The Andromeda Strain - Crichton Michael - Страница 21

And if there were organisms out there, and if they had departed from the baking crust of the earth long before the first men appeared, then they would be foreign to man. No immunity, no adaptation, no antibodies would have been developed. They would be primitive aliens to modern man, in the same way that the shark, a primitive fish unchanged for a hundred million years, was alien and dangerous to modern man, invading the oceans for the first time.

The third source of contamination, the third of the vectors, was at the same time the most likely and the most troublesome. This was contemporary earth organisms, taken into space by inadequately sterilized spacecraft. Once in space, the organisms would be exposed to harsh radiation, weightlessness, and other environmental forces that might exert a mutagenic effect, altering the organisms.

So that when they came down, they would be different.

Take up a harmless bacteria- such as the organism that causes pimples, or sore throats- and bring it back in a new form, virulent and unexpected. It might do anything. It might show a preference for the aqueous humor of the inner eye, and invade the eyeball. It might thrive on the acid secretions of the stomach. It might multiply on the small currents of electricity afforded by the human brain itself, drive men mad.

This whole idea of mutated bacteria seemed farfetched and unlikely to the Wildfire people. It is ironic that this should be the case, particularly in view of what happened to the Andromeda Strain. But the Wildfire team staunchly ignored both the evidence of their own experience- that bacteria mutate rapidly and radically- and the evidence of the Biosatellite tests, in which a series of earth forms were sent into space and later recovered.

Biosatellite II contained, among other things, several species of bacteria. It was later reported that the bacteria had reproduced at a rate twenty to thirty times normal. The reasons were still unclear, but the results unequivocal: space could affect reproduction and growth.

And yet no one in Wildfire paid attention to this fact, until it was too late.

Stone reviewed the information quickly, then handed each of them a cardboard file. "These files," he said, "contain a transcript of autoclock records of the entire flight of Scoop VII. Our purpose in reviewing the transcript is to determine, if possible, what happened to the satellite while it was in orbit."

Hall said, "Something happened to it?"

Leavitt explained. "The satellite was scheduled for a six-day orbit, since the probability of collecting organisms is proportional to time in orbit. After launch, it was in stable orbit. Then, on the second day, it went out of orbit.

Hall nodded.

"Start," Stone said, "with the first page."

Hall opened his file.

  AUTOCLOCK TRANSCRIPT

PROJECT: SCOOP VII

LAUNCHDATE:

 ABRIDGED VERSION. FULL TRANSCRIPT

STORED VAULTS 179-99,

VDBG COMPLEX EPSILON.

HOURS MIN SEC PROCEDURE

T MINUS TIME

0002 01 05 Vandenberg Launch pad Block 9, Scoop Mission Control, reports systems check on schedule.

0001 39 52 Scoop MC holds for fuel check reported from Ground Control.

 STOP CLOCK STOP CLOCK. REALTIME LOSS 12 MINUTES.

0001 39 52 Count resumed. Clock corrected.

0000 41 12 Scoop MC holds 20 seconds for Launch pad Block 9 check. Clock not stopped for built-in hold.

000030 00 Gantry removed.

000024 00 Final craft systems check.

000019 00 Final capsule systems check.

000013 00 Final systems checks read as negative.

000007 12 Cable decoupling.

000001 07 Stat-link decoupling.

000000 05 Ignition.

000000 04 Launch pad Block 9 clears all systems.

000000 00 Core clamps released. Launch.

 T PLUS TIME

000000 06 Stable. Speed 6 fps. Smooth EV approach.

000000 09 Tracking reported.

000000 11 Tracking confirmed.

000000 27 Capsule monitors at g 1.9. Equipment check clear.

0000 01 00 Launch pad Block 9 clears rocket and capsule systems for orbit.

"No point in dwelling on this," Stone said. "It is the record of a perfect launch. There is nothing here, in fact, nothing for the next ninety-six hours of flight, to indicate any difficulty on board the spacecraft. Now turn to page 10."

They all turned.

  TRACK TRANSCRIPT CONT'D  

 SCOOP VII

LAUNCHDATE:

 ABRIDGED VERSION

 HOURS MIN SEC PROCEDURE

10 12 Orbital check stable as reported by Grand Bahama Station.

009634 19 Orbital check stable as reported by Sydney.

009647 34 Orbital check stable as reported by Vdbg.

0097 04 12 Orbital check stable but system malfunction reported by Kennedy Station.

0097 05 18 Malfunction confirmed.

0097 07 22 Malfunction confirmed by Grand Bahama. Computer reports orbital instability.

0097 34 54 Sydney reports orbital instability.

0097 39 02 Vandenberg computations indicate orbital decay.

0098 27 14 Vandenberg Scoop Mission Control orders radio reentry.

009912 56 Reentry code transmitted.

0099 13 13 Houston reports initiation of reentry. Stabilized flight path.

"What about voice communication during the critical period?"

"There were linkups between Sydney, Kennedy, and Grand Bahama, all routed through Houston. Houston had the big computer as well. But in this instance, Houston was just helping out; all decisions came from Scoop Mission Control in Vandenberg. We have the voice communication at the back of the file. It's quite revealing."

