A Theory of Gravity

by Wycroft Taylor

  Because the backpack had not been designed to fit the suit, Peter had to carry it in one hand. He held it by its pair of straps.

  About the time the three bells rang, they were ready to leave. They moved to the door and pushed it open before the bell had rung the third time. Then they turned down the corridor where the guest rooms were, and pushed open the door that led to the large meeting room.

  Just as the teacher had said, there were no creatures at all anywhere in the large space. The room was completely empty. All the doors, including the doors that slid on tracks to close off the classroom from the meeting room, were closed. Not a sound could be heard except for the sounds of their heavy boots hitting the floor of the big meeting room, the sounds made by the back pack as bumped against the side of Peter’s suit, and the sounds made by the straps attached to the bassinet as they slid across Sylvia’s suit.

  Seeing the room so full of memories, a room sometimes filled with creatures raucously celebrating and other times not filled but nevertheless alive with the movements of creatures crawling along or rolling along however few or many they might be, both Sylvia and Peter felt waves of grief and sadness roll over them. Both wondered if perhaps they had made a mistake after all. Both thought of the potential dangers of space travel that lay ahead and compared those dangers with the near certainty of order and safety that existed here in this place that had been so pleasant a haven for them.

  Despite thinking much the same thoughts and having much the same feelings, neither Peter nor Sylvia said a word to each other about these things because neither wanted to seem weak to the other and because neither wanted to risk reinforcing their private states of indecision by talking about it.

  They walked through the silence and emptiness as if silence and emptiness were streamers that hung from the ceiling and swayed back and forth and around and around possibly because of hidden mechanisms or very subtle currents of air that existed only close to the ceiling. They walked with difficulty, as if through the streamers of their imaginings that made seeing what was ahead difficult for both of them. In this way, finally, they reached the alcove at the back of which was the elevator’s door.

  They got to the elevator’s door. It opened automatically for them. They walked inside the elevator car and pressed the buttons set into the panel on the right side of the door that would bring them to the surface. They listened as the machinery that controlled the elevator turned on and began making its peculiar swishing sound. The elevator was rising. They felt themselves get heavier and then lighter.

  When the elevator stopped, Peter reached out to touch the button that would open it to the outside, but Sylvia stopped him. Speaking very quietly, she said, “Peter, I got an idea this morning of how to prevent any objections being raised to our traveling together.”

  “I thought we went through all of that,” Peter commented.

  “Our ideas though good were flawed. We thought of ways to counter objections we thought the people back on Earth might have raised but there’s always a danger that, when you try to charge against anticipated objections, you only succeed in getting those with the objections to get more committed to their objections. Thinking about this, I got a new and what I feel is a better idea about how to get what we want. We can bypass the objections by going at this from a different angle than any we considered before.” “Tell me what you have in mind,” Peter said.

  “Standing here talking and debating can cause more problems. Our staying here might be misconstrued by our friends down below as our having second thoughts about leaving and by our friends up above as a sign of our being held against our will. Either way, we might get hurt or cause trouble. Just trust me this once. This will work. I am sure of it,” she said and, with that, she took her hand off his and urged him to press the button. “Okay,” he said reluctantly and added, as he pressed the button, “I’ll trust you.”

  The door opened to reveal to them the rough rocky surface of the asteroid with the two space ships parked nearby. As soon as the doors opened, communicating with the computers on board the two space ships became possible again.

  The computers were the first to speak. Ironically, the first words spoken were those between the computers governing each of the space ships. “Look who’s here,” one said to the other. “They seem to be okay,” the other said. Then the first one said, “What is that egg-shaped thing attached to the back of the astronaut Ridgewood’s suit?” “I have no idea,” the second computer said. “Let’s ask, the first computer said.” “Okay,” said the second computer.

  Listening to this dialogue, Peter and Sylvia could not help but conclude that, during the long time that had passed while these space ships sat unused and only occasionally relaying messages back and forth to Earth, they had become friends or at least “friends” insofar as computers were capable of friendship. Both Peter and Sylvia felt that the appearance of friendship was quite convincing—if it was an act, it was quite a good act. The thought also ran through both Peter’s or Sylvia’s mind (with neither of them realizing that the other had the same thought) that humans too might not be capable of true friendship but instead put on an act, an act that was sometimes so convincing that even the actors got fooled.

  Both computers said simultaneously, “It is good to see you, Peter and Sylvia (the computer on Peter’s ship said ‘Peter’ first while the computer on Sylvia’s ship spoke her name first). We missed you. We were worried about you. Our sense of helplessness after you disappeared from view and after we lost all connection to you can hardly be overstated. The people we answer to back on Earth felt much the same way. Not knowing how to proceed, we decided that simply waiting would be best.”

