by Hal Clement
Montaux shook his head, at the same time making the negative hand gesture habitual to people who spent much of their time in spacesuits. “I’ve just come on—been here less than five minutes. I was a little late getting to work myself.” For that, incidentally, no one ever criticized Montaux. He eyed the array of badges on Rick’s shirt, estimating his general competence level by the area they covered without actually reading any of them. After all, for anybody of Rick’s age to be unqualified was rare enough, and for anybody unqualified to try to go outside was unheard of. “How long ago would they have left?” Montaux asked.
“Only a few minutes. We were meeting here at eight.”
“Then they can’t be far ahead. If your suit is ready you can catch them easily. I’ll do your tightness checks.”
To Rick’s credit, he never tried to blame Pierre for the misadventure on the strength of those remarks. Some people would have claimed that without Pierre’s suggestions, it never would have occurred to the boy to go out. But exactly that had previously occurred to Rick, and he never denied it. Probably the one biggest mistake, of course, was made when he walked silently to the numbered locker his uncle had told him would contain his suit, and pulled it out.
He donned it quickly and correctly under the attendant’s eye—and who, Jim Talles asked the world later, would have foreseen that the earlier training session thus would turn out to be a mistake?
If Rick had been slow or clumsy, if Pierre Montaux had had the slightest grounds for suspecting Rick Suspee never before had ventured into vacuum … But there was nothing to warn Pierre. The suit went on smoothly. It fitted correctly. Rick attached helmet and gauntlets properly, did the proper things to seal them. He made the proper signals to request tightness check, said the right things over the radio for the communications check. He strode over to the inner lock door, deftly operated the cycling switch, and waited until the inner light flashed green before opening the portal. There was nothing to show that he had not done it all a score, even a hundred, times before.
Montaux let him through, checked the manual seal on the inside after the door closed, and gestured a “proceed” through the transparent wall. The outer door’s light was now green. Rick operated its plainly labeled opening switch, went through, closed it, and disappeared from the sight of Pierre Montaux. And, for many hours, from the sight of mankind.
Rick felt uneasy, certainly. He knew that neither his mother nor his uncle would have approved. But it did not occur to him that the Footprints members might not approve either when he caught up with them; otherwise he might have turned back right then. It did not occur to him, either, that he was in any real danger. The crowd could not be far ahead, and the way would be plain enough. After all, he had spent hours with the maps in his uncle’s study. He could have drawn from memory one showing the way to Picard GA.
He looked around to orient himself. Wilsonburg lies mostly under the hills southeast of Taruntius X at about 51.3 degrees east and 7.6 north on the standard Lunar coordinate system. The nearest point of Mare Crisium is about fifty miles to the northeast. The North-Down Lock opens on the broad but irregular plain of Taruntius X; as the names imply, North-Middle and North-Up open higher on the slope bordering the same plain. From where he stood, Rick could see about ten miles across the slightly rolling and heavily dimpled surface to the western hills, and even farther to the northwest and almost around to north, where the same mass of hills that contained Wilsonburg rose to block the view. His path, he knew, lay to the north past the foot of those hills to a valley that led to Picard-G and which should be visible, if map contours meant anything, from where he stood.
Maybe it was, but so were several other notches and valleys. Choice would have to be made. He made the most obvious one, but first tried his communicator.
“Marie! Aichi! Any of the Footprints! Are you in range? Can you hear me?”
He waited only a few seconds. He had not really expected an answer. He would pick them up—or they would pick him up—when he got around the spur of the hills.
He looked about him once more for other direction criteria. The Sun was too high in the west—about fifty degrees—to be a precise guide, he judged. The same was true of Earth, which was too close to the Sun to be seen easily, anyway. The stars? He moved back into the shadow of the sheet-metal roof that kept direct sunlight from the “porch” of the lock and found that he could see the brighter ones. The Big Dipper looked just as it did from home, and the Pointers guided his eye downward and leftward to Polaris just above the horizon—of course! He was much closer to the Moon’s equator than Boston is to Earth’s. One of the notches in the far hills lay directly under the star, and Rick, after examining as well as he could the ground between himself and that distant valley, set out toward it.
