Free Ad Astra by Jack Campbell Page B

and fix whatever is causing the brain to short-circuit.”
    The chief designer’s eyes narrowed in thought. “Short-circuit? What could have caused that happen? Sandra’s central command functions were working fine yesterday. We haven’t modified them since then.”
    “Stray signals?” another engineer suggested.
    “The central command area is shielded.”
    “Maybe some other part of the, uh, neural network on Sandra?” Yasmina offered.
    This time everyone’s attention turned toward a senior engineer, who looked defensive. “The test monitoring equipment couldn’t –“
    “It’s wireless!” the director snapped.
    Sandra’s captain and the chief designer were studying something. “Stray signals. That would do it. They must be filtering in through the sensing network. Oh, hell. I bet they’re reflecting down these access trunks and into the command circuit sub-junctions.”
    The director’s glower deepened as he barked another order at the hapless senior engineer. “Turn it off!”
    The senior engineer punched some commands into his personal, and a moment later the depiction of Sandra’s control system activity cleared. A muted cheer sounded, choked off as the director stabbed a finger at Sandra’s captain. “We’ve already lost two hours. Get this thing underway and get the tests done. Everybody else who isn’t part of the crew get off this ship now!”
    Yasmina turned to go, but stopped when the director called out again. “Not you, Dr. Finshal. In light of the fact that we needed your assistance to correct this problem with Sandra,” he added with a scowl at the chief designer, “I think it would be wise if you go along on the test voyage.
    “I hope you enjoy the trip,” Kevlin whispered, taking a step away.
    “Dr. Shan!” Kevlin barely avoided wincing as he turned to face the director. “You, too. Since one type of doctor was able to diagnose a problem with Sandra, having a physician along too might be a good idea.”
    “Um, but I need to –“
    The director had already vanished down the passageway. Most of the engineers vanished in his wake, leaving only the ten members of Sandra’s crew and the two doctors.
    #
    “This is all your fault,” Kevlin grumbled to Yasmina. They were strapped into acceleration seats at the back of Sandra’s main control room.
    “Think of it as an adventure if that helps you cope,” she replied.
    “An adventure? We’re just going outside Lunar orbit and coming back. Some adventure.” Kevlin ‘tapped’ the virtual screen before his seat, bringing up different images, pausing briefly when he reached one showing an outside view of Sandra still docked to the station, Earth’s globe floating serenely in the background. Someone had positioned that shot with the skill of a public relations expert capturing an important moment. Finally he settled on the crew status display, providing real-time updates on important activity within the crew’s bodies. “Some of the crew members were up all night,” he observed out loud.
    “Really?” Yasmina frowned. “I’ve recommended against that sort of thing.”
    “They’ve been doped. Looks like pentastamine. Yup. As good as a full night’s sleep.”
    “I don’t care,” Yasmina grumbled. “There’s no substitute for natural sleep.”
    Kevlin shrugged. “The stuff’s been tested –“
    “I know! I also know there’s a lot we still don’t understand. The human body and brain are incredibly complex.”
    His reply was cut off when the captain raised her voice. “Sandra. Separate from the station and proceed along preplanned track Alpha One.”
    A cool female voice replied. “Command understood. Complying.”
    Yasmina’s scowl deepened. “I told them to have her repeat back the command so they could be sure she actually had heard them right. But they complained that was inefficient since they know everything about Sandra and how she’ll respond. You’d think their experience this morning would have