Solar Express

by L. E. Modesitt Jr.

  “What you did was invaluable.” The colonel smiled. “Invaluable enough that I’ve put you in for the Medal of Valor. You will receive it. Both the DOEA Secretary and the Secretary of Defense have signed off on it.”

  Tavoian understood that part of the reason for the medal would never be mentioned directly.

  “Once we wade out of this current morass, Major, you’ll be very much in demand, and you’re going to be the voice for interplanetary exploration … and beyond. I assume that meets with your approval?”

  Tavoian did not reply, thinking about that magnificent fragment of a giant ship. Who else could talk about it … and be believed? “I take it that my health is good enough that I can do almost anything—except long space voyages?”

  “You take it, correctly, Major. Rather, your health will be … once you complete gravity reacclimation. We’ll talk about that tomorrow. We’ve talked enough today.” The colonel nodded, then turned and left the small chamber.

  Tavoian’s mouth dropped. What was that all about?

  When no one appeared, he decided that he’d better finish reading Kit’s message and send a reply.

  91

  DAEDALUS BASE

  6 DECEMBER 2114

  Even though Alayna had known from Chris’s message that he wouldn’t be back until late in the day on Wednesday, when she went to sleep that night, she’d still heard nothing. Nor had there been anything in the news summaries. There had only been a notice that all travel to and from all lunar and L1 and L2 locales had been suspended due to the presence of armed Sinese spacecraft.

  On Thursday, she woke up early and worried. As soon as she was in the COFAR control center, she checked her messages, but there was only the news summary, just the second one since the CME had hit Earth’s magnetosphere. Because of her concerns about her father, from whom she’d still heard nothing, and Chris, she opened the news summary first. She knew what she was about to read would be anything but encouraging, and she wasn’t in the slightest surprised by the long litany of areas of the world where the power grids were nonfunctional, including most of the midwestern Noram states. She didn’t worry about power in the case of her father because he had both solar and wind power systems at his house outside of Lincoln. What worried her more was the report of heavy snow across the area. Snow and overall power shortages were not a good combination, especially in early winter. That New York was flooding and failing was no surprise, either, not when there wasn’t enough power for all the pumps that kept everything dry.

  The tiny blurb at the end caught her attention, and she froze for a moment, then read it once more.

  Two Sinese spacecraft were destroyed within several thousand kilometers of various L1 installations around 1830 UTC yesterday. Noram sources declared that the two craft were warships destroyed by high-speed natural space objects. Sinese Space Command sources insist the ships were unarmed and were the victims of an unprovoked attack by a single militarized fusionjet of Noram origin. Whether there was a ship in the vicinity at the time, and if there was, what became of it is unknown at this time.

  “Unknown at this time” doesn’t mean destroyed. Alayna also knew that just because Chris had been scheduled to arrive somewhere around that time, the unidentified craft didn’t have to be his. But she also knew that if the Sinese ships were holding L1 installations hostage, that they had likely been warships, since travel had been suspended. Under those conditions, Chris was the type to try to do something. Even if you did tell him to be very careful.

  She sent off a short message to her father, not knowing whether it would reach him, just saying that she was fine and that she hoped to hear from him.

  Finally, she fixed herself coffee and breakfast, then began to eat while she considered her day, which was actually lunar night. The scheduled observations were continuing, although the system was still having to store some of the data and images for later transmission. The monitors showed everything operating normally, even the extreme ultraviolet telescope, for which she was thankful, since she’d had to replace several components the day before. She wondered if that might have been a possible aftereffect of the concentration of the system on the destruction of the Solar Express.

  She still had no idea of how the high-temperature particle beam had been generated, or why it had focused on the alien artifact. In thinking about the alien artifact, another thought popped into her head, this time about the “circles” Chris had observed on the outer hull. If the alien ship had been using a graviton drive or gravitons as a way to traverse a wormhole, were the circles merely an affect of the gravitons projected due to scattering from the hexagonal columns that were projectors? How would you know? And what would it imply?

  It might … she began to think in terms of how to express that in mathematical theory.

  At least, that would keep her mind partly off worrying about her father and Chris.

  Less than an hour later, another message arrived, and Alayna immediately dropped what she was doing and called up the message, hoping it was from Chris or her father.

  She couldn’t stop smiling as she saw it was from Chris, and she immediately began to read. When she finished, she read it again to make certain that she wasn’t missing anything. He sounded well, but she could sense that he was worried about the medical tests, worried that he wouldn’t be able to continue as a pilot, or even in the Space Service. That would be hard for him. But he’s back. He’s back safe.

  Alayna was still thinking about what she might say that wasn’t excessive when another message arrived. She hoped it was from her father. It wasn’t. She didn’t recognize the sender. At least, she didn’t think she did. The name was Caldwell Blaakner. She immediately began to read.

  Dr. Wong-Grant:

  It’s been a number of years since we met. It was, just after your second year at Princeton, when you returned to Lincoln to visit your family …

  Who is this Caldwell Blaakner?

