Infinite Reef (34 page)

Alex had to agree that the Lalandian’s actions evoked no other conclusion. After all, it came from a gas giant, the same type of planet as the clicker men. As he drifted to the observation window, he handed the squeezers to Mary and the Commander. When he handed Mary her tea he winked. “We’ll see, my love, if you’re right.”

“Right about what?” asked Johnny.

“What the Lalandian wants.”

“I’m not 100% sure, myself,” admitted the Commander with a slight shrug. “To be honest, I’m just following a hunch.”

Alex glanced at Mary and smiled, but didn’t comment.

They had all finished their tea by the time Matt and his crew arrived at the shuttle bay. They moved the white module through the shuttle bay quickly but with great care.

“That’s a pretty tidy package, considering how many gas canisters are strapped to it,” remarked Alex.

Johnny touched the button next to the window and spoke into a small microphone planted in the wall next to it. “Place the pod next to the sphere and get out of there, people. Matt, please join us in the observation room.”

Alex saw Matt wave in response. Howarth said something to one of the men and let go of the pod, then launched himself toward the main entrance.

By the time Matt entered the room and closed the door behind him, the pod containing the clicks had already been placed at the outer doors next to the Lalandian and the team that put it there was moving quickly toward the exit.

“I selected two small, healthy clicks,” offered Matt, out of breath. “And we’ve attached as many canisters as we could.”

“How much time will the Lalandians have to place them in an artificial environment?” asked Johnny.

“At least 48 hours,” answered Matt.

Mary peered through the observation window and shook her head. “I wonder if the clicks have any idea what’s happening to them?”

Johnny smiled sadly. “Perhaps we should worry about what EarthCorp will think. Was what we just did ethical?”

Matt scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Funny you mention that. Jeanne said the same thing. She’s pretty upset about it.”

Johnny raised an eyebrow. “Is she? Well, what should we have done? Do we take a vote with the Lalandian waiting at the door?” Without waiting for a reply he ordered the shuttle bay’s outer doors reopened. Lights flared, claxons sounded, and the decompression blew the pod into space, and the Lalandian went with it.

8
Alex, Mary, and the Commander were relieved to be back in the gravity of the great cylinder and the familiar surroundings of Master Control. The action outside
Goddard
was perfunctory at best. As everyone expected, the Lalandian sphere and the pod containing the clicks disappeared into the black saucer hovering nearest the shuttle bay. The moment was caught on the cameras outside the bay, while Johnny and his group were in transit back to the cylinder. They had arrived only in time to see the Lalandian fleet depart.

The camera caught them, a squadron of twenty-one giant disks, vanishing into the distance above the pinkish crescent of Lalande C. The scene was projected on the main screen of the control room. “There they go,” said Johnny.

“An’ good rids,” muttered Captain Wysor, seated at his console a short distance from the Commander, arms folded defiantly across his chest.

Johnny ignored the Captain and continued to stare thoughtfully at the screen.

Alex and Mary were next to him, their eyes also on the screen. Mary sighed and said, “I’m sure we did the right thing, Johnny.”

“Funny,” said the Commander. “That’s exactly what I was wondering.”

Ned Binder stood at his console a short distance from them, pensively watching the screen with the rest of the crew.

“Commander,” he began. “We have a launch window of maybe thirty minutes now.”

“Is that enough time?” asked Johnny doubtfully.

Ned seemed pleased to have the Commander’s full attention. “We can begin the burn and complete the lockdown as we build speed.”

“Then let’s do it,” answered Johnny enthusiastically.

The entire control room appeared to have been waiting for those words. Everyone snapped to their tasks and the noise level in the room rose considerably. Johnny surveyed the scene and smiled. “I guess it’s obvious what they all wanted,” he mused.

Alex agreed. “I think it’s good we’re leaving now. If we wait for the next launch window we risk a revisit from our friends.”

“I was thinking that, too.” Johnny looked at Alex and Mary skeptically. “Have you two learned to read minds?”

Alex laughed. “Oh, sure we have. Knowing you for the last five years has nothing to do with it, I’m sure.”

Johnny laughed. “Has it been that long?”

“Yep,” said Alex, returning Johnny’s smile. “Going back to when you tried to steal my discovery.”

