made
an almost identical sound.
The camera was set near the top of the exopod’s cabin. It looked down on Rojas and Ibu suspended in the webs. Both of them were in their suits – without helmets.
‘Welcome back, guys,’ she said inanely.
They both looked up at the camera. Ibu grinned weakly. It looked to be a big effort on his part.
‘Good to hear your voice,’ he said croakily.
‘This is Ayanna. What happened? Where have you been?’
‘We’ve been inside.’
‘Inside what?’ Laura said. ‘The tree is solid.’
‘No, it’s not,’ Ibu said. ‘There’s all kinds of chambers in there.’
‘Where? The drone sensors showed us a solid structure. How did you get in? You were stuck to that globe when the links went down.’
‘There are entrances along the bottom of the folds. The crystal just morphs like our malmetal and plyplastic.’
‘Can you let us in now, please?’ Rojas said. His voice croaked like Ibu’s. It was as if both of them had caught laryngitis.
‘Ask him about the globe,’ Joey’s mental voice urged.
‘Rojas,’ Ayanna said, ‘why have you brought one of the globes back?’
Rojas looked away from the camera, studying the displays on the bulkhead in front of him. ‘Analysis.’
‘What?’
‘Analysis.’
‘Hang on. Wait,’ Laura said. ‘What have you been doing inside the tree? How did you get in and out? Why were you in there so long? You’ve been out of contact the whole
time. You know that’s against every protocol ever written.’
‘Sorry about that,’ Ibu said. ‘It’s fascinating in there. You’ll have to come in, Laura.’
‘What’s happened to your voice?’ Ayanna asked. ‘Have you been exposed to the alien environment?’
‘No.’
‘Then what—’
‘Nothing; we’re fine. The exopod’s systems are glitching. That’s the problem.’
‘What’s in the tree?’ Laura asked, trying to keep her concern from creeping into her voice.
‘Nothing. We think the cavities are conduits of some kind. We’ll go over the recordings when we’re back inside.’
‘What was wonderful?’ Joey asked. ‘Ibu said the globes were wonderful, Rojas said they were awesome. ‘Why?’
‘Ibu,’ Ayanna said, ‘what was awesome about the globe you got stuck on?’
‘What?’
‘We need to come in,’ Rojas said.
‘You said it was wonderful. What did you mean?’
‘This whole place is wonderful, that’s all.’
‘Please open the EVA hangar door,’ Rojas said. ‘We need to get the exopod inside.’
‘Rojas, I can’t let you bring that globe into Fourteen,’ Ayanna said. ‘Please release it.’
‘We need to examine it,’ Rojas said. He still wasn’t looking up at the camera any more. His fingers were moving fast across the keypads in front of him.
‘Yes, we will, but after we’ve established it’s safe. You know the protocol.’
‘Open the door.’
‘Jettison the globe,’ Laura said firmly. ‘It won’t go anywhere. We can run tests on it out there.’
A set of graphics on the console turned from amber to blue. The EVA hangar lights flickered. Laura could feel a slight vibration through the handholds.
‘Son of a bitch!’ Ayanna exclaimed. ‘He’s overridden the airlock. It’s opening.’
‘Bollocks,’ Laura grunted.
They all turned to face the airlock’s inner door, just past the remaining exopod. Caution lights were shining purple.
‘What do we do?’ Laura asked.
‘Are there any weapons on board?’ Joey asked.
Ayanna gave him a startled glance. ‘Crap. There’s probably something in the emergency landing pack.’
‘It won’t come to that,’ Laura said, but it was more like a mantra than anything she believed. Nobody in this era needed weapons; biononics could be configured into quite
aggressive energy functions if anyone was seriously threatened.
‘You wouldn’t want to mess with some of the engineering tools,’ Joey said.
‘Are they real?’ Laura asked, mostly to herself. The screen showed her
an almost identical sound.
The camera was set near the top of the exopod’s cabin. It looked down on Rojas and Ibu suspended in the webs. Both of them were in their suits – without helmets.
‘Welcome back, guys,’ she said inanely.
They both looked up at the camera. Ibu grinned weakly. It looked to be a big effort on his part.
‘Good to hear your voice,’ he said croakily.
‘This is Ayanna. What happened? Where have you been?’
‘We’ve been inside.’
‘Inside what?’ Laura said. ‘The tree is solid.’
‘No, it’s not,’ Ibu said. ‘There’s all kinds of chambers in there.’
‘Where? The drone sensors showed us a solid structure. How did you get in? You were stuck to that globe when the links went down.’
‘There are entrances along the bottom of the folds. The crystal just morphs like our malmetal and plyplastic.’
‘Can you let us in now, please?’ Rojas said. His voice croaked like Ibu’s. It was as if both of them had caught laryngitis.
‘Ask him about the globe,’ Joey’s mental voice urged.
‘Rojas,’ Ayanna said, ‘why have you brought one of the globes back?’
Rojas looked away from the camera, studying the displays on the bulkhead in front of him. ‘Analysis.’
‘What?’
‘Analysis.’
‘Hang on. Wait,’ Laura said. ‘What have you been doing inside the tree? How did you get in and out? Why were you in there so long? You’ve been out of contact the whole
time. You know that’s against every protocol ever written.’
‘Sorry about that,’ Ibu said. ‘It’s fascinating in there. You’ll have to come in, Laura.’
‘What’s happened to your voice?’ Ayanna asked. ‘Have you been exposed to the alien environment?’
‘No.’
‘Then what—’
‘Nothing; we’re fine. The exopod’s systems are glitching. That’s the problem.’
‘What’s in the tree?’ Laura asked, trying to keep her concern from creeping into her voice.
‘Nothing. We think the cavities are conduits of some kind. We’ll go over the recordings when we’re back inside.’
‘What was wonderful?’ Joey asked. ‘Ibu said the globes were wonderful, Rojas said they were awesome. ‘Why?’
‘Ibu,’ Ayanna said, ‘what was awesome about the globe you got stuck on?’
‘What?’
‘We need to come in,’ Rojas said.
‘You said it was wonderful. What did you mean?’
‘This whole place is wonderful, that’s all.’
‘Please open the EVA hangar door,’ Rojas said. ‘We need to get the exopod inside.’
‘Rojas, I can’t let you bring that globe into Fourteen,’ Ayanna said. ‘Please release it.’
‘We need to examine it,’ Rojas said. He still wasn’t looking up at the camera any more. His fingers were moving fast across the keypads in front of him.
‘Yes, we will, but after we’ve established it’s safe. You know the protocol.’
‘Open the door.’
‘Jettison the globe,’ Laura said firmly. ‘It won’t go anywhere. We can run tests on it out there.’
A set of graphics on the console turned from amber to blue. The EVA hangar lights flickered. Laura could feel a slight vibration through the handholds.
‘Son of a bitch!’ Ayanna exclaimed. ‘He’s overridden the airlock. It’s opening.’
‘Bollocks,’ Laura grunted.
They all turned to face the airlock’s inner door, just past the remaining exopod. Caution lights were shining purple.
‘What do we do?’ Laura asked.
‘Are there any weapons on board?’ Joey asked.
Ayanna gave him a startled glance. ‘Crap. There’s probably something in the emergency landing pack.’
‘It won’t come to that,’ Laura said, but it was more like a mantra than anything she believed. Nobody in this era needed weapons; biononics could be configured into quite
aggressive energy functions if anyone was seriously threatened.
‘You wouldn’t want to mess with some of the engineering tools,’ Joey said.
‘Are they real?’ Laura asked, mostly to herself. The screen showed her
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