Farthest Reef (30 page)
Authors: Karl Kofoed
Tags: #Fiction, #Action & Adventure, #Science Fiction, #space
“You should see this,” said Johnny. “Rear cameras, wide angle, on your viewscreen. See the curtain? That dark curtain?”
“The cables,” said Mary. “Millions of them.”
“The fact that we’re in the clear means there’s likely a ring of reef holding up a ring of pylons,” offered Stubbs. “Before we left
Goddard’s
computer was already suggesting a ring or torus floating above the egg.”
“Speaking as a botanist,” said Johnny, “that reef is cultivated. A garden, you might say.”
“Where were the gardeners?” asked Tony jokingly.
“That’s a question we might answer if we had time,” said Stubbs. “But, full speed ahead, pilots, we have a sonde to locate.”
“Then what?” asked Alex.
“Indeed,” answered Stubbs. “I’ve begun the process.”
4
Stubbs’ ‘process’ was a series of intermittent radio broadcasts aimed directly at Howarth’s egg, centered on the sonde’s location. Engineers aboard the
Goddard
had hastily added a dedicated broadcasting array to
Galileo’s
arsenal of gadgets before the mission, the frequency set to hail
Tai Chi’s
computer, the very soul of the missing ship. If it could be located,
Tai Chi
, even with a dead crew, might speak to them from inside Howarth’s egg, and even be programmed to return to the surface. The broadcast had been triggered automatically by the computer the moment they entered Old Blue. At ten kilometers above the egg the broadcast became continuous, and the two shuttles’ sensors were listening for a reply.
The announcement gave Alex pause. The arms issue still tugged at his conscience. He and Mary had visited Jupiter’s reef twice without carrying offensive weapons. There had been no need, since
Diver’s
mass and null gee field were enough to repel any of the frail lifeforms they had encountered there. In two missions they had sustained only one damaging attack by a creature defending its lair, and the damage had proved minimal. Bubba’s creatures must be as frail as those on Jupiter, posing little threat to a massive object like
Diver
. The weight of the weapons was simply excess baggage, a detriment on a high gravity world. Alex might have said so to Johnny or Stubbs if he’d known about their plans, but there hadn’t been time for debate. This was, after all, a rescue mission. Now, staring at a wall of gargantuan pylons hanging from an artificial reef, he conceded that the weapons might be sensible insurance, after all.
He could see that it wouldn’t be long before they would be hovering over the sonde. The view outside was a flat glowing blue-white void. He looked at Mary and caught her eye as he heard her thoughts: Stubbs planned to use the weapons to blast an opening. One ship would go in while the other would wait outside.
Alex looked at Mary and shrugged. “It’ll be us, Mary,” he was thinking.
Mary nodded surreptitiously. “At least we’re in this together.” Alex thought he heard her say it, but her lips never moved.
The proximity alarm went off loudly, making both crews jump in their seats. “A thousand meters,” announced Stubbs’ voice. Alex and Hoy simultaneously slowed their shuttles and began searching for the sonde and the orange stain marker.
It didn’t take long for the computer guided cameras to zoom in on the sonde, but to their surprise there was no stain anywhere. Yet clearly showing in the center of the viewscreen was the black tubular form of the sonde, one end partially sunk into the glowing white surface and the other end listing about ten degrees into the air.
Moments later the two shuttles glided slowly, side by side, over the spot, while their instruments scanned the surface and the broadcast to
Tai Chi
continued.
“The sonde may have been relocated,” offered Professor Baltadonis. He and Stubbs were in their respective bubbles while everyone else waited for instructions. So far both commanders had been following a plan. Now they had to improvise. Only Alex and Mary knew they had planned to send
Diver
, and their cargo of little clicker men, inside the egg.
Johnny suddenly exclaimed. “Eureka!”
“What?” cried several people.
“The shell. I am pretty sure it’s no more than twenty meters thick. And it’s not solid. I’m sure of it.” Johnny sounded breathless. “The radar’s showing tunnels. Superstructure.”
“Hard to see those details,” said Stubbs. “I wouldn’t have noticed …”
“We’re looking for ghosts,” said Johnny.
