Ark II - 28. Awake in Stasis

Sara Beth was still concerned about what they had been told about this Ulwaluko. “Help me understand,” she said to Xolani. “Surgical techniques are almost universal. What happened? Did they not use sterile equipment? Didn’t they clean the area properly?”

Xolani smiled at her concern about an injury more than two decades in the past, “I was one of nine having it done at the same time.” He sighed sadly, “My father was a traditionalist.” He motioned in Lunga’s direction, “Lunga and I descend from a long line of Zulu warriors. Hundreds of generations behind us of proud men who put the need of the tribe first.” He grudged a nod, “I wasn’t the only one to get infected. Three others in the group also got infected. It was almost an assembly line where we were prepped and the Nuwaubu did it so quickly...” he did the quick motion with his hands, “just done, done, and done!” He chuckled sadly. “The speed I was told was to be so quick the pain wouldn’t be so bad.”

Sara Beth nodded, but held a hand up, “Fine.” She looked at Jimmy and Ian, “But a seven-year-old!?” She waved at her sons. “Seven!”

Xolani nodded, “That is in history.” He smiled, “A family where the male head of household dies, leaving his wife and other children, usually daughters, the eldest male can do the Ulwaluko and represent the family as the family leader.” He shrugged, “There have been instances where a surviving daughter can do it...” he held his hand up, “Obviously there would be no penis to perform the Ulwaluko. However she would be treated as a man. She could even get a wife!” He watched Sara Beth’s eyes widen. “Yes, any decision made by her would be carried out as she would be the head of the household!”

Adam leaned closer to them, “I brought it up because,” he pounded his chest lightly, “normally, Mr. Amabutho here is tough as nails!” He looked at Sara Beth, “that’s a Zulu warrior.” He grinned, “But when it comes to our son...” he chuckled and grinned. “He’s a big marshmallow inside.”

Sara Beth nodded as she smiled at that, “Don’t worry Xolani, I respect you even more now.”

 

What happened that night, Joel wasn’t prepared for. He had dreams. Very vivid dreams and in color! Fine details. And he remembered them! He was no expert, but he usually forgot most of his dreams shortly after waking up. He knew that dreaming in color had a lot to do with emotions. Everyone dreams and it is important for keeping a person sane. The intensity of the dream and even the color seen was a key part of the dream. Psychology was an important part of an officer’s training today. The mental health of your men was very important, and Joel had been fascinated by how it all worked, especially when it came to dreams. In the past they hadn’t paid that much attention to the soldiers’ mental condition. Shellshock was known, but no real treatment given. It was a century later when they realized how devastating post-traumatic stress was. At least it wasn’t a nightmare. He also knew it was due to those filaments inserted in his head. He would talk to Leah later.

It was in the Control Room Joel saw something...odd. Hank had been there a while and was working on the system that monitored ship’s functions. Hank was just staring at a stylus on his desk. He used the stylus to pinpoint certain areas on a computer monitor that he needed to see better. Joel watched as Hank’s face changed only slightly, his eyebrows rose and fell, his eyes widened and narrowed as he concentrated on the little tool. “Hank?” Joel said softly, “Is anything wrong?”

Hank looked up and smiled at his friend, “Wrong? Not a thing.” He grudged a nod and admitted. “I was experimenting.”

Joel sat in his chair and nodded at Hank, “I saw you doing something, but I have no idea what it was.”

Hank looked a bit embarrassed, “Well, I was trying to move the stylus with my mind.” He hurried on holding a hand up. “I had the weirdest dream and...”

“A vivid dream?” Joel grinned.

“Yes!” Hank answered quickly pointing at Joel. “You, too?” Hank let out a sigh of relief, “I thought I was going crazy! They were so real!” His head wavered, “I remember my dreams occasionally, but this...” he shook his head. “I saw a movie, once!” He pointed out the exception, “This mechanic saw this bright light one night and because of it had this huge boost to his intelligence and one of the other side effects was telekinesis!” He waved at the stylus. “I was just seeing if it did that to me.”

Joel chuckled, “I remember that movie. It turned out he had a brain tumor.”

Hank nodded, “Yes! A tumor that had these tendrils that connected parts of his brain in a way it boosted brain function.”

Joel grinned, “He died at the end.”

Hank waved that off, “Yeah, yeah, I know.” He shrugged. “I’m kind of a mechanic and these things in my head are doing something similar, so I thought...”

“Any success?” Joel asked.

“No,” Hank admitted disappointedly. He sat back with a wave at the stylus. “Nothing. Not so much as a quiver.”

“First,” Joel pointed out, “the filaments aren’t a tumorous growth. They will help with our interactions with the Stingers. Second, your intelligence is phenomenal already, it doesn’t need boosting.” Joel shook his head, “Are you surprised?”