  One of the computers added, “Other options besides merely waiting were considered and one other option was in fact added to the option of our waiting. It was initiated recently. The idea was to send burrowing devices to this asteroid and, once they arrived, have them dig down below the asteroid’s surface wherever our sensors indicated there were hollow spaces. That equipment should arrive about a year from now. It is on the way though it seems now to be no longer necessary.”

  “I hope,” Peter said, “that, because of the costs involved in manufacturing, assembling and sending the equipment will not negate any doubts that may arise about the wisdom of using it. Tell the people back on Earth when you send your next message that I feel very strongly that such equipment should not be used here. If it must be used, use it elsewhere—some other asteroid or some planet or moon—not here—anywhere but here.

  “I say this because good relations now exist between us and the creatures that inhabit this place. Let those not be jeopardized by some after-the-fact rationalizations such as ‘now that we’ve gone to the expense of making and sending the equipment, it would be a shame not to use it.’”

  “We will send your message,” both computers said at once. The computer aboard Peter’s ship added, “There was also some talk about shooting missiles at the asteroid with the hope that destroying some small portion of the asteroid might frighten the aliens enough, if such existed and were holding you hostage, to get them to release you. Of course, there was the danger that the part destroyed might be where you were, but those that advocated that course of action responded to such criticism by saying ‘risks have to be incurred.’”

  “Hopefully,” Peter said, “no missiles were sent.” “We don’t think so.” The computers said, “Though, as you know, sometimes we are left in the dark especially when desperate measures are resorted to.”

  “There was also thought of sending another rescue mission but, this time, with transmission equipment much better insulated than anything you had.” “Has another rescue mission been sent?” “Not yet,” the computers said. “The consensus of the politicians and engineers was to try to tunneling equipment first and then, if that didn’t work, to try another rescue mission before resorting to destructive missiles.”

  “Tell them I plead with them not to send anyone else to the
asteroid, probably not ever, but at least not until we are debriefed. The creatures are worried about what will come next. They want to avoid the fates of the Incas and the Aztecs,” Peter said.

  “Ha, ha,” one of the computers said, imitating the sound of human laughter. “I’m not joking,” Peter said. “Don’t mind A20590X. Sensitivity is not its strong point,” the first computer said. “It’s a case of the pot calling the kettle black,” the second computer said.

  “Would you guys stop your bickering? Give us a chance to put in a word or two,” Peter said. “Okay, shoot,” both computers said at once.

  “I don’t know if the passage of time weighs on you like it does on humans but, given the time that’s elapsed since we saw you last, we (and I am sure I speak for Sylvia as much as for myself) are glad to see that the two of you waited so patiently for us to emerge from underground. Maybe we anthropomorphize, but we (I am sure Sylvia feels the same) have come to think of you as old friends,” Peter said.

  Even as he said this, he was thinking of their truer friends, the creature friends, the ones they had abandoned and now felt guilt for having abandoned them.

  Sylvia, who had been uncharacteristically silent during the last few minutes, at last spoke up. She said, “Hi, you two. As you can see, we are fine. But a lot has changed with us since you last saw us. We have become good friends to each other, Peter and I. We have become very good friends. In fact, we fell in love with each other and actually formalized our relationship with the help of our friends down there, which is to say that we are married. This thing that is strapped to my back (and she pointed to the egg-shaped object behind her) was given to us by our friends down there. It holds our child—a little boy—named Kory—who is inside of it. We can’t wait to introduce him to you. You will get a big kick out of him. He’s quite a character.”

  “A child?” both computers remarked at once, sounding stunned because they were not sure if this development should be regarded as a good or a bad thing by those to whom they were answerable.

  “A child,” both computer’s repeated, sounding calmer now after reviewing their files and determining that their bosses back on Earth probably would regard the addition of a child as a good thing. Even so, the computers asked the same silly question, “Is it going back with you?” “Of course, it is going back with us. It is our child,” Sylvia said. Peter repeated the last line, “Why would you even ask such a question? It is our child.”

  “Who is it traveling with?” One of the computers asked. Sylvia answered, “It is traveling with both of us, and the two of us are traveling together. We will be traveling together inside of one of you. The other ship will fly nearby as insurance in case the ship we are inside of us is damaged.” Looking at Peter and winking (though Peter probably did not see the wink behind the face plate of the helmet of the space suit because of the way the curved lens distorted what was going on inside of the helmet), Sylvia looked pleased that she had eased naturally into her plan of presenting the fact of their traveling together as an absolutely necessary arrangement, one that could not possibly be debated.

  “Hold on you too, I don’t know about that,” one of the computers said. “Neither do I know about that,” the other one said. “Our orders were to bring you back, one in each ship, in the unlikely event that both of you came safely to the surface at the same time. That was deemed by our bosses to be the safest thing. Since there are only two ships, the child (something no one anticipated being a factor) would no doubt have to go with one of you, but you three going together, all in one ship, would almost certainly be vetoed.”

