Chapter 15 Chapter Fifteen Fly to Rama

The two Newton spacecraft connected together are adjusting their flight attitude.Looking from the cockpit, Rama's huge figure filled the entire observation screen. This alien flying object is really huge.Its surface is dull and dull, with a precise geometrical cylindrical form, and it appears elongated from this angle. Nicole stood beside General Posov, silently.At this moment, everyone on the spaceship looked at this familiar giant with awe and awe for the first time.Under the sunlight, it looks even more thrilling. "What's the difference?" Nicole asked. "Not yet," Bosov replied. "Looks like the two ships came from the same assembly line." They fell silent again.

"So, would you like to see that assembly line?" Nicole quipped. Posov nodded seriously. A small flying machine that looked like a bat or a hummingbird cut into the viewing screen from the side, gradually getting smaller, and finally disappeared into Rama's shadow. "Surface-scanning detectors will quickly verify that they are identical. Each detector has a full set of Rama 1 data stored. If anything changes, reports and records will be sent back within three hours .” "What if there are no unexpected differences?" "Then we will follow the plan." General Posov replied with a smile, "We will land, open the door of Rama, and release the internal detection aircraft." He glanced at his watch, "From now on, This will all start within 22 hours, if the life sciences department is sure that the team is fully prepared."

"The whole team is in good shape." Nicole reported, "I have just checked the physical data of the team members, and everything is very good. In the past 40 days, except for the changes in the hormone levels of the three women, there is no evidence of any abnormalities. An obvious anomaly." "Then, judging from our physical condition, we are in good condition." The commander said thoughtfully, "But how about the mental preparation? Did you encounter any troubles after the quarrel? Or were these just caused by the nervousness and excitement of the players?"

Nicole was silent for a while, then said: "In the last four days, since the adjustment flight began, there have been some minor troubles. Of course, we have been aware of the dispute between Wilson and Brown before the launch. During the orbital flight Most of the time, because Reggie was on your ship, the problem was partially contained. But now that the two ships are docked, the crew is all together, and they can meet at any time, especially Frances.” "I tried to talk to Wilson twice when the two ships parted," Posov said with a look of frustration, "but he didn't want to talk about it. But it's clear that he's concerned about certain things that happened between them." Broken hearted, very angry."

General Posov walked to the console, tapped the keyboard, and the arranged information appeared on the screen. "This must have something to do with Sabatini," he continued. "While in orbit, Wilson didn't do much business. Records show that he spent a significant amount of time talking to Sabatini on videophone, and Repeatedly violated discipline, and even contradicted General O'Toole." General Posov turned around and looked at Nicol, "As my life science officer, can you tell me if you have any official information about this team member's situation?" conclusions. Of particular importance is whether this adversely affects the mood of other players."

Nicole did not expect that the docking of the spacecraft would cause problems for the mental health of the team members. "Do you want a formal psychiatric report?" she asked. "Of course." Posov said with certainty, "according to the A5401 regulations, I need you to provide me with the physical and psychological certificates of each team member. This regulation requires the life science officer to give me Commander to provide accurate and correct documentation." "But in simulation training, you only need body data." Posov laughed. "I'll wait, De Jardin," he said, "if you have a little more time to prepare."

"No, no." After thinking for a while, Nicole said, "I can talk about my opinion now, and I will give you the written report in the evening." She paused, and continued, "If I were you, I wouldn't put Wilson and Brown on the same team, at least not on the first run. In the meantime, I'd even consider separating Frances from them. Nothing else. .” "Okay, okay!" the commander laughed, understanding what she meant, "I appreciate your report. Of course, not because it coincides with my thoughts. You know, this kind of thing is a little delicate. Suddenly, General Posov changed the subject, "Now, I want to discuss another matter with you."

"What's up?" "Frances came in this morning with a suggestion that we could have a party tomorrow night. She insisted that the team was too tense and needed to relax before getting into the action at Rama. Do you agree with her suggestion?" Nicole thought for a moment. "It's not a bad idea," she replied. "Obviously there's some nervousness...but what kind of party do you think would be appropriate?" "All have a dinner here, in the main control center, get some wine, vodka, or even perform a little show." Bosov smiled, and he put his hand on Nicole's shoulder, "I'm Seek expert advice! You are my life science officer."

