'In fact it's about three million years old.

You are looking at the first proof

of intelligent life beyond the Earth.'
The speaker is Dr Roy Michaels, Chief Scientist at the Clavius Base on the
Moon. The audience has been carefully chosen, because it is too soon to tell the
world's population that they are not alone in the universe. n the screen behind Dr
Michaels is a photo!raph of a black ob"ect about three #etres hi!h, of re!ular shape
and with strai!ht ed!es. $t was certainly #ade by an intelli!ent for# of life, and it
was found buried under the surface of the Moon.
$f it is a #essa!e fro# another ti#e, fro# a distant star, why has it been put
there % & possible answer co#es soon afterwards, when the first li!ht of the sun touches
the ob"ect. $t then sends out a powerful radio si!nal, ai#ed e'actly at Saturn. &s one of
the scientists says,'(ou hide a sun)powered ob"ect in darkness * only if you want to
know when it is brou!ht out into the li!ht.' So, far out in space, there #ay be intelli!ent
bein!s who now know that #en and wo#en have taken their first steps away fro#
+arth.
This book is a "ourney. ,e watch as people #ove forward fro# their early
be!innin!s into the future, and as one #an, on the space ship Discovery, travels a billion
kilo#etres fro# +arth to #ake contact a!ain a#on! the rin!s of Saturn.
$n -./0, before #en had even landed on the Moon, the fil# director Stanley
1ubrick was lookin! for a story for a science fiction fil#. 2e asked &rthur C. Clarke
for help, and the two #en worked to!ether on the develop#ent of the plot. Clarke
wrote the novel 3which ca#e out in -./45, while 1ubrick #ade the fil#, and both
beca#e e'tre#ely fa#ous.
PART ONE Ancient Night
Chapter 1 The Road to Death
6ery little rain had fallen for a lon! ti#e, for at least ten #illion years. 2ere, in the
place that one day would be called &frica, the #an)apes of the !rasslands were fi!htin! a
battle to stay alive, and they were not winnin!.
&bout fifty of the# lived in caves on the side of a s#all dry valley. There
was a strea# runnin! down the #iddle. $f the weather was very hot, its water dried
up and the #an)apes were thirsty.
,hen the first li!ht of #ornin! ca#e into the cave, Moon),atcher saw
that his father had died in the ni!ht. 2e did not know that the ld ne was his father,
because he did not know what a father was. But he felt a little an'ious as he dra!!ed 3he
dead body out of the cave. utside, he did so#ethin! that no other ani#al in the world
could do * he stood up.
Moon),atcher was bi!!er than the others in his !roup. 2e was nearly a
#eter and a half hi!h, thou!h very thin because of $ he constant hun!er. 2is hairy
body was half)way between ape and #an, but his head looked 7uite hu#an. 2is
forehead was low, but there were si!ns of intelli!ence in his eyes.
&s he walked down the slope, the rest of the !roup saw hi# and be!an to co#e
out of their caves. They #oved towards the strea# for their #ornin! drink. Moon)
,atcher walked on until he found a s#all bush. 2e left the body there, knowin! that
ani#als would do the rest. 2e never thou!ht of his father a!ain.
2is two fe#ales, the adults fro# the other cave, and #ost of the youn! ones
were lookin! for berries a#on! the s#all trees further up the valley. nly the babies
and the very old were left
$n the caves. $f there was any e'tra food at the end of the day, they #i!ht be fed.
$f not, they would stay hun!ry.
Moon),atcher cli#bed the slope to "oin the !roup. &fter so#e ti#e he found
honey in a dead tree. This did not happen very often, and the !roup was happy. f
course, they also collected a nu#ber of bee stin!s, but they hardly noticed these. 8ow,
althou!h Moon),atcher was still hun!ry, he was not actually weak with hun!er. 2e
could not e'pect #ore than that.
2e led his !roup back to the strea#. The others were there, as usual. There were
about thirty of the#, and they looked e'actly the sa#e as Moon),atcher's own
!roup. &s they saw hi# co#in!, they be!an to dance, shake their ar#s and shout, and
his people did the sa#e.
&nd that was all that happened. &lthou!h the #an)apes so#eti#es fou!ht
a#on! the#selves, they could do little har# to each other. Their teeth were not
sharp and their bodies were protected by thick hair. &lso, they did not often have
enou!h ener!y for fi!htin!. &fter a ti#e, the #an)apes on both sides !rew 7uiet and
be!an to drink the #uddy water.
-
n the !rassland near the caves there were #any ani#als, but the #an)apes
knew of no way to kill one of the#. $n fact, they could not even i#a!ine the idea of
killin! one. $n the #iddle of so #uch food, they were slowly dyin! of hun!er.
That ni!ht a cold wind blew. Moon),atcher hardly #oved when the screa#s
ca#e fro# one of the lower caves. 2e knew what was happenin! before he heard the
sound of the leopard. But Moon),atcher did not think of !oin! to help. 2e lay
7uietly, as all the others did.
9ater, he went outside and sat on a rock. 2e looked up and down the valley,
then at the Moon. The #an)apes were the only ani#al that ever did this. Moon)
,atcher had done it since his childhood. 2e was old now, twenty)five years old. $f
he was lucky, he #i!ht live another ten years.
2e stayed on the rock for so#e ti#e, sleepin! and wakin! but always listenin!.
$f any ani#al #oved in the area, Moon),atcher would know about it. But he did not
see the bri!ht li!ht, bri!hter than any star that crossed the sky twice, risin! hi!h and
sinkin! down to the east.
Chapter 2 The New Rock
9ate that ni!ht Moon),atcher suddenly woke up. 2e sat up in the darkness of
the cave, lookin! out into the ni!ht, and fear entered his soul. 2e had never heard a
sound like this in his life. The bi! cats approached in silence, e'cept perhaps for the
occasional breakin! of a stick or a fall of earth. But this was a continuous crashin! noise
that !rew steadily louder. +ven the elephants did not #ake as #uch noise as this.
Then he heard a sound which he could not understand, because it had never
been heard before in the history of the world. $t was the sound of #etal hittin! stone.
Moon),atcher saw the 8ew Rock when he led the !roup down to the river
in the first li!ht of #ornin!. 2e had al#ost for!otten his fear durin! the ni!ht, and
did not connect this stran!e thin! with it.
$t was three ti#es his hei!ht, but when he reached out his hands to each side,
it was not as wide. ,hen he walked round and looked at it fro# the side, it was 7uite
thin. &nd he could see ri!ht throu!h it. $n fact, he only knew it was there when the
sunli!ht flashed on its ed!es. 2e put out his hand and touched its cold surface.
$t was a rock, of course, and it had !rown durin! the ni!ht. 2e knew of s#all
round plants that !rew durin! the ni!ht and looked a little like rocks. These tasted
!ood, so Moon),atcher put out his ton!ue and tasted the new rock. & few seconds
were enou!h to #ake hi# understand that this thin! was not food. So he continued on
his way to the river and soon for!ot all about it.
$n the last li!ht of day, as the !roup cli#bed back towards the caves, the sound
be!an. $t was low and continuous. $t ca#e fro# the new rock, and they all stopped to
listen. Then they turned and, like sleep)walkers, be!an to #ove towards the rock. They
sat in a circle round the stran!e thin! as the darkness ca#e down and a li!ht !rew
inside it.
