“Phil,” Morgan said, “you may not be a bullshitter, but the report you’ve just given me is pure bullshit and you know it. This strange weather began within 15 minutes after one of our major satellite tests, the one where we also tested the solar panels. You can’t tell me that’s pure coincidence.”
Rosetta Corporation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is considered one of the leading defense contractors in the country. Morgan began expanding Rosetta’s mission 10 years ago, to concentrate more on civilian uses of satellite technology. He assembled a team of scientists that the Wall Street Journal calls the “smartest bunch of technologists in American industry.” Morgan prides himself on his fanatical attention to detail. He once began a corporate meeting by predicting that one of Rosetta’s satellites was degrading in orbit and would soon burn up. Nobody in the meeting agreed with him. The satellite entered the earth’s atmosphere and disintegrated before the meeting was over. If there is one thing that Morgan hates above all else, it’s not knowing the answer to why a problem has occurred.
“Frank, I gotta believe this problem is a pure coincidence and has nothing to do with our satellites. If we were somehow involved, we’d know why and what happened. As of right now we know less than a local meteorologist knows.”
“Do you recommend that we contact NASA or Homeland Security?” Morgan asked.
“We could contact them, but we’d have nothing to say. I recommend that we say nothing, because that’s exactly what we have to tell them.”
“Phil, what about the problem that the astronauts reported with the retractable solar panels on one of our satellites? It happened close in time to the big weather event.”
“The problem lasted just a few seconds, Frank. They think that some space junk may have hit one of the panels. But the panel retracted, and no further problem was reported.”
“I may just be pissing into the wind,” Morgan said, “but I want you to order another panel retraction test of all of our satellites.”
“Well, we don’t have to worry about pissing into the wind, Frank, because the tests will be performed in space.”
“Very funny, wiseass. Let me know as soon as the test results are in.”
Chapter 23
July 22
“You know, Bill, we’ve been doing things backwards,” Nancy Mullin said.
“What do you mean? Are you questioning my engineering expertise?”
“No, I mean you and me. Normally two single people meet, feel attracted to one another, then like each other, fall in love, and have sex. We started with the sex before we barely knew one another. Now, I feel like, I don’t know, I’m really starting to like you—a lot. We’ve been screwing like a couple of lab rats, and I feel more strongly about you each time.”
“I feel the same way about you, Nance. How about a kiss.”
“I feel like taking a shower,” Nancy said. “A more imaginative designer would have included a cylindrical shower for two. It would save energy.”
Showering in space takes some getting used to as many astronauts have said. It’s not really a shower because water in an anti-gravity environment tends to stick to your skin. A towel soaked with water is the substitute for a shower.
“Why don’t you go wash up and I’ll follow you. Then we’ll play Scrabble like we planned.”
“Why don’t we decide on what game we’ll play later,” Nancy said. “Scrabble isn’t doing it for me.”
After they “showered,” Bill pulled down the zipper on Nancy’s suit, as Nancy did the same with his.They held each other, caressing in the weightless environment of the space station.
“Stargazer, Stargazer” came the voice over the radio, “this is Rosetta Headquarters, come in please.”
“This is Stargazer, read you loud and clear, Rosetta,” Nancy said breathlessly.
“You sound like you’re out of breath, Nancy,” Phil Duncan said. “Everything okay?”
“Yes,” she gasped, “Oh, my God, yes, yes, yes. I was just having a workout—on the treadmill.”
“Frank Morgan wants you to perform the satellite tests again. I know it’s time-consuming, but the boss man wants it.”
“Oh shit, I mean of course,” Nancy said. “We’ll start right now.”
“Why don’t you finish your workout, Nancy,” Duncan said, stifling a laugh. “You’ll be fresh and alert for performing the tests.”
“Oh, yes we will,” Nancy panted, “Oh, wow, will we ever.”
Bill and Nancy began the monotonous tests of the 20 Rosetta satellites. They began the procedure by sending a series of signals to each satellite, deploying the retractable solar panels. Each satellite is round and measure six feet in diameter. One by one, they extended the retractable rods containing the solar panels. Once the rod was extended, the solar panel would unfold. Their orders were to leave all solar panels in a deployed position until the final satellite was tested. Each test took seven minutes, so the entire operation would take 140 minutes. Then the solar panels on each of the satellites would be retracted, a five-minute operation per panel, adding another 100 minutes to the project.
“What the hell is going on?” Bill asked. “The solar panels are rotating on their own. They won’t respond to the signal.”
“Let me try the override protocol,” Nancy said. “It must be a malfunctioning relay.”
“All of the panels seem to be turned to the same direction,” Bill said. “I thought they put in a fail-safe mechanism to prevent that.”
“Why the hell are they facing the same way?” Nancy asked.
“Nobody has ever given me an explanation for that. Like I’ve said many times, I don’t ask too many questions.”
“Those panels are the most powerful solar arrays in existence,” Bill said. “If the panels all face in the same direction, they concentrate the sun’s energy, which is what seems to have happened. Headquarters doesn’t like to take chances, and that’s why they put it the fail-safe—the fail-safe that failed.”
“I designed the fail-safe system,” Nancy said. “I can’t understand why it’s not working. I designed it to work—without fail. The override seems to be doing the trick. I just hope that the few minutes of concentrated sun rays on the solar panels didn’t fuck anything up.”
Chapter 24
July 23
“Lilly Morton, reporting for NBC News here in cold and blustery Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where the unbelievable blizzard continues without a stop. Under that mountain of snow behind me is the building that houses the NBC studio.”
Lilly Morton was standing out in the open to make a visual display of the blowing snow. She was dressed in arctic weather gear which she had a hard time finding in Fort Lauderdale.
“The temperature in Fort Lauderdale on this 23rd day of July is a balmy 22 degrees. Some homeowners here in Southern Florida, trying to save money, never bothered to equip their homes with central heating. It’s either air conditioning or room temperature, whatever it may be. Frozen and burst pipes are being reported by the thousands.”
As if a switch were thrown, the snow stopped, and a bright sun appeared. Lilly Morton stood before the camera with a confused look on her face. She put her hand to her forehead in a salute to block the sunrays.
“Hey, what the hell is going on?” she said, as a producer screamed in her ear for using the word “hell.” She tucked the microphone under her arm to free up her hands to open her winter parka. “I’m stumped, folks. As you can see, the snow suddenly stopped falling and the sun is out. I’m looking at a thermometer on the building next to me, and it reads 82 degrees. Just a few minutes ago it was 22 degrees.”