Farthest Reef (15 page)

“That’s good,” mumbled Mary as her attention returned to the dome. “I’d hate to mess up the bed.”

“You can ask the computer what will happen.” The control room clock showed only thirty seconds left before launch. No one was moving. The scene looked like a still photo pasted to the ceiling of their pod, except the clock in the image was still counting down.

“We’ll find out soon enough, I guess,” said Mary grimly.

The clock hit 00:00:00. Alex and Mary braced themselves. Mary even held her breath. But by 00:01, nothing seemed to happen.

Alex expected to feel some sort of jolt at least, but there was no sensation whatsoever. Inky, on the other hand, hopped off the bed and didn’t come back.

“We have a nominal set of primaries,” Captain Wysor announced. Nervous chatter followed. The only dialogue Alex and Mary could hear came from Wysor, presumably because his voice was being relayed through the ship.

“All engines firing!” reported the Captain. “Do I hear me a good Ganny fiver?”

“That’s a fiver, sir,” said someone. “Ganny or not, let’s light ’er up.”

As a pilot Alex considered how it must feel to take humanity’s first starship on her maiden voyage. “This is quite a moment for the Captain.”

But the event transpired with no fanfare. Perhaps it was the slow start or the complexity of the launch, but for some reason Alex sensed they hadn’t really begun the trip.

“Strange. I wonder if we’re really underway,” he said, looking at Mary. “I can’t feel us moving.” She touched her temple. “Let me check, dear,” she said. A moment later her expression changed. “I can’t hear anything. We really are insulated.”

“Computer,” said Alex. “Can you display a view that shows the engines … the rear of the ship?”

“
Certainly, Alex
,” said the computer. “
Please remember that any request for shipboard intelligence is noted in
Goddard’s
log
.”

The image changed to a view of the outer hull, where a collar of giant cylindrical engines ringed the ship. Behind them a glowing white plume showed that the ship was, indeed, at full power. Mary pointed to Jupiter and its moons hovering in space above the glowing engines. “Look, my love,” she said. “Look how small old Joe is. We couldn’t have come that far in so short a time, could we?”

“I suspect
Goddard
deorbited almost as soon as we came on board,” said Alex.

“Why the hurry, I wonder?” Mary mused. “Computer,” she said. “State the reasons for our hurried departure.”

“
Define, hurried departure, Mary, please.
”

“Why has the mission been speeded up?”

“
The
Goddard’s
mission to Lalande is proceeding on schedule, Mary. Does that answer your question?
”

“Enough …” said Alex, “Back to the view of the control room, please, computer.”

Professor Baltadonis, in center screen, turned his head, looked at the camera, and gave a two fingered salute. “Welcome aboard, Alex and Mary. Are you enjoying the view?” he asked, grinning.

They stared wide-eyed at the screen, unsure of how to respond.

“Well, we’re off, aren’t we?” said Johnny. “The first stage insertion was smooth and within a few hours we’ll make the jump to Bubba. That’s what you wanted to know, isn’t it?”

Mary looked at Alex. “How did he know we tuned in?”

“Computer,” said Alex. “Is the Professor or anyone else in the ship aware we are watching the control room?”

“
There are seven hundred and fifty monitors being served by the control room monitor. The image, in edited form, is also being relayed to Earth and all the outer colonies.”

“Even Johnny’s message?”

“
The camera is on Public Address mode half the time; on Special Access mode the other half. Those in the control room are afforded a fifteen minute window for messages, and other special use. The message you heard was privately transmitted. The image is Special Access.
”

“I see,” said Alex. “It was a recording.”

For the next several hours Alex and Mary used their special access to snoop about the ship, but nothing of interest seemed to be occurring. Finally they settled on the outside forward view, the stars directly in front of the ship. One of them was Lalande 21185b.

“While we were en route from Mars,” Alex said, facing Mary, “Johnny said we can do single jumps between planets and moons in the solar system without problems. But for the jump to Lalande, she’ll burn more juice. Lots more.”

“What problems?” Mary raised an eyebrow.

“To go to another star uses much more power, and to get anywhere, the ship needs to be going fast when she does the jump.”

“Why?”

