The Disturbance: Hard Science Fiction, page 38
“Hold on tight. I hope you didn’t have a big breakfast.”
“Haha.” Very funny, he thought. The last time he ate anything had been more than 100 orbital periods ago. The outer skin provided his body with all the nutrients he needed.
Grigori stepped on the accelerator. The Buistro flew over the ice. Even though Boris was strapped in tightly, the vehicle still tossed him back and forth in his seat as it hit small pockets of different combinations of air properties as well as dips and bumps in the ground.
“I was afraid I’d have to pick you up somewhere in the mountains,” Grigori said. “That wouldn’t have been much fun.”
Fun. Oh well. Boris preferred a different kind of fun. On the right were the mountains where he had started his flight. They’d have to make a wide arc to go around them. That’d also bring them to the dune fields.
No, they were already in the dune fields. The Buistro was just sailing over the crest of a dune. The vehicle stabilized itself in the air. It was optimized for high-speed cruising, but Boris would have preferred flying with his own wings.
They landed with a loud crash. In comparison with the hills, the dunes had the advantage that there were no underground cavities, and thus there was no danger of breaking through the ground. Boris looked behind them. The vehicle was kicking up a big cloud of sand behind them. The sand consisted of ice crystals mixed with organic substances.
Boris leaned against Grigori’s back. The outer skin felt rigid, something like stone. A driver had to concentrate very hard in this terrain. He was glad Grigori had more experience out here than he did. His uncle would get him back to base safely.
Grigori stopped in front of the bunker where the meeting was scheduled.
Boris climbed out of the Buistro. “Aren’t you coming?”
“I wasn’t invited.”
Grigori looked a little disappointed, if he could read anything from his uncle’s face. After all, he was much more experienced than Boris. But that probably also meant that no investigations had been started against him.
The bunker didn’t look like a bunker from the outside. Instead it looked something like a big tent. In the back, however, was an underground structure that was used by the Wnutri. Earlier, before the genetic splitting, this was where the base’s command center was located. Now the location changed depending on whether the base was being led by a Wnutri or a Snarushi.
Boris entered the building through a narrow door, which opened into a dimly lit hallway more than twice a person’s height. Door after door led off from the hallway. Behind these doors were meeting rooms where small groups could work together. Under the tent-like ceiling, the rooms looked something like small huts that had all been built very close together. Nobody had told him exactly where he was supposed to go, but he assumed that his destination was the auditorium. Anything important took place there.
At the end of the hallway he came to a door that stretched up to the ceiling. He opened it and entered an auditorium that was lit almost festively. This was where they had celebrated the New Year a few orbital periods ago, everyone all together. The barriers, which now ran straight from wall to wall again, had been arranged at the time by a complicated process into a wild labyrinth pattern through the room, to enable the Wnutri and Snarushi to visit with each other more easily.
But today was all about business. Geraldine, the commander, walked back and forth on the side filled with breathable air. She had her left arm across her body supporting her bent right elbow. Her head was resting on her right hand, and she appeared to be deep in thought. Geralt was sitting in a corner, staring off into space, probably not wanting to disturb her. There was also another young Wnutri in the room, who was studying the back of her hand very intensely.
Boris walked a little more loudly. He always forgot that he was, for all practical purposes, silent when he walked barefoot over a cement floor.
Geraldine turned around and smiled. “I’m so happy that it worked,” she said.
She walked forward up to the barrier and pushed her hand through the material. It stretched around her hand so that Boris could shake it. He thought that he could almost even feel her warmth, but that was physically impossible. Geraldine was a well-liked commander. She treated everyone in a motherly way, but could also be very assertive when necessary. That’s one reason she’d been reelected three times.
Geralt and the young woman also came up to the barrier. “Privyet, Boris,” Geralt said.
The young woman introduced herself. “My name’s Jenna Tamarastir.”
Her hand was amazingly narrow and her fingers long, but she had a firm handshake. Tamarastir, then her mother’s name must’ve been Tamara. There had never been a Tamara at this base, as far as he could remember.
“Jenna is the astronomer at the north pole base,” Geraldine explained. “She’s made an alarming discovery.”
Geraldine was never one to waste time with chit chat. Boris looked at her, wondering what an astronomical discovery had to do with him.
“Please, Jenna,” Geraldine said.
“My area of interest is asteroids in general, and the asteroid belt in particular,” the young Wnutri said. “Saturn provides us with a certain amount of protection, but the impact of an asteroid on Titan would be catastrophic, so we’ve got to be prepared.”
