Their last news from Earth had been disturbing enough. Karic had discovered the transmission by chance on one of their shifts, checking records to see if they were being received but not registered through a computer glitch. Janzen — up to his usual tricks — had managed to bury the record before he descended to Cru in the lander. Karic could see why. Another habitable world, named Kestrel, had been found by a rival company and ExploreCorp was on the edge of ruin. Karic now understood his desperation, but nothing could ever excuse his actions.
Karic led the way through the ship to the main control room. This moment, the reentering of the Earth system, had been something they had feared would never come. The Starburst had been away from Earth for almost one hundred and sixty years. Would ExploreCorp still exist? What changes had the planet, and the United Earth government, undergone in that monumental span of years? Would the astronomers of ExploreCorp, of Earth, still be looking for them?
Karic paused briefly in the doorway of the main control room. He was captured by the beauty and clarity of the image of Earth suspended in the twilight of the ship’s command center.
Their home world.
Their birth planet seemed so fragile, so unprotected compared to the heavily cloaked leviathan of Cru. Karic found himself on the edge of tears. It would have been easy to give in to the same reckless joy that had seized the others, but he did not have that luxury. He was commander of the Starburst. He forced his emotions under control. They could not be sure what reception they would receive.
The three crew took their stations, the dimly-lit room cast into soft relief by the blue and white colors of Earth and the glowing icons of the console interfaces.
“Lights.”
The harsh incandescent glare brought the dull steel panels and crowded consoles into sharp relief.
“Keep hailing the ExploreCorp station and Earth on the standard frequencies, Andrai.
“Mara, see what information you can gather on the solar system in general. Intercept a spectrum of electromagnetic communications and see what sort of space-going traffic is out there. I need some sort of indication of what to expect. I don’t want to renter Earth orbit if there is any danger to us.”
Mara nodded and set about her work. The first flush of excitement was gone now. Both she and Andrai were nervous, subdued by Karic’s caution.
His head swam with a sense of unreality. The Starburst — his baby — had taken them to a living alien world and back. Despite Janzen, despite the damage to the ship and the threat of the Fintil, it had also carried them home. He felt enormous pride in both her and their own achievements.
Would he ever venture into space again? He had to. He must. What they had seen so far was only a taste of the universe. Life was everywhere. He knew it now. Life was a property of matter, evolving as surely as star systems from the basic matter of existence. Wonder awaited humanity. It could not end here. Once they told their story, once Earth knew of the advanced race on their doorstop, how could they not reach outward? Maybe not to the dangerous Fintil, but to the score of other races that must be there. His excitement grew. As the bringer of the news, surely he would be at the center of this new drive outward. He was still the same young man — scarcely a year older for all the distances they had covered.
They had masses of data. Everything they had recorded in the Tau Ceti system — including all their images of the massive device orbiting Tau Ceti, and the Fintil spaceship emerging from it. They had footage of the unique life of Cru, of the Imbirri and the Fintil. Somewhere in that storehouse of information would be clues that could advance Earth’s science by millennia. How could the mission be judged anything but a success?
Time passed, with both Andrai and Mara busy at their stations. He had so much to tell those who had sent them forth, or more correctly, their successors; about their sojourn on Cru, their experiences with the Imbirri and the Fintil. A thousand memories crowded into his head, but he pushed them away. He tapped the side of the commander’s chair impatiently.
“Commander. Janzen is ten minutes from completion of the revival process,” reported the Shipcom.
“Understood.” Karic stood, eager to be in motion. “Keep trying to make contact. I’ll be back soon.”
Karic made his way back through the ship, up into the null gravity of the axis. His mind seethed with questions. Had any of the other exploration craft returned? Had Earth colonies been established on Kestrel or any other planets, and if so, how did they fare? But the question that really burned in his mind: had there been contact with other alien life, other sentients, and did these aliens possess the gift … were they transformed?
Karic passed through the twisted airlock into the lander’s battered core section. He pulled himself down onto a couch and waited. With the end of this drama nearing, Karic felt a stab of anxiety. As the one who had seized control of the mission, it was he who would be called on to justify his actions. The records of their time on Cru would be crucial to his case. He knew that if Janzen ever gained the upper hand, he would be merciless. To the public he would play a tragic hero — the sort of role his bioengineered looks were made for.
The suspension field disengaged.
Janzen was instantly alert, but bound as he was, could not leave the couch. To the former commander, it would seem only moments ago that Karic and the other crew had forced him to record the transmission back to Earth confessing his crimes and canceling the colonization mission. Blond hair disheveled, his piercing blue eyes hot with outrage, he looked at Karic. The man was still imposing, yet Karic had lost all the respect he once had for him.
“We are back in Earth system, Janzen. Only hours from Earth orbit.
“I am going to take off your gag, but you will stay bound. You can sit with us in the control room … or stay confined to your quarters. Your choice. At no time are you to give commands to the Shipcom, or access the computer system.” He looked at Janzen steadily. “And believe me, I’ll be watching.”
Janzen nodded.
