The Long Sunset Page 12

  “We can’t do better than this, Derek. There is nowhere we can move which will not cause disruption among the markers.”

  “Which one is out of line?”

  “Number nine on the list.” He put a section of the local stars on the display and circled one. Then he placed a golden star beside it. “The deviation is not extreme, but it’s considerably more than can be explained.”

  “Well,” said Derek, “I have to admit I’ve always loved a good mystery. But I’m not sure about this one.”

  “It sounds as if the original data was incorrect,” said Beth.

  “Yeah.” Derek shook his head. “It’s possible. Hutch, how many markers did we have?”

  “Twenty-four.”

  “Barry?”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “You’re saying we can’t make any adjustment in our position that would put us in line with all the markers?”

  “That is correct, sir.” Hutch couldn’t recall having heard Barry sound freaked out before, but there was no mistaking his tone.

  “The markers are obviously screwed up,” said Derek. “Start running Calliope’s spectrogram against them, Barry. One of those stars out there has to be the one we’re looking for.”

  Beth shook her head. “Why don’t we contact Union? Check with them?”

  “We’re too far out,” said Derek. “Even the hypercomm can’t help at this range.”

  Beth looked frustrated. Everybody did. How could a star just disappear?

  “Okay, look,” said Derek, “we know some part of our data is wrong. But if Calliope’s spectrogram is correct, we can still find it. Let’s run the spectrogram ID against every star we can see. I’m willing to bet the damned thing’s out there. We just need a little patience.” He was staring out at the sky, biting his lower lip, his eyes empty. “I wonder if somebody connected with the Save the Earth Foundation didn’t deliberately arrange this?”

  “Hutch,” said Barry, “one of the other marker stars is astray.”

  “You mean not where it should be?”

  “That is correct. I’ve now checked all of them and two are out of position. I’ve run Calliope’s spectrum against both. Neither is a match.”

  They sat for several minutes, no one saying much. Eventually, Barry came back. “I’ve checked each of the markers. None of them fits Calliope’s spectrogram. I am now proceeding to check every other visible star. Be advised it will take a while.”

  Ken appeared in the doorway. “How could something like this happen?”

  “Captain,” Barry said, “do you wish I check only those visible in the sense of what can be seen by the naked eye, or should I employ the telescope? If we do that, the number to be examined will increase astronomically.” He delivered the line without any suggestion of humor.

  “It has to be out there somewhere.”

  “Of course it does,” said Derek. “But we don’t have the supplies to maintain a mission of indefinite length.”

  • • •

  That evening, they brought their dinners onto the front porch and sat looking out at a branch of the Rocky Mountains. But Derek barely touched his food. “I don’t understand how we could have screwed up the data for the markers. The people who put it together have been with us a long time, and they had the assignment completed well before we left. They weren’t under the kind of pressure the maintenance people were. And I just don’t believe any of them would have done something like this deliberately. Mandy Evans runs the unit, and I’d trust her with my life.”

  “So, what’s next?” Hutch asked. “If Calliope doesn’t turn up out there somewhere, do we have any other options?”

  “Not really. We can hang out while Barry sorts through a half-million stars. Or we can give it up and leave.”

  “I’m sorry, Derek. I don’t know what to say.”

  “Neither do I, Priscilla. Well, for what it’s worth, at least we’ll be home for most of the baseball season.”

  They were halfway through the meal when Barry’s blinker lit up. Hutch excused herself and went onto the bridge, knowing it couldn’t be good news or the AI would simply have announced it. “What do you have?” she asked, keeping her voice down and reducing the volume on the speaker.

  “Captain, I’ve checked every star within eighty light-years. I can’t find a match for Calliope. If you wish, I can extend the search farther.”

  “Stay with it,” she said. “Go to one hundred and twenty light-years. It’s all we have now.”

  Derek was waiting for her when she came back. He looked at her without saying anything. She let him see that they had nothing. He just shook his head.

  “Still nothing?” asked Ken.

  Derek nodded at Hutch. Tell them.

  “No match anywhere for Calliope.”

  “So what do we do now?” said Ken. “Do we have a recourse?”

  “Well.” Derek lifted his cup of coffee. “Not really. We never thought to bring the whiskey.”

  Derek Blanchard, Extract from Notebook, Intended for Autobiography

  There’s a red giant that’s running out of fuel and will probably explode within the next million years or so. I don’t have a reading on its distance, but it can’t be too far since it’s visible to the naked eye. If we aren’t going to find the people who were lighting up their planetary system, I’d be willing to settle for a close-up look at a star that is on the verge of going supernova. Why not? Who else has done that? And, you know, what could possibly go wrong?

  —Tuesday, April 1, 2256

  14.

  Human existence is girt round with mystery; the narrow region of our experience is a small island in the midst of a boundless sea. To add to the mystery, the domain of our earthly existence is not only an island in infinite space, but also in infinite time. The past and the future are alike shrouded from us: we neither know the origin of anything which is, nor its final destination.

  —J. S. Mill, Three Essays on Religion, 1874

  You want to go get a close-up of a supernova?” Hutch was not happy.

