Panspermia Deorum (28 page)

“Actually,
Sophie, I think it’s a fantastic idea. I’m totally lost for words.
I could never have predicted you would be prepared to forego your
return to your passion in the arts world to take on such a selfless
challenge. When you pitch your idea to dad, you can tell him I’m
one hundred percent behind you. I’ve always loved you, sis, but I
haven’t always liked you, if that makes sense. Anyway, it looks
like those days are gone, just go for it. Look, I’m sorry that I
have to leave now, I would like to hear more of how you see this
recovery wing being set up. Maybe I can when you and Reuben have
cleared this with dad.”

She shed a few
tears of joy as her brother was leaving, and the poignant moment
prevailed for some time. She had never experienced such tangible
closeness with her brother before.

*

Kolorov was
still unconscious, but the scans had not detected any bleeding in
his brain. There was some concern over the slight swelling within
the cavity and this was being addressed with some urgency.

“Alexei, I
don’t know what got into me, well that’s not entirely true, I
reacted to the feeling that he was screwing with me yet again. So,
what can we expect next?”

“It is hard to
say, because the consultant never gives too much away. You should
speak with him, after all, he bloody well works for you. I have got
to admit I have mixed feelings. Ivan has always had a tendency to
shit on people, sometimes just because he can. Until I took the
blame for his latest misdemeanour, I fooled myself into thinking I
would never be on the receiving end of his deceit, simply because I
cleaned up his shit for years. I can understand why you lost it
with him, Julien, he was biting the helping hand which you offered
him. If I’m honest, I wonder if it would not be better for him to
just drift away.”

“That’s exactly
how I felt. However, Sergei Kaputin did have a difficult job
explaining his secret remit, but it has forced me to change my
mind. Sergei is nothing short of a nervous wreck working for
Kolorov, but he is honest about the pressure he was under and
consequently revealed a serious problem. It would still have been a
problem if Kolorov was conscious, but it becomes a real
game-changer if he doesn’t recover.”

“I cannot
follow you, maybe it is my English?”

“No, your
English is fine, Alexei. It’s Kolorov, he’s the only person who
knows the launch and detonation codes for the missiles.”

“Are you
serious?”

“Of course, I
wouldn’t joke about something like that.”

Bondarenko
laughed out loud.

“Relax, Julien.
Remember, I am an IT expert. I know how these codes are constructed
and how they can be cracked. But in this case maybe we don’t need
to do that. We can just replace the hardware and embed our own
codes. When are the missiles supposed to be ready?”

“They already
are, according to Kaputin.”

“What? Oh, well
that is a pisser. It means we have to be extremely careful when
disconnecting the engineering interfaces. When did you want to
launch them?”

“Pretty much as
soon as we can. I want to keep our own fleet as a second strike
force. In any case, we can’t wait too long because we have to get
them to confront the rock just inside the asteroid belt. You can do
the maths once Kaputin gives us the data on the velocity capability
of this new propulsion system.”

“What new
propulsion system?”

“No idea, he
just said that Kolorov took care of that, supposedly because that’s
his speciality.”

“I find that
hard to believe. He is a propulsion guru, but simply a theorist,
not a hands on guy. I should speak with Kaputin in Russian, there
must have been an army of technicians who know how the propulsion
system works. Ivan could never have kept this a secret. Let’s get
Kaputin in here immediately.”

“But, both you
and Kolorov wanted to avoid having to meet with him.”

“I know, any
contact with Russia is risky, Soyuz in particular, but this is
really important. Kaputin has never met me, he was recruited after
I tried to disappear. Just introduce me as your interpreter, to
make sure there is no semantic misunderstanding when we ask him to
get the drawings sent here by his chief technician. I do not want
to go there, but I still have contacts who can comment on the
design, and the propulsion system drawings, unless you want your
own people to look them over. How do you want to play this?”

