KIACHIF TOOK the skiff off in a fast-climbing orbit, cleaving the atmosphere. Crowded into its forward cabin behind Kiachif and Hrriss in the pilot’s couches were Barnstable, Todd, Second Speaker and his assistant Mllaba, Hrrestan, Barnstable’s personal aide-de-camp, and Jilamey Landreau, who squeezed on board through the closing airlock before he could be stopped. Rather than waste any more time, he was allowed to remain.
Below them the vivid blue of the Doonan sky glowed, illuminating the nearside of vessels hovering in local space above. Communication satellites, merchant ships, and beacons went by unheeded. As soon as the skiff attained its first looping orbit, the unknown ship came into view, watched cautiously at a prudent distance by the Spacedep and Hrruban Space Arm vessels. The invader had made no overt movements, either hostile or friendly. It just hung there in space, circling the planet at a distance. Everyone stared in turn at the screens and the forward port, as if to make certain what they saw on the screen existed in real space.
“Where did that large leviathanic liner come from?” Ali Kiachif demanded. His eyes gleamed. “I’d powerful like to take her for a test spin, make no mistake about that. Wonder what fuel she runs on?”
“Brr! It looks dangerous,” Jilamey exclaimed. “All those bits and pieces sticking out. Surely that’s not good design.” The visitor plunged into the nightside of Doonarrala, making itself a sinister shadow against the stars.
“Isn’t that a breakaway orbit?” Kiachif asked, checking his sensors. “Is she doing a spit, split and flit if anyone so much as says ‘boo’ to her?”
Todd scrutinized the outlines of the ship as it reached dayside again. The vessel was slowing down.
“Seems to be settling into a stationary orbit, Ali,” he said. Details were hard to pick out on the black hull. He could see nothing at all that he could identify as weaponry, nor did the skiff’s monitors register any telltale radiation glow. “They look like they mean to stay awhile,” he added very softly.
Hrriss, beside him, was the only one to hear that comment. “I know what I wish zey are doing here,” the cat man said wistfully.
“Me, too,” Todd agreed, smiling slightly. Once again, he and Hrriss were in the minority. He was positive that most of the others were reacting with various degrees of xenophobia. Had neither race learned anything from the Doona Experiment? Or were they two the only ones who understood the true significance of this unique colony? Bearing in mind the result of his father’s initial encounter with two small Hrrubans over thirty years ago, Todd believed a show of friendship might once again prove more useful than overt hostility. The very fact that this skiff contained persons from two races, observing a possible confrontation with a third, surely meant some good had been achieved by the Decision at Doona. His grin for Hrriss broadened. “Well, if wishes were hrrrses . . .” he murmured in a very good imitation of Hrriss.
“It is a trrrifying giant,” Mllaba said, exhaling with a hiss as she shivered.
The skiff caught up with the leviathan, passed underneath, and shot out in front. Kiachif turned the craft out of an ascension trajectory and headed for the Spacedep cruiser.
* * *
Captain Castleton was waiting for them at the docking bay. Todd had met her once before, two years back, at a Treaty Day observance. He didn’t know much about her, except that she was a good dancer. Her crew considered her a tartar because she expected honesty and tireless dedication from everyone who served under her. She appeared unruffled and calm, saluting the Admiral smartly before holding out a firm hand to each of the others.
“Welcome on board the Hamilton, gentlemen, madam,” she said. Mllaba shook her hand gravely.
“Grace, I’m glad to see you,” Barnstable said at his heartiest. “We’ve just had a good look at your mystery guest. Damned if I know what it is. Any new info?” The Admiral turned to acknowledge another uniformed figure in the bay with a lift of his thick white eyebrows. “Ah, Jon, there you are. My aide, Jon Greene,” he said to the others. “I’ll want your reading on this ASAP, Greene.”
“Of course, sir,” Greene said, stepping forward. “My report is waiting for you.”
Todd decided the aide was about his own age but a handspan shorter, compact and trim in his dark blue uniform. Greene glanced at the civilians behind his CO, meeting Todd’s eyes, then focusing, as if identifying him. Greene’s look of concentration faded abruptly, dismissing the civilians as unimportant, and he returned his gaze to his superior. Todd felt a swift flush of irritation at being so negligently dismissed.
Castleton went on. “Sir, I’ve invited Captain Hrrrv of the Hrruban vessel to take part in this conference.”
Barnstable nodded. “Good. In the ready room?”
“This way, Admiral,” Castleton said, indicating the portside corridor.
