Jupiter's Reef (24 page)

“Alex, I ... I have to do this.”

“I know,” he said. “But, for now, I order you to put on the tabs. How’s that? Now you don’t have to feel left out.”

“Don’t you think you’re taking this clicker thing way too personally, Mary?” asked Johnny.

“Probably,” said Mary.

Alex wanted to let the matter drop. They’d already come precariously close to revealing her deep secret. But he felt it would be strange to just let Johnny’s question pass without defending her in some way.

“Don’t forget, Johnny,” he said. “You’ve seen the logs of our trip but you weren’t actually there. How could she
not
take the clicker men’s radio messages personally? In a way it was like they were speaking directly to her. You see, I only heard them when the radio was switched on. She heard them all the time.”

“Well, of course I know that,” said Johnny. “I’m the one who got her those tabs she wears. I just think she’s got to try to distance herself from the personal aspect of this.”

“Johnny’s right,” said Mary. “It’s silly for me to think the clicker men were talking to me. I’m from another planet, after all. And what you said, Alex, I think you were right, too. I was in a unique position, hearing them all the time. I guess it was inevitable that I felt isolated and took it all too personally.”

“Maybe the tabs will change all that,” said Alex.

While they waited for
Cornwall
’s return,
Diver
soared above the mountains of cloud. Watching the holographic scene pass below him, Alex felt like he was flying, floating in Jupiter’s night sky, a mote of light among the stars. The illusion made him feel incredibly small.

He glanced at Mary who was still curled up with her kitten.

Lucky little bastard
, he thought.
I wouldn’t mind pressing into those warm thighs for a while
.

Inside his bubble, Johnny’s instruments told him that they’d crossed two thousand miles since reentry and were as many meters above the tallest clouds. He reported it dutifully. Then he sighed and said: “I really can’t get over the sheer enormity of this place. You’re told all your life how big Jupiter is.”

“It’s big,” said Tony. “I think we’ve covered that. These gadgets are cool, but if we’re going to start oooing and ahhhing ... well, maybe it’s time to start our descent and try the balloons. We can contact
Cornwall
on the way down.” Then he looked over at Johnny’s chair. “I’m just saying.” he added.

A moment later the Professor ducked his head out of the bubble. “He’s right, Alex. Let’s get on with it. What say?”

“Done,” said Alex. He gripped the drive stick, preparing to head for the clouds. “Give me an angle, Professor.”

“Keep it at two degrees,” said Johnny. “We’re in no hurry.”

“What about the balloon things?” asked Tony. “Those gas bag things on the log. Won’t we run into them?”

“Eventually,” said Alex, adjusting the helm. “Two degrees it is, Professor. Speaking of balloons, should I launch ours?”

Professor Baltadonis went back inside his bubble.

“Not yet,” he said. “I’d like to do that when the
Cornwall
is overhead. Matt can watch us, in case.”

“That was the plan, as I recall,” said Mary.

Mary was right. Before they left Earth a rough plan of attack had been outlined by Professor Stubbs. Johnny’s principal role was as the official arm of the scientific community, as well as Stubbs’ eyes on the mission. Before they entered Jupiter’s atmosphere, Johnny had finalized the plan.

After reentry, the plan called for a six to ten hour cruise toward the center of the Spot. During the trip Johnny would use
Diver
’s newly augmented radar to map the structure of the clouds and, hopefully, the reef as well. Once that had been accomplished,
Cornwall
would come into range and a virtual link would be established.

But other than those first steps, it was agreed that the mission would have to proceed in a relatively free form fashion. The point had been argued at several meetings back on Earth but the conclusions were always the same. Once they were in the clouds they’d have to, as Johnny put it, ‘play it loose.’

But the mission wasn’t complicated. All they had to do was confirm the reef, study it, and when the opportunity presented itself, take a sample.

The last part was the one big grey area. Several bio-canisters had been placed aboard the ship. But there was no clear plan as to what they should collect or how it would be accomplished. That, Stubbs had concluded, would have to be decided in the field; a decision that had been hashed out long before Mary and Alex reached Earth.

It made sense, of course, but Alex had never liked loose ends. Now as he stared into the flashes of amber light below them, Alex wondered what was ahead. He was no tour guide this time, as he had been when he showed it to Lisa and Landon Bradshaw, the only other previous witnesses to the reef. Now his job was just to pilot the ship. Still, the question gnawed at him.

