Delta Pavonis (8 page)

The wall before her looked unchanged, but something felt different. She released the discs and turned. She saw that the chamber was altered. Instead of the shelved wall and the pegged wall, she saw another small chamber with two discs in its far wall. It wasn't the only one, either. There were half a dozen others opening at various angles off what now seemed to be a foyer. It was weirdly disorienting. Had her turning the controls caused all these to open up? How was that possible? The chamber now seemed five or six times as big as when she had entered.

She spotted the exit to the tunnel outside and decided it was time to report back to the expedition. Besides, she was terrified and wanted out. As she stepped away, she realized that this place had become a confusing maze. She put her hat, by now rather battered, on the floor beneath the discs she had just turned. It wouldn't do to lead the others back and then not be able to remember which controls she had tampered with.

She went into the tunnel and turned left. It felt much colder than before, but she figured she was just shivering from fear.

She hurried briskly toward the entrance, then slowed when she realized that there was no Jurassic or Cretaceous or whatever flora outside, but brilliant whiteness, tinged with red. Slowly, awe-struck, she stepped outside. An icy wind blew through her thin, tropical clothes as if she were naked. She could feel crystals forming in her still-damp hair, in her nostrils. It was cold such as she had never experienced. Whiteness not only carpeted the ground, it blew through the air. Bits of something even colder than the ambient air struck her exposed face and hands.

Her first instinct was to get back into the cave, out of this wind. She told herself that explorers should be made of sterner stuff. She would analyze her surroundings for at least a minute.

She knew what the flying white stuff had to be. It was snow. She had seen innumerable holos of it, but nothing had prepared her for what it felt like. It wasn't much like the frost that formed inside refrigeration units, as she had always assumed. She was confused, but she thought she was doing pretty well just to hold onto her sanity. What the hell had just happened?

That chamber back there was some sort of transporter, but where had it transported her to? This looked like an arctic region, but was she still on the same planet? Off in the distance, she could just make out huge forms moving. More dinosaurs? In this cold? Then she saw that they were shaggy, covered with long, coarse hair. Mammoths or wooly rhinos or something, she wasn't going to hang around to find out. Arms wrapped around herself for warmth, she retreated into the cave to think things through. With her back against the tunnel wall, she studied the plumes of steam emerging from her mouth and nose while she pondered.

She had just undergone some form of matter transmission. For years, it had been possible to transmit electromagnetic signals instantaneously. Sieglinde Kornfeld had cracked the superluminal barrier about the time Dierdre was born. Ever since, Sieglinde and a thousand other scientists had tried to apply the new technology to transmitting matter, without success. Until now. Dierdre was certain that the alien device had transported her to . . . somewhere. Instantaneously? Had to be. Her hair was still damp. And even if she was still on the same planet, she was far, far from the tropics.

Could she get back? Was she hopelessly lost somewhere in an alien transportation net? It didn't even bear thinking about. All she could do was go back to the device and repeat the same sequence of actions that had brought her here. At least she'd had the foresight to mark the terminal at which she had arrived. She had to get back now. She was scared and she was freezing.

Halfway back to the transporter room, she stopped. Even if she got back, they might not believe her. Sure, they'd follow her to the cave and everyone would agree that she'd discovered an alien artifact, but who would believe her story about matter transmission? They'd want to turn the discovery over to the authorities, who might study it for years before trying it out. For all that time, her story would be questioned and she would live under a cloud of suspicion. The thought was intolerable. What could she do? What kind of evidence would be convincing?

She strode back to the entrance. With both hands, she began to scoop snow together into a big ball. The stuff on top didn't seem to want to stick, but beneath the surface she found snow that packed efficiently, just as she had seen in holos. She wondered how fast it would melt in the tropics. Probably fast, so she kept packing it until she had a mass as big as her head.

Back at the transporter chamber, she put her hat back on and was struck by another quandary. How could she use both hands on the controls and hold onto her snowball? She didn't want to stick it into her shirt. She was already too cold. Feeling ridiculous, she clenched it between her knees. She might be going to some totally alien place, but there was no sense in delaying. Teeth gritted, she grasped the discs and twisted them back to the vertical.

