Infinite Reef (20 page)

“Good question.” Feeling uneasy, Alex leaned back into the pillow. At any moment they could link their module to Master Control or any other part of the ship. While much of the crew enjoyed peaceful anonymity inside their protective blisters, Alex and Mary had put themselves in the spotlight. With much of the crew unable to do more than communicate with one another, the news of the discovery spread quickly through the ship. It wasn’t long before there were communications from Matt, from Connie, and a host of others, but congratulations weren’t on their minds. Most were concerned that they might not be going home. Or they were afraid that further contact with the aliens might endanger the ship and its crew.

Of all the callers, Matt was most acerbic. He took no joy in the fact that the celebrated object in Lalande b’s atmosphere had been named after him, nor that he had commanded the mission that first penetrated the shell of Howarth’s Egg. Like the rest of the crew he wanted to know if they could get home. “After all,” he griped, “we haven’t even tried the GeePulse yet.”

But as the seconds ticked by, the entire crew watched as kilometer after kilometer of crystalline towers and tubular superstructures rolled by on their viewscreens.

Still there was no hint of a change in plans. The ship would have to fire its engines soon if the gravity assist was to have any effect, but if the plan was to enter orbit to investigate, the ship would have to decelerate. Alex and Mary guessed that Commander Baltadonis was letting
Goddard’s
crew see for themselves the reason for his dilemma, before making his decision.

Finally Johnny’s face replaced the image of the ring structure. He looked worn. “Certainly I need not remind you all that we are on an exploratory mission. In a sense, we are on our own. And we are not 100% sure if we can return. Or, for that matter, what it will be like when we return. Though it’s been mere months for us, years will have elapsed when we return home.” Johnny paused a moment and thought. Then he looked squarely at the camera. “There was war brewing on Earth.

Food skirmishes between the Atlantians and the Nations. There was talk of canceling our mission. There was concern Earthcorp would halt our carefully timed departure. For this reason, Commander Stubbs ordered the launch timetable accelerated. And, personally, I supported his assertion that politics shouldn’t threaten our mission.” He shrugged. “We left under questionable authorization. I cannot guarantee that we all won’t be regarded as criminals by EarthCorp.

“One of the reasons Stubbs chose our present route home was to document, at least briefly, the second gas giant in this system. Now we have found something unexpected and extraordinary. Our staff scientists would have us abort the launch, contending that EarthCorp would demand we investigate before returning home.”

Johnny wore spectacles, and he blinked frequently as though his eyes hurt. “You are all aware that our democratically conducted vote resulted in the choice to leave.” He whispered to someone off camera and his image left the screen, replaced by Bubba 2’s mysterious ring.

“Something to look at besides me,” said the Professor. “And something that is at the heart of the question I have to put to you.” He paused a bit to let the image of the ring become the object of interest.

Alex and Mary found themselves mesmerized by the sheer extent of the city that orbited the vast planet. Though the planet was a backdrop to the ring it was barely visible in the dim light of the red dwarf parent star. Alex watched the city roll past and wondered how long it must have taken to build such a thing. Johnny’s deep voice continued. This time he seemed a bit awestruck. “Look at it,” he said. “We have no idea what it is. So the question before us is what we should do. Commander Stubbs took a vote. So, to continue with the spirit of his mission, so shall I. Yes, we go home. No, we stay. Vote as before, on your communicators.”

Miles of glowing pin-prick lights, great yawning tubeways, and what appeared to be battlements went careening across a thousand screens as Johnny concluded his speech. “By the way, I should add that the braking maneuver will take time, and it will take quite a while before our or orbit is stable enough to take a close look at the ring. We’ll have to activate the cylinder’s gardens and do some double time on producing new consumables. Lake Geneva is already down one sixth. Some way to replenish our water stores must be found. Also there has been some air leakage due to the hull breach. And there’s a score of other problems. In all fairness, I have to say that Stubbs believed that our technology is our edge.” Johnny took a deep breath.

“I am not so optimistic as the dear Commander Stubbs. Personally, I dread being part of a dying community so far from home. But I put it to you, people of the
Goddard
. What do we do? Speak into your wrist communicators, yes or no. As before, the computer will tabulate the results. We have one hour.”