“Well …” he scratched his head nervously. “The speed determines the distance. The neutronium core opens a wormhole in pulses, producing moving gravity gaps … vortexes, I think Stubbs called it.”

“Oh,” said Mary returning her gaze to the stars. “So you’re saying this pulse will be bigger than the one you … or
anyone
… has ever felt before. And for the jump to Jupiter they had to medicate you?” Mary looked up. “Computer. When do we jump?”

“The first of the pulses will be felt in eleven minutes. The rest, four more, will be experienced at regular intervals for the entire trip to Lalande 21185b.”

Mary crossed her arms across her chest again. “How long is that?”

“
About four weeks
,” said the computer passively. Alex had the notion that it had lost its fondness for them. Perhaps they had been too rude and the program compensated. It seemed logical for that to be so. It was, after all, a hospitality program.

“Will we be stuck in this tomb for four weeks?” bellowed Mary. “What about the cat?”

“
Only during the jump stages. At those times you will be required to remain inside your bubble for a period of two hours, before and after the jump. Your feline will suffer no ill effects of the jump. There have been no lasting adverse effects of wormhole jumping recorded on life forms of any kind. There have been seven minor jumps with one cat aboard, and one major jump from Luna to Pluto with seven dogs aboard…
”

“Four dogs? Pluto?” Alex laughed.

“How do we get out of this pod?” Mary sounded slightly panicked as she surveyed the dome. “Is there a latch we can use?”

“The jump pods are opened and closed by the computer. Escape latches and emergency supplies are located beneath the bed. During the jump the pods remain closed and locked for your protection.”

Mary still looked worried. “Oh, I really don’t like this. And I can’t hear my sisters.”

Alex pulled Mary close to him and kissed her forehead. “Is that a problem?”

“I’ve never been cut off from them before. I just realized … the voices aren’t there, not even the Marys. They’re always there!” Mary’s beautiful gray eyes searched the dome.

“Dingers, I didn’t figure on that.” Alex kissed her again. “You’re really cut off? Not even the Marys? Isn’t that impossible? Sensors are rigged for deep space. Hell, you can broadcast through polycer.”

“Not now. There’s some kind of field, a powerful one, blotting out everything. My guess is that it’s the gee-pulse.” Mary looked grim. “It’s strange, Alex. I don’t feel good about this.” Her eyes continued to scan their surroundings as she remained curled in his arms.

“We’ll be out of this thing in a few hours,” whispered Alex. “We’ll call it … a short vacation from reality. And you’ll be back in touch with the Marys.” He looked at the starscape overhead and ordered the computer to change the view back to Johnny’s camera in master control. The computer wordlessly complied.

The command post looked quiet, as before. Wysor hadn’t moved, nor had Johnny.

“I feel like a ghost,” whispered Mary.

“More like a dream, I think,” replied Alex.

Mary smiled and reached down under the sheet. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re in my dream.”

Alex pushed her hand away. “Not in front of history,” he said. “We’re about to launch.”

5
When the first gravity pulse hit them, Mary and Alex were still embracing. They both felt it at the same time – a feeling of lightness that was decidedly not weightlessness. Next came a wave, a feeling of lifting, then falling, and of growing and shrinking, all at the same moment. They stared into each other’s eyes. The dome above them glowed softly with a red light, pulsing as a warning.

Alex’s stomach was making him wonder if volunteering to experience a transition from real to semi-temporal space had been a good idea. When the gee-pulse passed its maximum, he told Mary he was comforted that it wasn’t as bad as his last jump. “The dome’s working,” Alex noted. “How do you feel?”

Mary squirmed uneasily. “I feel all … itchy. That’s precisely how I feel.”

Alex rolled on his back as another pulse went through the ship. The screen suddenly changed color to bright green.

“Computer. Why the green color?” he inquired.

“We have reached light speed, Alex
,” answered the computer’s soothing voice.

“How soon will we be out of the dome?” asked Mary.

“Fifteen minutes.”

“Relative time has changed,” she said. “I didn’t really think about that. But it has.”

“Don’t you hate that?” Alex tried to keep a straight face.

