Jupiter's Reef (49 page)

In the bathroom Alex sat brooding. The reef was beginning to affect him.

Alex thought about contamination and sniffed the air. The ship smelled musty.

The airlock was designed to keep dust and other contaminants out of the ship by maintaining a negative pressure relative to the pressure inside the cabin. That was to insure that nothing would ever drift into the ship from the airlock.

As far as he could recall, everyone had adhered to quarantine protocol after they’d returned to the ship from their EVA’s in the reef. Alex mulled over every detail. Everyone had left their space suit in the airlock, then entered the ship naked and running for the showers while the air in that area of the ship was filtered and homogenized. Even the floor paneling that led from the airlock to the showers was designed to eliminate microbes, toxins and dust.

Tony was the only member of the crew who’d actually touched the reef and that was some time ago. If anyone was going to get sick, it would have happened by now.

Still, the smell that hung in the air haunted him.

Alex returned to his seat just as Mary was waking up.

“It’s my good fortune to tell you the bad news, my love,” said Alex.

Mary groaned and closed her eyes again. “Are we going to die?”

“No.”

“Then how bad can it be? What’s the bad news?” asked Mary, opening her eyes and peering out the window. She saw the now familiar glow of the reef wall directly in front of the cabin window and her face fell.

“Dead end?” she said.

“Precisely,” said Professor Baltadonis. “But the radar suggests we’re near the surface: the top of the reef.”

The Professor switched on the holographic projector and the ghostly tracings of the radar’s plottings surrounded them. It showed their situation instantly.

Mary moaned a second time, then she got up and stretched. Then without thinking she began unzipping the front of her coveralls and moved in null-gee slow motion toward the bathroom.

“I stink,” she said, wrinkling her pretty nose. “I need a shower. You boys can figure a way out of this can of worms, I hope, by the time I’m finished showering.” She turned up her nose and moved toward the bathroom. Mary looked comical trying to walk in a stately fashion in the lowered gravity.

Alex heard Tony laugh. He didn’t have to look to see if Tony was watching Mary, but he elected to ignore it. With a woman around as beautiful as Mary he knew it was unreasonable to expect Tony and the Professor to ignore her femininity. Alex shifted his mind to the more crucial problem at hand; how they were going to get out of the reef. He sat back in his seat and studied the holographic projection that surrounded him.

It looked as if there were several hollow spaces in the reef that covered them.

“Any ideas, Alex?” said Tony.

Alex almost jumped when Tony spoke. For a second he thought that Tony had read his mind like Mary. Alex swiveled his chair around to face Sciarra.

“Actually, just one,” replied Alex.

“Punch it?”

“That’s the one,” said Alex.

“My thoughts as well,” said Johnny.

5
Alex’s dream encounter with the huge clicker man still haunted him. But there seemed to be no alternative but to force a passageway right through the reef.

When Mary had dressed and returned from her shower Johnny called a meeting to debate their next move.

“Everyone has a say in this,” said Johnny.

“Even Babies?” asked Mary, plucking her kitten from the ceiling and cradling it in her arms.

“If she has something to offer our debate, I’ll be glad to include her remarks,” said Johnny, smiling politely.

Sciarra took that as a cue.

“I say punch it,” he said forthrightly. “Ride the nines,” he added looking at Alex. “Push the null gee and crash the reef.”

Mary’s reaction was immediate.

“Why hurt the reef? We can back track,” she said. “If we are that close we should be able to find a way out. What’s a few more hours?”

Alex, sitting sideways in his chair, shook his head.

“Could take longer than that, Mary,” he said. He described Johnny’s radar map, and the uncertain opinion of the computer.

Mary reminded Alex that on their first trip into the reef they had found themselves in just such a position, desperate to leave the reef.

“Just tell the computer to find a way out,” she said. “That’s what you did then. Why shouldn’t it work now?”

Johnny had put his seat back and was listening with his eyes closed. He slowly opened his lids. “We’re here to investigate the reef. I, for one, am curious. I want to know if we can do it.”

“But there’s no need to do it. We shouldn’t hurt the reef,” said Mary.

“Our instruments, our experience all say we can punch a hole easily,” argued Tony.

Alex looked unhappy. He kept sniffing the air suspiciously. Mary knew what was bothering him. She found Alex’s concern with the cabin odor an unnecessary distraction. “It’s the cat,” blurted Mary.