"Of course." Nicole also smiled, and she added, "General, if you think it would be a good time to have a party at this time, then I'd be happy to oblige." Nicole finished her report and sent it to Posov's computer in the "military cabin" via the Internet.She uses words carefully to distinguish what she calls "personal conflict" from other behavioral disorders.According to Nicole, the problem between Wilson and Brown was plain, pure jealousy—the ancient green-eyed monster. She affirmed that it would be wise to separate Wilson and Brown when entering Rama, as a precaution.Nicole blamed herself for not being the first to think of and ask this question before Posov.She understands that her task also includes the supervision of mental health, but for some reason, it seems difficult for herself to become a psychiatrist.

"I've been avoiding this task because it doesn't seem to be a regular medical protocol," she thought. "We don't have any micrometers that can be implanted in people's bodies to monitor the mental health of the team members." Nicole walked down the hall of the living quarters, putting her foot on the ground with every step.Her adaptation to weightlessness had become second nature.In fact, the designers of the Newton intentionally designed an artificial gravity zone on the spacecraft in order to allow the team members to concentrate on their work and not be distracted by re-adapting to gravity.The sense of gravity here is no different than on Earth.

Nicole's room is at the end of the corridor.On the spacecraft, each astronaut has his own little world (this is the result of their fierce struggle with the designers of the spacecraft, because in the eyes of the designers, this is a great waste of the space resources of the spacecraft).The rooms are small and airtight.This is the big ship, with eight rooms, which the astronauts call the "science module".The other spaceship is called the "Military Cabin" and has four smaller bedrooms.There is a gymnasium and a "hall" on each of the two ships, with beautiful and comfortable tables and chairs and entertainment equipment. Nicole wanted to go to the gym, and as she walked past Gallows Tabry's room, she heard his peculiar laugh.As usual, his hatch was open. "You want me to go like this." Gallos said with a drawn out voice, "Exchange pieces, and then let your rook occupy the throne? Come on, sir, although I am not a chess master, I have learned a lot from a pit, I have already been fooled once just now, will I be fooled again?" Taburi and Gao An are engaged in an after-dinner chess match.On board, the astronauts still strictly follow Greenwich Mean Time and arrange their work and rest time 24 hours a day.These two, as usual, had to fight fiercely before going to bed.Gao An is a chess master with a kind heart and a heart to encourage his juniors. Therefore, he gives Taburi a little bit of sweetness in every game, but he never misses. Nicole put his head in, and when Gallos saw it, he greeted him with a smile: "Come in, beauty. Come and see how I clean up our Asian friends little by little." Nicole nervously explained that she was going to the gym when she saw a strange creature, the size of a rat, scurrying over her legs into Taburi's room. She jumped back in surprise, a toy-like thing suddenly came out again, and rushed towards the two men: "Peasant, wear a black robe, yellow beak, black feathers; The thrush, singing beautifully, Thin throat, cooing..." It turned out to be a small robot, with the lower body resembling a man and the head of a monkey. It sang and ran bouncingly. Nicole knelt on the ground and studied the strange gadget. Taburi and Gao An also stopped playing chess, seeing Nicole's frightened and surprised expression, they were overjoyed. "Come on," said Taburi, "say 'I love you,' that's what the fairy queen Tetanya should have said." Nicole shrugged.The little robot fell silent temporarily.Taburi insisted: "Say it!" Nicole reluctantly whispered to the twenty-centimeter-tall robot, "I love you." The little robot was named Bolton, and it turned to Nicole and said, "I think, Mistress, you must have some reason? Or, tell me the truth and the reason, why you love this little friend." Surprised, Nicole reached out to pick up the little thing.At this moment, she heard another voice ringing next to her, she couldn't help but stop her hands, and turned her head to look. "Rod, how stupid these mortals are! Where is the guy I turned into an ass now? Bolton, where are you?" Another little robot jumped out, dressed in a goblin costume.When he saw Nicole, he jumped up and hovered for a moment at eye level, the wings on his back flapping rapidly. "I'm Parker, beautiful sweetheart, why haven't I seen you before?" After the little robot finished speaking, it fell gently to the ground without making a sound. Nicole was stunned, and