There was the same lightning-strike sensation and she was in another chamber. The snowball was still between her knees. So far, so good. It was much warmer. Best of all, she could breathe the air. She turned around, retrieving her snowball. The chamber had only the single set of controls. The shelves and pegs were there, the tunnel outside curved away to the left.

"Jamail!" She could have fainted with relief. It was Okamura, calling for her. She ran to the cave entrance, then almost did faint. After the arctic cold, the tropic heat almost dropped her in her tracks. Okamura caught her just as she stumbled through the cave entrance, her head swimming.

"God, Jamail, I thought something'd caught you and dragged you inside! What the hell've you been doing in there?"

"Sorry, Okamura. I didn't mean to scare you. We need to get back to the camp, fast!"

"I know. It'll be dark soon, what's that?" He bent forward and studied her burden. "Did you find ice in there?"

"Better than that!" She laughed, then shut herself off as she recognized a hysterical note. "Let's go." She picked up her bundle of laundry with her free hand and they hurried back.

Forrest looked up from his notes as they came back into camp. He was frowning, naturally enough. "It's about time. I told you . . ."

"Catch," she said, tossing the snowball. Instinctively, Forrest caught it. His face was puzzled at first, then blank. When the reality of the cold struck him he dropped it as if it had been red-hot.

"What the hell . . . what's this?" He picked it back up, brushing off the dirt and leaf-mold.

"It's a snowball. Never seen one before?"

"She went into a cave back there, Steve," Okamura said. "When she came out, she was carrying that."

Forrest stared at her, his face grim and pale. "You'd better do some fast talking."

"First call everybody together so they can all hear it and handle my snowball before it melts. I don't want anybody calling me a liar."

Forrest bellowed for everybody to gather around and then, in a lower voice: "You sure are sensitive. Well, since you can defy the laws of nature, I guess you ought to be." When all were gathered, the snowball was passed from hand to hand amid much exclamation of wonder and disbelief.

"I never thought I'd see dinosaurs," Lefevre said, "but a snowball in the tropics is about as good."

"Talk, Jamail," Forrest ordered.

She was surprised at how brief a time it took to tell what had happened. There really wasn't much, any more than there had been much to relate when Derek Kuroda had literally stubbed his toe on the first Rhea Object. It was just that the discovery itself was epoch-making.

"You found an alien machine," Forrest said, aghast, "and you operated it?"

"Well, yes. Just sort of an experiment."

"So you could be first," he said through gritted teeth. "So you could have all the glory."

"Sure. So it might've killed me. So what? I was willing to take the risk."

"It might have killed you? Did it occur to you that it might have been a weapon system? That it might have been the self-destruct control of this whole planet?"

"No," she confessed, "I never thought of that."

"Never thought of it!" He sputtered. "This is the most flagrant violation of regulation since . . . since . . . " Words failed him.

"Oh, can it, Steve," Govinda cut in. "What've we all been doing since we saw our first big lizard? If Dierdre wasn't an insubordinate troublemaker she wouldn't be here with the rest of us. I think she did just great!"

"Right!" said Hannie, enthusiastically. "I want to try her gadget next!" Everybody else clamored in protest, demanding to go next by right of age, seniority or other pretext.

"Shut up, everybody," said Forrest. "Nobody's leaving this camp until daylight, and that's it." He contemplated the now swiftly-melting remnant of a snowball. "We don't even know whether the transporter leads to another spot on this planet or to another solar system entirely. Jamail, did you see anything besides snow and furry animals?''

"It was cold. I couldn't hang around."

"Any idea what time of day it was?" he asked.

"There was a lot of red in the sky. I didn't check my compass to see what direction I was facing. It was either evening or morning. I guess the sun was about the same angle as from here now."

"It'll be easy enough to find out whether it's on this planet," Schubert said. "Just send somebody through with commo equipment. If we get signals from the orbitals, we're here."

