Gronolf moves directly to the holo-map in the control center. He notices through his right-side eye the others stopping in front of the general’s chair. Eve and Adam interlace their touch-hands. Their posture seems to express awe, even though he is still far from understanding the aliens’ body language.
Soon afterward Marchenko joins him at the holo-map. Gronolf demonstrates how to use the four sectors of the control panel. Due to the sounds generated by the pressed keys, he could do this with his eyes closed. Gronolf knows that Marchenko can also hear in the ultrasonic range, so he will appreciate these melodies. Among Gronolf’s people it is considered the highest skill of a navigator to select a travel route not just by the highest efficiency but also by its harmonic sound. This tradition is still used in modern space travel—at least it was so before his time in the sleep chamber.
Gronolf closes all four of his eyes and remembers his time in the egg, when he only had his sense of hearing available. His mother managed to create a whole world in his mind through her songs and stories. Back then he still believed these were all meant for him, but of course the other siblings in his plex also participated.
“Gro_#_-nolf#_$__#?”
Marchenko pronounces his name with the perfect intonation. He can’t remember when he last heard it so perfectly. The system here certainly does not manage to do that. He opens his eyes. His childhood is still there, but his memories of the time right before his long sleep are still missing. If he could just remember them, they might be better able to solve the problem they are facing. Gronolf cautiously hits his belly to get rid of his frustration.
“Marchenko?” He tries to pronounce the other one’s name correctly, too.
“Gro_#_-nolf#_$__#?”
“Marchenko?”
“Whatt isss thatt,” the machine asks.
Once again Gronolf is surprised, because a miniature arm grew on Marchenko’s shoulder and it is now pointing at the symbol for the Majestic Draght. Gronolf is not sure what the words of the machine mean, but it seems to be a request for information. How can he explain what is happening there? He moves his right touch-arm, hits his upper body, and starts to stumble. Was that clear enough? If the Majestic Draght hits Single Sun, it will be a catastrophe for his people and the planet. Yet why is the capital ship not reacting to his warning messages? Could it be that the alien Eve triggered a self-destruct mechanism? However, Gronolf has never heard of such an absurd process. If this has to do with the unauthorized contamination of the shelter building by aliens, it would have been enough to awaken him, and he would have eliminated the problem.
There must be something going on in the background he does not understand. Does not yet understand, he corrects himself, because he is going to find the cause.
May 9, 19, Marchenko
There are three deep tones and one high one. The alien is using all four hands simultaneously to touch one key each on the inner edges of the segments. The virtuoso movements of the hands are impressive, even of the lower ones which are obviously meant for heavy labor. If one of these aliens should become a pianist, human competitors would stand no chance.
Suddenly the projected 3D map disappears and they once again are standing in a bare room. Gronolf presses four other keys and then claps his hands. Suddenly a blue wall appears out of nowhere in the middle of the room. The alien stands in front of it and moves a finger over its surface. Lines can be seen where he touches the wall. A virtual blackboard, very practical, Marchenko thinks. He probably wants to explain something.
Gronolf draws a large circle and a slightly smaller one. Then he points at himself, and suddenly his figure, at perhaps one-tenth of its actual size, appears in the larger circle. It must be the planet. Gronolf reaches for the smaller circle and gives it a push. The circle starts to move towards the planet. This must be the thing Eve accidentally called. The alien snaps his fingers, and inside the smaller circle a miniature image of Eve appears. It really was Eve who set this thing in motion, that seems clear. Yet why doesn’t Gronolf simply contact it to send it back?
Marchenko makes himself as tall as possible. The alien realizes what he wants and picks him up so he can reach the wall. With his front leg, the former ISU 4, he draws a stylized arrow pointing from the planet to the approaching object. It is supposed to symbolize a radio message. He is surprised when Gronolf erases what he has added. He draws another arrow and the alien once again erases it. When this happens again on the third try, Marchenko is certain: Gronolf wants to tell him that his messages do not reach the object or don’t have any effect. Suddenly he feels so hot he checks his own core temperature, but it remains unchanged.
Marchenko remembers the rather risky method they used to gain access to this building. They let their ship, Messenger, crash on the surface so the impact would melt the ice. What if they destroyed whatever sends Gronolf’s messages into space, like the antenna of the building? He did not notice anything like that, but it might be possible that he had not recognized the alien technology.
He has to explain to Gronolf that it might be related to the antenna. Something like that can be repaired, can’t it? He draws the building they are in and sketches an ice layer on top of it. Then he indicates an object crashing on it by drawing and erasing it at different positions. In the end he points at himself and adds a symbol on the roof of the building that resembles a sine wave. He hopes the extraterrestrial will understand that he is referring to an antenna.
At least Gronolf is watching Marchenko intently. Then he puts Marchenko down and erases the complete drawing. Why doesn’t he indicate whether he understands? Marchenko taps against his legs, but the extraterrestrial does not react. Instead, he types something on the segmented control panel again.