Hank sighed, “No. It figures.”

Joel grinned at his friend, “There are many things in stories that are proving to be great fiction and little to do with reality. Such as traveling faster than time.”

“We can’t,” Hank stated.

Joel nodded, “Agreed. A minute is a minute, be it travel across a room, to a neighboring star, another galaxy, or the other side of the universe.”

Hank threw his hands up, “And where is Hyperspace? Slipstreams? Wormholes? Warp Drive?”

Joel chuckled, “In the garbage pail with the flying cars and artificial gravity.” He held a finger up, “Though the Alcubierre-Rojas Drive is sort of a warp drive. Just not as flashy.”

Hank nodded and grumbled, “I prefer the actor from that movie when he was staying alive during his Saturday night fever.”

Joel chuckled, “And man, could he dance!” In many ways, Hank was Peter Pan! A good man that never really grew up. “Do me a favor. Never change.”

“Change!?” Hank’s eyes widened. “Why would I?” He looked serious a mere second, “A better question is, how do I do that if I wanted to?”

 

Joel checked the communications from Earth, Mars, and the mines around Jupiter. Tau Ceti was progressing as they had begun construction on the surface. Mars was still trying to stop the great influx of people from Earth. Renewing supplies and raising crops for the growing populous were strained. Even with the widening use of hydroponic gardens were barely keeping up. Earth was losing land they could grow anything on. Habitats were crowded and the need for food and shelter made things unbearable as it had been on Earth. Joel hoped whoever had set those bombs off on Earth had suffered a long and painful death! He didn’t read about any attacks on the “Ark” in Antarctica. He finally had seen more than enough, sighed and pushed away from his monitor. Rubbing his face he turned again to see that Wei and a few others were looking at what was being done below on Gaea.

“This will take years to do,” Wei spoke with his colleague Toby Kirks. “We, of course, will be in stasis.”

The image of things moving on the surface. New Charleston’s construction was being furthered. Joel noticed something on the surface that looked like one of those long millipedes with longer legs! Or one of those spikey caterpillars with the pointed spikes sticking up and out. Only these appeared longer!

“That is the tiller?” Joel asked them.

Wei turned and smiled at Joel, “One of several.” He nodded and grudged a wavering nod and shake. “As they are being built and assembled.” The image moved to a large, flat something Joel thought looked more like an old iron used to do laundry in the past to get wrinkles out. “First we’re using this to shoot high energy sound waves into the ground to break up the rocky surface.”

Joel grimaced, “It’s good there is no life to disturb there now.”

Wei chuckled, “It uses many frequencies, most are too low for a human to hear. We need to break up the rock and pulverize what’s there. The nutrients and compost come later. That will be about a decade later.”

“Okay,” Joel nodded his understanding. “New Charleston’s wall and cover? For the transparent cover to work, won’t it have to be retracted? Where’s it going? Underground?”

Wei shook his head, “Not for the first century and possibly the second. When we get that atmosphere stabilized where all of Gaea’s air is planet wide we won’t need the hard dome.” He touched another couple of keys on his keyboard and another image of the finished settlement appeared. “After we have the beginning of lifeforms under the dome of New Charleston...” he waved as the clear dome disappeared, “A new dome powered by Ran will be activated.”

Joel watched as he saw some tall posts rise from the ground. The one in the center glowed briefly and joined with other shorter posts that also glowed and did what the center post did sending something down to the surrounding wall that encircled New Charleston. “Jo der and Alejandro are working on a dome that can be activated at a moment’s notice and protect us from any weather or other atmospheric trauma.” He frowned, “And any other form of attack.”

“Damn!” Joel moaned. “Did I miss a meeting or something?”

“No,” Wei chuckled. “Joder’s Wurtzite Boron Nitrate, which is abundant in orbit of Ran, adds a wealth of power which we can use to create a better dome!” He nodded, “Now underwater, Buyan will have to have the hard dome.”

Joel understood, “The Russian legend of the mythical city that appears and disappears with the tide.” He nodded.

“Don’t feel left out,” Joder said happily to Joel coming up behind them. “The Boron Nitrate around Ran is very good and the refining process will make it even better!”

Joel turned to Alejandro and Joder, “Better?”

Alejandro nodded excitedly, “Yes! Imagine one day we can make the trip to Earth in a day! Increased power through a more refined boron nitrate form and...” he passed one hand over the other quickly “...and zoom!”

“No jump gate?” Hank asked joining them, “No hyperspace?” He put an arm around Joel’s shoulder and said in pity, “I’m so sorry.”

Joel rolled his eyes and shoved Hank back a bit, “I’ll get over it.” He laughed lightly.

