Chapter 14

 

 

Perry stood to one side of the hole in the ice. Over the last few hours Hairy had made significant headway, moving faster than expected. Perry checked the rigging again, just as he had five minutes before. The support structure they had erected earlier remained rock solid, and the cable that connected Hairy to the surface moved easily along its guides.

Again Perry leaned over the four-foot-wide hole and stared into its open maw. It was remarkable that Hairy could do what it was doing, melting the ice before it and sinking through the slush left behind. A thick-walled hose trailing after Hairy carried water out of the hole so that it wouldn’t refreeze and close off the opening.

“It’s a patient man’s game,” Larimore said. “I’m afraid I’m ill-equipped to play it.”

“Moving through two miles of ice is going to take some time,” Perry said. “Too much energy to the heating elements could cause problems with the onboard sensors.”

“It’s hard to believe,” Larimore added, “that this robot is moving downward under its own power.”

“Its own weight,” Perry corrected. “There are small tractor-like treads on the side that keep it centered in the ice shaft, but they provide no appreciable forward movement.”

“And they plan to send one of these to Europa?”

“Yes. According to Sarah it will be much smaller and will have to work without all the rigging we’ve hooked up. We have an advantage that the space-going cryobot doesn’t. We can pump out the slush, provide an unlimited power source for the heating element in the head, and, once it breaks through to the lake, control it in real time. By comparison, this is a walk in the park.”

“Some park,” Larimore said. The navy commander seemed alien and somehow different in his clean suit. “Do we really have to wear these? When we were putting some distance between us and the bomb, we didn’t bother with these things.”

“That was an emergency situation,” Perry replied. “We had no choice. We want the Chamber as unpolluted as possible. Breach-ing protocol once for an emergency situation doesn’t change our goal.”

“You got that right,” Gwen said. “It may be a moot point. No matter what we do, we’re bound to introduce something to the lake that wasn’t there before.”

“I bathed, I promise,” Larimore said, as if trying to lighten the moment.

“You can’t bathe enough,” Gwen said seriously. “Human skin is covered with microscopic animals. Even our breath is loaded with bacteria. We’re all walking worlds for microscopic life. It has always been that way.”

“Suddenly I feel dirty,” Larimore quipped.

“You are,” Gwen said. “We all are. And now we’re going to plunge a mechanical device into pristine waters. There’ll be no going back.”

“Hairy is cleaner than an operating room,” Perry said. “Sarah saw to that.”

Gwen shook here head. “It may have been clean when it started down, but there are microorganisms in the ice.”

“You mean we’re taking microscopic bugs from the surface down with the device?” Larimore asked.

“That’s right,” she said with a sigh. “That’s been the big problem all along. It’s impossible to make the journey without taking un-wanted passengers with us.”

Perry understood her point and felt badly about running such a risk, but he also knew that it had to be done. “The lake may not be as pristine as you think, Doctor. It’s my understanding that there is still some uncertainty about how these lakes form. Isn’t it possible that the water could have percolated in from below and not be the result of melted ice?”

“It’s possible,” Gwen allowed.

“And the geological heat source is certainly contributing something to the water. If the water remains liquid because of ground heating, then the geothermal heat may also be contributing to the water.”

Perry turned to see Gwen scowling at him through her face shield. “If there’s a pile of garbage on your front lawn, should I feel free to dump my waste there as well?”

Perry laughed. “Point taken, Gwen.”

“Those things you describe may have created a closed-system environment. They’re not contaminating what’s there; they may be maintaining it.”

“Quarter mile,” Gleason announced. He was standing behind Sarah, who was seated before a table that held two computer monitors. Her hands were folded in her lap. There was little for her to do but watch the electronic readouts. It was going to be a long vigil, one that would have to be shared. Sarah had estimated, based on the ice densities given her by Griffin, that Hairy would take forty-eight hours to core through the ice sheet. That estimate assumed a speed of over three feet per minute, a speed she had told Perry was remarkably fast.

“Where’s your brother?” Larimore asked Gwen.

“He got bored and went to his room. There’s little to do here but wait for the outside world to find us.” She paused. “I think he’s planning on leaving with the next plane, which he assumes will be here soon—once someone realizes that the C-5 didn’t arrive.”

“I see,” Perry said. “What about you? Will you be going with him?”

“No,” she said quickly enough to surprise him. “I don’t approve of what you’re doing, but you have my interest. If you’re going to breach the ice sheet anyway, I might as well be the scientist who sees it first.”

Perry smiled. “Curiosity wins out again.”

“A scientist without curiosity is like a car without wheels,” Gwen said.

“For once, I think your brother had a good idea,” Larimore said. “I’m useless here. I think I’ll hit the rack for awhile. What are you going to do, Perry?”

“I’m going to try and split them up,” he answered, nodding at Gleason and Sarah, their eyes glued to the monitors. “They need to take shifts. Staying up for forty-eight hours won’t do them or the project any good.”

“Good luck,” Larimore said and headed for the air lock.

Once Larimore was out of the Chamber, Gwen turned to Perry. “Do you think it’s wise to leave him alone?”

“Commander Larimore?” Perry asked.

“Yes. He’s the most likely suspect for putting the bomb on board that plane.”

“Perhaps,” Perry said. “But then again, you could have done it, or your brother, or Sarah.”

“Or you,” she snapped.

“From your point of view, you’re correct.” Perry thought for a moment. “I can’t keep an eye on everyone at all times and neither can you. There’s only one person who knows if the bomber is among us, and I doubt that person will volunteer the information.”

“So we just give up? We just surrender to the situation?”

“We remain vigilant. The only other option is to lock everyone in their rooms, and that would be useless. The doors don’t even have locks.”