Reminded of the Bradshaws, he wondered what had become of them and if they had discussed their adventure with anyone, particularly the authorities. Since Alex’s discovery had been well publicized, by now it seemed reasonable that they would report their adventure to someone. Looking over at Mary cuddled up with her kitten, Alex supposed he had the Bradshaws and their two cats, Joey and Nathan to thank for introducing Mary to the joys of having a pet.

He resolved to look them up after the mission. They had promised to remain mute about the reef and, particularly, what they knew about how Alex had acquired
Diver
.

That was the biggest loose end of all. And, in spite of the fact that he officially owned the ship, it wasn’t inconceivable that if the truth came out, MarsCorp and EarthCorp might change their minds; especially since they had poured so much expensive technology into the ship.

He thought about the Bradshaws, recalling how he had saved them when their cheap tour-runabout got caught in Jupiter’s gravity and nearly burned to a crisp in a fiery out-of-control descent. An IoCorp ship had tried to grapple their ship but, at the last moment, had abandoned them to their doom.

They owed their lives to Alex, who had captured the runabout piggy-back on
Diver
’s roof; a very risky move that could have cost Alex and Mary their lives.

Once again, he reassured himself that there was no reason they’d betray their pact. But he wanted to see the Bradshaws again, if for no other reason, than to put his fears to rest.

Jupiter’s five hour night passed quickly and, as dawn began to cast its light on the tiny ship that cruised above the cloud tops, Mary announced that the
Cornwall
was in range; coming up fast over the Eastern horizon.

“We put in a damn sensitive radio on your ship,” remarked Johnny inside his bubble, “well, it has to be, considering all that lightning and I’ve got to say, Mary, you’ve got it beat.”

“Why do people always underestimate biological senses?” said Mary Seventeen. “Our abilities have been honed for millions of years. Clone or not, I’m just a human albeit a bit augmented.”

Alex looked at Johnny and smirked. “And you thought she’s just say, ‘Geee, thanks, Professor’, didn’t you?”

“Yup,” said Johnny, laughing.

“Well, it’s true, Alex,” insisted Mary. “Maybe my orientation makes me a bit sensitive but I’ve studied human sensory acuity.”

“Haven’t we all!” said Tony.

“Seriously,” said Mary. “Human color vision, for example, is capable of seeing colors that cameras cannot record.”

Tony looked over at Mary. “Care to elaborate?”

“Careful, Mary,” said Alex with a grin. “He’s a well armed techno geek.”

“Humans have learned to distinguish shades of the color yellow by firelight,” Mary bravely continued. “They infer the color based on grayscale information.”

“Firelight is yellow,” said Tony.

“And everything lit by firelight is yellow,” she said. “Discerning shades of yellow requires full spectrum light. My point is, that’s just one example of how biological sensitivity works. It evolves and constantly learns, and the sensitivity is passed on automatically to the next of the line. After enough time its sensitivity exceeds the rational and crosses into what we call paranormal senses. The ones that can’t be quantified. I don’t think there’s any limit to it. But machines are just tools.”

“Okay,” said Tony. “Didn’t know that. About color. But so what? In other areas we’ve invented eyes that go beyond anybody’s visual acuity. But I just think of them as extensions of ourselves.”

“Just don’t sell us biots short,” said Mary.

“Wow,” said Johnny. “Okay. I’ll sure remember that. Right now I have to switch off the holo-projection while I set up a virtual link to
Cornwall
.”

“Matt wants to talk to you, Professor,” said Mary, touching her temple.

Alex was relieved to see the hologram disappear. There was no getting used to it. The enormity of the planet was, by itself, overwhelming to his Earth senses. Even when viewed out the cabin windows, Jupiter, when seen from their vantage point above the clouds, was almost beyond comprehension. He welcomed the thought of slipping into the clouds and shutting off the scene for a while.

Johnny acknowledged acquisition of the signal and switched Matt’s radio voice to the cabin speakers.

“Good to hear your voice, Johnny,” said Matt. “I had a bad feeling that we lost you.”

“Hello, Doctor Howarth,” said Johnny. “Why did you think that?”

