The Spheres of Heaven tmp-2

by Charles Sheffield

  Well, Deb might have a surprise coming.

  Last to arrive were Tarbush Hanson and Chrissie Winger. Maybe they didn’t know after all. As they sat down at the table their faces were puzzled, as if they had no idea what was happening. Maybe they were really wondering; or maybe they were just better actors than the rest. As a magic team, they specialized in misdirection.

  “Is there anyone who doesn’t know why I asked you here this morning?” Chan began. Then he paused. Two others who had certainly not been invited were entering the room. The giant form of Vow-of-Silence, crouching low so her head would not hit the ceiling, led the way. Thousands of Tinker components followed the Pipe-Rilla like some long train of purple-black.

  Chan waited while Vow-of-Silence folded her limbs awkwardly to perch on a neighboring table. Eager Seeker assembled on the floor next to her as a thick pulsing column about six feet tall.

  “Please ignore us,” Vow-of-Silence said. “We came only as observers.”

  Ignorethem? When the Pipe-Rilla loomed over everyone? When the Tinker Composite formed a funnel opening in its upper extremity, and was now making the wheezing moans that preceded speech?

  Chan said, “How did you learn that there was a meeting?”

  “From Dag Korin.” The thin head bobbed. “He came to us. He said you were going ashore. He spoke of great violence, of d-death and d-destruction.”

  “I think you must have misunderstood General Korin,” Chan said. “We have no thought of violence ashore.” He turned back to the circle of humans. “But there will be a shore party. Tell me, for my own curiosity. Who didn’t know about this?”

  Not a hand was raised.

  “So who told you?”

  “I heard it from Dag Korin, yesterday,” Tully said. “He mentioned it when I was with Elke Siry. I knew what was going on, as soon as he said he would need maps of Limbo made from our satellite images. And he didn’t give any impression that it was a secret, so I passed the word on to the others.”

  Korin again. He had some secret agenda, Chan felt sure of it. But what?

  “Well, it’s sure no secret now,” Chan went on. “So let’s talk about who will be going on the first shore party” — everyone at the table sat up straighter — “and who won’t.”

  The tension rose. They all wanted to be on the shore party, of course they did. For that they would be prepared to lie, cheat, steal, even fight. Chan could see them getting ready to argue if they were left out, or defend the wisdom of his decision if they were included.

  “For starters,” he said, “I’ll tell you one person who will not be in the first exploration party.” The room crackled with nervous anticipation, until at last he went on, “I won’t be going ashore. I will remain here on the ship.”

  It had the effect Chan wanted. The others sank back with a collective sigh. If he was off the list, no one else was a sure thing — and they knew it.

  “Bony,” Chan went on, “you can’t go, either. This ship’s rotting around us, and we need somebody to jury-rig the failing systems. Does anyone argue that the Bun is the only person for that job?”

  Nods all round.

  “But you can’t do everything single-handed, Bony. So Liddy, I want you and the Bun to work together. You seem to do that very well. Tully the Rhymer” — Chan went on without giving either Bony or Liddy a chance for argument or discussion — “you have a job to do here, and it’s a tough one. We’ve been talking to the bubble people using a translator, but they are so alien that we think the mechanical units miss subtleties. I want you to learn the bubble language until you can think like one of them. The Angel will be staying on board, to work with Elke Siry, and already speaks to the bubble people pretty well. Stay close to the Angel, and get all the help you can.”

  Chan saw Tully perk up a little from his shivering morning misery, and made an inspired guess. “That means you’ll be close to Elke Siry, too, so I have one other job for you. I want you to apply your fading charms to Elke. I know she’s in Dag Korin’s back pocket, and she’s doing special work for him. Whatever she learns and tells him, I want to hear about from you.”

