Infinite Reef (18 page)

The entire crew seemed transfixed on the target in the distance as it slowly grew in size. Already, Norma’s targeting system was laying in a plan of attack. Unlike Alex, Norma seemed ill at ease as she monitored the process.

White lettering scrolled across the bottom of the viewscreen almost too quickly for Alex to read it; something about, “...

BETA SYSTEMS CHECKOUT.” Norma touched a lighted button, then grabbed the gunnery stick and began firing the pulser. Alex watched the viewscreen as white balls of light trailed off into the darkness, but looking out the window he saw nothing. “What’s going on, Norma?” he asked.

“Systems test,” she answered as she shut down the console and pushed the weapons controller back into its slot. “Didn’t you see the message on the screen? The techs call it dry humping,” she added with a smirk. “I designed the software. I wanted a little practice before we got there. In case ...” Norma smiled past Alex at Tony.

“Nothing wrong, is there, Alex?” asked Tony.

“No. Surprised me, is all. I should’ve paid closer attention.”

The alien cluster now filled the viewscreen and Alex could see the shapes of the individual rods. He noticed a change in their outlines. The rods now had long tapered armatures extending from their sides.

Alex wasn’t the only one who noticed the rod’s new features. The Commander’s voice came on the intercom. “All shuttles, report anomalies of any kind. Be ready for anything. Carry on.”

“Are those armatures defensive, do you suppose?” Johnny asked.

“That’s a possibility,” answered Commander Stubbs over the intercom. “But how could they know our plans? We could also be heading out to shake hands with them.”

“Forgive me for cutting in, Commander,” said Alex nervously. “Our ship is right between those clusters. If they have the ability to draw power from us, then it follows that they could read our computers or even our minds, maybe.”

Stubbs laughed. “I think we can safely rule out reading minds, Alex. This is no time for jokes. And I’ll thank you not to break the chain of command again. Leave the talking to your Commander, if you don’t mind.” There was a moment of silence. “What’s this?” said Stubbs. “All shuttles. The formations are compacting, and beginning to rotate.”

“Our targets aren’t static,” reported Tsu from
Tai Chi
. “I hope the computer’s tracking this.”

Wysor, aboard
Galileo
, confirmed that the trailing cluster was behaving the same way. Their gunner, too, was asking for tracking verification.

On the viewscreen, a message in white lettering reported a course change. Moments later, all three shuttles adjusted course, and Stubbs’ voice came back, sounding undaunted. “Nothing has changed, people,” he said. “We’re still tracking all targets. The spin’s no problem.”

“Just hope it doesn’t spin faster,” whispered Sciarra.

“Or doesn’t assume a variable rate of spin,” answered Norma.

It was becoming evident that the rods were joining together to become a compact, curving structure. Norma’s weapons console was fully activated, and the viewscreen display was picking targets and performing mock practice runs.

“We’ve reached the attack point, everyone,” advised the Commander’s voice. “All shuttles are 100 klicks from the clusters. If anything goes wrong I authorize all crews to take immediate but prudent evasive action. Check in, everyone, please.”

“Wysor ’ere!” said the voice of the Captain, piloting the
Galileo
. “We’re comin’ wide and Julian’s got ’is sights on the baddies. Trouble’s they’re not stayin’ still for us.”

“Your computer’s tracking them, is it not?” asked Stubbs.

“E’en so,” said Wysor. “I don’ like th’ look o’ it.”

Matt Howarth, chief of the
Galileo
crew, checked in next. “Howarth here. Systems go. You can relax, Captain Wysor,” he added. “These things are made of fluff. The aliens have more to fear from us than ...”

“Thank you, Matt,” interrupted the Commander. “Let’s keep our commentary to a minimum. Two minutes.”

Alex tested his seatbelts and looked around the cabin. Everyone was doing the same. Mary caught Alex’s eye and shrugged. “Some ride,” she whispered. Johnny’s bubble was lowering slowly from its mounting on the cabin ceiling. Once down it locked with a loud click, covering the Professor and his console except for two ports on either side that allowed access.

“Radar on,” said Johnny, nervously. “Target increasing spin.” Johnny’s voice replaced the Commander’s on the intercom.

“Matt – everybody – our task will be divided between our two computer systems.”

