Science Fiction Page 2

  “But I didn’t—” Dana began to protest before she was cut short by a more boyish version of Harrison’s calm voice.

  “So you’re up and about, eh? Seems we took a bit of a meteor shower together, so I knew you wouldn’t mind me barging in on you in your bedclothes and all.”

  “Alex! So you are all right.”

  “Fit as a fiddle, thanks to you.” In a quick aside, “Don’t say too much about our little adventure together until we’ve had a talk, will you? I’ve got a few ideas I’d like to try out on you.”

  Dana’s head was beginning to swim again. Seeing her face go pale, the doctor urged her to get more sleep and ushered everyone out of the cabin. As she was drifting off, she thought: So, I’ve become Alex’s ally. Well, worse things could happen.

  Then she nodded off to sleep.

  Spaceships are not noted for their banqueting facilities. Accordingly, the quarters afforded the ship’s company for ceremonial purposes were cramped indeed. They doubled as the ship’s dining facility and hydroponics garden, with neat plastic covers affixed over the trays of verdant vegetation. Dana was the reluctant guest of honor. “But Alex,” she whispered, “you’re every bit as deserving of the Space Medal as I am. More so. It was your idea to use those chess pieces, not mine. I’m going to tell them so!”

  Dana was worried. Alex’s behavior since the accident seemed inexplicable. He had offered his father and Admiral Haigg’s inquiry board a completely fictitious account of the meteor shower. According to his version, he’d immediately been struck on the head by some flying debris and knocked unconscious. Result: she was being honored as a hero, and he was being passed by. Very nice for her, no doubt, but what was he up to?

  “Alex, before this goes on, I have to know. Why do you want me to keep the truth to myself? I can’t believe modesty lies behind all this.”

  Alex had to chuckle. With a coolly deliberating eye he examined the crew and officers nearest them. Apparently satisfied that their conversation was private, he bent his head and said in a low voice: “You’re so right. It’s not modesty that compels me, but caution.”

  At this, Dana began to laugh, but a look at Alex’s pale, sober face stilled her almost instantly. “After you blacked out, I was pretty much in shock, I guess,” he continued. “I couldn’t move and my shoulder was killing me, but I was conscious all the time.”

  He pitched his words as though they had special import. Dana looked at him inquiringly. “The first to make it into the cabin after they unshipped the automatic airlock was the admiral. He was looking for something.” Alex’s voice had grown decidedly grim.

  “Well, hurry up with it, Alex, What are you driving at?”

  “Dana, I watched Haigg search the room for fragments of a bomb.”

  “A bomb!” Dana’s outburst drew inquiring glances from the crew and officers filling the room. In a lower voice, she asked, “What do you mean, a bomb?”

  “I went back and examined the cabin very carefully. I found these.” Alex pulled a small gray envelope from his uniform pocket and sprinkled out several tiny balls, flattened and torn by impact, into Dana’s cupped hand. “These are our meteor shower, Dana. It’s only by the merest chance we weren’t killed. We weren’t hit by meteors; a bomb exploded inside the cabin, releasing frag-shot, and it was certainly meant for us.”

  “A bomb,” Dana repeated softly. “That’s why you don’t want anyone to know you were conscious when the admiral came into the cabin. You don’t want him to know you saw him.”

  “Exactly. That’s why you have to accept this medal. I want everyone to think I was sound asleep through the whole thing, compliments of a bump on the noggin. And now you’d better hurry up. Wouldn’t do to be late to your own award drill.”

  Dana stepped across the room in a daze and mounted a small platform erected for the occasion. She was flanked by the top brass the ship had to offer. Dr. Harrison and Colonel Kai on her right—ship’s captain and the admiral on her left. As the ceremony commenced, she found it impossible to concentrate on the traditional litany: “For valorous service, above and beyond…” The words had no meaning for her. All her thoughts were on the admiral and the bomb, and Pluto only four days away.

  3.

