space affair-peter viney

8/10/2019 Space Affair-Peter Viney

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CHAPTER ONE

Beta 4297

Gareth climbed out of the freezer. He knocked a few

small ieces of ice from his clothes! and stood u. He shook

his head. A freezer technician was standin" ne#t to him. $he

was wearin" a sil%er metal suit.

&Name'&

&Gareth ... Gareth Palmer.&

&Number'&

&(eta )*+,.&

&-ob'&

&Garden Technician! Class our.&

&/hat are si# threes'&

&Ei"hteen.&

&And nine fours'&

&Nine fours are thirt01si#.&


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&/here are 0ou'&

&On theNew Adventurer.&

&/here are we "oin"'&

&To the star Orelia. Planet i%e.&

The freezer technician ut down her en. $he turned to

the doctor. &He&s all ri"ht. No roblems.&

$he turned back to Gareth. &2ou&re O3! (eta )*+,. 2oucan "o to 0our room. 4inner will be in fort0 minutes.

Reort for work at 56.77 hours.&

Gareth walked out of the reezer Room. He was

alwa0s a little ner%ous. 8t didn&t haen %er0 often! but e%er0

two or three months! someone didn&t wake u! or the0 didwake u but the0 couldn&t remember who the0 were or what

the0 were doin". He thou"ht about Phili. Phili was a "arden

technician! too. /hen he woke u last 0ear he was like a

bab0. He couldn&t seak or feed himself. The0 ut him in the

hosital for tests! but there was nothin" the0 could do. The0

had to kill him. There was no room on a starshi forassen"ers.

Gareth hurried to his room. He wanted a shower. That

was alwa0s the first thin" 0ou wanted after two weeks in the

freezer. He found his room! stoed and looked at the si"n on

the door.


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ROO9 :);

A


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was easier.

Gareth ut on his work suit. He ut the earrin" on the

table. He looked at it for a minute. He knew nothin" about

Alha ;)=5. The0 had used the same room for three 0ears

now! and the0 were "oin" to use it for se%en or ei"ht 0ears

more. He didn&t know what she looked like! how old she was

or what she did.

CHAPTER T/O

The New Adventurer

TheNew Adventurer was a T0e ,4 starshi. All T0e

, starshis worked on a two1shift s0stem. There were two

shifts of workers! and each shift sent two weeks in the

freezer! then two weeks at work. 4urin" the time in the

freezer 0ou didn&t "et older! so that after a ten10ear >ourne0

throu"h sace! 0ou were onl0 fi%e 0ears older.

The >ourne0 to Orelia i%e took ten 0ears each wa0.

9ost of the eole on the starshi would sta0 on Orelia i%e!

but 0ou could return to Earth if 0ou wanted to. /ithout the

freezers! eole would be more than twent0 0ears older when

the0 "ot back. The freezers cut this time in half. $cientists on

Earth were workin" on faster starshis! and the0 were workin"


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on better freezers! too. Two weeks was the lon"est safe time

in the T0e , freezer. 8n the ten10ear >ourne0 to Orelia i%e!

about one er cent of the starshi&s crew would die in the

freezers. /hen the scientists tried four weeks! more than

thirt0 er cent died. At si# weeks it was one hundred er cent.$o the0 used two shuts. Alha workers were awake for weeks

5 and *! (eta workers were awake for weeks ; and ). A few

of the crew! the two catains! the most imortant officers! and

the freezer technicians worked a different shift. The0 were

awake either for weeks * and ;! or for weeks 5 and ).

The bi""est roblem was the time in sace. E%er0one

knew about the first T0e 5 starshi. 8t left the Earth in **;:

on a ,:10ear >ourne0 to the Centauri star s0stem. (ut when it

arri%ed in *;57! it found thousands of Earth eole were

alread0 there.

The first starshi that arri%ed on Centauri was a T0e )

which left Earth in **65! and arri%ed on Centauri in **6+.

(etween **;: and **65 scientists disco%ered the H0er14ri%e

en"ine! which was much faster than the old T0e 5 and T0e *

starshis. The second shi to arri%e on Centauri was a T0e ;

which left Earth in **,:! then a T0e * which left in **:7.


