Jupiter's Reef (5 page)

“Dingers,” shouted Alex above the noise. He hopped to the door as he pulled on his flight coveralls. The hatch opened and Alex found himself facing a group of white suited Spaceport workers.

“Sorry,” shouted one. “Thought it was empty.”

“You’re in great shape,” said another.

“Yeah, the skid plate’s only two mics outa line,” said a short heavyset man as he removed his helmet and wiped his brow with his sleeve. “You better stay inside. Rocks in one of the runners ... CT threat ... so we gotta hose ya. No charge.”

Alex looked outside as a large piece of machinery insinuated itself flush to
Diver
’s hull. It seemed to snuggle against the ship as it lifted and gripped its forward skidplate.

“Let me have a minute to get my ... to get dressed and get out of the ship. Can you do that?” Alex was ready to plead, but the man signaled to the others to stop the machine.

“You’re not supposed to be in here without protective gear anyway. But we have a schedule. Make it quick.”

Mary had already dressed and checked that everything was secured in the ship. She and Alex left in less than a minute. Alex locked the ship and signaled to the men as he and Mary ran quickly to a waiting airlock tram.

Though somewhat disoriented, they found a breakfast place and went inside. There were only a few other customers at the Red Sands Dinette, a couple of dock workers and three elderly ladies in dark uniforms.

Alex noticed that the clock behind the counter said fifteen past five AM and he made a noise like a fish. Mary also saw the wall clock and said, “I didn’t want to tell you what time it was. You’d have gone for the pinger and killed them all. Then we’d really be criminals.”

“I wouldn’t have killed them all,” said Alex surveying the brightly lit room. “Just the one banging on the hull.”

A waitress behind a wall of ivy looked out at them and pointed to an empty booth.

“Siteeye down, es,” said the woman. “Oees beintharansoon,” she said. “Javas ferall in the means?”

“Dingers,” said Alex. “A bonafide Ganny.” Then, to Mary’s surprise, Alex walked over to the woman instead of the booth. “You a Ganny, Ma’am?” said Alex. “Alex out from Io atcher serves. Nice to see another outlander. Datbe Mary.”

The woman roared with laughter. “Mosta never knowus. Septa outerrim boys. Yer verbus quaint, yu. Niztu see anothervus.”

“Prettylady an meyuz doing the b. Is that menu up on the board all there is?”

“Yuppers,” said the woman.

“Then make it Baconeggs for the bofus,” said Alex. “I guess we’ll take that booth over there.” He walked back to Mary who still waited near the door.

“We can sit down. All they have is the usuals.”

As they slid into a booth, Alex explained that the waitress was from an old settlement on Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon. He said they have a funny dialect because they are pretty small and isolated. “Their dialect is traced to a family that settled from somewhere on Earth.”

“But there’s a steady flow in an out of the colonies,” said Mary.

“Have you heard of the Gannys?”

“No.”

“I rest my case,” said Alex. “They do water, that’s all. And they do it for Io only. The rest have the water they need. A supply run is their only contact.”

“But it’s a big moon. I heard it had a big government colony.”

“Now it does,” said Alex. “She’s from the old colony. Other side. People say they don’t talk. It’s a big moon.”

The waitress brought two breakfasts and only one coffee. “Waddleye bestgirl be drinkin?” she asked, setting the plates down carefully.

Mary smiled pleasantly at the woman.

“I’ll have coffee, too,” she said politely. “Alex says you’re from Ganymede? We were both at Ra Patera.”

“Yessam, Ima ganny. But ... lordeeseven ...” said the waitress, shaking her head in dismay. “... RaPatera ... Oooo I’is sorry so. Oh that RaPatera. Shees trajidees. But bothyuz seem okay. Yez?”

Alex nodded. We weren’t there at the time. Got back to the base too late.”

“Wellll ... godenferyou it seems. Yup?”

“I wanted to save them,” said Alex. “There was nothing ...”

The woman touched Alex’s shoulder sympathetically. “Ohhhh dear. No messimee. You hava good eats. Iz be teetee’el.” Then she disappeared into the kitchen.

“What did she just say?” asked Mary.

Alex smiled. “She said don’t mind me, have a good dinner. Then she said I’ll talk to you later.”

“How do you know the dialect?”

“I did a search and rescue run on Ganymede once and we based there. A Ganny shuttle lost in one of its million or so ravines. It took weeks to locate them.”

