Analog, September 2002 by Dell Magazines

Author:Dell Magazines
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction/Fantasy
Publisher: www.Fictionwise.com
Published: 2001-03-09T22:00:00+00:00

Far from the Emerald Isle by James Van Pelt

When a system is big enough and complex enough, it's hard to know everything happening in it....

[Back to Table of Contents]

Dragging an equipment pack, Delaney crawled her way between The Redeemer's slick inner wall and the rough-textured outer shell. Her tall, broad-shouldered rugby player's build wasn't the best choice for this errand. She envied the slight-figured Sierra who followed. Delaney's back scraped against the metal again, and she opened her mouth in exclamation, but bit the sound short. A dark shape moved in the claustrophobic darkness just beyond her headlamp. She held her breath until it moved closer into the light. A maintenance bot scuttled away on its regular rounds.

She relaxed and said over her shoulder, “By my calculations, we should be dead.” Her light illuminated the squeezed path before her like a broad but very low mineshaft. The air smelled stale and metallic. She thought about gremlins and dwarves, tommyknockers and leprechauns. This would be the place they would like, walking unseen below the ark-ship crew's world, causing trouble. She grinned at the idea, but only for an instant; the gray hull's interior absorbed light, accepted no shadows, and it hurt her hands to crawl on it. Next time I'll bring gloves and knee pads, she thought.

Sierra, a few feet back, grunted in acknowledgment. “But we're not dead. That doesn't mean there was anything extraordinary.”

Delaney checked a monitor mounted on her wrist. They had inched close to where her calculations said there should be an impact crack. “That's what's a-troubling me. I've said from the beginning they made a mistake crewing these ships. Too homogeneous. All this scientific expertise creates blind spots. We assume every occurrence has a rational explanation and that's not sensible. Sucks the grand wonder out of living. Strange events have happened on this ship indeed. Sounds behind the walls. Tools moved. Meals missing. Remember when Yamashita lost his glasses? Couldn't find them for a week, and there they were, in the middle of his desk.” She scooted forward ten more feet. Naturally, the stressed area would be centered between two access panels. “Aye, remember the rainbow on the day we took off? I see it as a sign, and it's a terrible pity that when I point it out to you, you give me a lecture on light and refraction. They provided racial and ethnic diversity, but not much diversity of thought.”

“The problem is you're homesick, Irish girl.”

“It's not homesickness. It's just our lives are so ... so ... planned. Even our genetics. When we get to Zeta Reticuli, the computer will control our breeding, screen our genes, manipulate them to fit the environment, and twitch and tweak us to keep us healthy. It has mission control. God only knows what all it's up to. We're letting the computer make autonomous decisions. I just think being human means accepting a bit of chance in our lives and staying open to wonder.”

Sierra said, “Chance and wonder gave us the mutagen and drove us off Earth.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.