The hills eventually subsided into a broad prairie. We passed over another ocean and strings of islands and then we were back over land again, marshes this time. One stretch of it was covered with giant worms. Something dived out of the sky and grabbed one of them.
“Yuck,” I said.
We left the sun behind and crossed over to the night side, where we spent most of our time staring at the moons. Moons are always a bit more spectacular from orbit than they are from a planetary surface. I’m not sure why that is, but the show that evening was breathtaking. Six of them were in the sky, a variety of sizes, ranging from a baseball to an oversized balloon. The big one looked so close that it was hard to believe it was stable.
“I’d be interested,” said Gabe, “in hearing George Tindle explain how this happened. Astronomers claim there are limits to how many moons a terrestrial-sized world can have. I think they tend to get in each other’s way, and of course gravity is a factor.”
“Who’s George Tindle?” I asked.
“He’s an old friend. An astronomer at the Collier Array near Castleman’s World. He’d love this place.”
Belle got pictures, but they wouldn’t be close to the experience of actually seeing the moons. We knew from our earlier perspective they were nothing more than cratered rocks. But on that evening they were bright globes floating through a starlit night sky. I remembered occasional evenings at home with guys who tried to bring one of Rimway’s two moons into a romantic frame. I can’t say whether Tindle would actually have loved that place, but I’m pretty sure the guys would have.
I couldn’t sleep that night. I sent a message to Chad informing him that the mission was getting longer than we’d expected. But that I was looking forward to seeing him when we got home, though I wasn’t sure when that would be. Eventually I got up and walked out into the passenger cabin. Gabe was already there, staring out at sunlight. He pointed at the scrambled egg breakfast he was eating. Did I want some?
I shook my head and sat down beside him. “See anything interesting?”
“I suppose. I can tell you this is not a place where you’d want to build your getaway home.”
“More critters?”
“Yes. Some of the most lethal things I’ve ever seen.” He finished the coffee, put the cup on the tray, closed his eyes, and laid his head on the back of the seat.
“I don’t guess we’ve picked up a signal?”
“No. When we first listened to Jonathan talk about it, I thought maybe it had come from this world. That there’d been a civilization here somewhere and they’d just missed it.”
“I assume you’ve given up on that idea?”
“Pretty much.”
“So we’re ready to leave?”
“Soon as I finish breakfast. Okay?” He adjusted the shade, blocking the sunlight, and helped himself to a batch of fried potatoes.
We were talking about nothing in particular when Belle did the electronic equivalent of clearing her throat, signaling that she had something to say. We both looked in the direction of the bridge, and I said, “Go ahead, Belle. What is it?”
We both expected another unsettling life-form. And that’s what we got. A couple of them. More tentacles extending out of the forest. And something in a river, of which we could make out only a pair of eyes rising above the water. “Not exactly a place to spend the weekend,” said Gabe, going back to his eggs.
said Belle.
There was a lander on the ground, or maybe a small interstellar. It was at the edge of the forest, almost in the river, partially concealed by trees and shrubbery. We were moving quickly past it. “Get a lock on it, Belle,” I said. “Don’t lose it.”
Gabe was leaning forward, trying to get a better look. “It’s been there awhile. Are we going to be able to find it again?”
said Belle.
We’d have to complete another orbit if we wanted to go down and take a look. Belle told us it would take forty minutes.
“Do it,” said Gabe. “No way we can just ignore a downed ship.”
We passed over storm clouds, a smoking volcano, something like an octopus emerging from the surf on an inland sea, and a flying dragon.
“You sure you want to do this?” I said. “That is not friendly territory down there.”
“Are you serious? Belle, is that vehicle one of ours? Could you tell?”
she said.
“Gabe, that is scary territory.”
“Don’t worry about it. I have a blaster. You think I’ve forgotten how all this works?” He was reading my reaction and smiling. “It’s all right. I’ve done this before. We can’t just walk away from it, Chase.”
“Okay. If you insist.” I started back to the storage area.
“Where you going?” he asked.
“Pressure suits.”
“We only need one. You stay with the .”
“That’s ridiculous. You can’t go down there alone.”
“Chase, that’s the only way to handle this. There’s no need for both of us to go. And you’re right. It dangerous down there. Which is why I want you to stay here.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Chase, do as I ask.”
“Gabe, you’re not certified to operate the lander.”
“Belle can take it.”
“No, Gabe. Give me an argument on this and I won’t go near another of these missions.”
He was glaring at me. “If something happens, what would I tell your mom?”
I didn’t move.
He took a deep breath, one that sucked all the air out of the cabin. “All right. If you have to have it that way. But you’ll be careful?”
“Of course.”
I don’t think I’d ever known him to get seriously upset with me before. Belle broke in:
We locked the telescope on the vehicle and put it on the display. Belle increased magnification. It a lander. We could see a comet image on the hull, and a designator, but it was too worn down to make out details. Gabe grunted. “It’s one of ours.” There might have been a six, and another smear that appeared to be a . Trees and shrubs blocked our view. “Incredible,” he said. “This thing goes back a few years. It’s from Earth.”
“How do you know? The comet?”
“Yes. That was on all the Terran interstellars during the latter part of the third millennium. It’s the original design.”
“You’re saying it’s eight or nine thousand years old?”
“It could be. Probably not, though. I’d be surprised to see an early vehicle out this far. The standard assumption has always been that they didn’t get more than a hundred light-years from Earth during that era. But who knows?”
I probably shouldn’t have said anything but I couldn’t resist. “Remind me to tell you about the .”
Gabe smiled. “Chase, just because I was missing for a few years doesn’t mean I haven’t made any effort to catch up. I wasn’t saying nobody ever went deep. Just that people for a long time, for thousands of years, weren’t aware of some of the things that happened during the early times.” His frustration was fading. “At least,” he said, “we should be able to go home with something.”