Chapter 54 Chapter 54 Brave and Fearless

Michael O'Toole tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.He listened to his favorite music over and over and prayed silently over and over again.However, none of these methods worked.He hopes to make his mood relaxed and happy, forget those heavy responsibilities, and free his spirit. "Activate the 'Trinity' program." He muttered silently, turning his attention to the real cause of his uneasiness.What does this mean?Use an electric forklift to open the container, take out a nuclear bomb the size of a refrigerator, check whether each system is normal, then put the bomb on the freight elevator and transport it to Rama...

and then?he thinks.One more thing, it takes over a minute on each bomb, which of course doesn't matter.Next to each bomb was a set of numeric keys that he and Hellman had to use to enter a special set of numbers—the RQ code—to activate the bomb.Without these numbers, those nuclear bombs would remain absolutely dormant forever. Initially, COG military headquarters debated for weeks whether to equip the Newton with a nuclear bomb because it would take up valuable space on the ship.The issue was finally resolved by a vote.But because this matter is too sensitive, many people are deeply concerned, so the resolution also stipulates that strict safety procedures should be set up to prevent nuclear bombs from being abused.At this meeting, in order to avoid public protests, the COG headquarters classified the fact that the Newton was carrying a nuclear bomb to meet Rama as top secret, even the general team members were kept in the dark.

Before the launch of the Newton, the "Trinity" safety program group met several times around the world. After repeated studies, it was finally decided to use manual input to initiate the detonation.In this way, it is possible to prevent someone on the ground or on the spacecraft from detonating the nuclear bomb without authorization through electronic signals.Katsuo Norimoto, the current chief executive of COG, is a capable and methodical person.He once worried that if the bomb could not be controlled by electronic signals, it would be too dependent on the team members on the Newton, which made people feel uneasy.Others think it's better than worrying about lawless terrorists or other fanatics on Earth controlling the detonation process.

But what if the officers on the Newton panicked?It is imperative to prevent a situation where a single individual decides to detonate a nuclear bomb.After thorough research, the solution is very simple. There are three officers on the Newton, and each of them only has a password they know, and the input of the password must be done by at least two of them to be effective; at the same time, the password set must be of sufficient length and complexity to prevent deciphering and disclosure.This is a simple and effective method. "However, our current situation has never been expected before." O'Toole lay in bed thinking, "People have imagined that there will be dangerous cases such as exchanging passwords between us, but who would have thought of an appendicitis?" Dangerous too? Posov's password is gone with him, which means now only two people can start the bomb."

O'Toole rolled over on his stomach on the pillow.He now understands why he can't sleep: "If I don't enter the code, the bomb won't go off." He recalled a meal with Posov and Heilman on the Newton's military cabin heading for Rama. "It's a perfectly balanced combination," General Posov joked, "and it has to do with our personalities. Otter pulls the trigger whenever a situation arises; and you, Michael, worry about life and death." Whether the behavior is moral or not; and I am right in between you." "But now that you're dead," General O'Toole murmured, "we're ordered to detonate the bomb." He got out of bed and walked over to his desk.As he used to do when he was about to make a big decision, he pulled out a digital notebook and made a two-column list.One column is the reason for carrying out the order to destroy Rama; the other column is the reason for opposing the order.

To tell the truth, he saw no logical reason to object to the execution of the order, since the ship was probably just a dead machine!Moreover, three of his colleagues died at its hands; and at this moment it is posing an unpredictable threat to the earth. But O'Toole is still full of doubts and hesitation.He admitted that he was deeply disturbed by such a hostile action. He went back to the bed, lay flat on his back, stared at the ceiling, and prayed silently: "Dear God, how can I know what is the right thing to do in this situation? Please enlighten me." Half a minute after the wake-up bell rang, Otto Heilmann heard someone knock gently on the door.After a while, General O'Toole came in fully dressed.

"You're up so early, Michael." Admiral Hellman greeted as he picked up his coffee clumsily.Five minutes ago, the coffee was brewed automatically. "I want to talk to you," O'Toole said politely. "What's the matter?" the general asked. "I would like to ask you to postpone this morning's meeting." "Why?" Heilman asked. "We need help from the rest of the team. Didn't we discuss this last night? The later we start, the later we will leave here." "I'm not ready," O'Toole said. Admiral Hellman frowned.He took a slow sip of his coffee, looked at his colleague, and said coldly, "I see. But what else do you need to do to get ready?"

"I want to talk to someone else, maybe General Katsuo Norimoto. I want to understand why Rama was destroyed. I know the two of us talked about it last night, but I need an order What did the people say." "Executing orders is the bounden duty of soldiers, and asking questions will be considered a violation of regulations..." "I understand all this, Otto." O'Toole interrupted him, "But it's not in a state of war, and I didn't refuse to execute the order, just want to confirm..." He stared into the distance, The sound is muffled. "Confirm what?" Hellman asked.

O'Toole took a deep breath and replied, "Make sure what I'm going to do is right." A televised meeting with Katsuo Norimoto was scheduled; a meeting aboard the Newton was also postponed.Because it was midnight in Amsterdam, it took some time before the encrypted telegram was delivered to the chief officer of COG.As was his usual style, General Katsuo Zemoto asked for a few hours to prepare his reply. That way he could seek a "consensus" from officials to answer O'Toole. General O'Toole and Admiral Hellman were sitting in the control center of the Newton's military cabin when Katsuo Norimoto's call came back.General Katsuo Zemoto, dressed in a neat military uniform, greeted the officers on the Newton with a straight face, then put on his glasses, and began to read the answers he had already written on paper.

