She’d had a confused notion that life had something to do with expanding one’s intellectual horizons. And with achievement. Now she looked out the window and decided that whatever her purpose was, she’d fulfilled it when she arrived here.
And if she could choose a place to meet another intelligence, this would surely be it.
Below her, the upper atmosphere caught the light from the distant sun. It looked warm down there, and it was easy to imagine broad oceans and continents lying beneath those shimmering mists. In fact the temperature at the cloudtops was a terrestrial-17° C, the heat generated internally. Not all that bad if you could breathe hydrogen and methane.
Solly concentrated the scanners along the arc of the orbit, but he maintained a full search bubble out to more than six thousand kilometers. That took about 30 percent off the range and definition of the main search, but it was a price he was prepared to pay to avoid being surprised. Kim didn’t argue the point.
They were circling the planet every hour and twenty-two minutes. It had gotten late but no one showed any inclination to retire.
During the third orbit the alarm went off.
“Organic object ahead,” said the AI.
They went to the pilot’s room and Solly put the hit onscreen and went to full mag. They were on the dark side of the planet, in shadow, and consequently he could get nothing more than a marker. But the analysis had already begun.
Calcium.
“Object is rectangular, approximately two meters long, less than a meter wide.”
Carbon.
Range was twelve hundred kilometers.
Solly relaxed a bit. He laid in an intercept course. Kim felt the engines come on. The ship began to accelerate.
Potassium.
Below, the great arc of the rings was mostly in shadow, but a couple of moons gave them some light.
Hydrochloride.
Ahead, the sun was coming up. That wasn’t going to help visibility either.
“Won’t take long,” he said.
Kim felt a darkness gathering at the pit of her stomach.
They sat silently, sufficiently chilled that Solly raised the temperature on the flight deck.
Nine hundred kilometers and closing.
They flew into the sunrise.
Sodium.
The marker seemed to change its aspect, growing alternately brighter and dimmer. “It’s tumbling,” Solly said.
They raced toward the sun, passed under it, eventually got it behind them and were able to get a clear visual.
It was a body.
She was barely breathing now, gripping the arms of the chair, conscious of Solly watching her.
“You all right, Kim?”
Six hundred kilometers.
It wore a dark blue jumpsuit with a shoulder patch. She couldn’t make out details of the patch, but she knew what it said. PERSISTENCE.
Kim watched the body tumble down its lonely orbit.
Emily.
By the time they caught her, they were on the dark side again. Solly instructed the AI that they would take her on board through the cargo lock. Then he turned to Kim. “You sure you’re—?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I’m okay.”
He nodded. “Stay here. If anything unexpected happens while I’m gone—”
“What do you mean unexpected?”
“If we get jumped—”
“Oh.”
“Don’t hesitate to tell Ham to get us out of here.”
“It’ll obey me?”
“Sure.”
“Solly, be careful.”
“Count on it.”
“You’re not going outside, are you?”
“No farther than I have to.” He switched on the cargo hold imager so she could watch the recovery. Then he held her for a moment and went downstairs. Several minutes later he walked into the cargo bay, wearing a pressure suit and a jetpack, and waved at her.
“Kim,” came his voice, “can you hear me?”
“I hear you, Solly.”
“I’m in the process of decompressing the hold. As soon as we’re ready, we’ll open up.” He was standing in front of the cargo door, which was half again as high as he was, and about six meters wide.
“What do you need me to do?”
“Nothing,” he said. “I’ll handle it from here.”
“What about if you fall out?” She wasn’t entirely joking.
“Can’t fall out,” he said. “I’m tethered.”
The engines slowed. Instead of a steady pulse, Hammersmith was now modulating its approach with occasional bursts from its turning thrusters.
The object came within range of their lights and she got a good visual. It was Emily, without question.
“I just don’t believe this,” Solly said. “Why in God’s name would they leave her out here?”
“Because they didn’t want to have to explain how she died.” Kim’s blood began to race. The sons of bitches had killed her after all.
Why?
The corpse drifted to within a hundred meters. Kim watched through the external imagers as the cargo door opened. She saw Solly framed in the light, silhouetted against the Jovian’s rings.
The thrusters kicked in again. Hammersmith rolled slightly, and slowed almost to a matching velocity with the body. It passed out of the forward view and appeared off to port.
“You okay, Solly?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. I’ll have her in a minute.”
She watched him lean out the open door. A moment later he hauled the body inside, laid it gently on the deck, placing it so it was out of the view of the imagers.
“Let me see her,” said Kim.
“You don’t want to,” he said.
But she insisted and Solly moved her.
The body had withered and caved it on itself. Yet the uniform was sharply pressed. She wore black grip shoes and white ceremonial gloves.
Her black hair still framed her face, which even in its mummified condition registered bewilderment and shock. Death, Kim thought, had come on her suddenly and unaware.
“Kim,” said the AI, “I have movement. At nine hundred kilometers.”
“What kind of movement?”
“Non-orbital.”
“Coming our way?” Her hopes soared. Not unmixed with a dash of apprehension.
