Infinite Reef (40 page)

“Well, why all the firepower?”

“We need to protect our personnel.”

“I have your word on that?”

Commander Sutherland laughed. “You think we’re here to take over the
Goddard
?”

Johnny stood up again, with a hand on his console to steady himself. He looked truly shaken.

It was obvious from the reactions of the woman that she couldn’t see the effect she was having on Johnny. But it was also clear that she had a pretty good idea because she was using her personal revelation to maximum advantage. Alex decided that whether this woman was Johnny’s kin or not, they couldn’t trust her.

Mary gave Alex’s thigh a pinch and he jumped. “Are you forgetting something, Alex, It was Johnny who tried to take credit for your discovery.”

Alex shook his head. “That was a long time ago.”

Commander Baltadonis had straightened to his full height. “I’m sorry, Commander. … Christine. Please come aboard. The staff and crew of
Goddard
… formally … welcomes you, and all your crew.”

Christine maintained a seemingly indomitable smile. “”Thank you, Commander,” she purred. Then her image vanished and the former view returned to the screen. Alex could tell that the figure in the middle on the center deck was the person who had just talked to them. She and a small number of her nearby crew wore pure white EVA outfits. To Alex’s eye they seemed almost too form fitting and thin to be space suits. Even the helmets were lightweight and fragile.

The boarding party took a few steps forward then jumped, letting their momentum carry them across the distance separating the two ships and into the
Goddard’s
opened shuttle bay. With most of the
Ulysses
crew out of the picture, Alex got his first look inside their shuttle bay. He was curious to see if shuttles like his own had changed in twenty years. Unfortunately he could see nothing but superstructure and a few sentries who stayed behind, presumably to guard the ship.

The camera view then shifted to inside
Goddard’s
shuttle bay. The boarding party was floating past the camera. They seemed a mix of military and non-military personnel; as evidenced by the stuff they were carrying. Some of them were using the safety lines to negotiate their way across the bay, while others made hops from object to object until they reached the bay’s inner doors. At that point the outer doors were closed and Johnny ordered the shuttle bay pressurized.

It took some time but finally the entire group was inside, traveling the tubeway in various cars headed for the cylinder.

While those in Master Control waited for the meeting, Alex and Mary decided to go outside to watch the reactions of the boarding party when they came out of the tubeway exit. Alex recalled his own astonishment and how disoriented he was when he first stepped foot outside the tube-way.

The tunnel exit was only a hundred yards from Master Control, so Alex and Mary arrived well before the visitors. They waited for a while, then Mary grew nervous. “I’m not sure I should be here,” she said, taking Alex’s hand in hers. “I don’t want to invite their attention.”

Alex gestured to a garden with a few long benches a short distance away. “Why don’t we wait over there?” he suggested. They sat down on a bench partially hidden by a hedge, and waited. Soon, Johnny, his assistant, and a few other members of
Goddard’s
staff exited Master Control and walked toward the tubeway in a solemn procession.

“There’s a happy bunch,” observed Mary.

Johnny and his group had just reached the tubeway exit when its polyglas doors opened wide. The visiting group poured into the open like bees from a hive. First came several armed security officers, still wearing space suits and helmets. They took up a clearly defensive position in a semicircle. Then the doors swung open again and the rest of the
Ulysses
group cautiously stepped forward. They, too, were still wearing space gear.

Commander Baltadonis raised a hand when he saw this and his group stopped cold. His own security people reflexively fanned out, radioing messages. “Christine!” shouted Johnny. “What is the meaning of this?”

There was no way for Johnny to tell which of the group was Commander Sutherland until one of them stepped forward, unfastening her helmet. She removed it deftly and continued walking forward. Her black hair was tied back tightly, framing her dark features in a way that made her look dangerous. Her vaguely ominous smile did little to dispel that impression.

Alex was beginning to wonder if a firefight was next on the agenda when Christine spoke. “Father,” she said extending a hand.

“Good to see you again.” She peered at him, still smiling. “I’d almost forgotten what you look like. You haven’t changed.”

The two commanders walked toward one another until they were face to face, but they didn’t embrace as one might expect of such a reunion. Instead, they stood eyeing each other with seemingly forced grins.