The noise !rew louder and li!hts be!an to flash and #ove, linkin! patterns
that chan!ed all the ti#e. The #an)apes wat ched, t hei r #out hs open, not
knowi n! t hat t he t hi n! was e'a#i ni n! t hei r #i nds.

Suddenly one of the# stood up. 2e picked up a piece of !rass and tried to tie it
into a knot. 2is eyes were wide with terror as he stru!!led to #ake his fin!ers do what
they had never done before. 2e failed. The broken pieces of !rass fell to the !round
and he fro:e into stillness a!ain.
&nother #an)ape be!an to #ove. This one was youn!er and after so#e ti#e it
succeeded. n the planet +arth the first knot had been tied.
thers did stran!er thin!s. So#e held their hands out and tried to touch their
fin!ertips to!ether. So#e were #ade to stare at patterns in the rock, watchin! lines
which beca#e thinner and thinner until they could not be seen.
Moon),atcher stood and picked up a stone. 8ow on the new rock was a series
of circles, each one s#aller than the ne't. The s#allest one was black inside. beyin!
the instructions in his brain, he threw the stone. 2e had never done this before, and he
#issed by so#e distance.
Try a!ain, said the co##and. 2e found another stone and threw. $t hit the
ed!e of the rock and #ade a rin!in! sound. 2is third throw hit the circles, only
centi#eters fro# the central black one. & stron! feelin! of pleasure passed throu!h
his body.
ne by one, every #e#ber of the !roup was tested and then al lowed to feel
either pleasure or pain. Then the li!ht in the rock died away. Shakin! their heads, the
#an)apes !ot up and be!an to walk alon! the path that led to their caves. They did
not look back at the stran!e li!ht that was showin! the# the way to their ho#es * and
to an unknown future, perhaps even to the stars.
Chapter 3 Education
$n the #ornin! Moon),atcher and his !roup had no #e#ories of what had
happened the ni!ht before. ,hen they went out to find food, they hardly looked at the
new rock as they passed it. They could not eat it and it could not eat the#, so it was not
i#portant.
But that ni!ht the noise fro# the new rock started a!ain, and once a!ain the
!roup went to sit around it. This ti#e it see#ed only interested in a few of the #an)
apes, and one of the# was Moon),atcher. nce a!ain he felt the thin! e'plorin! his
#ind, and then he be!an to see thin!s. 2e saw a !roup of #an)apes restin! near the
entrance to a cave. The #ale, fe#ale and two youn! ones were obviously eatin! well.
They were 7uite fat and their hair was shiny. 2e put his hand on his own thin body and
thou!ht about the difference between hi#self and the picture in his #ind.
9ater, as he sat outside the cave, Moon),atcher felt the be!innin!s of a new
;
e#otion. <or the first ti#e, he felt unhappy with his life and he wanted to chan!e it.
2e had taken one s#all step towards bein! hu#an.
8i!ht after ni!ht the rock showed hi# the four #an)apes who were eatin!
so well, and this #ade hi# feel even #ore hun!ry. The rock was helpin! this feelin!
to !row, because it was chan!in! the patterns in his brain. $f he lived, these chan!es
would be passed on to his children.
$t was slow work, but the rock was patient. $f it failed, there were other si#ilar
rocks doin! the sa#e thin! across half of the world. & hundred failures would not
#atter if one success could chan!e history.
&s the line of wild pi!s crossed the path, Moon),atcher stopped suddenly. =i!s
and #an)apes had always i!nored each other, because they did not co#pete for the
sa#e food.
But now Moon),atcher stood lookin! at the#. So#ethin! was happenin! in
his #ind which he did not understand. 2e started to search the !round. 2e did not
know what he was lookin! for, but he would know it when he found it.
$t was a heavy pointed stone about fifteen centi#eters lon!. &s he swun! his hand
round, pu::led by the increased wei!ht, he felt a new sense of power. 2e started to #ove
towards the nearest pi!.
$t was a youn! and foolish ani#al, and it felt no fear until #uch too late. $t went
on lookin! for food in the !rass until Moon),atcher's ha##er ended its life. The
other pi!s continued to feed, because the #urder had been 7uick and silent.
The #an)apes !athered round. ne of the# picked up the wet stone and
be!an to hit the dead pi!. thers helped with sticks and stones until the pi! was a
broken #ess.
Then they beca#e bored. So#e walked away, others stood around the body,
and the future of the world waited on their decision. $t was 7uite a lon! ti#e before
one of the youn! #others be!an to taste the stone she was holdin!.
&nd it was even lon!er before Moon),atcher, despite all he had been
shown, really understood that he need never be hun!ry a!ain.
Chapter 4 The Leopard
The tools they had been pro!ra##ed to use were si#ple enou!h. There
was the hand)held stone and the lon! bone. ,ith these they could kill, but they needed
so#ethin! else, because their teeth and fin!ers could not pull apart any ani#al lar!er
than a rabbit. 9uckily, 8ature had provided the perfect tool. $t was si#ply the lower
"aw)bone of an ani#al, with the teeth still in place. There would be no !reat
i#prove#ent on this until the invention of steel.
,ith these tools in their hands, they could feed on the li#itless food of the
!rasslands and beco#e the #asters of the world. They accepted their new life easily,
and did not connect it with the rock that was still standin! beside the path to the river.
2owever, the !roup still had occasional days when they failed to kill anythin!.
&t the end of one of these, co#in! back to the caves e#pty)handed, they found a wild
cow lyin! by the path. $ts front le! was broken, but it still had plenty of fi!ht left in it.
Moon),atcher's !roup circled the ani#al carefully, then #oved in and killed it with
their lon! bones and stones.
This took so#e ti#e, and now it was !ettin! dark. Moon),atcher knew it
would be dan!erous to stay any lon!er. Then he had a wonderful idea. 2e thou!ht
hard, and in ti#e #ana!ed to i#a!ine the cow * in the safety of his own cave. 2e took
its head and be!an to dra! it alon! the path. The others understood and helped hi#.
The slope was steep and the ani#al was heavy, but eventually they !ot it inside
the cave. &s the last of the li!ht left the sky, they started to eat.
2ours later, his sto#ach full, Moon),atcher suddenly woke up. &t first he did
not know why, but then, fro# a lon! way away, he heard the sound of a fallin! stone.
&fraid but curious, he #oved to the entrance of the cave and looked down the slope.
Then he was so afraid that it was lon! seconds before he could #ove. nly si' #etres
below, two shinin! !olden eyes were starin! strai!ht up at hi#. 2e was fro:en with fear
and hardly saw the powerful body behind the#, #ovin! silently fro# rock to rock.
The leopard had never cli#bed so hi!h before. $t had i!nored the lower caves and
followed the s#ell of blood up the hillside.
Seconds later, the ni!ht beca#e noisy as the other #an)apes cried out in fear.
The leopard #ade an an!ry sound but it did not stop. $t reached the entrance and rested
for a #o#ent. The s#ell of blood was all around. Then it ca#e silently into the cave.
&nd here it #ade its first #istake, because as it #oved out of tin) #oonli!ht,
even its ni!ht)hunter's eyes were at a disadvanta!e. The #an)apes could see it a!ainst the
#oonli!ht outside, but it could not see the#.
The leopard knew that so#ethin! was wron! when the first bone hit the side of
its head. $t swun! its front le! and heard a screa# of pain as the le! struck soft flesh.
Then so#ethin! sharp went into its side * once, twice, and a third ti#e. $t turned
round to strike at the shadows dancin! on all sides.