"General O'Toole, we have carefully read your call. All the issues you raised were fully researched and discussed on Earth before deciding to launch the 'Trinity' program. According to the prior agreement between the International Space Agency and the COG , you and the other officers on the Newton will temporarily take orders from me. Therefore, now that I am your commander, the orders given to you must be carried out to the letter. General Katsuo Norimoto forced a smile, and continued to read: "Nevertheless, the order given to you is very important, and you are deeply worried about the consequences. In view of this, we have prepared the following Reply to help you understand our decision.

"Number one, we can't say for sure whether Rama was hostile or friendly. There's no other evidence that helps us resolve that. "Secondly, Rama is rushing towards the Earth. It may affect our planet, or, upon approach, take hostile or benign actions that we cannot predict. "Third, when the 'Trinity' plan is finally completed, Rama will still be ten days away from the earth. No matter what Rama does, we must ensure the safety of the earth." The general took a short breath and said, "That's all." Finally, he ordered, "Start Trinity program." The screen went black. "Are you satisfied now?" Admiral Hellmann asked. "I guess about the same." O'Toole sighed. "I haven't heard anything new, but I shouldn't expect more." Admiral Hellman looked at his watch and said, "We've already wasted the whole day. We'll have a meeting after dinner, okay?" "I don't want to be in such a rush," O'Toole replied. "I'm so exhausted by this episode that I barely slept last night. I'd rather wait until tomorrow morning for the meeting." "Okay." After a moment of silence, Hellman stood up and put his hand on O'Toole's shoulder. "After breakfast tomorrow, we will start to act." General O'Toole did not attend a scheduled meeting that morning.He called Hellman and said he had a stomach upset and asked Hellman to chair the meeting without waiting for him.He knew Hellman wouldn't believe his excuses, but that was okay. Through the TV, O'Toole watched the meeting live in his room.It seems that the other team members did not show much surprise that the Newton carried a nuclear bomb. Heilman explained the situation of the nuclear bomb in detail, and asked Yamanaka Hiroshi and Gallos to assist in the installation.This was something he had discussed with O'Toole in advance.He demanded that the nuclear bomb be loaded into Rama within 72 hours.In this way, the team members have three days to prepare to leave Rama. "When will these bombs explode?" Garros Tabry asked nervously after Melman finished speaking. "According to the data provided by the simulation analysis, the spaceship will leave the explosion area after 12 hours. For safety reasons, the nuclear bomb will not detonate until we leave at least 24 hours... If the departure time is delayed for some reason, we can still Reset the explosion time by electronic signal." "Then I'm relieved." Gallos said. "Any more questions?" Heilman asked. "Yes." Gallos replied, "When the bomb is planted in Rama, I suggest sending people around to look for the missing colleagues, in case they are wandering inside..." "Time is very tight, Tabri Astronaut," replied the admiral. "The work in Rama can only be done in a few hours. And, unfortunately, as we started so late, we had to to plant a nuclear bomb at night." "Excellent," O'Toole thought from his room. "That's another reason to blame me." In any case, he felt that Admiral Hellman had managed the meeting well.He thought, "It's a good thing Ott didn't mention the code. He probably sensed that I was watching the meeting, and he guessed right this time." O'Toole took a nap, woke up after lunch, and felt hungry.There was no one else in the restaurant except Frances.She was drinking some coffee and reading technical data on her computer. "Feeling better, Michael?" she asked when she saw him. He nodded. "What are you reading?" O'Toole asked. "Executive Software Manual," Frances replied. "We didn't even know if the software was working properly after Walkerfield left. I'm learning how to read its self-test data." "Yo!" O'Toole hissed. "It's probably too much work for a reporter." "It's not as complicated as I thought," Frances smiled, "because it's quite logical. Maybe my next career is to be an engineer." O'Toole made himself a sandwich, took a bag of milk, and sat down with Frances.She took his hand and said, "Speaking of the next career, Michael, have you thought about what you should do?" He looked at her puzzled and asked, "What are you talking about?" "I'm in a professional dilemma, my dear friend. My job as a reporter is in conflict with my heart." O'Toole stopped chewing and asked, "Hellman told you?" She nodded and said, "I'm not stupid, Michael. I'll find out myself before long. It's a big, big subject, perhaps the biggest since the act. You probably don't want to be in the This sentence appeared in the summary of the evening report: The American general refused to carry out the order to destroy Rama, please watch the details at 5 o'clock." The general defended himself: "I did not refuse. The Trinity program did not require me to enter the code before the bomb was removed from the container..." "...But it will have to be input after the bomb is loaded into the bracket." Frances added, "There are still eight hours from now. I guess, in the early morning of tomorrow... I will be ready to film this historic event. " She stood up from the table. "You may be surprised, Michael, that your call to General Katsuo of Japan is not mentioned in any of my reports. Perhaps I will mention your conversation with him in my memoirs, but I These things will not be disclosed for another year." Frances turned, looked O'Toole straight in the eye, and said, "You will go from being a planet-saving hero overnight to being a wretched wretch. My friend, I want you to carefully Consider the consequences of your decisions."