Charles Sheffield - The Mind Pool

That conclusion was the only positive result that Chan could see from two days of analysis from high orbit. He drew a conclusion — reluctantly: they could look down at Travancore from afar forever, and not know much more than they knew now. Like it or not, it was time to stick their necks out and get down to the surface.

As they prepared to enter the landing capsule Chan gave the others one more warning. “Make sure you have everything that you’ll need on Travancore before we leave the Q-ship. We’ve had clear instructions from the Anabasis, we will not be allowed back on board unless we can prove that we’ve destroyed Nimrod. We won’t even be given drop shipments from orbit, unless it’s clear that they can’t be used by Nimrod if things go wrong. We’ll be on our own.”

“Until we return triumphant to the Q-ship…” said S’greela.

“… our team victorious, happy and glorious,” added Angel.

“One for all, and all for one,” added Shikari.

If the Tinker was starting that, too, Chan couldn’t stand it. He went across to the Q-ship communicator one last time and initiated a Link sequence to Anabasis Headquarters on Ceres. Mondrian was alone in the control room. He nodded a greeting, and did not speak.

“A few more minutes, said Chan, “and well be on our way. Do you have any final instructions?”

“Nothing that makes any practical difference to you, but there’s been a slight change at this end. The Stellar Group ambassadors are insisting that the Mattin Link to your Q-ship be made one-way all the time that you are down on the surface. Messages and materials can go from here, but nothing must come back this way. It’s the same worry as before, that somehow Nimrod might destroy the team and then find a way to Link out.”

“But if we can’t send messages, how will you know we’ve done our job and are waiting to come home? How will you know anything of what’s happening?”

“I’ve taken care of that. A monitor team will be shipped from here to the Q-ship, and you’ll be able to talk to the people there.”

“How will the Ambassadors be any more sure of that team, than they are of my team?”

“Because I’ll be on the monitor team, myself .” Mondrian smiled grimly at Chan. “You know what that means, don’t you? So long as Nimrod is still active, I’m going to be stuck on Travancore as much as you are. I’ll be in orbit, and you’ll be down on the ground, but neither one of us will be able to leave. Until Nimrod is out of the way, it’s a one-way trip for all of us. So you know I mean it when I wish you luck. It’s a long walk home.”

A long, long walk. Fifty-six lightyears from Travancore to Earth. Six centuries of sub-lightspeed travel. Chan understood what Mondrian was saying: Destroy Nimrod — or your team will have vanished forever from the known worlds.

And Chan understood more, things that Mondrian was not saying. The Stellar Group Ambassadors are insisting …

What did the Angel or Pipe-Rilla or Tinker Ambassadors know of battles, and quarantines, and blockades? Not one thing. It was Mondrian who was deciding the rules and defining the actions. And there was nothing that Chan could do about it.

“We will be on our way within an hour,” he said quietly. “Give us one Earth week, and I hope that we’ll have some results.”

“Don’t set yourself deadlines, Chan. Nimrod will still be there if it takes two weeks. Just make sure you destroy the Morgan Construct. Festina lente .”

Mondrian was still facing the camera, but the display began to exhibit the rainbow fringes of a fading Link communication.

“Festina lente?” said Shikari.

“It is a piece of advice given in an old Earth language. Mondrian took it as the motto for Boundary Security. I believe that it means, hasten slowly .”

“I don’t see why he saw the need to warn us,” said S’greela indignantly. “I am sure that we will not be foolish enough to hurry into trouble.”

“ Fools rush in …” said Angel. “Hmm. Enough of that. We believe that we are ready, Chan, to begin our descent.”

Chan’s analysis of Team Alpha data had led him to three conclusions. He explained to the others.

First, and worst, the other team had made one huge mistake. They had been careless in checking the Morgan Constructs current location before they began their descent. Nimrod obviously was able to move about the planet, within or beneath the vegetation canopy, at high speed. Chan would not make the same blunder as Leah. There would be continuous monitoring of the Constructs position as soon as a definite location was confirmed. Second, Team Alpha had not made the best use of the native life forms. At least two of them might be valuable for either information or reconnaissance. There was the long, legless caterpillar-snake that lived in the upper shafts, and the nimble, nervous animal that had been encountered by Team Alpha in the deep jungle. If either one possessed intelligence and could be talked to, it might help to cancel one of Nimrod’s advantages. The Construct had been on Travancore for a long time, and must know it well. Chan’s team had vast numbers of useless facts, but all of them had been acquired from far, far away. What was needed now was knowledge of the planet below the shrouding canopy of vegetation.

Third, the other team had stayed together too much. Chan knew how tempting it was to work as a unit, and how satisfying that could be; but there were some functions that still called for individual actions.

Chan’s third statement produced strong protest from the other three. Shikari was particularly outraged.

“It must not be. We are a team! As a team, we should always work together .”

“Shikari, you haven’t learned anything. You saw how successful the Tinker component sub-assemblies were on Barchan. But you still don’t accept that some things are better done by individuals than groups.” Chan turned away from the Tinker. “As long as I’m in charge, we’ll do things the way I say. Of course, if anyone else wants to take over responsibility for running operations, I’ll be happy to step aside.”

He was both worried and pleased by the horrified reaction, not just of Shikari but of Angel and S’greela. Their immediate acceptance stuck him with a job for which he felt unqualified. Now he had to get on with it.

He took the landing capsule down to Travancore. It hovered at one position on the planet’s daylight side, while the team unloaded and inflated their tent and fitted it into the upper layers of vegetation. As soon as all the equipment was unloaded, the landing capsule took off again under automatic control for synchronous orbit. It would hover above the planet, monitoring the location that Chan had picked out as a probable location for Nimrod. The Q-ship was stationed much farther out, far from any possible danger of Construct weapons.

Once they were settled in, Chan assigned S’greela to a solo mission. The Pipe-Rilla was easily the strongest of the team members. She was to descend the nearest shaft, seek a specimen of the long, snaky life form, and bring it back to the tent. According to Angel there should be considerable diurnal movement of Travancore’s mobile forms. Like- ocean life on Earth, they would take advantage of daylight to feed and sun themselves in the upper levels, and return to the depths at night. Now it was close to midday, and S’greela had a good chance of finding what she wanted close to the surface.

She set off, unarmed at her insistence, on her mission. The others settled for a long, nervous wait.

It was close to sunset when S’greela returned, empty-handed and exasperated. The other three were sitting in the tent, Angel close to Chan and Shikari spread like a thick cloak over both of them. S’greela joined them, and waited for the Tinker components to envelop her also. She sighed.