So#ethin! hard hit it across the nose. $ts teeth closed on a white ob"ect, but it
was only dead bone. &nd now so#ethin! was pullin! its tail. $t turned around, throwin!
its attacker a!ainst the wall of the cave. But whatever it did, it could not escape the
bones and stones that were hittin! it fro# all sides. The noises it #ade turned fro# pain
to fear and then to terror. The hunter was now the hunted, and it was tryin! to escape.
&nd then it #ade its second #istake, because in its fear it had for!otten where it
was. $t ran strai!ht out of the entrance at hi!h speed * too hi!h for the steep slope. $t
rolled and turned and cried as it fell. There was a heavy sound as it crashed into so#e
rocks far below.
Moon),atcher stood at the entrance to the cave. 2e listened to the silence as
the last stones stopped fallin!. Then he started to shout and dance, because he knew
that his whole world had han!ed. & lon! ti#e later, he went back into the cave and,
>
for the first ti#e in his life, he had an unbroken ni!ht's sleep.
Chapter 5 eeting at Dawn
&s he led the !roup down to the river in the early #ornin!, Moon),atcher
paused uncertainly in a fa#iliar place. The new tock had left as #ysteriously as it
had appeared. Moon),atcher tried to re#e#ber what had been there, but could not.
2e put the proble# fro# his #ind, and it never entered his thou!hts a!ain.
<ro# their side of the strea#, the thers saw Moon),atcher and a do:en
other #ales #ovin! a!ainst the dawn sky. &t once they be!an to shout and threaten
in the usual way, but this ti#e there was no answer.
Steadily and silently, Moon),atcher's !roup walked down the hill above the
river, and as they approached, the thers went 7uiet. Their pretended an!er died
away, and was replaced by real fear. They saw the lon! bones and knives, but these
did not alar# the# because they did not understand their purpose. But they knew
that the !roup was #ovin! in a new and different way.
<or a #o#ent Moon),atcher stopped at the water's ed!e. Then he raised his
ar#s hi!h, showin! what had been hidden by the hairy bodies of his co#panions. 2e
was holdin! a thick branch, and on the end of it was the head of the leopard. The
#outh had been fi'ed open with a stick, and the !reat teeth shone white in the first
li!ht of the risin! sun.
Most of the thers were fro:en with fear, but so#e be!an to #ove back. Still
holdin! tin bloody head up hi!h, Moon),atcher started to cross the $t rea#, and the
rest of his !roup followed hi#. ,hen Moon),atcher reached the far side, the leader
of the thers was still standin! in place. Moon),atcher swun! the branch down on
his head, and the leopard killed one #ore ti#e.
Screa#in! with fear, the thers ran away in all directions. Moon),atcher
stood lookin! at the dead leader. 8ow he was #aster of the world, and he was not
7uite sure what to do ne't.
But he would think of so#ethin!.
Chapter ! The "eginning o# an
There was a new ani#al on the planet, spreadin! slowly out fro# &frican
!rassland. There were still very few of the#, and there was no reason to believe that they
would continue to live, where so #any bi!!er ani#als had failed.
$n the hundred thousand years since Moon),atcher had lived and died$ the #an)
apes had invented nothin!. But they had started to chan!e. Their !reat teeth were
beco#in! s#aller, because they were not so necessary now. The sharp)ed!ed stones
that could be used to di! out roots, or cut throu!h flesh, had be!un to replace the#.
This #eant that the #an)apes could still eat when their teeth beca#e da#a!ed or old,
and so they lived lon!er. &nd as their teeth !rew s#aller, their "aws beca#e shorter. The
!reater variety of sounds they #ade were not speech, but speech was now possible.
&nd then the world be!an to chan!e. <our $ce &!es ca#e and went, with two
hundred thousand years between each of the#. They killed #uch of the planet's early
life, includin! #any #an)apes. But those tool)#akers who continued to live had
been re#ade by their own tools.
<ro# usin! bones and stones, their hands had learned new skills. &nd these
allowed the# to #ake better tools, which had developed their hands and brains? even
#ore. The process of chan!e beca#e faster and faster, and the result was Man. &nd
so#ewhere in that lon! period of ti#e they had learned to peak. 8ow knowled!e
could be passed fro# parent to child, so each new a!e could profit fro# the ones that
had !one before.
@nlike the ani#als, who knew only the present, Man had discovered a past, and
was be!innin! to look towards a future.
2e was also learnin! to use the forces of nature. ,hen he discovered fire, he
be!an the lon! process of technical chan!e. $n nine, stone would be replaced by
iron, and huntin! would chan!e to far#in!. The !roup would beco#e a villa!e, and
the villa!e would !row into a town.
&nd as his body beca#e #ore and #ore defenseless, his power to attack beca#e
#ore fri!htenin!. ,ith stone and iron he had discovered #any ways to kill, and 7uite
early he learned how to kill fro# a distance. <ro# throwin! sticks and stones to
droppin! bo#bs, his power increased until it was !reat enou!h to destroy the planet.
$f he had not had those weapons, Man would never have beco#e #aster of the
world. <or a!es they had served hi# well.
But now, as lon! as they e'isted, he was livin! on borrowed ti#e.
PART T%O TA&1
Chapter ' (pecia) *)ight
Dr 2eywood <loyd had left +arth #any ti#es before, but as the #o#ent of take)
off approached, he still felt nervous.
The "et that had rushed hi# here fro# ,ashin!ton, after that #idni!ht #eetin!
with the =resident, was now droppin! down towards one of the #ost e'citin! parts of
the world. 2ere, alon! thirty kilo#eters of the <lorida coast, were the !reatest structures
of the Space &!e. 8ear the hori:on he could see the shinin! silver tower of the last
Saturn A, a #useu# now for twenty years. 8ot far away fro# it stood the !reat buildin!
where all the early ships had been built.
But these thin!s now belon!ed to the past, and he was flyin! towards the
future. &s his plane turned, he could see the spaceplane in a pool of li!ht, bein!
prepared for its fli!ht to the stars. $t see#ed very s#all fro# this distance, until he
looked at the tiny fi!ures all around it. Then he re#e#bered that it was #ore than
0
si'ty #eters across the narrow '6 of its win!s. &nd they were preparin! this
enor#ous #achine "ust for hi#.
Thou!h it was two o'clock in the #ornin!, a crowd of reporters and
ca#era#en were waitin! for hi# when he stepped oil the plane. 2ut he could say
nothin! e'cept 'no co##ent' as he walked throu!h the#.
The stewardess !reeted hi# as he entered the space plane.
'Bood #ornin!, Dr <loyd. $'# Miss Si##ons. $'d like to welco#e you on
board.
2e looked at the twenty e#pty seats. n her advice, he chose the front one on
the left, because it would offer the best view. 2e sat down, put on the safety belt and
fi'ed his ba! to the ne't seat. & #o#ent later, the loudspeaker ca#e on.
' Bood #ornin!,' Miss Si##ons said.' This is Special =li!ht > to Space Station -.
$t see#ed she wanted to follow the nor#al routine, and Dr <loyd s#iled.
' ur fli!ht ti#e will be fifty)five #inutes, and we will be wei!htless for thirty
#inutes. =lease do not leave your seat until the safety li!ht is lit.'
<loyd looked over his shoulder and called, 'Thank you.' She s#iled, a little
e#barrassed.
2e leaned back in his seat and rela'ed as the Captain's voice ca#e throu!h the
loudspeaker. Take off in fifteen seconds. (ou will be #ore co#fortable if you start
breathin! deeply.'