The Commander’s eyes widened. “Won’t you ever forget that?”

Alex took a deep breath. “Will you ever forget how I got my shuttle?”

“You saved yourself and Mary at Ra Patera in it,” Johnny said confidently. “Isn’t that right?”

Alex stared at the Commander incredulously until Johnny relented and grinned. “Okay. The past is the past, Alex. As far as I can see, you’ve earned everything you have. And EarthCorp is in your debt.”

Mary examined Alex’s face. “Did you accuse the Commander of stealing your discovery?”

Alex shrugged. “Did I? I can’t recall.”

Around them the bustle of the control room mounted with each passing minute. Alex looked around and said, “I guess it’s time for Mary and me to crawl into our egg.”

Because of the noise, Johnny could barely hear Alex. Behind him three of his staff were already waiting for the Commander’s attention. Johnny put on his headset and sat down in his chair, nodding to the first person in line.

“Authorization for the oceanarium lockdown, sir,” said the young woman. “The dolphins are ... well, they want to swim as long as they can. Being cooped up isn’t their style.”

“Authorized. Next!” Mary and Alex heard Johnny answer as they left.

When they got outside and the glass doors shut silently behind them, Alex took Mary’s hand. “How’s junior?” He looked down at Mary’s stomach. He could see the bulge that no one else seemed to have noticed.

Mary patted her stomach. “A bit more active today, perhaps.”

“Okay for the trip?”

“He’ll be fine, I’m sure.” Mary said as they strolled along the lighted walkway toward their domicile. “Race you home,” she said, breaking into a run. “We need to feed Inky. It’s been HOURS since we fed him.”

All over the cylinder lights were being extinguished. Here and there small crews in their spindly surface vehicles sped around the landscape, some carrying bundles while others stopped station by station, performing tasks. Even the moving floodlights on the central shaft were dimming. Only a few still remained fixed on crops or greenhouses.

Looking at the column, almost half a kilometer overhead, Alex knew the great power train inside it was being reactivated. It was still the part of the ship that held the greatest mystery for Alex. He had seen diagrams, but even his celebrity couldn’t buy him a tour of its core. All he had learned was that it was a series of generators that produced a brief but extremely powerful burst of magnetic energy, compressed and transported along a neutronium core that ran the entire length of the giant ship. This, he was told, produced a gravitational ripple in time and space that moved faster than light, taking the ship with it. They called it the gee-pulse effect.

Alex had now traveled on two starships:
Houston
, the prototype now being used to transfer cargo back and forth between Earth and the outer planets, and the
Goddard
. Still, the pulse of the great engine wasn’t something he looked forward to.

Even in the protective bubble, the effects of the five jumps required to get them back to the Solar System would be devastating if not for a sequence of automatically administered drugs.

He was nearing home now and Mary stood waiting for him at the door. Even if he had tried, Alex knew she would have beaten him home. But he would have it no other way. Now, as when he first met her, Alex loved Mary and everything about her, even the fact that she could beat him in every game.

“Take a deep breath of that air, my love,” he said. “We’ll be breathin’ gas pretty soon.”

Inky was waiting for them just inside the door. As Alex opened it, the cat peered out at the eerie nighttime scene briefly, then scampered away when they entered, jumping up on a table ready for a pet from Mary. Although he was truly Mary’s cat, Alex had developed a fondness for Inky. He stroked the cat’s soft black fur, felt the animal’s vibrating purr, and smiled.

“Don’t worry, Inky,” he said. “We’ll be staying home for a while this time.”

Mary’s soft eyes were on him as he stroked the cat’s silky fur. She, too, was smiling. “I know it’s a boy,” she said, rubbing her belly.

“And how exactly can you tell?”

Mary gave him a quizzical look. “Jeeps, Alex. How long have you known me?”

“You’re evading the question. How can you tell it’s a boy?”

“A feeling, as usual.” Mary joined Alex in stroking Inky’s soft fur, provoking a louder purr. “I can’t explain it more than that. I just know.”

That night, after stowing everything loose in its proper place, they ate a light meal at a table by the window in their com room.

Midway through their meal they had a surprise visit from the Commander, who was hoping to speak with them privately.

