Space Affair by Peter Viney. 3. Who is ALPHA 3461?

Дата публикации: Oct 02, 2014 10:57:11 AM

Gareth reported for work in the gardens at 18.00 hours. The gardens were one of the most important parts of the starship. They had plants from Earth for the new colonies on Orelia Five, and they also produced food for the starship. The plants cleaned the air on the spaceship, and produced oxygen.

Gareth walked over to his control desk. Gareth controlled the oranges and lemons. He looked at the computer terminal. Everything was all right. Alpha 6558 had done a good job during his two weeks.

He thought about Alpha 3461. He didn't know what her job was. He pushed some buttons on the computer. A list of garden technicians appeared. He read it quickly. So she wasn't a garden technician then. He couldn't get information about any other jobs.

He walked over to the orange-farming area. The trees were very small, less than two metres high, but each tree had more than a hundred oranges on it. Gardening and farming were two of the most important sciences. There were millions of people in the star colonies, and food had to be produced very quickly in small areas.

Gareth looked at the water pipes. They were all right. He was still thinking about Alpha 3461. He wanted to know more about her.

Gareth finished work at 04.00 hours. On Earth, 04.00 was night time. In space it wasn't important. He went back to his room and changed his clothes. It was time for a meal. Restaurant Area Number Three was nearly full when Gareth arrived. He took a tray and went to sit at a table with some friends, Mohamed and Hiroshi. They were Starship Hyper-Drive technicians.

'Hi,' he said. 'I'm happy to see you're both awake again.'

'It was a good day,' said Hiroshi. 'Everybody woke up.'

'How do you know?' asked Gareth. When there was an accident in the Freezer Room, it was usually a secret.

'I've got a girlfriend in the Freezer Room,' said Hiroshi. 'She told me.'

They finished their meal, and went to the Sports Area. There was a football match at 06.00 between Area 3 and Area 9. They all wanted to watch it. They sat down next to a tall woman. They didn't know her, but she was wearing a freezer technician's uniform. Area 3 won the match easily, 12-1.

'That's the best score I've ever seen,' said Mohamed.

The tall woman smiled. You weren't here last week,' she said. The Alpha team from Area 4 scored fifteen.'

Gareth thought for a moment. Of course! The officers and freezer technicians worked different shifts from everyone else. So they met people from the Alpha shift and the Beta shift! He turned to the woman.

'Er ... you don't know Alpha 3461, do you?' he said.

She laughed. 'There are 9,000 people on each shift!' she said. 'Anyway, I can never remember numbers. What's his name?'

'Er... Alpha 3461 is a woman,' he said.

'OK, what's her name?' said the woman.

'I don't know,' said Gareth. He felt stupid.

"What does she look like?'

'I don't know,' said Gareth again. 'I don't know anything about her.'

The woman looked at Gareth. 'Then why are you asking about her? You shouldn't ask about people on the Alpha shift, you know.'

Mohamed got up. 'Come on, Gareth . . . let's go and have a coffee,' he said.

They sat down in one of the coffee rooms near the Sports Area. Mohamed looked at Gareth for a moment.

'Who's the mystery woman?' he said.

'Oh, she's the one that has the same room as me,' said Gareth.

'How do you know that she's a woman?' said Mohamed.

Gareth told him about the earring. Mohamed looked worried.

'Gareth, you know you shouldn't ask questions about her. If that freezer technician reports your conversation, you'll be in trouble.'

'Why?' said Gareth.

'Oh, come on, Gareth! You know the rules as well as I do!' said Mohamed.

'Yes, I know the rules,' said Gareth. 'I know them, but I don't understand them. Why shouldn't I ask about her?'

Hiroshi moved forward. 'I don't really understand, either,' he said, 'but they always keep the two shifts apart on starships. I think it's because there are 9,000 of us on each shift, and we're locked up together for ten years. When we arrive on Orelia Five, there'll be 9,000 new faces - 9,000 faces that we aren't bored with.'

'Yes,' said Mohamed, 'it may not be very important, but it's like all the rules on a starship. You have to obey all the rules one hundred per cent. If we question the rules, it will be impossible to go on.'

'So we must obey with no questions at all,' said Gareth.

'You know that, Gareth,' said Hiroshi. We all knew that before we left Earth.'

'Forget about this Alpha woman,' said Mohamed. 'Really, it's the best thing to do.

Вопросы:

Why do you think all the crew members had an ID number in addition to their names and their job positions?
How did Gareth get to know that his shift-person in the gardens is a man?
Why Gareth could have a list of the other garden technicians from the garden computer but he could not get any information about other jobs?
Why Gareth was so motivated to get know more about his roommate? What do you guess driven his motivation? Would Gareth have been motivated so eagerly if he had gotten to know about a man roommate?
Why do you think Gareth didn't consider his room as home? (Look at the verb "went back"). What do you guess was his home?
Gareth met some friends of him in the restaurant. Why do you think both Gareth's friends were hyper-drive technicians rather than garden specialists?
Why any accident in the Freezer room was usually a secret?
Why do you suppose the officers and freezer technicians worked different shifts from the others?
Why the uniform of workers was different in accordance with their positions? It is reasonable during working hours but slightly odd during leisure time.
Why Gareth should not ask questions about an Alpha shift member?
What trouble do you guess Gareth could have for his questions?
Do you agree with Hiroshi about keeping the two shift apart on starships? If no, explain your own version.

2. Вопросы:

Why do you think all the crew members had an ID number in addition to their names and their job positions?
How did Gareth get to know that his shift-person in the gardens is a man?
Why Gareth could have a list of the other garden technicians from the garden computer but he could not get any information about other jobs?
Why was Gareth so motivated to get know more about his roommate? What do you guess drove his motivation? Would Gareth have been motivated so eagerly if he had gotten to know about a man roommate?
Why do you think Gareth didn't consider his room as home? (Look at the verb "went back"). What do you guess was his home?
Why do you think both Gareth's friends were hyper-drive technicians rather than garden specialists?
Why was any accident in the Freezer room usually a secret?
Why do you suppose the officers and freezer technicians worked different shifts from the others?
Why was the uniform of workers different in accordance with their positions while it was reasonable during working hours but slightly odd during leisure time?
Why should not Gareth ask questions about an Alpha shift member?
What trouble do you guess Gareth could have for his questions?
Do you agree with Hiroshi about keeping the two shift apart on starships? If no, explain your own version.