He had continued to use the ISVs, the spy-eyes, and the rovers to investigate passageways, concentrating on those bordering the hull, but after two more days had little to show for those efforts, except a few assorted frozen atmosphere crystals that were similar to the earlier crystals analyzed and a handful of what analysis revealed to be circumstellar dust. The first ISV was doing more laser studies of the barely discolored circles on the hull, for comparison, if nothing else, and he had just dispatched the second ISV to look into a passageway that had reflected sunlight slightly differently, at least to his eyes, when another message from the colonel arrived. The key point was simple:
The increased speed of the artifact toward the sun requires more rapid completion of investigatory tasks and discovery of replicable technology, materials, or insights into the advanced technology represented by the artifact.
In short, produce some results.
Tavoian’s problem was that he really didn’t know what else he could do besides what he was already doing. He was looking into every passageway and hexagon into which he could send the rovers or the spy-eyes. He was sampling all the loose material he could find. He was using the laser to investigate material composition and possible properties, and he had the ship’s AI watching the artifact continuously. But the fact remained. There were at least ten thousand of the hexagonal chambers, most of which were the smaller ones, and while the majority of those that his remotes had investigated were sealed, there was always the possibility that one with something of value in some way might not be. So he kept sending the remotes out.
You might as well find out now just how you’re coming. “How far inside Earth’s orbit are we now?”
RECON THREE IS INSIDE THE EARTH’S ORBIT BY THIRTY-SIX MILLION KAYS.
It didn’t feel like he and Recon three were hurtling toward the sun, but he didn’t doubt the fact that it was happening, and that he was slowly, but inexorably, running out of time.
While he was thinking over what else he might be able to do, since he wasn’t getting much in the way of useful suggestions from the colonel or his advisers, another message arrived from Alayna. He immediately noticed that it had been delayed almost eighteen hours. When he finished reading it, he thought he knew why it had been delayed—because more than a few people had looked at it—and why it had finally been sent on—because the colonel was hoping something that she had said might inspire Tavoian.
He read the message again, slowly.
While what she had sent made sense, it also pointed out the quiet impossibility of the situation and the artifact itself. She’d outlined the options clearly. Either human calculations were wrong, or the seemingly inert alien technology was incredibly advanced, advanced enough to have an impact in a way that was undetectable except by its effect. He also realized something else, after the first day or so, the ship’s AI had not had to use the drive to keep position. But what did that mean? That the artifact was carrying them along as it increased its speed? How was that possible without being detected?
It might not be that undetectable if we could only get into those sealed chambers. But what if they were like all the ones he had been able to investigate?
Almost absently, and because he was out of ideas, he asked the ship’s AI, “Is there anything new or different about the artifact?”
THERE IS. THE ARTIFACT’S OUTER HULL NO LONGER REFLECTS ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION FOR WAVELENGTHS SHORTER THAN 370 NANOMETERS.
“When did this happen?”
AT 0947 UTC.
“Display the hull optically. Maximum resolution.” Tavoian studied the image. Although it was probably his imagination, somehow the hull appeared duller. “That either means the hull isn’t receiving UV or it’s suddenly absorbing it. Have the Sinese done something to screen the object?”
THERE IS NOTHING BETWEEN THE ARTIFACT AND THE SUN WITHIN RANGE OF RECON THREE’S DETECTION CAPABILITIES.
“Is the artifact radiating energy, other than by reflection, in any fashion?”
NEGATIVE.
“Is there any possible external reason for the change in the reflectivity of the hull?”
NONE HAS BEEN DETECTED.
“Has the artifact changed in any other way?”
NO CHANGES HAVE BEEN DETECTED, EXCEPT FOR THE PRESENCE OF INVESTIGATORY REMOTES AND SINESE PERSONNEL.
Somehow Tavoian didn’t think that the Sinese had anything to do with the change in reflectivity.
While he watched the monitors, and waited for the return of both ISVs and the results of their latest investigations, he decided to reply to the colonel’s last message … and if he didn’t come up with more ideas after that, then he’d write a long message to Alayna … and answer her question. She might have an idea about why the artifact’s hull suddenly had stopped reflecting UV and shorter wavelengths. She also seemed to be more helpful than all of Donovan Base.
That’s not true.
Not totally, anyway, but it was still how he felt at the moment.
58
DAEDALUS BASE
21 NOVEMBER 2114
Despite it being lunar day, on Tuesday, Alayna rose early to take advantage of a half hour block of unbooked time on the main optical array. The position of the sun was such that she could finally focus the main telescope on the alien artifact and have Marcel make the necessary observations and measurements.
When she saw the first image, with the three objects around a bigger disc, she frowned for a moment, until she recalled Chris’s mention of the arrival of the second Sinese ship in his last message, the one that had also mentioned that he had not had to accelerate his ship to keep station on the artifact. And that brought up the question of how and why the artifact could apparently carry the ships with it as it accelerated—when it apparently didn’t have a mass sufficient to do that—under any form of astrophysics she knew.