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CHAPTER THREE

Who is ALPHA 3461?

Gareth reorted for work in the "ardens at 56.77 hours.

The "ardens were one of the most imortant arts of the

starshi. The0 had lants from Earth for the new colonies on

Orelia i%e! and the0 also roduced food for the starshi. The

lants cleaned the air on the saceshi! and roduced o#0"en.

Gareth walked o%er to his control desk. Gareth

controlled the oran"es and lemons. He looked at the

comuter terminal. E%er0thin" was all ri"ht. Alha =::6 had

done a "ood >ob durin" his two weeks.

He thou"ht about Alha ;)=5. He didn&t know what her

>ob was. He ushed some buttons on the comuter. A list of

"arden technicians aeared. He read it ?uickl0. $o she wasn&t

a "arden technician then. He couldn&t "et information aboutan0 other >obs.

He walked o%er to the oran"e1farmin" area. The trees

were %er0 small! less than two metres hi"h! but each tree had

more than a hundred oran"es on it. Gardenin" and farmin"

were two of the most imortant sciences. There weremillions of eole in the star colonies! and food had to be


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roduced %er0 ?uickl0 in small areas.

Gareth looked at the water ies. The0 were all ri"ht. He

was still thinkin" about Alha ;)=5. He wanted to know

more about her.

Gareth finished work at 7).77 hours. On Earth! 7).77

was ni"ht time. 8n sace it wasn&t imortant. He went back to

his room and chan"ed his clothes. 8t was time for a meal.

Restaurant Area Number Three was nearl0 full when Gareth

arri%ed. He took a tra0 and went to sit at a table with some

friends! 9ohamed and Hiroshi. The0 were $tarshi H0er1

4ri%e technicians.

&Hi!& he said. &8&m ha0 to see 0ou&re both awake a"ain.&

&8t was a "ood da0!& said Hiroshi. &E%er0bod0 woke u.&

&How do 0ou know'& asked Gareth. /hen there was an

accident in the reezer Room! it was usuall0 a secret.

&8&%e "ot a "irlfriend in the reezer Room!& said Hiroshi.

&$he told me.&

The0 finished their meal! and went to the $orts Area.

There was a football match at 7=.77 between Area ; and Area

+. The0 all wanted to watch it. The0 sat down ne#t to a tall

woman. The0 didn&t know her! but she was wearin" a freezer

technician&s uniform. Area ; won the match easil0! 5*15.


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&That&s the best score 8&%e e%er seen!& said 9ohamed.

The tall woman smiled. 2ou weren&t here last week!& she

said. The Alha team from Area ) scored fifteen.&

Gareth thou"ht for a moment. Of course@ The officersand freezer technicians worked different shifts from

e%er0one else. $o the0 met eole from the Alha shift and

the (eta shift@ He turned to the woman.

&Er ... 0ou don&t know Alha ;)=5! do 0ou'& he said.

$he lau"hed. &There are +!777 eole on each shift@& she

said. &An0wa0! 8 can ne%er remember numbers. /hat&s his

name'&

&Er... Alha ;)=5 is a woman!& he said.

&O3! what&s her name'& said the woman.

&8 don&t know!& said Gareth. He felt stuid.

/hat does she look like'&

&8 don&t know!& said Gareth a"ain. &8 don&t know an0thin"

about her.&

The woman looked at Gareth. &Then wh0 are 0ou

askin" about her' 2ou shouldn&t ask about eole on the Alha

shift! 0ou know.&


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9ohamed "ot u. &Come on! Gareth . . . let&s "o and

ha%e a coffee!& he said.

The0 sat down in one of the coffee rooms near the

$orts Area. 9ohamed looked at Gareth for a moment.

&/ho&s the m0ster0 woman'& he said.

&Oh! she&s the one that has the same room as me!& said

Gareth.

&How do 0ou know that she&s a woman'& said 9ohamed.

Gareth told him about the earrin". 9ohamed looked

worried.

&Gareth! 0ou know 0ou shouldn&t ask ?uestions about

her. 8f that freezer technician reorts 0our con%ersation! 0ou&llbe in trouble.&

&/h0'& said Gareth.

