Arthur Clarke - 2061 - Odyssey Three

'And yet that was only the beginning. What we find incredible – and inspiring – is that Shackleton went back four times to rescue his men on that little island – and saved every one of them! You can guess what that story's done to our spirits – I hope you can fax this book to us in your next transmission – we're all anxious to read it.

'And what would he have thought of that! Yes, we're infinitely better off than any of those old-time explorers. It's almost impossible to believe that, until well into the last century, they were completely cut off from the rest of the human race, once they'd gone over the horizon. We should be ashamed at grumbling because light isn't fast enough and we can't talk to our friends in real time – or that it takes a couple of hours to get replies from Earth... They had no contact for months – almost years! Again, Miss M'Bala – our sincerest thanks.

'Of course, all Earth explorers did have one considerable advantage over us; at least they could breathe the air. Our science team has been clamouring to go outside, and we've modified four spacesuits for EVAs of up to six hours. At this atmospheric pressure they won't need full suits – a waist seal is good enough – and I'm allowing two men to go out at a time, as long as they stay within sight of the ship.

'Finally, here's today's weather report. Pressure two hundred and fifty bars, temperature steady at twenty-five degrees, wind gusting at up to thirty klicks from the west, usual hundred per cent overcast, quakes between one and three on open-ended Richter...

'You know, I never did like the sound of that "open-ended" – especially now that Io's coming into conjunction again.

When people asked to see him together, it usually meant trouble, or at least some difficult decision. Captain Laplace had noticed that Floyd and van der Berg were spending a lot of time in earnest discussions, often with Second Officer Chang, and it was easy to guess what they were talking about. Yet their proposal still took him by surprise.

'You want to go to Mount Zeus! How – in an open boat? Has that Shackleton book gone to your head?'

Floyd looked slightly embarrassed; the Captain was right on target. South had been an inspiration, in more ways than one.

'Even if we could build a boat, Sir, it would take much too long... especially now that Universe looks like reaching us within ten days.'

'And I'm not sure,' added van der Berg, 'that I'd care to sail on this "Sea of Galilee"; not all its inhabitants may have got the message that we're inedible.'

'So that leaves only one alternative, doesn't it? I'm sceptical, but I'm willing to be convinced. Go on...

'We've discussed it with Mr Chang, and he confirms that it can be done. Mount Zeus is only three hundred kilometres away; the shuttle can fly there in less than an hour.'

'And find a place to land? As you doubtless recall, Mr Chang wasn't very successful with Galaxy.'

'No problem, Sir, The William Tsung's only a hundredth of our mass; even that ice could probably have supported it. We've been over the video records, and found a dozen good landing sites.'

'Besides,' said van der Berg, 'the pilot won't have a pistol pointed at him. That could help.'

'I'm sure it will. But the big problem is at this end. How are you going to get the shuttle out of its garage? Can you rig a crane? Even in this gravity, it would be quite a load.'

'No need to, Sir. Mr Chang can fly it out.'

There was a prolonged silence while Captain Laplace contemplated, obviously without much enthusiasm, the idea of rocket motors firing inside his ship. The small shuttle William Tsung, more familiarly known as Bill Tee, was designed purely for orbital operations; normally, it would be pushed gently out of its 'garage', and the engines would not operate until it was well away from the mother ship.

'Obviously you've worked all this out,' said the Captain grudgingly, 'but what about the angle of take-off? Don't tell me you want to roll Galaxy over so that Bill Tee can pop straight up? The garage is half-way down one side; lucky it wasn't underneath when we grounded.'

'The take-off will have to be at sixty degrees to the horizontal; the lateral thrusters can handle it.'

'If Mr Chang says so, I'll certainly believe him. But what will the firing do to the ship?'

'Well, it will wreck the garage interior – but it will never be used again, anyway. And the bulkheads are designed for accidental explosions, so there's no danger of damage to the rest of the ship. We'll have fire-fighting crews standing by, just in case.'

It was a brilliant concept – no doubt of that. If it worked, the mission would not be a total failure. During the last week, Captain Laplace had given scarcely a moment's thought to the mystery of Mount Zeus, which had brought them to this predicament: only survival had mattered. But now there was hope, and leisure to think ahead. It would be worth taking some risks, to find why this little world was the focus of so much intrigue.

'Speaking from memory,' said Dr Anderson, 'Goddard's first rocket flew about fifty metres. I wonder if Mr Chang will beat that record?'

'He'd better – or we'll all be in trouble.'

Most of the science team had gathered in the observation lounge, and everyone was staring anxiously back along the hull of the ship. Although the entrance of the 'garage' was not visible from this angle, they would see the Bill Tee soon enough, when – and if – it emerged.

There was no countdown; Chang was taking his time, making every possible check – and would fire when he felt like it. The shuttle had been stripped down to its minimum mass, and was carrying just enough propellant for one hundred seconds of flight. If everything worked, that would be ample; if it didn't, more would not only be superfluous, but dangerous.

'Here we go,' said Chang casually.

It was almost like a conjuring trick; everything happened so quickly that the eye was deceived. No one saw Bill Tee pop out of the garage, because it was hidden in a cloud of steam. When the cloud had cleared, the shuttle was already landing, two hundred metres away.

A great cheer of relief echoed through the lounge.

'He did it!' cried ex-Acting Captain Lee. 'He's broken Goddard's record – easily!'

Standing on its four stubby legs in the bleak Europan landscape, Bill Tee looked like a larger and even less elegant version of an Apollo lunar module. That was not, however, the thought that occurred to Captain Laplace, as he looked out from the bridge. It seemed to him that his ship was rather like a stranded whale, that had managed a difficult birth in an alien element. He hoped that the new calf would survive.

Forty-eight very busy hours later, the William Tsung was loaded, checked out on a ten-kilometre circuit over the island – and ready to go. There was still plenty of time for the mission; by the most optimistic reckoning, Universe could not arrive for another three days, and the trip to Mount Zeus, even allowing for the deployment of Dr van der Berg's extensive array of instruments, would take only six hours.

As soon as Second Officer Chang had landed, Captain Laplace called him to his cabin. The Skipper looked, thought Chang, somewhat ill at ease.

'Good work, Walter – but of course that's only what we expect.'

'Thanks, Sir, So what's the problem?'

The Captain smiled. A well-integrated crew could keep no secrets.

'Head Office, as usual. I hate to disappoint you, but I've had orders that only Dr van der Berg and Second Officer Floyd are to make the trip.'

'I get the picture,' Chang answered, with a trace of bitterness. 'What have you told them?'