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Resurgence hu-5

Page 13

by Charles Sheffield


  He said hurriedly, “Has Ben been pushing you, trying to persuade you that it’s time for him to take over?”

  “No. But while you and he were finishing your food, Lara asked for a few minutes alone with me. There’s no such thing as privacy on the Savior except in the bunks and the bathroom, and you and Ben would both have noticed if Lara and I went there together. The only time we had was when Ben helped you to generate the display of results. But that was enough. Her message came through loud and clear.”

  “Let me guess. She’s nervous about going down to Iceworld.”

  “Hans, you have it about as wrong as you could get. But I would have been wrong, too, if she hadn’t told me her feelings. She says that before our trip to the dead planet she was nervous and unsure of herself, so she accepted that Ben was her senior in the survival team and she let him take the lead in everything. But she feels that she performed well when we were down on the surface.”

  “She’s right. Better than well, perfectly. Neither she nor Ben put a foot wrong. Old Arabella would be proud of them.”

  “And Lara knows it, at least for herself. But she claims to have seen flaws in the speed and accuracy of Ben’s actions. When I told her I hadn’t noticed any such thing, she said I wouldn’t since I didn’t have special training. She could tell the difference. And because of that she was asking me for my help.”

  “Why didn’t she come to me? I’m the one in charge.” Hans asked from curiosity rather than hurt ego.

  “My question, too. She said that you are only in charge for the moment. As soon as we are down on the surface of Iceworld, Ben will take over.”

  “She’s right. Graves insisted on it. A jackass decision, but we have to live with it.”

  “If Lara is right, we’re as likely to die with it. She says that we have never seen Ben when he’s on top. He won’t take no for an answer from me, or from you. She has—seen him on top, I mean.”

  “I can imagine it.” Hans had a sudden memory of Darya on top, which had not happened in more than two years and was a thought that made no sense at all when a man was trying to focus on more serious matters. He added, “Ben’s a take-charge sort of individual. That’s not a bad thing—provided the person knows what he’s doing.”

  “You think Ben doesn’t?”

  “I think Ben can’t possibly, but that’s no reflection on him. Some things you gain by experience and in no other way.”

  “Hans, you have all the experience we need. I’d rather Ben didn’t try to get his experience at our expense.”

  They were face to face to hear more easily the other’s whispers. Darya’s breath was warm, and on the word “expense” her lips brushed against his face. To stay on the narrow bunk her whole body had to be in contact with his. He was aware of her all the way from his head to his toes. Despite the total darkness she had to be equally aware of his body’s ill-timed reaction.

  Hans told himself to think pure thoughts. Think depressing, think about the frozen and dead world that they had come from, think about what might face them tomorrow. Think about anything, except Darya pressing close to him. He said, “We have a job to do. We have to teach Ben without his ever knowing that he’s being taught. It won’t be easy, because we have no experience ourselves of anything like Iceworld. That isn’t my biggest worry, though.”

  “So what is? I didn’t get the feeling from listening to you that you were expecting danger on Iceworld.”

  “Then that’s a failing on my part. The leader of a party should always expect danger. I hope Ben Blesh’s survival training included that detail. Don’t worry, I won’t be relaxing too far. But Ben’s actions are not what most concern me. My big worry is Lara.”

  “Lara? She’s not the bossy one. And you just told me that she was doing a perfect job.”

  “She was, and she is. But from what you told me, as soon as we arrive on Iceworld she will feel that she has to prove she’s as good as Ben Blesh—and maybe better. It’s when people want to prove themselves that they do silly things and get into trouble. My job will be to spot any show-off action ahead of time. If I don’t, the hardest task will be to prevent Lara from starting something.”

  “I understand.” Darya eased away from him. “Hans, my hardest task right now is to prevent you from starting something. You mustn’t feel rejected, but this isn’t the best time and place.”

  “Will there ever be a better one? It’s been more than two years.”

  “I’m aware of that. Maybe more aware of it than you are.”