4
It had taken only minutes for Professor Baltadonis to return to all screens with the voting results. “The vote is to remain in the system,” he said, smiling. “The braking maneuver will commence in seven minutes, seventeen seconds.”

Alex was drinking a synthetic coffee and leaning against the bed’s padded headrest. He was watching the ring, still being tracked by
Goddard’s
cameras. It was farther away now and getting smaller by the second.

Mary looked around suddenly, saying, “We’re turning. I can feel it.” As she spoke the ring and the planet moved smoothly out of frame on their dome, replaced by stars.

The screen blinked and Johnny’s face returned. “We are executing a full 180° rotation,” he announced, “after which we will begin our deceleration burn. Our engineers are recommending that we coax ourselves into orbit to save fuel.” He paused and sighed. “And they’re recommending that we increase our fuel supplies. That requires a special maneuver the
Goddard
was designed to perform, but has yet to be tested. On our next pass by the planet we will scoop hydrogen from its outer atmosphere.”

“Dingers,” Alex said, “I never heard of that!”

“This is obviously a risky maneuver,” continued the new Commander, “And we have the option of using our water as fuel. But if we are going to prolong our mission we have to preserve that water to sustain us and our food supply.

“
Goddard’s
designers anticipated this, of course. Four scoop vanes, located on our forward section, will be deployed as we penetrate Lalande c’s atmosphere. We will dip into the atmosphere, almost to the cloud deck, where our engines will be switched to ramjet mode to take us back to orbit. I admit that I’d rather not perform the maneuver, but it means we’ll have ample stores for our return home.” Johnny floundered for a moment. “During the maneuver you are all requested, of course, to be in your shelters. And ... uh, please standby for further announcements.” His face was replaced by a moving panorama of stars.

Inky had gone to sleep pressed against Mary’s leg. She was stroking him softly, admiring his sleek coat. “This should be interesting.”

“Oh, yeah.” Alex nodded, wide-eyed.

5
Goddard
decelerated in a manner that put it on a broad elliptical course using Lalande c’s formidable gravity to assist in slowing it, but it would require two more flybys to achieve a stable orbit close enough to study the mysterious ring system.

The first flyby would include the scoop maneuver, and the crew had a little over two weeks to prepare for it.

Meanwhile, the cylinder had come back to life once again. The first activity Alex and Mary noticed when they left their protective sphere was the lighting column brightening to a twilight setting. Flood-lights were added to keep the plants alive during the power blackout.

Mary decided to run, inviting Alex to join her, and soon they were jogging over the causeway that spanned the lakebed.

Alex trotted alongside her for as far as he could, but eventually he found himself watching Mary getting smaller and smaller in the distance. Eventually he lost sight of her in the distant shadows and he slowed to a walk.

A man strolling nearby with a large dog recognized Alex, even in the subdued light, and nodded respectfully. “Hello, Captain Rose.” He looked down the road and smiled. “I see your wife has left you in the dust again.”

“Ah,” replied Alex, with a laugh. “You’ve seen us run together before.”

The dog noticed Alex and came nearer, becoming more agitated the closer he got. The man yanked the dog’s leash to restrain him. “You have a cat,” the man said.

“You can tell that?”

“Of course not,” said the man, struggling to restrain the eager animal. “But he can. I’ve seen the broadcasts. Mary Seventeen’s Animal Haven in Gannytown. My wife admires her very much. Many do.”

“That’s reassuring,” muttered Alex.

“I’ve never been to Ganymede. At least not ’til the
Goddard
mission. We orbited her for a while. We’re from Mars. My family, I mean. I’m John Douglas ... my wife Ginger.” He pointed to a woman and two children some distance away. They were stretched on the grass, staring up at the lights.

“Come to watch the Dragon Flyers?” He pointed up toward the hub of the cylinder’s sloping end wall. There, almost a half kilometer above him, Alex could see that the door to the ultralight hangar was open. As he watched, three aircraft came blasting out, leaving wakes of sparks like tiny comets. They maintained a perfect V formation as they dipped toward the landscape at high speed.

