The characters and situations of this fanfic are the property of Rumiko Takahashi and Arthur C. Clarke. They are used without permission. _______________________________________________________ J. Austin Wilde and Fission Park Press proudly present: 2001: Odyssey 1/2 Spacecraft U.S.S. Discovery, Nearing the planet Jupiter. December 23, 2001 CE National Council on Astronautics (NCA) Astronaut Ranma Saotome jogged leisurely along the circular track that was the centrifugal hub of Discovery’s habitation compartment. The hub spun perpendicular to Discover’s long axis to provide the simulation of gravity for the crew. Ranma had long since become used to the sight of consoles, lockers, chairs and other such furnishings hanging upside down over his head on the opposite side of the compartment. He had been aboard Discovery for almost two years now, even though most of it had been spent asleep. He neared the hibernaculums in his 30th circuit of the hub. Two of the five coffin shaped units were dark and silent. They were the two for himself and his partner, NCA Astronaut Ryoga Hibiki. The remaining three were in use. He stopped before them. The three hibernaculums had been loaded aboard Discovery just prior to the ships’ departure from lunar orbit. All three scientists (at least that was what Ranma was led to believe they were -there was something odd about this mission.) were already in hibernation. They weren’t due to awaken until the 25th of December. He had never met any of them. At least not awake. Over the last two months he and Ryoga had been thawed for the Jovian approach he had come to know each of the three faces very well. His fingers traced along the plate of high strength clear polycarbonate that served as a window for the coffin. Not that there was any need to look at them -HAL took care of monitoring their vitals on a continuing basis. it was more for the psychological needs of the person inside when they woke up. ‘Coffin Dreams’ were not uncommon experiences for those in the final stages of ‘thaw’, and to regain consciousness with nothing to look at but the inside of your coffin was sometimes enough to send an Astronaut off the deep end. The Russians had learned that early on during their first manned Mars probe. The first coffin’s stencil read “Tendo, Kasumi; NCA-95455A.” Kasumi was likely a pretty woman. Ranma wasn’t sure of the rest of her, but her face was lovely and kind looking. She looked very peaceful in her sleep. There was a bit more color in her face today, as they were slowly ‘thawing’ for their awakening in two days. The second coffin read “Tendo, Nabiki; NCA-95467C.” Nabiki also had a pretty face, with a short bob of mahogany hair that poked from the sensor studded hood they wore so HAL could monitor their EEG patterns. Nabiki slept like a rock, even in the final stages of thaw. Ranma knew this, because part of his and Ryoga’s ‘off duty’ time was spent reading and talking to the three in hibernation. Psych studies indicated that even in hibernation, the brain retained a moderate level of activity, and required stimuli for the sake of the subject’s mental health. For some reason recorded voices weren’t as effective as a living voice, and so Ranma and Ryoga alternated one-way conversations with their three charges. The last coffin’s stencil read “Tendo, Akane; NCA-95499A.” Akane was the prettiest in Ranma’s opinion, and he looked forward to seeing her up and about. She was probably a very energetic woman, as she was the most animated of the three in hibernation. (Granted this amounted to rolling onto her side or onto her back perhaps once every three days, but it was more than Kasumi or Nabiki ever did.) She also seemed to respond to Ranma’s voice when he spoke to her. “Hello Akane,” he said to her over a small microphone. Akane’s face moved ever so slightly into a smile at the sound of his voice. By tomorrow she might actually be able to move the corners of her mouth more than a half millimeter. She had a cute smile, subdued as it was. “Two more days and you’ll be awake,” he told her. “You should see how big Jupiter is in our telescopes. It’s amazing.” Akane shifted her eyes slightly. A glance at the display above her hibernaculum indicated that she was in Delta sleep. Soon she would be shifting back into a dreamstate. For a moment Ranma hoped she was dreaming of him. He looked at his watch. He was three minutes late in relieving Ryoga. The guy was probably steaming mad. All in all, Ryoga wasn’t a bad partner. He did his chores, performed his maintenance and administrative tasks efficiently, he even enjoyed martial arts -something Ranma himself indulged in. If there was one thing wrong with Ryoga it was his temper. He had a temper that was so bad that Ranma had no idea why the psych boys had ever cleared him for a long duration spaceflight. Ryoga was suited more to Earth- Luna hops, not the seven year hitch he had signed on for aboard Discovery. 