Proxima Logfiles 1: Marchenko's Children: Hard Science Fiction
Page 18
This was the second night he was spending in a room with four Grosnops. How many more would there be? The previous night, he’d slept for maybe three hours. For their next planetary expedition, they should plan on taking a larger dinghy rather than a shuttle. But this voyage hadn't been planned.
Adam let his gaze wander. The shuttle had just one room – the control room, which was dimly lit by the many small lights along the panels. Lying right next to him was Ragnor, who was one lucky Grosnop. What would have happened if the Grosnop whose place he’d taken hadn’t died in that accident? Would Adam have had to watch Gronolf kill the unwanted offspring? He knew they shouldn’t be too quick to condemn the Grosnops, but in his eyes this would have been murder.
There was a bright green light in the back, by the airlock entrance. Now there was an idea. Adam grabbed his pillow and blanket, then climbed carefully over Ragnor, sneaked past Gronolf and Numbark, and got to where Marchenko was. As a robot, he didn’t need to sleep, but apparently he’d switched off his sensors, because he didn’t react when Adam approached.
All the better. The airlock wasn’t sealed. Adam pressed the big button that opened it and it whooshed to the side. He turned around. The others were sleeping peacefully, and there was a constant droning noise in the shuttle. He crept through the half-open door and pulled it shut behind him. The airlock was so big that he could stretch his legs while sitting on the floor. This meant that his torso was vertical, but this didn’t bother him. He placed the pillow behind his head and covered himself up with the blanket, which was no small feat in zero gravity. There was no belt like there was with the lounger. Adam found a safety line and thread it through the grommets on the floor, then slid his legs underneath. Perfect. He was asleep within ten minutes.
* * *
“Well, Adam, you gave us quite a scare!”
Marchenko was standing in front him, ranting. Actually he wasn’t standing, but rather floating horizontally with just his tiny head poking into the lock.
“How…how come? I just wanted some peace and quiet.”
“You were suddenly gone when everyone woke up. Who would have guessed you were hiding in the airlock?”
“But how would I get up and disappear from an enclosed shuttle?”
“Well, you could’ve…”
“We’re just getting the first data from the planet,” Gronolf shouted.
His sentence resounded throughout the shuttle and seemed even louder in the airlock.
“Get yourself ready,” said Marchenko. “Then come back.”
“I'm ready. Or is there a shower around here somewhere?”
“Just a pool with water and mud. The mud is supposed to have disinfectant properties and be gentle on the skin.”
“For Grosnops,” said Adam.
“This is really very interesting,” Gronolf called out.
Marchenko pulled his head out of the airlock and turned around. Adam released the safety line and floated after him.
* * *
On the screen there was a rotating sphere wrapped in dense, formless clouds. One half glowed a deep red, while the other half was practically black. The planet Luhman-16 Bb did not look particularly inviting. Yet the Messenger ship had chosen this celestial body as its destination following its long journey from Earth. So it must have offered some advantages over the companion of Luhman-16 A.
“The average global temperature is 233 degrees,” said Marchenko.
That was really cold. Water didn’t thaw at temperatures of less than 273 degrees. This meant that Luhman-16 Bb was not in the habitable zone of its star.
“But the value is misleading,” Marchenko continued. “The planet is tidally locked, which means there’s a warm side and a cold side. On the warm side, the temperature around the equator is a very comfortable 295 degrees.”
Ah, they’d be able to disembark in t-shirts. Hopefully there was enough oxygen.
“The oxygen content is 20 percent, which is at Earth levels,” Marchenko continued.
“This is surely why they chose this planet to land on.”
“Yes, Adam, that would have been my guess, too.”
“But?”
“On the other side, temperatures reach 95 degrees at most. Carbon dioxide and methane freeze out of the atmosphere, and oxygen is just as gaseous. Also, it's always completely dark.”
“That doesn’t sound like such a great place to live. I hope we’ll only be visiting the warm side.”
“You're out of luck, Adam. The Messenger signal is coming from the back half.”
“Hold on, Marchenko,” said Gronolf. “I’ve got to explain this to the Grosnops.”
The General emitted a series of muffled sounds. He sounded a little strange when speaking his own language, and it was only then that the differences between humans and Grosnops became so obvious.
When Gronolf was finished with his explanation, Loknor said, “Crazy, the xok*lo_k!”
That had to be some kind of swear word. Gronolf cuffed him on the shoulder with his load-hand, and Loknor winced.
“They’re friends of our friends, not xok*lo_k,” scolded Gronolf.
“Explain me,” Loknor said.
“What he means is ‘Excuse me,’” Gronolf clarified. “It’s not proper to insult friends of friends. It's not our way.”
“But Loknor’s right,” said Adam. “Landing in such a hostile environment is crazy.”
“That's very kind of you,” said Gronolf. “But rules are rules.”
“I don't think,” said Marchenko, “that the other AI is crazy. There must be a reason for the decision.”
“I can't think of any reason for landing on an ice world.”
“Sorry, Adam, but you don't know what all the factors are. Marchenko is responsible for his protégés long-term well-being. He’s got to have chosen this particular destination for a reason. And we're going to find out why.”
