“You never told me that once in the last ten years that I’ve known you.”
Craig stopped for a moment and looked at her. “It seems silly, but for some goddamn reason, it’s important to me to die in clean underpants, okay?”
“We can’t allow this to happen,” she said. “There’s got to be another way. I can’t let you do this.”
“You have no say in the matter, at least not till I leave the ship and make you commander.” Craig suited up and then looked for a new pair of socks.
He finished in silence, then grabbed a towel and wiped his face clean, feeling a slight amount of stubble and then shrugging it off. Clean undies would suffice, even if he was sporting more than a five o’clock shadow.
They were both surprised when a soft voice spoke. “I will go.”
Maria floated eerily in the doorway, which was darker than the room, so her arrival went unnoticed.
Jules addressed her. “Out of the question. Houston wants you alive and home so they can pick your brain.”
Craig looked at Jules intently. “I can’t believe you just said that to her.”
Jules blushed and softened her tone. “I’m sorry, Maria. I shouldn’t have said that after what you’ve been through. I wasn’t thinking. I’m stressed right now and....”
Maria finished for her: “And you’re thinking of saving your colleague from committing suicide even if it is for a noble cause.”
“Oh no, no, no, no,” Jules began, closing her eyes and shaking her head, gripping both handrails on the wall so she didn’t float away. “There is no way in hell the two of you are going to enter the history books all by yourselves and leave me sitting in this damn tin can by myself for another year. That is not going to happen.”
Craig turned to Maria. “What advantage would you going serve?”
Maria didn’t hesitate. “There is more to this alien ship than you know.”
“Oh, I think we know quite a bit now,” Craig said. “We know a surface strike on it by a nuclear warhead did nothing more than warm it up like a bun in an oven.”
“That is why I must go with you,” Maria said. “We must go inside.”
Craig looked intrigued, but Jules said, “I don’t think so. We don’t have any detail on the alien platform down there other than an infrared outline the size of Rhode Island. Besides, this is a one-way trip. Once you go down that gravity well, there is no coming back.”
Craig sighed. “We know that nothing made by man can break the gravitational pull of Jupiter. No need to remind us. Let her explain further.”
Jules frowned at Craig but then said to Maria, “You heard the man ... go ahead.”
Maria looked at both in turn before turning her attention to Jules. “Imagine a firecracker in your hand. If it lies flat on your palm and explodes, most of its energy is dissipated into the air. Sure, your hand will scorch and burn, perhaps be injured by the blast, but in general, it would be a minor injury.”
“Right....”
“Now, take the firecracker and close your hand around it, making a fist. With nowhere to go, the energy from the blast will remove your hand from your body.”
“Maria, your analogy scares me. Are you feeling alright?” Jules asked.
“Don’t baby her,” Craig said. “She has a point. If we can get Nuke Two into the alien ship, or weapon, or whatever it is, then the damage would have to be catastrophic. She has a valid point, and if I’m going to die for this, then I want the best possible chance at success.”
“It’s one thing to ensure your own death—quite another to take someone with you,” Jules protested.
“I’m not taking anyone!” Craig said. “She’s volunteering, and I’m open to options.”
“You wouldn’t listen to me not more than five minutes ago and now you’re open to options?” Jules felt anger rising in her, but it was more like desperation.
“It doesn’t matter,” Craig said. “Even if we burn all the extra propellent we have on board, the lander would probably only be able to find a crevice or crack in the outer hull of this thing and maybe then we can blow the nuke there.”
“Then either let me do it, or do it alone. No need to take Maria with you. Besides, the gravitational pull down there is 240 percent of Earth’s. You’ll hardly be able to move out of your seats, especially Maria. She doesn’t have the body strength to overcome those g-forces.”
“No need to tell me about g-forces,” Craig said.
Maria ended the debate. “The aliens are coming. I am going with Commander Alders.”
DAMN YOU BOTH, Jules thought to herself, knowing she was being selfish. The idea of being left alone in orbit around Jupiter while the only two fellow humans within a quarter of a billion miles were preparing to die and leave her alone was not appealing to her in the least.
“Ready for launch on your mark,” Craig said.
Jules was tempted to not mark the launch time, but she knew that Craig could see the same readout and would override her command from Red Two. “T-minus fifteen seconds. Tell me you’re using the extra restraints provided.”
“We are,” Craig answered. “They will hold against two and half times normal Earth gravity.”
The timer went down. The plan was to have the lander go rear-first and fire its rockets in an effort to slow its decent. Black Infinity had done the same the last two hours to give the ships their slowest velocity relative to the planet. Craig noted the speed and precipitous trajectory towards the swirling colorful clouds of Jupiter. “Now that’s what I call a view.”
“Pictures don’t do it justice,” Jules agreed. “Get ready. On my mark ... three, two, one, detach.”
“Detaching and firing motors,” Craig said. “Be sure you boost before orbital degradation pulls you in.”
“I’m getting ready to fire plasma engines now.” Jules hit the bank of buttons to orient the ship so that the thrust would lift the ship into a higher orbit. As it stood now, Black Infinity was at the near-minimum for escape velocity. Any slower and the ship would never leave Jupiter. As soon as Red Two detached, both Commander Alders and Science Officer Mayer sealed their fate. There would be no leaving the Jovian gravity well.
