Johnny Winger and the Europa Quandary

by Philip Bosshardt

  Chapter 26

  Farside Observatory

  Korolev Crater, the Moon

  November 2, 2121

  1200 hours (Earth U.T.)

  Solnet Special Report: “What’s Wrong with the Sun?”

  Solnet reporter Anna Kolchinova has traveled to the Farside complex at Korolev Crater on the Moon to interview several scientists about continuing unusual variations in the energy output of the Sun. She files this report:

  “We’re here at the SpaceGuard Center, inside the Newton wing of the Farside complex, talking with Dr. Gilford Benes, an astronomer with Farside. Dr. Benes, thank you for joining us today at Special Report.”

  “You’re most welcome, Anika. And welcome to Farside as well.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Benes. In recent weeks, reports have been coming out of various sources, among them sources at UNISPACE, that the Sun doesn’t seem to be as bright as it once was. Are there changes going on with the Sun? What’s seems to be wrong with the Sun?”

  Benes smooths out what little hair he has left on an egg-shaped pate. “Well, Anika, actually there’s nothing wrong with the Sun per se. I want to put your viewers’ minds at ease on that score. The Sun is operating pretty much as it has for the last four plus billion years, with some variations in output, of course.”

  “But, Dr. Benes, many viewers have noticed a diminishing in the amount of sunlight reaching the earth during the day.

  “I’m sure they have. What we have detected here at Farside, using both optical and infrared telescopes, is what seems to be a massive dust cloud in orbit around the Sun, actually co-orbiting with the Earth.”

  “That’s very interesting, Dr. Benes. Are there any suspicions that this phenomena, this dust cloud, is in anyway related to the MARTOP anomaly…that perhaps this cloud is a vast formation of nanobotic elements?”

  “Certainly we have those suspicions. Right now, we‘re studying this phenomenon very closely, trying to characterize the exact nature of the components of the cloud…are they dust particles, nanobotic elements or what? This is an on-going process and we hope to have some results we can release in a day or so.”

  “Dr. Benes, some of my sources insist that there is intelligence indicating that this phenomenon has come all the way from Jupiter, possibly from Europa, and that the MARTOP phenomenon, as you call it, has split into multiple parts, with one part being diverted to this orbit around the Sun. Can you comment on these allegations?”

  “I can’t comment directly on things I haven’t seen, Anika. I’m sure you can understand that. We’re studying the Sunshadow anomaly---that’s what we’re calling it now—most urgently for additional details.”

  Anika wanted to press Dr. Benes further. “Dr. Benes, my sources tell me that Farside has been tasked by the UN to provide support to a proposed exploratory mission that is planned for launch in the next few weeks. Can you confirm this?”

  Benes shrugs, a sort of half-smile on his lips. “Anika, of course, you know I can’t comment on any details of actual UNISPACE operations. In fact, we’re just astronomers here at Farside. We observe and report on what we see. However, I can confirm one thing.”

  “What is that, Dr. Benes?”

  “Farside is providing support for a re-directed mission for the Helios satellite. This satellite has been in orbit around the Sun for many years, as you may know, providing us with on-scene observations of solar phenomena, coronal ejections, surface transients, magnetic phenomena and other matters. UNISPACE has ordered that the current Helios mission be discontinued and the satellite be re-located to a new orbit which will intersect that of the Sunshadow anomaly. This is happening as we speak.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Benes, for taking the time to be with us today.”

  “My pleasure, Anika.”

  Solnet Special Report Ends

  Anika Kolchinova said goodbye to Dr. Benes and made sure the cambot had the video footage she needed.

  I’ll get with Edit later for special effects and anything else we need. She was due to post the report on the Net by 1800 hours local time, assuming the Net was working. That wasn’t a sure thing nowadays, what with all the glitches from malware, virus and bot infestations.

  She decided a drink could be accommodated, so she left Newton Wing and went down a short ramp to the connecting tunnel that led to Kepler Wing, where Farside’s hab spaces and galley were located. Next to the galley was the canteen, all done up to resemble a South Seas beachside bar, complete with miniature palm trees, thatched roofs and a sign reading Fiji Island Lagoon.

  It was just noon by Farside time but she had heard the robotenders made a mean Samoan daiquiri and she figured it would make decent background for the report she still had to file.

  But just at the foot of the ramp, she encountered none other than CINCSPACE himself, General Ravi Ramachandran.

  Anika was startled. So was CINCSPACE.

