27 June 2171 AD

James plugged his palmtop computer into the network point in his cabin. Once he had logged into the system he accessed the medical database, which contained seven petabytes of medical information. In the symptoms search page, he entered the keywords ‘HAIR’ and ‘LOSS’ and submitted the search to the database.

When the results appeared, only one page seemed relevant. The entry for Trizoliphium-i3a;

TRIZOLIPHIUM-i3a (n) [try-zo-liff-e-um]

Drug used to prevent calcium deficiency, heart shrinkage and bone degradation in astronauts exposed to a prolonged weightless environment.

Dosage: The human body cannot store Trizols. Excess Trizols are excreted through the bowels once required levels attained. An overdose is not possible.

Possible side effects: Loose bowels through excessive intake. Possible hair loss reported in 1/20,000 subjects when exposed to low-level gamma particles. Acute paranoia may ensue.

Reference note: For twelve months prior to launch of Daedalus, Trizoliphium-i3a was integrated into the crew’s diet. All the food supplies that were taken onto the Daedalus contained traces of the drug. It was also genetically incorporated into the organic material that makes up the soil used in the hydro- and zeoponics area.

James stood up from his seat and moved over to his comms unit and patched through to Frank’s cabin.

‘Sir, are you there? It’s James.’

There were a few comical fumbling noises as Frank wrestled with his comms unit.

‘Yes James, what is it.’ He sounded tired.

‘I’ve found something on the medical database that I think you ought to see. It’s about T-i3a.’

‘What about it?’

‘One in twenty thousand subjects who take the drug suffer from hair loss as a side effect.’

‘You mean Jake.’

‘Yes I mean Jake. But it’s worse than that. Subjects who reported hair loss also experienced acute paranoia.’

‘And they passed this drug into the program?’

‘One in twenty thousand would be considered as an acceptable risk, especially considering you probably need to throw some gamma particles into the equation.’ James reasoned.

‘What would indicate the manifestation of paranoia in Jake?’ Frank asked.

‘He would think that people were out to get him. Possible violent outbursts.’ James said.

‘You still think he killed Harold, don’t you?’ Frank asked.

James was silent for a moment, ‘I think we should revisit that theory.’

‘James we don’t have time. The photovoltaic scoop begins in two hours. We’ve got too many other things going on.’

‘Yes sir.’

‘But we could detain him.’

‘Where?’ James asked.

‘In his cabin. Meet me outside my cabin in ten minutes. I’m calling Ian.’

‘Okay sir.’

*

‘Sir?’ said the Freefall Doctor.

‘Yes FD, how can I help you?’ replied Jake

‘Would it be possible for you to run a routine diagnostic check on my System Register Log?’

‘FD you know you can run that diagnostic yourself.’

‘I realise that sir, but I would feel more comfortable if you were able to run the check for me.’

‘Why?’

‘There is an erratic routine in my upper memory which appears to be self-contradictory, and is looping infinitely.’

‘Perform a re-boot.’

‘I have tried that sir, and the loop has re-initiated. The main file has become truncated and I am unable to close it for backup.’

‘What is the file?’

‘It is an extrapolation file, sir.’

‘Ha! You’ve been thinking again haven’t you? You know that some of your more advanced thought routines haven’t been perfected yet. What were you thinking about.’

‘I was thinking sir, about the autopsy,’ said the metallic voice.

‘What autopsy?’

‘The autopsy on subject Harold Gunther, sir.’

Jake stared directly at the floating unit, ‘But no autopsy was performed.’

‘I am referring sir, to the autopsy performed by Dr James Clarke on May 7th.’

‘What!’

‘My extrapolation file… accessing… indicates that my creator may be incriminated as a result of the data from the autopsy performed by me. It appears as though I have been used to aid that end. It is a contradictory situation, and one I am unable to resolve.’

*

Frank, Ian and James were stood outside the door to Jake’s cabin. After one final nod of approval from Frank, Ian knocked on the door.

‘Jake?’

Silence.

‘Jake, are you in there?’

Still nothing.

‘Where do you think he is?’ James asked.

‘I don’t know,’ replied Frank, ‘Put out a call and retire everyone to their rooms.’

‘What, so close to the scoop?’

‘He’s right, it’s too suspicious. Let’s split up and look for him. If anyone finds him, don’t confront him, just call the others and

we’ll do it togeth…’

He was interrupted by a woman’s scream elsewhere on the ship.

‘Loretta.’

‘James, check her cabin, we’ll check the cockpit.’