  “There it is.” Dr. Harrison’s voice came in scratchily on the little group’s spacesuit com gear. All around, night clung like roofing tar to jutting rocks, flowed into cracks and fissures, filled small craters. Overhead, the unwinking cold light of stars shone, setting off a tiny, wan sun scarcely recognizable as the burning globe that warmed life on Earth.

  At their feet, the beveled edges of the incision gleamed sharply in the pale light, accentuating the enigmatic phrase that had led them millions of miles across space: “Have gone to Croatan.” The words were curiously prosaic, yet they held a mystery as inscrutable and immense as any in the universe.

  “Here on Pluto’s surface,” the doctor continued, “on this very spot where Pluto Base stood, we find the same inscription that puzzled the early settlers of Virginia. To refresh your memories: Walter Raleigh, courtier, intimate of Queen Elizabeth I, buccaneer, and man of letters founded the British colony of Roanoke in 1584. It’s his function as an explorer that we’re concerned with here, his pioneering tenacity, because Raleigh simply wouldn’t give up. It’s his spirit of discovery that ultimately led mankind off-planet to explore the farthest reaches of the system, led us here to Pluto and to a mystery reaching full circle into Earth’s past. The Roanoke colony suffered the privations and dangers familiar to all men who reach out to the unknown. The first band of settlers was found by Sir Francis Drake, starving and ill. He returned them to London in 1585 and another detachment of sailors was set out. In 1587, Raleigh’s deputy John White again visited the colony. He discovered it abandoned and the fifteen sailors missing.”

  “And the Croatan message carved into a tree?” Dana interjected.

  “No Dana, there was one more colonization attempt,” said the doctor. “The last attempt was huge by sixteenth-century standards. One hundred seventeen men and women were selected. John White’s own daughter volunteered for a place in the colony. Her daughter, Virginia Dare, was the first European child to be born in the New World. It was inconceivable that a colony of this size could vanish without a trace. But in 1591, when John White returned to Virginia to resupply the settlers, not a sign of them could be found. Only this sentence…”

  “Well and good, Doctor, but where should we go on from here?” The admiral had been fidgeting (as well as a man in a spacesuit could fidget) through the doctor’s lecture. “If this sentence is a clue, I don’t see much use in it,” he sneered. “I’ve got a good mind to call the fleet in on this right away. Can’t let our boys down.”

  Dana broke in furiously. “Admiral, give Dr. Harrison a chance. I’m sure he’s got a plan in mind. Let’s hear him out.”

  “Officer Drew! Harrison is here as a technical consultant. And under arrest, let me remind you. I am in command and will make the necessary decisions. I suggest you return to the ship and begin carrying out your duties, Officer.”

  “Very well, sir,” Dana replied coldly. “I’ll begin filing my report—with corroborative videotapes of the Croatan message. I’m sure System Patrol will drop charges against Dr. Harrison now that his story has been confirmed.”

  Silence descended on the little group, while the admiral almost visibly steamed at this impertinence. His spacesuit was rigid, ramrod-stiff against the starlit sky. When he spoke, his voice broke the static-filled silence like a whip. “Officer Drew, you will do no such thing! I’m ordering you to resume your duties aboard ship, but no reports will be filed at this time. I’m going to give the doctor ample time to prove his case. Twenty-two hours, Harrison. You’re dismissed, Miss Drew.”

  Until this moment the colonel had held his silence, but he broke in mildly now, in an effort to smooth over the angry scene. “Doctor, just what course should we pursue?”

  In the distance, Dana’s suited fo
rm disappeared into a small impact crater. The doctor, who had kept himself aloof during the admiral’s tirade, resumed planning the investigation. His tones were measured, but to Alex’s practiced ears he sounded tired and worried.

  “I think our first step should be to carefully examine the site of the missing colony. Perhaps some mineral or radioactive trace has been left behind to give us a clue. Failing that, I suggest we narrow down the possibilities—for instance, the colonists and the domes were not carried away by rocket. There’s no blast burn in evidence. I think we can get quite far on such deductive reasoning alone. Eh? Yes, Alex?”

  “Sir, I request permission to follow Officer Drew. She shouldn’t be wandering alone out here.”

