"They were subject to the Cluster for millennia, surely they know something about how to defeat them,” said Fire, her brow knitted.
Manuel took the soap and began lathering Fire's back. “Yeah, but in the end, they only escaped from the Cluster, they didn't defeat them. Maybe they're still just as helpless."
Fire sighed. “Still, they managed to escape.” She turned and smiled as Manuel took extra time soaping up her breasts. “In the end, all we need to do is escape. We don't really need to defeat the Cluster."
Manuel stepped under the running water and rinsed off, then stepped aside to allow Fire to rinse herself off. “Yeah, but the Titans lived in fear for millennia after their subjugation by the Cluster—fear that the Cluster would find them again. Don't we want to put an end to the Cluster once and for all?"
Fire didn't answer. Instead, she turned off the water, stepped out of the shower, found a towel and dried off. She tossed another towel to Manuel then dressed in silence. They found their way to the ship's mess hall where the ship's pilot, Laura Peters, was waiting for them. “Mr. Yermakov wanted me to let you know that we've been granted permission to enter orbit around Titan. I'll be piloting the launch down to the surface."
"Thanks,” said Fire as one of the cooks handed her a plate with a green chile quiche and some hash browns.
"So, when are we scheduled to meet with Ambassador Lip-shit?” asked Manuel as he looked skeptically at the quiche, but after his first bite, he ate several more enthusiastic bites then gulped down his first cup of coffee.
"Lifshitz,” corrected Fire.
Laura frowned disapprovingly at Manuel. “All she got was an automated reply telling us which landing bay to come down in.” She stood to retrieve her own cup of coffee and refilled Manuel's cup. “I'm guessing the Ambassador will meet us, or send word where to meet him."
"Doesn't that seem a little odd?” said Manuel around a mouthful of quiche.
Fire inclined her head. “Why? I'm sure the Ambassador and Admiralty are busy with this crisis. In a way, we're lucky to get a meeting at all."
Manuel looked thoughtful as he drank his second cup of coffee. “You know,” he said, “maybe you should take that message from Swan to your father to the command deck—just in case we run into problems or there's a delay."
Fire took the note that Kirsten had handed her from her pocket and looked at it. “Maybe you're right,” she said. She looked up at Laura. “Do you think Simon would send this message if we ran into an emergency?"
Laura held out her hand and took the paper and read the message. “I don't see why not.” She stood and stepped over to the intercom. “Natalie, where are you?"
"In my quarters,” she said. “I'm getting ready to go up to the command deck."
"Can you swing by the mess hall on the way?"
"Sure,” she said. A few moments later, Natalie Papadraxis appeared in the door of the mess hall. Laura handed her the note. “If anything happens to us, it's vitally important you jump out of the solar system and send that message,” said Laura.
Natalie's smile evaporated. “What do you think is going to happen?"
"I don't think anything is going to happen,” said Fire reassuringly. “But, a friend of mine trusted that I would do this. I don't want to let him down."
Natalie's smile reappeared. “Okay.” She turned lightly on her heel, her full, flower-print dress swishing around her ankles and left for the command deck.
"Do you think she'll get the job done?” asked Fire once she was sure Natalie was out of earshot.
"She's a good kid,” said Laura. “If it's important, it'll get done.” The three finished breakfast in silence, then Laura led the group to the launch bay. After getting clearance to launch from Natalie, she charted a course for the human pressure dome.
Though she had seen it before, Fire gasped when the launch left the hold and she saw the golden spectacle of Saturn spread out before them—the planet's icy rings glimmered in the rays of the sun. Below the launch were the red-orange clouds of Titan. Occasionally, Fire caught a faint glimmer of light off the black Erdonium hull of another star vessel. She had often wondered how the capital of the galaxy could have remained hidden to humans for so long, but as she noted how difficult it was to see even undisguised spaceships in the orbit of the moon, she realized that the Titans may not have had much difficulty in hiding from humans at all, especially given how primitive the early cameras were that had been sent to Saturn.
