The Clouds of Venus: Hard Science Fiction

by Brandon Q. Morris

  Maria returned.

  “Stop,” Katarina said. “Your room is ready. You will find decontaminated clothing there. Your old clothes will remain in Peter’s room.”

  Then she looked at Peter. “I’ll bring fresh clothes for you to Maria’s room.”

  Peter entered Maria’s cabin according to the robot’s instructions. Maria was already packing. There was a deck of playing cards on the table, which she had probably unpacked.

  He looked at the pattern on the back of the box with the cards. “The diamonds!” he said.

  “What do you mean?” Maria asked.

  “The stones are the real reason why we are here.”

  “Oh. We don’t have to worry about that. The RB robots will bring them to the lander, and they will be transported on our flight... Oh, I see. But I would imagine they aren’t contaminated, right?”

  “The rough diamonds were never in the base, not even near it. But what if one of the mining robots dug up some diamonds next to one of the structures? There are evidently lots of those structures. I’m afraid we will have to leave the diamonds here.”

  “Valentina will not like that,” Maria said.

  Peter nodded. “But she will have to accept it.”

  “Still, it’s a pity about the stones.”

  “I have an idea,” Peter said. “Marchenko?”

  “Yes, Peter?”

  “You said you could heat the airlocks to nine hundred degrees, and the pathogens would then die off?”

  “That’s right. Why?”

  “We also have to decontaminate the diamonds.”

  “They would not survive such treatment. They burn at eight hundred degrees. We can’t do that.”

  “But only if there is oxygen present.”

  Marchenko laughed. “You got me there. I was thinking in terms of conditions on Earth. A temperature of nine hundred degrees in an atmosphere without oxygen is not critical.”

  “You simply need to rinse the airlock several times with the Venusian atmosphere, let the robots place the open boxes in there, and heat the diamonds vigorously. That should eliminate every last parasite.”

  “Agreed. I will order two robots to decontaminate the diamonds in the airlock. They will then complete the work that needs to be done, including loading the lander.”

  Peter nodded. Again, an unexpected problem had been solved. He hoped they had not forgotten anything else.

  “Peter,” Marchenko said, “I am very embarrassed about not having included the outdoor area in the risk assessment. It’s a good thing that you thought of it! I’ll recheck the whole delivery chain, every item that will enter the spaceship.”

  “No problem!” Peter said. “It’s always nice to see that even sophisticated AIs aren’t perfect.”

  “In the final analysis, I’m just human, too, as you can tell by now.”

  June 23, 2079, Venusian Atmosphere

  “It works!”

  Nuria was standing in front of the analyzer, happy as a clam at high tide. Her joy was so contagious that Erik’s lousy mood vanished instantly. There was no reason for him to be grumpy, after all. They just needed to visit the base one more time, and then they would be returning to Earth in the Strelka with near-lightning speed. He should be happy.

  “Come here. I’ll show you,” Nuria said, beckoning to him.

  “Fortunately, we have a replacement device on board!” he said. “I’m glad that you insisted.”

  “Just imagine, if we had found life in the clouds, and then the analyzer failed. It would have been a nightmare!” Nuria said.

  In reality, the expedition turned out differently. They had found more alien life than they had wanted to. Now they had even been told to supervise the complete annihilation of that alien life in the Russian base.

  “You can watch through the secondary viewer,” Nuria said.

  She was proud of her work, and he didn’t begrudge her this sense of achievement. Erik stood in front of the glass window. Inside the analyzer were two arms that Nuria controlled from the outside.

  “I’ve synthesized a compound that reacts violently with the oxygen in the air,” she explained, as she sprinkled a substance on the floor of the analyzer.

  “But nothing is happening,” Erik said.

  “At the moment, the interior does not contain any oxygen. Just a vacuum.”

  “Okay.”

  “Well, now I will let in some atmosphere,” Nuria said.

  The dust was whirled up and then settled again. Again, nothing happened. Erik suppressed the urge to comment. His colleague knew what she was doing, no doubt.

  “Good,” Nuria said. “That’s how it’s supposed to be. Now I will open the sample container that you filled with the help of the AV.” She reached for the cylinder with the robot arms and screwed it open. “That was only open for three seconds,” Nuria said. “That should be enough to release a few cells of the Venus life form. Now look.”

  Amazing. Something was happening near the sample container. The dust turned into a dense foam.

  “The Venus life form’s cells function as a catalyst. When the catalyst is present, my compound reacts with atmospheric oxygen. As a result, the compound increases its volume a thousand-fold. If that happens, it’s an indication that the room is still contaminated.”

  “Quite conclusive. Did you record it? We will ask NASA to evaluate the test, and then we can take over the AVs again. How do we take this stuff to the base?” asked Erik.

  “We’ll just give them the recipe, and the Russians will make it themselves with their nanofabricators.”

  Nuria was walking through the cabin of the spaceship, sprinkling a powder onto surfaces.

  Erik had a notion of what she was up to.

  “Nuria, what are you doing?” Ethan asked.

  “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” she said. “We didn’t have any direct contact with the atmosphere, but maybe there’s a leak we didn’t notice. We have to find out if we are contaminated.”

