station?"
"Yeah. We're lucky we could see it the first time they ran it. Since then, they've altered it so it would be visible to people having everything from ultraviolet- to infrared-based vision."
"Maybe they showed it first in their own vision range."
"Makes sense. Their sun and Sol aren't all that different."
"I can't believe how similar these people are!" Rob shook his head. "After all the wild possibilities I imagined, this is almost like finding human beings out here."
"They may be more alien inside than they are outside," Jerry cautioned, watching Rob stand up. "Where are you going?"
"Down to my lab. I'd started on an atmosphere-analysis kit of my own, and I'd better get it together. I don't think it'll be long . before we hear that knock on the airlock door.''
Jerry glanced at the left viewscreen. "Yeah, they're coming right along on that airlock extension they're building."
Spacesuited figures swarmed over the flexible-appearing extrusion, just as they had in the alien "film."
Rob yawned so widely his jaw hurt. "I wonder if I'll ever get eight hours in the sack again?"
66
"We'll have months to sleep on our way home," Jerry said. "I'll call you if anything happens."
"Thanks." The doctor turned to leave, then glanced over at the copilot's seat, where Mahree lay, curled up. "Poor kid, she's out like a light. Should I carry her down to her cabin?"
"No, she'll probably wake up if you do," Jerry said. "I'll just dim the lights in the forward section."
Rob stood for a moment looking down at the girl's shadowed face; she had turned on her side, her cheek cuddled into the bend of her arm. Her long hair had come loose from its braid and spilled over her shoulders, hanging off the armrest. The doctor experienced a sudden rush of tenderness that surprised him. "She's a good kid," he said softly, remembering the matter-of-fact way she'd produced the aspirin and orange juice. "She's holding up better than most of us."
"She's a smart kid," Jerry said respectfully. "She seems to intuitively grasp things about these aliens."
"You're pretty good at that yourself," Rob said. "How does that greeting gesture go?"
Jerry demonstrated. "I just hope we're reading it right."
"Well, at least we know that they can see, and that their vision is fairly close to our own. That's likely to mean their computers have optical scanners, like ours."
"Which reminds me, I've got to finish up the last of the programming and set up a portable terminal with a scanner," Jerry said. "I just hope we can get our computers to interface with whatever they've got."
"Sounds like a tall order," Rob said.
"I'm not so sure." Jerry pushed his hair back behind his ears, a sure sign that he was thinking hard. "When you break human computers down to their most elemental level, binary boils down to two possibilities . . . 'on' or 'off,'
right?"
Rob nodded, and the Communications Chief continued, "Well, that's such a simple concept--so simple that it seems to me that aliens might well utilize it, also. And if they do, we should be able to develop a mapping algorithm that will allow us to interface."
"Makes sense to me," Rob said. "Guess I'd better get busy in the lab. See you later."
After he'd been in the lab for an hour or so, Simon came down and offered his help. Rob, pleased that the Bio Officer
67
seemed to be adjusting to their situation, accepted gratefully, and after that the work went twice as fast.
Two hours later, Raoul's voice emerged from the intercom.
"Doc? You finished yet?"
"Just a few more minutes," Rob said.
"Well, hustle." The Captain's voice was taut with repressed excitement. "It looks like they're sealing that tube around our airlock."
"Look!" Paul's voice reached the doctor faintly. "Before it ) looked as flexible as thin plastic or cloth, but now it's stiffening!"
"They must be in the final stages," Viorst said. "Won't be long now."
Rob finished up hastily, then packed the equipment into a small duffel bag that
"Yeah. We're lucky we could see it the first time they ran it. Since then, they've altered it so it would be visible to people having everything from ultraviolet- to infrared-based vision."
"Maybe they showed it first in their own vision range."
"Makes sense. Their sun and Sol aren't all that different."
"I can't believe how similar these people are!" Rob shook his head. "After all the wild possibilities I imagined, this is almost like finding human beings out here."
"They may be more alien inside than they are outside," Jerry cautioned, watching Rob stand up. "Where are you going?"
"Down to my lab. I'd started on an atmosphere-analysis kit of my own, and I'd better get it together. I don't think it'll be long . before we hear that knock on the airlock door.''
Jerry glanced at the left viewscreen. "Yeah, they're coming right along on that airlock extension they're building."
Spacesuited figures swarmed over the flexible-appearing extrusion, just as they had in the alien "film."
Rob yawned so widely his jaw hurt. "I wonder if I'll ever get eight hours in the sack again?"
66
"We'll have months to sleep on our way home," Jerry said. "I'll call you if anything happens."
"Thanks." The doctor turned to leave, then glanced over at the copilot's seat, where Mahree lay, curled up. "Poor kid, she's out like a light. Should I carry her down to her cabin?"
"No, she'll probably wake up if you do," Jerry said. "I'll just dim the lights in the forward section."
Rob stood for a moment looking down at the girl's shadowed face; she had turned on her side, her cheek cuddled into the bend of her arm. Her long hair had come loose from its braid and spilled over her shoulders, hanging off the armrest. The doctor experienced a sudden rush of tenderness that surprised him. "She's a good kid," he said softly, remembering the matter-of-fact way she'd produced the aspirin and orange juice. "She's holding up better than most of us."
"She's a smart kid," Jerry said respectfully. "She seems to intuitively grasp things about these aliens."
"You're pretty good at that yourself," Rob said. "How does that greeting gesture go?"
Jerry demonstrated. "I just hope we're reading it right."
"Well, at least we know that they can see, and that their vision is fairly close to our own. That's likely to mean their computers have optical scanners, like ours."
"Which reminds me, I've got to finish up the last of the programming and set up a portable terminal with a scanner," Jerry said. "I just hope we can get our computers to interface with whatever they've got."
"Sounds like a tall order," Rob said.
"I'm not so sure." Jerry pushed his hair back behind his ears, a sure sign that he was thinking hard. "When you break human computers down to their most elemental level, binary boils down to two possibilities . . . 'on' or 'off,'
right?"
Rob nodded, and the Communications Chief continued, "Well, that's such a simple concept--so simple that it seems to me that aliens might well utilize it, also. And if they do, we should be able to develop a mapping algorithm that will allow us to interface."
"Makes sense to me," Rob said. "Guess I'd better get busy in the lab. See you later."
After he'd been in the lab for an hour or so, Simon came down and offered his help. Rob, pleased that the Bio Officer
67
seemed to be adjusting to their situation, accepted gratefully, and after that the work went twice as fast.
Two hours later, Raoul's voice emerged from the intercom.
"Doc? You finished yet?"
"Just a few more minutes," Rob said.
"Well, hustle." The Captain's voice was taut with repressed excitement. "It looks like they're sealing that tube around our airlock."
"Look!" Paul's voice reached the doctor faintly. "Before it ) looked as flexible as thin plastic or cloth, but now it's stiffening!"
"They must be in the final stages," Viorst said. "Won't be long now."
Rob finished up hastily, then packed the equipment into a small duffel bag that
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