Space Affair by Peter Viney. 5. An Educational Program.

Дата публикации: Nov 03, 2014 12:53:36 PM

Gareth nearly got into trouble when he got out of I the freezer two weeks later. As usual, the freezer technician asked him questions. When she said, 'Name?' he said, 'Gareth Palmer.' But when she said, 'Number?' he replied 'Alpha 3461,' because that was what he had been thinking about. He quickly said, 'No, sorry, I mean Beta 4297,' but he had to have half an hour of tests. He hated the tests. They didn't hurt, but he wanted to hurry to his room as quickly as he could. At last the doctor said that he was all right, and he could go.

He went to the sink at once. It was there! He read it immediately.

Dear Gareth,

This is stupid and wrong. But I want to know about you, too. I had to write this note. My name’s Sara Lopez, and I was born on Centauri Three. I’m 23 and I’m an educational technician. I work on the self-study computer programs and my special area is the history of space exploration. I wrote the new program on the history of the Centauri colonies. It’s in the library now. I finished it this week. You should look at it, especially the piece on the first colony in 2298. Write again.

Best wishes,

Sara

Gareth smiled. As soon as he finished dinner he hurried to the self-study library. He walked along the row of people in the library until he found a computer terminal that no one was using. He put his things on the chair and went over to the library technician.

'Hello,' he said. 'I'm interested in the history of the Centauri colony. Have you got anything?'

'Let me see,' she said. 'I think there's a new educational program.'

She gave him a small green disk. He walked back to his terminal. Hiroshi was standing there.

'Hi, Gareth,' he said. What are you doing with a green disk? Green disks are history, aren't they? I didn't know you were interested in history.'

'Er ... yes, I am,' said Gareth. What are you doing?'

'I'm looking at a program about Japan. My great-great-grandfather was Japanese. He was the first one in our family that went into space, you know.'

Hiroshi went to a computer terminal on the other side of the room. Gareth sat down, put on the headphones and put the disk into the computer. The program was very exciting. Gareth watched the hologram pictures of the first starship landing. He asked the computer to move to 2298. He saw a hologram of the main city on Centauri, and listened to the computer voice. Suddenly he sat up! The computer voice was saying:

'And now, entertainment. The first Centauri television station opened in January 2298.'

The first programmes were old videos from Earth. In May they showed the first programme that was made on Centauri. It was a comedy, and it was called Gareth, I think I love you. The Centauri television station made many TV programmes after that, and they were popular everywhere.'

Sara! She wrote the computer program! Gareth went over to the desk and got some more programs, Television in the 23rd Century, A Short History of Centauri, Television on Centauri, and some others. There was nothing on any of them about Gareth, I think I love you. It was a secret message to him! Gareth spent hours on Sara's program during that shift. There were no other messages, but while he was watching the program, he thought about Sara all the time. He could meet her in seven or eight years, but how could he meet her before then?

The next day he returned to the self-study library. He asked the library technician about programs on Centauri. She didn't seem very interested.

'But I've got a lot of questions about it. I want to speak to the education technician that wrote the program. Is she ... or he ... an Alpha or a Beta?'

'I've got no idea.'

'But you must have some information. There's only one self-study library.'

The library technician pushed a few buttons on her terminal.

The person that wrote the program was a ... Sara Lopez. We only have the name. But I've never met her, so I'm sure she's an Alpha. Of course, you can't speak to her.'

'No, of course not. Could I leave a message?'

'Well, that's forbidden.'

'It's a question about the program.' That's all right.' Gareth left a message.

Dear Programmer,

I am interested in the history of television on Centauri. Your program talks about television in 2298. I saw a programme from Centauri once. It was a very old one. I saw it on an old video. It was called 'I love you too'. When was that programme made? Please reply.

Yours,

Garden technician,

Beta 4297

A year went by. Gareth put notes in the tap every two weeks. When he got back from the Freezer Room there was always a note waiting for him. He spent hours in the self-study library. Sara usually put little messages into her computer programs. He wanted to meet her, but it was impossible.

Questions

• Why did Sara want to know about Gareth too? What do you think about her reason? Was it the same as Gareth's or not?

• Why did the author make Sara an educational technician? How important was Sara's work for the spaceship life-support? Why do you think the spaceship crew included that quite useless in space specialists?

• Why did Sara write to Gareth that she seemed to love him? Why didn't she find a boyfriend among her shift? Why Gareth did have a girlfriend hanging out with two guys instead?

• Do you believe in love to a pen friend? How authentic was that kind of love?

• Do you think that the love declarations influenced virtual appearances of Gareth and Sara for each other? If it did, which way did it influence, positive or negotive?

crew [kruː]

2.

• 2Why did Sara want to know about Gareth too? What do you think about her reason? Was it the same as Gareth's or not?

  • Why did the author make Sara an educational technician? How important was Sara's work for the spaceship life-support? Why do you think educational technicians who were quite useless for the journey included in the spaceship crew?

• Why did Sara write to Gareth that she seemed to love him? Why didn't she find a boyfriend among her shift? Why didn't Gareth have a girlfriend hanging out with two guys instead?

• Do you believe in love to a pen friend? How authentic was that kind of love?

• How strongly do you think the virtual images were influenced by the immediate Gareth's and Sara's declarations of love to each other? Were they influenced positively or negotively?