&s the !reat #achine left the !round, he felt hi#self sinkin! deeper and deeper
into his seat. $t was difficult to #ove, but there was no real disco#fort. $n fact the blood
rushin! round his body in #ade hi# feel youn! a!ain, and he wanted to sin! aloud.
This was certainly possible, because no one could hear hi# above the n it noise of the
en!ines.
2is #ood chan!ed 7uickly as he reali:ed he was leavin! +arth #il everythin! he
had ever loved. Down there were his three children, #otherless since his wife had
died in a plane crash ten years a!o.
The pressure and the noise both suddenly decreased, and he heard the Captain's
voice a!ain.
' =reparin! to separate fro# lower sta!e. 2ere we !o.
There was a sli!ht #ove#ent as the spaceplane freed itself fro# its carrier. The
lower sta!e would fly the si'teen thousand kilo#eters back to <lorida, and it would then
be prepared to lift .#other spaceplane away fro# the +arth.
,hen the spaceplaneCs own en!ines started, the speed increased only a
little. $n fact he felt no #ore than nor#al !ravity. But it was i#possible to walk, since 'up'
was strai!ht towards the front of the plane. $f he had been foolish enou!h to leave his
seat, he would have fallen ri!ht to the back.
$t was an unco#fortable feelin!, as if his seat was fi'ed to a wall, with all the
others below hi#. 2e was tryin! to i!nore it when dawn suddenly e'ploded outside.
$n seconds they #oved throu!h layers of red and pink and old and blue into the
shinin! white li!ht of day. Thou!h the windows were heavily colorued to reduce
the li!ht, <loyd was still half)blinded for several #inutes. 2e was in space, but he
could not see the stars.
Then he felt his wei!ht decreasin! as the spaceplane leveled. The en!ines
slowed down and then fell silent, and they were in orbit. $f he had not worn a safety
belt, <loyd would have floated out of his seatD his sto#ach felt as if it wanted to do so
anyway. 2e hoped that the pills he had been !iven half an hour and fifteen thousand
kilo#etres a!o would do their work. 2e had been space sick "ust once in his career,
and that was too often.
The pilot's voice ca#e throu!h the loudspeaker.' =lease observe - all :ero !ravity
rules. ,e will be arrivin! at Space Station - inE forty)five #inutes.'
The stewardess ca#e walkin! up the narrow passa!e to the ri!ht of the seats.
2er feet ca#e off the carpet slowly, as if they were stuck in !lue. $n fact she was
walkin! on the bri!ht band of #a!netic carpetin! that ran the full len!th of the floor *
and of the ceilin!. The botto#s of her shoes were also #a!netic.
',ould you like so#e coffee or tea, Dr <loyd%' she asked cheerfully.
'8o, thank you,' he s#iled. The plastic drinkin! tubes always +ade hi# feel like
a baby.
Miss Si##ons stayed as he opened his ba!.
' Dr <loyd, #ay $ ask you a 7uestion %'
' Certainly,' he answered, lookin! up over his !lasses.
' My boyfriend works at Tycho,' she said,' and $ haven't heard fro# hi# for over a
week. $s it really true about illness on the Moon %'
' $f it is, there's no need to worry. Re#e#ber the illness in -..4% & lot of
people were sick, but no one died. &nd that's really all $ can say.'
She s#iled pleasantly and strai!htened up.
',ell, thank you anyway, Doctor. $'# sorry to take up your ti#e.'
' 8o proble# at all,' he said, then opened his ba! and be!an to look throu!h his
endless technical reports. There would be no ti#e for readin! when he !ot to the
Moon.
Chapter , (pace (tation 1
2alf an hour later the pilot announced, F,e #ake contact in ten #inutes. =lease
check your safety belt.'
<loyd put away his papers. The last AGG kilo#etres involved a lot of #ove#ent
fro# side to side as the spaceplane tried to !et into position. $t was best to sit back and
rela'.
& few #inutes later he had his first si!ht of Space Station -, MH5 #etres across
and turnin! slowly. Behind it was +arth. <ro# his hei!ht of >;G kilo#etres, he could see
#uch of &frica and the &tlantic cean.
A
The central part of the Space Station was now co#in! towards the#.
@nlike the rest of the structure, it was not turnin!. $n this way, a spaceship could land
on it without bein! spun round.
<loyd felt the spaceplane #ake contact. & few seconds later, the airlock door
opened and a #an entered.
'=leased to #eet you, Dr <loyd. $'# 8ick Miller, Station =olice. $'ll look after
you till the #oonship leaves.'
They shook hands, then <loyd s#iled at the stewardess and saidI' =lease !ive
#y thanks to the rest of the crew. =erhaps $'ll see you on the way ho#e.'
6ery cautiously * it was #ore than a year since he had been wei!htless, and it
would be so#e ti#e before he !ot used to it * he pulled hi#self hand over hand
throu!h the airlock and into the lar!e circular roo# at the centre of the Space
Station. The walls, floor and ceilin! were covered with soft #aterial, and there were
handholds here and there. <loyd held on to one of these fir#ly, while the whole roo#
started to turn until its speed was the sa#e as the Space Station.
&s it went faster, he was !ently pushed back, and now, instead of standin! a!ainst
a circular wall, <loyd was lyin! on a curved floor. 2e stood up. The force of the spin
had created artificial !ravity. $t was weak here, but would increase as he #oved away
fro# the centre.
<ro# the central roo# he followed Miller down curvin! stairs. &t first he
felt so li!ht that he al#ost had to force hi#self downwards. 2e did not !ain enou!h
wei!ht to #ove al#ost nor#ally until he reached the passen!er loun!e, on the outside
ed!e of the !reat turnin! circle.
'Can $ !et you anythin! while we're waitin!%' Miller said. ' ,e leave in
about thirty #inutes.'
' $'d like a cup of black coffee ) two su!ars.'
' Ri!ht, Doctor ) $'ll !et it.'
Miller walked away, and <loyd turned to look around the loun!e. There were
very few people there, but one of the# was walkin! strai!ht towards hi#.
' 2ello, Di#itri,' he said, because there was no escape.
Dr Di#itri Moisewitch shook hands ener!etically. 2e was a scientist fro# the
@SSR. 2e was also one of <loyd's best friends, and for that reason he was the last person
<loyd wished to talk to here and now.
Chapter - oon (hip
' 2ello, 2eywood,' the Russian said, shakin! hands.' 8ice to see you a!ain. 2ow
are you * and the children %'
' ,e're fine,' <loyd said. ' ,e often talk about the wonderful ti#e you !ave us
last su##er.' 2e was sorry he could not sound #ore sincereD they really had en"oyed
the holiday at Di#itri's house in dessa.
'&nd you * $ suppose you're on your way up %' Di#itri asked.
'+r, yes * #y fli!ht leaves in half an hour,' answered <loyd.'Do you know Mr
Miller%C
The police#an had now approached, and was standin! at a respectful
distance holdin! a plastic cup of coffee.
'f course. But please put that down, Mr Miller. This is Dr <loyd's last chance
to have a proper drink * let's not waste it. 8o * $ #ean it.'
They followed Di#itri out of the #ain loun!e into a s#aller loo# with lar!e
windows. Soon they were sittin! at a table, watchin! the stars #ove past. Space
Station - turned round once very #inute, producin! an artificial !ravity e7ual to the
Moon's. $ his !ave passen!ers on their way to the Moon a chance to !et used to what
they would e'perience there.
