To The Stars

  "I'd rather let Fagen tell you."

  "Fagen? How would he know?"

  "He's been here before, Harry."

  "How could that be? He's..." Harry stopped in mid-sentence. He remembered the problem with navigations when the Magellan first entered the wormhole and all the other hints. It made sense. With Blane's help, Fagen had manipulated the destination and broken Corporation rules by changing the mission destination. Of course, it was simple.

  "But why?"

  "I'd rather let Fagen tell you. It's still his show."

  "So he knows you're here?"

  Blane grinned. "Well, he does now."

  "How can I get out of here?"

  "Well, we need to be careful about that. I have succeeded in establishing a relationship with the computer but the aliens don't trust me. They've known about you since you climbed out of the shuttle. The only reason you're still alive is that I was able to override the computer's territorial imperatives. Let me amend that, because that's not exactly the right wording; I was able to convince it that you were something I could deal with."

  "Why does it listen to you?"

  "Ah, that. It's because it recognizes me as a cybernetic personality. It's the machine in me it trusts. The biological part is of some interest, but primarily it understands me as it would another computer."

  'This is incredible," said Harry. "But what about the aliens? Their culture? Don't their machines do whatever they're ordered to do?"

  "Sort of. But they don't interact in the same way as we do with our computers. You must understand, Harry, their species and their culture are advanced and very old. When I refer to the alien computer, you automatically assume I'm talking about a machine. Perhaps, at one time, it was, but not anymore, at least not by human standards. The computer that runs this ship has awareness of itself. It considers itself a separate entity. As far as I can gather, the aliens began developing these 'machines' thousands of years ago. They take care of the alien race and have done a good job for a long, long time. As a result, the alien culture has become increasingly decadent. All their needs are fulfilled. Everything they do is for their own amusement. As individuals, they're egotistical little bastards, that's for sure, but they trust their machine intelligences explicitly."

  "What are they doing here?"

  "They own the property."

  "The property? You mean the planet?"

  "Precisely. They've been coming here on and off for over a thousand years. After the last flare-up from Gamma-2, they made the planet habitable again by terraforming the entire coastal area we've been exploring. Afterwards they transplanted species of plants and animals from the multitude of worlds they'd discovered in their own travels through space. They use Mia Culpa as a sort of game preserve. They visit for various reasons: to study the life forms, to enjoy the outdoors, to hunt..."

  "What do they want with us?"

  Blane looked surprised. "Why, nothing. When we arrived, we were merely something else to look at."

  "But we come from an advanced species, we have the ability to travel through space."

  "We have the ability to send a craft into a wormhole, Harry. That's a big difference from what their ships can do. This craft creates its own field, in effect creating its own wormhole. These things have traveled from one end of the galaxy to the other. Their technological history reaches ten times longer than ours. They've been around a long time, a lot longer than Homo Sapiens. By a long shot. They see us as just another life form. We can't expect much more than that from them.

  Harry shook his head. "I can't believe it. You mean they're not even interested in communicating with us?"

  Blane laughed. "Harry, it would be like our efforts at communicating with primates. Oh, they have the means, they've done it with plenty of other species, but not for a long time. They believe there's nothing to be learned from us. So why bother?"

  "This is so hard to believe."

  "It's simply a matter of perspective, Harry."

  "Why haven't they killed you?"

  "I am useful to them. Besides," Blane smiled, "the computer likes me. She helped talk them into letting me hook up."

  "That's fantastic."

  "No, I think it was my personality."

  "Whatever. How can I get back to the Magellan?"

  "We need to be careful. As I said, if they suspect we're up to something, they won't hesitate to kill us both." Blane looked Harry up and down. "You could probably squeeze into my EVA suit."

  "Then what would you use?"

  "I'll just have to figure out something else."

  "Like what?"

  "Don't worry about it. Fagen will work it out. Just listen for a minute. Go back the way you came. Just before the airlock, there's a seam. Rub a hand over it and it'll open up..." Harry nodded knowingly.

