Chapter 2 Chapter two

Sheffield Jackman Space Log, USS Constitution Day 95. We are traveling at about 15% the speed of light, which is about 30,000 miles per second, according to Lecky's report.The Fusion Synthetic Thruster was singing happily, as expected, the explosion process was in rapid succession, and we only felt some slight vibrations.Fuel, power and life curves are all kept at their best.There was nothing wrong with the spaceship, in fact, everything else was fine too.As expected, relativistic effects have started to emerge.Spectral analysis by Jim Barstow shows that the stars in front of us are shifting to the blue end, while the sun and other stars behind us are turning red.Of course you can't see much without a spectroscope, and Beta Bipod looks a little funny.As for the sun, it was still bright--Jim had written it as minus-sixth magnitude in his logbook a few hours ago--and I couldn't tell whether it was bright or dark because I had never seen it like that before.It's certainly not the GO type gold I'm referring to, and neither is Alpha Centauri ahead of us, and I really can't see the difference.I think the reason is simply that they are so bright that the impression of color is inferior to that of brightness, although the spectroscope shows the difference.We all take turns looking back.I think it's very natural.In a telescope, the earth and even the moon can still be discerned, but only by chance.Yesterday, Skye saw the Sun almost completely in full-light azimuth.They are now visually separated by only about 12 arcseconds, and in a few days they will be too close to be seen apart.let me think, what else?

The entertainment math program kept us entertained.Ann is very fond of binary arithmetic and has become a duck to water.She was engaged in what seemed to me to be some sort of statistical experiment—we don't really ask what other people are doing unless they want to talk about it—and first she asked us to flip a coin.You see, of course none of us carry money with us!But there are two exceptions.Ski had a Russian silver ruble that his great-uncle gave him for good luck, and I found an old Philadelphia bus token in my pocket.Ann doesn't want my bus tokens.I think it is too light and unreliable, but I have been throwing rubles for hours, head or tail, and I am not tired of it. I also record each result in a series of 6-digit binary numbers, 1 for heads and 0 for tails.After about a week, I was so curious that I hinted that I wanted to know what she was doing.When I asked, she said these things: "We can learn the laws of the whole world in an easy way." I said that was wonderful, but what did she hope to learn by flipping a coin?She said: "Once the laws of the world are mastered, perfection is also in it." So I thought, let's stop forcing each other and let him go.But this game really kills time.

Nephie would be proud if he saw how entertainment keeps us busy.None of us have proved Fermat's last law or anything like that, which of course is what the whole point is.If all the problems are solved, don't we have no entertainment?These things do fulfill their original intent.It keeps our minds awake and active throughout this long and really boring voyage. Relationships?Not bad, friend, not bad.Far better than any of us could have counted on at a base hygiene briefing.The girls took the striped pills daily for three days before their periods, then took the green pills for four days, then stopped taking the pills for four days and restarted the striped pills.At first we joked a little bit about it, but now it's as routine as brushing our teeth every day.We guys take the red pills every day--Ski calls them "stop lights"--until the girls tell us they're going off the pills--you know what I say, every girl tells her husband--and We took the antidote - we called it "The Blue Ghost" - and it was hell until the girls started taking striped tablets again.None of us believed it would work, and yet it worked.I didn't even think about sex until Flo kissed my ear and told me she was ready to go "in heat" (excuse the word) and that was the next thing to happen.Everyone does.That aft cabin with the comfy and spacious beds, we call it the Honeymoon Hotel.It belongs to anyone who needs it.It never happened that both beds were used.The rest of the time, we slept wherever we could, and no one complained about that.

Forgive me for dragging into personal matters, but you told me you wanted to know everything, and really had nothing else to report.All systems are in top condition.We checked it from time to time and found no problems, nor did we see any signs of problems.There is really nothing to see outside except for the stars.We've seen enough of what we want to see so far.The plasma jet hummed in the direction of the TSG, its sound was now inaudible. We have adapted the recirculation system.No one expected to get used to the toilet, let alone dispose of the feces, but it was just a little irritating for a few days, but now it's all good.The treated product enters the algae tank.The algae deposits then go into the hydroponic bed, when of course it's just green-brown vegetable matter.Naturally those are handled semi-automatically.Our first real exposure to the system was in the kitchen.

