by Sarah Zettel
The morning after the reception, Dr. Failia had called him into the Throne Room, a place he’d been to only a couple of times before. While he’d stood awkwardly in front of her desk, she’d reviewed something on its screen that seemed to absorb her whole attention. At last, he realized she wasn’t going to invite him to sit down. So he sat without invitation and got ready to wait.
She kept him there in silence for another good five minutes before she finally looked up to acknowledge his presence.
“Thank you for coming, Josh,” she said, with only the barest hint of politeness in her voice. “I wanted to inform you personally that Dr. Veronica Hatch of the U.N. investigative team has requested your presence to help her examine the Discovery’s laser.” Dr. Failia’s voice was calm but tinged with something unpleasant—suspicion, maybe, or disapproval. Josh sat there with a stiff smile on his face, torn between elation and feeling like a guilty child.
“Since you’ll have far more experience with EVA’s than any other member of that team, I’m counting on you to take the position of team leader, to show the others around the Discovery and make sure they do minimum damage to the site.”
“But, Dr. Failia…” Josh spread his hands. Despite the cold look she gave him, Josh forced himself to continue. “Kevin Cusmanos has a thousand times more experience than I do. Shouldn’t he be going out with the team?”
“That was the initial plan.” Dr. Failia’s eyes grew hard. “But we want as few people down there as possible. Every new bootprint runs the risk of damaging something priceless. Since you’re going, you get to baby-sit and Kevin gets to do what he is specifically trained for—supervising the scarab and the essential mechanical support system for the team.”
Josh swallowed. “Yes, of course.”
“Thank you, Josh,” she said without warmth. “I appreciate your help.”
Did she know I talked Vee into this? Or was she just peeved that one of the yewners monkeyed with her plan? Josh shook his head at the ceiling. He had no way of knowing. The whole interview had left him confused. The times he had talked with Dr. Failia before, she had been businesslike but friendly, quick with a small joke or useful observation. He’d never seen her so forbidding.
It doesn’t matter. You’re here. You can worry about the rest of your life later.
The low ceiling over him held a view screen that was controlled from down in the pilot’s seat. Right now, it showed an image of the hangar seen through the scarab’s main window and surmounted by the back of Adrian Makepeace’s head and shoulders.
“Please make sure the status lights over your couches are all on the green,” Adrian was saying. “We have no flight insurance. Anybody who doesn’t have a green, just holler, and we’ll make sure there’s nothing else to holler about. Any non-greens?”
“Going once, going twice…” added Kevin Cusmanos.
Josh reflexively checked the four indicator lights at the bottom of his screen. All of them shone bright green, indicating he was properly strapped in.
“They’re enjoying themselves, aren’t they?” murmured Julia from the couch next to Vee’s.
“I don’t think they get many tourists out here,” said Vee. Josh heard her squirm and couldn’t blame her. The couches took getting used to. He also decided not to correct their impressions of what the pilots thought of them. He’d spoken out loud that once to Vee at the reception, and she still got an angry gleam in her eye when she had to talk to Grandma Helen.
“Not many tourists?” muttered Julia. “Not too many people interested in a dive into Hell? Imagine.”
Josh rolled his eyes up to try to get a glimpse of the women. He could see Veronica’s feet, and Julia’s. He could also see part of Julia’s hand, which clutched the side of her couch so hard the fabric bunched up in her grip.
“Are you going to be all right?” asked Vee.
“Eventually, yes,” Julia sighed. Josh watched her deliberately relax her hand. “This is just like being at the top of the thrill vid, you know? I hate this part.”
“It gets easier,” volunteered Josh. “Wait until you’ve done a dozen or so.”
Josh spoke with more confidence than he felt. Most of his work had to do with atmospheric particle scattering, which could be done from the comforts of Venera Base and its optics lab. He could count his trips down to the surface on the fingers of one hand.
“A dozen or so,” murmured Julia. “There’s something to look forward to.”