“We will add irrigation for the plants and animals,” Wei said. “We could have it rain under the dome. Once the atmosphere has been prepared, rain, as in weather will happen naturally.”

Toby nodded and added, “Of course, this is all theory. Things happen and we have to change our plans.”

Wei looked at Toby, “Don’t see problems. We’ll deal with any changes needed.” He smiled again at Joel. “Athena will be awake the whole time! Not to mention Robbie, Robot, Rob, and Apollo...”

“...and Athena, Rob, and Apollo can revive us quickly if needed,” Wei clarified. “The planet is eighty percent water so there is no water shortage, but we will have purifiers to tap two underground water sources...” he glanced at Joel. “To get rid of any potentially harmful metals or toxins.”

Joel nodded and shrugged, “Water is water, right?”

“No,” Wei replied simply. “A basic element, yes, but each world uses the element and...” he grudged a shrug, “flavors...the water. As of now we can’t identify any odd materials that make up Gaea. As you know, we’re just fast forwarding the evolutionary process billions of years. We just need to add the biological parts and make soil.”

Joel understood, “It will take a while.”

“About a hundred years,” Wei nodded. “We’ll be here to see it.”

Joel reached out and tapped Hank on the shoulder, “Come on. We have an appointment with Leah.”

Hank nodded with a snort, “Yeah, I need to find out why I didn’t get the telekinesis.”

Wei’s and Toby’s eyebrows rose at that.

Joel patted their arms, “It’s another movie moment. Don’t worry about it.”

 

In the lab Leah was working along with Nayef, Tom and Cindy Szasz...with Anthony following right behind Joel and Hank.

“Wow,” Hank said seeing all who were here. “Should I have dressed up?”

Nayef chuckled, “We thought it best to have them here as you’re doing something all of us have to do with it. All we’re waiting on is...”

Angus rushed into the lab, “Sorry, sorry.” He chuckled, “I was delayed.”

“...is Angus!” Nayef completed his statement happily.

“I want to look at the filaments in your head,” Leah explained. “Have there been any adverse reactions since inserting them?”

“I’ll say!” Hank replied almost exasperated. “I barely got any sleep!”

Leah looked concerned, “Why is that?”

“My dream last night was fascinating!” Hank blurted. “They were so real! And in color!”

Joel nodded, “I could read in my dream!”

Leah’s eyes widened, “You could?”

“I did,” Joel nodded. “I didn’t think that was possible.”

Nayef gave a shrugging nod, “Technically...no.” He smiled at Joel.

“But not impossible!” Leah interrupted quickly. “The language-processing is normally concentrated on the left side.” She held her hand up, “That isn’t a hard and fast rule. People, artistic people often use both hemispheres for language. People that work a lot with words, such as authors, often do read in their sleep...”

“Or,” Tom inserted quickly, “since you are the author of your dreams, using the conscious and subconscious you are bringing up something you already read and just know what it says. We won’t know unless we introduce an unread something to you to see if you can read it.”

Joel nodded understanding, “I could detect odors better. I knew what Wei had for breakfast hours before.”

Leah simply said to the air, “Athena, can we see what’s happening in Joel’s and Hank’s brains?”

“Certainly,” Athena said calmly.

Two brains appeared in the air before them, and the filaments were highlighted. Now, those filaments stretched from their temples like a spider’s web or spread throughout their heads seeming to touch every part of the brain. Like roots of plants, the filaments branched and spread out with smaller tendrils stretching from the larger filaments.

Leah nodded, “The actual growth has slowed, and finer filaments are extending to the other parts of the brain.” She waved at the images, “It’s a sort of fine tuning happening now. There will be some enhanced neurofunction. You should retain better recall and understanding.”

“But no telekinesis,” Hank griped.

Joel bumped Hank lightly shaking his head, “Hank. Let it go.” He grinned at the others. “A little movie bit he remembers where someone had this sort of thing got.”

“Okay,” Nayef said slowly not really sure he understood that.

“We’re here to test you using the two drones as before to see if it works,” Angus said happily. “To see if those filaments will work with the Neural Interface!”

“...and make some fine tuning if necessary,” Scott added excitedly. “Let’s see if it works.” He turned away, but then turned back, “Oh, there have been some improvements with the controls. It might take an additional second or two to learn to use it.”

 

Reclining on the two couches, Leah attached the “interface” Joel had not seen before. The other interface was like a net, but this one just had two contact points, one for each side of his head.