* * *
Evelyn Suspee woke about nine-thirty with a feeling of guilt. She had meant to get Rick up in time for his trip. Finding that he had already gone, however, she put the matter out of mind. She did not mention his departure to Edna, who seemed too concerned about her husband’s absence at the mine, anyway, to worry about much else. As a result, no one missed Rick until he had been gone for eleven hours.
The Footprints group arrived at North-Down about a quarter to eight. No one knew quite what to do about Rick’s failure to show up. By their own standards anyone who missed an appointment “inside” had only himself to blame—it was different, of course, outside. After discussion and some grumbling, it was decided that maybe Rick’s tardiness was not his fault entirely, and that his home should be called to find out why he had skipped the expedition. Evelyn Suspee was in when the call arrived.
It took her several seconds to grasp that Rick was unaccounted for since leaving the Talles home. The realization had the principal effects of a firecracker—much noise but little else. Emerging from the explosion of words, though, was Mrs. Suspee’s assumption that Rick was somewhere outside.
Marie D’Nombu, on the other end of the circuit, had not thought of any such possibility. She did not think it a likely one now that it had been suggested. In any case she felt sure that calming Mrs. Suspee was more important at the moment than eliciting mere truth.
“Wait, please,” Marie urged. Soothingly she continued, “Let’s say Rick did get here eleven or twelve hours early. Even so, I don’t see how he could possibly have been stupid enough to go outside by himself. Besides, they wouldn’t have let him. He must have realized his error about the time—probably then he wandered off into town. Maybe he hiked over to the mine to see what sort of trouble Chief Jim was having. We’ll call him—Rick could still be at the mine. More likely he’s simply lost somewhere in town. They didn’t start building tunnels on a nice regular plan here until a few of the early lodes had been followed pretty far, and a stranger can get mixed up pretty easily, I’d think.”
Marie’s words calmed Rick’s stepmother considerably. She had had trouble more than once herself finding her way back to the Talles unit from the shopping areas.
At Marie’s request, Mrs. Suspee called her sister to the screen. Edna had overheard most of the conversation and understood the situation. She assured Marie that Jim Talles was still at the mine and gave her his visiphone combination. The girl broke the connection and immediately called Talles.
It took several minutes to reach him. He was far out in one of the work tunnels, available through portable relay equipment. This had voice connection only; he could not see who was calling and did not at first recognize Marie’s voice.
The girl concisely reported the state of affairs. Talles’ first reaction was to worry more about Mrs. Suspee than his nephew. He agreed with Marie that the boy was probably somewhere inside Wilsonburg and was grateful for her efforts to convince the woman of that.
“I think I can get away from here shortly,” he said. “Maybe in half an hour. Meanwhile, find out who was on duty at North-Down when Rick got there, and see if the kid said anything about where he was going when he learned he was early. Th
en call me back.”
“Orm is checking with the lock watch right now,” Marie answered. “I should have word for you in a few minutes. Do you want me to call Mrs. Suspee again if I learn anything?”
Talles thought for only a moment.
“Call her if you’re sure he’s inside, not otherwise.”
“I understand.” Marie broke the connection and turned to the others. “Is Orm back?”
“Here he comes,” Aichi said.
“Orm, who was on when Rick got here?”
“Don’t know yet,” Orm replied breathlessly. “Del Petvar is on duty now. He says he was here twelve hours ago, went off just after eight, and Rick hadn’t shown up by that time. Del was relieved by Pierre Montaux, but we can’t get hold of him. He went off duty four hours ago and still isn’t home. At least, he doesn’t answer the visiphone.”
“He could be home and too sound asleep to have heard the call,” pointed out someone in the crowd.
