Джек Макдевитт - A Voice in the Night

He checked the launch bay to be certain everything was okay. Horace was seated inside the shuttle. Despite all pretense, he looked unsettled. The shuttle’s fuel was okay. Max checked through other routine details, satisfied himself they were ready to go, and started depressurization of the cargo bay, which also served as the launch area. He sat quietly watching Horace, who probably knew he was on display on the bridge.

“Looking forward to this,” he said. He continued, talking about how excited he was, admitting he was mildly nervous, and thanked all three of them for coming out here with him. When the preps were done, Max wished him luck again and opened the launch doors. “Clear to go, Champ.”

“ On my way, Maximilian.”

The captain wanted to ask again whether he was certain about this. But he suspected if there was any chance of his backing out, a last doubt from Max would cancel it. His fingertip touched the launch button. He waited a few more seconds. And pressed it.

Emily and Jay came onto the bridge as the shuttle moved slowly toward the wormhole gateway. Max turned its navigation lights on. “Everything all right?” asked Jay.

Max nodded. “So far.”

Emily took the right hand seat while Jay leaned on the back of Max’s chair. They watched the shuttle’s lights dwindle in the night.

“This is seriously dumb,” said Jay. “I was hoping he’d figure that out.”

“He might have,” said Emily, “if we hadn’t kept telling him about it.” There was an accusatory tone and Jay’s face reddened. “I’m talking about us both,” she added.

Emily looked disconcerted. She had compact features, dark eyes, red hair, an expression that suggested she was expecting an unhappy result. It had been apparent from the moment she came on board that she’d expected Horace to accept her recommendations and back off. Now she made no effort to conceal her growing irritation.

The shuttle was approaching the scattering of twisted light that formed the gateway. And, finally, its own lights disappeared in the morass.

They all knew how everything was supposed to work. The shuttle would continue directly ahead through the wormhole until it reached the exit gate, which would be another tangle of light. When the vehicle got there, it would simply pass through and leave the wormhole. At that point radio connection with the shuttle would cease.

“Damn it,” said Jay. “This is crazy.”

“Let’s not give up yet,” said Max.

“You going to call him?” Jay asked, “before he leaves the tunnel?”

“Let’s give him a few minutes.”

“Are we sure,” Emily asked, “radio contact can be made from in there?”

“Yes. It’s never been a problem.”

“Pity we can’t talk to him after he crosses over,” said Jay. “That would simplify things.”

The radio blinked on. “ Checking in,” Horace said.

“You okay?”

“So far. You want to take a look around?”

“Please.”

The control panel viewscreen lit up. Inside the wormhole, the distorted stars all seemed closer. Reflections of the shuttle were visible in two places, as if there were two shuttles, one on the starboard side, and one overhead in front of him.

“It looks pretty gloomy,” said Emily.

“Yeah.” Jay’s eyes looked empty. “This isn’t exactly a place for a night out.”

Max wanted to talk to him, to say something reassuring. But it was better to keep quiet.

“ Should be out of here in a minute or two,” said Horace. “Jay?”

“I’m here.”

“ Jay, if this doesn’t go well, tell everybody at home I was okay. That I was doing what I wanted.”

“There’s still time to shut down.”

Horace laughed. “How would I ever go home again if I did that?”

“We can come up with a story later.”

“You’re one of the great human beings of our time, Jay.”

“Please, Horace,” said Emily. “Stop while you can.”

They heard him make that squishy sound that he produced by rubbing his lips together. Then it was gone. He was gone.

Emily and Jay returned to the passenger cabin. Max sat for a few minutes, hoping Horace would come right back. When it didn’t happen he got out of his seat and turned the ship over to the AI. “Rex,” he said, “let us know if you hear anything.”

“Of course, Captain.”

Emily was holding back tears while telling Jay she was sorry she’d come. “This whole thing is a disaster.”

Jay was shaking his head. “I’ve never known him to fail at anything. If there’s a way to make this work, he’ll find it.”

Max took one of the seats. He’d have felt much better if either of them had shown any indication of thinking this would end happily. “As scary as this is,” said Jay, “I’d love to be part of the first mission to another universe.”

Emily nodded. “I hate to say this, but it’s something I’ve dreamt about my entire life. But when the opportunity came up, I ducked.”

That surprised Max. “They offered you a seat on the shuttle?”

“Oh no. Nothing like that. When they asked for volunteers, I just thought it was crazy. No way I was going to get into that. But I’d have liked to be able to tell people I’d applied but was passed over. If the AI’s couldn’t find their way home, I had no reason to think I’d be able to.”

“I didn’t know you were a pilot,” said Jay.

“I wasn’t. But I thought they might be willing to overlook that requirement and just include me as a technical specialist. The truth is I was afraid they’d do just that if I put my name in.”

They sat listening, waiting for Rex to say something. Gradually the silence grew deafening. “If you can enter a wormhole here,” Max asked, “is there any reason you guys can think of that would prohibit you from coming back through the gate?”

They looked at each other. Finally Emily took the question. “There is any number of possibilities. For example, the wormhole itself might not be a problem, but the physics of that universe could be different.”

“Different how?”

“We already talked about time moving at a different pace. Maybe six weeks would pass out here while Horace takes two minutes to turn the shuttle around.”

“Or,” said Jay, “electricity might not work.”

“That’s not possible, is it?” asked Max.

“Why not?”

“So you’re saying the AI’s might not have come back because the lights went out?”

“That could be exactly what happened,” said Emily. She checked the time. He’d been gone seven minutes.

Jay cleared his throat. “He told me he expected to be back right away, that he wouldn’t keep us waiting. He figured no less than fifteen or twenty minutes. A half-hour at most. He said if he was over there longer than that we should go home.”

“We’ll wait a minimum of three days,” said Max. “A week if we have to.” If he returned even later, he could contact the Aroica station. They could get assistance here in a couple of days.

They waited as the minutes lengthened to twelve.

And fifteen.

When they reached twenty, Jay suggested they should go after him. “It shouldn’t take this long.” That would be tricky. There wasn’t a backup vehicle. The shuttle had occupied the space that would ordinarily have held a lander. So Max’s only option, if they had to follow the shuttle, would be to use the starship and take everybody with him.