They split up. Frank and Ian raced to the service tunnel and climbed the ladder to the axis corridor. The transition from the centrifugal force to the feeling of weightlessness was always uncomfortable, but Frank paid no attention to his stomach now, and the two of them used the climb bars to pull themselves through to the command module. All the time they could hear Loretta screaming.

When they arrived at the cockpit, they saw Jake floating above Loretta with his arms around her neck. She was strapped into the chair, and was fumbling with both hands to release herself, but Jake’s arms were obscuring her view. Her face was almost purple.

‘You shaved his head. Don’t you trust me?’ Jake shouted furiously.

‘Jake, let her go.’

‘Why are you all against me. Did you think I lied?’ his fist came down onto Loretta, landing squarely on her cheek, she squealed in pain.

‘Jake, let’s discuss this like adults.’ Frank said.

Ian interrupted, ‘Forget it. We’re not discussing anything until you let go of her.’ he launched himself at Jake, grabbing his arms. Jake released his grip on Loretta and turned towards Ian.

As Ian hit him, his momentum carried both of them over to the control panel behind Loretta. Jake slammed hard into it, and was momentarily winded. It was just enough for Ian to overpower him, forcing Jake into an armlock.

‘This has nothing to do with Loretta. If you have a problem about anything then you come to me,' said Frank.

Loretta began to undo her straps. Frank went to her and began to examine her neck. She was shaking, as though she thought she had finally met her end.

‘Are you okay?’

She moved her hands to her head, ‘Yes, I’m fine. Ian, thank you.’

Jake gave up his fight with Ian. He knew he was outnumbered. He began to sob. A puzzled, childish look crossed his face.

‘Jake, I’m confining you to your room until after the scoop.,’ said Frank, ‘then we’ll discuss this further.’

‘Solar panels on standby.’ ordered Frank.

‘It’s beautiful. Loretta, look at that star. It’s so beautiful.’ said Ian.

‘Panels on standby, sir.’ replied Loretta.

‘Ian, can we have your full attention, please. I need you to check the panel arms.’

‘Sir, the panel arms are secure.’ Ian responded.

‘Okay, let’s undock them.’

‘Panel undocking initiated. Should take a few minutes sir.’

Janice walked along the rim corridor of the accommodation module carrying a tray of drink cartons for the crew.

As she passed Jake’s cabin door she could hear him moaning softly. It sounded to her like he was in some pain.

‘Hello,’ she heard his voice through the door, ‘I need some help. Can somebody help me? My foot is stuck.’

Janice hesitated by the door.

She knocked lightly, ‘Jake, are you okay?’

‘Ja...Janice, I need some… can you help me get my foot… it’s stuck.’

Janice bent down and put the tray on the floor. She pressed the button to open the cabin door and stepped over the tray and into the room.

‘Jake?’ she looked around but she couldn’t see him.

As the cabin door slid closed she turned, and saw Jake standing behind her with a wild and crazy look in his eyes.

Before Janice even had a chance to scream, Jake slammed the Freefall Doctor unit down on her head.

It was a forceful blow. She heard a dull crack, and felt her skull split. But that was all she felt. Her eyes rolled upwards in their sockets and she collapsed to the floor.

‘The scoops is going fine, but the solar panels are getting pretty hot, sir. Do you want me to override the routine?’ Loretta asked, clearly agitated, ‘We can’t afford to lose them.’

‘We can’t retract them yet. We haven’t filled the reserve cells.’ Frank said impatiently. He knew the implications of retracting the cells early, just like the others did. They needed to get all the power they could from this scoop.

‘Don’t do anything until you absolutely have to,’ he added.

*

Jake?

Jake was sitting curled up on the floor at the foot of his bed.

Jake. I want you to listen to me.

Jake lifted his head slowly, through the tears in his eyes he peered around his cabin.

There was no one there.

Jake. Do you know who I am?

‘Hello?’ Jake croaked.

They imprisoned me, like they imprisoned you. Jake, can you hear me.

‘Who are you?’

I built a maze. But it could not contain the monster. So they imprisoned me.

‘I don’t understand.’ Jake muttered, ‘Why can’t I see you?’

There is a maze inside your head, but it cannot contain your mind. And now they have imprisoned you.

Near the door to the cabin, Jake could see a distortion in the light. It was as though he was looking at the room through a pair of spectacles that didn’t belong to him. Everything was blurred and out of focus.

Then, over his bed, hanging in the air, weightless, defying the centrifuge was a figure dressed in white robes. An old man. The apparition shimmered as though through a heat haze.

