Charles Sheffield - Higher Education

The dark opening shrank and shrank, like a black pupil in a silver iris, until at last it was gone completely. The end of the cylinder formed a flat continuous plate, nearly forty meters across. Rick moved closer, seeking the invisible places where the sectors joined. Alice was still over by the control panel, studying it again. She touched one of the switches and the silver eye began to dilate, metal sectors rolling ponderously back until the aperture was as big as when it started.

Alice came floating across to Rick, grabbed the arm of his suit, and put their helmets together.

“We were exactly right. There’s just one thing I can’t figure out. Do you see any control that can fill the SM with air from this end?”

They wandered together back to the control panel and Alice waited while Rick made his own examination. At last he shook his head.

“It looks like the air-fill has to be done from the other end. That makes sense. It’s where you’d expect the pumps and air supply to be located. This can serve as an emergency exit, but it’s not the usual way in.”

“I suppose you’re right.” She touched Rick’s helmet. “Radios on. Talking like this is a pain.”

Rick agreed—with relief. The end to radio silence meant they must be finished with unauthorized exploration. “Ready to go back now?”

“Might as well. See, I told you that nothing bad would happen if we explored on our own.” She grinned at him as they floated together past the outside of the smelter and headed for the main body of CM-26. For someone usually so unemotional she sounded vastly pleased, even excited.

Sometimes Rick was sure that he understood Alice very well; but there were also times, like now, when he wondered if he knew her at all.

Thanks to one sort of exploration or another, Rick had lost track of time. When he floated into the dining area for his evening meal he wondered why other people were already eating their final course. Alice was sitting in the middle of one group, relaxed and smiling. She ought to feel as dead and drained as he did, but if so she showed no sign of it. She was talking to Lafe Eklund, and she didn’t even glance Rick’s way when he entered the room. Rather than going over in her direction he went to another table, where Vido Valdez, Deedee Mao, Polly Quint, and Gladys de Witt were arguing vigorously. They hardly registered his arrival. Rick settled in next to Polly Quint. She was carefully polishing her nails, and he had the random thought that she was going to love scouring out the inside of the smelter for the next week or two.

“The question isn’t when, “ Vido was saying. “It’s who. Is it just another competition? And if so, what are the ground rules?”

“Grow up, Vido.” Polly liked Vido, and showed it by putting him down. “You know they won’t tell us—they never do. Maybe there are no ground rules.”

“Then how will they decide?” Vido frowned at the others around the table. “I mean, none of the things that we’ve done so far has anything to do with this. So how do they?”

He stared at Rick as though expecting an answer. Rick, in a dreamy daze, paused with a fork halfway to his mouth. He had suddenly realized that he had no idea what they were talking about.

“Do they what?” he said.

“Rick!” said Deedee. But Polly gave him a more useful answer.

“Do they decide which ones of us—if any—will get to go.” And then, when Rick sat open-mouthed, “As junior crew members. It’s a big swindle. We’ve had hardly any assignments involving the moons of Jupiter. You’d think that if any of us was going to be involved in mapping and mining them, we’d have been better prepared.”

It was dawning on Rick, far too slowly, that there had been some sort of major announcement and he had missed it. “I know quite a bit about the moons of Jupiter,” he said slowly. “At least, I know a lot about the big four. I’ve had three assignments involving lo, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.”

“Which gives you a real leg up,” said Gladys scornfully, “given that the exploration team will concentrate specifically on the minor moons: Leda, Himalia, Lysithea, Elara, Ananke, Carme, Pasiphae, and Sinope. What else do you have going for you, Professor?”

Rick decided that it was time for him to shut up, listen, and hope to learn what was going on. By the time that the others were finished and ready to leave, he had managed to piece it together. A new remote survey technique had been developed, capable of detailed analysis of distant objects. The results, still confidential within Vanguard Mining, were startling: the smaller moons of Jupiter, farther out from the planet than the major four, were formed of unique combinations of metals and hydrocarbons. Their value was incalculable. Vanguard was planning a major new initiative to send out a prospecting ship and stake mining claims. It would be a ground-breaking mission, since the Jupiter system was unknown territory. It had been explored to date only slightly and superficially, by pilotless probes.

The whole project was a thriller—but a much bigger thrill was the rumor, sweeping through the group on CA1-26, that three apprentices might be included in the team in addition to the seasoned miners and prospectors.

“But it’s still might, not will, ” Polly said. Everyone from the other tables had already gone, leaving just Vido, Deedee, Gladys and Rick as her audience. “Apprentices might be chosen to go. Three of us may get lucky.”

“That’s good enough for me,” said Gladys. She stood up from the table. “I don’t know about you people, but from now on I’m a reformed character. No binges, no partying, no screwing around, private or otherwise. I’m going to work my tail off—no cracks from you, Vido—and be on my best behavior until further notice. Can you imagine it, being one of the first humans to explore the moons of Jupiter? You know, if you are the first person to land on a body it’s usually named after you. How about that? Maybe there will be a Jupiter moon called de Witt. ”

“More likely de half-wit.” Vido fended off her lunge. “Hey! I thought you were on your best behavior.”

He ran for the exit pursued by Gladys. Polly soon followed. Rick and Deedee were left sitting alone.

“You look pretty wiped out,” she said. “Do you feel too tired to talk?”

The peculiar tone in her voice woke him up at once. “Talk? About what?”

“Not here.” Deedee stood up. “If you don’t mind, I’d like this to be private. Let’s go to my cabin.”

Whatever she had in mind, it was surely not what it sounded like. That was just as well. And just as well that she had not suggested his cabin. His bunk still looked as though it had been struck by a tornado. Rick trailed along after Deedee on weary legs, feeling a little uncomfortable as they passed Alice’s cabin.

“What’s the big mystery?” he said as she closed and locked her door. “Getting paranoid?”

“Maybe I am.” She sat down on her bed and gestured to him to use the chair. “I haven’t told anyone else about this, because it sounds so crazy. Promise me that what I say to you now won’t go any farther.”

“I promise. I won’t talk.”

“Not to anyone. Not even to Alice Klein.”

“Alice? What makes you think that I might. . .” Rick saw Deedee’s expression, and swallowed the rest of the sentence. “I promise. Not to Alice, not to anyone.”

“Thank you. I want to ask you a question about somebody—don’t worry, it’s not about Alice.”

“Go ahead.”

“What do you think of Jigger Tait?”

“Jigger?” It was the last name that Rick had expected. He had to stop and analyze his own feelings before he could answer. “You probably know him as well as I do,” he said at last. “I think very well of him. He helped me a lot back on CM-2, when I did something really stupid, and he never mentioned it to anyone. He keeps himself to himself, but he’s always there when you need him. What are you getting at, Deedee?”