Space 1999 #6 - Astral Quest
Page 18
Koenig looked beaten. He said harshly, ‘Alan do as he says. Take reconnaissance Eagle Two and go with them.’
Bergman made a last try for reason, ‘There’s still time, Luke. Release Doctor Russell, hand over your weapons. There’s still a place for you here.’
‘There will be no more argument. I do what I must do.’ Ferro switched himself off the link.
Koenig returned to Main Mission and an atmosphere that would cut with a knife. Morrow masterminded the Eagle take off. Formally he said, ‘They’re ready for lift off, sir.’
Luke’s face came on the command set, dark and fanatical. ‘Koenig. Any sign of pursuit and Dr. Russell dies.’ Choking down a rising tide of fury, Koenig said, ‘Understood.’ He also spelled it out for Morrow.
‘Controller, there will be no pursuit.’
Ferro’s Eagle swept from the pad. Paul Morrow went through the drills to clear the escort. Every precise action was a clear indicator of his reading of the situation. Finally he said, ‘That’s it, Alan. Reconnaissance Eagle clear for take off.’
Carter said, savagely, ‘Check. I’m on my way!’ It was all too clear he would have preferred an armed craft and a mission to seek and intercept.
Moonbase Alpha settled to wait. Grim faced, Koenig sat at his command desk in a new and unwelcome isolation.
Luke Ferro in the command module of Eagle Four, saw Arkadia filling the screen of his scanner and shoved the controls on auto pilot. He went through to the passenger module and Anna smiled at him. They were home and dry. They could be generous.
Anna, said, ‘Doctor, we’re truly sorry about this . . .’
‘Sorry! What kind of word is that? You’re killing three hundred people.’
Luke said, ‘Will they die, Doctor? Do we know that? Why was the Moon stopped in space? Why was the power cut with no technical reason?’
‘There is no explanation.’
‘Isn’t there? When the wheel of Destiny comes full circle—the tools it uses have their own logic. Isn’t that so?’
She looked from one to the other. They were not criminals. They were crazy or inspired. She tried to reason, ‘Listen to me, both of you. Physically, maybe you could survive down there. But have you thought what it will be like? You will be the only living beings on that barren planet. You’re going to almost certain destruction.’
It was not the way they saw it. Their smiles as they looked at each other showed a naive and ingenuous trust. Luke said, ‘No Doctor. We’re going home.’
John Koenig had moved to a direct vision port and was looking out at the starmap. Morrow called him and he returned to his desk, ‘We’ve tracked them on optical, Commander. They’re just about going into orbit.’
‘Let me know the minute we have radio contact with Carter.’
At the same moment of time, out of range of the reduced power of the probes, Alan Carter was getting his first signal from Eagle Four. Luke Ferro’s face appeared on his screen. ‘Carter?’
‘The same.’
‘Stand by for docking. It’s time to part company.’
Eagle Four eased in flight and Carter manoeuvred alongside. A boarding tube snaked over the ten metre gap and clamped home.
Helena Russell paused at the hatch. The two looked suddenly vulnerable and alone. On an impulse, she came forward, embraced them both and then turned on her heel to join Carter. As the hatch sliced shut at her back, they stood hand in hand, waited for the green telltale to indicate that the boarding tube had been retracted and then walked through to the command module to strap in for the home ran.
The Reconnaissance Eagle wheeled away and headed back. When Sandra picked it up at the extreme of her shortened range she alerted Morrow and he called the outcast in the command office. Koenig could be seen sitting at his desk looking in front, tapping one finger on the housing of his console.
Paul Morrow said, ‘We’ll have voice contact with Carter in thirty seconds, Commander.’
Koenig was on his feet and using his commlock to open the hatch into Main Mission. He was standing behind Morrow’s chair when Alan Carter’s voice, laced with static cracked on the Eagle Command net.
‘Calling Alpha. Reconnaissance Eagle heading for Alpha. Do you read me?’
Koenig reached over and took the link. ‘Koenig . . . Helena?’
‘Safe. With me. We’ve lost Eagle Four.’
So the trade had been carried through. Koenig had sold them down the river. Morrow’s voice was bitter, ‘What now, Commander?’
Koenig was calling again, ‘Technical?’
‘Technical Section here, Commander.’
‘Did you do what I asked?’
‘No problem, Commander. It’s on sub space frequency two, two, zero.’
‘Well done.’ He shifted to the Eagle Command net. ‘Pursuit Eagle Three?’