“That sounds good, Marchenko,” said Gronolf. “We'll be landing in the ice desert. Finally, a proper challenge for a true Grosnop!”
Darknight 30, 3890, Shuttle
“Marchenko actually wants us to go into the ice desert.”
Adam hadn’t been able to sleep again, so he’d reached Eve using the radio connection. At first she’d grumbled because it was the middle of the night, but her irritation yielded quickly to her curiosity.
“Now don't whine, Adam. I'd gladly be in your place.”
“I hate the cold.”
“You won't freeze. Have you ever frozen in your spacesuit?”
“You sure got that right. We'll be sweating the whole time. That kind of sucks. There's enough oxygen in the air to breathe, but we'll still have to walk around in our suits.”
“You wanted adventure.”
“I only wanted to save Ragnor and Marchenko. The adventure part wasn’t part of the plan.”
“If you hadn’t left me here on the Draght, I’d be able to help you now.”
“Then you'd have to listen to me complaining all the time.”
“True. I guess it's better I'm not around, then. You snore so loud.”
“Ha. You should hear the Grosnops. Hold on. I'll hold the microphone up to Ragnor's stomach fold.”
Adam bent over Ragnor, who was sound asleep. And just then his stomach started to burble again.
“I know that sound,” said Eve. “When he was sleeping in the water, there was often a trail of bubbles behind him. It looked really cute.”
“Ah. It's a vestige of when they lived in the water. That's why the adult Grosnops don't gurgle so loud.”
“See, another lesson learned. You should have taken me with you.”
Ragnor moved. He folded his two touch-hands together.
“Shh, otherwise he'll wake up. We'll talk again tomorrow.”
“You should lie down for a while, too, Adam. You need your sleep.”
“Yes, Mother.”
* * *
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” said Marchenko.
; Adam started. To the left and the right there was a green mass that reeked of half-digested food.
“You made yourself comfortable on Ragnor's stomach,” said Marchenko. “But now our friend has to go on duty.”
“How, what?”
“Ragnor. You were sleeping on him and he couldn't get up because he didn't dare wake you.”
Adam pushed himself up, turned around, and floated to the ceiling. Ragnor was lying beneath him and winked at him with his three visible eyes.
“Sorry, Ragnor.”
“No problem. Happy to.”
“Attention! Hold on tight,” Gronolf's voice roared throughout the ship.
Marchenko extended his touch-hands and pressed Adam against the ceiling so that he almost couldn’t breathe. Then he was suddenly twice as heavy as normal. The ship was braking into orbit around Luhman-16 Bb.
“Thank you,” Adam said.
Marchenko lowered him gently. The braking maneuver wasn’t over yet. Marchenko set him down on the floor, which seemed much harder to him than usual.
“Attention, second level,” shouted Gronolf.
Adam was still getting heavier. Since he was lying on his stomach, his own body was pressing down on his chest, making it hard to breathe. He turned to his side with difficulty. Marchenko should have woken him up a little earlier. But when had he fallen asleep by Ragnor's side anyway? The young Grosnop's smell must have sent him into a stupor. But that was mean. He himself probably smelled no better than Ragnor after going several days without a shower and having exerted himself physically. But it had always been easy for him to tolerate his own body odor.
The pressure was dropping and his body was light as a feather again. Adam let out a loud fart and Ragnor slapped his shoulder approvingly.
“We’ve reached orbit around Luhman-16 Bb,” said Gronolf.
“What now?” Adam asked.
“We’re attempting to identify the source of the signal on Luhman-16 Bb from orbit. And once we’ve got it, we'll land, find out what happened, and help where we can, who we can.”
“Can't we give the planet a name of its own?” Adam asked.
“Isn't Luhman-16 Bb a name?” Gronolf asked.
“No, it’s more of a label. Double Sun, for example, is a name. Our label for your world is Alpha Centauri Ab.”
“I see,” said Gronolf. “Then how about 'Double Dwarf'?”
“The planet that orbits the other brown dwarf would then also need to be called Double Dwarf.”
“Good point, Adam. So this planet here can be called New Double Dwarf, and the other one can go by Old Double Dwarf. New Double Dwarf is clearly the younger of the two.”
“To be honest, it’s easier for me to pronounce Luhman-16 Bb than New Double Dwarf.”
“Then how about 'New Double’?”
“All right then. We're flying to New Double.”
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Metric to English Conversions
Length:
centimeter = 0.39 inches
meter = 1.09 yards, or 3.28 feet
kilometer = 1093.61 yards, or 0.62 miles
Area:
square centimeter = 0.16 square inches
square meter = 1.20 square yards
square kilometer = 0.39 square miles
Weight:
gram = 0.04 ounces
kilogram = 35.27 ounces, or 2.20 pounds
Volume:
liter = 1.06 quarts, or 0.26 gallons
cubic meter = 35.31 cubic feet, or 1.31 cubic yards
Temperature:
To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, multiply by 1.8 and then add 32
Copyright © 2021 by Brandon Q. Morris
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www.hard-sf.com
brandon@hard-sf.com
Translator: Tegan Raleigh
Editing team: Marcia Kwiecinski, A.A.S., and Stephen Kwiecinski, B.S.
Cover design: Jelena Gajic