2006... It was a long time away, even if most of it would be spent in the oblivion of deep hibernation awaiting the Discovery II to come and rescue them. “I’ve gotta go, I’m late to relieve Ryoga. Talk to you in twelve,” he told Akane. Again she seemed to move slightly at the sound of his voice. Ranma made his way to the center of the hub, to the revolving door that was the access to the rest of the ship. The rest of Discovery was in free-fall without the mighty fusion driven rockets that were the ship’s Main Engines on line. Their braking maneuver wasn’t scheduled for another six days, although the propellant tank warm-up procedures and gymbal cycling maintenance routines were already underway. They would perform a minor test burn tomorrow. Ryoga was not on the flight deck. Ranma expected that he would, as that was where he would relieve Ryoga. They had been doing this for two months now. It was so routine as to be reflex. “HAL, where is Ryoga?” Ranma asked the ship’s computer; a top of the line HAL-9000 unit built by Logic Memory Systems of Urbana, Illinois. HALs had an infallible track record for performance and speed. Ranma was glad a HAL unit had been selected as the ship’s AI. A pleasant voice replied. “Flight Officer Hibiki is in Number Two passageway inspecting a minor pressure leak in the atmosphere ducting.” **This was interesting.** “Anything serious?” Ranma asked. HAL replied again in a calm pleasant voice. “No, Ranma. The leak is very minute; my probability functions indicate a micrometeriod impact has occurred within the last seventy-two hours as the cause. Without corrective action we shall continue to enjoy a sufficient reserve of atmosphere for the duration of the flight plus 1.38 years.” “Then why is Ryoga bothering with it? The chances of him finding the leak are ridiculously small.” “Ryoga mentioned that he was bored. I offered to play a game of chess with him to keep him stimulated, but he refused,” HAL replied. There was almost a touch of disappointment in the AI’s voice. Ranma thought nothing of it. HAL was as much a part of the crew as Ryoga, sometimes even more so considering everything the computer was responsible for. HAL was quite capable of performing all duties should he and Ryoga be killed or incapacitated. Indeed, to keep the spark of manned spaceflight alive at the budget table, high profile missions like this one needed a living crew -even if they weren’t necessary. “Whatever,” Ranma sighed. “Could you tell him I’m ready to relieve him?” “Of course Ranma,” HAL replied. “Anything else going on?” HAL posted a few schedules and reports upon the six displays that served the flight deck console. Ranma looked them over, satisfied that all was well. Their propellant tank warm-up was getting a helping hand from the distant glow of Sol. If everything went according to plan, the great titanium globes filled with methane and ammonia would be warm enough for the heating and stirring units to maintain as Discovery passed into Jupiter’s shadow immediately prior to their deceleration and orbital insertion burns. “I have been informed of a personal transmission for you,” HAL announced. Ranma looked up at the display. “Oh yeah?” “The transmission is scheduled for the 24th of December at 02:25 UMT. It is to be from your parents.” Ranma nodded. “Merry Christmas -just before we go into Jupiter’s shadow.” “My thoughts as well. They would be unable to wish you Seasons Greetings on Christmas day.” Ranma sighed again. “I don’t mind talking to my folks, but out here you can hardly call it a conversation.” “I understand,” HAL soothed. “The time lag of 2.052 hours between transmissions is difficult for humans to conduct a conversation.” “You don’t have that problem I see,” Ranma observed. “That is not entirely true. As my processor functions are many times faster than the human brain, the span of two hours can seem much longer to me. Fortunately this has been accounted for, and I receive continuous telemetry feedback from the Earth to keep me occupied.” “And I get to work out and read books,” Ranma replied. “We must each seek out our own recreation as we can. It is unhealthy to remain occupied solely with one’s duties.” Ranma chuckled. “HAL, you’re trying to suck me into playing a game of chess with you.” HAL made his own equivalent of a chuckle. “Of course, Ranma. Would you like to be black or white this time?” “What difference does it make? You know I’m no good at this game.” “My analysis of previous games indicate that you have been improving along a steady curve of development. I predict that you will be