Infinite Reef (16 page)

Connie was watching the viewscreen. She sat stiffly in her chair, attentively analyzing the computer’s every move and checking it against her own military gear. He guessed that she expected to be called upon at any second to take over the guns.

For that task, he could see she was more than ready.

“Time for some Fruit Bombs,” shouted the Professor, tossing a bunch of brightly colored marbles into the air. “Imported from Earth.”

“Fruit bomb?” Alex watched a red one fly past his ear and bounce off the window in front of him. He caught it on the rebound and examined the sticky little red ball.

“Kept them for a rainy day,” Johnny added.

Connie caught a yellow one and popped it in her mouth. Alex watched her jaw move, and then she made a funny face and swallowed hard. “Never had one?” she said to Alex.

Alex put the little red ball in his mouth. A sugary shell of cherry candy began to melt the moment it hit his tongue. It sat for a moment as Alex rolled it around in his mouth. Suddenly his mouth was filled with a splash of carbonated cherry soda.

Alex swallowed and belched.

“That was a cherry bomb,” she said. “Grab a brown one. They’re cola.”

Their diversion was cut short when Stubbs’ voice boomed on the cabin speakers. “We’re seeing deformation in the cluster. Feeding you course corrections,
Tai Chi
. Copy that?”

“Deformation?” Johnny asked in surprise.

“Only a slight one. We think the formation has adjusted. Here’s the data ... what do you think?”

Goddard’s telemetry showed that the rods had rearranged themselves. After
Tai Chi
had destroyed one rod, all the others moved slightly to balance the geometry of the formation.

“It happened without our noticing. Showed up in the computer’s analysis,” added the Commander. “We detected other activity as well. Our telemetry boys tell me the rods are bound by a fibrous net– guy wires, or something. Watch out for them.

Your computer has been fed new data taking the wires into account. There shouldn’t be any problem.”

The shuttle was approaching a second tier of rods. As they moved slowly along their attack path, the computer occasionally adjusted the shuttle’s attitude and speed, as if avoiding obstacles, but Alex saw nothing out there, not even with all the shuttle’s floodlights on full. All he could see of the entire formation was stars winking on and off as the ship changed position.

As they approached the nearest rod, Johnny swiveled the lights in a wide arc. At first Alex saw nothing, then he noticed something wispy like a strand of spider’s web catch the light, then disappear. Then another.

He was about to point them out to Connie when the computer fired on the rod. It chose a full spread of three plasma balls that impacted explosively. Alex saw it only briefly, three flashes that cut into the gigantic end of the object. A shockwave rippled through the thing as it collapsed in a shower of blue and green sparks. The end went first, then a line of green fire that moved, like a wave, into the distance as the black behemoth disintegrated.

There was a loud snap, then a ping against the hull. Then another, accompanied by a soft scraping sound, then silence.

“Some of those cables, I suppose,” Johnny whispered, surveying the cabin walls doubtfully.

The computer never faltered. It guided
Tai Chi
relentlessly toward the central rod, the largest in the group.

“That’s only two hubs out of thirty-six,” Alex observed. “If destruction is our plan, we still have a lot of work to do.”

“Patience, Alex,” cautioned Johnny. “Let the plan prove itself.”

Connie nodded. “I’ve been watching. The attack plan makes sense,” she said. “If the cluster’s a defensive formation, then our attack plan was valid.”

“Tsu’s right,” said the Professor. “We approached the first rod from its end, the second from an angle. In both cases our pulsers worked.”

“The lasers didn’t,” added Alex.

Johnny ignored Alex’s comment, and pointed to the screen. “Heads up. We’re due for another salvo.”

“Hello,
Tai Chi
,” interrupted Stubbs. “We expected to see some defensive gestures from the Lalandians by now. But all the array seems to be doing is adjusting its configuration. With four rods missing, there’s getting to a substantial debris trail following the formation.”

“Four rods?” replied Johnny in surprise. “We only shot two.”

“Two self destructed,” answered the Commander. “On the opposite side of the array. We assume it was to balance the formation.”

“They’re doing our work for us,” commented Johnny. “How accommodating.”

The stars in front of the shuttle were beginning to wink out. Alex knew that meant they were nearing the hub of the cluster. A glance at the range indicator told him the thing was less than two hundred meters away. “Any second,” he said.