  “You’re quite right. Okay, Alex, we’ll see you back at the ship.”

  Alex turned away and made his way despondently over the rocks. He was more worried about his father than ever. Haigg seemed out to get him. Silently he vowed, “Dad, I’ll get you out of this. Just wait and see.”

  Alex scrambled breathlessly over a small ridge. “Dana, wait up!”

  “Is that you, Alex? Oh, damn these radios. What do you want?”

  “Hold on a moment. Gotta catch my breath. Whew! Why’d you take the long way around?”

  “I had to get away from everybody for a few minutes. Haigg makes me so mad.” Dana sounded angry. It was the most familiar she’d been with Alex, and he decided to make the most of it.

  “He’s got it in for my father, that’s for sure. I’ve just got to prove that Dad had nothing whatever to do with the disappearance, and find out what Haigg’s connection is. Why did he bomb us? What did he hope to gain? I think you can help me find out and get the necessary evidence together. You believe in my father, don’t you? You must, after what you said back there.”

  “I think I believe in him, Alex. I really do. It’s just that you say your father is innocent and it’s the admiral who’s up to something; on the other hand, the admiral seems to mistrust your father, so who should I believe? Who am I supposed to believe? After all, I am supposed to be guarding your father.”

  Alex thought it best to press on quickly. “Look, Dana, I’ve got to talk to you privately, and anybody could be listening in on these things. Switch off, will you, and we’ll touch helmets.” On the horizon, the Hatcher stood against the sky, a perfect beacon and a potential eavesdropper.

  They stood together on the airless world, arms around each other’s waists, helmets intimately touching. Despite the spacesuits, Alex thrilled to Dana’s touch. He fell back against a large boulder, drawing the girl after him. Together for a long moment, they leaned there gazing out over the desolate landscape, and then, in a voice husky with emotion, Alex said, “Will you do your best to help me clear my father?”

  “Oh, Alex, you’re asking too much.” Dana sighed. “But I’ll do what I can. To begin with, I guess I can keep pretty close tabs on the admiral. I’m not going to neglect my duty, though.”

  “What do you think the next step is?”

  “I don’t know. But we’ll never get anywhere, mooning around out here.”

  “That’s just what I think we should be doing,” Alex replied. “Mooning around. One approach to this mystery is through the admiral, but the other is somewhere out here, if only we could stumble onto it. You know, I suspect there’s a lot more involved here than just my father’s reputation, or even the whole Pluto operation. We’re close to something momentous, if we only knew how to put the pieces together.”

  Suddenly, across the broken plain, the eternal night was illuminated with blinding suddenness. The lack of an atmosphere made the explosion silent, but its tremendous, jarring energy was transmitted through the rock. Together the two spacesuited figures lurched to their feet.

  “Oh my God,” Alex cried. “That was the ship!” The two started scrambling across the rocks toward an incandescent cloud that ballooned outward from where the ship had stood. Alex was sweating inside his suit, praying that the exploratory party had been detained at the site. Please, God, he prayed silently, let them be safe.

  Tugging and propelling each other along, they raced toward the spacecraft. Alex took the lead, and Dana, clutching his elbow, hurried behind. Together they breasted the crater wall that stood in their way—and abruptly, Alex disappeared from view.

  4.

  “Oooof!”

  “Alex? Damn it, Alex, where are you?”

  A moment ago, Dana had held his hand, but where Alex should be, there was nothing. Missing or not, however, Alex was clearly agitated. Impossibly, sounds were issuing out of the void, words that would make a less experienced police officer blush—and not prettily. Whatever had happened to Alex, it hadn’t affected his vocal cords.

  Gingerly, Dana took a step forward. And then another. “Alex!” she screeched, and suddenly she fell, hurtling through space. If her numbed senses could be believed, she was falling up!

  With a painful crash she landed, a pile of arms, legs, and space gear. After a long moment, she began to take stock. Legs first. They seemed all right, but dazedly she took count again. There seemed to be two too many of them. She began patting the floor, then froze.

  A floor? Legs? Alex!