&Oh! come on! Gareth@ 2ou know the rules as well as 8

do@& said 9ohamed.

&2es! 8 know the rules!& said Gareth. &8 know them! but 8

don&t understand them. /h0 shouldn&t 8 ask about her'&

Hiroshi mo%ed forward. &8 don&t reall0 understand!

either!& he said! &but the0 alwa0s kee the two shifts aart onstarshis. 8 think it&s because there are +!777 of us on each


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shift! and we&re locked u to"ether for ten 0ears. /hen we

arri%e on Orelia i%e! there&ll be +!777 new faces 1 +!777 faces

that we aren&t bored with.&

&2es!& said 9ohamed! &it ma0 not be %er0 imortant! but

it&s like all the rules on a starshi. 2ou ha%e to obe0 all the

rules one hundred er cent. 8f we ?uestion the rules! it will be

imossible to "o on.&

&$o we must obe0 with no ?uestions at all!& said Gareth.

&2ou know that! Gareth!& said Hiroshi. /e all knew thatbefore we left Earth.&

&or"et about this Alha woman!& said 9ohamed.

&Reall0! it&s the best thin" to do. &

CHAPTER OBR

Probe!s in the "ree#er $oo!

8t was the last da0 of the (eta shift. Gareth was in his

room. 8n half an hour it was "oin" to be time to "o to the

reezer Room. Gareth "ot into the shower. er0 carefull0 he

ut the earrin" on the shower tra0 where he had found it.

Then he took a small white flower and ut it down ne#t to the

earrin". He hoed the cleaners would be too laz0 to check the


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shower. The0 hadn&t checked it last month. The small flower

was from a lemon tree. 8f the cleaners found it! there would

be trouble. 8t was forbidden to ick flowers from the "arden

area. Nobod0 had seen Gareth when he icked it earlier in the

da0.

/hen Gareth "ot to the reezer Room the door was

closed. A starshi oliceman was standin" outside.

&2ou&ll ha%e to wait for a few minutes!& said the

oliceman. &/e&re ha%in" a small roblem.&

Gareth could hear screams from inside the room.

&/hat&s wron"'& he said.

&8 shouldn&t tell 0ou!& said the oliceman! &but it&s one of

the cooks. He doesn&t want to "o in the freezer. He&sfri"htened. He sa0s he wants to sta0 awake until we "et to

Orelia i%e.&

&/hat&s haenin"'& said Gareth.

&/hat do 0ou think'& said the oliceman. &/e&re uttin"him in the freezer. 8f he&s still makin" trouble when he wakes

u in two weeks! we&ll ha%e to ... well! 0ou know what we&ll

ha%e to do.&

Gareth knew. i%e minutes later the door oened.

Gareth went in and walked towards the freezers. He climbed


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into one. (efore he started to fall aslee he thou"ht about

Alha ;)=5. &8 wonder if she uses the same freezer! too'&

Two weeks later! as soon as Gareth left the reezer

Room! he hurried to his room. He closed the door and

walked round the room. 8t looked emt0! as usual. He looked

in the shower. No earrin"! nothin". He had his shower. He

felt sad. /hat had he been hoin" to find' He didn&t reall0

know. He "ot out of the shower and went o%er to the sink.

He wanted a drink of water. He turned on the ta. Nothin"

haened for a second! then the water came out suddenl0. Aiece of aer came out with the water@ He icked it u. 8t

was wet. He sat on the bed and looked at it.

Dear Beta 4297,

Thank you for finding my earring. And thank you for

the flower. You mutn!t do anything like that again. "t!

dangerou for you# "!ve often wondered a$out you. " don!t

know anything a$out you. " know you are a man. You didn!t

%lean the ink very well, after you haved, and the %leanerare not very %areful in thi area of the hi&. 'ell, we!ll meet

on (relia )ive. *ntil then, good lu%k#

Bet wihe,

Al&ha +4-


13/23

Gareth read the note se%eral times. 8t was dan"erous

for her! too. He should throw the note awa0! but he couldn&t.

Now he reall0 wanted to know about Alha ;)=5.

He went for dinner. As he walked into the Restaurant

Area! he saw the oliceman a"ain.

