Solar Express (18 page)

Tavoian placed both hands in the gauntlets.

“Thank you, sir. Go on in.”

He nodded, set his kit against the bulkhead, then moved around the console and through the pressure hatch that opened for him and then closed immediately behind him. As before, the display screen was blacked out.

The colonel remained seated beside his console. He gestured to the single vacant seat. “I assume, Captain, there was a reason why you didn't report after reaching ONeill Station?” The colonel's voice was level, without anger.

“Yes, sir. I was precluded from any comm access…” Tavoian went on to explain exactly what had happened, including all the questions asked by Major Kohler. Then he gave a brief summary of what happened on his mission. When he finished, he added, “I would have been here immediately even if you hadn't requested my presence.”

“Why?”

“Because the major wanted to know more than he should have. As I told you, I didn't lie to him, but I also avoided answering with anything he didn't already know.”

“That was still too much.”

“Exactly how was I supposed to not offer some answers to a senior officer with enough control to keep me from accessing the comm system or leaving the station?”

“I'm not faulting you. You did the best you could under the circumstances.” For a moment, the colonel looked as if he might say more.

“There have been other instances, then?”

“I'll leave that unanswered. Is there anything else you want to add before I start really debriefing you?”

“There was one thing. When I was ready to depart the Indian station, I transmitted that I was departing. I received a strange reply. The controller said, ‘Give our best to the colonel.' I replied that I would convey the message to my superiors.”

“That's not surprising, unfortunately. We do our best. Your ship is being debugged, but with nanotechnology … There are some officers, often very senior officers, who have never understood that there are matters they really do not need to know … and should not. We will leave that point undiscussed at present.” The colonel cleared his throat. “Why did you report the Sinese ship? It could have been sent just to get you to make that transmission.”

“To gain a clue to the encryption system, sir? I understand that, sir.” Tavoian hadn't considered that at the time, but wasn't about to admit it. “I also thought that there was the possibility that the ship might not have been crewed and might not decelerate.”

“Do you really think the Sinese would risk that?”

“They could have easily claimed that it was a malfunction, that the pilot suffered a seizure … and that the destruction of Donovan Base was a regrettable accident … and apologized profusely. I only stated that the ship was headed for L1.” Tavoian paused only briefly, then added, “I'm assuming that the pilot mirrored what I did.”

“Not completely, we hope. Our systems haven't detected independent surveillance, but they might have come up with something new. One never knows. As for you, at least you thought it through to a degree. I'll grant that. And you kept the message short. Also good. Why did you give the Sinese an extra two kays in standoff distance?”

“Because, if I ended up getting incinerated or exploded or holed by them, I wanted the margin to be large enough that they couldn't claim I'd provoked them unduly…” Tavoian was getting the feeling that he was in for a long grilling.

The colonel's questions continued for another hour. Then, abruptly, he nodded. “That's all for now. Check the watch board before you do anything else.”

“Yes, sir.”

Once he was back in the outer office, he asked Riske, “Could I use the screen to check the watch board?”

“I'll call it up for you, sir.”

“Thank you.”

The watch board had been changed since he'd last been able to look, and he was scheduled for operations duty officer at 0400 UTC on Tuesday—tomorrow. He studied it, just to make sure there were no other changes, then said again, “Thank you.”

“My pleasure, sir.”

Tavoian doubted that, but the colonel had said “before anything else,” and Riske had been pleasant about it. He picked up his kit and headed for his quarters. He unpacked the few items from his kit, then sat down and accessed his messages. Besides the various news summaries, and two periodicals, there were three personal messages, one notifying him of the change in duty officer watch schedules, one from Kit, and one from Alayna.

The message from Kit was short, but troubling.

Chris—

Haven't heard from you in days. At first, I thought I'd wait for another message from you. Dad is hiding something. I can't tell what, and I can't travel to Utah right now. I'm on call for testimony before the Noram Senate on the North Atlantic fisheries. I know you can't come Earthside, either. It's not the wildfires near Brian Head. I checked on that. They're nowhere close to their place. He says Mom is fine. I have my doubts. Please … if you hear anything, let me know. I'll do the same for you.

Kit

Tavoian shook his head. What could he do? After several moments, he began to read the message from Alayna, intrigued and concerned when he saw that it had two attachments. He smiled wryly as he read aloud one of the key sentences: “If it does happen to be a technological artifact, then I felt the Space Service should know of it…” So understated. She just might have made the greatest discovery in human history, and she felt the Space Service should know of it?

And so should the colonel.
Although Tavoian suspected the colonel already knew, there was no doubt of what he had to do next. With a sigh of resignation, he turned and made his way back to the colonel's office.

Spacer3 Riske smiled as Tavoian stepped into the outer office. “He said you'd be back. Go on in.”

The colonel smiled, if briefly, after the pressure door closed and Tavoian seated himself. “Yes?”

“I assume that you've read the message I received from Dr. Alayna Wong-Grant and just read? If not—”

“I've read it. I'm glad it only took you a few minutes to appreciate its import…”

Tavoian managed not to bridle at the not-quite-veiled irony in the colonel's voice.

“I don't like the fact that your astronomer or astrophysicist friend has reported this to as many people as she did. On the other hand, since the Sinese are co-discoverers, they may have already come to the same conclusions. She followed procedures. She did think … somewhat. At least, she had enough sense to notify the Space Service. I would have preferred Space Command, but she wouldn't know the difference. I'm also glad she let you know. She was right about that. I doubt if CinCSpace would have seen that message for another twenty-four hours … if then. He's thinking it over now. I also appreciate the fact that you immediately came to notify me personally.”

