Page 119 - An Evening with Maxwell's Daemons

You Can’t Go Home Again

Meanwhile the search for another, more deadly bomb, comes up
with nothing. But parts of the ship are inaccessible. Therefore an
unresolved but crucial question remains: would continuing on their
trajectory to Mars trigger a final explosion? If so, they should turn
back as soon as possible, treating the radio incident as a warning.
Then someone points out that they can’t change course without the
participation of mission control back on Earth. Now what do they
do?”
“Well, well: what, then, Hydrargyrum? asked Brad.
“Beats me,” she said. “It’s your story. I’m just following through
the logic of the situation you created, in order to maintain the
suspense.”
“But that’s a dead end,” he protested.
She shrugged.
“Not necessarily, and it would simplify the choices for the
crew.” It was Cyril Kornfleck. “We have been looking at this as an
attempt to destroy the vehicle and obliterate the mission. What if it
were just the opposite? The powers behind the project are worried
that something will go wrong during the months of interplanetary
travel: twenty people cooped up in an experimental spacecraft.
Plenty could go wrong—including a group decision to turn back
because of a whole host of reasons. That would be very bad
publicity, right? So once the launch is out of our atmosphere and
the vehicle well on its way, they cut off its radio and start sending
fake broadcasts from a satellite. Then the ship’s crew realizes, as
Rutger and Hydrargyrum did, that they can’t go home. It’s really
Mars or bust. And if they get hit by a meteorite or crash on landing,
then the semi-truth about failure can come out—but with a heroic
burnish guaranteed not to make the managers of the project look
bad.”
Brad Razeberry seemed satisfied.
“So fearless Captain Carson and his stalwart band forge ahead,
whether they figure that out or not? Not as dramatic as I’d hoped,
but somehow more realistic than the other alternatives.”

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