Deshan quickly lowered his eyes so he would not lose his orientation and followed Levian Paronn, who strode determinedly through the large, cylinder-shaped control center of the AKAN HATA, the first and nearly completed Exodus ship. The control module was part of the forward third of the ship. In total it was three and a half kilometers long and was no longer orbiting Lemur but in an orbit nearly 20,000 kilometers above Suen. Many of the components for the AKAN HATA and the two other ships currently being constructed came from factories on the Moon as there were enough raw materials there. The more than 100 meter long cylinder was one of the rotating sections, and centrifugal force produced a pseudogravity on the inner walls that was about half the Lemur standard. Deshan was grateful for the lesser weight that was less of a strain on his often aching back. Even so, he did not forego his walking stick.
Without thinking, he felt for the Activator under his shirt, for the device that gave him relative immortality. A long life with the infirmities of old age? It frequently struck him as absurd, but he was also curious, and he often remembered Mira, who had appeared to him in a dream. Please wear the Activator, for me.
Chief Engineer Amelga Dalianta came towards them, a very slender woman nearly 1.8 meters tall with chestnut brown hair and large, equally brown eyes. Dalianta was young, about thirty-five, and as gentle as an Educator who had learned to be patient. More than once she had impressed Deshan with her technical expertise.
"We've prepared everything for a complete system diagnosis," she told Levian Paronn and his Chronicler after greeting them. "But before we start ... I suggest we watch the test of the HENTECK AVRAM'S engines." She pointed out a nearby window, and Deshan saw a second Exodus ship against the background of the Moon. Not all of its modules had been attached yet, but the propulsion section was finished. There were flashes here and there in space as small assembly craft fired their maneuvering jets and distanced themselves from the colossus. A third Exodus ship, the GELMA UATH, was being constructed in orbit over Lemur, not far from the Astrolift.
Out of the corner of his eye, Deshan saw a young man at a nearby console stiffen as he seemed to listen to a voice in his headphones. After a few seconds, he leaned forward and keys clicked under his fingers.
"Something has happened near Lahmu," he said excitedly, referring to the fourth planet, and switched the overhead speaker on.
" ... a large spherical object of apparently artificial origin. I repeat: it is in all probability not a natural object ... "
"Who is that?" Paronn asked.
"Ezlo Quillan, commander of the TIRHATO," the young radio operator said. "The ship left Lahmu's orbital station a few days ago and began its return flight to Lemur."
"Distance still a hundred thousand kilometers," announced the voice from the loudspeakers.
Deshan listened closely, knowing that he was hearing words spoken about seven minutes before. It took that long for the radio signals to travel the nearly 126 million kilometers that currently separated Lahmu from Lemur. "We are executing a slight course change to approach the object."
"The transmission isn't meant for us, of course, but for the Lemurian Spaceflight Solidarity's control stations," the technician said, operating the controls on his console. "We're fortunate in that we happen to be in the direct line between Lemur and Lahmu at present. Otherwise we wouldn't have received these signals."
Paronn stepped closer to the console as though that would help him hear more. Leaning on his walking stick, Deshan stood by the window. Through it, the HENTECK AVRAM could be seen floating in space.
"We can make out the object more clearly," exclaimed the excited voice of Ezlo Quillan. "It is definitely sphere-shaped and consists of metal. An alien spaceship ... "
An alien spaceship, Deshan repeated to himself in surprise.
"It came out of nowhere. It appeared all of a sudden, not there one second and there the next. Can you believe this? The first contact with another intelligent species! Wait a moment ... something's happening on the alien ship. There was a flash of light on it and ... "
Silence followed. Only the humming of the consoles could be heard.
The radio operator shook his head as his fingers flitted across the keyboard. "The connection has been broken off."
Moments later, a second voice spoke. "Base station to TIRHATO. We only received part of your message. Signal strength now at zero. Switch to back-up communication system."
And again silence.
