Infinite Reef (23 page)

Alex looked at Mary and found her staring at him wide eyed. Her expression was a curious mix of fear and wonder. “I can hear them.”

Alex felt queasy. He heard a noise and turned to see Tony unbuckling his seat belt. “What are you doing, Tony?” he demanded.

“Having a look outside.”

Johnny’s bubble rose to the ceiling with a hiss and he jumped out of his seat. His momentum sent him weightlessly tumbling toward the ceiling, but he caught himself with an outstretched hand and redirected his bulk past Mary toward the cockpit windows. “Where did everything go?” he asked in an eerily quiet voice. “Who can you hear, Mary?”

Mary shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Tony glided past Alex and crouched at the window. Johnny arrived at the opposite window and they both scanned the outside, pressing their faces to the glass as they peered outside in all directions.

Alex and Mary stayed in their seats, Alex staring at the blank viewscreen and Mary looking out the window past the Professor. “Can’t you see the outside lights?” she asked.

“No. There’s nothing out there,” said Tony.

“He’s right,” echoed Johnny. “Nothing on this side either. What just happened?”

“We’d better cut the power,” said the Commander.

Alex took a deep breath and unbuckled his seatbelt. “Computer, shut down the engines,” he said, floating out of his seat.

“Engines shutting down,” replied the computer.

“Are you going somewhere?” Mary asked.

Alex launched himself toward the airlock. “Just checking, love,” he answered as he sailed past her and landed grabbing the handgrips near the hatchway’s circular window. He peered through the window and saw only blackness outside. “Nothing here, either,” he announced.

“Tell us what you’re hearing, Mary,” insisted Johnny as he moved to another window.

“Laughter,” she said. “It sounds like laughing. I know that sounds crazy.”

Johnny’s face went from an expression of panic to incredulity. “Laughter? Are you sure?”

Mary stayed where she was, fingers pressed to her temple. “Well, wait a minute. I hear music.” She looked around. Then her face changed. “It’s gone, Commander.” She took a deep breath and looked at Johnny. “I don’t know what it was. I heard what sounded like a broadcast. From Earth, perhaps.”

Johnny gave Mary a skeptical glance. Then he peered out the window again. “Mary, your eyes are better then anyone’s.

Let’s kill the cabin lights and you have a look outside. Computer, turn off all cabin lights, please,” he added.

Instantly they found themselves in darkness with only the control panel lights illuminating the cabin. Alex carefully negotiated his way across the cabin back to his chair.

“Aren’t you glad you removed the guns, now, Alex?” Tony asked cynically.

“I haven’t changed my mind, if that’s what you mean,” Alex replied as he watched Mary unbuckle her seatbelt. “I still think it was a good idea.”

“So do I,” said Johnny as Mary moved toward the window. “Having no weapons forces us to use our heads. And, hopefully, that’s what we’re doing.”

Tony seemed to get even more annoyed. “With all due respect, Commander, I don’t think removing the weapons was using our heads.”

“Noted,” replied Johnny, as he watched Mary float toward the window across the cabin from him. She peered intently into the blackness. Alex kept an eye on her, watching for a reaction. If she was seeing anything, he saw no evidence of it. For some time she was silent, staring blankly into the gloom. “Mary,” Alex said finally. “Anything?”

Mary shook her head, then moved across the cabin to the other window. Johnny and Tony made room for her, Tony returning to his seat.

Finally she spoke. “There’s something outside. We’re inside the saucer, I think. But that’s a guess.”

“But do you see anything?” Frustration tinged Professor Baltadonis’ voice.

“In a way,” she said. “Nothing I could verify, though. I sense movement. Shadows.”

“Movement?” Johnny pressed his face to the window and cupped both hands around his eyes. “Damn these old eyes.”

They all heard a sound, something like a soft rubbing. At the same time Mary pointed. “Look,” she whispered, “a light.”

All of them, including Alex, looked at the window. Outside, perhaps six meters in front of
Diver
, was a single pink light.

It stretched wider and became a fuzzy capsule shape that hung in the air, unmoving, as if fixed in place. Something black moved in front of it and the light suddenly went out.

Johnny made no comment but moved back to his seat while everyone else kept looking out the window. The rubbing sound resumed.

