IGMS Issue 5 (18 page)

"This can't be right," Audrey said. She issued some more commands and a moment later, said, "Same thing, but it can't be right."

"What can't be right?"

"The light from the star runs very close to infrared, still visible, but that's why it appears as red, which isn't too unusual. But I also ran an analysis of its spectrum and it's completely missing any hydrogen lines."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Hydrogen is the primary fuel of the stars. They burn it and convert it to helium and other elements. But there's no such thing as star without hydrogen. And that, Mr. President, can only mean one thing?"

I stared at her blankly.

"What you discovered is no star," she said, and though it was not cold, I shivered.

"Then what is it?"

Audrey seemed lost in thought. "I should run this by Nate," she said.

"Who's
Nate
?" I asked.

"Professor Nathan Cauldwell. He was my thesis advisor," she was tapping away at the telelink as she spoke. A moment later, a fatigued-looking, middle-aged man appeared on the screen. "Nate, it's Audrey. Did I wake you?" The fact that she was in her underwear didn't seem to faze her in the least.

There was a delay of about two seconds before a smile of recognition appeared on the professor's face. "Audrey, my dear. How are you?"

"Perplexed. I'm up here at the outpost observatory in the Ocean of Storms, and I've got something I can't identify. I was wondering if you could confirm it for me and tell us what it is." She explained what I had found, pointing out that the object was not in the last sky survey. "You can find it here," she said, feeding him the coordinates.

While this conversation took place, I could not help but feel a little jealous. After all, here was another man who seemed interested in Audrey and I wanted her all to myself. But the romance of the evening had already dissolved into mystery and so I tried to go with it as gracefully as I could manage.

Several minutes later, "Nate" turned back to face the video screen. "I can confirm it, Audrey. The object is there. And it is missing the hydrogen lines in its spectrum. How is it you came to find this thing in the first place? That section of sky wasn't scheduled for another survey for two weeks?"

"I didn't discover it. My friend Danny here did." I smiled at the screen, giving the professor on awkward wave. "So what is it, Nate? It's got me puzzled. What kind of natural phenomenon would appear as a star but be completely lacking in hydrogen?"

"Who said it had to be natural? There is another possible explanation for this."

"Aliens?" Audrey asked. That got my attention. "Intelligent life? An artifact of some kind?"

"Let's not get head of ourselves. We need to broaden the investigation, get some others involved." Audrey looked as though she were about to protest, but the professor waved her off. "Don't worry, you and your friend Danny will get priority, whatever this turns out to be. Get back to Conrad and get in touch with Jordan Duvall there. She can help. In the meantime, I'll get the ball rolling on this end."

What started off as a pleasant evening with interesting possibilities had turned into what would become an historic night of incredible improbability.

We were back out on the Ocean of Storms, heading toward Conrad. Audrey wanted to get there as soon as possible so she could make contact with Jordan Duvall and turn additional resources to the mysterious object.

I, however, wanted to see the Intrepid.

"You can see it anytime," Audrey said as we bounded across the surface. "But it's not everyday that you discover an alien artifact in the universe."

"You don't know for sure it's alien," I replied. "Even if it is, it's not going anywhere. And besides, we're a kazillion light years from that thing and we're only half a kilometer from the Intrepid."

"First of all, how do you know it's not going anywhere? It wasn't there a few weeks ago, and it could disappear just as quickly as it appeared. And secondly, it's about 300 light years away, based on my initial estimate, not a kazillion. Come on, Danny, the Intrepid has been sitting out there for nearly 300 years and we know that it's not going anywhere. But this discovery of yours, it's -- amazing."

Audrey was right, of course, but all of this was over my head. There was a reason, after all, that I'd chosen political science. Still, at this point I would do anything just to be around her, so I begrudgingly agreed to return to Conrad.

We proceeded back to the city, and while I tried to cheer myself up by cracking jokes, Audrey was unusually quiet. Inside the lock, we went through the ritual of unsuiting, and cleaning off the dust (this time using a water vapor rinse), then we headed into the city proper.

"Uh-oh," Audrey said as soon as the lock doors slid shut behind us.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Permit check," she whispered to me.

I was about to ask what that meant, when a city official with a round face and bright blue eyes, said, "Next!"

Audrey stepped forward and handed the official her permit. She looked back at me nervously.

"Next!"

I stepped forward, still uncertain of what was going on.

"Permit," the blue-eyed official said.

"Uh, I don't have one." I looked over at Audrey and she shifted uneasily and then stared at the ground.

"You don't have one?" the official echoed.

"No, sir."

"But you were out on the surface?"

"Yes, sir."

"And do you know that surface visits without a permit are illegal?"

"Well, sir, I'm new here, it's my first visit and --"

"Ignorance of the law is no excuse," he said.

I knew the law very well. I also knew forced bureaucracy when I saw it.

"Identification," he said. I handed him my ID card and he scanned it through his computer. "Well, Mr. Duncan, what were you doing out on the surface without a permit?"

"As I already pointed out, sir, I didn't realize I needed one.

"What were you doing out there?" he snapped.

