Stars in the Sand (18 page)

 With a loud clang, it docked, and the airlock slid open. Marshall made to enter, but Cooper shook his head, pushing past him, cautiously ducking inside, tensed for action. After a second, he went into the cabin.

 “
Hello,” Cooper said. “No-one’s home.”

 Marshall flew into the passenger section; it was empty, six couches ready for use. All the usual emergency stores were in position, a trio of spacesuits hanging on the wall. Drifting forward, he tapped a control, and the hatch to the pilot’s cabin opened.

 “
No pilot, either,” he said. “Must have come up on automatic, or remote guidance.” He slid into the chair, then shook his head, “The manual controls have been disabled.”

 “
Of course, Captain,” a voice said from overhead. “We know the way a lot better than you  do. Please strap yourselves down.”

 Glancing back at Cooper, he said, “Looks like this airline is safety conscious.” He strapped himself into the pilot’s cabin, looking out at the planet below. Gray, with mottles of blue, and periodic cryovolcanic eruptions from a belt of mountains at the equator. The shuttle dropped away from Ouroboros, and the engines began to fire, sending them flying down towards the surface at speed, the acceleration pushing him back in his chair.

 Instinctively, he reached for the useless controls, planning to arrest their descent, but pulling the lever had no effect. Shaking his head, he sat back and tried to enjoy the view. There had only ever been one trip to a planet like this, the 2093 Pluto expedition, long before he was born. Getting out that far wasn’t easy, even now, and aside from research, there was never any reason to. The exogeologists would have a field day here, if they could open the place up for them.

 Whoever was flying the shuttle was somewhat overenthusiastic; the thrusters tossed them to one side, getting out of the way of another eruption. Then the ship dipped, the nose pointing down towards the horizon, and a trio of alarms started to sound as his communicator chirped.

 “
Danny,” Caine’s voice said. “We show impact in four minutes.”

 “
I read the same from here
,” Marshall replied. “I can’t do anything, there are no controls on board.”

 “
We’re getting
a
shuttle after you. Stand by…”

 “
Negative,” he replied. “You’d never make it in time. No point killing someone else. My orders stand, Deadeye.”

 “
Danny, we can’t just sit up here.”

 “
Yes you can, and yes you are. Marshall out.”

 He snapped the channel closed, hoping that she would obey his order. There was still time, just, for the shuttle to stop its descent, and he somehow had the feeling that someone was testing him. A series of red lights flashed on, and the shuttle passed the point of no return. He shook his head, leaning forward over the useless controls.

 “
Skipper,” Cooper said.

 “
I’m sorry, Corporal,” Marshall said. “I’m reading about three minutes to impact. If you want to send any last messages to Alamo, now would be a good time.”

 “
Never was any good at speeches, sir.”

 The shuttle span around, the engines burning at full, and the ship began to decelerate. Marshall turned back to the sensors, a brief feeling of hope quickly dashed as he looked at the altimeter.

 “
Just prolonging the inevitable. Some
how
I find it offensive that we’re going to die because someone made a mistake; I guess they weren’t out to kill us
after all
.” He peered at the trajectory plot, “We’re heading right for one of the volcanoes.”

 Marshall unbuckled his straps, not wanting to die uncomfortable, and stretched out on his seat, watching the surface grow closer. A desert of blue crystals, illuminated only by flashes of starlight, and now the trail from the shuttle’s engines. Not an unattractive place to end up, though not quite what he would have expected.

 “
Captain, would you please strap yourself in?” the voice said again. “You will be landing in five minutes.”

 “
At a speed that will make wearing the restraints rather pointless.”

 “
Not at all, Captain. At this moment you are on course for a safe landing.”

 “
I think you must be looking at a different shuttle.”

 “
Things are not always as they seem.”