  Chan stared down the length of the table at the people he had not spoken to so far. “Now for the rest of you. It’s time either for congratulations or commiseration. Chrissie and Tarbush, I owe you for promising you would go in the pinnace, without bothering to check that the thing could fly. So you’ll go, along with Deb and Danny.” He held up his hand. “Before you start celebrating, let me assure you it won’t be a picnic. We know there’s a military camp on land, and we know that whoever runs it blew our orbiters out of the sky without any attempt at contact. Apparently they don’t like anyone looking at them. Whatever else you may be when you go ashore, you won’t be safe.”

  Bony said doubtfully, “But Liddy and I went ashore. We were all right.”

  “I know. That was before we flew our orbiters, and I don’t think you got close enough to be noticed. The other possible explanation is that you were damned lucky, and you can’t count on more luck.” Chan reached down under the table and pulled up the rolled image that he had been holding between his legs. He unfolded it on the tabletop, weighting it down at the edges with mugs and plates.

  “We should all look at this. I said at the beginning that some of us wouldn’t be going on the first shore party, but I expect we’ll all be there eventually. The Hero’s Return brought us here, but I can’t see it taking us back. We have to find another way home.”

  Chan pointed out the black circle on the flattened image. “This is a region of total destruction. The alien encampment is at the center here, and you should expect everything around it to be totally lifeless. When the Bun and Liddy went ashore they found not a sign of either plants or animals. Even the shallow water must have been sterilized. So our shore party won’t land anywhere in the destruction zone. You’ll go farther north, and sneak ashore in the vegetated area above the inlet that the bubble people call `Death Fork.’ It’s actually closer to the location of the Hero’s Return , so if you head due east along the seabed, like this, you’ll arrive on the shore where there ought to be cover. After that” — Chan shrugged — “we won’t be able to help. The four of you will be on your own. Do whatever you think is best.”

  A gentle voice said, “Excuse me if I intrude. But I have something that must be added.”

  Vow-of-Silence unfurled her body from its tabletop crouch and advanced to loom over the humans.

  “I have no wish to interfere with your plans to explore the land area of this planet. I agree that this exploration may be necessary for our long-term survival, something that we all desire. For this reason, I offer my support. I will also go ashore.”

  The Tinker Composite’s speaker funnel whirred for two seconds like an electric fan, then produced words. “Our presence on land may be essential to your survival. We can send partial versions of ourself, even our individual elements, on rapid scouting missions. We can enter small apertures which would be to you quite inaccessible, or we can serve as inconspicuous observers. We will also go ashore.”

  Next to Chan, Danny Casement muttered, “It’s always the same. Everybody wants to get into the act.”

  Chan had his own interpretation of what was going on. Dag Korin had been talking blood and thunder, and it had had precisely the wrong effect. Instead of focusing their attention on Korin, which is what the General had anticipated, the aliens now didn’t trust any humans.

  The rest of the team was looking at Chan, waiting for him to explain to the aliens why their presence ashore would be a bad idea. He decided to save his breath. Vow-of-Silence and Eager Seeker would listen politely to whatever he might choose to say, then do exactly what they wanted. On an issue like this there was no chance that they would change their minds.

  Chan nodded to Vow-of-Silence. “The shore party will be pleased to have your assistance. However, you must be prepared to leave the ship in three hours. The party will need plenty of daylight hours ashore.”


  Deb, Tarbush, Chrissie and Danny were staring at him in disgust and disappointment. He said to them, “I need to work out some practical details with just the four of you. Can we get together right now, in my cabin?”

  Giving no time for argument, Chan stood up and led the way out. He headed along the main axis of the ship to his cabin — and past it. Where the corridor widened, Deb Bisson moved to his side.

  “I thought you said in your cabin?”

  Chan put his finger to his lips. Deb got the message, and did not speak again. Finally they reached the door of bilious green, and passed through into Dag Korin’s spartan quarters.

  The room was empty. Chan motioned the others inside and closed the door. “We can talk freely here. This is one place — the only place on the ship, according to the General — where we definitely can’t be overheard by the ship’s computer. Remember that when you leave. Anything the computer hears, the aliens can find out about.