“Well, at this
stage, I’d prefer to keep any revolutionary propulsion technology
in house. Ok, let’s get Kaputin in here.”

O
ut in the echoless vastness, the world of the unknown
carried on with supreme indifference. Cataclysmic events were the
stuff of both destruction and creation. Cosmic equations and their
relevance or invalidity were of no consequence to the asteroid, or
any other form of matter in the universe. But that did not rule out
change, whether or not they were predicted by the very same
equations.

The Chilean
probe forwarded one such change, one of immense interest. A clear
pattern had emerged. The invisible umbilical between the asteroid
and the detached cometary body was lengthening. The reason was not
obvious at first, but further filtration of the images indicated
that the cracks in the parent were ever so slightly wider. It was
therefore postulated that the matter which was pouring out from the
cracks, whether gaseous or granular, was conferring power to the
tail. Even minute alterations of this nature would make it
increasingly difficult for the infant to keep up. There was
apparently no divergence of course of the struggling fragment; it
was simply undergoing diminishing gravity from its mother. Enter
the cosmologists. A whole new set of equations were required to
predict if and when the parent would orphan the child. Such
estimates were felt to be important, even if the purveyors were
denuded of some of the variables, such as very accurate but uneven
composition. Handicaps of this nature had never deterred the
self-proclaimed experts, they would have to work out all
combinations and permutations. Another complexity for VB Aerospace
to digest.

*

As Sophie
strolled through the grounds of their estate, she caught sight of
her mum and Geraldine beavering away with garden implements. When
she was within earshot of their conversation, she began to wonder
if she should retreat. Elise caught sight of her and beckoned her
to come closer.

“Hello,
darling. Maybe you can settle this little disagreement we’re
having. Geraldine favours stone planters to define this section of
the shrubbery, but I was leaning more towards box hedging. What do
you think?”

“Actually, Mum,
I was about to ask you and Geraldine about an idea I had. I’d
temporarily forgotten about the passion you both have for
landscaping. Anyway, as a sculptor of no repute, I suppose I would
go with the stone planters.”

“You would?
Well, perhaps you’re right. So, what is this idea you wanted to
tell us about?”

“Perhaps it’s a
bit premature, and you’ve got your hands full with horticulture. It
would be selfish of me to try to rope you both into some fanciful
project of mine. Another time might be better.”

“Well, you can
at least tell us what it is,” said Geraldine, “we do this
landscaping as therapy really. It helps to keep us fit, and make a
difference. Your dad and your brother work so hard, and so have you
on the building projects, which are for the benefit of all of us.
I’m all ears.”

When Sophie had
explained her intention to ask her father to approve her new
aftercare medical centre, there was silence for a few seconds and
the two sisters stared at one another. Then Elise spoke.

“You mean you
want us to help by working there?”

“Like I said, I
had forgotten you already had more than enough to do without me
roping you into what could be an emotionally difficult role of
putting up with people’s tantrums of the kind I used to have. I
just wanted sufferers with similar problems to have the same chance
Eugene has given me.”

Elise and
Geraldine reacted as one, throwing down their weeding forks and
rushed to Sophie’s side. Untypically, Geraldine got in first.

“I’ve always
wanted to do something to help people less fortunate than myself,
but I’ve never had the confidence to do anything about it. If you
are serious about wanting me to do this, it would make whatever
time we have left much more worthwhile. Count me in.”

Elise’s eyes
filled up. “If it hadn’t been for you, I might not have been here,
never mind to have a perfect means to say thank you, in a way which
isn’t just about words. I never thought I’d have the chance to do
it for such a good cause. Come here, Sophie. We’ll make a great
team, but we’ll need to enrol for proper training. Have you thought
about that?”

“I have asked
Dr Villeneuve for her advice, and she has recommended a colleague
from France to get us up to speed. She said this man could be open
to managing the unit and designing our training regime. He
specialises in personality disorder analysis and treatment, and
this kind of expertise could also be useful for Eugene’s research.
I’m so excited, and now I feel ready to pester dad.”

