by Rick Cook
“If they evolved on a Jovian world then why are the habitats all further in toward the star?” Carlotti shot back.
Chang shrugged. “Insufficient data. All we know is that intelligent life did evolve here.”
“Oh, but it didn’t,” Sharon Dolan put in breathlessly as she elbowed her way into the room. “At least, I doubt seriously it did.”
Everyone looked at her and her cheeks grew red.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” she said quietly. One of the seated astronomers got up to give her a chair and, flushed with her new importance, Sharon plopped down in it.
“What leads you to that conclusion, Dr. Dolan?” Andrew Aubrey asked from his place at the head of the table. He hadn’t been formally invited but no one was really surprised he was attending.
“Well, none of the planets in the system are habitable by our standards. And the placement of the habitats indicates they prefer conditions much like ours.”
“Some of those habitats are out to the orbit of the Jovians,” Carlotti objected.
“Yes, but those have what appear to be mirrors to concentrate the sunlight. Wherever they live now, they prefer a temperature range much like ours. That argues for a water-based metabolism and probably oxygen/water, although that last is somewhat speculative. Besides,” she added, “the star’s too cool for life to develop here. So they came from somewhere else.”
“So not only have we found our first intelligent species, we have also found an intelligent interstellar species.”
“But how in the world could something like that remain hidden from us?” MacNamara asked.
“For one thing, we weren’t looking,” the planetologist told them. “After the shock wore off, I went back over our software. It’s designed to discard readings that are outside the accepted parameters on the grounds that they are obviously artifacts.” She made a face. “Our so-helpful computers were discarding about ninety percent of the readings that indicated intelligent life here.”
“Well, why haven’t we detected their radio signals?” demanded another person. “We’re certainly close enough.”
“Two reasons,” Dr. George put in. “First, we’re still not finding a lot of radio. We suspect they transmit information by laser. At least we’ve seen some modulated monochromatic light sources at frequencies that would be good for intra-system transmission.
“The other reason is that their signals are digitized and highly complex. At first hearing they sound like noise. If you apply analysis you will find regularities, but it is not something obvious like Morse Code.”
“What?” said one of the astronomers and his neighbor, a communications buff, leaned over to whisper an explanation to him while the main discussion went on.
“I wasn’t thinking just of this expedition,” MacNamara said. “I was thinking of all the time we have spent in the last hundred years looking for intelligent radio signals. Surely they would maintain communication between the star systems even if there wasn’t much direct trade.”
“Perhaps they don’t have a faster than light communicator,” Carlotti said. “We don’t. Or if all their messages are going by ship we’d never detect them.”
“Ridiculous!” someone snapped and that produced another babble.
“Gentlemen,” Andrew Aubrey’s voice cut through the buzz, “ladies. This clearly needs to be shared with the rest of the people on the ship. I intend to convene a meeting of the Ship’s Council in,” he looked at his watch, “say, ninety minutes. Dr. Carlotti, do you think you could pull together a presentation by then to brief the rest of the ship on the basics of the situation?”
“Dr. Dolan is really the person to make the presentation,” Carlotti said. “It was her discovery, after all.”
Aubrey turned to her. “Dr. Dolan.”
“Of course I can.” Then she paused. “But has anyone told the captain about this?”
Carlotti looked stricken. “Oh dear.”
“You mean you have known this system was inhabited for hours and you didn’t notify me?” Captain Peter Jenkins demanded.
“We have suspected something for hours,” Andrew Aubrey corrected him. “We did not reach a consensus until a few minutes ago.”
“Jesus,” said Iron Alice DeRosa from the pilot’s station. If Aubrey heard he took no notice.
“Did it ever occur to you that this was a circumstance that might affect the safety or functioning of this ship?”
Aubrey nodded. “Yes, Captain, you’re quite right. We should have notified you. I am sorry for the oversight, but in the rush of the moment . . .”
“Dr. Aubrey,” said Captain Jenkins tightly, “I would appreciate if there were no more oversights.”
“Of course, Captain. We will do our best to see that there are not.”
The way he said it made Jenkins feel as if he had made an unreasonable request and Aubrey was graciously ignoring his bad manners by granting it.
“I have already convened a meeting of the Ship’s Council for an hour from now, if that is convenient?”
An hour, Jenkins thought, but he said, “That will be fine.”
As Aubrey twisted and swam clumsily toward the exit and gravity, Jenkins turned away.
“Get me Ludenemeyer,” he barked over the intercom. “I want to know how soon we can get out of here.”
“I don’t suppose there’s any chance they don’t know we’re here?” the navigation officer asked.
“Only if they’re deaf,” Iron Alice told him. “The blast of radio noise this thing puts out when it breaks in is enough to alert the whole system. By now everyone in the system knows something is up. And if they bring their telescopes around they’ll have seen our torch flame.”
“Damn,” said the navigator without heat.
In contrast to the babble and confusion of the astronomers’ meeting, the meeting of the Ship’s Council was subdued. The twenty members listened intently as Sharon Dolan made her presentation. Occasionally someone’s attention would wander to a desk screen as they used hypertext to call up an explanation of a point, but most of them simply sat and listened intently.
