Sunshine Page #3

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Even if we knew that some or

even all of that crew are still alive...

...their lives are expendable

when seen in the context of our mission.

As are our own lives.

- Exactly.

- However...

...there is something onboard the

lcarus I that may be worth the detour.

As you pointed out, Mace,

we have a payload to deliver.

A payload. Singular.

Now, everything about the delivery

and effectiveness of that payload...

...is entirely theoretical.

Simply put...

...we don't know if it's gonna work.

But what we do know is this...

...if we had two bombs,

we'd have two chances.

You're assuming

we'd be able to pilot lcarus I.

- Yes.

- Which is assuming...

...that whatever stopped them wasn't

a fault or a damage to the spacecraft.

- Yes.

- It's a lot of assumptions.

It is.

It's a risk assessment.

The question is:

Does the risk of a detour outweigh

the benefits of an extra payload?

- We'll have a vote.

- No, no.

No, we won't.

We are not a democracy.

We're a collection of astronauts

and scientists.

So we're gonna make the most

informed decision available to us.

Made by you, by any chance?

Made by the person best qualified

to understand the complexities...

...of a payload delivery.

Our physicist.

Sh*t.

Okay, lcarus, run the math on the

successful delivery of the payload.

Okay, payload delivery point reached.

Detach the payload.

Stellar bomb initiated and detached.

Crew and living section

have four minutes...

... to clear and commence

homeward journey.

And four minutes after separation,

boosters automatically fire.

Payload boosters will automatically

fire after four-minute delay.

Entering coronal hole

in South Polar Cap.

Magnetic field structure open.

Temperature, 37,000.

Reliability of projection has dropped

below 45 percent.

Remaining projection is not open

to useful speculation.

Variables infinite.

Accuracy unknown.

That's the problem right there.

Between the boosters

and the gravity of the sun...

...the velocity will be so great...

...space and time

will become smeared together.

Everything will distort,

everything will be unquantifiable.

You have to come down on one side

or the other.

- I need a decision.

- It's not a decision, it's a guess.

It's like flipping a coin and asking me

to decide whether it'll be heads or tails.

And?

Heads.

We've mined all Earth's fissile

materials for this bomb.

There's not gonna be

another payload.

The one we carry is our last chance.

Our last best hope.

Searle's argument is sound.

Two last hopes are better than one.

That's it.

Slingshot complete.

Icarus leaving Mercury orbit.

Hey.

Hey.

Good dream?

Let me guess.

The surface of the sun?

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