“Then you think we can get through it?” asked Alex. He looked at Mary with a slight smirk.
“Yes,” said Stubbs.
5
Since both ships were equipped with gasser modules capable of turning atmospheric hydrogen into fuel, they were able to remain under power as long as needed. Stubbs ordered both ships to circle the area at 500 meters altitude to see if their presence would bring a reaction. But after half an hour above the sonde, with everyone scanning the egg’s vast fluorescent shell, they detected nothing.
“It’s the flattest damned thing I could ever imagine,” said Tony. He was wearing a helmet similar to the one that hung next to Alex.
Alex looked at him and laughed. “With that visor down you look like a bug. Be careful or you’ll scare the locals.”
“Locals?” said Sciarra, his voice muffled by the helmet.
“If anyone’s selling sunglasses, I’m buyin’,” said the voice of Jim Wilson. “We’re all wearing ’em.”
“Keep ’em on,” remarked Stubbs from the confines of his bubble. “Those helmets filter out harmful rays.”
“So do th’ cam’ra’s,” shouted Hoy. “What’s th’ use starin’ at a light bulb?”
“Eloquently put, Daniel,” said Stubbs, sounding a bit cynical.
Alex noticed that Stubbs’ replies had a quelling effect on his subordinates. It wasn’t so much his rank, although that certainly was a factor. It was more a matter of style, crafted from years of sorting out things most folks don’t even have to think about. Stubbs tried to take everything into account. Alex had come to appreciate his mentor from Earth, developing a fondness for his abrupt and often caustic style. Here, doing what he’d always dreamed of, Stubbs was in his element.
“What’s it going to be, Commander?” Alex said. “Do we go in?”
“What’cha talkin’, Rose?” Dan yelped. “Jus’ SMASH into ’er?”
“There’s something,” said Mary. “Weak.”
“Mary?” Stubbs said. “Speak up. Did I hear you correctly?”
“I think I can hear
Tai Chi
. I hear a lot more static, though. It’s just a ghost of a signal.”
“Is it coherent?” asked Johnny.
“It could be an echo of our own signals,” observed Tony.
“No. It’s not our signal,” replied Mary.
“Can you locate it?” Stubbs asked.
“I have the impression they’re beneath us. Far away. How far I can’t say. Maybe ten or fifteen degrees port. Down angle … oh, twenty.”
“Dingers,” said Alex. “That was impressive.”
“It was a guess,” said Mary.
“Anything in the message?” asked Johnny.
“Not a message. A data stream.”
“Well,” said Johnny. “We’re recording it. The computer can filter it.”
“It should be able to do it live.”
Mary hadn’t waited for a cue. She was stabbing a finger at her console, giving the frequency and co-ordinates to the two ships’ computers. Armed with that, the computers could begin processing the signal. Fifteen seconds of silence later, a loud crackling was heard on the speakers. It went silent but came back, seconds later.
Finally there was the sound of a voice; a ghost, really, so faint and fragmented as to give everyone goose bumps. It was unintelligible, but one thing was clear: it sounded like a plea. Though no one was sure what the garbled voice was saying, the crews of the two shuttles began to offer opinions.
“Let’s go in,” shouted Dan, followed by, “Aye, that!” from Wilson and Sciarra.
“Guns blazin’?” said Alex.
“Guns,” said Stubbs, loudly. “Punch a hole. I wasn’t sure they’ll work, but it’s better than crashing a shuttle. We can’t risk losing another.”
“We’re in atmosphere,” said Tony. “I don’t recommend using lasers.”
“Of course,” Stubbs said confidently. “We don’t want to apply photons against photons. Our techs think the whole thing is illuminated by neon or rare element chains bonded in crystal tubing. Lasers are way too risky. I was thinking of the pulsers.”
“Let’s do it,” said Johnny. “We need to hurry.”
6
“I don’t know about this,” began Mary, as the two ships maneuvered side by side for a combined pulser salvo at the surface of Howarth’s egg. “We’re invading violently. Isn’t that worth considering?”
“Bleedin’ hearts,” Dan’s voice reeked with sarcasm.