 Peering at the trajectory plot again, he saw that they weren’t just heading for the volcano – they were heading for the crater at the top, on a course that was set to take them right inside. He punched a couple of controls – at least the navigational computers were working, even if the course was locked. If they had another twenty-nine miles, they would be able to slow to landing speed.

 “
Strap in, Cooper! This one is going to be interesting!” He fastened his restraints again, and looked at the shuttle’s aft view, watching it descend on a pillar of flame into the heart of the volcano. Any pilot trying a stunt like this would loose his wings back at Sol, but that didn’t mean he didn’t appreciate the skill that must be involved.

 As they passed inside the volcano, he took a deep breath; the shuttle’s searchlights came on, and it began to descend on its lateral thrusters, racing deep into the heart of the planet. Further they fell, still slowing, until the walls opened up again to an immense natural cavern, supported by pillars of rock, on the shores of a faintly glowing sea, sparks of light dancing across its surface. The shuttle dropped down to the side of a dome, the same design that he had seen a hundred times on bases across the Solar System and beyond, and he could see a transport car racing across to the landing site.

 “
That was fun,” he said to Cooper, as the shuttle rested into position on the landing pad.

 “
I think I’d rather have know
n
in advance, skipper.”

 “
Next time I want to try it on manual.”

 With a smile, Cooper said, “Would you be awfully offended if I sat that dance out, Captain?”

The airlock opened, and they turned to see a figure standing inside, wearing the same urban camouflage pattern; a tall woman, long gray hair wrapped around her shoulders, and a frown on her face.

 “
I take it you are Captain Marshall, and this is your aide?”

 “
That’s right. And you are?”

 Looking around the cabin, she said, “The Brigadier is waiting for you. I’ll handle post-flight; you can head to the base.”

 “
Some welcome,” Cooper said.

 Turning sharply at him, she replied, “You are not welcome. If a Cabal ship enters the system now, the rebellion could be pushed back by a decade. All we want now is for you to leave.”

 “
Don’t blame us,” Marshall replied. “You have your Mr. Durman to thank for our presence here. If we aren’t wanted, we’ll leave.”

 “
Now that you are here, your visit might as well not be for nothing. If you will step this way?”

 The two of them stepped into the waiting car, and were far from surprised when they found that it was as empty as the shuttle had been. It departed without any warning, jerking Marshall down into a seat and sending Cooper sliding to the floor. He pulled himself to his feet, sliding into a chair.

 “
Bumpy ride,” he said.

 The dome grew closer; it seemed deceptively far away, and they bounced over the landscape for a mile before turning around, reversing into a large airlock. He got a good view of the underground sea as he approached; he couldn’t quite believe it was water, and the strange glow cast an eerie light on the surroundings. With a very final clang, the doors slammed shut, and a light flashed on, air hissing outside.

 “
Green light, skipper.”

 “
No spacesuits, so I guess this is shirt-sleeve. There’s only one way to find out.” He tapped the release button, and the doors opened. Waiting outside was Brigadier Singh, a young woman standing next to him in the ubiquitous camouflage.

 “
Welcome to Verne Base, Captain.”

 “
Verne?”

 “
Are we not in the center of the earth? Or as close to it as one is ever likely to get?”

 “
A point well taken,” he replied. “I wish you had given us some warning.”

 Shaking his head, Singh said, “This base is our greatest secret, Captain. And it must remain so.” He pulled an antique communicator out of his pocket, and passed it to
Marshall
, “If you would like to reassure your comrades in orbit about your safety, this will route through a scrambler.”

 Taking the device, he said, “Marshall to Ouroboros. Come in.”

 “
Captain?” Weitzman’s astonished voice replied. “We...I’ll give you Orlova.”

 “
Thank you, Spaceman,” he replied.

 “
Sir,” Orlova said. “It’s very...how the...what happened? We saw you crash!”

 Glancing at Singh, he said, “I’m not at liberty to provide you with any details until I get back, but suffice to say that their landing system is somewhat complicated.”

 “
Can I see for myself, Captain?”

