The Solar Sea (26 page)

"This is a busy place,” said Natalie, astonished.

"It should be,” said Alepex. “It is the capital of the known galaxy."

Natalie's jaw dropped, Myra gasped, and Dr. Garcia shook his head. “That's impossible,” he said. “If there had been intelligent life on Titan, we would have known about it. We may be the first humans to have come this far, but we've had probes out here for over a century."

"You are but primitives,” said Alepex. “It is easy for ones such as the keepers of the rings to hide themselves from you, just as you might hide yourselves from animals in the forests of your planet."

The shuttle approached one of the domes. The top of the dome irised open and the shuttle dropped inside and landed on a platform. Alepex opened the shuttle's door and stepped outside. The chairs released Natalie, Myra, and the doctor. They stood and followed the Rd'dyggians.

"Gah,” said Natalie as she stepped up to the door. “What is that smell?"

"Sulfur, if I'm not mistaken.” Myra wrinkled her nose.

"And ammonia,” said Dr. Garcia. He looked up at Alepex. “Are you sure this atmosphere is breathable?"

"Similar nitrogen oxygen content as your world,” said the seven-foot tall creature. “However, we adjusted the atmosphere of our shuttle to match your world. Here in our dome, the atmosphere is much closer to that of our world."

"Doesn't sound like a pleasant place to visit,” said Garcia. “At least to us humans."

"It is lovely,” said Alepex. “Many more colors than you have on your world. We even have a ring around the world much like the planet you call Saturn."

With that, Alepex led the humans through a set of twisting, turning, silver corridors. Natalie was reminded of the Pentagon on Earth and mentally kept track of their route. Of course, she reminded herself, she was now at the mercy of Alepex. Even if they returned to the
Aristarchus
, there was no way the ship would be able to make it back to Earth on its own.

Alepex showed the humans to a window that looked out on the surface of Titan. Wan, reddish light illuminated a mechanical contrivance. Natalie lifted her eyebrows as she recognized the object. “That's the Huygens probe!” Fiber optic lines ran to the cameras and sensors on the primitive craft that had landed on Titan in 2005.

"Yes, it is a probe from your world,” said Alepex. “It was intercepted and fed images of the primitive parts of Titan. As I explained earlier, it is easy for ones such as the keepers to hide themselves from ones such as you.” He led them further down the corridor and into a room.

Myra stopped cold and Natalie sidestepped to avoid running into her. She looked up and saw what caused Myra to stop so suddenly. A creature stood in the center of the room. It was quiet and looked like a five-foot tall Teddy Bear. It turned and faced the group. “Welcome, Alepex,” said the creature in greeting. As it spoke, it revealed frightening, serrated teeth. Myra and Garcia each took a step backward.

As the creature spoke, it flickered slightly. “It's a hologram,” said Myra as wonder apparently overcame fear.

"This is Rodasa of Titan,” said Alepex. “She is the protector of your world. What you might call a game warden."

"Indeed.” Rodasa turned to Myra. “Dr. Lee is correct that the image you see is a hologram. However, rest assured that I am very much real. You see, I am a native of this world and breathe its air. Your atmosphere is toxic to me.” She turned toward Alepex. “Alepex of Rd'dyggia, you know the fines for interfering with creatures from protectorate worlds."

"I am aware, my lady.” Alepex gave a slight bow at the waist. “However, I could not stand by and watch these creatures die."

"They are primitives,” said Rodasa. “Their ship was failing because they began fighting among themselves. They are not ready to know about us yet."

"They are much like the Rd'dyggians,” said Alepex. “They have nearly the same technology as we did when you contacted us."

"Yes,” said Rodasa slowly. “They are warriors and imperialists just as you Rd'dyggians. I can understand why you'd have a fondness for them.” She snorted. “You were not ready for contact with us. They are even more primitive ... even less ready for contact."

Natalie stepped forward and imitated Alepex's bow. “Ma'am, I respectfully submit, we've already made contact. We live in the same solar system. We'd like to pursue relations between our worlds. Perhaps we can discuss trade or—"

Rodasa raised a clawed paw. “You have nothing we want,” she said. “You should have died in the atmosphere of Saturn. You should not be here."

