Into the Sea of Stars (9 page)

"A dead one, Ian," Richard said. "I think our dear Chancellor is more interested in living proof than a float
ing morgue. Remember his famous comment at last year's
board meeting: 'I am not an intellectual, I am an admin
istrator.' That administrator will not be pleased with a
dead
Colonial Unit 181.
He'll want live finds, finds that occur after the three years mandated by his office. Anyhow, my curiosity is aroused. Hell, we've come this far, why not finish it and go on to Delta Sag?"

"I'm curious, too,"
Stasz
said.

Ian knew they were beating him; he had expected that
from the beginning. For some strange reason their curi
osity had been whetted. The fear of this attacker now
acted like a candle drawing the moth in.

He looked at Shelley, but her only response was a shrug
and a smile. Finally she leaned over and whispered.

"Come on, Ian, stop acting like a historian. The people aboard that ship are dead. Think of the chance of meeting
some that are alive."

Ian looked back out at the turning wheel. A rumble
ran through the
Discovery
and suddenly there was a faint
return of gravity as
Stasz
piloted them up between the
twin
toruses
. A flickering glow shone through the com
munications bay of
Colonial Unit 181
, and in the cold
light he could
make^out
the bodies floating on their eternal
voyage.

At least that fear was gone. He had felt himself encased
within a haunted fragment of the universe, as the souls
of the dead still traveled on a journey that in another seven
hundred years would bring them within sight of their an-
cestoral
home.

He knew, as well, that even though they were departing, the ghosts would stay with his soul. The ghosts would
come to haunt him in his nightmares of bodies floating in
out of the darkness.

Stasz
rotated the
Discovery
, and the
nav
computers took over. Soon they were pointed straight in at a steady blue light. Ian closed his eyes and braced for the jump
that would take them to Delta Sag and the answer that
all but he wanted.

Colonial Unit: 27

First Completion date:
 
2031

Primary Function:
Friends of the Light Colony. Anglo-
American Peace Activist Group. In response to the growing concern over the second
Kwajlein
incident, this was the first of the "peace experiment" units that
led the way for over one hundred Utopian concept colonies.

Evacuation Date:
According to Copernicus Base Record,
June 6, 2086; however, Mars Base
Hatley
claims unit left nearly nine months later. Beaulieu believes Mars
Base confused this with the "Second Friends of the
Light Colony."

Overall Design:
Standard Cylinder, first generation, 1200
meters by 300 meters.

Propulsion:
Standard Modification Design, strap-on ion
packs mounted to
nonrotational
central shaft.

Course:
 
Galactic Core.

Political/Social Orientation:
Unit 27
was the first of the
"Utopian" experiments modeled after the early-nineteenth-century Utopian movement; as such was the
leading model of what would become a significant per
centage of the twenty-first-century colonies. This unit
attempted to model its government after consensus,
with the guiding principle that a total
concensus
would
be needed for any action. Therefore, a single dissenter
could resist or stop an entire process. Second, violence of any kind was abhorred. Third, silent meditation was
often the path to understanding.

The detection alarm did not cause the same thrill of
fright that the first one had created, but the fact that it
awoke him from a deep sleep caused Ian to flop around in confusion for several minutes until his glasses were in
place and he was dressed sufficiently to appear in public.

The rest of the crew was already gathered around
Stasz
, with Ellen hanging very close to his shoulder. She had thrown on a light nightgown that clung tightly to her more
than ample frame. Richard had already noticed that she
was pressing her breasts into
Stasz's
arm and he gave Ian
a sly nudge. Of course, they both knew what was coming,
and settled back, anticipating her explosion with as much
pleasure as they did the data racing across the monitors and spewing from the hard-copy displays.

As usual Shelley was in the seat next to
Stasz
, and she
started interpreting the data while
Stasz
busied himself with ship commands.

"It's on a near-parallel course," Shelley muttered.
"Relative ship trajectory R.A. twenty-one hours, forty-three minutes; declination five degrees north, range es
timate one light-year, more or less."