The seconds turned to minutes and Deshan saw unusual tension in Paronn's face. He seemed to be paler than usual.
"Are we in a better position for communication?" he asked the radio operator.
"Only marginally."
"Try to establish contact."
The young man nodded and again tapped on the keys. "Exodus ship AKAN HATA to TIRHATO. Do you read?"
"Ask the ship if it can transmit a picture of the alien object."
The radio operator passed the question along. Again minutes went by. No one was working now in the large cylinder of the AKAN HATA's control center. The technicians sitting at their consoles stared at the communication station and waited for a voice to come out of the loudspeakers again.
"Our signals must have reached Lahmu by this time," the radio man said after a while, pointing to the chronometer.
"When can we expect an answer?" Paronn asked tensely.
"In about six and a half minutes, if they react to our message immediately."
But only three minutes had gone by when the loudspeakers crackled. "Lahmu orbital station TECHMET to base control Marroar. We no longer have contact with the TIRHATO and confirm the presence of the object that suddenly appeared. Visual data being transmitted."
A second later, Paronn was standing next to the radio operator and looking at the vidscreen. Deshan and Chief Engineer Dalianta approached as well.
A shape appeared on the screen, vague at first, then with growing clarity. Resolution was still relatively limited, but a dark sphere became recognizable. Deshan thought he heard Paronn groan slightly.
"The object is moving at a velocity of about one point five million kilometers per hour," the TECHMET orbital station announced, continuing its report.
"What?" Dalianta exclaimed.
"Course ... " Coordinates followed.
The Chief Engineer made a quick mental calculation. "The sphere is heading towards Lemur. And it will be here in three and a half days."
"We no longer have radar contact with the TIRATO," the seven-minute old voice of TECHMET went on. "Taking into account its velocity, we have searched the adjoining sectors without finding it." A brief pause. "Therefore we must conclude that the TIRHATO has been destroyed."
Again there was silence for several seconds.
"Lahmu Orbiting Station to Marroar Base Control and Exodus ship AKAN HATA. We have received your transmissions. I repeat: the TIRHATO has vanished and we must assume that it has been destroyed. Telemetry data is being sent to you."
"Record everything," Paronn told the radio operator.
The young man nodded.
Paronn turned, looking first at the Chief Engineer and then at Deshan.
"They're here," he said.
Deshan knew immediately what he meant. In his memory he heard the slightly distorted voice of the Herald speaking to thousands of Star Seekers. "The enemies."
"Yes."
"Base station Marroar to HEGRION and DARLOS," announced a voice from the loudspeakers. "Course change. New coordinates four four nine eight one. We need more precise data about the alien object."
"Those are two transports with materials for a permanent base on Lahmu." Amelga Dalianta had taken a seat at a nearby Zephalon with a vidscreen showing a schematic diagram of the inner Apsu system. A point was moving from the fourth planet relatively quickly in the direction of the third. Two others crawled considerably more slowly in the opposite direction and were not very far from their destination. "The new course will take them close to the sphere. The rendezvo
us maneuver will take place in ... three hours."
"This is insane," Paronn said. "It means certain death for the two ships' crewmembers." He turned to the radio operator. "Connect me with the base station."
A short time later, the face of Herbon Amodt, successor to Mepha Hatan and Director of the Spaceflight Solidarity, appeared on the screen. Amodt owed his position to the council of seven Solidarity Tamans who had appointed him as the Spaceflight Solidarity's leader. He was neither a scientist nor a man with vision. However, he was pragmatic enough not to terminate collaboration between Impetus and the Star Seekers' Project Exodus completely, as had been the wish of the First and the Second, but to continue it to a lesser degree.
"In the current situation, I can only spare a little time ... " Amodt began.
"The HEGRION and the DARLOS must not in any circumstances approach the spacesphere!" Paronn exclaimed. "What happened to the TIRHATO will happen to them as well."