“Survivors?”

“Actually, yes. A Ganny managed to seal himself in a maintenance locker. He was nearly dead when we discovered him. Had enough air but was freezing. The name was Foyle. I’ll never forget him. I swear he was stiff as a board when we took him to our ship.” Alex laughed. “They told me the Gannys were tough, but ...”

“I wonder how she got to Mars?” said Mary.

Alex shrugged. “Ask her.”

When the waitress returned with Mary’s coffee Alex repeated Mary’s question. And the waitress laughed. “Na mysteries there, Ioguy. Company Gee took the soup. No workees. Hopped a freight cuz I cookit good. Worked alawayseer.”

Mary nodded but her glazed eyes looked confused.

The woman saw Mary’s expression and explained: “Ooo, Pardon the speech. I falls intoit when a gobber or a miner’s around.” She giggled at Alex. “Work on Ganny is dryin’ up, miss,” she explained. “The corpers... the corporation is takin’ the water runs from us. I hitched a ride on a freighter as cook and landed here. No lookin’ back. Right?” She gave Mary a brave smile.

Mary smiled and looked at Alex. “That’s our motto, I guess.”

6
Professor Baltadonis hadn’t left the base. The next day, when Mary and Alex rose late and ambled over to see how the repairs were going, he was there waiting for them.

Alex was wiping sleep from his eyes when he spotted the Professor next to a fire locker. He was talking on a phone and didn’t see Alex and Mary approach.

Alex thought of sneaking past Johnny but suppressed the impulse. Acting impulsively hadn’t done them much good of late, and though he would be loath to admit it, he was beginning to develop a fondness for the old gent.

But he was still wary of the man and of taking him with them to Earth. It was Alex’s theory that Jupiter’s Red Spot harbored a Reef of Life, and he alone had managed to prove it. He had no interest in sharing his discovery with anyone other than Mary Seventeen.

Professor Baltadonis saw them approaching. He smiled cheerfully and waved.

“Hello,” he shouted. “I knew you’d be here sooner or later!”

Alex offered the Professor a friendly smile.

“Just checking on the work,” he said. “We’re still eager to get to Earth.”

Johnny laughed. “It’s ready. Didn’t they tell you?” Then the Professor pointed to several black bags piled next to him. “And ... I guess ... I’m ready too.”

Mary laughed at the expression that came over Alex’s face. She could tell what he was thinking, and the expression didn’t match.

Alex took a deep breath. There was a loud clanging sound coming from somewhere down the passageway that led to the other ship’s bays.

The Professor sensed Alex’s annoyance. “I’m sorry you hit Isidis this month. It’s generally quieter.”

“Why’s that?” asked Alex.

“The summer storms are pretty dependable. You’ve seen what they’re like. Sand storms make it a good time to hunker in and do the repair work. That’s why all the clatter.”

Alex nodded and picked up two of Johnny’s bags. “We can talk in the ship.”

Johnny picked up the rest of his gear and followed Alex through the cargo hatch and onto the ramp that led to
Diver
.

Mary tagged along behind. That morning she’d chosen to wear a thin white pantsuit. She looked exceptionally inviting to two workmen standing near the entrance to the ship’s bay. Alex and the Professor were barely noticeable beside her in their blue unifleece coveralls.

Alex heard a loud comment about Mary’s lips and looked over at the two men.

Mary was perfect, and Alex knew that men are compelled to look. Still, he felt the urge to challenge them.

One of the workmen saw the look in his eyes and nudged the other. But the man continued his commentary just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Mary was used to catcalls, too, and she hated them. She didn’t see them as compliments but as an expression of prejudice, but she also knew that it was useless to let them upset her and hoped Alex wouldn’t take issue with the workmen. Alex had stopped walking and had turned to face the challenger.

Mary touched his arm. “We’ve been through enough on Mars already. Let’s just go.”

Alex heeded Mary’s words with the smile and a curt salute to the workman.

“Catch you later, mate.”

“Any time,” said the man.

Inside
Diver
, Professor Baltadonis gave Alex an encouraging pat on the back.

“Nice to see you have self control, he commented, winking at Mary.

“Mary’s the one with the good sense,” replied Alex. “That’s why that shitgob out there still has a face to shave in the morning.”

“Alex,” said Mary. “Enough.”