“Gronolf,” he says then, and his image appears on the wall. What is that going to be?
The image changes. Marchenko sees the piece of scrap he has become. It is a sad sight. He will have to use the time when Gronolf rests to take on a useable shape again.
“Marchenko,” the alien says. Nothing else happens. He must be waiting for a reaction.
“Marchenko,” Marchenko repeats. Gronolf stamps his foot loudly on the floor so that Adam runs toward them.
Now they can see a red star orbited by a planet. The image is not to scale. The star is blinking.
“Sotoka,” the alien says.
“Sotoka,” Marchenko replies.
This time Gronolf does not stamp the ground but keeps looking at him. He must not have given the right answer.
“Proxima Centauri,” Marchenko says, and gets a stamp of the foot as a reward.
Then the planet blinks.
“Sotoka-so.”
“Proxima b,” Marchenko answers. He now understands the principle. It is a good idea to exchange basic vocabulary this way. Gronolf must have noticed that Marchenko has a perfect memory. So he probably will end up as the interpreter.
The extraterrestrial quickly presents many more words. Some of them Marchenko does not recognize. In the case of others, such as an animal that looks like a mixture of a shark and a killer whale, but has no eyes, he can only use the generic term ‘fish.’ It gets really interesting when Gronolf projects a landscape that looks quite surreal.
“Dutoka-so,” he states.
Is this his home planet? The giant frogs obviously did not develop on Proxima b.
“Adam and Eve, come here. This should interest you,” Marchenko calls out.
The image shows a beach with the ocean waves surging against it. The water seems a brownish-green, probably because the sky is a lush green instead of the azure of Earth’s sky. A small white sun is visible on the horizon, while a larger yellow one is almost at the zenith.
“Dutoka-so,” Marchenko says to Adam and Eve. “That must be Gronolf’s home.”
“Which planet has two suns?” Eve asks.
“It is probably Alpha Centauri,” Marchenko suggests. “That would be plausible. It is possible to fly from there to here in less than a genera
tion. And Alpha Centauri is a binary star.”
“Wow, the green sky, take a look at this,” Adam says. He sounds so enthusiastic it seems he would like to travel there right now.
“That must be caused by the composition of the atmosphere,” Marchenko says.
“Dutoka-so,” they hear Gronolf say.
Oh right, he has not repeated the word in English yet. “Alpha Centauri,” he says out loud.
Then there are pictures of Adam, Eve, and himself on the beach. The scale does not seem to be quite right, or the waves are much higher than on Earth. What does Gronolf want to say with this? Is it an invitation? The landscape fades and can only be seen in contours. He wants to know where we come from, Marchenko thinks. Should we tell him that? What if the Grosnops then show up in our solar system? Even if Gronolf appears to be reasonable—he does not know their civilization. No, it is definitely too early for that.
Marchenko draws an image of the constellation Ophiuchus on the wall, which looks like a child’s picture of a house, and then he marks Proxima Ophiuchi, Barnard’s Star. There will be time later to reveal the true position of the solar system. In spite of this he feels bad, because Gronolf showed him his home planet without any ulterior motives. As Barnard’s Star is a red dwarf, Marchenko can only show him pictures from Earth that he has manipulated accordingly.
Adam taps on his housing. “To be honest, we are really exhausted.”
Sure, he totally forgot Adam and Eve have to sleep now and then. And they will need food and water. By tomorrow Marchenko should be able to make himself a useable body again.
Brightnight 36, 3876
He wondered for a long time whether he should show these strangers his home. He has to admit he did it for himself—seeing the soft beaches, the fertile sea, and the sky as green as an arrow crab on the holo-display filled his stomach with joy. Gronolf is not sure whether he correctly understood the explanation given by the machine.
The aliens, who call themselves humans as he now knows, seem to have watched something damaging the antenna of the building. That is almost impossible, but it would explain why the Majestic Draght is not answering his calls. The major question is why it would have reacted to the control impulse sent by the alien Eve. Could the antenna somehow have lost its power? It is only a vague feeling, but it looks to him as if he is far from really understanding the situation. He will have to go through his archives and refresh his memories.
Right now, though, the humans need some rest. He only has to look at them, these tender, pale little plants, in order to fully understand that. He himself will not sleep until the problem is solved—he owes that to the general. And these aliens don’t really look like they are capable of that.
“Water, food,” the machine says. Gronolf is glad the language course worked so well. It is no problem providing water for the aliens. Food might be a bit more complicated. Can they digest canned food made for Grosnop stomachs? He signals the foreigners with his load-arm and walks ahead. The crew room in the control center has everything necessary. In order to open a cabinet, one unlocks it by voice command and then taps the outside cover. He simply leaves the doors open. With his rear eye he sees Marchenko checking the supplies. The machine should have sensors to make sure the humans are not poisoned.
