The mind of a Scout has instinctive defences – Penchetan
“Doesn’t it look a lot darker to you?” Richard asked, as he took his seat between his two officers and stared at the grey wall that seemed to surround their craft.
“It is darker,” Paranak replied authoritatively before Kirrina could venture an opinion. “The lighter the shade of grey, the less stars there are in the quadrant of space you are passing ‘behind’.”
Richard nodded, remembering some of the theory of intra-galactic navigation that he had been studying in every spare moment since their departure from Outpost Twenty Seven, thanks to the fabulous retention aids which were now incorporated in the ship’s computer. “How long to re-entry?”
“It should be very soon.” Kirrina answered quietly, her nerves on edge and her excitement at their imminent arrival barely contained. “We will get a one minute countdown from the computer.”
Richard nodded again. “Paranak, give us all the available Shell Field strength, and then get ready to operate the communicator for me. If by some incredible chance your comrades have anticipated our destination, then let’s be ready for them. And even if they haven’t, I don’t want to get shot out of the sky before we can explain who we are. Kirrina, get the navigation modules ready, and be prepared to set a course to take us the last little bit of the journey, if the Arshonnans are actually there to give us clearance.”
He was about to say more, but the countdown commenced at that moment, and he contented himself with a final glance over his instruments before looking up at the forward viewscreen in anticipation. “We should be within a couple of hours of the planet on re-entry, right?”
“Correct,” Kirrina confirmed. “I didn’t want to put us any closer in case the navigation data contained errors which could have been multiplied over the centuries.”
“I suppose returning to normal space inside a planet is as bad for one’s health as re-entering within a star,” Richard muttered.
No one responded as the last seconds slipped slowly away.
The grey started to sparkle, then stars, like meteors, slid across the viewscreens and settled into place on a backdrop of black. Richard thrilled at the sheer number of stars; the view looked akin to the one Kirrina had lived beneath for the formative years of her life.
It looks great, doesn’t it? The girl next to him was grinning from ear to ear as she allowed herself one longing glance at the dazzling display. She returned her regard to the monitors in front of her with obvious reluctance. “Something is wrong with our arrival point,” she stated suddenly. “I can’t locate Arshonna with the sensors.”
Richard looked down and activated his own system display. He studied the planets represented with concern.
“I don’t detect any signal activity here to indicate messages being transmitted. None at all. There are no other craft within sensor range, but I am picking up a lot of very small planetoids on highly elliptical orbits,” Paranak announced, turning from his communication mode as another, more pressing need presented itself. “None appear to be a danger to our Craft at present.”
Kirrina turned to Richard, her thoughts flooding his mind with almost unspeakable horror. “I have confirmed by neighbour-star geometry that our re-entry is within the Arshonnan system, the first, third and fourth planets have been scanned and are essentially identical to those described in the planetary registry, but, but… but there is no second planet, no Arshonna, any more!”
Richard took her hand and almost lost consciousness as her turmoil struck him with full force. “Paranak, take over as pilot, please.” He tried to send her calming thoughts, but his own mind was also in deep shock at their devastating discovery. “I’ll check the remaining planets to confirm their orbits.”
There was silence while the ramifications of their find sank into their respective minds. Paranak engaged the Drive and headed for one of the planetoids – planetoids that were not in existence when the star charts contained in the ship’s computer were prepared. A few minutes later, he approached the irregular mass of rock and started a close-range scan of it.
Richard looked up from his investigation, having determined that the first and third planets in the system now occupied slightly more elliptical orbits than the records indicated they had once followed. The distorted sphere floating before their craft glowed dully in the light of Arshonna’s sun. He swallowed as his mind shrank from drawing the only possible conclusion. “The fourth planet seems to have deviated somewhat less than the two which orbited closest to Arshonna,” he said aloud.
Paranak swivelled to look directly at Kirrina. “I have to report that this planetoid appears to be composed of the same proportions of the elements as were recorded as present in Arshonna’s core. A number of smaller fragments that we have passed near enough to scan are similar to the consistency of the planet’s surface. Somehow, this planet must have exploded.”
Richard pulled Kirrina against his shoulder. She just clung there, without speaking, and he felt her mind start to close up, rejecting or blocking out the wordless message he had been trying to send to her since their arrival and their discovery of a disaster beyond their imagination. He cleared his throat and spoke clearly, but very quietly. “Paranak, is it possible to deduce when this explosion occurred?”
The alien swivelled back to face his terminal. “If we can locate a fragment which is in a decaying orbit, it would be simple for the computer to calculate the time since it separated from the main body.”
Richard nodded. “Okay, I’ll activate another long range scanner and join you in the search. You’ve discovered no ships or other signs of intelligent life in the system, I presume?”
“Correct. Try for the larger bodies first; the greater mass will reduce the effect which other fragments would have on the decay path.”