"The spacesphere?" Amodt repeated, and his bushy eyebrows moved towards each other. The Director was some sixty years old and needed a while to get used to new ideas. Deshan suspected that was why the First had chosen him—to be able to better control the Spaceflight Solidarity.
"The sphere-shaped object is a spaceship belonging to the enemies I've always warned of," Paronn said with particular insistence. "If the HEGRION and the DARLOS approach the sphere, they will risk being destroyed. Send new instructions. Order the two ships to change course again and move as far away as they can from the sphere."
"We don't know if the TIRHATO was destroyed by the sphere-shaped object. It has vanished. Perhaps it is due to a failure of the tracking system. And we don't know if the sphere represents a danger. We don't even know if it is truly of artificial origin. We need additional data to make that determination."
"Herbon, I assure you ... if the two ships approach the sphere, they will be destroyed. And you will be responsible."
"I'm sorry, Levian" Amodt replied seriously. "I must obey my own instructions." And his face disappeared from the screen.
"I understand," Paronn said under his breath. He thought for a moment, then turned to the young man at the communications console. "Warn the two transports and advise them urgently to move away from the sphere."
"We could be accused of interfering with the Spaceflight Solidarity's internal affairs as a result," Amelga Dalianta suggested quietly.
"That's a risk we have to take. Lives are at stake here. That's more important than anything else."
"Warning transmitted," the radio operator said.
"Good," Paronn said. "And now put me through to the Coordinating Council."
The young man operated the controls.
Deshan watched and listened as unease grew within him and became a heavy weight at the pit of his stomach. The Enemy, which had existed up to now only in passionate oratory and warning speeches, had suddenly become a terrible reality. They had apparently killed the first Lemurians, the crew of the TIRHATO. Deshan felt his knees becoming weak, but he did not dare leave his place.
The empty and apparently indifferent face of a Solidarity functionary appeared on the communication console vidscreen.
Paronn lost no time. "I must speak with the Council about an urgent matter."
"I very much regret to say that the Solidarity Tamans are occupied at this time," the man said, and he also sounded indifferent.
Paronn leaned forward, supporting himself with his hands on the console. "Now listen to me very carefully," he said with a sharpness in his voice that Deshan had never heard before. "An alien sphere-shaped spaceship has appeared in the vicinity of Lahmu. It has already destroyed one spacecraft, the TIRHATO, and in three hours the same could happen to two transports. The spacesphere is headed in the direction of Lemur at a velocity of a million and a half kilometers per hour. If those enemies I've been warning about for nearly sixty years are on board, this could be the beginning of the destruction of humanity unless we take countermeasures at once. These words are directed at you by the Twelfth Hero Vehraáto!"
The man blinked in astonishment. "I will attempt to reach the Tamans. Please have patience."
Paronn straightened up again and glanced out the window for a moment, as though he could see what was taking place millions of kilometers away. Meanwhile, the radio operator kept an eye on the telemetry data being transmitted from TECHMET.
A new face appeared on the communication screen: the wrinkled features of a bald-headed woman with large green eyes filled with cool intelligence. Twenty years before, in the white Cone of Absolute Merit on the island in the river at Pataah, Deshan had seen her at close range. Then she had been the fifth of the seven Solidarity Tamans; since then she had reached the rank of First.
"Fare you well, First," Paronn said respectfully, and the First nodded. "I assume you are aware of the present situation."
"The order for the two transports to change course and approach the unknown object came from me, if that is what you mean."
"It's a mistake!" Paronn exclaimed. "The spacesphere will destroy the HEGRION and the DARLOS! The same thing that happened to the TIRHATO will happen to them!"
The face of the First remained unmoved. "We require more precise information, and at present only the two transports can provide it."
"I suggest that the Coordinating Council immediately undertake all necessary measures for the defense of Lemur. If we now ... "
"We don't yet know what happened in the vicinity of Lahmu, Paronn. I consider it wrong to disturb the Lemurian public."
"Disturb it? First, we're facing an even greater danger than the Konos were. What is approaching us from out there is the worst enemy humanity ever had!"
