Quiet Invasion (22 page)

The patch of ground Josh could see became smaller and darker, until only a few rocks were visible. Then nothing but blackness, followed fast by a crunching noise from below. The scarab came to rest on a small slope, tilted up and to the left.

“And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a perfect landing,” said Kevin. “You are now free to come out and see the world through the big window.”

Julia was already fumbling with her buckles. Vee obviously took a second to read the directions beside her screen, because she was on her feet and heading out into the main cabin before Julia was even sitting up. Josh waited behind to make sure Julia, Troy, and Terry had successfully extricated themselves and then followed Veronica out.

Outside the front window, the rumpled landscape stretched as far as he could see. The horizon, such as it was, was lost in a dim blur that might have been dust or mountains or simply the thick atmosphere distorting the light. They were a fair way into the long Venusian day. The dim sunlight that filtered through the clouds showed a ground that reminded Josh of the Painted Desert; red, brown, orange all mixed together along with great stretches of black, rippled stone left over from old lava flows. Here and there, an outcropping of halite or obsidian glinted dully in the ashen light.

Josh watched the investigative team crowd around the pilot seats, craning their necks to see out the window. Then he saw the muscles in Kevin’s jaw tighten.

“We’ve got a drive ahead of us,” Josh said, trying to sound polite, if not cheerful. “We can use the time to get into suits. That way there’ll be less of a delay when we reach the Discovery.”

And less time Kevin has to deal with you guys crammed into the cockpit.

As if to confirm Josh’s thought, Kevin glanced up at him and Josh read a silent thank-you in his eyes.

The statement brought universal agreement, and the team of tourists started filing back toward the changing area. Vee gave Josh a knowing look as she passed. Yeah, she would be the one to figure out what he was really trying to do. That was all right as long as she didn’t try to counteract it. Kevin gave Adrian the nod, and Adrian unbuckled himself to follow the tourists.

“And here’s where the fun really starts,” he muttered to Josh as he passed.

You’ll forgive me if I agree with the words and not the tone,
thought Josh as he followed Adrian down the corridor to the suit lockers.
I can believe we’re almost there.

The scarab crawled forward along the uneven ground. Its bumping, rocking motion added to the confusion of the suit-up procedure, but eventually Josh and the rest of the team all got safely into their hardsuits. Adrian, with Josh’s help, double-checked everyone’s equipment and connections and made them run down the displays to make sure those were all functional.

Everything looked green and go. Mechanical failure in the suit—joint failure, pump failure, loss of seal integrity—any of these could mean instant death. If that knowledge added extra tension to the team, Josh couldn’t see it. Even Julia, now that she was on the ground, seemed to have calmed down and become wrapped up in the business of checking her equipment, as if this were something she did every day.

Admit it. You can’t see beyond your own nose right now, unless it’s to look at that hole in the ground,
Josh admonished himself. But he couldn’t really make himself care. The Discovery waited for them. He had made it. He was going to be inside, soon, very soon.

Finally, the scarab came to a lurching halt

“We’re here!” called back Kevin.

Here. We’re here. I’m here.

The U.N. investigators climbed into the airlock. Josh closed the interior hatch and found a place on one of the benches. The pressurization pump’s steady chugging filled the air. Next to him, Terry Wray fussed with the camera on her chest. Her normal band rig wouldn’t be able to tolerate the conditions out there, so she’d have to make do with the equipment that came with the suit and from the look on her face, it did not meet her standards. He watched Julia Lott’s lips move as she removed something on her private log channel. Next to her, Troy Peachman did the same. It looked like the two of them were holding a whispered conversation. Vee, sitting on the bench between them, flashed Josh one of her mischievous grins.

“Some fun, eh?” Her voice sounded harsher than normal through the intercom. Josh wondered if she might actually be nervous.

“Not yet,” he answered. “But trust me, it will be.”

Now, Josh could feel the tension winding the whole team tight. The small talk and idle speculation picked up pace, as did the meaningless shifting of weight and all the other little movements restless people make when waiting. There were the usual complaints about trying to use helmet display icons that relied on eye movement and how the water-straw kept bumping up against your chin. Finally, Troy Peachman heaved himself to his feet and started pacing between the inner hatch and the outer.