“It’s the adventure of a lifetime,” intoned Troy Peachman from his couch on Josh’s right. “You should be alive to every facet of the experience.”
“Alive is what I’m hoping for.”
“We could record you,” suggested Terry Wray helpfully. She had the couch to Julia’s left. “That way you could work on your reactions each drop until you’ve got the keeper. Something suitably calm, yet awestruck.”
“Next time,” answered Julia. “I want a run-through first.”
“Always a good idea,” said Terry. “I can’t tell you how many disasters I’ve had to shoot that missed all the dramatic impact just because the victims wouldn’t take a minute to get their responses right.”
“Well then,” came Adrian’s voice through the intercom, reminding them all that the speakers were open on both ends. “Let’s see if we can get it right.”
“Wing deployed and green at twenty percent inflation. Drop conditions green. Scarab status is go,” said Kevin.
“Ready when you are, Control.”
“Ready, Scarab Five,” said yet another voice, this one from the hangar control. “Opening doors.”
“See you on the up-trip,” said Kevin.
Josh thought he heard Troy breathe something about “falling into history” but hoped he was wrong.
The view screen’s feed switched down to a camera in the scarab’s belly. The desk rolled past underneath them, fast and faster, until it shot away, leaving a swirl of impenetrable gray cloud.
The scarab fell. As always, Josh’s stomach lurched and his body strained against the straps. His heart flipped over, a purely reflexive reaction. There was nothing he could do about it but lie there, keep his eyes on the screen, and concentrate on controlling his breathing.
On our way. They won’t call us back now. We’re really going to do this! The smile on his face stretched even wider.
Layers of cloud pressed against the camera. Adrian’s voice, again for the sake of the tourists, droned through the intercom.
“Wing position optimized,” said Adrian calmly. “Everybody okay up there? Just relax and let the couch take care of you. We’re at forty-eight kilometers and looking good.”
All at once, the clouds parted. Below them spread the surface of Venus, as red and wrinkled as anything Mars had to offer. It was getting closer at a rate that made Josh’s heart flip over again.
“Inflating wing,” rumbled Kevin. “Wing inflation at fifty percent.”
Outside, the ground’s approach slowed to a more leisurely pace. Features began to resolve themselves. Some wrinkles became riverbeds cut by ancient lava. Others became delicate ripples in the ground, like furrows plowed by a drunken farmer. The colors on the ground divided into rust red, burnt orange, and sulfur yellow with streamers of coal black drifting through them.
“Beautiful,” breathed Troy, and this time Josh had to agree with him.
“Fifteen kilometers from touchdown and everything green and go,” said Adrian. “You’re not getting the most interesting landscape, but it’s tough to make a good landing anywhere interesting.”
“Julia, have you opened your eyes yet?” asked Veronica.
“No,” Julia said, her voice pitched only slightly higher than normal. “I’ll wait until we get to the ground.”
“Suit yourself.” Vee shrugged in her straps. “The colors are amazing.”
“I’ll bet.”
“Three kilometers,” said Adrian. “If you squint to the upper right of your screens, you’ll see beacon A-34,
which means we’re right on target.”
Beneath them, the largest furrows spread apart. Smaller furrows following the same drunken path appeared between them. The whole plain became a huge, wrinkled, color-splashed bedsheet, bent at the edges, as if viewed through a fish-eye lens. The high-pressure atmosphere played all kinds of interesting tricks with the light.
The patch of ground Josh could see became smaller and darker, until only a few rocks were visible. Then nothing but blackness, followed fast by a crunching noise from below. The scarab came to rest on a small slope, tilted up and to the left.
“And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a perfect landing,” said Kevin. “You are now free to come out and see the world through the big window.”
Julia was already fumbling with her buckles. Vee obviously took a second to read the directions beside her screen, because she was on her feet and heading out into the main cabin before Julia was even sitting up. Josh waited behind to make sure Julia, Troy, and Terry had successfully extricated themselves and then followed Veronica out.
