Spaced Out

Copyright 2010 by Carl Garrett


Xerathol. Fourth-generation neuroperformance enhancer. Heavy stuff, sir. But you know that.

Increases the activity of the left brain. Complex calculations. Numbers. Formulas. Makes the subject detail-oriented. Pragmatic. But you know that.

Two point one five billion rivets, eighty-three point three six thousand miles of light-op cable in this Leviathan-class starship. Twenty-one point three days behind schedule. Two hundred milligrams per day. Fifty point two percent higher than the recommended daily dose for a man of my height and weight. But you know that.

Fifteen seconds a human being can be exposed, unprotected, in space, before losing consciousness. One point one two five minutes more before paralysis, convulsions, circulatory shutdown, vaporization of the water in the cells and the bursting of the tissues. Two point two six minutes - a calculated average, you understand - before death.

Eleven seconds before your airlock door opens, sir.

But you know that.