Richard scanned behind the ship, covering the opposite hemisphere of space from the one that the Narlav had already started on. Several minutes passed in silence, during which time he paused regularly and tried to elicit a response from his fiancée, but to no avail. It seemed to him that she had cocooned herself away in a desperate attempt to prevent further contemplation of the loss of the home of her ancestors, and that she almost seemed to be comatose – no movement, not even her eyes, and a complete blank, where before he had always been able to sense her mental presence.
Finally, he found a larger fragment on a highly elliptical orbit, which almost eluded detection as it was on the far side of the system and barely out from behind the star that lay in between. He waited impatiently while the computer analysed the orbit, then turned to Paranak. “Have you found anything which will give us the answer?”
“Negative. I see you have discovered the largest fragment in the system.”
“Yes, why don’t you take us closer, I can’t get an accurate result from this range.”
Paranak folded and refolded his arms. “It will take some hours to get there by conventional means.”
Richard turned and gently lifted Kirrina from her seat; she hung in his arms like a rag doll. He started towards the rear wall of the Control Centre. “That’s okay.” He continued, his voice now even quieter. “I think the answer may be very important. And we don’t want to distort the results by making any jumps this close in – these are small bodies, after all, and might be affected more easily.”
The Narlav did not quibble on this point.
“Besides, we don’t have any other plans.” He whispered this as he looked back over his shoulder. “I’m leaving you in charge here.”
Paranak confirmed his willingness in a surprisingly subdued voice as Richard stepped closer to the wall and thought of the Moss Room.
***
“Captain?” Paranak’s voice broke the dismal silence in the Moss Room, where Richard had recreated the Arshonnan hilltop scene in an attempt to break through to his more-than-best friend, who had now spent over five hours withdrawn into her own private world of sorrow. “We are getting very close to
that fragment.”
“And?”
“It is definitely part of Arshonna’s crust.”
“How can you be certain?”
“There are traces of underground structures within it.”
Richard jumped up. “Survivors?” he whispered, with sudden hope flaring in his chest.
“Highly unlikely. There is no indication of an operating power source capable of maintaining a life support capability, the area contains negligible traces of atmosphere, and the destruction which produced this effect occurred a long time ago.”
“How long?”
“Why don’t you come up here and take a look for yourself?” The Narlav sounded reluctant to discuss it further.
Richard got up, leaving Kirrina on the grass-like slope, staring into the distance at the faint hills that she would never see in reality now.
“Wait.”
He turned to find her getting to her feet as if she were in a dream.
“I want to see it, too.”
Richard took her hand, but the contact did not give him any insight to her emotional state, other than by a process of elimination, as he could detect no thoughts or feelings whatsoever. He stepped forward and took her into the Control Centre with him.
There, before their eyes, was the fragment, tumbling with funereal slowness just a few miles ahead of Patrol Craft One. Richard glanced sideways at Kirrina, finding that her eyes had lost their dreamy sheen and were following the irregular shape closely.
“What about the date of the explosion?” she asked, her voice sounding uncertain, as if she forgotten how to use it in the period since her hopes were dashed on the frozen backdrop of space.
Paranak swivelled around and stood up. He took Kirrina by the other hand and led her to her seat. Only when she was in it and Richard had taken up a position behind her, would he respond. “This piece of Arshonna is the largest remaining one. It will fall into the system star in three hundred and twenty nine years’ time. I have had to assume no other, similar-sized chunks were formed from the remains, but that is quite likely, as the core was almost totally vaporised.” He hesitated, almost as if he could not bear to continue. “I do not believe this was a natural disaster. The estimate places the event somewhere between the middle of your year fourteen thirty and a point some sixteen of your human months later.”
Richard put his hands on Kirrina’s shoulders and slipped his forefingers onto her neck, but could sense no reaction to this, somehow inexorable piece of news. He stared ahead, feeling a loss of his own, but one he knew was orders of magnitude less than that experienced by the beautiful orphan in front of him.
“It is possible that some further information may be deduced from the structure which is partly preserved near the surface,” Paranak offered after a lengthy silence.
Richard nodded. “Take us closer.”
The Narlav took the Navigation Control sphere once more and manoeuvred their ship closer to the lonely rock until the true size of the fragment became apparent. It filled the viewscreen, its jagged shape reminiscent of a rapidly-grown crystal. He started to shift the Patrol Craft sideways as a flatter section appeared slightly to one side and beneath them. “I’ll have to use the Shell Hoist to bring us up to the surface. I’ll anchor a hundred yards or so from the point of interest, so that the force field does not inadvertently do any damage to the buried structure.”
Richard nodded again. “I’ll suit up and check it out.”
“Come back here before you seal up so I can check your life-support system,” Paranak advised.
“I’m coming with you,” Kirrina said abruptly, a shade too loudly for normal conversation.
The others looked at her in amazement as she turned from her reticence without warning. She still seemed extremely remote, almost like a waxwork of herself, instead of the real, vital young woman that Richard loved so completely.
“It’s my home;” she said by way of explanation. “At least I will be able to say that I set foot on it, once.”