“Yes. It is closing at almost one kps.”
“Close the door and repressurize, Ham. Solly, you hear that?”
“Yes, I did. Ham, is it on an intercept course?”
“I would describe it as a collision course, Solly.”
“Is it slowing down? Maintaining speed?”
“It is accelerating.”
“Okay. Prepare to leave orbit.”
“Wait a minute,” said Kim. “We don’t know that it’s hostile.”
“It’s sure as hell behaving that way. If they want to talk to us they can get on the radio.”
“Solly, for God’s sake, this is why we came. If somebody’s out there and we run for home, what good will it all have been?”
“Kim, trust me. It’s coming after us.”
He was right. She knew he was right, and it filled her with fury. What kind of stupidity was she facing?
Run.
“Ham,” she said, “can you put the object onscreen?”
“Negative, Kim. It’s too far away. But I can tell you it has no identifiable propulsion system.”
Kim jabbed a fist in the air. “You hear that, Solly? No tubes. It’s the same technology. The Valiant is the real thing.”
“I hear it, Kim. You’ve been right all along. But it’s still dangerous. Ham, are we ready to move out yet?”
“In fifteen seconds.”
“Come on, Solly. Think what you’re doing.”
“I am thinking.”
“Look how small it is.”
“That’s what bothers me, Kim. Mines are small. Nukes are small. Ships with friendly celestials are not small.”
“
Solly—”
“Trust me. I’d like to make this work the way you want it to. But we don’t want to get killed over it. Ham—?”
“Ready, Solly.”
“Take us out of here. Accelerate at two gees for the moment. Take best course away from the object.” And to Kim: “If that thing’s directed by a friendly intelligence, it’ll recognize we’re scared, and it’ll pull off. If it continues to charge, that’ll tell us everything we need to know.” He opened one of the cargo containers, put the body inside, and secured it.
“They might not think the way we do,” she objected.
“Nobody friendly would launch something without trying to talk to us first. Ham, are we getting any kind of radio traffic?”
“No, Solly.”
“Put me on the multichannel,” Kim said. Solly threw her a pitying look. “It might be a misunderstanding of some sort,” she added.
Solly sighed loudly enough for her to hear. “I’m lost out here with a mad scientist,” he said.
She spoke into her throat mike: “Hello. This is Kim Brandywine on the Hammersmith. We come in peace.”
Static.
“Is anybody out there?”
“Just us goblins,” said Solly. “My guess is that the whole operation is automatic. You fly in, trigger the alarm, they shoot.”
“That couldn’t be. It’s stupid.”
“Maybe it is, but I’ll bet you that’s what’s happening. I’d say these people are a pretty ugly bunch.”
Kim tried several more times before giving up. “Where’s the object now?” she asked Ham.
“Closing fast. Range sixteen hundred kay.”
Solly waited impatiently, trapped in the hold while it re-pressurized.
“Solly,” she said, “Why don’t we take a chance here?”
“Kim, they are hostiles. What does it take? We’d better admit the reality.” A bell dinged and he pulled off his helmet and hurried out of camera range. “Ham,” he said, “what else can you tell us about this thing?”
“Its casing deflects sensors, Solly. Regrettably, I can offer little additional data. I can report, however, that it has adjusted course and velocity and continues to gain on us, although it is now doing so at a constant rate. It is still on a collision course.”
Kim listened with growing dismay. The thing had all the appearance of a missile. How could they be so goddamn dumb? Like everything else in this business, it made no sense.
Solly came into the room, sat down, and buckled in. “Exciting, huh?” he said.
“I guess I was wrong.”
“I guess so.” He looked up at the image of the pursuer on the overhead. “Okay, Ham, let’s rev it up. Go full ahead.”
The Hammersmith leaped forward.
“How long until we can make the jump?” asked Solly.
“Twenty-one minutes, ten seconds. Object is still closing.”
Estimated time to intercept blinked in the right-hand corner: 17:40. “We can’t do it,” she said. “We might as well turn around and try to talk to them.”
“Talk to a torpedo?”
She tried to think. “Don’t we have any defensive systems at all?”
“We could go outside and hit it with a stick.” Solly looked unhappy. “I wish it were burning fuel.”
“Why?”
“It’s small. It would run out quickly. What kind of power plant does it have?”
“I can speculate,” said Kim.
“Go ahead.”
“Magnetic force lines is one possibility. Antimatter’s another. Maybe quantum cells.”
“How do they move without thrusters?”
“Maybe they’re using the same kind of technology we use to produce artificial gravity. Except in their case, the field forms outside the vehicle. In whatever direction they want it to go. So they just fall into it.”
“In either event,” said Solly, “they’re going to have long-range capability.”
“Oh yes,” she said. “Certainly. But they might not be able to keep up with us. Keep pouring on the coal.”
“You’re more optimistic than I am. The damn thing’s at seven hundred kay, currently closing at forty-eight per minute. That closure rate’s been a constant regardless of our acceleration.”
“How about maneuvering?”
“We can try that when it gets closer.”