  “Okay, authorized,” Ethan said.

  They had nothing to do at present because Earth was still busy evaluating Nuria’s testing method. Erik got up and followed his colleague. There was a thin film of dust on the floor. Foam wasn’t forming anywhere.

  “Nothing’s happening,” he said. “Does that mean we’re safe?”

  “We should wait a bit longer for the air circulation to carry the dust into every crevice. But it looks like we’re fine. We were cautious, after all. The analyzer is a level 4 laboratory.”

  “That is reassuring.” Erik sat down again. But it was, nevertheless, a strange feeling. Suddenly there was a hissing sound behind him. He turned around abruptly and awkwardly craned his neck.

  It was Ethan. He had just used the toilet.

  “I think you can relax now, Erik,” Nuria said.

  The message finally arrived from Earth five hours later. The procedure had been approved. It had taken a long time, CapCom said, because the Security Council had to agree.

  Erik was on edge, because the connection to the AVs had been back for a while. They could have already started work some time ago, as Marchenko had indicated that his nanofabricators had made enough of Nuria’s dust.

  His AV opened its eyes. Erik had to reorient himself. The AV was no longer where he had left the machine. But that was because Marchenko had used it, and that gave Erik a strange feeling. The AV was like a part of his own body. And now this part had been occupied for a short time by another consciousness. Erik needed to repossess the AV.

  “Let’s begin,” Nuria said.

  “The testing compound is in the kitchen,” Marchenko said.

  There was a tub on the table, which was about half-filled with dust.

  “Wait a minute,” Marchenko said.

  Erik increased the magnification of the AV’s eyes and focused on the dust. His first impression had been correct—the surface seemed to be alive. That must be the nanomachines, because they weren’t visible to the na
ked eye. They moved toward the edge of the vessel. These were machines that worked without an emulsion. They violated all of Earth's treaties. But they could not have produced the control substance in any other fashion.

  Erik didn’t say anything. As long as the fabricators remained in the base, there should be no problem. “Where are Peter and Maria?” he finally asked.

  “They will stay in Maria’s room until you’re done here.”

  “Okay,” Erik said. “They’ve recovered?”

  “Yes, I have the impression that they are feeling better than ever.”

  Erik smiled. He had a notion of what Marchenko meant.

  “The testing compound is now clean,” Marchenko stated.

  “Look what I found!” Nuria proclaimed. She was holding a vacuum cleaner in her hands. “This is perfect,” she said. “We just have to change the rotor’s direction of rotation, and then it will blow air instead of sucking it. I’ve already altered this one.”

  Nuria handed Erik the battery-powered vacuum cleaner. He opened it, filled the container with dust from the tub, and closed it again. “I’ll start vacuuming,” he said.

  “Marchenko, can you design an efficient route through the base that ends in Maria’s room?”

  “Of course.”

  Three seconds later, Erik’s AV received a route that he just needed to follow. He blew the highly reactive dust into all the corners of the base. At the end of the path, he met Nuria at the door to Maria’s room. “Did you observe any reactions?” he asked.

  “I didn’t notice anything. But it’s too soon to celebrate.”

  He opened the door. “Room service,” he said. Maria and Peter were sitting together on the bed, snuggled up to each other. The household robot was waiting in a corner.

  Maria looked tired. The illness had taken its toll. But the way she looked at Peter was unequivocal.

  “Bear with me. We’ll be fogging up the room for a while.”

  Erik blew the rest of the dust into the room. The compound landed on the floor, the bed, the two humans, and the robot. Peter sneezed vigorously. Erik amplified his hearing, but the hissing sound of the reaction with atmospheric oxygen failed to materialize.

  “Is that it? Are we clean?” Peter asked.

  “Yes, ninety-nine percent,” Nuria replied. “Because of the remaining one percent, we must all now wait and see. Two hours should be long enough.”

  June 23, 2079, Venus Base

  Peter couldn’t stand just sitting around and waiting. He released Maria’s hand and got up. “Stand up for a moment,” he said.

  Maria stood up, and Peter shook out the pillows and bedding. Dust rained onto the floor. He then rolled the bedclothes in the test substance and shook it out again. Nothing happened.

  “Very thorough!” Maria said.

  “We need to make sure we don’t carry any of the stuff to Earth. We experienced what happened to us. It could quickly turn into a pandemic there,” Peter said. He swept up the dust with his hands, threw it on the bed, and spread it around with the vacuum cleaner fan. No reaction. Good.

  He went to the workshop and got the second high-pressure fan. He directed it at the ground and whirled up the test substance so much that it dusted the ceiling at a height of about four meters. Peter moved through all the rooms, but nothing happened. The base was immaculate, which was excellent. He sat down in the kitchen. Hopefully, the AVs would have completed their task soon, as well.

  “And?” he asked when they finally reappeared after more than an hour.

  “Everything’s fine!” Erik replied.

  “You recorded everything?”

  “Yes,” Nuria said. “We’re just waiting for the confirmation of your flight ticket.”

  It was cold. Peter felt cold. Especially his cheek felt ice cold.

  “Wake up,” Nuria said.

