Echoes of an Alien Sky

by James P. Hogan

  It was uncanny. After it had remained idle and unattended for unknown millennia, Brysek's engineers had cleaned up the workings of the Terran elevator, rigged a connection to the Venusian power system up on the surface, and managed to get it working again. It was plain and utilitarian as elevators went—little more than a metal-walled box that the paint had powdered and fallen from long ago. But then, this was hardly a commercial hotel or one of the more stylish residential complexes on Venus either. The walls were scarred and gouged to the rear on one side, and part way along the back. "What do you think happened here?" Kyal asked, gesturing.

  "Damage by firearms," Brysek answered. "Have the translators come up with any leads on what the trouble was about here?"

  Kyal shook his head. "Nothing that I've heard."

  The car halted at one of the intermediate levels of the Lower Complex. A technician who was in the process of taking a couple of the newly arrived biologists on an introductory tour stared in amazement as the doors opened, and Kyal and Brysek emerged.

  "How long has that been working?"

  "Only since today," Brysek told him. "Kyal was the first guest passenger."

  "I wondered what they were doing up on the roof, with panels opened up and all those cables," the technician said to his charges.

  "We'll have the kitchens and the showers going by tomorrow," Brysek informed them cheerfully. "It'll be the spot of choice on Luna—just the way the Terrans had it."

  "Not totally, I hope," Kyal said, remembering the bullet scars.

  "Oh, excuse me." Brysek said to the newcomers, and gestured. "Master Kyal Reen. He's the man that IASS sent out to look at the electrical constructions on South Field." The technician introduced the two biologists. They were with the group just in from Explorer 6 to assess the Terran biological facilities and conduct further tests on some of the bodies, along with animal and plant remains been found in the section with the pens and cages.

  "We heard they were to do with an experimental space propulsion program that the Terrans were running here," one of the biologists said.

  "It seems that way," Kyal confirmed.

  "Nothing more on what it was about?" the other inquired.

  "Just that it seemed to have involved heavy-lift, long-range vessels," Kyal said. Actually, there was more, which was what Brysek was taking him to see, but he didn't want to go into it just now.

  "Sounds intriguing," the first said. "I hope you post it when you find out more."

  "You'll know as soon as we do,' Kyal promised.

  He and Brysek carried on along the main corridor from the elevator vestibule to a room that contained Terran electronic hardware and a power conditioning and distribution panel fed from the surface supply. Irg, the communications specialist, was standing with a couple of the engineers in front of a counter top on which tools lay scattered in front of a pile of boxes comprising a couple of oscilloscope, a waveform generator, a signal analyzer, and other instruments. Beside it all, a pieces of Terran equipment stood connected by a tangle of wires. The screen on the front of it was glowing and showing lines of text.

  "It's amazing," Irg said as Kyal stepped forward to look more closely at the blockish, upright Terran characters. He recognized them as English—which was to be expected, of course, if Triagon had been an American installation. "You could almost think it came out from the assembly shop yesterday."

  "What have we got here?" Kyal asked.

  "Just rudimentary stuff so far," Brysek said. "But there could be volumes of information in there. Some of the devices look like storage crystal recirculators."

  "If we can unravel the coding," Irg added.

  "How that going?" Kyal asked curiously. The possibilities he could imagine were tantalizing.

  "We're working with a hookup to Sherven's people on E6, and they've got some high-power crackers and crunchers at the other end of the laser link to home," Brysek said. He indicated a Venusian monitor standing on a portable work table to the side. "Some of what they've managed to extract is here." Kyal moved across. The monitor was displaying a split screen showing a copy of the original Terran text above, and the corresponding translators' renderings below. "That seems to be some kind of an inventory list," Brysek commented.

  "Can we scroll it?" Irg said to the engineers. One of them dragged a scroll bar on a control screen, causing the lines of text in the two windows being displayed on the monitor to roll off the top. Irg stopped them in places to point out and remark on some of the curiosities. Many of the lines of the translation were still blank. A table of line entries and numbers appeared. A translator's comment noted that it seemed to be a list of machinery and parts. Something in the Terran original caught Kyal's eye. A line near the top carried the characters: MASSEY MODEL 236-B TRACTOR. Something about it was familiar. The last string, TRACTOR, had appeared on a label he'd seen at the refurbishing shop in Rhombus, where they had looked at the Terran machinery. "I've seen that word before," he said, pointing.

  Irg located the matching entry in the translation below. "It's showing a generic. Some kind of mover," he said.

  "I think that word means something more specific," Kyal said. "An agricultural engine."

  Another of the engineers looked surprised. "Agricultural? Out here at Luna? Were they planning on planting trees?"

  "Some of us are beginning to think this might have been a staging base for onward migration to somewhere else," Brysek told him.

  "Oh, I hadn't heard that."

  "That's my point," Kyal said. "It was driven by chemical combustion. Or at least, the 'tractor' that I saw down on Earth was. What use would that be on Luna?"

