sails and the scoops, how much radiation we can collect along the way. Without knowing exactly what we may encounter I can't efficiently determine an exact length of time," Poley said.
"Fifteen years could be more than enough time to get us to an Earth-type planet if one exists, maybe even back into our own space." She started pacing back and forth. "Topaz, Levits and I would have to go into cryogenic sleep. You'd have to run the ship, make all the decisions."
"I would be lonely," Poley said.
A few years ago such a statement would have given her cause to pause. She might even have laughed. Now she knew his statement to be fact. The robot had developed emotions, and having emotions, he now had a need to be around other people. However, there was no alternative.
"I'm sorry, Poley, but it's the only option." She must have sounded as troubled as she felt.
"What's wrong?" Poley asked. "We've found a solution to our problem."
RJ stopped pacing, looked at him and said sadly. "It's not really a very good solution, is it, Poley? There is still no guarantee of our survival, and if we do survive . . . We'll be going to sleep now, knowing that we've abandoned our cause. That the world, in fact the galaxy we know has been left behind, and that we may never wake up again. If we do wake up it will most likely be on a world we don't know. A world with no other humans, most probably with no other intelligent life forms at all. There may or may not be food that we can eat. Just because we can breathe the air doesn't mean that it will be a habitable planet. It's the only solution, and it's better than dying without trying, but it's certainly no reason to celebrate."
Topaz thought it was a brilliant idea, and was all hot to experience cryogenic sleep, but then he didn't know what Levits knew about what he liked to call "the sleep of death".
"Do you dream? Are you aware of time, your surroundings?" Topaz asked excitedly when RJ and Poley had told he and Levits of their plan.
"You're not aware of anything," Levits spat in his direction. "It's just like being dead, and since we may die without ever being brought back, it may very well be our death. I don't want to give up any time that I have left. I'd rather draw my last breath knowing that I'm dying than give up any time I might have by basically killing myself."
"I have charted several blue planets, there is a good chance that one or all of them are habitable," Poley said. "I believe I might have even found a familiar solar system, it's hard to tell because it's fifteen light years away and I'm looking at the back of it, if it is, but it just might be Ursala Prime. I figure if we go in that direction . . ."
Levits cut him off. "Now even the robot is guessing." He looked at RJ. "Do you really believe there is a chance that we will be revived? That he'll find us a habitable planet?"
"The odds are good," RJ said. "Even if he could just find us one with a power source we could keep the ship running, live out our lives in it . . ."
"You mean my life, don't you?" Levits said. The rest of them all had the capability of out-lasting the ship. He wondered who had more to lose with death, the man who was going to live forty years or the man who was going to live forever. RJ was incapable of forgetting, so she was purposely choosing to ignore the whole food problem. Since the food was packed in airtight, non-corroding military containers it could be stored forever, and there had been enough food onboard to literally feed an army for several months. But even if they carefully rationed it, there couldn't be more than twenty years worth of food in the ship.
There were no good choices, just like there hadn't been a choice when he'd flown the ship out of hyperspace and put them here. There was impending death and a small hope then, and there was impending death and a small hope now. Was it better to live two months and die, or
"Fifteen years could be more than enough time to get us to an Earth-type planet if one exists, maybe even back into our own space." She started pacing back and forth. "Topaz, Levits and I would have to go into cryogenic sleep. You'd have to run the ship, make all the decisions."
"I would be lonely," Poley said.
A few years ago such a statement would have given her cause to pause. She might even have laughed. Now she knew his statement to be fact. The robot had developed emotions, and having emotions, he now had a need to be around other people. However, there was no alternative.
"I'm sorry, Poley, but it's the only option." She must have sounded as troubled as she felt.
"What's wrong?" Poley asked. "We've found a solution to our problem."
RJ stopped pacing, looked at him and said sadly. "It's not really a very good solution, is it, Poley? There is still no guarantee of our survival, and if we do survive . . . We'll be going to sleep now, knowing that we've abandoned our cause. That the world, in fact the galaxy we know has been left behind, and that we may never wake up again. If we do wake up it will most likely be on a world we don't know. A world with no other humans, most probably with no other intelligent life forms at all. There may or may not be food that we can eat. Just because we can breathe the air doesn't mean that it will be a habitable planet. It's the only solution, and it's better than dying without trying, but it's certainly no reason to celebrate."
Topaz thought it was a brilliant idea, and was all hot to experience cryogenic sleep, but then he didn't know what Levits knew about what he liked to call "the sleep of death".
"Do you dream? Are you aware of time, your surroundings?" Topaz asked excitedly when RJ and Poley had told he and Levits of their plan.
"You're not aware of anything," Levits spat in his direction. "It's just like being dead, and since we may die without ever being brought back, it may very well be our death. I don't want to give up any time that I have left. I'd rather draw my last breath knowing that I'm dying than give up any time I might have by basically killing myself."
"I have charted several blue planets, there is a good chance that one or all of them are habitable," Poley said. "I believe I might have even found a familiar solar system, it's hard to tell because it's fifteen light years away and I'm looking at the back of it, if it is, but it just might be Ursala Prime. I figure if we go in that direction . . ."
Levits cut him off. "Now even the robot is guessing." He looked at RJ. "Do you really believe there is a chance that we will be revived? That he'll find us a habitable planet?"
"The odds are good," RJ said. "Even if he could just find us one with a power source we could keep the ship running, live out our lives in it . . ."
"You mean my life, don't you?" Levits said. The rest of them all had the capability of out-lasting the ship. He wondered who had more to lose with death, the man who was going to live forty years or the man who was going to live forever. RJ was incapable of forgetting, so she was purposely choosing to ignore the whole food problem. Since the food was packed in airtight, non-corroding military containers it could be stored forever, and there had been enough food onboard to literally feed an army for several months. But even if they carefully rationed it, there couldn't be more than twenty years worth of food in the ship.
There were no good choices, just like there hadn't been a choice when he'd flown the ship out of hyperspace and put them here. There was impending death and a small hope then, and there was impending death and a small hope now. Was it better to live two months and die, or
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