Farthest Reef (26 page)

“What do you make of this, Matt?” asked Professor Baltadonis.

“Civilization,” said Howarth. “Radio
Goddard
, I guess.”

Moving fast, the ships didn’t have long to wait to see the mysterious object at close quarters. Alex and Connie switched on their floodlights to get a glimpse as it passed.
Diver
was first to see the structure. It loomed out of the mist, a vast sheet of gray material hundreds of meters wide, attached along the windward edge to a giant tether. Its smooth surface sparkled in the darkness like spun glass. Its edges were shredded or torn in places, but overall the structure looked solid. Alex noticed that when the ship’s lights hit the thing, it seemed to change color. He attributed it to thermal changes caused by
Diver’s
lights.

“What do you make of it, Alex … Mary … anyone?” asked Johnny. “Look closely, we can’t slow down or linger. I want us to look like we’re just flotsam floating by in the downdraft, as far as that thing is concerned, right?”

“Right!” said Matt. “Well lighted, radar emitting flotsam.”

“Hold her steady, Connie and Alex,” ordered the Professor, ignoring Matt’s comment. “Are we recording this, Tony … Matt?”

“Always,” said Sciarra.

“Yup,” said Matt’s voice.

They were less than twenty meters from the structure, passing a cylindrical pylon that connected the great sail to a thick black cable that disappeared up and down into the clouds. Alex was reminded of the cables that held the balloon critters they’d encountered floating high in the clouds on Jupiter. Close up, the material looked like vines. “It looks woven, Johnny,” he said. “That cable …”

“Where does it lead?” asked Johnny. “Can you see any more of it, Tony?”

“Up and down … as far as the radar can see,” said Tony. “I think I see another sail a few kilometers down.”

Lightning split the air close by the ships, blue white and dazzling. It slammed into the alien structure, revealing for only a moment a sparkling white lattice. Then the glow paled and vanished as though the energy had drained out of it. The image was etched into Alex’s memory, a sheet of spun glass, no more than a few meters thick. The material had seemed to absorb the lightning. There had been no spray of sparks, smoke or debris of any kind.

Mary studied the thermal image of the object on the viewscreen. “It was built to last,” she said. “The lightning didn’t damage it … that much is clear. Maybe it’s designed to absorb it.”

“That was some strike,” said Tony. “It even charged our hull. Surge dampers went off in both ships. Lucky for us.”

“Aren’t we far enough down by now to avoid lightning?” asked Alex.

“Good question,” answered Johnny. “This whole system is a generator. Just like Jupiter. An organized flow like this one can produce huge electrical power. And here a lot of it is supercooled, increasing the conductivity. We should be seeing more lightning, not less, as a matter of fact. But age is also a factor. In a star system old as Lalande, planetary dynamics have had a long time to settle down.” He chuckled to himself. “My first thought upon seeing the sail was that the system is artificially controlled, but I have a problem with that. It’s like saying that birds cause wind.”

Except for the roar of the icy wind tugging at the hull, there was silence aboard both ships while everyone considered what Johnny had said.

“Lightning could be used as a power source,” suggested Mary.

“My thoughts, exactly,” said Johnny, smiling at Mary.

“Any power source can be tapped, I guess,” remarked Tony.

Johnny lifted his bubble but kept his seat belt tightened. He looked at everyone for a moment. “Any other ideas?”

“Something’s down there, Johnny,” said Matt. “We now know it’s artificial.”

“The
Goddard
isn’t receiving our transmissions, Professor,” Mary announced as she turned her chair to face the Professor.

“No signals received here, either, Professor Baltadonis,” said Jeanne from
Tai Chi
. “Static’s all I hear.”

“I say we eat,” said Matt. “We’re halfway down and I’m starved.”

The airflow around the ship bumped every so often, but there seemed to be enough stability for Johnny to agree to a meal. They took turns retrieving snacks from the food panel. Tastes in food varied from peppizza to saladas, but everyone included a geebrew with their selection. And it wasn’t the replacement of vital nutrients that interested them.

Eating the cheezy burgerwhop Mary had gotten for him, Alex wondered if the great flag they’d encountered had sensed the two ships passing by. If it had, he decided, there would have been a reaction of some kind. He considered raising the question but decided against it. It would answer itself soon enough. If they’d been detected, a welcoming committee would turn up sooner or later.

