Infinite Reef (33 page)

“Maybe the sphere disrupted the system with its magnetic field,” mused Alex.

“Odd that it didn’t do that earlier, isn’t it?” said Mary.

When the first tubecar opened its sliding door the security guards checked it, then signaled to Johnny. “She’s clean, sir.

Hop in.”

Johnny hesitated for a moment and turned to Alex. “You and Mary, with me in the lead car.” Then he addressed the guards. “You two wait here.”

“Sir?” said one.

Johnny pointed to the smashed doorway. “See to your friends,” he ordered. “Stay with ’em until the meds arrive. And give Matt Howarth any help he needs.” He pointed at the tubecar that had moved into position right behind theirs. “Hold this car until another one arrives. Thanks, boys.”

Johnny hopped into the front with Alex and Mary in the back. “Computer!” he said as the door slid closed, “Locate the alien sphere.”

“
Define.
”

When Alex heard this, he knew immediately that there was a problem. Only minutes before, the computer had that information.

Johnny remained unflapped. “Computer,” he said calmly. “Are you tracking movement in the
Goddard’s
tubeway?”

“
I have thirty separate locations where movement is detected.
”

“Eliminate all sources caused by tubecars.”

“
Completed.
”

“How many locations of movement remain?”

“
One.
”

“What is the location of that source?”

“
Shuttle Bay two.
”

“Take us to Shuttle Bay Two.”

As the car shot forward Johnny called Master Control and learned from Ned Binder that communications were having difficulties. Some com links remained solid while others were severed completely. Unfortunately most problems were with command and control. Luckily the wrist com system could be run by any of
Goddard’s
seven control centers, and backup computers were already establishing a complete network. But, at the moment, all that worked for his purposes was wrist-to-wrist.

Ned informed Johnny that a strong magnetic field was eroding the computer’s processing hubs. The cause, of course, was the Lalandian fleet that now surrounded
Goddard
. “My people tell me that it might not be intentional.”

Binder’s next transmission answered a question Alex was going to ask. “But the tubecars are up and running, sir,” Ned reassured the Commander. “And we have sensors. We just verified that there’s a magnetic anomaly approaching Shuttle Bay Two.”

“Thanks, Ned,” Johnny said quietly.

Seated behind the Commander, Mary was leaning forward, listening to the conversation. “Mind if I make a suggestion, Commander?” she asked politely.

“Not at all,” replied Johnny.

“Feed the musical selection
Ode to Joy
to the shuttle bay loudspeakers, but play the selection we recorded during our visit with the Lalandians.”

Johnny nodded and smiled. “I see no harm in that. Computer, Do you have the recording of
Ode to Joy
made during shuttle
Diver’s
excursion to the Lalande C?”

“
Yes, Commander Baltadonis. Library selection requested GL-31111234-seg 5 seg 1.
”

“Play the selection on the shuttle bay’s loudspeakers.”

6
To no one’s surprise, when their tubecar arrived they found the sphere floating near the shuttle bay entrance. The Commander got out first, followed by Alex and Mary, who carefully launched themselves into the weightless environment. The sounds of
Ode to Joy
filled the air as Alex helped Mary out and surveyed the area.

As soon as he had assessed the situation, the Commander used his wrist receiver to order the shuttle bay doors opened.

Immediately the doors opened and the sphere, without hesitation, moved forward into the bay.

Alex noticed that the security team’s car that had arrived before them was parked on a holding dock, apparently undamaged. He was about to mention it when a utility room door opened to their left and Captain Higgins and his men floated into view. They launched themselves expertly and landed right in front of Johnny, their magnetic boots clattering loudly as they connected with the floor. “At your service, sir,” said Higgins, wobbling back and forth as he tried to keep his body upright and at attention. His team, with weapons ready for use, kept their full attention focused on the sphere as it continued slowly into the shuttle bay.

Johnny wasn’t pleased. “Stay alert and be ready. But stay back, and keep those weapons lowered. Do I have to keep reminding you that this isn’t a military operation?” Without waiting for a reply, Johnny launched himself past the security team toward the open doors.

