Koban (3 page)

In a change of subject, Mirikami broached a topic that had piqued
his curiosity. “How long will your work here last, Dillon? I understand the Midwife
research is rather short term, as large projects go.”

Dillon examined Mirikami’s features carefully before responding.
There wasn’t any hint of hostility; on the contrary, the Captain seemed quite cordial.
He recalled that on Earth some classmates claimed that oriental people had a reputation
for being inscrutable.
Was that the Chinese or Japanese people?
He
wondered. It wasn’t important in any event since he automatically gave an ambiguous
answer.

“We only
have budgeting for eighteen months.”

This was literally true, but omitted the publicly unpopular,
if not outright hazardous, long-range project goal. The biological science Purge
was over, now hundreds of years in the past, but fear and hatred of biological science
often lurked just below the scars left by the last Wars. What some of their
scientists intended to do on Midwife wasn’t death penalty level work on human
genetics, but even plant and animal genetic modifications were subject to long
prison terms.

Mirikami noticed the slight pause, and understood the avoidance
of questions about their work. He didn’t want to press, but he had a personal interest
since Interworld had, in an uncharacteristic show of fairness, allowed Mirikami’s
seniority to win the company route bid on a charter booked by a Hub client. It seemed
odd that the company’s shipping contract had an open-ended termination since the
project was scheduled to end after a year and a half.

He worked logically, to see if he could draw Dillon out more.
“The initial investment to buy a surplus orbital factory must have been expensive.
Not to mention setting up the system wide Bolide radar net, and Midwife’s laser
and plasma batteries to ward off small debris. Then add in the salary and upkeep
for over a thousand scientists and support people. That’s a large investment for
a short-term project, isn’t it? I personally hope for an extension of Interworld’s
contract to supply you. The fat trip premium for the long Jump is welcome to me
and my crew.”

With the Captain’s interest explained and seeing no polite way
to avoid the matter, Dillon provided a more involved cover explanation. “Captain,
you and your company are certainly aware of the opposition to the establishment
of this laboratory.” It was not a question.

Mirikami was frank in his reply, “Yes, of course. After the contract
award to Interworld, there were quite a few angry emails, and some threats aimed
at Interworld interests. I’m certain that’s why the major Hub carriers refused to
bid the contract. Rim carriers like Interworld have little to fear from a Hub market
boycott, and Rim worlds can’t afford such gestures.”

“Captain, the pressure on your company was minor compared to
that placed on the Universities that allied to sponsor this study of Newborn. It
was politically impossible to obtain funding for a lengthier program. It was either
go with what we had, or never get started.”

Mirikami doubted that so much effort would be wasted on so small
a return, but seeing he couldn’t continue without appearing overly insistent, he
changed directions. “I can see your problem, though the importance of Newborn in
all this eludes me. Wouldn’t placing Midwife in some unused Hub area star system
have saved you a lot in transport fees? There is primitive life on many worlds.
Why Jump so far outside the established Human Sphere?”

Here was a topic Dillon could warm to, without evasion. “Two
reasons actually. First, closer to the Hub we would present a more visible profile,
providing a focus for the irrational fears of an experiment going bad and infecting
other systems. Since we are engaged in pure observational and data collecting research,
no such accident can occur.

“Second, and most important, is that there has never been a discovery
of as pristine a planet as Newborn. The primitive life you mentioned on those other
more convenient planets either did not originate there naturally, due to human contamination,
or has been around for billions of years, erasing their beginnings, and are now
stuck in an evolutionary dead end.

“Except that Newborn is different! Life there is extremely rudimentary,
barely definable as living at all. This particular stage of development moves rapidly,
even on a human time scale, not a long geological scale. The more advanced developing
life forms will soon overwhelm the less developed replicating molecules, and fill
their evolutionary niches.

“There has never been a comparable find. There should be only
a few planets at this stage of development in our entire galaxy at any given time,
and this one is practically on our doorstep.”