  The theory was arousing astronomers' attention, since if true it could point to the existence of other parts of the Solar System having once been habitable. Mars was generally held to be the most likely candidate. The trouble was that the Terrans had sent robots and a couple of small manned missions there, and everything pointed to its having been as dead then as it was now.

  Kyal had noticed was that all the screens carried headers that included a word in a large font that the translations gave as PROVIDENCE. "It looks like a general name for the whole set of lists," he remarked to Brysek. "Could it be a catalog title or something?"

  "Kyal doesn't miss much," Irg commented.

  "It's more than just the catalog title," Brysek said, moving forward. "The same word appears in other related contexts as well. It seems to be more of a code word for the program that these lists relate to."

  "Program? You mean the evacuation program from Earth?"

  "Not exactly.'Terminus' covered that. This seems to relate to a specific part of Terminus—a program for collecting together a comprehensive stockpile of equipment and supplies. It seems to have been a large operation."

  "Hm." Kyal looked back as the monitor screen scrolled some more. The next frame listed tools and implements. "The kinds of thing you'd take with you if you were planning on moving on someplace," he mused.

  "It's looking like it, isn't it?" Brysek agreed.

  Korili called later, when Kyal was back in the surface huts, pondering over the day's developments. Yorim was on the far side of the room with some others who were watching a movie from home telling a story cast in a Terran war setting. Although the thought of mass killings and destruction was abhorrent to most Venusians, the subject nevertheless held a macabre fascination that drew large audiences.

  "Live?" Kyal said, surprised, when she appeared on the screen of his phone. They usually communicated in text. "I was just thinking about—"

  "Well I've got something special to tell you, so I decided— Oh. What? . . ."

  "What's special?"

  "What were you—"

  "You said you had something to tell me." They were out of synch already. Kyal grinned. "We'll have to do this the formal way. Over."

  "I didn't want to— Oh, yes, okay. . . . Look I didn't want to load this on you before, but I've been having some personal problems down here." She stopped. He
waited. "Oh, er over."

  "Yes, I had kind of gathered there might be something like that from some of the things you said. . . ."

  "Well, it's going to . . . No, wrong. Go ahead."

  "So what's the latest? Over."

  "It looks as if it's going to get worse. Well, no, it already has. Do you remember that person I told you a little bit about when we were at . . . Paris, I think it was. Over."

  "The control freak? The one you had the hard time with on Venus? Over."

  "Yes, him. He's here in Rhombus and thinks he can turn the clock back. That might sound trivial, but it's a major hassle already. And it's not going to stop."

  "There's no reason you have to put up with—"

  "He's been at the apartment causing disturbances and— What? Over!"

  "Sorry, my fault. I started to say, there's no reason why you should have to put up with it. It's a public nuisance. Call the provosts in. Over."

  "I would but there might not be any need. This is the big news. It's looking as if I might be moving up to Explorer 6. I've been talking to our chief here, Garki Nostreny, about setting up a sequencing lab in E6 to look at some of those Terran bodies you've found there. The frozen deep tissues are practically intact. No decay or bacterial action. We've never found anything like it before. It's a biochemist's dream. It will give me a big chance to test a genetic theory I've been working on. Nostreny is for it, and he's proposed it to Sherven. The whisper from E6 is that it's looking as if it will go through. So I'll be that much closer to Luna and Triagon. Over."

  It sounded like good news indeed. "Does it mean you'll be coming out here to collect them, then?" he asked. "Over."

  "I was hoping I might be able to, but it won't really work out. I'm going to be too tied up with equipment and administration and getting things organized on E6. Mirine—you know, my assistant—will be moving up with me too. She'll be going on to Triagon to take care of that. Although I might be able to find some excuses later to take a trip or two out there myself. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know. Over."

  "It might be quite a surprising home from home if you do make it. They just got one of the Terran elevators working today. And it's looking as if there might be a chance of getting into some of their computers too. The way everything's preserved here is amazing. It isn't just your dead bodies. So you don't have an actual date yet? Over."

  "Not until it's official from Sherven. But Nostreny knows about the situation—the personal problems, I mean. So things should move quickly when they do. Over."

  "Well, let's hope Sherven feels the same way as your chief does. Keep me posted. How's everything otherwise? Over."

  "Oh, much the same routine. We had an interesting thing happen today in the graphics section One of the—" Lorili paused. "Oh. Look, Kyal, I've just got a priority one incoming alert from Iwon. He doesn't do things like this lightly. I'd better take it. I'll text you more later. You've heard the exciting news anyway. Okay? Over."

  "Sure. I hope it's not bad news. Take care. Over. Out."

  Kyal looked across at the group clustered around the screen. Somebody emitted an exclamation of awe and horror. The screen showed a fireball mushrooming into a turbulent cloud, while a voice off-screen that was supposed to be Terran shrieked and babbled inanely. "What this?" he called across to Yorim.

