Mindbridge by Joe Haldeman

Jeeves, you’re preparing a report . .
    “That’s right,” Tania said. “I’ve talked to my team about this, but not Manuel’s.
    “One clue is in the geophysical analysis. We picked up several fossils that appear to be remnants of large carnivores, aquatic ones. The bridges would be obvious sources of food for these creatures.
    “But the only place we found any other form of animal life was in the Crater Sea. Completely isolated from the rest of the ecosystem.
    “It could be that the bridges came along after some natural disaster that killed off the planet’s animal life. Or the bridges themselves might be that natural disaster: once they evolved their telepathic facility, they proceeded to kill off all of their rivals. They wouldn’t have to kill every single individual; just reduce the population density to where there weren’t enough mating opportunities for each species to survive. This happened to some species of whales, on Earth in the last century.
    “We’ll have a clearer picture after this trip, of course.”
    “It still doesn’t explain Ch’ing,” Jacque said. “Maybe the creature makes mistakes, kills when it’s not really threatened. Maybe it kills at random, to keep in practice.”
    Carol nodded. “We can theorize forever, but we really don’t know anything about it.”
    “We’re inferring from an absence of data,” Jacque said. “That’s lousy science.”
    Riley shrugged elaborately. “Would either or both of you like to be taken off the mission?” Which would mean a review board and probably dismissal-then a lifetime of debt, reimbursing the AED for your expensive training.
    They shook their heads no.
    “Would anybody else? It’s just a matter of filling out a couple of forms.”
    No response.
    “Good.
    “At any rate, you’re not likely to come in contact, in bridge rapport, with any of the bridges you catch. The main thrust of this mission is to bring untouched bridges back to Earth, so that they can be studied under controlled conditions.
    “Jameson suggests that we screen the world’s population for people with phenomenally high Rhine potential; let them make first contact with the bridges. Sounds like a good idea.
    “So we don’t want you to touch them, not if you can help it. . . . You know that the Groombridge Effect is blocked by certain dielectrics-ceramic quasi-metals, for instance. We’ve built extensions, waldos, for your suits, made entirely of these ceramics. Hopefully, this is what you’ll be using to pick up the bridges.”
    “Nobody told us about that,” Jeeves said.
    “We weren’t sure we’d have them made in time. Krupp’s been working night and day. We do have them now, though; that’s why I called this meeting. You and your team are going to go train with them today.
    “Team B, Ubico, you’re free to go, unless there are questions.” There were none. “Team A, questions?” None. He stood up. “Well, then. Go on down to the ready room and get suited up. There’s a floater on pad C that’ll take you out to a place on the Colorado River; it has the extension waldos and the nets you’ll be using. Do it right and you’re free until the eleventh.”
    The apparatus worked well. The two nets were semi-rigid, articulated so as to conform precisely to the river bottom. It took two people to operate a net, one on each bank. The nets would block off a section of river several kilometers long, and then slowly be brought together. They would trap any floating or swimming object more than a centimeter wide.
    In the Colorado they wound up with a swarm of thousands of confused fish. They tested their retrieval waldos by picking a few of the best trout. It took a half hour to get three fish, but trout are faster and slipperier than the Groombridge bridge. Then they rolled up the nets and had a picnic.
    GROOMBRIDGE 1618 MISSION,
    11 OCTOBER 2051
     
    A TEAM
    PERSONNEL:
    1. TAMER 5 TANIA JEEVES. FEMALE, 31. 9 TH MISSION. SUPERVISOR.
    2. TAMER 3 GUSTAV