  … and your mother was kind enough to introduce you to my son, who was interested in either astronomy or astrophysics and wanted to know more …

  Now … Alayna recalled the name … and the face. A tall stern-faced woman who had been her mother’s physician. A doctor? What’s happened to Dad?

  … You may have learned that Lincoln suffered a sudden devastating blizzard in addition to the failure of the power system. That’s why I’m contacting you from the hospital. I wish there were another way to convey this …

  Alayna swallowed.

  Your father knew that his neighbors, the Kalimpuras, were not so well provisioned or powered as he was, and he made his way through the snow to offer them a warmer place to stay. Unhappily, two others had gone there before him. He surprised them as they were attacking the couple. Both the Kalimpuras were injured, Yakob more so than Isbella, but with your father’s assistance, they subdued the attackers. Your father did not realize that he had been as severely wounded as he was. When the couple realized that, they managed to stop most of the bleeding and rushed him to the hospital in his own vehicle …

  Of course, Dad was prepared for everything.

  … I can’t be certain, but I believe he died before he reached the hospital. We tried everything … I’m so sorry.

  Alayna just sat before the controls and screens. Finally, she read the last lines.

  Your father had mentioned to Dr. Neher that you were the resident director of COFAR, and a friend managed to find the address for us. I did think you would want to know …

  The rest of the words washed over Alayna. In a way, she’d almost known. Her father would have tried anything to let her know he was all right. So like him … thinking of others …

  How much time passed, she wasn’t certain, but it was well into early afternoon when she realized that another message had come in. She almost didn’t want to open it, especially when she saw it wasn’t from Chris … or anyone else she knew, but from the Department of Off-Earth Affairs.

  Now what? Was it terrible news about Chr
is? She shook her head. Even if something had happened to him, no one was going to notify her. They weren’t related.

  Thinking about her last encounter with the Noram government and the rather intrusive and overbearing nature of more than a few members of the Inspector-General’s investigatory team, she didn’t even want to open the missive, especially after the last message, and particularly one addressed to her as Dr. Alayna Wong-Grant, Resident Director, Combined Farside Array, Daedalus Base. The first lines weren’t any more reassuring.

  Director Grant:

  All lunar entities receiving funding, whether partial or full, have certain obligations to the government, said responsibilities being administered by the senior DOEA official in the area under whose jurisdiction such entities fall …

  Alayna took a long deep breath. The last thing she needed was another run-in with anyone, especially DOEA, since the DOEA funding that Farside Foundation received was critical to maintaining COFAR. And your appointment and future.

  At that moment, Marcel announced, “You have an urgent message from the Director-Generale, Dr. Wong-Grant.”

  Why now? Can’t they all just leave me alone? After a moment, she sighed. No doubt a directive to comply with whatever DOEA requires. It had to be something like that, because Alayna couldn’t believe DOEA would require something without notifying the Foundation. She switched to the Director-Generale’s message. While it took two paragraphs, the bottom line was simple: Do what DOEA wants and make them happy.

  Alayna wouldn’t have expected anything else. She nodded and returned to finishing the DOEA message—more like a requisition, she thought. But, upon further thought, probably not unexpected with everything that had happened in the wake of the Solar Express and the CME.

  Whether or not you like it, you don’t have any choice. Slowly, she began to compose her replies, first to the local DOEA authority and then to the Director-Generale.

  Later … when she was more settled, she’d reply to Chris.

  92

  DONOVAN BASE

  7 DECEMBER 2114

  At precisely 1000 UTC on Friday Tavoian entered the colonel’s sanctum sanctorum on the main level and seated himself.

  “We’ll keep this meeting short,” the colonel said. “Dr. Cattertyn doesn’t think you should be spending more than an hour at a time in half gee right now.”

  “She won’t tell me why, except that I didn’t get enough exercise, and my blood chemistry is out of sorts.”

  “That should be sufficient, considering you were operating on the edge of consciousness for more than a few hours. You’re very durable, Major. You were also very fortunate. Now … let’s go over the mission. You can skip the outbound trip. Just begin from when you took station on the artifact. Don’t bother with anything that’s logged into the system. More about what you saw, any conclusions or observations that you’ve kept to yourself…”

  Tavoian was more than happy not to have to dwell on his stupidity in trying to use every gram of Hel3, although those details were certainly in the AI’s records, and if the colonel didn’t know already, which he likely did, he would before long. “One of my first impressions, sir, was just how damned big the artifact was … and how perfect and untouched everything was…”

  Tavoian had talked for close to forty minutes before saying, “I really can’t think of anything more that I haven’t already reported.”

  “If you remember anything else you think might be important, just make a note on it, and we’ll go over it when you get back.”

  “I’m leaving soon?”

  “In about three hours.” The colonel paused. “You’re not to mention where you’re taking your low grav reacclimation to anyone, particularly to your friend the astrophysicist.”

  “But—” Tavoian started to protest.

