now that cameron was gone there was much more to be done in the hospital. jeriann rushed to get through but small errors plagued her, nullifying a good part of her work. finally she forced herself to be more careful, checking the biologicals with extreme caution.
"i hear," said maureen, sauntering in, "the nuptials were informal, catch as catch can."
"no ceremony," said jeriann. "we stopped in and registered and went on to my place."
"what's the difference as long as you're sure of him," said maureen.
"i'm not. i'm sure of me."
maureen looked at her critically. "in your case it's good enough," she said with a trace of envy as she leaned against the machine.
"don't," said jeriann sharply. "this thing is an art, not a science. the heat of your hand will alter the product."
"well, all right," said maureen crossly. "if i had something worthwhile to do i wouldn't be so nervous."
"i think it can be arranged," said jeriann, smiling. "how would you like to be a colonist?"
"on the next ship? maybe."
"it would be exciting. also you'd be near webber." jeriann made a delicate adjustment.
"i haven't made up my mind about him," said maureen airily. "he's virile though."
"he clanks a lot, if that's what you mean."
"at least he doesn't pretend he's carrying the world on his shoulders without any——" maureen stopped. "i guess i shouldn't say that in front of you."
"you shouldn't," agreed jeriann. "nowhere i'll be apt to hear it. now why don't you see jordan about getting on the next ship?"
after that the work went smoothly and she soon found she'd completed the day's quota and part of the next. she continued longer until she had tomorrow free. they had the whole day off to do what they liked, if she could persuade him to rest. she was humming when she went out and it was clear evening and there was a beautiful silver fleck in the sky.
only it was not beautiful because it was a ship—and it was not their ship.
and neither was it the star victory. she'd watched it so often on the scanner that every line of it was etched in her mind.
she hurried to gravity center, every step an effort. why couldn't they have been discovered later? she would have preferred an alien ship, anything to this. where had it come from?
jordan was waiting at the entrance. "i knew you'd be here. you saw the scout?"
it was simple if she had thought about it. the star victory was large and carried auxiliary landing craft. "when did it come?"
"less than an hour ago. go on in. i'll wait for anti."
docchi was leaning against the command unit. the telescreen on the opposite wall was glowing but there was nothing on it except harsh white glare. "i tried to get you at the hospital as soon as they stopped talking. you'd just left."
"they didn't call until they got close?"
a smile had died on his face and the corpse of it was still there. "they nailed us dead. we should have had someone checking on the scanner. it works turned away from the planet. i guess it wouldn't have done any good though—there was just too much space to cover. first thing we knew they were on the telescreen. jordan went outside, and there they were."
she was thinking of the people on the planet. the asteroid couldn't abandon them. she hoped the scout didn't know how vulnerable they were. "what did they say?"
"the general sent an urgent message. he asked us not to land on this or any other planet."
"he asked us?" the general was accustomed to commanding.
his face was illuminated with the weak radiance of his veins. "i didn't tell them we had landed and i don't think they observed it." he stopped to recall what she said and the effort was painful. "oh yes, the general asked us. below the cloud banks he discovered an alien civilization on the saturn type planet and is negotiating with them. naturally they'd regard it as a hostile act on the part of mankind if we occupied a planet in their system without first asking."
jeriann touched the absorption capsules without feeling them. "aliens!"
"you were right, though you had no right to be. not that it would have made any difference what we thought. as long as the general was cruising around the planet we wouldn't have dared investigate."
it didn't pay to generalize on what they learned from one planet, in one system. when man had journeyed throughout the galaxy there would still be surprises waiting for him when he came to the other side. "let the expedition worry about hostile acts," said jeriann. "if the aliens break off negotiations, so much the better for us."
"you forget we didn't come solely for ourselves. we hoped to make ourselves useful to mankind. what kind of disservice is that, to embroil humanity in a war with the first aliens we meet?" his face was flaring and white and the smile gone.
"don't," whispered jeriann. "i'm afraid of lightning—yours most of all. i expect to hear thunder and be struck dead."
"i'm sorry," he said. "we have a right to think of ourselves but not exclusively of ourselves."
"i mean, do they care? if they live on that planet they can't want this. they couldn't survive under such different conditions. astronomical observations must be difficult with so many clouds and without space travel are we sure the aliens even know about this world?"
he blinked wearily. "we took a chance. we had to. they have space travel. the general wouldn't be so anxious not to offend them if they were inferior to our own civilization."
"but we didn't see their ships."