Veronica watched him for about two minutes before she apparently had enough. “Oh, sit down, Troy, it’s not going anywhere.”

“How do you know?” he asked with the bluff humor he apparently cultivated. “Aliens put it here. Maybe they’re out there taking it away again.”

Terry tried folding her arms and found that didn’t work. “If they were going to do that, they would have notified me.”

“You?” asked Troy, surprised.

“Yeah. I’m a media drone. We’re all aliens. Didn’t you know that?”

“I had wondered,” replied Troy blandly.

A brief collective laugh filtered through the intercoms. Before it died, the light above the outer hatch flashed green, indicating pressurization was complete.

Instantly, everyone was on their feet. Josh worked the locking lever on the outer hatch. With a clank and a thump, the hatch swung inward to reveal the rough, intensely colored world beyond.

“Have a good trip,” said Adrian as Josh stepped out. Dust and stone crunched beneath his boot. To the right loomed the cliffs of Beta Regio, with its volcano thrusting up toward the boiling sky and ribbons of lava trailing down its sides. On the edge of his vision, Josh saw Scarab Fourteen creeping down beside a fresh, flowing lava stream, and he wondered how Charlotte Murray and her crew were holding up with their load of tourists.

Then he saw the Discovery’s entrance squatting in front of them, and the rest of the world went away. He took three heavy steps forward before he remembered he was supposed to be leading a team out here.

His eyes found the intercom icon and opened the general channel. “Okay, everybody, try to step where I step. The ground is pretty lumpy out there.”

They only needed to cross about ten meters to the hatchway. The hardsuits and the uncertain footing made it slow going, but with every step, the hatchway got a little bigger, a little clearer. He could see the handles on the side of the lid, make out the dim reflections on the curve of its gray ceramic sides, see the little scores and pits that had been made by the burning sand brushing past on the lazy wind.

Then he was standing next to it. It was there, under his glove. He couldn’t feel anything, but he could see his hand on the lid.

It was a long moment before he realized the others had ringed the hatch and stood waiting for him.

“I’ll open the hatchway now.” Josh grasped two of the handles, bent his knees, and shoved. The cover swung aside, just as he’d been told it would. Julia clapped her hands in silent applause. Veronica stooped and ran one gloved finger over the handle he’d just used, and grunted. Peachman tromped forward eagerly.

“Hold on,” said Terry. “Can we get a shot of the empty shaft?”

“Sure.” Josh stepped back and let Terry come forward and point her camera and light down the steep well with its ladder.
Just don’t take too long.
He laughed silently.
Get a hold of yourself. Vee was right, it’s not
going
anywhere.

“Got it,” Terry said, sounding satisfied. She stepped back from the hatch and turned toward him.

“Okay,” said Josh, trying to keep his voice calm, as if he had already climbed down into the Discovery a hundred times. “I’ll go first and show you how it’s done.”

Josh planted his boots onto the first rung and, moving carefully, started climbing down the well. Darkness engulfed him and his suit’s lights clicked on, illuminating the black rock with its charcoal veins. He had to keep himself pressed close to the rungs to prevent his backpack from scraping against the shaft wall. His throat tightened. He’d never been inside Venus before, and he could not escape the feeling that he was being swallowed.

Josh’s boot touched level stone and his lights showed him the bubble-shaped room dubbed “Chamber One.” He moved back from the ladder.

A shiver ran up his spine.
This place is not ours. This is other. There is someone else out there, and we know nothing about them.
That was too huge and too strange a thought not to merit a moment of sheer wonder.

There wasn’t even that much to see here—the base of the ladder, the six holes gaping beside the smooth curving wall. The real prize lay through the narrow tunnel that opened by his right hand. Down there lay Chambers Two and Three and the laser.

“Okay, next,” he said into the intercom. “Keep close to the rungs; don’t bump your pack if you can help it.” They’d all been briefed and run through the simulators, but it wouldn’t hurt to remind them.

“Yes, Papa,” said Vee. He watched her green form descending carefully, foot searching momentarily for each rung. But she reached the bottom without incident and came to stand beside him.

