John Koenig was up early this morning and he wasn’t sure why. It was about an hour before his usual time. But, it didn’t matter; the days seemed like they were all running together. It had been weeks since they had passed through the last solar system. To make matters worse it looked like another month was going to pass before they came near the next one.

Everyone in Main Mission was just coming off night shift, and was visibly tired from the slow nocturnal vigil. Only a few early starters had begun showing up to take their places at the consoles. They greeted him as he came into Main Mission, packing their file folders off to carts for the next shift to continue with. It had been relatively quiet with only a few stray meteors to watch. Comparing vectors and computer-generated gravity effect models, they had all appeared as harmless as they darted away across the endless cosmos. The computer made its usual sounds, lending its music to the endless monitoring of the systems, and watching through the electronic window of the scanners for anything – anything that might be just on the new horizon.

A department meeting was on the agenda for this morning, to get reports in from all the areas of operation, and just to visit before breakfast. The smell of brewing coffee was filling the conference area just behind Koenig’s office, and there was the buzz of senior staff moving about the round table with their folders shuffling and movement of the chairs. Coffee seemed plentiful these days, as there had been a new enzyme found that caused the coffee beans to grow and reproduce at a phenomenal rate. Hydroponics was always up to some new development in their quest to make survival on Alpha a little easier.

Carter was already sitting, relaxing and sipping coffee as he eyed Paul talking with Helena. Fresh ideas were being bantered about. Talk about the "Moonbase Olympics" was adding an air of excitement to the conversations. Teams were forming, practicing and getting ready for competition. This seemed to be the prevalent wind of life on the wandering moonbase. Hope and happiness seemed to pervade their world where it seemed there was little to be joyful about. It didn’t make much sense to him, but Koenig thought to himself, "Funny, how the human spirit survives above all else." Smiling warmly, he approached the group and took his seat, scooting his coffee cup just a little forward as he set his folders down on the table.

"Someone is late", he thought as he looked around. In an instant he determined that Kano had not arrived yet. The conversations were still bubbling as Kano came into the room by a side entrance. He had with him a single folder, and two narrow circuit cards in his hand. He wasn’t looking very cheerful. John Koenig knew this wasn’t going to be the usual meeting this morning. He knew what the rest of the reports were going to be like, so he decided to cut to the chase. "What’s the latest, Kano?" he asked.

Setting his cup down and picking up one of the boards, he rotated it long-wise in his hands, showing the group. "Memory chip burnouts have always been one of Computer’s weak areas." He explained, "They run hot, and when they’ve had enough, they quit. Before, we had a large supply of boards to replace them as we have needed, but our supply is getting low, now. We are a little far away from Earth to place another order." He handed the board to Paul, who looked at it briefly, then passed it on around the table. Kano had opened his folder and he looked at some figures. "At the current rate, it is only a matter of a year, plus or minus a couple of months before we get to the point where we can’t fully repair Computer. Some of the secondary systems will have to be sacrificed to keep the main monitoring, life support and communications systems operational. As it progresses, it will eat away at Computer until it all finally quits."

Looking at Dr. Russell, he quipped, "I guess you can think of it like a disease, slowly debilitating until the patient finally can’t endure any further damage."

"A good analogy, Kano" she replied. "This sounds serious; even the medical monitoring system could be compromised." "Well, doctor, at that point we will have to begin manually controlling all the areas of life support and medical that computer does for us now. That will mean staffing full-time of the critical systems." Paul sat back in his seat and tossed his plastic folder onto the table. He said, "Yeah, and blind as a bat without Computer to tell us what’s coming across those scanners." "The scanners can be manned and results compared to things we have seen in the past", Sandra offered, "We have seen many things, and our staff is capable of identifying and cataloging a large majority of items without help from Computer. And it will get better with practice."

A somber air settled over the conference table as thoughts about the seriousness of the problem were forming. Koenig took the initiative. "First of all, I don’t want to leak this out to the other Alphans – not yet. It’s too early for us to be making rash speculations. Sandra is right; we can control much of what we do on manual if need be. Kano, what options do we have?"

