The Sails of Tau Ceti (38 page)

Tory took a deep breath, and then exhaled heavily. It was not what she had wanted to hear, but it was probably right. Whatever others might say, her own opinion was the only one that really counted. Others had not been there. She had. She alone had faced the terrible knowledge, and she alone had made the decision to help the Phelan with their deceit. Only the future would tell if she had done the right thing. Meanwhile, she would try not to let the opinions of the small-minded bother her. A nice Olympian attitude, she thought, but how successful would she be in actually maintaining it? That, too, was something she would have to wait to see.

Behind her, the broad doors leading from the living quarters moved silently into their recesses, and a crowd of humans and Phelan ambled out into the rooftop garden. Tory and Kit turned at the sudden commotion to see Boerk Hoffenzoller and Faslorn striding toward them side by side.

“That’s it,” the first councilor boomed. He was rumpled and sported a two-day growth of beard. Faslorn, too, looked as though he was near the end of his endurance. His four-limbed gait was not its usual seamless motion and his sleek fur was ruffled. “We shook hands ten minutes ago and Faslorn sent his orders to
Far Horizons
.”

“Just in time,” Kit said, pointing.

Directly overhead was a disk twice the size of the full moon, but lacking Luna’s distinctive features. The disk glowed softly with reflected sunlight. When Tory had first come out into the garden, the apparition had been halfway up the eastern sky. Now it was approaching zenith.

Following the eclipse, the Phelan starship had attempted to flee back toward the inner Solar System, but had been overtaken by Garth Van Zandt’s squadron. The Navy had been herding it toward parking orbit ever since. The violent maneuvers that had plunged Earth into darkness for an hour had required six days to correct. Slowly, the giant light sail had curved outward toward an invisible point a million kilometers in front of Earth, placing it directly overhead at local dawn. By coincidence, it would reach its final resting place just as the sun poked its fiery orb above the Manhattan skyline.

The mixed crowd of humans and aliens stood with their heads tilted back. As the first golden light illuminated their rooftop, the strange moon overhead began to change shape.
Far Horizons
had matched velocities and, with no further need of the light sail, had jettisoned it. No longer tethered to the heavy ship, the sail crumpled as light pressure pushed it back toward open space. In the coming months, the loose sail would accelerate to Solar System escape velocity and return to the interstellar void from whence it came. Hopefully, it was the first of many such.

Humans and Phelan alike watched in open-mouthed wonder as the sail grew perceptibly smaller by the minute. No one spoke, lest they puncture the mood. Finally, when the sun had risen completely out of the sea to paint the sky blue and blank out the image of the sail, Boerk Hoffenzoller cleared his throat. “All right, everyone back to work. We’ve a future to plan!”

Tory found herself trailing after the small crowd of diplomats, scientists, and four aliens. She was struck by the symbolism of the grouping. Never again would human or Phelan be alone in the universe. Wherever they went, they would go together. The start of the new era would forever be measured from the moment when
Far Horizons
had released its sail. With hard work and good will (and a little luck all around), the collaboration could benefit both species beyond the dreams of either.

Then there were the other three Phelan fleets to consider. Would they, too, find intelligent beings in orbit about their star sanctuaries? If so, the fleet headed for Epsilon Eridani, only 5.4 light years from Tau Ceti, had already done so. That fleet had arrived a full century earlier. Those headed for Alpha Centauri and Epsilon Indi, (13.5 and 15.8 light years from Tau Ceti) would not make starfall for decades to come. Whatever alliances they must make were for the future.

Who knew? Perhaps it would one day be possible to contact the other Phelan fleets. It would not be difficult to send Starhoppers to those other systems to learn the fate of the Phelan First, Second, and Fourth fleets. Having made contact, communications could be established via radio telescopes.

Tory halted a moment and prodded her own psyche. An hour ago, she could not bring herself to be interested in whether her own race lived or died. Now she was scheming to contact the other Phelan fleets. Sometime while watching
Far Horizons
’ arrival, she had come to a decision. The turmoil that had dogged her and interrupted her sleep for months was gone. Deep within herself, she had found a wellspring of peace. Tory felt her step grow lighter as she reentered the hot, crowded living quarters. Unlike Atlas, she no longer had the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Whatever else might happen, she had done the best she could. Whether people understood or not really did not matter. Besides, Boerk Hoffenzoller was right.

There
was
a future to plan!

#

The End

Author’s Biography

Michael McCollum was born in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1946, and is a graduate of Arizona State University, where he majored in aerospace propulsion and minored in nuclear engineering. He is currently employed at AlliedSignal Aerospace Company, Tempe, Arizona, where he is a senior engineering manager in the Pneumatic Controls Product Line. In his career, Mr. McCollum has worked on the precursor to the Space Shuttle Main Engine, a nuclear valve to replace the one that failed at Three Mile Island, several guided missiles, Space Station Freedom, and virtually every aircraft in production today. He is currently involved in an effort to create a joint venture company with a major Russian aerospace engine manufacturer and has traveled extensively to Russia in the last several years.

In addition to his engineering, Mr. McCollum is a successful professional writer in the field of science fiction. He is the author of a dozen pieces of short fiction and has appeared in magazines such as Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, Amazing, and Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. His novels (all originally published by Ballantine-Del Rey) include
A Greater Infinity
, ,
Procyon’s Promise
,
Antares Dawn
,
Antares Passage
,
The Clouds of Saturn, and The Sails of Tau Ceti,
His novel,
Thunderstrike!
, was optioned by a Hollywood production company for a possible movie. Several of these books have subsequently been translated into Japanese and German.