It was then that Todd saw the two Humans in dark blue uniforms with security flashes on their shoulders. They peeled away from the group waiting behind the sliding doors and fell in behind the Hrrubans as they went down the blue-gray corridor. As everyone filed out of the bay, more of the ratings took positions behind the other Hrrubans. It was not very subtly done and Todd could see that Second’s spine was stiff under his red robe. Mllaba’s tail switched angrily back and forth. After so many years since the Decision at Doonarrala, it was infuriating to see that there was still such blatant evidence of distrust.
* * *
“Blast it out of space,” the Hrruban captain suggested, his fangs clicking together with a sound of finality. He waved an imperious hand at the image hanging on the large screen. Hrrrv bore a broad, dark stripe down the middle of his gold-furred back, sure indication of his clan’s high position on Hrruba. Both cruisers were now matching the stranger’s orbit, but with one fourth the curve of the great blue planet between them for safety. The Hrruban’s ship was just barely visible in the corner of the view screen. “I do not like its appearance,” Hrrrv said, “I think it means us no good.” He walked up and down one side of the ready room, switching his tail irritably.
“Captain Castleton, when the ship did not answer any standard hailing messages, did you try any other methods of communication?” Todd asked, exasperated by the military mind.
Grace Castleton regarded him with surprise. “I tried all known codes . . . on all frequencies available to my equipment.” Her tone and look implied that she had the very best, state-of-the-art equipment. “Oh, I see what you’re driving at,” she said after a moment, her face lightening.
“Thank goodness someone does,” Todd said, throwing up his hands in gratitude.
“And just what is that?” Admiral Barnstable demanded, annoyed.
“Sir, how can they communicate with us if there isn’t a common language? Or symbols or even a medium of communication. My father had the advantage of being face to face with two members of another species.”
“And how do you propose to emulate your father, then?” Barnstable asked.
“By going to meet them.”
Barnstable’s eyes protruded and his face flushed with either surprise or anger, but Todd kept his ingenuous smile in place. “Worked before,” he said.
“That’s why we ended up learning Hrruban,” Jilamey broke in. When he saw Barnstable, Castleton, and Greene giving him a concerted cold glance, he demanded, “What was wrong with that? We learned it. I think Todd’s got the right approach. Go meet ’em and find out what they want. It doesn’t do us any good to sit here in space with that big thing looming over us, neither side making a move. Their ship may be bigger, but”—he waggled his finger around the room—“we got more. They could be the ones scared stiff to do anything, you know. Make the wrong move and get blasted out of space.”
Todd rubbed at his mouth, trying to make his lips behave. Jilamey was making exactly the point that Todd wanted to.
“Landreau’s talking sense,” Ali Kiachif said. “Don’t know why I didn’t see it that way myself, since I’ve traded with some mighty odd folk, using signs and trying to savvy their grunts, groans, and gargles.”
“D’you mean to say,” Castleton asked Todd, leaning forward across the table, “that you’re willing to approach them?”
“If you’ll let us have a tender, Captain,” Todd said equably.
“But . . . but that could be a vanguard!” Barnstable protested.
“A vanguard? That big?” Kiachif asked incredulously. “If that’s Baby, I don’t want to meet Papa, if you get my drift.”
“An unarmed baby,” Todd said, seizing the initiative again. “Unarmed. I’m more than willing to go . . .”
“I’ll go with you,” Hrriss said.
“I wouldn’t mind the trip myself. Be sort of fun,” Jilamey said, grinning in his eagerness.
“Now see here,” Barnstable began, trying to regain control. “That is not standard procedure.”
“I didn’t realize there was a standard procedure for encountering large unknown spacecraft, Admiral,” Todd said. He stood up. “If you’ll be good enough to assign us a shuttle to make first contact, Captain Castleton . . .”
“Dammit, young man,” and Barnstable thumped the table with both fists, “nothing’s been decided.”
“I know,” Todd said, gesturing to Hrriss and Jilamey. “That’s why I decided to do something on my own initiative as co-leader of the planet, which I do not honestly believe is in any danger from this visitor. But the sooner we establish communications, the sooner we learn exactly why they are in our space and what they want.”
“They’ll want to blast you to motes if you’re foolhardy enough to approach them,” Barnstable said.
“With what, Admiral?” Todd asked, feeling the tide of aggravation rising in his blood. “You’ve established—at least you say you have”—he glanced for confirmation at Castleton and Hrrrv—“that the ship is unarmed . . .”
Barnstable waved that consideration away. “You can’t know what kind of weapons they might have. The whole ship, in that peculiar configuration, might act as an amplifier for some kind of huge energy beam! Who knows what those bulges on the surface are for?”
“I’m willing to take that risk, Admiral,” Todd said, adding grimly, “I’ve also considered that they might have biological armament which doesn’t require high-powered delivery systems. But I prefer to believe that they’re friendly; only waiting for an invitation from us. Enemies barge in; friends wait for invitations.”
