“Oh, really?” said Arlette. “Does anyone recognise it?”
“Undoubtedly French,” said Marcel, gazing rather affectionately into his glass and sniffing. “A hint of the noble ‘Prune’.”
“Sorry to disappoint you hooch Aficionados, but it’s the latest innovation from Freddy Jones at the farmyard. Apparently it’s made from fermented vitamin supplements. He found they had a mouldy batch and decided to do something useful with it.” The party broke up shortly afterwards.
Arlette was as economical with the facts as usual in her announcement to the crew about LDST 2. She announced the discovery of the wormhole, and the exciting prospect of a connection with Andromeda, but did not mention the destruction of the alien satellite, nor the corralling of an asteroid as a pre-emptive defence measure. There was general agreement in the command team that the less time the crew spent speculating about the significance of the alien satellite and the wisdom of destroying it, the better. She did, however, announce the successful deployment of the Prometheus probe sent to explore LDST 2 and of the satellite to monitor communications activity in it.
In the canteen, however, the words ‘we are not alone’ pervaded almost all discussions. While the response, to the effect that ‘statistically we always knew that’, was what everyone said, it was not what all of them felt. The unexpectedness of the discovery, and its proximity to their own planned activities, was deeply unnerving to some. The statement from the Navigation department regarding the absence of any detectable alien presence in the Omega 16 solar system was also hardly reassuring, particularly during the 16-6 fly-by. No one seeing the scale of the planet and the number and variety of its moons could pretend that it would not be possible to hide an alien spaceship there, or in the vicinity of the other gas giant, planet 16-5, for that matter.
Discussion groups were set up by the psychology section to deal with these concerns, and while these did help to counter the general feeling of unease, there was a lingering mood of insecurity which tainted the euphoria of discovery. The emphasis of command attention now turned towards rocky planet 16-3, which was growing visibly from the spec that had appeared after the slingshot manoeuvre. The ship’s telescope revealed a planet remarkably similar to Earth, bathed in a predominantly blue hue, with oceans, clouds and land masses, and with every day that passed the telescopic images improved in detail until it became clear that there was indeed life on 16-3.
As Prometheus approached its rendezvous with 16-3, anxiety declined and excitement mounted. It was a time of intense activity on board, for most of the crew had to prepare to respond to conditions and situations never encountered before, and they devoured all the relevant data that poured in from the ship’s sensors.
Sanam watched the beautiful planet steadily growing in her external view projection as she dressed for the task of piloting Prometheus into orbit around 16-3. Her co-pilot would be Tim Cochran – not her preferred choice. She detested his seat-of-the-pants style while secretly respecting his reaction speed and intuition. She would leave it to him to line up the ship’s approach, then she would take over and refine its entry into a stable planetary orbit. It would be a truly historic moment and she relished it.
“Good morning, Tim,” she said as she mounted the flight deck. He was in the process of taking over from Arun and apparently unhappy with booster fuel levels. “Look,” Arun was saying. “We’ve had to take off a lot of speed and we’ve had two large moons to contend with. Also, one of the solar panels has been operating below par. You’ve got enough juice to get in and we’ll have loads of time to recharge once we’re in orbit.”
“Hi, Sanam,” said Tim, turning around briefly. “Your man here has barely left us a sniff in the tank.”
“My man?” said Sanam, looking over Arun appreciatively as if for the first time. He stood there, intent on pursuing the debate about fuel levels, but the power and beauty of the woman captured him again, just as it had before. Finally, and without taking his eyes off her, he said over his shoulder, “Tim, Sanam will apply her usual grace and skill to bring the ship into an orbit of utmost perfection, with barely a touch on the booster button”, and he smiled a glorious smile at her. Tim Cochran snorted.
A couple of hours later, as Sanam completed her checks and took over control, the trajectory of Prometheus was almost perfect. She made minor corrections to the attitude of the ship, issued a general warning to the crew to prepare for deceleration, and fired the boosters. Her touch was, as ever, perfect. She cut the power, checked her orbit data, and, with a large grin on her face, announced, “Prometheus is in stable orbit. Welcome, everyone, to planet Omega 16-3.”
21
Planet Omega 16-3
The process of detailed mapping of the surface was now begun by the Navigation department. This meant that the ship’s telescope was not accessible to other crew members, and they had to content themselves with the external view projection where they were working or relaxing. One detail, however, escaped no one’s attention – the dark side of the planet was completely devoid of any lights. Whatever the state of development of animal life on Omega 16-3, it did not include an advanced civilisation. This was, of course, no surprise to the command team of Prometheus, since the pre-flight probe had confirmed it, but it did set the thoughts of the rest of the crew onto another track: the subject of monsters in general, and in particular the type of monsters that had inhabited Earth prior to the arrival of mammals. These fears were not alleviated when Arlette announced the selection of a landing site.