' 8ow,' said the Russian, puttin! down his drink,' what's all this about illness at
the @S Base% $ wanted to !o there on this trip, but they wouldn't let #e. ,hat's
happenin!% Do you want any help fro# our #edical services%'
' $'# sorry, Di#itri * we've been asked not to say anythin! at the #o#ent.
Thanks for the offer, thou!h.'
' 2###,' said Di#itri.' See#s odd to #e that you, a scientist, should be sent
up to the Moon to look at an illness. Do you have #uch #edical e'perience%'
<loyd s#iled.' $ suppose $'# the sort of scientist that knows about lots of
different sub"ects. Maybe that's why they chose #e.'
'Then do you know whatTM&)- #eans%'
Miller's head ca#e up in surprise, but <loyd stayed cal#. JTM&)- % ,hat an
odd e'pression. ,here did you hear it%' he asked.
' 8ever #ind,' answered the Russian.' (ou can't fool #e. But if you've found
so#ethin! you can't handle, don't leave it until too late before you shout for help.'
Miller looked at his watch.
' ,e're due to board in five #inutes, Dr <loyd,' he said.' $ think we'd better
#ove.'
Thou!h he knew that they still had twenty #inutes, <loyd !ot - up 7uickly. Too
7uickly, because he had for!otten the one)si'th - of !ravity. 2e had to reach for the
table to keep hi#self down.
' Boodbye, Di#itri,' he said.' $t was nice seein! you.' $t was not $ true, this ti#e,
but he felt he had to say it.
&s they left the roo#, <loyd said, '=hew, that was difficult. $ Thanks for rescuin!
#e.'
' (ou know, Doctor,' said Miller,' $ hope he isn't ri!ht about us ,E runnin! into
so#ethin! we can't handle.'
' That', <loyd answered,C is what $ intend to find out.'
<orty)five #inutes later, the &ries)$B #oonship pulled away
K
fro# the station.
There was none of the power and noise of a take)off fro# +arth, "ust a 7uiet
/
whistlin! as the three en!ines i started up. The !entle push lasted no #ore than
fifteen #inutes, and durin! that ti#e it was 7uite possible to !et up and walk
around.
<loyd had the whole ship to hi#self a!ain, thou!h it had been desi!ned for thirty
passen!ers. $t was stran!e and rather lonely, but he had the undivided attention of a
steward and stewardess, as well as two pilots and two en!ineers. 2e doubted that any
#an in history had ever received such service, and it was unlikely that anyone would do
so in the future. 2e should try to en"oy this trip, and the pleasure of wei!htlessness.
,ith the loss of !ravity he had * at least for a while * lost #ost of his worries. So#eone
had once said that you could be fri!htened in space, but you could not be worried
there. $t was perfectly true.
The steward and stewardess, it see#ed, were keen to #ake hi# eat for the whole
twenty)five hours of the trip, and he had to wave away #any unwanted #eals. $t was
not difficult to eat in :ero !ravity, despite the fears of early astronauts. The plates were
fi'ed to the table, and all the food was #ade sticky. 2ot soup was not possible, but apart
fro# this the #enus were fairly nor#al. Drinks, of course, were a different #atterD all
li7uids had to be kept in plastic s7uee:e)tubes.
,hen he was not eatin!, <loyd !ave so#e attention to the official reports
he had brou!ht with hi#. ,hen he !ot tired of these, he connected his pa!e)si:ed
news screen to the ship's infor#ation syste# and read the latest reports fro# +arth.
ne by one he could look at the world's electronic newspapers. +ach of the stories on
the front pa!e had a nu#ber. ,hen one was chosen, the little s7uare !rew until it
filled the screen.
There was "ust one sleep)period, when the #ain li!hts were switched off. <loyd
lay down on the sofa and !ot his ar#s and le!s inside the fi'ed sheet that would
prevent hi# #ovin! away into space. ,hen he woke up, the Moon was fillin! half the
sky. 2e #oved throu!h to the Control Roo# to watch the final sta!es of the
approach.
The ship was "ust above the line dividin! ni!ht and day. $t #oved towards the
dark side, and he could see the sharp tops of the #ountains lit by the reflected li!ht
fro# +arth. 2e felt so#e wei!ht return as the ship slowed down. 8ow they were above
an enor#ous crater with a flashin! li!ht in its centre. & voice was callin! above the
whistle of the "ets.
'Clavius Control to Special -0, you are co#in! in nicely. =lease #ake all
control checks now.'
The pilot pressed so#e switches, !reen li!hts flashed, and he called back,C
Control checks co#pleted. &ll 1.'
8ow the #ountain tops were hi!h above the ship, and then <loyd lost si!ht of
the# as the en!ines blew up clouds of dust. 2e felt the plane touch the !round, and
the pilot shut down the en!ines. $t took <loyd so#e #inutes to accept that they had
arrived, and so#e ti#e lon!er to believe that after a co#pletely nor#al fli!ht he had
landed on the Moon.
Chapter 1. C)a/iu0 "a0e
Clavius, two hundred and forty kilo#etres across, is the second lar!est crater
that can be seen fro# +arth. 2ere, Man was buildin! his first per#anent base on the
Moon. $n an e#er!ency, it could produce everythin! it needed to support life. Solid
che#icals and !ases could be produced by processin! local rocks. $n a !reat hothouse,
under la#ps at ni!ht and sunli!ht by day, thousands of s#all plants !rew to provide
o'y!en and food. The scientists could turn these, and other #aterial !rown in water,
into very !ood copies of bread and #eat and ve!etables.
The hundreds of #en and wo#en who worked on the Base were all hi!hly)
trained scientists and technicians, carefully chosen before they had left +arth. Thou!h
livin! on the Moon was physically easier than in the early days, it was still
psycholo!ically difficult. $t did have its attractions, thou!h. ne of the# was the low
!ravity, which produced a !eneral feelin! of happiness. 2owever, this had its dan!ers.
$t was si#ple enou!h to travel in a strai!ht line. The proble# ca#e when you tried to
turn a corner, because your body continued in the sa#e direction. $t took ti#e, and a
few s#all accidents, for newco#ers to !et used to this, and #ore e'perienced Base
workers tried to stay away fro# the# until they had.
The #ountains that had see#ed so lar!e "ust before landin! had #ysteriously
disappeared, hidden below the Moon's steeply curvin! hori:on. &round the ship was a
flat !rey area, bri!htly lit by earthli!ht.
& nu#ber of service vehicles were now rollin! up to the &ries)$B, #ovin! on
enor#ous tyres. But <loyd was watchin! a s#all bus that was brin!in! the people who
wanted to #eet hi#. There were a nu#ber of ban!s as it connected to the ship, then
the sound of air #ovin! as pressure was e7uali:ed. The inside door of the airlock
opened, and the welco#in! party arrived.
$t was led by Ralph 2alvorsen, the Base Co##ander. ,ith hi# was his Chief
Scientist, Dr Roy Michaels, and a !roup of scientists and #ana!ers. They see#ed
happy to see hi#, ready to unload so#e of their worries.
' 6ery pleased to have you with us, Dr <loyd,' said 2alvorsen. ' Did you have a
!ood trip %'
' +'cellent,' <loyd answered. ' 8o proble#s, and the crew looked after #e very
well.'
The conversation continued as the bus #oved away fro# the ship and into an
entrance passa!e. & lar!e door opened, then closed behind the#. This happened a!ain,
and a third ti#e. ,hen the last door had closed, they were back in at#osphere a!ain.