“Good point, Todd,” Kiachif said, grinning broadly. “ ‘Enemies barge in; friends wait for invitations.’ Great notion.”
A notion which did not appear to amuse many of those present. Hrrto’s expression was unreadable, though his tail tip twitched. Mllaba’s was extremely active.
“Admiral, remember that thirty-four years ago,” Todd went on earnestly, “Humans discovered that we were not alone in the galaxy, that there was another sentient race with whom we could be friends,” and he nodded solemnly at Hrrto, who looked pleased, and grinned at Hrriss and Hrrestan, dropping his glance lastly on Mllaba, who sniffed back at him. “The presence of a sophisticated spaceship that big means that whoever is aboard is not only sentient but of an intelligent and advanced civilization. The fact that they haven’t opened fire or made any threatening moves against us, I take to mean that they are not aggressive. I’m willing to test that belief.”
“So am I,” Hrriss said.
“Me, too,” Jilamey piped up, grinning in an inane fashion.
“So, do we have a shuttle, Admiral?” Todd was becoming more and more irked at the specious delays. He wouldn’t call them cowardly, but certainly close to it.
Grace Castleton flicked a glance at Admiral Barnstable.
“You can use my skiff, Reeve,” Ali Kiachif said then, with a glance of veiled contempt at the naval officers. “Glad to oblige . . .”
Barnstable was on his feet; so was Hrrrv.
“Now see here, Reeve, that’s encroaching on military prerogatives . . .”
“It’s our planet down there, Barnstable. C’mon, Ali, you can pilot while this lot dithers.”
Grace Castleton slid in front of Todd before he had taken a full step. “Stow that, Reeve. I take your point, and I’m sure the Admiral does, too, even if your method is high-handed . . . especially while you’re on board my ship.” She gave him a wry grin. “You’ve volunteered to test the intentions of our . . .”
“Visitor?” Todd suggested in an edged tone.
She nodded. “Visitor. But Spacedep is responsible for the safety of all its citizens, and Captain Hrrrv for his nationals.”
Todd gave her full marks for remembering the Hrruban presence, naval and diplomatic. “That is true, but as these are aliens, whatever form they take, the approach falls in the province of Alreldep, of which I’m a representative.”
“Out of the question,” Barnstable said firmly. “Alien Relations or no. Until these beings, whatever they are, are proven harmless, it is still a Spacedep matter. I concur that logic suggests that Reeve lead a first-contact team . . .”
“And the elder Reeve,” Todd said. “He has, after all, had more experience than anyone else in successful first contacts.”
“Your father?”
“The very one.”
“Humph. Well—” Barnstable cleared his throat. “Makes sense.”
“I’ll lead the armed guard.” Greene said, taking a step forward.
“There’ll be no armed guard,” Todd and Hrriss said in unison.
Barnstable bristled but Hrrestan’s eyes flashed. “A show of arms is unnecessary. And might even be considered an insult. A friend advances with open hands.”
“It worked before,” Todd said, exchanging glances with Hrriss. Out of the corner of his eye then, Todd caught a look of intense disgust on Greene’s face. Here was one man who didn’t hold with the pacific approach. And probably one who might be a borderline xenophobe. “I think we’ve discussed this matter long enough. Too long a delay might jeopardize good relations. They’ll have seen the skiff arriving. Captain, may I get in touch with my father on Doonarrala?”
As Grace Castleton bent to the terminal to instruct the comm officer, Todd saw the resolute glint in Greene’s eyes. That man’s middle name might be “trouble,” he thought: he had a skeptical and suspicious air about him. Then the line to the surface of Doonarrala was open.
* * *
Ken Reeve was delighted to be asked. “I wondered what the lines were humming so hot and heavy for,” he said, his image beaming an ear-to-ear smile at them from the screen. “I knew the perimeter alarms went off because I was jawing with Martinson at the Space Center up here between the First Villages. It was too late for the shush order when it followed. The gossips hanging around in port spread it all over town in jig time. Everyone’s speculating on who’s come calling.”
Barnstable looked grim. “I was afraid of that. What’s the response?”
“Not exactly what you’d think by your reaction, Admiral,” Ken said with a grin. “Doonans are more inclined to think that outsiders who don’t come in shooting are minded to be friendly. We know we’re not the only ones out there, and I for one am happy for a chance to be one of the first to meet these new friends.”
“They aren’t friends yet,” Greene reminded him sharply. Ken glanced over Barnstable’s shoulder at the commander, his black eyebrows mounting into his hairline.
“Nor yet enemies,” Ken replied quickly. “How can I get up to you?”
“I’ll send a shuttle for you,” Barnstable said, cutting Ken off and putting an end to the argument. “In the meantime, this is still a security matter. Please consider this as top secret. You may not inform anyone where you are going or what you’ll be doing.”
