(7 of 9)
Well, he had many friendships -- and one that was much more than that -- on Mars; this was where his future must lie. He was only 102, with decades of active life ahead of him. But some of the crew had loved ones on the Moon; he would have to put Goliath's destination to the vote.
Ship's Orders had never covered a situation like this.
I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND," said the chief engineer, "why that explosive cord wasn't detected on the preflight check-out."
"Because that Reborn fanatic could have hidden it easily -- and no one would have dreamed of looking for such a thing. Pity ASTROPOL didn't catch him while he was still on Phobos."
"But why did they do it? I can't believe that even Chrislamic crazies would want to destroy the Earth."
"You can't argue with their logic -- if you accept their premises. God, Allah, is testing us, and we mustn't interfere. If Kali misses, fine. If it doesn't, well, that's part of Her bigger plan. Maybe we've messed up Earth so badly that it's time to start over. Remember that old saying of Tsiolkovski's: 'Earth is the cradle of humankind, but you cannot live in the cradle forever.' Kali could be a sign that it's time to leave."
The captain held up his hand for silence.
"The only important question now is, Moon or Mars? They'll both need us. I don't want to influence you" (that was hardly true; everyone knew where he % wanted to go), "so I'd like your views first."
The first ballot was Mars 6, Moon 6, Don't know 1, captain abstaining.
Each side was trying to convert the single "Don't know" when David spoke.
"There is an alternative."
"What do you mean?" Captain Singh demanded, rather brusquely.
"It seems obvious. Even though ATLAS is destroyed, we still have a chance of saving the Earth. According to my calculations, Goliath has just enough propellant to deflect Kali -- if we start thrusting against it immediately. But the longer we wait, the less the probability of success."
There was a moment of stunned silence on the bridge as everyone asked the question, "Why didn't I think of that?" and quickly arrived at the answer.
David had kept his head, if one could use so inappropriate a phrase, while all the humans around him were in a state of shock. There were some compensations in being a Legal Person (Nonhuman). Though David could not know love, neither could he know fear. He would continue to think logically, even to the edge of doom.
WITH ANY LUCK, thought Captain Singh, this is my last broadcast to Earth. I'm tired of being a hero, and a slightly premature one at that. Many things could still go wrong, as indeed they already have . . .
"This is Captain Singh, space tug Goliath. First of all, let me say how glad we are that the Elders of Chrislam have identified the saboteurs and handed them over to ASTROPOL.
"We are now 50 days from Earth, and we have a slight problem. This one, I hasten to add, will not affect our new attempt to deflect Kali into a safe orbit. I note that the news media are calling this deflection Operation Deliverance. We like the name, and hope to live up to it, but we still cannot be absolutely certain of success. David, who appreciates all the goodwill messages he has received, estimates that the probability of Kali impacting Earth is still 10% . . .