The Orthogonal Galaxy (52 page)

“
To be honest with you,
however, this is a mission without precedent. We have never
attempted anything like this in the history of man. We have invited
experts from professional astronomical and cosmological
organizations the world around to brainstorm, troubleshoot, and
review critical mission data. We have given this mission every
level of success, but there is no empirical data from which any
statistician could reasonable ascribe odds to its success. They can
make guesses about how reliable specific mission components may be,
but these are just that—guesses. And when you add guesses to
guesses, you get nothing but numbers from this community of experts
between 0% and 100% which are just that—guesses.

“
Now, I know that this
answer isn’t going to satisfy you or your readers, so let me tell
you a little about what I believe to be true. I believe that this
mission can succeed. If it does succeed, we will have gained
priceless scientific, cultural, and sociological knowledge. We will
learn more about the universe that we live in certainly more than
any other mission in our history. And isn’t that something we can
all agree on? Don’t we all desire to better understand this
universe in which we live. I truly believe that we do, and that I
have attempted to dedicate my life’s work to this
cause.”

After Landry studied a set
of facts on the clipboard he was holding, he continued. “Professor,
my data indicates that this mission will have spent at least $230
billion conservatively. Can you say that the gain will compensate
the discretionary loss of so much money?”

“
First, Mr. Landry, I
wouldn’t use the word loss, but rather investment. Second, I think
I already answered that question with the word ‘priceless’. You
really can’t put a price tag on learning, since knowledge isn’t
purchased or sold—it is earned. That said, we have invested
billions, and if the mission fails, then if nothing else, we will
learn from those losses, and then take another stab at it. I will
agree with you, Mr. Landry that money can be used to purchase goods
and services that we need as individuals, but does money really
mean anything in the grand purpose of the universe? I am no
philosopher, but my guess is that we will not take any of our money
with us when we depart this life. I do, however, strongly believe
that as we depart, any intelligence that we have obtained and
shared will be left to the inheritance of our children. They will
benefit much more from our knowledge than they will our
money.”

Landry refused to back
down, and grew impatient with Zimmer. “Yes or no, Professor. Do you
believe that this mission can fail?”

“
Absolutely, there is
chance for failure, but as I’ve stated, I believe there is a chance
for success. What we gain from the success is priceless—I
repeat—priceless. What we lose is money. But let’s not forget that
with every failed mission in life, comes learning in and of itself.
And that learning can be applied to increase the odds of success
the next time around.”

“
Professor!” barked the
irascible reporter. “We would lose more than money. We lose two
exceptional men. Does their lives not count for anything to
you?”

Zimmer stood and rebuked
Landry with calm yet vehement tones. “Mr. Landry, you have falsely
accused me of negligence of human life. The entire team have spoken
directly to both Mr. Joonter and Mr. Slater, and the risks—which
they have assumed of their own volition—have been accepted by both
individuals.”

Zimmer looked at both
astronauts, and each nodded affirmatively.

Backing down from that
angle, Landry asked “You mentioned that there would be a next time.
When you say that, I trust you are referring to the next time we
throw hundreds of billions at ST4, right?”

“
Throw, Mr. Landry? Is
that a synonym for the word lose that you used earlier? I think I
was clear that this is an investment of money, not a waste of
it.”

Raising his voice in
agitation, Landry began to border on dramatic. “Investment?! Why
not invest it in food for the hungry, shelter for the homeless?
Instead, you have chosen to ‘invest’ the money in the execution of
a pair of lowly criminals!”

“
Mr. Landry!” It was
Gilroy’s voice which objected. He launched himself out of his
chair, and buried his fists on the table as he leaned over to peer
hotly as the insolent behavior of the journalist. “That is enough.
You have gone beyond objective reporting in favor of setting
personal agenda, and even beyond that you have now slandered these
two astronauts. Your questioning is complete.”