There is water in the beach room, which is still locked and contains several basins adapted to the size of the Grosnops. Gronolf looks around. One basin should be enough for the two aliens. He opens the room and asks the system to fill one basin. He wonders for a moment which temperature these foreigners would find pleasant. As they are still wearing clothing at a room temperature of 24 degrees, he decides on 35 degrees. Grosnops only use hot water like that when they are sick.
He leaves the crew room again and sees Marchenko examining food. Adam and Eve seem to be happy about the water. Gronolf returns to the control center and activates the camera. He was wondering the whole time what the aliens might look like underneath their protective clothing. They are just taking off their clothes. They do so very cautiously, shielding themselves on all sides. Then they climb into the basin without looking at each other. Gronolf rewinds the recording. From behind the aliens look close to identical, but not from the front. Could this be a sexual dimorphism? Or did the smaller alien Eve lose a body part at some time? However, as Eve has two pronounced bumps that Adam lacks, it probably is a sexual differentiation. He will have to show Marchenko the images later and ask for the names of these parts. Too bad he cannot talk to the aliens himself.
Gronolf sits down in the empty chair and looks at the general. How would you act in my situation? Right now, the danger seems extremely abstract. Behind him, two frail humans splash around in a basin like tadpoles. He sits across from the dead general and commands the entire building, and next door a foreign machine analyzes the stored food. This is all so exciting that Gronolf does not miss a single member of his plex. And all of this is supposed to be ground into dust by a huge collision six days from now? It is really hard to imagine. Yet the holo-map proves it.
He has to scan the archive, even though he feels an aversion toward the idea, because he feels that his memories are incomplete for a reason. Before he entered the sleeping capsule something must have happened, something that changed the entire future of his people, at least here on Single Sun. He turns the seat to the other side and leans over the open console. He enters a few commands on the control panel to call up the archive. The system accepts his user ID. After he was awakened he must have automatically received maximum access rights. In earlier times he probably couldn’t even have opened the weather report for the past cycle, as he was no Weather Scientist.
When he asks the system for available data he encounters the first surprise. The archive does not just know the history of the shelter building, which would be logical, but can access the entire past since the start of the Majestic Draght from his home world.
How should he proceed? Judging from experience he would say that it is easier to understand events if you follow them chronologically. His own memories end shortly after launch. This does not necessarily mean that the disaster had already been on the way. It only indicates it started at some point after that. In order to narrow down the period, he will consult the records at various intervals.
Gronolf settles down. He chooses the authentic method of transmission. That way he won’t have to read any biased texts written by his ancestors. The archive will use the sonar system to create images directly in his head. Gronolf prefers this method of transmitting information. It is a bit strenuous, but incredibly realistic. His mother communicated with him that way when he still could not see her. Would these foreign creatures also be able to use it? It certainly would be a great experience for them.
He leans back, folds his legs comfortably underneath the chair, and closes the lids over all four eyes. Then he shuts his inner ear against normal sound, so he won’t be disturbed.
Archive, Darknight 4, 3349
“Archive, Darknight 4, 3349.” When he gives this command, the system calls up the recordings for that date from the memory tubes and transmits them via ultrasound with the coding specific to his consciousness.
Gronolf and his comrades sit in the wardroom. The Majestic Draght is gaining speed with ten times the gravitational acceleration of his home world, but they have been trained for that. They are young and strong, and they must not show any signs of weakness. Therefore Gronolf walks upright between his quarters, the classroom, the exercise room, and the wardroom, even though his back hurts so much he would rather not move from his sleeping beam. His night’s rest will have to suffice. Then he will be able to let his arms and legs hang down, but right now he has to prove he is still the strongest one in his plex.
“Did you hear what is supposed to have happened in the control center this morning?” Wakmir always knows the latest rumors. Sometimes they are even true, but Gronolf generally is not interested in that kind of story.
“Forget it,” he says. Yet he k
nows Wakmir will tell him everything, whether he wants it or not.
“They say someone made a fool of the general.”
“Which one? My father?”
Wakmir laughs. “Then I would hardly tell you this story. And your father wouldn’t allow something like that to happen. I just heard it was one of the generals.”
“And what happened? Who made a fool of him? A younger one who wants to take over his post?” At the command level it can get pretty rough. If an officer sees a chance to take over somebody else’s post, he is going to take that chance. This causes even experienced officers to be constantly on alert, which is advantageous for society, they have been told.
“No, the Omniscience.”
“You are joking. The Omniscience is a kind of virtual machine, and it only exists to obey orders.”
“That’s what the Omniscience said. It stated that a specific order of the general clashed with other orders of a higher priority. Yet there were no such orders.”
“Then that was insubordination. The Omniscience would have been deleted right away.”
“It claimed it was operating under certain standard requirements that had the status of laws, such as the efficiency requirement.”
“Sure, the Omniscience has to operate with the greatest possible efficiency.”
“Yes, you ‘know-it-all.’ And because the order of the general would have led to an inefficient flight method, the Omniscience rejected it.”
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