But Cathy knew it was just an appearance; inside the Field, time was progressing normally for Lana as she prepared for the task ahead. Even now, Cathy could see the fabricator machines were continuing their spread throughout orbit and the lunar debris ring.
Fai, an independent duplicate of the A.I. aboard the ISS, now spoke over the Discovery’s speaker.
“Coordinates set. Navigation locked. Roll.”
Cathy watched as they began to move away from the ISS.
The long central axis lay at the centre of three parallel external modules; each formed from the empty fuel tanks of previous Space Shuttle missions. The Alpha, Beta and Gamma modules were joined to the central structure by a large ring and a radial access tube. She remembered that when the station had been spinning, the ring had imposed a fair approximation of lunar gravity. However, the novelty of gravity had been short lived. Cathy’s eye was drawn to the ugly gap within the ring: a persistent reminder of the airlock that had explosively depressurised during their Solar System round-trip.
Again, the Jupiter message passed through her mind; the set of coordinates prefixed by three letters. The coordinates had apparently defined the location of a place called the Node, the letters had been more enigmatic: EVA.
Interpreted differently by each of the crew as various acronyms, her first thoughts had centred on one particular member of the former FLC crew.
She remembered how, in the hours leading up to the destruction of the Moon, Eva Gray had used various means to steal the ID keys from each of the FLC crew; Cathy herself still had the small facial scar to prove it. For reasons they would probably never discover, Eva had then turned the Siva deflection system against the FLC itself. The end result had been the loss of the Moon.
Yet despite all of this, Cathy found herself returning to the fact that, in bringing about the destruction of the Moon, Eva had effectively placed a highly destructive field of debris between Siva and Earth. Without this debris, Siva’s singular mass would have impacted Earth and triggered an extinction level event.
For Cathy, the significance of ‘EVA’ did not end there.
One of Eva Gray’s roles at the FLC had been to conduct a lunar geological survey, the eventual intention being that a post-Siva Earth could use the Moon as a colony. In crew conversations, Eva had talked about the underlying structure of the lunar surface, but she’d made no mention of the vast mineral and chemical resources it contained; a fact that was only discovered over ninety years later by Fai’s fabricator machines in orbit.
What compounded Cathy’s intrigue was that the lunar ring itself was so useful to the returning ISS crew. During the fabricators’ reassembly of the Discovery, key compounds had been harvested from this new and abundant source; without it, a return to Earth would not have been possible.
The Discovery completed its roll away from the ISS, and the full brilliant glare of the Earth saturated her field of view. Almost without thinking, she held out her hand towards Mike who grasped it firmly.
“Earth injection sequence,” reported Fai, “Full thrust.”
Cathy felt the sudden acceleration push her back into her seat. The force was similar to the hypergolic kick of the RTO module’s departure from the lunar surface, but she got the impression that it was not one continuous burn; rather a rapid succession of thrusts that were minutely adjusting both the acceleration and course of their craft. Three seconds later, the adjustments stopped and she felt herself thrown forward slightly as their velocity became constant.
“Wow,” Mike was grinning, “I forgot the rush! Anna, how’re you doing back there?”
“Stomach contents intact,” she smiled, “Biomag check?”
Cathy unzipped the top of her flight suit and checked the unit around her neck.
“All good,” she replied, “Mike?”
“Yep, all good… Still having a hard time getting used to the idea though, I’d have preferred some good old-fashioned heat shield tiles under us for re-entry.”
“The unipiece fibrous insulation of the previous shuttle design carried a flaw that represented too high a risk,” Fai replied, “Anna Bergstrom’s solution is both elegant and efficient.”
Cathy turned around to see the amused look on Anna’s face.
“Elegant and efficient,” Anna smiled, “I’ll take that.”
During the swift planning stages of the Discovery, it had been Anna’s idea to utilise what she called a ‘trivial’ Field solution; a temporal ratio that was permitted by the underlying mathematics but previously had no useful application.
Using a temporal ratio of one to one, it was possible to establish a Field with no relative difference in time-frame, but still have the space-time isolation effects. In the same way that the Field surrounding the ISS had previously prevented orbital debris damage, the relatively low-powered Field aboard the Discovery would deflect the heat of atmospheric re-entry.
Cathy felt minor thrust adjustments being made, then Fai spoke:
“Trajectory set. Engaging Field.”
Unlike the last occasion when Cathy had experienced a Field activation, there was no moment of physical nausea, just a mild sensation that the hairs on the back of her neck had briefly stood to attention.
“Re-entry in three, two, one.”
Inside the Discovery, there was not even a shudder as they began their descent through the atmosphere. Cathy watched as, outside the Field, a glow began to build; a thermodynamic shock wave of superheated plasma as the air compressed ahead of them. The hot plasma continued its impotent assault on the Field; its orange fires occasionally streaked through with white sparks of atmospheric dust. All in complete silence.
The view of the Earth appeared to begin a very slow clockwise drift.
“Fai?” Cathy felt a slight sense of unease, “Were you expecting this?”
“Yes. The Field was established after we began our approach. The re-entry effects are therefore consistent with a point-mass fall to Earth.”