Outside the front window, the rumpled landscape stretched as far as he could see. The horizon, such as it was, was lost in a dim blur that might have been dust or mountains or simply the thick atmosphere distorting the light. They were a fair way into the long Venusian day. The dim sunlight that filtered through the clouds showed a ground that reminded Josh of the Painted Desert; red, brown, orange all mixed together along with great stretches of black, rippled stone left over from old lava flows. Here and there, an outcropping of halite or obsidian glinted dully in the ashen light.
Josh watched the investigative team crowd around the pilot seats, craning their necks to see out the window. Then he saw the muscles in Kevin’s jaw tighten.
“We’ve got a drive ahead of us,” Josh said, trying to sound polite, if not cheerful. “We can use the time to get into suits. That way there’ll be less of a delay when we reach the Discovery.”
And less time Kevin has to deal with you guys crammed into the cockpit.
As if to confirm Josh’s thought, Kevin glanced up at him and Josh read a silent thank-you in his eyes.
The statement brought universal agreement, and the team of tourists started filing back toward the changing area. Vee gave Josh a knowing look as she passed. Yeah, she would be the one to figure out what he was really trying to do. That was all right as long as she didn’t try to counteract it. Kevin gave Adrian the nod, and Adrian unbuckled himself to follow the tourists.
“And here’s where the fun really starts,” he muttered to Josh as he passed.
You’ll forgive me if I agree with the words and not the tone, thought Josh as he followed Adrian down the corridor to the suit lockers. I can believe we’re almost there.
The scarab crawled forward along the uneven ground. Its bumping, rocking motion added to the confusion of the suit-up procedure, but eventually Josh and the rest of the team all got safely into their hardsuits. Adrian, with Josh’s help, double-checked everyone’s equipment and connections and made them run down the displays to make sure those were all functional.
Everything looked green and go. Mechanical failure in the suit—joint failure, pump failure, loss of seal integrity—any of these could mean instant death. If that knowledge added extra tension to the team, Josh couldn’t see it. Even Julia, now that she was on the ground, seemed to have calmed down and become wrapped up in the business of checking her equipment, as if this were something she did every day.
Admit it. You can’t see beyond your own nose right now, unless it’s to look at that hole in the ground, Josh admonished himself. But he couldn’t really make himself care. The Discovery waited for them. He had made it. He was going to be inside, soon, very soon.
Finally, the scarab came to a lurching halt
“We’re here!” called back Kevin.
Here. We’re here. I’m here.
The U.N. investigators climbed into the airlock. Josh closed the interior hatch and found a place on one of the benches. The pressurization pump’s steady chugging filled the air. Next to him, Terry Wray fussed with the camera on her chest. Her normal band rig wouldn’t be able to tolerate the conditions out there, so she’d have to make do with the equipment that came with the suit and from the look on her face, it did not meet her standards. He watched Julia Lott’s lips move as she removed something on her private log channel. Next to her, Troy Peachman did the same. It looked like the two of them were holding a whispered conversation. Vee, sitting on the bench between them, flashed Josh one of her mischievous grins.
“Some fun, eh?” Her voice sounded harsher than normal through the intercom. Josh wondered if she might actually be nervous.
“Not yet,” he answered. “But trust me, it will be.”
Now, Josh could feel the tension winding the whole team tight. The small talk and idle speculation picked up pace, as did the meaningless shifting of weight and all the other little movements restless people make when waiting. There were the usual complaints about trying to use helmet display icons that relied on eye movement and how the water-straw kept bumping up against your chin. Finally, Troy Peachman heaved himself to his feet and started pacing between the inner hatch and the outer.
Veronica watched him for about two minutes before she apparently had enough. “Oh, sit down, Troy, it’s not going anywhere.”
“How do you know?” he asked with the bluff humor he apparently cultivated. “Aliens put it here. Maybe they’re out there taking it away again.”
Terry tried folding her arms and found that didn’t work. “If they were going to do that, they would have notified me.”
“You?” asked Troy, surprised.
“Yeah. I’m a media drone. We’re all aliens. Didn’t you know that?”
