Authors: Allen Steele
Just like the aliens below us
, he thought.
They're going somewhere, but they put themselves to sleep. Now they're waiting to get to wherever they've got to goâ¦
An idea occurred to him, one so desperate that he wouldn't have taken it into consideration if the only alternative wasn't certain death. Even as Ramirez's pipe began to fill the closed air of the compartment with herb-scented fumes, Harker turned toward the emergency biostasis cells.
There was a chanceâ¦
“Put out the pipe,” he said. “No more water, no more coffee. Use the head one last time. Then strip down.”
“What are youâ¦?” Ramirez stared at him, then followed his gaze to the cells. “Are you crazy? What's that going toâ¦?”
“Yes, he's madâ¦and I'm sorry I didn't think of that earlier.” Emily had caught on. Raising a hand, she let Harker help her stand up. “Transponder on?”
“Of course. Standard frequency.”
“Sure.” She hesitated. “You'll have to activate the cells, though. My only experience with them has been in training.”
“Mine, too. We're just going to have to check each other to make sure we do this right.” He patted her arm, gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile, then stood aside to let her go forward to the cockpit. Then he reached down to take the pipe from Ramirez's hands. “No time for that, I'm afraid,” he added. “Go take a piss, then get naked. We're putting you down first.”
“You can't be serious.” Ramirez regarded him with shock even as he surrendered his precious vice. “What good is that going to do us?”
“I don't know.” Harker stepped over to the nearest cell. A touch of the control panel, and its lid wheezed open. “But these things can keep us alive almost indefinitely.”
“Sure, all right.” Ramirez glanced toward the ceiling. “But what if theyâ¦?”
“Find us?” Harker didn't have an answer for this. From the cockpit, Emily looked over her shoulder, silently asking the same question. “It's a risk we'll have to take. I just know that we don't have anything to loseâ¦unless you'd rather die, of course.”
Ramirez said nothing. He took a deep breath, then opened the chest zipper of his skinsuit. Turning away from him, Harker opened the lids of the next two cells. He almost started to open the fourth before he remembered that it wouldn't be needed.
Sorry, Jorge
, he thought.
If you'd made it just a little while longerâ¦
“I knew what I was doing,” Ramirez said, very quietly.
Harker looked around at him. “Pardon me?”
Ramirez had removed his skinsuit. Save for his briefs, he was almost naked; in the cold of the cabin, he hugged himself. “When Iâ¦when I did what I did,” he said, his teeth chattering, “I knew what I was doing. Because I thought it was the right thing.”
Harker suddenly realized that he was talking about his role in the Savant genocide. Ramirez had always claimed to be a victim of circumstance, an innocent who'd been swept up in a plot with inner dimensions that had not been revealed to him. Now, like a man facing the gallows, he was confessing his sins in hope that the truth would save his soul.
“Why did you do it?” he asked.
“Because I thought⦔ Ramirez looked away. “Because I thought it was the only way to save the human race. And because⦔
“Never mind.” Harker glanced toward the cockpit. Emily heard nothing of this. “You can tell me the rest ifâ¦when we get through this.”
Ramirez's eyes widened. “Then you understandâ¦?”
“No. That's a matter between you andâ¦well, someone else.” Harker motioned to the nearest cell. “If we're lucky, then you'll be answering to me first.”
Â
It didn't take long for them to go into hibernation. In fact, Harker was surprised by how easy the entire procedure was once they accessed the tutorial program. Once they administered the proper antibiotics to themselves from the emergency kit, it was a relatively simple matter of inserting rubber lines into major arteries and strapping oxygen masks to faces. They weren't able to shave their body hair, though, but they'd just have to accept the consequences.
He and Emily put Ramirez down first. Once he was safely in hibernation, they had a little more confidence. Harker helped Emily climb into her cell; one last kiss, then the mask went over her face. He shut the hatch, flooded the casing, and waited until its panel lights went green. Then he programmed his cell to repeat the same procedure for him.
Harker closed the hatch behind him, then pulled the air mask over his face. As he laid his arms next to him, he felt consciousness slipping away from him even as warm blue began to ooze up around his body.
You're about to die
, he thought, and for a moment he felt a surge of panic.
No, you're not going to die.
He forced himself to relax.
You're just going away for a while. And when you wake up, you'll be in another placeâ¦
Darkness swept in upon him, and he was gone.
JANUARY 8, 2291âSPINDRIFT
T
he ramp leading underground was like none they'd ever seen before. Peering down through the open hatch, they saw that it wasn't as smooth as they had first thought, but appeared instead to be comprised of thin metallic plates, no two exactly alike, that overlapped one another like roof shingles. Although the overall structure resembled a spiral staircase, it was difficult to see how anyoneâor anythingâcould safely use it. The plates were sleek and unevenly distributed, and seemed to grow straight out of the shaft walls, with no other visible means of support. Nor was there a guardrail to prevent one from falling down the empty well that yawned within its center.
