Timothy Zahn - Spinneret

There was another short silence. "It seems to me," Gregory said at last, "that we ought to get some feedback from the troops and civilians before we make any final decision."

"I agree," Barner nodded. "Why don't we set up town meetings for tomorrow evening? That should give the short-lived emotional response time to pass. Get some idea as to their feelings, then meet together afterward to compare notes."

"Sounds reasonable," Meredith said. "Objections or other comments?"

"Only that we might as well refertilize the crops, in that case," Brown suggested.

"If we decide to leave we wouldn't drag the stuff back to Earth, anyway."

Meredith nodded. "I'll have the work orders logged on tonight. I guess that's it, gentlemen; you'd better get back and see to your commands."

They filed out. Picking up the missing-item list again, Meredith began going through it more carefully, noting especially those entries the computer had marked as irreplaceable. But he'd barely started when Andrews, waiting in the outer office, interrupted with an unwelcome announcement. "Colonel, Cristobal Perez is here to see you. Council business, he says."

Meredith grimaced. "He always does. All right, I suppose you might as well send him in."

"Yes, sir. Uh—Miss Olivero and Dr. Peter Hafner are also here; they've been waiting about a half hour."

Hafner? Oh, yes—the scientist who'd helped ram through the Council setup.

Probably all three were there to make the same complaints. "Send the whole batch of them in," he sighed "It'll probably save time."

"Yes, sir."

He'd rather expected Perez to stomp in blazing with righteous indignation, and was disappointed only in degree. The Hispanic was mad, all right, but had toned down his expression and posture to something reasonably short of impolite.

Carmen and Hafner, by contrast, seemed more thoughtful than anything else.

Meredith considered greeting them first, just to annoy Perez; but the latter's open hand slamming down on his desk effectively removed that option.

"Colonel Meredith," he said with cold formality, "you are holding without reason eight Hispanics from Ceres and Crosse. I demand they be released at once."

Meredith returned his gaze steadily. "The Hispanics you refer to went hysterical earlier today and are undergoing standard post-trauma treatment—along with a handful of Anglos, if that makes you feel less picked on."

"So those who attempt to alert the populace to your ineptness are drugged and locked away. Is that your idea of responsible command?"

Meredith shook his head tiredly. "What the hell are you trying for, Perez? You can't make a ploy like that go anywhere—everybody on Astra knows those people had to be calmed down. In half the cases, their neighbors called us."

"I am trying for nothing but justice and competent leadership," Perez said. "This incident has demonstrated beyond a doubt the Army's inability to defend the people and property of Astra against attack. We received no warning, no useful instruction—"

"And I suppose you and your Council would have done better?"

"If we were given the authority we deserve—"

"I doubt if anyone could have done anything," Hafner interrupted. "I'd guess that what happened here today has happened several times in the past hundred thousand years."

Meredith and Perez both looked at him, Perez as if seeing him for the first time.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the Hispanic demanded.

"Just what it sounded like," Hafner replied. "Something's been leeching metals out of Astra's crust since at least before the Kaf Mountains were formed."

Meredith shifted his attention to Carmen, cocked an eyebrow questioningly. "I thought you should hear Dr. Harrier's theory as soon as possible," she said. "It makes a lot of sense, and I was afraid it would be bounced by someone if he sent it through channels."

Meredith nodded and leaned back in his chair. Listening to all this would at the very least buy him some time to figure out what to do with Perez. "All right, Doctor, let's hear it. For starters, how do the Kaf Mountains figure in?"

"If you examine the rocks there, you find out two interesting things: the mountains were formed recently, geologically speaking; and they were formed after the metals were removed from the crust."

"Who said there ever were metals on Astra?" Perez interrupted. "You're arguing your conclusion."

Hafner gave him an irritated look. "This isn't a freshman logic class. I'm describing what turns out to be a self-consistent scenario."

"You're welcome to leave if you're not interested," Meredith offered. The Hispanic sent him an angry glare; Meredith ignored it and looked back at the geologist. "Why couldn't they have formed earlier?"

"Because most of the rocks in Terran mountains involve reasonably high percentages of metals—aluminum, iron, and sodium in particular—and if you suddenly pulled all those atoms out you'd completely destroy the structural strength. I haven't had a chance yet to study the satellite photos, but I'd bet we'll find evidence of collapsed mountains ranges now that we know to look for them.

The Kafs, on the other hand, are composed almost entirely of christobalite—silicon dioxide— and moissanite, a silicon-carbon mineral. In other words, they're made of the strongest rocks available after the metal was gone."

"I see." This was starting to make altogether too much sense, and Meredith didn't like that at all. "You said it had happened several times … ?"

Hafner nodded. "Some of the meteor craters have been formed more recently than that, and they almost certainly brought metals in with them. The fact that those metals were gone before the Rooshrike surveyed Astra means this happened at least one more time."

"You keep saying the metal is 'gone,'" Perez said. "Gone where? The center of the planet? And more importantly, how? I don't know much chemistry, but I do know yanking iron atoms out of a solid hammer ought to be impossible."

"Agreed," Hafner shrugged. "So should getting those atoms to slide through the soil. I don't know how it was done, either; but I might know where to look for the answers."

Meredith straightened up in his seat, belatedly touching his terminal's audio record button. "The Rooshrike base?"

"No, I'm pretty sure they aren't involved in any of this. The source of the effect is on Astra … and I think it's a localized source, as well." He hesitated. "I suppose I should explain my reasoning on that one. Basically, I'm assuming this leeching effect singles out metals because of their electrical conductivity, which probably implies the mechanism is electromagnetic in origin. Anyway, it occurred to me that ions dissolved in water also act somewhat like conductors, and that whatever force draws the metal atoms might draw those ions, too."

Meredith had a sudden flash of insight. "The offshore mineral deposits. Right?"

Hafner blinked in obvious surprise. "That's exactly right, Colonel. When the ions reach shore and come out of solution, their conductivity disappears and they don't go any farther into the ground."

Meredith tapped some computer keys, and seconds later had a map of the offshore deposits. "So the reason only this continent is bordered by the desposits is that the metal is being drawn and deposited here!"

Perez snorted. "A great theory. With twenty-five million square kilometers to search for this alleged El Dorado, it would be years before you could be proved wrong. Except that we already know the metals aren't here."

"Not necessarily," Meredith countered. "All we really know is that they have to be deeper than the Rooshrike's half-kilometer range. And as for finding them, that much metal should be a gigantic mascon. A properly positioned geosat could pinpoint it in days—" He broke off at Hafner's look of strained patience. "Or do you have an easier way, Doctor?"