Nicole had known the answer to her question. She had just wanted to hear another voice. This was her second day alone, and a conversation with a Garcia robot was better than talking to herself.
202 ARTHUR C. CLARKE AND GENTRY LEE ‘
The train ride took her from the southeast corner of the colony to its geographic center. Along the way, Nicole could see Lake Shakespeare on the left-hand side of the train and the slopes of Mount Olympus (which were covered with more GEDs) on the right. Electronic message monitors inside the train displayed information about the sights that were being passed, the time of day, and the distance that had been traveled.
You and the Eagle did a good job on this train system, Nicole thought, thinking of her husband Richard, now asleep along with all the other members of her family. Soon I will be joining you in the big round room.
The somnarium was, in reality, just an extension of the main hospital that was located about two hundred meters from the central train station. After leaving the train and walking past the library, Nicole entered the hospital, walked through it, and then reached the somnarium through a long tunnel. The rest of her family were all asleep in a large, circular room on the second floor. Each was in a “berth” along the wall, a long, coffinlike contraption hermetically sealed against the outside environment. Only their faces were visible through the small windows near their heads. As she had been trained to do by the Eagle, Nicole examined the monitors containing the data about the physical condition of her husband, two daughters, and two sons. Everybody was fine. There were not even any hints of irregularities.
Nicole stopped and gazed longingly at each of her loved ones. This was to be her last inspection. According to the procedure, since everyone’s critical parameters were well within tolerances, it was now time for Nicole to go to sleep herself. It could be many years before she saw any of her family again.
Dear, dear Benjy. Nicole sighed as she studied her retarded son in repose. Of all of us, this break in life will be the hardest on you. Katie, Patrick, and Elite will catch up quickly. Their minds are quick and agile. But you will miss the years that might have made you independent.
The berths were held out from the circular wall by what looked like wrought-iron metalwork. Hie distance from the head of one berth to the foot of the next was only
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about a meter and a half. Nicole’s empty berth was in the middle; Richard and men Katie were behind her head; Patrick, Benjy, and Ellie were at her feet.
She lingered for several minutes beside Richard’s berth. He had been the last to go to sleep, two days before. As he had requested, Prince Hal and FalstafT were lying on his chest inside the sealed container. Those final three days were wonderful, my love, Nicole said to herself as she stared at her husband’s expressionless face through the window. / could not have asked for more.
They had swum and even water-skied in Lake Shakespeare, climbed Mount Olympus, and made love whenever either one of them had had the slightest inclination. They had clung to each other all through one night in the big bed in their new home. Richard and Nicole had checked on the sleeping children, once each day, but had mostly used the time for a thorough exploration of their new realm.
It had been an exciting, emotional time. Richard’s last words, before Nicole activated the system that put him to sleep, were “You are a magnificent woman and I love you very much.”
Now it was Nicole’s turn. She could procrastinate no longer. She climbed into her berth, as she had practiced many times during their first week inside New Eden, and flipped all the switches except one. The foam around her was unbelievably comfortable. The top of the berth closed over her head. She had only to trip the final switch to bring the sleeping gas into her compartment.
She sighed deeply. As Nicole was lying on her back, she remembered the dream she had had about Sleeping Beauty during one of her final tests at the Node. Her mind then plunged backward to her childhood, to those wonderful weekends she had spent with her father watching the Sleeping Beauty pageants at the Chateau d’Uss6.
That’s a nice way to go, she said to herself, feeling her drowsiness as the gas crept into her berth. Thinking that it will be some Prince Charming who will awaken me.
RENDEZVOUS AT MARS
1
M
irs. Wakefield.” llhe voice seemed far, far away. It intruded gently into her consciousness but did not quite awaken her from sleep.
“Mrs. Wakefield.”
This time it was louder. Nicole tried to recall where she was before opening her eyes. She shifted her body and the foam reoriented itself to provide maximum comfort. Slowly her memory began to send signals to the remainder of her brain. New Eden. Inside Rama. Back to the solar system, she recalled. Is this all just a dream?
She finally opened her eyes. Nicole had difficulty focusing for several seconds. At length the figure bending over her resolved itself. It was her mother, dressed in a nurse’s uniform!
“Mrs. Wakefield,” the voice said. “It is now time to wake up and prepare for the rendezvous.”
For a moment Nicole was in a state of shock. Where was she? What was her mother doing here? Then she remembered. The robots, she thought. Mother is one of
208 ARTHUR C. CLARKE AND GENTRY LEE ,
the five kinds of human robots. An Anawi Tiasso robot is a health and fitness specialist.
The robot’s helping arm steadied Nicole as she sat up in her berth. The room had not changed during the long time that she had been asleep. “Where are we?” Nicole asked as she prepared to climb out of the berth.
“We have completed the major deceleration profile and entered your solar system,” the jet-black Anawi Tiasso replied. “Mars orbit insertion will be in six months.”
Her muscles did not seem at all strange. Before Nicole had left the Node, the Eagle had informed her that each of the sleeping compartments included special electronic components that would not only regularly exercise the muscles and other biological systems to preclude any atrophy, but also monitor the health of all the vital organs. Nicole stepped down the ladder. When she reached the floor she stretched.
“How do you feel?” asked the robot. She was Anawi Tiasso #017. Her number was prominently displayed on the right shoulder of her uniform.
“Not bad,” answered Nicole. “Not bad, 017,” she repeated while examining the robot. It did look remarkably like her mother. Richard and she had seen all the prototypes before they had left the Node, but only the Benita Garcias had been operational during the two weeks before they went to sleep. All the rest of the New Eden robots had been built and tested during the long flight. It really does look just like mother, Nicole mused, admiring the handiwork of the unknown Raman artists. They made all the changes to the prototype that / suggested.
In the distance she heard footsteps coming toward them. Nicole turned around. Approaching them was a second Anawi Tiasso, also dressed in the white uniform of a nurse. “Number 009 has been assigned to help with the initialization procedure as well,” the Tiasso robot beside her said.
“Assigned by whom?” Nicole asked, struggling to remember her discussions with the Eagle about the wake-up procedure.
“By the preprogrammed mission plan,” #017 replied.
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“Once all you humans are alive and alert, we will take all our instructions from you.”
Richard woke up more rapidly but was quite clumsy descending the short ladder. It was necessary for the two Tiassos to support him to prevent his falling. Richard was clearly delighted to see his wife. After a long hug and a kiss, he stared at Nicole for several seconds. “You look none the worse for wear,” he said jokingly. “The gray in your hair has spread, but there are still healthy clutches of black in isolated spots.”
Nicole smiled. It was great to be talking to Richard again.
“By the way,” he asked a second later, “how long did we spend in those crazy coffins?”
Nicole shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know,” she answered. “I haven’t asked yet. The first thing I did was wake you up.”
Richard turned to the two Tiassos. “Do you fine women know how long it has been since we left the Node?”
“You have slept for nineteen years of traveler’s time,” Tiasso #009 replied.
“What does she mean, traveler’s time?” Nicole asked.
Richard smiled. “That’s a relativistic expression, darling,” he said. “Time doesn’t mean anything unless you have a frame of reference. Inside Rama nineteen years have passed, but those years only pertain to—”
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