"again we weren't looking in the right place. there's nothing in this system they travel to. but there is a comparable planet in proxima, and in recent months they've been on opposite sides of the respective suns. they wait for more favorable positions."
it was not luck that had favored the general. theory said there should be intelligent life in the centauri system and it further indicated that it would be found on an earth type planet. it was half correct, and the wrong half had fallen against the accidentals. stubbornly insisting on following the plan laid down by his superiors, the general had won. "what are we going to do?" said jeriann. "there are hostages down there."
"we'll get them back," said docchi. "nobody can stop us."
"can we? their ships are faster than ours."
"they can't use their speed close to a planet. and the expedition won't be aggressive in someone else's backyard. we can't land without breaking up the asteroid but we'll go near enough so they won't be able to intercept our ship."
it was a daring maneuver. the bulk of the asteroid could be used to cut off any attempt to overtake their returning ship. "there's roche's limit," said jeriann.
"doesn't apply. we're not a simple planetoidal mass. we'll clamp the heaviest gravity we're capable of and, barring something unforeseen, we can hold the crust together at a distance of ten to twenty miles of the surface."
she understood; they'd take the risk if necessary but it ought to be avoided, because it was a risk. nobody knew what solid tides would be set in the crust of the asteroid as the result of an external gravity field.
"and then what?" she said. "we get them back and then what?" her hands were heavy. the silver mote overhead, shining in the light of alpha, was implacable.
"what else is there?" said docchi with an attempt at cheerfulness. "we'll get them back, every person, and then we'll go on. to the next star and the next, and if we have to, the one after that. somewhere we'll find a place."
jeriann touched him wonderingly. "i love you for saying that. i love you anyway, but particularly for saying that."
he seemed to shrink, flaming where she touched him, fiery fingertips on his face. "you know?" he said dully.
"yes. for quite a while now. anti suspects too. i think we all do. this was our last chance, wasn't it?"
he couldn't look at her. "we shouldn't have stopped. the next star surely would have been the place."
"place," said jeriann. "it wasn't your fault. why do you suppose we were so eager to agree with you? we knew the longer we went on the more we were at a disadvantage."
it was so drearily obvious that nearly everyone had some inkling of the truth. the star victory was not the only ship of its class; some were rusting in the spaceyards and some were in use as interplanetary freighters. and if the star victory could be converted easily, why not the others?
a new drive to replace the obsolete one? order it and with a little switching around in the manufacturing plants, diverting it from other uses, it was delivered tomorrow and completely installed the day after that. the command unit the accidentals had labored so long to alter? every dinky little office had as good and in many cases all that was required was changing the information spools. and thousands of crews were available, already trained, used to working together. it wouldn't be hard to recruit them and add a few officers at the top and a staff of linguists and scientists.
nona had given them the one thing they needed and now mankind was exploding into space. there was no end in sight. the whole neighboring sphere of space that enveloped the solar system was due for immediate exploration.
and the accidentals hadn't been forgotten. they were not the objective, wealth was: planets to be claimed and occupied or mined, civilizations to be contacted with whom products and techniques and entire new sciences could be exchanged.
if they were lucky enough to get away from the centauri system at the next star they'd find other ships waiting, doing business with the natives, if there were any; if not, establishing firm little colonies on everything that was capable of supporting human life. they were surrounded, overwhelmed by numbers. it was no wonder the general hadn't been perturbed at the failure of his plan to land unnoticed on the asteroid. he knew what had been slow in occurring to them. for them there was no next star.
docchi gazed in sick defeat at jeriann. there was no need to talk. there was nothing to say.
the asteroid was rolling toward twilight as anti came in. "what are we doing about those insolent pirates? they have no jurisdiction here. we ought to aim the asteroid at them. we can smash them." she saw their faces and the words stopped. "i was hoping—but i guess we can't hide it among ourselves," she said.
"it's no use," said docchi heavily. "we'll have to go down and take them off the planet."
"how will they know? we can't get a beam down with a whole planet in the way," said anti. "let's wait till morning so we can tell them to be ready."
"i don't know," said docchi indecisively.
"none of us know anything," said anti fiercely. "go home and get some sleep. we'll think of something by morning."
after they were gone anti went outside. looking up she could see the scout, still visible, glistening in the light of alpha. it was much brighter than the stars that had been watching them.
cameron tried to be detached and objective. "do they know we're here?"
"i don't think so. they'd have been upset if they had any idea."
"seems likely," agreed the doctor. "we left as they were approaching. but we took off from the face nearest the planet and they came in from the opposite side. the asteroid acted as a screen."
"probably," agreed docchi with indifference. "how soon can you be ready?"
"do we have to come up immediately?"
docchi shrugged. "i can shove the scout out of the way. i don't know what will happen if and when the star victory gets here."