  Darya did not suggest, as he knew she had every right to, that their two-year separation was the result of Hans’s own efforts to overturn the repressive government of the Phemus Circle. She had not pointed out that any visit by her to him would have been blocked by that same government. She had never criticized him for pursuing a lost cause. For herself, she had not left Sentinel Gate for as much as a single day, and if at any time he had made the effort to come and see her, she would have been ready and waiting.

  Any time but now. The bunk creaked as she rolled sideways off it. Hans felt a hand exploring his face in the darkness, tasted a soft kiss on the lips, and heard a whispered, “There will be a better time. Goodnight.”

  Hans was alone again. He drew in a deep breath and told his body to relax. He repeated his own mantra: When you have something to do, do it. When you have nothing to do, sleep. When you have something to do, do it. When you have nothing to do, sleep.

  Sometimes, repeated mantras are not enough. Sometimes, self-discipline fails. Hans remained awake. He stared into the darkness and imagined possible dangers on the surface of Iceworld. Half an hour later, his mind remained blank and he was still as far from sleep as ever.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Iceworld

  After a thousand planetfalls one more should have little to offer, even if it happened to be in a different arm of the galaxy.

  Hans puzzled over his own reactions. He had landed on objects ranging in size from minor planetoids to monster worlds twice the diameter of Iceworld. So why the feeling that this was a new experience?

  He looked ahead to the broad curve of the planet, felt the pulse of the Savior’s drive, listened for the whistle of air on the ship’s hull, and knew the answer. Anything the size of Iceworld ought to be a massive object, well able to hold on to an atmosphere. This place wasn’t massive, and the surface was utterly airless. The ship was descending through hard vacuum, riding a drive operating at only a fraction of full power.

  The more Hans thought about Darya’s plan, the less he was persuaded that it could work as easily as she suggested. Accept that the world a few kilometers below the ship was hollow. Assume that somehow they would be able to penetrate the featureless exterior and reach the interior. But now consider that interior. A world with a diameter of seventy-eight thousand kilometers had a volume of two hundred and fifty trillion cubic kilometers. The old “needle in a haystack” image didn’t begin to describe it. You could wander a space that size for the rest of your life, and never come close to what you were looking for—even if you knew what you were looking for.

  Which, as even Darya readily admitted to him in private if not in public, she did not. She was hoping to find sentient Builder artifacts similar to those they had met inside worlds of the Orion Arm. They had been able to communicate with them, even if the information provided was usually cryptic enough to be more baffling than useful.

  Last night’s whispered session might have ended in sexual frustration, but it had also produced a positive result. Darya and Hans were more at ease with each other now than at any time since his arrival at Upside Miranda Port. Both of them were keeping a close eye on Lara and Ben.

  Not that Ben would be easy to miss. As the Savior descended, he hovered at Hans’s shoulder. Was he going to shout, “Right. Now it’s my turn,” the moment that the ship touched down?

  Not quite that bad. As soon as the Savior made contact, feather-light on the frigid surface (courtesy of the
autopilot—Hans had learned his lesson), Ben said, “Exit stations, but hold it there. This is a totally alien world. We look, and then we look again before we leap.”

  The landing site had been selected with as much care as possible, given an almost total lack of information. The most promising areas were the nodes, regularly spaced in a triangular grid on the surface and connected by narrow lines of what seemed to be the same material. It made sense to land on top of a grid patch, since they were composed of familiar Builder materials. If Darya were correct, the Savior could then generate an electromagnetic field inhibitor which would allow an individual, or even the whole ship itself, to sink into the unknown interior of Iceworld. On the other hand, those grid areas were also the places where the probing laser had produced a flash like orange fire. Maybe it made more sense to land on the cold and inert spaces between the grid points.

  Hans had made the decision—perhaps the last decision he would be allowed to make until they left Iceworld. They would bring the Savior down on the frozen plain, just a couple of kilometers from the edge of a grid patch. They would keep the drive in full stand-by mode. In a few seconds it could propel the ship forward onto the nearby grid point area, or loft it at high acceleration back into space.