“I’ve been considering that from the moment I learned of
Tai Chi’s
fate.” Stubbs’ voice was somber. “It became an instant inevitability, unless you consider just leaving them an option.”
“But … Mary stopped speaking and put an hand to her ear. “Never mind,” she said. “Let’s do it.”
“What?” asked Stubbs.
Mary looked around. “I thought the signal was moving, but the things moving were us. The signal hasn’t changed position. If they’re down there, they’re stuck.”
“Or staying put,” offered Tony.
“That’s what I was thinking,” came Jim Wilson’s somber voice.
“Are you ready, Alex and Dan?” Stubbs’ voice boomed in both cabins.
“Aye!” Alex put on his tactical helmet and lowered the targeting visor.
“We will fire a tethered sonde into the hole after you go in,” said Stubbs. “Are you ready, Alex? Should we count or something?”
The ships hovered a hundred meters above the surface with their noses pointed 45° downward. On Stubbs’ signal both ships released a sonic barrage from twin cannons under the nose of each ship. A splash of white exploded in front of them as high compression sound bullets pounded the same spot again and again. Waves of light could be seen in the surrounding shell, propagating outward like ripples in a pond. Alex felt his seat bounce lightly as he kept his eyes fixed on the target. A hole was forming and growing quickly in size, visible in glimpses through violent puffs of glassy particles.
Stubbs ordered continuous fire. After a few seconds the electric energy pulsing through the shell began to arc wildly around the growing hole and up through the surrounding cloud of debris.
Dan hooted with delight. “I c’n do this aaaaall dayyy longgg,” he yodeled above the din.
Alex laughed and Mary rolled her eyes.
In a minute the ships managed to create a hole wide enough for a shuttle, but the pulsers hadn’t broken through the shell. “I have a better idea,” said Alex in a voice loud enough to be heard. “This is taking too long and using too much energy.”
“What do you suggest, Alex?” Stubbs asked.
Alex kept firing the pulser and held the crosshairs steady as he spoke. A plume of white was now trailing off toward the horizon and sparks continued to fly everywhere from the deepening hole.
“I want Dan to keep firing while I break off, gain altitude, and ram a hole … like the
Tai Chi
. I’ll power down at the last second and go in like a bullet.”
“Power down?” said Johnny.
“It’s possible the shell’s static field damaged
Tai Chi’s
power cells when Connie crashed. It could have shorted out some vital systems, I’m guessing, but if I power down, we might have a chance of getting through clean.”
“Interesting. Okay, if there’s no other suggestions …” Stubbs let a moment of silence pass to allow dissent before continuing. “Do it, Alex,” he said softly. “Dan,” he added, “keep working on that hole until you see Alex’s ship. Be ready with the communications probe.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” said the Ganny.
Alex stopped firing and broke off to the left. He gunned
Diver’s
engines for several seconds to gain altitude, then he throttled back, turning the ship downward. He looked around. “Everyone strapped in?”
Tony peered out the side window. “I can see the hole … and
Galileo
. Boy, Dan’s letting ’em have it.”
“Ready when you are,” said Dan. “Come on.”
Alex pushed the stick forward and aimed
Diver
for the ground at full speed. He glanced at Mary and she smiled. He heard no soothing thoughts, but love was in her eyes. “Okay,” Alex cried aloud. “Let’s do it!”
The trip down was shorter than he expected. Almost as soon as the collision alarm sounded they were on the sparkling hole. He shut down all systems as flashes of incandescent glass exploded everywhere around the ship. Concussions thumped against
Diver’s
hull. Then, in a spray of black glass, they burst through into Howarth’s egg.
Chapter 15
1
The windows shuttered automatically upon impact, and they entered in utter darkness, feeling the full effects of Bubba’s gravity. For a moment everyone aboard knew, in the pit of their stomachs, that they’d entered an alien world. The first thing Alex started was the engines, and they sprang to life with a vengeance as he applied braking force. They were still airborne and hadn’t hit anything, as far as they could tell.
“Is everyone okay?” shouted Johnny. A round of mumbles confirmed that
Diver’s
crew had survived. Alex’s eyes went to Mary first. She had her eyes closed. Then she opened just one and squinted at Alex.