His estimate was perfect. As Alex said the words, the pulser unleashed another salvo of five plasma spheres, magnetically ejected a second apart, in a perfect 20° spread toward the belly of the giant object. A split second later they impacted in the same order. But there was no flash or noticeable effect, at least not initially. Everyone squinted into the darkness, trying to see a change in the invisible behemoth that lay before them.

The Commander’s voice cut the silence. “
Tai Chi
... any damage?”

“Can’t tell,” replied Johnny.

“How far is it from you?” Stubbs sounded anxious.

Johnny took a moment to examine his console. “One hundred fifty meters.”

“We’re seeing a new cloud of debris.”

“How big a cloud?”

“Big enough.”

Everyone aboard
Tai Chi
was now leaning forward. “Jeeez,” said Tsu. “No cabin lights, the floods on full. Why can’t we see somethin’?”

Alex shook his head. “Mary’s got eyes for this. But even she’d have a hard time, I bet.”

“I can see a shape on radar,” said Johnny, hopefully. “And I see what the Commander’s talking about.” He switched the radar image to the main screen. “There!” he said. “Debris and a hole, straight ahead.”

“I’m seein’ dingers!” Alex growled. “And we’re going to crash into it?”

“I can give you a better visual,” said the Professor.

Switching the floodlights to infrared mode helped some, but the material was nearly as cold as the surrounding space.

Johnny had the computer build a virtual image on the viewscreen, but by the time it was completed,
Tai Chi
had moved into the hole in the alien vessel.

5
Johnny’s radar tracings showed the damage done to the gargantuan cylinder. The pulse weapon had made a ragged hole many times the size of the shuttle.

“I didn’t expect this,” said the Professor.

“Should we stop?” Alex leaned forward and squinted into the darkness, then settled back into his seat when he realized the radar image was the best view he would get.

The computer flashed a warning across the bottom of the screen. “ALERT – DRIVE TEMPORARILY DISABLED –

SWITCHING CONTROL TO MANUAL –”

“I don’t remember being briefed on this,” said Alex, grabbing the drive stick. He felt the ship respond as he took control.

Connie Tsu donned her tactical helmet with the panache of a seasoned warrior. “At last ...” she breathed happily.

“Connie,” Johnny said firmly, “No shooting until we get an idea what were up against.”

Tsu clenched her fists in rage and groaned in frustration. “Sir, yes, sir!” She wrenched off the helmet and slammed it back onto its stand. She unbuckled and launched weightlessly toward the rear of the cabin, farting as she floated past the Professor. “Pardon my ass, sir,” she said politely. “If I’m not needed I’ll be in the head.”

Johnny ignored her, except to say, “Good. Get some coffee while you’re up. Make Alex’s black. He’s been falling asleep.” The Professor caught Alex’s eye and winked.

As the shuttle entered the hole propelled only by its own momentum, the radar display began to break up. Then something hit the side of the shuttle.

“Are we losing systems?” asked Alex.

“Something’s wreaking havoc with the radar,” Johnny played the outside floodlights around in the darkness. “Maybe the lights will help.” But all they revealed was dust and fluffy debris nearby. Alex was reminded of the material that comprised most of Jupiter’s reef. On Jupiter the material was black but reflected some light, where this stuff had only a dull sheen.

After a few seconds Alex shook his head. “Other than floatin’ garbage, I can’t see...” There was another snap and a bang on the hull. “Dingers,” Alex said in frustration, “We’re running into stuff and I still can’t see a thing.”

“Straight ahead,” said the Professor, calmly. “Collision systems haven’t even noticed the hits. We’ve got over an inch of polycer out there. It’ll take more than some fluff ...”

“And we’re armed,” Connie said, sliding back into her seat. She tossed a squeezer of coffee toward Alex. “You look like you need this,” she added with a laugh.

“Steady as she goes, everybody,” said Johnny. “Thanks for the coffee, Tsu.”

Sipping at the strawlike nozzles on the squeezers,
Tai Chi’s
crew watched the garbled radar tracings as the shuttle moved steadily forward. “How far in are we?” asked Connie, examining her console.

“It’s about a half a kilometer across,” Johnny offered. “We’ve covered a quarter of that, maybe.”

Several hard hits rang in the cabin all at once, loud enough for Alex to wonder if the shuttle was really okay. Connie squirmed in her chair and took her helmet from its stand. “Damn this!” she growled.

“I think ...” began the Professor, looking his own console, “it’s time to leave.”

