Farthest Reef (27 page)

Chapter 13

1
Alex slowed his ship and banked for a turnaround, his eyes scanning the seamless white landscape for evidence of
Tai Chi
. Johnny was begging on the radio for Tsu to respond, but there was no response. Mary sat to his right, slumped in her chair. She kept shaking her head and searching the immense glowing flatness that surrounded them. Alex could read her beautiful features by now, and what they told him was anything but good. “Can you hear them?” he asked, almost reluctantly. Mary kept shaking her head, saying nothing.

Then Tony shouted: “I see something!”

They had completed their turnaround and traced their path back to where they lost contact with the
Tai Chi
. Ahead of them in the distance was a dark patch.

“I see it, Tony,” said Alex. The surface below seemed to be made of the same material as the pylon, but this was flat, smooth and seamless.

As they neared the single dark patch in the sea of whiteness, Alex brought
Diver
to a hover. He wasn’t at all sure what he was looking at. It appeared to be a large drop of pearly liquid, pooling up like a pillow. He noted that the thing was easily as wide as
Tai Chi
.

“You think they just splashed into some … some giant ocean?” asked Mary. “Wait a minute. It is shrinking?”

The glistening pool begin to contract. Alex guessed it had been about twenty meters across and a few meters high when they first saw it. Now it was flattening. “It looks like the surface is healing itself.”

“And quickly,” added Tony.

They hovered several meters away from the spot while Johnny set the cameras to record the phenomenon. He went to the window and watched, scratching his short gray beard as he contemplated the enigma below them. “It looks like crystallization.”

“The surface temperature is pretty warm,” offered Tony, still seated at his radar console. “It’s not ice. I’d like to take a look out the window, Professor, if you don’t need the radar for a while.”

“Professor,” said Alex. “Maybe you should be using that bubble of yours to examine this thing.”

“You’re damned right.” Johnny rushed to his seat. “What the hell was I standing there for?” He lowered the bubble over his chair.

“Isn’t anyone upset?” said Mary. “We just lost three people!”

“And a ship,” said Tony, still beside Alex’s chair.

“Mary,” said the Professor’s voice on the intercom, “are you trying to contact them?”

“Of course. As soon as they disappeared,” said Mary sadly. “No luck. It’s all static.”

Johnny sighed. “Disappointing. I assume the surface is highly charged with electricity.”

“Do your instruments show anything useful regarding that blister?” asked Alex.

“Not really, Alex,” replied Johnny.

“If the hole is … healing itself … doesn’t that mean it’s alive?” asked Mary.

“Not necessarily,” said Johnny. “Machines appear to be alive.”

“Well, we know one thing,” said Sciarra. “Machine or animal, something’s alive down there.”

“We have to mark that spot, somehow,” said Johnny. “Before it vanishes.”

“Are you suggesting an EVA?” asked Tony. “Sorry, I left all my art supplies at home.”

“We have the sonde launcher,” said Johnny. “We could leave a sonde.”

“There’s no way to just drop one,” said Tony. “The launcher’s like a cannon. We’ll just put another hole in the thing.”

“If we knew more about the surface, we’d have a better idea what action to take.” Johnny sounded frustrated. “I have an idea but it will take some thinking. Meanwhile I want to see if we can land. Alex … set her down slowly. I mean
really
slow.”

“That’s a job for our computer, Johnny. That kind of precision …”

“Whatever …”

Alex picked his words carefully. “Computer … on my mark, execute a slow vertical descent … of …”

“One meter per minute,” offered Johnny.

“… one meter per minute,” continued Alex, “until the ship makes contact. You will stop the descent when contact is made … and stop when I say so. Computer, repeat my order.”

The computer dutifully repeated his orders. “How’s that, Professor?” asked Alex. “Any amendments?”

“Proceed,” said Johnny.

“Computer … mark.” The ship engines changed pitch slightly and Alex noticed the glowing horizon lift. He had one forward camera fixed on the shrinking blister and two others fixed on the landing gear. He switched the viewscreen image to the landing gear, but kept the forward camera trained on the spot, which seemed to be vanishing at an accelerated rate. The blister had now flattened completely, leaving only a glistening spot. In a larger ring around the puddle the off color stain persisted.