“Is it over?”
Alex released the window shutters. To everyone’s surprise, the same blue glow that had lit them before still filled the cabin. If anything, it was brighter. Still helmeted, he flipped down his black visor and watched as a radar pattern formed before his eyes. He saw clouds, thick puffy, cottony clouds that reminded him of the skies of Earth.
Mary opened her eyes. “I hear
Galileo’s
probe,” she said. “It’s inside the egg with us … working perfectly. They just activated it.”
“Great,” said Johnny. “Mary, do you hear
Tai Chi
?”
Mary cocked her head. “Still far away.” She looked disappointed, somewhat distressed. “And they haven’t moved … I don’t think.”
“Heading?” asked Alex.
“Over there,” Mary pointed downward and to their left.
Alex let the ship cruise downward at a slight angle. They were flying under a vast ceiling of light, but his visor helped give contrast to the structure over their heads. Here and there tracings of what looked like veins or arteries glowed even more brightly. Even with the visor it was hard to make out their exact shapes, but he had the impression of ductwork. What caught his eye next was a column, perhaps a few kilometers distant, seated firmly amid the clouds that surrounded them. It too was glowing like the other structures.
When Mary confirmed they were headed in the right direction Alex pushed the stick cautiously forward, and soon they were flying in and out of puffy white clouds. Something green caught his eye.
For the first time they saw what lay below: a landscape almost reminiscent of Earth with its patches of blues, greens, and browns. But as
Diver
cleared the clouds and they saw the full expanse of it, they could see that it was not a landscape but a three dimensional lattice, some of it tiered and layered and some of it jumbled like vines with horizontal leaves of gargantuan size. There was movement, tiny movement, everywhere they looked.
“Good God,” said Johnny. “Hold our altitude … float if you have to. And please reduce the gravity.” He took a deep breath. “I have work to do. Mary … is Stubbs tuned in?”
Mary had already broadcast back to the sonde that hung somewhere above them in the glowing sky. “Stubbs is on line,” she answered dutifully.
While Johnny established a dialogue with the commander, Alex’s attention returned to the mission. “Shall I get closer than this, Professor?”
Stubbs’ voice on the intercom answered him. “Your cameras are doing a full survey at the moment, Alex. Hold that position if you would. How are you and Mary holding up?”
“I’d like to get to
Tai Chi
,” replied Alex.
“I don’t know if you can get here,” said a voice that sounded distant, yet familiar.
“Howarth?” asked Johnny. “Is that you?”
There was a moment’s silence.
“Yeah … conserving air.”
“I’m here, too,” said the weak voice of Connie Tsu. “Jeanne’s …”
Matt spoke again. “She went outside … and we haven’t … seen her since.”
“Damn! What’s your status?” asked Johnny.
“Stuck,” said Connie. Her voice faded in and out. “No power … but … there’s an electrical field, everywhere. We tapped into it … Jeanne did. We rigged it to operate our life support. But … our systems … other systems are down.”
“Matt! It’s great to hear your voice. Where are you?” offered Stubbs.
Howarth chuckled. “Where are we? Good question. We have no idea. Can you … home in?”
“Yes,” said Mary loudly.
“Are there hostiles?” Stubbs asked. “Can we get to you?”
“I don’t know. We’re … in something.”
“Can’t you see what it is?”
“No. Dark outside. Black stuff … on the windows.”
Lofty stepped spires came into view as
Diver
crept steadily lower. Alex tried to watch everything at once, but the world didn’t resemble anything he’d ever seen. He saw tiny movements amid the maze of platforms as the cameras made their initial survey. The computer made one large sweep of the world below them, as quickly as possible. Alex looked away from the dizzying view of the screen. “Can we zoom at least one camera in on
Tai Chi’s
position?” he asked.
“The survey is nearly complete. We’re almost there,” said Stubbs’ voice reassuringly. “One step at a time, Alex.”
“The survey won’t help Jeanne,” Alex grumbled.
“Patience,” said Johnny. “A few more seconds. Slow the ship down a bit if you would, Alex.”