“Track is looking good, though I daresay I never thought I’d be piloting this thing backwards.”
“It’s normal,” Jules remarked. “Keep the stick tight and follow the flight profile. It should bring you down on top of the object. We still have remote detonation enabled.”
“Understood,” Craig said. “If we lose control, then be sure to blow it from orbit. Then again, if the hurricane force winds don’t tear us apart first, then I’ll take care of detonating this sucker myself.”
“Houston’s reply is arriving now,” Jules said. “Patching it through to you.”
“Not sure I want to hear it.”
“Then you can watch it. I have it queued, and President Powers is addressing you.”
The monitor had the video frame of the president on screen but paused. “Roll it,” Craig said simply.
Jules hit the playback command. “Commander Craig Alders, Commander Julie Monroe, and Science Officer Maria Meyer. This is President Powers. I want to take a moment to tell you how grateful your country, and indeed the entire world, is for your actions the last few months in faithfully discharging your duties and reaching Jupiter.
“It is unfortunate that time is short, and we can’t congratulate you on accomplishing another historic achievement in less than a single year. The heart and soul of this planet is with you and we wish you Godspeed and mission success. Our prayers for you and your families. Powers out.”
Craig let it sink in before responding, “That was short but sweet.”
“I would expect nothing less from America’s first female president,” Jules said. “I daresay she’d be in your seat if she could.”
“Agreed,” Craig said, switching the subject. “I’ve got turbulence bordering on redline already. We may break apart before we even reach the object.”<
br />
“I’m reading that as a magnetic field anomaly, not atmospheric; it should pass momentarily.” Jules looked at her console. The lander didn’t have the same monitoring abilities that the ship did, so data had to be relayed.
“Yup, it’s starting to even out,” Craig said. “Good thing, too, ’cause I dearly want to set this thing off myself and give them little guys a bit of old-fashioned payback.”
“They could very well be dinosaur-size,” Jules noted.
“Then take my comment metaphorically. They’re little to me after what they’ve done.”
Jules didn’t answer and allowed the lander to plunge into the Jovian atmosphere. Long minutes passed, and minor course corrections ensued. “Fuel burn at forty percent; fuel stores at fifty.”
Their trajectory was such that they were performing a slower burn to act as course corrections while keeping the bulk of their propellant for a last, desperate act to slow their lander down to a manageable speed upon arrival.
“You’re going to run out before you can pivot properly,” Jules noted.
“I see that,” Craig said. “This planet has a very strong pull. It feels like someone is sitting on my chest.”
“I’m flying over the target now,” Jules said, looking down at the Great Red Spot and knowing that somewhere below her the lander was fighting for its life.
“Looks like we’re going to need remote detonation,” Craig said, struggling to speak. “I’m barely able to control our flight profile. Burning too much propellant.”
“You’re almost there,” Jules said, reading the radar readings from the ship. “I show you just under ten miles now to target.”
“Good ... we’re almost out of fuel.”
Within minutes, they had reached their target. “I’m ready to detonate on your command,” Jules said, knowing that she’d do it on her own if Craig and Maria were incapacitated.
“What the...” Craig said. “Hang on a second, something’s happened.”
“Report,” Jules said.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Craig answered. “Maria was right.”
Jules couldn’t contain her frustration. “Right about what?”
“The gravity field,” Craig said. “We’re floating now. Firing thrusters to arrest our descent.”
“I have nothing on visual,” Jules said. “Can you self-detonate?”
“No need for that ... yet,” Craig said. “Let me boost our signal strength. You gotta see this.”
Jules looked at her staticky display and then picked up a hazy image of what appeared to be a city skyline on a metallic landscape, except the buildings were crenellations, and there were no lights illuminating in the dark haze of Jupiter’s atmosphere. “Oh my God.”
“Exactly,” Craig said.
Chapter 20
Justice
ALIEN COMMAND & CONTROL Station
Great Red Spot, 22° South, 214° West
Jupiter, Terran Solar System
In the near future, Year 5, Day 73
“HEAD OVER THERE,” MARIA said, pointing towards the exact center of the ship.
“Using thrusters,” Craig stated his actions for the record and for Jules’ benefit. “Near that dome?”
“Yes, you’re almost there.” Maria pointed a bit further to her right.
“You seeing this, Jules?”
“Impressive, Craig. I never thought I’d see the day.”
Craig responded, “Be sure to record this and send to Houston. They’re going to want to see it before we blow it.”
“Doing that now,” Jules answered.
The lander was floating over the gargantuan alien craft, using its inert nitrogen thruster system for maneuvering. The effect of being within the unknown sphere mimicked the weightless vacuum of space.
“Now what?” Craig asked, using one last blast to starboard to arrest the vehicle’s momentum. Maria didn’t have to answer as the dome retracted from the middle and something pulled the spacecraft down and into the station. “Holy shit.”
“Someone’s going to need to edit your speech for history,” Jules chided.
“Yeah, if anyone else was seeing what we’re seeing, then I’d bet they have a potty-mouth, too. We’ve landed on something about a hundred meters down.”
