Who Mourns for Methuselah
Chapter 10
Cobalt pushed the wheelchair out of the room, and down the hallway. Atom and Uran followed closely behind. The Mars base hospital was primarily for humans, but many of the rooms in the wing where Titan's room was located, had been set up to support humanoid robot patients as well. It had been determined that humanoid robots with Kokoro were better treated in a hospital setting, rather than in a laboratory or factory one.
The patient lounge was set up as a place where ambulatory patients could visit with their relatives in a more peaceful setting than in a hospital room. There were lots of comfortable lounge chairs and cots so a patient could lie back if he or she got tired, as well as more conventional seats for guests. A large screen television with a library of video files and a game console could provide entertainment for patients outside of their rooms. Several tall bookcases held an assortment of magazines, books, and videos. At the moment the lounge was empty, which Cobalt was thankful for. It would give him a good setting to engage his younger brother in conversation.
"I need to get some information from you, anything that you remember, and I'm sure you have some questions for me. Are you up to it?" Cobalt asked.
"I'm a little dizzy, but not too bad. I feel coherent enough, considering that I seem to have had a 'Rip Van Winkle' experience." Titan answered.
"So tell me what do you remember" Cobalt asked.
"Well the more important details are coming back to me. You probably know some of the facts of my flight from whatever data NASA must have stored in computer files. Shortly after I had graduated from MIT, I joined NASA as a test pilot. You know that I idolized you and Astro; you for your hidden intelligence Cobalt, and Astro for his bravery and heroism." Titan began. "That's why I tried following in your footsteps."
"Actually Titian, I later changed my name to Astor and now I'm know as Atom, but that's a long story that I'll relate later." Atom said.
"Well, anyway," Titan continued, nodding at Atom "It was about that time that the very first attempts at near light speed ships were taking place. The first mission was lost when the ship exploded somewhere near Jupiter. I helped analyze the data, and the engines were redesigned. I volunteered to captain the second attempt. Those first two ships were huge, they were powered by two different systems. The first stage used thermonuclear explosions against a blast plate to push the ship forward. The second stage was a Bussard ramjet that funneled interstellar hydrogen into a fusion engine using giant magnetic fields. We had a crew of eight robots consisting of two EVA specialists, two science specialists, two engineers, my navigator, and myself. They became very good friends of mine, we trained for the mission for over a year and a half."
Titan moved about in the wheelchair trying to get into a more comfortable position. Then he continued the story.
"Well anyway, the first stage drive got us going fast enough to trigger the Bussard Ramjet into operation and we soon found ourselves in interstellar space. All was going well until our speed started to increase beyond what was expected. We eventually discovered that we were in the grips of a black hole, and we couldn't do anything about it. Our initial speed upon first encountering the dead star probably saved us, instead of being sucked into the middle of the thing, we were slingshot around it. It was like the way early space probes used Jupiter to get a gravity speed boost, but on steroids. I think the gravitational forces were stronger on the rear of the ship where the science and propulsion sections were than on the control cabin. As we were slingshot around the black hole, and apparently back to earth, there was a massive explosion."
"That must have been the rest of the craft disintegrating into rubble." Cobalt said.
"The only part of your ship still intact was the front half of the command section where we found you and your navigator" Atom added.
"So what happened to my crew?" Titan asked.
Atom looked down at the floor with some guilt. "The doctors are still trying to reactivate your navigator." Cobalt replied. "He was without power for longer than you and hasn't yet responded to treatment. The last time I checked they were still hopeful he will make a full recovery. The two EVA specialists were exposed to some kind of EMP field and were too badly burned to repair. The rest of the crew is missing, along with most of the ship."
Titan closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands. "Vultan! Ampere! Scott!, Norman!" he sobbed. "Why! Was it my fault?"
Uran tugged at Cobalt's arm. "Hurry, I think we better get him a sedative before he really starts crying again!"
"No, it's OK, I'll be fine." Titan sobbed. "I could use a handkerchief though"
Cobalt handed him a soft cloth from a pile on a nearby table. Titan took it and brought it to his face to blow his nose. Uran realized the danger before anyone else and covered her ears.
"BBBBBBLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAHHHHHHH"
Titan let loose with a fog horn like blast that reverberated like a cannon fired in a cave. Most of the furniture in the room fell over. Pillows exploded, sending clouds of feathers into the air. The plaster in the walls developed cracks.
"Not again!" Cobalt face palmed.
Titan blew his nose again, though this time much more quietly, and without any noticeable side effects.
"Can I go back to my room?" Titan asked. "Suddenly I'm feeling quite tired and hungry."
"Sure, we'll talk some more later." Cobalt said, as he turned the wheel chair around and headed back to the robot wing of the hospital. Two orderlies came running past them, heading for the lounge. Cobalt could only imagine what they would think when they found the lounge looking like a disaster area.
When they got back to the room where Titan had been, they found that the hospital maintenance staff were at work repairing the damage.
"We've moved your brother into another room, three doors down the hall." an attractive nurse told Cobalt. She led them to another room and opened the door for them. Cobalt pushed his brother in and noticed that Titan wasn't quite that tired, as he followed the shapely blond with his eyes as she walked away. Atom helped his younger brother out of the wheelchair and back into the bed.
"Would you like us to leave and let you get some more rest?" Uran asked.
"First, I could use something to eat." Titan said. "I haven't had any solid food for about three decades."
Dr. Smyth took that moment to walk in. Ulysses Smyth was the foremost expert on humanoid robots on Mars. He had been stationed on the planet the past twenty years. Smyth had studied under Reno Ochanomizu, one of Atom's best childhood friends. Reno had taught robot medicine up until his retirement, and many of the best robot doctors had studied under him.