“That’s possible,” agreed Aichi. “Who knows where he lives? Is it far from here?”
None of the group knew either answer but Petvar, whom they consulted, was able to supply the information. Montaux’s unit was about ten minutes’ walk away. Without further discussion Marie rushed off.
Aichi cast a worried look after her and then another at the nearest clock. This Earth kid was holding things up badly. They should be well on the way out to Pic G by now if the work was to be accomplished.
But he waited. Confirmation of Rick’s whereabouts was essential. There was just that chance, a slim one but still a chance, that the fellow was actually outside. If so, the problems would be such that everything else would just have to sit in vacuum for a while.
Then it occurred to him that the group might as well suit up in any case. They would be going out soon if Rick Suspee were found inside—and certainly if he were reported outside.
* * *
Marie was back before they had finished their tightness checks. Orm Hoffman, who had not yet donned his helmet, blurted, “Montaux was home?”
She nodded grimly.
“He got there just as I did. He’s been at a show. He told me Rick suited up around nine, thinking he was late instead of early. Montaux let him go outside to chase after us. Rick didn’t return during Montaux’s shift and we know Petvar hasn’t seen him. So Rick must still be outside.”
“Wow!”
Marie continued, “I called Jim Talles from Montaux’s place. The Chief is on his way. To save time he’s taking a crawler from NEM instead of walking. His orders are that we’re to get outside as quickly as we can. Aichi, you’re in charge until he gets here. We’re to send two of us along the trail to the north. As soon as they’re outside the trampled area, they’re to check for prints Rick may have left.”
All had taken off their helmets to listen. Aichi nodded.
“When the Chief arrives, you’re to take the crawler and two other people and follow the same route. Pick up the first two when you get to them, and set all four to searching along the narrow part of the valley between here and Pic G. Chief Jim says Rick knows the maps well, and the most likely thing is that he headed north in an effort to catch up with us. You can go all the way to your site at GA. After you get there do your own work until Jim calls either for you or the crawler. If none of you finds Rick along the road or at your site, well have to set up a comprehensive search plan.” Marie shook her head. She was near tears. “That fool Rick! How could he be so idiotic?”
“Simple. He’s an Earth guy,” said Aichi. “All right. Everyone into the lock, then, except you, Norm. You help Marie with her suit check, and the two of you follow outside as soon as possible.”
Helmets were donned and checked. Aichi and his group let themselves into the airlock. Marie quickly stuffed her pretty self into her suit. She and Norman Delveccio were outside well within badge-qualifying time but Aichi Yen had already dispatched the first pair of searchers. They were visible half a mile away, going fast, making for the spur of hills coming in from the right. They were still within the heavily trampled area around the lock where tracking was impossible.
“If he’s been gone more than eleven hours,” Marie pointed out over her communicator, “he should be most of the way to Pic G. It’s hard to see how he could have gotten lost if he’s really familiar with the maps. I’ll bet you find him out at your setup.”
Yen made the left-hand gesture equivalent to a negative headshake—faces were hard to see through helmets, especially with sun filters in place. “Judging by Jim’s instructions, he thinks the same. But I wouldn’t bet on it,” his voice came back. “Up to the valley, and even through it, I wouldn’t worry. It’s a worn trail. Once out on G, though, tracks go every which way. Every set of footprints made since McDee found the first lode in those hills is still there. If that’s not enough to mix up Rick there are crawler tracks going in all directions. He might be able to hit GA, I suppose, since it’s about three miles across, but then what? There’s lots of stuff and tracks in that bowl besides mine. And has anyone told him about bubbles?”
“They were mentioned the other night at Chief Jim’s place,” replied Marie. “I don’t know whether enough was said to give Rick much of a picture, though.”
“Well, I just hope he has been going slowly. That would give us a chance to catch him before he’s through the valley. Hey … here comes a crawler down from NEM. Must be Jim. Who wants to ride with me? You, Marie?”
