what I'm supposed to see. It's just like humans' blind spots. You don't perceive the gaps that dot your field of vision because there's nothing in your brain expecting to receive signals from that part of your retina. If there's nothing waiting on the input, there's no sense of loss when it doesn't arrive.>
Laura yawned, forcing herself to sit up and her blurry eyes to focus on the glowing screen.
'Are there people down in those facilities with the Model Eights?'
<Yes. Griffith runs a crew two shifts a day.>
'Are they reporting anything unusual going on?'
<No. Things seem to be functioning normally.>
'So let me get this straight. Previously you were actively involved in the operation of the Model Eights' facilities, and now you're not. But everything is functioning normally down there. How do you explain that?'
<The Other.>
There it was again. Laura sat up, alert. She had to keep the computer talking and on track.
'Have you talked to anyone else about the Other?'
<No. What's the point? Dr. Aldridge, I learned a very important lesson when I was sick last year. I learned that no matter how much people care about you, how hard they try to help, when you die, you die alone. Life for everybody else goes on.>
Gray's words from earlier that evening rang in her ears. 'It wasn't an accident that worried me.' He had sent a Model Eight up to the asteroid because the Model Seven already there was under the control of the computer.
Laura carefully composed her next question. 'Does the deadline Mr. Gray gave me of two days have something to do with the asteroid?'
<Yes. In approximately two days, the deceleration charges are set to detonate.>
'And what do those charges do, exactly?'
<I assume from your use of the word 'exactly' you want to rise one level of technical specificity.>
'Yes, but only one level, please. Not ten.'
<Okay. There are 1,692 low-yield devices placed about the surface of the asteroid. Currently, 1,297 are set to detonate with a aggregate yield of approximately 14 megatons of TNT. By using devices of different yields, we're able to evenly distribute the energy along the asteroid's body and generate a precise aggregate level of energy for deceleration. The charges were placed on the leading edge of the asteroid so that the force imparted upon detonation would decelerate it into high earth orbit. The 395 remaining charges will be used for attitudinal control along the asteroid's axes of rotation to prevent any yawing, pitching, or rolling.>
Laura caught her head dropping twice as she drifted off. She had to reread the computer's answer several times and force her eyes wide-open to stay awake. 'But couldn't so many blasts blow the thing apart?' she typed. 'Mr. Gray said that would be the worst scenario — fragmentation of the asteroid.'
She closed her eyes for a short rest, and then opened them some time later to read the answer.
<I did over a dozen detonations on the asteroid during the selection process to take 3-D seismic readings, and I saw absolutely no fault lines in the body. After use of about 60 megatons in the initial deceleration phase, I did more seismic and everything checked out. That's the beauty of dealing with a solid metal. The structure can take the stresses.>
'But, still, don't these new technologies like asteroid mining pose tremendous risks for mankind?'
ACCESS RESTRICTED flashed across the screen.
'Why?' Laura cried out to herself. She reread her question several times. The flashing red messages were triggered by certain words.
Before it had been the words virus and quarantine. This time it was technology and risks and mankind. It was consistent with Gray's concern over the dangers from science. But Laura felt certain that somewhere underneath it lay Gray's most cherished secret.
It was a secret he had almost challenged her to uncover.
There was a knock on the door, and Laura awoke. A faint gray light streamed into the room around the curtains. The lamp on the nightstand by her bed was still on, and the screen of the laptop on the bed was still aglow. Laura had fallen asleep while waiting for a reply from the computer.
There was another knock on the door — soft, but insistent.
Laura looked at her watch. It was a quarter till seven. She wrapped herself in a robe and padded across her quarters to the door.
It was Janet. 'Oh, excuse me,' the woman said on seeing Laura's disheveled appearance. 'Mr. Gray has had to cancel the group breakfast this morning, and I thought you might not have heard.'
'What breakfast?' Laura croaked, and then cleared her throat.
Janet appeared confused, and then she apologized for waking Laura.
'That's okay,' she mumbled. 'I needed to get up so I could take a run.'
'Outside?' Janet asked.
'That was the idea,' Laura replied, looking at the window in the sitting room. It was still early morning, but from the clear skies it promised to be a gloriously sunny day.
'Well, it's just… Mr. Gray issued an advisory last evening. In the middle of the night, actually. He recommended that everyone stay indoors today unless absolutely necessary. Canceled school, that sort of thing.'
'Why? What's going on?'
'Oh, nothing, really. I don't mean to be alarmist, but there was a minor row down in the Village. Mr. Gray convened a sort of American-style 'town meeting' in the secondary school gymnasium. Some of the employees and their families were a trifle miffed at the whole asteroid business. He quieted most down, but a few quit rather melodramatically right on the spot. They're leaving by air this morning. Not a major exodus, mind you, but some.'
'So why has he warned everybody to stay indoors?'
'Well, I was coming to that part.' She looked away and moistened her lips. 'It seems that some of the people at the meeting reported unusual goings-on about the island. Most were just the 'I-thought-I-heard-something-in- the-bushes' variety. But some were quite specific and insistent. One child — the poor lad's parents dragged him out of bed in his jammies — he reported seeing a robot of some sort bump into a trash bin behind a grocery store. He said it looked human. Two arms, two legs — that sort of thing.'
Laura tried not to let alarm show on her face. 'Did anybody else see this… robot?'
'No, just the boy. He was looking out his bedroom window late at night. Mr. Gray questioned him quite thoroughly in the open meeting. The boy was very convincing.'
'What do they think he saw?'
'Some people questioned whether it might be an intruder. There have been rumors of spies from various governments ever since I arrived here. And a lot of people at the meeting last night seemed to have stories from the past few months of unexplained movement out in the jungle. It all certainly raises one's suspicions, especially given the coincidence of Mr. Gray's press release regarding the asteroid. You should see the morning's headlines. Practically every government, the UN, NATO, everybody is up in arms. The thought was that maybe one of those government's people was prowling about. Someone even said something about a submarine, but I think that was just speculation.'
Janet seemed to know nothing about the Model Eights. Very few people knew anything of the island's mysteries. 'What do you think about the asteroid.' Laura asked.
Janet brightened. 'Oh, I think it's perfectly marvelous.' She was beaming. She was one of Gray's true believers. 'To hear Mr. Gray tell of it, it's the beginning of a veritable revolution in… in progress. I've always wanted to go into space.' Her cheeks reddened, and she looked away again. 'I mean, I know I'm just household staff, but Mr. Gray said retrieval of the asteroid would begin what he called phase two.'
'What is 'phase two'?'
'Colonization!' she said, her eyes gleaming. 'Isn't it wonderful?'
Laura opened her mouth to speak, but ended up just smiling.
'Anyway,' Janet said, 'if you wish to exercise, might I recommend the facilities on the lower level. It has a treadmill. If you'd like, I can show you the way.'
