“First, how can we be sure that we can reconnect the bar electrically afterward? I know enough to doubt that cement is the right method. I don’t want to lose the refrigerator system permanently, since Dhrawn is approaching its sun and the weather will have to be getting warmer.
“Second, with the metal carrying a current touching the ice, or dipping into the melted water, will there be any danger to people on, or in, or under that water? Will the airsuits be protection enough? I suppose they must be pretty good electrical insulators, since they are transparent.”
The engineer began to answer at once, leaving Benj to wonder what connection there might be between transparency and electrical conductivity — and how Dondragmer, with his background, happened to be acquainted with it.
“You can make the connection easily enough. Simple have the metal ends pressed tightly together, and use the adhesive to fasten a wrapping of fabric around the joint. You’re right about the glue’s conductance; make sure it doesn’t get between the metal surfaces.
“Also, you needn’t worry about electrocuting anyone in an airsuit. There’ll be plenty of protection. I rather suspect that it would take a lot of voltage to hurt you people anyway, since your body fluids are nonpolar, but I have no experimental proof and I don’t suppose you want any. It occurred to me that you might do better by striking an arc at the surface of the ice, which should have enough ammonia to be a fair conductor. If it works sat all, it should work very well — only it may be too hot for any of your men to stay in the neighborhood, and it would have to be controlled carefully. Come to think of it, it would no doubt destroy too much of the bar to let you get the system together again afterward. We’d better stick to simple resistance heating, and be satisfied with melting the ice instead of boiling it.”
Katini fell silent, and waited for Dondragmer’s answer. Benj was still thinking, and all the others within hearing had their eyes fixed on the captain’s screen. His shift of language had attracted even those who might otherwise have waited patiently for a translation.
This was unfortunate from the human viewpoint. Barlennan, later, wrote it off as a stroke of luck.
“All right,” Dondragmer’s answer finally came. “We will take off the metal bar and try to use it as a heater. I am now ordering men outside to start detaching the small brackets. I will have one of the communicators set up outside so that you can watch as we cut through the conductors, and check everything before we turn on power. We will work slowly, so that you can tell us if we are doing something wrong before it has gone too far. I don’t like this situation — I don’t like anything when I am so unsure of what is happening and what is likely to happen. I’m supposed to be in command here, and I can only wish I had learned more of your science and technology. I may have an accurate picture as far as it goes, and I’m sure I can trust your knowledge and judgement for the rest, but it’s the first time in years I’ve been so uncertain of myself.”
It was Benj who answered, beating his mother by a second.
“I heard you were the first Mesklinite to see the general idea of real science, and that you were the one who did the most to get the College going. What do you mean you wish you had learned more?”
Easy cut in; like Benj, she used Dondragmer’s own language.
“You know far more than I do, Don, and you are in command. If you hadn’t been convinced by what Katini told you, you wouldn’t have given those orders. You’ll have to get used to that feeling you don’t like; you’ve just collided with something new again. It’s like that time fifty years ago, long before I was born, when you suddenly realized that the science we aliens were using was just knowledge carried on past the common-sense level. Now you have bumped into the fact that no one — not even a commander — can know everything, and that you sometimes have to take professional advice. Calm down, Don!”
Easy leaned back and looked at her son, who was the only one in the room to have followed her speech completely. The boy looked startled, and almost awestruck. Whatever impression she had made on Dondragmer — or would when her words got to him — she certainly had got home to Benjamin Ibson Hoffman. It was an intoxicating sensation for a parent; she had to fight the urge to say more. She was assisted by an interruption, in a human voice.
“Hey! What happened to the helicopter?”
All eyes went to Reffel’s screen. There was a full second of silence. Then easy snapped, “Benj, report to Dondragmer while I call Barlennan!”
9
The weather had long since cleared at the Settlement, the ammonia fog blown into the unknown central regions of Low Alpha and the wind dropped to a gentle breeze from the northwest. Stars twinkled violently, catching the attention of occasional Mesklinites who were outside or in the corridors, but going unnoticed for the most part by those in the better lighted rooms under the transparent roof.
Barlennan was in the laboratory area at the west side of the Settlement when Easy called, so her message did not reach him at once. It arrived in written form, borne by one of Guzmeen’s messengers who, in accordance with standing orders, paid no attention to the fact that Barlennan was in conference. He thrust the note in front of his commander, who broke off his own words in mid-sentence to read it. Bendivence and Deeslenver, the scientists with whom he was speaking, waited in silence for him to finish, though their body attitude betrayed curiosity.
Barlennan read the message twice, seemed to be trying to recall something, and then turned to the messenger.
“All this just came in, I take it.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And how long has it been since the preceding report from Dondragmer?”
“Not long, sir — less than an hour, I’d say. The log would show; shall I check?”
“It’s not that urgent, as long as you know. The last I heard was that the Kwembly had grounded after washing down a river for a couple of hours, and that was a long time ago. I assumed that everything was all right, since Guz didn’t pass any more on to me about it. I assume now that he either heard interim reports at the usual intervals, or asked the humans about it?”
“I don’t know, sir. I haven’t been on duty the whole time. Shall I check?”
“No. I’ll be there in a little while myself. Tell Guz not to send anything out after me; just hold any calls.” The runner vanished, and Barlennan turned back to the scientists.
“Sometimes I wonder wheter we shouldn’t have more electrical communication in this place. I’d like to know how long it’s taken Don to get into this mess, but I want to learn some other things before I walk all the way to Guzmeen’s place.”
Bendivence gestured the equivalent of a shrug. “We can do it if you say the word. There are telephones here in the lab which work fairly well, and we can wire the whole Settlement if you want the metal used that way.”
“I don’t know yet. We’ll keep to the original priorities. Here, read this. The Kwembly has gotten herself stuck in frozen water or something, and both her helicopters have disappeared. One had a communicator to the human beings aboard and in use at the time.”
Deeslenver indicated his emotion with a soft buzz, and reached for the message in turn; Bendivence passed it over silently. The former read it silently — twice, as Barlennan had done — before he spoke.
“You’d think the humans would have a little more information if they were watching at all carefully. All this says is that Kervenser failed to come back form a flight, and that a flier searching for him with a communicator on board stopped sending — the screen just went blank all of a sudden.”
“I can see one possible reason for that,” remarked Bendivence.