Mary pushed him away. “I’m serious, Alex. My sisters are in a different time frame. I … can’t hear them. Time is changing in the solar system and we haven’t even started the trip. And you’re … you’re laughing at me.”

Mary was getting more fragile as the seconds passed.

“You are my only love, Mary. I could never laugh at you. Sorry I upset you. Let me try something. Computer. Can you utilize your imaging system in the dome?”

“Not during this phase of the launch. All available power is required to be held in reserve.”

“Dingers,” said Alex. “We’ll have to wait it out.”

Mary began to cry.

“Do we have to have the green light?” Alex asked, trying to sound calm. He was experiencing Mary’s pain in a way that had never happened before. The anxiety from her electromagnetic isolation had forced her to latch on to him. He could feel adrenaline rising in his blood.

“All clear,”
said the computer’s voice, again sounding cheerful.
“You are now free to move about your home. But please do not leave your home until cleared to do so.”
The bubble’s doorway slid open and the lights in their house came on. The windows were shuttered and the curtains drawn, making it look like nighttime.

Mary was first to leave the bed. After a few steps she dropped to her knees. Alex wanted to help, but as he tried to get up he felt weak, as though the strength had been sapped from his body. He managed, however, to get to Mary and, with the help of a chair, to remain standing.

“I’m okay.” She looked up at him, then summoned her strength and stood up. “That was fun,” she said. “Thank God I can hear again.”

“Can you hear your sisters?” Feeling his strength returning, Alex walked carefully to the food panel and ordered a coffee.

“Yes. I hear them,” said Mary.

“Want some tea to celebrate?” Alex asked with a grin.

“Sure.” Mary walked to the window but saw it was shuttered and turned away, disappointed. “I wonder if the rest of the ship will be coming to life soon.” She walked to the panel and waited for her tea to brew.

“
Computer
,” Alex said loudly, unsure if he could be heard. “When is the biocylinder set to be activated … with the lake and all?”

“When we establish a stable orbit over the planet designated Lalande 21185b.”

“Dingers,” said Alex.

“
How am I to interpret that statement, Alex?
” asked the computer, sounding artificially polite.

“Computer. Dingers is a spacer’s term,” explained Mary, “An expletive, referring to his worst fear, the errant meteoroid. They make a ‘dinging’ sound when they hit a ship’s hull. Hence, the term dinger.” She grinned at Alex.

“
Thank you, Mary Seventeen,
” said the computer. “
I’ve entered the term into the general thesaurus.
”

Alex pushed her silky white hair aside and gave her an appreciative kiss on the back of her neck. “You know, I’d be nowhere without you,” he whispered. “If we’ve got to be locked in this shed together … that’s okay.”

“Don’t forget, Inky makes three,” said Mary, scooping up the cat who sat at their feet begging for a snack.

6
Alex and Mary were not as cut off as they had thought. Their special access allowed them the same all-ship surveillance in their communications room that they had in their bubble. They were also allowed access to the tubeway, as they discovered in a memo from Johnny, who also invited them to visit the command center anytime.

They contemplated their newfound freedom over lunch in their communications room, studying maps of the biocylinder’s tubeway. It went everywhere, serviced by airtight cars following pre-programmed requests for transit. “Ask and you shall receive,” said Mary happily. “I like this special access deal.”

The tunnel system connected four levels of the cylinder, each one designated for a particular function. Levels one and two were for surface living and service, while levels three and four, below ground, were for storage and science. It was on level four that Alex guessed the clicks were being kept, since at the outermost level of the wheel it had the strongest gravity.

Though Alex hadn’t said so, the clicks were in the back of his mind much of the time. He tried to forget about them, but it haunted him that he had been the instrument of their abduction. No one had described to him how they would maintain the clicks during the trip. No doubt Johnny had the answers but he had provided very few details.

“I hear your thoughts, Alex,” said Mary, chewing a sandwich. “The clicks aren’t your problem. Neither is Johnny. He’s riding the crest of a career wave, and since Stubbs is down, that puts him in a very responsible position. I wonder if he even knows where and how the clicks are being kept.”

“That’s easy enough to say, my love,” he said. He looked at his half-eaten slice of synthetic bacon quiche. “When I think about them …”