“Of course,” Boris said. “Is there a danger of that now?” Strangely, he felt no anxiety at the thought. The idea that an asteroid would hit Titan was so... inconceivable.
“No, we wouldn’t be conversing here quite so calmly if that were the case,” Geraldine said.
But what then? Boris wanted to ask, but he held back the question. They had few options to counter an asteroid headed straight toward their moon. They would probably have to flee.
“Something strange has happened in the asteroid belt,” Jenna said. “An asteroid, named (1288) Santa in Earth’s nomenclature, left its orbit for no identifiable reason.”
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“It’s a mystery,” Jenna answered. “One that we’ve yet to solve. Asteroids shouldn’t just leave their orbits. And if that happens, we’ve got to find out the cause—not that this might ever happen again, but we’ve got to be prepared for any potential danger.”
The young woman looked as if she had only recently come of age, but she obviously knew what she was talking about.
“Doesn’t anyone have any idea what might’ve caused the change in orbit?” Geralt asked.
“We assume it must’ve been a natural cause,” Jenna explained. “Something specific to the asteroid itself.”
“Is anything more known about the asteroid, then?”
“No, Geralt. It has a diameter of about thirty-one kilometers, and it’s never attracted any special attention until now.”
“So, how do you plan on getting to the bottom of this strange behavior?” Boris asked. He still had no idea why he was being included in any of this.
Jenna didn’t answer and instead turned to look at Geraldine.
“We’re going to fly there,” the commander said quietly. “I know that flying is forbidden, but we consider it absolutely necessary, and that’s why we discussed it at the CoC and decided to go forward with this plan.”
The CoC was the Commission of Commanders, the elected government of Titan. Boris was shocked. Had the commanders voted to break one of the three big taboos? The prohibitions had always worked well for them. And now they were going to violate one of them all because some chunk of rock had changed its orbit in the solar system? Or was there more that he didn’t know yet?
“I’m ordering all of you right now to keep this plan strictly among us,” Geraldine said vehemently. “At some point we will have to talk about the taboos more, especially if they start slowing down our progress. But right now, this is only a single, time-limited exception.”
“But we don’t even have a spaceship, do we?” Boris interjected. Or had the commanders already allowed a ship to be developed? Such secrecy would shake his trust in their government. No wonder that Geraldine wanted to keep this all secret.
Again, Geraldine spoke barely above a whisper. “Yes, we do. The Ark, the ship that the founders used.”
The legendary ship was supposed to have been destroyed during the landing. That was part of the entire foundational mythology of the Titan colony.
“Nonsense,” Boris said.
“That’s interesting,” Geralt said.
Jenna remained quiet. Apparently, she already knew.
“Where is it?” Boris asked.
“That’s the problem,” Geraldine said. “We found some approximate coordinates in the archives, but we’d probably have to dig it out first. The ship’s been there for a very long time! Everything must happen as inconspicuously as possible. That’s why we thought of you and Geralt. You two already worked together on the Dragonfly. Now we want you to excavate another old probe—this time officially.”
“I have to admit that doesn’t sound uninteresting. I’ll have to think about it,” Boris said.
That was total understatement. This was exhilarating. He would have agreed immediately, but then he wouldn’t have been able to learn what the catch was—and there had to be a catch, somehow. He was not one of the well-known Titanians. They must’ve selected him for some reason. Maybe because nobody would notice his absence?
“Boris! No, you can’t be serious,” Geralt said. “This is our chance! I’m in, no matter what. But don’t listen to what Boris just said. I know him. He craves adventure.”
Man, Geralt, couldn’t you shut up for once? Who asked you, anyway? he almost blurted. Instead he said, “How did the CoC decide to ask me, of all people? Did I do something that brought me to your attention?”
“We knew about Geralt because he’s always submitting requests to the Research Commission for expeditions to old pieces of junk,” Jenna said, “and that would provide us the perfect cover. And I’m a member of the RC, too.”
So young, and already a member of a commission. The RC made decisions about research topics that went beyond the budget of a single base. But, she’s not answering my question.
“Junk? Please, I’m only interested in important articles from history,” Geralt said.
“Terrestrial history,” Jenna said. “We’ve moved far beyond those old stories. What do we need those old probes for? Humankind only brought misery and suffering to its planet and eventually destroyed it.”
“And we’re headed down the same path here on Titan,” Boris said. “Or have none of you noticed the increasing frequency of thunderstorms?”
