“Hi Sarge, or should I just call you ‘sir’?” Eric walked to the bed, and shook Alan’s good hand.
Alan smiled. “Alan will do. Did you go to room five?”
“Yep. Good news. I assume your people took care of him.”
“My people?”
“You, Brown, the people who gave us Sparrow. I’ve seen a lot of weird things today, Alan. I shot a guy who looked more reptile than human. One of your marines even called him a snake. I saw men appear and disappear. I went through what I thought was a tunnel entrance, and in a blink I was in a building somewhere. I watched you command a military unit which I’m willing to bet money isn’t one of ours, and then Davis tells me you’re one of Brown’s people. How am I doing so far, Alan?”
“Pretty good. I really was a Sergeant once, though we don’t call it that.”
“Who’s we, Alan? I don’t think you guys are from anywhere around here, and by that I mean anywhere on this planet.”
“Took you long enough to figure that out.”
“I’ve had my suspicions for more than a while”
“Actually, what you say isn’t quite accurate. We’ve been around here a long time, and off-and-on for a very long time. Sorry to disappoint you, but we’re not little green men with big eyes. Or was that little gray men?”
“I think it was gray. The mythology also includes shadow people and reptilians, and then there are the beautiful ones with long earlobes. Is that you guys?”
Alan grinned, and pulled at an earlobe. “Don’t think so, Eric.” He chuckled and closed his eyes. “God, this is the most wonderful dope they gave me. I feel like I’m floating. I should be screaming at you about today. The entire skirmish was to protect Sparrow and the test flight crew, and there you were, inserting yourself into the middle of a firefight. Brave, but stupid. Oh yeah, thanks for the help in returning the bomb to its rightful owner. I’ll never forget the expression on Watt’s face the second before you shot him.”
“Who?”
“Dario Watt. Our president’s right hand at one time.”
“I knew him as John Coulter. He was—”
“I’ve heard the whole story. Don’t bother. Hey, I really want to sleep, now. You have the big flight coming up, and Brown will answer all your questions when it’s over. You’ll have a new perspective by then.”
“How’s that?”
Alan was drifting off. He pointed at the ceiling and wiggled a finger. “You’ll see how really big—it is—out there.”
Eric left the sleeping man and also found Leon asleep. With the new flight schedule he had an overnight leave to catch up on mail and phony office business, would be back for a full night and a day at the base before flight. On the way to the tunnel he peeked into the bay and saw Sparrow just coming back into it on a flatcar. A van waited for him at the dock by the elevators, and drove him back home. It was hot on the surface, and not a cloud in the sky. He turned the air conditioner on and worked on the computer for two hours, catching up on lies. He thawed out some fish and fried it for dinner because the potpies had been used up. With evening came television and boredom, and sudden loneliness that was like a punch in the stomach. At that instant he finally noticed there was a message on his answering machine. He punched the play button.
“Eric, it’s Nataly. I just heard what happened today. They tell me you’re okay, but I need to hear it from you. Give me a call. I promise I won’t pick up. You won’t have to talk to me. Just tell me you’re alive. I love you.”
Something seemed to break inside him. His eyes teared up, and he stared at the answering machine for a long time. Twice his hand moved towards the telephone and twice he pulled it back. Finally, he erased the message and went to bed early.
The oblivion of sleep should have drowned his misery, but instead his dreams that night were full of a woman he still loved.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
ARIEL
Everything was routine and uneventful until Eric threw that final switch.
The flight had begun on time; it was oh-two-hundred at liftoff. Eric and Dillon had easily memorized the routine and gone through it several times on the ground. There was really very little for them to do. They would take Sparrow to maximum thrust at the top of Earth’s atmosphere, as they had done before. At that point the real flight would begin, all of it pre-programmed but initiated in steps they would participate in through interaction with their holoscreen. Only one travel program had been loaded into Sparrow, and it was called ‘Ariel’.
