Solar Express

by L. E. Modesitt Jr.

  REFLECTIVITY IS NINETY-NINE POINT EIGHT ACROSS ALL WAVELENGTHS. RANGES FROM ULTRAVIOLET TO INFRARED.

  That level of reflectivity seemed extraordinarily high for a ship’s hull. From his messages and his initial conversations with Alayna, Tavoian knew that optical telescopes came close to perfect reflectivity … but for a white hull that didn’t seem polished, that didn’t seem possible. “How can that be?”

  IN THEORY, NANOLEVEL DIFFRACTION GRATINGS COULD ACHIEVE THAT REFLECTIVITY.

  “With a surface so hard that lasers can’t scratch it?”

  AT PRESENT, THERE IS NO RECORD OF SUCH A MATERIAL HAVING BEEN FABRICATED.

  But the aliens managed that, it appears. “Move the laser to the center of the circle. Repeat the tests and report.”

  A few seconds after the two minutes had passed, the AI reported, REFLECTIVITY IS NINETY-EIGHT POINT THREE ACROSS ALL WAVELENGTHS. RANGES FROM ULTRAVIOLET TO INFRARED, EXCEPT FOR WAVELENGTHS OF 379 AND 380 NANOMETERS.

  Absorbing two wavelengths and one and a half percent drop off … but why there? “Is there any detectable difference in the hull surface inside the circle?”

  ANY DIFFERENCE IS BEYOND THE SENSITIVITY OF THE EQUIPMENT.

  Tavoian thought about another high-power test, then shook his head. With near perfect reflectivity of the hull surface, about the only thing that could happen was to damage his own equipment. “Repeat the tests on eight other circles, two on this side of the curved section of the hull, three in the middle, and three on the far side. Then test two other open sections of hull. Report the results when the tests are done.” He had a good idea what those results would be, but he’d need at least that many confirmations to report back to the colonel and the DOEA scientists.

  At the same time, he realized that there was … something … about the hull and the measurements, something that nagged at him. But he couldn’t recall exactly what it was, except that he’d fleetingly thought it was unusual.

  You’re tired. You’ll think of it later.

  He hoped so. In the meantime, he began to write up the results of the tests and investigations conducted over the course of a very long day, knowing that he’d have to be careful about exactly how he wrote up the results before he sent them off to the colonel. He’d likely have to rewrite them at least once, knowing that he tended to be sloppy when he was tired, but if he didn’t take care of it immediately, he’d worry about it instead of sleeping.

  He also needed to eat.

  After that, if his eyes could still focus, he’d see about writing a message to Alayna … and maybe to Kit and his parents.

  50

  THE NEW YORK TIMES

  15 NOVEMBER 2114

  [OTTAWA] “The North American Union has not placed remote explosive devices anywhere in space,” declared President Dyana Yates late yesterday. “We remain fully open to peaceful cooperation in matters of space research and development.” Her statement was in response to a charge by Sinese Minister for Space Wong Mengyi that a small laser-triggered explosion in space was absolute proof that the Noram Space Ministry had already begun to militarize space in violation of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 and the Joint Space Agreement of 2051.

  The explosion occurred near the possible alien artifact many have termed the Solar Express. DOEA Secretary Luvalle declared that the “minuscule explosion” was the result of the energy reflected from the surface of the artifact back into a laser measuring unit that caused a power overload in the remote sampling device.

  Senator Riccardo Castenada (CP-NY) charged Luvalle with a “blatant coverup” and declared that if Luvalle thought reflected light was explosive, he had no business serving as DOEA Secretary. Castenada went on to charge the entire Yates Administration with malfeasance in subsidizing a bloated military-industrial space combine, whose only priority was profit, while ignoring the “real and pressing needs of the people of New York and other states” of the North American Union.

  In response, a joint statement from Senator Kim Greywinter (D-ALB) and Tanya Patton (D-SASK) noted that Castenada had yet to retract his erroneous statement about the so-called Solar Express being a hoax and a fabrication, a failure that demonstrated Castenada’s total ignorance about DOEA affairs. Castenada remains under investigation by the Noram Inspector-General’s office in regard to charges that he disclosed classified DOEA material, and a government source indicates that an indictment is “possible” in the near future.

