Quinn's eyes narrowed. “Anything else?"
The captain shook his head. “Go get cleaned up. Vanda will be landing soon. I'll need you to look at that stress fracture on the sail to decide if we need to take any action. Then we need to prep for the Jupiter mission."
"We're still going down?” asked Pilot, hopefully.
"If the ship doesn't need repair, or we can repair en route to Saturn, I don't see why not. We're here, let's look around."
* * * *
When Jefferson returned to the command deck, he dismissed Neb O'Connell, so he could go to the infirmary and see Lisa. Most of the rooms aboard Aristarchus were small enough that it was hard to tell that the floors were curved. However, the infirmary was a long room with five beds. At one end of the room was a desk and supply cabinet for Dr. Garcia surrounded by a privacy screen. Lisa sat up in one of the beds, propped up on pillows, holding an ice pack to her head. Her shoulders were slumped and her feet were slightly splayed, body language indicating she was bored and wanted to be somewhere else.
"How's it going?” Neb folded down a seat mounted to the wall next to the bed.
"Other than a headache, I'm doing fine,” said Lisa. “Doc wants to keep me here for some observation, though."
"What happened?"
Lisa sighed and rolled her eyes. “Do you really want to know?"
"Well, I am concerned about you."
"I was in the shower when the ship started shaking.” Color rose in her cheeks. “I slipped and konked my head against the showerhead.” She saw Neb's drawn features and reached out and took his hand. “I'm okay, really."
"I've been so worried about losing my mom,” said Neb, his voice quavering. “The thought that something could happen to you never crossed my mind before."
She shushed him and placed her other hand on top of his. The doctor stepped out from behind his privacy screen and folded down the seat on the other side of Lisa. He pointed a flashlight into her eyes and examined them. “You're looking pretty good."
"They're talking about resuming the Jupiter flight,” said Neb. “Will she be able to go?"
Dr. Garcia pursed his lips, then looked into Lisa's eyes again. “I'd rather you not."
"All I did is slip in the shower,” she protested.
"And you gave yourself a concussion. You can go to work in C-and-C on the next duty cycle, but I'd rather you not go into a shuttle to be jostled around."
Lisa looked down at the sheets.
"If you want, I can stay here with you,” said Neb.
She looked up at him and smiled bravely. “That's sweet, but you don't have to. You're the one who found the disk on Mars, remember? They might be able to ground one of us, but not both of us. We're a team, now, and that's part of what a team's about. One of us can do what the other can't."
Neb squeezed her hand, silently thanking her.
* * * *
In C-and-C, Pilot, Berko, LaRue, Jefferson, and Freeman huddled around the thruster control console. Photos of the damage to the number three sail were displayed on the screen.
"Looks pretty bad to me,” said Freeman. “The crack's awfully long."
"What we have to keep in mind,” said Pilot, “is while this is a sailing ship, we aren't dealing with the same kinds of stresses. We're basically talking about light pressure pushing us through a vacuum. There's very little actual force on the sail and we don't have air friction. The only real stress the sail is under comes from gravity."
"Or from rocks like that dust field we went through,” said Natalie.
Pilot inclined his head. “True, but we're through the asteroid belt. It's unlikely we're going to run into anything like that again, even when we go back through the belt on the return trip."
"What about the ring plane at Saturn?” asked LaRue, shifting from one foot to the other.
"You do have a point there,” conceded Pilot.
"What about the resonance we encountered coming into orbit?” asked Freeman.
"That was the result of numerous effects that were a little larger than expected,” said Pilot. “With the measurements I have, we can compensate for the problem when we come back. If we decide the risk is too great, we can bypass Jupiter altogether.” He looked hopefully to Jefferson.
Jefferson nodded, satisfied.
Neb O'Connell returned to C-and-C and stepped up behind the others. He whistled when he saw the damage to the sail.
"I think we should patch it.” Jefferson clasped his hands behind his back, then looked at Berko. “But you said something about repairing en route?"