“What’s the position of the artifact with regard to the orbit of Venus?”
“2114 FQ5 crossed the orbit of Venus last night at 2133 UTC.”
“That’s even earlier than you calculated from the Mauna Kea data, isn’t it?”
“Twelve hours earlier.”
“It shouldn’t be doing that.”
Marcel did not respond to that, obviously, because Alayna had offered an opinion and not asked a question.
She did need to find out if the optical array saw what Chris had reported.
“Marcel, are there any changes in the image of 2114 FQ5?”
“There are now no reflected wavelengths shorter than 370 nanometers.”
That certainly confirmed Chris’s observation. “Are you certain?” Dumb question! The AI was connected to all the monitoring systems. “Is there any indication of what might have caused that change?”
“There is not, Dr. Wong-Grant.”
First the inbound speed issue, and now this! Chris was right beside the artifact, and none of his instruments recorded anything but an inert object. Yet what was occurring with the alien artifact was impossible, according to present theory. Not necessarily theory, she corrected herself. Since something was happening, it had to be undetected or undetectable by any instruments or equipment trained on the object. In turn, that meant it was concealed within the object by the impermeability … Except we don’t know of any way that could work without some external evidence—heat, radiation, energy flows … something. In turn, that suggested some aspect of current theory wasn’t either inclusive enough, overlooked a possibility, or was wrong. Or the theory is right, and the builders of the artifact found a way around the theory.
Alayna didn’t like any of the possibilities, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it at the moment. “Please calculate the probable position of 2114 FQ5 at 1200 UTC each day for the next month, with the projected distance from the sun at that time. Put a copy in my incoming.”
“Yes, Dr. Wong-Grant.”
Alayna forced her attention from the alien artifact, the Solar Express that was living up to its name, and to the other
matter at hand—the issue of the man who wasn’t there, but was—the question of how to get a better insight on the sun’s multi-fractal mini-granulations. And she needed to get on with finalizing her own observations when she got her block of time on the solar array later that afternoon—an unexpected cancellation—because she hadn’t anticipated having the extra time.
After that, she had more repairs to make, this time in the cargo lock, and she really needed to replace an entire section of seals before the arrival of the “pack train” from Lunara Mining on Thursday.
The little repairs were continual, and they added up. But that’s really why you’re here, so far as the Foundation’s concerned. And she needed to reply to Chris, but she could do that later, after her own work … and the repairs.
Yet somehow the alien artifact was working, or so it seemed, after thousands of years, and Daedalus Base needs constant attention after less than thirty-five years?
She forced her thoughts back to what other variables might have a regressive correlation …
59
HOTNEWS!
19 NOVEMBER 2114
[Image Deleted For Off-Earth Transmission]
Chancellor Erek Rumikov’s back in bed … we mean back on the job … rumor has it that the so-called Scottish separatists who wounded him two weeks ago were separatists in a different sense—separated spouses of Scots who didn’t take kindly to Rumikov’s attention to their exes. You’ll notice we didn’t mention gender, either. Rumikov’s not talking about it, either, and no one’s been able to find the attackers. Could be that no one wants to.
[Image Deleted]
It’s getting crowded out there in space! Around that alien artifact, anyway. Word is that a Sinese “research” ship reached the Solar Express. No one’s talking, not publicly, about the fact that it’s armored and twice the size of anything else floating around out there. Except it’s not floating. The Solar Express is sprinting toward the sun. That’s what the very noted John Dorcaster, head of the Yerkes Observatory at the University of Chicago, claims. We told you it was an express, right from the first. Remember that when it goes up in solar flames!
[Image Deleted]
Ramona Cunnard’s not happy. Not at all. If you don’t remember the name, well, she’s Kitten on Sex and the Sin-Team, and she’s anything but pleased to find out that her partner’s taken up with a cougar, the female type. Worst of all, that cougar is none other than Elise Read, and she’s the Kitten’s agent. Lots of claws and screeches. More entertaining than Sex and the Sin-Team.
[Image Deleted]
Talk about takeovers! The evangelical cooperative BibleTruth has just purchased the century-old Creation Museum from the ailing Answers in Genesis Foundation for one billion dollars. That’s right. That’s the biblical theme park that allows visitors to experience the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and be chased through the Sinai desert by a tyrannosaurus rex after barely escaping the Red Sea swallowing the Egyptian army under the sinister gaze of one of the pharaohs Ramses. Must still be a lot of dollars in being a true believer!
[Image Deleted]
That school explosion in Xigase? Chinese Minister of Defense Wu Gong claims the school, holding more than a hundred children, was destroyed by an Indra missile launched from Bhutan. Indian Prime Minister Ravindra denies the charge. He claims that if India wanted to target anyone in the Sinese Federation, it would have been Minister Wu Gong. Just kidding! That’s what the Prime Minister should have said. He only denied that it was a missile and said that nothing came from either Bhutan or India. Rumors abound, but one source claims it was a natural gas explosion. For the Sinese, everything is someone else’s plot.