Alex shook his head doubtfully. “I don’t like the looks of this,” he whispered, leaning back so that the group wouldn’t see him behind the hedge.

Mary did the same, even sliding down the bench a bit so she would be even more concealed from the scrutiny of the visitors.

“Neither do I,” she whispered. They could still see the two commanders, standing face to face, and they were close enough so that they could hear the conversation.

Johnny took his eyes off his daughter and eyed the visiting soldiers. “Why are those weapons raised?” he asked calmly.

Christine didn’t turn to look back. “Precautionary. Earthcorp orders,” she said forthrightly. She seemed to be examining her father with a critical eye, looking him over from head to toe. “You really haven’t changed.”

“I guess that’s proof of interstellar flight,” observed Johnny, sounding a bit nervous. “That is, if those records you’ve been downloading aren’t proof enough.”

“Nobody doubts where you’ve been, Commander,” replied Johnny’s daughter. She looked at the round building behind Johnny.

“Is that Master Control?”

Johnny nodded. “I’d thought we’d enjoy the open air of the cylinder for our meeting. It’s quite pleasant, don’t you think?”

Christine didn’t reply. She continued to examine the surrounding details. Seeing this, Alex and Mary turned away. But it was too late. Christine had seen them. “Who are those two over there?” Alex heard her ask Johnny. “Wait a minute. That’s Alex Rose and Mary Seventeen. Why aren’t they here with you?”

Johnny was quick to reply. “You can meet the entire crew in due time. And there’s plenty of time. I believe we are still some distance from Titan.”

Alex and Mary didn’t know if Johnny had sensed that they didn’t wish to be scrutinized, or if it was just luck. Either way they were grateful when the visitor’s attention was deflected. Christine’s eyes returned to her father. “Do you have a problem with going to Titan?”

“Many of our crew hail from Jupiter space,” said Johnny. “It’s closer to the inner system.”

“That’s the reason you’re going to Titan. It’s NOT close to the inner system.”

“You’re worried about contamination.”

“Of course. “ Christine seemed to relax, but her bulky suit still forced her to stand stiffly. She shifted her helmet awkwardly to the other arm. “Is there some place we can go … to get out of these suits?”

“Why not here?” Johnny asked.

Christine stared incredulously at Johnny for a moment, then turned to face her group. “Sentries. Please lower your weapons.”

She swiveled around again to face Johnny. “Is that satisfactory?” Then her eyes drifted to the
Goddard’s
security force, positioned all around them with their weapons raised. “Are they going to keep pointing those guns at me?”

Johnny gestured to his security team and they lowered their weapons. During all this Ned Binder, Johnny’s first officer, was standing well away from everyone. Alex couldn’t help but notice and he pointed it out to Mary.

“Are you surprised?” she asked.

“Can’t blame a Corpie for acting like one, can I?” replied Alex with slight smirk.

Christine hesitated for a moment then she called to one of her officers. “Smithers. Have you detected any unusual bios?”

The officer stepped forward, carrying a large metal case, “Nothing that we’ve found so far.”

“How much longer before you’re sure it’s okay for us to take off this gear?”

“We’ve monitored
Goddard’s
air ever since we entered the ship. It’s safe as far as I can see.” The man was still wearing his helmet. His voice came from an outside speaker in his headgear.

Commander Sutherland began unsnapping her suit tabs as she instructed her group to remove their space gear. “Sentries stay suited up. The rest of you can get out of your gear. Stack it inside the tubeway kiosk.” Christine glanced at her father for confirmation and he nodded.

It took a few minutes for the group to remove their space suits, but soon, except for the security forces who remained suited up, the visitors looked more human. They were all wearing coveralls like the crew of
Goddard
, but the shimmering dark green outfits looked more formal in their styling. When they finished undressing and had stacked their suits inside the tube-way entrance, they began informally talking among themselves.

Alex was surprised that Commander Sutherland had thrown caution to the wind by already having removed her helmet. As soon as he had that thought Mary nudged him. “That was a gesture,” she whispered. “She took a risk.”

“You can hear her thoughts?”

