Stephen Baxter: Last and First Contacts

She failed to understand.

‘I must share the blame,’ Father Kopleck said gently. ‘You may know that I grew up here, on the peninsula, Doctor von Braun. When the engineers came – well, the fishing villages were demolished, and the families moved on, with handsome enough compensation. But I stayed on.’

‘Even rocket scientists need God, eh, Father?’

‘That was my instinct. It came to my attention that Fraulein Rau here had an interest in astronomy.’

‘Only minor,’ Dorothea said, hoping she wasn’t blushing. ‘But I brought with me the little telescope my father once bought for me. I hoped the seeing would be better than in Munich.’

‘So I showed the Fraulein the beaches on the north coast. Where I knew from my own boyhood memories that the view of the starry sky is unimpeded and spectacular, on a clear night.’

‘It was all approved,’ Dorothea said quickly, to this SS man. ‘I gained permission from my supervisor.’

‘As did I,’ said the priest dryly.

Von Braun glanced at a file. ‘You work in operations, Fraulein. The tedious but essential work of documenting material flows and manpower allocations, eh? And yet you are evidently a capable astronomer. Well, it’s no surprise. We have selected everybody we could for some element of an academic background. Even clerks such as yourself. Even Adam there! The more intelligence is focussed on our huge task at all levels, the more chance it has of success. And so, Fraulein astronomer, on that beach you observed your comet.’

‘It was a bright shifting star – obvious, if you look out for a couple of nights in a row. I sketched its position and estimated its changing magnitude. With my father I used to observe variable stars, and developed the necessary skills.’

‘I have your report here.’ Von Braun searched his desk, and held up a cheaply printed single-page document. ‘“The Peenemünde Chronicle”!’

She felt apologetic. ‘It’s just a silly thing some of the girls produce. We print notices of dances and so on. Bits of gossip.’

‘And here you published your astronomical discovery.’

‘Well, I didn’t know what else to do with it…’

‘You could have notified one of the observatories. Or an academic journal. Perhaps you have priority; I doubt that there is much scientific sky-watching going on in this world at war. Dorothea’s comet! Well, your little notice in this schoolgirl rag attracted the eyes of some of my scientists.’ He winked at her. ‘Some of my younger colleagues, you know, Fraulein, like to read about comets and about dances with pretty secretaries.

‘But it was your quite precise observations of the object’s path across the sky that ultimately brought this to my own attention. You see, Fraulein, as my trajectory specialists will tell you, these observations of yours are sufficient to reconstruct the path of your comet, as it has approached the inner worlds of the solar system.’

‘I understand, though I hadn’t the resources to do that myself. A comet’s path may be elliptical if it is contained within the solar system, or parabolic or hyperbolic if it comes from beyond the system.’

‘Very good,’ said von Braun, rather patronising. ‘But in this case, my dear girl, the object’s orbit is neither elliptical nor parabolic nor hyperbolic. Your observations clearly show, and I have no reason to doubt them, that this object, as it approached the sun, was decelerating.’

There was a stunned silence, broken at last by the priest. ‘I suspect I am the only one here who doesn’t understand the significance of that.’

‘It means, Father,’ said Dorothea, ‘that my comet can’t be a comet at all.’

‘Quite so,’ said Wernher von Braun. ‘Not only that, I had one of our specialists train a spectroscope on the thing. You understand that such an instrument gathers emitted or reflected light, and breaks it down to deduce the elemental composition of the source? Of course you do. We have it here to study the exhaust products of our rockets. Fraulein, your “comet” is not a snowball lit up by reflected sunlight. It creates its own light! My fellows believe we have observed an exotic, umm, exhaust, analogous to the exhaust plume of an A4. Some suggest it is the result of some form of atomic disintegration. For it is the energy of the atom, you know, that will ultimately carry us to the stars and beyond.’

She gaped. ‘The stars ?’

‘Oh, yes. In fact a reconstruction of the trajectory indicates that our visitor was travelling at a significant fraction of the speed of light itself before it began its deceleration. Your “comet” must have travelled from another star.’ He grinned at her. ‘Perhaps you are surprised by the course of this conversation.’ He opened a drawer, rummaged, and produced a magazine, cheaply produced with a gaudy cover: Astounding Science Fiction , the title in English . ‘I have this delivered to a mail drop in Switzerland under a false name. My own career began with dreams of the stars, of flights to Mars. One must feed the imagination, Fraulein, even in wartime. Now. Do you know what has become of your “comet” recently?’

She frowned. ‘I haven’t been out to the beach for some nights. We’ve been so busy with the A4 launch approaching.’

‘Of course. Well, we have observed it. It is no longer decelerating, no longer approaching the sun.’

‘Then what?’

He traced circles with a fingertip. ‘Earth has a second moon, Fraulein Rau.’ He smiled at the wonder that must show in her face. ‘Now do you understand why we changed the timing of the A4 launch?’

‘Not entirely, sir.’

‘I can’t believe that the object has not been observed elsewhere in the world, but only we have the wherewithal to do something about it.’ He spread his hands. ‘This is the world’s only rocket factory. We launched the world’s very first spaceship this afternoon! Is this “comet” of yours some ark from the stars? If so perhaps we can lure it down here . To speak to us. Where better? And that is why we launched the A4 just as the orbiting comet crossed our meridian. So it would be seen.

‘Now.’ He leaned forward. ‘I have a special assignment for you, Fraulein. You may be the best amateur astronomer at Peenemünde. I want you to spend more nights with your telescope on that beach. Perhaps the Father here will accompany you – and Lieutenant Bergher, too, for reasons of security. I want you to watch your comet as it passes through our clear skies. Report immediately any change in its orbital elements. But for now, you must understand, this is all top security.’

She was used to security. ‘Of course, Doctor von Braun.’

‘No,’ he said sternly. ‘That was a routine answer. Listen to me. You must know, Fraulein, that our work here is under intense scrutiny. Our rockets are hugely expensive and have already taken years to develop. Germany fights a war on two fronts; resources are scarce, and other projects have their champions who compete for the ears of the top levels of the party. Our credibility is important, and must be cherished.’ With a self-deprecating smile he tucked away the issue of Astounding . ‘Our enemies, I mean our internal enemies, may present Dorothea’s comet as a bit of foolishness that shows we are not serious in our endeavours here. We can’t have that. And yet we can’t let the opportunity of encountering this wanderer go by. Which is why—’ He pressed his forefinger to his lips.

‘I understand.’

‘Good girl. This applies to you too, Father.’

‘Priests know how to be discreet.’

‘Good. Adam here will be your contact. Remember, Lieutenant Bergher, any developments must be reported to me in person, immediately.’