Callisto 2.0, Susan English [i love reading .TXT] 📗
- Author: Susan English
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I kept my body still as she tapped her computer keypad.
“All done,” she said, opening the door.
I floated out, then sat back down on the stool.
Gamon was studying her screen. “Everything looks good here. You’re perfectly healthy. We’ll repeat the bioscans once every six months to verify everything is working properly.”
“Does this mean I won’t see you for another half a year?”
“Don’t count on it! It’s a small ship. I’m confident our paths will cross every once in a while.”
“I look forward to it.”
She tapped her keyboard a few more times. “Okay, you’re good to go.”
“Thank you, Gamon.”
She smiled at me. “You can call me Doc, everyone does.”
“Okay, Doc. It was a pleasure to meet you.” I looked back as I opened the door.
“And thanks for being so patient with me.”
“Don’t mention it. We’re all delighted that you’re part of the crew.”
Blood rushed to my face. Dang this light skin!
I was anxious to get to the lab, but first I made a detour to my quarters to grab my notebook and pen. As I made my way through the corridors to the lab module, I touched behind my ear.
“Hi, Annie.”
“Hello, Callisto.”
“I don’t need anything, I just wanted to say hello.”
“How nice.”
Disconnecting, I opened the door to the physics lab and went inside. Hadley was 58
working at her computer console. She looked up as the door closed behind me.
“Hey, Calli.” She pushed herself away from the console. “Let me show you your workstation.” She let me to the other side of the room, where there was another computer console and a desk and chair.
“I’ve been trying to place your accent,” I said.
When she reached the desk, she turned to me. “Oh? And what’s your best guess?”
“I want to say Norwegian, but it doesn’t exactly fit.”
She laughed. “You’re good! I’m from Iceland. Hardly anyone who isn’t from there can figure it out. But the Norwegian language is our closest linguistic relative, that and Faroese.”
“Faroese?” I cocked my head. “I’ve never heard of that.”
“It’s spoken in the Faroe Islands, an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean. Comes from Old Norse, same as Islandic.” She turned to the console. “Here, I’ll show you how to log into the system. Oh, did you already see Doc for your implant and physical evaluation?”
“Yeah, I just came from the clinic.”
“That means all you need to do is touch the computer screen with one of your fingers. Since you just had your physical, your biometrics are uploaded into the computer system. You can access programs and your files by voice, too, if you want.”
As I peered over her shoulder, she swiped the screen, which lit up, then tapped an icon and told me to touch it with my finger, which I did. I was logged in.
“You can also work in holographic 3D,” said Hadley.
“I’m familiar with this setup. We used the same software in the university.”
“Perfect. I’ll send you what I’ve been working on, and the results of my experiments with the negative energy production and confinement, so you can review everything.
Then when you’re ready, we can sit down and figure this warp bubble out once and for all.”
“If only it were that easy,” I said, smiling.
Hadley went back to her console, touched her keypad a few times, and my computer chirped. I perused the screen, and opened the folder that had just appeared, labeled
“warp.” Opening the first document, I scanned it quickly, then began to read.
Next thing I knew, Hadley was tapping me on the shoulder. “Would you like to go have lunch?” she asked.
I looked up at her, then back at the computer screen. It was already one p.m. “No, I’m okay.” My eyes slid back to the screen, apparently of their own volition. Hadley’s experimental results were astounding, and I wanted to learn more.
“Next time I’ll let you work. Since this is your first day in the lab, I want you to feel welcome.” She pushed her way toward the door. “I’ll bring something back and put it here on the conference table. If you get hungry, just help yourself. Oh, and there’s a dispenser for energy bars and water balls over there.” She pointed toward another wall.
“Sometimes I don’t leave the lab for days, except to exercise and sleep, though 59
occasionally I forgo the sleeping part, so with the dispenser, at least I don’t starve to death.” She laughed and opened the door. “By the way, the toilet is over there.” She pointed to the door across the hallway.
“Good to know, thanks.” I turned back to my computer screen, eager to keep reading.
Several hours later, I was still going over Hadley’s work. “Maybe it is that easy,” I said out loud.
“What? Did you say something?” asked Hadley.