"Options? Not many. Unless we find a way to make our own memory chips out here in space, I don’t see any options. We need a source of refined silicon, pure. Then we have to create a process to form wafers that can be etched into the patterns we need to form memory cells. Somehow the end product has to fit on one of these." He spun the second board around on the tabletop. He sounded already defeated. Koenig sat forward, getting everyone lined up in his crosshairs. "We need an idea. A good one – Professor?" Professor Bergman tapped his pen on his stack of folders. "There has to be something either inside Alpha, or using the moon’s natural resources that will fix this problem." He was musing already. Koenig liked it. Sandra thought out loud, "Maybe there is some lunar rock that contains the silicon we need." "Don’t forget, it still has to be refined, and formed – almost grown into the shapes we need," Kano reminded. Koenig said, "I want the Technology Section to get started on this right away. Bergman, I want you to oversee the technicians on this project. I want all of you thinking of a solution; call me the moment you think you have anything. For now, keep this under wraps until we have a better handle on the situation."

Bergman leaned over to John and said, "Just how long can we keep something like this from getting out if everyone in Technical is working on it?" "We just need enough time to get something on the drawing board before doom and gloom gets out to everyone", he replied. "There has to be a solution. We have beaten the odds over and over. I refuse to be taken down by our own technology. Is everyone clear on this?" Bergman nodded his approval. Koenig looked around the room. Others were nodding; Kano spun the circuit board in a circle. "I want the fix, the cure for this Computer Illness. Is there anything else we need to talk about this morning?" "Just my usual ops reports" Carter replied. Silence. Koenig said, "Well, let’s forgo the rest of this meeting and everyone get to work."

The meeting was obviously adjourned. Koenig was still hungry, so he started out of Main Mission toward the dining area. Bergman was catching up with him in the corridor before he made it to the elevator doors. As they waited Koenig, arms crossed, looked at the Professor. Bergman looked at him with a knowing look. "Another ‘black hole’ to face?" Koenig replied, "You know I will never accept that, Victor. There is always an answer. It’s just a matter of time before we find it." Victor smiled. The elevator opened and they entered. Minutes later, they sat down to a light breakfast of pancakes and soy ‘sausage’. As they took time to chat on less stressful subjects, John noticed a sparkle in his coffee that seemed to flash a rainbow of colors for just a moment. The whole surface tension at the top of the coffee seemed to shimmer with it. He didn’t give it much thought. The taste was excellent, a rare treat for those living in the Moon City. There would always be plenty of coffee, he thought to himself. Even long after the base was empty and the lights all turned off, there would still be a faint glow of a warming plate somewhere with a decanter of the hot liquid waiting in the shadows somewhere. The fine engineering minds of the Hydroponics Section would see to that, to be sure. It must be the refined sugar, he thought, and then dismissed it as he listened to Victor telling about a time from his childhood on earth. He was describing a field where he and some friends used to play, the grass and the grove of trees in the short distance. It was so picturesque that Koenig seemed lost in the vision himself, wishing he could be in a New World looking at this scene with all the Alphans finally at a home, safe at last.

As they got up from the table, Victor offered, "John, let’s go by Hydroponics and see what they are up to." John smiled. A walk in the ‘garden’ would be about as close to their daydream as they would get today, but it would be a chance to consider their problem in peace and quiet. It almost seemed as though a breeze were blowing through a forest, but in reality it was just the huge fans circulating warm air in the large gardening bays. A technician was walking along with them, explaining how so much recycling of wastes and byproducts kept the plant life lush and growing. He was droning on and on about different enzymes that would help reduce the waste products into something much more usable for the plants to consume, and how they worked to reduce dead plant life into usable nutrients for the other plants around.

