must be quite a burden, to be leading this mission,” the anchordoll said in her perky, almost cartoon-like voice.
“It’s a responsibility, certainly,” Bella said, “but I have a good crew under me. I couldn’t ask for a better team.”
“You must be apprehensive, though.”
“I have a duty to exercise professional concern. Janus may throw some surprises at us, but that’s been the case with every comet we’ve ever steered home. There’s never been anything routine about pushing ice.”
“How do you think you’ll react if you meet a real-life alien?”
“As opposed to a not real-life alien?” Bella fingered one of the plants on the rack. Patent numbers and copyright symbols were embossed into the glossy green leaf. “I don’t think it’ll happen. I think we’ll find automated systems, that’s all.”
“How do you feel about that?”
Bella shrugged. “We’ll take pictures, run scans, maybe try to extract a physical sample. But I’m not expecting great conversation from a machine.”
The anchordoll huffed. “Well, we machines may have something to say about that!”
“Yes,” Bella said.
The doll brightened again. “Captain Lind, you’re in charge of a pretty big ship. But it was never designed for this kind of mission, was it?”
“Show me a ship that was.” Bella tried not to sound defensive. “But we’re versatile enough. We’re equipped for remote science studies: it’s just that we’ll be doing a different kind of science from the sort we’re normally used to. But we’ll cope. We’re professionals.” She looked into the cam with what she hoped was the right steely-eyed expression. “Out here we have a saying: ‘We push ice. It’s what we do.’”
“You’ll have to run that by me again, Captain Lind!”
“What we mean is this: we get a job to do, and we finish it. My crew are the best. We’ve got people from the Moon, people from Mars, people from the orbitals, people from marine projects… a bunch of underwater guys. Vacuum and water: they’re not that different, really.”
The anchordoll’s face defaulted to one of its blank states: Bella had lost it again. “Could you tell us a little bit more about the rest of your crew?”
“Well, they’re all good people. I wouldn’t want to single any one person out —”
“We’ve had reports that your second-in-command is going to die!” the doll said cheerily.
“Jim Chisholm has a condition, that’s all,” Bella said testily, “one that needs treatment sooner rather than later.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“I’m not thrilled about it, obviously. Nor’s Jim. But we can still get him home in time. In fact — and Jim agrees with me here — Janus is actually our best bet for getting him the medical attention he needs. We’ll be home and dry in six, seven weeks.”
“Let’s hope so, Captain Lind! Moving on, do you deny reports that you’re carrying nuclear weapons?”
“Nothing to deny. We’re carrying FADs — Fragmentation Assistance Devices — that’s all. If we hook up to a comet that’s an odd shape, we might want to chip a few pieces off before we try to push it back home.
“Some sources say Rockhopper’s mission is to plant those devices on Janus and destroy it. Can you comment?”
“I can comment by saying I find that a ludicrous suggestion. Isn’t there something more constructive you’d like to ask me?”
“How do you respond to accusations that much of the technology aboard Rockhopper that is now being used for commercial purposes was developed with UEE funding specifically ring-fenced for the purposes of averting Earth-grazing asteroids and comets?”
“I can’t comment. I just have a job to do.”
“Thank you, Captain Lind. And now to finish, would you like to issue a personal statement to the people back home? Something that encapsulates the way you feel about this mission, your hopes and fears, as you carry the torch of humanity to a place beyond our
“It’s a responsibility, certainly,” Bella said, “but I have a good crew under me. I couldn’t ask for a better team.”
“You must be apprehensive, though.”
“I have a duty to exercise professional concern. Janus may throw some surprises at us, but that’s been the case with every comet we’ve ever steered home. There’s never been anything routine about pushing ice.”
“How do you think you’ll react if you meet a real-life alien?”
“As opposed to a not real-life alien?” Bella fingered one of the plants on the rack. Patent numbers and copyright symbols were embossed into the glossy green leaf. “I don’t think it’ll happen. I think we’ll find automated systems, that’s all.”
“How do you feel about that?”
Bella shrugged. “We’ll take pictures, run scans, maybe try to extract a physical sample. But I’m not expecting great conversation from a machine.”
The anchordoll huffed. “Well, we machines may have something to say about that!”
“Yes,” Bella said.
The doll brightened again. “Captain Lind, you’re in charge of a pretty big ship. But it was never designed for this kind of mission, was it?”
“Show me a ship that was.” Bella tried not to sound defensive. “But we’re versatile enough. We’re equipped for remote science studies: it’s just that we’ll be doing a different kind of science from the sort we’re normally used to. But we’ll cope. We’re professionals.” She looked into the cam with what she hoped was the right steely-eyed expression. “Out here we have a saying: ‘We push ice. It’s what we do.’”
“You’ll have to run that by me again, Captain Lind!”
“What we mean is this: we get a job to do, and we finish it. My crew are the best. We’ve got people from the Moon, people from Mars, people from the orbitals, people from marine projects… a bunch of underwater guys. Vacuum and water: they’re not that different, really.”
The anchordoll’s face defaulted to one of its blank states: Bella had lost it again. “Could you tell us a little bit more about the rest of your crew?”
“Well, they’re all good people. I wouldn’t want to single any one person out —”
“We’ve had reports that your second-in-command is going to die!” the doll said cheerily.
“Jim Chisholm has a condition, that’s all,” Bella said testily, “one that needs treatment sooner rather than later.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“I’m not thrilled about it, obviously. Nor’s Jim. But we can still get him home in time. In fact — and Jim agrees with me here — Janus is actually our best bet for getting him the medical attention he needs. We’ll be home and dry in six, seven weeks.”
“Let’s hope so, Captain Lind! Moving on, do you deny reports that you’re carrying nuclear weapons?”
“Nothing to deny. We’re carrying FADs — Fragmentation Assistance Devices — that’s all. If we hook up to a comet that’s an odd shape, we might want to chip a few pieces off before we try to push it back home.
“Some sources say Rockhopper’s mission is to plant those devices on Janus and destroy it. Can you comment?”
“I can comment by saying I find that a ludicrous suggestion. Isn’t there something more constructive you’d like to ask me?”
“How do you respond to accusations that much of the technology aboard Rockhopper that is now being used for commercial purposes was developed with UEE funding specifically ring-fenced for the purposes of averting Earth-grazing asteroids and comets?”
“I can’t comment. I just have a job to do.”
“Thank you, Captain Lind. And now to finish, would you like to issue a personal statement to the people back home? Something that encapsulates the way you feel about this mission, your hopes and fears, as you carry the torch of humanity to a place beyond our
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