Giant Series 01 - Inherit the Stars

by Inherit the Stars [lit]

  evolved an advanced civilization, unlike their contemporary

  brothers on Earth, who remained backward. Eventually, compelled by

  the Ice Age threat of extinction, the two superpowers of Cerios and

  Lambia had emerged and begun the race toward the Sun in the way

  described by Linguistics. Where Linguistics had gone wrong,

  however, was that by the time of Charlie's narrative, these events

  were already historical; the goal was already achieved. The

  Lambians had drawn ahead by a small margin and had already

  commenced building settlements on Earth, several of them named

  after their own towns on Minerva. The Cerians followed hard on

  their heels and established a fire base on Luna, the objective of

  course being to knock out the Lambian outposts on Earth before

  moving in themselves.

  This theory did not explain the flight time of Charlie's ship, but

  its supporters attributed the difficulty to unknown differences

  between Minervan and local (Lunar) dating systems. On the other

  hand, it required only a few pilot Lambian bases to have been set

  up on Earth by the time of the war; thus, whatever remained of

  these after the Cerian assault, could credibly have vanished in

  fifty thousand years.

  And as the battle lines were drawn up and the first ranging shots

  started whistling up and down the corridors of Navcomms, in

  no-man's-land sat Hunt. Somehow, he was convinced, everybody was

  right. He knew the competence of the people around him and had no

  doubt in their ability to get their figures right. If, after weeks

  or months of patient effort, one of them pronounced that x was 2,

  then he was quite prepared to believe that, in all probability, it

  would turn out to be. Therefore, the paradox had to be an illusion.

  To try to argue which side was right and which was wrong was

  missing the whole point. Somewhere in the maze, probably so

  fundamental that nobody had even thought to question it, there had

  to be a fallacy-some wrong assumption that seemed so obvious they

  didn't even realize they were making it. If they could just get

  back to fundamentals and identify that single fallacy, the paradox

  would vanish and everything that was being argued would slide

  smoothly into a consistent, unified whole.

  chapter eighteen

  "You want me to go to Jupiter?" Hunt repeated slowly, making sure

  he had heard correctly.

  Caidwell stared back over his desk impassively. "The Jupiter Five

  Mission will depart from Luna in six weeks time," he stated.

  "Danchekker has gone about as far as he can go with Charlie. What

  details are left to be found out can be taken care of by his staff

  at Westwood. He's got better things he'd like to be doing on

  Ganymede. There's a whole collection of alien skeletons there, plus

  a shipload of zoology from way back that nobody's ever seen the

  like of before. It's got him excited. He wants to get his hands on

  them. Jupiter Five is going right there, so he's getting together a

  biological team to go with it."

  Hunt already knew all this. Nevertheless, he went through the

  motions of digesting the information and checking through it for

  any point he might have missed. After an appropriate pause he

  replied:

  "That's fine-I can see his angle. But what does it have to do with

  me?"

  Caidwell frowned and drummed his fingers, as if he had been

  expecting this question to come, while hoping it wouldn't.

  "Consider this an extension of your assignment," he said at last.

  "From all the arguing that's going on around this place, nobody

  seems to be able to agree just how the Ganymeans fit into the

  Charlie business. Maybe they're a big part of the answer, maybe

  they're not. Nobody knows for sure."

  "True." Hunt nodded.

  Caidwell took this as all the confirmation he needed. "Okay," he

  said with a gesture of finality. "You've done a good job so far on

  the Charlie side of the picture; maybe it's time to balance things

  up a bit and give you a crack at the other side, too. Well"- he

  shrugged-"the information's not here-it's on Ganymede. In six weeks

  time, J Five shoves off for Ganymede. It makes sense to me that you

  go with it."

  Hunt's brow remained creased in an expression that indicated he

  still didn't quite see everything. He posed the obvious question.

  "What about the job here?"

  "What about it? Basically you correlate information that comes from

  dilTerent places. The information will still keep coming from the

  places whether you're in Houston or on board Jupiter Five. Your

  assistant is capable of stepping in and keeping the routine

  background research and cross-checking running smoothly in Group L.

  There's no reason why you can't continue to be kept updated on

  what's going on if you're out there. Anyhow, a change of scene

  never did anybody any harm. You've been on this job a year and a

  half now."

  "But we're talking about a break of years, maybe."

  "Not necessarily. Jupiter Five is a later design than I Four; it

  will make Ganymede in under six months. Also, a number of ships are

  being ferried out with the Jupiter Five Mission to start build-.

  ing up a fleet that will be based out there. Once a reserve's been

  established, there will be regular two-way traffic with Earth. In

  other words, once you've had enough of the place we'll have no

  problem getting you back."

