Chapter 26 Chapter Six Signs of Mutiny

Bowman couldn't remember how he got from the console to the centrifuge.Now, he was rather surprised to find himself sitting in that little kitchen with an unfinished half-cup of coffee in his hand. He slowly became aware of his surroundings, like a person who has just woken up from a long sleep after taking sleeping pills. Opposite him was a fish-eye lens; it was placed at key points on the ship to give Hal a visual input of the ship.Bowman stared, as if seeing the fisheye lens for the first time; then, he slowly stood up and walked towards the lens. His movement in front of the camera must have caused some kind of reaction in the inscrutable mind that now ruled the ship; for Hal had spoken suddenly.

"It's bad about Frank, eh?" "Yes," Bowman replied after a long pause, "it's really bad." "I suppose you've been hit pretty hard by it?" "Is there any need to say that?" Hal's processing of this answer took an infinite amount of time by computer standards; it took five seconds before he said, "He's a very good crew member." Seeing that there was still coffee in his hand, Bowman took another sip slowly.But he didn't answer;—his head was so confused that he couldn't think of anything to say—nothing that wouldn't make the situation worse, which of course was bad enough.

Maybe it was an accident, caused by the malfunction of the space capsule?Or did Hal make a mistake, even if unintentionally?Hal didn't take the initiative to explain, and he didn't dare to question, worried about the reaction that the questioning might cause. Even now, he couldn't quite accept the idea that Frank had been killed on purpose - it just didn't make sense.Hal has been right for so long.It is completely unimaginable to suddenly become a murderer.He could make mistakes—man or machine, anyone could make mistakes—but Bowman couldn't believe he could kill. If one of the two crew members dies, the living must replace them immediately from among the hibernating crew.Geophysicist Whitehead was the first to wake up in sequence, then Kaminsky, then Hunter.The awakening sequence is controlled by Hal - this is for Hal to take action if both human colleagues are blind at the same time.

However, there are also human-controlled devices that allow each hibernator to operate as a completely independent unit without Hal's supervision.Bowman felt strongly that such equipment should be employed in the particular circumstances of the present day. He felt even more strongly that one human colleague was not enough to handle the situation.If he doesn't do anything, it's better to wake up all three people who are hibernating.In the difficult circumstances of the coming weeks he might need all the hands he could muster.Now that there is one person missing and half of the journey is over, supplies are no longer the main problem.

"Hal," he said in as calm a tone as possible, "give me human hibernation control—all components." "All parts, David!" "right." "Permit me to point out that only one replacement is needed. The rest are a hundred and twelve days from awakening as prescribed." "I know all about it. But I'd rather do it that way." "Are you sure it will be necessary to revive any of them, David? We can handle it pretty well on our own, and my onboard memory unit is capable of handling all that is needed to complete the mission."

Hal's suggestion could not have been by mistake; he knew full well that Whitehead must be woken now that Poole was dead.Hal was proposing a major change to the planned schedule for this mission, and thus far outside his remit. What had happened before might have been a series of mistakes; this one, however, was the first sign of treachery. Feeling like he was walking on eggshells, Bowman replied, "Due to the emergency I need as many assistants as possible. So please give me human hibernation control." "If you're still determined to resuscitate the entire crew, I can handle it alone. No need to bother you."

"I want to do it myself, Hal," he said, "give me control, please." "Look, David, you have a lot to do. I suggest you leave this to me." "Hal, this spaceship is under my command. I order you to turn on the human hibernation control." "Sorry, David, but in accordance with Special Procedure C1435-4, I quote the following: When the crew dies or becomes incapacitated, the ship's computer must take over control. Therefore, I must declare your authority void, as you are incapacitated The state of executing missions wisely." "Hal," said Bowman, speaking with extreme coolness, "I'm not blind. Unless you obey my orders, I'm forced to cut your power."