  Acting EC Chancellor Alceste Ciorni, serving while Erek Rumikov recovers from injuries incurred from the failed assassination attempt by Scottish separatists, repeated the EC’s disappointment with both Noram and the Sinese Federation for failing to inform other nations about the potential alien spacecraft.

  One of the top authorities on space law, Kacia Elspeth, noted that while military installations and weapons of mass destruction are prohibited under existing treaties, there is no prohibition on conventional weapons. In addition, the distinction between a warship in space and a ship carrying conventional weapons has never been precisely defined …

  51

  DAEDALUS BASE

  15 NOVEMBER 2114

  Thursday morning Alayna woke up early with the words she’d thought had vanished, at least for a while, going through her head:

  Yesterday, upon the stair,

  I met a man who wasn’t there.

  He wasn’t there again today.

  I wish, I wish he’d go away.

  She didn’t even try to push them away as she hurried and got dressed. Since it was day on Farside, and there was actually a free block of time on the solar optical array, she didn’t waste any time in gulping down coffee and checking the coordinates she’d set up for her latest observing plan, once “her” block of time became available at 0830 UTC. Maybe today will be the day when you discover the little solar man who’s there again today, but isn’t.

  After she had more coffee and ate, she went over all the systems, looking especially at the indicators for the aeroponics and the water feeds, but those were doing well, now that she’d adjusted the system to take into account the higher calcium load. The only messages she received were news summaries, one of which reported that a large Sinese spacecraft, almost twice the size of the standard longliner, had left high Earth orbit four days earlier, by which Alayna assumed an orbit well beyond geostationary, in the direction of the artifact dubbed the Solar Express. The Sinese refused to comment, beyond saying that it was an unarmed research craft.

  Something that size as a research ship and poor Chris is out there in something like a hurriedly converted fusionjet? Alayna forced her thoughts back to the next step in her research, which was an attempt to correlate the appearance of the multi-fractal mini-granulations with either the duration or the intensity of the “regular” granulations in the same latitude bands. She would even have been happy if a correlation of a negative sort appeared, that the multi-fractal mini-granulations appeared some time either before or after either greater convection activity or less, although there had been some limited research in the past that could not find such a correlation, but the observation periods had been too short to be conclusive.

  While Marcel carried out the observations, Alayna called up the message she’d received late on Wednesday from Emma, reading over the key parts before she dashed off a quick reply.

  … your Solar Express is definitely acting alien! We’ve seen an increase in its inbound velocity. Several percent more than can be accounted for by standard mass/gravitational force. I don’t want to put figures on an open communication. We’re not the only facility that’s noted this. John Dorcaster at Yerkes has also. If he has, so has most of the astronomical world …

  Emma never did like Dorcaster. With good reason, from what Alayna had overheard, but Yerkes needed an astronomer who was as much mediaslut as astronomer, and Dorcaster was certainly both.

  Alayna shunted Emma’s message to the side, considering again that it really hadn’t been an error in Marcel’s calculatio
ns. In one way, that definitely relieved Alayna. In another, it was a real concern. There was absolutely no indication of a propulsion system, and Chris had consistently referred to the alien creation as an artifact. The physical parameters indicated that it was old, but the images he’d shared with her definitely didn’t show that. The lines were crisp. There were no craters, scrapes or scratches, or anything that revealed wear and age … and that was another worry. What if it was all a colossal hoax? But who or what could have engineered that? The Sinese had a base on Europa, farther out from where the artifact had first been observed … but to create something that massive? With all the reported properties?

  Unless Noram and the Sinese were cooperating …

  Alayna shook her head. That was most improbable, even more improbable than an actual ancient alien artifact.