"Yes.” Berko leaned back against the console, facing the others. “If you think about it, we're going about the same speed between planets as we do when we're in orbit. Also, outside of orbit, we don't have a planet's gravitational force to contend with. Though it sounds a little strange, I think we'd actually be better off patching the sail between Jupiter and Saturn."
LaRue and Pilot looked at one another, and nodded.
"That sounds good to me,” said Jefferson. “Berko, LaRue, I want you two to put together a plan of action.” Then the captain turned and looked at the schematic over Pilot's console. “Now, I think those of us who've been on duty should get some rest. I'd like to get started for Jupiter in about eight hours."
Neb cleared his throat. “Sir, the doc won't clear Lisa to go on the shuttle."
Jefferson frowned. “I know she's disappointed, but the fact of the matter is we're not very likely to find life on Jupiter. It's a gas giant planet. I don't think we need two biologists to accompany us.” He looked to Pilot. “I was going to have you replace Berko this trip. Any recommendations for someone to replace Lisa?"
"Bring Jenna Reynolds,” said Pilot, without hesitation.
"The computer tech?” Jefferson raised his eyebrows.
"I hired her away from the National Weather Service. She used to model storm patterns on the Earth. I kind of wanted her along for this trip anyway, so she could see Jupiter's weather first hand, work with Dr. Nagamine to help him develop some good models of the wind and cloud patterns."
"Until tomorrow, then,” said Jefferson.
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter 19
Whales in the Clouds
At breakfast, the morning of the launch to Jupiter, Myra Lee and John O'Connell sat forlornly across from each other, eating in silence. Both felt lost without Lisa Henry, who was on duty in command and control, still recovering from her head injury. Dr. Nagamine and Jenna Reynolds held an animated conversation, discussing the measurements that were required to improve their understanding of Jupiter's atmosphere. Pilot showed Captain Jefferson a chart of Jupiter that gave atmospheric pressure as a function of depth.
The captain pointed at the chart. “It doesn't seem like we have to get all that deep before it's more like traveling underwater than in an atmosphere of methane, water vapor, and ammonia."
"Indeed, we used that fact to our advantage in designing the shuttle for Jupiter.” Pilot beamed in spite of his swollen nose. “The Zeus is equipped with a ram scoop option. You can suck in the atmospheric methane and use it to power the ship, conserving fuel."
Myra looked up at Pilot and the captain. “I've heard there's a solid core at the heart of Jupiter. Will we be landing?"
Pilot shook his head. “No. There probably is a solid core, but it's so deep that the atmospheric pressure would crush the shuttle. For the most part, we'll be flying around in the upper atmosphere."
"Very good.” The captain looked up at the others. “Are we ready to go?"
The others nodded. They stood and followed the captain to the Zeus shuttle bay. Once there, they suited up, then boarded the shuttle. After completing his preflight checklist, Jefferson requested permission to launch.
"Have a good field trip,” said Natalie Freeman from C-and-C.
With that, Jefferson launched the shuttle and started a long, slow drop toward Jupiter's cloud tops. Dr. Nagamine leaned forward in his sea
t, looking up and down at the sheer vastness of the solar system's largest world. Alternating brown and white bands swirled and churned as they circled the planet. Jenna Reynolds caught sight of a small, white storm dancing its way along one of the belts like a dervish. Myra was surprised by how bright the planet was, especially when she turned in her seat and saw how tiny the sun was.
"Mars was so dead, yet Jupiter is so alive,” said Nagamine.
"I thought you said Earth was the solar system's living world.” Jefferson turned the shuttle on a southward course, crossing the terminator to the night side. Several flashes of lightning arced across the cloud tops.
"Earth is alive because of the plants and animals that swarm across its surface,” said Nagamine. “Jupiter is a living, breathing world, alive in its own right and a force to be reckoned with. It's fitting that it should be named for the king of the gods."