  "They've just fusion-bombed a slave city." That was what Venusians called the Terran metropolises with their concrete towers of work cubicles, optimized for maximum short-term financial returns. "They had them in parking orbits, ready to be targeted anywhere. Want to come and watch?"

  Kyal screwed up his nose distastefully. "No, I think I'll go back to some quiet in the dorm and just read." As he stood up, his mind went back again to the electronics he'd looked at with Bryskek. "You know, I can't wait to see if we can restore some of the Terran music."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Lorili was not looking forward to meeting Tyarla. She expected to be a confrontation, and confrontation was not her style. Such experiences tended to be draining, unsettling, and seldom productive. Clearance had come through late in the afternoon from Sherven's office for her transfer up to Explorer 6, but by that time Elundi and Iwon had already set things up for that evening. Having made a commitment, Lorili would honor it, naturally; but after that, she just wanted to be away from it all to get on with her work and be free to think about the future.

  At the end of the day, she walked with Iwon to the Central District, where he had arranged to meet Elundi, and the three of them proceeded to Tyarla's apartment, which was not very far from Lorili's in another of the outer residential sectors. Tyarla received them wearing a glittery green trouser suit with the flared sleeves and legs that were the current fashion on Venus, her hair worn high in a silver slide. The interior was a colorful riot of purple, lilac, yellow, and black, splashed across compositions of angular mural designs and hanging drapes, with metallic furnishings and ceramic ornaments. Tyarla herself remained cool and aloof, evidently relishing the experience as little as Lorili did. She let them find their own seats around the room and didn't offer anything by way of drinks or refreshment. Elundi introduced his two companions and then began:

  "I'm sorry to bring this up again if you're having enough to deal with already, Tyala. As I said on the phone earlier, yes, it's to do with these things you've said concerning Gaster Lornod." He sighed, as if to convey that this wasn't easy for him either. "Look, I've been following Lornod's arguments for a long time. I think he makes some good points. And when I get interested in a subject I do a lot of research into the background. So I know a lot about the man, his character, and where he's coming from." Elundi shook his head appealingly. "What you're saying just doesn't fit. I've talked to a number of people who know him personally, and they say the same thing."

  Tyarla raised her chin defiantly; but at the same time her eyes betrayed insecurity. "He's a politician. They're all alike. Of course there's a nicely groomed public image. I can't help it if your friends were taken in by it. I only know what I heard and saw."

  "Why should you care?" Iwon put in. "Even if it's true, why bother? Why get yourself mixed up in this?"

  "I think the people should know," Tyarla shot back.

  Elundi was shaking his head. "One of my contacts talked to you—Karteen Bissel. She says you weren't even able to describe Lornod accurately."

  "So—I'm not very good at putting descriptions into words. Is that supposed to be a crime?"

  Lorili could see this kind line going on indefinitely without result. But Elundi abandoned the circuitous route and came directly to the issue. "I mentioned Jenyn on the phone earlier—"

  "And I said it's got nothing to do with Jenyn." Tyarla looked at the other two, as if for support. "Why is he bringing Jenyn into it?"

  "I work with Jenyn, as you know," Elundi said. "I don't pretend to know him that well, because he's only been back in Rhombus from the Americas for a short time. But he was the one who introduced us, and I think you do know him very well from when he was in Rhombus before."

  Tyarla sniffed haughtily. "I can't see what that's got anything to do with it, or that it's any of your business."

  "You were pretty clearly making it everyone's business at the time," Elundi retorted. Even as he said it, the pained look in his eyes showed he knew that he shouldn't have.

  "I don't have to listen to this." Tyarla started to rise.

  Iwon tried to be placating. "Let's not get heated. It won't help. . . . Look, Tyarla, this is for your own good as much as anything else. Really. If it is the way Elundi's saying, it will be far better to come clean about it now."

  "I don't need you people to tell me what's good for me. I can take care of myself, thanks." Tyarla was on her feet, but as yet she was making no move to show them the door. A part of her, yet, was undecided.

  Elundi came back in. "I might not have known Jenyn for a long time, but let me be frank about what I see," he said. "I see a person with problems—ambitions of power an
d grandeur, totally egotistical. The kind of person who won't think twice about using others to get what he wants, or destroying them through lies, deformation, or whatever it takes if they get in his way. He has no interest in truth, only results. He doesn't care how they come about, or who else might get hurt in the process. It was a quality that the Terrans somehow elevated to a virtue, and he admires it. But it's easy to mistake Terran disinformation and propaganda for being the way things really were. Most of the Terrans themselves couldn't see through it." Elundi made a gesture of finality. "But on Venus things work by different standards. Jenyn will come unstuck. It won't be the way he has promised. Why let yourself go down with him? . . . Yes, I know that having to retract now will be embarrassing. But that would be much better in the long run than where it will lead otherwise."