  “There is no alternative except for us to travel together,” Sylvia said, again winking at Peter. “We were taught the language of the creatures that inhabit this place and have begun compiling a dictionary. This is difficult and important work and would be impossible to accomplish if we traveled separately. Contact the ones back on Earth. I am sure that they will agree that this project of ours is too important to be interfered with out of mere considerations of safety. If safety was paramount, we would not have come here in the first place.”

  The first computer said, “We enter uncharted waters and are not authorized either to agree or to disagree with your request. We will have to contact Earth and wait the four hours that will be required to get a reply.” Sylvia said, “You do that. Tell them that our project is of the utmost importance and will bring great dividends to all of mankind if completed. And we will transmit to them the contents of what we are doing so that, even if something catastrophic occurs on the way home, they will nevertheless be in possession of all or most of the fruits of our labors.”

  The first computer said to the second, “You send the message. It’s your turn.” “I suppose it is,” the second computer said with the simulation of a sigh. “I’ll start now.” There was a clicking sound, indicating it would neither talk nor listen to them for a while, not until it had formulated and transmitted a message.

  The second computer said, “While my colleague is busy with his transmitting, you might as well climb aboard me. I don’t like seeing you stand in those clumsy space suits on that airless and rocky terrain. You can come in here, take off your suits, breathe some space ship air, and eat and drink from my supply of food and beverages if you like. And your baby can get its first taste of what the inside of a space ship is like.”

  “Thanks,” Peter said, “You’re right. It is awkward standing around in these suits. Besides, I’m thirsty. And I am sure so is Sylvia. The baby is probably thirsty but in his case Sylvia will provide the beverage.”

  “I’ve heard something about that biological process called breastfeeding. I suppose that is what you were alluding to when you said that Sylvia will provide the child with its beverage. It’s an interesting process. It will be interesting to watch it being carried out though I suppose I could find video recordings of the process in my library,” the computer said. “By all means, let the baby do its suckling. It can begin as soon as you get in here. Come in. Make yourselves at home.”

  Following Sylvia up the ladder that led up to the door of the space ship while also holding onto his bag and supporting the bassinet was difficult. It was also exciting however. After being away from Earth for so long, he would at last be entering a space entirely man-made. Because the stairs too were man-made, just climbing the stairs seemed to Peter to be the beginning of a return to Earth.

  While climbing the ladder, Peter wondered if Sylvia’s way of circumventing objections to their traveling together would work. He thought it might in fact work better than any of their other approaches. He thought that, as a general rule, it probably made more sense to sidestep an argument altogether than to engage in one, no matter how sound one felt one’s position to be.

  Chapter 65: Homeward Bound

  Four hours later, the second space ship reported back to the first, with the message relayed audibly through the first space ship’s audio system, that the request to travel together had been approved. There was a screen in front of reclining seats (fortunately the ship had been outfitted with two reclining seats because the plan originally was to send two astronauts, not just one, on the rescue mission). The screen lit up and a smiling face appeared. It was the face of one of the supervisors of Peter’s rescue mission. He and Sylvia also knew one another.

  The man’s name as Roger Bounder. He was sitting at a desk with his arms resting comfortably on the desk’s surface. Behind and around him were other people involved in different aspects of both missions. In the background, Peter and Sylvia could hear the sound of talking and of the shuffling of papers and of coffee cups being put down on the surfaces of desks. Clearly, from the pitch of the buzzing of the background talk, it was obvious to Peter and Sylvia that there was a lot of excitement in the air over there.

  Roger Bounder said, “I trust that you, Peter Philby, and you, Sylvia Ridgeway, are watching and listening to this broadcast. Computer A20590X has relayed to us the good news that you have both finally retur
ned to the surface of the asteroid after having disappeared for so many months. The computer also reported that you both seem to be none the worse for wear and, furthermore, that you have returned as a married couple with a child. Whew!

  “This is very good news to us after having spent so much time wondering about your statuses. A20590X has told us that you encountered intelligent beings that lived inside of the asteroid and that they treated you kindly, taught you their language, and made you a part of their community for a while. Whew! Incredible! We want to know more.”

  They could hear laughter and applause in the background and heard it become intermittent and softer after Mr. Bounder turned to his right and left, asking everyone to be quiet.

  “A20590X told us you are working on a dictionary of the language of the beings you encountered and need to be together during your long voyage home in order to do that work as efficiently as possible.

  “As you know, our original idea was that, if both of you survived and returned together, you would travel separately so that, if the voyage home proved hazardous, then at least one of you would survive. But, as you also know, we are flexible in our thinking and do not regard that plan or any other plan as having been carved in stone.

  “Given the fact that you have a baby to care for and important work to do, work that needs to be done while the memories of what you experienced and learned are fresh, we agree that you need to travel together.