“Horizontal or vertical?”
“Horizontal orientation,” Craig clarified. “Dome closing. You may lose our signal.”
“I’m still picking up your beacon; data stream still intact,” Jules said.
“That’s a good sign, then. I want you to know when we detonate. Maria is indicating we should go EVA.”
“Maria, you want to exit the ship now?” Jules asked, confused.
“No,” Craig said. “I misunderstood her—she wants to exit our lander and explore the ship. It might be a good idea if we can glean some intel for Houston before we go.”
Maria’s voice was soft and sure. “We need to do this.”
“That’s fine, Maria,” Jules said. “It’s yours and Craig’s call.” Jules immediately thought to herself that what she said was an understatement, since the only remaining thing to do was the detonate their nuclear weapon.
“Exiting now,” Craig said.
“This is interesting,” Jules noted over the radio. “The internal atmosphere is reading primarily hydrogen.”
“What’s so odd about that?” Craig asked. “Jupiter is composed of just under ninety percent hydrogen and ten percent helium, with other trace gases. Seems normal to me.”
Jules answered, “Craig, the construct on Mars was primarily nitrogen and oxygen. Why doesn’t this mimic what we found there?”
It was Maria who answered. “Mars is meant for us. This place is not.”
“This place is definitely starting to creep me out,” Craig said. “Time to blow this and go see my Barbara.”
“Give Maria some time to explore,” Jules said.
“Fine,” he responded, “but remember, if we become incapacitated and you lose the download link to Red Two, then all of this is for naught. Our nuke will sit here until the little green men arrive and that will probably really piss them off.”
“Maybe you should stay with the ship and let Maria see what she wants to before....” Jules struggled to say it.
“She’s already on her way, but I’ll go with her. I don’t feel comfortable with her roaming an alien ship alone,” Craig said, breathing heavier as he exerted himself exiting the lander.
The pair moved along open passageways with no visible doors, pushing off from various walls and protrusions when they found them, and Maria seemed to always know which way she wanted to go. Craig took his remote detonator with him after double-checking to ensure the nuclear weapon was still armed.
After twenty minutes, they arrived at a unique shaft that seemed to go straight down into the bowels of the ship and up to a domed roof that they could just make out about a hundred yards overhead.
“Jules, radio check.”
“I’m still here,” she answered. “Signal is getting weaker and may die after my orbit takes me out of LOS.”
“Oh, hell no,” Craig said.
“What?” Jules asked, a sense of panic in her voice. “I can’t see well; you’re breaking up.”
“Come on, Craig, it’s alright,” Maria urged, bouncing off the far cylinder wall in an upward direction.
“Ah, Jules, Maria just jumped into the open shaft and headed up.”
“It’s safe,” Maria insisted.
Craig used the edge to repeat the motion that Maria had just performed. Pushing from the lip in an upward direction against the far wall, he careened into it and then continued upwards at an opposing angle. “Well, I’ll keep my day job. No future for me in a flying trapeze act.”
After a few moments, Maria said, “This is it.”
“This is what? We’re floating at the top of a shaft circled by a ring of control boards. There’s not even a floor to stand on, for Christ’s sake.”
Maria moved to
something familiar and depressed a button. Nothing happened. “Oops.”
“Shouldn’t you be consulting me, or at least warning me before you start pressing alien command controls?” Craig chided her. “I understand that didn’t work out too well for you the last time you did that.”
Now it was Jules turn to chastise him. “Really, Craig. Did you just say that to her?”
“Okay, I’m sorry, but her ‘oops’ rattled me a bit.”
“Understood. Maria, what’s the problem there?”
Maria answered, “The ship is active, but this control room is not. I need to bring the power up in it.”
“How do you know it’s not active?” Jules asked.
Craig answered, “The lights are off.”
Maria added, “The panel is similar to the one on Mars, but as Craig said, the symbols aren’t lit. Here we go.”
“Damn ... looks like a white Christmas tree,” Craig said. “The entire panel, circling the entire room, is lit. Do you copy, Jules?”
“It’s hard to see, but I can definitely see that. Listen, Craig, orbit is pulling me away now. We may lose contact until I come back around. Can you hold off on any action till I return?”
“We’ll let Maria look around a bit before I blow this place,” Craig said. “You should still be within LOS for another hour at least.”
“Yeah,” Jules said. “However, signal degradation is almost complete. You’re transmitting from within the ship on a low-voltage transmitter through a fairly large alien ship. We’re not going to receive any viable signal much longer.”
“Copy that, Jules. We’ll record everything we can and be sure to upload on your next pass.”
I hope they’re still there on my next pass, Jules thought to herself, but said nothing.
BLACK INFINITY
Jupiter orbit
In the near future, Year 5, Day 75
JULES HAD SLEPT, SINCE it was evening when Craig and Maria departed. She didn’t know if they were tired, dead, or too excited for sleep. She had a simple rehydrated coffee pack for breakfast, sipping it through the usual straw, and swore if ever humans were to venture deeper into space, they’d need to learn how to make a fresh pot of coffee.
Black Infinity Page 28