  "...inside you'll find the EVA suit. From there, go out the way you came in. When you get back to the Magellan, tell Fagen to wait for a message burst."

  "You're sure this is how you want to do this?"

  "Don't worry, Fagen will work it out."

  "How much does Fagen know?"

  "He knows a lot, Harry, but he's the one who should tell you, not me."

  "I'm getting a little tired of not knowing what's going on."

  Blane shrugged. "There's one other thing..."

  "What's that?"

  "It's Kathleen. She's still alive."

  "Where?"

  "You're not going to like to hear this, but I suspect she was on the shuttle with you, maybe in the same storage compartment."

  Harry stared unbelievingly at the smaller man. It could be true and Harry knew it. There were several cocoons large enough to hold the woman. Silently, Harry chastised himself for not looking around while he had the chance.

  "I'll go back and get her out."

  "No," Blane said, "you'll only succeed in getting the both of you killed. I'll do what I can here. You need to get back to the Magellan and tell Fagen what I said."

  Harry hesitated and shook his head. "I can't leave now, knowing that she's here."

  Blane sighed. "I shouldn't have told you."

  "I'm glad you did."

  "Look Harry, if we're to have any chance, you've got to go..." He stopped in mid-sentence, closed his eyes and shifted his head. "Ah, Harry, you need to leave now!"

  "Why, what's happening?"

  "There's some movement among the aliens. They're becoming increasingly alarmed by your presence. Please, Harry, leave now while I stall them. I'll do my best to take care of Kathleen until you return, but please, you must leave now!"

  Reluctantly, Harry shifted his feet. Blane was right. Harry needed to go for help. If Fagen already had some kind of plan, Harry might foul things up if he acted on his own.

  "All right," he said, "I'll go. But mark my words, Blane, I will be back."

  "I believe you, Harry. Now please go while you still have the chance."

  Harry nodded and left the alien bridge. He found the EVA suit exactly where Blane said it would be and wriggled into it in record time.

  As he exited the airlock into the hanger bay, he briefly thought about going back into the shuttle and looking for Kathleen. The thought vanished when the airlock opened again and a suited alien stepped out.

  It saw him immediately. Harry stood on the invisible floor of the hanger bay, fighting his vertigo. Heart beating wildly, he looked for escape, or cover. There was neither.

  The stars winked below Harry's feet. He tried to move behind the shuttle for protection, but the alien, in its own armored EVA suit, moved more quickly and stood between the man and the alien vehicle.

  Harry looked right and left but there was nothing but empty space. There was no place to hide and Harry had no weapons.

  Chapter 37

  Harry was backed into the proverbial corner. He stood on the transparent floor of the shuttle bay and watched the alien advance. It could have picked him off with any of its weapons, but it saw he had nowhere to run and so it took
its time. Harry was alone, helpless, and at the mercy of the creature.

  It took a step forward and Harry took a corresponding step backward. Desperately, he glanced around, looking for a way out. Below his feet, the stars shined against their velvet backdrop.

  The alien toyed with him. Harry took a step to the side and the creature cut him off. It could have rushed forward at any time and taken him, but it didn't. Instead, it followed him around the shuttle bay, gradually drawing closer all the while. Harry tried to work his way behind the shuttle, but the alien cut him off and backed him up.

  It feinted at him and Harry reacted immediately, but stumbled in the process and fell backward. In the blink of an eye, the alien towered over him, straddling him with its spindly legs. It stretched its mechanical arms wide as it prepared to embrace him. Harry shut his eyes and braced himself. But in the next instant, he dropped through the bottom of the hanger bay.

  He opened his eyes and saw he'd somehow managed to fall free. He fell backwards, out of the hanger bay, away from the suited alien. It remained in the shuttle bay and watched as Harry floated away. Somehow, the force field had turned off and released him with not a moment to spare.