TRANSCRIPT OF VOICE COMMUNICATIONS SCOOP MISSION CONTROL VANDENBERG AFB HOURS 0096:59 TO 0097:39

  THIS IS A CLASSIFIED TRANSCRIPT.

 IT HAS NOT BEEN ABRIDGED OR EDITED.

 HOURS MIN SEC COMMUNICATION

0096 59 00 HELLO KENNEDY THIS IS SCOOP MISSION CONTROL. AT THE END OF 96 HOURS OF FLIGHT TIME WE HAVE STABLE ORBITS FROM ALL STATIONS. DO YOU CONFIRM.

0097 00 00 1 think we do, Scoop. Our check is going through now. Hold this line open for a few minutes, fellows.

0097 03 31 Hello, Scoop MC. This is Kennedy. We have a stable orbit confirmation for you on the last passby. Sorry about the delay but there is an instrument snag somewhere here.

  0097 03 34 KENNEDY PLEASE CLARIFY. IS YOUR SNAG ON THE GROUND OR ALOFT.

0097 03 39 I am sorry we have no tracer yet. We think it is on the ground.

0097 04 12 Hello, Scoop MC. This is Kennedy. We have a preliminary report of system malfunction aboard your spacecraft. Repeat we have a preliminary report of malfunction in the air. Awaiting confirmation.

0097 04 15 KENNEDY PLEASE CLARIFY SYSTEM INVOLVED.

0097 04 18 I'm sorry they haven't given me that. I assume they are waiting for final confirmation of the malfunction.

0097 04 21 DOES YOUR ORBITAL CHECK AS STABLE STILL-HOLD.

0097 04 22 Vandenberg, we have confirmed your orbital check as stable. Repeat the orbit is stable.

0097 05 18 Ah, Vandenberg, I am afraid we also confirm readings consistent with system malfunction on board your spacecraft. These include the stationary rotor elements and spanner units going to mark twelve. I repeat mark twelve.

0097 05 30 HAVE YOU RUN CONSISTENCY CHECK ON YOUR COMPUTERS.

0097 05 35 Sorry fellows but our computers check out. We read it as a real malfunction.

0097 05 45 HELLO, HOUSTON. OPEN THE LINE TO SYDNEY, WILL YOU. WE WANT CONFIRMATION OF DATA.

0097 05 51 Scoop Mission Control, This is Sydney Station. We confirm our last reading. There was nothing wrong with the spacecraft on its last passby here.

0097 06 12 OUR COMPUTER CHECK INDICATES NO SYSTEMS MALFUNCTION AND GOOD ORBITAL STABILITY ON SUMMATED DATA. WE QUESTION KENNEDY GROUND INSTRUMENT FAILURE.

0097 06 18 This is Kennedy, Scoop MC. We have run repeat checkouts at this end. Our reading of system malfunction remains. Have you got something from Bahama.

0097 06 23 NEGATIVE, KENNEDY. STANDING BY.

0097 06 36 HOUSTON, THIS IS SCOOP MC. CAN YOUR PROJECTION GROUP GIVE US ANYTHING.

0097 06 46 Scoop, at this time we cannot. Our computers have insufficient data. They still read stable orbit with all systems going.

0097 07 22 Scoop MC, this is Grand Bahama Station. We report passby of your craft Scoop Seven according to schedule. Preliminary radar fixes were normal with question of increased transit times. Please hold for systems telemetry.

0097 07 25 HOLDING, GRAND BAHAMA.

0097 07 29 Scoop MC, we are sorry to say we confirm Kennedy observations, Repeat, we confirm Kennedy observations of systems malfunction. Our data are on the trunk to Houston. Can they be routed to you as well. station.

0097 07 34 NO, WE WILL WAIT FOR HOUSTON'S PRINTOUT. THEY HAVE LARGER PREDICTIVE BANKING UNITS.

0097 07 36 Scoop MC, Houston has the Bahama Data. It is going through the Dispar Program. Give us ten seconds.

0097 07 47 Scoop MC, this is Houston. The Dispar Program confirms systems malfunction. Your vehicle is now in unstable orbit with increased transit time of zero point three seconds per unit of arc. We are analyzing orbital parameters at this time. Is there anything further you wish as interpreted data.

0097 07 59 NO, HOUSTON. SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE DOING BEAUTIFULLY.

0097 08 10 Sorry, Scoop. Bad break.

0097 08 18 GET US THE DECAY RATIOS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. COMMAND WISHES TO MAKE A DECISION ON INSTRUMENTATION TAKEDOWN WITHIN THE NEXT TWO ORBITS.

0097 08 32 Understand, Scoop. Our condolences here.

0097 11 35 Scoop, Houston Projection Group has confirmed orbital instability and decay ratios are now being passed by the data trunk to your station.

0097 11 44 HOW DO THEY LOOK, HOUSTON.

0097 11 51 Bad.

0097 11 59 NOT UNDERSTOOD. PLEASE REPEAT.

0097 12 07 Bad: B as in broken, A as in awful, D as in dropping.

0097 12 15 HOUSTON, DO YOU HAVE A CAUSATION. THAT SATELLITE HAS BEEN IN EXCELLENT ORBIT FOR NEARLY ONE HUNDRED HOURS. WHAT HAPPENED TO IT.