Again, there was a moment of disorientation as before as his vision just exploded! The omnidirectional vision was a little overwhelming at first. There was no up or down, no left or right. It all was there surrounding him. This time, however, he perceived things more clearly. Joel had been impressed before, but now...it was so much sharper and in better focus. He saw the Ark, Gaea, the rings around Gaea, Ran, the one moon visible now was Adonis...the other moon Butes was on the other side of Gaea right now. Even the sounds! That long, never ending chord played before was heard again, but more waving tones added by Zeus, her moons, even the rings had a vibrating tone. There were the sounds from the rest of the galaxy. What else he saw was a small orb. A spherical object about a foot around its surface.

“Is that you, Joel?” Hank’s voice asked. “A damned fine-looking sphere, buddy!”

Joel chuckled, “Back at you, buddy!” He never blinked and he said reverently, “It’s beautiful out here.”

“It sure is,” Hank agreed.

“Okay,” Scott said. “Let’s try those new controls. Movement is important, but also focus. Move away from the Ark and choose a target to get a better view.”

The Ark began to shrink as Gaea moved more into view. Joel wondered about what Wei and the others were doing on the surface. New Charleston was below as the Ark was in a fixed orbit. Joel smiled as a window as with a computer and where New Charleston would be zoomed into that window. It looked wrong. Gaea was just water and rock. There was no vegetation or signs of life at all. The ground was too light in color. It was a desert. Joel smiled as he watched the robotic tiller chewing up the ground sending dirt and dust in the air. That large sonic pulverizer moved just in front of the tiller. Even the harshest climates on Earth had some life or at least evidence of life. The Gaean surface was completely barren. Joel was looking forward to seeing colors down there from grass and trees.

The tiller and sonic tool were working close to where the space ladder was meeting the ground, on what would be the southern portion of the settlement. The living and working portion of the settlement was going to be on the east side, to allow the people of Earth a view of the shoreline. Joel knew the sunrises would be breathtaking.

“And so it starts,” Hank observed. “They’re digging the foundation of New Charleston’s dome wall.”

Joel looked at some robotic workers working on either side of the space ladder. The supporting wall that surrounded New Charleston would hold the clear dome in place. There was a long way to go. They would be in stasis twice, both for about a century...be it Gaean Time or Earth Time. He noticed there were robotic miners in the system bringing ore and the Boron Nitrate to the processor. The processor sent the processed ore and Nitrate to the smelter where the elements were blended. The retooled metal was sent free floated to the upper part of the space ladder. There was a robot at that portion to load the finished ore and metal on the elevator which would be lowered to the surface. Joel got the impression of bees in a hive working together. Busy bees or beavers...that gave the only sign of activity on Gaea. Life on Earth had been teaming. New species of life were found all the time. Here on Gaea, life was alien. That meant all life starting with the bacteria, plants, to Humanity itself were all alien to Gaea having been brought from Earth.

“Everything is so clear!” Hank marveled.

“The visual information is good then?” Leah asked sounding pleased.

“Not good, fantastic!” Hank answered enthusiastically. “It’s amazing. We should have used this before! It’s like putting on glasses and seeing things for the first time so much better! I can’t believe I can see all around! At once!”

Leah laughed lightly, “ Our eyes are facing forward to see what’s in front of us. The Occipital Lobe is capable of a lot more than we normally give it. So, no discomfort or even a headache?”

“Not me,” Hank answered.

“You can also interact with Athena better,” Scott added happily. “Request analysis of what you want.”

“I want to try something,” Nayef began. “Why is stasis not like sleep?”

“I’m not sure,” Joel admitted. “We don’t move. We don’t dream.”

“There is no rapid eye movement,” Hank added. “From my understanding we do that for about two hours a night.”

“We also have no concept of time,” Nayef said. “Our bodies almost stop. Yet, we stay alive.”

“Stasis doesn’t stop the body completely,” Nayef said. “The neural activity in your brains doesn’t completely stop. I know there is a process in place that in an emergency you can be revived quickly from stasis.”

“Yes,” Joel answered. “Going into the pods, the stasis gas works in less than five minutes. Reviving takes another five minutes. It’s pretty quick.”

“In an emergency, we programmed Athena to make the best decisions,” Nayef went on. “There may be a situation that requires a fast Human decision. There might not be time for the five minutes. You both said you had very vivid dreams in color and you Joel said you could read in your dream.”

“Yes,” Joel said.

“With the filaments,” Nayef said. “I want to see if you can interact with Athena while in stasis.”

“How are we going to do that?” Hank asked with a voice of doubt. “We are completely out of it when in stasis!”

“Not really,” Nayef chuckled. “You brain is still operating...at a very slow pace. The part of the brain that controls your body temperature, the beating of your heart, breathing is still working...”

“At a very slow rate,” Joel finished.

“Yes,” Nayef said. “The filaments are...artificial neurons that send signals from parts of your body to the brain and you can feel, smell, see, and hear as needed. The filaments conduct the impulses successfully through the body. As they are spreading over and into the brain more, I wonder if you can successfully operate while in stasis.”