“Right you are. I’ll be ready,” said Ken cheerfully, and signed off.
“I’ll go get him,” Kiachif said, rising from his seat. “My skiff’s faster’n any naval shuttle and I want another look, leer, and laying of a lens on that big ship. See if I can’t get any more on her, if you get my meaning. Back in a ten-count.” The Codep captain nodded to Castleton and the Admiral, and left the room.
“Until Dad arrives and we can proceed with a first contact,” Todd said, once the door shut behind Kiachif, “we must not make any moves which the . . . visitors could consider antagonistic or hostile. No more scans, no probes, no drones. They could think that latter two were weapons.”
“Let’s not be overcautious, Mr. Reeve,” Captain Castleton said, studying the image of the ship in the holoscreen. “Their range of power fluctuations alone invites closer investigation. Surely if they’re the advanced beings you speculate they are, they’d expect us to try and uncover any information about them that we could, short of intrusive hardware.”
“Who knows what they’d consider intrusive?” Todd asked. “Beings more sensitive than our two races might find probe scan painful. Do I have to remind anyone here of the Siwannah Tragedy? No. Well, then. You’ve already done enough remote scans.” He didn’t add “for all the good it did.”
“I would feel better if I had more on them than the long-range data my passive telemetry picked up,” Castleton said. “To quote an ancient Earth philosopher, ‘It is a mistake to theorize in advance of facts.’ ”
Jon Greene was beginning to find the endless beating of the air dull and purposeless. The Doonarralans—wasn’t that a word?—babbled against logical research that would help guarantee safety for their own people, not to mention the ships orbiting around their planet. Any part of that huge ship out there could conceal weapons. It didn’t make sense to remain uninformed when useful data could be picked up as easily as vacuuming space dust. He wished he could recall under what circumstances he had seen that sort of vessel before. Castleton looked annoyed, and rightly so, with civilians usurping the appropriate naval roles in this sort of contact.
Barnstable gave him a glance and pushed his clipboard across the table to him. Greene picked it up and read the note the Admiral had discreetly added amidst the leviathan’s readings. “Send probe.” Greene erased the words and entered a random jotting of his own. He stood up.
“Permission to be excused, sir?” Greene asked, coming to attention.
Barnstable glanced up briefly from the discussion, and waved a hand. “Go ahead, son. I’ll call you if I need you.”
“Aye, sir. Captain, may I see you outside?”
Castleton looked surprised, but followed him out of the room. Greene escorted her a few meters from the door and automatically checked the corridor before he spoke.
“Sir, the Admiral asks if you will authorize launching a telemetry probe at the intruder.”
Castleton looked down at her feet a moment before her shoulders relaxed a degree from their tight set. When she tipped her head up again, she wore an expression of relieved approval.
“Reeve’s overcautious, Greene. Personally, I’d feel better with more data about that leviathan on hand. The distance scanners aren’t giving us much to go on. This way.” He followed her to a waiting ’vator car. “Level four,” she said.
On an impulse, Greene stood closer to her than necessary in the small chamber and was surprised and pleased that Castleton didn’t seem to mind. He was even more encouraged when she returned his smile.
* * *
A Gringg in the cargo-bay operations room of the gigantic spaceship watched on a view screen as a tiny metallic cylinder floated casually in the direction of the bow of their ship. He leaned lazily over and touched the key of the intercom with a long claw.
“Captain?” He knew he would find her in the bathing room. “The others have begun to acknowledge us. They are sending something toward our ship. I estimate it will be here within the hour. It is very small and does not seem to be armed. Shall I take it aboard?”
Splashing echoed in the background, and the sounds of other Gringg conversing provided a pleasant hum; then the smooth, rich voice of the captain came out of the speaker. “Do, please, and inform me when you have it. I’ll come down to examine it.”
* * *
“Captain? Ken Reeve is here,” the bosun informed Grace Castleton, “with Captain Kiachif.”
“Show them in.”
Conversation around the ready room table halted as the bosun stood to one side to allow the two men to enter.
Grace Castleton would have known Reeve anywhere as Todd’s father. Both men were rangy and taller than average, with big shoulders and long arms, and both had a cap of smooth black hair cut straight across the forehead over decidedly stubborn features. Ken’s hair was somewhat thinner, and there was more gray in it than in Todd’s. Lines had been graven by time in his fair-skinned face, but he exuded the same boyish enthusiasm that his son did. With a new adventure arising, years fell away. He might have been the same youthful jack-of-all-trades who had landed on Doona with a handful of tyro colonists more than thirty years ago.
“Hello, friends! Speaker Hrrto, Admiral Barnstable,” Ken said, coming over to clasp hands and bow respectfully to the Hrrubans. He pounded companionably on his son’s shoulder.