The girl made the negative gesture.
“I’ll stay here until we hear whether Rick has reached your site. If he hasn’t, we’ll have to make a wider sweep. I think maybe I can help more with that.”
“Why?”
“I can’t say. I just feel I could. I’m still betting he’s out near GA, at or near your machinery. But I want to be ready in case he isn’t.”
“All right. Digger and Jem, you come with me in the crawler. We’ll pick up Anna and Kort on the way. The rest of you stand by for whatever the Chief is planning.”
A moment later the vehicle from the upper lock drew up beside them. Jim Talles’ spacesuited figure emerged. Digger and Jem climbed into the vehicle’s cab, leaving its trailer empty for the time being. Aichi joined them after reporting the situation to Talles. In a few seconds the vehicle was trundling out across Taruntius X. Talles and the others looked after it but only for a moment.
“So much for that,” he said. “Now—I suppose you all agree that Rick probably struck out north toward Pic G. Are there any guesses about what else he might have done? Or what he might be doing now?”
Silence, while the young people looked thoughtfully at each other and the Lunar landscape. It was Marie who finally spoke.
“Surely that would depend on when he finally realized he had been early instead of late,” she said slowly. “He must have gone quite a way before the truth struck him, or he’d have been back long ago. He got started less than an hour after he thought we’d gone, so he couldn’t have figured us to be very far ahead. He must have expected to catch up fairly soon, if he hurried—”
“But we don’t know how fast he expects us to travel,” objected one of the others. “He was never outside before, and he’ll find he can’t go as fast himself as he probably expected to. So he may have decided pretty quickly that he’d be a long time catching up. Maybe he still thinks he started out late, not early.”
“That’s a point, Don,” Talles said. “We’re going to have trouble figuring just what he would do and think. He was telling me a couple of nights ago about how different things were at the school he visited—he meant in what people took for granted. We’re stuck the same way. We don’t know what will seem like common sense to him. We do know—or at least, I know; some of you may not be so sure right now—that he’s nobody’s fool in spite of this trick he’s just pulled. So if Aichi doesn’t find him somewhere along the road to the instrument site, we’ll have to try to guess what a reasonable smart person with a completely different background from
ours would consider a sensible course.”
“You should have a pretty good idea. You grew up on Earth,” remarked Peter Willett.
“So I did. I haven’t been there for twenty-two years, though. And the fact that I’m still alive here is pretty good evidence of how deep I’ve buried my Earth habits. Still, I’ll do my best. Just don’t you throttle your imaginations because you think I’m the only one with a chance to solve the problem.”
“Don’t worry,” said Marie. “We’ll figure him out.”
Jim Talles looked at her. “Maybe,” he answered.
* * *
Thirty miles, measured along a low orbit, from North-Down, Rick Suspee went through a rather similar review of the situation, though this probably happened some hours later. He had not yet caught on to his twelve-hour error. Nevertheless it was evident to him that something was seriously wrong.
He had walked for what he guessed was the right distance across the relatively flat surface of Taruntius X. He had reached the valley he had marked from the lock—fortunately, he had not lost track of it during the walk. He had followed it slightly upward and then down again to another open, fairly level area. The way was obviously a well-traveled one, as he had expected. Indeed it was packed so firmly that it would no longer take footprints or even tread marks, though often enough one or the other led off to right or left. It all fitted the mental picture Rick had gained from his uncle’s maps and the conversations he had heard and joined, and he had no doubt that he was now on the southern edge of Picard G’s floor.
However, he had seen nothing of the hikers or any other living person. He had heard not a whisper over his helmet communicator. He knew that radio on the Moon was a line-of-sight proposition, and that the relay units on the hilltops around Wilsonburg were turned on only by special arrangement. If he had never got close enough to the hikers to have no chunks of Moonscape in the way, it was perfectly reasonable for him to have heard nothing. But he could not understand why he had failed to get that close.