Diver’s engines shut down. “POWER REROUTE TO WEAPONS,” said the lettering on the viewscreen. “FIRING

PULSER BATTERIES IN SEVEN SECONDS ... SIX ...”

Looming larger than Alex expected to see it, the rotating wheel of rods looked almost like a space station, he thought. A moment later the sky lit up with pulser fire.

3
No one aboard the shuttles spoke during the attack. Trailing a thousand kilometers behind the
Goddard
, and working alone, the
Galileo
fired at the heart of the cluster, its plasma pulses making short work of the giant rods. Wysor’s shuttle had entered the alien cluster from the side of
Goddard’s
flight path, arcing inward. Images from his and the other shuttle’s cameras played on screens all over the great ship, where people sat numbly watching their tiny shuttles attack with Norma’s new and improved weapons. With amazing ease, Wysor’s ship began picking off the rods, one by one.

Things went just as smoothly for the two shuttles attacking the forward group. The first rod took only three seconds to succumb to the relentless hammering of the pulsers. For a moment it became a tunnel of blue-green fire before disintegrating into a cloud of dust. If the rods had joined together for defensive purposes, the action had been futile. Streaks of green lightning began sparking in all direction as waves of stress rippled through the entire complex.

The Ganny voice of Captain Wysor crackled on the intercom. “No resistance on this end,” he reported calmly. “Th’ whole contra’tion is collapsin’. Black dust is all I’m seein’.”

Matt’s voice answered with a chuckle. “Hate to say I told ya so, Captain.”

“Great!” bellowed the voice of the Commander. “We’re all watching and you’re looking good.”

Everyone watched the shadowy spectacle unfold as the tiny ships proved the devastating power of their weapons. Mary thought of two dragons devouring a fairy kingdom, while Alex saw a swarm of white hot meteors destroying a space station.

At first there were streaks and flashes, but soon the sky filled with a black cloud, obscuring the event. Alex shook his head.

“What did you do to those pulsers? They didn’t do that before.”

“Adapt, adopt and improve,” said Norma smartly. “We found that their structure had a resonating frequency. We tuned the pulsers to it. It was guesswork, really.” She smiled broadly at the screen.

All Alex could see on the viewscreen was a sea of static with the few remaining rods tumbling aimlessly as the last of the pulser fire cut into them.

4
A fine black powder coated the shuttles when they broke out of the cloud. Getting back to the ship, however, didn’t require visibility. The computers were still doing all the work.

But the dust continued to collect, clogging the outside sensors. Johnny was unable to devise a solution, but Alex recalled that on Jupiter he had been able to expel dust from the hull by charging the outer hull, then reversing the charge. As he examined the new panel in front of him, he saw that the function was still possible. On a whim, he touched it, and its light changed from yellow to red. Immediately the stars still visible through the cockpit windows began to dim as the particles surrounding the ship were attracted and began sticking to the hull.

“What are you up too, Alex?” asked Johnny. “Whatever it is, you’re making things worse.”

The light on the dash had changed to green, indicating the hull was fully charged. “Static charge reversal, Johnny. Shall I give it a shot?”

Johnny hesitated for a moment. Then he smiled and said, “Go ahead, Alex. If it clears the dust, I’ll tell the others.”

Alex pushed the button and the stars reappeared almost instantly. “I think it worked, Professor.”

A short time later the shuttles were back in their bays aboard the
Goddard
being cleaned and sanitized, with the crews on their way to the command center.

When they arrived, Stubbs and the staff greeted them with a resounding cheer. “Well done!” shouted the Commander above the commotion. He put an arm around Johnny, and with the other he beckoned to Norma, standing next to Tony at the rear of the group. “Here’s the lady that deserves the credit,” he said. “Without her we wouldn’t be going home.”

Norma left Tony’s side and timidly joined the Commander, who hugged her and kissed both her cheeks. “You have saved our mission,” he said enthusiastically.

Norma smiled meekly. “Thanks.”

“What’s our status, Commander?” asked Professor Baltadonis.

“Nominal. We’ll begin the burn in two hours.”

“And the alien structure? All we saw was a cloud of dust.”

“All that’s left.” The Commander beamed at Johnny. “We passed through the debris a few minutes ago.”