“No, sir.” Higgins signaled his men to lower their weapons. With their magnetic boots clattering on the floor panels, they all followed the Commander with Alex and Mary taking the lead. As he and Mary moved past them to follow Johnny into the bay, Alex noticed the weapons were still charged. “I’d neutralize those weapons, guys,” he suggested. “Our Commander’s not in a good mood.”

Drifting to the Commander’s side, Alex saw
Diver
sitting in the center of the bay facing the space doors, suspended on a light scaffolding a few meters off the floor.

“Why’s my ship rigged for flight?” Alex asked. “I thought it had been locked down for the flight home?”

Johnny didn’t answer. His attention was focused only on the sphere, which had moved under
Diver
and paused next to the clicker man pod. He drifted a short distance further into the hangar and grabbed a hanging transport strap whose cable led to Alex’s ship. “I can’t see anything from here,” he mumbled.

Johnny activated the power switch on the cable’s handgrip and began moving toward
Diver
. Another strap automatically took its place and Alex grabbed it. “Jump on, Mary,” he said, reaching out to her.

Rather than grab the strap she jumped on Alex’s back as one might a horse. “I’ll keep our baby safe and warm between us,” she whispered into his ear.

At that point Higgins and his men arrived at the shuttle bay doors, but only Higgins entered. He paused there and signaled his men to stop.

Johnny was a few meters ahead of Alex and Mary as they neared
Diver’s
gantry. Past him Alex could see the sphere beneath it. Johnny twisted himself on the strap and looked back at them. He said something, but the music drowned out his words. Mary, however, heard Johnny and answered.

“There’s no other answer,” she said to Johnny. Then Mary looked at Alex. “How do you feel about that?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The delivery,” she said.

7
As Mary spoke, the sphere began moving slowly from under Alex’s shuttle. It continued to the outer doors, stopped, and hovered there. Clearly, the Lalandian was ready to leave.

Johnny turned and ordered a quick reversal of the cable pulleys. Moments later they were being hauled back to the entrance. Alex looked back at the alien orb as he followed Mary out of the bay. No longer translucent, the sphere had returned to the same black glass state as when it had entered the ship.

Everyone went into an airtight observation room next to the shuttle bay. Johnny floated to the glass and looked out.

“Great. It’s still there,” he said.

Johnny ordered the outer doors opened, but Alex still wondered about the ‘delivery’ Mary had mentioned. He wanted to bring it up, but warning lights began flashing and deafening claxons heralded decompression in the shuttle bay. The sphere hung at the doors as they divided and slid open. Alex expected it to fly into the void of space, but the orb didn’t budge.

Despite the air rushing by, it held its ground until the doors fully opened. “Why didn’t it get blown out?” Alex asked.

Hovering next to Alex at the heavy window, Johnny smiled. “One more question for a growing list.”

The Lalandian still didn’t move. Outside the opened doors a Lalandian saucer was waiting. As the seconds ticked by, and nothing happened, Johnny began to get nervous. “You suppose it’s waiting for us to get the clicks now?” he asked.

The Commander’s question seemed almost rhetorical, as if he were thinking aloud.

“I missed something,” Alex said. “You said something about a delivery. Are you talking about the clicker men?”

“Where have you been?” Johnny gave Alex a dubious look. “It’s obvious what it wants, isn’t it?”

Mary nodded. “I think so.”

Johnny ordered the bay doors resealed. “We’ll have to get a team to make the transfer,” he said. “It wants the clicks put into
Diver’s
pod, I think.”

Johnny contacted master control and Ned answered, informing him that they’d been watching events via the security cameras. He reminded Johnny that only a few hours remained, “if launching for Earth is in the cards today, sir.”

Johnny angrily reminded Ned that the situation with the Lalandian was still unresolved.

The voice of Captain Wysor answered. “Wi’ all due respec’, sir. A thousan’ souls aboard mi’ see ’t diffe’ently.”

“Many of us think it’s time to end this farce, sir,” added Ned. “With all due respect, sir.”

Johnny exploded in rage. “What do you want me to do, have the security boys blast it out of the hold?”

After a moment of silence, during which the outer doors closed again, Ned spoke again. “What do YOU propose, sir?”