Alex shrugged and turned his attention to Johnny. “There’s lockers in the back. Most of them are full but you should find some room. Have the contrab boys been over your stuff?”

“Class one TF residents are exempt,” said Johnny. “You know that.”

“Then maybe I should have a look,” said Alex. “I don’t honor their protocol.”

“As captain of this ship, you’re the boss,” said Johnny. “Go right ahead.”

Mary could tell that Alex liked what Johnny had said. It may have been Johnny’s first acknowledgement of Alex’s authority, but she knew it was sincere. She looked at Alex and smiled, and he knew from the smile that she sensed everything was okay with their new guest.

Alex hadn’t thought much about it but now he realized that Mary’s secret mind reading abilities were going to be very helpful in the days ahead.

Johnny picked up two of his bags and groaned under the weight of them even in the reduced Martian gravity. He grunted as he lifted his bags into an overhead locker.

Alex hurried over and helped. “Dingers, Johnny, don’t bust a gut. Let me do that.”

Johnny thanked Alex. Then he walked to the front of the cabin. He sighed deeply and turned to face them both.

“I’m not naive,” he said. “I know this is tough on you. And you’re right that I am being greedy to horn in on your discovery. But there’s another side to this that you might not have considered.”

Alex didn’t let Johnny’s speech stop him from checking out the ship’s systems. He walked to the pilot’s seat and sat down, but he kept an eye on the Professor.

“What’s that, Professor?” asked Mary.

“Academia,” said Johnny. “It doesn’t matter what you discover. Presentation is important, too. And I can help you organize your findings. I can also speak to Professor Stubbs.”

Alex frowned. “I’m no idiot, Professor. I may be a layman but that doesn’t matter. I knew I needed proof and I got it. I documented everything.”

“It’s good you did, too,” said Johnny. “You did a great job. But all that gets you is something to present ... your record. But ...”

Alex turned away, annoyed.

“I’ve heard all this before,” he said. “It’s bullshit. I have the records. I have the proof and I’m going to give it all to Stubbs on Earth. End of flick. Not you. Not Mary. Nobody is giving it to him but me. And after that, I’m done with it.”

Mary smiled but said nothing. She expected the Professor to mount an argument in favor of ‘legitimate’ science, but what he said next surprised her.

“You’ll never be done with this, Mr. Rose,” said Johnny. “And even I know you are going back to Jupiter.”

“How’s that?” said Alex. He had turned away from the Professor and was powering up the ship.

“Are you denying it?”

Alex’s head swiveled toward the Professor. He closed his mouth and looked back at the console.

“Got you, didn’t I?” asked the Professor, winking again at Mary.

“Dingers,” roared Alex. “You’ve been aboard less than five minutes and I’m ready to space you!”

Johnny smiled. “Good. Glad we agree. I can see already that we will be a big help to each other.”

There was a moment of total silence, then everyone broke into laughter.

Part 2

1
Diver
shunted down the Isidium Mass Driver tunnel, bug free and bound for Earth.

It had taken a while to get off the planet. Johnny was beeped by several high rankers and Mary even relayed one of the messages herself while they were inside the space dock. As it turned out it was another twelve hours before Johnny finally and totally held all his calls. The last one was from his daughter Christine, angry that he didn’t even say goodbye.

It came on his beeper at the same instant they exited the Mass Driver’s barrel at three miles a second. Even with the ship’s Null-Gee field on Professor Baltadonis had some difficulty lifting his pager to his mouth. And then he could only wheeze answers into it.

“Yes ... I’m launching ... but ... I know he’s a beast ... just keep him ... Christine?”

Diver
had no problems achieving orbit in the time it took Johnny to convince his daughter that she really did have to solve problems on her own, and that he was sorry he didn’t give more notice and that he had no plans to visit his former wife on Earth. “There’s no point, Chrissy Lou,” he said.

Alex and Mary contributed little. She sat in the co-pilot’s chair watching Alex fly the ship. Of course Alex wasn’t really flying the ship. That was all handled by the computer. From the moment they left Mars they were passengers on an automated ride.

But Alex wasn’t bored. He listened to the ship and to Johnny’s conversation with his daughter. At least one of those sounded like it was going fine.

The other would soon be over, he thought, courtesy of an ever weakening radio signal as the distances between the two individuals widened.

Alex and Mary could only guess what Christine was saying.