Infinite Reef (9 page)

The silence continued. “Computer,” said Alex. “Fix on the sphere. Gunner priority Monty.”

Alex had expected a protest from the Professor. His questions, after all, had interrupted the chain of command. Still, he knew that the manual stated that stealth priorities were overruled by requests from the pilot for essential information.

“So, you read the manual, after all,” said Connie with a smile.

“Just the juicy parts,” quipped Alex, never letting his eyes stray from the targeting image displayed in his helmet.

“
Target is in a fixed position
,” the computer whispered in his ear. “
Center screen
.”

Alex jumped. “Really? Locate and display.” All he could see in the image was the engine section of the
Goddard
.

The computer zoomed in on one of the engines of the gargantuan ship. Alex raised one arm, almost involuntarily, as a signal to the crew. “I see it. It’s lodged in one of the engines.”

“Wonderful,” said Johnny. “Stubbs, are you hearing this?”

“We are,” answered the Commander’s voice.

“Maybe no one felt it hit ’cause of the motor’s anti-shock system,” offered Matt, watching the screen with his mouth hanging open.

“
Targeting
,” said the computer. “
Armed and locked
.”

“Is the word given?” asked Connie with a broad grin. Her hand, like Alex’s, was still gripping the stick in front of her.

“Commander,” she quipped. “Let’s pop this thing. My arm’s tired.”

Mary looked at the back of Tsu’s chair and frowned. At the same time, Alex heard Mary’s voice inside his head. “Don’t pull that trigger, Alex.”

Johnny stayed silent under his black cowl while the rest of the crew waited. The Professor had switched off his intercom but they could hear him mumbling. Alex could imagine the debate that was raging among the
Goddard’s
high command.

If they told him to pull the trigger, Alex knew he had to obey. Still, Mary’s words rang in his memory like a bell. Stuck where it was, the alien sphere seemed a minimal threat. Igniting the engine, just for a moment, would blast its icy surface with white hot plasma. Also, the sphere was an easy target and in an ideal place for
Diver
to use its weaponry without harming the
Goddard
. The bulkhead where the sphere had landed was all but impervious to laser or pulser fire.

Diver
was keeping a good distance away from the engine so that any sudden reaction wouldn’t harm them. Since they were reasonably safe, Alex saw no reason for Mary’s concern. Yet her words persisted in his mind, “Alex, don’t you touch that trigger.”

Additionally, Alex saw no reason for Mary to only speak to him so covertly. Why not just say it to Johnny, if she had concerns? Alex looked at her. His expression was like a big question mark.

Mary Seventeen looked at him but no words came to his mind. Alex shook his head. Instead of clearing up the mystery, Mary was adding to it.

“Locked and ready,” urged the droning voice of the computer.

“Commander?” said Johnny.

“Stand down for a moment,” said Stubbs’ voice.

Alex let his hand drop from the stick and Connie followed suit. “Dingers,” said Alex, shaking his head. “They should pay us double for this duty.”

In the back of his mind Mary was talking. Alex heard the words so clearly he thought everyone else did too. “Don’t fire, Alex.” He looked at Mary again but this time she wouldn’t return his gaze.

3
Diver
was now a gunship ready for war – the last thing Alex ever wanted his ship to become. His was the best equipped shuttle in the fleet. He might have taken pride in that, but as the ship’s owner, Captain and pilot, he was also its gunner, and he felt completely alone. Alex had no particular fear of action, but if he was going to war, he needed a reason. For most of his life, his driving force had been exploration and discovery. He had prided himself that he had been working for IoCorp when war broke out on Earth. He was part of an essential workforce, far from the conflict. It was grueling work, but at least he could say that he wasn’t fighting a war for someone else’s political gain.

Now he was light years from Earth and, ironically, the man charged with holding the gun. Looking through his tactical visor at the glistening black object tucked in the massive engine port, all Alex could think about was that he and his beloved ship had become instruments of destruction in the hands of others.

Inside his tactical helmet the view was filled with readouts and telemetry. Small screens projected on the visor showed thermal images and radar contours of the object tucked in the engine’s exhaust port, but Alex kept his eye focused steadily on the object.

He had already fended off two drops of sweat threatening to trickle into his eye. “What’ll it be, gents?” he asked in a voice he hoped wouldn’t sound too desperate. “The computer’s getting nervous.”