The flight profile was a mystery, two columns of six numbers labeled N and t, running from 2 to 15 in N and 1 to 7 in t. No units were given. Brown had been in touch with them by telephone during their reading, but had only deepened the mystery. He did say that t was time in seconds, but N referred to light velocity in the space they were in, and there was a well-defined sequence of spaces and travel times for any particular destination. Dillon had made a crack about ‘Warp Factor Six’ at one point, but Brown either didn’t understand it or find it amusing.
Their job was to initiate the program, and enjoy the ride.
Dillon lifted Sparrow smoothly out of the bay, took her to quarter, half, three-quarter thrust while Eric activated each program panel in turn. Brown was in contact with them moments after liftoff and had assumed flight officer duties this one time, though Hendricks was right beside him.
There was the roar of conventional engines, followed by silence and a feeling of lightness as before, and then they were at full thrust at seventy kilometers altitude and a speed of Mach 13 and Eric threw the switch to activate the one panel they had not used in the cockpit.
For two days and nights Eric had waited for the appearance of the golden man with some new revelation for him, but the only dreams he’d had were about Nataly, and nothing else had come. For the first time since he had begun work on Sparrow, he had no idea what would happen when he toggled a switch.
He tensed, reached out with a finger, and pushed.
A second holoscreen flashed into view in front of them, overlapping the other. There were strange glyphs for icons, but all were labeled in English.
“We have a new display,” said Eric.
“Good,” said Brown. “Now go to ‘Menu’.”
Dillon glanced over at Eric from time to time, but kept Sparrow on a near vertical trajectory at constant velocity.
Eric gestured, and a new column of icons appeared.
“Got it.”
“Go to ‘Define Home’.”
Another gesture, and another icon was just below his finger. “And then ‘enable’?” said Eric.
“No!” shouted Brown, and Eric jumped.
“If you enable at this point, Sparrow will come straight back home from your present position. Go up two icons.”
Yikes. “Ah, ‘Define Program’.”
“Yes, Do it.”
Eric gestured. At each gesture a green light had gone on at the panel by his right knee. Two lights remained unlit. An icon came up that looked like the planet Saturn.
“A new icon, a planet with rings,” said Eric.
“Ordinarily a whole list of programs would come up, but there’s only the one right now. We’ll gradually add to the list over the next few years once we teach you the use of N-space mapping.”
Eric had the impression Brown was now speaking to someone else. “Do I activate the new icon?”
“Yes.”
Gesture. One light unlit.
“And now ‘enable home’?”
“Very good, Doctor Price. Captain Dillon, you may now relax. Sparrow will take you where you’re destined to go.”
A single icon replaced the others, a single circle in red-orange labeled ‘Begin trajectory’.
“You are going on a long journey, gentlemen,” said Brown, “the length of which cannot be defined. We have now come full circle as a people. Congratulations to all of us. You will experience very brief delays in communications, but they should not worry you. Sparrow is in f
ull control. Enjoy the journey, and your star craft will bring you safely home as programmed, in exactly one hour. Begin trajectory, Doctor Price.”
And Eric gestured again.
“Just give me a second to grab onto my ass,” said Dillon, as Eric moved his hand.
The icon disappeared and the overlapping holoscreens dimmed. In those first seconds of their journey there were only the pinpoints of stars and a faint, distant glow showing the boundary of earth’s atmosphere. There was the sensation of floating they had felt before, not weightlessness, for it had been there when they were under thrust. Now the feeling intensified, as if Earth’s gravity were being sucked away beneath them. A high-pitched humming that quickly went beyond their audible range broke the silence, and the fuselage of Sparrow creaked around them, as if under sudden stress. Outside, the stars disappeared, and for the time of two anxious heartbeats there was total darkness. A bright light flashed past their view, then another, and from behind the cockpit a sound like scratching on metal.
“Oh, shit,” said Dillon, and Eric swallowed hard. His hands gripped his knees and he felt like a live mouse was running around inside his stomach. He took a deep breath, and forced it out hard.