[Image Deleted]
The last free-floating section of the west Antarctic ice sheet broke free yesterday … The remnants of the Thwaites Glacier collapsed. A chunk of ice the size of Rhode Island is now drifting away from Antarctica. Between 2110 and 2113, the once massive ice sheet retreated almost fifty kilometers. Scientists are forecasting another ten meters of ocean level rise in the next century. What’s next? Beachfront property in Philadelphia or Dallas? Swamps in California’s central valley?
60
RECON THREE
23 NOVEMBER 2114
By Thursday Tavoian’s spy-eyes had investigated another thirty-three hexagonal chambers, none of which were open, without finding anything new or different. In the process, he’d lost two more of the large spy-eyes. Exactly how, he had no idea, since neither returned. One of the other spy-eyes had captured a momentary image of one of the errant remotes, wobbling side to side for several moments before suddenly heading down a passageway not on its programmed route.
The Sinese continued to send their remotes and the crewed tug/sled to various parts of the artifact. The AI reported occasional flashes of light, reflected or scattered laser beams. Spectrographic analysis of the two flashes that reached Recon three without spreading revealed the same elements that Tavoian had discovered. Faithfully Tavoian sent daily reports to the colonel, and just as regularly received requests for any additional data or information Tavoian could muster.
The ship’s AI had calculated that Recon three had crossed the orbit of Venus late on the night of the twentieth. With a continuing increase in speed over what solar gravity could account for, the artifact and Recon three were now over eight million kays farther inside the orbit of Venus.
If not farther, thought Tavoian as he readied the ISV and the four spy-eyes for their next exploration mission. At the rate he was losing spy-eyes, he just might have four of the ten large ones left by the time Recon three needed to depart the vicinity of the artifact.
By 0743, the ISV was headed to the side of the dark green expanse directly opposite where the AI rover had discovered both the possible ship launching bay and the passageway leading to the drive chamber. Given the use of hexagons by the builders of the artifact, Tavoian had decided to investigate the areas that would have formed a hexagon with one vertex located at the point of the passage already discovered. He would have made that expedition on Wednesday, but the Sinese space-sled had been hovering in the area; so Tavoian had sent the slightly larger ISV with the remaining laser to study as many of the circles as possible.
The circles had bothered him because, outside of the circle caused by the severing of the artifact from its original sphere or spacecraft, there were no other circles anywhere. The only explanation he could come up with for their explanation was that the hexagons below had projected some form of energy in a hexagonal field, but that field had spread slightly and manifested itself as a circle in whatever effect it had upon the substance of the hull. In terms of the physics he knew he wasn’t sure that made sense, but he mentally termed it a working hypothesis, until he came up with a better explanation.
While the ship’s AI monitored the ISV after it released the programmed spy-eyes, Tavoian positioned himself roughly on the control couch, strapped loosely in place, and began to compile, once again, what he had discovered about the artifact, a listing of the obvious, the apparently mundane, and the not-so-mundane:
The materials of both hull and interior were impregnable, and showed no impact damage from thousands of years in space.
Some force had sheared the artifact from a larger body of which the artifact appeared to constitute less than five percent.
The hull was largely silicon and silver, but fabricated in a fashion that made it harder than any human-created material and a nearly perfect mirror, but finished with microscopic diffraction gratings, impossible as retaining impregnability seemed for such a finish.
The interior was largely carbon, again fabricated in a fashion that made it harder than any human-created material.
Attempting to sever a “thread” of the hull material, roughly some eighty micrometers thick, released enough energy in vacuum to vaporize the closest parts of the tunable laser.
The chambers were flat hexagons, almost all of which were one of two sizes, the majority having sides of somewh
at less than twenty-five meters, the larger having sides of somewhat less than fifty meters. They were arranged in a fashion with the flat sides roughly parallel to the hull, suggesting the artifact could have been rotated to provide artificial gravity.
The material comprising the hexagons was nonconductive, except at certain select wavelengths where it exhibited apparent photoconductivity.
Several days inside the orbit of Earth, the hull began to absorb electromagnetic wavelengths in the UV range and shorter. There was no discernible increase in the hull temperature and no additional radiated heat or energy.
All functional technology had to be within the impermeable wall structures, but had been able to be extruded when required.
There did not appear to be pressure doors sealing various sections of the artifact.
If the crystals were frozen atmosphere, that atmosphere was largely nitrogen and oxygen, with a larger-than-expected component of argon.
There was at least one large and empty chamber that appeared to have been an airlock, large enough to hold a spacecraft as large as Recon three.
The “drive” chambers contained thirty-two hexagonal gray columns. On the exterior hull, there were thirty-two circles that appeared to coincide with the placement of the columns beneath the hull. The circles reflected all wavelengths of visible light except one, and one of UV not visible to most human eyes, a difference of two nanometers, precisely. And the circles were one point five percent less reflective than the rest of the hull.
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