Abstractly, Sharon Dolan was glad everyone was so quiet. She had never addressed anything bigger than a poster session at a scientific meeting before and her voice was thin and weak from strain and excitement.
“In conclusion, we know that, first, the system is definitely inhabited. There is absolutely no question of that now. Second, the aliens have a high technological civilization. Since we modified our software, we have found literally hundreds of O’Neill colonies in orbit around this star and we are finding more all the time. There is also a ring of power satellites in closer to the star and there are signs of mining activities in the asteroid belt and in the Jovian systems.” She paused to take another drink of water. In less than a half-hour, she had nearly emptied the pitcher on the table.
“Beyond that we know very little. We can only speculate until we get more data.”
“Which planet are they from?” someone broke in.
“We don’t know yet,” Sharon said. “There are no definite signs of habitation on any of the planets we have examined.” By mutual consent she had not mentioned her belief that the aliens came from outside the star system.
“Do we know if they know we’re here?” another Council member asked.
“Probably,” Sharon said. “They couldn’t have missed the burst of noise the drive makes in breaking out and if their instruments are any good they may well have picked up the flame of our torch as we maneuvered.”
Autro DeLorenzo slammed his hand down on the table with a noise that rang out like a pistol shot. “That settles it. We leave now.”
“What?” Sharon said, bewildered by his statement and his vehemence.
“We get the hell out of here,” DeLorenzo growled. “We’re virtually unarmed and we’ve blundered into something we can’t handle.”
“Don’t you think you’re being a little hasty?” Aubrey said mildly. “There is an e
normous amount we can learn here, surely.”
“And an enormous amount they can learn from us,” the South American shot back. “We’re scouts and part of a scout’s job is to know when to run for it.”
“I don’t think our mission was conceived in military terms.”
“Well, we’d better start thinking of it in military terms.”
“What makes you think they are hostile?”
“What makes you think they aren’t?” DeLorenzo countered.
“We’ve seen no evidence of anything hostile.”
DeLorenzo grinned wickedly. “You want to bet your life on that, Aubrey? You want to bet the ship on it? Do you want to bet all of Earth on it? Because those are the stakes. If they are hostile there is enough stuff on this ship to lead them right back to where we come from.”
“Major,” said MacNamara, “I wish you would stop talking like a character in a bad science fiction movie.”
“Doctor, I wish you would get your head out of your ass.”
MacNamara’s head jerked back as if he had been slapped. “I hardly think vulgarity will help us handle the situation, Major.” He emphasized DeLorenzo’s title with just a hint of a sneer.
“The only thing that will help us, Doctor, is to get out of here and I mean right now.”
“Gentlemen, please,” Aubrey put in. “This is highly premature. Besides, whether we leave or not is really the captain’s decision, isn’t it? You’ve always been a strong supporter of the captain’s authority, Major, and I’m sure you have no wish for the Council to usurp it now.”
“The captain is going to order us out of here real quick,” DeLorenzo predicted.
“That is the captain’s decision,” Aubrey told him.
In the control room Captain Peter Jenkins looked up at the big overhead screen and examined the sight. The scale was compressed and within the orbits of the gas giants the screen appeared spangled with points of silver, each representing a floating habitat. There were already more than five hundred of them and as Jenkins watched another silver pinpoint sprang into existence.
“Fantastic,” breathed a voice behind him. “Utterly fantastic.”
Jenkins turned and saw Andrew Aubrey on the bridge for the second time today, staring transfixed at the display. He was so engrossed he didn’t show his usual discomfort in zero-gravity. Then he seemed to shake himself and turned to Jenkins.
“Captain, may I talk to you privately?”
Jenkins nodded. “Of course, Dr. Aubrey. Please step into my office.”
The office was a cubbyhole off the bridge. There was barely enough room for a desk and the affectation of three chairs—practically useless in a part of the ship that never knew gravity.
“You might be more comfortable if you belted yourself in,” Jenkins told his guest, pointing to the restraints attached to the chair arms as he closed the door behind him. Aubrey strapped himself down and Jenkins eased into his seat.
“Now, Doctor, what can I do for you?”
“Captain, the Ship’s Council has been meeting to decide what we should do. I wanted to get your thoughts.”
“I really haven’t had time to think about it, Dr. Aubrey. I do know one thing. If there is any possibility of danger to the ship or the crew, we’re leaving immediately.”
“I’m sure the Ship’s Council would agree with you,” Aubrey said. “However, the Council is also concerned that we don’t jeopardize this enormous opportunity.”
“With all due respect, Doctor, this is a matter of the ship’s safety. It is not a matter for the Ship’s Council.”
“I understand your concern. But surely you would consult before taking any action.”
“Not if I believed our safety was involved.”
“Captain, may I speak frankly again?”
“You usually do,” Jenkins said with a slight smile.
Aubrey returned the smile, charmingly. “I realize this has not been an easy voyage for you because of the, ah, cultural conflicts, and believe me when I say that the Council has done everything in its power to minimize the problems. However I think that on this issue the conflicts come to a head.