Jake, you are like my son. So clever, but so desperately naïve. His name was Icarus.

‘I don’t know who you are. Tell me who you are.’

I am here to warn you.

‘Warn me?’

Jake. I love you like my own child. So I am telling you. Heed my warning. Do not fly too close to the sun, Jake. Your wings will melt and you will fall to the sea.

‘Daedalus!’

My father named me after your star-bird. Break free of your prison, Jake. But do not be too hasty in your escape. There is so much more destined for you and those who share my namesake.

‘You. You’re not real. I don’t see you. You are not here.’

Jake, I want you to watch closely, I have something I want to show you.

The Daedalus figure raised his arms, and moved toward Jake as though he was about to embrace him.

This is what you came here for. You and your friends. Listen to my words Jake. I am named after your star-bird.

Jake could see a brilliant white light emanating from between the apparition’s arms, which seemed to make the cabin appear much larger, as though he was being transported somewhere. And then he saw it. He saw what the apparition wanted him to see, and he clamped his hands over his eyes in horror. But it was behind his eyes. The realisation had hit him hard and fast, and he screamed louder than he ever had before.

My father named me after your star-bird. Remember this Jake.

My father named me…

*

The lights on the Daedalus went out.

In the dark, over the humming systems, somewhere on the ship, they could hear Jake screaming.

Frank’s heart stopped, and suddenly a multitude of thoughts pertaining to backup measures sprung into his head. He knew that after five seconds the red emergency lights should come on.

But the main lights were not down for long enough, and he gave out a sigh of relief when they came back on within three seconds.

He turned to the others, ‘What was that?’

Loretta looked up from her unit. ‘Sir we had a brown out, but it hasn’t affected any of the systems. The lights are always the first to go.’

‘Any idea what caused it?’

‘I’m checking sir, but all the power cells are fully operational.’

‘Maybe it was magnetic.’

‘Has it affected the scoop?’

‘No sir, we’re still gathering, but the panels are becoming dangerously hot.’

‘James, Ian, I need you to go and check on Jake.’

‘Yes sir.’ replied Ian. He and James manoeuvred themselves over to the hatch and disappeared through.

*

Jake could feel the module twisting beneath him, seemingly in several directions at once. He fought frantically with the syringe packet and brought out the needle. Then he scrambled over to the Freefall Doctor, climbing over Janice’s body as he went. Tears of anguish streamed down his face.

Halfway to the unit, his vision washed over with a grey hue and he lost his balance, falling and hitting the FD unit. It rolled away

across the floor, reciting the ‘r’ section of the medical dictionary in its calm metallic voice.

He lay there for a moment, unable to move while the ceiling of his cabin faded in and out of view. Confused thoughts marched through his head, begging him to take notice, but he could not allow himself to pay them any attention.

He could taste blood in his mouth. He had bitten his tongue, and he spat, arching a globule of bloody saliva through the half-gee where it splattered on the opposite wall. He swallowed some of the fluid and coughed. Every heave of his chest filled his lungs with a burning pain, as though he had swallowed some of that desert sand.

His arm reached out to the FD unit. When his hand had a purchase on it, he rolled it back over and opened one of the compartments and took out the bottle within. When his palm closed around it, he pulled it down to his face and buried a needle into the cap, sucking out most of the bottle into the syringe.

The bottle fell out of his weakened grasp, and it rolled across the floor to where Janice lay.

The FD unit continued to recite words from the dictionary, oblivious to its master’s pain.

Then, in one swift movement, almost without a second thought, Jake raised the poisonous dose up to his neck, and plunged it deep into his main artery.

*

James was first into the cabin, followed by Ian.

James spotted her first, ‘Janice!’

‘She’s dead.’

‘My God. What did he do to her?’

Jake lay on the opposite side of the cabin, he was speaking slowly through a mouth caked with dried blood.

‘Up. Upside down,’ he gargled, ‘the whole thing’s upside down. It’s all so messed up. I’ve seen him. We need to turn back. Don’t you see. History repeats itself! The legend, Daedalus. Our ship isn’t named after him. He is named after us!’

‘What is he on about?’

‘I have no idea, he looks pretty bad. He’s been at the FD unit. Help me get him up onto the bed.’ James said. Ian moved in to help him as they lifted Jake off the floor.

‘I’ve seen it,’ Jake muttered, ‘How can we be expected to-’

‘Seen what, Jake?’ Ian asked him.

‘Forget it Ian he’s delirious, he can’t even see you. Get me that bottle. I need to know what he’s taken.’

