Judith Merril - The Year's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 7

The JH-834 obediently presented itself and was sent to outlying areas on Chloe to pick up scattered settlers who did not appear to appreciate the urgency of the situation. Chloe, indeed, was enjoying the first temperatures above freezing since it had been flung out of its parent. Since many of the colonists were religious fanatics who had settled on rigorous Chloe to fit themselves for a life of pious reflection, Chloe’s abrupt thaw was attributed to sources other than a rampaging sun.

Jennan had to spend so much time countering specious arguments that he and Helva were behind schedule on their way to the fourth and last settlement.

Helva jumped over the high range of jagged peaks that surrounded and sheltered the valley from the former raging snows as well as the present heat. The violent sun with its flaring corona was just beginning to brighten the deep valley as Helva dropped down to a landing.

“They’d better grab their toothbrushes and hop aboard,” Helva said. “HO says speed it up.”

“All women,” remarked Jeanan in surprise as he walked down to meet them. “Unless the men on Chloe wear furred skirts.”

“Charm ‘em but pare the routine to the bare essentials. And turn on your two-way private.”

Jennan advanced smiling, but his explanation of his mission was met with absolute incredulity and considerable doubt as to his authenticity. He groaned inwardly as the matriarch paraphrased previous explanations of the warming sun.

“Revered mother, there’s been an overload on that prayer circuit and the sun is blowing itself up in one obliging burst. I’m here to take you to the spaceport at Rosary—”

“That Sodom?” The worthy woman glowered and shuddered disdainfully at his suggestion. “We thank you for your warning but we have no wish to leave our cloister for the rude world. We must go about our morning meditation which has been interrupted—”

“It’ll be permanently interrupted when that sun starts broiling you. You must come now,” Jennan said firmly.

“Madame,” said Helva, realizing that perhaps a female voice might carry more weight in this instance than Jennan’s very masculine charm.

“Who spoke?” cried the nun, startled by the bodiless voice.

“I, Helva, the ship. Under my protection you and your sisters-in-faith may enter safely and be unprofaned by association with a male. I will guard you and take you safely to a place prepared for you.”

The matriarch peered cautiously into the ship’s open port.

“Since only Central Worlds is permitted the use of such ships, I acknowledge that you are not trifling with us, young man. However, we are in no danger here.”

“The temperature at Rosary is now 99°,” said Helva. “As soon as the sun’s rays penetrate directly into this valley, it will also be 99°, and it is due to climb to approximately 180° today. I notice your buildings are made of wood with moss chinking. Dry moss. It should fire around noontime.”

The sunlight was beginning to slant into the valley through the peaks and the fierce rays warmed the restless group behind the matriarch. Several opened the throats of their furry parkas.

“Jennan,” said Helva privately to him, “our time is very short.”

“I can’t leave them, Helva. Some of those girls are barely out of their teens.”

“Pretty, too. No wonder the matriarch doesn’t want to get in.”

“Helva.”

“It will be the Lord’s will,” said the matriarch stoutly and turned her back squarely on rescue.

“To burn to death?” shouted Jennan as she threaded her way through her murmuring disciples.

“They want to be martyrs? Their opt, Jennan,” said Helva dispassionately, “We must leave and that is no longer a matter of option.”

“How can I leave, Helva?”

“Parsaea?” Helva asked tauntingly as he stepped forward to grab one of the women. “You can’t drag them all aboard and we don’t have time to fight it out. Get on board, Jennan, or I’ll have you on report.”

“They’ll die,” muttered Jennan dejectedly as he reluctantly turned to climb on board.

“You can risk only so much,” Helva said sympathetically. “As it is we’ll just have time to make a rendezvous. Lab reports a critical speedup in spectral evolution.”

Jennan was already in the airlock when one of the younger women, screaming, rushed to squeeze in the closing port. Her action set off the others. They stampeded through the narrow-opening. Even crammed back to breast, there was not enough room inside for all the women. Jennan broke out spacesuits to the three who would have to remain with him in the airlock. He wasted valuable time explaining to the matriarch that she must put on the suit because the airlock had no independent oxygen or cooling units.

“We’ll be caught,” said Helva in a grim tone to Jennan on their private connection. “We’ve lost 18 minutes in this last-minute rush. I am now overloaded for maximum speed and I must attain maximum speed to outrun the heat wave.”

“Can you lift? We’re suited.”

“Lift? Yes,” she said, doing so. “Run? I stagger.”

Jennan, bracing himself and the women, could feel her sluggishness as she blasted upward. Heartlessly, Helva applied thrust as long as she could, despite the fact that the gravitational force mashed her cabin passengers brutally and crushed two fatally. It was a question of saving as many as possible. The only one for whom she had any concern was Jennan and she was in desperate terror about his safety. Airless and uncooled, protected by only one layer of metal, not three, the airlock was not going to be safe for the four trapped there, despite the spacesuits. These were only the standard models, not built to withstand the excessive heat to which the ship would be subjected.

Helva ran as fast as she could but the incredible wave of heat from the explosive sun caught them halfway to cold safety.

She paid no heed to the cries, moans, pleas, and prayers in her cabin. She listened only to Jennan’s tortured breathing, to the missing throb in his suit’s purifying system and the sucking of the overloaded cooling unit. Helpless, she heard the hysterical screams of his three companions as they writhed in the awful heat. Vainly, Jennan tried to calm them, tried to explain they would soon be safe and cool if they could be still and endure the heat. Undisciplined by their terror and torment, they tried to strike out at him despite the close quarters. One flailing arm became entangled in the leads to his power pack and the damage was quickly done. A connection, weakened by heat and the dead weight of the arm, broke.

For all the power at her disposal, Helva was helpless. She watched as Jennan fought for his breath, as he turned his head beseechingly toward her, and died.

Only the iron conditioning of her training prevented Helva from swinging around and plunging back into the cleansing heart of the exploding sun. Numbly she made rendezvous with the refugee convoy. She obediently transferred her burned, heat-prostrated passengers to the assigned transport.

“I will retain the body of my scout and proceed to the nearest base for burial,” she informed Central dully.

“You will be provided escort,” was the reply.

“I have no need of escort.”

“Escort is provided, XH-834,” she was told curtly. The shock of hearing Jennan’s initial severed from her call number cut off her half-formed protest. Stunned, she waited by the transport until her screens showed the arrival of two other slim brain ships. The cortege proceeded homeward at unfunereal speeds.

“834? The ship who sings?”

“I have no more songs.”

“Your scout was Jennan.”

“I do not wish to communicate.”

“I’m 422.”

“Silvia?”