able to win a game within the next three weeks. -Provided that you continue to play at least one game during each duty shift.” Ranma tapped the arm rest of his acceleration couch. “And if you keep your difficulty rating all the way at the bottom,” he added. “That was a factor I was unwilling to inform you of for the sake of your ego,” HAL admitted. “I’m used to getting trashed by you HAL, so don’t worry about my ego.” Ryoga appeared on the flight deck, his Velcro lined soles making a sighing sound as he tracked along the carpeted deck. “You ready to relieve me?” He asked. “Yeah, HAL’s already given me the skinny. How’s that leak by the way?” Ryoga shrugged. “Couldn’t find it,” he admitted. “It was just something to do.” “Pretty soon we’ll be so busy that you won’t have to worry about needing something to do. Once the scientists wake up, we’ll be serving them hand and foot for the next two months.” Ryoga nodded. “I guess so.” His face brightened. “You up for a sparring match tonight?” Ranma nodded. “After dinner and my tour of the ship, sure.” Ryoga signed over the watch to Ranma on a writeboard. “Great, see you then. I’m gonna go talk to the girl-sicles for my hour now” “Just an hour?” Ranma teased. “I think you spent an hour with just Akane by herself.” He grinned at Ryoga. “You wouldn’t happen to have a crush on her would you?” Ryoga began to redden. Ranma wasn’t sure if it was a blush or a temper tantrum coming on. “My logs indicate that NCA Astronaut Ranma Saotome has also spent an incongruously long period of therapy time with NCA Astronaut Akane Tendo during off-periods,” HAL informed them. “Perhaps this is a mutual attraction to her?” HAL wasn’t technically capable of humor. Nonetheless, there were times when it seemed like the AI had learned it. Both astronauts began to blush and make accusing faces at each other. Ryoga finally went aft. “Why’d ya have to say that?” Ranma asked HAL. “I was merely informing Ryoga,” HAL replied. “My point exactly! Why’d you tell him?” “It is my duty to keep both crew members informed of all goings on in the event one of you is killed or incapacitated,” HAL replied in an even tone of voice. “This doesn’t seem duty related to me,” Ranma sniffed. “Would you like to discuss this in greater detail, or would you prefer to end this discussion?” “End it please,” Ranma said evenly. “I’ve got a few things to take care of.” “As you wish,” HAL replied. A few seconds of silence passed. “I am reading an irregularity in the AE-35 unit.” Ranma looked up to the display again. “What kind of irregularity?” “My onboard diagnostic routines indicate that the AE-35 unit will fail within 48 hours. We shall be unable to maintain proper alignment of our long-range communications array with Earth after that time.” Ranma knew that all too well. The main array was always pointed directly at the Earth to maintain continuous contact with the NCA ground control. The AE-35 unit controlled the servos that positioned the dish shaped array and kept it constantly aligned as Discovery hurtled outward to the depths of the solar system. Without contact with Earth, Discovery would truly be alone in the void. If anything went wrong, Earth bound support would be impossible. The AE-35 units were built to the highest standards accordingly. They weren’t supposed to fail. But this was spaceflight, and things went wrong. They did have a spare AE-35 unit on board in the unlikely event the unit in use failed. The chances of two units failing were astronomical. “Shouldn’t be a problem,” Ranma said at length. “Go EVA and replace it.” “Of course,” HAL replied. “The procedure is very simple.” “Any ideas as to why it’s failing?” HAL was silent for a very long time. “It’s quite puzzling really. I’ve never seen anything quite like this before.” Ranma understood. HAL knew how reliable the AE-35s were supposed to be as well as he did. “Ryoga’s pod qualified. I guess we can schedule an EVA for tomorrow. We just need Control’s concurrence with our findings and have them clear the EVA.” “I have already informed Control of our condition,” HAL replied. Ranma smiled. “Efficient as always HAL.” HAL seemed not to hear him. -End of Teaser- Author’s notes: This is based loosely on Arthur C. Clarke’s “2001: A Space Odyssey.” However I am keeping Jupiter as the Discovery’s mission goal in agreement with the film. (They went to Saturn in the book.) Other than that, I’m sure you can guess what will happen, but don’t fall into the idea that I’m simply rehashing the story. It’s going to be a bit more complicated. Who says HAL has to be the only one to go nuts? Who says the three scientists in hibernation never get the chance to wake up? As for the Monolith, it is meaningless in this story, so don’t worry about it too much.