  Twisting about, he caught sight of the Magellan and punched his jet controls. The momentary exhaust pushed him in the proper direction and he picked up speed. He gave a last look at the alien ship as he floated toward safety. The alien turned away and re-entered the airlock.

  Harry shuddered inside the ill-fitting EVA suit. He'd dodged another bullet. In less than ten minutes he traversed the space between the two ships and entered the shelter of the Magellan's airlock. Once inside, he collapsed on the interior bench as the air recycled. When the inner door opened, Fagen and Bonner were waiting.

  "How're you feeling, Harry?"

  His mouth was dry and his head pounded, but he was alive. "Fine, I guess."

  Fagen handed him a pouch of water and Harry took a long drink.

  "We thought we'd lost you," said Bonner.

  "You stowed away on the alien shuttle, right?" asked Fagen.

  Harry nodded. "Yeah," then remembering, he added, "and Blane's on the alien ship."

  "Did he say anything? Is he all right?"

  "It was very strange. He was plugged into their computer and yes, we talked for two minutes. He told me where the EVA suit was stored." Harry looked at Fagen. "They've got Kathleen too."

  Bonner shook his head. "I need to get back to the bridge. I'm glad you're okay, partner." The engineer patted Harry on the shoulder and left.

  Fagen leaned forward. "Okay, Harry. Tell me what it was like. Did you see Blane?"

  "Yes, I saw Blane. He's why I'm here." Harry related his story to Fagen. When he was done, Fagen turned away.

  "Where're you going?" asked Harry.

  "To the bridge. I think you could use some rest. We've also got a new situation. Seems like one of the neighboring stars is due to go nova."

  "This just gets better all the time."

  "Yes, well I don't want to burn up any more than anybody else. There're still some loose ends. We've got two crew members stranded on the alien ship..."

  Harry interrupted him, "I need to know something, Edward."

  "What's that?"

  "Tell me what’s really happening here."

  "What?"

  "I know you've been here before, on an earlier mission. Somehow, you prevented the company from finding out. You brought us here, didn't you? You've had your own agenda the whole time and none of us knew anything about it, except Blane, maybe Kathleen. Isn't that right?"

  Fagen looked at his younger crew member for a moment before commenting. "What did Blane tell you?"

  "Enough. Not everything, but enough. You knew the aliens would be here. I'm guessing about that, but I know it's true. You knew about the planet, the natives, everything, but somehow you managed to keep it from the Corporation. You managed to change the velocity parameters. The Corporation doesn't know where we are, isn't that right?"

  "No, they don't, Harry."

  "Why?"

  Harry watched Fagen carefully. The man obviously struggled with the answers. "Well," he said finally, "the Corporation is not the benevolent entity people think it is. The prime motive behind space exploration is to make money. Everything else takes a back seat. Remember the conservation movement on Earth? Remember how it failed? Remember how symbolic gestures by the world government coalition appeased the public while we continued to poison the planet?"

  "Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

  "It was all manipulated by the Braithwaite Foundation and a handful of other corporate conglomerates. What we do as survey explorers is to find other worlds to exploit and colonize. We are agents of our culture with imperatives issued by the Braithwaite Foundation. If those imperatives are knowingly circumvented, then the Corporation has deemed that those actions amount to felonious deeds and should be punished accordingly. All the while, anything we find out here is declared to be property of the Corporation. It's corporate imperialism, plain and simple. The Corporation always has the last word."

  Fagen paused and Harry waited for him to continue.

  "Most everybody who works for the Corporation doesn't care about that. Most are here for the big payoff. Look at Nadine."

  Harry held up a hand. "I understand, but what does this have to do with anything?"

  "For years I've been looking for a way to break away and still manage to do what I want."

  "Which is?"

  "You already know, Harry. I told you before we left. I want to travel among the stars. I want to explore and make discoveries, the same as you. Unfortunately, true space exploration is severely limited by two factors. First, the Corporation dictates where a survey team goes and what they do. The dictates serve the Corporation's purposes and no one else's. In our exploration of the universe, we find ourselves making the same mistakes and carrying the same attitudes as those who first explored and plundered Earth. The more things change, the more they remain the same. You've witnessed the power and strangeness of the aliens we've encountered. After your experiences, do you really think humanity has a chance to broach communications with the savagery we've encountered?"