As soon as the ultralights appeared the dog seemed to forget all about Alex, seating himself beside his master to watch the spectacle. The ultralights leveled out some distance away from where they were standing and kept their tight formation as they looped repeatedly with fireworks simulating rocket exhaust. “Dragon Flyers?” Alex said. “I hadn’t heard of them.”

Douglas laughed. “Well, you’ve been busy, haven’t you?”

Having run out of fireworks, the ultralights broke formation and switched on landing lights. They made repeated passes, one after another, down the length of the peninsula that divided Lake Geneva.

“Who plans these things?” asked Alex. “I never hear of them.”

“Word gets around, I guess.” Douglas looked around nervously and leaned toward Alex. “May I ask a question?”

“Why not?” said Alex. “Sure.”

“How did you vote? You and Mary.”

Alex was a bit startled by the question. “Well ... that’s confidential.”

“But you’ve seen them.”

“Seen who?”

Douglas gazed into the distance. “The aliens.” The first of the ultralights had landed in the open field beyond the trees.

Alex turned and faced the crewman. It was impossible to tell his station in the crew; the blue flight suit he wore bore no decorations or identity markings of any kind. “You think I have some special knowledge about them?” he asked, almost defensively.

“I’ll say!” Douglas replied. “I sure wasn’t there. Sure, I saw the recordings, but it’s different if you’ve actually been there.”

Alex was still out of breath from running and didn’t feel like answering questions. “Dingers, if I had anything to offer, you’d already know about it.”

“I can’t believe that.”

“Okay. How did you vote?”

“We voted to go home,” said Douglas forthrightly, looking back at his family. “Now it’s your turn. How did you vote?”

“Look. If there’s some blame you’re trying to place ...”

The man put up his hand. “It’s not that at all. I respect you and your wife. If you decided to stay, well ...”

“We voted to go home, too,” said Alex, hoping his admission would end the uncomfortable conversation.

Even in the dim light he could see astonishment on the man’s face. “Really?” Douglas looked around. “Then why are we ...?”

“This is a science mission,” Alex said with a shrug. “That’s why the vote went the way it did. But what the hell, we’ll get home sooner or later. Right?”

“You don’t sound too disappointed.”

“Well, I am. Mary and I wanted to get back, but what can you do? Democracy, right?”

The man laughed cynically. “Right.”

Alex noticed the dull glare of the lighted central column behind the man’s head. By his reckoning Mary was somewhere beyond it on the path that ran the circumference of the cylinder.

“You two are heroes, you know,” Douglas said. “And I’m very proud to have met you.”

Alex smiled. “Nice of you to say, but we’re not heroes.”

The man sighed. “Okay. You’re legends, then. Is that better?”

“Not much.” Alex examined his face. “I’ve answered your questions. Now it’s my turn. What do you make of the aliens?

That ring system? What do you think’s going on?”

“They’re bugs,” John Douglas said confidently.

Alex laughed. “Bugs? Okay. And the ring system?”

“Termites. Termites that found a way to get to a wood pile. Lalande’s an old system, right? Give Earth’s termites a billion years and they’ll do the same, I’ll bet. Build a bridge to the moon, maybe.”

Alex thought for a moment. “That’s as good a theory as any I’ve heard, John. But the truth is none of us have a clue what those aliens are like. The only aliens I’m at all familiar with are in Jupiter’s reef. The question is if these aliens bear any resemblance. That’s why they brought the clicks along, or so they tell me.”

Douglas shook his head. “We should get the info we have back to Earth and let future missions answer those questions.

We’ve done our bit.”

“To be honest, I agree. And if it makes you feel better, so does the acting Commander, I think. But here we are, John, overruled. Anyway, did I answer your question?”

“Yes, you did. And I appreciate your honesty. Nice talking to you, Mr Rose,” said Douglas, tugging at the dog’s leash. In the distance the two remaining ultralights were landing in the field. “I guess the show’s over,” he added, looking back at Alex.

Alex smiled and waved to the man’s family, then turned back toward home. He looked again at the landscape arching overhead and for a moment watched the floodlights scouring the fields all over the cylindrical landscape. “This is a crazy place,” he muttered to himself, averting his eyes from the dizzying sight.