"Good lord,
Stasz
," Richard exclaimed in surprise, "how the hell could we detect that?"

"Their automatic beacon," Ian replied. "The last one
was out because the beacon had been hit in the strike.

This one is still functioning. It's nothing more than a signal
burst and our ship's computer picked it up."

"Ann, Dr.
Lacklin
, my printout reads that this thing is
definitely Earth origin. Shall we go for it?"

"What the hell, that's what we're here for,
Stasz
." Ian
shrugged and started to walk away.

Just before he closed the cabin door a loud smack echoed through the room. With a start Ian looked back, as
Stasz
staggered away from Ellen.

"How dare you?" Ellen shrieked, her features flushing scarlet.

"Listen, lady,"
Stasz
intoned with mock seriousness, "where I come from a woman who presses up against a man who has been deep spaced for three months is ob
viously asking for some support. So I figured my free
hand could provide that support."

Ian held the door open as Ellen glided out of the room
in a royal huff. The moment Richard caught his eye they both broke out into rolling peals of laughter. Ian decided
it was time for the cracking of another bottle.

"This looks like two in a row," Ellen said, her comment
reflecting the dread they all felt as they surveyed what most likely was a dead colony.

The unit was less than a thousand meters away, turning
slowly, outlined in sharp relief by the starlight and
Discovery's
spotlights.

"I'm picking up a hot reactor,"
Stasz
said hopefully.
"Trace emissions. Their power supply is still good."

Stasz
jockeyed them around the cylinder for a closer
examination. There was no direct view into the unit since
the colony was coated with heavy shielding in order to
cut down the radiation exposure for the inhabitants. Ex
ternal light was admitted to the colony by a complex series
of mirrors, and
Stasz
maneuvered toward one with the hope of getting a reflected view of the inside.

"There, in that mirror!" Shelley cried. "Look at the one to the right of the main antenna, do you see it?"

"If we're seeing light," Ian replied, "at least we know
their power grid is still up."

In a vain attempt to appear calm, Ian had started a third read through of the
Thermomine
Manual
. But the possibility of life aboard the ship was too much for him.
Returning the manual to his back pocket, he started to
pore through the hardcopy charts, quickly looking back
at the cylinder for reference.

"The docking ports are on either end of the cylinder,
Stasz
. Shall we move in?"

Stasz
started to maneuver in for final approach.

"Who's going?" Ian asked quietly.

Shelley turned expectantly and he gave her the nod.
He looked at Ellen, half expecting her to back away after
the last experience, but to his surprise she mumbled a
brief reply about earning her keep.
The two women pushed
off and floated back to the suit room and docking port.

Richard looked at Ian with a bleary gaze. He had yet to recover from last watch's feast. Ian suspected that he
didn't look much better.

"Why don't you stay here with
Stasz
, as backup?"

"Most gentlemanly of you, my dear professor."
He
winked at Ian and glided up to Shelley's vacated chair.

Ian pushed off for the open hatchway. As he cleared
the doorway he heard a muffled comment and, looking
back, saw Richard pass his flask to
Stasz
.

"For God sake, we're going out to risk our asses and
you're soaking it up in here."

Stasz
gave a quick smile to Ian, took a pull on the
straw, and floated the flask back to its owner.

"Steadies me nerves, it does," he said with an absurd
brogue.

"If you need to go in there and get us out," Ian shouted
indignantly, "I don't want a couple of drunks responsible
for saving my life."

"I'm insulted, my overly righteous friend," Richard
replied. "This doesn't sound like the comrade of my hap
pier youth. Why, you're becoming too official, Ian Lack-
lin
."

With a miffed expression Richard turned away to gaze
out at the docking bay, which was lining up in the center
of the
viewport
.

"Idiots," Ian muttered, and continued aft to join the
women.

"Port seals secured, Ian. You can open it up at your
discretion."

"Right.
Stasz
, stand by if we need any help." He tried to detect any sign of drunkenness in the pilot's voice, but so far nothing.

Ian looked back at Ellen and Shelley. "Ready?"

