Solar Express (51 page)

On a more upbeat note … with what we both are engaged in, I thought this quote from
Observations
was singularly appropriate:

Some things are worth doing because they are worth doing, not because they will generate jobs, profits, or glory, but because they are worth so much more that their value cannot be calculated. Being trustworthy is one of those things, because any high-tech society will eventually fail if trust is breached too often. So, too, is higher education, but only for those who can think, and not use their knowledge as a bludgeon to force others to their way of thinking, because the world always has a surfeit of opinion and a shortage of considered thought. And so is the pursuit of knowledge, because only through knowledge unhampered by the need for repayment can this world reach its full potential … and perhaps the stars.

In closing, I cannot tell you how grateful I am for your knowledge, your caring, your willingness, even passion, to strive to do what is right … and for just being there.

He hoped he hadn't said too much, but that was the way he felt. He felt even more that way ten minutes after he'd dispatched the message and began to read the grim news displayed in the latest news summary, especially the summary of the latest levels of Sinese and Indian mobilization and readiness.

Now what do you do? Stare at monitors and see nothing? Worry about events you can't control?

He shook his head. At the very least, he needed to write up everything he had learned, felt, or considered about the artifact. He also wondered about the Sinese. What were their orders? At least, the colonel had left it up to him.

“Can you determine anything about the artifact?”

THAT IS NO LONGER POSSIBLE WITH ANY ACCURACY.

Tavoian settled himself before the controls to put down everything that he could recall. At least, it would pass the time.
And keep you from thinking about the CO2 levels.

 

71

T
HE
T
IMES OF
I
NDIA

30 N
OVEMBER
2114

(N
EW
D
ELHI
) “We have come to that place from which we cannot return,” declared Prime Minister Narahaj Ravindra yesterday. “We cannot and will not submit to another form of imperialistic colonialism.” With those words Ravindra rejected the Sinese threefold demand that India stop all work on the Dyaus space elevator, demobilize its armed forces, and re-open its borders to trade and commerce with Sinese bloc nations. He also called on the Federation to provide more details about the ice asteroid reportedly heading in-system toward Mars.

The response from the Sinese Federation was swift and negative. “The nations of the Sinese Federation cannot allow the militarization of space. That is what the so-called Dyaus project is all about. That is its only purpose. That militarization cannot continue, or the Federation will be required to use force—immediate force—to halt the project,” declared Sinese Defense Minister Wu Gong. “There is absolutely no need for another space elevator. The Federation has made its space elevator available to all at the same rates as Sinese users are charged.” The minister indicated that a timetable for dismantling the Dyaus project had been sent to New Delhi and that failure to comply would have serious repercussions on all of India.

According to knowledgeable sources, the fact that no comment was forthcoming from Sinese Head of State Jiang Qining indicates there is little chance of the Sinese backing down. The Sinese did not respond to the request for information about the ice asteroid.

Sinese officials denied that two Zhou-class force projection ships are missing after operations in the eastern Indian Ocean. “Should any ships be missing,” said Sinese Defense Minister Wu Gong, “that would represent the most serious provocation. It could not go unanswered.”

Indian military officials denied having anything to do with any Sinese vessels on the open seas and noted that all Indian naval ships had been ordered to give Sinese ships on the high seas a wide berth. That raised speculation that the force projection vessels had been engaged in operations near the site of the converted oil platform that will serve as the ocean base for the Dyaus elevator. India has claimed that platform and the waters surrounding it as Indian sovereign territory.

Claims of not having anything to do with the reputed disappearance of the Sinese vessels would not be inconsistent with past Indian acts. India is known to have more than ten ultra-stealthy nuclear attack submarines based on the design of the never-built British
Seaguard
class, armed with ship-killer torpedoes and boasting maximum underwater speeds in excess of forty knots, and stealth speeds of more than twenty knots.

Noram Secretary of Defense Olassen Trudeau called for a meeting between Sinese Head of State Qining and Prime Minister Ravindra to discuss more peaceful ways of resolving the crisis. The fact that neither President Yates nor Secretary of State Hadfield was the one to make the suggestion was taken as an indication that the Yates Administration believes the suggestion will be rejected.

 

72

D
AEDALUS
B
ASE

29 N
OVEMBER
2114

Chris's message was waiting for Alayna when she hurried to the COFAR control center early on Thursday. She hurried through it, feeling relief as she read about his hasty departure, then anger as she thought about what he hadn't written.
They didn't warn him?

When she got to the part about his mother, she nodded. She still felt a sense of numbness and loss when she thought about her own mother … and a sadness in thinking about the fact that she could never talk to her and hear what she had to say. She'd enjoyed and looked forward to those conversations.
Life can be so fragile.
When she got to the last lines of Chris's message, she had to read them again.
Those words from your self-contained pilot?

Except he's not yours.

Alayna wanted to send something back, but she also wanted to think about it more … especially after the way he'd ended his message. Something had definitely happened out there.
Was it just the artifact? Or a combination of factors?
He hadn't said, and probably wouldn't ever put that down anywhere there was a record.

She pursed her lips. She did need some time to let what he wrote sink in. She also needed to get to work … and to see the latest images of the sun.

Abruptly she asked, “Marcel, can you calculate the speed of the artifact?”

“The average speed over the last twenty-four hours was 118 kilometers per second. The present speed is between 130 and 140.”

“Perihelion is going to be sometime on the second at that rate of increase.”

“The calculations suggest early on the third.”

Calculations based on past performance of an unknown artifact are just guesses.
She didn't say that. The next few days would bear that out. She also wanted to think more about just what might be behind the even more rapid acceleration.

