Chapter 46 Chapter forty-fifth: escape plan

"...I'm Heywood Floyd, and I think this may be - of course, I hope - the last report at Lagrange Point." "We are getting ready to go home, and in a few days we will leave this strange place where, in orbit between Io and Jupiter, we have had a mysterious disappearance with a gigantic artifact - we call it 'Big Brother' object. So far, we have no clue as to where it went or why it disappeared. "For various reasons, it seems best that we should not stay here too long. Using the American spacecraft Discovery as the thruster for the Russian Leonov spacecraft, we will leave at least two weeks earlier than planned.

"The basic idea is simple. The two ships will be strapped together, with one riding on the back of the other. Discovery will first burn out its propellant, accelerating both ships in the intended direction. When the fuel runs out , Discovery would be detached - like the first stage of a mission-finishing rocket - and Leonov would start firing. Do not start too early or you will be wasting energy pulling the useless Discovery. "At the same time, we're going to resort to a strategy that - like many concepts of space travel - seems to defy common sense. Although what we're trying to do is get away from Jupiter, our first step is to get as far away as possible from Jupiter. approach it.

"Of course, we've been there when we used Jupiter's atmosphere to slow us down so we could get into orbit around Jupiter. We won't go as far this time - but it's a tiny bit less. "Our first burn, we'll go up to 350,000 kilometers from Io, and that will slow us down, so we'll plummet toward Jupiter, barely skimming its atmosphere. Then, when we reach the possible At closest approach, we will ignite all the fuel as quickly as possible to catapult Lyonlev into orbit back to Earth at increased velocity. "What's the point of this crazy scheme? It's impossible to explain without some complex mathematical knowledge, but I think the basic principle is obvious.

"When we let ourselves fall into Jupiter's massive gravitational field, we gain speed -- and energy. And by 'us,' I mean the spacecraft and the fuel it carries. "And we'll ignite it there - at the bottom of the Jupiter 'gravity well' - so there's no need to lift the fuel to new heights. When we spew it out of the reactor, it will share what we've got Part of the kinetic energy. Indirectly, we will gain access to Jupiter's gravity to accelerate our journey back to Earth. And we have used its atmosphere to slow down the excess speed, which miserly 'mother nature' rarely bestows on us, twice Use in different ways...

"Using three accelerations—Discovery, Leonov, and gravity—Leonov will follow a hyperbolic orbit toward the sun and arrive at Earth five months later, at least two months earlier than other methods. "You will no doubt be concerned about the fate of Discovery. It is clear that we cannot bring her back to Earth under automatic control, as originally planned. Without fuel, that would be quite impossible. "But it will be very safe. It will follow an elongated elliptical orbit, like a captured comet, and will continue to orbit Jupiter. Perhaps someday, a new expedition will bring enough fuel to meet it. and bring it back to Earth. However, this will surely be many years away.

"Now we have to go and get ready for departure. There's still a lot of work to do and we won't be able to relax until the last firing takes us home. "Despite not achieving all our goals, we have no regrets that we are leaving. The mysterious disappearance of 'Big Brother' - perhaps a threat - still haunts us, but there is nothing we can do about it. "We've done everything we can, and we're going to come back to Earth. "This is Heywood Floyd. Call over." There was a round of ironic applause from the tiny audience that would have multiplied by a million once the news reached Earth.

"I'm not speaking to you guys," Floyd said, a little embarrassed, and fired back. "Anyway, I don't want you to hear this." "You did your job, Heywood," Tanya reassured, "I'm sure everyone agrees with what you've told the people of Earth." "Not sure," said a small voice, so that everyone had to prick up their ears, "There is one more question." The lookout suddenly fell silent, and for the first time in weeks, Floyd noticed a slight vibration in the main air supply line and an intermittent wasp-like humming behind the paneling.Like all spaceships, the Leonovs were full of often imperceptible sounds that people generally seldom noticed, except when they came to a sudden stop.If that happens, it's best to investigate right away before there's a bigger mess.

"I don't see anything wrong, Chandra," Tanya said calmly, just before the storm. "What could it be?" "In recent weeks I have been preparing HAL for a thousand-day return orbit, and now all procedures will be discarded." "We're sorry about that," Tanya said, "but now that things have changed, it sure would be a lot better—" "I didn't mean that," said Chandra, who had never interrupted anyone, let alone Tanya. "We all know Hal is very sensitive to mission objectives," he continued in an expectant silence, "and now you're asking me to give it a program that could lead to self-destruction, and indeed the current plan would place Discovery on a stable Orbit—but if that warning was true, what would happen to the ship in the end? We don't know, of course—but it scared us away. Have you considered Howl's reaction to the situation?"

