J McKenna: Slave Planet

Kate agreed. She knew NASA would insist upon exploring the planet, provided they could avoid contact with the beings.

The probe burrowed through the atmosphere, on target to a splashdown about ten miles offshore, four-hundred kilometers east of the first probe. The footprints of the two probes would overlap, giving them an excellent view of climate conditions and geological topography as well as additional information about the humanoids.

“Chute deployed!” Greta sang out. “Telemetry coming in!”

The initial data was similar to that collected by the first probe. The crew waited for the probe to fall below twenty thousand feet.

“Fifteen thousand. Wind, thirty knots! Temperature sixty-eight degrees!” A few seconds passed. “Ten thousand, seventy-five degrees.”

“Hot and windy—a dangerous combination,” Ally said.

“Five thousand, eight-eight degrees…Gravity, zero-point-nine-two of Earth. One thousand, ninety-two degrees. Wind, sixteen knots.”

“No wonder they don’t wear clothes. Do you think it ever gets colder there?” Beth put in.

“I’m sure our scientists will find that out. The system will be swarming with them within a year,” Kate responded.

“Splashdown! Ocean water temperature is … fifty-nine degrees. Salinity is ninety-four percent saltwater, plus trace elements.” Greta looked up. “None appear to be harmful to humans. I’m also reading lifeforms below the surface.

“We have a very livable planet.”

Big grins jumped to their faces. Kate knew it was time to report in.

“Ladies, let’s phone home.”

To say NASA was stunned would be an understatement. After Kate radioed in their lengthy report, it took an agonizing two-and-a-half hours for them to respond, longer than any of the crew expected.

“They must have fainted,” Greta suggested.

“Yeah, or they’re trying to figure out how to steal the glory from us ‘girls,’” Jorja said, getting a dark look from the captain.

“Message coming in!” Ally intoned. Everyone’s head swiveled around to the screen.

“Onscreen,” Kate ordered.

John Philips appeared, with James Hunter standing right behind him. “Congratulations, crew of the Letanya !” Phillips said. “We received your message, plus some of the supporting documents, and I can tell you, we are absolutely blown away by the discovery. I’m sure you—”

Hunter thrust his face into the camera, elbowing Phillips aside.

Typical , thought Kate.

“Ladies, I’m sure you can appreciate the magnitude of your discovery,” he said. “The news is just now beginning to break here, and it’s getting a tremendous response. CNN is devoting the rest of the afternoon to the Letanya, and what the findings might mean for us.

“The most shocking aspect of this discovery, as I’m sure you’ve contemplated, is how such similar beings developed more than two million light years apart. We’ve already decided to send our next ship, the Sovereign , to the Denoba system to further the exploration.” Kate recalled that the U.S.S. Sovereign , still under construction, had been scheduled to explore the Milky Way. To make such a sudden switch showed how important their discoveries were to NASA.

“Naturally, we’re giving you permission to head down to the planet surface for a closer study of the creatures, provided, of course, that you don’t make contact with them. I’m sure you’re well aware of the Prime Directive.”

Kate didn’t need to be reminded. And she doubted he would’ve said the same thing to an all-male crew, but maybe she was just being sensitive.

“The decision to go below is yours, Capt. Dyson, we don’t want you to risk your overall mission. But I can assure you, the people of Earth are going crazy over this news and want more details. If you can collect some better photographs, plus some plant species that would be a tremendous boon to our knowledge of Devon planet and people.

“Please keep in close contact for the next few days. Even little scraps of information will be anxiously awaited here.” Hunter looked to his left. “OK, I’m going to return you to Phillips, who has some mission parameters to discuss.”

Hunter vanished from the screen and Kate found herself breathing a little sigh of relief. The welcomed face of the mission controller appeared, looking unruffled at being pushed aside.

“ Letanya , I’m back,” Phillips said, deadpan. The crew chuckled. “Now, regulations require that I go over this checklist, although I know you are all well-trained in planet landings.”

That was partially true—the crew had landed dozens of times in simulators, but only three times on Earth, after being launched from an orbiting shuttle. It’s one thing to land on your home planet, but quite another to land in a possibly inhospitable, unknown world. The risks were considerable.

The Letanya was equipped with two identical “shuttle pods,” each approximately twenty feet in length, with a pair of stubby wings extending out from the undercarriage. Each can hold three crewmen, sitting one behind the other. Because of the way they appear, the pods are nicknamed “bobsleds” by the crew. With the big engine at the rear, they actually look a lot more like rocket cars of the late 20 thcentury.

Phillips outlined what problems the pilot—Greta, in this case—might encounter due to the high winds recorded at around twenty thousand feet. The stubby wings aren’t enough to provide the stability necessary at lower altitudes, so Greta would pull a lever to deploy wing extensions that would give them a longer glide. Thrusters help control speed of descent and direction.

It was important not to fire the main engine once the craft enters the atmosphere, as there’s limited fuel. Burn too much on the way down and you’ll never reach the spaceship again.

Greta, Kate observed, was following Phillips directions carefully, her face glowing with the knowledge that she would soon be landing on the surface of a brave new world. Kate wondered if she was already imagining her ticker-tape parade.

The transmission ended and everyone just sat for a few minutes, taking it all in. Kate could see similar expressions on the faces of Beth and Jorja, who would make up the other away team members.

Kate felt it was time to sober them up. “I still haven’t decided if a surface mission is a good idea,” she said. Heads snapped around.

“Here are my concerns.” She ticked them off her fingers. “One, we can learn a lot from continued observation from orbit. It may be far more valuable to return safely to Earth with all our data intact than to risk everything on a limited venture to the planet. Two, we’re out here two million light years away, completely on our own. If something goes wrong, no one can come to our aid. We don’t know what to expect on the surface in the way of plants, animals or even microbes. We could bring something aboard that may be harmful. Three, we run a real risk of accidentally coming into contact with the natives. That could cause ripple effects in their development we have no way of anticipating. It also could introduce diseases that could devastate them—or us.”

The eyes of the crew were wide. They knew every word the captain said was true. But would she really overrule them and make them go home without a surface exploration?

“But we’ve come so far—” Greta began. Kate held up a hand.

“I know, I know. I’m fully aware of what Houston said and how history will judge us. If we returned to Earth without exploring, we’ll be seen as timid women who were afraid to take risks. But if something goes wrong, we’ll be seen as impulsive women who took unnecessary chances. Either way, we’re screwed.