  She had already replied to Emma, most carefully, trying not to be curt but without revealing too much and noting that COFAR had observed the mass/velocity discrepancy, but that, because of the location of Daedalus Base, did not have recent observations that would confirm the magnitude of that discrepancy. Alayna definitely needed to be careful. The way things were going, she’d need every contact and every possible supporter once she left COFAR and the Farside Foundation … assuming that the growing hostilities between the three major powers didn’t escalate into all-out warfare.

  She checked the message queue again. Nothing there.

  Since she did have time while Marcel actually carried out the observations, and she wouldn’t later, when she’d have to pore over them and suggest analytical patterns, she decided to reply to Chris. After what he’d sent her, she definitely owed him, although in some ways, she also envied him.

  Chris,

  The images are stunning, and I wish I could send you some from a distance, for comparison, but COFAR won’t be in position to view you and the artifact for another week. There are disadvantages to observing from a body whose full day-night cycle is twenty-eight days. Sometimes, we have to wait a long time, unlike deep space observatories or even those on Earth. On the other hand, it’s all relative, because we have advantages they don’t.

  I have to admit that the artifact doesn’t look as old as all our observations suggest. Whoever or whatever constructed it designed for it to last eons … or longer … That’s clear. I can only hope you’re able to find out as much as you can in the comparatively limited time you have there.

  She paused. “Marcel … do you have any better data on 2114 FQ5? Perihelion time and distance?”

  “No, Dr. Wong-Grant. Until COFAR can observe the object again, more accurate calculations are not possible.”

  “Thank you.” Alayna went back to the message.

  … According to our present calculations, sometime last Sunday you and the Solar Express [officially known as 2114 FQ5] crossed Earth’s orbit, not that Earth is all that close to where you are. For what it’s worth, the artifact isn’t behaving like a normal small body. Unless our calculations are wrong, and that is always possible, it has been speeding up more than can be accounted for by the sun’s gravity as it moves in-system. We won’t be able to calculate better speed and approach data for another week, but I thought you’d like to know, because you may not have as much time there as initially calculated.

  The following quote struck me as intriguing because while it mentions passion in passing, it also deals with the issue of time. We think of what happens in the here and now as so vital. To us, it is, but … was it to whoever built the artifact? I have to wonder. Any beings that built something to last tens of thousands of years must have had a different perspective … or am I missing something?

  Don’t ever debate anything with a geologist. They’re passionate enough, and they care, deeply, about good science, but for them, a million years is a short time, and so many of them really don’t think that anything that can happen in mere decades or centuries can matter all that much, but it can, as witness the recent global warming. Astronomers who study galactic dynamics are similar, but haven’t had their various applecarts upset yet …

  Yet, here I am trying to upset applecarts, and you’re dealing with one. Sorry to distort the metaphors totally out of proportion.

  Anyway, I hope my poor suggestions have helped in some way.

  Do take care.

  She sent the message immediately, but wondered, not for the first time, if and when he might receive it.

  Two hours later, Alayna’s observation time came to an end, and she immediately asked Marcel, “Have you found anything interesting?”

  “The granulations in the latitude belt being studied appear to be somewhat more violent. Based on past observations, that would indicate they are shorter-termed. There is also a higher number of multi-fractal mini-granulations. It will take several more days of observation to determine whether multi-fractal mini-granulations are also shorter-termed.”

  “Thank you.” Alayna had been squeezing in minutes and fractions of hours on the optical array for the past several days, but this was the first indication of increased solar convection, and such an increase did not exactly fit the long-term observed pattern. But then, over the years, that pattern had been interrupted, changed, even reversed upon occasion, and supposed period of solar minimums and maximums had been anything but that.

  After reviewing the images selected by Marcel, Alayna had to admit that the AI was on to something. Not only was there a five percent increase over the mean in the numbers of multi-fractal mini-granulations, but the definition appeared to be more distinct. But why would that be?

  “Marcel, are there any usable images from the Lick contract yesterday? Ones we could use as a baseline.”

  “Those were for a high latitude study, Dr. Wong-Grant.”

  “Wasn’t that a multi-day study? How many days? Could you scan their images to see if there are any multi-fractals over the course of their observations?”