"Has anybody considered," Fumiyo said, "that it could be this planet but at a different time?"

"No!" Forrest protested. "One impossibility at a time. I'm willing to consider instantaneous matter transmission. People have been working on that for most of my life. I don't even want to think about time travel!"

Tired though they were, nobody slept a great deal that night. Everybody wanted to talk about the new discovery. Most of them came by to congratulate Dierdre on her initiative, gall, or good luck, depending upon how they perceived it. She swore she wouldn't let it go to her head, but it was refreshing to have peer approval, even admiration. Except from Forrest, who was still angry with her.

At first light they had a hurried breakfast, packed up and shifted camp to the ridge above the little pool. Before he would allow anyone to go inside the cave, Forrest made a complete record of the surrounding area.

"All right, now we go in," he said. "Everyone gets a look at the alien gadget, then out again. Nobody touches it until we've made a detailed study and record of the tunnel and the transporter chamber. Meanwhile, you can all relax out here, clean up, wash your clothes, you know the drill. When we report this find, this place is going to be swarming, so you want to look pretty for the newsies. Schubert, what's commo status?"

"Still bad, but it's clearing up. I'd say we'll be able to reach the orbitals by this evening, tomorrow at the latest."

"Start trying to make commo with Kurz. He should be on the beach with the rest by now. If you can get him, tell him to home on our signal, that it's super urgent and no more than that."

"You got it, Boss."

"Okay, it looks cramped in there. Dierdre, you lead the way. Single file going in, no more than four of us in that chamber at a time. Let's go." They trooped inside. Everybody spoke in low tones, as if the aliens might be somewhere nearby, listening. For all they knew, that could actually be the case. Everyone made appropriately awed noises in the transporter chamber, although it was agreed that the whole thing looked disappointingly plain. There was nothing to suggest an alien technology except for Dierdre's singular experience.

Forrest shooed them all out except for Fumiyo, and the two set about recording the tunnel and chamber in great detail. The rest were soaking in the pool within minutes. Dierdre went to the gravelly channel where the backed-up water made its way around the blocking boulder. There she began to learn the art of hand-laundering her clothes. She soaped, trampled, wrung out and beat her clothes against the boulder, just as she had seen Indian village women doing in old holos.

Govinda, still dripping, joined her and dumped a pack of clothes into the stream. "We live in space for generations, we travel between solar systems, and we end up doing our laundry just like in the Stone Age. Do you think maybe we took a wrong turn someplace?"

"If we'd wanted it easy," Dierdre intoned the inevitable formula, "we could've stayed at home." She found that wringing out clothes was rougher than she had thought. The water softened the skin of her palms and fingers and twisting the rough cloth raised blisters. "I have to admit, this sort of thing takes a lot of the romance out of it."

"Yeah." Govinda ran her fingers through her short, yellow hair. She was rail-thin, with adolescent bumps for breasts. Her movements were quick and birdlike, but she was tireless on the march and could carry an amazing weight for so small a woman. "If someone can figure out how your gadget works, it might make this a whole lot easier. We could still have the fun of doing the exploring, but we'll have instant access to the facilities in space: comfortable beds, decent food, laundry service . . ."

"Forget it," Hannie said, climbing imposingly nude from the pool behind them. "I like it as it is. If it gets to be that easy, any fool can be an explorer." Her hair was dark from the water, and she spread it over her bulky shoulders to dry.

"You're probably right," Dierdre said. The woman was like some throwback out of a prehistoric Teutonic forest. She had to weigh as much as Dierdre and Govinda put together. "It wouldn't be bad to have occasional access, though. Most of the people I studied with couldn't stand this life, even if they got to sleep in an Avalon luxury inn every night."

Hannie's big, white teeth flashed in a broad grin. "I won't argue with that. I'll bet most of our prison guards couldn't stand much of this." Dierdre wasn't about to ask what that meant.

Sims began to emerge from the pool. "Hey, mind if I join . . ."

Hannie's fist caught him squarely in the sternum, pitching him back to land in the water with a mighty splash. "This is woman talk. Space out."