Ken slid into the empty seat beside Hrrestan.
“Well, anything happen while Kiachif and I were on our way up?” He looked around the table, which bore the remains of a recent light meal. “He’s filled me in on the discussion. We’re still going to make the contact?”
“We’ll have to, Dad; they’re not making any move,” Todd said. “Captain, could we have a rerun of the tapes for my father?”
“I was about to suggest that,” she replied and toggled the board for the replay.
Watching the tape with keen eyes, Ken whistled softly as he read the telemetry codes around the image of the ship.
“So we know very little about our friends over there.” Ken heard a soft snort but couldn’t tell who had it come from. “Not friends?”
“That has yet to be established,” Barnstable said in a neutral voice.
“By me,” Ken said with a grin.
“By us, Dad,” and Todd indicated the other volunteers of the first-contact group.
“Can it be established if they’re oxygen-breathers?” Ken asked. “We’ll need to know how to dress for our meeting.”
“Can’t even establish that, Dad,” Todd replied.
“Just like you to volunteer for a blind mission,” Ken said in a mock-disgusted tone.
“Begging the captain’s pardon,” Commander Greene said, watching the codes change on the main viewscreen. “There’s data coming through right now.”
“Put it up, Commander Greene,” said Captain Castleton.
“More data?” Todd asked, startled even as he scanned the new readings. “Where did you get it?”
“From a robot probe,” Greene said.
“What?” Todd demanded, sitting angrily upright. “Who authorized the launch?” He stared accusingly at Greene.
“I did,” Barnstable replied, his face reddening at Todd’s imperious tone. “For the safety of all of us, including our Hrruban allies, I felt it was vital we obtain more information.”
“Admiral,” Todd said in a restrained tone, “I specifically requested that there be no more probes, drones, or even scans until we were ready to proceed with the first contact.”
Barnstable narrowed his eyes to glare at Todd. “Until proven otherwise, this is a Spacedep matter, young man. I am acting in the interest of safety for all the sentient beings on this ship. I don’t need your permission to proceed.”
“This is Doonan space,” Todd said. It made him furious that this bureaucrat would take a unilateral action that might endanger the whole mission. Hrrestan, who hated the high-handedness of Spacedep, would back him up.
“We must not show distrust,” Hrriss agreed.
“We do not know if those aboard that vessel arrre worthy of trust,” Hrrto reminded him sharply.
“Nor do we know they are not, Speaker,” Hrrestan said with equal asperity.
“In any case,” Castleton said, raising her voice to put an end to the argument, “the probe only transmitted readings for a short time. They stopped the moment the ship took the probe aboard.”
Todd struggled to control his vexation. “It probably stopped sending readings because they disabled it, thinking it might be a bomb.”
“If they have not by now discovered its . . . benign”—Greene drawled the adjective, staring at Todd—“purpose, then they’re by no means as sophisticated a species as you like to think them.” Greene was rather pleased with that shot at the officious Doonarralan. He felt malicious glee at Todd’s surprise.
Todd knew he’d been outmaneuvered there, but a soft touch on the back of his arm came as a quiet warning from Ken not to pursue the point. His father, better than anyone else in the galaxy, knew how hard it was to control the infamous Reeve temper, and how much damage it could do when let loose. Normally Todd was in control, but the combination of Spacedep’s xenophobia and the unknown potential orbiting his beloved home planet was enough to put him at his worst. He reminded himself that he was one step away from a great adventure, equal to that when his father spotted the first Hrrubans near the earliest settlement over thirty years ago. These narrow-minded people did not, could not, understand the sheer joy of reaching out to another race, joining the far, cold reaches of the galaxy together in friendship. He had to be on that ship first, no matter what. It was a longing as strong as love. He glanced back and nodded at Ken to show he was under control.
“Let’s see what the probe did transmit,” Castleton said, settling down once more behind the table.
Greene pulled open the hatch over one of the inset consoles. He punched in a code. The view changed to a much closer image of the great ship, which steadily filled more and more of the screen. An overlay of white characters sprang up, constantly changing as the readings altered.
“We deployed a Mark 24-M probe with advanced sensors,” Greene calmly announced. “As you can see from the metallurgical report, the alien defense shields are very strong. Most of the inner core of the ship resonates as a power plant. It’s well insulated, with main conduits running down the pith of that central pillar. There are power fluctuations that build up from half a megawatt to over five gigawatts. My estimate is that the strangers are prepared to attack with some sort of electrical weapon.”
“So far, your assumption about their intentions is speculation,” Ken said. “The ship masses heavy. What’s in it?”
Greene pointed to the relevant data. “Mostly water.”
“Water? You mean H20? What kind of beings are there inside?”