“Uh, oh,” Hank said a little worried. “I sense the presence of Neo here.”

“What?” Nayef asked.

Joel chuckled, “Another movie moment, Doc. The series of movies about a virtual reality world where people were awake in an artificial world. The Matrix series? They made a remake forty years ago.”

“Plus the time we were in transit, so make it sixty to seventy years ago,”
Hank reminded.

“Right,” Joel agreed. “Get Chloe working on a calendar for us, okay? There have been other movies, shows, and theater about that theme.”

“Okay,” Nayef said. “So, we need to put one of you in stasis to see if this will work. Who will it be?”

“Well,” Hank began with his usual humor, “As we know Joel is sooo important to all of us. If there are any adverse effects, I should take it. I’ll make the sacrifice.”

“What!?” Joel objected. “Where did that come from? I never...”

“Why not both of them?” Leah asked. “If it works.”

“Sure,” Nayef replied chuckling. “We should do it from the stasis pods.”

“Pilot the drones back to the Ark,” Scott instructed.

 

When that was done, Hank and Joel took the interface off. Again, there was the momentary disorientation as they had to adjust their minds not seeing as a Human Being.

“That is so trippy!” Hank said shaking his head to adjust his sight.

Angus grinned, “The Stingers will have expanded vision, but not like you just had. In the Stinger you will have a forward and backward, up and down.”

“Should we call Rob and Apollo?” Joel asked.

“We could,” Nayef grudged a nod. “Or we can use the A2s.” He waved toward the other room. “Awe have 001, 002, and 003 available. Try one of them.”

“Or,” Scott said smiling, “you could try the A1-ALPHA!” He did something on a keyboard. In walked one of the warrior robots. It looked like one of an A2, only it was covered from head to toes with a dark covering over vulnerable parts such as the joints. Even just standing there, you knew he was not to mess with him. The eyes seemed to be one eye that glowed red across his face where the two eyes should be.

Hank stepped back, “Damn. I haven’t done anything, but I surrender!” He raised both hands in that surrender.

Scott laughed, “Scary, isn’t he? We wanted something that if we were threatened would be able to withstand anyone. He will be armed as necessary. Right now he’s run by Athena, but anyone can be him with the interface.”

Joel looked at the upper left portion of its chest where the word Ark and the A1-ALPHA was shone in bright white lettering. “Where did you get all...” he waved at the robot, “...the material to make him?”

Scott smiled, “You know the greatest discovery man made, in my book, is plastic.”

“Plastic!?” Hank blurted.

“Yes!” Scott said happily, “He has a polymer that is flexible and practically bullet proof. He is almost indestructible. He has the wonderful Boron Nitrate mixed making him resistant to fire or laser blasts.” He went to the A1-ALPHA and touched him on the shoulder almost lovingly. He looked at Hank, “I can give you the formula for the polymer. You will see for yourself.”

“He almost looks like a Cylon!” Hank stated. “If I hear by your command from him...I’m outta here!”

Joel laughed, “Now you know why you are first mate.”

“Where would you go?” Nayef chuckled.

“I don’t know,” Hank admitted, “The other side of Gaea?”

Scott was also chuckling, “I built him with you two in mind. I knew you’d see that. A1-ALPHA, say hello to everyone.”

The robot suddenly looked up and his glowing red eye, the brighter red light moved from the right side to the left and back, “By your command. Hello.” The robot said in the male robotic voice.

Scott was laughing harder, “Do we help you pack?”

Hank pointed at Scott, “That isn’t funny.”

Scott was still laughing as he pointed back, “Yes, it is! You should see your face!”

Joel grinned, “This is why all of you were chosen. You can laugh and appreciate humor!”

“Let’s get you in a stasis pod and see what you can do,” Nayef said. “You will be in the A1-ALPHA.”

 

They went to the long central core where the stasis pods lined the area. It was again without gravity, but Joel was given the Neural Interface. It was wireless, but able to send and receive input. The only one there with Joel was Nayef.

“Just relax,” Nayef said calmly. “I will be down with the others to see what happens. Athena will be looking over you. For us it maybe half an hour, but when you are in stasis, we’ll begin,” He patted Joel on the arm. “I’ll see you down there, I hope, in the A1-ALPHA.”

“How is this going to work?” Joel asked. “We don’t dream. I thought our brains were inactive.”

“We’ll be monitoring you when we do this,” Nayef explained. “We’ll have a sort of EEG running the whole time.”

“An electroencephalogram!?” Joel asked a bit surprised.

