Free Disc by Laurence E Dahners Page A

security desk and someone will escort you to your desk.”
    Dante gave a little giggle at the absurdity of it all, “Okay, I’ll try to make it.”
    Tiona gave him a questioning look.
    “You’re not gonna believe this…” He explained what was going on.
    Tiona gave him a sly grin, “I’ve got a little idea for you…”
                 
    ***
     
    Sophie Bautista, Zack White, and Ralph Abbott were in another meeting with NASA brass. They’d been in one yesterday until Zack and Ralph had demanded that they be allowed to rest. They still hadn’t acclimatized to a full gravity field. Today the brass had started the meeting with a couple of stretchers in the room for the astronauts to lie down on.
    Some of the questions they were being asked were so pointed that you might think the saucer was a problem rather than a salvation of the space program. “Ms. Bautista,” one of the men by the name of Jacobson asked, an edge in his voice, “I’d like to ask just what sorts of navigational aids and orbital computational hardware and software was available on this… this, ‘spacecraft?’”
    “Um, Dr. Gettnor uploaded Kadoma’s orbit to the saucer’s AI, so we knew where we were trying to go. He said that near Earth the AI used GPS data to determine the position of the saucer. He told us that once we were far enough out that we couldn’t use GPS anymore, the saucer’s AI could compute position fairly accurately from the position of the stars and planets in its cameras. It also computed position from the distance signal transmitted by NASA’s Space-NAV satellite in combination with x-ray signals from several pulsars. As I understand it, it piggybacked onto ‘X-NAV.’”
    “An AI? Are you saying that it was just a commercially-available high-end computer with AI software installed on it?”
    “Um, yes sir, I believe so.”
    Jacobson sounded aghast. “Not radiation hardened?! Surely you know that commercially available high-end electronic equipment has a significantly shortened lifespan in the radiation environment out there?”
    “Um, yes sir, but the saucer goes fast enough that we wouldn’t be out there very long. Besides, the AI is redundant.”
    Jacobson blinked, “Redundant?”
    “Yes sir, there are two more AIs on board in case one fails.”
    He rolled his eyes, “Also standard, commercially-available I suppose.”
    “I expect so sir.”
    “So, without any more thought than that, you set off into deep space in a home built spacecraft, using a commercially-available AI for navigation?! Have you any idea of the kind of precision navigation and orbital calculation that’s required to reach an asteroid?!”
    “Um, yes sir, I am a couple of years into astronaut training after all, but I must point out some…”
    The man interrupted, “You put the lives of yourself, two civilians, and astronauts Abbot and White at risk! Going out in untested equipment and navigating practically by the seat of your pants!”
    “Um, excuse me,” Ralph Abbott said, “I’d like to point out that Zack and I were essentially dead if she didn’t come after us. She hardly put our lives at risk.”
    “She could have come to us for authorization of this flight. We could have done some testing of the craft, then placed experienced astronauts on board with proper navigation equipment!”
    Zack White raised himself onto one elbow, “If you’ve heard the real, ‘non-official’ story about why they flew the mission, you’d know they’d tried to talk to people here at NASA, but got blown off. Besides, if she’d tried to run it through official channels, we’d have been dead before you assholes untwisted your shorts!”
    “Mr. White,” Jacobson said shaking his head patiently, “I know you’re distraught after the experience you’ve been through, but you must realize that what she did was exceedingly dangerous. It’s incredibly lucky she actually managed a transfer orbit with such primitive