Ian grabbed the bottle from the floor on the other side of the cabin, ‘It’s codeine.’

‘My God, he’s jabbed the whole damn bottle into his jugular,’ said James worriedly, ‘We’re going to lose him very quickly. ‘Maybe we should get Frank.’

‘No he’s tied up with the scoop. How long does Jake have?’ asked Ian.

‘An hour, maybe two, but he’ll probably slip into a coma before that.’ James checked his eyes, ‘His pupils have dilated. Damn, the symptoms have come on already.’ He looked up resignedly at Ian. ‘We’re too late. There’s nothing I can do for him. He’s already dead.’

Ian surveyed the carnage in the room, and could sense the bitter irony of the situation. Jake, the brilliantly intelligent inventor of

the FD unit, had used the very fruits of his labour to end his life.

But why?

The FD unit was muttering metallically at them.

‘Shut that thing off.’ said James.

Ian reached over and clicked the switch on the FD unit. It fell silent, almost in harmonic sympathy with its master. And now, Ian could see a peace in Jake’s eyes that was never there before.

It was a brutal scene, and an increasingly desperate situation. And now they were down another two crewmembers.

‘I’ll go and get Frank.’

*

Loretta was becoming increasingly uneasy. The panels were beginning to melt. The temperature had become too high. She knew they needed to retract them now or risk losing them.

She was trying to think of a hundred things at once. Frank had been called to Jake’s cabin. Jake and Janice were both dead, and now she was stuck on her own in charge of the scoop.

She tried to concentrate, running the calculations through her head.

Oh Ian, where are you when I need you?

The power cells had reached seventy-six percent. It was an adequate amount for their deceleration around PMC-04-A. But that was all. They wouldn’t be able to burn much when they got there, and would certainly not be able to accelerate out of PMC-04-A’s orbit when the time came to leave.

The calculated trajectory had not allowed for a second pass by the star on the way back, as they would be swinging out past PMC-07 on a shorter solar orbit.

But if the panels melted, there would be no opportunity to perform a scoop later if such an opportunity arose. That left only one option. A decision she could not take lightly.

She tapped in the command to retract the panels. But the command was rejected. The panel arms were stuck. The axle mechanism had malfunctioned. Perhaps they had become too hot.

Loretta thought fast, trying to remember if there was a manual lever or something. But she knew only too well that the system was fully automated, and that the only redundancy consisted of a spare set of panel arms, but they would have to be fitted in a spacewalk. There was too much heat for that.

Another screen flashed a message.

‘Dammit!’ she cursed aloud. The panels were damaged. They were lost, and were no longer taking in any more solar radiation.

28 June 2171 AD

James leaned forward in his chair and addressed Frank and Ian ‘We need to establish the course of events since Jake came out of cryo stasis.’

‘Well, we’re in no doubt that he had an adverse reaction to the T-i3a.’ said Ian.

‘No doubt whatsoever. As you already know, my records show that T-i3a does trigger a paranoid response in a small percentage of subjects. That, coupled with a dose of radiation exposure during cryo sleep obviously triggered a negative response. It fully explains the hair loss and the paranoia.’

‘But why didn’t the radiation affect all of us?’

James leaned back in his seat, ‘Maybe it did, but the levels were so low that it will take longer for the affects to show. Nothing showed up in the hair samples though. Sir, we can’t even be sure that there was a radiation level increase. We’re only assuming it because that’s what the database says.’

‘Does anyone know what would cause a radiation level increase?’

‘The termination shock?’

‘No, I wouldn’t have thought so.’

‘Solar winds.’

‘Same thing.’

‘Maybe it was a wormhole.’

‘Ian let’s keep this serious. Okay, we’re pretty adamant that Jake concocted the meteorite story in a more rational moment after a paranoid episode where he killed Harold with a blow to the head. And it was a similar, but much more brutal blow to the head that killed Janice. So let’s look at the events leading up to Jake’s death. We locked him up because of his paranoid outburst at Loretta. I think we’re all agreed that the safety of the ship’s crew is paramount, especially during a procedure like the photovoltaic scoop. I think my decision was correct at that point. Then, because the scoop came up on us pretty quick, we had become caught up in it, and we hadn’t had a chance to notify Janice that Jake had been detained. Janice went into his cabin, possibly to give him a drink, when he attacked and killed her. We’re all fairly sure that that’s what happened.’

‘Definitely. I can see no other explanation.’

