[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
We only had one pressure pot. And it was always dedicated to coffee.
If you took the time to brood about that, the chocolate just got colder.
Planning (Part 2)
"You're the ranking Explorer," Chee said to me. "It's your show."
We sat casually around a table... or perhaps I should say we satexpansively.
We were flagrant in our nonchalance. Chee leaned so far back in his chair that
the springs squeaked every few seconds; a heavier man would have broken the
clamps that attached the seat to its tracks. Yarrun sprawled sideways across
his chair, one elbow on the table, the other hand toying with a napkin. I had
both arms on the table, hands cupping my mug as if I were drawing heat from
it. In fact, I was hoping my hands would warm the chocolate up.
"All right," I said, "we're agreed the planet is temperate?"
Both men grunted a yes.
"And it's relatively Earthlike?"
"Don't assume it'stoo Earthlike," Chee said.
"Eighty percent of an Explorer's training is aimed at stamping out such
assumptions," I replied. "The specifics of each planet are different, but
there are usually some general parallels. For example, do we think Melaquin
has flora and fauna?"
"It must," Chee answered. "If it's an official exile world, it has to be able
to sustain human life. Otherwise, banishment to an exile world would be as
good as murder, and the League of Peoples would condemn Outward Fleet laws as
non-sentient. No... there's got to be a reasonable chance for survival on any
exile world Melaquin included. It must have breathable atmosphere, drinkable
Page 35
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
water, and edible food."
"So Melaquin has all the comforts of home," I said. "Why is it so deadly?"
"Microorganisms?" Chee suggested. "A planet with life must have bacteria, and
thousands of diseases for which we have no immunity."
"Unquestionably... but we'll breathe canned air and wear the usual protective
gear," I told him. "The skin of a tightsuit can't be penetrated by the
smallest virus we know; and the pressure inside is kept higher than
atmospheric pressure outside, so any microbe that comes close to penetrating
the suit's skin is blown right back out again."
"What about organisms that can digest tightsuits?"
"There are five different kinds of tightsuits," Yarrun explained, "each made
from a different material. Standard procedure is for each party member to wear
a different type of suit. It's extremely unlikely that microbes would eat
through each material at exactly the same rate, so if one of us gets a suit
breach, the others should have some warning before their suits go too. And of
course, death by disease is not instantaneous; even the most virulent bugs we
know need at least an hour to multiply to lethal levels. During that hour, our
suit sensors would surely notice some sign we're in trouble loss of suit
pressure, spread of alien organisms through our bodies, deterioration of body
functions not to mention we'll know we're getting sick without any help from
the electronics."
"By then it could be too late," Chee said.
"Almost certainly," Yarrun agreed. "But we would still have time to
communicate with the ship and describe the problem. Sickness is a valid reason
to demand immediate pickup; and then we'd only have to hold out another five
minutes before we were back on the ship. Even if we died on board, our
bodiesmust be sent to the Explorer Academy for examination, at which point the
whole secret would come out."
"Not if the High Council suppressed the information," I muttered.
Yarrun shrugged. "Secrets are flimsy things spread them among too many
people, and they get torn. Maybe the council could suppress information about
a single Landing... maybe even a handful of Landings. But if people go missing
on a regular basis, there are too many leaks to catch. Admiral, how many
people has the council has sent to Melaquin?"
Chee thought for a moment. "Maybe one or two a year. And they've been doing
this for at least forty years. They certainly couldn't suppress hard evidence
that long."
"Which means that whatever the danger is on Melaquin, it hits the party too
fast for anyone to collect hard evidence."
"Do you have any ideas what it might be?" Chee asked.
Feeling like a cadet reciting a case study, I said, "On Canopus IV, there's a
plant that spreads its seeds by exploding violently. In the right season, the
vibration from a single footstep is enough to set it off. Five parties were
killed there before one team spread out and put a hundred meters between each
party member. In that team, one Explorer was killed; the others reported back
and Canopus IV was eventually tamed."
Page 36
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"So you think we should spread out?"
Yarrun snorted a small laugh. "The planet Seraphar has a race of
semi-sentient shapeshifters who would quietly stab Explorers in the back and
take their place in the party. Spreading out just made it that much easier for
the shape-shifters to do their work. Six parties were killed before one
stumbled on the truth."
"Every decision is a gamble," I told the admiral. "In this case, however, we
don't need to tax our brains. So many teams have landed on Melaquin, they must
have tried all the standard approaches by now. None of those worked, so we're
free to do whatever the hell we want."
We spent several moments of silence, contemplating the wealth of freedom
presented to us.
No-Comm
"Of course," I said at last, "there's a more pleasant alternative."
"I'm eager to hear it," Chee answered.
"According to my old instructor Phylar Tobit, teams exploring Melaquin don't
necessarily go Oh Shit; they just go no-comm. Suppose there's something on the
planet that interrupts communications some kind of interference field."
Yarrun looked thoughtful. "Didn't Tobit suggest that parties can broadcast
for a while before being cut off? If the planet has natural interference, it
should kill communications right from the start."
"Not necessarily," I answered. "Suppose Melaquin has some kind of standing
interference field; but when a ship drops its Sperm tail to land a party, the
tail disrupts the field. The Explorers land, the tail is withdrawn... and for
a few minutes the party has normal communications. Then the interference
reestablishes itself and the party goes no-comm."
"Wouldn't there be some warning?" Chee asked. "Static or something, as the
field closed back in."
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]