“At the first hint of trouble from you, I will put you back into stasis. Understood?”
Karic untied the make-shift gag, pushing it into his pocket. He removed the restraints securing Janzen to the couch and freed his legs, but left his hands tied.
Janzen looked away. “I would like to clean up and get a change of clothes.”
Karic tried to gauge Janzen’s motives. He seemed subdued. “OK. I’ll have to watch you.”
Janzen turned to Karic, sudden anger flaring in his eyes. Then it was gone. He slid off the couch and pushed off with his legs. He drifted stiffly through the hatch. In Janzen’s quarters, Karic untied his hands so he could wash and change into a clean, standard-issue officer’s uniform. Surveying himself in the mirror, Janzen’s eyes fell on an odin in his storage rack.
“I’ll take those,” said Karic. “And any others you have.”
His jaw clenched as he handed the odin to Karic. No others were forthcoming. Janzen opened a drawer, which shone with a collection of assorted jewelry and decorated combands. He picked out a platinum-encased communicator, chased with gold and gems.
“No, Janzen. I’ll take all those as well. I’ll get you a standard issue comband.” There was no telling how they had been modified.
He tore the expensive communicator off his wrist. “Enjoy it while it lasts, Karic. Because once we are back on Earth, I’ll …” Janzen clenched his jaw shut.
“You’ll what?”
Janzen remained silent. He handed over all his jewelry and the collection of communicators to Karic. A quick search of the storage compartment yielded three more odins, which Karic took without comment.
“Put out your hands.”
Janzen stared back at him, defiant.
“If I have to ask you twice, I will put you back into stasis.”
Janzen extended his hands and Karic tied them securely. Karic led the way back to the control room, shepherding Janzen down the access tube on its lift platform, which was used to move he
avy equipment or non-ambulatory personnel between decks.
Andrai and Mara looked up as Karic exited the accessway hatch, then directed Janzen to a dead terminal in the corner of the control room. They exchanged a quick look with each other, but remained silent.
Karic took his seat in the commander’s chair. “Any word back from ExploreCorp, Andrai?”
“No. I am picking up a tremendous amount of EM noise.” Andrai met Karic’s gaze. “Even so, our signal should be loud and clear.”
The Starburst was equipped with a powerful communications array. This close to Earth it should be swamping local signals, but still they were not getting through. It was baffling. Soon they would be close enough for visual contact.
“Try a broad spectrum broadcast,” said Karic. Somebody out there must give a damn!
“What have you got for us, Mara?”
“I have managed to filter out the interference and classify most of the background signals. Based on the radiation I am receiving, there must be thousands of fusion drives in operation in the system,” said Mara.
Andrai blinked. “Wow. So many spaceships.”
“Thousands?” said Karic, astounded.
“The exact figure is closer to three thousand confirmed. The signals extend from the orbit of Venus to well beyond the asteroid belt. I can’t get any accurate readings further out.”
Three thousand fusion drives! When they had left orbit in the Starburst, the ship had contained one of five working fusion drives. The other four were prototypes. Research work had been progressing on the new anti-matter drives that were to be used for the nine interstellar craft that followed Starburst, but none were yet in existence. It did not surprise Karic that Mara had not detected any anti-matter drives in the vicinity. Even with advanced techniques, manufacturing anti-matter was just too damned expensive to support widespread use of the technology.
“Anything else?” asked Karic.
“There is a conglomeration of signals from the whole Earth-Moon axis, everything from radio and EM to laser signals.”
“Stretching between the Earth and the Moon?”
Mara nodded. “Yes.”
A thrill went through Karic, and for the first time, he was beginning to get a sense of the tremendous changes that had occurred in their absence.
“Are we close enough for high-resolution visuals of the Earth and Moon?”
“Yes.” Mara sat forward in her seat, her face alive with excitement.
“Let’s see them.”
Mara movements were almost fevered. The distant shot of Earth was replaced by magnified views of the Earth and Moon, appearing together on a split screen.
“Oh my God!” said Mara, her shocked gaze fixed on the picture of the Moon.
Karic felt goose pimples rise on the nape of his neck.
The Moon was crisscrossed with glowing threads of amber, blue and brilliant white: transport conduits, stretching for thousands of kilometers across its face like a tracework of fine scars. They connected hundreds of cities that dotted the surface like a collection of jewels, their bright lights undimmed by the cloak of atmosphere.
“We have been away a long time,” said Andrai.
Karic uttered on oath under his breath. The first Moon mining settlements — little more than bunkers — were scarcely twenty years old when the Starburst left. They had been small operations with a high degree of automation. Now the Lunar population must number in the millions. The tens of millions!
In contrast to the Moon, the Earth’s image was unchanged from the familiar one they remembered. This was comforting, and yet alongside the startling transformation of the Moon, it was also somehow disturbing. Earth would also be starkly different, but in hidden ways. What awaited them there?
“Who cares about the Moon? Can you not even get ExploreCorp from this distance?” asked Janzen, who clearly thought they were incompetent.
“Ahh,” said Andrai. “We are finally getting something.”