As
Diver
made contact with the cosmic egg, Alex heard the engine noise change as the computer obeyed his dictum. He watched the surface carefully as the runners touched down. “She seems to be holding,” he said. “Seems solid enough. But we haven’t put our full weight on it.”

“Let’s try, Alex,” said Johnny.

Alex nodded. “Computer, lower the thrust by one percent every two seconds on my mark. Mark!”

2
The process took only three minutes, but it seemed to take forever. Every member of the crew expected the mysterious surface to crumble at any moment, but as the seconds ticked away, the ground held. “We’re down,” announced Alex. “Shall I cut the engines?”

“Reduce thrust but keep the engines running,” ordered Johnny. “We may have to leave in a hurry.”

“I have an idea,” said Tony. “Food coloring, from the food processor.”

“Great idea, Sciarra,” said the Professor. “Now how do we get it on the spot?”

“The probe launcher,” answered Tony. “Leave out the probe. Fill it with coloring. Charge it. Fire it.”

“You’re just full of ideas today, aren’t you?” Mary looked at Tony appreciatively.

Encouraged by Mary’s comment, Sciarra continued. “We could then just drop a sonde by putting it in the launcher. Don’t charge it up. Aim and fire. It just drops out.”

“He’s hot,” said Alex.

“It’s a plan,” said Johnny. “Let’s do it.”

“
Load lift zero
,” said the voice of the computer.

“Computer,” Alex ordered. “Keep engines on standby. Neutral thrust.”

Everyone sat for a moment and looked at each other expectantly. Alex pointed to the viewscreen, still showing the spot where
Tai Chi
had presumably disappeared. “I kept us facing the spot. The launcher is aimed,” he said. “Am I assuming that our plan is to splash the spot and leave?”

Johnny raised his bubble to the cabin ceiling. He watched it lift, then looked at the viewscreen. “I guess so,” he began. “Of course what I’d like to do is crash the egg and find
Tai Chi
.”

“That’s crazy,” snapped Tony. “We have no backup. If we disappear, no one will know what happened to us.”

Johnny looked annoyed. “Relax, Tony. I said that’s what I’d
like
to do. What we
will
do is mark the spot and return to
Goddard
for help.”

“Every second counts,” said Mary.

“Let’s launch the dye … if you have it ready,” snapped Alex.

The radar sondes were Tony’s responsibility. Next to his station a bulging panel contained modifiable probes. Tony opened a panel beside it, revealing the launching chamber. It took only minutes for Johnny to program the chip’s chemical reprocessor to concoct a bright orange dye, enough to fill a large squeezer bottle. When the sample was finished, Tony left his seat to retrieve it from the food panel. “It’s only half full,” Tony said, examining the bottle.

“All there was,” answered the Professor. “Looks like we’ll be eating white carrots and yams.”

While Tony returned to his station and loaded the launcher, Alex kept his eye glued to his panel, watching
Diver’s
pitch, yaw, and altitude to detect any deformation in the surface. He was encouraged to see that nothing had changed. He switched the main viewer to the landing gear cameras, but the glare from the glowing surface was so bright it was difficult to make out any details, just dark silhouettes against a dazzling blue-white background.

Johnny reached beneath his seat and pulled out his helmet. He put it on and lowered its sun screen, then he walked to the window. “I want to go outside,” he said. “Place a sonde near the spot. Firing it out might ruin it.”

Alex gave Mary a worried look. She shook her head ambiguously.

“Knock yourself out,” Alex muttered with a shrug. “You’re the boss.”

“What’s that?” Johnny was already at the locker where the pressure suits were stored.

Alex took a deep breath and swiveled his chair to face the Professor. “You know, as Captain I’m authorized to stop you. And we should be getting back as quickly as possible.”

“Then stop arguing! Don’t worry. I’ll be at a safe distance, of course, when Tony fires the marker. Look, I’m sixty years old, Alex. I may never get a chance like this again.”

“A chance at what?” asked Sciarra.

“To set foot on an alien world.”

3
“That doesn’t sound like a brilliant idea, Professor,” said Mary as she watched Johnny fumble with an EV suit. “And we’re wasting time.”

Alex knew that Mary was trying in her own caustic way to thwart the Professor’s bravado, but he could tell that Johnny was committed. “Let’s just hurry this up.”