Mr. McCollum is the proprietor of Sci Fi - Arizona, one of the first author-owned-and-operated virtual bookstores on the INTERNET. He has completed the first book in a series titled
The Gibraltar Stars Trilogy
.
Gibraltar Earth
was the first original novel published on Sci Fi -Arizona. Mr. McCollum is now working on
Antares Victory
.

Mr. McCollum is married to a lovely lady named Catherine, and has three children: Robert, Michael, and Elizabeth. Robert is a newly minted engineer, and Michael is studying to be a police officer. Elizabeth is a student at Northern Arizona University, where she is majoring in communications.

Sci Fi - Arizona

A Virtual Science Fiction Bookstore and Writer’s Workshop

Michael McCollum, Proprietor

WWW.SCIFI-AZ.COM

If you enjoy technologically sophisticated science fiction or have an interest in writing, you will probably find something to interest you at Sci Fi - Arizona. We have short stories and articles on writing-all for free! If you like what you find, we have full length, professionally written science fiction novels in both electronic form and as hard copy books, and at prices lower than you will find in your local bookstore.

Moreover, if you like space art, you can visit our Art Gallery, where we feature the works of Don Dixon, one of the best astronomical and science fiction artists at work today. Don is the Art Director of the Griffith Observatory. Pick up one or more of his spacescapes for computer wallpaper, or order a high quality print direct from the artist.

We have book length versions of both Writers’ Workshop series, “The Art of Writing, Volumes I and II” and “The Art of Science Fiction, Volumes I and II” in both electronic and hard copy formats.

So if you are looking for a fondly remembered novel, or facing six hours strapped into an airplane seat with nothing to read, check out our offerings. We think you will like what you find.

NOVELS

1. Life Probe -
^US
$4.50

The Makers searched for the secret to faster-than-light travel for 100,000 years. Their chosen instruments were the Life Probes, which they launched in every direction to seek out advanced civilizations among the stars. One such machine searching for intelligent life encounters 21st century Earth. It is not sure that it has found any…

2. Procyon’s Promise -
^US
$4.50

Three hundred years after humanity made its deal with the Life Probe to search out the secret of faster-than-light travel, the descendants of the original expedition return to Earth in a starship. They find a world that has forgotten the ancient contract. No matter. The colonists have overcome far greater obstacles in their single-minded drive to redeem a promise made before any of them were born…

3. Antares Dawn - US$4.50

When the supergiant star Antares exploded in 2512, the human colony on Alta found their pathway to the stars gone, isolating them from the rest of human space for more than a century. Then one day, a powerful warship materialized in the system without warning. Alarmed by the sudden appearance of such a behemoth, the commanders of the Altan Space Navy dispatched one of their most powerful ships to investigate. What ASNS Discovery finds when they finally catch the intruder is a battered hulk manned by a dead crew.

That is disturbing news for the Altans. For the dead battleship could easily have defeated the whole of the Altan navy. If it could find Alta, then so could whomever it was that beat it. Something must be done…

4. Antares Passage - US$4.50

After more than a century of isolation, the paths between stars are again open and the people of Alta in contact with their sister colony on Sandar. The opening of the foldlines has not been the unmixed blessing the Altans had supposed, however.

For the reestablishment of interstellar travel has brought with it news of the Ryall, an alien race whose goal is the extermination of humanity. If they are to avoid defeat at the hands of the aliens, Alta must seek out the military might of Earth. However, to reach Earth requires them to dive into the heart of a supernova.

5. Antares Victory - Coming, summer 2000

The long-awaited conclusion of the Antares Series will be available on Sci Fi-Arizona in the summer of 2000. Watch for it!

6. Thunderstrike! - US$6.00

The new comet found near Jupiter was an incredible treasure trove of water ice and rock. Immediately, the water-starved Luna Republic and the Sierra Corporation, a leader in asteroid mining, were squabbling over rights to the new resource. However, all thoughts of profit and fame were abandoned when a scientific expedition discovered that the comet’s trajectory placed it on a collision course with Earth!

As scientists struggled to find a way to alter the comet’s course, world leaders tried desperately to restrain mass panic, and two lovers quarreled over the direction the comet was to take, all Earth waited to see if humanity had any future at all…

7. The Clouds of Saturn - US$4.50

When the sun flared out of control and boiled Earth’s oceans, humanity took refuge in a place that few would have predicted. In the greatest migration in history, the entire human race took up residence among the towering clouds and deep clear-air canyons of Saturn’s upper atmosphere. Having survived the traitor star, they returned to the all-too-human tradition of internecine strife. The new city-states of Saturn began to resemble those of ancient Greece, with one group of cities taking on the role of militaristic Sparta …

8. The Sails of Tau Ceti - US$4.50

Starhopper
was humanity’s first interstellar probe. It was designed to search for intelligent life beyond the solar system. Before it could be launched, however, intelligent life found Earth. The discovery of an alien light sail inbound at the edge of the solar system generated considerable excitement in scientific circles. With the interstellar probe nearing completion, it gave scientists the opportunity to launch an expedition to meet the aliens while they were still in space. The second surprise came when
Starhopper’s
crew boarded the alien craft. They found beings that, despite their alien physiques, were surprisingly compatible with humans. That two species so similar could have evolved a mere twelve light years from one another seemed too coincidental to be true.

One human being soon discovered that coincidence had nothing to do with it …

9. GIBRALTAR EARTH - First Time in Print — $6.00

It is the 24th Century and humanity is just gaining a toehold out among the stars. Stellar Survey Starship
Magellan
is exploring the New Eden system when they encounter two alien spacecraft. When the encounter is over, the score is one human scout ship and one alien aggressor destroyed. In exploring the wreck of the second alien ship, spacers discover a survivor with a fantastic story.