"Do you really think," Tanya asked slowly, "that Hal might refuse to carry out orders—like the last mission?" "It's not the same situation as last time. Last time he tried to make sense of the conflicting orders." "This time there won't be any contradictions, the situation is very clear." "Yes to us, but one of Hal's main directives is to keep Discovery safe, and we're going to try to overturn that, and in a system as complex as Hal's, it's impossible to predict all the consequences." "I don't see what's wrong with that," Sasha put in. "As long as we don't tell him there's any danger, he'll... carry out the procedure without reservation."

"A competent nanny for a sick computer!" Kono muttered. "I feel like I'm on a B-grade sci-fi show." Dr. Chandra gave him a hard look. "Chandra," Tanya asked suddenly, "have you discussed this with Hal?" "No." Are you hesitant?Freud guessed.But this is all speculation, and Chandra may have searched his memory, or he may be lying, although the latter is unlikely. "Then we'll do what Sasha suggested, load him with the new program, and give him a reason to feel at ease." "What if he asks about a change in plans?"

"Is it possible he did that without your prompting?" "Of course, please don't forget that the starting point of his design is to be curious. If the crew is killed, he will take the initiative and complete the task himself." Tanya considered it for a moment. "Still easy. He trusts you, doesn't he?" "certainly." "Then you must tell him that Discovery is in no danger and that the next rendezvous mission will bring it back to Earth at a later date." "But it's not true." "We don't think it's a lie." Tanya began to grow impatient. "We suspect there is significant danger, otherwise we would not have left early." "So what's your opinion?" Tanya said threateningly. "We have to tell him the whole situation, tell the truth, hide nothing. Then let him decide." "My God, Chandra - he's just a machine!" Chandra stared straight at Max, making the young man quickly lower his eyes. "We're all machines, Mr. Brerowski. It's a matter of degree. Whether we're made of carbon or silicon makes no real difference. Each of us deserves the respect we deserve." How strange, Floyd thought, how tall Chandra—the smallest of all the people in the room—seemed now.But the argument goes too far, and Tanya could issue a direct order at any moment, and things could get messy. "Tanya, Vasily - can I talk to you? I think there is a way to solve this problem." Floyd's intervention was visibly relieved, and he was back in their cabin with the Oloffs two minutes later. (Or "One-Sixteenth," a nickname Curnow once coined for their size. He soon regretted inventing the pun because he had to explain it to everyone but Sasha meaning of the word.) "Thank you, Woody," Tanya said.And handing him a can of his favorite Azerbaijani Shemakha wine, "I was hoping you would step up. I guess you have a way - how do you do it - what's the big deal?" "Indeed," Floyd squeezed a few cubic centimeters of liqueur into his mouth, savoring it with endless aftertaste, "I'm sorry, Chandra is hard to deal with." "I think so too. How lucky we are to have only one mad scientist on board!" "Sometimes that's not what you tell me," Scholar Vasili grinned. "Anyway, Woody—let's face it." "That's what I mean, let Chandra do it his way, and then there are two possibilities. "Possibility #1: Hal will do what we ask - take control of Discovery between the two burns. Remember, the first burn isn't critical. We'll leave Io, and if something goes wrong, there will be enough time. And that would be a good test of Hal's . . . cooperation." "But what about the flybys near Jupiter? That's the key. Not only are we going to use up most of Discovery's fuel there, but the timing and thrust vectors have to be exactly the same." "Can manual control be used?" "I don't want to try. The slightest mistake will either set us on fire, or turn into a long-term comet, and it will take more than two thousand years to return again." "But what if there's no other choice?" Floyd insisted. "Well, assuming we can take steps in time and be in exactly the two precalculated orbits—well, maybe we can get away with it." "Got what you mean, Vasily, I'm sure 'could' means 'would,' which leads me to the second possibility I just mentioned. If Hal behaves the slightest bit badly - we'll take over." "You mean—disconnect him?" "Completely correct." "It wasn't that easy last time." "We've learned some lessons, leave this to me. I promise you manual control within half a second." "I guess there's no danger, Hal won't be suspicious?" "Now you're getting paranoid, Vasily, Hal's not human, but Chandra - intends to give him the right to doubt, so don't tell him a word. We fully agree with his plan, against previous objections Sorry, we have every confidence that Hal will understand our point of view. Right, Tanya?" "Yes, Woody. Congratulations on your foresight, that little thing is a good idea." "What little thing?" Vasily asked. "I'll explain later. Sorry, Woody—that's all I have left of Shevakha. I want to keep it—until we're safely on our way back to Earth."