We spent the next several days reading, watching shows, doing workouts, and talking. I can’t remember much about the conversation. Mostly, I think, it was centered on what we’d do if we actually came across a living civilization somewhere. “It’s funny,” Gabe said at one point. “There’s something about sitting out here in the dark that brings reality front and center. The notion that Harding might have found aliens somewhere, and that it somehow resulted in their seizing Octavia, now seems even more ridiculous.”
“I never thought we had a serious chance of finding anything.”
He let me see that he was in full agreement. Moreover his lips pulled back, revealing teeth that were clamped down. Like a guy in pain. Or more likely feeling a sense of guilt. “Then why’d you come?”
I laughed. “Gabe, if you discover an alien race, there’s no way I don’t want to be with you.”
Belle eventually located Coladia and we decided to take a look. “It’s not as if we have anything more compelling to do,” said Gabe.
I aimed us in the general direction of the planet and Belle took us under again. We came out within 2 million klicks. Close enough.
We’d overshot it and were on the daylight side. Coladia is a beautiful world. We approached it, looking out at wide oceans, drifting clouds, green continents, and vast mountain ranges. We counted seven moons. “How large is it?” asked Gabe. “The planet?”
“A little bigger than Rimway.”
“I wonder how something that small can possess so many moons? I guess we were right about the name. Belle, do you have its source?”
she said.
“Oh,” said Gabe. “Then Rick Harding wasn’t the first guy to come out here?”
Belle said.
“Did report any unusual radio transmissions?”
I was concentrating on the cluster of moons. “It is a crowded sky, isn’t it?”
Gabe nodded. “Yes.”
Belle continued, I almost got the impression she was smirking.
“You think it’s a waste of time, don’t you?” I asked.
“I suspect we what you think,” said Gabe. “Why do you feel that way?”
“You’re probably right, Belle,” Gabe said. “But if major discoveries always came with clear signals, they wouldn’t stay undiscovered very long.”
I couldn’t help thinking that, if we did manage this, if we actually brought it off, it would be only the second time during the nine thousand years we’d had interstellar travel that we’d discovered someone else. Someone, that is, who was still alive and functioning and not back hanging out in caves. If it happened, Alex would be devastated that he had not accompanied us. Gabe and I would make history while he was at home playing around with a research station that had fallen into a black hole.
“Well.” Gabe took a deep breath. “I think I’m going to retire for the balance of the night. Belle, let us know if you pick up anything.” He wished me good night and headed to his cabin. The travels on Andiquar time, which was approaching midnight.
I let my head sink onto the back of the seat. “You know, Belle,” I said, “you take a negative position on this, and I guess so do I. But I suspect you’re just like me.”
“I think we’d both to see this mission succeed.”
She was silent for a minute. Then:
“In a little while.”
“You think that matters to me?”
The galactic silence remained unbroken. We got the portable satellite out and Gabe adjusted the settings. “I need a safe orbit for it,” he said.
Belle responded:
“Thank you, Belle.” He looked at me and shook his head. “She’s good.”
“Gabe,” I said, “it can separate routine traffic from an alien transmission, right?”
“Sure.” He tapped an index finger on the sphere. “At least that’s what the people at Datatech claim. I’m not convinced. I mean, they don’t have much call for these things. And the way they looked at me . . .” He took a deep breath. “It was pretty obvious they thought I was a nutcase. But that doesn’t mean their receivers won’t get the job done.” We took the well away from the planet. When Belle informed us we were clear, we went down to the cargo bay.
I ran a couple of tests first to ensure the sphere was in radio contact with us and that the hypercomm was working. If it detected anything, it would notify us if it could find us, and simultaneously send a message to Chippewa, which would relay it to Skydeck. Everything checked out. I placed it in the ejector and informed Belle we were ready to launch.
she said. “
We sent it on its way. “Where to next?” I asked Gabe, expecting to hear that we would start for home.
“As long as we’re here,” he said, “Let’s take a closer look at the planet.”
XX.
We dropped out of orbit and came down over a sunlit sea. A few clouds drifted through the sky, and to the north there were flickers of lightning. We left the brewing storm behind, passed over a couple of small islands, and eventually came in across a shoreline. We were approaching a group of low hills covered with trees when we saw a creature that might make human settlement unlikely: It appeared to be a giant serpent. It was difficult to be certain because the head and maybe thirty meters of neck rose out of the branches. The rest of the animal was hidden from view.
“I think we should probably leave this one alone,” I said.
Gabe chuckled. “You don’t think this would be a good hunting location?”
“Not unless they have some serious artillery.” Belle put a picture of a flying lizard on the monitor. And a commotion of some sort broke out in a cluster of treetops. We couldn’t determine what was causing it but we saw tentacles.