As they dropped to the surface, it was apparent that there was less traffic than normal traveling between the surface of the moon and orbit—much like Earth. Soon, the familiar site of the Titan capital city came into view: A vast conglomeration of silvery, translucent domes, similar to the silver spheres of the Cluster, filled a valley, surrounded by rugged peaks. A river of liquid methane wound its way from the mountains down toward the domes.
The launch approached one of the domes and began to slowly descend. A hatch in the top irised open and the launch settled onto a platform and was lowered into the dome. An automated message announced that the launch was secure. Fire, Manuel, and Laura undid their seat restraints and stepped out. As with the spaceports on Earth, this one was eerily quiet. No crews appeared to service the launch and there was no sign of the Ambassador or any of his staff.
Fire led the way from the landing bay into the main pressure dome. They looked around at the buildings under the domed ceiling. Though the human pressure dome on Titan was only an administrative complex, people usually bustled around from building to building, on errands from the consulate to the admiralty and the various support buildings. The dome was silent except for the sound of a few imported birds that sang from the trees—their cries echoing loudly in the seemingly empty space.
"I don't like this,” said Manuel, putting his hand on his hepler pistol.
Fire put her hand on his arm. “Let's see if we can find out what's going on.” She pointed to one of the taller buildings. “I believe that's the Consulate over there.” As they began walking, they heard a second set of footsteps.
Three people were walking toward them from the direction of a large, squat building that was reminiscent of the Pentagon on Earth, except that it was smaller. The leader of the group was a gray-haired woman with piercing blue eyes. She wore the uniform of the Gaean Navy and had two golden epaulets on her shoulders, making her look more imposing than she was. The two people behind her also wore Gaean uniforms. The woman stepped up to Fire, who extended her hand. The woman made no motion to return the handshake. “My name is Marlou Strauss,” the woman introduced herself. “Sorry I was delayed in meeting you."
"John Mark's told me about you,” said Fire with a lopsided grin. “I'm Dr. Suki Firebrandt and we hoped to meet with the Ambassador."
"I'm afraid that won't be possible,” said Strauss. Behind her, the Gaean officers drew their sidearms. “You will come with me."
Manuel made a noise a little like a growl. “Here we go again,” he muttered.
* * * *
Mark Ellis awoke early. Twilight illuminated the sky outside his bedroom window, but the sun had not yet risen over the horizon. Sitting up in bed, he looked over at Kirsten, lying on her side, snoring softly. He crept carefully out of bed, slipped on his trousers, shirt, and shoes and stepped from the room. He needed some time to clear his head and think. The Proxom would wear off in a few hours give or take, but when it did, he wasn't sure how he would get back to the Cluster. Mark peaked into Coffin's room and saw the old man looking so frail and still, that he was afraid his friend was dead. Setting his jaw, Ellis was determined to find out what was happening to his friend.
He crept slowly down the stairs and saw Eva Cooper lying on the couch, the blanket off her bare shoulder. He stepped past her, then out the front door. He walked through the front gate and turned toward town, passing several gray-shingled houses, most very similar to one another, yet each one with its differences. Even though it was early morning, the island should no
t have been quite so quiet. Several flowerbeds were uncharacteristically overgrown with weeds. A number of houses had shingles that had weathered to the point that they needed replacing, yet there was no one to replace them.
The captain turned down the cobbled main street and walked past history. Houses owned by ship captains gave way to shops run for tourists. Looking in the window of one shop, he saw a lightship basket covered in cobwebs and a wooden ship's wheel with a thick coating of dust. The sign in the shop's window said “open.” Ellis tried the door and found it unlocked. He plucked the lightship basket he'd seen through the window from its hook. It was a replica of the type of basket used by ships that helped to guide other ships into Nantucket Harbor at night. Mark blew the cobwebs from the basket then called out: “Hello!"