They floated side by side at the back end of the cham
ber. Shelley, of course, could barely contain her eager
ness. Hell, maybe he should let her pop the door while
he hid back there with Ellen. He was almost tempted to
do it, but what little male chauvinism he possessed forced
him to lead the way.

"You both have the specs on this unit. Given its found
ing philosophy, if anyone is alive, we should find some
interesting results."

They nodded silently, and he knew that a nightmare
image was hovering in Ellen's mind. It floated in his consciousness, as well.

Ian punched up the control panel command and the
airlock hatch slid back, revealing the colony's door on
the other side. It was lightly pitted by
micrometeor
im
pacts, but the old Anglo-American writing and instructions were still clearly visible. He double-checked the
procedure, took hold of the handles, and braced his feet
in the magnetic footholds that
Stasz
had installed. With
one sharp pull, the doorway silently opened and a whoosh
of air whistled past him. Instinctively he closed his eyes
and braced for another nightmare. Nothing touched him;
finally he opened his eyes and looked around.

The vessel's airlock chamber was empty. Pushing off,
Ian and the two women drifted into the narrow room.
Ellen turned and fumbled with the hatch mechanism, se
curing the vessel from the outside.

She gave Ian the go-ahead.
Talcing
a deep breath, he
popped the next door, which opened onto the main dock
ing chamber. The room was dimly lit by translucent panels,
and a quick scan told him that the chamber had not been
maintained or entered in years.

The vast majority of light panels were dark, and all
were covered with a thin coating of dust.

"Must be running on automatic," Shelley whispered.

"If my Old English spelling is good," Ellen interrupted,
"I believe that sign over there points us to the main cham
ber."

Following Ellen's lead, they soon faced a large circular
doorway at the end of the corridor.

"This is the end of the
nonrotational
shaft," Ian said,
"assuming, of course, that the blueprints are correct. We clear this door and then enter the main rotating cylinder.
Be careful as you go through, you'll be a hundred and
fifty meters up from the floor. If you push off too rapidly,
you'll float out into the center and it will be a pain to get
you back. Just grab hold of the handrails and start to pull
yourself down. Watch how I do it."

"Tell me, Dr.
Lacklin
," Ellen interjected with a playful
touch of malice, "how much experience have you had doing this sort of thing?"

"None," he whispered, trying to cover the rush of fear.

He pulled the door release, and as it started to slide
open, he felt a moment of panic. But the hatch slid quietly
back and there was a barely perceptible rush of air as the
pressure equalized. Ian gulped and pushed out.

It was stunning; beyond his wildest imaginings... and he was terrified.

The cylinder stretched on for nearly a kilometer, ver
dant with lush semitropical growth. Broad bands of green alternated with narrow fields of black, through which the
reflected images of the stars shone in blazing intensity.
Illumination came from the opposite end of the cylinder, where a battery of lights emitted a soft yellow glow that
bathed the world in a gentle late-afternoon light. He looked
down as he drifted out the doorway and a squeal of terror
burst from his lips. He had the sensation of falling and
the wild vertigo turned his stomach upside down. The
network of handhold cables were
all around him and in desperation he snagged hold of one and hung on for dear
life.

Laughing, Shelley came up and grabbed hold alongside
of him.

"Do as you do, Dr.
Lacklin
," Shelley said teasingly,
and she pushed herself off the handhold and drifted over
to the stairs that spiraled down along the cylinder wall. He started to follow her.

Within the first fifty feet he started to detect a faint sense of gravity, but Shelley still continued in a head-down direction, as if diving toward the ground.

"Not too fast, Shelley," Ian called, as if advising an
overzealous child, "it can be deceiving. Gravity will pick
up significantly the farther we are from the center of ro
tation."

He looked straight up and noticed that Ellen was com
ing down feet first, still holding on to the
handrailings
.
He liked the fact that she was frightened; somehow it
made his own fear more palatable.

They passed the fifty-meter marker and now even Shel
ley was feet down and using the steps. She was taking
ten steps at a bound, but at least she was slowing down.