“Navigation has completed its initial survey of the surface of planet Omega 16-3”, she said, “and selected a landing site for our first mission onto the surface. The length of a day is forty-two hours on average, the planet takes just under 600 days to orbit Omega 16, gravity is 1.2G, atmospheric pressure is typically 1.1 bar, and the northern hemisphere is currently in late summer. We have chosen a northerly site so as to take advantage of the longer days, and the average daytime temperatures will be a very pleasant 24 degrees. However, temperatures do drop to about 4 degrees at night. The location of the site is on a promontory on the eastern end of a continental land mass. We have chosen this in order to more easily control any animal life that may show an interest in us. The surveys conducted so far show herds of quite large animals moving around on the surface, and we shall want to disturb them as little as possible. The vegetation appears similar in type and scale to our own. I know you are all tired of the name Omega 16-3, and we will give our new planet a more appropriate name once we know a bit more about it. I’ll take any suggestions you may have into consideration. The first mission to land an exploratory team will depart in two days. It will be crewed mostly by our militia and a construction team, and its task will be to set up a base camp. I will keep you all informed as exploration progresses.”
The command team dinner that evening was a positively festive affair and included all the section heads.
Inevitably the discussion centred more on the forthcoming exploration than on-board issues. Freddy Jones set off the first real argument when he said how much he was looking forward to tucking into his first dinosaur steak, after all the bland protein composites his department had been serving up for the last few months.
“How could you be so irresponsible, Freddy?!” shrieked Hannah. “Our digestive systems have no chance of coping with extra-terrestrial meat, let alone the bacteria and viruses that will be present! Yuk!”
“Oh, nonsense, Hannah. The roasting will take care of all that, and we have perfectly edible dinosaurs on Earth – crocodiles to start with, not to mention all the excellent birds that have descended from them.”
“Commander, I absolutely insist that no extra-terrestrial animal products are eaten before they have been examined in our path labs,” said Hannah firmly.
“What about fish?” asked Henri. “We’re next to the water and there should be plenty around.”
“Well, let’s start with the water,” said Hannah. “You may not touch it u
ntil it has been analysed for poisons and bacteria. I’ll give one of your men a test kit and train him how to work it. If it’s OK, you’ll be able to use it after it’s been distilled. You can then try small fish after they’ve been cleaned and boiled.”
“Boiled?” asked Shinji Yamamoto with a look of horror. “If we are the vanguard of civilisation, how could we do something so barbarous?”
“Oh, don’t try and play the ethnic card with me,” said Hannah, ignoring the grins on the faces around her. “I like my sashimi as much as anyone, but we must not underestimate the potential risks of impulsive behaviour, which, I can tell you from painful experience, is not uncommon among soldiers.”
“Good thing you weren’t around when our ancestors came down from the trees, Hannah,” said Marcel.
“Oh don’t you start! I’ve said my bit.” She folded her arms and stared straight ahead.
Arlette intervened. “Freddy, what do you make of the pictures you’ve seen of the animal life down there?”
“It’s actually pretty primitive, from what I’ve seen. They’re quite large but don’t move like the quadrupeds we know, or the bipeds for that matter. What’s more, they don’t seem to form random herds – they are more structured, like insects.”
“Insects?!” cried Julia in alarm. “Oh God!”
“Aw shucks!” said Genes. “I was just coming to terms with dinosaur steaks and boiled fish, now we’re on to cockroach fritters.”
“Could be very good,” said Shinji, “nice and crunchy!” Chang nodded in agreement, rather too eagerly.
Cobus Vermeulen had said nothing so far, but he had seen substantially more detailed footage than anyone else and now he opened up. “Freddy is right. Most of the creatures I’ve seen resemble insects, but some of them are really big. Many are carnivorous; I have seen them feeding on the carcasses of other animals. And there are plenty that are airborne. There are variations from one part of the planet to another and from one type of vegetation to the next. It’s a well-developed ecosystem, but it seems to lack the variety we have on Earth. I’ve seen nothing that could be mammalian, or reptilian for that matter.”
“Why would that be?” Arlette asked him. “This planet is about the same age as ours. Why would the product of evolution be different?”
“Well, one explanation could be that their history of catastrophic events could be different. Animal life on Earth had to keep adapting to changes which favoured the emergence of different species. Perhaps Omega 16-3 has had a quieter life.”
“I think Cobus is right on the ball,” said Freddy, “although I don’t get the absence of amphibians. It doesn’t make sense. There’s plenty of water around. Not as much as on Earth, but plenty to breed life.”
“Amphibians were only transitory on Earth,” said Marcel. “When they crawled out of the sea they turned into something else. Maybe the first amphibians became insects here and just stayed like that.”
“Something else I’ve noticed,” went on Cobus. “The moons. They’re both practically devoid of craters. That could mean that there were no asteroid strikes of any significance in the history of the planet.”
“OK. So where did the water come from?” Julia wanted to know. Cobus spread his hands, palms upwards and shrugged. “The pre-life phase of the planet’s history?”
“Whatever the origin of the life forms we are about to meet,” said Henri, “we are going to have to deal with what is here. Our job is to establish a secure base for colonisation by our own species. Our track record on Earth has been to wipe out everything that got in our way. Are we likely to be any different here?”
“God, I hope so,” said Julia.
“That’s the second time you’ve invoked God tonight, Julia. I’m not so sure ethics has a lot to say when we are colonising a planet to save our civilisation,” said Marcel.
