Jack McDevitt - Infinity Beach

“No way it could trip back itself?”

“No,” he said. “It’s not supposed to be possible for it to turn itself on or off.”

“Maybe,” said Kim, “we should blink our lights for the Patrol. Let them know we’ve no communications.”

“They’ll figure it out on their own.” He slumped into a seat. “It’s invisible. But it’s solid, right? It has to be. I mean, it turns handles.”

“No,” Kim said. “We know it’s physical . That’s not quite the same thing as being solid .”

“Well, whatever, it’s time to get rid of it.”

“How?”

“Easy.” He took two pressure suits out of the utility locker and handed her one. “Put this on.”

“Why? What’s the plan?”

“We’re going to blow it out the door.”

At first she didn’t know what he meant. And then she understood. “Depressurize,” she said.

“Sure. It’s the only way I know.”

“Brilliant, Solly,” she said. “I’d never have thought of it.”

He shrugged. “I saw it done in an old video.”

She stripped off her outer clothes and got into the suit. It was the first time she’d ever worn one and she needed help to secure the helmet properly. “You okay?” he asked.

She felt as if she couldn’t get enough air.

“Just relax,” he said. He did something to her backpack. “How’s that?”

Better. “Thanks.”

“It’s okay.” He showed her the controls on her gloves, how she could adjust temperature, the air mix, whatever, and pulled on his own suit while she demonstrated she knew how to handle everything. He locked down his helmet and ran a radio check.

“Now,” he said, “let’s get rid of the pest.”

They stowed their personal gear, toothbrushes, soap, clothes, commlinks. Then they walked through the ship, all three floors, opening every interior hatch, and leaving them open. When they’d finished they returned to the pilot’s room and sat down. Kim looked around, could see nothing else that required their attention. “I think we’re ready,” she said.

Solly nodded, turned off the blowers, and shut down the air supply.

Kim punched the stud on the arm of her chair, and the harness settled over her. “All set,” she said.

Solly leaned over the console and his fingers flashed across the keyboard.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“I have to override the safety routines. But we’re in business now.”

The Patrol voice asked again whether Hammersmith was receiving. “Please blink your lights if you hear me,” he said. And a moment later: “We have traffic for you from the Seabright Institute. Please respond if you are able.”

“Solly,” she said, “did you hear that?”

“Business first.”

“Okay,” she said.

“Opening up.”

She heard a hatch downstairs turning on its bearings. Then a murmur that escalated rapidly into a hurricane of sound. Wind swirled around her and tried to suck her out of the chair. Loose objects sailed past.

It lasted about two minutes. Then, as quickly as it had begun, it subsided, and the ship fell silent.

“We’ve got vacuum,” said Solly.

They unbuckled and went downstairs to the air lock and looked out. Helios was behind them. The three bright stars of Orion’s Belt glittered in the night. “What do you think?” he asked.

“It should have worked. There’s no lifeform I ever heard of that can resist a total depressurization.”

“How long should we leave it open?”

“I’d give it a couple of hours. I don’t suppose you saw anything unusual go out?”

“No.”

“Pity.”

They went back to the pilot’s room where Solly blinked the running lights.

“Please inform us if you can hear this transmission,” came the reply. “One blink for yes. Two for no.”

Solly blinked once.

“Are you in imminent danger?”

Solly blinked twice. Not that it made any real difference, as far as Kim could see. She doubted they could get here any faster.

The Patrol asked whether the pilot had control of the vehicle.

Solly blinked once.

Could they go to a new course?

One blink.

They set the directed course and speed. Then they began responding to queries about Hammersmith’s condition. Finally the Patrol vessel pronounced itself satisfied there was no immediate crisis and put the Institute on the circuit.

“Hello.” It was Matt’s voice. “Solly, are you okay? Kim? Is everyone all right?”

Solly blinked once and heard the Patrol relay the answer. “ Yes. ”

“They tell me you’ve got problems with the radio and can’t respond.” He sounded relieved. “But they think you’re doing okay, and they’ll have you out of there pretty soon. We’re glad to see you back home. I don’t think the official powers are happy, but they’ve got their ship back. Maybe they won’t prosecute. I’m leaving in a few hours and I’ll meet you at Sky Harbor. Did you have any luck?”

“He sounds subdued,” suggested Solly. “How do you want me to answer him?”

“Tell him yes .”

Solly blinked once.

“Do you mean you found something?”

Yes.

“Intelligence?”

She was thinking this was not something they’d want to discuss in public and Matt knew it but he couldn’t restrain himself.

Yes.

“I’ll meet you when you dock.”

He signed off. “Prosecution,” said Solly, “probably depends on whether Phil is happy with the results.”

“He won’t be happy,” said Kim. “We met a celestial and we killed it.” She was quiet for a while. Then: “Why not try the AI? Let’s see if it’s back.”

“Ham,” said Solly, “are you there?”

“ I’m here, Solly. ”

Another good sign. Solly let out his breath. “Thank God,” he said.

“Are you fully functional, Ham?” asked Kim.

“ Yes. I believe so. ”

“Do you know what happened to you?”

“ I was— ”

“Yes?”

“ –taken over— ”

“Go ahead, Ham.”

“ By an intelligence. ”

“Artificial?”

“ I do not know. ”

“Is it gone now?”

“ I do not detect its presence. Although I suspect it could hide itself from me if it wished. ”

“What can you tell us about it?”

“ It is not listed in the catalog. ”

“Was it biological?” Kim was asking the questions while Solly listened.

“ I don’t think so. I believe it was molecular, and that it was powered by electrical fields, possibly generated by accelerated quantum activity. It was quite a unique presence. It seems to have been designed for a specific purpose. ”

“What purpose?”

“ I would say to seize a starship. ”

“I wonder,” said Solly, “if it was supposed to grab us before we left the Alnitak system?”

“It’s possible,” said Kim. “It would have had to be pretty quick to do that.”

“ I think there was an alternate function. With respect to us. ”

“And that was—?”

“ To remain with the ship and inform its— ” the AI searched for a word, “ –inform its supervisor of our final destination. ”

“Who is the supervisor?”

“ I don’t know. ”

“The intelligence behind this thing must be a moron ” grumbled Kim. “Why make a grab instead of introducing themselves?”

“What else do you know of its physical structure?” asked Solly.

“ I detected free hydrogen molecules. Methane. Oxygen. It seemed, however, not to have a coherent physical form. ”