“We need to look at this for a minute, Alex,” said the Professor impatiently.

“If we’re standing down, let us take off these helmets,” Connie answered the Professor. “What’s the point, anyway?”

“We need a finger on the trigger, Tsu. Your finger,” said Stubbs firmly. “Yours too, Alex. Do I have to remind you that we don’t want to make any mistakes?”

“No, sir,” said Alex, smiling at Tsu. He pulled off his helmet and wiped his forehead. He took a moment to glance at Mary, remembering her words in his mind. She looked at him and smiled enigmatically.

Alex took a deep breath and reseated his helmet. Another minute passed and Stubbs’ voice told the crew of
Diver
to stand down and hold position.

Alex took off his helmet again and hung it on its stand next to his seat. “Dingers,” he sighed. “This is strange duty.”

Connie slid off her own helmet and held it between her knees as she leaned forward, staring exhaustedly at the screen. A moment later she sat up straight and blinked at the screen. “Whazzat?” she snapped. “Professor, are you doing that?”

Johnny had lifted his virtual bubble and was about to get up when Tsu called out. “Doing what?” he asked. His eyes went to the screen. “Stubbs!” he shouted. “Are you seeing this?”

For the last hour the sphere had appeared on their viewscreen as a dark spherical shadow lodged neatly in the nozzle of the gargantuan engine. Now it seemed to be glowing as if a light had come on inside it.

Stubbs began shouting orders over the intercom. “All hands at emergency positions!”

Alex put his helmet back on. “Roger, sir.”

“We’ve never seen this before,” said Stubbs.

“Dammit!” The bubble above Johnny’s chair lowered, just in time for Stubbs’ first inquiry.

“Johnny, any takes on this?” Stubbs sounded almost humble. “We’re not sure whether to blow that engine, or not. Maybe you should take a shot at it. We can’t wait too long ...”

The moment Alex had reseated his helmet, the computer returned to military readiness, its targeting systems focusing unerringly on the sphere.

“Don’t have them shoot it, Johnny,” said Mary unexpectedly. “It’ll only make things worse.”

“Make what worse?” asked the voice of the Commander. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

On the screen the sphere seemed to be enlarging, as its light grew brighter.

“I have a very strong feeling that you shouldn’t shoot at it,” explained Mary. She sat holding Inky in her lap almost defensively, her beautiful gray eyes focused on the ceiling speaker. “If I could explain it better, I would.” She sat calmly in her chair, flight suit unzipped to the middle of her perfect chest, glowing with perspiration like the rest of the crew.

On the screen, the glow of the sphere grew ever brighter. “Tell us, Mary, what’s going on,” asked Matt, almost pleading.

“What do you think will happen if we shoot it?”

“You’re asking for a rationale,” said Mary, looking angrily across the cabin at Matt. “I’m a sensor; a biological receiver, if you will ...”

“Thank you, Mary,” interrupted the Commander. “Your input is most welcome. Thank you.”

There was a moment of silence. Over the intercom people could be heard talking to Stubbs, but their words were unintelligible. Finally the Commander’s voice continued. “Alex, you have the lasers, am I right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Tsu. Are you targeted?”

“Pulser on the mark, sir,” said Connie.

Inside the engine port it looked like the sphere was igniting. As they all watched, the first plume of white hot plasma jetted from the great engine.

A moment of confusion followed. Stubbs shrieked in his rage. “Who fired engine twenty-six? Wysor???”

Alex could hear the Captain mumbling Ganny denials.

“Who, then?” roared Stubbs.

The plasma stream emanating from the engine completely obscured any view of the sphere to those aboard
Diver
. From what Alex could see, the sphere itself was the source of the jet.

“The sphere is doing it, I think, sir.”

4
The great ship began to accelerate. With every passing second the speed increased.

“We’re losing orbit! We’ll have to jettison the engine, or you can try to destroy it,
Diver
.” Stubbs sounded almost frantic.

“Can we get home with one less engine, Commander?” asked Johnny.

After a moment’s silence Stubbs’ assistant, Ned Binder, answered. “Of course.”

“Then jettison the thing. Mary’s hunch may be correct. Shooting may not be a good idea. Besides, all our plasma balls and lasers would just be adding energy to energy. My guess is that we’d only be helping it.”