“Well, Marcel, it might surprise you but I agree,” she replied. “However, we all know that the impact of changing one part of an ecological balance can have dire consequences for other parts. So let’s think it through before we spray the planet with DDT. My ethics have nothing to do with religion. They are just about getting it right to ensure success.”
“OK, OK, let’s deal with the immediate issues,” said Henri. “Something tells me that we are going to have to establish our presence on this planet with a certain amount of force. We will need to protect ourselves, our territory and our crops if necessary. As civilisation expands here, it will deny habitat to the indigenous species. To Julia’s point, the success of the mission is paramount. We will try and avoid the mistakes we made on Earth, but we will prevail with force if necessary.”
“So you want a hunting licence, Colonel Bertin?” asked Arlette.
Henri leaned back, folded his arms, and looked at her askance. He was getting tired of being the only one in the group whom she insisted on addressing by his formal title. It made him, and most of the others, uncomfortable, not least because it drew attention to earlier events that were none of their business.
“You are welcome to call me Henri, Commander,” he said with a condescending smile, “and yes, we shall be armed and must be authorised to use our weapons as and when the need arises.”
Arlette surveyed the others for signs of disagreement and saw none. “Very well – Henri,” she said, a little hint of triumph in her eye.
For the next two days the ship was a hive of activity, not only in the bay where the preparation for the launch of the excursion vehicle Lander 1 was going on, but almost every working component was inspected and tested. Shutdown of the induced gravity system for maintenance added to the generally festive mood as preparations were not as rigorous as they should have been, and there were a lot of unsecured items floating around which easily became the subject of improvised games.
Sanam and Arun, free of the duty roster as they now were, retired to Sanam’s quarters and carried out the most comprehensive exploration of weightless sex that they could devise. They were not alone in this sort of activity. Sanam had made no secret of her historic wormhole tryst among her girlfriends, so that a significant portion of the crew knew by now that here was an experience not to be missed if at all possible. A quite remarkable relaxation of the normal professional distance between crew members developed very quickly, resulting in numerous hastily forged new relationships.
Arlette detected a noticeable decline in the responsiveness of the ship’s leaders to her calls. She had been trying to reach Julia for nearly two hours when she finally got a rather dreamy “Hello?” response from her instead of the usual crisp “Commander?!”
“I want to discuss the excursion roster with you, Julia.”
“Oh,” said Julia. It wasn’t quite the response Arlette was looking for.
“So, do you think you could tear yourself away from whatever it is that currently has your attention, and drop by my office?”
There was a strange noise over the earphone that Arlette did not recognise, but then the system was designed to translate thoughts into words, not other emotions. Still, it did sound remarkably like a giggle.
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” said Julia, “about [giggle].”
Julia floated into Arlette’s office twenty-five minutes later, freshly primped, and secured herself. “Sorry, Commander” she said. “I had a bit of difficulty with the zero-gravity shower. It leaked all over the place.”
“Perhaps it was set up for someone taller?” suggested Arlette, rather unkindly.
Julia flushed. It was really very sloppy of her to be unprepared for a dig like that. She knew that Arlette was extremely perceptive, despite her cool demeanour. “Er, I don’t know. I’ll get it adjusted,” she said, looking around.
“Well,” said Arlette, examining her screen with a wan smile, “I’m glad you’ve been extending your weightless navigation skills. Can we please discuss this excursion roster that Bertin has put together?” She looked up at Julia and in an instant she knew. ‘God, she’s been fucking that faithl
ess bastard,’ she said to herself, and her face hardened.
Julia picked up a tablet, flicked to the roster, and regained her composure. “I think you should be on the first excursion,” she said. “I know it sounds a bit like a re-take on Christopher Columbus, but you have to do the historic moments. It’s your duty and your destiny.”
“I want this to be truly a team accomplishment,” said Arlette. “I have no time for ceremony and you know it.”
“Yes, but you cannot downplay the arrival of the first humans on an alien planet. You can be as modest as you like with your crew. They know you and they respect you. But you will disappoint them and let yourself down if you don’t step up to this moment.” Julia meant it. She was amazed that Henri’s roster showed Arlette visiting on the third landing only, but she did not want to raise his name again.
“Bertin is concerned with safety and security,” said Arlette, reading her mind. “He doesn’t want to risk the Commander’s arrival being just a muddy accident.”
“Bullshit!” said Julia. “The excursion vehicle is as robust as anything we have on this mission. It can land anywhere – on water if necessary – and it can easily move to another landing site if we don’t like the first one we’ve chosen. You have to take the first step onto that planet, just as soon as it’s been declared safe to do so.”
“OK, so who should be the next one out?”
“Bertin, of course,” was Julia’s prompt reply. “He must immediately secure the landing site with his militia. Only then can we allow the botanists and biologists to start looking around.”
“OK. Any other suggestions?”
“Yes,” said Julia. “I don’t think Ghorashian is the right choice of pilot. She’s showy and an individualist. Tim Cochran is much more of a pilots’ pilot. I’d trust him to get us out of an unexpected situation any time. The rest of them, well, they’re maintenance people with a job to do assembling the base.”
Omnipotence: Book I: Odyssey Page 15