Not hearing an answer, he hung the basket back on the hook and silently left the shop, goosebumps forming on his arm. He turned off main street and made his way through back streets toward Brant Point, a small sandbar that jutted out into the ocean. At the end of the sandbar was a squat lighthouse. With no one around, the captain slipped out of his shoes, and then stripped out of his trousers and shirt and hung them over a railing at the lighthouse's door. He stepped into the waves rolling onto the beach and delighted in the feeling of the wet sand between his toes. Though the icy water sent chills along his arms he continued on and waded out to where he could swim. He swam several yards out and then turned back.
Standing on the beach was a willowy blond woman. Though he was Suki Firebrandt's son, Ellis found it difficult to climb out of the water in full view of the woman.
"You'll catch your death out there,” called the woman.
Hearing her voice, Ellis realized that it was Eva Cooper. “What are you doing out here?” he called back.
"I heard you leave, so I followed you,” she said. She inclined her head. “You really shouldn't stay out in that cold water, you'll get hypothermia.” When Ellis still hesitated, she said, “I'm a doctor. It's not like there's anything I haven't seen."
Blushing, Ellis clambered out of the water. Realizing he hadn't brought a towel, he shook the water off as best as he could and, shivering, pulled clothes onto his body that clung tenaciously to his wet skin. Cooper handed him her sweater and he gratefully pulled it on.
"What can I do for you, Doctor?” asked Ellis with chattering teeth.
She sighed. “I don't think I can wait any longer. I need to put Samuel Coffin on life support, but I need some basic equipment.” The two began walking back toward Main Street. “The problem is, I don't know where to get it."
"Would a hospital have what you need?” he asked.
The doctor nodded.
"Let's get some breakfast, then I'll take you to the hospital. Between you being the Surgeon General and me and Coffin being old-time Nantucketers, I'm sure we can beg or borrow the equipment you need."
As they turned onto Main Street, Cooper caught sight of the shop that Ellis had entered. “Presuming there's anyone left at the hospital."
Mark felt a slight chill and he wasn't sure whether it was from swimming in the cold water or if it was from the fact that her words rang all too true. They walked in silence back to Ellis’ house.
As Mark opened the door, he smelled coffee, onions, and peppers and grinned. His smile fell away when he saw G'Liat standing at the counter. The large knife he wielded looked petite in the warrior's huge six-fingered hand. The knife flashed several times—almost faster than Mark's eyes could follow and an onion lay in pieces on the cutting board.
Kirsten sat at the table and looked helplessly at Mark. “He just invited himself in,” she said. “I didn't know what else to do."
Mark stepped over to the table and took Kirsten's hand in his own and gave it a gentle squeeze. “It's okay,” he said, reassuringly.
The warrior reached over and turned out a perfect omelet onto a plate and handed it to Kirsten. “Ms. Smart has just told me about the conversation your mother had with the whale you call Richard,” said the warrior, as he cracked three eggs into a bowl and began whipping them up with a whisk. “I came over to check on you and Coffin. Hearing this news, I believe you should eat breakfast and we should leave as quickly as possible."
Mark held up his hands. “Wait just a minute,” he said. “Dr. Cooper's just told me that she needs to get life support equipment to keep Coffin alive. I need to take her to the hospital to get the equipment. He's one of my oldest and dearest friends. I can't just let him die."
G'Liat added ham, onions, and bell peppers to the just-cooked eggs in the pan and folded the omelet. “You can draw Ms. Smart a map to the hospital,” he said. “I believe it is imperative that we go see Richard as soon as possible.” He slid the omelet out onto a plate and handed it to Mark.
Mark looked at Kirsten, who poked at her own omelet. “I hate to admit it,” she said, tightly, “but I think he's right. I can help Eva get the life support equipment together.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Mark, the whole planet's at stake. If Richard can help, you and G'Liat need to talk to him. Your mother only confirmed things we suspected, she didn't really find any answers."
"What happens if the Proxom wears off? I want to get back to the Cluster, but I want to be here when I try.” He took a bite of his omelet and nodded grudging admiration at the Rd'dyggian warrior who was working on a third.
Eva poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. “You've got several hours before the Proxom wears off,” she said. “I don't think you'll have a chance before then."