The people <loyd saw were wearin! nor#al clothes.
&fter a short walk they arrived in an office area. <loyd was happy to be
surrounded by co#puters and telephones a!ain after his ti#e in space.
L
2alvorsen led <loyd towards a door labelled !"E #$%%!&DE', but
before he could show hi# inside his office, there was an interruption. The door
opened, and a s#all fi!ure ran out.
' DaddyK (ou've been outsideK &nd you pro#ised to take #eK'
',ell, Diana,' said 2alvorsen, '$ only said $'d take you if $ could. But $'ve been
very busy #eetin! Dr <loyd. Shake hands with hi# * he's "ust co#e fro# +arth.'
The little !irl * <loyd decided that she was about ei!ht * held out a hand. 2er
face was sli!htly fa#iliar. Then, with a shock, he understood why.
' $ don't believe itK' he said.' ,hen $ was here last, she was "ust a babyK'
'She had her fourth birthday last week,' 2alvorsen answered proudly.' Children
!row fast in low !ravity. But they don't a!e so 7uickly * they'll live lon!er than we do.'
<loyd stared at the confident little lady, notin! that she was thinner as well as
taller than an +arth child.' $t's nice to #eet you a!ain, Diana,' he said. Then sudden
curiosity #ade hi# ask, ' ,ould you like to !o to +arth %'
2er eyes widened in surprise, then she shook her head,
' $t's a nasty place * you hurt yourself when you fall down. &nd there are too #any
people.'
So here, <loyd told hi#self, is one of the first of the Spaceborn. There
would be #ore of the# in the future. The ti#e was fast approachin! when +arth, like
all #others, would say !oodbye to her children.
2alvorsen #ana!ed to persuade his dau!hter to leave hi# in peace, and the two
#en went into the office. $t was only five #etres s7uare, but it had the sa#e
furniture as a Base Co##ander's office on +arth.There were si!ned photo!raphs of
i#portant politicians * includin! one of the =resident of the @nited States * on one
wall, and pictures of fa#ous astronauts on another.
<loyd sat back in a co#fortable leather chair and accepted a !lass of wine, #ade
in the Base laboratory.
' 2ow's it !oin!, Ralph %' he said. The wine was 7uite !ood.
' 8ot too bad,' 2alvorsen said. ' 2owever, there is one thin! you should know
before you #eet the others. My people are an!ry because they can't co##unicate
with +arth. They think their fa#ilies will be worried that they've died of this
JillnessJ.'
' $' # sorry about that,C said <loyd,C but no one could think of a better story, and
it's worked. $ #et Moisewitch at the Space Station, and even he believed it.'
' ,ell, that should #ake the police happy.'
'8ot too happy ) he'd heard of TM&)-. 2e didn't know what it was, but
the na#e has !ot out. ,e need to find out what the thin! is, and 7uickly.'
Chapter 11 Ano+a)1
2alvorsen led <loyd into a roo# that could hold a hundred people easily.
,ith a white screen on the end wall, and its rows of seats, it looked like a conference
centre. 2owever, the notices and pictures on the walls showed that it was also the centre
of local cultural life.
&bout forty or fifty people were waitin! for <loyd, and everyone stood up
politely as he entered. <loyd sat down in the front row, while the Co##ander stood up
on the platfor# and looked around his audience.
' 9adies and !entle#en,' 2alvorsen be!an,' $ needn't tell you that this is a very
i#portant occasion. ,e are deli!hted to have Dr 2eywood <loyd with us. 2e has
"ust co#pleted a special fli!ht fro# +arth to be here.'
So#e of the audience clapped. <loyd stood up for a #o#ent, said a word of
thanks and sat down a!ain.
' Dr Michaels,' said 2alvorsen, and walked back to his seat.
The Chief Scientist stood up and #oved to the platfor#. &s he did so, the
li!hts were turned off and a photo!raph of the Moon appeared on the screen. &t its
centre was the white rin! of a lar!e crater.
'Tycho,' said Michaels, althou!h everybody there knew its na#e. 'Durin! the
last year we have been checkin! the #a!netis# of the whole re!ion. This was
co#pleted last #onth, and this is the result that started all the trouble.'
&nother picture flashed on the screen. $t was a #ap with #any lines !oin! across
it. Benerally, these were spaced 7uite far apart, but in one corner they ca#e close
to!ether and for#ed a series of s#aller and s#aller circles. $t was 7uite obvious that
there was so#ethin! stran!e here. $n lar!e letters across the botto# of the #ap were
the wordsI TY#($ %!)&ETI# !&$%!*Y +$&E ,T%!+i-. Sta#ped on the
top ri!ht of the #ap was another wordI "E#'ET.
'&t first we thou!ht it was "ust a lar!e #a!netic rock, but this would be very
unusual for the area. So we decided to have a look.
' There was nothin! on the surface, "ust the usual flat !round under a thin layer
of #oon)dust. So we started to di!, and we du! for two weeks * with the result you
know.'
The darkened roo# beca#e suddenly 7uiet as the picture on the screen
chan!ed. Thou!h everyone had seen it #any ti#es, they all leaned forwards, hopin!
to find new details. n +arth and Moon, less than a hundred people had been allowed
to see this photo!raph.
$t showed a #an in a bri!ht yellow spacesuit, standin! at the botto# of a lar!e
hole, and holdin! a stick #arked off in tenths of a #etre. 8e't to hi# was a piece of
black #aterial, standin! about three #etres hi!h and a #etre and a half wide.
'TM&)-,' Dr Michaels said, 7uietly. ' $t looks new, doesn't it% 2owever, we've
now been able to date it positively, fro# what we know of the local rocks.
' $n fact it's about three #illion years old. (ou are lookin! at the first proof of
4
intelli!ent life beyond the +arth.'
Chapter 12 2ourne1 31 Earth)ight
The travelin! laboratory was now #ovin! across a flat area at 4G kilo#etres an
hour. $t was a lar!e vehicle, carried on ei!ht wheels. But it was #uch #ore than thisD
it was also a base in which twenty #en could live and work for several weeks.
&s he looked ahead out of the window, <loyd could see a #arked way
stretchin! ahead of the#, where do:ens of vehicles had flattened down the soft surface
of the Moon. &t re!ular distances apart there were tall thin poles, each carryin! a
flashin! li!ht. 8o one could possibly !et lost on the three)hundred kilo#etre
"ourney fro# Clavius Base toTM&)-, althou!h it was still ni!ht and the Sun would not
rise for several hours.
The stars overhead were only a little bri!hter than on a clear ni!ht on +arth, but
there was one thin! that destroyed the idea of bein! there. This was +arth itself, bri!ht
and round, han!in! above the northern hori:on. $t shone down with a li!ht #uch
stron!er than the li!ht of the full Moon, #akin! this a land of blue and !reen.
&s he sat with 2alvorsen and Michaels in the front observation loun!e,
i##ediately beneath the driver's position, <loyd's thou!hts turned a!ain and a!ain to
the black ob"ect and its a!e of three #illion years. &s a scientist, he was used to
thinkin! about #uch lon!er periods of ti#e, but these had been in connection with the
#ove#ents of stars and the slow chan!es of the universe. Mind, or intelli!ence, had
not been involved.
Three million years. &ll of written history, with its countries and its kin!s, its
successes and disasters, covered only about a thousandth of this !reat period of ti#e.