&Hello!& he said. /hat haened to the cook'&

The oliceman looked round ?uickl0. &(e ?uiet!& hesaid. &8&ll be in trouble. 8t&s forbidden for me to talk about it.

ust sa0 1 there was a roblem with his freezer. He

didn&t wake u.&

&2ou mean ... the0 killed him!& said Gareth.

&8 didn&t sa0 that. There was a roblem with his freezer.

And 0ou should for"et this con%ersation. 8&m "oin" to for"et

it.&

Gareth thou"ht for a lon" time about the note. On the

last da0 of his shift he sat in his cabin! and wrote to Alha;)=5.

Dear Al&ha +4-,

an " %all you -/ (r %an " %all you $y your real


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name/ "0m 1areth almer, and "0m a garden te%hni%ian. "0m

2, and " %ome from 3ondon in the *nited uro&ean Ditri%t

on arth. Thi i my firt &a%e tri&, and "0m going to tay on

(relia )ive, o it0 &ro$a$ly my lat &a%e tri&, too. " don0t

know why " want to know a$out you, $ut " do. But " don0twant you to do anything dangerou. You know what ha&&en

to &eo&le who $reak the rule. Be %areful#

5ery $et wihe,

1areth

Gareth ut the note carefull0 into the ta. He was

smilin" as he went to the reezer Room. He wanted the ne#t

two weeks to ass ?uickl0.

CHAPTER 8E

An %du&ationa Pro'ra!

Gareth nearl0 "ot into trouble when he "ot out of 8 the

freezer two weeks later. As usual! the freezer technician

asked him ?uestions. /hen she said! &Name'& he said!

&Gareth Palmer.& (ut when she said! &Number'& he relied


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&Alha ;)=5!& because that was what he had been thinkin"

about. He ?uickl0 said! &No! sorr0! 8 mean (eta )*+,!& but he

had to ha%e half an hour of tests. He hated the tests. The0

didn&t hurt! but he wanted to hurr0 to his room as ?uickl0 as

he could. At last the doctor said that he was all ri"ht! and hecould "o.

He went to the sink at once. 8t was there@ He read it

immediatel0.

Dear 1areth,

Thi i tu&id and wrong. But " want to know a$out

you, too. " had to write thi note. 6y name! ara 3o&e8,

and " wa $orn on entauri Three. "!m 2+ and "!m an

edu%ational te%hni%ian. " work on the elftudy %om&uter

&rogram and my &e%ial area i the hitory of &a%e

e:&loration. " wrote the new &rogram on the hitory of the

entauri %olonie. "t! in the li$rary now. " finihed it thi

week. You hould look at it, e&e%ially the &ie%e on the firt

%olony in 229;. 'rite again.

Bet wihe,

ara


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Gareth smiled. As soon as he finished dinner he

hurried to the self1stud0 librar0. He walked alon" the row of

eole in the librar0 until he found a comuter terminal that

no one was usin". He ut his thin"s on the chair and went

o%er to the librar0 technician.

&Hello!& he said. &8&m interested in the histor0 of the

Centauri colon0. Ha%e 0ou "ot an0thin"'&

&


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holo"ram of the main cit0 on Centauri! and listened to the

comuter %oice. $uddenl0 he sat u@ The comuter %oice

was sa0in"D

&And now! entertainment. The first Centauri tele%ision

station oened in -anuar0 **+6.&

The first ro"rammes were old %ideos from Earth. 8n

9a0 the0 showed the first ro"ramme that was made on

Centauri. 8t was a comed0! and it was called Gareth! 8 think 8

lo%e 0ou. The Centauri tele%ision station made man0 Tro"rammes after that! and the0 were oular e%er0where.&

$ara@ $he wrote the comuter ro"ram@ Gareth went

o%er to the desk and "ot some more ro"rams! Televiion in

the 2+rd entury!A hort


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to the education technician that wrote the ro"ram. 8s she ...

or he ... an Alha or a (eta'&

&8&%e "ot no idea.&

&(ut 0ou must ha%e some information. There&s onl0 one

self1stud0 librar0.&

The librar0 technician ushed a few buttons on her

terminal.