“I’ll confess to being . . . uncomfortable,” Gwen said. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep again until I’m in my own bed with all the doors locked and bolted.”

“Understandable,” Perry said. What Gwen didn’t know, and what Perry didn’t feel compelled to tell, was that he had already had a conversation with Jack, Gleason, and Dr. Curtis—the three men Perry trusted completely. Together they would keep an eye on the other team members. After Griffin had left the Chamber, Jack and Dr. Curtis followed. Perry had not gone with them but knew they were “chatting and snacking” in the commons area, but they were also tracking the movement of the others into the Dome. Perry and Gleason covered the Chamber. It would be a tag-team effort, but two of his team would be awake at all times and able to account for the whereabouts and activities of the others.

Their work had just doubled.

 

The dials Sarah watched were virtual. There were no metal hands pointing at letters painted on a disk, just light green lines “drawn” on the computer monitors. There were two monitors. The one to her right displayed the onboard camera’s view; at the moment, it showed only milk white and occasional bubbles. The one on her left displayed six gauges. To her right sat the joystick controls she had been practicing with over the last few days. At the moment the joystick was as useless as a paperweight. Hairy was following its program of melting its way through the ice. Gravity provided the propulsion, and since it was moving in a shaft just a hair larger than itself, there was no room to turn.

Sarah shifted in the uncomfortable seat.

“We should have brought a padded chair,” Gleason said.

“A nice rocking chair would be good,” Sarah said, then smiled at the image of a wooden rocking chair resting on the ice.

“This is one slow video game,” Gleason said.

“Don’t tell me you’re one of the men who wastes hour upon hour with a game controller in your hand.”

“It builds character,” Gleason said. “Besides, I have kids, and Perry is always buying them some new game. Someone has to teach them how to play.”

“You’re close to Perry, aren’t you?” Sarah asked. She noticed a tingling in the back of her brain, and her stomach dropped.

“Yeah, we go way back. He’s good to me and mine.”

Sarah turned her attention to the gauges. The tingling in her brain was moving forward as if crawling along the inside of her skull. Not now, she said to herself. “How . . . how many children do you have?”

“Two. A twelve-year-old boy and a girl who’s eleven.”

“A girl,” Sarah said. Her vision blurred, and she felt her eyes begin to roll back. “You’ll . . . you’ll have boys coming by . . . soon.”

“I plan on buying a big ugly dog to sit on the front doorstep,” Gleason said. “If they get past the dog, then they’ll have to get past me.”

“You sound like my father. He said I couldn’t . . . date . . . until I was . . . thirty . . .” The gauges disappeared. The monitors melted away. The world ceased to exist.

“Smart man. Was your father an engineer, too?”

She could hear his voice, but her mouth would no longer work.

“I asked if your father was an engineer, too.”

The darkness deepened from gray to purple-black.

“Sarah? Are you all right?”

The Nothing had swallowed her.

 

“Perry!”

Perry snapped his head from Gwen to Gleason.

“Perry, I need you!” Gleason was kneeling beside Sarah, who had been seated a moment ago.

Perry closed the distance between them quickly and dropped to his knees. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Gleason said. “We were talking, and she slumped over. I caught her before she hit the ice.”

“Did you notice anything strange before she fell?” Gwen asked. Perry was glad she had followed him.

“Not really,” Gleason said. “She was asking about my family, and then her speech became slurred and halting. Next thing I knew, she was keeling over.”

“Let me in,” Gwen ordered, and Gleason stepped aside.

Perry watched as Gwen laid a gloved hand on the fallen woman’s neck. She shook her head.

“What?” Perry demanded. “No pulse?”

“I can’t tell. These gloves are in the way.” Gwen stripped off her clean-suit gloves then the thinner pair she wore beneath. Again she pressed her fingers to Sarah’s throat and nodded. “Pulse is strong and regular.” Her eyes drifted to Sarah’s chest and lingered. “Breathing is even.” She bent over and placed her face shield close to Sarah’s. “She’s moving her lips, but I can’t hear anything.”

“We should get her into the Dome,” Perry said.

“Agreed.”

“Take her feet, Gleason.”

Before Perry could slip his arms under Sarah’s, he saw her eyes snap open. She blinked a few times then sat up.

“Are you okay?” Gleason asked.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” She started to get up.

“Take it easy,” Perry said. “You passed out.”

“Nonsense,” Sarah said. “I’m fine. I must have fallen asleep.”

“It looked like more than sleep,” Gleason said. “You fell off the chair.”

“I’ve been pretty tired. I think the thin air is getting to me.”

Perry looked at Gwen and could tell she wasn’t buying the story. Sarah shrugged off Perry’s grasp and stood up. “See, I’m fine. I just let myself slip off. I’ve always been able to go into a deep sleep.” She sat down at the table again as if nothing had happened. “Did I miss anything?”

“I don’t know,” Gleason admitted. “I was preoccupied with you.”

“I want you to take a break,” Perry said. “And I want you to let Gwen have a look at you.”

“No need. I’m fine.”

“I insist,” Perry said. “In fact, I’m pulling rank. I was coming over here to suggest that you two split shifts anyway. Now is as good a time as any to start.”

“But I need to monitor—”

“Gleason will keep an eye on Hairy and will let you know if there are any problems or changes. Now go.” Perry looked at Gwen, who nodded. “If Gwen gives you the okay, you can come back after a few hours’ sleep. Got it?”

“There’s really no need . . .”

“Got it?”

“Yes, sir!” Sarah jumped to her feet and snapped a salute. Perry saw the anger on her face. She marched off, and Gwen had to step fast to keep up.