  “That is possible.”

  “Make the comparison scans, please. Let me know what you find.”

  “Yes, Dr. Wong-Grant.”

  While she waited for what Marcel might or might not discover, she wondered if she might be the first to be observing the multi-fractals at such a time. She shook her head. That was highly unlikely. But you can hope.

  Less than ten minutes later, Marcel reported, “There is a slight increase in convection activity in the higher latitude bands, but it is well within normal parameters.”

  “As possible, keep track of that.”

  “Yes, Dr. Wong-Grant.”

  Alayna realized that her mouth was dry, and she had a headache … and that she hadn’t had anything to drink in almost four hours. With a wry expression, she headed for the galley, still wondering if the slight uptick in convection might reveal her solar man who wasn’t there.

  So far.

  52

  RECON THREE

  15 NOVEMBER 2114

  Tavoian woke with a throbbing headache on Thursday morning, and his eyes burned. Wondering if something had gone wrong with the environmental systems, he immediately checked the oxygen and CO2 levels, and the internal atmosphere analysis. Oxygen and CO2 were fine, and there were no worrisome levels of contaminants in the air, especially not of ammonia, carbon monoxide, or formaldehyde. With the possibility that he might be somewhat dehydrated, Tavoian drank half a squeezebottle of water before starting in on his tea. While he drank, he checked his messages, but all that had arrived while he was sleeping were news summaries. That suggested that whoever vetted his messages at Donovan Base hadn’t gotten to them, or that the colonel hadn’t signed off on them.

  He would have liked to use both ISVs at once, especially before the manned Sinese expedition arrived, but he couldn’t use the first one for his spy-eye expedition until he repaired the AI rover so that it could place the space anchors.

  So he had the ship’s AI dispatch the second ISV to inspect the circumference where dark green and silvery white joined, and while the AI was monitoring that, he fo
rced himself through an hour of heavy exercise, after which he cleaned up. By then, his headache had slowly dissipated, and he began on the repairs to the first rover AI.

  The hardest part was removing the damaged grabber arm without disabling the connections that had been splashed with globs of instantly melted materials that had, in turn, immediately solidified upon striking the connector. That alone took more than an hour of painstaking work. Then he had to clean the connections before he attached the new grabber arm. Once the repaired AI rover was back together and tested, he set up the first ISV with the spy-eyes, the rover, and the space anchors, ready to launch from the lock.

  Then he headed back to the controls, where he checked on the progress of the circumference inspection. So far, no other traces of material from the artifact that could be retrieved or sampled had been discovered. Even if the ISV did discover another “thread,” Tavoian had absolutely no intention of using his remaining laser to try to cut anything loose. He did want to be able to report that he’d covered the entire rim, especially since it was indeed possible that something might be caught or attached where the hull and interior were exposed side by side.

  “What have the Sinese been doing?”

  ANOTHER TEN SPY-EYES ARE INVESTIGATING SURFACE AREAS OF THE ARTIFACT. THOSE AREAS ARE BEING NOTED. THEIR ISV CONTINUES TO SWEEP THE SURFACE OF THE ARTIFACT.

  “How much thruster propellant do they have?”

  THAT INFORMATION IS NOT AVAILABLE. WITHOUT HABITABILITY REQUIREMENTS, ASSUMING SIMILAR INTERIOR PARAMETERS, THE SINESE CRAFT COULD CARRY A MINIMUM OF THREE TIMES THE PROPELLANT ABOARD RECON THREE.

  “More like five or ten times,” murmured Tavoian.

  THAT IS POSSIBLE.

  “Keep searching with the same pattern and parameters.”

  SEARCH CONTINUING.

  At 0917 Tavoian decided to dispatch the second ISV. He watched as it neared the passageway between the two hexagons he had selected as providing the closest access to the route the rover had taken to the hull chambers he thought might contain drives or engines or some sort of propulsive system. The rover set up the anchors and the cable between them, then attached the signal repeater and the fiber-optic line to it, before returning to the ISV, which then eased into the passageway.