“Couldn’t get any signal from you. Last we saw of you, you were a fiery streak.”

“I guess you were already out of range when we started broadcasting,” said Tony.

“Sciarra, that you?” asked Matt. “How’s the gees?”

“We’re running the null-gee system,” said Tony. “We’re at about one eighth gee, everything go.”

“Are you getting our VR signal?” asked the Professor.

“We’re seeing clouds,” answered Tony.

“Clouds’r what ye gits I guess,” said a familiar voice. “’n plenty of ’em, eh?”

“That’s right. No surprises here, Captain Wysor,” said Alex. “How’s the beer holding up?”

“Well, yer boys’n’girls ’ere won be touchin’ it. They’s all twitches on the mission. Yer china doll’s a mess, ’ere,” he added. There was a playful tone to the Ganny Captain’s rhetoric that told Alex everything was going well.

“I am not,” said Connie Tsu. “I knew they’d be okay.”

“Sure ya did,” said Wysor.

“How’s the link, Matt?” asked Professor Baltadonis.

“Discrete. 90%, I’d say,” answered the voice of Matt. “Some fuzz, but that’s what we expected.”

“Good,” said Johnny.

“I’m sending the signal to Warren and Tsu,” said Matt.

A moment later they heard Jeanne Warren and her boss, Connie, marveling at the scene.

“Did you deploy the balloon package yet?” asked Matt.

“We’re about to,” said Johnny. “I guess that’s your cue, Alex.”

Alex didn’t waste any time. Running the ship’s systems at full power was making him nervous. While they had plenty of power and fuel could be scooped from Jupiter’s atmosphere, he still wanted the added insurance the balloons would provide. “I’m deploying them now,” he said as he simultaneously punched instructions into the com.
Diver
’s rear camera shifted to display the smooth cowl atop the ship.

There was a loud pop and the ship lurched forward, then back again. Alex had switched on the monitors so that everyone could see the balloons deploy.

He was astonished at the size of the array. First the top two large balloons popped out, followed by a ring of four more that were slightly smaller. Then, finally, another eight balloons deployed, completing a dome-like configuration. Everyone watched the balloons in silence, holding on to their seats.
Diver
started to rise as a sigh of relief went through the cabin.

“Looks good,” said the voice of Howarth.

“Any signal degradation?” asked Tony.

“Only a bit ... a half percent,” said Tsu’s voice.

Alex looked back at Johnny but he was inside his bubble. “I’m holding the null-gee at a quarter gee and reducing lifter power,” said Alex.

The ship’s engine sound changed pitch and everything got quieter in the cabin. “How’s it look, Alex?” asked the Professor.

Alex zoomed the cameras for a close inspection of the balloons. A few seconds later he nodded. “All fourteen are deployed,” he said. “Pressure holding.”

Diver
continued to rise and Alex set the cameras back to their normal view. Soon Johnny changed the radio links so that Tony could talk to the two women aboard
Cornwall
to calibrate their instruments, while he linked radios with Matt. Alex and Mary were included in that link.

“I guess we’re ready to begin the descent,” said Johnny.

“I have us at two kilometers above the clouds and I’d like to get a look at the balloon creatures, if we can find any, before the
Cornwall
gets out of range.”

Alex examined the cloud deck below. At this distance individual thunderheads were easy to pick out. He nosed the ship toward them and reduced lifter thrust. Instantly the ship began a quick descent. “Going down,” said Alex.

4
Something dark with wings glided past
Diver
’s forward cameras, then vanished into the clouds. It happened when no one aboard the ship was looking. It was Connie Tsu who brought it to their attention. “There’s something flying around your ship,” she said. “It looks fairly menacing.”

Alex glanced up at the cockpit window but saw nothing.

“I see it,” said Johnny. “One of the gas-bag killers, I think. It’s gone now. Fell back into the clouds. There must be one of your gas bag creatures out there. Oooops, I see it. Below and to the left, Alex.”

They were nearing an anvil shaped cloud. Nearly hidden by it was a huge striped balloon creature with shiny green dots on its surface. “I see it,” said Alex.

“Thanks, Connie,” said Johnny.

“There’s another in the distance,” said Alex, pointing to the window. As he spoke another dark arrowhead whizzed past
Diver
, then another. Alex watched them arc forward, then fall.