Myra raised her hands to her chest, her eyes going wide. “You're not going to kill us, are you?"

Rodasa turned to face Myra. The black button-like eyes seemed as though they could bore a hole through the biologist. “Unlike you, we are not primitives.” She then faced Alepex. “We will allow Alepex to return you to your world.” Then she turned to face Natalie. “Now that you know about us, we are certain you will return in due course. Let us hope that in that time, you can become a bit less primitive."

"Thank you.” Natalie made a diplomatic bow and then took a deep breath. Though she, like Jefferson, was angry at Pilot for his actions, taking over the
Aristarchus
, she knew she could not come all the way to Titan without asking a question. “There is one among our people who sought particles we call chronotons. Your world is surrounded by the particles."

"Yes,” said Rodasa, slowly. The air next to her shimmered for a moment and the three humans gasped as Pilot materialized next to her. He stood, wide eyed looking from side to side. “Thomas Quinn, the architect of this voyage,” announced Rodasa.

Dr. Garcia reached out to touch Pilot, only to discover he was as insubstantial as the Titan—a hologram. “This is amazing,” said Pilot, looking at Garcia. “I was in my quarters and they dissolved around me and now it's as though I'm standing right here, with you.” He took a step forward and crashed into something. Natalie thought she saw the brief outline of a chair.

"I suggest you stand in one place,” said Rodasa. “What you are seeing is holography. You are still in your quarters aboard
Aristarchus."

"What is this place?"

"This is the Rd'dyggian dome on Titan.” Rodasa looked into Quinn's eyes and snarled. “Thomas Quinn, you have endangered your fellow humans on a greedy, foolish quest."

Pilot shook his head quickly and wrung his hands. “Not greed. I never sought to make a profit from the chronotons. I was curious about them. I wanted to study them."

"Chronotons, as you call them, are part of nature,” said Rodasa. “I believe you observed them on your own moon, where you already had facilities."

Pilot nodded and licked his lips. “But there were so few and they were transitory. I wanted more, so I could study them, learn about their properties."

Rodasa's massive head bobbed up and down. “And what is greed if not that? Your father's perhaps less greedy than you. When has he ever sought something without concern for his fellows?"

"His only concern is money!” snapped Pilot. “He only cared about me when I became Thomas Alonzo. I sought the chronotons to advance humankind."

"You sought the chronotons because they gave you an excuse to build the ship you wanted,” said Rodasa firmly. “You are a mere cub who undertook this adventure to seek glory in the eyes of your father."

Pilot hung his head. “I am no cub.” A note of bitterness was in his voice.

"From our perspective, your whole species are cubs,” said Rodasa. “Do not despair, though. All cubs grow up. Humans will, as well. There are more chronotons on your moon than you know. Capture a few and you will unlock more secrets. You will find soon enough that you will be able create them yourself. You do not need to collect them from our orbit."

"When you say ‘you,’ do you mean me personally or others like me?” Pilot's brow furrowed as his image shimmered and vanished, the question unanswered.

Rodasa turned back to Alepex. “We will contact you about fines. Now you may take the humans back to their world."

"Wait!” called Myra. “There's one thing I have to know.” The Titan swung its massive head around toward her and she recoiled. “If humans are too primitive to establish a relationship with the Titans, why are you talking to the whales of Earth?"

"The whales of Earth are more advanced than you,” said Rodasa, simply. Just as Myra was about to question further, she continued, “They do not build tools, but they compose poems and songs beyond compare. Their stories are among the most sought-after in the galaxy. It is from them that we know the ways of humans."

Myra's mouth fell open. “You know about us from ... the whales?"

"How can you expect to be citizens of the galaxy when you can't even speak to all of the people of your own planet?” Rodasa heaved a great bellowing harrumph. “You have much damage to repair in your relationship with the whales. I can think of no one better equipped to start that work. That too is part of growing up.” She looked at Alepex and inclined her head.

He bowed low in response and the hologram of Rodasa vanished. “It is time to go,” said the Rd'dyggian captain.

