Rama II

Nicole was now out of her league. Her software and system engineering knowledge had been stretched to the limit in satisfying herself that there had been no error in the loaded software. To determine whether and when commands might have changed the code or parameters after they were installed in RoSur required someone who could read machine language and carefully interrogate tbe billions of bits of data that had been stored during the entire procedure. Nicole’s investigation was stalled until she could find someone to help her. Maybe I should give this up? a voice inside her said. How could you, another voice replied, until you know for certain the cause of General Borzov’s death? At the root of Nicole’s desire to know the answer was a desperate yearning to prove for certain that his death had not been her fault.

She turned away from her terminal and collapsed on her bed. As she was lying there, she remembered her surprise during the thirty-second inspection period when Borzov’s appendix had been in plain view, He definitely wasn “t having an appendicitis, she thought. Without having any particular motive, Nicole returned to her terminal and accessed the second set of data that she had had evaluated by the electronic diagnostician, just prior to her decision to operate. She glanced only briefly at the 92% likely appendicitis on tbe first screen, moving instead to the backup diagnoses. This time drug reac­tion was listed as the second most likely cause, with a 4 percent probability. Nicole now called for the data to be displayed in another way. She asked a statistical routine to compute the likely cause of the symptoms, given the fact that it could not be an appendicitis.

The results flashed up on the monitor in seconds. Nicole was astonished. According to the data, if the biometry information input from Borzov’s probe set was analyzed under the assumption that the cause for the abnor­malities could not be an appendicitis, then there was a 62 percent chance that it was due to a drug reaction. Before Nicole was able to complete any more analysis, there was a knock on her door.

“Come in,” she said, continuing to work at her terminal. Nicole turned and saw Irina Turgenyev standing in the doorway. The Soviet pilot said nothing for a moment.

“They asked me to come for you,” Irina said haltingly. She was very shy around everyone except her countrymen Tabori and Borzov. “We’re having a meeting of the crew down in the lobby.”

Nicole saved her temporary data files and joined Irina in the corridor. “What sort of meeting is it?” she asked.

“An organizational meeting,” Irina answered. She said nothing more.

There was a heated exchange in process between Reggie Wilson and David Brown when the two women reached the lobby. “Am I to understand, then,” Dr. Brown was saying sarcastically, “that you believe the Rama space­craft purposely decided to maneuver at precisely that moment? Would you like to explain to all of us how this asteroid of dumb metal happened to know that General Borzov was having an appendectomy at that very minute? And while you’re at it, will you explain why this supposedly malevolent spaceship has allowed us to attach ourselves and has done nothing to dissuade us from continuing our mission?”

Reggie Wilson glanced around the room for support. “You’re logic-chop­ping again, Brown,” he said, his frustration obvious. “What you say always sounds logical on the surface. But I’m not the only member of this crew that found the coincidence u

Dr. Brown acknowledged the arrival of the two women. There was an authority in the way he was asking the questions that suggested he was in control of the gathering. “Is that right, Irina?” David Brown asked. “Do you feel, like Wilson, that Rama was trying to send us some specific message by performing its maneuver during the general’s operation?”

Irina and Hiro Yamanaka were the two cosmonauts who spoke the least during crew meetings. With all eyes turned toward her, Irina mumbled “No” very meekly.

“But when we were discussing it last night—” Wilson insisted to the Soviet pilot.

“That’s enough on that subject,” David Brown interrupted imperiously. “I think we have a consensus, shared by our mission control officers on Earth, that the Raman maneuver was coincidence and not conspiracy.” He looked at the fuming Reggie Wilson. “Now we have other more important issues to discuss. I would like to ask Admiral Heilma

Otto Heilma

David Brown jumped back into the conversation. “Admiral Heilma

“Otto suggested that maybe we should not wait for the Earth to decide,” Dr. Brown continued. “It was his idea that we should develop our own management structure, one that is acceptable to all of us here, and then send it to the ISA as a recommendation. Admiral Heilma

“Admiral Heilma

“And what happens when they disagree or their areas of responsibility overlap?” asked Richard Wakefield.

“In that case,” Admiral Heilma

“Isn’t this cute?” said Reggie Wilson. He was still angry. He had been taking notes on his keyboard but now he stood up to address the rest of the cosmonauts. “Brown and Heilma

“Now come on, Reggie,” Francesca Sabatini said forcefully. She dropped her video camera to her side. “There is sound logic in the strawman pro­posal. Dr. Brown is our senior scientist. Admiral Heilma

It was difficult for Reggie Wilson to argue with Francesca. Nevertheless, he did interrupt her before she was finished. “I disagree with this plan,” he said in a subdued tone. “I think we should have a single leader. And based on what I have observed during my time with this crew, there’s only one cosmo­naut that we could all easily follow. That’s General O’Toole.” He waved in the direction of his fellow American. “If this is a democracy, I nominate him as our new commanding officer.”