversation as they arrived at
the vehicle. Edwards took the driver’s seat, while Paol and Blade
went to either side of the back.

Before climbing in, Paol
looked over the top of the car at Blade as he opened his door. “I
know what you’re thinking, and I know you won’t do it.”

“
Do what?” Slater asked
raising an eyebrow curiously.

“
I know you’re not
planning on escaping, Blade.” He said with a wry smile.

“
Oh, really… and why
not?”

“
Frankly, you know that
the mission would abort, and I’d be sent back to prison. You
wouldn’t be able to live with the guilt. You should know that many
have tried to escape, but none have ever succeeded. Besides, I know
that you are a changed man. You want to give back to society and
repent for past doings. You wouldn’t be able to do that as a man in
hiding and on the run from the law.”

As the car engine started,
Blade shot back, “I wasn’t thinkin’ ‘bout doin’ it myself. I’m
worried ‘bout you doin’ it to me.” He smiled and ducked into the
back seat, leaving Paol standing with a mock expression of disdain
at the offense pronounced by his good friend.

“
So, Mr. Edwards, you work
fo’ NASA, then?” Blade asked the driver as the car pulled onto the
street.

“
Yes,” Edwards replied,
looking up into the rear view mirror. “By the way, call me
Physon.”

“
So, whatcha do fo’ NASA,
Mr. Ed—I mean Physon?” Blade pressed the conversation out of
excitement for his newfound freedom.

“
I am an engineer working
on your mission. I’ll be providing some of your training and
instruction regarding the details of the mission.”

“
Tell us all ‘bout the
mission.”

“
Well, frankly, we don’t
know all of the details just yet, but when we get to Houston,
you’ll be fully briefed on everything we know to date. There are a
couple of years ahead of us to get all of the details ironed out.
However, the gist of it is this. You get in a spaceship, you travel
to ZB-5344-P1, study its geography and any inhabitants that you
discover there, and return home to tell us all about
it.”

“
So this ZB… P1… is the
official name of the planet?” Paol interjected his question into
the conversation, growing curious about what lay ahead of
him.

“
Yes. Earth2 is its common
name among those of us here on Earth1, but it is the first planet
to be discovered around the star entered as ZB-5344 in the most
comprehensive Milky Way star database. Thus the official
designation is ZB-5344-P1.”

“
Hey, Physon—I got a
question,” Blade asked playfully. “How do we know that it’s Earth2?
Maybe we’re Earth2, and it’s Earth1?” A roar of laughter came from
the back seat. Paol shook his head at his partner’s easy
joviality.

As Physon looked again
into the rear view mirror, Paol felt obliged to explain. “You’ll
get used to it. He’s fond of laughing at his own jokes. It kind of
grows on you, and can be contagious sometimes. Even if it isn’t the
best joke in the world, I’ve come to appreciate how his laughter
made prison life a lot less gloomy.”

Physon nodded and replied,
“Well, Blade, we know that we’re Earth1, because we are light years
ahead of Earth2—literally.”

“
Whatcha mean?” Blade
asked inquisitively.

“
Well, everything we
observe here on Earth1 regarding Earth2 happened 27000 years ago,
so that just goes to prove that it is 27000 years behind us in
history.”

Blade’s distorted face
proved that he was weighing this comment. Maybe he wasn’t as smart
as he thought he was, considering that this remark from a trained
engineer seemed so ludicrous that it must instead have been
absolutely brilliant. Maybe Blade was over his head, but he felt to
rebut the comment anyway. “But that’s just because it takes light
27000 years to reach—” Blade stopped abruptly as Physon started to
snicker.

In between hearty fits of
laughter, Blade managed to admit, “Ah, ya’ got me, Mr. Physon—ya’
got me there.”

Paol nodded slowly. “I
told you so, Physon—the silly joking can be contagious when you’re
around this man.”