  “No, no,” Derek said. “It’s just a red supergiant. It’s burning up the last of its fuel. When that happens, it will go supernova. But the process will probably take a while. Maybe a million years or so.”

  “Probably?” said Hutch.

  “There’s no imminent danger.”

  Hutch couldn’t believe he was serious. “Why did they cancel the Johnson mission twelve years ago, when they wanted to go to Betelgeuse?”

  “That was pure politics.”

  He was right. The Conservatives were cutting back on funding. And President McCore scared everybody about the potential for something we might do that would trigger the supernova. That was absolutely crazy, but it was an election year and nobody could come up with a good reason to go, since we couldn’t possibly learn anything that would be of any practical use. It was strictly blue-sky science. So why waste the money? The lives of the crew didn’t even enter the issue, since the mission was to have been automated. But interstellars were expensive. And the private corporations already had tourists begging for visits to a star threatening to explode. The risk was the whole point of going out there, Harry Klison had famously said on Smart Talk. It fueled the movement that has virtually shut down interstellar travel altogether. The Academy was eventually strangled.

  “I’m not in favor of it.”

  “Why not, Priscilla?”

  “I can’t see what we stand to gain.”

  “Can you really sit there and tell me the prospect of getting a good look at a red giant doesn’t turn you on?”

  “Not particularly.”

  “Can I ask you, as a favor, to support me on this? Look, nobody’s ever gotten close to one of these things. We’re probably not going to figure out what the waterfall was all about. Let’s at least go home with something.”

  She closed her eyes. “We got an up-close with the Wasserman Cluster.”

  “I hate to say this,” he said, “but you’re b
eginning to sound like Unterkoefler.”

  • • •

  “How big is that thing?” asked Wally. The bright red globe occupied most of the sky. The surface was tumultuous, chaotic, a boiling fire. The passenger cabin’s virtual effects had been shut down and they were all looking out windows. “It looks as if it’s ready to let go.”

  “I don’t think we need to worry,” said Derek. “Of course it’s big. If it were in the solar system, it would extend out well past Mars.”

  “Incredible,” said Beth.

  “It’s not as hot as the sun, though,” said Ken. “Red giants have a surface temperature not much more than half what the sun does.”

  “That sounds almost comfortable,” said Wally.

  “He’s been researching,” said Beth. “He was at it half the night. But he needs to have it explode before the book comes out.”

  “She isn’t kidding,” said Ken. “If this thing goes before publication, it wouldn’t matter if we didn’t find the waterfall. The supernova would be the whole story. People love explosions. Especially something like this.”

  Hutch couldn’t resist. “Derek, can you think of any way we could trigger it?”

  “Sure,” he said. “Just keep tempting fate.”

  “You know,” said Ken, “it really does look as if it’s getting ready to let go. Was this what that other one looked like when they were trying to put together the Johnson mission?” He was checking his notebook, then shaking his head. “No, actually, it doesn’t. Betelgeuse looked pretty calm compared to this one.”

  “Maybe we should leave,” said Wally. He added a smile but he wasn’t kidding.

  Derek took a sip from his coffee. “We won’t be staying long. Barry, you see anything of interest?”

  “I have so far located two planets in the system.”

  “Is either in the habitable zone?” asked Ken.

  Beth frowned. “Let’s hope not.”

  “One is a gas giant, pretty far out. The other is a rocky world.”

  “It’s not likely to matter,” said Derek. “The habitable zone around this type of star tends to be pretty big. But as the star swells, the zone keeps moving. So, there isn’t much time for life to take hold. And if it does, it would boil pretty quickly.”

  “Did you want to take a look anyhow?” Hutch asked.

  “How long will it take us to get there?”

  “We can make it by dinner.”

  Derek smiled. He looked at his companions. Nobody raised an objection. “All right,” he said, “let’s do it.”

  • • •

  The gas giant had lost none of its prominence. But the planet in the zone provided a surprise: It was green, covered with vegetation. Cumulus clouds drifted through its skies, and blue oceans covered vast areas. The polar caps were tinged with white, and the continents supported mountain chains, deserts, and broad plains. Under a different sun, the clouds would probably have been white. These were crimson-tinted, adding a lustrous delicacy to the landscape.

  It could almost have been a second Earth, especially when a large, cratered moon drifted into view. “Get pictures,” Ken said.

  Barry was already doing that. All except Hutch were seated in the passenger cabin, where the display had been activated again, allowing them to watch through the telescope. Forests and harbors and lakes drifted past. And a magnificent waterfall, the largest Hutch had ever seen. “It’s not the same one,” Ken said.

  Hutch, on the bridge, could hear the disappointment in his voice. She usually stayed out of casual conversation over the allcomm, but sometimes she couldn’t resist. “I’ll always remember this,” she said, “as the waterfall flight.”

  “This place would make a great tourist attraction,” said Wally. “Especially with that bomb in the sky. But it’s kind of a long ride to get here.”

  Hutch saw movement above the trees. “They’ve got birds,” she said. And more: Something that looked like a small dragon with an exceedingly long neck was walking casually through the surf along a beach’s edge, apparently looking for fish.