Now that Chris was safe, or at least on his way back, although she was beginning to question whether anywhere in the solar system was exactly safe, given the current military/political situation, she could concentrate more on her own problems. She couldn't concentrate on what was happening with the Farside Foundation, because she continued to get nothing except routine administrative and scheduling messages.

That left what was happening with the sun, and in a “quiet” fashion, things were occurring. The first images she studied recalled the apparent “quiet sun” paradox. The hotter the photosphere, generally the fewer sunspots and discernible irregularities in the magnetic flux lines, although for some the question was more about the cooling nature of sunspots, and the fact that sunspots and solar pores appeared to be something akin to downdrafts from the surface of the photosphere. Yet for all that, there were still far more multi-fractal mini-granulations and even two possible instances of “regular-appearing” mini-granulations.

Shouldn't there be more regular granulations and fewer of the disruptive smaller mini-fractals?

Whether there should have been or not, the ratio seemed to be remaining constant, even with the higher temperatures. And the temperatures were increasing steadily, if slowly.

“Marcel, please check the temperature records for the latitudes used in the multi-fractal study. I'd like to know how many instances there have been for an unbroken temperature rise as significant as what has occurred over the past week.”

Several moments passed. “There are three instances in the COFAR records where temperatures rose steadily without apparent measurable fluctuation. The shortest steady rise was for eight days, the longest for three weeks. None exhibited the magnitude of the current rise, but past models and research indicate that such rises likely have occurred.”

“Unusual, but likely not unprecedented.”

“That is a logical conclusion.”

“Thank you. Please begin providing the enhanced solar images as specified in the multi-fractal protocol.”

“The first image was captured at 0505 UTC…”

Alayna shifted her attention to the special screen.

She continued having Marcel study and present the images periodically for the remainder of the morning and early afternoon, until the observational time she was piggybacking on shifted to very high latitude observations, which were of marginal use to her.

Her eyes were blurry, and she decided to take a break and reply to Chris. She began by searching for the right quote to enclose … something understanding, warm, but … in a way, proper.
Proper? Where did that come from?

Dear Chris,

Your message arrived while I was sleeping, and was the first thing I read this morning. I can't tell you how happy I was to hear from you! Yesterday, when I trained the array on the artifact, we could only make out two ships around it, or rather two points that appeared to be ships. And when I hadn't heard from you … I worried even more. I'm trusting that the rest of your return trip will be less eventful than your departure from the artifact.

We are keeping track of it, and according to our best calculations, its current speed is now in excess of 140 kilometers per second. I'm not even going to try to offer an estimate of its velocity just before perihelion. By the way, it's likely to pass much closer to the sun than originally calculated, possibly less than two solar radii. I don't know how good an image we'll be getting, because the sun could be comparatively low, just above the crater walls if perihelion occurs on the third. But I will send what we have, if we can get an image.

My quote to you is much less grandiose than your last, but heartfelt, nonetheless:

Supposedly, one of the last things Galileo said was, “And yet it moves.” Research suggests he said it, but not as his last words or at his trial. He was a passionate scientist. How could an Italian not be? At the same time, he was cautious in displaying his passion. Passion is not just for display, no matter how we like fireworks, but for providing the fuel for both life and science, both of which are necessary. For without science, life has no true meaning, and without life, there is no purpose to science.

I feel that you're as much a scientist as I am. I don't believe piloting a fusionjet to the alien artifact was just a mission. I wish I could have seen what you did. Even the images are incredible, and when it's possible I very much want you to tell me about it all—in person.

Please take care, as you can. I know your choices may be limited, but I do want to hear about all you've seen.

Have you said too much? Or too little?
If Chris was who she thought he was, she'd said enough. If he wasn't, then it was for the best she hadn't said more.

She read the message again, and then sent it.

 

73

R
ECON
T
HREE

30 N
OVEMBER
2114

Tavoian kept running, looking down passageways that turned regularly and endlessly, a three-dimensional maze with each turn at sixty degrees. He kept measuring each turn with a protractor, hoping it would be different, then running to the next turn, past closed doors without handles or locks, doors that he could never open … and somewhere a distant drum kept beating, each beat faster than the one before, pushing him to move faster …

He jolted awake, breathing fast, his heart pounding, with sweat beading on his face, oozing into his eyes and burning. He immediately blotted his eyes with his sleeve. That helped with the burning, but not the dull aching in his skull. He looked around the control area, then increased the lighting level.

After several moments, he half spoke, half croaked, “Present level of CO2?”

THE CURRENT LEVEL IS FOUR PERCENT. SYSTEMS ARE FUNCTIONING WITHIN OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS.

Within operational parameters and still slowly failing.
Tavoian blotted his face, then reached for the water squeezebottle. It was empty. He made his way toward the dispenser tap, where he began to refill the squeezebottle, but he was clumsy in withdrawing it and squirted water into the cabin, with the result that little globules floated in the air. He didn't try to recapture them. Sooner or later the atmospheric system would collect them, and they weren't the nuisance that crumbs were.

Several swallows relieved the dryness in his throat, and he studied the monitors. Everything seemed normal—except for the CO2—and he slowly began to fix tea and what passed for a scrambled egg hash, because he'd gone through all of the breakfast bagels, even though he'd begun by rationing them out, knowing that they were his favorite. The not-quite-hot tea seemed to ease his dull headache, and surprisingly the hash wasn't bad and settled a stomach that had been more uneasy than he had realized. After eating, he turned to the message queue, but there weren't any messages.