Nayef nodded, “A little more involved, but yes.” He chuckled, “The brain doesn’t just stop functioning. The body just slows down. The brain waves are very low.” He held his hand up, “There is the tiniest chance...very tiny, that it could trigger a seizure...”

“A seizure!” Joel balked.

“The tiniest chance!” Nayef said quickly, “Five out of a hundred! Your previous scans have been great! Your brain keeps your lower brain functions going. We are trying to wake up your higher brain functions without waking you up fully.”

“Why not just wake me from stasis, I deal with whatever and go back into stasis?”

Nayef nodded, “We may have to. This is why we’re doing this, to find out. We might not have the few minutes for you to become coherent!” He threw his hands up. “This is an experiment!”

Joel nodded, ”Thanks.”

As usual, the pod was closed, and Joel heard the release of the stasis gas. What happened next he was not prepared for. Suddenly he was standing in the lab where they had worked on the robots, the neural interface and working with the Stingers. But he felt odd. He could see everyone from Hank to Nayef. Everyone was there, but he saw them differently. “Did it work?” He said, but it wasn’t his voice. It had that computerized voice of A1-ALPHA. “Whoa!” Joel said and raised his hands, but they weren’t his hands! They were the hands that were not his, but mechanical. The fingers were there. He looked and turned his hands around to see them.

“Is that you, Joel?” Hank asked.

Joel looked at Hank, “I’m not a Cylon.” He looked at his hands again. “This is weird. I don’t feel anything, but I don’t feel like me.”

“Because you aren’t you,” Leah said, then quickly, “You are you, but...”

“Like in sleep,” Nayef hurried to explain. “Stasis is not sleep; we know that. There are levels a brain goes into. In stasis we go into the Delta wave. Though it isn’t sleep, it basically turns your mind off. We are reaching you in the Alpha wave. You’re still in stasis, but the parts of your brain that control thought, and action are activated.”

He moved his arms in a waving motion, but they weren’t his arms, “How am I able to do this? Move and talk?”

Leah smiled, “A baby learns to walk and talk. Its brain learns how to do those things. You’ve already done that. The robot is programmed by the receiver to do the task needed. Move the arms, talk...whatever you want to. We are still learning about the brain, but we know the signals the brain sends and programmed the robot to respond according to those signals.”

“Wow,” Joel said. His voice still wasn’t his.

Hank frowned, “Prove you are Joel Nesmith and not a Cylon or something else.” He folded his arms over his chest in defiance.

“Like how?” Joel asked.

“Athena hears everything,” Hank stated. “Tell me something we talked about before we boarded the Ark. We palled around before we launched.”

“Okay,” Joel thought for a moment. “Now everyone will know, but we went to this bar you’d been to before. Before Rita. The Piston on Bloor Street. It was an old bar having opened in the early Twenty First Century. You told me about this woman that tried to pick you up. The brunet? You said you were very tempted, but when you looked at her throat, you she was a he!”

Hank held up both hands, “Okay, okay.” He said to stop Joel from going on. “You’re Joel.”

The others were chuckling. Tom grinned, “Did you give in?”

“Do I tell them?” Joel asked.

“Nah,” Hank grinned. “Let them stew on it. Use their imagination.”

Leah shook her head, “You are sexual being. If you did or didn’t, the fact you are what you are is enough. It doesn’t matter. We know who you are.”

“I feel fine,” Joel said fascinated by it. “A little odd, but fine.”

“Your body is in stasis,” Nayef said. “There is no trauma. You should feel fine.”

“Now come the surrogates,” Hank said.

“What?” Nayef asked.

“You are talking about the movie,” Joel said to be sure.

“Or Matrix,” Hank frowned. “Wait, Matrix wouldn’t count. Humans were still Human, so...”

“Surrogates was about people walking around in perfect bodies, good looking and completely artificial. They worked and walked around in android bodies.”

“When did you have the time to watch all these movies and television?” Tom asked in disbelief.

“A guy needs distractions,” Joel explained. “It was entertaining and...” he was shrugging.

“You make time for what’s important!” Hank stated firmly.

Joel was looking at his hands...no not his hands, the robot’s hands he saw as his own right now. That dark polymer that covered the arms and it hit him. “I know what’s wrong!”

“What?” Nayef asked.

“I’m in stasis!” Joel said. “My body is, right?”

Nayef nodded, “Yes.”

“When I was in Rob’s body and in the Stinger,” Joel explained. “I was awake and felt everything normally. While in stasis and my mind functioning in the A1, I’m not breathing. I usually feel something at Hank’s jokes.” He looked at Hank, “And you are funny, but I didn’t feel it in my heart.” He looked at Leah and Nayef, “I’m not feeling the usual things such as the air moving on my body. My eyes watering,” he touched his robotic abdomen, “or even any hunger.”