“There’s air outside,” the Commander announced as he examined his console. “By god, there’s air.”

“What’s its composition? Any oxygen?” Tony asked.

“No. Mostly carbon dioxide. Some hydrogen, helium. Traces of other gases.” The Commander glanced over at Tony.

“I’ve also checked our proximity sensors. They’re working fine. They say there’s nothing out there.”

“Nothing substantial enough to activate them,” corrected Alex. “We all know something’s out there. Can’t you hear it?”

The soft rubbing sound was intermittent, stopping while the Professor spoke and returning when he stopped. “It stopped while you spoke, Johnny,” Alex observed. “Maybe it’s listening to us.”

Suddenly Mary looked around. “Movement,” she said. “Can’t you all feel it? We’re moving.”

“Everyone to their stations,” ordered the Commander.

6
Johnny raised both hands. “Quiet, everyone,” he whispered. “Mary, keep probing as best you can and report anything you see or sense. Anything at all, no matter how strange.” He looked down at his console. “I see no evidence of the movement outside. But my sensors might be down. Or incapacitated.”

“Damaged?” asked Tony, panic in his voice.

“No readings. But they seem fine.”

“Great,” Tony growled as he sat down and examined his own console.

Professor Baltadonis cleared his throat. “I think we should keep in mind that we are dealing with a new species. All indications are that the Lalandians have technology that’s thousands if not millions of years advanced of us. Communicating with them may be impossible. Still, we have to try. In light of what I have said, I want all of you to exhibit extraordinary openmindedness and to think before you act.”

“You got it, Commander,” said Tony.

“Exactly what do you think we’re dealing with, Professor?” Alex asked. “You must have some idea.”

“Sentients,” answered Johnny. “Beyond that I’m clueless. But I’m wondering if that light outside was a signal. And, if so, I’m wondering if we should shine a light back at them.”

No one answered, and in the silence that followed they heard the rubbing sound again. “Damn,” said the Commander,

“what is that?”

“It stops when you’re speaking, Commander,” observed Mary. The hand near her temple told Alex she was listening with her internal sensors. “Now... Now I’m hearing something.”

“Can you switch it to our audio system?” Tony asked.

“Actually, I can. It means turning on the com, though.” Mary looked back at Johnny.

Johnny switched on the ship’s communications system. Moments later they were hearing a hissing sound on the cabin speakers. At first Alex thought it was just static, no different from background radiation. But as he listened to the cacophony, his ear began to pick out recognizable bits; voices, music, clicks and chirps. Picking any one sound out was impossible because of the sheer number of apparent sources.

They all sat listening, until Mary spoke again. “I can feel acceleration,” she shouted above the noise.

“Thank you, Mary,” The Professor waved a hand to acknowledge he had heard her. “Can you give any more details?”

“Not really.”

Now Alex could feel the movement. Helplessness swept over him as he was forced to sit and do nothing as his ship was swept away to some unimaginable fate. “Can you turn that thing down, Professor?” he shouted. “And can we turn on the cabin lights, at least so we can see each other?”

Without answering, Johnny reduced the volume on the speakers and brought the cabin lights up to half their normal brightness. The Commander looked at his crew. “Nice to see you all again,” he said, “even though you look pretty grim.”

Alex and Tony offered a nervous chuckle. Mary stared at the window nearest her seat. “The light’s back,” she said ominously.

Alex could see it, too. “It looks like a hole in a wall. And it’s getting wider.”

“Any harm in using our outside cameras, now, Commander?” asked Tony.

“I’m not sure,” answered Johnny. “Actually I was going to recommend a gradual power up, to see what happens. But the cameras are passive. I’ll bring them up.” He activated the cabin lights a bit more and switched on the outside cameras.

On the main screen the shaft of light winked into view, widening gradually as they watched.

“That’s the planet, I think,” said Johnny. “Notice the banding? Perhaps they’re releasing us.”

“Should we power up, then, Commander?” asked Alex, hoping for a yes.

“Not yet,” answered Johnny. “Remember, our mission is contacting the aliens.” He chuckled at his own words.

“Actually, we’re the aliens, I guess.”

The narrow opening, as seen from the cameras on
Diver’s
outer hull, lay directly in front of them, covering an arc of perhaps 45° above and below the plane of the cabin. As it widened, more of the face of the planet came into view.