"There's no need to be rude," I said. I glanced at Audrey whose pitiful eyes pleaded with me. "I was just sightseeing. I've always wanted to visit the Intrepid."

"Did your friend there know that you lacked a permit?"

"No."

"I see. Well, Mr. Duncan, you're going to have to come with me. We have to process the infraction and you will need to wait in a cell until we've done so. Also, there's the matter of the fine to be paid. Shall we notify your parents?"

I knew that I didn't have the money to pay the fine, so I really didn't have a choice.

The official turned to Audrey. "You're free to go ma'am," he said sweetly.

Audrey looked at me and then looked toward the city proper. Finally she said, "I've got to go, Danny. I've got to get this information to the right people. If I can confirm our theory, your discovery will be huge!"

"So go then," I said coldly.

"I'll be as quick as I can and meet you as soon as I'm done."

"What are you waiting for?"

She stepped forward and put her arms around me, but I just stood there. Then she whispered into my ear: "You don't understand Danny, what you found just may very well answer the question that people have been asking ever since they first looked up at the stars. You asked me why we haven't found evidence of intelligent alien life in the universe. Maybe now we have."

"Come on, Mr. Duncan," the official said.

Audrey released me and stepped back. "I'll go as quickly as I can," she repeated. And then she turned and headed off into the city while I was dragged off to jail.

One might suppose there is no better way to clarify one's true feelings for a woman then to spend three days in jail because of her. But then one has not suffered the agonizing humiliation of having to explain to your parents just why you are in jail in the first place. The truth is, I felt somewhat betrayed by Audrey. It was the second time she had lured me into trouble.

And yet, in neither case did Audrey hold a gun to my head. It was I who decided to follow her into the docking room on the shuttle, and it was I who decided to follow her onto the Ocean of Storms, knowing full well that I lacked a permit.

I thought about the Ocean of Storms, and our dance inside the observatory and what followed, and although I was still angry and distressed, I realized that I was just as much at fault as she. What really bothered me was that the entire time I was in jail, I didn't hear from her. Not once.

I did make a friend, however. Kind of. His name was Brahm and he was the official who stopped me when I tried to reenter Conrad without a permit. He was not so bad after all. He explained to me that life on the moon was different, and related a number of gruesome tales of surface accidents that led to the establishment of the permits in the first place. In turn, I described to him how Audrey and I met, our adventures on the shuttle, and our excursion to the observatory. On the third day, still uncertain of how I felt about Audrey or about what I should do, I posed the question to my new friend.

"Do you love her?" Brahm asked me. He had come to sit in the cell with me to keep me company for a while and was propped up against the opposite wall.

"Yes, " I said. "No. I don't know. To be honest, I'm pretty ticked off. She hasn't even come to see me."

"You've know each other, what, five or six days? That's nothing. You've barely scratched the surface. If you really like her, you've got to give her a chance. Really get to know one another."

"I do like her," I said, and as soon as I said it, despite all of her mischief, I knew it was true. "But I'm still pretty mad."

"You're locked up in a jail cell, of course your mad. Ask yourself, Danny, are you angry enough not to give this a shot? Years from now, will you regret not taking a chance?"

"Taking a chance on what?" said a new voice. I turned, and there she was, standing outside the jail cell. She looked radiant. I might have been angry, but seeing her again made me realize I did want to take that chance.

I tried to look angry. "Take a chance on breaking out of this joint," I said.

"Don't bother. The charges have been dropped." She handled some papers to Brahm, who looked them over.

"She's right. You're free to go." He opened the cell and Audrey stepped in.

"It seems we're famous, Danny," Audrey said, "And the city didn't want to press charges against one of its most famous visitors." I must have given her a confused look because she punched me in the shoulder and said, "The object you found -- the one Professor Cauldwell suspected might not be a natural phenomenon -- we're pretty sure it's an alien starship."

I had to sit down. "I thought you guys were pulling my leg. What on earth makes you think it's an alien space ship"

"It's no joke, Danny," Audrey said as she sat down beside me. "These last three days have been so hectic I've hardly gotten any sleep. After Professor Cauldwell confirmed the finding, he went ahead and alerted other astronomers and astrophysicists. I helped coordinate the effort from up here. Dozens of experts have looked at this object and most of them agree that it is not natural. And they've not only come to the same conclusion, they've improved upon it.

"Remember when I said that the star was missing the characteristic hydrogen lines in its spectrum? Well it turns out that an antimatter photon propulsion system would produce visible light in the spectrum just as you discovered. And this light would lack the characteristic hydrogen lines in the spectrum."

"And from all that you guys figure it's an alien starship?"

"No, there's more. The simplest explanation might be that it is some stellar event that we'd never before witnessed. So we decided to attempt to prove ourselves wrong by measuring its movement against the background of stars. By looking at the light, and measuring its relative movement against stars that appear to be in its vicinity and its Doppler shift, we've been able to determine that it's moving away from us, and between two stars at a rate of about one-tenth the speed of light. This is all consistent with an antimatter photon propulsion system.

"And you discovered them, Danny!"