“What’s the ... cat?” asked Johnny.

“The musty smell Alex is worried about,” said Mary.

There was silence in the cabin. Tony and the Professor stared at Mary blankly.

“What? I don’t recall Alex discussing the smell,” said Johnny. “And you said he’s worried about it ... like he just talked about it.” Johnny sat up and looked directly at Mary. “You ... Sensors. You can read thoughts, can’t you?”

“Not so it would do anyone any harm or good,” said Mary.

Alex reached down under his seat and unlatched a small panel. His fingers found what he was reaching for.

“I want to know,” insisted Johnny. “Can Sensors read minds? I’ve heard rumors.”

“No,” said Mary. “Alex told me about the musty smell earlier. He keeps sniffing the air. Haven’t you noticed? It’s driving me crazy. It’s just the cat. His box is getting stinky.”

Johnny looked at Alex questioningly.

“Odd that a scientist believes in mind reading,” said Alex. “Losing your grip here, Professor? I thought we were debating how we were going to leave.” Alex smiled politely as his fingers tapped the chrome metal handle of the sonic gun.

“We were,” said Johnny. His eyes stayed fixed on Mary and she bravely returned his gaze. Her beautiful eyes seemed full of truth.

“What did you mean when you said, what was it? To ‘Not do anyone harm or good’?” asked Johnny, squinting at Mary.

“I thought you were asking metaphorically,” said Mary. “Alex says I’m intuitive. Maybe. But some of my sisters believe in mind reading. I’m not sure. Do you think there’s mind reading, Professor? With Alex, I sometimes think there might be.”

Johnny’s face fell. Then his gaze returned to Alex and he shook his head, smiling. “I donno,” Baltadonis sighed. “Maybe I’m losing it. I’ve heard that married folks can communicate like mind readers. It wasn’t like that with my wife. You two are the first I’ve seen. I’ll admit listening to you talk to each other is ... well, it’s damned spooky sometimes.” Johnny laughed. “No offense,” then he looked over at Tony and said, “Where were we in that vote?”

“Two for, once against,” said Tony. “Alex is the tie-maker. The cat is the tie-breaker.”

Alex was quiet for a moment as he remembered his dream. He tried to recall what the clicker man had said. He wondered why he was still holding the pinger.

The pinger was often described as a personal weapon, and was the choice of spacers because it put holes in people, not bulkheads. Alex easily palmed the gun in his hand. He slid the pinger between his chair’s seat cushions and looked around casually.

No one saw him take it out, except Mary. Oddly, she didn’t protest. His eyes dropped to the floor as he pressed the pinger gun deeper into the crease in the seat. It appalled and disturbed him that he had reached for lethal force. It was even stranger to be unable to explain his own actions. He decided it was weary nerves and protective feelings for Mary that had made him reach for the gun. Alex wanted to put the gun back but decided not to risk Tony or Johnny seeing it. He elected to leave it where it was, but the uncomfortable lump in his seat wouldn’t let him forget it was there.

“I really think we should just punch a hole in the reef and get out of here,” said Johnny. “Why take a vote?”

“I don’t know,” said Alex, sadly. “We’re hard, dense things. Alien to this environment, supermen riding around inside a flying tank that busts up reef. We’ve done lots of damage to this place. Why do more? Dingers, our gee field alone must have caused deaths, I’ll bet. We may have caused that avalanche.”

The Professor stood up carefully in the low gravity and went to the food panel. He ordered some tea.

“Alex,” he said as he punched in the code. “This reef contains more living space than several Earths. It’s bigger than any of us can imagine. What harm can a little hole do? I’ll bet it will heal in no time.”

Alex knew Johnny’s argument made perfect sense. And the Professor was right about the reef; it was vast beyond anyone’s ken.

“The hole left by
Diver
would be less than a needle mark in a person’s skin,” said Tony. “Baltadonis is right. Punch it and let’s go.”

The white flapping arms of the giant clicker man kept waving in Alex’s mind.

“What if it’s watching us?” said Alex. “The reef. What if it’s all alive, one thing? A single organism? What if it’s testing us?”

Johnny laughed.

Alex had made up his mind. As long as he was pilot and it was his ship, it was his decision.