  “I want to set a few things straight. You probably guessed why I won’t be going with you. It’s because Dag Korin won’t let me, and he’s officially in charge.” Chan held up a hand to cut off the protests. “Yes, he is. And you can’t have more than one person running things. So unless you want to start a mutiny, Korin has final say. Now I’m going to tell you one order he gave me to pass on to the shore party, something that can’t ever be mentioned outside this room. I know you’re all pleased to be going, but don’t kid yourselves. It will be dangerous. So Korin’s order to you — and my order, too — is simple: your first responsibility is to survive. You do whatever it takes to make sure of that. Remember, if you don’t survive, you can’t report back with whatever you find. If you’re attacked, defend yourselves. Don’t worry about justifying what you do, just do it. Let the Pipe-Rillas and the Tinkers yell and scream as much as they like about peaceful solutions, we’ll worry about that problem when you come back. But make sure you come back. Any questions?”

  “Yes.” Tarbush Hanson was frowning. “If Korin is in charge, like you say, why are you and he letting the aliens go ashore? They may be useful, but more likely they’ll just be a pain in the ass.”

  “That’s probably true, and you’ll have to live with it. I said it wrong before. Dag Korin is in charge of the humans on board this ship. Neither he nor I can control what the aliens do — much as we would like to. Anything else?”

  “Two and two, like in the old days?” Danny Casement spread his arms wide. “You know, divide and conquer. That way only one group is stuck with the aliens.”

  “If you can work it. You with Deb, Chrissie with Tarbush. I’d suggest that you have one forward pair and one covering, but that will be up to you. Handle it whatever way seems best when you get there. Anything else that can’t be said where it will be overheard?”

  The others looked at each other and shook their heads.

  “Right, then. Go and get ready. I wasn’t kidding when I told the aliens to be ready in three hours. You don’t want to arrive ashore when it’s almost dark.”

  Danny, Chrissie, and Tarbush headed for the door and left, but Deb Bisson hung back.

  “When I couldn’t find you last night,” she said, “I thought it was because you had decided that you were going and I wasn’t.”

  “I know.”

  “I owe you an apology.”

  “No, you don’t. It’s nothing compared with the one that I’ve owed you for all those years. Just promise me one thing.”

  “What?”

  “Promise you won’t try to be a hero. And promise you’ll come back.”

  “That’s two things.” But Deb was smiling. “I’ll do my best, Chan. And you, you’d better not hide away again when I do. Otherwise you’ll have more trouble on your hands than you’ll ever get from any alien.”

  26: THE BEST-LAID PLANS

  The preparations for the shore expedition had gone as smoothly as anyone could wish. Deb Bisson, wading cautiously out of the shallows and across a forty-meter strip of pebbles, was not about to let early success lull her into a feeling of security. Fortune was a fickle god and a random event; good luck could change in a moment to bad.

  That didn’t mean, though, that you couldn’t improve the odds. Deb hurried across a layer of slimy brown plants and into a waist-high thicket of bristly cruciform reeds that snapped as she pushed them aside. She crouched there for five minutes, helmet closed, looking about her in all directions but especially to her right. A hundred yards that way lay the beginning of the “zone of destruction,” and if trouble was coming it was most likely to arrive from there.

  Finally she raised her arm and waved. The others had been watching for her signal, their helmets close to the waterline. Chrissie, Danny and Tarbush reacted at once, coming ashore fast and willing to make a lot of splashing to gain a second or two.

  The Stellar Group aliens were not in such a hurry. Deb, as unofficial leader of the shore team, cursed Vow-of-Silence’s leisurely progress out of the water. The Pipe-Rilla was craning up to her full height, turning from side to side and examining the scene. It was one step short of waving a flag to announce your arrival. Eager Seeker was even worse. Tinker components were vanishing, flying off in all directions. If the land aliens monitored the region beyond the edge of the zone of destruction …

  Chrissie was the first to reach Deb’s side. “Helmets open?” she said.

  “Might as well. One at a time, though, just in case.”