The Commander pointed to the lounge area. “Help yourself to geebrew or coffee. Whatever you desire. Rationing is suspended for the moment,” he whispered, looking around guiltily.

Alex glanced at the holographic plotter above the center of the room. At its center was the planet they were approaching, and at the edge of the display a small facsimile of the
Goddard
followed a glowing yellow line representing its flight path.

The line traced a curving path to the planet, seeming to touch its other edge. It wrapped around the planet in a tight arc and became a dead straight line, heading off the display. “Presumably toward Earth,” he thought to himself. “If the calculations are right and the aliens don’t intervene.”

Studying the display he noticed a barely discernible dark blue blob receding behind the
Goddard
, and assumed it was the cloud of debris. If the radar showed everything that was out there, he decided it was safe for him to stop worrying. “I guess all this means we’re goin’ home, Mary,” Alex said to her as they walked to the food panel.

“That was hardly work,” she answered cynically. “But it was some ride.”

Matt was close enough to hear Mary’s remark. “You sound almost disappointed.”

Mary shrugged. “I don’t know. It was all so cold and methodical. There was no resistance. No defense.”

Matt frowned. “I would say it was efficient.” He turned to join the line at the coffee vendor.

Alex put an arm around Mary and pulled her close. “You should be happy, love,” he said softly. “We’re going home.

That’s what we really wanted.”

Mary looked at him doubtfully. “But not how we voted. We’ll see,” she added. “We’re not home yet.”

Extra chairs had been set up in the lounge to accommodate all three shuttle crews. While they all sat watching the holographic display, members of the staff came over to congratulate them. Norma received the most attention as she and Tony stood together like newlyweds at a reception, shaking hands and accepting congratulations from the staff.

Alex wanted to compare notes with Captain Wysor, but he had already returned to his station at the center of the control room. Alex was about to go and talk with him when a technician near the far wall stood up. “You should look at this, Commander.”

The officer sent one of his staff over to where Stubbs was engaged in an animated discussion. Whatever the man told the Commander caused him to hurry to the section with Professor Baltadonis close on his heels. A hush fell over the command center while the two talked to the senior astro officer. Everyone in the room was watching them when the Commander returned to his station. Johnny remained, still talking to the officer.

Noticing the attention, Stubbs looked around the room and smiled. “Relax, everyone. Our astros have spotted something, but I’m not commenting until we know more. Carry on, all of you.”

Stubbs looked a bit pale as he sat down at his console and looked around, seemingly about to say something. Suddenly his face distorted horribly and his body stiffened as if hit by a bolt of lightning, then he slumped over on the console and slid to the floor.

5
As the closest thing to medical personnel in the control room when Stubbs fell, Matt and Jeanne Warren were with the Commander when the emergency teams arrived. They both tried to reassure everyone that Stubbs was still very much alive.

Jeanne kept repeating, “He just collapsed from exhaustion,” until Matt had to tell her to stop.

Ned Binder, the Commander’s first assistant, was close by when Stubbs was stricken and had summoned the med team.

Now, as the team carted the unconscious Commander away, he informed the group that the Commander had had little rest and hadn’t been eating regularly.

While all this went on a member of the astrometric group had his hand raised, looking for someone in command to recognize him. Finally Johnny saw him and shouted above the noise in the room. “What is it?”

“Good question,” answered the man with a slight smile. “It’s on screen. A magnification of Bubba Two. The image is kind of dark, but ...”

Everyone in the control room suddenly faced the viewscreen on the opposite side of the room. The lieutenant was right.

The image was little more than a dark gray band against a slightly lighter gray background. Howarth, still at the center of the room, was about to make a comment when Ned Binder tapped him on the shoulder. “Excuse me Matt, but Professor

Baltadonis is now in command. Your place, I believe, is in the Biolab.”

Matt seemed shocked at Ned’s statement. “Aren’t YOU the second in command?”

“I’m the Commander’s assistant,” said Ned. “Now I’m his assistant.” He pointed to Johnny. “Stubbs designated

Professor Baltadonis as Commander, if ...”

Johnny arched an eyebrow and took a deep breath. “Yes?” He looked around the room. “My first order is to kill the lights, please, so we can see the screen!”