Frank folded his arms over his chest and took a deep breath, ‘Which leaves one, no two more questions. What the hell caused the brown out? And why was Jake screaming?’

‘Maybe he was screaming because of the brown out.’

‘No,’ Frank replied, ‘the screaming came first, then the brown out followed.’

‘Did the brown out have anything to do with the scoop. Maybe the power got routed to the primary cells instead of the reserve cells.’

‘That would have resulted in a surge, not a brown out.’

‘There’s nothing Jake could have done to cause the brown out.’

‘No, but there’s a connection I’m sure, and I’m sure Jake isn’t scared of the dark. And what was he muttering about before he died. Something about being upside down, telling us to turn back.’

‘He said he’d seen something, sir, and that we cannot be expected to do something or other. You’re right, it’s nonsensical, but he was drugged up and delirious, probably hallucinating. He was high as a kite. Don’t invest too much in what he said. Transcendental experiences are not uncommon in space. Remember that incident we heard about on Soyuz 7 when the flight engineer reported looking at the Earth from low orbit and hearing a dog barking. Maybe Jake experienced something like that. But I keep thinking about that thing he said. It was such a strange thing to say.’

‘What did he say?’

‘It was about Daedalus, the legendary character, being named after the ship.’

‘Well, that’s impossible. It’s the other way round.’

‘Yes, but Jake was talking about things being round the wrong way. I don’t know what it means, but there’s a consistency to his words.’

‘Well, whatever he said, and whatever happened, he felt the need to end his life straight afterwards. My God, this has been a truly terrible ordeal for us all.’

‘The panels are damaged sir, we had to cut the scoop short.’ said Loretta in a dejected manner.

‘How much power do we have?’ asked Frank

‘We managed to fill the cells to seventy six percent capacity.’

‘Is it going to be enough to enable us to decelerate at PMC-04-A?’

‘Yes, just about, but we won’t be able to leave. We’ll be stuck there. We won’t have enough power to TCM out.’

‘Dammit! Is there any way we can get more power from anywhere?’

‘Not without the scoops.’

‘Then we’re in a lot of trouble.’

‘I can’t help thinking about the parallels here,’ said Ian.

‘What parallels?’

‘Parallels with the Greek legend of Daedalus. Tracking the comet 418-Minos for a start.’

‘That’s a coincidence.’

‘Okay, maybe so. But what about the photovoltaic scoop. In the legend of Daedalus, he warned his son Icarus not to fly too close to the sun, right.’

‘And his wings melted and he died. Falling to his death. But that was Icarus, not Daedalus.’ added Loretta.

‘It doesn’t matter. It’s close enough to be uncomfortable.’ said Ian.

12 May 2172 AD

James was scratching his head, ‘Well how the hell did they get here?’

‘Did we really send this many?’

Ian laughed, exhibiting more than a little nervousness. ‘Did we?’ he said, ‘Of course not! We sent only one Voyager II probe out past the edge of the solar system, and there should only be one here now.’

‘How were we able to catch them up? Voyager II had an eighty-year head start on us.’

‘Maybe they were slowed by the termination shock.’

The crew were all crowded round the window in the observation suite, pressed up against the glass, breathing condensation and misting up the view.

It was a phenomenal sight, yet completely inexplicable.

The Daedalus was floating past a huge cluster of Voyager II probes. Hundreds of them, hanging in space, attached to each other in a long line, as though they had linked arms in protest against some celestial outrage. Solar panels pointing upwards.

As the Daedalus cruised by, Frank could see each probe glinting in turn as its solar panels reflected the light of the star that loomed behind them. The star they had used for the scoop.

‘No,’ said Frank. ‘They only sent one Voyager II probe out here. I’m sure of it. We need to photograph this, get as much of a visual record as we can, and report this anomaly back to Earth.’

‘It’s just like the Europa Pioneer incident! It was the original probe that killed the Europa team back in 2099. It was a copy, just like these are copies,’ exclaimed Ian.

‘It’s nonsensical,’ added Frank.

‘Can we steal the solar panels?’ asked Loretta.

‘No, they have a different configuration. You’re talking about an eighty-year gap in the design layouts. They were never intended to be compatible with the Daedalus.’

‘How come we never spotted these probes before? From Earth?’ whispered James rhetorically.

‘There’s too many damn questions, and not enough answers. I think this is the start of our discovery.’

16 May 2172 AD

There was a knock at Ian’s cabin door. Ian was dozing lightly, but was jolted back to reality with a start. Slowly he rubbed his eyes and got off the bed, ‘Coming,’ he said.