The food eaten came in the form of things like the reddish tomato and the nutritious risotto. (We'd love to try a bit of animal protein. The freezer lasts a long time, so each hamburger is a feast, only eaten once a week or so.) The drinking water actually comes from the air, condensed from the dehumidifier into the reservoir Inside, we drink water from there.It was chilled and aerated and tasted great.Of course, the first way it gets into the air is by evaporating through our pores or radiating from plants - all of which are irrigated directly by disposal products in recycling bins - stop and think, everyone knows - — Each molecule of it has now passed through the kidneys of all of us 40 times, but not directly, and that's the point.We're drinking sweet, refreshing nectar, whatever it was once, isn't Lake Erie the same?

Well, I think I've said enough.As you probably understand by now, we all have a great time at work and we all appreciate you for giving us this pleasure cruise! While waiting for the president to be received, Dr. Neffhausen read the bulletin sent from the spaceship again, and was very excited. Neffe was indeed proud, and also proud of them. Those little wizards were so brave and strong there. powerful! He was proud of them, as if those 8 were his own children.Everyone knows that the A-Alien project is Neffhausen's "child", but he wants to hide this fact from the world. In his own mind, his father has benefited all astronauts.They are the essence of the real world, and it was he who guided them to where they are now.He looked up and listened to the distant chants from beyond the wall.The scenes of rioting there today are disgusting.Lest that's not crazy enough, those people are harassing the people who move the world forward.

What are the idiots doing there?The hair grows dead and the soul is dirty.Heaven belongs only to the angels, and it was Dieter von Neffhausen who chose the angels, who set up the selection process, who conceived and adapted the all-important entertainment protocol.And most importantly, he conceived the entire project and convinced the president to make it a reality.The hardware is not worth mentioning, mainly to spend some money.The basic scientific concepts are known, and most of the components are in stock, it just takes the will to put them together.Will would not exist if it weren't for Neffhausen—who announced his discovery of A-Alienus at a radio observatory on the far side of the moon, and gave it that name, (although everyone realizes he could have called it any name of his choice, even his own), and fought against all odds to sell the project until the president bought it.

This struggle is so difficult, so bitter.He mustered up the courage to remind himself that the worst was yet to come, and that it was okay, whatever the cost, it was done and it was worth it.Reports from the USS Constitution confirm this.It went exactly as planned, and— "I'm sorry, Dr. Neffhausen." He looked up, almost ejected from half a light-year away. "I mean the President wants to see you now, Dr. Neffhausen," the guide repeated. "Oh," Neffhausen said, "oh, of course, I'm thinking too much." "Yes, sir. This way please, sir."

They walked past a window and glimpsed the commotion at the door, men holding up marker stakes for tomahawks, a blue mist of tear gas, and the noise.Neffhausen said casually, "The bandit king is very busy today." "There is no danger here, sir. Go this way, please." The president was not alone in his private study, much to Neffhausen's surprise.His private secretary, Mary Amos, was present.Understandable, but there are three other people.Neffhausen recognized them as the Secretary of State, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate, the Vice President. "Strange," Neffhausen thought, "isn't it a secret meeting that only reports to the president?" But he soon cheered up.

"I'm sorry, Mr. President," he said briskly, "I may have misunderstood. I thought you were planning a secret meeting." "I'm ready, Neffhausen," said the president.Years of grief in the White House weighed heavily on him now, Neffhausen commented gruffly.He looked old and tired. "What you want to tell me, tell these gentlemen." "Oh, okay, I see," Neffhausen said, trying to hide his bewildered embarrassment.Of course, the President means what he says, so it is necessary to discover his true intentions. "Okay, sure, here's something, Mr. President. It's a new report from the USS Constitution! Transmitted an hour ago from the Lunar Orbiter at Goldstone Base, just deciphered in the decoding room. Let me read Here you go. Our intrepid astronauts started out with distinction, and everything went according to plan. They said—”

"Don't read it now." The President's voice was harsh. "We'll listen, but first there's one more thing. I want you to give these gentlemen the story and disk of Project A-Alienus." "The whole story? Mr President." Neffhausen procrastinated cheerfully, "Got it, you want me to start at the very beginning—when we first realized at the observatory that we had found a planet—" "No, Neffhausen, it's not a story, it's the truth." "Mr. President!" cried Neffhausen mournfully, "I must tell you that I am against premature disclosure of vital—" "Truth, Neffhausen!" shouted the president.It was the first time Neffhausen had heard the president raise his voice. "It won't leak out of this room, but you have to tell them everything. Tell them why the Russians were right and we lied! Tell them why we're sending astronauts on a suicide mission Plans, orders to land on planets we know don't exist!"