  “No ‘buts,’ Major. We can’t risk anyone knowing where you’re headed. Even our burst transmissions might not be perfectly secure. That’s another reason for your early departure, and why we’ve already dispatched all the information you brought back to DOEA HQ and Space Command. It will blow over, especially after the Sinese understand the position they’re in, but they’re still furious about what happened to their ships, and not all their dispersed elements are necessarily under the full control of the new government.”

  “You make me seem like a wanted man.”

  “As far as the Sinese are concerned, you are.”

  “Can I at least say that I’ll let her know more about my therapy when matters are settled?”

  The colonel smiled. “That would be appropriate. Also very misleading if any transmissions are intercepted. Now … get back into lower gravity. Otherwise, I’ll have to apologize to Dr. Cattertyn. I’d rather not.”

  Tavoian stood, realizing his legs were in fact a little shaky. He tried not to show it.

  * * *

  By the time he returned to his temporary quarters, he found two messages waiting for him, one from Kit, and one from Alayna. He decided to read Kit’s first.

  Chris!

  I’m so glad to hear you’re back. There’s been no word in what news we’ve been able to get about your return. You’d think that someone would be interested in the only man to actually see the alien artifact.

  Are you sure that you’re all right? Dad and I don’t need any more sudden—or gradual—surprises. I hope you’ve let Alayna know. I still think she’d be good for you, if only as a friend if you’re not romantically interested.

  You don’t give up, Kit.

  I suppose it will be some time before you’re back on Earth. The way things are here, you may be better off where you are than most places in Noram. The good thing about Brian Head is that it’s not easy to get to, especially for the unsavory types. The bad thing is that there’s no easy way to get what you don’t already have. But Dad had laid in enough stuff to last all winter and then some.

  That doesn’t sound good. But then, Tavoian realized, what could you expect after massive power system failures in a country that had never believed fully in infrastructure that didn’t turn an immediate profit?

  The rest of the message was cheerfully chatty, without even a hint of what Kit and his father had just gone through.

  He almost felt guilty when he opened the message from Alayna and began to read,

  Dear Chris,

  You’re not saying everything. I can tell that. The fact that you’re worried about medical tests tells me that you went through more than you’re saying. I’m just so glad you’re back.

  I’m sorry to be late in replying to you. I was going to do so sooner, but just after I got your message I got another one. It was from a doctor my mother knew. She’d treated my father after he’d been wounded in saving a neighbor couple from looters. In all the snow, I think the couple had trouble getting him to the hospital. He lost too much blood, and the doctor couldn’t save him …

  Tavoian stopped reading. She’s lost both parents … and she’s worried about being late in messaging you.

  … I wasn’t much good for anything for a while after I got Dr. Blaakner’s message. It was so like Dad. He had all the backup power, and his house was secure, but he knew the neighbors might be having trouble. So he went to see if they needed anything.

  And she’s just like her father. He finished reading the message and immediately began to compose a reply, knowing that he didn’t have that much time.

  Dear Alayna,

  I just got your message. I understand. I hope I do, anyway. I won’t claim to know exactly how you feel, but you know I lost my mother, and I couldn’t even get to see her because of where I was. Unlike you, I do have my father and sister, but I wish so much that I could be with you right now.

  There are too many similarities between what’s happened to and around us over the past year, and we need to talk about them, or message until we can talk in person. Unfortunately, this message will have to be shorter than I’d like, because right now I’m under orders, and I don’t have much time. I prom
ise to explain everything to you in great detail as soon as I possibly can. That won’t be too long.

  In the meantime, please, please take care of yourself.

  As he sent the message, Tavoian hoped that she would understand. He needed to make what preparations he could for his coming stint in low-grav therapy.

  93

  THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

  8 DECEMBER 2114

  (JERUSALEM) The aliens were real! After releasing a series of stunning images of the alien spacecraft destroyed by the solar prominence last week, the Noram Space Command finally admitted that its mission to study the so-called Solar Express has returned safely to an undisclosed location, with a massive amount of data and images. Once the material is processed, the Noram DOEA will make the bulk of the material available to all “cooperative space agencies” and research institutions. DOEA acting Secretary Correia declined to clarify what constituted a “cooperative” space agency.

  Although the NSC mission was crewed by a single pilot, Noram sources have indicated that for reasons of health, including a prolonged period of weightlessness, the officer will not be immediately available for appearances. The pilot is expected to recover completely in a relatively short time.

  The massive solar storm that struck the Earth’s upper atmosphere was an aftermath of the prominence that destroyed the artifact, a crescent-shaped section of a larger craft that “probably” was destroyed in some fashion more than ten thousand years ago, according to noted astronomer John Dorcaster.

  In the meantime, the death toll from the aftereffects of the solar superstorm has now reached into the tens of thousands, and looting and violence continues to occur sporadically in areas of the world where the power disruptions were the greatest and where hundreds of millions remain without access to any centralized form of electric power …

  At present, all sections of the Israel power grid are operating, although sporadic local outages have been reported in Gaza …