  Harry shrugged.

  "You're good at what you do, Harry, you're probably the best linguist I've ever seen, but you still had no chance at conversing with them. There's just too much difference between us and them. From what I've seen, they've got no qualms about killing anything that gets in the way. I think they're not only capable of it, but inclined to it. They like to kill. I don't know why they haven't killed us all already."

  "Secondly, we're limited in our exploration by our technology. The discovery of the wormhole was a boon, but we're still limited in regard to choosing our destinations."

  "What are you up to, Edward? What about our people who are trapped over there?"

  "I'm trying to tell you..."

  "We've got people trapped over there!"

  "I want to save Kathleen and Bart as much as you do. Afterwards, if everything goes all right, then you'll see. Do you trust me on this?"

  "No, I don't. How can I?"

  "Harry, my first concern is for the crew and getting everybody back to Earth safely. I need your help to do that."

  "What do you want to do?"

  "I want to lead an armed EVA to the alien ship. It's the only way we're going to get Kathleen and Bart back."

  "And the aliens? Are we going to try to fight them?"

  "We'll deal with them just as they've dealt with us. It's a matter of survival."

  "But Edward, this is our first encounter with an advanced species, don't we owe it to humanity to do everything we can to establish peaceful relations?"

  "Sure. Now tell me how without getting ourselves killed."

  Harry didn't have an answer for that one.

  "You don't have a stock answer, do you? It's because you know what we're up against. Are you with me or are you against me?"


  "All right. I'm with you, especially if it means getting Kathleen and Bart back. I'm just having problems about how we're dealing with the aliens."

  "I understand, Harry. Believe me, I share your concerns. I want you to know if we go back to the alien ship, we're going to face the full fury of these things. Understand, they aren't suddenly going to turn around and ask to be friends. They've displayed their hostility. I can't count on Parker to watch my back. Nadine wouldn't even consider leaving the ship. I need Bonner to stay on the Magellan to run the systems if something happens to us. That leaves the two of us. Can I count on you?"

  Harry grudgingly agreed. "I still don't know your motives."

  "You don't need to and I would appreciate it if you kept this conversation between us. Now, let's talk strategy."

  *

  Afterwards, instead of sleeping, Harry wolfed down some food and went up to the bridge.

  Nadine swiveled her chair around to face him. "Well, hello stranger. How are you feeling after your adventure?"

  Harry smiled. "I'm fine. How are things up here?"

  The black woman took on a serious expression. "Pretty tense up here, honey. We've got sure signs of pre-nova activity and we got hostile aliens hanging in space about..." She looked at her instruments. "...four hundred and seventy-three meters starboard. I told Fagen we should just leave, but he won't listen to me."

  "I know what you mean. The man's headstrong, for sure."

  Nadine leaned toward Harry and conspiratorially lowered her voice. "He's more than just headstrong, if you ask me. Harry, we've got everything we came here for..."

  "Except three of the crew."

  "It's Kathleen, isn't it?"

  "What?"

  "Oh c'mon, Harry, I know you were taken by her. She was sweet, I liked her, but we've got to face up to it. She's gone and there's nothing we can do to bring her back. We should be thinking about ourselves. And our families. You came from the blocks. So did I."

  She snickered. "To tell you the truth, if it wasn't for a Corporation affirmative action program, I wouldn't be here. But now that I am, I want to make something out of it. I don't want to lose it all when it's so close. You feel the same way, I know you do."

  "Maybe," said Harry, "but I already told Fagen I'd EVA back to the alien ship with him."

  Nadine leaned back in her chair, mouth open in disbelief. "What are you? Crazy? Don't you understand? We can leave now and everything will be cool. It's as simple as that."