Back aboard the
Aristarchus,
Myra, Natalie, and Dr. Garcia floated out of the Rd'dyggian shuttle followed by Alepex. Jonathan Jefferson and Neb O'Connell were in the shuttle bay. “We will tow you back to Earth,” explained Alepex. “Our ship can travel much faster than yours, but our analysis shows your ship won't handle the stresses of our cruising speed. Still, we should have you back on Earth within the month."

Jefferson nodded. “Thank you, Captain Alepex."

Alepex looked at Natalie. “Rodasa is right about one thing. Our two species are very much alike. We look forward to getting to know yours better,” came the voice from his translating computer.

"When we're a bit less primitive,” scoffed Dr. Garcia.

"Primitive, yes, but advancing quickly,” amended Alepex. “The keepers of the rings think they know everything. However, I have a feeling you humans may have something to teach the keepers before it's over.” He started to return to his shuttle, then turned. “I look forward to the day when humans and Rd'dyggians will be friends."

"I think we already are.” Natalie Freeman smiled.

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Looking to the Future

A few days later, as the Rd'dyggian ship towed the
Aristarchus
back to Earth, Myra Lee was sitting in C-and-C when Lisa Henry drifted through the hatch and pulled herself to the worktable next to the communications station and grabbed on.

"How's the honeymoon going?” asked Myra.

"Stressful to start. Interesting and kind of fun now. The lack of gravity is a little bit of a bonus.” Lisa's cheeks colored a little.

"I can't tell you how happy I am for you.” Myra took Lisa's hand. “Have you given any thought to what you're going to do when we get back to Earth?"

"Neb and I talked a little before we got to Saturn.” She shrugged. “We haven't had much of a chance to think about it since then. Things have been so busy."

"I've been chatting back and forth with Cristof and Harmer. We've been talking about the Titans and what they said about the whales.” Myra looked around at the monitors lining the walls, then down at the communications board. “We humans have been sending radio and television signals into space for close to two centuries now. When we were down on Titan, we saw just the briefest glimpse of the communications technology they possess. There's not one scrap of doubt in my mind the Titans have received every signal we've sent into space. However, they choose to listen to the whales. I think it's time we learned what the whales have to say. We're going to start a foundation and try to establish a real dialogue. We'll need all the help we can get and we'd love to have you and Neb work for us."

"You can count on me for sure, boss,” said Lisa with a smile, “and I'm pretty sure I can talk Neb into joining us."

Before Myra could say anything, a light flashed on the communication's console. She reached over and answered the incoming signal. When she saw who was uploading a message, she turned around and faced Natalie Freeman who sat at the command console. “Captain Freeman, it's the president of the United States."

"Alert Captain Jefferson,” ordered Freeman. “Have him come up here. Put the president on the command monitor as soon as the entire message is in."

Jonathan Jefferson drifted into C-and-C just as Oscar Van der Wald's face appeared on the monitor in front of Natalie. He pushed off the wall and grabbed onto the edge of the command console. “Crew of the
Aristarchus,
I gather communication is not real time yet, but will be sooner than I dreamed possible. It's hard to describe the scene here on Earth. There's jubilation mixed with fear. Some can't wait for the Red-dy-chee-ans,” he stumbled over the word, “others are fearful. I gather you have news feeds, so I'm sure you've seen the protests, the riots, and the parades, too. I've never seen anything like it.

"We're preparing a reception for the Red-dy-chee-ans at the United Nations in New York. In your report, you said that Captain Alepex wanted to keep contact brief. We will do that. However, we do want to thank him and his crew for saving the
Aristarchus
and show him human hospitality. Also, we feel the best way to prevent a worldwide uprising is to have this meeting be as multilateral as possible with as many heads of state present. We have requested that they keep their addresses as brief as possible."

"Alepex is just gonna love that,” said Jefferson. On the trip back to Earth, he and the Rd'dyggian captain had become acquainted and found they were kindred spirits in many ways. Alepex had seen many years in space and looked forward to a quiet retirement on his home planet. Jefferson let his gaze drift around the C-and-C and thought he was very glad to have made the voyage, but he'd come close enough to death this time around. It was time to settle down. The only problem was he wasn't sure what he would do.

Natalie Freeman broke his reverie. “I'll leave you to send the official response.” She unbuckled her harness and drifted away from the console.