Man hi#self, and #ost of the ani#als now alive on +arth, did not even e'ist when
the black pu::le was so carefully buried there.
Dr Michaels was sure it had been buried, and not by accident. ,hen they du!
down, they found that it was sittin! on a wide platfor# of the sa#e black #aterial.
,hoever put it there wanted it to stay in the sa#e place for a lon! ti#e.
&nd so the old 7uestion had been answered. 2ere was proof, beyond all doubt,
that there was other intelli!ent life in the universe. But with that knowled!e ca#e
sadness. The unknown visitors had #issed hu#ans by a lon! period of ti#e. &nd
where did they co#e fro#, these creatures who could cross space while Man was still
livin! in trees% The Moon itself% 8o, that was co#pletely i#possible. $f there had ever
been life here, it had been destroyed durin! the last period when the craters were
for#ed, when the surface was white)hot.
+arth % 6ery unlikely, thou!h perhaps not 7uite i#possible. $f intelli!ent non)
hu#an creatures had lived on +arth, they would have left #any other si!ns of their
e'istence. But nothin! else had been found before TM&)- was discovered on the
Moon.
That left two possibilities * the planets, and the stars. But all scientific opinion
was a!ainst intelli!ent life anywhere else in the Solar Syste#
-
* or life of any kind
e'cept on +arth and Mars.
So perhaps these visitors had co#e fro# the stars * but that was even #ore
difficult to believe. The "ourney fro# +arth to the Moon see#ed 7uite lon!, but the
nearest star was a hundred #illion ti#es #ore distant ...
<loyd shook his head because he knew he was wastin! his ti#e. 2e #ust wait
until there was #ore knowled!e.
' =lease check your safety belts,' said the loudspeaker suddenly, " ' <orty de!ree
slope approachin!.'
<loyd had "ust put his belt on a!ain when the vehicle slowly #oved over the
ed!e of a slope as steep as the roof of a house. The earthli!ht, co#in! fro# behind
the#, was now very faint, and the vehicle's own front li!hts had been switched on.
They were !oin! down the side of Tycho, and three hundred #etres below the slope
leveled out into a !reat flat area.
' There they are,' Michaels said, but <loyd had already noticed E the !roup of red
and !reen li!hts several kilo#etres ahead. Soon he could see, shinin! in the
earthli!ht, a !roup of te#porary buildin!s for the workers livin! there. 8ear these
were a radio tower, a !roup of parked vehicles and a lar!e pile of broken rock. '(ou can
"ust see the crater,' said Michaels.' ver there on the ri!ht * about a hundred #etres
fro# the tower.'
So this is it, thou!ht <loyd, as the bus rolled past the buildin!s and ca#e to the
ed!e of the crater. 2e leaned forwards for a better view as the vehicle #oved slowly
down the slope. &nd there, e'actly as he had seen it in the photo!raphs, was TM &)-.
<loyd stared, shook his head and stared a!ain. +ven in the bri!ht earthli!ht, it
was hard to see the thin! clearly. 2is first i#pression was a flat ob"ect that see#ed to
have no thickness at all. This was because, althou!h he was lookin! at a solid body, it
reflected so little li!ht that he could only see its shape.
The bus stopped about si' #etres fro# it.Then the li!hts were switched on all
around the crater. ,here li!ht touched the ob"ect, it see#ed to be swallowed up by
the black surface.
& bo' of tricks, thou!ht <loyd, with a sudden feelin! of fear * waitin! to be
opened by curious Man. &nd what will he find inside %
Chapter 13 The ()ow Dawn
The #ain buildin! was only si' #etres s7uare, and it was now very
overcrowded. $n this double)walled space, si' scientists and technicians lived, worked
and slept.
-
Solar Syste#I the Sun and its planets, includin! +arth.
.
<loyd and Dr Michaels each put on a spacesuit and walked into the airlock. &s
the noise of the pu#ps died away, <loyd felt hi#self #ove into silence. The sound of
his suit radio was a welco#e interruption.
'=ressure 1, Dr <loyd%' said Michaels. '&re you breathin! nor#ally%C
F(es, $'# fine.'
The outside door opened and, walkin! slowly, <loyd followed Michaels throu!h
the lock. 2e looked around and, without warnin!, the tip of the radio tower above
his head see#ed to catch fire as the risin! Sun touched it.
They waited while the Base Co##ander and two of his assistants ca#e
throu!h the airlock, then walked slowly towards the crater. $t was still in shadow, but
the li!hts all around lit it up bri!htly. &s <loyd walked down the slope, he felt a sense of
helplessness. 2ere, at the !ate of the +arth, was a #ystery that #i!ht never be solved.
2is thou!hts were interrupted by his suit radio.
'Base Co##ander speakin!. Could you all for# a line% ,e'd like to take a few
photos. Dr <loyd, will you stand in the #iddle * Dr Michaels * thank you
Thou!h it see#ed funny at first, <loyd had to ad#it that he was !lad so#ebody
had brou!ht a ca#era. $t would be a historic photo, and he hoped his face could be
seen throu!h the hel#et of his suit.
'Thanks, !entle#en,' said the photo!rapher. ',e'll ask the technical staff at the
Base to send you copies.'
Then <loyd turned his full attention to the black ob"ect * walkin! slowly round
it, e'a#inin! it fro# every side. 2e did not e'pect to find anythin!, because he knew
that every s7uare centi#etre had already been looked at very closely.
Suddenly the Sun lifted itself over the ed!e of the crater and shone on the flat
side of the ob"ect. But the ob"ect see#ed to take in all of the li!ht and reflect
nothin!. <loyd decided to try a si#ple e'peri#ent. 2e stood between the ob"ect and
the Sun, and looked for his own shadow on the s#ooth black sheet. There was nothin!
to be seen. 2e thou!ht of the a#ount of heat that was fallin! on that surfaceD if there
was anythin! inside, it would be rapidly cookin!.
<or a #o#ent he wondered about ener!y fro# the Sun. But who would be
cra:y enou!h to bury a sun)powered ob"ect si' #etres under!round %
<loyd looked up at the +arth. nly a few of the si' billion people there knew
of this discovery. 2ow would the world react to the news when it was finally broadcast
%
$n fact every person of real intelli!ence would find his life, his values, his ideas,
chan!ed a little. +ven if nothin! was ever discovered about TM&)-, Man would
know that he was not alone in the @niverse.
<loyd was still thinkin! about this when his hel#et speaker suddenly !ave out a
hi!h electronic screa#. ,hile he was tryin! to find the sound control, four #ore of
the screa#s struck his ears. Then there was silence.
&ll around the crater, fi!ures were standin! in shocked surprise. So there is
nothin! wron! with #y e7uip#ent, <loyd told hi#selfD everyone heard those sounds.
&fter three #illion years of darkness, TM&)- had !reeted dawn on the Moon.
Chapter 14 The Li0tener0
& hundred #illion kilo#etres beyond Mars, Deep Space Recorder L.
continued with its observations of radio noise and distant stars. &nythin! that it saw or
heard was recorded in its #e#ory and sent back to +arth every twenty)four hours.
There, #achines waited to e'a#ine the infor#ation, and then add it to the thousands
of kilo#etres of tape stored in the ,orld Space Centres in ,ashin!ton, Moscow and
Canberra.