A short while later, as the shuttle crossed back into day, it passed between the ring and the planet. It sounded as though the shuttle was passing through a rainstorm as it was pelted by tiny sand-like grains that left a fine yellowish haze on the windows. Neb O'Connell gasped. Following his gaze, Myra looked up to see Jupiter's thin, frail ring arcing high overhead, then looked down to see the churning cauldron of Jupiter's atmosphere below.
The captain took the shuttle down over the largest, longest-lasting storm in the entire solar system—the Great Red Spot. The storm had been swirling in Jupiter's atmosphere for over four hundred years and showed no sign of slowing. Jefferson would be foolish to fly the shuttle into the storm, but apparently, he did want to see it up close. Still well above the cloud tops, he slowed the shuttle and drifted over the storm. They were low enough that the red spot seemed to extend forever in all directions. Dr. Nagamine's instruments took photos and movies from which they would get estimated wind speeds. Again, the astronomer craned his neck, as if simply appreciating the sheer size of the red storm swirling slowly below them. “You could drop two Earths into that whirlpool and they'd both be swallowed whole,” he said.
Coming to the edge of the Great Red Spot, Jefferson aimed the shuttle northward again and eased slowly downward into the raging white and brown clouds. As the tiny craft skidded into the atmosphere itself, flames once again leapt around the vessel. Seeing the vision outside the window, Jenna—a devout Catholic—made the sign of the cross.
Pilot gripped his own armrests tightly.
The winds began to buffet the tiny craft and the captain had to fight to hold onto the joystick. Before long, the flames dissipated and they could see they approached the top of a white, fluffy cloudbank that extended as far as the eye could see.
Myra was reminded of airplane trips she had taken, flying through cloudbanks, either on the way up to a good cruising altitude or heading down to land.
As they entered the cloud, a gray mist surrounded them, as though they had entered a fog bank. The mist condensed on the surface of the shuttle, and little rivulets streamed up the windows, carrying the yellow powder that had been deposited earlier, away.
Using the compass, Jefferson continued to steer northward, diving as they went. Soon, the shuttle shot out of the clouds. The captain touched a button on the console and a set of wipers emerged from shielded compartments above the windows, clearing them of the water and yellow grime that had accumulated. As the windows cleared, a collective gasp rose from the occupants of the shuttle. Above was a rich, blue sky like one might see on Earth. The too-tiny sun was surrounded by a halo. Below, brown methane clouds billowed like dirty cotton candy. Jefferson turned the ship, so he flew alongside the light-colored cloudbank they'd just left. The clouds rose like a great, gray wall, towering high overhead. As they continued forward, they saw a thin white cloud swirling like a giant pie plate among the brown clouds below. Lightning flashed, illuminating the edge of the swirling, white clouds.
As they passed over the top of the white storm, they saw a channel in the clouds, almost like a great riverbed running through the clouds themselves. The captain took the shuttle down along the channel and followed it for several miles until the brown clouds below fell away and the ‘river bed’ ran on all by itself through seemingly open air. Jefferson took the shuttle a little lower, over another bank of clouds.
Just then, Myra caught sight of something. It was like a ring of bubbles appearing along the cloud tops and then bursting. “What is that over there?” she asked. “Humpback whales on Earth swim in circles blowing air through their blowholes, making bubble ‘nets’ that help confine plankton. The bubble nets almost look like that from the surface."
Dr. Nagamine and Neb O'Connell looked where she pointed. “It must be some kind of atmospheric disturbance,” said the astronomer. “Captain, would you be so kind as to circle around. I would like a closer look."
Jefferson brought the shuttle around, closer to the bubbles. As they approached, something broke through the cloud layer in front of them. The captain pushed the joystick hard to the right, avoiding the great mass that suddenly appeared. Another erupted from the clouds in their path, and Jefferson swerved hard to port, then a third arose and he steered back to starboard. Finally, he shot forward and climbed, then doubled back. In front of the shuttle were about a dozen fleshy objects, mottled brown, white, and gray, matching the clouds around them.
"They're like hot air balloons,” said Neb.
"But look at the size of them,” said Nagamine. “Those ‘hot air balloons’ must be miles across."