“Fall?” Anna isolated one word from Fai’s reply.
“Physical interaction over a Field boundary is not possible,” explained Fai, “Currently we are following a purely ballistic trajectory and cannot adjust our orientation. When the Field deactivates I will make appropriate corrections to convert to aerodynamic control.”
As the atmospheric bombardment subsided over the following minutes, Cathy felt something else increase; Earth’s gravity was now returning a sensation of weight. The one-sixth gravity she’d experienced on the Moon and in the ISS ring, were pale imitations of Earth’s gargantuan pull. Yet with every gram she appeared to gain, she felt her spirits lighten. After so long, she was finally heading home.
“Prepare for Field step-down,” Fai announced.
Cathy shuffled in her seat and tightened her straps, something that both Mike and Anna appeared to be doing too. At their high entrance velocity, a simple Field deactivation would expose the craft to a sudden and destructive air resistance. Instead, Fai would put the Field through a controlled collapse; decreasing the radius of the Field’s sphere in a rapid series of steps. The intention was to expose the Discovery’s wings and control surfaces to the surrounding air more gradually. Gradually, however, was a subjective term.
The drag from air-resistance ramped up sharply as the Field stepped down in size, and Cathy felt herself pushed forward by the rapid deceleration. With the Field now inactive, noise levels immediately rose inside the cabin as the fast-moving air battered the external walls of the craft.
What sounded like an explosion came from underneath them and the craft rolled.
“Port ignition,” Fai reported calmly over the noise.
A second detonation halted their rotation.
“Starboard ignition,” Fai again reported.
The craft appeared to pitch and yaw by a few degrees, then Fai’s voice returned again.
“Air viscosity and laminar shear test complete. Aerodynamic control established.”
As Cathy slowly releas
ed her grip on the seat’s armrests, she felt sure the Discovery must be accelerating upwards. However, she soon realised that the sensation was down to the fact that her arms were simply heavy. She grinned and turned her apparently heavy head toward Mike, who seemed similarly amused. She was about to speak when she saw that beyond him, though the craft’s side window, was a pale-blue sky and white clouds.
Cathy swiftly turned to face her own window and saw a view that reminded her of being aboard a landing aircraft; the cloud base whipped by above her at great speed, whereas the ground far below hardly appeared to move at all. Her attention now focussed on this ground level and in particular a spherical structure at the centre of a small island in the distance.
“Is that…?” she began.
“The Node,” completed Anna.
At this height, Cathy found it difficult to interpret the scale of the structure but, as they continued to near it, she thought she could see people outside it.
“But… there’s people…” she struggled, “It’s huge…”
“Fai, can we land on the island?” asked Mike.
“I’m detecting human thermal signatures and the presence of an active Field, so I would not recommend it. Although the given landing coordinates are not accessible, I could set us down on the shore line nearest to the -”
“Great, bring us round,” said Mike.
Cathy felt a bank to the right, an action that tipped the craft enough to see the whole of the Node and its surrounding moat. The hemispherical dome dominated the island and dwarfed the small crowd of people milling about in front of it. The Discovery’s circular flight path then took them around the Node, giving the appearance that the whole island was on a massive turntable surrounded by gently rippling water.
As they completed their orbit around the Node, the people again came into view.
“Are those tents?” asked Mike.
“Yes,” replied Anna, “This… this isn’t right.”
Fai manoeuvred the Discovery into position and lowered the landing struts. As the feet neared the ground, she throttled back the engines and the craft settled onto the Icelandic landscape.
“Contact,” Fai reported.
The engine noise wound down to a stop, leaving only the sound of their slightly laboured breathing. Cathy looked at the other two.
“We’re home.”
RISE
13th April 2014
With a cold, efficient punch, the icy seawater erupted through the Arrivals Lounge corridor and forced its way through the Warren; effortlessly channelling itself through side rooms and narrow tunnels.
“Evac!” Nathan continued to yell as he ran up the tunnel’s shallow incline. Ahead he could now see that Izzy had reached the upper level and had been met by Noah Broadstone.
“Don’t stop!” Nathan yelled, urging them to keep moving away.
The water hit the back of his heels, giving him a fresh burst of adrenaline. As he neared the top of the incline he realised that the water wasn’t keeping up with him and he risked a quick glance behind him. The water was still rising but less quickly.
“Breach…” he gasped as he neared the dining quarters, “Arrivals… gone…”
“What?!” Tessa Locke now joined them, “How can -”
She stopped with a gasp when she saw the flood water.
“Why’d it stop?” Izzy pointed to the water, which now appeared to have halted its progress up the tunnel.
Noah stared at the tunnel for a second then cocked his head to one side as if to hear better.
“The intersection,” he said, “It’s flooding the lowest sections of the Warren first.”
“First?” said Izzy.
“Path of least resistance,” Noah shrugged, “When it’s done filling everything below us, it’ll start rising again.”
“How long have we got?” Tessa looked at her watch.
“If we’re lucky,” he pointed straight down, “Monica’s old Eurotunnel entrance might fail.”
“Lucky?” Nathan shot back.