Alex pulled back on the stick. Their forward speed was now only a few kilometers per hour. “Computer,” he said, “Hold ship’s position.”
Diver
rocked slightly as the computer followed Alex’s command.
They hovered a kilometer above the highest spire that rose from the patchwork world below. There seemed to be movement everywhere. A cloud of black specks poured from the spire and dispersed in all directions. Everywhere Alex looked he saw chunks of landscape seemingly floating in tethered frameworks. Looking straight down the landscape might have appeared to be cultivated farmland, but in the distance the true vertical nature of the stepped and terraced world could be seen. He could see small specks, presumably flying vehicles, some brightly colored, roaming about the landscape. He saw chains of things, many of them reminiscent of balloons.
Mary was also peering dubiously out the window. “I think we all need coffee,” she said.
“Can you hear them?” Alex whispered.
“Who?”
Alex pointed to the world outside. “Them.”
“I hear static.”
2
Mary Seventeen was shaking her head as she returned from the food panel with two coffees. She handed one to Alex. “I hear lots of signals. It’s all meaningless.”
“The survey’s done,” said Stubbs. “We can go in.”
Alex lowered his helmet visor. “Computer … pilot resuming control of the ship,” he said, waiting for Mary to finish buckling herself into her restraints while holding the coffee. She accomplished the difficult move gracefully.
“Are you still with us, Matt?” asked Stubbs’ voice.
“Yeah … we’re still here. Care to join us?”
“I hear him,” said Mary, pointing downward and to the right. “
Tai Chi
is down there.”
“I have the area on camera,” offered Johnny.
“Check the radar image, Professor,” Tony said, sounding alarmed. “What the hell are those things?”
Alex glanced out the window and noticed that some of the black specks that had emerged from the tallest spire were approaching rapidly. He thought they looked similar to the dart shaped things they’d seen inside the reef of balloons, but when Johnny zoomed the camera in on one, he could see that the resemblance was only superficial. These looked like aircraft that flew by flapping the hind portion of their wings. Their bodies were long and slender, blending smoothly into wide delta wings. Each had a short rat-like tail, and the head bore two bulbous metallic lobes and three sharp beaks arranged vertically. A few of them seemed to be on a collision course with
Diver
.
“There are a lot of them,” said Alex. “And they’ll be on us soon. A course adjustment might be …”
Johnny interrupted. “Fly a loose circle, Alex. See if they can track us.”
One creature zipped past
Diver
, narrowly missing its nose, as Alex took the ship into a slow turn. Everyone watched the viewscreen and the radar as the armada of creatures closed in on them. A few passed close to the ship, but most were still too far away to tell if they were tracking the ship. Alex heard something hit the rear of the ship and gritted his teeth, expecting more hits.
Several tense seconds passed as Alex moved the ship out of the path of the approaching objects, but it seemed to do no good. Several of the dagger shaped things hit
Diver’s
hull.
Suddenly, Stubbs’ voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “I have a data link with
Goddard
, Johnny. From now on the people back home will get to see what’s going on.”
“Enjoy the show,” muttered Alex as a black leathery object hit the cockpit window and slid away in the wind. Alex saw a splash of white liquid, but nothing clung to the glass. The slow turn continued smoothly as more dart things slapped against the sides and bottom of the hull. “Good to have all of you aboard,
Goddard
,” he said. “I hope some good advice comes with it.”
“I’m afraid the only advice will come from me, Alex,” said Stubbs crisply.
Another loud thump at the hull forced Johnny to interrupt. “We have a situation, Commander.”
“I can see that. An apparent attack. Any ideas?” said Stubbs.
“Continue the mission,” said the voice of Dan Hoy. “In and out.”
“Hear, hear,” echoed a few other voices.
“Hurry if you can.” Matt’s voice crackled weakly on the intercom.
Mary looked at Alex and shook her head. “Their telemetry is totally down. The source is weak, a suit transponder.”
“Bingo,” said Matt. “The suits were insulated from the surge.”