Mary cut him off. “Change the subject.”

“Why? It’s important to find out what they’re …”

Mary slammed her knee into Alex’s. “They have a sensor!” she spit at him, still trying to whisper.

“Mary series?”

“Think about sex!” Mary’s hand slid deftly toward his waist.

3
Alex smiled. Mary’s suggestion had done the trick. Reinforced with a touch to his crotch, she had managed to change his thoughts quickly and effectively. It embarrassed him to be so easily managed. Still, he had to admit that his wife probably knew him better than he knew himself.

If another sensor was now on board
Goddard
there was a very good chance they could read minds as well as Mary. Of course, when they left the ability had been a well kept secret by the Mary series, one that was relatively easy to hide because they were created to be living radios with high degree of sensitivity and intuition.

The Marys were just one of the many types of showpiece clones developed by the corporations, presumably to justify the cloning effort necessary for the terraforming of Mars. The question that Alex had to keep forcing out of his mind was whether the corpies now knew that secret and were they taking advantage of it. If so, it was doubtful that any secrets harbored by the crew of
Goddard
could be kept hidden.

Alex examined the visitors as they reassembled, minus their space suits, as a group outside the tubeway entrance. On either side of them the
Ulysses
security remained suited up and ready for action. He couldn’t prevent himself from wondering which one of them was the sensor. Mary began to get more nervous with each passing moment. She touched his thigh softly and put her lips against his ear. “We should put some distance between us and the visitors,” she whispered. “Let’s go.”

Taking Alex’s hand, Mary lead him out of the little park in a direction that took them to the opposite side of the tubeway kiosk.

All the while she did her best to keep Alex’s mind focused on sex and not on the sensor issue. As they walked past the fruit trees at the edge of the park Mary kept massaging his buttocks. “You don’t have to do that,” Alex whispered. “It’s embarrassing. I feel like I’m being herded like some animal.”

“Good,” said Mary, giving Alex’s butt a hard squeeze. “You keep thinking that. Just be glad I’m not towing you by your short leash.”

Alex blushed. “Dingers! You’ll really get us noticed.”

“If you don’t corral those thoughts, Alex, I’ll have to rape you,” Mary warned.

They followed a pathway that led down the length of the cylinder, as far away from the visitors as possible. They knew, of course, that Johnny might call them at any time for a meeting, and it was only a matter of time before they’d know if the sensor had uncovered their secrets. Despite the fact hat Mary could read his mind, Alex had never had to veil his thoughts. For that matter, neither had Mary. Now both of them struggled to keep their thoughts on anything but their secrets. So they kept walking.

Before long they entered a forested section of the cylinder’s patchwork landscape. The trees were now becoming familiar to both of them and they walked among the tidily manicured groves identifying every tree they encountered. The tallest were the oaks which Mary immediately identified from the litter of acorns that dotted the otherwise clean lawns. This was also the haunt of
Goddard’
s very tame squirrel and rabbit population. For that reason ‘the woods,’ as it was called, had become a favorite place for family picnics. Now the place was empty except for Alex, Mary and the wildlife. Mary walked over to a tall oak and sat down, leaning her back against the massive trunk. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “This is nice. Come sit beside me, Alex.”

It had been a long walk, and Alex was more than glad to rest his feet, so he sat down on the soft grass next to his wife. He pressed against Mary and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Will this do?”

“Perfectly.”

Alex closed his eyes and leaned against the tree. The smell of sweet loam and leaves filled his nostrils. Mary touched his forehead. “I thought I’d never have to do this, Alex,” she said sadly.

Alex didn’t open his eyes. He felt warm and comfortable. And all his concerns seemed to melt away. “Do what?” he asked, almost in a whisper.

Mary’s left hand covered his forehead in a soft but firm grip. “Just ... relax,” she answered.

Alex seemed to have no trouble doing as Mary suggested. Soon he felt his body relax completely. When he awoke Mary was no longer at his side. He found himself leaning against the oak, his chin wet with drool. He looked around and saw her standing a few feet away talking to two squirrels on an overhanging branch. They were perched side by side, looking at her and chirping as she spoke to them.