“Athena,” Leah said. “Display Joel’s condition in the stasis pod.”

“Yes, Dr. Rees,” Athena’s calm voice said. A computer display of Joel’s condition in the pod appeared in the air. Life function was in the green, meaning he was fine.

“As you can see,” Leah said to Joel, “You are fine. Your body is in stasis.”

Joel nodded and looked again at the hands he was using, “It’s just weird in here.”

Leah took something like a pin and dropped it on the floor, “Can you pick that up?”

Joel had the robot body kneel and he had to admit the manual dexterity was good with this body. He picked up the pin. “Yep.”

Scott grinned, “There are those on the Ark that, even knowing why and supporting the centuries in stasis, it is a waste of time.”

“A waste of...” Joel repeated a little heated.

Scott held his hand up to stop Joel from getting angry, “I know getting Gaea ready to support the lives we brought here including our own, it has to be done.” He let out a breathy laugh, “But a hundred years to work to work on these robot assistants and Athena...think about what I could do in a hundred years!”

Joel wasn’t prepared for this, “You want the filaments and use an A1 or A2 to be awake while in stasis.”

“Technically,” Scott grinned more, “You could be the closest we can get to immortality if your body is in stasis, and you can work through a robotic body. I suggest and android body made to be you.”

Hank smirked, “You give new meaning to being a pod-person.”

Scott chuckled, “We’ve advanced so we can recreate you completely as you are. You can walk, talk, eat thanks to Jimmy, you would be you and not age if your real body is in stasis!”

“You're mixing the Matrix, Surrogates, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers!” Hank said loudly.

“So?” Scott asked. “We can do this!”

Nayef smiled at Joel, “Think about it. I agree with you that someday in the future, men from Earth or Tau Ceti’s Terra will come here. They will meet you...and if they are unfriendly, god forbid they try to kill you...they can’t! They could damage your body and even deactivate that body, but it can be repaired.”

“I like that part,” Joel admitted. “But we have children to raise. More children to create.”

“You will continue to raise your children,” Nayef urged. “Imagine if Medika, Anthony, and Scott are able to work for the hundred years and the improvements they could come up with. Alejandro and Joder could work on the propulsion and reduce the travel time even further from the week to a day or a few hours! Matt and Mark can continue the DNA process bringing various species back...”

Joel nodded, “I get it. I’m getting other movies involving the brain...”

Leah chuckled lightly, “We’re always mapping the Human brain. There will be new discoveries. You are in the body of the A1 which responds to your brain perfectly, obeying the signals as you give them.” She looked at the robot body that Joel was in. “How was it in Rob’s body? We asked you, but how did it feel?”

Joel thought, “Fine. It responded and acted as a real Human body. I could even taste.”

“Right,” Leah said happily. “We can make a body that is you, one that looks like you, your actions are done by your brain!”

“There’s a fly in that glass of chardonnay,” Hank said.

Joel, who was used to Hank’s expressions knew exactly what he was saying and snorted. Even Joel thought his snort sounded odd in the robot’s body. Still the robot body did as Joel commanded, “A whole swarm of flys.” He nodded.

“What do you mean?” Leah asked Hank and Joel.

“Any scientist who would do this couldn’t do it alone,” Joel pointed out. “That’s the first fly, or problem. Even if their spouse did it with them, say Sarah Beth did it I would insist on being with her. I know in my heart she would insist on having me there, too. The second fly is our boys...” he wavered slightly, “...and our daughter, which we all know she’s carrying now. She and I would insist on having our children with us. She would refuse to put any of our children in one of these bodies. The next fly would be any scientist that did do this, evening knowing he would see his spouse and children again, after a hundred years would be a changed person! The personality...”

Leah was nodding and holding up her hand, “We have considered those problems.” She assured agreeing. “Your understand of family dynamics and psychology is impressive.”

“Hah,” Hank snorted. “I understand Rita. I know how she will react.”

“I had to take a few courses in psychology to help the men and women I had serving under me,” Joel said. "To help them deal with the weeks they were separated from their families.” The robotic body shrugged, in Human fashion. “I had to.”

“I don’t have that,” Hank admitted. “What I have is a red-headed mama bear living with me.” He pointed his finger at Leah, “No one messes with her cubs! No one!!”

Nayef chuckled, “This is a proposal. Imagine, if you could live longer and be young for centuries!” He grinned.

“We don’t age in stasis!” Leah said happily.

“The brain needs fuel!” Joel reasoned. “There is almost no functioning of the body. The heart beats maybe once in a day!”

“Yes,” Leah nodded. “If we provide directly to the brain the nutrients the brain needs, theoretically we could do it for a long time.”