  Until touchdown, everyone had been in full suits and in Emergency Mode position. At Ben’s order to take up exit stations, Lara moved to stand by the airlock. She did not walk so much as float. Hans estimated from the response of his own body that weight on Iceworld was just a few hundredths of the inter-clade standard. Walking would be easy, running impossible. Let’s hope they wouldn’t need the latter.

  The view on all sides did nothing to suggest danger. Iceworld appeared as a black, featureless plain with a horizon so far away that it showed as a ruled straight line below which no stars were visible. The temperature sensors in contact with the surface failed to report any value whatsoever. The surface conductivity was so high that the ship’s instruments could not offer a measurement. The whole exterior of Iceworld formed one giant superconductor. That solved one possible problem that had occurred to Hans while they were still in orbit. No matter how slippery the surface might be, a walking person could gain a firm footing through an electromagnetic field in the extremities of the suit.

  They watched and waited, expecting nothing and seeing nothing. It was Lara who at last said, “Well?”

  There was more than a suggestion of “What are we waiting for?” in her tone. Hans would have ignored her while he watched all the instruments through a second and confirming set of negative readings, but Ben glanced at Hans, shrugged, and said, “We’re in no hurry. However, I authorize you to cycle the lock and step outside. One step. Then we wait and see how your suit readings run.”

  Lara was cycling the inner door before Ben finished speaking. The hard vacuum on Iceworld made it in effect an exit into open space. The Savior’s cameras in the airlock and outside recorded Lara’s passage through the inner door, then there was a brief wait while that door closed and the outer one opened with a puff of air condensing to ice crystals. As Lara appeared, Hans at once referred to the monitors that provided all-around surveillance of the surface. He still sat in the pilot’s chair, his hands instinctively hovering over the controls, but there was no reason to take action. Everything remained calm and dark.

  “One step, and all’s well.” Lara was equally calm. “Are you receiving the readings from my suit?”

  Ben nodded, then apparently realized that Lara had no video feed from inside the ship. “Yes, we’re receiving. Everything is nominal.”

  “I’m testing the surface traction, and it’s adequate. Walking should be easy. Should I test my suit’s cancellation field?”

  “No. Definitely not. For one thing, you are not above a grid point area, so we would expect nothing to happen. On the other hand, if it did, the last thing we want is for you to sink down alone through the surface. When we penetrate the interior, we all do it together.”

  “Then I request authorization to take trial steps on the surface.”

  “Very well. You should move directly toward the grid point, which is at thirty degrees to the right of your present suit vector. But wait for word from me before you begin.” This time Ben had not looked at Hans before giving his answer. Now he said, “Captain Rebka, I am going onto the surface also.” Before Hans could object, Ben added, “This is not a matter for discussion. I will follow Specialist Quistner, but well behind her. You will move the Savior to keep up with us, and the ship will at no time be more than ten steps away from me.”

  Which if you get in trouble might as well be ten lightyears for all the good I can probably do you. Hans said, “Very well. Ten steps away from you until you give other instructions.”

  As Ben Blesh vanished through the inner door, Darya motioned to Hans to turn off his radio transmitter and moved to place her suit helmet into contact with his.

  “Hans, what does he think he’s doing?”

  “He’s afraid that Lara is handling everything, and he won’t get his share of the action. Don’t worry. Give him a few more years, and he’ll be willing to offer his share to anyone who’ll take it.”

  “He could be putting two people in danger instead of one.”

  “That sounds more like my line than yours. But so far, Iceworld doesn’t seem to offer enough danger for even one. I hope you are right about the interior, because I’ve never seen anything deader than the outside. Here he comes. I have to turn my transmitter back on.”

  Ben was emerging from the outer lock to stand by Lara Quistner. He waved, knowing that Rebka would be watching on the monitors, and closed the lock door. As Ben turned away, Hans instinctively operated the lock door again and set it to its widest opening. Ben did not seem to notice. He said, “All right, Lara. Go ahead.”