“Big. Look at the readings. There’s one weighing two hundred thirty kilos.”
“Individuals?” Ken asked, amazed. Greene nodded.
Jilamey whistled. “They’re as big as Momma Snakes.”
“That’d explain the power requirements, if you follow me,” Kiachif said. “Maintaining mass gravity for massive beasties.”
“Or for quick power-ups on the weapons systems,” Greene added.
Todd shook his head in vehement denial.
On the screen, a circular opening appeared in the side of the ship, gleaming silver against the blackness. The little probe’s eye moved into it, giving an impression of a vast entry area and a quick view of some kind of computer console, and then the screen went blank.
“That’s all there is. As you can see, once it entered the ship, it stopped sending,” Greene said, “There is no visual of the inhabitants.”
Barnstable rewound the report and started it from the beginning. Stroking his chin, he studied the screen closely. “Wonder what they’re using all that water for? Ballast? Weapon storage?”
“Nonssenssse!” said Hrrestan, hissing his sibilants. “This is all speculation. In any case, it isn’t a destroyer of any kind. There’s no armament to speak of aboard. No rrradiation patterns which to me would indicate dangerrrous or powerrrful orrrdnance.”
Castleton scratched her cheek thoughtfully. “I’m just as glad they haven’t returned our compliment. The Hamilton’s considered a peaceful ship, but we do have small lasers and missiles. I wonder if they’ve scanned us telemetrically.”
“We prrrove we arre peaceful by ze composition of our landing prrrty,” Hrriss said.
“All I hope is they don’t think the probe was some kind of threat,” Todd said grimly.
“Wish I knew what sort of survival equipment we need,” Ken mused aloud.
“May I suggest,” Ali Kiachif spoke up helpfully, “the fullest rig and gear the Hamilton has to offer?”
* * *
Capturing the small unit proved to be no trouble at all, for which the technician was grateful. Like all Gringg, he hated to expend unnecessary effort on any task. The captain, a magnificent female of their species, entered the cargo bay accompanied by her small son, a curious lad of eight Revolutions, and the chief engineer, a female of many Revolutions and much experience. The three of them sat down in a semicircle on the floor near the console. The technician retrieved the little device, hoisting it lightly by one arm. He set it down on the floor and settled opposite the captain.
“I have decontaminated it, but you will be pleased to know that I found no dangerous organic substances on it or within. It makes a noise,” the technician pointed out, indicating the subspace receiver on his console. “I believe it to be a message of some sort.”
“How kind!” the Gringg captain declared. “Ghollarrgh, I am so relieved to find that these people did not attack us upon sight. Homeworld will be pleased. We must try to answer it, an unprovoking message. They must see us as being completely peaceful. Match the frequency, and we will attempt to translate. Grrala”—she turned to the engineer— “you should try to construct a similar device so that we may send them our compliments in return.”
“In time, Captain.” The engineer yawned. “In good time. Now, may we see how this little toy works?”
Eager to please, the technician began to display the workings of the ship-sent device.
* * *
Aboard the Hamilton, the shuttle was being made ready for departure. Todd and Ken were fitted out with tough transparent pressure suits. An attempt was made to find one which would accommodate Hrriss’ tail, but nothing could be adapted in the short time allowed. In the end, Hrriss decided to simply stuff the caudal appendage down one pant leg and be done with the problem.
“I’m satisfied,” Todd said, fastening the last seal on his suit. “The three of us should be able to handle any situation that comes up—or get out fast if it looks chancy.”
“I want some personnel from Spacedep to accompany you,” Admiral Barnstable insisted. “This is still a matter under my jurisdiction, whether or not I go along with your interpretation. I’ve got a couple of volunteers out of Castleton’s crew, one from xeno and one from medical. And I’m sending my assistant to be my eyes and ears: Commander Greene.”
Todd suppressed his reaction to that unwelcome news. The last thing he needed was the inclusion of a xenophobic Spacedep regular, but he conceded with as good a grace as he could manage. “All right. Have them suit up and meet us in the launch bay.”
“Hrruba must also send an observer,” said Second Speaker, after a quick conference with Mllaba.
“We’ve already got a Hrruban in the party,” Barnstable said, glowering at Second. “Hrriss.”
“I am willing to go,” Mllaba announced. “I intend to go,” she added.
Todd caught Hrriss’ gesture of ears-back, and shook his head.
“Six is more than enough for a first-contact team,” he said carefully. “More could be considered hostile. In fact, six might be considered too many.”
“Will you not trust me, Speaker?” Hrriss asked softly in High Hrruban, seeking to smooth things over before the argument put an end to the mission. “I will uphold Hrruban honor.”
Hrrto studied the younger male, who gazed at him earnestly. He grunted. “It is not a matter of trust, Hrriss. I did but think to give you the support of another among all these Hayumans.”