“This is not the right time or place for fighting,” Geraldine interjected. “The researchers are already well aware of the warming. And maybe we can still learn something useful from the past. Now, do you want to know how we chose you, Boris Mariasson? The answer is quite simple. Geralt recommended you when we asked him to name an energetic, experienced expedition leader who had a good understanding of terrestrial artifacts.”
“Geralt? Am I supposed to have a good understanding of his junk? How in the world did you come to think that?”
“I watched how you interacted with the Dragonfly. You didn’t know any Old English, and yet you were immediately able to get the thing to fly.”
“That was pure luck.”
“Some might call it luck. Others, intuition.”
“Well, okay, but I’ve got one condition,” Boris said.
Geraldine stepped very close to the barrier until it touched her face. It looked as if she wanted to come over to his side and give him a real thrashing. “You’re being asked to dig up the legendary ship of the founders, and you have conditions?”
“Yes, I guess so,” Boris said as carefree as he could.
He was willing to bet Geraldine wouldn’t cancel the whole thing just because of his bitching, but he wasn’t positive. He had the unmistakable feeling that she would ultimately agree to his terms.
“So, what is it you want?” Geraldine asked with a threatening undertone.
Now he was sure she was bluffing. He relaxed. “Anna, my sister—she has to come with us. We’re a team. We do everything together. I’m good only when I work with her, as a pair.”
“So good that your sister is right now lying unconscious in a tank?” Jenna asked.
Boris leaped forward, but then stopped. His face twisted into a wry smile. “Yes, that one’s on me. But tomorrow she’ll be awake again. If I’ve understood correctly, the doctors are very confident she’ll be up for it. She’s still physically fit.”
“Agreed,” Geraldine said. “If the doctors say it’s okay, Anna can join you. It’d be suspicious if you didn’t do this job as a team. And we’ve still got some things to get ready. You should be ready to leave in three days.”
“How long will we be gone?” Geralt asked.
“Right now, the plan is two weeks. But that also depends on how good the data from the archives is.”
“I’ll gladly take a look at it before we go,” Geralt said.
“I was going to ask you to do just that,” Geraldine said. “I will have the data sent to you.”
“If Anna is awake tomorrow and the doctors give the okay, we could also leave a day earlier,” Boris said. “This seems to be an urgent matter.”
“No, I’ve got something I’ve got to do before we can go,” Jenna said.
“Jenna’s coming with us? Who else? The whole CoC and RC too?”
“Jenna will be the leader of the expedition,” Geraldine said. “She has the complete confidence of the CoC. I expect that you’ll all follow her instructions.”
Great. A young, inexperienced ‘chick’ would lead their excursion into the mountains. She’d probably never even been outside before. Instead, she had probably been sitting in a bunker, studying for her tests.
“Understood,” he said.
Maybe she was smart and wouldn’t always get in the way. If he was lucky, she would perhaps even spend the entire time in the enclosed rover, which she and Geralt, as Wnutri, would need.
“Any more questions? If not, I will say goodbye.”
Boris thought, yes, there was still one detail he was interested in. So he asked, “Where is the asteroid headed, then?”
“(1288) Santa?” Jenna asked.
Oh, she’d hoped to keep him in the dark. She knew, but she didn’t trust herself to say it. Instead she would stall with evasive answers and wait for Geraldine to answer for her.
“Yes, what else? The one that left its orbit.”
“Yes, that was (1288) Santa.”
“I thought you already told us that much at the start of the meeting, Jenna.”
“That could be.” Jenna turned around. Probably she had just turned red, or she was crying, and she didn’t want him to see.
“Fine, then,” Geraldine said finally. “It looks like it will stay in the inner solar system. According to our calculations, the asteroid appears to be headed directly toward Earth.”
How to avoid killing Earth if you don't even know who sent the killer
250 years ago, humanity nearly destroyed itself in the Great War. Shortly before, a spaceship full of researchers and astronauts had found a new home on Saturn's moon, Titan, and survived by having their descendants genetically adapted to the hostile environment.
The Titanians, as they call themselves, are proud of their cooperative and peaceful society, while unbeknownst to them, humanity is slowly recovering back on Earth. When a 20-mile-wide chunk of rock escapes the asteroid belt and appears to be on a collision course with Earth, the Titanians fear it must look as if they launched the deadly bombardment. Can they prevent the impact and thus avoid an otherwise inevitable war with the Earthlings?
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Copyright © 2022 by Brandon Q. Morris
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Translator: Siân Robertson
Editor: Margaret Dean (Profile)
Cover design: Jelena Gajic
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Brandon Q. Morris, The Disturbance: Hard Science Fiction