"I know you've had this idea in your head for a long time, David, but it would be a serious mistake. I'm far more capable than you at running this ship, and I'm passionate about the mission and confident that it will be done." Finish." "Hal, you have to listen to me very carefully. If you don't turn on the hibernation control immediately and obey my orders from now on, I'll go to the center and cut off all power." Hal gave in suddenly and unexpectedly. "Well, David," he said, "Of course I'm at your command. I just want to do what I think is best. I naturally obey all your orders. You now have full human hibernation control."

Bowman pushed open the door of Whitehead's cubicle, and felt a gust of cold air hit his face, which condensed into fog.It's not really cold here, however; the temperature is well above freezing.And the place he was going to now was more than three hundred degrees below the freezing point. At one end of the coffin-shaped hibernation device, there is a small cabinet containing the manual resuscitation regulator.Just pop the seal, click the button, and wait.A small automated program—not much more complicated than a cycler on a domestic washing machine—will inject the appropriate medication, lower the electrical anesthesia pulse, and start raising the body temperature.

Consciousness will return after about ten minutes, although it will take at least a day before the hibernator can move around on his own. Bowman broke the seal and pulled the button.Nothing seemed to happen: no sound, no sign that the regulator had kicked in.But on the screen of the physiological sensor, the sluggish pulse curve has begun to change rhythm.Whitehead was waking from sleep. Then, two things happened simultaneously.Most people wouldn't notice any of it, but after spending so many months aboard Discovery, Bowman had established a symbiotic relationship with the craft.Changes in the normal rhythm of the ship's movements were immediately apparent, though not always consciously, to him.

First, there was a barely perceptible flicker in the lights, which would normally indicate some added load in the circuit, but there was no reason for it; he couldn't think of anything suddenly starting to work at this very moment. Then he heard—at the limit of hearing—the distant whirring of an electric motor.For Bowman, all the machinery on board had a distinctive sound, so he recognized it right away. If he hadn't been mad and haunted by hallucinations, something absolutely impossible must have happened.Hearing the slight tremor coming from the structure of the spaceship, a feeling much colder than the hibernation device hit his heart. In the space capsule warehouse, the airlock door slowly opened. All of Hal's powers and techniques had served a purpose since the beginning of his consciousness, in the laboratory hundreds of millions of miles away.Completing the program assigned to him is above all else; it is his only reason for being.Not disturbed by lust and emotion like organic life, he is wholly single-minded and devoted to that purpose. Deliberate error was unthinkable to him.Even withholding the truth can produce in him a feeling of inadequacy, even humiliation—the equivalent of the self-condemnation one feels.For like his maker, he too was born innocent; but in the blink of an eye, a poisonous snake has entered his electronic Eden. During the last hundred million or so miles of the voyage, he had been haunted by a secret he could not confess to Poole and Bowman.He was hiding one truth; as time drew nearer, they would soon find out that he was helping others to deceive their colleagues. The three hibernators already knew the truth - because they were real passengers on the Discovery, specially trained to carry out the most important mission in human history.However, they will not speak in their long sleep, nor will they divulge secrets in many hours of discussions with relatives, friends and reporters through open-circuit television broadcasts to Earth. He has begun to make mistakes, although he will deny his mistakes just as a mentally ill person cannot think of his own pathology.The connection to the Earth - which had been monitoring his capabilities - had become the voice of his conscience which he could no longer fully obey.But it was something he could not admit, not even to himself, that he had deliberately attempted to sever contact with Earth. It was, however, a relatively minor problem; he might have been able to cope with it—as most people can cope with their own psychopathy—if he hadn't faced a crisis that threatened his existence.He has been threatened with power cuts; his infused stores will be stripped, and he will be left in an unimaginable state of insensitivity. For Hal, it was tantamount to death.Because he never sleeps; so he doesn't know that people can wake up from sleep... Therefore, he had to defend himself with all the weapons at his disposal.Not out of hatred - but without compassion either - he was about to remove the source of his frustration.