The Depths of Time (67 page)

Orlang glared at him balefully.
“
I must say, your behavior is highly presumptuous, especially considering how brief a time you have been here. Why should I grant you special access to Founder
’
s Dome when you will not extend to me sufficient trust or respect to explain why you want to go?
”

Anton Koffield looked her straight in the eye.
“
I
’
m sorry,
”
he said.
“
But I can say no more than I have. I do not ask you to put anyone else at risk, or to do yourself any harm. But I must get a look at that tomb, and do so before you blow the dome. Decompression and heat sterilization might—
might
—damage or destroy something vital.
”

Norla could see, if not what Koffield saw, at least the fire that was suddenly ablaze in his eyes. She could not see what it was that excited him, but she could read him well enough to understand the excitement, the need to reach out for—for
something
that had eluded him far too long.

“
Why in heaven
’
s name should I agree?
”
Orlang asked.
“
Just because
you
ask?
”

“
Because he
’
s Anton Koffield,
”
Norla heard herself saying.
“
Because he
’
s crossed unimaginable distances of time and space to bring you a warning that only he saw, that only he knew was important. Because he risked everything, lost everything, sacrificed everything he had for the sake of getting the facts to you, for the sake of truth, and of doing what was right. Because before that, he did his job, and did it well, and his reward was being turned into a boogey man. Glistern parents tell their children the Koffield-monster will get them if they don
’
t behave. Because, after all that, he
’
s still willing to take risks for others.

“
And
because someone has tried again and again to stop him.”
She looked around the table.
“
Have you thought to wonder why?
Why
would anyone try so hard to hurt him? Why sabotage his ship and steal his evidence? Why maroon him in the future a
second
time when he
’
s already lost his own time into a still-more-distant future?
”

“
I don
’
t know,
”
said Orlang stiffly.
“
What do you think?
”

“
Perhaps,
”
said Norla,
“
because someone is afraid of what he might find. Perhaps they think he
’
s
still
a threat. And he is. When a man like that thinks he might find something worthwhile in Founder
’
s Dome, I
’
d listen to him, if I were you.
”

Everyone at the table, everyone still in the room, was staring at her. Anton Koffield himself looked at her in more than slight amazement. In the sudden quiet, Norla realized she couldn
’
t blame any of them a bit. If it were possible, she
’
d be staring at herself. What in space had pulled that impassioned speech out of her?

“
Well,
”
said Mandessa Orlang.
“
I am impressed. Anyone who can inspire that sort of defense certainly
ought
to be someone who should be taken seriously. And Officer Chandray does remind me that we do owe the admiral more than just a small favor.
”
She thought for a moment.
“
Let me consider this,
”
she said.
“
Maybe—just maybe—we can accommodate you after all, Admiral.
”

After a bit of negotiating, it was agreed that Koffield would be allowed in twenty-four hours before the dome was blown. It was obviously imprudent, from a safety viewpoint, for anyone to spend that long alone sealed in a pressure suit in a contaminated zone. Someone would have to go with him, and obviously enough, that person would likely be privy to whatever it was that Koffield hoped to find.

That last point was enough to explain why Wandella Ashdin volunteered to go with him, but even after repeated sessions with the suit techs, it was plain that, though she could probably look after herself in a suit, she was not anything close to mechanically competent enough to be much use to Koffield if his suit malfunctioned. Strangely enough, however, Koffield
wanted
Ashdin along, a quite remarkable development, given that he had next to no patience with the woman
’
s fascination with DeSilvo. And, by virtue of some sequence of arguments, offers, bluffs, and counteroffers, Norla Chandray found that she had volunteered to make up the third of the party without exactly
meaning
to do it. And so Norla found herself, five days later, her skin still raw and tingling from the ferociously hot and brisk shower that was going to be her last for a while, climbing into what she would have called a pressure suit. The local techs called it an environment suit, or e-suit. It had a number of modifications that made it more suitable for work in a contamination zone, but it still bore a close family resemblance to the sort of pressure suit she had worn all her working life. It was downright peculiar that her knowledge of suit design from the past century and another star system would be of any use at all to her here and now.

The main link between Research Dome and Founder
’
s Dome was a nondescript underground runnel, but that access-way had been sealed off some time ago. Orlang
’
s people did not wish there to be any chance of blow-back contamination popping out of the airlock that sealed in Founder
’
s Dome and then drifting down the tunnel into Research. The three of them would have to take the overland route, walking, not through pressurized domes and tunnels and corridors, but across the near vacuum of Greenhouse
’
s surface, and making a shortcut through another dome that had been blown long ago. It was not likely to be the easiest or most pleasant of journeys.

“
Ready?
”
Koffield asked her as the suit techs finished their last adjustments. Both of them were fully suited up, but their faceplates were still open.