Johnny took a deep breath. “To move a couple of clicks from Howarth’s Biolab and load them into shuttle
Diver’s
biopod, as we did before. Only this time the biopod goes out the door with the alien.”

“Yes, sir,” ended the conversation.

Alex, Mary, and the Professor waited while outside in the shuttle bay technicians hurriedly unbolted the biopod from the underbelly of Alex’s shuttle and transported it, via a cargo tube, to the Biolab.

It took well over an hour for the clicks to be transferred to the pod and delivered back to the shuttle bay. Matt Howarth commanded the enterprise, making sure that extra CO2 and nitrogen tanks were attached to it. All the while the sphere floated implacably before the outer doors.

During the wait, Alex got drinks for the three of them from a drink dispenser in the hallway outside the observation room. Mary joined him, leaving the Commander alone to watch the sphere. Alex was delighted to get Mary alone. As soon as the door closed behind them he touched her arm. “What happened in there?” he said. “How can Johnny be so sure what the alien wants?”

Mary smiled. “He’s not.”

“But you seem okay with it.”

“Because it was my idea,” Mary said.

Alex blinked. “You mean you ...?” Distracted by her statement, he floated into a wall locker with a crash. Mary drifted past him to the dispenser, smiling. “I confess,” she said. “I planted the thought into his mind.”

Rubbing a bruised shoulder Alex recovered his composure, then he launched his body after her. His leg thrust was a bit too forceful, however, and he found himself moving past her. He grabbed the vending machine awkwardly and pulled himself back to it. He looked around, embarrassed at his clumsiness, and noticed a few security officers eyeing him suspiciously. One of them broke out laughing when a large globule of liquid leapt out of the machine and splashed onto Alex’s lap.

Mary took a cloth from a pocket in her coveralls to help towel Alex dry. “Are you so surprised I cued Johnny?” she whispered. “I’ve done it before.”

Alex looked at her blankly. He noticed a small scratch on his wrist and put it to his lips. “How many times?”

Mary blinked her beautiful eyes. “I don’t know. A couple, I guess.”

Noticing that the coffee selection read empty, Alex ordered tea and the same for the Commander. As he did this he tried to recall times when Mary might have planted ideas in people’s heads, including his own. His mind reeled. It had taken some doing for him to accept her abilities at reading minds. It was true that she usually got her way, but until this moment he had never felt threatened by it. There had been no reason. After all, at the Marys’ compound on Mars he’d learned that his own powers were similar. He believed that this ability, which he regarded as exceptional intuition, had led to his discovery of Jupiter’s reef, and because of this demonstrated ability the Marys had accepted him and allowed him to share in their closely guarded secret.

But Mary’s ‘cueing’ was different, a new aspect of his relationship with his wife and one that he’d never suspected. He took her wrist and drew her to him. “Tell me something, and be honest,” he said in a whisper. “Do you ... cue ... me?”

Mary put the cloth back in her pocket and looked at him. “I love you, Alex.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Mary looked at him sadly. “Isn’t that what really matters?”

Alex thought for a moment. “Not entirely.”

“I suppose I have ... from time to time.”

“Dingers, Mary. Now I have to think over our entire life and figure out which ideas were mine and which ones were yours.”

“What do you mean?” She seemed genuinely perplexed.

Her soft gaze melted him. “Look at it from my point of view. Reading my mind and vice versa is one thing, but cueing ....”

She touched his cheek gently. “You’ve never acted on an idea that you didn’t agree with, have you?”

“I guess not.”

Mary smiled reassuringly. “I can plant an idea, but what someone does with it is their own choice.”

The squeezers of tea that popped out of the machine were hot. Alex took the cloth from Mary’s pocket and wrapped it around them, then he and Mary launched themselves back toward the observation room. As they floated down the corridor, Alex thought about what she had said. He had to admit she was right. He couldn’t remember ever acting on an idea against his will. What had drawn them together had always been a mystery, but it was one that he never regretted, nor really cared to solve.

When they reached the door to the observation room door Alex paused before opening it. “One more question,” he said softly. “If it was your idea, how do you know the Lalandian wants the clicker men?”

Mary opened the door. “Call it an educated guess. Or a hunch.” She opened the door and went into the room where Johnny waited, still staring into the shuttle bay.