“I think now we’re really under power,” he said
Outside Sparrow lights flashed past in a blur of blue, yellow and red, and then there was a continuous smear of something deep violet as there was an audible thud behind them and a strong shock passed beneath their seats. The space outside Sparrow went from a curtain of purple to one of red in exactly seven seconds by Eric’s habitual counting, and stars reappeared, a flood of them stretching in a band across their view. Most of the stars were blue-distant, hot and giant. There was a metallic groan deep within Sparrow’s hull, and suddenly the stars were a deep red and barely visible.
Brown’s voice was a shock to them. “Final stage, gentlemen. You’re nearly there.”
“Yeah, and where’s there?” asked Dillon, but Brown was gone again.
Eric had counted fifteen seconds when the stars outside turned blue and white again, but they were dimmer than before. A yellow glow began at the right-hand border of the holoscreen, and intensified. A bright disk slid into view, lemon yellow, three black spots arranged near its center, edges tinged red. It was about the size of a quarter held at arm’s length.
“Star,” said Eric softly, “and close to us. Hope the Ariel program knows it’s there, and doesn’t dump us into it.”
“Not likely, Doctor Price,” said Brown, and his voice was again a startling thing. “I must admit that you passed straight through several stars along the way, but there was no time for interactions. The star you see is a special one for my people and myself. In a moment you’ll see why. We call it Elder. It’s hotter than your sun, but not by much, and a bit older.”
“Your home star,” said Eric. “We should be getting pictures of this.”
“And I’d like to know where we are,” said Dillon, and turned to Eric. “If this isn’t some elaborate, phony setup, he’s saying we’ve traveled a lot of light years in a minute or two.”
They waited a few seconds, but there was no reply from Brown.
“Hello?” said Eric.
Again a pause, then, “Ah, yes, the star craft is recording everything. As of now you are also being recorded in local space, and your remarks will certainly be released to the public. Ariel should be coming into view in a moment as your star craft reorients itself for the return home.”
Elder had slid off the left border of the holoscreen, but a new glow was now forming where the star had first appeared. And as they watched in amazement a most beautiful planet came into view. The disk was powder blue, but mottled in green, orange and light brown, landmasses arranged close to the equator and surrounded by seas. Two distinct rings surrounded the planet, white and sparkling, and Sparrow was close enough for them to see wispy, white clouds dotting the surface.
“My family is down there,” said Brown softly. “We call it Ariel.”
Eric suddenly realized he’d been holding his breath, and let it out. “It’s beautiful,” he said. “I could be looking at Earth, except for the rings.”
“Maybe you could say a few words of greeting, Doctor Price,” said Brown. “Unfortunately they cannot hear me. It’s just the beginning, you see. Two peoples are meeting with knowledge of who they are for the first time. Anything simple will do. My people have waited years for this. Our president’s plan to bring us together has been major news, and hotly debated. It could have resulted in total societal disruption if Dario Watt had been successful. The star craft is a gift from my people to yours, so we can come together at last. Tell them what you think about this. The channel is now open.”
Eric’s stomach trembled, and he felt a burning in his fingertips. He glanced at Dillon, but the man looked terrified and shook his head. “Not me,” Dillon mouthed.
What to say at a time like this? Something friendly, and short, a greeting to Brown’s people, Alan’s—Nataly’s. Oh Nataly.
The few seconds he thought seemed like minutes, and then he swallowed hard, took a deep breath and spoke with a soft, steady voice directed from somewhere inside him.
“My name is Eric Price. I come from a planet called Earth, or Terra, very far from you. My people have always wanted to travel to the stars, but our technology has only allowed us to travel to planets and moons in our own system. Now we have received a gift from you, the gift of a star craft that has brought us to your planet. I’m told it’s called Ariel. It reminds me of my home. We don’t have rings like Ariel, but we have a single, large moon to admire at night. On behalf of my people I want to thank you very much for your gift. I hope it will bring us together soon, and that we will be good friends. I bring best wishes to you, from Earth, until we meet again.”