"I think the reason that Titan here is so lethargic, is that his systems are not responding well to being reactivated after being dormant for so long." Dr. Smyth explained. "He'd be doing a lot better if his nanites were up to the task. Robot nanites are like human blood cells in a way. They help keep the various systems in repair, especially after an injury. It looks like all of Titan's nanites are down for the count. He needs a transfusion of fresh ones. Once we give him that, they will regenerate themselves and start tuning up his systems. Until then, he can't stay at a full power level."
"So give me a shot then doc!" Titan said.
"Well, we don't have any compatible nanites in the hospital spares for you. No offense, but you are sort of out dated hardware, if you know what I mean." Smyth said.
"Well then give him some of mine!" Atom laughed. "I can spare some, I think."
Atom sat down in a chair next to his brother's bed. Dr. Smyth opened Atom's chest panel, and looking inside, located his nanite reservoir. He used two syringes to extract a quantity of the tiny robotic particles from Atom, and then injected one syringe into Titan.
"You'll need to be a bit careful for the next 48 hours while your body replaces the nanites I removed from you, Atom. You'll be fine so long as you don't injure yourself." Smyth said as he picked up the other syringe and put it into his bag. "I'm going to use this other one to help the navigator robot that's still in the ICU. I think this will help him pull out of the coma he's in."
Cobalt turned to Atom and smirked. "You heard the doctor didn't you, bro? No field work for you for a day or two. That will give you time to stay in the office and finish up that pile of paper work you've been neglecting!"
As the doctor left, an older man wearing a hospital staff uniform, and mirrored sunglasses, wheeled in a food cart. Atom recognized him at once, despite his effort to disguise himself.
"Hello Herbert!" Atom said. "What are you doing here?"
Herbert Ketchup pulled the hat and glasses off. "Darn! Be quiet will you, I had to bribe some people to sneak this in here!"
Uran sniffed the air and made a face. "What the heck is on that tray?" she asked pointing to large covered pot on the food cart.
"Only the best Chili ever made. My recipe is infamous on three worlds. Only you best not mention my name on Venus, unless you want to start an interplanetary incident." Ketchup said. "Astro, I heard you had a younger brother back from the dead, and I just had to come by with something to get him kick started again, if you get my drift."
Ketchup unfolded a bed tray and set it on Titan's bed in front of him. He then unfolded a large square of cloth and tied it as a bib in front of Titan. "We need to hid the evidence" he laughed as he scooped a generous helping of the steaming red delicacy into a large bowl and set it in front of the younger brother. Titan was then handed a spoon, and he took his first taste of the contraband food item.
"Wow! I haven't tasted anything like this in … well ever!" Titan said as he started shoveling more of Ketchup's famous into his mouth.
"Here, give it a try!" Ketchup said handing a bowl to Atom and Cobalt. He tried to pass some to Uran, but she just pushed it back at him with a polite "No thanks!"
"Wow, what's in this stuff?" Atom asked with his mouth full. Cobalt picked at his as if he were trying to run a chemical analysis test on it. Eventually he'd eaten enough to satisfy his curiosity and set his bowl back on the cart.
"Only the best ingredients!" Ketchup said proudly. "I used to be be quite the chili chef back on Earth. I never thought I'd be able to cook my famous red here on Mars, but thanks to the Terraforming operation, and Uran bringing some wild life here, we now have the fresh meat I need. Of course I had to substitute Jack rabbits for beef, but at least we are now growing the chili peppers and beans in the hydroponics section."
Titan was really going to town on the chili. He was eating like he hadn't had any food in years, which he hadn't. Ketchup saw his bowl was getting empty so he slopped another ladle full into it.
"Well you're lucky that a bunch of the male rabbits got loose and found the female's cages." Uran laughed. "We had a small rabbit population explosion and needed to prune the herd."
"Yes, and I thank you for that!" Ketchup said.
"Wait a second, did you say beans?" Uran asked.
"Sure. No decent chili doesn't have at least two different kinds of beans in it." Ketchup said. "We now have kidney, pinto, and black beans growing in the hydroponics section. Just what my masterpiece needed."
Titan finished off his bowl of chili. He now had a big smile from being totally satiated.
Uran looked at her younger brother and said "oops".
Cobalt saw the look on his sister's face and asked "whats wrong, Uran?"
"I guess you don't remember Chi-tan's reaction to beans, do you?"
"RRRRRUUUMMMMBBBBLLLLEEEE"
"I think my stomach is growling." Titan said, holding a hand over his mouth to suppress a burp.
Uran covered her ears. Cobalt, Atom and Herbert played monkey see, monkey do just in time.
"PPPPHHHHHHAAAAAARRRRRTTTTTTTTTT!"
Titan suddenly erupted like Mount St. Helens. The windows blew out from the blast of his anal trumpeting, which was a good thing because the room had suddenly filled with a dense toxic gas cloud. Ketchup ran for the door, and barely made it out of the room without passing out from the lack of breathable air.
"Excuse Me!" Titan said, meekly.
Atom and Cobalt lay on the floor, laughing uncontrollably. Uran face palmed. For the first time in a long while, she was simply speechless.
Now feeling a bit of relief, Titan reached over to the cart, and grabbed for the half empty bowl of chili that Cobalt had left over.
"Might as well not let this go to waste" he said under his breath and started to finish it off. Before he could get another spoonful in his mouth, Uran grabbed the bowl from him, and threw it out of one of the now open windows.
"You've had quite enough of that!" she yelled at him.