“One of them is my brother,” Hrriss said, “as well you know.”
Hrrto, forgetting his argument with the Hayuman admiral, dropped his jaw in a smile. “I have known this for many years, young Hrriss. Very well, a Hrruban and a half-Hrruban. I simply did not wish Hrruba to be disadvantaged.”
“None shall see it that way. They shall believe that only one Hrruban—and a half—is needed to balance out any number of Hayumans,” Hrriss said innocently. Behind Second Speaker, he could see Todd and Ken grinning at his quip. They were the only ones who understood the brief conversation.
“I believe it may be so,” Second Speaker replied at last. He retired, with Mllaba and Hrrestan, to the reception room beyond the blast doors. Ken gave them a thumbs-up.
“I’d like to go,” Jilamey spoke up unexpectedly. “As an independent observer. On behalf of Earth.”
Just how much High Hrruban did Jilamey Landreau understand? Todd wondered.
Barnstable glared at Jilamey. Although the young man’s uncle was no longer head of Spacedep, the name Landreau was a prestigious one on the human homeworld. Barnstable looked for a moment as if he were about to say no, until he took a closer look at the obstinate expression on the younger man’s face. Jilamey himself was not without influence on the Amalgamated Worlds Council. If the Admiral refused him permission, there could be endless small roadblocks for funding in the future, and unfavorable reports in the press about his administration. If he agreed, it might conceivably work out to Spacedep’s advantage. In spite of his flamboyant wardrobe and occasionally foolish mien, Jilamey was known for his shrewd and observant mind.
“You’re on your own, Mr. Landreau,” Barnstable said at last.
“Bear in mind that you’re vulnerable while on alien ground, and we cannot adequately protect you. But . . . I’ll allow it.”
“Great! I’m ever so pleased you see it my way.” Jilamey patted the Admiral companionably on the back. It was cheek and Jilamey knew it, but Barnstable suffered it expressionlessly. “Now, where can I get a suit?”
* * *
“You guys act like you have nothing to lose,” the xeno technician said as he suited up in the landing bay, listening to Todd, Ken, Hrriss, and Jilamey all eagerly speculating on what they might find aboard the alien ship.
Like all men raised on Earth, Commander Frill had a soft voice that was currently afflicted with a quaver of fear. His quiet manner of speaking prompted the creation of his nickname, Frail, which he was not. Frill was tall, a bare centimeter shorter than Todd Reeve, with thick, solid arms and a burly chest. He was an All-Spacedep champion wrestler. Neither he nor the medic assigned to the mission seemed to share the sense of exhilaration the Doonarralans felt.
“Wrong, friend,” Ken said. “I have everything to gain!” He grinned with unaffected delight at the challenge he was about to face. “My batting average’s pretty good in first contact, you know. Lighten up. You’re making history. And it could be fun!”
“Fun, he says,” the medic observed, checking his gear. Ensign Lauder had been volunteered by his section chief, an honor he clearly would have foregone if he could have thought up a valid pretext. A slender, brown-skinned man with narrow shoulders, Lauder was to run scans, with permission, on who or whatever they met. The rebreather unit on his back was cycling at twice normal speed. He was very young.
“Hey, easy does it,” Ken said, laying a kindly hand on the medic’s shoulder. “If you want to back out now, no blame’ll be attached.”
“No, sir!” the medic said, gulping. “I’m no coward.” With an effort, he brought himself under control. His respiration slowed, and his face went from flushed ocher to a more normal tawny shade.
“No one said you were, son.” Ken smiled.
“If there are no more delays?” Greene asked with a touch of rhetorical sarcasm.
Todd nodded as if the question had been serious and put his clear plastic helmet on his head. Grommets around the neck bolted to the bubble with a final-sounding snap.
“We arrre waiting for you,” Hrriss said. His pupils had narrowed to thin slits, and his ears lay slightly back to avoid contact with the headgear.
“Let’s go,” Todd said.
* * *
The shuttle left the lock and dipped slightly below the edge of the bay before the engines engaged fully. Todd felt insignificant as they left the big ship behind them. Frill, who was flying the craft, nudged the controls to pilot a wide-angle route toward the stranger, approaching with the sun at their back to get the best view.
The leviathan lay before them, huge and black. Todd admired the shape, wondering what sort of naval architects had designed it and why this shape was chosen. Hrriss’ eyes glittered in the lights from the console. He must be wondering the same things, Todd decided. What purpose was served by the irregular bulges along the length of the central core? Ali Kiachif had speculated that the ship had substantial artificial gravity, undoubtedly to help maintain the muscle tone of the massive inhabitants that Commander Greene’s probe had revealed. As they drew nearer, Todd was flatly amazed at the incredible size of the vessel. Beside it, they were a pinpoint, a dust mote. Behind him, Commander Frill let out a low moan, and was quickly reprimanded by a shake of the head from Greene.
