Jan had been staring so long and hard into the microscope that her vision began to blur. She raised her head, squeezed her eyes shut, and began to rub them vigorously.
She was still doing so when she felt a touch on her shoulder. She spun around, pulse suddenly racing, sure that it was Paul.
It was Valnia Bloom. The gaunt doctor saw Jan’s expression and shook- her head. “I’m sorry. Would you like me to go away?”
“No. It’s all right. I thought that you were — someone else.” Jan knew that her eyes must be bloodshot from the rubbing. “I’m all right,” she went on. “It’s just that I’ve spent too long staring into the microscope. At the little sphere things.”
“So have I. So have we all.” Valnia Bloom sat down uninvited next to Jan. “I didn’t mean to startle you, or interrupt what you were doing. But you and I need to talk.”
Jan’s heart raced again, with a different emotion. “Is Sebastian all right?”
“It depends what you mean by all right. Physically, he is fine — in better shape than either one of us. But I foresee problems.”
Today Valnia Bloom was wearing her tight blood-red head scarf, which emphasized her sharp cheekbones and the pallor of her complexion.
“While we’ve been busy in the lab here,” she went on, “the Jovian security staff have done a minute-by-minute reconstruction of what happened onboard the OSL Achilles during our Jupiter close approach and atmospheric fly-through.
“It’s pretty scary. They estimate that if Sebastian had been free to work on the third safety catch for ten more seconds — and they’ve seen no reason to believe that he was likely to stop — he would have had the hatch open. Normally, a hatch failure can’t destroy a whole ship. Bulkheads seal automatically when they sense a loss of pressure, and most of the hull remains airtight. But normally a ship is flying in vacuum. We were skimming through the upper levels of Jupiter’s atmosphere, and that is mainly hydrogen. The static charge on the Achilles would have set off a hydrogen-oxygen explosion, big enough to cause a hull fracture. After that the whole ship would have exploded and fallen to Jupiter’s deep layers. It’s doubtful that anyone up here would ever have known what happened. The Achilles would be gone too quickly for any kind of emergency signal.”
Jan knew that she had come close to death, but this was the first time she realized how near the whole ship had approached disaster. Dreading the answer, she asked, “Have they officially charged Sebastian?”
“They have not.” Valnia Bloom was biting color into her thin lips. “Nor will they. The official conclusion is that Sebastian cannot be charged with anything, because he is of diminished mental capacity and therefore not responsible for his actions.”
“He’s not! I mean, he’s not stupid. If they are saying he is retarded, that’s just not true.”
“I agree. Remember, I did the tests on both of you, back on Earth. At the same time, I find myself in an impossible position. I have been unable to explain to the investigating team why Sebastian apparently attempted suicide. Also, I have been obliged to tell them of the peculiarities of brain structure that were discovered by Dr. Christa Matloff, before you ever left Earth orbit.”
“They don’t mean anything. I’ve known Sebastian since we were small children. He thinks as well as anyone else, just differently from most people.”
“Differently, and in some ways better. His intuitive grasp of the behavior of complex hydrodynamic systems is astonishing. That intrigued me from the outset, and provided my original impetus to approve both your transfers to the Outer System. However, I still have a problem. There is another step that I would like to take with Sebastian, one which he has agreed to. Actually, he seems indifferent to the whole thing, which is worrying.”
“He’s like that. He doesn’t get excited.”
“Apparently not. However, in view of the official conclusion that he is not responsible for his own actions, I cannot proceed with anything based on his assent alone, or on my own feeling that it may benefit him. You are regarded by everyone as the person closest to him.”
“I am. I always have been.”
“So it was agreed that I should ask your permission.”
“To do what?”
Valnia Bloom gestured toward the microscope. “You have examined the small inorganic spheres scattered within Sebastian’s body?”
“I was looking at them when you came in. I also read your report. I don’t know what they are — but neither do you.”
“More accurately, we know exactly what they an, but we have no idea what they do. However, because they remain chemically inert they play no part in his general body metabolism. I would like to explore the possibility of sluicing him.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry, it’s the usual medical term. I would like you to consider removing these mysterious nodules from his body entirely. Every last one of them.”
“But why, if they’re not doing any harm?”
“I’m not sure that’s true. What I said was, they don’t play a part in his general metabolism. But the brain is a delicate organ, and its operation depends on tiny electric currents within it. The nodules are present there, too, and they certainly possess electrical and magnetic properties.”
“Do you think they are the reason why Sebastian’s neurological tests are unusual?”
“I would not make so strong a statement. What I will say is that breakdown and removal of the nodules — assuming that it can be done — removes one possible source of variability. I see no way that it can harm Sebastian, and it may help him.”
It sounded good, but Jan had learned to be wary. Too many times, in the past, people had suggested “treatments” for Sebastian to “make him more normal.” Some had been performed, over Jan’s protests. Not one had made a scrap of difference.
“How would you do this, and how long would it take?”
“I can answer your first question, but not your second. Breaking down the nodules within his body in order to remove them will be a delicate operation. We will have to inject a set of bespoke nanos into him. They will be designed to find the nodules, encapsulate each one, and break it down. Then the nanos will transfer each capsule through the cell wall, into the blood stream, and to the kidneys.”
“Would that be safe?”
“Completely. Since each of the enclosing capsules is tiny and chemically inert at body temperatures, Sebastian will simply excrete them — pee them out.”
“How long will it take?”
“That’s the part I can’t answer yet. First, we need a set of tailor-made nanos, designed for this specific task. Nothing quite like them exists, but I have already spoken to a top nano designer. Harold Launius believes that the task is comfortably within present capabilities. His best estimate is three or four weeks to design and test.”
“And while that is being done?”
“Sebastian will remain here. You will be free to come and go as you wish, and I will work with him and for him as much as possible.”
Valnia Bloom, for her own reasons, valued Sebastian’s health and sanity. Jan said, “If the tests go well, Dr. Bloom, what then?”
“Hal Launius will inject a batch of the bespoke nanos into Sebastian: The nanos will be self-replicating, and designed to cease operation after copying themselves a sufficient number of times. They will perform the task of encapsulating, breaking down, and excreting until every nodule has gone. At that point the nanos become non-functional, and will themselves be excreted by normal bodily functions. The whole thing, according to Launius, will take no more than a week from initial injection to final excretion. Naturally, we will perform final scans and biopsies, to make sure that the nodules are indeed all gone. Then we will again perform the entire suite of brain scans and tests, hoping that this time the results prove to be more like those of other people.”