Alex looked at his panel and noticed that the power cells were losing energy. The sensors, the floods, nearly everything electronic was fading. “We’re losing power, Johnny,” cautioned Alex. “I say cut the electronics, especially the lights. They’re doing us no good, anyway.”

Johnny inspected his instrument panel and frowned. “Use the thrusters.”

As the shuttle jerked forward Alex could feel the power draining from the engines. “Kill all unnecessary systems, Johnny,” Alex shouted as he cut the engines. “Whatever this thing is, it’s sucking our energy. But our momentum will carry us, I think.”

“Shutting down all systems,” the Professor said. A second later the screen over the cockpit windows went dark and the ship increased speed slightly. Alex began to see points of lights directly ahead. He realized they were stars as the shuttle burst out of the cylinder.

As Alex expected, the power returned immediately, and the computer restarted without a problem. Soon afterward, Commander Stubbs’ voice crackled into life on the cabin speakers. “... you hear me?
Tai Chi
... come in!”

Johnny touched his console. “We’re fine, Commander. Passed through the rod and lost contact. No problem, though. The computer switched to manual and Alex flew us through.”

There was a slight pause before the Commander replied: “Steady as she goes while we assess the situation, Alex. We have you on radar and, at least for the moment, you seem to be on the correct trajectory.” There was another pause with muffled voices in the background. “Well, it seems I’ve spoken too soon,” said Stubbs. “You’re drifting slightly. Come around one point six degrees port ... point three up ... and hold that turn rate.”

Johnny interrupted the Commander. “I’m assuming you noticed that the big cylinder is still alive and kicking?” From the silence that ensued Alex gathered that Stubbs had shut off his microphone. “I don’t know if our computer’s relayed this information to you, Commander,” continued Professor Baltadonis, “but we just flew through a hole in it.”

The cabin loudspeaker crackled to life again as the Commander answered. “Well aware. In fact I was about to ask what it looked like.”

“We saw nothing inside,” said Johnny. “Pitch black. We saw nothing but occasional shadows. Even the radar imager was stymied.”

“Interesting,” said Stubbs.

“But, more importantly, we experienced a general power drain. Even the rocket motors lost power. But our momentum carried us through.”

“If we’d gotten stuck ...” Alex interjected.

The Commander cut him off. “Your next target opportunity is approaching, Alex. Is that right?”

Alex looked at the screen above the windows. “I see the target,” he said. “Nearly end on .... maybe three hundred meters.”

“I see it, too,” said Connie. Her hand was tightly gripping the weapons stick. “Shall I take it out?”

“Go ahead, Connie,” said the Commander. “I know you’re itching to do so.”

Tsu didn’t hesitate. Her finger squeezed and three pulses of plasma blasted into the rod. There was no visible effect, but the radar showed a cascading explosion that became a glittering opalescent cloud. Alex watched the expanding light show 80 fade and noticed another rod in the distance. Its short rounded outline pulsated with a red glow as the targeting systems locked onto it.

“Range, 4000 meters,” announced Tsu. “Firing a tight spread.” Tsu fired the pulser and, like the first, it was transformed into a cloud of debris.

“That completes the run,” announced Johnny. “Your orders,
Goddard
?”

“Now we do the assessing,” said Stubbs.

“Why not just pop ’em off?” asked Connie, sounding almost heartbroken.

“Watch that bloodlust, Connie,” said the Commander’s voice. “It doesn’t suit you.”

But suit her it did, thought Alex as he watched Tsu take off her helmet like a warrior after the battle. Bangs of short ebony hair stuck to her damp forehead. She noticed Alex looking at her and smiled. “That was fun.”

“Ya’ gotta’ get yer enjoys where ya’ can, I guess,” quipped Alex.

“Nice to be of some use,” Tsu answered. She looked back at Johnny. “What’s the call, Professor?”

“Return to
Goddard
,” ordered the voice of Commander Stubbs.

6
The tube car closed its doors when Connie, Alex, and the Professor were safely inside. “I’ve gotta admit, I’m glad to be back,” said Connie. “That was weird.”

Alex was glad, too. During the trip back to the
Goddard,
he had replayed the experience in his mind, recalling especially the terror he’d felt inside the alien rod. At the time he’d dismissed his feelings as mission jitters, but now he knew it was more than that. “I felt it, too, Connie,” he said. “We should mention it to Stubbs at the debriefing. What I felt inside that thing was more than just fear of losing systems,” he added. “The creeps, is what it was.”