Todd recognized a thrill of terror underneath his enthusiasm and anticipation. Was this how his father had felt thirty-four years before, when he got his first glimpse of a nonhuman, sentient life form? What if, after all his proud and confident words, the creatures inside this gigantic ship were unfriendly? And what if the “visitors” mistook the purpose of the shuttle and shot at it now that it was getting so close? What if they refused to allow the Doonarralan ship aboard? Well, that only meant his assumptions had been wrong. But he hated to think that Admiral Barnstable and Captain Hrrrv could be right.
As they got closer, more detail became apparent to their unaugmented vision. The surface of the alien ship was not actually black, but a matte-charcoal color that probably repelled certain wavelengths of radiation or light. Spotlights dotted the hull here and there, mostly marking out the place where antenna arrays or access hatches lay. These features were only now visible, Todd noticed. The matte coating provided unusually good camouflage of such details.
The shuttle circled a third of the way around the big ship’s central “trunk” until they found what seemed to be an airlock lens, the same one that the probe had approached and entered. Triangular panels pivoted slightly to the left, forming an irislike opening. As Frill resolutely piloted the craft toward the aperture, Todd had the eerie sensation of being swallowed, ingested in one insignificant bite. Smoothly, the tiny shuttle sailed through the enormous circular hatch.
From each of the shuttle ports the passengers stared at the size of the chamber into which they were moving. The landing bay was a virtual cathedral, with shining, metallic walls, at least one hundred meters long—and high. Several craft rested in dry dock inside. Each was at least equal in size to a Spacedep passenger ship. The largest was as big as the administration building that contained Todd’s office in the Human First Village. At the far end of the bay was a set of double doors both tall and broad, made of a translucent gray material. Behind a clear window set high in the left wall the party could see a vast console with rounded view screens glowing blue. The maintenance equipment and freight-loaders were made for bodies a good deal bigger than any Human or Hrruban. Beside a low console not far from the landing deck Todd noticed a man-sized device with the Spacedep insignia: the missing probe. It was still signaling feebly, its colored lights drowned by the brilliant illumination in the bay. The strangest thing about the control console was that there was no sign of a chair. What were these 230-kilo creatures, giant snails? Frill set the craft down on a lighted circle in the shadow of a ship twice the size of an Alreldep scout. The shuttle touched down with a hollow boom.
“Amazing,” Hrriss said, voicing the thought in everyone’s mind. “Ourrr hosts must be immenssse.”
“Seems like,” Jilamey murmured, his mouth hanging open. Ken Reeve just looked around him and grinned in pure joy.
While the party surveyed their surroundings, the airlock wheeled shut behind them, and hissing sounds arose. Greene felt a surge of panic. He was beginning to remember where he’d seen this ship before. It had been on a tape sent to Spacedep by an exploration team. He couldn’t recall any details yet, but he associated the memory with violent death. For once, he hoped he didn’t remember too many details.
Formless shadows passed back and forth behind the gray glass doors. As soon as the hissing stopped, the medical man checked his sensors. All the passengers checked their suit telemetry.
“G-force is zero point five over Earth normal. What’s the atmosphere? Can we breathe in here, Lauder?” Greene asked, his voice hollow in the bubble helmet.
”It’s a nitrox mix, plenty of oxygen,” Lauder said, carefully reading the sensors in the control panel. “Reads like a class-M combination. I mean, I’d call it safe if we came across it on a planet.”
“No trace elements?” Ken asked.
“Some,” the medical man admitted, checking his instruments. “Nothing noxious in any concentration. No bacteria known to be harmful to Humans or Hrrubans, at least in this section. I won’t give the atmosphere a hundred percent clearance, though, simply because I haven’t run a lab analysis on it yet. Keep using the rebreathers.”
“So ordered,” Greene said with a sharp nod.
“Let’s go,” Todd said.
Frill released the hatch and he climbed out. The ambient temperature in the bay seemed slightly cool. Ken put part of the chill down to the room’s having just been open to vacuum, and his trembling to excitement. The bay was already warming up.
Lauder stepped cautiously onto the deck and avoided the lighted circle. He bent over his scanner. “I wonder if this is what our hosts breathe or if they just made it up for us?”
Hrriss followed the tech. “I wonder where they are,” he said, craning his neck to look up at the high ceiling.
A roar sounded over an unseen intercom, startling them all with unintelligible syllables. The shadows behind the door grew denser, darker, larger, giving an impression of vast size.
“That sounds like the overture,” Todd said facetiously. “Here come the players.”