G'Liat finished up the third omelet, gave it to Eva, then sat down and looked at Mark intently. “We can go talk to Richard and be back in just a few hours."
Mark didn't answer. Instead, he took several bites of the breakfast that the Rd'dyggian warrior had prepared, and then he looked into Kirsten's eyes. She smiled at him encouragingly, then reached out and took his hand again. She squeezed.
Mark took a sip of his coffee. “Then I suppose I should get some dry clothes on and we should get going."
"Do I want to know why you and Eva sneaked out of the house this morning? Or, why you came back sopping wet?” asked Kirsten.
"Probably not,” said Mark as he leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek. He stood, handed Eva her sweater and made for the stairs.
* * * *
Arepno sat in guest quarters in the Rd'dyggian dome on Titan and sorted through data that he had collected. When he and Swan had first arrived in the Terran/Gaean system, it had appeared that ship activity was normal. He'd seen a ship jump into the system and another jump out. After depositing Swan on Earth, he returned to Titan to check in with Rd'dyggian central command. As he prepared to leave, his ship was refused permission to leave orbit.
Being a Rd'dyggian, he found it easier to obey the order than to question it, so returned to the surface of Titan where he found quarters in the Rd'dyggian dome and began reviewing his data. Still, the fact that he was refused permission to leave orbit piqued the Rd'dyggian's curiosity. He began searching the Titan computer database and discovered that the “doomsday phenomenon” that had struck Earth had also struck the human dome on Titan. If anything, it was worse for the humans on Titan than on Earth. Over eighty percent were dead and of those that survived nearly ninety percent were in the comatose state that many were in on Earth.
The numbers didn't strongly surprise Arepno. As with the Rd'dyggian dome, the human dome on Titan was primarily populated by diplomatic and military personnel—very specialized jobs. The Cluster would have little need for some of those jobs. For others, it could have great need. Arepno also noted that the Titans had gone out of their way to suppress information of what was happening in the human dome.
After a day on the moon, it became apparent based on reports from his ship that the population of ships around Titan was slowly increasing. Searching the computer records further, Arepno noticed that the only ships granted permission to leave Titan orbit and jump out of the solar system w
ere Titan ships. It did not appear that the Cluster was keeping any ships from leaving the solar system, but it did appear that the Titans were doing their best to keep ships within the system.
Growing more curious about what was going on within the human dome, Arepno requested permission to visit. An automated message from the human dome refused the warrior permission. He then decided that it was time to take matters in his own hands.
Arepno went down into the depths of the Rd'dyggian dome and checked out a space suit and a land rover. He drove out across the frigid, reddish surface of Titan. He pulled up a holographic map of the moon. Even so, he had to keep careful count of the nearly identical silver domes that he passed so that he didn't get lost. At last he found his way to the human dome. He drove to the airlock and was not surprised when he was again denied admission. Using an emergency override code he'd found on the Titan central computer, he was able to open the outer door. He stepped in and closed the door behind him. Again, he was not surprised when neither the inner door opened nor was atmosphere pumped into the chamber.
He tapped an intercom button. “This is Captain Arepno of Rd'dyggia,” he said, pushing his faceplate to the microphone so that his voice would conduct, “I was outside the dome on a routine survey when my map malfunctioned. There may have been micrometeorite damage. This is an emergency request for atmosphere so I may check my suit for damage."
The automated systems were programmed not to refuse that specific request. Soon atmosphere was pumped into the airlock. Arepno removed his helmet and breathed in the stale air. Then, he retrieved a small box from a pocket on his space suit. Opening it up, he held it to his mouth and exhaled. Tiny dust grains flew into the air—each one containing a micro-miniature camera and transmitter. He replaced the box, then replaced his helmet and leaned onto the intercom. “Suit checks out, please evacuate chamber and open the outer airlock door."
The precious atmosphere was drawn back in through the vents, along with the miniature cameras and audio sensors. They would be pulled through the human dome's recycling system them pumped throughout the dome.
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