Solar Express (8 page)

“Oh, SINOP.” For some reason, she hadn't recognized the official acronym of the Sinese deep space array.

“They've classified it as a comet, but they're asking for periodic updates on the object? They don't sound certain.”

“The object appears to be on a cometary orbit with an eccentricity close to one, and an inclination of forty-three degrees. Its albedo varies periodically and is not characteristic of any known comet.”

Then why are they classifying it as a comet? Because it might be an old burned out one? Or is the designation provisional pending more observations?
Alayna almost asked about Kuiper Belt or Oort Cloud objects, but that would have been a stupid question. Eris and some other KBOs had high albedos, but those were based on icy surfaces, not one that suggested silicates and silver.
And their albedos don't vary. You need to inform Foundation operations.

She took care with the report to Director Braun, making sure it was factual, but less than fifteen minutes after she sent it, she had a response.

Your discovery may help the Foundation, and we appreciate your diligence. While not strictly necessary, it might have been politic to have listed the Williams Observatory as a co-discoverer, since Comet COFAR was discovered during shared observation time. If this could be quietly remedied, it would be useful.

Translated loosely, you should have thought of that, because anything will help with fundraising.

With a sigh, Alayna went to work composing another message to IAU, not that it would do much good, given that the IAU naming conventions only recognized the first two discoverers, but at least she could note that she had tried and inform Director Braun. Sometime after that, perhaps, she could finally send a message to Chris, the one person who didn't seem to be demanding something from her. Then, for a little while, she might listen to music or even see if any of the realies she brought appealed to her … or any of those left by Luis, although she had her doubts about whether any of those would appeal to her.

 

9

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Tavoian looked at the message that had come through the encrypted link several minutes before reading it a second time.

Tavoian, Christopher, Captain, NSC

FusEx Three, ONeill Station

Noram Space Service

You are hereby ordered to proceed with your vessel to Lunar Lagrange Station 1, for further assignment. Details for release and travel will arrive via LunaCon Operations. Authorizations to follow.

That was all—no explanation. No details on the assignment, or how long it would be, or what it would entail. Or who his replacement might be. His tour at ONeill Station wasn't due to end until October, and he'd been told it might even have to be extended. So what had changed, or had it been something he'd done?

His first thought was whether he'd offended the Noram IG types. He shook his head. He might have done that, but the originating time and date on the orders were before he'd even linked to LLOS, and the IG types would have had no way to commlink while onboard. So whatever had caused him to come to the attention of detailing hadn't been his passengers. He went back over his past shuttle hops, but he couldn't think of a single incident that might have singled him out for something he'd done in either exemplary or terrible fashion. The one thing he did know was that, whatever it was, someone didn't want the details on the commnet, and that was anything but routine.

He puzzled over the orders for several minutes more, then shrugged. Whatever he'd done, or not done, or for whatever reason Space Command had made the decision, there wasn't much he could do about it. All he could do was let a few people know.

His first message was to Alayna.

I've just received orders that I'm being transferred to L1 Station, for further assignment. What that means, I have no idea. I've never received orders like that before. Nor has anyone else that I've heard of. Then again, how would I know? As for messaging, keep using the same routing. I should get anything you send, except it might take a little longer.

I only hope it doesn't have anything to do with the mess developing between the Sinese and the Indians. If the Indians want to gamble their future on turning their partial space elevator into a surface-to-orbit operation, with the base link in the middle of the Indian Ocean, which doesn't have the calmest of waters, then that's their business. As I understood it, that was why they initially opted for a partial elevator that didn't descend into the lower atmosphere. I'll let you know what I can when I can.

Have you made any progress in your solar project? Who knows? You just might discover something new about the sun. Or are you still dealing with the Noram IG team? I assume they at least paid a visit to COFAR. If they didn't, count yourself quite fortunate.

I'm still thinking over that selection you sent from
The Passion of Science …

Tavoian could even remember the quote without looking at her last message—“Passion is the genesis of science, but then, passion has been the genesis of everything.” While he remembered it, he wasn't ready to comment on the content. Not directly, anyway.

In return, I'll offer another extract from
Observations.
“‘Truth' is a judgment placed on the facts, not the facts themselves, a point irrelevant to both politicians and pathological liars.” From what you've said and what I've read, true scientists try to avoid using the word “truth.” Maybe the rest of the human race might give that a try …

When he finished the message to Alayna, Tavoian sent a second, and much shorter one to his parents, just saying that he was being transferred to LL1 station on temporary duty and that he'd let them know more when he knew. He dispatched a copy to his sister Katherine. Kit continually insisted on knowing where he was stationed, and what he was doing. He always let her and his parents know what he could, and he tried to do so in a way that wouldn't worry them.
Even when you're worried … like now.

Then … he looked at his orders—again—trying to read something into them that clearly wasn't there, wondering when LunaCon would release him and his ship for the very short hop to LL1.

 

10

HOTNEWS!

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[Image Deleted for Off-Earth Transmission]

Another rumor that's no longer rumor. Remember that Sinese “robotic science mission” to investigate Jupiter's moons? It didn't fail. Not from what
HotNews!
has discovered. It found something out there, but the Sinese aren't talking. When they don't talk about science, it's not science.

[Image Deleted]

EC Chancellor Rumikov—he's at it again! Hot-ice and then some. Another non-denial denial by the double-dexed man-around. The woman he visited in Paris on the way back to Moscow from the Madrid meeting of regional EC ministers? She's not his mistress. His daughter? Could be. Accepting that her mother is a male double-sexer. Nothing about rumored billion Euro trust fund set aside in an unnamed hidden overnet bank, either.