“Next,” Josh said.

“Here we go,” answered Julia. While the archeologist worked her way down, Veronica walked over to look at the inner doorway, if a small, rounded entry to a low tunnel could be called a doorway. Josh was torn between watching Vee and keeping an eye on Julia, who, if anything, was moving less steadily than Vee had, and wishing they would all
hurry up.

“Vee, what are you doing?” asked Josh, to distract himself. She was crouched down and running her fingers over the threshold.

“Exploring the secrets of the universe,” she answered. Her voice sounded flat, tight.

Troy descended right after Julia, followed closely by Terry. As soon as Terry was down, she whistled softly and began examining the smooth, rounded walls. Julia bent over the six holes laid out in a straight line at the base of the ladder. Josh was willing to bet she was talking animatedly into her log. Veronica stayed where she was, turning from the inner threshold to the mouth of the entry shaft and back again. Troy just stood in the middle of it all, a look of sheer delight on his face.

“Incredible. It just feels incredible.”

Although part of Josh suspected Troy was, yet again, playing for the cameras, part of him nodded in agreement. He’d run through the videos and holographs a hundred times, but that was nothing compared to standing in the middle of the Discovery, feeling the stone surrounding them and wondering, just wondering.

Freed from his initial bout of amazement, Troy started hopping around the chamber like a kid in a candy store. He bent over the six holes with Julia; he ran his hands over the inner threshold with Veronica. He peered eagerly over Wray’s shoulders to see whatever it was they were looking at, all the time murmuring, “Incredible, incredible.”

“Can we see the rest?” asked Veronica abruptly.

Josh blinked. “Sure.”
And I thought it was just me who couldn’t wait.

“One second,” said Terry. “I need a shot of all of you with the light from the shaft coming down.” She shuffled closer to the ladder. “Say cheese, but keep on doing what you’re doing.” People bent or walked, stiffly and reluctantly, but Josh supposed that would later be put down to the suits and the pressure. “Okay. All done.”

Great.
“Okay. The main chamber is through here.” Josh gestured down the horizontal tunnel. “Again, I’ll go first. It’s hands and knees. Go slow and try not to bump your packs.”

The inner tunnel was even more constricting than the entry shaft. The smooth, narrow way was completely dark except for the small black-and-gray area illuminated by his suit lights. He crawled forward without feeling anything but the insides of his gloves against his hands and the padding of his suit under his knees. There was no sound except his own breathing.

“It makes a slight rise here in the middle,” he told the people behind him, whether they were following or waiting in Chamber One. He couldn’t tell. There was no room for him to turn his head to look. His general plate displays told him only that their intercoms were up and running, not where those intercoms were.

The tunnel undulated sharply, forcing Josh flat onto his stomach. He shinnied up to the rounded crest and slid back down again. He hoped none of his tourists would find this too much for their dignity. Probably not. Troy seemed the most likely to make a fuss, and he wouldn’t do it while there was a risk of being recorded. If they were nervous about the world around them, they seemed to be burying that feeling under the excitement of exploration.

Another two meters and the tunnel opened up into Chamber Two, the main chamber of the Discovery.

Josh got to his feet and turned around in time to see Veronica emerge from the tunnel. She stood up and moved back from the tunnel’s mouth, turning as she did so she could take absolutely everything in.

Chamber Two was a bubble, like Chamber One, but three times as big and twice as high. Michael Lum had joked that this was obviously an alien church, because it was so hole-y. Circular niches a meter around and ten centimeters deep had been carved into the walls. Small shafts perforated the floor, ranging between one and six centimeters in diameter. Robot surveyors sent down those shafts found they interconnected at different levels underground. Maybe they once held a pipe network.

Tiny holes that sank into the walls at regular intervals might have been for staples or brackets of some kind, holding up shelves or wiring or domes pegs for all they knew. An entire section of floor had been dug away for about a half meter, making a shallow, smooth-walled depression at the eastern curve of the chamber. At the bottom of the depression were still more holes—two ovals of eight holes each were surrounded by numerous minute holes drilled at seemingly random intervals.