The erson that wrote the ro"ram was a ... $ara


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that &rogramme made/ leae re&ly.

Your,

1arden te%hni%ian,

Beta 4297

A 0ear went b0. Gareth ut notes in the ta e%er0 two

weeks. /hen he "ot back from the reezer Room there wasalwa0s a note waitin" for him. He sent hours in the self1

stud0 librar0. $ara usuall0 ut little messa"es into her

comuter ro"rams. He wanted to meet her! but it was

imossible.


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CHAPTER $8

An A&&ident (n The )arden

One da0 he woke u in the freezer. His e0es oened.

Two freezer technicians were standin" o%er him. One of

them soke. &(eta )*+, is awake! 4octor.&

The doctor hurried o%er. &Are 0ou O3' 2ou know who

0ou are! don&t 0ou'&

&2es!& said Gareth.

&/e ha%en&t "ot time for tests!& said the doctor. &/e&%e

had to wake 0ou u earl0. 2ou&%e onl0 been in the freezer for

three da0s.&

&/h0'& said Gareth.

There&s been an accident in the "arden. There was an

e#losion in the ies to the oran"e trees. The0 need 0our

hel. Go there now. 4on&t chan"e 0our clothes! 0ou ha%en&t

"ot a room. 8t&s the Alha shift.&

Gareth hurried u to the "arden area. All the "ardentechnicians were workin" in the oran"e area. He didn&t know

an0 of them. The Chief Garden Technician came o%er.


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Gareth knew him! because he worked weeks 5 and )! like all

the officers.

&Gareth! we need 0our hel. The oran"e trees were in

the e#losion. /e ha%e to sa%e them.&

&Ri"ht!& said Gareth. &/here&s Alha =::6'& Alha =::6

was the "arden technician who worked on the oran"e and

lemon trees on the Alha shift.

&Carl 1 that&s his name 1 was hurt in the e#losion. He

broke his le". He&ll be O3! he&s in the hosital now. That&swh0 we had to wake 0ou u.&

Gareth worked for nearl0 twent0 hours on the oran"e

trees. There wouldn&t be an0 oran"es for a few months! but

he was able to sa%e the trees. The Chief Garden Technician

was waitin" for him.

&2ou&ll ha%e to use Carl&s room!& he said. &8&%e had 0our

thin"s mo%ed there.&

&Ri"ht!& said Gareth.

&And we&ll ha%e to chan"e 0ou to the Alha shift. 8&m

sorr0! all 0our friends are on the (eta shift.&

Gareth didn&t sa0 an0thin".

&2ou&ll ha%e to sta0 on the Alha shift for three or fourmonths. There&s no one else that knows about oran"es and

lemons on this shut. The (eta shift will be all ri"ht. -ose can


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do 0our >ob there.&

&8 can chan"e to the Alha shift for the rest of the

>ourne0! if 0ou like!& said Gareth.

&2Fu don&t mind'& said the Chief Garden Technician.

&No! not at all!& said Gareth. He was wonderin" when

$ara finished work.

&All ri"ht. 8&ll show 0ou where Carl&s room is!& said the

Chief Garden Technician.

Gareth felt %er0 ha0.

The Chief Garden Technician looked at him for a

moment.

&$to smilin"! Gareth. 8 know wh0 0ou want to work

on the Alha shift.&

Gareth felt cold suddenl0.

&2es! when the0 mo%ed 0our thin"s to Carl&s room! the0found these.& He showed Gareth some ieces of aer. The0

were $ara&s notes. He hadn&t wanted to throw them awa0.

&8 told the oliceman who found them that 0ou

were . . . that 0ou were writin" a romantic book. 8 also told

him that 0ou were the onl0 erson that knew enou"h aboutthe trees. He a"reed to for"et about it.&

The Chief Garden Technician showed him Carl&s room


23/23

on the lan of the starshi.

&Now! 0ou "o and "et some slee! 0ou need it!& he said.

&2es. Thank 0ou!& said Gareth.

He walked slowl0 out of the "arden area. Carl&s room

was downstairs! and to the left. His old room was to the

ri"ht.

Gareth smiled a"ain. He turned ri"ht! and be"an to

walk more ?uickl0.

space affair-peter viney

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