"it's too big to maneuver close to the surface of the planet."
"perhaps. but it carries other scouts it can launch."
cameron grimaced. "two or three fast little ships would be difficult to brush away. but do we have to let them get close?"
"how can we stop them? better come up while you can."
cameron was fighting it, not recognizing the odds. "the scanner will work, won't it?" questioned the doctor.
"turned away from the planet, yes."
"that's what i meant. keep it trained on the alien world. if the star victory comes out of the clouds and heads this way you'll know it in plenty of time to scoop us up."
it could be done but why jeopardize themselves further? he wanted to refuse but jeriann was pressing close to him, whispering. "do you have any reason for wanting to stay?" he asked reluctantly.
"you see right through me, don't you?" said cameron. "no, there's no real reason except this, nona's interested in this world and wants to stay."
it was as valid as anything else he could have said. that they had come so far, if only to fail at the final step, was due almost entirely to her efforts. she deserved some reward, though it was only the satisfaction of mild curiosity. "wait," he said suspiciously. "are you sure you know what she wants? we're sometimes able to tell her what we want, but never the other way around."
"but i know——" the doctor stopped and looked at him wildly, his face flooded with sudden exaltation which gradually faded. "i do know," he said at last. "for a moment i thought it was telepathy. but i guess not. i'm not a computer." he glanced out of the viewport at a world they couldn't see.
"thank you for bringing it to my attention, docchi," he said when he faced them again. "it's just interest. for the first time she has someone she wants to understand—me—and a world outside she longs to visit. the combination is strong enough to stimulate her mind—and she's bright enough to learn anything she decides she has to."
cameron rubbed his hand across his face and he was tired too. "let us stay here as long as you can without endangering yourselves. i want to work with her under these surroundings. i think now, looking back at the way she's behaved these last few days, i can make a start at teaching her to read."
"it must be a lovely place if she likes it so well," said jeriann. "maybe you can turn the screen of your ship so we can see what it's like outside."
"no," said docchi hoarsely. "don't waste time taking apart the ship. get busy with her, teach her what you can. take her outside if it's safe, but don't go far. we may call suddenly." he lowered his voice as he went on talking and at the end was no louder than usual.
"i understand," said cameron. "don't worry about us. something may come out of it."
"it's worse for them," said jeriann when the screen darkened. "they've seen it and then they'll have to come back. it won't be anything we'll have to shove deep in our memories."
he didn't know. he didn't know at all. "i need your help," he said, going into the scanner room. under his direction jeriann made adjustments and brought the alien world in view. cloud swathed and mysterious, a strange civilization hidden under the impenetrable atmosphere, it rolled on through space.
"we'll take turns," he said. "the minute anything bright comes up we'll get busy."
"i hate them," said jeriann.
"who?"
"the aliens. if it weren't for them we'd have a clear claim on the planet."
"but they didn't do anything," he said. "they're merely protecting their own interests. we'd do the same." nevertheless he hated the aliens too.
jeriann was shaking him. she had to shout before he started and woke up. "they've left," she said. "we've got to hurry."
he was tired and didn't want to move. it was very unimportant. "are you sure it was the star victory you saw? it may have been a satellite."
"it was the ship—at least it was using rockets."
he got out of bed and let her help him dress. usually he refused her aid. "rockets? but the star victory doesn't have any." of course it did; it was part of the obsolete equipment that hadn't been removed because there wasn't time. besides, it was an excellent reverse source of propulsion.
"i don't care. that's what i saw," said jeriann.
"where are jordan and anti?"
"i've called them. they'll be there."
he finished dressing and they hurried to the scanner. there was no mistake; it was the ship, but there was no bright tail behind. they were using the gravity drive. he watched it grimly.
"but they were," said jeriann. "there's nothing wrong with my eyesight. they were using rockets."
he withheld comment. rockets weren't nearly as efficient as the gravity drive, particularly near a large planet. yet jeriann said she saw it. he hoped she hadn't.
anti and jordan came in almost simultaneously and joined the vigil. minutes passed in silence and then the brief orange flower blossomed again.
"see," said jeriann.
"now why are they doing that?" growled jordan. "they were doing fine without it."
"maybe they need more speed," suggested anti.
jordan grunted. "wouldn't add ten per cent."