I hadn’t even realized that she’d returned. “No, I mean, yes, sorry, I was talking to myself.” My heart rate quickened and sweat broke out on my forehead as I stared at the screen. Could it be true? Mopping my brow with my sleeve, I turned to a blank page in my notebook. But I’d already done the calculation a dozen times, with the same result.
An intense pressure in my bladder forced me to put down my pen. I went across the hall to the toilet, then hurried back, to continue reading and calculating.
Finally, I leaned back and rubbed my eyes, which felt bloodshot and raw, then looked at the time: eleven-thirty p.m. One look around the room showed me I was alone. I went to the conference table and picked up the bowl of food and water blobs Hadley had left for me so many hours ago. I hadn’t even exercised that day. Very bad. One day wouldn’t kill me, but I couldn’t let it happen again.
Sitting on the couch on the far side of the lab, I began to eat mechanically, my body on automatic pilot. The exhaustion was starting to weigh on my body, but my brain was going at light speed. I had never felt so close, almost as if it were possible to reach out and touch the warp bubble, it was so tangible in my mind. The food and water finished, I made my way to my room, and fell asleep the moment I zipped myself into the sleeping bag attached to my bed.
60
Early the next morning I went straight to the gym to work out, then, after another delightful shower, found my way to the dining room. Marta was sitting with two other women I didn’t know. She waved to me, so I took my bowl and pushed my way over to their table.
“Hi, Calli. This is Andrea, and Rika,” Marta said, gesturing toward the women sitting on either side of her.
I sat down, placing my bowl on the Velcro strip. “Nice to meet you both.”
“Welcome,” said Rika, smiling. She had a slim, athletic body and pale, almost translucent skin. Northern European descent, I guessed, Finnish, most likely.
“Thanks. Are you also engineers?”
“Yep, we’re the engineering team,” Andrea said.
Rika and Andrea were a study in contrasts. Andrea was short and heavyset, with nut-brown skin, Nubian nose, generous mouth, and her eyes were deep wells of liquid brown.
I opened my bowl and began to eat. Pancakes with what tasted like real maple syrup.
“Hadley told us you were in the lab all day yesterday. She said you were still working when she left at seven,” said Andrea. Her voice was deep and sonorous, and she had a way of dropping her ‘r’s. I guessed she was from the country of New England, Boston, most likely.
“Yeah, I completely lost track of time.”
“Easy to do.” Marta said, her expression serious.
“I was reviewing Hadley’s work, she’s a genius.”
“Yep, that she is,” said Andrea, with a trace of a smile.
I glanced around the dining room, searching for Hadley. Naomi was sitting with Izumi and Gamon. The other tables were empty. She was probably already in the lab.
Suddenly I couldn’t wait to get back to work, to talk to Hadley about her ideas, and mine, too. “I think I’ll take this to go.” I indicated my bowl of food with a nod.
Rika burst into laughter. “I recognize the signs. You’re inspired, and when the muse strikes, there’s no denying her. Go! Work! Solve problems!”
I laughed, too, happy to be surrounded by women who understood my passion.
When I got to our lab, Hadley was already there, sitting at her console. She looked up as I entered. “Hi, Calli.”
“Morning, Hadley. Hey, I have some ideas about your work, modifications based on my own research. I’d love to run them by you when you have time.”
Hadley’s face brightened, and she propelled herself over to the conference table. “I’m ready right now! I’ve been dying to sit down with another physicist and talk about all this.”
Leaving my food bowl on my desk, I joined her at the table. She touched the tabletop 61
which also served as a computer screen and opened a few documents and diagrams.
“Yes, this one!” I pointed to one of the documents, then scanned the table/screen, and found the folder of my work, dragging it over to us and touching the icon to display the contents. I found the file I was looking for and opened it, putting it next to Hadley’s.
We both leaned over to examine the documents.
Hadley took a sharp intake of breath. “It’s as if we were working together but on different pieces. This is unbelievable.”
I shifted in my chair, unable to sit still, my body vibrating with excitement. “Here’s where I had a block, with these calculations. The intensity of the energy density has to oscillate, to make the space inside the warp bubble less stiff and reduce the energy requirements, but I couldn’t figure out how best to modify the spatial frequency.” I enlarged the image
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