As they came around a large planter box, which held the soil above the surrounding walk area, their feet scrunched with the sounds of tiny pellets breaking and slipping underneath. Bergman hardly seemed to notice, and the technician kicked some of the shiny powder away as he continued on. Out of the periphery of John Koenig’s vision, he saw a flash of light that gleamed of the spectral colors as he moved along. It seemed to come from off the floor. "What is this?" John asked the tech. "Oh, that? That’s some of the dried enzymes we are using; some must have fallen out of the planter. Pardon the mess, Commander." He smiled. "Why does it shine like that? With that rainbow effect?" The technician picked up a small pinch of the crystals off the floor and held them in his hand. "The crystals grow in long stalks; we break them up with ultrasound so that each crystal comes detached from the others – it reaches more of the roots of the plants that way. It’s very good for them, you know." John remembered at that moment the glint of the rainbow in his mug of coffee a short time ago. "Are these used to help the coffee plants, too?" "Commander, I am afraid you have found out our trade secret. Yes, we are using them throughout the complex, once they were deemed safe, of course. The results have been spectacular. Plant growth is up well over 25 percent, and we are considering branching into the unused area of our facility soon, if you’ll pardon the pun." Bergman chuckled at the joke, as he twirled a few of the tiny flakes between his fingers, holding them up to the light. He seemed fascinated by the prismatic effect they had. "What else do you know about this?" Bergman asked the technician. "I’m not sure," he pointed, "You might check with that engineer…Syme. He does some interesting art work with them, you know."

"Sure", Syme was saying, "They bust these up from those huge long spindles of enzyme they grow, and I found out with a mild electrical current in a bath they will separate into certain shapes, so they seem to be different colors at one time. I have built some interesting panes with them, almost like the old stained glass found in the churches." "Very beautiful, I’m sure" echoed Professor Bergman. "I’d like to see them" John said. It was not a request. "Of course, Commander" replied Syme. "In my quarters…" he said as he started for the doorway.

The three of them were looking around the quarters of Botanical Engineer Jason Syme; it looked like they had entered a cathedral of colors and lights. "Amazing" said Koenig. "Incredible" answered Victor. "Thank you. I enjoy this very much as my hobby, but I don’t understand your interest in it, I’m afraid." "May we borrow a few of these panes?" the professor asked. "Of course." Outside his quarters, Victor said, "I’m going to take a look at these under the electron microscope, John. I’ll call you as soon as I get a good look. I have this hunch…" Koenig smiled. "I’ll be in Main Mission." They parted directions, Bergman taking his small stack of colored glass toward his laboratory.

Main Mission was alive with sound and activity. Koenig noticed the smooth operation of the staff, and yet couldn’t help but notice here and there along the wall of computer controls a telltale red blinking indicator – the trouble Kano was talking about showing up in a few minor areas. He proceeded to his office and closed the large doors. He was looking at the star charts and examining their path into it, trying to determine how soon before a promising new system would show up. This activity helped him keep his mind off a problem he knew was being tackled by his finest staff members.

The hours began to stretch out as the day made its way along. He had made his way through a series of reports modifying the star charts as new scanner information had been assembled. He never fully believed or even liked the computer, anyway, he mused. Who knew if the information being added to the star charts was even true or totally fiction, anyway? It seemed like when it had come down to the real nitty-gritty, the Commander thought, Computer was always on the outs – totally misled or malfunctioning. Of course, he realized, it had to try to deal with the complexities of the super-natural events while being inhibited by the scope of pure and simple logic and dictatorial programs that did not allow for the total lack of logic that often confronted it. Now it was the safety of Alpha being held in the balances this time, as Computer waited patiently for the technological knight on his white horse to come and rescue it from a certain death.

The commlock beeped as Koenig stirred from his thoughts about Computer. "John! Great news! I’ll be right up!" And with that the commlock beeped off. Koenig switched open the large doors into Main Mission. The sounds of people talking and the escalating sound of computer noises increased as the doors opened into the walls. Kano and Ouma came into the Conference Area together, notes in hand asking, "What’s the meeting about, Commander? Professor Bergman said we needed to meet him here straight away." "You know as much as I do at the moment" Koenig replied. He beeped into the Main Mission attendant to ‘please bring in some coffee’ knowing full well it was middle afternoon at this point in time now [as far as they knew]. He wasn’t really thirsty for it in the way he enjoyed it in the mornings, but now it held some mystery for him; knowing it was somehow related to the crystalline shapes he had seen earlier that day in the quarters of one engineer Syme.