Diver’s
telescopic cameras scrutinized the spot where the instruments indicated
Tai Chi
had crashed. The radio signal was a hot spot in the radio spectrum and
Tai Chi’s
mass showed as a speck on the radar. Surrounding the ship, a patchwork of organically shaped platforms stretched horizontally and vertically, a mosaic of planes and surfaces on the radar. On the viewscreen the same scene showed a jumble of green, orange, and brown surfaces, broken up by large channels that cut into the landscape like bottomless canyons, or by massive spires that rose kilometers into the sky, continuing upward and connecting with the great dome. Alex saw many of these as he scanned the horizon. He presumed they were the columns that supported the glowing shell of the egg.
“The landscape reminds me of the lily pad gardens in the Mars hydrolabs,” observed Johnny.
Alex remembered the tiny clicker men in
Diver’s
hold. “I wonder what our passengers think of this?” he quipped. “Have you been checking on them, Johnny?”
Johnny cleared his throat. “Actually, yes. They aren’t active. All folded up.”
“Why are they here?” asked Mary.
Stubbs, who seemed always to be listening, volunteered an answer to Mary’s question. “Call it a whim of an old gambler, Mary,” he said. “They’re, theoretically at least, related to the life that’s here. They might prove useful. But I can’t elaborate. I know you aren’t pleased that I included them on the trip. It may prove a foolish inclusion, but that’s for me to worry about. I hope I’ve answered your question.”
“Of course,” said Mary humbly.
Alex shrugged. “I guess.” As
Diver
homed in on
Tai Chi’s
signal, Alex noticed one of the massive pylons looming near the site of the crash. Johnny had already trained the cameras on what looked like damage to one of the lily pads. He also saw a gash in the side of the pylon that towered above the crash site. Studying the wound in the pylon, he could see small mite-like things crawling all over it.
The pylon’s surface looked like a cross between metal superstructure and spun fibers. While it seemed to be a random tangle of vines, Alex noticed repeating patterns in the details. Seeing the pylon cutting through the clouds, he wondered if the dome overhead was being held up or if the landscape was suspended from it.
“They must be there,” Mary said, pointing. “In that big mossy lily pad, or whatever it is. I see the hole.”
Alex’s eyes returned to the darkened hole in the approaching plateau. The dart birds were still zipping past the ship, but now in fewer numbers, and the thumps against the lower hull had stopped. Some flew in shallow arcs along the perimeter of
Diver’s
hull. Others seemed to be flying near the ship but avoiding hitting it. They glided smoothly, passing no more than a few meters from the hull. Their heads never turned and their bodies remained rigid. As the ship neared its goal, the dart birds gradually dispersed into the vertical landscape.
Johnny and Stubbs had been maintaining a continuous dialogue with Matt since they’d made radio contact. Matt told them that the
Tai Chi’s
power cells had been either neutralized or weakened substantially when they crashed through the shell of the egg. Johnny asked about the outside cameras, but Matt said they showed only blackness. “It was like that when we woke up.”
“We were all unconscious from the impact,” Connie Tsu offered. “I never saw it coming.” She began to cry. “I’m … sorry …”
The pilot’s sad confession had the Commander gushing condolences. “Not to worry,” Stubbs insisted. “You’re not being held to blame.”
“This is unexplored territory, Connie,” added Johnny.
“Shit happ’ns,” offered Dan Hoy.
The lily pad that contained the wreck of
Tai Chi
looked like a green mat dotted with glossy yellow spots. Alex slowed the ship to a hover so Johnny could study the site from a safe distance. “A garden … of sorts?” postulated the Professor. “Aha! I see movement. In that green stuff.”
“Really?” asked Alex, surveying the strange scene. “I can’t see anything.”
“Wormiform. Half a meter long. Several. A dozen or so, at least.” Johnny sounded excited.
“I don’t see them.” Alex shook his head.
“They’re under the plants. They show in infrared,” said Johnny. “I was letting you know.”
“Garden pests?” shouted Dan, aboard the
Galileo
. “Don’ forget ya’ guns, Alex!”
“Stow it, Hoy,” growled Alex.
He had just noticed a darkened spot in the field when Tony shouted. “Okay, folks! I have ’em.
Tai Chi
is under this … stuff. In that depression.” The usually reserved Sciarra sounded almost jubilant.