  Hunt reflected that nothing ever seemed to stay normal for very

  long when Caidwell was around. He felt no inclination to argue with

  this new directive. On the contrary, the prospect excited him. But

  there was something that didn't quite add up in the reasons

  Caidwell was giving. Hunt had the same feeling he had experienced

  on previous occasions that there was an ulterior motive lurking

  beneath the surface somewhere. Still, that didn't really matter.

  Caidwell seemed to have made up his mind, and Hunt knew from

  experience that when Caidwell made up his mind that something would

  be so, then by some uncanny power of preordination, so it would

  inevitably turn out to be.

  Caldwell waited for possible objections. Seeing that none were

  forthcoming, he concluded: "When you joined us, I told you your

  place in UNSA was out front. That statement implied a promise. I

  always keep promises."

  For the next two weeks Hunt worked frantically, reorganizing the

  operation of Group L and making his own personal preparations for a

  prolonged absence from Earth. After that, he was sent to Galveston

  for two weeks.

  By the third decade of the twenty-first century, commercial flight

  reservations to Luna could be made through any reputable travel

  agent, for seats either on regular UNSA ships or on chartered ships

  crewed by UNSA officers. The standards of comfort provided on

  passenger ifights were high, and accommodation at the larger Lunar

  bases was secure, enabling Lunar travel to become a routine chore

  in the lives of many businessmen and a memorable event for more

  than a f
ew casual visitors, none of whom needed any specialized

  knowledge or training. Indeed, one enterprising consortium,

  comprised of a hotel chain, an international airline, a travel-tour

  operator, and an engineering corporation, had commenced the

  construction of a Lunar holiday resort, which was already fully

  booked for the opening season.

  Places like Jupiter, however, were not yet open to the public.

  Persons detailed for assignments with the UNSA deep-space missions

  needed to know what they were doing and how to act in emergency

  situations. The ice sheets of Ganymede and the cauldron of Venus

  were no places for tourists.

  At Galveston, Hunt learned about UNSA spacesuits and the standard

  items of ancillary equipment; he was taught the use of

  communication equipment, survival kits, emergency life support

  systems, and repair kits; he practiced test routines, radiolocation

  procedures, and equipment-fault diagnostic techniques. "Your life

  could depend on this little box," one instructor told the group.

  "You could wind up in a situation where it fails and the only

  person inside a hundred miles to fix it is you." Doctors lectured

  on the rudiments of space medicine and recommended methods of

  dealing with oxygen starvation, decompression, heat stroke, and

  hypothermia. Physiologists described the effects on bone calcium of

  long periods of reduced body weight, and showed how a correct

  balance could be maintained by a specially selected diet and drugs.

  UNSA officers gave useful hints that covered the whole gamut of

  staying alive and sane in alien environments, from navigating afoot

  on a hostile surface using satellite beacons as ref erence points,

  to the art of washing one's face in zero gravity.

  And so, just over four weeks after his directive from CaIdwell,

  Hunt found himself fifty feet below ground level at pad twelve of

  number-two terminal complex twenty miles outside Houston, walking

  along one of the access ramps that connected the wall of the silo

  to the gleaming hull of the Vega. An hour later, the hy

  draulic ramps beneath the platform supporting the tail thrust the

  ship slowly upward and out, to stand clear on the roof of the

  structure. Within minutes the Vega was streaking into the darkening

  void above. It docked thirty minutes later, two and a half seconds

  behind schedule, with the half-mile-diameter transfer sateffite

  Kepler.

  On Kepler the passengers traveling on to Luna.-including Hunt,

  three propulsion-systems experts keen to examine the suspected

  Ganymean gravity drives, four communications specialists, two

  structural engineers, and Danchekker's team, all destined to join

  Jupiter Five-transferred to the ugly and ungainly Capella class

  moonship that would carry them for the remainder of the journey

  from Earth orbit to the Lunar surface. The voyage lasted thirty

  hours and was uneventful. After they had been in Lunar orbit for

  twenty minutes, the announcement came over the loudspeaker that the

  craft had been cleared for descent.

  Shortly afterward, the unending procession of plains, mountains,

  crags, and hills that had been marching across the cabin display

  screen slowed to a halt and the view started growing perceptibly

  larger. Hunt recognized the twin ring-walled plains of Ptolemy and

  Albategnius, with its central conical mountain and Crater Klein

  interrupting its encircling wall, before the ship swung northward

  and these details were lost off the top of the steadily enlarging

  image. The picture stabilized, now centered upon the broken and

  crumbling mountain wall that separated Ptolemy from the southern

  edge of the Plain of Hipparchus. What had pre- viously looked like

  smooth terrain resolved itself into a jumble of rugged cliffs and

  valleys, and in the center, glints of sunlight began to appear,

  reflected from the metal structures of the vast base below.