  “Me first, then.” Chrissie opened her visor just as Danny and Tarbush, carrying the heaviest supply case between them, flopped down panting at her side. She sniffed the air, cautiously at first and then in bigger breaths. “Ah!”

  “All right?”

  “You’ve no idea. Inside the Hero’s Return I never felt like I was on a planet at all. This is air. Try it.”

  Deb glanced at the beach. Vow-of-Silence was like a four-meter flagpole, making a slow and stately approach. More Tinker components had disappeared, flying into the nearby undergrowth. Now that they were all ashore, they had to see how well they could survive here.

  She opened her own helmet, closed her eyes, and sniffed. The air made her nostrils tingle, and it carried an odor that made her feel slightly dizzy.

  No, that wasn’t the result of the smell in the air. It was the air itself, slightly richer, slightly higher in oxygen content. It was quite safe to breathe, according to the samples that Bony Rombelle and Liddy Morse had brought back. But it was just as well to lie low for a while and let their bodies become used to the changes. The difference in air and gravity between Earth and Limbo was less than the difference between, say, Earth and Europa, and humans made that adaptation easily enough. But they didn’t have to do it in a few minutes.

  Danny Casement and Tarbush Hanson were following the women’s lead, opening their helmets and sniffing the air.

  “Put all the supplies down here,” Deb said. “This is as good a place as any for our preliminary base. If you take your suits off, fold them neatly. We might have to get into them in a hurry.”

  Danny, who with Tarbush had laid the massive supply case carefully on a cleared area, paused and turned up his nose at her. “Did you ever know me to do anything that wasn’t neat? If we do take our suits off, I suggest we make sure we close the helmets, too. How would you like to find one of these inside yours when you came to put it on again?”

  He reached across to a spindly purple fern and plucked off it a dark red creature as long as his hand. The animal wriggled desperately to escape, scores of legs waving madly.

  “Don’t be stupid, Danny,” Deb said sharply. “Suppose it has a poison bite or sting?”

  “If this critter can bite through a suit’s gauntlet, we’re in bigger trouble than I thought. I vote for keeping suits on all the way. We’re going to be walking through this stuff, and it’s anybody’s guess what else is out there.”

  Danny was right. Deb had been crouched below the level of the plant tops. Now she stood up and made a slow, careful survey
of their surroundings. They had come ashore at a site chosen by Elke Siry from the space images. Behind them was the placid sea, moving in slow, lazy billows. Ahead lay a small valley between two ridges of dense vegetation. The plus side was that their landing was less likely to be observed; the minus was that even standing up they could not see over the ridge to the place where the camp of the aliens was supposed to be.

  Deb examined the plants in front of her, and she did not like what she saw. Where the satellite images at highest magnification showed only smooth, level ground, the reality was a thicket of dense, spiny vegetation. Also, in places it moved in gentle billows of its own — and there was almost no wind. Something was imposing a rhythmic sway on the tough plants.

  Maybe the aliens knew what they were doing. Maybe the region around their camp had been sterilized for good reason.

  Deb’s worries took more solid form when a small group of Tinkers rose from close by and went winging their way inland. They flew low, just above the tops of the plants. Suddenly they all dipped in unison, at the same time as a wave of purple fronds moved up to meet them. And then every one was gone, absorbed by the wave.

  “Eager Seeker! What happened?”

  Deb thought she was talking to nothing, but a second later the Tinker Composite was starting to coalesce in front of her. The speaking funnel formed, and at last the words came.

  “We no longer have contact with that part of us. We fear that the units are — lost.”

  “They were destroyed?”

  Deb asked the question automatically, and a moment later was cursing herself for doing so. A Tinker Composite was no better than a Pipe-Rilla at admitting the possibility of physical violence. Eager Seeker produced a muffled stutter, but the Composite was already dissociating into its components. Ten seconds later every element had vanished into the dense bushes.

  Vow-of-Silence said in a high, nervous voice, “Perhaps the missing components found something of interest that they wished to investigate.”