A call came from Connie. “What’s it to be, Professor?” she asked Johnny. “Power dive or drift?”

“Steady as she goes. Stealth is the order of the day, Connie.”

“Because Stubbs used the word?” asked Alex.

“Yes. And it makes sense.”

4
Mary knew Johnny was wondering if it was a good idea to let the current carry them downward. The crew’s speculation was causing him to have doubts. She wanted Alex to know, but she couldn’t tell him without revealing her ability to everyone else. All she could do was try to send Alex a message via telepathy. Her message entered Alex’s mind on the first try. He was staring at the screen when he heard Mary. Her words were, “Johnny’s afraid we’ll get sucked into something if we just drift with the air currents, but he doesn’t want to change tactics. Stubbs’ orders rule, I guess.”

Alex raised his eyebrows meaningfully. He tilted his head back so everyone could hear his voice. “I was wondering, Professor. If there’s something mechanical down there, it might be working. And if this air flow is stable because of it, then it’s part of the mechanism, too.”

“Your point, Alex?” said Johnny.

“Well, maybe we’ll get sucked into some big turbine or something. Maybe we should get out of this current.”

Johnny didn’t answer. The next sound they heard coming from the Professor was snoring. “He’s asleep,” said Tony.

“I can hear,” said Alex.

“We all should catch a nap,” said the voice of Connie Tsu. “Maybe in shifts.”

There was no reason to wake the Professor. They all wanted to sleep, but shift napping was all they could afford.

“Hi, Alex,” said Matt’s voice. “I’ve been thinking about what you said before. If we’re being watched, perhaps it’s best that we don’t demonstrate our abilities. Follow the stealth idea, to be safe.”

“Then we’d better be ready to gun it at any time,” said Tsu.

“Maybe sooner than we think,” said Tony Sciarra, staring wide-eyed at his radar screen. “Maybe it’s time to wake the Professor, too.”

On the large viewscreen both crews saw instantly what Sciarra was referring to. Coming into view, perhaps a kilometer away, were what seemed to be more of the enigmatic tethered objects they’d encountered earlier. Almost countless in number, they were spaced a half kilometer apart. Below them, perhaps ten kilometers down, the radar went blank.

“Here we go,” said Matt’s voice.

“Air speed’s increasing,” noted Jeanne Warren.

“Let’s see what we’re getting into and be ready to stop,” said Matt.

“Wasn’t anyone going to wake me?” asked Johnny.

“You beat us to it, Professor,” said Matt. “It just appeared a moment ago on the long range.”

“You’re forgiven,” Johnny said. “Steady as she goes, Alex and Connie, and don’t do anything until I tell you to. Remember, we’re flotsam, floating in the breeze.”

“I don’t like it,” said Mary. “I really hate this place.”

The giant vertical structures loomed on the thermal imagers, almost white against the blue background of frigid cloud. “They’re hot,” said Johnny. “Look out the window.”

Thousands of the great vanes extended far down into a glowing abyss, different from the pylons seen earlier in one important way: they were all glowing. For the first time since they’d penetrated the darkness, both crews could see the world around them. As Johnny predicted, the cloud deck vanished as they neared the glowing pylons, but as soon as they entered the clear space, both ships began to rise.

“We’re in an updraft!” shouted Alex.

“Hold our positions,” ordered Johnny. “Let’s examine these things.”

Connie and Alex responded and both ships slowed to a stop, hovering next to a glowing pylon. On close inspection Alex noticed that the material was coursing with blue static, as if the entire pylon was crackling with energy. “Dingers,” he said. “They look dangerous!” He reflexively moved the ship farther from the pylon.

“Hold our position,” shouted Johnny. “You, too,
Tai Chi
!” His voice trembled with excitement. “Not too close … but not too far, either, Alex. I’m analyzing the material.”

“You might want to give some attention to … to that other thing,” said Tony.

The radar image just ended far below the pylon lattice, implying a curving wall that extended far beyond the radar’s range.

5
“An egg,” laughed Matt.

They could see it easily enough, far below and illuminated by the glowing pylons, and it was as Matt described it, an egg of cosmic proportions.

“And we can’t get through to
Goddard
?” asked Johnny.

When she saw the thing on the viewscreen, Mary sat up straight in her chair, then rose and walked to the window. “It’s like the reef,” she said. “Surrounded by a clear space in the clouds.”