Eric paused, wondering what more could be said.
“Very nice,” said Brown. “Wait a moment before speaking again, please.”
They waited. Dillon grinned at him. “One step for man,” he mouthed.
“We can talk freely now. The channel has been closed. Thank you, Doctor Price.”
“Glad to do it. I meant what I said, but I’m sure it will also be politically useful to your president.”
“There is that,” said Brown. “He went through much difficulty to bring you here. Unfortunately, it is now time to leave.”
“I still don’t know how far we’ve come,” said Dillon. “How many light years is it?”
Pause. “As I said, that cannot be defined, Captain. The Ariel program lists six universes, including your own at N=0. You are now at N=2 and went through orders up to fifteen on your way here. Each universe has different physical constants, of course. The N value is used in a multiplier times your light speed value.”
“So where we are, the light speed is twice what it is on Earth?” asked Eric.
“No, it is a hundred times the value on Earth. The N is the power of ten times your value.”
“Up to fifteen?” Dillon was astounded.
“The upper limit seems to be twenty-one for stable universes. The portal uses eighteen. The concept of distances in light years has little meaning to us. It’s travel time that counts, and your trip consumed just over seventy-four seconds, including deceleration to your present location. Return to your own space will take a few seconds longer.”
“We’re not even in our own universe,” said Dillon.
“That is correct, Captain.”
“Good Lord.”
“It’s quite complex, I know, but we’ll teach you the use of N-space maps, and we have current listings of populated worlds we’ll share when you’re ready. There is also the power plant to learn. The theory involves a coupling between gravity and electromagnetic fields, but the technology is rather straightforward. This will take years, Captain, and I hope you and Doctor Price will be able to participate.”
“As long as I can fly,” said Dillon, but Eric was silent.
“Good. We’ll talk a
bout it in a few minutes. Enjoy the trip home.”
There was a click as Brown’s voice faded away, and Eric felt that peculiar lightening in his stomach again. The image of Ariel shuddered, then sped away until it was only a pinpoint of light. Wish we could have stayed longer, thought Eric, but then the holoscreen displays came back again with icons dimly lit. Outside there was blackness, then veils of colors, then lights flashing past in blue, red, and blue again.
“Down the rabbit hole,” said Dillon, and chuckled.
He’s having a good time now, thought Eric, but inside he was feeling a strange sadness. I couldn’t have imagined such an adventure. I should be euphoric right now. Why do I feel so badly about going home?
But only a minute later, the sight of planet Earth on his holoscreen nearly sent him into tears.
“Pretty little world; let’s go there,” said Dillon, and then Brown’s voice was back again.
“Right on time. Keep your eyes on the screen, Doctor Price; to be sure each panel is closed as a phase is completed. Everything should be automatic.”
“Right. I’ve been wondering what we could have done if something had gone wrong while we were in one of those higher-order spaces.”
“There are procedures, and also a fail-safe that will put you back into the space of origin. This will all be a part of the training in later stages. Today you have made the easiest of all possible flights, and the one we’re most familiar with. Relax. Sparrow is bringing you home nicely.”
“I’ve come in on auto before, but at least I had to make a dead stick landing,” said Dillon. “I want to really fly this thing.”
“Of course, Captain. There will be opportunities for that. See you in a few minutes.”
Dillon was quiet during the spiraling descent through the atmosphere, but kept his hands on the controls, feeling each change in pitch and yaw. Eric’s attention was held by the holoscreens as he went through the switch sequence in reverse. Sparrow dropped to a hundred thousand feet before chasing the terminator and catching up to it in seconds before dropping again. The lightness within them had gone away at first descent, and now they were buffeted by the turbulence of passage through thickening air. In the last minute of descent they were coming down vertically, and a huge cluster of lights lay near the horizon. Below them was darkness with a few peaks and buttes dimly illuminated by a setting moon.
Sedona Conspiracy Page 29