  As the outlines of the surface installations materialized out of

  the gray background and expanded to fill the screen, a yellow glow

  in the center grew, gradually transforming into the gaping entrance

  to one of the underground moonship berths. There was a brief

  impression of tiers of access levels stretching down out of sight

  and huge service gantries swung back to admit the ship. Rows of

  brilliant arc lights flooded the scene before the exhaust from the

  braking motors blotted out the view. A mild jolt signaled that the

  landing legs had made contact with Lunar rock, and silence fell

  abruptly inside the ship as the engines were cut. Above

  the squat nose of the moonship, massive steel shutters rolled

  together to seal out the stars. As the berth filled with air, a new

  world of sound impinged on the ears of the ship's occupants.

  Shortly afterward, the access ramps slid smoothly from the walls to

  connect the ship to the reception bays.

  Thirty minutes after clearing arrival formalities, Hunt emerged

  from an elevator high atop one of the viewing domes that dominated

  the surface of Ptolemy Main Base. For a long time he gazed soberly

  at the harsh desolation in which man had carved this oasis of life.

  The streaky blue and white disk of Earth, hanging motionless above

  the horizon, suddenly brought home to him the remoteness of places

  like Houston, Reading, Cambridge, and the meaning of everything

  familiar, which until so recently he had taken for granted. In his

  wanderings he had never come to regard any particular place as

  home; unconsciously he had always accepted any part of the world to

  be as much home as any other. Now, all at once, he realized that he

  was away from home for the first time in his life.

  As Hunt turned to take in more of the scene below, he saw that he

  was not alone. On the far side of the dome a lean, balding figure

  stood staring silently out over the wilderness, absorbed in

  thoughts of its own. Hunt hesitated for a long time. At last he

  moved slowly across to stand beside the figure. All around them the

  mile-wide clutter of silver-gray metallic geometry that made up the

  base sprawled amid a confusion of pipes, girders, pylons, and

  antennae. On towers above, the radars swept the skyline in endless

  circles, while the tall, praying-mantislike laser transceivers

  stared unblinkingly at the heavens, carrying the ceaseless

  dialogues between the base computers and unseen communications

  satellites fifty miles up. In the distance beyond the base, the

  rugged bastions of Ptolemy's mountain wall towered above the plain.

  From the blackness above them, a surface transporter was sliding

  toward the base on its landing approach.

  Eventually Hunt said: "To think-a generation ago, all this was just

  desert." It was more a thought voiced than a statement.

  Danchekker did not answer for a long time. When he did, he kept his

  eyes fixed outside.

  "But man dared to dream . . ." he murmured slowly. After a pause he

  added, "And what man dares to dream today, tomorrow he makes come

  true."

  Another long silence followed. Hunt took a cig
arette from his case

  and lit it. "You know," he said at last, blowing a stream of smoke

  slowly toward the glass wall of the dome, "it's going to be a long

  voyage to Jupiter. We could get a drink down below-one for the

  road, as it were."

  Danchekker seemed to turn the suggestion over in his mind for a

  while. At length he shifted his gaze back within the confines of

  the dome and turned to face Hunt directly.

  "I think not, Dr. Hunt," he said quietly.

  Hunt sighed and made as if to turn.

  "However, . . ." The tone of Danchekker's voice checked him before

  he moved. He looked up. "If your metabolism is capable of

  withstanding the unaccustomed shock of nonalcoholic beverages, a

  strong coffee might, ah, perhaps be extremely welcome."

  It was a joke. Danchekker had actually cracked a joke!

  "I'll try anything once," Hunt said as they began walking toward

  the door of the elevator.

  chapter nineteen

  Embarkation on the orbiting Jupiter Five command ship was not

  scheduled to take place until a few days later. Danchekker would be

  busy making final arrangements for his team and their equipment to

  be ferried up from the Lunar surface. Hunt, not being involved in

  these undertakings, prepared an itinerary of places to visit during

  the free time he had available.

  The first thing he did was fly to Tycho by surface transporter to

  observe the excavations still going on around the areas of some of

  the Lunarian finds, and to meet at last many of the people who up

  until then had existed only as faces on display screens. He also

  went to see the deep mining and boring operations in progress not

  far from Tycho, where engineers were attempting to penetrate to the

  core regions of the Moon. They believed that concentrations of rich

  metal-bearing ores might be found there. If this turned out to be

  so, within decades the Moon could become an enormous spaceship

  factory, where parts prefabricated in processing and forming plants

  on the surface would be ferried up for final assembly in Lunar

  orbit. The economic advantages of constructing deep-space craft

  here and from Lunar materials, without having to lift everything up

  out of Earth's gravity pit to start with, promised to be enormous.

  Next, Hunt visited the huge radio and optical observatories of