*

Julien looked
up from his tablet. He’d been studying the latest Chilean images of
the asteroid’s tail. The expression on Bondarenko’s face was not
one of unbridled joy.

“Ivan’s
condition is unchanged, but the doctors can’t agree on what to do
next. The brain specialist wants to wait another couple of days to
see if the pressure begins to recede further. Dr Villeneuve, I am
told she is his boss, says he should operate now to relieve the
pressure before it is too late. Do you think it is worth the risk
to operate now, Julien? We need him to wake up, even if it is just
to tell us the codes for the missiles. Can we tell the doctors how
important this is for the entire world?”

“I don’t think
that’s wise. I wouldn’t put it past that bastard Kolorov to give us
any old data, insisting they are the codes. Even that would assume
he can remember them. Surely they aren’t just in his head and
nowhere else, he must have made a copy.”

“Well, Kaputin
isn’t aware of any copy. I spoke to him about the new propulsion
system and he has asked the chief technician to transmit drawings
of everything. We should receive them on our system within one
hour.”

“So, even in
his mother tongue, Kaputin doesn’t know how to describe the
principle of the propulsion system? How can that be?”

“That I can
answer. He was appointed by Kolorov as nothing more than a
slave-driver. His remit was to keep everything on schedule, and
rule by fear. Typical of Ivan, he never allowed any of his
subordinates to know the whole story. But this is a step too far,
Kaputin is technically illiterate, yet completely intolerant of
excuses for failing to be on schedule. This makes me suspicious,
the factory is in one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, and
still the workers have been prepared to work there without a break
for almost two years. Is this really just a second shot at the
asteroid? We really need the brain specialist to wake Ivan.”

*

Eugene couldn’t
quite believe what he was being told. One of most promising
researchers was almost incoherent with excitement.

“Just back up
and slow down,” urged Eugene, “you think we can learn from a
naturally occurring virus in terms of copying its mechanism, and
then steering it in another direction?”

“Yes sir, the
inclusion of this approach was a bit of a stab in the dark, but it
looks as if we may be able to harness the ability of this virus to
trick our immune system. It’s only a first step on the road to
success, but it gets us past the first hurdle. If we can alter the
virus while it is ‘undercover’ so to speak, we can possibly install
attributes into an organism which is capable of multiple ways of
affecting human behaviour, through our own metabolism and DNA.”

“And precisely
how did you stumble on this?”

“Well, it was a
random thought at first. I was reading about the Zika virus
epidemic way back in 2015. The peculiar way in which it affected
the unborn foetus fascinated me. It was a tragedy, causing
monstrous physical deformation amongst other problems. I wondered
if I could engineer helpful tasks for the virus to take on. The
initial step was to follow up on the methodology of those who
worked on treatment of the condition, and then the virus mutation,
which in some cases still managed to eradicate the patients. So
far, I can only claim that I have produced several specimens in
which the virus can be rendered neutral, but remains within the
host like a man on the run from the law-enforcing cells of the
patient. I hope this is sufficiently interesting to attract more
investment. I’m relatively confident I can now redirect this
virus.”

“I see, well,
in that case I need you to write this up immediately, don’t miss
out any detail, but let’s cut back a little on the enthusiastic
projections. I will have a lot of questions, so make sure you can
replicate what you have already found. You’ve got my attention.
Well, get back to the lab and tell your people I’m quietly
impressed. Let me have a copy as soon as possible.”

*

Bondarenko,
Julien, and VB Aerospace’s chief propulsion technologist pored over
the Soyuz drawings. The latter nodded his head but scratched his
bearded chin at the same time.

“This is based
on a well-accepted ratio of power to weight when calculating
maximum velocity capability of propulsion systems in space. For
example, in theory at least a one-to-one ratio - 1 KG weight
producing 1 KW of power, could get a craft to Mars in little over a
month.”