  “Alex, do you hear me? Wake up!” she demanded. Her voice echoed hollowly through the room. Shouldn’t do that, Dana thought. She reached out a hand to rub her ear and for a second time, for a long eternity, froze. Her faceplate was broken. Her helmet was useless.

  Ordering herself to remain calm, Dana began to examine Alex for injuries. Hampered by the dark and the space suit, she found it a long, tiring, uninformative job. Just as she was about to succumb to tears of despair, Alex’s recumbent form began to stir. With a mental shrug, Dana released the catch on his helmet and pulled it off.

  In an infinitely weary voice, Alex said, “The first step’s a doozy.”

  He was sitting up, somewhat weakly but with returning vigor. Propping him up was a large machine that Dana had just decided was a metal working lathe.

  “It looks for all the world like a tool shop,” she observed. “That thing over there is obviously a bandsaw. And there’s a sort of toolchest in the corner, filled with whatnots. I can’t find out what powers any of these things, though. No motors,” she explained simply.

  “Well, if you can’t tell me where we are, I can tell you where we aren’t,” Alex replied. “We aren’t on Pluto.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Weigh too much,” Alex responded with a sickly grin. “I weigh too much. And so, I might add, do you. I’m still not sure everything’s intact.”

  Cruelly, she chose to ignore his plaints. “Well, we’re in a tool shop, and we got here falling up from Pluto, and I, for one, intend to go back.”

  “Can’t.” By way of explanation, Alex mutely pointed to Dana’s shattered helmet and poked a finger through his own tattered space gear. “Lucky my searchlight works, though. Besides, I’d like to know what you’re thinking of going back to. The ship’s destroyed.” With an effort, he controlled his voice. “No future back there. Besides, as near as I can remember I came in through the floor—and it seems quite solid now.”

  Carefully, Dana suggested, “You know they might not have returned to the ship yet.”

  “So? They’ll last on the unshipped supplies for a few weeks and then starve before they can be rescued. There’s no utility ship available this time.”

  “Alex, if the ship was bombed, in all probability the admiral was responsible, and he’d make damn sure not to get back before the explosion. So the group of them are probably safe and well. And you can bet your bottom dollar the admiral had all contingencies planned for. For the moment, though I don’t want to be hard, I suggest we think about ourselves.”

  After a pause, Alex looked her plainly in the eye. “You’re right, of course,” he said. He took a deep breath, raised his head, and examined their surroundings.

  They were in what appeared to be a large, even immense, sealed room. All aro
und them, dusty machinery and loose tools filled corners and covered shelving, just as they’d been left. By whom? The air seemed adequate, if slightly musty. Still, she wasn’t about to complain. Thank God it was air that surrounded them, and not the vacuum of space.

  “Well, to every room there must be a corresponding door,” Dana suggested.

  Alex was less confident. “Maybe,” he replied, “but the door we came in by seems to be shut, and what reason do we have to think there’s another one? No, what we need to do is find some sort of a cutting tool. Then we could dig our way out.”

  “Well, if you think you can find one in this mess, much less figure out how to use it, you’re a genius. I’ve got an idea, though…” With a smile just hiding behind her lips, Dana produced her ace in the hole. “Why don’t we follow those footprints?” Triumphantly she gestured to the far end of the room, where the dust and airborne sediment of eons had settled into a thick blanket. Four abreast, leading off into the dark, a column of tracks had scuffed and stirred the grime.

  “The colonists!” Alex shouted, and leapt to his feet. “Why didn’t you point those out before?” he demanded.

  “Just noticed,” Dana taunted back.

  Smiling broadly, Alex grabbed her by the waist and planted an enthusiastic kiss on her astonished face. “Officer Drew,” he intoned, “you are to be commended on finding the first clue to this difficult case.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Dana snapped back smartly.

  “Enough of this shillyshallying, Officer Drew. You know your duty. Do it!”

  With a quick sigh of contentment, Dana broke her official pose, grabbed Alex by the hair, and kissed him soundly on the mouth. Then they both walked off to see where the mysterious tracks led.