“Well, yeah. If Entrance One fails, then the water will simply flood out into the main tunnel below,” he shrugged, “We could have months.”
Tessa let out a sigh of relief and pushed the hair out of her eyes.
“Ah,” said Noah, pointing to her hair, “not so good. I guess Monica’s entrance held after all.”
Nathan could see what he was driving at and became aware of the chill. He pointed to Tessa’s wind-buffeted hair, “Air displacement.”
“The water’s already pushing out our air,” said Izzy backing away into the dining quarters, “This is happening right now!”
It took less than a minute for them to work out that only one member of their group was unaccounted for; Sabine had evidently gone after Marcus during the breach. Nathan left the dining quarters behind and moved to the USV’s access point. It appeared that in her haste, Sabine had not stopped to re-cover the circular hole.
Nathan recalled the moment when Monica had detonated the shaped charges that had produced the hole. The last time that their group had attempted to enter the USV, things had ended badly and they’d been forced to retreat. Now there could be no retreat.
Izzy arrived at his side and a moment later Noah joined her. The lights flickered, and Nathan turned to Izzy.
“Once you’ve unplugged the Z-bank, don’t let it out of your sight.”
“Got it,” she nodded.
“Noah, while we’ve still got light, grab as much of Woods’ research as you can, OK?”
“Already got the last of the inhalers,” he patted a small flight case.
“OK, when you’ve got everything, I want you two to get everyone over to the Glaucus Dock offices out there,” Nathan glanced between them both, “It’s on the same level as us and nobody’s been in there for months, it’ll give us a safe place to regroup.”
“OK, but what are you gonna be doing?” said Izzy.
“I’m going after Sabine and Marcus. Safer for everyone else if I go alone,” Nathan ducked through the Warren’s rough exit hole and turned to face them, “The water’ll hit the power lines soon, but don’t wait for it to get here before you leave.”
Nathan turned and ran down the access tunnel in the direction of the USV. He could no longer tell if the impulse to protect the twelve was his own, or if it was something that Monica had conditioned him to do. Either he was carrying out someone else’s wishes and had no choice in the matter, or he was doing this of his own volition and the choice was his own. Whatever the case, the drive to protect them all seemed real. Right now, it was all he had.
He reached the end of the rough-hewn tunnel and emerged into a much wider space. The metallic walkway under his feet stretched across an open void to reach the Glaucus offices on the other side. Several feet away, on the left of the walkway, was the Glaucus Dock; a vertical shaft that ran up to the surface.
He hurried across the walkway in the direction of the stairwell that lay opposite the dock. As he approached the top of the metallic steps he could hear Sabine’s voice, several flights below, calling out to Marcus. He knew he had to get to her as soon as possible; every word she uttered would only attract attention.
Although he couldn’t see the whole USV, the quality of the light below him appeared to suddenly change. Perhaps in panic, he began taking the steps three at a time. As he reached Sabine, he could see that she was clearly distressed; repeating the same French phrase over and over, her eyes wide open. When it became clear to her that Nathan couldn’t understand what she was saying, she simplified her explanation to a few English words.
“Marcus!” she grabbed at Nathan’s arm, “He jumped!”
He knew Marcus had intended to deactivate the drones using a laptop control program, but there was no way of knowing if he’d succeeded. If Sabine was to be believed, it was possible that Marcus had just leapt to his death.
Below them the lights failed, plunging the stairwell into darkness.
The thought
flashed into his mind that the Warren’s flood had somehow compromised the USV’s electrical system. There could already be a set of drones on the way to investigate. Feeling for the handrail, he pulled Sabine with him back up towards Glaucus Dock.
•
The streets were still in blackout following the power failures within the USV. Segments would occasionally have their power restored, but would fail again a few seconds later.
Repair crews were out in force, opening junction boxes and zipping between locations in compact electric buggies. With no Peace Keeper drones, Marcus could see that policing had returned to human hands; an inexpert volunteer force equipped with radios and attitude. It made progress slow for him and his guest as they attempted to move about, but at least the continual disruption was deflecting people’s attention.
He could see that the bottom of the Glaucus stairwell had been cordoned off and appeared to be guarded by two burly looking individuals with telescopic batons. The sight reminded him of life on the surface before the lunar shards had arrived; corrupt checkpoints that used to litter the roads between the different communities. Back then, the currency of free travel was simple bribery; something that wouldn’t be possible here.
“No good,” he turned to Sarah, “With them two kickin’ around out there, we ain’t getting on them stairs.”
“It’s too long a climb anyway,” she replied, “We just have to wait it out.”
“Wait it - what?”
The electric whine of an approaching buggy forced them to hurriedly retreat around a corner and crouch in the shadows. From what Marcus could hear, the buggy had stopped a few yards away and its two occupants were deep in discussion. Eventually the conversation moved away from the vehicle until it became absorbed in the general clamour echoing around the USV.
A single and brief tone sounded from somewhere nearby.
“That’s the breaker reset!” Sarah suddenly got to her feet, “Ten second warning, power’s coming back on, we have to move now!”
Eva Page 3