“Computer. Priority Alpha One. Alex Rose. Lock out all other voices,” Alex looked over at Mary. “Except Mary Seventeen, co-pilot.”

“UNDERSTOOD. PRIORITY ALPHA ONE,” said the computer, repeating Alex’s command.

“Just a minute,” said Professor Baltadonis.

Alex cleared his throat and continued. He asked Mary to do a voice check, then he looked back at Johnny. “I’m the pilot. This is my ship, mission’s over.”

Alex faced Mary, smiled and spoke in a loud, firm voice. “Computer. Select the quickest path out of the reef. Do not destroy any reef. Execute when ready.”

“That’s ridiculous, Alex,” protested Johnny.

The computer’s monotone voice repeated Alex’s order exactly. Then it paused a moment and said: “COURSE SET.”

“I’d really think about strapping in if I were you, Professor,” said Mary, holding the kitten firmly in her lap.

“Execute!” demanded Alex.

Diver
moved at increasing speed out of the dead end cavern. As he felt the ship come to life, Alex knew he was doing the right thing. Mary was right. The ship had gotten them out of the reef before. With the advances that EarthCorp had applied to the ship, it should be a piece of cake for it now.

The ship set about doing just that. And its operating orders required it take the quickest path. They had traveled only a few kilometers when Johnny began protesting anew. “It would expend less energy to just strip the balloons and punch through.” he said. Johnny was leaning out of his bubble looking out the forward windows.

It was almost embarrassing to Alex to see how smoothly and efficiently the computer took over the task of piloting their way out of the reef. It trained its floodlights forward, illuminating a large expanse of the tunnel, and it seemed to find a way to augment the detail in the holographic image that surrounded Alex. And every moment their speed increased.

Alex knew they were committed to being passengers when
Diver
deflated the balloon package so that it could move even faster.

This time
Diver
surprised even Alex, who found the smile gone from his face when he realized that when he’d said quickest way it implied losing the balloons. He wondered what other considerations he’d overlooked as he watched the tunnel walls move by at blurring speed.

Then the hull electrified and the gravity field went to zero.

“Dingers! Hold on, folks,” said Alex through clenched teeth.

6
“Would you believe two hundred and forty kilometers per hour?” said Tony.

“Yup,” said Alex.

The tunnel had widened to the degree that
Diver
’s floodlights illuminated the walls. There was a steady glow, more from above than below, and a wind Johnny said the instruments had detected, moving against them at forty klicks an hour.

Despite the wind resistance,
Diver
only saw the widened tunnel as reason to go faster. Subtle motions in the drive stick in front of his ready hands told Alex the ship was actually going somewhere. The ship behaved like a bloodhound or a Bomb-bot, hot after a suspicious trail.

Alex took a deep breath. Relief showed plainly on his face as he looked at Mary and said: “Can you feel it, Mary, my love?
Diver
’s found a bone.”

Mary petted her kitten. She didn’t seem to dare raise her eyes from her lap.

“Yeah? I wouldn’t try to get a hot coffee,” said Tony. “Faster to ... oh, never mind.”

Mary demonstrated that it was indeed possible to get a coffee, and put the kitten in its box. She did it by simply unsnapping her seatbelts and diving toward the rear of the cabin, kitten in one hand, and the other free to catch herself.

Alex watched Mary spring out of her chair and looked back at Tony. Sciarra’s arms were crossed and he was gripping his seat belt tightly.

“Sheesh,” he said as his eyes followed Mary across the lurching cabin. As luck had it the ship chose that moment to make a sudden turn, but Mary never blinked as she kept her body steady while holding on to the rocking ship. With a steady hand Mary put her kitten in its box and then ordered two squeezers of greebrew.

“How does she do it?” Tony looked queasy.

“Mary’s a brave soul,” said Alex, grinning.

The ship kept increasing speed. Ahead of them, and all around them, the radar tracings were illuminating the surrounding reef in sharp detail. The computer, now free to answer its own questions, utilized unexpected means to portray the reef three dimensionally in ever increasing clarity. The view was astonishing.

Alex saw that they weren’t far from the top of the reef, but he was sure of it only when the first bolt of lightning cut through the reef in front of them. With their eyes adjusted to the soft green light, the stab of blood red light nearly blinded them.