  “That is incredible,” said Derek. “That’s why we need to check these things out.”

  Then Wally almost screeched. “Look!”

  “What?” asked Beth.

  “There was a tent down there. I think.” He paused. “It’s gone now.”

  “Where?” demanded Derek. “Where was it?”

  “Right below us. We passed over it too quick.”

  Derek shook his head. “That makes no sense. The time span wouldn’t have been long enough to allow the development of intelligent life.”

  “How can you be sure?” asked Ken.

  “All I’m saying is that it seems extremely unlikely. Show me another tent and I’ll—”

  “What?” asked Beth as a series of tents appeared ahead, passed quickly below them, and were gone.

  “I just don’t believe this.” Derek sounded both shocked and delighted. “Barry, can you get the scope back on that strip of land?”

  A brief pause. Then: “What are you looking for, Derek?”

  “The tents. Are you recording everything?”

  “I am now.”

  “Barry, would you please get your act together?”

  “Derek, do you wish to record all activities involving the use of the telescope?”

  “Record whatever we do that involves this planet, okay? Or any other planet we get close to for the duration of the mission.” Everything went silent briefly. Then: “Hutch, I think we need to go down and take a closer look.”

  • • •

  Landing on this unhappy world wasn’t exactly something that Hutch, left to her own inclinations, would have done. Nobody other than Derek was particularly interested in the tents. Who really wanted to get closer to the grim circumstances the occupants were living with? When Derek announced that he wanted to ride down in the lander, nobody volunteered to go along. Beth turned disapproving eyes on Hutch. “Looks like just you and Derek. So, what happens to the rest of us if something goes wrong and you guys don’t come back? Wally, can you pilot this thing?”

  “I wouldn’t have to,” he said. “Barry can get us home.”

  Beth couldn’t resist letting the amusement show in her eyes. “So, remind me again, Hutch: What do pilots do?”

  Derek cut in. “You with me, Hutch?”

  Since the inhabitants were obviously not going to be the highly developed philosophical types he always talked about sitting down with, Hutch wasn’t sure why they were doing this.

  “Because I’m curious, Priscilla. Is that a crime?”

  “Maybe you’re right,” said Wally. “They have no future. Get a look at them now, or forget it.”

  Beth frowned. “It surprises me that you seem so happy, Derek. Wally’s right, isn’t he? Whoever’s down there doesn’t have much time left.”

  Derek gave her a benevolent smile. “Beth, this thing probably won’t explode in the next million years. That gives them time to build cities, fight a few wars, and move on to interstellars. They’ll probably be out of here before anything happens.”

  • • •

  Derek and Hutch boarded the lander and started down. They descended slowly through the crimson-toned skies, drifted for a half hour, and finally spotted a village. With inhabitants. They were bipeds. Their bodies were covered with light fur. They wore animal skins, basically the same material from which their tents appeared to be made. Their ears were large and they had tails. Some carried spears.

  It was midafternoon. The giant sun occupied most of the western sky. The villagers appeared not to notice as the lander passed overhead. Derek took photos.

  They were floating about a hundred meters over the village when one of the natives finally looked up and saw them. They began screaming and running for cover. Most disappeared into the tents. Others got under trees. A few waved spears in an apparent effort to intimidate the visitors. Hutch, reluctantly but serving at Derek’s directions, went lower, while a small g
roup gathered in the middle of the village. They seemed to be issuing a challenge: Come down if you dare.

  “I feel sorry for them,” said Hutch. “It’s not much of a life.”

  “Yeah.” Derek grumbled something else. Then: “Let’s go back to the ship.”

  One of the natives, a small one, probably a child, ran out of a tent. He looked up at the lander at the same moment as another one came out after him. He waved at the vehicle, but then was seized and carried to safety.

  • • •

  Everybody was waiting as they emerged from the cargo hold.

  “Hi, guys,” said Ken. “Barry has something for you.”

  “That is correct,” said the AI. “You probably won’t care all that much, but I’ve found two more planets. Makes a total of four.”

  “Okay.” Derek wanted details.

  “Both are about the same size as the one with the tents and well outside the habitable zone. There is something odd about one of them. Its orbit is tilted at about sixty degrees from the rest of the system.”

  “That is strange. Sounds like a rogue planet.”

  “Which means what?” asked Beth.

  “It didn’t originate in this system. It got pulled out of its original location by a passing star or something. And eventually got picked up by the red giant.”

  “We ready to start home yet?” asked Wally. He’d been showing an increasing inclination to wind everything down and head back.

  Derek stared at Hutch, his brow creased. “It rings a bell.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “How about before we do anything else, let’s go back to where we were. The area where Calliope should have been.”

  Derek Blanchard, Extract from Notebook, Intended for Autobiography

  We have a rogue planet, a star that’s gone missing, and two markers that are out of place. What the hell is going on out here?

  I started by locking in Calliope’s position 7,000 years ago when the Van Entel picked it up. Then I looked at the positions of the two stars that had drifted off course. They were both located on the right-hand side of Calliope’s projected course and were moving more or less parallel to it.