…

Paol and Blade sat alone
at an oblong table in a small conference room. Blinds were open to
reveal a large workspace, with occasional passersby, each engaged
in their workday tasks. Each of the recently released prisoners had
a notepad and pen in front of them emblazoned with the NASA logo,
as well as a beverage which Physon had retrieved for them after
they entered the room.

As he sipped his coffee,
Paol closed his eyes. “Ah, so much better than the stuff back at
the pen.”

Blade appeared indignant.
“Really? I’ve been cheated then,” he said as he sipped on his can
of coca-cola. “Mine tastes just the same.” He could barely finish
the comment before smiling and adding a spurt of choked
laughter.

Conversation was
suppressed, as each man was consumed in his own flurry of thoughts
due to the abrupt change of events in their lives. It would
certainly take some time to adjust now that they were no longer
confined to their small prison cell. With the muffled sound of an
occasional conversation taking place on the other side of the
window, and the ticking of an old analog clock—a tremendously
contrasting relic in this center of futuristic facility—the door to
the conference room swung open and a pair of individuals entered
the room.

Physon Edwards introduced
Paol and Blade to Vurim Gilroy as the program manager for the
Earth2 mission. Vurim took each hand and shook it warmly and
vigorously. “I’m thrilled to meet both of you. On behalf of NASA,
the United States of America, and indeed for every citizen of the
world, thank you for accepting such an exciting mission of
discovery.”

Gilroy invited his new
acquaintances to take a seat, as he and Physon took seats directly
opposite of them. Physon opened a notebook on the table, while his
boss laid down a thin manila folder on the table and folded his
hands on top of it.

“
Gentlemen,” he began
after taking a drink from his bottle of water. “We have a little
over five years to prepare you for this mission. Let me explain
first what the mission consists of, and then I’ll tell you how we
plan to get you ready for the task.

“
A spacecraft, called Star
Transport, is currently under development at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, California. This craft is a horizontal
take-off and landing vehicle, designed to require as little
facility as possible for launching and landing the spacecraft. It
requires no launch pads or lengthy runways. It has a
self-contained, highly-efficient, low-weight, and low-volume fuel
reservoir for anti-matter nuclear propulsion. Only due to recent
advances with sub-atomic replication were we able to generate the
type of propellant needed for such an engine. As such, there are no
external rocket boosters required as is the case with more
conventional rocket designs. This is imperative as it allows for
planet-hopping without requiring booster equipment on each planet.
Its five-engine design is capable of speeds at 0.1 Warp
currently.”

Paol, feeling overwhelmed
from this rapid-fire briefing glanced over to Blade, who was
copiously scribbling details down on his notepad. He looked as if
everything was making sense, and Paol figured that it probably was.
Here, the engineer was having a harder time keeping up with
spaceship construction than was the unschooled convict.

“
The spacecraft
is—um—cozy. There are just two main compartments; namely, the
cockpit, and the SAR chamber. All flight activities naturally take
place in the cockpit, with the pilot seated on the left and the
navigator on the right. Behind the cockpit is the main hatch for
entry and exit of the vehicle. The SAR chamber is required for
regeneration of all fuel, water, and nutrition. Waste is recycled
in order to increase the range of the spacecraft, but even so, the
engines are not 100% efficient—they do lose some heat and exhaust
that cannot be reclaimed by the SAR. The vehicle requires refueling
where raw materials can be obtained to reproduce the necessary
fuel.

“
Because of the immense
speeds that the craft will obtain, the entire skin of the craft
will be coated with a shield that will prevent a breach, by
avoiding or pulverizing any objects which gets hurled at the
vehicle. At the same time, this shield will allow the tail of the
comet to propel the vehicle at speeds of 27 KiloWarp—that’s around
eight billion meters per second. In other words, fast—so fast that
nobody can comprehend what it means to travel at these
speeds.”

Gilroy paused after this
description of the Star Transport allowing for questions to be
asked. Blade spoke up immediately.