The word ‘complete’ was
offered with irrefutable finality. Landry glared back at his
opponent, but eventually slinked into his seat, as the nearby
security detail took a couple of steps out of the darkened corner
of the room, prepared to pounce on anyone to whom Gilroy gave the
order. Gilroy sat down slowly, but refused to take his eyes off of
Landry, until the latter broke off the staring contest with an
awkward attempt to scribble notes on his clipboard.

Utter silence was broken
by a deep parched voice at the front of the room. “Dr. Gilroy, may
I say somethin’ to answer the question?” All eyes turned to Blade,
whose face was expressionless. Gilroy, not sure of whether Slater
would help the cause of the press conference or not, hesitantly
yielded to the request.

“
Mr. Landry, I don’t think
ya’ meant those words, and I suspect ya’ might regret havin’ said
‘em later. Fo’ yer benefit, I’ll just say that I assume these was
spoken in the heat of the moment. I do see where you’re goin’ with
the concerns over the financin’ of the mission, but let me allay
any and all concerns as to the motivation of my companion and me in
acceptin’ this mission. Neither of us was forced to do this, and
there was no premeditated decision by the government to seek a
couple of felons as lab rats in some super-warp experiment. Paol
made his decision in the presence of his lawyer, and I made my
decision in the presence of Paol. No government agent spoke to us
‘bout this opportunity until after the decision had already been
made.

“
What’s more, if you’re
worried ‘bout me takin’ this course of action just so I could break
outta the pen’, then let me just remind ya’ that I would be free of
my obligation to society in just under a year right now. Why would
anybody choose to go on a 12-year mission away from his home planet
when he’s just a year away from purchasin’ his freedom. It makes no
sense. So, let me say now, on the eve of my departure from Earth1,
I am not doin’ this fo’ any selfish purpose. I’m doin’ this fo’ the
good of mankind.

“
Let me say somethin’
‘bout my companion here too. While I have got to know Paol Joonter
in the last few years, I can tell you that this is a man who was
convicted of a crime he did not commit. He was setup, plain and
simple. I’ve talked to him in confidence, and I can assure you that
his sacrifice is great. What’s more is the sacrifice of his family.
They was not too terrible interested in the idea at first, and I
mean, who would be? They won’t see their husband and father fo’
twelve years! But in time, I saw ‘em change their attitude. They
went from consternation to utter pride. When they look at Paol,
they see a hero who is makin’ a tremendous sacrifice fer his
country and fo’ scientific discovery and progress—and he’s doin’ it
at great risk, as you point out, sir.

“
So, Mr. Landry, believe
whatcha will ‘bout this mission, and ‘bout the pair of us who’s
goin’ out there tomorrow. Paol and I know in our hearts the reasons
fer us doin’ this thing, and that’s enough fer us.”

After this speech, the
atmosphere was tense and electric, and all were glued to their
seats, except for one person, who stood slowly in the back and
began to slowly applaud this astronaut for his stirring words.
Kather Mirabelle was quickly joined by Joram, who propelled himself
out of his seat and began applauding even more loudly. Within
moments, all were on their feet, applauding with excited
anticipation for the mission. Landry alone remained seated, with a
glare that bored down on Blade. How dare this crude, uneducated man
best him in his attempts to spread his doctrine and gain more
disciples to his ridiculous cause?

…

The press conference had
been a success, even beyond Gilroy’s wishes. All of the major
television stations were broadcasting video clips, quotes, and
commentaries on the event, while Americans remained glued to their
television sets. Talk was animated and cheerful around the water
cooler at work, over the fence with neighbors, in shopping malls
with complete strangers.

“
Where did you get that
‘Paol and Blade’ T-shirt?”

“
I grabbed one of the last
ST3 bumper stickers on the store shelf just yesterday.”

“
OFFICE MEMO: Don’t stay
home to watch the launch! We’ll broadcast it live in our large
conference room.”

