Farthest Reef (32 page)

Alex blinked as he watched them disappear into the toilet. Mary looked back at Alex and asked coolly, “Did you tell Tony that I know a hundred ways to kill someone just using my index finger?”

“Nope, but he knows it now,” quipped Alex without taking his eyes off the cabin window. He wanted Mary’s opinion of the situation outside but knew that the decontamination cycle was an immediate necessity.

“Are you powered up, Matt?”

“Nearly.”

“Can you see outside?”

“Our cabin windows are fogged. Residue. Light’s coming through fine. But …” Matt paused. “Oh, I see.”

“Matt, are your cameras working?” asked Johnny.

“Covered with the same grit as windows.”

“Try charging the hull with an electrostatic field,” said Alex. “Do you have the power?”

The glowing alien orb lowered steadily toward the two shuttles and shafts of blue light moved across the cabin.

“No doubt about it, Johnny,” said Alex. “We’re surrounded.”

“I’ve been watching,” replied the Professor. “It’s evident that they’re studying us. I’m guessing the null-gee field is putting them off.”

Tony and Mary emerged from the bathroom. Unaware of the impending threat outside, they were concerned about Jeanne Warren’s condition. “When we carried the cocoon I didn’t feel movement,” said Mary, returning to her seat.

“Me either,” offered Tony, shaking his head doubtfully as he returned to his own station. “The stuff was brittle … stiff … like frozen fabric,” he added, flipping switches on his radar console. “I doubt she can move.”

“We’ve got to pray that her life support holds on for a few more hours,” said Johnny. “Her radio definitely isn’t working.”

“We have no choice, it seems to me,” said Mary, toweling dry her platinum hair. “We have to get Jeanne back to the
Goddard
… now!”

Matt radioed that charging the hull helped clear some of the grit off the windows. Tsu reported that the cameras were still fogged, but she could see well enough through the windows. “I’m good to lift off, Commander,” she reported. “All systems seem nominal.”

“Well, we’re good to go, too, but there’s the matter of that alien airship overhead, and our guests outside,” said Johnny.

“That bulb they’re lowering. What is that about?” said Matt.

“We’re obviously being scrutinized,” said Johnny. “We have the option of gunning our way out, but I’d like to leave as peacefully as we can. We are the guests, remember.”

“Between rock and a hard place,” said Stubbs’ voice on the intercom. “And you were doing so well, up until now …”

“Then there’s the matter of the cable. We can’t leave it out there.” Johnny shifted uneasily in his seat. “Alex suggests vaporizing it with the lasers.”

“I see no other option,” answered the commander. “I leave it up to you.”

Mary looked out the window and frowned. “I wonder what the locals will think of that?”

Diver’s
cameras were following the action topside. The blue light had vanished and a large red globe had replaced it. It began to spin, producing a fine black mist that settled over everything. In midair the material congealed and began to settle on the two shuttles in black web-like strands.

Alex reached for the console. “I’m charging the hull. Maybe we can repel that stuff.” He lifted the panel that covered the depressed switch. For a moment Alex hesitated as he remembered that
Tai Chi
had also charged her hull, but he realized that the two ships were being insulated by the baffles between them. He closed the window shutters and flipped the switch.

“Charging up the engines … and lifting off,” announced Alex. “We have no choice.”

“Um …” Johnny had a finger raised.

Alex looked at the Professor with his eyebrows arched, waiting for instructions, but Johnny lowered his hand. “Lift off. But gently, Alex. Give them some time to pull up that thing.”

The black silk was collecting quickly on the windows. Alex stared impatiently at Johnny. Then he looked up at the cabin speaker. “Anything to add, Commander Stubbs?” he asked.

“Proceed,” said Stubbs.

“Retracting skirts,” said Alex, flipping toggles on his console. “Liftoff.”

4
Alex wasn’t going to let the computer do this one. He gripped the stick firmly and studied the rim of the crater one more time. The number of appendages waving over the edge had diminished now that the black snowstorm was increasing. It was clear that a cocooning process had begun. Apparently the denizens of this world had no interest in visitors, since they were doing their best to get them out of sight. Alex brought the engines on line and lifted the ship slowly.
Diver’s
exhaust, the hull ionization, and the effects of twin null-gee fields made the web lift off the hull and blow away. A glance at the topside camera monitor told him that the airship hadn’t moved, nor had it retracted its sprayer arm. The red orb still spun only three meters above them. Alex bit his lip and pulled back on the stick. Smoothly the ship rose skyward, rocking back and forth as it pulled free of the spongy soil. Once
Diver
had lifted clear, Connie Tsu powered up
Tai Chi’s
engines.