As Johnny entered the com room, Alex stood and offered him a seat. Mary offered to order the Commander some dinner, but he declined as he took an empty seat at their table. “You have a nice view from this house,” he said, gazing at the scene outside. “My place looks out on a tree branch.”

“I’ve never been to your place,” said Alex. “It’s just down the street, isn’t it?”

Johnny laughed. “Yes. Next to the Wysors, actually. But to tell the truth, I’m never home myself. Since Stubbs died, I’m usually in Master Control. I guess I’ll be there for the duration.”

Seated across from one another, Alex and Mary exchanged glances but didn’t comment. Johnny paid them no notice. His eyes stayed fixed on the window. “I didn’t ask for this job, you know,” he said.

“Well, you wanted an adventure,” observed Mary. “You got off Mars and away from that terraforming project you were stuck in.”

Alex smiled. “Yeah, and you made history. And you’re commanding the first ship to another star system.”

An eyebrow rose on the Commander’s tired, unshaven face. “Indeed.” He looked around. “Your computer’s on, correct?”

“Just tell it what you want.” Alex saluted whimsically. “You’re the boss.”

Johnny saluted back bemusedly, then looked over at the console against the nearby wall. “Computer, connect this com to Master Control, priority alpha. Also contact Ned Binder. I want to speak with him.”

“
Yes, Commander Baltadonis.
”

The viewscreen switched on instantly, displaying a view of the planet they were orbiting. “We’re about ready to de-orbit,” Johnny noted. “Computer, connect me to Captain Wysor as well.”

“
Ned Binder and Captain John Wysor are on line, Commander Baltadonis.
”

“Sir,” said the familiar voice of the Ganny Captain.

“How’s the countdown progressing?”

“Normally, sir,” replied Ned Binder’s voice.

“A minute, thi’ty two t’ th’ burn, t’ be exact,” added Wysor.

“Carry on, Captain,” said Johnny cordially. “I’m at Alex and Mary’s com. I’ll be monitoring the de-orbit from here.”

“Aye, sir!”

Johnny also briefly contacted other staff members, many more than Alex would have thought necessary. But soon he realized that the calls were more cordial than official, each one ostensibly a preflight check-in, but always ending with Johnny thanking them and praising their service. Alex noticed that in the corner of the screen a countdown was in progress.

According to the glowing numbers only minutes remained before launch.

He called this to Johnny’s attention. “Excuse me, Commander, but should we be strapping in, or something?”

Johnny only smiled as he glanced at the screen. “I doubt you’ll feel it, Alex,” he said, interrupting his conversation with one of crew chiefs. “It’s a low burn ignition. We don’t want to knock the trees down, now, do we?”

The Commander was right. When all thirty-five of
Goddard’s
main engines ignited, the image on the screen remained steady and they barely felt a tremor. At the moment the shadowy bluish image of Lalande C filled the screen. Alex took a moment to admire the view. The dim light of the red dwarf prevented him from seeing any real details. All he could see were ghosts of the massive atmospheric belts he knew were there.

Somewhere, not far away from the ship, lay the artificial ring that the Lalandians were using to build a new egg on this, their outermost planet, but he couldn’t see it. Even Mary’s keen eyes couldn’t discern that kind of detail in the pale light of the ancient star. He remembered the sun and how he had always taken it for granted, and it amused him to think of the many times he had thought of its searing light as an enemy. Now, for all its dangerous heat, flaring, and radiation, he missed it.

Johnny smiled. “We’re off,” he said, looking at the faded vista of Lalande C on the wall screen. “We’re on our way home. This mission, too, passes into history.”

“Do you know how soon we’ll be home?” asked Mary, as Inky – unnerved by the vibrations only he could feel – jumped into her lap.

“You’ll be holding your babies on Ganymede soon enough,” answered Johnny, giving Mary a coy smile.

Both Alex and Mary froze. “What do you mean?” Alex asked.

Johnny laughed. “Don’t you miss your menagerie on Ganymede, Mary?”

“Oh, Babies,” she said. “The cat you gave me.”

Johnny laughed again. “Forgotten him already? I hope you remember that it was me who got you started in the pet business?”

“Oh, of course I do,” Mary answered, hiding the relief that Johnny hadn’t discovered her secret. “I miss all my children, especially Babies.”

Johnny looked at Inky. “Why did you bring this cat instead?”