"Had?" the First repeated. "We haven't had an enemy in space before, Paronn. And to be quite honest, I'm convinced that such an enemy doesn't even exist."
Paronn took a deep breath. "I am the Twelfth Hero Vehraáto. I know what I'm talking about. I have seen the Enemy with my own eyes and now he is here."
"I don't believe in myths, Paronn," the First said simply, and broke off the connection.
"Have they received our message?" Paronn asked, looking at the Zephalon screen with the schematic diagram of the inner region of the Apsu system.
"I'm positive of it," replied the young man at the communication console.
"But the two transports haven't even changed course yet."
The screen showed two very slow points nearing a location to which a very much faster point was approaching.
The radio man pointed to the indicators. "The coded communication between the Marroar base station and the HEGRION and DARLOS is continuing. The transports have probably been forbidden to respond to our warnings."
Paronn shook his head mutely.
"Ten minutes to minimum distance," said Amelga Dalianta, sitting at the Zephalon.
Paronn turned to the Chief Engineer and the radio man. "Can you crack the code?"
Deshan had sat down in the meantime because he no longer trusted his jelly-like knees. He imagined how the communications data raced back and forth between the two consoles, constantly changed and remodulated along the way. Dalianta's Zephalon calculated the probability patterns in the code, and the communications systems attempted to decipher their visual and audio information.
Dalianta shook her head helplessly. "The new coding uses a key that's much too long. Decoding is possible, but it would take too much time. We don't have enough computing capacity."
"What if you get more capacity?" Paronn stepped to the communication controls. "Priority message to Project Exodus. Terminate all calculating operations on the Zephalon network. We need the entire processing capacity for decoding."
Dalianta went to work at once, and after a short time a smile appeared on her face. "It's working. Hardly any code can beat that much computing power." She touched the key fields and the scrambled band patterns on the communication screen suddenly formed an image. It showed two spaceships from the perspective of the telem
etry: one a cone-shaped propulsion module connected to a relatively small habitation cell and several large cargo containers, the other a dark sphere. The first ship, a transport, did not change, but the dark sphere grew in size constantly, indicating its decreasing distance.
Two minutes later, the audio transmission had been decrypted as well.
" ... detecting the object at close range," a voice was saying, and Deshan reminded himself again that they were looking through a window into the past. What they saw and heard had taken place about seven minutes before. "It's clearly artificial. A spaceship, I presume, with a diameter of a good one hundred meters. An active propulsion system cannot be identified ... "
"Its course is still towards Lemur," Dalianta added in a low voice.
Deshan saw something beginning to glow in the lower portion of the dark sphere.
"It's changing," the voice said from the loudspeaker. "We are observing a change. Something is lighting up on the alien ship ... "
The glow suddenly turned into a flash, and a wide beam of energy shot through space. It struck the visible Lemurian transport, which vanished in a blaze of light. Everything took place in ghostly silence.
Paronn stared white-faced at the vidscreen. "I knew it," he breathed.
"The alien ship has destroyed the DARLOS!" exclaimed the voice from the HEGRION. "We are attempting to change course to avoid the ship and increase our distance from it!"
A second energy beam raced through space and its deadly light filled the entire vidscreen, which then faded to random gray.
"We are no longer receiving any signals," the radio operator reported.
"Because none are being sent—the HEGRION has been destroyed, too," Paronn said gravely. "The Enemy is here. And in three and a half days he will reach Lemur."
30
Deshan Apian
Lemuria, 4560 dT (51,840 B.C.)
"Perhaps you don't believe in the myths," Paronn said, "but you must believe in death. And it's now on its way to Lemur."
For the first time, Deshan saw consternation in the face of the First. Cracks had appeared in the armor of cool composure with which she had surrounded herself, and the large green eyes betrayed worry. Excited voices could be heard in the background, and the Solidarity Taman glanced to one side, then looked back into the optical transmission sensor.
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