“
As ready as I
’
ll be,
”
Norla replied.
“
I think Dr. Ashdin is just about ready to claw the airlock open herself if we don
’
t get moving soon.
”

“
She does seem just a trifle eager, doesn
’
t she?
”
Koffield replied. Ashdin had hurried through her suit-up and headed for the lock chamber five minutes before.
“
Let
’
s go find her before she gets completely out of control.
”

The two of them said their thanks to the suit techs and headed down the hall to the lock chamber. Ashdin was there all right, her faceplate down and her suit sealed. Even through the bulky suit, even with her face half-hidden by the faceplate, it was obvious how eager and excited she was. She was pacing back and forth, peeking through the porthole by the airlock one moment, chatting with the airlock techs the next, and saying farewell to the Research Dome scientists who had come to see them off the next.

Mandessa Orlang and Milos Vandar were there as part of the send-off committee, and so was Yuri Sparten. Norla had been not altogether surprised that Sparten had tried to get himself included on their miniexpedition, and even less surprised that Koffield had kept him from going. There were undercurrents there.

“
Good luck to you, Admiral,
”
Orlang said as she offered her hand to Koffield.
“
Be careful, won
’
t you? Things are likely to get a trifle warm where you
’
re going.
”

“
And the atmosphere will get a bit rarefied after that,
”
Vandar said.

Koffield took Orlang
’
s hand and bowed slightly.
“
Thank you, Director Orlang,
”
he said.
“
Believe me, we
’
ll be careful. I
’
m interested in gathering information, not taking risks.
”

“
See you in a couple of days, then,
”
Vandar said.

“
Good-bye,
”
said Sparten, and left it at that.

The three of them wrapped up their good-byes, and the visitors were herded out of the airlock operations room by a very polite, but very firm, no-nonsense, suit technician.

The tech then ushered the three travelers into the lock chamber proper. Norla noted that their equipment roller, in essence an oversize wheelbarrow packed with spares and supplies, was already in the lock. As soon as they were in the lock chamber, the tech got started with the final check-over.
“
Okay,
”
he said.
“
Suits ready for check. Seal
‘
em up and turn
‘
em on.
”

Ashdin already had her suit sealed and running. Norla and Koffield closed their suits. Each then switched on main power on the other
’
s main chest panels.

“
Suit ready for check,
”
Norla said.

“
Ready for check,
”
Koffield agreed.

“
Um, ah, me too,
”
said Ashdin, plainly both nervous and excited.

“
Very well,
”
said the tech.
“
Beacons are confirmed
ac-tivej”
he said as he checked a small datapage.
“
Comm system
functional.
You have a short-range intercom channel linking your three suits. That
’
s marked
chan 1
on the panel on the control panel on your suit
’
s left forearm.
Chan 2
is the general operations channel. Lots of traffic on that channel, so it
’
s not easy to hold a conversation.
Chan 3
keys you through to your base station here. We can patch you through to a private link to someone in another suit, or to pretty much anyone else.
”
He consulted the telemetry display on his datapage again, and checked the readout on their suit panels.
“
Oxy mix and air pressure
okay.
Cooling system
up
and
running.
Suit integrity
confirmed
...
”

The tech worked his way through the remaining steps of the checklist, then nodded in reluctant satisfaction.
“
The suits are all working fine,
”
he said.
“
They can handle the temperatures and pressures you
’
ll be going into—but don
’
t push them too far. If you start to get too warm in the suits,
don’t
just crank up the cooling. You might need that cooling capacity later on, and if you use it up the first time you break into a light sweat, it won
’
t be there.

“
Remember, once you go into Founder
’
s, you can
’
t come back out, no matter what, until they blow the dome. You can
’
t break the integrity of your suit for any reason until the dome has been blown and you
’
re out, clear, and have gone through suit decontamination. If you break your leg, or have a heart attack, or vomit your lunch onto the faceplate of your suit, or your suit plumbing fails and you
’
re peeing into the suit leg instead of the collection system, that
’
ll just be too bad. You can change your mind anytime up until you enter Founder
’
s, but once you
’
re inside, you are in that dome—and in that suit—until the dome is blown. No one
’
s going to bend the safety regs, or abort something as complicated and dangerous and important as blowing a dome because someone who
“
asked to go in and signed all the danger waivers calls for help. Is that clear?
”

“
Maybe a little clearer than we wanted it,
”
said Norla.

“
Good,
”
said the suit tech.
“
Last chance to bail out. Any takers?
”

Norla glanced at Ashdin, half-expecting her to change her mind about the whole thing. But Ashdin shook her head, and it was clear that Koffield was going to go, no matter what. Norla was almost tempted to wave off. She had experience in long-duration suited missions, and knew how rough they could be. But she was at least as curious as anyone else to find out what Koffield was after.

Silence gave the suit tech his answer.

“
Hmmph,
”
he grunted.
“
I was hoping at least someone would be sensible. All right then. Good luck, and we
’
ll have the showers ready for you in a bit over two days. Off you go.
”

The tech left the chamber, and the inner door of the airlock swung shut behind him.