“Might I ask…”

The colonel offered a tired smile. “If she's right, we have a problem. It's a problem that has to be addressed on the highest level. I've made a recommendation. We'll see if it's accepted. Send your friend a polite and thoughtful thank you, and ask her to keep you informed of anything new that she discovers about the object. A very warm thank you.”

“Yes, sir.” Tavoian would have anyway.

“Now go and get some grub and rest.” The colonel gestured toward the pressure door.

“Yes, sir.” Tavoian rose and inclined his head.

Riske actually gave Tavoian a sympathetic smile when he left the colonel's office the second time.

 

23

P
EOPLE'S
D
AILY

15 O
CTOBER
2114

[B
EIJING
] “For the past century, the Sinese peoples have made their goals in space open and known to all,” declared Head of State Jiang Qining. “We have been proud of our successes. We have built upon efforts that were less successful, just as we are now with our follow-up mission to the moons of Jupiter. We have nothing to hide. For all that, others have continued to harass and spy upon our peaceful space activities. Less than friendly observation is the first step toward indirect hostilities. Others would be wise not to continue such efforts.”

While Head of State Jiang did not offer names, sources close to him have hinted that the head of state is less than pleased with covert operations by both Noram and India in an effort to obtain Sinese space technology.

Noram officials, predictably, denied any such effort.

“What is most disturbing about the comments attributed to Head of State Jiang,” said Noram Defense Secretary Olassen Trudeau, “is that he is far more moderate than senior officers in the Sinese military.” Trudeau's remarks were termed “excessive” by party sources because of his long-time critical attitude toward the Federation. Others indicated Trudeau's words were “worrisome” because they indicated Noram was actively considering efforts to militarize outer space in the solar system.

“If Noram takes such a step, it will be a step it will regret bitterly,” declared Sinese Minister for Space Wong Mengyi.

A spokesman for the Indian government, who declined to be named publicly, stated that observation by itself was harmless and suggested that the Sinese overreaction might indicate that the Federation was the guilty party and already showing “military-like” efforts with its latest Europa mission and the ongoing diversion of an ice asteroid toward the inner solar system.

 

24

D
AEDALUS
B
ASE

15 O
CTOBER
2114

Monday morning, after Alayna finished the immediate chores, and of course once more checked the dust prevention system on the main optical mirror, she went to the message queue—and was surprised, almost stunned, to find a reply from Chris. In over a year, he'd never replied so quickly.
There has to be a first time.

She opened it quickly, almost holding her breath, and began to read.

Dear Alayna—

You'll likely be shocked to receive such a rapid reply from me. It's not in character, I know, but I just received your message after I returned. Yes, I'm still piloting, if less frequently and on a far less regular schedule. One of the reasons I replied so soon was that I've often been remiss, partly because the training here has been intense, and partly because I have the bad habit of not getting back to things for a time if I put them off. I'll try to be better.

Alayna paused.
One of the reasons? There are two, and he's just getting started, it sounds like.
Another thought crossed her mind. Chris was an experienced pilot. Yet he was still piloting and undergoing intense training. What exactly was he doing? Could there be some truth in the rumors that Noram, the Sinese, and the Indians were militarizing space? Was Chris part of that? She forced her eyes back to the message.

No matter what you said, I know you had to be initially disappointed when you thought your comet was only an asteroid. From your reports, it's pretty clear you discovered something a great deal more exciting. As you requested, I immediately met with my superior, and he forwarded your report to the head of the Space Service. He didn't say it exactly, but I think he either talked to him or to someone near the top. I'm not anywhere close to an astrophysicist, as you know, but your discovery is special one way or another. If you could keep me posted on anything else you find out about it, he and I would be most grateful.

He and I?
Alayna swallowed. But Chris was saying to keep him posted. Why him and not the head of the Space Service? Or even Chris's superior? That seemed strange … unless …
Unless it was less likely to come to anyone else's attention when a report was just part of a message from a junior astrophysicist in a one-off position to her male friend that she'd been messaging for months?
But why keep it secret in such a roundabout way, unless they really thought it could be an alien object or artifact?

I don't know about you, but I'm worried about all the angry words and charges flying back and forth between the Indians and Sinese. Now even the Noram Defense Minister is getting into the act, and President Yates hasn't said a word. I don't see the Indians as the troublemakers here, but that may not matter if the Sinese insist.

He's not talking about what Noram is doing … or what he's doing.
It was clear to Alayna that Chris knew a great deal more than he was saying, but what, she could only speculate.

How is your other project going, the solar research? You haven't said much in your last few messages. A while ago, you said that what you were trying to find was a long shot. All I can say is that you're quite a lady, and that long shots are hard work, but sometimes they pay off far more than conventional projects. Keep at it, and you might have a chance for two long shots to pay off. That doesn't happen often.

As I've written too often, most of the time here is training and routine … and late night supervisory duties. Every Noram off-planet installation requires round-the-clock monitoring, and tomorrow, probably actually after you read this, I'll be up at 0400 UTC, bleary-eyed and looking at screens.

I keep meaning to mention it, but my sister Kit—Katherine, officially—is a marine biologist with the Noram Department of Environmental Affairs. She's in Ottawa now, trying to explain to the politicians why the collapse of the Gulf Stream current can't be reversed. Not anytime soon, that is. They want to think that just slowing the rise in atmospheric CO2 will solve everything, including warming the British Isles. They also don't understand that North Atlantic fisheries won't recover completely, maybe ever. They say a little knowledge is dangerous. That's especially true with politicians. We've seen it with DOEA, and I can't imagine it would be much different in your field if we faced some possible great change in astronomy and astrophysics.