“Looking good, so far, Connie,” Alex reported, peering out the side window. “Can’t vouch for airtightness. Hope you have extra EV suits.”

“Lead on, Alex,” snapped Connie.

As Alex lifted the ship straight up, the armature overhead did not move, and
Diver
hit it with a hard thump. The red knob shattered and oily black fluid sprayed everywhere. The topside camera showed it splashing in great globs on the hull. It bubbled and seethed as it ran off the sides in steaming globs, apparently reacting to the plasma field.

Alex aimed
Diver
toward clear sky and accelerated.
Diver
grazed the crater rim as it made its escape and a clump of material tumbled down onto
Tai Chi
. The jumble of plant and loam mixed with the tarry goo still spouting from the shattered armature. The airship began retracting its arm upward and a black rain descended.

“Get out of there now, Connie,” shouted Alex.

“Powering up,” said Tsu’s voice.

Alex turned
Diver
to orbit the site. Now, for the first time, he saw the airship from the side. His original clamshell analogy had not been far off. The thing had two halves, like a clam, stitched together by cables. Inside the shell were what appeared to be golden chambers beneath a froth of white spheres, presumably providing lift. Crowning the airship was the carousel of armatures that made the craft look like it was lifting up a giant mechanical spider.

“My guess is that it’s a service vessel of some kind,” said Johnny. “Maybe a cargo carrier.”

Alex kept
Diver
well out of reach of the airship’s arms as he flew a wide circle. As far as he could see the airship was still poised above
Tai Chi
. The shuttle lifted explosively from the hole in a cloud of black smoke and a shower of debris.

“We’re up,” shouted Connie. “Let’s get outa’ here.”

The airship’s arm had lifted sufficiently to allow
Tai Chi
to clear the hole without hitting anything. “We have to go back,” said Alex with a sigh, remembering the cable. “We have to zap that hole.”

“We’ve cleared the hole,” said Matt’s voice. “Do it, Alex.”

With his targeting helmet on it was easy to see the cable at the bottom of the hole. Turning
Diver
toward the hole, he nosed the ship down slightly. “Computer,” he said. “Target acquired. Fire lasers! Full power.” Instantly a blue-white flash had the cable jumping and twitching as it exploded in sparks. Through the magnifying visor Alex could see it writhing like a dying snake. “Computer,” he commanded. “Set the lasers to full power, wide dispersal and fire repeatedly.” The computer responded, creating a pool of sparkling white hot oblivion at the bottom of the hole.

“Cease fire, computer,” he said, pushing the drive stick forward as they swooped past the smoking crater. No trace of the cable remained in the blackened hole. He banked the ship and gained altitude. The black trail of debris still blowing off
Tai Chi’s
hull made her easy to spot against the flat white sky. Looking down one last time, he saw the creatures that had been crowding the crater rim. The spidery critters had retreated from the edge of the hole, dispersed amid the plants all over the lily pad. They seemed to be milling about aimlessly.

Johnny had adjusted the cameras and had the crash site on the viewscreen. “There were things moving under those plants,” he mused, peering at the image. “Pity we never got a look at them.”

Alex gunned the ship and they gained height, lifting clear of the stratified world of lily pads and silvery shapes. Looking at it from this height he could see that they were only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Everywhere there were shadowy gaps in the landscape, chasms that to the denizens of this world might be like rivers to creatures of Earth. He imagined that people might one day explore this world. Recalling the many critters whose home he’d invaded on Jupiter, Alex wondered if their counterparts on Bubba were lurking down in those sculpted caverns, there to be met again by some future explorer, like himself.

“No more sightseeing,” said Mary. “Let’s get Jeanne out of here. She’s …”

Stubbs, waiting outside Howarth’s egg, answered her. “She’s what?” his voice boomed on the loudspeakers.