Bergman came in with an assistant, some charts, the panes, and an odd-looking glass cube. They both scattered the items on the circular table as they moved their chairs to sit down. "John, this is the most amazing substance!" Victor practically gloated. "As you all know, Hydroponics Section created this crystalline enzyme to invigorate the plant life down there… yet it’s best qualities are just now beginning to come to light, as it were." Bergman smiled the smile of a man who has just entered Heaven. "Computer stores its information in its memory banks as a series of ones and zeros – the binary format, using hexadecimal numbering, of course," he nodded to the Computer engineers. "So using this format, for instance, John", he continued, "your name, every time it appears within the computer’s memory banks, takes up a memory byte for each character of your name, which comes to twenty-one bytes times 8 bits for each byte, which takes up 168 bits- those ones and zeros I mentioned." It was totally beneath Koenig; he knew enough Computer basics to read well past the basic lesson Bergman was presenting, but he patiently listened on, as he knew Victor was building the basis for something big. "Syme was on to something greater than he understood. By applying a small electrical current while the crystals were still wet in their liquid bath, they polarized, taking on a certain ‘phase’, if you will. This gave them the effect of bending only a certain spectrum of visible light – so they appear to have their own color." He held up various panes Syme had donated. These crystals, once polarized hold this phase indefinitely. They show no signs of deterioration to within incredible tolerances!" he practically exclaimed. "Passing light into them, they emit that same frequency over and over again without fail! They have their own memory, John! Think if it!" It was starting to sink it with the Commander, but he had not made the quantum jump Bergman had. "Instead of trying to replicate the old memory patterns with their simple "ons" and "offs", each bit of this type of memory can hold some varying degree between on and off, and can do so indefinitely. We can change it at will, and it will hold that change forever, or until we change it again! Not only that, but instead of accessing memories the way Computer always has – along an X and Y plane, we can physically grow these crystal shapes into cubes that can contain billions of these individual memory locations – X, Y and Z multiplying space incredibly. It took just a couple of hours to grow this one" he indicated the cube on the table. "It’s a crude beginning, but it will only get better with time. What once took over a hundred bits to store your name in failing memory chips can now be stored into just a half dozen crystals – less with compression of the data, and retrieved reliably forever! Pictures, voices, and even radiation scans can be stored as true as the moment they were scanned into the system!"

A numbed silence filled the room as Bergman stopped to catch his breath. He continued, "We can begin immediately not only repairing the problem, but by revamping the way Computer sees and accesses memories, we can increase her abilities over a thousand-fold! Each crystalline bit can store one of millions of frequencies or values…" He continued on gazing around the table, explaining the idea behind using the enzymatic crystals to build new and better memory arrays. Smiles and understanding nods were coming from the other staff. It was better than Koenig had hoped for.

Koenig knew enough to know good news when he heard it. "Attention: Command Conference" he said into the paging microphone in his commlock. He smiled. It was better than good news – it was life-giving water to a man in the desert wasteland. And more. The conference was more a release of the incredible news than it was a ‘conference’. But once more, within the same day disaster had been averted, but more than that – it almost seemed a miracle had been dropped into their laps once again that gave them more of a fighting chance at survival than ever before.

After the air of celebration had settled down among the senior staff, and Main Mission crew, Koenig once again considered the great blessing they had stumbled across – the pursuit of better food and piping hot coffee had rendered something totally unexpected that was to be in days to come the new life-blood of their computer system. Hopefully one day that same computer would chime in their arrival to a new solar system, and perhaps even a new world they could call their own "Terra Nova". As he stood at the windows in Main Mission nearing nighttime, he thought as he stared into the vastness of space that God must certainly be smiling on all of Alpha today, and Koenig whispered silently a word of thanks to Him as he placed his arm around Helena’s shoulders. It had been a long day- much too long. Koenig suddenly realized where this seemingly unfounded hope had come from and how it buoyed up the Spirit of the Alphans.

-Finis-

Return to the Main Page.
[ Click Here ]