  Her suited figure, illuminated by one of the Savior’s outside searchlights, headed away from Ben Blesh and the ship. The plain on which she moved reflected no light, so that she appeared to walk on nothing. Ben waited until she had taken at least fifty steps, then followed. Hans in turn allowed ten paces, then eased the bulk of the Savior after Blesh’s suited figure. The delicate balance of gravity and thrust would have been difficult for a human, but the autopilot made it child’s play. Hans was free to attempt the difficult task of keeping his attention on three things at once: Lara Quistner, moving in a straight line toward the invisible grid patch; Ben Blesh, following; and the view all around the Savior provided by the ship’s monitors.

  Hans wondered if Ben realized that Lara was steadily increasing the distance between them. Probably not. The view from within a suit was never all that good. Hans could tell what was happening, because his vantage point at the Savior’s controls placed him much higher. If what Darya had told him last night was true, Lara wanted the feeling that she was exploring a new world alone, without Ben’s authority to follow and annoy her.

  Whatever the reason, it was still a damn fool thing for her to do and Ben needed to know about it. Hans was about to send word on what was happening when a flicker of light caught his peripheral vision.

  It was the faintest gleam of blue, a dust devil far off to the right that ran across the plain and was gone before you could be sure you saw it at all. Staring in that direction, nothing was visible but the black-hole light-absorbing surface of Iceworld. Hans had no idea how far away the flicker had been. He looked across at the readings from the ship’s scanners. They had not reported any signal at all.

  Imagination?

  People did not accuse Hans of an excess of imagination—quite the opposite. Was he letting the spooky silence and dark of Iceworld get to him?

  “Ben, and Lara. Do you realize that Lara is getting farther ahead?”

  “I don’t think that’s true.” Lara sounded confident and a little too cocky. “I think I’m holding a steady distance. This is interesting. When you get close enough and can look at things from close to a grazing angle, you actually see the edge of the grid point area. It gl
ows a pale green.”

  Ben said at once, “Lara, I am in charge of this exploration party. I don’t want you to go any closer, no matter how interesting you think something is. Stay right there until I catch up. That is an order.”

  An order from Ben, which Lara surely didn’t wish to hear. She said, “Very well,” but the signal from her suit gave Hans an accurate range-rate reading. She was moving as fast as ever. The edge of the circular grid patch was no more than a hundred meters in front of her.

  Hans didn’t want to get into the middle of a two-person power struggle, but he had no choice. If Ben was to serve as chief of the party, he must know what was going on.

  “Ben, I’m holding the Savior a steady ten paces behind you. But Lara hasn’t stopped. The distance between you is still increasing.”

  Another flash of blue distracted him during his final words. This time it came from the left, brighter than the last one. He could follow its trace, beginning well behind the Savior and rippling along a straight line that led toward the grid point boundary. Or to Lara? It was impossible to say.

  Hans turned off his radio and leaned across to Darya. “Did you see it?”

  “Yes.” Darya was in the co-pilot’s seat. “What is it?”

  “I hoped you could tell me.” Hans turned his radio back on and kept his voice calm and dispassionate. “This is Captain Rebka. Professor Lang and I are detecting some kind of unknown activity on the surface. Senior Specialists Blesh and Quistner, I strongly urge both of you to return at once to the Savior. I then propose that we lift off and hold a safe altitude until we know what we are dealing with.”

  “Captain Rebka, what is the nature of the activity?”

  Wrong response. When you think there might be danger, you run first and ask questions later.

  Hans said, “It resembles a blue will-o’-the-wisp or dust devil, similar to what we noticed from orbit in the track of our laser.”

  “I saw it!” Lara had finally halted, maybe fifty paces from the grid patch. “Ben, it ran right past me on an angle and merged into the green around the edge of the grid. Where the blue met the green I saw a kind of rainbow burst of light. Could you see it from where you are?”

 

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