Janzen snorted and turned his hand around to examine his nails. Karic could see his chest heaving. The first contact with ExploreCorp would be crucial. It would tell them immediately if they had received their transmissions from Tau Ceti, and if they were going to support Karic’s decision to remove Janzen from command.
“Put it through on the overhead speakers,” said Karic.
The message boomed from the speakers above them, the Shipcom rapidly compensating for the enormous strength of the signal.
“… approach, identify yourself immediately. Repeat. Starship on Earth orbital approach, identify yourself immediately.” The message continued to repeat.
“Shipcom. Broadcast on received signal frequency. Target source. Transmit my voice only, on cue.”
“Acknowledged, Commander. What message should I send?”
“This is the ExploreCorp exploration vessel, Starburst, inbound from Tau Ceti. Please identify yourself.”
The received message continued to repeat for long minutes, then it abruptly cut off.
They cheered, overwhelmed with relief. The cessation of the signal could mean only one thing. Their message got through!
After a short time delay, they were hailed. “Starburst, this is Free Colonies Station Fourteen. You are to proceed directly to our orbital position for debriefing. Is this understood?” The voice was heavily accented and the English halting.
“Commander, they are transmitting coordinates,” said Andrai.
“To what location?” asked Karic.
The tech quickly processed the data. He looked up from his console and met Karic’s gaze. “They correspond to an orbital position over the Moon.”
Karic cleared his throat. He touched a small icon floating above the console to cue the transmission. “Free Colonies Station, are you the legal representative of ExploreCorp?” He touched the icon once more to indicate the end of the message.
“Starburst, I am Oric Bennet, the Director of this Station,” the voice was different, deeper and more confident, yet still heavily accented. “The Mega-Corporations off-world assets became property of the Free Colonies government after the Embargo of 2190 and Earth’s surrender. The Free Colonies took responsibility for the unreturned exploration ships sent by the Mega-Corporations, including the Starburst. In effect, the Free Colonies owns your ship and all the data you have retrieved.
“Am I speaking to Commander Janzen Davis?”
Janzen’s head snapped around to Karic. “They are bluffing. ExploreCorp withdrew all its assets into low Earth orbit.”
“I know!” said Karic, his face hot. “Stay silent unless I ask you to speak.”
Karic leaned forward. Once more, he used the icon to cue the transmission. “Janzen Davis has been relieved of command. My name is Karic Zand, and I am the commander of this vessel.”
There was a pause, which stretched too long. “Very well, Commander Zand. You are directed to take your starship to the coordinates specified, there to await further instructions.”
Karic swallowed. He knew of the tension between the Free Colonies and Earth government from the transmissions from Earth. But experiencing it firsthand was a whole different level of reality.
“With regret, I cannot comply. We are bound for Earth orbit, where we will be endeavoring to contact the legal representatives of ExploreCorp.”
“Divert immediately,” came the voice of Oric. “A squadron of fighter craft have been dispatched to escort you. If you deviate off the flight plan we have supplied you, your ship will be destroyed. Do you understand?”
Blood thumped in his head. Mara and Andrai sat motionless at their stations, their eyes fixed on him.
“Plead systems failure,” said Janzen. “It will give us time to get to ExploreCorp and the Earth government.”
Karic surged to his feet. “I said be silent! One more word out of you and I will put you back in suspension.”
He paced the deck.
“Starburst, you have still not diverted your ship. Our fighters have orders
to fire on you.”
CHAPTER 25
Karic could not let Starburst be taken by some provisional government. The data she was carrying was too precious to be locked up in some political dispute. How could he keep the fighters at bay and give themselves the time they needed to reach Earth space? In a flash of inspiration, he had it. As infuriating as Janzen was, he was on the right track. The system might be flooded with fusion drives, but nothing they had seen would be like the Starburst, with its complex magnetic containment systems for the drive plasma. It was first generation, with all the flexibility of a prototype.
“Andrai, can you introduce a random fluctuation into the magnetic containment fields? Not big enough to put us off course, but enough to flood nearby space with high-energy plasma?”
“Of course.”
Andrai drilled through the holographic interface, manipulating key icons to make the adjustments. He swept them away with a gesture, then turned to smile at Karic. Done.
Karic cleared his throat, then tapped the broadcast icon. “Director Bennet. I regret to inform you that we have had problems with our fusion drive’s containment field for some time. Many of the crew have died from radiation sickness. I urge you to keep your ships distant. I am sure your short-range fighters would have little in the way of shielding,” said Karic, ending the transmission with another tap of his finger.
“I am picking up the fighters,” said Mara. “Coming in fast on an intercept course. Six small fusion-powered craft. Heavily armed.”
There was silence from the Free Colonies station.
“What now?” asked Andrai.
“We wait and see.”
The three of them looked at the images of the Earth and the Moon, each growing larger on the screen above them. The orbital traffic was visible now. Mara adjusted the images and they watched in amazement as she showed them the massive stations that filled the Lagrange fields, worlds in their own right.
What would Earth be like?
The Tau Ceti Diversion Page 37