“I had wondered,” replied Troy blandly.
A brief collective laugh filtered through the intercoms. Before it died, the light above the outer hatch flashed green, indicating pressurization was complete.
Instantly, everyone was on their feet. Josh worked the locking lever on the outer hatch. With a clank and a thump, the hatch swung inward to reveal the rough, intensely colored world beyond.
“Have a good trip,” said Adrian as Josh stepped out. Dust and stone crunched beneath his boot. To the right loomed the cliffs of Beta Regio, with its volcano thrusting up toward the boiling sky and ribbons of lava trailing down its sides. On the edge of his vision, Josh saw Scarab Fourteen creeping down beside a fresh, flowing lava stream, and he wondered how Charlotte Murray and her crew were holding up with their load of tourists.
Then he saw the Discovery’s entrance squatting in front of them, and the rest of the world went away. He took three heavy steps forward before he remembered he was supposed to be leading a team out here.
His eyes found the intercom icon and opened the general channel. “Okay, everybody, try to step where I step. The ground is pretty lumpy out there.”
They only needed to cross about ten meters to the hatchway. The hardsuits and the uncertain footing made it slow going, but with every step, the hatchway got a little bigger, a little clearer. He could see the handles on the side of the lid, make out the dim reflections on the curve of its gray ceramic sides, see the little scores and pits that had been made by the burning sand brushing past on the lazy wind.
Then he was standing next to it. It was there, under his glove. He couldn’t feel anything, but he could see his hand on the lid.
It was a long moment before he realized the others had ringed the hatch and stood waiting for him.
“I’ll open the hatchway now.” Josh grasped two of the handles, bent his knees, and shoved. The cover swung aside, just as he’d been told it would. Julia clapped her hands in silent applause. Veronica stooped and ran one gloved finger over the handle he’d just used, and grunted. Peachman tromped forward eagerly.
“Hold on,” said Terry. “Can we get a shot of the empty shaft?”
“Sure.” Josh stepped back and let Terry come forward and poin
t her camera and light down the steep well with its ladder. Just don’t take too long. He laughed silently. Get a hold of yourself. Vee was right, it’s not going anywhere.
“Got it,” Terry said, sounding satisfied. She stepped back from the hatch and turned toward him.
“Okay,” said Josh, trying to keep his voice calm, as if he had already climbed down into the Discovery a hundred times. “I’ll go first and show you how it’s done.”
Josh planted his boots onto the first rung and, moving carefully, started climbing down the well. Darkness engulfed him and his suit’s lights clicked on, illuminating the black rock with its charcoal veins. He had to keep himself pressed close to the rungs to prevent his backpack from scraping against the shaft wall. His throat tightened. He’d never been inside Venus before, and he could not escape the feeling that he was being swallowed.
Josh’s boot touched level stone and his lights showed him the bubble-shaped room dubbed “Chamber One.” He moved back from the ladder.
A shiver ran up his spine. This place is not ours. This is other. There is someone else out there, and we know nothing about them. That was too huge and too strange a thought not to merit a moment of sheer wonder.
There wasn’t even that much to see here—the base of the ladder, the six holes gaping beside the smooth curving wall. The real prize lay through the narrow tunnel that opened by his right hand. Down there lay Chambers Two and Three and the laser.
“Okay, next,” he said into the intercom. “Keep close to the rungs; don’t bump your pack if you can help it.” They’d all been briefed and run through the simulators, but it wouldn’t hurt to remind them.
“Yes, Papa,” said Vee. He watched her green form descending carefully, foot searching momentarily for each rung. But she reached the bottom without incident and came to stand beside him.
“Next,” Josh said.
“Here we go,” answered Julia. While the archeologist worked her way down, Veronica walked over to look at the inner doorway, if a small, rounded entry to a low tunnel could be called a doorway. Josh was torn between watching Vee and keeping an eye on Julia, who, if anything, was moving less steadily than Vee had, and wishing they would all hurry up.
