“Can you see anything, Belle? You have any visual capacities?” The display showed us nothing but light. she said.
“What’s the temperature?”
“You okay, Ark?” Gabe asked.
he said.
“Does she have a library?” Gabe asked.
I would have liked to do something that would have made him more comfortable. But we couldn’t really do much other that wait. Finally the half hour crept by and Belle let us know we were ready to make our second jump. she said.
It wasn’t much more than an eye blink.
“Are the visuals any better?” I asked.
“Can you make out any of the collectors?”
.
said Ark, “
“Hard to believe they could survive under these conditions,” Gabe said.
said Belle.
“How long has it been here?” Gabe asked.
said Ark.
said Belle,
Ark picked it up:
I asked Ark if our robot could handle the sunlight. Specifically, would , be safe?
he said.
When Sayla’s station showed up on the display, the brightness prevented our getting a good look at it. But the scanner’s visuals were sufficient. It had an array of solar panels and a central base. Belle reported that two or three of the panels appeared to be damaged. Probably struck by rocks. she added.
The lander’s windows, unfortunately, could not be darkened as much as those of the . But since only Ark and the robot would be aboard, it did not constitute a problem. Nevertheless Gabe and I gathered more sheets and towels and took them down to the lander. We then proceeded to block off its windows as best we could.
“Can we verify,” I said, “that Sayla is still active?”
said Ark. .
Belle set it up and moments later we were able to hear Ark and Sayla conversing in their native language. Sayla sounded excited.
Then Ark mentioned Zykum, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard an AI squeal before.
“What’s that all about?” Gabe asked Belle.
“There’s more than one door?” I asked.
“Good,” I said. “That’s the one we want. Belle, take us there. But keep a safe distance.” That had the enormous advantage of putting the sun behind us. It would still be difficult to see, but it had to be better than what we had.
I didn’t try to handle the controls myself. Belle’s scanners provided better optics, and we got some improvement when she was able to turn our back on the sun so we could actually more or less see the station.
said Belle.
“Stay at two hundred meters. Can you see the door?”
“Is that sufficient?”
“ said Ark,
she said.
We wished him good luck, started the depressurization of the cargo bay, and turned everything over to Belle.
Ark asked.
“No,” I said. “There’s a scope mounted on the prow but we certainly don’t want to use that. We’ll have to use the ’s scanners, but we’ll relay the result to your display.”
Ark said.
There was a continuing conversation between Sayla and Ark. Belle told us that Sayla was concerned about exiting into the sunlight, that they would not be able to see what they were doing. And that the was not designed for the operation. .