Watson, Ian - Novel 06 by God's World (v1.1) Page B

“that having left one world
we need to get into orbit round another. Instructions for idiots. The blip is
our parking orbit.”
                 “No,
the blip is something already in orbit. Obviously it’s that planetary moon, and
the golden disc is the gas giant. Can’t you sense it, man? Can’t you psych it?”
                 “Nope.
I guess I’m underprivileged. I . . . wait, I dunno. This is crazy. So what
became of the other moons?”
                 “Why
show them? Only one moon has life, and it’s obvious to any idiot which one it
is.”
                 “We
still have my idea to try,” says Zoe. “The psychometer may double as a
communication panel. I’m going down below ... if that’s okay?”
                 “I
shall accompany you,” nods Kamasarin. “Muir, Dove, Anders and Baqli: keep watch
on the four faces of the pyramid in case there’s some reaction up here.”
                 Wu
produces a hiss of reproach. But the effect is quite lost.
                 In:
                 Bee-bu-bu!.
. . Bee-bu-bu!
     

 
           ELEVEN
     
                 Only the weapons board, reduced to
control of lasers, stays unmanned.
                 “Range
fifty klicks,” reads Ritchie. “Object is overhauling us from ship’s south-west,
superior quadrant. It’s on a collision course. Time of intersection . . .
twelve minutes. Echo strength makes it about forty times as big as us.”
                 Stars
swirl to a halt on the scopescreen, and are blotted out by ... a mountain—a
rocky mass that glints in the sunlight. Gems sprout from the ragged rock: huge
crystals—ruby, amethyst, topaz.
                 Salman
beams. “That’s got to be the richest natural agglomeration of minerals I’ve
ever seen! A real pendant for God’s neck.”
                 “I
think it’s ugly.” I do. “It’s cruel, somehow. Shapeless, jagged—” An irrational
feeling? Whence?
                 “Trimble,
give us a ten-second burn to take us clear of its path.” Kamasarin turns to
Salman. “So then, where does such richness originate?”
                 “I
think that dense proto-planets began to form here. So they separated out the
richer elements. Evidently they broke up under gravitational stress from the
gas giants. Now we have fragments of their interiors flying around the
system—in addition to the captured moons. Interesting dynamics at work.”
                 “Ignition
in thirty seconds, mark”
                 Countdown;
ignition; a smooth surge of acceleration . . . The scope continues tracking the
asteroid as stars move over behind it...
                 “End
of burn.” We float loose again.
                 “Goddam.”
Ritchie gazes at his console. “It’s changed course. It’s—changed course.
Something’s piloting it! ”
                 The
stars are steady again behind it.
                 “It’s
still an asteroid,” Salman insists. “Perhaps it has been ... modified.”
                 “Do
I give us another burn, sir?”
                 “It
could possibly have outgassed just then,” says Heinz. “Though that’s stretching
coincidences.”
                 “It
isn’t a comet core,” says Salman.
                 We
try a shorter burn. The asteroid also alters course.
                 Zoe
looks round defiantly. “This is contact. Rendezvous. Well, isn’t it?”
                 “It
isn’t what the pyramid showed.”
                 Heinz
swivels the deck-mounted binoculars. “Some of those crystal structures look
like . . . what, missile tubes? Or . . . entrances?”
                 “Seven
minutes . . . twenty-five klicks. It compensated for our speed increase.”
                 “Why
are