Pilot gasped. “They're easily as big as the Aristarchus."
"Are they alive?” Jenna's gaze was glued to the fleshy objects drifting on the wind.
Myra tried to stand in spite of the harness that held her in her chair. “Possibly."
"Jupiter's long been known to contain many of the basic building blocks for life,” said Nagamine. “It's long been speculated that life could evolve here, floating among the clouds."
"Much like marine life floats in the water,” agreed Myra. “Some marine life never even sees the ocean floor, just as these creatures can never go to the depths of the atmosphere."
The shuttle shook for a moment, then settled down. Pilot craned his head, trying to see around the captain's shoulder. “What's going on? More wind?"
Jefferson shook his head. “We're in something of a jet stream. It's really smooth flying at the moment.” Looking down at the control panel, he saw they were deep enough in the atmosphere that he could switch from the fuel tank to the ram scoop. He flipped two switches. Every few minutes, a jolt rocked the shuttle and nearly knocked the joystick from the captain's hand.
"Could it be some kind of resonance?” Pilot wracked his brain, trying to think what could cause the shuttle to vibrate periodically. “This shuttle's designed to slip through high speed winds. I don't like these sudden jolts."
"Could these creatures be vocalizing?” asked Myra. Everyone looked at her. “Certain whales make sudden, loud vocalizations that divers feel. These creatures are thousands of times larger than whales. If their vocalizations are similar, I wouldn't be surprised that we would feel them here in the shuttle. Do we have some kind of audio recorder?"
Pilot nodded and Dr. Nagamine turned on the audio sensors. A low rumble came through the speakers that would build at irregular intervals into a whump. Each time that happened, the shuttle would jolt and Jefferson would fight to hold the controls.
"Is that sound from the creatures?” asked Neb.
Myra smiled and nodded. “I think so. Are we recording?"
"Video and audio,” confirmed Nagamine.
Jenna looked at her watch and counted the intervals between the jarring whump sounds. “I think we'd better analyze this back at the ship. There's a chance that they're speaking in binary code just like the whales back on Earth. It's a very regular pattern that could be interpreted as a sequence of ones and zeroes."
"Or it could be a hunting sound,” said Myra. “The spermaceti whales of Earth make loud clanging sounds to stun their prey. T
his could be the same thing."
Neb's brow wrinkled. “What would they be hunting? I don't see anything else that looks like an animal."
"The whales on Earth eat microscopic organisms,” explained Myra. “These could do the same."
Nagamine checked his sensors. “There's no shortage of organic chemicals out there. It's certainly not impossible that if there are giant life forms like this, there are also microscopic life forms all around us.” He looked back at Pilot. “When we get back to the ship, we'll have to clean out the shuttle's ram scoop and see what's there."
The shuttle caught up with the floating creatures and slowed, matching their speed. Myra looked out at them. Their bodies looked very much like hot air balloons turned on their sides, fat and bulbous in the front, tapering at the rear. It also occurred to her that the creatures looked a little like toys of whales made for children, only there were no fins or tails. “They must just drift around the planet, going where the wind takes them,” she said aloud.
"Not such a bad life,” mused Captain Jefferson.
Pilot looked at his watch. “I'm sorry to have to end this, but we're going to need to get back to the Aristarchus. We need to start preparations to sling shot out of orbit for our last leg to Saturn."
Jefferson nodded and sighed. He took one last look at the city-sized fleshy creatures swimming in the air currents and tipped the shuttle's wing in a wave.
Myra thought she saw several of the creatures roll ever-so-slightly in their direction, as though they were also waving. The captain switched back to the main fuel tanks and took the Zeus shuttle upward.
* * * *
Back aboard the Aristarchus, Myra stepped out of the shuttle and into the locker room. She opened her locker and instead of getting dressed, pulled out a toolbox and retrieved a Petri dish and a knife. She closed up the toolbox, then returned to the bay where she saw Vanda Berko had drafted Dr. Nagamine—also still in his flight suit—to help her attach the shuttle's fuel line.
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