Johnny put on his environmental suit quickly but carefully. After retrieving a sonde canister and checking that it was transmitting, he approached the hatch. “Let’s do this, Alex.”

Alex watched the Professor nervously, still wondering if he should let Johnny go outside. The cameras had examined the surface in detail. It looked solid enough and was still holding the ship, though the null gee was reducing their weight substantially. On close inspection, the material looked like woven glass-like tubing, a tangle of vines or a sponge-like matting, something grown rather than manufactured. Of course, details were hard to see when it was sparking with electrical discharges.

“Think about this, Johnny,” said Alex. “Are you sure you want to walk on electricity.”

“Fiber optical silicon, plasticized polymers?” said the Professor. His helmet was secured, and his voice now came from the cabin speakers. “I don’t have a clue what the stuff is, Alex. That’s a good enough reason to retrieve a sample, don’t you think? Sample what we’re dealing with? I’ll watch my step.” He grinned. “I appreciate your concern. Don’t worry. I’ll only be a minute or so. If I can safely walk on the stuff, I’ll go out to the spot and place the sonde.”

“The dye is ready to be cast,” quipped Sciarra. A red light flashed on the launcher next to him. His finger was poised next to the bright red launch button.

“Test the suit before you open the second door,” cautioned Mary as Johnny pulled the lever that opened the inner hatch to the airlock. She had left her seat to assist him, but he ignored her as he hopped inside and sealed the hatch. Facing the outer door, the Professor reached up and flipped a lever lowering the outside ladder. He rechecked his suit and helmet seals and flipped another lever.

The door slowly moved outward and slid to the side. Dazzling blue light flooded the hatch as Johnny stepped outside. He paused a moment at the top of the ladder, taking in the view, then he turned and slowly began to descend.

Watching at the hatchway window, Mary turned away, blinded by the sudden glare. “Jeeps,” she said. “It’s bright.”

“Johnny?” Alex said, touching the intercom button. “Are you with us?”

Johnny’s voice crackled on the speakers. “… at the base of the … ladder. On the … the base plate … turning around …”

“Let’s see if I can get a picture of you, chief.” Alex located
Diver’s
portside camera and swiveled it around until he found Johnny. He switched the image to the viewscreen. The Professor stood on a large flat metal plate that folded outward from bottom rung of the ladder. “I see you on camera six, Johnny,” said Alex. “How’s the view out there?”

They could hear Johnny breathing.

“Are you okay? Johnny?”

“Overwhelmed a bit, Alex,” said Johnny. “God … I just can’t describe it. So … flat and enormous. So bleak. Well …” The Professor put the probe down at his feet and connected a length of black rope to the base of the ladder. The rope came from a spool attached to Johnny’s backpack.

“A tether. Good idea, Johnny!” Tony shouted.

“Glad you approve.” Johnny’s terse reply crackled on the speakers. “I’m stepping out.” Having picked up the probe, he placed a boot cautiously on the alien material with no immediate effect. “Putting weight on it!” On screen nothing changed but the angle of Johnny’s leg. The image was sharp enough to see the material meeting the Professor’s boots. The surface seemed to collapse a bit, like hard packed snow, under Johnny’s weight. Alex had imagined a spray of glass needles, or sparks flying, but the material seemed walkable.

“So far so good,” said Johnny. “Both feet now. Whatever it is, it feels solid. Like walking on the carbon dioxide snow I experienced one spring near the south pole of Mars.” He took two more steps. His boots made slight depressions in the surface that lasted for a moment before vanishing. “I’m beside the ship, Tony. Don’t fire yet. Okay?”

“Okay!” answered Tony.

Back in her seat, Mary looked out the window and saw the top of Johnny’s helmet. She moved to the window and waved. The Professor turned and waved back, then walked cautiously toward the spot where
Tai Chi
vanished. It was about five meters from
Diver
, a distance easily reached by Johnny’s tether.

“I’m at the spot,” announced Johnny, turning and waving. He began to walk a wide circle tracing the perimeter of the spot. “I can still see where the damage was done. It’s healed now. The center looks wet … or shiny. The material is still dark there. I’d walk on it to get a better look, but I don’t want to press my luck.”

“How does it feel to be walking on another planet?” asked Tony.

“Kind of crunchy. I hear my footsteps inside my suit when I walk.”

“You’d better come back, Johnny,” said Alex.