“We have two situations that only I’ve been aware of,” Mary began, her eyes staring out at the ever diminishing details of the landscape. “To mention them earlier would have caused unnecessary anxiety. You had enough to think about. And you were making progress toward getting her out of here.”

Everyone was silent waiting for Mary Seventeen to continue, but she sat silently for a moment. Finally Alex spoke up. “You have us hanging in suspense, Mary.”

She looked at him and blinked. “Jeanne is alive … and conscious. That’s the good news, I guess. One of the clicks is dead … I don’t know why … and the other is dying.”

“How do you know this?” asked Alex. Several voices joined his from both ships.

“That’s right, Jeanne has sensor tabs,” offered Howarth, his voice resonating on the intercom. “It makes sense that Mary can hear her.”

“That’s right. Jeanne did have that operation,” said Johnny. “Can you hear her, Mary?”

“Yes. I hear her now, in fact. I chose to keep quiet because it wouldn’t have changed anything for me to tell you,” said Mary. “You were moving as quickly as possible …”

“What’s Jeanne’s condition?” demanded Connie Tsu. “Is she …?

“Uncertain,” said Mary. “She’s in a complete blackout. Sensory deprivation. Numbness in her arms and legs.” She looked at Johnny. “I think Jeanne’s environmental suit sensed her immobility and put her in stasis. But she’s conscious. Not in pain.”

“The stasis system is standard procedure,” said Johnny. “Thank God it works.”

“God indeed,” muttered Mary. “Jeanne was talking to God, praying, when I butted in,” She made a sour face. “I hate that.”

Tai Chi
and
Diver
flew side by side as they climbed toward the glowing dome. Not far from their position loomed one of the great pylons, looking like a great white candle with melted wax buttresses. Alex watched it get smaller in the distance as they picked up speed and altitude, homing on the communications sonde they hoped was still hanging through the hole in the great shell.

Alex circled
Tai Chi
, looking her over for damage. They held their position a kilometer above the landscape while Matt and Connie double checked
Tai Chi’s
systems before the final push to exit the egg.

“Clear,” Connie finally announced.

Their holding pattern had them turned around and facing the great pylon. Alex looked for the crash site far below but couldn’t find it in the mottled landscape.

“Let’s blow this place,” said Matt.

“Roger that,” said Connie.

5
Stubbs assured the crews of the two ships that the hole in the great egg was still open and, unlike the hole made by the impact of
Tai Chi
, hadn’t closed at all. Why that would be so perplexed him.
Galileo
, Stubbs told them, had landed and was waiting about ten meters from the hole, powered up and ready to lift off.

Still five kilometers away from the hole,
Diver
and
Tai Chi
climbed steadily toward the distant sonde. The signal they were following was echoing off nearby pylons, so they were still uncertain of its exact position.

Johnny thought that looking for the hole with telescopic cameras held promise for a speedier exit. That proved true, but not for the expected reasons. As
Diver’s
camera package swept the glowing arterial superstructure that held the vast ceiling in place, Johnny saw something. “I … there’s some things … moving fast.”

Mary looked at the viewscreen, but, like Alex, she saw only superstructure. “What did you see?”

“I’m not at all sure,” replied Johnny. His bubble was raised and he was intently watching the monitor on his console as he operated the camera toggle next to it. “I can’t find them, shit!”

“Them?” said Alex, one eyebrow arched in alarm. “Can’t you …?”

Johnny yelped. “Aha! There they are, on your screen.” The Professor flipped a switch happily.

Alex looked up in time to see a ghostly shape beelining across the surface of the luminous structure. It was glowing too, and could only be seen because of the movement of its many appendages. “A millipede … of sorts,” observed Tony. “This place is crawling with bugs, isn’t it?”

The Professor zoomed the camera back for a wider view. The thing was navigating the surface with astonishing speed.

Mary sat stiffly in her seat. “I see several,” she said. “They seem to be headed toward that dark spot at the edge of the screen.” No less than five glowing blobs descended on the dull patch.

“Repairmen,” observed Johnny. “These folks haven’t beaten the law of entropy, entirely, I see.”

The glowing white on white image on the big screen was hurting Alex’s eyes. Reflexively he put on his helmet and lowered the black visor. It was still operating in the same mode as when he’d last removed it, on full magnification, military setting, and loaded for bear.