“
I heard the President is
going to meet with the astronauts in the morning to wish them
well.”

All were cheering for Paol
and Blade. There was so much support that the skeptics were
compelled to hold their peace until after the excitement wore off.
They figured that they’d get their chance after the spaceship
disappeared into the yellow beam. After a few weeks, life would be
back to normal, and they could again begin to sow their seeds of
discontent.

Carlton Zimmer’s research
trio thoroughly enjoyed being at the press conference. Excitement
and energy proliferated the room, but they were even more excited
for their next opportunity.

“
Blade, Paol, I’d like you
to meet some friends of mine.” Carlton Zimmer was beaming to make
the introductions, and had looked forward to doing so for years.
“This is Kather Mirabelle, Joram Anders, and Reyd Eastman—my
post-doc research students, who helped to discover the superluminal
comet, shortly after the Camp Mars incident.”

Hands were extended warmly
between the astronauts and students. Blade was the first to speak
after greetings had been fully exchanged. “I’m so pleased to meet
all of ya’. Thanks fo’ yer hard work in discoverin’ Earth2 and
makin’ this opportunity possible.”

“
You’re thanking us?” Kath
queried in stunned appreciation. “You two are making the hero’s
journey along with a tremendous sacrifice that few could ever step
up to.”

Paol stepped forward and
put a hand on Blade’s shoulder. “You know, Kath, I find that some
of the most important heroes in life are those unsung heroes who
never make the headlines. It is a shame that my partner and I
garner all of the attention from the media, when it is all because
of your efforts that we are even in this privileged position to
begin with.”

“
Excuse me, Mr. Joonter,”
Reyd interrupted softly.

“
Oh, you can call me
Paol.”

“
Paol, then—there’s
something I’ve been curious about.”

“
Go on,” Paol
smiled.

“
I’m a bit perplexed about
your attitude—actually both of your attitudes. Tomorrow, the two of
you leave on an extremely dangerous journey, ranging through
expanses of the galaxy that just a few years ago, nobody thought
ever to be possible. At best, you won’t see your family for a dozen
years, and at worst, you’ll suffer a horrendous death in the
expanses between stars, or maybe you actually reach Earth2, find it
to be hostile, and suffer death there, or the Star Transport fails
in one of a million ways leaving you to float endlessly through
space, or—”

Kath stabbed Reyd in the
ribs with her elbow. “Would you get on with the question? What are
you trying to do anyway—convince them to back down now just 24
hours before launch?”

Reyd blushed. “Sorry, I
didn’t mean—”

Blade laughed heartily at
the exchange between Kath and Reyd, while Paol simply gestured for
Reyd to proceed with the question.

“
Well, you say this is a
‘privileged position’. How have you formed such an
attitude?”

Paol tried to ease Reyd’s
embarrassment. “Thanks for asking, Reyd. It’s always good for me to
remind myself of my personal reason. Let me assure you that I’ve
thought through every horrible scenario that you have, and many
more than those. Further, let me state that the decision isn’t as
easy as I might let on with my language. Leaving my family behind
like this is a very, very difficult thing to do. But, I take
comfort in believing honestly that there is more purpose in a life
given in service to others. Sure, I could wait for my acquittal in
prison, and then return to the business sector and continue to
build products and earn profits, but how does that help my fellow
man? This is a fulfilling opportunity that I trust will give more
to the world than I otherwise could contribute. In short, this is
what will make my life meaningful.

“
That said, it is easy to
think that I am just doing this to save my own skin—meaning, I have
been convicted of a murder I did not commit, and this buys me time
for my name to be cleared. However, it is harder to make a case for
my friend here. When the opportunity was presented to him, he
scoffed at it—didn’t even give it a thought before saying it was
crazy. He did the numbers, he knew that he would probably be out of
prison before the spaceship even left the ground. He might have his
freedom today on parole. But, in the end, he could sense what a big
opportunity this was for this country, indeed this
world.”