“It’s not only big,” said Johnny. “My instruments say it’s warm. Matt, do you copy that?”

“That’s a roger,” said Matt. “Thirty-two degrees.”

“Below?” asked Alex.

“No, above,” answered Johnny. He raised the bubble to the cabin ceiling and stepped out of his chair.

“Are we just going to hover here?” asked Alex. ”Better to save power.”

“Are you suggesting we land somewhere?” Johnny was at the window beside Mary, looking downward. From his reaction, Alex judged the view to be spectacular, so he trained the forward cameras downward and switched to normal light. By switching to all cameras, and panning them, he was able to see the entire vista, section by section, on the viewscreen.

The row of pylons extended far below, perhaps ten kilometers, and appeared to be connected to the larger structure. After some study using the ship’s computer, Johnny and Tony were able to calculate the size of the thing by extrapolating curves. The numbers seemed to imply a great flattened oval thousands of kilometers wide.

“Lord God,” said Johnny. “What’s down there? This is no reef.”

“My thoughts, too, Professor,” said Matt.

“Should we be collecting samples?” asked Tsu.

“I’ve told
Goddard
,” Mary suddenly announced. “I’ve managed to get through.”

“Can I talk to Stubbs?” asked Johnny reflexively.

“I can send messages, Professor. But the static is preventing us from receiving.”

“Damn!”

“Jeeps, Johnny,” said Mary. “I thought you’d be happy to get a message out.”

Johnny was quiet for a moment, apparently collecting his wits. After a few deep breaths he spoke. “How can I confirm that Stubbs is hearing us?”

Mary looked shocked. “Sensor messages are always confirmed. You know that.” She looked at the Professor who hovered over her, glaring. “Confirmed, sir.” She turned and faced the window. “What’s the temperature out there, Professor?”

Johnny was staring at Mary blankly, apparently lost in thought. “What?”

“It’s thirty-three degrees,” said Matt’s voice.

“Have you got a reading on the pylons?”

“Fifty. Interesting,” answered Matt. They could hear him scratching his head. “There’s a lot of ultraviolet light and very low infrared. There is IR … but not much. Isn’t that weird?”

Tony chuckled. “Glowing pylons. Cosmic eggs. And you think the temperature is weird?”

Everyone aboard the two ships laughed, but the laughter died quickly. Then silence, as they all contemplated what they were seeing.

6
“I want Stubbs to understand what’s down here, Mary,” insisted the Professor. “Try to get an idea of what the boys in the
Goddard
make of all this and what they want us to do.”

Mary looked away from Johnny, cocked her head slightly, and closed her eyes. Alex watched, confident that Mary would get through, but soon her features showed the strain of her concentration and effort. Finally she gave up and cursed in frustration. “Damn,” she said. “Sorry, Professor. It’s those things out there. They’re full of static.”

“Why not just dive down and see what it is, Johnny?” asked Matt. “We’re almost there. I think Stubbs would want us to.”

The Professor stood at the window next to Mary, gazing into the depths. “I don’t want to go back to the clouds and get caught in some slipstream,” he said, “just so we can get a message out.” Finally his face brightened. “Nap time,” he said. “Throw out tethers and go to zero gee, then shut down the engines and set the clocks to two hours.” Johnny looked up. “Are you hearing me, Matt?”

“We nap, then we dive,” Howarth acknowledged.

After some deliberation about airflow, conductivity, and energy transfers, Alex and Connie positioned their ships downwind of a pylon and fired grappling darts into the material. The hooks held fast, their impact points showing as two dark spots on the surface of the sparkling material. Each ship played out cable to its maximum length, then reduced gravity to zero.

The weightlessness washed over Alex like a welcome rain, making him feel almost giddy. “This is great,” he said, as he and the rest of the two crews adjusted their seats to the rest position and strapped in. Lights and shutters were closed so all that could be heard was the soft hum of the engines.

Precisely two hours later the computer woke them with Mozart. It was Johnny’s doing. Bubbling with enthusiasm, he ordered breakfast and coffees for all and proclaimed it a ‘day of discovery’. It sounded corny to Alex, and perhaps others aboard ship, but Johnny’s words were nonetheless appropriate. The Professor explained that since they were unable to secure a link with
Goddard
, he was authorized as commander to continue the mission, following the parameters set forth in the preflight briefing.