she murmured, "It's amazing..." "Hush!" Gallos made a gesture to keep her quiet, and pointed at Parker again. At this time, Bolton was sleeping in the corner of Gallows' bed.When Parker found it, he jumped over, took out a small sachet, and sprayed a light powder mist on its head. The three of them watched Parker, the goblin, cast his spell intently, and saw that Bolton's head began to change. Its plastic and metal heads rearranged and combined into a big donkey's head.She was stunned, and it was so funny, such a vivid metamorphosis. Parker hopped away, and Bolton awoke with a new head and began to speak: "I had a very strange dream, a strange dream! Ask a wise man what it means. But Well, a man is a real fool when he goes around asking people about things like that." The little robot stopped.Gallos applauded loudly: "Good! Good!" "Great," Takashi said too. Nicole sank into his chair, looked at his two companions, and shook his head. "Think about it, I should tell the commander that you two are of sound mind and mental health." After a pause, she asked again, "Who will tell me what is going on here?" "It's Walkerfield," said Gallows. "He's a very smart fellow, a genius—well, he doesn't look like a genius; besides, he's a Shakespeare fan. He has a big family of little things, but only Parker can fly, but Bolton is the only one who can transform." "Parker isn't flying," Richard Walkerfield said, coming in, "it's just hovering in the air for a short time." Walkerfield looked a little embarrassed, "I didn't know you were here. I To tease them sometimes when they play chess," he explained to Nicole. "One night," Gallows added seeing Nicole's silence, "I had just lost a game of chess when I heard a commotion in the public cabin. We asked who it was, and after a while Tybalt and Merchurch O came in, yelling, and fighting with swords, and there was a lot of trouble." "Is this your hobby?" Nicole asked, pointing at the little robots. "My dear lady," Gallos interjected without waiting for Walkerfield to answer, "Don't, don't call 'hobby' a 'hobby'. Just like our Japanese expert likes to play chess, it's nothing 'Food', certainly not our young man from Shakespeare's hometown inventing these gadgets." Nicole glanced at Richard, imagining the guy in front of him pouring so much energy and enthusiasm into the weird-looking doll robot.Needless to say, he is competent, enthusiastic and energetic. "These little people are very funny," she told Walkerfield. He smiled, meaning to thank her for her appreciation. Nicole made an excuse and wanted to leave. Parker whirled around her, then stood on the doorway, and chanted aloud: "If the fairies have stomach offenders, Please bear with me, As long as you understand a little, you will have no regrets, You're just resting here, Although the plot is shallow, the world is also dreamy. Nicole smiled happily, said good night to her companions, and stepped over the head of the little goblin. Nicole was in the gym longer than usual.Usually, 30 minutes of high-intensity running and cycling can relax her nerves and body and induce drowsiness, but this night, as Rama is getting closer day by day, she becomes more excited, so Longer periods of exercise were needed to relax; besides, she was preoccupied with the report she had just written on Wilson and Brown.During the entire operation, when there are important activities, keep them separated. “Am I being flippant in this report?” she asked herself. “Have I let Posov cloud my judgment?” Nicole is quite proud of her professional reputation and often re-examines her judgment and choices when faced with big and confusing situations.This evening, towards the end of her workout, she decided that her presentation was appropriate.She was beginning to feel tired, and drowsiness crept in. She walked towards the living cabin of the spaceship, except for the public cabin, the surroundings were sunk in darkness.Turning left, there is a corridor leading directly to her room.Suddenly, through a faint light, she seemed to see that across the hall, the door of the small storage room for medical supplies was open.strangeness! Nicole crossed the hall and looked over to see the storage room door was ajar.She activated the automatic door lock and was about to close the door when she heard a sound in the dark room.Surprised, Nicole reached out and groped to find the switch. When the lights came on, Nicole was startled to see Frances Sabatini sitting in a corner, manipulating a computer with some data displayed on the screen; she was holding a vial in her hand. "Hi, Nicole." Frances was nonchalant, as if it was normal for her to sit furtively in the darkness of the medical storage room. Nicole walked over and asked casually, "What are you doing?" His eyes scanned the screen.From the opening title, Nicole could see that Frances was reviewing