It didn’t take long.
I’d been Gabe’s pilot for roughly two years. What he wanted from me, other than guiding the ship, was simply someone to talk with during flights. On this occasion, though, was the one who needed someone to talk with. Getting wrapped up by that plant and dragged into the air lock had been the most terrifying experience of my life. I hadn’t settled down yet, hadn’t to settle down, when we turned in the direction of KKL7718 and activated the star drive.
“I understand,” Gabe said as we sat on the bridge. “I was pretty rattled by it too.”
I hadn’t been “pretty rattled.” I’d completely lost it. I’d been in a few life-threatening situations before, but getting shot at was nothing like having those plants try to drag me out into the trees. I couldn’t even bring myself to think about what it might have done with me had Belle not stepped in.
Immediately after we slipped into hyperspace I changed the subject, but I have no recollection now about the new topic. I only know that I kept feeling the vines around my throat and my helmet banging against the overhead. Then Gabe was telling me again it was okay. He poured me a drink and said I should relax, that it would go away, and how about we get a snack?
Belle remained unusually silent. I’d been surprised by her stepping in to argue we not go back to the ground on Coladia. I’d never known her to take that determined a stand before against the wishes of either Gabe or myself. Or Alex. It made me wonder if she’d changed in some elemental way.
Eventually we arrived near our destination. I’d begun to pull myself together and felt almost normal when we broke the surface. For about twenty minutes we got no signal; then Belle informed us she’d recovered it.
“Of course they would be,” I said. “The two who were having the conversation have probably disconnected by now.”
Belle snickered. The reality was that, assuming the conversation had originated here in KKL7718, the transmission had needed well over seven years to reach Coladia.
Gabe began talking about how he wished Belle could manage a translation. How great it would be, he said, if we could listen in on what they’re saying to each other. I commented it would be even better if we could participate. “Hi, guys,” I would like to have said to them. “How’s it going? What have you been up to lately?”
“I wonder,” said Gabe, “if that will ever be possible? If we’ll ever get communication technology that’ll allow people in different star systems to talk directly to each other?”
“I doubt it.”
“You can be such a pessimist, Chase. What do you think people at the beginning of the space age would have said about ships that traveled from star to star within a few hours? Or twenty minutes?”
“That’s a little different.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure. I mean, sitting at the country house carrying on a conversation with somebody on Dellaconda just seems completely off the charts.”
“I’ll tell you what I’d really like to do,” said Gabe. “I’d love to live long enough to be able to visit another galaxy. Maybe drop by and have a dinner in Andromeda.”
“If you wait long enough Andromeda will come to us.”
“Is that really true?”
“Sure. Andromeda and the Milky Way will collide eventually.”
“When?”
“A couple million years, I think.”
Belle broke in:
Gabe couldn’t resist laughing. “I don’t guess it’s anything we need to worry about.”
We hadn’t yet determined the source of the signal, so we simply followed it into the system. There was no point considering another jump until we knew where we were going.
We were both getting tired, but I was still too rattled to try to sleep. I didn’t want to retreat to my cabin, where I’d be alone. Normally at the end of the day I picked something from Belle’s library to entertain myself with until I fell asleep. But that wasn’t going to happen on that night. So I remained in my seat. Gabe understood what was going on and he stayed with me. Eventually I closed my eyes and drifted off. When I woke an hour or so later, he was still there, snoring softly.
XXII.
.
In the morning, Belle told us we’d picked up a second signal.
“It’s a ship,” said Gabe. “Or a space station.”
“Belle,” I said, “can you determine whether both transmissions are using the same language?”
They went on and off. The voices changed. Sometimes Belle could identify a speaker as someone who’d been part of the conversation earlier. And finally she told us we were still tracking the signaclass="underline" through
By then it hadn’t been a surprise. “Where is it coming from?” I asked.
“How far?” Gabe asked.
When we arrived, we saw immediately that there was something strange about the sun. We were close to it, barely a hundred million kilometers out, and Belle was showing us telescopic images of artificial objects closer in. she said.
“I don’t believe this,” said Gabe. “I think it’s a Dyson Sphere.”
“What’s a Dyson Sphere?” I asked. I’d heard the term but I couldn’t remember what it meant.
“It’s an artificial system used to gather solar energy. A giant structure composed mostly of solar panels or other types of energy collectors. They surround a star, pick up some of its energy, and transmit it to a place that uses it to power a civilization. Or whatever. It’s named for a third-millennium physicist.” He paused. “Belle, you say we are receiving multiple transmissions?”
“How many?”
“And a Dyson Sphere,” said Gabe.