  “General, I didn’t know you were at Farside.”

  Ramachandran was a wiry, dark-skinned Punjabi native, with dataspecs that were forever flashing with vids and text blocks, so that he never seemed to be paying you any attention.

  “Miss Kolchinova, likewise. Sorry, but I’m in a bit of a hurry. It’s a bit of a classified briefing trip. If you’ll excuse me—“ he started up the ramp to SpaceGuard Center, but Anika had always been a resourceful correspondent—she hadn’t won an Emmy and a Selkie for sitting home popping chocolates—and she stepped directly into Ramachandran’s path.

  They collided and Anika took a spill off the side of the ramp, landing heavily on her side.

  CINCSPACE reacted automatically , stopping to give her a hand up.

  “I’m so sorry, Ms. Kolchinova…I thought you were---here, let me help you—“

  Anika let him take her left hand. As she came upright, she let herself teeter into his chest, almost knocking them both off the ramp.

  “General, it must be the gravity…still getting my spacelegs, you know…I’m just so clumsy—“

  And while Ramachandran steadied her, she managed to plan a spybot right on the underside of his left uniform sleeve, just by grabbing his arm, which he had offered for support.

  After a few more pleasantries, they parted company. CINCSPACE went up the ramp to Newton Wing, to SpaceGuard, she presumed. Anika resumed her trek to the canteen.

  Of course, she knew perfectly well that what she had done was strictly illegal and could easily land in her prison or worse, if the bot were discovered. And there was certainly a risk in landing the pea-sized bot on a target like Ramachandran, who undoubtedly wore some kind of protective botshield when out in public. High officials in UNIFORCE always did; it went with the job.

  She ordered her drink and sipped thoughtfully at the rum, deciding to wait a few minutes before trying to link up with the bot she had planted. She held her breath, hoping CINCSPACE’s own defensive shield, if he had one, didn’t go off but nothing happened, no guards came storming into the bar, and she gradually began to relax.

  Girl, one of these days—she told herself, but secretly she was pleased with her own audacity and curious as to what the spybot might pick up. I’ve probably broken about a hundred laws and regulations by slapping the gadget on the highest ranking officer in UNISPACE, but what the hell…it was a competitive business and you had to do what you had to do for ratings.

  Cautiously, she tapped a few buttons on her wristpad.

  When it settled down, she realized that the bot was relaying vid and audio from some kind of briefing. Probably classified to the heavens, she thought. She could just barely make out other faces and voices—the link wasn’t all that great. She fiddled with the gain and managed to get a clearer audio, at least. Sounds like Dr. Benes, is there. And maybe the SpaceGuard director—what was his name? Portland something or other. It seemed to be a heated discussion…CINCSPACE was almost shouting at someone. What the hell were they yapping about?

  Anika selected the record o
ption and decided to sever the link for the moment. I need to finish this drink. She wound up ordering another.

  She went to her tiny apartment on the other side of Kepler Wing and squeezed in to what could only be described as a closet. She locked the door, did some edit and graphics work on her report, and after an hour, decided she couldn’t wait any longer. She re-established the link---interested to see that Ramachandran was still inside SpaceGuard center, although no longer in conference. It looked like the Watch Center itself, from what she could see: consoles and flashing screens and people scurrying about.

  She selected re-play, then listened and watched what the spybot had recorded over the previous two hours. What she heard made her blood run cold.

  It was all highly classified, Purple or higher, she figured and she knew perfectly well that was she was doing could get her into a hell of a lot of trouble. But the more she listened, the more evident it became that Dr. Benes had not been entirely forthcoming with her…not particularly surprising, given the way UNIFORCE usually worked.

  It was apparent from what the spybot had recorded that this mission to the Sunshadow anomaly was much further along that she had been led to believe. In fact, a ship was even now at Gateway Station being outfitted for the trip. She was the Francis Bacon and the captain would be one Oscar Amirante.

  Anika made sure this also got into her Special Report filing. She ran through the clip a few more times, checking continuity, adding some more effects, editing for time, then squirted her finished masterpiece off the satellite to New York and sat back with a satisfied glow.

  God, I could use another Somoan from the Fiji Island Lagoon.

  But instead, she figured it would be even smarter to get the hell out of Farside before they threw her in jail. She spent most of the rest of the evening trying to wrangle a ride back to Earth, via Gateway Station.

  If she was lucky, she’d be able to get some footage of the Bacon before it shoved off on its mission to the Sun.