Dillon was suddenly aware of the excited rush his words had become.
He stopped for a moment as a self-conscious and sheepish grin transformed his features
into a visage of a schoolboy. “As you can tell, I have great deal of enthusiasm
for this project. I tend to get carried away when I talk shop.”

Mirikami flashed an impish grin in return. “It’s quite all right
Dillon, I’m really interested. Although I’m not particularly up on biology, I do
work with life forms on a daily basis.”

Dillon let go an explosive laugh, then quickly recovered. “Touché,
Captain. Now I’m the one who needs the rescue of a gallant Lady.” He decided that
he liked the man.

Noreen, busy at her console, had nevertheless kept part of her
attention on the conversation beside her. She came in on cue. “Alas, it seems to
be my perpetual duty to aid hapless Gentlemen in extricating their foot from their
mouths.”

They shared the laughter this time. Dillon thought his hoped
for seduction of the Lady was looking rather promising. Events were about to
make that optimistic future dangerously complicated, despite the current good
humor.

When the laughter faded, Noreen turned
to the matter she had been about to mention to the Captain, waiting only for a break
in the conversation. “Sir, Jake says the beacon on Midwife isn’t sending. He’s tried
all the standard Omni frequencies as well as the published one for Midwife. The
distance isn’t as precise without the signal, though Jake now has a visual fix on
Newborn. Thirty-two hours is a pretty close estimate for arrival.”

“No beacon, that’s odd,” Mirikami mused, his right hand pinching
and tugging gently at his lower lip. “Even if they chose not to broadcast continuously
in an uninhabited system, Midwife should have had the beacon on in anticipation
of our arrival. Any recorded messages on the station’s docking control frequencies
about a problem?”

“No Sir. But...,” she thought for a second. “Let me ask Jake
to check something.” She turned to her console mike, but Dillon couldn’t quite make
out her words. However, he had an idea of his own.

“Could Midwife be on the far side of Newborn in its orbit right
now, and the signal is blocked by the planet?”

“Not with
the repeater satellites to prevent that,” rebutted Mirikami.

“Oh, that’s
right! Guess I’m still one foot in the mouth up on you Captain.”

“You could consider it removed if you can tell me if the Bolide
radar stations are manned or automatic. My display lists a radio frequency for each,
but doesn’t say if they are staffed.”

“Sorry, my
foot doesn’t come out that easy. I have no idea if they are manned or not.”

“Noreen,
do you have our radio distance in time from Midwife?”

“I just asked Jake for that Sir. We were twelve light minutes
out from Newborn at re-entry. There is something else strange though. Jake has been
routinely scanning the full communications spectrum. He says it is
completely
quiet. There are no intersystem radio messages floating around.”

“We may have arrived during Midwife’s local nighttime,” offered
Mirikami. “A lone watch stander might forget to switch on the beacon.”

Dillon shook his head no. “I wouldn’t think so, Sir. We intend
to operate on three shifts and work around the clock. It should always be a day
watch for a third of the support people.”

Mirikami resumed pulling at his lower lip in a pensive manner,
“If they were expecting us today the beacon should be on, if not, our gamma ray
burst will automatically trigger the beacon when it’s detected at Midwife or a relay
station. We also started sending your radio message about two minutes after White
Out. The homing signal should arrive here within twenty five minutes of our re-entry,
and a few minutes after that we ought to get a reply to your message cube.”

Touching a function key, Mirikami activated his voice Link and
addressed the computer through the boom mike that appeared. “Jake, calculate the
exact time we can expect the beacon signal from Midwife if it’s activated by our
reentry burst, and remind us two minutes before that time.” The computer had a query,
transmitted as usual to the Captain’s embedded transducer.

Realizing that Dillon, as an observer, might wish to hear both
halves of the exchange, he added, “Jake, say that again on speaker.”

“Yes Sir” sounded a genderless voice from unseen speakers. “Do
you mean an Omni beacon switched on in reply to our arrival burst of gamma radiation?”

“Yes Jake,
and also advise us if the beacon comes on earlier than that.”