One close look at the ramp, and Harker knew that they'd need to rig a safety line before they made their descent. They still had a fifty-meter coil of rope among their supplies, though, and when he aimed a pocket light down the staircase well, he caught a glimpse of a floor no more than thirty meters away. So he hammered a piton into the ground seven meters from the hatch, where there was no underlying metal surface, and once he fed the end of the rope through its loop and tied it off, he wrapped the other end around his chest and shoulders. He'd make the initial descent, and once he reached the bottom of the shaft, he'd unwrap his end of the rope and have Ramirez pull it back up. The other two would descend the same way; Ramirez next, then Cruz. The process would be time-consuming, but he dared not take any chances. And besides, with the rope in place, at least they'd have an easy way to ascend the shaft once they were ready to return to the surface.
All that was left, then, was deciding what to carry with them. Opening the last of the cases they'd brought with them from the shuttle, they divided up the equipmentâflashlights and lightsticks, a med kit, hand tools, spare batteries and patches for their suitsâand tucked it away within the cargo pockets of their overgarments. However, the LRC was too large for them to disassemble and carry down the shaft. Although they had no way of knowing how far their suit radios would continue to transmit once they were underground, and Emily was reluctant to lose contact with the team, in the end they decided that it was a risk they'd just have to take. Otherwise their exploration would be limited to radio range, which might well be no farther than the bottom of the shaft.
“All right, I think we're ready.” Harker yanked twice on the rope, making sure that it was secure, then glanced at the others. “If I run into any trouble⦔
“
We'll haul you back up.
” Cruz patted his shoulder. “
Good luck.
”
“
Please be careful.
” There was an anxious quaver in Emily's voice. “
Don't take any unnecessary chances.
”
Harker smiled at this. Everything they'd done so far was an unnecessary chance. “Wilco,” he said. “See you soon.” He took a deep breath, then took the first step through the hatch. Extending his arms to maintain his balance and watching where he put his feet, he slowly began to make his way down the ramp.
Although the plates appeared to be unstable, he was surprised to find that they were as solid as rock. Nor were they as slippery as they appeared; the soles of his boots had as much traction as he needed. Yet their uneven shapes and apparently random placement made them treacherous; he had to pause before taking each step to find another shingle large enough for him to plant his feet.
The hatch was designed to be opened by a creature with four hands. What did the ramp tell them about their means of mobility?
No doubt Ramirez will have something to say about this
, Harker thought. At least he didn't have to depend on his helmet lamps; the illumination provided by the radiant, veinlike crevices within the rock walls gave all the light he needed.
And I'm sure he'll have a theory about this, tooâ¦
“You're going to love this place, Jared,” he said. “It's just as weird as you are.”
Cruz laughed out loud. “
Thank you, Commander
,” Ramirez replied. “
I'm glad to know that it wasn't designed by humans. Then I'd be worried.
”
That remark almost stopped him.
Wonder what he meant by that?
He put it out of his mind. He was almost halfway down the ramp.
Focus, man. Focusâ¦
Twenty metersâ¦twenty-fiveâ¦thirtyâ¦and suddenly, he found himself at the bottom. Looking around, he thought for a moment that he'd reached a dead end. Then he looked beneath the final curve of the ramp and caught sight of another circular hatch, identical to the one above except that it was vertical and fitted into the wall.
“All right, I've reached the bottom, and I think I've found the front door.” Rocking back on his haunches, he turned his helmet faceplate upward. Far above, he could see Ramirez and Cruz, peering down at him. “You guys ready?”
“
Can't wait
,” Cruz said. “
Doesn't look so hard. Took you only ten minutes.
”
Had it been that quick? He could have sworn that his descent had taken three times as long. “It isn't, but don't rush,” Harker said as he untied himself from the rope. “Those stepsâ¦ifyou can call 'em thatâ¦are tougher than they look. Emcee, you copy?”
“
Still here.
” Emily's voice was a little more faint, but at least they had radio reception. “
I had to boost the gain, but you're coming in.
”
“Good to know.” Harker watched as the rope was dragged upward, its end bouncing lightly across the ramp plates. “Any word from
Galileo
?”
“
Negatory.
” A pause. “
If I hear from them, what do I tell Ian?
”
“That I'm resting and can't be disturbed.” He let out his breath, wishing that he could rub his eyelids. If only that were true. This was his second EVA in less than ten hours; on the Moon or Mars, ESA protocols would've called for a twelve-hour break between excursions. He didn't have that luxury, though. “When we get back, you and me are going to have some serious bunk time.”
“
Hey, we don't need to hear this.
” Cruz had pulled the line the rest of the way up and was helping Ramirez fasten it around himself. “
Some of us aren't so lucky.
”
“You've got a dirty mind.” Harker grinned. “I was talking about catching up on my sleep.”
“
Yeah, uh-huh. Sure you were.