the list of family planning equipment on the spacecraft. "What are you doing?" Nicole asked sternly, pointing at the screen.All astronauts are aware that no one other than the life sciences officer is allowed to enter this medical storage room. Frances remained silent, and Nicole became even angrier, and asked, "How did you get in?" The two women looked at each other across the desk in this closet-like room. Nicole suddenly reached out, snatched the vial from Frances's hand, and checked the label on it. Frances pushed her away and walked down the narrow passage toward the door. Nicole discovers that the vial in her hand contains abortion potion.So she followed Frances to the public cabin. "Can you tell me what's going on?" Nicole asked. "Give me the bottle, please," Frances said finally. "I'm afraid I can't do that." Nicole shook her head and replied, "This is a drug with serious side effects. I don't know what you think, but secretly took the drug without permission! As soon as I checked, I immediately found that the medicine was missing." The two women looked at each other for a while. At last Frances gave a forced smile and said: "You see, Nicole, it's actually quite simple. I recently found out that I was pregnant, which was very upsetting, and I wanted to abort it. It's a private matter, yes. No? I don't want to bother you or anyone else." "You can't be pregnant," Nicole said immediately, "I checked your biological data." "It's only been four or five days, but I'm sure. I feel the changes in my body, just in time." "You know all the medical rules." Nicole said hesitantly, "in your words, 'it's a simple matter,' and if you had come to me first, perhaps I would have respected your request for secrecy. But now, you're making it hard for me..." "Cut off your bureaucratic talk!" Frances cut her sharply. "I'm not interested in those damned rules. Somebody impregnated me and I'm going to have the fetus removed. Either you give me the bottle or I think otherwise." Method!" Nicole was irritated: "You are wrong! Do you really think that I will ignore it and let you walk away with this bottle like this? Maybe you can take your body and health seriously, but I can't. I have to examine your physical condition, study your medical records, determine the size of the fetus, and then consider how to prescribe the right medicine. Also, I have to point out that there may be 'moral distress' in this matter, which will produce psychological effects on you. influences." Frances laughed loudly: "Come on! Don't talk to me about 'moral trouble'. I don't need your high society values ​​in my life, Nicole, so there's no 'moral trouble'. You I congratulate you on raising a child by yourself. I'm very different from you. I wouldn't be that stupid. The father of this fetus stopped the drug on purpose, thinking that when I got pregnant, I might rekindle my feelings for him. Enthusiasm, but he was wrong. The boy came at a bad time. Would you like me to say more..." "Enough," interrupted Nicole, pursing her lips in an expression of disgust, "the details of your personal life have nothing to do with me. What I must ascertain is what is right for this operation." The best treatment for you personally." She breathed a sigh of relief, "In any case, I must conduct a comprehensive medical examination on you, including a routine pelvic radiography. If you refuse the medical examination, I will not allow you to take abortion measures. Of course , I have to report to the higher authorities without any concealment..." Frances laughed: "Don't scare me, I'm not that stupid. If you think that's good, then you're done. All I want is to invite the child out before acting." For the next hour Nicole and Frances exchanged only a few dry questions and answers.They came to the infirmary together, and Nicole examined Frances with delicate and sensitive instruments. Nicole printed a list of various body reactions after taking the medicine for Frances, and told her what to pay attention to.The fetus will be passed out of the body within 24 hours, and there will be mild abdominal pain. Frances immediately drank the liquid medicine without any hesitation.As Frances gets dressed, Nicole recalls finding out she was pregnant. "I never thought about it... It's not because the father of the child is a prince. No, it's just a question of responsibility, an attitude towards love." "I know what you're thinking," said Frances to Nicole, standing by the door of the infirmary as she was about to leave, "don't waste your time, you've got plenty of problems of your own!" Nicole ignored her. "Then tomorrow, the little bastard will be gone." Frances said grimly, with anger and tiredness in her eyes. "It's a goddamn comfort. The world doesn't need another half-black, half-white baby." Without waiting for Nicole to answer, Frances turned and left.