[Image Deleted]

As for the question of higher quotas for EC Hel3 coming off the lunar el? Not a word from Noram Prexy Dyana Yates. No Artemis there.

[Image Deleted]

Diva Eleana denies the full-body leaked netwide is her. She shouldn't. Better shape than hers. Could it be that the denial's to make the leaked image seem real? Her career's not the only thing sagging.

[Image Deleted]

Senator Khelsey Armstrong, no Venus there! Not for the Moralist candidate for the Noram presidency.
HotNews!
hears that her ex has let that be known. She can say yes, to the right one. Even no, if only to her ex, unlike Dyana, who speaks a lot and says nothing. Too bad no pics.

[Image Deleted]

Mighty India's PM Ravindra shaking the Indra stick again. Much good that'll do him. The last thunderbolt that had any effect was an American aircraft in a losing war. Sorry about that, antiquarians. Facts is facts.

[Image Deleted]

Latest on the Bollywood scene. Transgen Tanya isn't. Transgen, that is. She's a she … and always has been. Make that “has been.” All that surgery … just to make her features and figure match the image …

[Image Deleted]

Noram's DOEA Secretary insists the increase in Noram FusEx production was “strictly for commercial reasons.” What about that Memo of Understanding with the Department of Defense concerning transfers of propulsive assets? What assets? Could they be missiles? Naughty, naughty … isn't there a treaty about not militarizing outer space?

 

11

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Tavoian was still waiting for word from LunaCon Operations on Monday morning, sitting alone in the pilots' ready room after having spent a not very restful night in a small cubicle euphemistically called a cabin. The cabin had been vaguely redolent of a disinfecting deodorizer, but Tavoian still preferred to sleep in low pseudo-grav than in weightlessness. Besides, it put less strain on the ship's habitability systems, and he always wanted to have any ship he piloted in the best shape possible. He'd checked messages even before he ate, but there was nothing new. He'd even packed all his gear back into his kit, and stowed it in his ship locker, just so he wouldn't have to worry about that when he reached LL1.

He hadn't gotten a return message from Alayna, but sometimes she did take several days to reply. On the other hand, Kit had replied with a message peppered with questions he couldn't answer, and even if he had known the answers, he likely wouldn't have been able to answer them without revealing things he was required not to disclose. But that went both ways, since Space Command restricted retransmission of the more salacious “news” realies, like
HotNews!
and
Unlimited
, even though they were stripped of video and sound for off-Earth transmission.

At 0814 UTC, the ready room speaker announced, “Briefing information for Captain Christopher Tavoian on console two.”

Tavoian had no idea whether the announcement was AI-generated or whether a human had entered the information. He doubted whether it mattered in the slightest as he hurried to the indicated console, where he pressed his hand to the sensor and then entered his personal authentication.

The briefing information revealed only two things more than the orders of the previous day. The first was his scheduled departure time from LLOS—1010 UTC. The second was that he would be carrying two passengers—Valentia Frezza, Senior Technician, LL1, and Martyn Franck, Technician3, LL1. The last line was that further orders awaited him at LL1.

The fact that he only had two passengers was an indication that his departure was not entirely conditioned on waiting for cargo or passengers, as well as a confirmation of sorts that someone wanted him soon at the end of the comparatively short hop—amazing in a way that a distance of from fifty-five thousand kays to more than seventy thousand could be considered short.

From the ready room he immediately returned to FusEx three, where he began the pre-release checklist. He finished that in less than fifteen minutes, even taking his time. Then he waited … and waited. At least, that was how it felt.

PASSENGERS ARE AT THE LOCK,
the ship's AI announced.
THEIR AUTHENTICATIONS CHECK.

“Thank you.”

Tavoian pulled himself down the ladder from the control deck to the forward passenger deck, where he opened the outer lock, and then after closing it, the inner hatch. The two technicians were definitely different—a tall woman and a much shorter young man, both in gray shipsuits with Noram Technical Service insignia.

“Technician Frezza, Tech Franck … Chris Tavoian.” He smiled politely. “I'll be your pilot to LL1.”

The tallish woman nodded politely. “How long will it take?”

“The actual transit is less than an hour. That's because we're already mostly above Nearside.” It would have been almost another hour, largely because of maneuvering requirements, had the station been above Farside at the time of departure. “Release and docking times … that's up to Operations. Usually around half an hour at each end.”

“Thank you.”

Tavoian looked to Franck, markedly shorter than Frezza, compact and not quite chubby, with an expression like a worried puppy. Tavoian wondered if LL1 was his first off-planet assignment. He cleared his throat before beginning, “You'll have heard the briefing before, but it's required. First, you're required to comply with any order that I give…” When he finished, he gestured to the lockers and then the couches. “Please stow your gear securely, and then strap yourselves in. We're scheduled for release shortly.”

Both techs nodded, but did not speak.

As he made his way up to the control deck, hand over hand in weightlessness, Tavoian found himself mentally comparing Frezza to Alayna. Frezza had striking jet-black hair, cut short, and hazel eyes. She was willowy and tall. Alayna was definitely shorter and more muscular, with nondescript brown hair. But Tavoian recalled Alayna's eyes, intense green with what he could only call an aliveness … and he'd liked talking to her. It was clear enough that Frezza wasn't one for talking. Franck he somehow felt sorry for.

Once in the control deck, Tavoian sealed and locked the hatch to the passenger deck, then strapped himself in and completed the post-boarding check. After another scan of the displays, he activated the restraint warning, switched the ship from station power to ship auxiliary power, then opened the commlink. “LunaCon, FusEx three, ready for release.”