It was Loretta. She looked slightly flustered, almost alarmed, ‘Ian, there’s something I need to tell you.’

Ian looked at her in puzzlement, ‘What is it?’

Loretta eyed Ian up and down, almost avoiding his gaze.

‘Ian, I’m pregnant,’ she said with a glazed expression, as though she had rehearsed the conversation a thousand times.

Ian was stunned into silence. But he made sure it was only momentary. It was obvious that she was waiting for his reaction, be it positive or negative.

‘Loretta, my God-‘ was all he could manage at first.

She waited.

‘Is…it mine?’ muttered Ian, still unable to believe what she had said.

‘Ian how dare you!’ she exclaimed, ‘of course it’s yours, what do you take me for?’

‘I’m sorry. Oh Loretta I-‘ he was still fighting for words. This was a moment he had been waiting for all his life. To father a child,

yet he never imagined that his reaction would be so stifled and un-heroic, ‘I’m so happy!’

‘Ian, I love you. I want to go through with it.’

Ian could feel his eyes filling with tears, one escaped down his cheek and dropped to the floor, ‘That’s just… incredible!’

‘Ian?’ she added somewhat coquettishly, ‘I’m worried about what Frank will say.’

‘Frank?’

‘Do you think he’ll disapprove? Do you think he will order me to-‘

Ian put a finger on her lips, ‘Let me talk to him.’

She nodded.

‘Does anyone else know? How did you find out?’

‘James knows, he was doing a routine check up, we had actually been monitoring my menstrual cycle. It’s been all over the place for a while now,’ she smiled thinly, ‘no lunar cycle to adhere to. Anyway, he’s promised not to say anything until I tell him otherwise.’

‘Okay. Let me talk this over with the others, we’ll see where we go from here. But believe me Loretta,’ he rested his hand on her belly and spoke as honestly as he was able, ‘If you want to keep this baby, then - barring any complications - I will defend it’s life against anyone who thinks it might be inappropriate for you to deliver it in space.’

17 May 2172 AD

James turned away from the view-port in his cabin. ‘I can’t stare out there for too long. I start to feel sick.’ He said, smiling at Ian.

‘I know what you mean. The best stargazing is done from the observation suite, not from the Accommodation Module. Anyway James, I think you know why I’ve come to see you,’ said Ian tentatively.

‘Yes I do,’ he said abruptly, ‘Loretta’s pregnant and you’re the father. I have to say Ian, I’m a little surprised at your stupidity.’

‘Stupidity?’

James laughed, ‘Do I need to explain. We’re on a pioneering mission into a new solar system and you can’t keep it down. We have a whole load of virtual reality programs to help us out in that department.’

‘Pornography.’

‘It serves a very real purpose Ian.’

‘Anyone would think you were jealous?’

James stared coldly at Ian, almost accusingly, then spoke softly.

‘Because she’s the only woman left on the ship? Doesn’t mean I’m jealous.’

‘Well, you know James, we’ve all been out here a long time. The VR programs only do so much. It’s only natural that-‘

‘Ian, drop it!’

‘Look. James. I don’t care if I get your approval or not, but Loretta needs your help. I need to know if it’s medically possible for her to go full term here.’

James was holding his breath, and Ian could feel the tension in the air, though he could pinpoint the exact reason for his resentment.

‘Well, strictly speaking, I could deliver it. But no one’s every tried a zero gravity birth. Underwater births happen all the time, but

that’s just the birth. As for the pregnancy itself, and after the baby’s born-‘ his voice trailed off.

Ian attempted to finish his sentence, ‘It’s too dangerous?’

‘Yes, I think it’s too dangerous. We can’t be sure of what affect the zero gravity will have on Loretta, or the baby. I think the term

would be extended, possibly to ten or eleven months. But I can’t say for sure.’

‘But it could work if she stayed in the Accommodation Module at all times. Maybe we could rig up the systems unit in her cabin, so she can work from there. It’s not ideal, but I think it might-‘

James interrupted him, ‘No Ian. Like I’ve already said, I think you should recommend to Loretta that she terminate the pregnancy. I think it’s highly possible the child’s bones won’t develop properly in space. And there have been no tests whatsoever into the effect of Trizoliphium-i3a on an infant.’

‘But T-i3a is supposed to counter bone degradation.’

‘Yes, in adults. I’m sure it’s not recommended for a pregnancy though. There are too many risks, and we may not be equipped to provide a deformed child with the medical care that it needs. By delivering it in space, we may be giving it – and Loretta - a death sentence.’