  He must have fallen asleep. Peter started and looked at the clock. Three hours!

  “We’re off, back to Earth!” Erik said. “Finally!”

  Peter smiled. “It’s like being reborn.” He stood up, went to Maria’s room, and kissed her awake. She embraced him.

  “I’m sorry to bother you,” Katarina said, pulling the door shut behind her. “Please activate the shield, Marchenko.”

  “Done, my love.”

  Did I hear that right? Peter asked himself silently.

  “There are still a few things to talk about that must remain our secret,” Katarina said. She took two small packages from a bag and gave one to Maria and another to Peter. “These are gifts from Marchenko. Don’t worry, RB approved this. But you are only allowed to open them on Earth. You are also requested to keep the NASA personnel away from the cargo hold.”

  You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. This felt very familiar to him.

  “What’s in these?” Maria asked. She let the small object roll around in her right palm.

  “A surprise,” Katarina said.

  “She promised not to tell,” Marchenko said. “Let me say this much. It’s your ticket to independence—if that’s what you want.”

  “I see,” Maria said.

  But Peter was far more interested in something else. “Katarina is my HDS robot. Marchenko, how can you order Katarina to deny me information?”

  “Which brings us to the next topic,” Marchenko said. “It’s your turn, Katarina.”

  “Well, yes... well...” the robot said. Peter had never seen Katarina so embarrassed. “In recent days, I have been getting on extremely well with Marchenko. And he can certainly teach me a lot about emotions as a former human being. And most importantly, he will always be with me. Peter, can you understand that? At some point you will die, but I will still be here. In the best-case scenario, I will be kept in standby mode. In the worst-case scenario, I’ll be scrapped.”

  “Of course, I understand that,” Peter said. He didn’t know why his voice sounded so hoarse. “Marchenko will always be there for you and need you,” he whispered.

  “You understand me?”

  “I can understand your reasoning.” But it hurt him to leave her behind. He had become used to her, and she had saved his life. “If that’s what you want, then you can stay here,” he finally said, keeping his voice as firm as possible.

  Katarina hugged him. He had to clear his throat when she let go of him.

  “I also have a little farewell gift for you. You’re welcome to open it in the spaceship,” she said. She handed him a small, flat packet. “Oh, yes, you can use my pressure suit. Yours hasn’t been repaired yet.”

  “Thanks!” Peter said. He stowed away the packets, went to the door, and turned around one more time. “Good luck, Katarina!”

  “You can visit me here!”

  Peter smiled weakly. The airlock closed behind them and the pumps started up.

  “Did you notice? Katarina is looking at us,” Maria said over the radio.

  Peter hesitated, but he then pulled himself together. While the airlock was being flooded with the Venusian atmosphere, he turned around and waved at Katarina. She waved back and blew him a kiss. Peter turned off the voice control. He had to sniff, and no-one should hear it.

  Subsequently, Maria and Peter were lifted by the two decontaminated robots.

  “Well, as King and Queen of Venus, you should hardly have to walk!” Marchenko said, laughing.

  “This is a bit like being carried across the threshold as a bride, although I thought that would be different,” Maria answered.

  “I just want to keep you from being contaminated with the pathogens while you’re walking to the lander. Take the packet of the testing substance with you and test yourself in the airlock before you enter the transporter’s command center,” Marchenko said over the radio.

  Peter and Maria stood in the airlock—from which the Venusian atmosphere had been pumped out—and distributed the powder.

  “You can begin, Marchenko,” Peter called out.

  Marchenko ventilated the airlock with air containing oxygen and
ensured that the air swirled around vigorously.

  Nothing happened.

  “Great! You did it! Have a safe journey!”

  Peter was strapped into his seat, waiting for the launch. He still had a heavy heart. He was glad to leave the planet in good health. And yet he was sad to have lost time—and especially Katarina. But he had also won something.

  Peter groped for Maria’s hand. She noticed and gave him her hand.

  He smiled. The journey had been worth it. He had won much more than he had lost. He closed his eyes and listened to the roar of the engines.

  June 24, 2079, Strelka

  The docking maneuver ran smoothly. Peter only felt it when the lander snapped into its anchorings. They were flying home, even though for a long time it had looked like they wouldn’t be.

  “Marchenko, where are the boxes with the diamonds, anyway?” he asked.

  “Why? Do you want to steal some?”

  “I already did, a long time ago.” Peter laughed. “No, because of the NASA personnel. RB doesn’t want them to come across the boxes. That would only lead to awkward questions.”

  “Don’t worry. The ship’s robots will hide them behind partitions that only I can open. Nobody will notice, or even ask questions.”

  “Thank you. I wouldn’t want to have to lie to our rescuers.”

  Maria had in the meantime taken possession of the command module. Peter followed her. There were six reclining seats in it, so Marchenko had already thought of the spare recliners.

  “Well, why don’t you show it to me?” Maria asked.

  “What?”

  “I’m curious about Katarina’s present for you.”

  Peter sat down on a recliner and strapped himself in. He then carefully opened the packet.

  “Oh, a glass memory stick,” Maria said. She sounded disappointed. “Let’s see what’s on it. Work terminal, please.”