“Sara Beth would insist this be studied by the many doctors and scientists on board,” Joel said, still not liking what his voice sounded like. “Can I leave this body and return to my own?”

Nayef laughed and nodded, “Give me a few minutes and I’ll be there to help you out.”

“I’m leaving this now,” Joel said firmly. “Do you have to do that?”

“For now,” Leah said, “Yes. I will turn the interface off. We will have to give you control to return to your body.”

“This is another movie thing,” Hank said sardonically.

“You ain’t kidding,” Joel’s robot voice muttered.

 

Joel returned to his lucid mind from the stasis pod and inhaled deeply. “It’s nice to breathe again.”

Nayef was smiling at him. “Yes, it is.”

“You go a few minutes in one of those things,” Joel told him. “You’ll know what I mean.”

“Did you feel you needed air?” Nayef asked helping Joel out of the pod, which really wasn’t necessary as they were both weightless.

“No,” Joel admitted as he pushed off for the lift down to the habitat ring. “It was more like my brain was telling me I was supposed to be breathing. Which I wasn’t.”

“Your body knows what its supposed to do,” Nayef chuckled. “It will know if you aren’t.”

They rode down to the Habitat Ring and entered as Leah was telling Hank, “...and be thirty years old for hundreds of years!”

“Awake and functioning?” Hank asked.

“Yes,” Leah said simply. “In stasis, your body won’t age as quickly. That’s how we traveled for nearly twenty years and didn’t change much at all.”

“Won’t our brains age?” Hank asked.

“That’s something we’ll have to watch,” Leah admitted. “Theoretically, our brains will age slowly. The filaments helped with senility, dementia and other brain deteriorations such as Alzheimer’s. We’ll be watching for that.”

“I never understood how that worked,” Joel admitted.

“As the body ages,” Leah began smiling. “The Human body grows into the late twenties. The brain does its last fine wiring until we are twenty-seven or twenty-eight. Its then when the hormones and enzymes start to taper off.” She chuckled at Hank’s not so happy reaction. “We know that and modern medicine had learned to supplement the hormones and enzymes to keep those levels even. Geriatric patients are getting almost none of them. That causes the brain to age.” She motioned toward the A1, “When Joel was in stasis, he was no longer aging as he would normally.” She looked at Joel, “But in an android body, that looks and acts like your Human body, you could interact and do all things Human, but your Human body will age slower. You could not only see your children grow up, but your grandchildren, great grandchildren, your great, great grandchildren and so on for generations...and still be young enough to have more children with Sara Beth!”

“The normal Human way,” Joel wanted that clarification.

“Yes,” Leah nodded. “It can also be done using Matt’s and Mark’s way.” She shrugged, “We all agreed to allow our DNA to be used by future generations.” She chuckled, “I personally would love to be twenty-nine for a few hundred years.”

“But you are...” Joel began to remind her she was in her late thirties.

“Stop!” Leah grinned. “Don’t say it. After Nayef’s and my child is born...”

Joel grinned more, “Really?” He smiled at her and shoved Nayef lightly. “Congratulations!”

“I think Sara Beth was recommending stasis at the beginning of the third trimester.” He shook his head only to get back to the subject of the android bodies. “I did not like it in him.” Joel pointed at the A1 who was now completely lifeless. “I didn’t mind Rob’s body, but can I request one more...Human acting? And I won’t need food will I? I must have my sweet mustard barbeque...” he thought, “Or shrimp, etouffee, or gumbo...”

“Are you sure you aren’t from New Orleans?” Hank chuckled.

Joel shrugged, “I have people in my family tree from there. Don’t forget crawfish!”

“You were teaching Rob what to taste when in his body,” Anthony said. “We can just transfer that to your android body.”

“It wasn’t quite right,” Joel complained.

“Well, you can do it again!” Anthony said happily. “You can program Rob’s body to do it right!”

“Are you recommending our children do this?” Hank asked.

“Not until their bodies reach their late twenties,” Leah shook her head. “Imagine you are thirty for centuries!”

“Sara Beth will insist she mother our children as a Human,” Joel said knowing his wife.

“Because of breastfeeding,” Leah nodded. “Depending on how long she does that with Daylia, she could do it a few years and still go to her android body.”

Joel nodded, “She did our boys until they were ten to eleven months old.” He chuckled, “She stopped when more of those teeth came in. She gets tired of being bitten” He grinned, “I would stay out of the android body too.” Then he frowned. “We’re assuming we can do this! The neural interface works damned well. Do we have enough material for every man and woman to do this?”

Anthony nodded, “Gaea has more than enough materials. As I said, there aren’t any metal in the android bodies.” He shrugged, “We’ll be in stasis a hundred years. We have time.”