The computer acknowledged, and Mirikami disconnected and turned
to Dillon. “I tend to assume our Jake can always infer my meaning from the conversational
context.”

It was Dillon’s first opportunity to hear the ship’s central
computer speak. The support system computers installed in the passenger areas were
typical public service models, much like those in bars, taxis and restaurants. Obviously,
Jake ran one of the newest parallel processing Artificial Intelligence programs.
Dillon was impressed, and said so. “He’s well programmed. He actually chose the
correct answer before he asked you to verify.

“Isn’t a JK model AI system rather expensive to install on a
passenger transport ship? We couldn’t justify the expense for Midwife, and had to
make do with a much older model in the J series.”

Noreen shook her head. “Not in our case. A deep space transport
like the Flight of Fancy can make them cost effective since we can cut our crew
needs by nearly forty percent. Jake, who was named unimaginatively from his series
and model of course, can practically run the ship alone.

“That’s why there are only two command couches here. One watch
officer usually monitors all the data and makes the important decisions. Direct
human control, with standard computer assist, is still the most economical method
on intersystem ships, and also on the shorter interstellar routes between Hub worlds
and the Old Colonies.”

Mirikami had been thinking while they talked. He returned the
subject to the curious radio silence. “Dillon, can you think of any reason why Midwife
would not expect our arrival?”

Dillon shrugged his shoulders. “Our departure date from Ramah
had not been precisely set when the previous supply ship Jumped here, and we left
a day earlier than anticipated.”

Pulling again at his lower lip, an evident habitual gesture,
Mirikami accepted the first possibility. “A mix up on arrival dates could explain
the beacon being off, since we are a little early.  However, the absence of extraneous
communications is a
real
oddity. We should be picking up bits and pieces
of radio traffic.”

Then, in a change of subjects, “Noreen, I have a clear panel,
and Navcomp shows nothing around us we need to dodge. Since we have a little time
to kill, perhaps Dillon would like a beverage.

Accepting her cue, she lifted her console arm and, when the couch
withdrew its restraints, stood up. “There’s a fully stocked small galley just below,
Dillon. I could bring you a cup of Evergreen Mist, genuine Earth coffee, Ramaian
tea, or nearly any popular carbonated beverage.”

It was an opportunity Dillon had been looking for. “You have
Earth coffee? That will be fine, Good Lady. I’d like to stretch my legs though.
Might I accompany you?”

“Please do,” she replied, moving toward the elevator. “I want
to talk you into giving me a tour of Newborn during our lay over. The Tri-Vid holo’s
of the surface look awesome. All those volcanoes, the storm whipped oceans crashing
upon jagged shores and the heavens rent by constant lightning and meteor trails.
Despite its violence, it strikes me as beautiful and sexy.”

Spirits soaring, he eagerly seized the offered bait. “I would
consider it a pleasure to share my first groundside sight of Newborn with so lovely
a Lady.” As he signaled his chair to release him, he was thinking that he was going
to have to hurry if he intended to beat her to the proposition.

Romance was not dead, it simply had learned to move faster in
the post Gene War universe. Men were no longer overly scarce, but certain traditions,
once established, lasted long after their reason for existence disappeared. He was
no piece of meat, and liked to set his own agenda.

Conversation flowed easily as they sat at a galley table, drinking
an excellent blend of genuine Earth grown coffee, made from a carefully hoarded
stock. Noreen glanced at her thumbnail watch, “Dillon, are you free after dinner
tonight? I’d love to continue our conversation, but it’s nearly past time for us
to pick up the Midwife beacon.”

“How about at eight, in the lounge? We could have a few drinks
and enjoy the Last Night mixer, then discuss your stay at Midwife in my cabin.”

“The lounge would be nice, but could we make it eight thirty,
and in my compartment? I need to inspect our docking thrusters and airlocks right
after dinner, then I’ll want to shower. Perhaps you could help me dry off?”

His heart and loins both tingled, “Eight thirty it is. However,
you could arrive with smudges on both cheeks and still look radiant.”