“If we don’t shoot, we’re showing that we aren’t hostile,” added Mary.

Alex saw the flash of explosive bolts and a shower of debris as the engine broke free and streaked forward like a missile.

It skimmed the hull, doing no apparent damage, then followed a straight course away from the main body of the ship.

“Keep your distance,
Diver
,” ordered Stubbs. “And keep your instruments focused on it.”

“Does that mean you don’t think it will return again?” asked Alex.

“It’s still stuck in that engine, spending its energy,” said Professor Baltadonis, “and headed to God knows where.”

“Hey, boss,” Connie said loudly. “Any rules against tryin’ out this pulser on a spent engine?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Alex noticed Mary shaking her head. “Why flirt with it?” Mary said to the back of Tsu’s chair.

“Why not?” answered Tsu. “We don’t want it turning around and coming back, do we?”

Mary lowered her eyes. “Bad idea.”

“If there’s a chance Mary is right, Tsu ...” said Stubbs. “Stand down, please. Shooting it might be interpreted as a hostile act,” he added.

“Who cares?” shouted Tsu. “They attacked us.” Her face was getting red.

“We’re guests in this system, Connie,” answered Stubbs calmly. “We have to play nice. No killing. No shooting. We’ve done too much damage already inside that egg down there.” The Commander paused for a moment to give Connie time to respond. When she said nothing, he continued. “But stay close. I want you to keep an eye on that thing until it’s out of sight.

Otherwise, prepare to return to
Goddard
.” The intercom clicked off.

“I can’t believe it!” shouted Connie. She released the stick and angrily unbuckled herself from the co-pilot’s seat. “Time to trade some tinkle,” she said, pressing a boot into the dash and launching herself toward the lavatory.

“I need a translator,” said Alex. “What did she mean by that?”

“A leak and a geebrew, I guess,” said Matt with a snicker. “Callisto expression, maybe.”

“You terra toons stow my socks!” shouted Connie as she disappeared into the lavatory.

Alex laughed. “Where did you stow her socks, Matt?”

“No clue,” answered Matt absently, studying the image on the viewscreen. The white hot jet was still pushing the motor on a dead straight course. It was getting ever smaller, blending into the background as just another bright star. “Glad to see the last of that thing,” he added.

“That’s a roger,” said Alex.

The Commander’s voice interrupted them. “We’re shutting down radar tracking,
Diver
,” he said. “We recommend you do the same, in case that thing homes in on radar. I want at least an hour of EM silence. Good job everybody. We’re winning this thing.”

The Commander’s words stuck in Alex’s mind. He wondered what Stubbs had meant by winning. If it meant that the threat had been eliminated, he couldn’t agree. “We’ll see if we’re winning,” he murmured.

Matt chuckled. “Those were my thoughts, too. We have a lot of data but no real knowledge about the Lalandians.”

Howarth’s words reminded Alex of the clicker men. In all the fuss over the sphere, Alex had completely forgotten them.

“By the way, Matt,” he asked. “What’s the status of the clicks?”

“Two down, eleven to go, on last count. Why?” asked Matt.

“There were thirteen?”

“More than that. But some didn’t form. I thought you knew that.” Matt sounded surprised. Alex shrugged as Matt continued. “Actually, since this whole sphere thing, Jeanne has been supervising them. Her experience ... cocooned by aliens ... well, she’s been keeping to herself. I gave her the job to keep her head occupied.”

“Did you watch them develop? How did they hatch?”

“Sounds like another bedside visit is in order, Alex,” said Matt. “Unless you’re afraid they’ll all explode in front of you.”

Now that the crisis had passed and the Commander had stopped giving orders everyone seemed more relaxed. With the radio chatter between the two ships on hold for the moment Mary was freed temporarily from her duties. “How many clicks were born?” she asked.

Matt found himself saying the number eighteen with Mary.

“If you already knew, why ask?” Matt said, looking totally confused.

“I was guessing,” said Mary. “Where in the reef tank did they live?”

“Where? In the reef material. That black fluff.”

“And the ones that didn’t develop. What happened to them?” Alex asked.

Howarth thought for a moment. “Hmmm.” He tapped a finger against his console. “As I recall they didn’t develop.” Matt laughed, but when he saw Alex wasn’t amused he frowned. “Sorry, Alex. I forgot it’s your kids we’re talking about here.