“Now obviously we have a common interest here,” he went on. “No one wants to see the ship endangered. You do see that, don’t you?” Again the smile and Jenkins nodded half-reluctantly.
“Good. Because what we are really dealing with here is a difference in methods, not goals.”
Aubrey leaned forward, elbows on knees and hands clasped. “You mentioned your concern for the people on the ship as well as the ship itself. Don’t you think that part of that concern should be to involve them in deciding their own fate? What the Council is essentially saying is that it’s important for everyone to have some control over what happens to them.”
“Of course I agree, to an extent,” Jenkins said. “But I’m still the one responsible for the ultimate safety of the Maxwell.”
“And that’s where the clash of cultures enters in. In a hierarchical system, like the Space Force, decision making and power flows from the top down. In a consensual system, decisions are made by those affected. Aside from the military,” Aubrey pronounced the word in a way that wasn’t quite a sneer, “the Space Force is perhaps the most rigidly hierarchical system left. Scientists, by the nature of their work, are among the most consensual.”
He held up a hand to forestall an objection Jenkins had no intention of making. “I’m not trying to be insulting in saying that. Hierarchical organization isn’t always a bad thing. I can understand why it has survived so long in the Space Force, for example. But it isn’t the way most of the modern world works and it isn’t what most people are used to any more. We’ve learned to do things differently because we had to. And we very nearly didn’t learn it in time.”
“What’s your point?”
“Simply this. No one wants to put the ship in danger. But any danger is not going to be immediate. We’re in no danger now and we can see anything coming for millions of kilometers in any direction, correct?”
Jenkins nodded.
“That being the case, there is time for all of us to have a role in making the decision. We would have hours or days to forge a consensus before we act.”
“Dr. Aubrey, I cannot abdicate my responsibility for the ship’s safety.”
“No one is asking you to, Captain. Only that you take us into your confidence before deciding our futures.” He paused, studying Jenkins intently. The captain said nothing.
“Captain, will you promise me one thing?” Aubrey said at last. “That when the time comes you will make your decision based on the facts, not fears or speculations.”
Jenkins considered, looking for traps. “That seems reasonable enough,” he said finally.
Aubrey’s smooth face split into a grin. “Fine, Captain. That’s all I ask.”
“Don’t read too much into that,” Jenkins said. “If there is any sign . . .” The intercom chimed before he could complete the sentence.
“Captain, you’d better get up here,” DeRosa’s voice came over the speaker. “There’s something I think you should see.”
Without another word, Jenkins stood up and catapulted past the startled Aubrey. The scientist hesitated a second and then followed.
One look at the big display told him why DeRosa wanted him back on the bridge. On the screen, one of the dots flamed a brilliant green.
“Strong energy emission from that habitat,” DeRosa said. “It appears to be monochromatic.”
The captain started. “A weapon? An attempt to communicate?”
“Not communication,” the pilot reported. “There’s no modulation of the beam.” A pause. “I don’t think it’s a weapon either. At least nothing that can reach us this far out.” Another pause. “I think it’s a launcher. I think they just used a laser to launch something in our general direction.”
“A laser launch in space?”
Iron Alice shrugged. “Makes sense of a sort. It’s a real efficient wa
y to give something an initial kick. Not the way we’d do it, but . . .” She shrugged again.
“And it would keep the level of pollutants near the habitat,” Aubrey said breathlessly as he came swimming through the door. “Beautiful.”
The captain crossed to his console and punched into the comm. Carlotti’s face bloomed on the screen. “Ah, Captain, I was just going to call you. There’s been a change—”
“I know Dr. Carlotti, we have it here too. Can your people get us spectroscopic data on that emission?”
The astronomer hesitated. “We can try. I think one of the smaller instruments might be adapted for that sort of work. We’d need a low-power wide-field scan, but yes, I think we have something that will work.”
“Fine. And once you get started on that can you come to the bridge? And bring Dr. Dolan with you. And Major DeLorenzo.” Out of the corner of his eye Jenkins saw Aubrey wince.
“Doctor, if you’re going to stay, please strap yourself into one of the observer’s couches,” he directed. Aubrey really had nothing to contribute, and Jenkins would have preferred to send him off the bridge, but he knew it would cause more problems than it would solve. He needed Carlotti and Dolan for their technical knowledge and DeLorenzo because of his all-around engineering background, but he doubted that explanation would wash with Aubrey. Fortunately, he thought, we’ve got the room on this ship. The control room on the average space force vessel was cramped with just the officers. The Maxwell’s bridge had been designed to take a lot more visitors.
DeLorenzo came charging onto the bridge in less than five minutes. Carlotti and Dolan arrived a few minutes later. Still the single point flared a brilliant green on their screens. He directed Carlotti to a vacant console and DeLorenzo went to peer over his shoulder.
“Any more information?” he asked as soon as Carlotti was settled in.
“Just that what we’re seeing is consistent with a laser launch. And there definitely appears to be something in front of those beams. Possibly a light sail.”