‘Commander?’
‘Switch to sub space frequency two, two, zero.’
‘Two, two, zero. Check, Commander.’
‘Pursuit Eagle Five?’
‘Eagle Five.’
‘Switch to sub space frequency two, two, zero.’
There was interest all round. It was still cold and gloomy in Main Mission, but there was a feeling that they were in business again. Bergman was on to it first. He said, ‘Dammit, John. You’ve put a trace on that ship.’
‘Koenig said, ‘Activate,’ and a low pulsing signal sounded out. He turned to Morrow. ‘Right, Paul. Get those supplies back.’
There was a snag, Paul Morrow said, ‘But, Commander, they’ll be on the surface before the pursuit Eagles can catch up. It’s vast. They’ll never find them.’
‘The trace is not on the Eagle, it’s on the moonbuggy. You’ll find them wherever they are. Now get those Eagles away.’
Main Mission swung behind its Controller with a will. For one thing it was a way to show that they regretted the failure in trust. Minutes later, Paul Morrow could report the all clear from the pads. He said formally, ‘Pursuit Eagles Three and Five ready for launch, Commander.’
As if on cue, Main Mission took a sickening lurch that sent personnel reeling in all directions and turned the orderly desks into instant chaos.
Clawing a way back to his seat, Paul Morrow looked at his console. His shout cut through the hubbub, ‘Commander . . . we’re moving again.’
Only a few seconds behind him, Sandra Benes had reached her own work head. The power monitor stared at her and she took a new reading. The legend repeated, POWER LOSS RATE 47%.
She called, ‘The power! We’re gaining power!’
Koenig looked at Bergman. It made no sense. He snapped out, ‘Abort the mission, Paul!’
‘But the supplies?’
‘With power coming back, we have the means to restock.’
Bergman thought of something else, ‘The Reconnaissance Eagle!’
Koenig hit a button, ‘Carter. This is an emergency. Hurry it along. Alpha’s on the move again. Hit that drive or you’ll get left in the outback.’
‘Check, Commander!’
The Reconnaissance Eagle surged forward as though booted up the rudder by a cosmic foot.
Arkadia was feeling the effect of the Moon’s surge forward. A driving wind whipped up and ran blindly over the unpeopled wastes. Luke Ferro saw the outriders of the storm and dropped the crate he was carrying. It burst open and yellow seed spilled out to cover his feet.
But he ignored it. He was staring, transfixed, at the huge bowl of the sky. Their late home was on the move. He yelled ‘Anna!’
She came running. Together, they watched Earth’s Moon diminish to a dot.
Soberly, as if waking from a dream, they looked at each other. The full Impact of their isolation was breaking through. The first probing fingers of the sighing wind plucked at their clothing. Overwhelmed, Anna sobbed in sudden fear.
Luke Ferro drew her close and held her shaking body. All they had was each other. It could be enough. It would have to be enough. For that matter, it was all there ever wa
s anywhere, a man and a woman trying to make sense of the human situation.
The wind lifted the seed and scattered it over the barren land.
Koenig was at the entry port when Alan Carter and Helena stepped through. Knowing when he was not wanted. Carter lifted a gauntlet in greeting and walked off.
Hands outstretched, Koenig went to meet her. The lights had gone on in Moonbase Alpha, but without her it would be an empty shell. He had put it all in the balance against her safety, but he could not regret it. Maybe it disqualified him from the command slot?
He said, ‘All right?’
‘Yes, I’m fine.’
Her blonde hair against his cheek, she said, ‘They’re all alone down there, John.’
He could still feel angry about that, ‘That’s right and there’s nothing we can do about it. It was their choice.’
‘Was it their choice? I believe they were possessed.’
The Moon fled on. Arkadia diminished to a speck and winked out beyond the range of the probes. Koenig sat late in his command office bringing the log up to date.
Dictating into the recorder, he said, ‘Now that Alpha is safe, we can only wonder at the forces which almost destroyed us. On reflection, we must ask if we were right to resist Luke Ferro and Anna Davis in their almost inspired need to take the gift of life back to a dead world. Had not our fight been for immediate survival we might not have failed to understand the transcendental nature of their act.’
He paused and looked out at the black velvet starmap and the infinite scatter of stars. There had to be one. Somewhere, there had to be one Ithaca. He signed off, ‘Meanwhile our search for a home continues.’
He stood up. Meanwhile, also, he would go and see how his particular Penelope was faring.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
ASTRAL QUEST
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN