A note to readers: This is the continuation of a science fiction story taking place in the twenty third century. The story is centered around the lives of a genetically enhanced family. These characters find themselves living out their fantasies as they prepare for a lengthy space mission. If you have not had an opportunity to read the first four chapters, I would strongly urge you to do so before starting this section.
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Chapter 5
Karen and Jill were standing in the kitchen debating the effects of long term exposure to cosmic radiation on human neuron function when Chris finally dragged himself out of bed. As he listened to the conversation he became somewhat more comfortable with what he feared might happen. His mom was not really even paying any attention to him. He spoke up: "Why are you guys worried about that? With all of the water that will be housed in the exterior portions of the ship, there will be no more radiation risk on board the ship than there is here on Earth."
Jill had already explained that the ship would have billions of liters of water on board. The water would provide both oxygen and hydrogen fuel for the long trip. It was to be housed in the outer most sectors of the ship. As it cooled it would turn into solid ice and would be the best possible shielding against radiation. The nuclear reactors on board would be used in part to melt the ice and to create electricity, which when passed through liquid water would break the chemical link of the compound and release the pure gaseous elements at each electrode.
Karen looked at her brother. He was wearing his uni, a tight fitting garment which could be worn as underclothes or as athletic clothing, and he seemed as if he was still half asleep. "You do realize that even in cryogenic sleep that the body can suffer from the effects of radiation. If you tripled life expectancy here on Earth then we might all have neurological problems late in life."
"Well what can we do about it sis?"
"I have a few ideas. I will run some simulations this afternoon and see if there is a means of counteracting the effects." With that Karen kissed her mom on the cheek and said she would be home in time for dinner.
Jill was running short on time. She had a meeting with the Board of Governors for the Trust. She looked at her son and asked: "Did you sleep well last night Christopher? You look tired honey."
"I guess I was really excited about the Zeta9 mission. So I didn't go straight to sleep."
"Did you use Parallax last night? That normally gets your body ready for deep sleep afterwards."
Chris' mind raced through several possible answers. But he couldn't seem to speak.
Jill started looking at her son rather strangely. She had never before seen him act embarrassed to speak with her about using Parallax. So why was he turning red? "What's the matter honey?"
"Nothing is the matter. I used it last night, but it was different." As soon as he said it, he knew he shouldn't have answered her question in that manner.
"How was it different Chris? Was it with a different partner?"
That was the question he couldn't answer. Either his mom knew and she was now pretending to act dumb, or she was now curious what was so different. In a split second he thought he would use both truth and deception in his answer. "Mom, have you ever tried AII with the counterparty being set on dominant?"
Jill chuckled and smiled: "Oh was that your first time honey?"
"It really took me by surprise mom. I didn't think a girl could really do that to guy as big as me."
Now Jill started to blush and said: "Well Chris, some of us girls do like to be in charge. And some very big strong men like to be submissive. It's just part of being human. You don't have to tell me what happened unless you want to or if you have any questions. But don't think any less of yourself because you tried it."
"Okay mom, and thanks."
"I've got to run out. I will see you tonight. If you want to talk about this more we can do it before your sister comes home."
Jill arrived at the Government House and was seated at her normal spot at the perimeter of the Board room. There was a large table located near the center of the room where the ten members of the Board were seated. Each Board member had an advisor seated next to him. Then various experts such as Jill sat around the perimeter and could be called on to answer questions or make reports. These meetings were extremely important and the Zeta9 mission was going to take up much of the agenda.
Jill answered a few questions as to the timing of when the main particle accelerator would be ready. The President of the Board was worried that the ship was being targeted by terrorist governments. He wanted the shields operational and that required the nuclear reactor to be on line and the electromagnetic acceleration process to be fully charged.
It was Jill's sheer genius that replaced Newton's work on gravity with an understanding that artificial gravity was possible through an alignment of particles with concentrated electromagnetic fields. By creating artificial gravity it became possible to accelerate particles to beyond light speed. In fact some particles had been accelerated to as much as 100 times the speed of light.
One of the two military generals gave a report that was quite concerning. His counter espionage units were convinced that enemy moles had infiltrated some of the Zeta9 project facilities. He couldn't identify them, but made it clear from intercepted transmissions that some attempt to sabotage the mission was in progress. He could only act once they revealed themselves. But all precautions were being taken. He also recommended that critical people such as Jill Porter needed to be guarded around the clock.
The Board increased the security budget and further restricted access to Iceland to non Trust citizens. All outside contractors would receive further screening and lie detector examinations. But the Board decided that placing round the clock security on its key scientist might make the enemy move up their plans. What was needed was the ship to be protected, and that required functioning shields.
At the end of the meeting Jill walked over to her friend Eric Rolph Jr. and asked: "Did you open the message I sent you yesterday?"
