Майкл Бишоп - The Final Frontier - Stories of Exploring Space, Colonizing the Universe, and First Contact

“System ONR 147-563.” Jarek joined her, partially blocking Adel’s view of the wall. “Nine point eight nine light-years away and a whole lot of nothing. The star has luminosity almost three times that of Sol. Six planets: four hot airless rocks, a jovian and a subjovian.”

“I’m still wondering about ONR 134-843,” said Kamilah, and the wall filled with a new solar system, most of which Adel couldn’t see. “Those five Martian-type planets.”

“So?” said Meri. “The star was a K1 orange-red dwarf. Which means those Martians are pretty damn cold. The day max is only 17C on the warmest and at night it drops to -210C. And their atmospheres are way too thin, not one over a hundred millibars. That’s practically space.”

“But there are five of them.” Kamilah held up her right hand, fingers splayed. “Count them, five.”

“Five Martians aren’t worth one terrestrial,” said Jarek.

Kamilah grunted. “Have we seen any terrestrials?”

“Space is huge and we’re slow.” Jarek bumped against her like a friendly dog. “Besides, what do you care? One of these days you’ll bust off this rock, get the hero’s parade on Jaxon and spend the rest of your life annoying the other eyejacks and getting your face on the news.”

“Sure.” Kamilah slouched uncomfortably. “One of these days.”

—eyejack? —buzzed minus.

Adel was wondering the same thing. “What’s an eyejack?”

“An eyejack,” said Meri confidentially, “is someone who shocks other people.”

“Shocks for pay,” corrected Kamilah, her back still to them.

“Shock?” Adel frowned. “As in voltage shock or scandalize shock?”

“Well, electricity could be involved.” Kamilah turned from the wall. Her medallion showed a cat sitting in a sunny window. “But mostly what I do,” she continued, “is make people squirm when they get too settled for their own good.”

—trouble —buzzed plus.

—love it —minus buzzed.

“And you do this how?”

“Movement.” She made a flourish with her left hand that started as a slap but ended as a caress that did not quite touch Jarek’s face. Jarek did not flinch. “Imagery. I work in visuals mostly but I sometimes use wordplay. Or sound—laughter, explosions, loud music. Whatever it takes to make you look.”

“And people pay you for this?”

“Some do, some sue.” Kamilah rattled it off like a catchphrase.

“It’s an acquired taste,” Meri said. “I know I’m still working on it.”

“You liked it the time she made Jonman snort juice out of his nose,” said Jarek. “Especially after he predicted she would do it to him.”

The wall behind them turned announcement blue. “We have come within survey range of a new binary system. I’m naming the M5 star ONR 126-850 and the M2 star ONR 154-436.” The screen showed data sheets on the discoveries: Location, Luminosity, Metallicity, Mass, Age, Temperature, Habitable Ecosphere Radius .

“Who cares about red dwarfs?” said Kamilah.

“About sixty percent of the stars in this sector are red dwarfs,” said Meri.

“My point exactly.” Said Kamilah, “You’re not going to find many terrestrials orbiting an M star. We should be looking somewhere else.”

“Why is that?” said Adel.

“M class are small, cool stars,” said Jarek. “In order to get enough insolation to be even remotely habitable, a planet has to be really close to the sun, so close that they get locked into synchronous rotation because of the intense tidal torque. Which means that one side is always dark and the other is always light. The atmosphere would freeze off the dark side.”

“And these stars are known for the frequency and intensity of their flares,” said Meri, “which would pretty much cook any life on a planet that close.”

“Meri and Jarek are our resident science twizes,” said Kamilah. “They can tell you more than you want to know about anything.”

“So do we actually get to help decide where to go next?” said Adel.

“Actually, we don’t.” Jarek shook his head sadly.

“We just argue about it.” Kamilah crossed the library to the bathroom and paused at the doorway. “It passes the time. Don’t get any ideas about the boy, Meri. I’ll be right back.” The door vanished as she stepped through and reformed immediately.

“When I first started thinking seriously about making the pilgrimage to the Godspeed,” said Jarek, “I had this foolish idea that I might have some influence on the search, maybe even be responsible for a course change. I knew I wouldn’t be aboard long enough to make a planetfall, but I thought maybe I could help. But I’ve studied Speedy’s search plan and it’s perfect, considering that we can’t go any faster than a third of C.”

“Besides, we’re not going anywhere, Jarek and you and me,” said Meri. “Except back to where we came from. By the time Speedy finds the next terrestrial, we could be grandparents.”

“Or dead,” said Kamilah as she came out of the bathroom. “Shall we tell young Adel here how long it’s been since Speedy discovered a terrestrial planet?”

“Young Adel?” said Meri. “Just how old are you?”

“Nineteen standard,” Adel muttered.

—twenty-six back home—buzzed plus .

“But that’s twenty-six on Harvest.”

“One hundred and fifty-eight standard,” said the wall. “This is your captain speaking.”

“Oh gods.” Kamilah rested her forehead in her hand.

The image the Godspeed projected was more uniform than woman; she stood against the dazzle of a star field. Her coat was golden broadcloth lined in red; it hung to her knees. The sleeves were turned back to show the lining. Double rows of brass buttons ran from neck to hem. These were unbuttoned below the waist, revealing red breeches and golden hose. The white sash over her left shoulder was decorated with patches representing all the terrestrial planets she had discovered. Adel counted more than thirty before he lost track.

“I departed from the MASTA on Nuevo Sueño,” said the Godspeed , “one hundred and fifty-eight years ago, Adel, and I’ve been looking for my next discovery ever since.”

“Longer than any other threshold,” said Kamilah.

“Longer than any other threshold,” the Godspeed said amiably. “Which pains me deeply, I must say. Why do you bring this unfortunate statistic up, perfect one? Is there some conclusion you care to draw?”

She glared at the wall. “Only that we have wasted a century and a half in this desolate corner of the galaxy.”

“We, Kamilah?” The Godspeed gave her an amused smile. “How long have you been with me?”

“Not quite a year.” She folded her arms.

“Ah, the impatience of flesh.” The Godspeed turned to the stars behind her. “You have traveled not quite a third of a light-year since your arrival. Consider that I’ve traveled 50.12 light-years since my departure from Nuevo Sueño. Now see what that looks like to me.” She thrust her hands above her head and suddenly the points of light on the wall streamed into ribbons and the center of the screen jerked up-right-left-down-left with each course correction and then the ribbons became stars again. She faced the library again, her face glowing. “You have just come 15.33 parsecs in ten seconds. If I follow my instructions to reach my journey’s end at the center of our galaxy I will have traveled 8.5 kiloparsecs.”

—if ?—buzzed minus.

“Believe me, Kamilah, I can imagine your experience of spacetime more easily than you can imagine mine.” She tugged her sash into place and then pointed at Kamilah. “You’re going to mope now.”