Surprisingly, Dr. David Brown did not add much to the philosophical discussion. He made several short comments and once or twice seemed on the verge of launching into a long, amplifying explanation. But he never did. His true beliefs about the nature of Rama were not revealed.
Francesca Sabatini initially acted as a kind of moderator or interlocuter, asking questions of clarification and keeping the conversation on an even keel. Toward the end of the discussion, however, she offered several personal, candid comments of her own. Her philosophical view of the Newton mission was altogether different from that expressed by O’Toole and Wakefield.
“I think you’re making this entire thing much too complex and intellectual!” she said after Richard had delivered a long panegyric on the joys of knowledge. “There was no need for me to do any deep soul-searching before I applied to be a Newton cosmonaut-1 approached the issue the same way I do all my major decisions. I did a risk!reward trade-off. I judged that the rewards — considering all the factors, including fame, prestige, money, even adventure — more than warranted the risks. And I absolutely disagree with Richard in one respect. If I die on this mission I will not be at all happy. For me, most of the rewards from this project are delayed; I cannot benefit from them if I do not return to Earth.”
Francesca’s comments aroused Nicole’s curiosity. She wanted to ask the Italian journalist some more questions, but Nicole didn’t think it was the proper time or place. After the meeting was over, she was still intrigued by what Francesca had said. Can life really be that simple to her? Nicole thought to herself. Can everything be evaluated in terms of risks and rewards? She remembered Francesca’s lack of emotion when she drank the abortion liquid. But what about principles or values? Or even feelings? As the meeting broke up Nicole admitted to herself that Francesca was still very much a puzzle.
Nicole watched Dr. Takagishi carefully. He was handling himself much better today. “I have brought a printout of the official sortie strategy, Dr. Brown,” he was saying, waving a four-inch-thick set of papers in his hand, “to remind us of the fundamental tenets of sortie design that resulted from over a year of unhurried mission planning. May I read from the summary?”
“I don’t think you need to do that,” David Brown responded. “We’re all familiar with—”
“I’m not,” interrupted General O’Toole. “I would like to hear it. Admiral Heilmann asked me to pay close attention and brief him on the issues.”
Dr. Brown waved for Takagishi to continue. The diminutive Japanese scientist was borrowing a page from Brown’s own portfolio. Even though he knew that David Brown personally favored going after the crab biots on the second sortie, Takagishi still was attempting to convince the other cosmonauts that the top-priority activity should be a scientific foray into the city of New York.
Reggie Wilson had excused himself an hour earlier and had gone to his room for a nap. The remaining five crew members onboard the Newton had spent most of the afternoon struggling, without success, to reach an agreement on the activities for the second sortie. Since the two scientists Brown and Takagishi had radically different opinions on what should be done, no consensus was possible. Meanwhile, behind them on the large monitor, there had been intermittent views of the space cadets and Admiral Heilmann working inside Rama. The current picture showed Tabori and Turgenyev at the campsite adjoining the Cylindrical Sea. They had just finished assembling the second motorboat and were checking its electrical subsystems.
“…The sequence of sorties has been carefully designed,” Takagishi was reading, “to be consistent with the mission policies and priorities document, ISA-NT-0014. The primary goals of the first sortie are to establish the engineering infrastructure and to examine the interior on at least a superficial level. Of particular importance will be the identification of any characteristics of this second Rama spacecraft that are in any way different from the first.
“Sortie number two is designed to complete the mapping of the inside of Rama, focusing particularly on regions unexplored seventy years ago, as well as the collections of buildings called cities and any interior differences identified on the first sortie. Encounters with biots will be avoided on the second sortie, although the presence and location of the various kinds of biots will be part of the mapping process.
“Interaction with the biots will be delayed until the third sortie. Only after careful and prolonged observation will any attempt be made—”
“That’s enough, Dr. Takagishi,” David Brown interrupted. “We all have the gist of it. Unfortunately that sterile document was prepared months before launch. The situation we face now was never contemplated. We have the lights going on and off. And we have located and are tracking a herd of six crab biots just beyond the southern edge of the Cylindrical Sea.”
“I disagree,” said the Japanese scientist respectfully. “You said yourself that the unpredicted lighting profile did not represent a fundamental difference between the two spacecraft. We are not facing an unknown Rama. I submit that we should implement the sorties in accordance with the original mission plan.”
“So you favor dedicating this entire second sortie to mapping, including or perhaps even featuring a detailed exploration of New York?” asked O’Toole.
“Exactly, General O’Toole. Even if one takes the position that the strange sound heard by cosmonauts Wakefield, Sabatini, and myself does not constitute an official difference, the careful mapping of New York is clearly one of the highest priority activities. And it is vital that we accomplish it on this sortie. The temperature in the Central Plain has already risen to minus five degrees. Rama is carrying us closer and closer to the Sun. The spacecraft is heating from the outside in. I predict the Cylindrical Sea will begin to melt from the bottom in three or four more days—”
“I have never said that New York was not a legitimate target for exploration,” David Brown interrupted again, 4< but I have maintained from the very beginning that the biots are the true scientific treasure of this voyage. Look at these amazing creatures!” he said, filling the center screen with a film of the six crab biots moving slowly across a bland region in the Southern Hemi-cylinder. “We may never have another opportunity to capture one. The drones have almost finished reconnoitering the entire interior and no other biots have been spotted.”
The rest of the crew members, including Takagishi, looked at the monitor with rapt attention. The bizarre assemblage of aliens, arranged in a triangular formation with a slightly larger specimen in the lead, approached a jumbled mound of loose metal. The lead crab moved directly into the obstacle, paused a few seconds, and then used its claws to chop the elements of the mound into still smaller pieces. The two crabs in the second row transferred the metal fragments onto the backs of the remaining three members of the troop. This new material increased the size of the small piles already on the tops of the shells of the three crab biots in the back row.
“They must be the Raman garbage crew,” Francesca said. Everyone laughed.
“But you can see why I want to move quickly,” David Brown continued. “Right now the short film we just saw is on its way to all the television networks on Earth. Over a billion of our fellow men and women will watch it today with the same mixture of fear and fascination that all of you just felt. Imagine what kind of laboratories we will be able to build to study such a creature. Imagine what we will learn—”
“What makes you think you can capture one?” General O’Toole asked. “They look as if they could be quite formidable.”