”
Harker didn't reply. No sense in rubbing it in. Instead, he took a moment to walk over to the second hatch. Aside from its orientation, it looked much the same as the one aboveâfour triangular metal sections that met in the center, with circular lockplates in each one, along with their corresponding finger holesâbut on closer inspection he noticed something else.
Recessed within the wall to the left of the hatch was a small panel. Located at shoulder height and shaped somewhat like a chevron, it was divided four ways, forming a quartet of four-sided buttons. Something appeared to be inscribed within each button; he peered more closely at them and discerned vertical rows of fluid, almost Arabic-looking, script.
An alien language. Harker felt something run down the back of his neck. No telling what it meant, but he suddenly realized that he was looking at something no other human had ever seen before.
The hell with Lawrence
, he thought.
I've
got
to see what's behind this door.
“
I'm on the rope
,” Ramirez said. “
Ready down there?
”
“Just a sec. Hold on.” Turning away from the hatch, Harker started to head back to the ramp. Something caught his eye that made him stop dead, something he hadn't noticed before.
A fine layer of dust lay upon the floor. Coal black and powdery, it was obviously regolith that had drifted down from the surface sometime before. His footprints were visible within the dustâ¦but among them were scuff marks, broad and oval, between the hatch and the bottom of the ramp.
Harker stared at them for a moment before he finally let out his breath. “Don't mean to rush you, Jared,” he said, “but there's something down here you might want to see.”
Â
Ramirez took a few minutes to study the tracks, taking care to avoid disturbing them while he used Cruz's camera to take pictures. “
Hard to say for sure
,” he said at last, “
but my guess is that whoever left them behind wasn't bipedal
.”
“How do you figure that?” Harker gazed down at the alien footprints. “They all look alike to me.”
“
Not quite. Look closer
.” He pointed to a set of four tracks that lay a little apart from the others, less than a half meter from the bottom of the ramp. “
See? The two up front are a little wider than the ones in backâ¦like they carry most of the weight.
” Then he moved over the trail that preceded them, bending over to shine a flashlight on them. “
And look how unevenly these ones are arranged. Left, leftâ¦right, rightâ¦left, rightâ¦left, rightâ¦like someone came off the ramp, stepped aside for a moment, then walked over to the door.
”
“
Someone?
” Cruz stood on the other side of the footprints. “
You mean
something,
don't you?
”
“
No, I meant
someone.” Ramirez straightened up. “
The sooner you get past the idea that whoever left these behind are some sort of monsters, or whatever else you may think they areâ¦
”
“
Don't patronize me.
”
“
Then use your head, and I won't.
” Ramirez turned toward Harker. “
And I wish you'd been a little cautious. If you hadn't stomped around here so much, I might have been able to tell more. As it is, I can only hypothesize from what little I've found here.
”
“I'll keep that in mind.” Harker held his temper in check.
Whenever I start to like this guyâ¦
“So what else have you been able to hypothesize? If that's not too much to ask, that is.”
His sarcasm was lost on the astrobiologist. “
A little, but not much
,” Ramirez said, turning his light so that its beam slowly traveled from the ramp to the nearby hatch. “
Quadrupedal gaitâ¦an average distance of about sixty centimeters from one footprint to the nextâ¦oval impressions, with no clear marks around their edgesâ¦I'd say whoever came through here moved on four legs and wore a pressure suit of some sort.
”
“How do you figure that?”
“
You think they went outside naked?
” Ramirez walked over to the door to inspect it once more. “
Not only that, but he or sheâ¦perhaps both, if they're asexualâ¦is taller than we are. At a guess, I'd sayâ¦oh, just a little more than two meters.
”
“From the height of the panel, right?”
“
Correct. And from the diameter of this hatch. If it leads to an airlock, then it shouldn't be any larger than it needs to be, in order to conserve internal pressure.
” Ramirez shined his light on the panel. “
Can't read the inscriptions, of course
,” he continued, reaching up to it, “
but if we surmise that this controls theâ¦
”
“Hold it!” Harker darted forward to grab his wrist. “Let's not get carried away here.” He pulled Ramirez away from the panel. “Emcee, have you been listening to all this?”
“
Roger that, Ted.
”
“Good. Very good.” Feeling his heart hammer in his chest, Harker nervously regarded the panel and the adjacent hatch.
If I had any common sense
, he thought,
I'd quit now, while I'm still ahead.
But his curiosity was greater than his fear. He swallowed, and went on. “We're about to make an attempt to open the second hatch. If we get cut off, for any reason⦔
“
Proceed with the mission.
” Emily was more calm than he was. Either that, or she was hiding her anxiety. “
Six hours. If I don't hear from you by then, I'll return to
Galileo
and fetch a rescue party.
”
“That's my lady.” All right, the backup plan was in place. Harker let go of Ramirez's wrist. “Go on. Give it your best shot.”
“
Thank you.
” Ramirez hesitated, studying the panel for a moment. Then, very deliberately, he laid his right forefinger upon the panel's top left button and pressed it.