“If we’re being released, we should power up, Johnny,” implored Alex.

“I’m with Alex,” said Tony. “This isn’t a suicide mission. We should be ready to make a break for it.”

Mary swiveled her chair to face the group. “Alex is right,” she said. “If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say the aliens have been telling us they’ve been hearing our signals. Earth is, after all, only eight and a half light years away. That transmission, that static we’re hearing on the speakers, is radio from Earth.”

“Then they know who we are. Is that what you’re saying?” asked Tony.

Mary’s gaze remained fixed on the widening aperture in the darkness that surrounded them. “They’re trying to communicate,” she said. “I think we are floating in some kind of chamber. Unless something pushes us out, it’s logical to assume that they see us as captives, and are now releasing us.”

“That would be gracious of them. But we haven’t met them yet,” said Johnny, his voice tinged with frustration.

“Well, if they expect us to leave ...” Alex said, anxious to take some kind of action. “That means we should power up.”

The aperture before them continued to open. Suddenly Tony pointed to the viewscreen. “Look at that!”

Beyond the opening, unseen through the cabin windows but visible to the cameras on
Diver’s
underbelly, was a structure sparkling with iridescent pink light, made of shiny cubical black crystals arranged in chains of progressively smaller or larger sizes.

“What is that?” said Johnny, gazing at the viewscreen.

No one answered as they watched more of the black mass come into view as the opening widened. The action continued until the portal became a perfect square, standing on a point.

“The opening looks wide enough for
Diver
to pass though,” observed Mary.

When the widening stopped, so did the strange static on the speakers. They sat in absolute silence, listening and looking at the windows and the viewscreen. “No rubbing sounds,” Alex noted, “and no apparent movement. Maybe we’ve had our first contact.”

“Computer,” said Johnny, ignoring Alex’s comment. “Have you been recording subdecimal sensor measurements?”

“
Yes, Commander,
” answered the computer. “
Do you wish a report?
”

“Analysis of any close proximity manifestations, please, computer.”

“
Six animated molecular carbon groupings with isotopic electromagnetic bonding. Zero proximity.
”

“They touched us,” said Johnny. “Were they lifeforms, computer?”

“
Unknown.
”

“Stand by, computer. Power up, Alex, but wait for my instructions,” Johnny ordered as he lowered his virtual bubble into place. “Good job. Good job, all of you,” he added as he disappeared beneath the plastic cowl.

7
At least fifteen uneventful minutes passed before the Commander decided it was safe to move the ship. “Go ahead, Alex,” he whispered over the intercom. “Take her out slowly, please.”

Alex inched the drive stick forward, half expecting
Diver
to stay frozen in place. But the ship moved as commanded.

“Taking her out, Commander,” Alex said with some surprise in his voice. “Dead ahead, one meter per second.” He glanced at Mary and grinned, but her gaze was still fixed on the opening before them. It took only a few seconds for
Diver
to reach the portal.

“Good!” Johnny sighed. “Our nose is through. Steady, Alex!”

The pale pink light flooding into the inky bay was barely bright enough to illuminate the opening, let alone the ship.

Looking left and right, Alex held his breath, terrified they’d hit the edge of the diamond shaped portal. But as he began to see more of the world outside, he was distracted by view. The crystalline structure they had seen was wrapped around the smooth surface of the black saucer that had been their prison. Looking back, he saw that the crystalline lattice was part of a much larger mass that stretched off toward Bubba’s horizon in both directions.

“This is the ring!” shouted Johnny.

Diver slipped cleanly out of the opening and drifted into the clear. “We’re free, Commander,” said Alex with a sigh of relief.

“Contact
Goddard
if you can, Mary,” directed the Commander.

Mary nodded and touched her console, but her eyes never left the windows or the viewscreen.

“Stop the ship, Alex,” said Johnny. “Let’s show them we’re not eager to flee. But turn us around so we can see where we were.”

“I’m not getting through to the
Goddard
, Commander.” Mary said. “No signals at all.”

“No
Goddard?
” exclaimed the Professor. “Perhaps they’re on the other side of the planet. Okay. Well, just keep trying to raise them, at regular intervals.”