Richard took her hand again, discovering she was still opaque to his cautious mental probe. He agreed reluctantly, hoping that the reality of the ruins would act as a catalyst, restoring her connection to reality, and perhaps even her vitality and – hope of hopes – their usual mental state of oneness. He took her down to the large, bright hangar and helped her into a vacuum suit, carefully following the computer’s instructions, then stood and watched her with great concern as she mechanically did the same for him. Finally they returned to the Control Centre and Paranak checked out their systems one more time.
He closed their helmets, confirming that the airflow was good. “Take the larger Aircar and just drop down onto the surface, the Aircar will stay put once you make contact. The gravity is less than a hundredth of what you are used to, so move very slowly once you open the door. I will keep watch with the long-range scanner while you are outside; if anything comes into the system I will let you know immediately. I’ll keep the main viewscreen on your landing site, so if you step too fast and drift off, I will be able to bring you back using remote operation of the Aircar.”
Richard confirmed his understanding gratefully; he was too absorbed in his fiancée’s turmoil to think clearly about anything else. After a brief and chilling pause, Kirrina remembered to do the same. Her voice sounded totally without feeling, but he realised his voice probably did too, through the short-range radio system that was now their only audible connection.
“Let’s do it,” he declared gruffly.
A moment later they shimmered back to the hangar and walked the short distance to Seagull. Richard waited while Kirrina got in, then climbed in and closed the door behind him. He had intended to pilot the Aircar, but Kirrina was already performing the system start-up with cold efficiency, so he sat back and watched out of the corner of his eye.
Kirrina thought of the front end of the Patrol Craft as she pushed forward on the Navigation Sphere, and the surroundings shimmered and dissolved to reveal the fantastic shape of the fragment’s surface, just a few yards ahead. Seagull drifted downwards, then rotated, under her skilled control, until the gleaming surface was directly beneath. The landing was so gentle that neither of them felt it.
Richard opened the door and stepped out slowly. Suddenly his weight faded away as he moved out of the influence of the Aircar’s artificially induced gravity field, and he felt himself bounce up several feet and float a few feet across the smooth surface towards the slight bulge Paranak had identified in the almost volcanic material underfoot. He bent his knees and managed to absorb the slight momentum he had developed without much more than a few inches further movement. Turning with infinite care, he was just in time to observe Kirrina go through the same motions.
“Are you all right?” he asked, feeling like a fool, but needing some indication of her mental state.
“I’ll live,” she responded simply. “Hold my hand; it may make moving easier.”
Richard agreed to this readily, and together they moved in slow motion towards the domed bulge in the rocky surface. Standing beside it a few minutes later, Richard looked up and saw the reassuring, though disconcerting sight of Patrol Craft One’s curved front end hanging, like a blot on the starry background, close above their heads, the spherical addition that was all that remained visible of Citadel, even nearer. “Is this the closest point to the underground structure?” he asked Paranak.
“Affirmative. The material you are standing on is rock, or possibly a man-made material, which was melted in the explosion. It refroze as the pieces of the planet separated, but everything above this point was vaporised. The bulge seems to be partly composed of metal, and is only a fraction of a millimetre thick.”
Richard bent his knees and found his feet floating off the surface. He waited patiently until he sank to the ground once more. “I’ll just see if it is –” He broke off as the surface crumbled at his hesitant touch. “Lights on,” he murmured as he tilted his head down to illuminate the hole with t
he light on top of his helmet.
Kirrina crouched beside him and touched some more of the strange, dome-shaped crust. It crumbled further, and she ran her hands lightly over the surface until a section some three feet in diameter was exposed. She leaned forwards and dropped her feet over the edge. “I’m going in.”
Richard grabbed her underneath one arm and held her up while he peered down, disturbed by her haste. Sure enough, there was a floor that appeared to be made of some kind of tiling just about ten feet below. Some of the fragments of the crust were still floating downwards, standing out clearly in the beam of his light. He let go, then swung his own legs over the edge and began to drop down behind her. The descent was like Alice’s into Wonderland, but after a dream-like delay, his feet touched the tiles.
“It’s a corridor,” Kirrina said unnecessarily. The roof was warped in places, and pieces of equipment hung out from holes in the walls. They reached for each other’s hands once more and started off down the ancient passage. After a few yards, the roof seemed to hang down closer to them, until they had to crouch down to pass under it.
A fine layer of dust became visible after a few more feet, coating the floor with a grey surface that further deadened each light foot-fall. Richard saw a door on one side. He tried it, and it opened easily. He moved his head from side to side to illuminate the interior. It was, of all things, a storage room for miscellaneous equipment, supplies and coveralls. He saw what looked suspiciously like a bucket against the wall and a mop propped beside it, much the same dimensions and shape as he had seen used at school. “Must be the janitor’s closet.”
Kirrina pulled him away, and they continued until the roof rose up slightly, and another door appeared on the opposite side. She opened it and looked down the stairs behind it, with a mask of calm still on her face. They floated down but found the entrance to the next level was blocked by rubble and what looked like a lava intrusion; the dust was much thicker on the lower steps. The return was quicker, as they started to get the hang of the almost non-existent gravity.
Passage Page 38
