Ben Bova: Leviathans of Jupiter

“Yeah,” Corvus agreed. “I wouldn’t want to be tethered to that beast if it gets scared and decides to dive deeper.”

Deirdre nodded, but she said, “I’d like to show them what we look like.”

“You can show me what you look like anytime,” Yeager said, breaking into his old leering grin.

“Time line calls for data capsule launch in eight minutes,” Dorn said.

“Disconnect us first,” said Corvus.

“Disconnecting.”

The alien has removed its arm from you, the Eldest pictured.

Leviathan flashed a soft orange sign of agreement. It had hardly felt the alien’s attachment to its hide. The disengagement was even less noticeable. Leviathan saw that the alien remained in the midst of the Elders as its arm slowly withdrew into its spherical body. It is not trying to flee from us, it thought.

New pictures began to glow on the alien’s hide. Leviathan’s sensor parts focused on them while its brain tried to understand what the alien was showing.

First it showed the circle that Leviathan thought represented the alien itself. Then the circle grew larger and shapes took form inside it. Four strange shapes, elongated, with things like tentacles extending from their bodies. But they looked too thick and short to be tentacles. And there was a rounded knob at one end of each body.

What are they depicting? the Eldest asked.

None of the Elders replied; they were all studying the strange images.

Leviathan guessed, Those could be members of the alien’s body, like our own inner organ members.

But they seem to move about inside its body, one of the Elders pointed out.

Strange.

It is alien, Leviathan pictured. Of course it is strange.

The images inside the picture of the alien faded away. For maddeningly long moments the alien showed nothing but the circle representing its own body.

Has it nothing more to tell us? the Eldest asked.

The newest Elder signed, It’s not intelligent enough to show us anything meaningful.

Suddenly the alien’s imagery showed a tubular object leaving its body and speeding upward, toward the cold abyss above.

Leviathan immediately understood. It is telling us that it will dissociate!

The Eldest flared in blue distaste, Dissociate? Here, amongst us?

Revolting, flashed another of the Elders.

Obviously, signaled the Elder next to it, the alien is of a low mentality. Its ways are crude and disgusting.

It is alien, Leviathan insisted. Its ways are different from ours.

It is feeble-minded, signed the newest Elder. Slow and feeble-minded.

Leviathan countered, Then how is it that the alien has come into our realm? How could it be feeble-minded if it left its own region in the cold abyss above and came down here to find us?

“Capsule launch in one minute,” Dorn called out.

Yeager said, “Better hang on tight. If those beasties out there start thrashing around we’re gonna get battered but good.”

“We’ve told them we’re going to launch the capsule,” Corvus said. “They won’t be frightened.”

“You hope,” Yeager snapped, as he wormed his feet firmly into the deck loops and wedged both hands against the overhead.

Deirdre reached for the handholds on her console, noting that Andy and Dorn were doing the same. Her arms felt heavy, weary; every movement she made caused the pain in her chest to flare hotly.

Dorn flexed his prosthetic hand slowly as he said, “Our life-support readouts are nearly touching the redlines. We’ll have to cut our mission short.”

“No,” Corvus snapped immediately. Even in the sound-deepening perfluorocarbon his voice was a high-pitched yelp. “We’re communicating with the leviathans! We’re talking with intelligent aliens!”

“Do we want to die down here?” Yeager growled.

“We haven’t hit any redlines yet, have we?” Deirdre asked. “Can’t we stay until we actually reach the limits?”

Dorn seemed to take a deep breath, then replied, “Capsule launch in thirty seconds.”

Leviathan watched the alien begin dissociating, but it was unlike any dissociation it had ever known or heard of. A solid chunk of the alien shot out of its body like a miniature darter, heading straight up toward the cold abyss above. Then—nothing. Leviathan waited with the Elders, but the alien did not detach any more of its members.

After a seeming eternity of waiting, the Eldest signaled, It merely separated one member.

And the member did not bud, pictured another of the Elders.

Does it understand that the Symmetry demands that we bud alone, away from the Kin?

And feed the darters, Leviathan thought; but it remained dark.

The alien apparently has some sense of decency, said the newest Elder. At least, the member it detached does. It goes off to bud alone, as is proper.

It fled away from us, flashed the Eldest.

Perhaps, Leviathan signed, it is frightened of us. Perhaps it is not budding. Perhaps it has merely sent one of its members back to its own realm.

For what purpose? asked the Eldest.

Leviathan hesitated before answering, knowing that the Elders would not be pleased at its thought. To tell them about the Kin, it answered at last. To tell its fellow aliens that we exist.

All five of the Elders glared hot white. Yes, Leviathan realized, that frightens them.

“Rest period for Dee and Max,” said Dorn.

Deirdre grimaced inwardly at the thought of feeding herself again through the port in her throat.

Yeager said, “Why don’t we just get the hell out of here? What can we accomplish by stooging around with these critters?”

“We’re talking with them!” Corvus fairly shouted. “We’re learning about them.”

“And getting sicker every minute,” Yeager countered. “I don’t know about you, pal, but my back is killing me. I feel like I’m two hundred years old and I’m carrying a six-hundred-kilo gorilla on my back.”

Hotly, Corvus said, “We came down here to communicate with the leviathans—”

“Which we’ve done. Now let’s haul ass and get back where we belong.”

“We belong here!”

“Even if it kills us?”

“We’re not dead yet, Max. Far from it.”

Dorn interjected, “Our physical condition is deteriorating. At the present rate we will not be able to stay at this depth for the scheduled length of the mission.”

Corvus glared at the cyborg. Deirdre could see anger smoldering in his normally placid eyes. And Yeager was staring defiantly at Corvus. Andy wants to communicate with them so badly, she thought. He’s willing to risk his own life for this. He’s willing to fight Max and even Dorn. I can’t let him carry this to the point where they’ll be enemies.

She reached out and touched Yeager’s shoulder. “Come on, Max. It’s dinnertime.”

Yeager blinked at her, then made a forced little grin. “Yeah. Let’s have the blue plate special.”

Deirdre saw some of the angry tension ease out of Andy’s body. Dorn looked slowly from Corvus to Yeager and then to Deirdre. He dipped his chin a bare centimeter at her and Deirdre understood that Dorn recognized what she had just defused.

The alien is dark, signed the Eldest.

Leviathan signed, It told us that it would dissociate one member only, and that is what it has done.

Now it says nothing.

The newest Elder maintained, If it is intelligent, its intelligence must be of a low order. It has nothing to tell us; we should ignore it.

The Eldest disagreed: Its presence among us is a change in the Symmetry. We must protect ourselves against any disruption.