Living Under Ice

Living Under Ice 5

The two doctors didn't really have much to do with the small number of people present so they just worked on getting their medical facility planned out and in order. They would have two surgical robotic suites with a third room able to be converted during emergencies. They had brought a medical A.I. with them who would perform most actual surgeries that they ordered. It had very precise devices similar to the Q.T. device that could remove or manipulate tissue without ever needing to make any cuts. A variety of specialized nano-bots were also controlled by it depending on what needed to be done. The supplies they had with them were their own and they were state of the art.

One of the extras that they had which had cost a small fortune was the programming and nano-bots for anti-aging treatments. Most colonies didn't have technology that advanced. It took a number of very specialized bots and medications controlled by a very sophisticated A.I. to perform anti-aging. They not only had the nano-bots, they also had the equipment to grow more as needed. There were few medical problems that their facility would not be able to handle. The reality was that they could take care of the medical problems of around twenty thousand people each using the A.I. and ancillary robots to help them. With so few people, they would probably not be very busy. They both decided that they would need to pursue some hobbies to avoid boredom.

Kyle loved to write both books and plays. He decided that the micro colony would need both. He had already been keeping a journal and decided to turn it into an ongoing history of the group. He would write plays and draft the kids and others who might be interested in performing them. Everyone had thousands of movies available to download at any time, but nothing beats live entertainment. He spoke with Talon and the twins who immediately agreed to work with him on a production. Tablitha also agreed to join with them in designing the sets and make-up. She even agreed to be one of the actresses. Their goal was to have a welcoming play ready for the others after the habitat had been fully built and everyone had arrived on the surface. They planned out a theater complete with seating for Samurai to work on after he got back from harvesting nitrogen and other materials from the other planet.

Deedri decided she would love to teach. None of their own children had much interest in becoming a doctor, but Jacob did. She talked with him about starting an apprenticeship to become a doctor and he had jumped at the chance. Kyle would help with it too. Another potential student was Suzette who was still on board the ship. She had excellent grades in the automated school system and had expressed interest once in what Deedri did as a doctor. Once she arrived on the surface, Deedri planned to try to recruit her. There seemed to be little chance of rescue. Space was very vast and they had somehow landed in a very barren part of it. The group had already decided that they had to plan on this being a multi-generational colony. They had to plan for the distant future as well as the immediate future.

One morning things went wrong. Nothing seemed to be working except for things with batteries. There was no power and that was bad. The small quantum power generator had gone off-line. Without it they were in trouble. A quantum power generator could theoretically produce huge amounts of power for decades. They were supposed to be solid state and need almost no maintenance. Jake went and looked at it, but it was outside his field of expertise. They would need to wait for the ship's engineer and for Samurai, but the ship wasn't due back for another three weeks. He looked for obvious problems like cut lines, but the problem was with the generator itself. He went to check on the supply of stored oxygen first and then called a meeting of the entire group in his living room. At least they weren't in the dark. Star-shine still came through the overhead ice during the day. If they only had some old fashioned solar generators, they would be in business, but he may as well have wished for lobster.

Everyone came fairly quickly to the meeting looking more than a little nervous. Having the power go out was almost unheard of. The computer network didn't even work. Only the medical A.I. was still going. She was supplied with her own power source, but it was not designed to produce all they needed. Kyle volunteered that the medical power could be used for emergency recharging. It could even produce some oxygen since their equipment was designed for that, but it would not be enough for them all to live on.

Oxygen was the most pressing problem. There was a one week supply of oxygen. The plan was for it to be much greater eventually, but that was in the future. The medical oxygen could extend it for another five days. That still left about nine days to worry about. "How much oxygen are we getting from the plants at this point?" Deedri asked. Everyone looked at Jacque.

"It's really hard to say. Many of the plants are still very young. They are all certainly producing oxygen during the day. I suggest we do a controlled experiment. Turn off all supplemental oxygen for an hour or two and we can measure the drop. The habitat is large enough that we will be safe during that time. My suggestion is that everyone avoid unnecessary activity. Activity consumes oxygen. We will need to conserve it. Also, we have some hydroponics systems that are still not seeded. I need all of you to help me finish the planting as soon as possible. We should be able to get it done in just a few hours. Even sprouts produce some oxygen as they grow.

"What about the power needed for the hydroponic systems?" Talon asked.

"I'm glad you asked," Jacque said. "We decided to build for the long haul so I designed the surface of the hydroponics trays to convert light into electricity. It won't help our power situation, but the systems are all self-contained. They will keep pumping the water and nutrients that the plants need as long as there is enough light. If we run out of that then we are in trouble. For the purpose of our experiment with oxygen needs, I suggest we go ahead and all work on the hydroponics while the oxygen is turned off. That will require modest activity and give us a more realistic measurement. Why don't you come join me in the atrium where I have been working while Kyle and Jack set up the oxygen experiment?"

On the way there, Jacob chastised his sister. She was talking rapidly as was normal when Jacob smugly told her she was using up way too much oxygen with her talking and would have to learn to be more self-controlled and quiet like Sharah, the oldest LeJeune child who was known for being shy.

"Nonsense," Tablitha said. "I am only using waste air to talk that I have to expel from my lungs anyway."

"It takes energy to talk and it uses up oxygen to do so," Jacob told her in a condescending voice.

"I think you're both wasting valuable air with your arguing," Talon told them. Then it became a three way argument that the parents had to try and stop.

Everyone helped with the planting and then waited for the results of the oxygen usage experiment. They were used to everything like this being told to them instantly by the ship A.I., but not this time. Actually it was the medical A.I. who did the testing and generated the report, but she had no way to communicate remotely with the power off. Kyle had to bring the results to them on foot.

"At current usage, we will have enough oxygen to go for three weeks and three days," he announced. Everyone was happy with that and started to relax when he reminded them that those numbers depended on the ship which was already damaged getting back on time. There was no guarantee of that. In the mean-time, they would have to minimize oxygen usage.

"Why is everyone looking at me?" Tablitha asked.