 Marshall fiddled with the controls for a moment, and managed to turn on the camera; Singh gave a disapproving stare, then a curt nod. He played the camera over himself, then over Cooper.

 “
As you can see, we’re under no restraint or compulsion.”

 “
Very well. We’ll be waiting, Captain, and our shuttle is on standby. Spaceman Bradley thinks that she can duplicate your landing curve.”

 “
Don’t attempt it unless I give you specific orders, Lieutenant. Is that understood.”

 “
Yes, sir. When can you call again?”

 “
Keep monitoring. I’ll attempt to call in four hours. Marshall out.”

 Singh took back the communicator, then said, “I will see that you are able to keep your appointment, Captain. If you would come with me?”

 He led them down into a large room, decorated with magnificent murals on every wall except that facing the sea, filled with plastic furniture. A quartet of mugs were waiting for them on a table, the smell of coffee rising into the air.

 “
I thought you might care for something to drink. I’m afraid we have nothing stronger on the base.”

 “
Coffee will be fine, thank you,” Marshall said, taking a seat. “You must know that we have a thousand questions to ask.”

 “
I will not answer anything related to any current operations, Captain, and I presume – your present mission excepted – you will not provide any tactical information relating to your Triplanetary Fleet, either.”

 “
That seems to be a good basis to begin with,” he replied. “This is Corporal Cooper, by the way, one of my staff.”

 “
A pleasure, Corporal. If I may say, you seem rather more civilized than your reputation suggests. I followed your conquest of Ragnarok and Jefferson with some interest.”

 “
Conquest? We liberated Jefferson from the Cabal, and last I heard there was a force of military advisors on the way. As for Ragnarok, they held a plebiscite and opted for Triplanetary membership after we helped prevent a Cabal-backed uprising!”

 "You must understand, the Cabal Fleet controls all formal news media. I only speak from what I have heard, though I am willing – for the sake of our present conversation – to accept your good intentions.”

 “
Shortly you will be learning that we have conquered Hydra Station as well, I suspect.”
 
“
Interesting,” he replied with a smile. “Do you further realize that your Alamo has been destroyed?

 “
Destroyed?” Marshall’s face grew pale.

 “
In battle with a Cabal fleet, about a month ago.”

 His face cracked into a smile, “We beat that fleet, Brigadier. One of our ships were destroyed, but it more than paid its way to Valhalla.”

 “
Interesting. I believe they are afraid of you, and your fleet.”

 Leaning forward, Marshall said, “Have you any information about a possible invasion of our territory?”

 “
You will be surprised to learn that we do not have direct access to their inner counsels, but we have heard that a military build-up was under way, and they have been strengthening some of their supply depots on the path to Sol.”

 Cooper looked at Marshall, “That could mean that war is imminent.”

 “
Or that it is months, or years away. We’re building up strategic supplies at Ragnarok, if it comes to that – for all we know, they are worried that we might be preparing to invade them.”

 “
Are you?”

 “
I’ve been away too long to know what the current planning is,” Marshall replied, “but when I left, that wasn’t Triplanetary policy. Our mission was information-gathering.” He gestured around,  “What about this station?”

 “
Ah. You see the last resting place, Captain, of the Rakesh Sharma.”

 Marshall glanced around, “What happened to Captain Chambers?”

 “
Who?”

 Cooper said, “I don’t think he means our ship, sir.”

 Nodding, Marshall said, “There is a ship of that name in the Triplanetary Fleet.”

 A faint smile crossed Singh’s lips, and he said, “I am glad to hear it. It is a proud name, worthy of such an honor. This version left Earth in 2058, a project of the Indian Diaspora. Our goal was to establish a remnant of our country out among the stars, as everything fell to pieces back home.”

 “
Our goal? You were on board?”

 “
I was much younger, then. I still remember my last look at Earth from Vostochny, those bleak wastelands. I understand it was destroyed.”