"but if they needed ten per cent, if they were in trouble——"
"they are in trouble," said jeriann. "it's a signal."
this was a version he could accept—if there weren't better explanations. swiftly docchi made mental approximations. "at the rate they're going they'll be here in half a day. they can't reach us with their telescreen until they're nearly here. shall we go inside and see what's wrong with them?"
they looked at each other, and looked, until anti answered. "what's a few minutes?" she said. "we've plenty of time to pick up our people. we can be gone before they get close."
could they? that was what he didn't know. taking an asteroid near the surface of a planet had never been tried and there were no rules. he'd have to feel it out as he went along, ready to turn away at the first indication of overload. docchi looked at jeriann, who nodded imperceptibly.
"i think we're in agreement," said jordan, touching the dials.
general judd was waiting for them. "there you are," he said enigmatically. "i hoped you'd understand."
"i'm afraid we don't. you'll have to explain."
"still the old flamethrower, i see," said the general brusquely. "mainly i wanted to make sure you didn't run when you saw us coming. my psychologists assured me you'd be a sucker for anything that looked like distress. i've got new respect for them." he chuckled.
"now that we've been suckered, as you so kindly put it, please tell us what you want."
"i'm coming to——" the general's face reddened and his eyes bulged and he started coughing. the air wheezed stranglingly in and out of his lungs until finally he was able to control the spasm. he grabbed a tissue and wiped his face with it. "designs are no good," he said. "ship, spacesuits, everything. meant to hold pressure from the inside and down there it's in the other direction—and it's really pressure. gets into everything. not very much but it fries your lungs. remember that."
"we will. get to the point, general."
the general looked at docchi thoughtfully and seemed satisfied with what he saw. "don't be impatient. what i have to say is complicated and you'll have to get the background. are you interested?"
"i am," said anti.
"good," said the general, not waiting for the others to signify. "well, we landed. we went in on the gravity drive and possibly it was a mistake but i don't see what else we could have done—rockets wouldn't have held us. anyway they had their instruments out and we think they could tell what we were using."
"what were they like, the aliens?" asked jeriann.
the general seemed to regard that as unimportant information. he glanced appreciatively at jeriann but ignored her question. "funny thing. they didn't ask us about our drive and, of course, we didn't tell them. as nearly as we can tell they have something like it—about in the stage of development ours was a few years ago. theirs will take them to proxima because it's relatively close but it's no good beyond that." the general thought about what he'd just said. "well, their drive wouldn't work at real interstellar distances—which is why they haven't visited us—but unfortunately we must have given them a clue. they know ours works and in no time they'll have it figured out."
"sort of suspicious, aren't you?" said anti.
"lord, yes," said the general. "do you know what land surface their planet has, what a population it will support? two planets against three, but theirs are so much bigger. it balances off a little that we have a better drive and our reproduction rate can be higher than theirs."
"i take it you didn't tell them about jupiter and saturn?" said jordan.
"no point bringing that up," said the general, apprehensive at the mere thought. "oh they have things we want. two very attractive planets, and they're wizards at high pressure chemistry and organics—you'd expect them to be—but the exchange was hardly worth it." the general sat motionless, recalling the scenes on that strange planet. "they could be very dangerous. it was imperative that we establish some sort of friendly contact. naturally we told them about you."
"naturally," said docchi dryly. "you were four light years from home and you weren't dealing with uncivilized natives."
"nothing derogatory, you understand," said the general hastily.
"i'm sure," said docchi. "general, some time ago i asked what you wanted. much as we appreciate your friendly conversation—and the friendliness is quite unexpected—unless you can tell us what you're after in the next few minutes we'll have to conclude that your sole objective is to hold us here while you get closer."
"don't do anything rash," said the general, as concerned as docchi had ever seen him. "you see it was a stalemate. we were a little afraid of them and they didn't trust us and both sides were noncommittal. we didn't show each other a thing. but there had to be a solution."
"general, i warned you."
"can't you see?" half-shouted the general, rising up. "i thought you were smart. we're going home and we may as well unload our surplus supplies. you'll need them. it will be about nine years before anyone gets back." he shoved the chair aside and concentrated steadily on jeriann, the one normal human among them.
"this is what we decided," he said. "you get the planet for the next fifteen or twenty years, longer if they approve. meanwhile all trade between us passes through you." he jammed his hands in his pockets. "there. do you accept?"
"do we accept?" said anti. "he asks us."
"i see you do," said the general with gloomy satisfaction. "it was their suggestion. they want to study you at length to see what makes humans behave. naturally you'll be keeping your eyes open." he swallowed and conquered the incipient cough. "now if you'll turn off this beastly little gadget and let me have some privacy i'll talk to you when we get there."
jordan reached for the scanner but was not quite soon enough. the general thought he was alone when he wasn't. "those damned butterflies. trillions of them." his face twisted.