The object was close enough now to have acquired definition. It had hyperbolic lines. In fact, it looked like a flying saddle. It even had a horn and side panels that resembled stirrups. Ham drew bar scales to show its size: thirty centimeters long, half as wide. Four centimeters thick. It was smaller than a saddle. The exterior was a smooth gray shell, save for a row of black lenses set along the side of the seat. It was white, and she could detect no markings. “It doesn’t look like a bomb,” she said.
“Glad to hear it.”
“Can we make a run for the rings? Maybe hide behind something?”
“We’re too far away. But I’ll tell you what we can do.”
“Yes?”
“Send a subspace transmission to St. Johns. Copy to Matt. Tell them what we found and what’s happening.”
“I’m not sure I want to tell the world what we’re doing.”
“Why?”
“Because we lose control of the discovery if we do that.”
Solly looked at her. “I’m beginning to understand what might have happened to the Hunter.”
“If we get chased off, go back with nothing, somebody else will be out very quick. I’ll tell you what, Solly. Let’s prepare the package, compress it, and have it ready to go. If it looks as if the worst is going to happen, we’ll send it. Okay?”
He agreed and she instructed Ham what was to be done, what the message would say. It was to include a description of everything they’d done so far, especially the discovery of Emily’s body, and would recommend that anyone else coming to Alnitak be equipped with defensive systems.
When she’d finished, Solly attached visuals of the object and Ham squeezed everything into a hypercomm transmission that would require less than a second to go out.
Kim had meanwhile been watching the images on the navigation screen. The object continued to close.
“Five minutes to intercept,” said Ham.
“Maybe it’s a heatseeker,” she said. “How about cutting the engines?”
He shook his head. “Our first sighting was at nine hundred kilometers. That’s too far out for a heatseeker. Anyway that would be pretty primitive stuff for somebody who doesn’t need reaction mass. No, this thing has a visual lock on us. Best we keep running.”
They had two clocks posted, one keeping track of time to intercept, and the other, about three minutes behind, the time till jump capability came on line.
“We could try the lander,” she said.
“Abandon ship?” He looked at her. “If we do that, the best we can hope for is to spend the rest of our lives here.”
“Why in God’s name,” demanded Kim, “would they do this? The damned thing can’t be all that dumb.”
“Don’t know,” said Solly. “I’m not up on my celestial psychology.”
Time to intercept clicked inside two minutes.
“Ham, on my command, we’ll execute a thirty-degree turn, mark fifteen, to port.”
“Solly, at this acceleration, you and your passenger will be subject to extreme stress and possibly even a degree of hazard.”
“Thank you, Ham. I appreciate your concern.”
“I am always concerned for the welfare of crew and passengers.”
The object was fifty kilometers out. One minute away. Solly watched the clock tick down to a final ten seconds. “Ham,” he said. “Execute.”
The Hammersmith rolled hard left and the nose lifted sharply. Kim was thrown to her right. Her organs jammed against one another while the seat shoved up against her. Her heart hammered and her vision got dark and she was afraid she’d black out. The rumble of power in the walls increased
, and she tried to concentrate on the blip.
“It went by us,” Solly said. And then he looked at her.
“You don’t look well.”
“I’m doing fine,” she said.
“Object has commenced to turn,” announced Ham.
Kim sat with her eyes closed. For the moment she almost didn’t care.
“We bought a minute or so,” said Solly.
She shook off her stupor.
“Still closing.”
Its image dominated the overhead. It was a preposterous object. Goddamn silly saddle.
“Coming up the tailpipe,” said Solly.
And then Ham: “Sir, it is decelerating. Moving to port.”
It slipped off the screen, appeared again moments later as one of the other imagers picked it up.
“The object is running on a parallel course. Still decelerating.”
“Hard right, Ham.”
This time it stayed with them.
“Maybe it’s not hostile after all,” said Kim. “It could have blown our rear end off if it wanted.”
“Maybe.”
The range finder put it four meters off the port side.
Four.
“It has matched course and speed,” said Ham.
The jump status indicator signaled they’d be ready in two minutes to go into hyperspace. “Hold off, Solly,” Kim said.
“Give them a chance.”
“You have a suicide complex, sweetie. But we’ll play your game.”
“Object at two meters,” said Ham.
They watched its image growing larger. Then it was off-screen.
“Where’d it go?” asked Kim, after a long, damp silence.
“It’s in close. The sensors aren’t picking it up.”
“Object,” said Ham, “has attached itself to us.”
They sat without moving, without talking, without breathing.
Kim gripped the arms of her chair, thinking how you really couldn’t predict what a celestial might do. “What happens if we make the jump now?” she asked, in a voice so low that Solly had had to lean forward to hear her.
“Hard to say.” He also was whispering. “We might get rid of it. Or it might come with us.”
Kim’s pulse was in her throat. “You still think it’s a bomb?”
“What else could it be?”
“Jump status achieved,” said the AI.
“Hell,” said Kim, “let’s go.”
Solly didn’t need to be persuaded. “Where?” he asked.
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