Jack McDevitt
Octavia Gone
PROLOG
The was barely fifteen minutes out of Ventnor Station, still charging its hyperdrive unit. Both moons were visible, one in the rear, the other off to port. Adarryl Perry had just gotten out of his seat, intending to go back to the cabin to talk with his passengers, when Thwanna, the AI, lit up. she said, She put it on display:
Adarryl, we just got word that Rimway has lost contact with Octavia station. It’s the research unit orbiting the black hole KBX44. They’d been receiving daily transmissions, but the transmissions have stopped. Their orbit takes them behind the black hole periodically, which cuts everything off for thirty-one hours. That just happened two days ago. But they’ve been clear for almost twenty hours, and there’s nothing from them. You’re closest. Please divert. Be informed they also have a shuttle. Report back as soon as you see what’s happening. I’ll let you know if we hear anything more. Brentway.
“Thwanna,” he said, “how long will we need to get there?”
“Give me a minute.” He switched back to cruise, got up, and went into the passenger cabin. All four of his passengers were there. A romantic comedy, , had just started. It’s a clever show in which the goddess Athena shows up in a Greek theater to enjoy a play that features her as a principal character. Perry had seen and enjoyed the film several times. The lead actor, of course, falls in love with the goddess. He watched for a few moments and then stopped it. “Betsy,” he said, “gentlemen, we’ve run into a problem. There’s a possible emergency. Communications from a research station orbiting a black hole have broken off and they want us to go take a look. Sorry, but we don’t have any options. I can take you back to Ventnor Station if you want, and they’ll set up another ship for you. But it could take a while. Or if you prefer, stay here and go with me. Your call. Better if you stay on board, just in case there’s a problem out there and they need help. Either way, you’ll be compensated.”
Mark Friedman was Betsy’s husband. “Sounds good,” he said. “Did you say they were orbiting a black hole? That doesn’t sound very smart.”
“They’re doing research. Been there more than a year.”
“Interesting,” said Mark. He was not the sort of person Perry would have taken for a retired hangball coach, except that he was extremely tall. He didn’t have the polished moves of a onetime athlete. But he looked like a leader. Perry had needed only a quick glance to realize he was a guy to whom people would pay serious attention. He had black hair and a face that might have belonged to the leading man in . “Those are kind of dangerous, aren’t they? Black holes?”
“Of course they are, love,” said his wife. Betsy was slender and attractive, also with black hair and a mischievous gleam that never left her eyes.
They were headed for a new home on the recently established Kolmar colony. Perry couldn’t imagine why anybody would want to move out to a place so removed from the rest of the Confederacy. “They just want us to take a look and make sure everything’s okay,” he said.
The other two passengers, Aaron Prentiss and Virgil Henderson, exchanged glances. They both shrugged. “Let’s do it,” said Aaron. “We have plenty of time before we’re due at the Omicron. And we’ll get a chance to add a black hole to the act. That sounds golden.” They were a comedy team who’d been making appearances for the opening of their new movie. Perry didn’t recall the title. Aaron was a small, thin guy who played the dunce.
Virgil was probably twice his size, the excitable part of the team who usually wound up paying the price for Aaron’s stupidity. A growing look of concern was shadowing his features, much as it often did during a movie. “Captain, the black hole isn’t anywhere near Kolmar, is it?” That was where they were headed.
“No. No need to worry. But you guys should stay belted down. We’ll be making our jump in a few minutes.”
Aaron wasted no time checking his seat belt.
“You say they’ve been out here a year?” asked Betsy.
Perry nodded and started toward the bridge. “I’ll be back. We have to get moving.”
As he left the passenger cabin, Virgil was saying that, whatever kind of research it was, he couldn’t imagine how it could be any use to anyone. “It’s just asking for trouble.” He was managing to sound scared.
Perry took his seat on the bridge. “Thwanna,” he said, “inform Ventnor we’re on our way.” He locked in his own seat belt and glanced at the green lights that told him his passengers were secure. Then he warned them they would begin to accelerate in a moment. He heard the movie come back on. “Okay, Thwanna, let’s get moving again.”
They adjusted course, turning in the direction of the black hole, and began to accelerate. “Thwanna, Adam said they were blocked off from communicating for thirty-one hours. Is that really because of the black hole?”
“That’s when they lost touch with it.”
Ten minutes later she told him they were ready to go under.
“Do it,” he said.
The smaller moon, Dura, was visible outside his starboard window. He watched it disappear as they slipped into hyperspace.
Life was routine over the next two hours. They watched the rest of the Athena movie, and then Perry made a light lunch available. Mark and Betsy showed signs of being disappointed that Aaron and Virgil were different from the characters they played in the comedies. Perry had met them on an earlier flight. Away from a performance, they were ordinary people. They’d all been interested in visiting the bridge during the early minutes after the launch. Now of course if they looked out the windows there was nothing to be seen except occasional mist and unbroken darkness.
Mark fell asleep in his seat. The others simply sat and talked until Thwanna informed them they should secure their harnesses while the prepared to return to normal space. It did, and as far as Perry could tell, they were all disappointed when they looked out the windows and were still greeted by little other than black space and a sprinkling of stars.
He gave Thwanna a few minutes to check their position. Then: “How’d we do?”
“Take your time.” He sat back and closed his eyes.
Thwanna came back: The Korba was, of course, the star drive.
He directed his passengers to belt down again. Then Thwanna made a moderate course change, after which they started to add velocity. And the Korba began recharging.
Perry had been out here before, bringing supplies to the station, but he felt his own energy level rising. He’d never been involved in a rescue mission before. Betsy and Mark had seemed happy enough. They’d get a reduction in their travel costs as compensation and be able to talk about the black hole at every party they attended for the rest of their lives. And Aaron and Virgil might get some publicity.