&nd now Deep Space Recorder L. had noted so#ethin! stran!e * a faint but
un#istakable #ove#ent across the Solar Syste#, 7uite unlike anythin! it had noticed
in the past. &uto#atically, it recorded the direction, the ti#e and the stren!th.
rbiter M-A, circlin! Mars twice a day, and even +'plorer A, headin! out into
the cold e#ptiness beyond =luto, also noted a peculiar burst of ener!y. They
reported it auto#atically to the #e#ory stores on +arth.
The co#puters were not pro!ra##ed to notice the connection between the
three sets of si!nals horn #achines #illions of kilo#etres apart. But as soon as lie
looked at his #ornin! report, the Chief Controller at Boddard knew that so#ethin!
stran!e had passed throu!h the Solar Syste# durin! the last twenty)four hours.
2e had only part of its path, but when the co#puters had done their work, it
was as clear as a line of footprints across snow. & pattern of ener!y had "u#ped fro#
the face of the Moon and was headin! out towards the stars.
PART T4REE "etween P)anet0
Chapter 15 Di0co/er1
The ship was still only thirty days fro# +arth, but so#eti#es David Bow#an
could hardly believe that he had ever really lived there. 2is life now was in the
closed little world of Discovery. ,hen he spoke to <rank =oole about this, he found
that <rank had the sa#e feelin!s. But this sense of separation was easy enou!h to
understand. $n the fifty years since #en had first !one into space, there had never
been a #ission 7uite like this. Discovery was !oin! past Mars and Mupiter, all the
way to Saturn. &nd she would never return.
<or Discovery it would be a one)way trip * but her crew had no intention of
dyin!. $f all went well, they would be back on +arth within seven years. <or five of
these years they would be in hibernation, while they waited for rescue by Discovery
$$ * which had not yet been built.
$t was a calculated risk, like all voya!es into the unknown. But e'peri#ents
had proved that hu#an hibernation was perfectly safe, and it had opened up new
-G
possibilities in space travel.
The three other #e#bers of the crew, all scientists who would not be needed
until the ship reached Saturn, would sleep throu!h the whole fli!ht there. $n this
way, a lot of food and other #aterials would be saved. &lso, they would be fresh and
rested after the ten)#onth voya!e.
Then the ship would orbit Saturn, !ivin! the# a hundred days to #ap and study
a world ei!hty ti#es the area of +arth, and surrounded by fifteen known #oons )
one of the# as lar!e as the planet Mercury. They would radio their discoveries
back to +arth, so even if the e'plorers never returned, these would not be lost.
So#eti#es Bow#an envied ,hitehead, 1a#inski and 2unter, his three
unconscious collea!ues. They were free fro# all proble#s and all responsibility. @ntil
they reached Saturn, the outside world did not e'ist.
But that world was watchin! the# while they slept. $n the Control Roo# there
were five s#all screens. The last two, #arked /$$*E and $0%!&, were plain
and lifeless. Their ti#e would not co#e until a year fro# now. The others were
covered with s#all !reen li!hts which showed that everythin! was well with the
three sleepers. They also had a set of #ovin! lines showin! heartbeat, breathin! and
brain activity. This last line hardly #oved at all. $f any consciousness re#ained, it was
beyond the reach of instru#ents.
Bow#an knew this fro# personal e'perience. Before he was chosen for
this #ission, his reactions to hibernation had been tested. ,hen all the
instru#ents were in place on his body, he had seen a pattern of #ovin! li!hts for a
few seconds.
Then they had disappeared, and darkness had co+e5 2e never felt the dru!s
take effect, or the first touch of cold as his body te#perature was reduced to a few
de!rees above free:in!.
,hen he woke up, it see#ed that he had hardly closed his eyes. But he knew
that was wron!. So#ehow he was sure that years had passed.
2ad the #ission been co#pleted% 2ad they already reached Saturn, finished
their work and !one into hibernation% ,as Discovery II here to take the# ho#e%
2e opened his eyes, but there was little to see. ,ar# air was blowin! across hi#,
and 7uiet #usic ca#e fro# a speaker behind his head. $t was slowly !rowin! louder
and louder
Then a rela'ed, friendly voice * he knew it ca#e fro# a co#puter * spoke to
hi#.
' 2ello, Dave. Do not !et up or atte#pt any violent #ove#ents. Do not try
to speak.'
2e did not want to !et up. 2e was happy knowin! that the rescue ship had
co#e and that soon he would be seein! other hu#an bein!s.
So#e ti#e later, another voice spoke to hi#. This ti#e it was hu#an. $t was also
fa#iliar.
F2ello, Dave. (ou're fine. (ou can talk now. Do you know where you are%
2e thou!ht about this, and had to ad#it to hi#self that he was not really sure.
2e shook his head.
'Don't worry, Dave. This is <rank =oole. +verythin!'s fine. ,e're !oin! to open
the door now and pull you out.'
Soft li!hts ca#e on, and then all his #e#ories returned to hi#, and he knew
e'actly where he was.
Thou!h he had co#e back fro# the furthest borders of sleep, and the
nearest borders of death, he had been !one only a week. The #ission was still #ore
than a year in the future. 2e was still in the crew trainer at the 2ouston Space
<li!ht Center.
Chapter 1! 4a)
But now Te'as was a tiny spot, and even the @nited States was hard to see.
Most of Discovery's #any telescopes were pointed at other planets, in the direction
she was travelin!. There was one, however, that looked back at +arth. $t was fi'ed to
the ed!e of the !reat dish that sent the ship's radio #essa!es. $t #ade sure that the
dish pointed in the ri!ht direction. Messa!es could then co#e and !o alon! a path
that beca#e #ore than three #illion kilo#etres lon!er every day.
&t least once every watch period, Bow#an went to the screen that showed the
view fro# that telescope and looked back towards his ho#e. So#eti#es he saw a
fa#iliar shape, like the =acific. &nd he re#e#bered days and ni!hts spent on its
islands.
The si'th #e#ber of the crew cared for none of these thin!s, as it was not
hu#an. $t was the 2&9 .GGG co#puter, the brain and nervous syste# of the ship. $n
the -.4Gs, Minsky and Bood had shown how it was possible to build a co#puter
si#ply by desi!nin! a learnin! pro!ra##e. $n this way, an artificial brain could be
!rown in a very si#ilar way to the !rowth of a hu#an brain. The result was a
#achine that could do #ost thin!s that a hu#an brain could do, but with #uch
!reater speed and certainty.
2al had been trained for this #ission as thorou!hly as his hu#an collea!ues,
but in a #uch shorter ti#e. 2is #ain "ob was to check, repeatedly, all the syste#s on
the ship * o'y!en pressure, te#perature, conditions in the hibernators, and
everythin! else that the crew depended on to stay alive. The first co#puters had
received co##ands throu!h keyboards, and had replied throu!h printers and
screens. 2al could do this if necessary, but #ost of his co##unication was throu!h the
spoken word. =oole and Bow#an could t.ilk to 2al as they would to a hu#an bein!D
he replied in the perfect +n!lish learned durin! the short weeks of his electronic
childhood.
The 7uestion of whether 2al could actually think had been answered by the
--
British #athe#atician &lan Turin! back in the -.0Gs. Turin! had e'plained that if you
had a lon! conversation with a #achine, and you could not tell if it was a #achine or
a #an, then the #achine was thinkin!. 2al could easily pass the Turin! test.
Chapter 1' Dai)1 Li#e
Bow#an and =oole each worked for twelve hours out of twenty)four, and they
were never both asleep at the sa#e ti#e. The officer)on)duty nor#ally re#ained in the
Control Roo#, while his assistant did the !eneral housekeepin!, checked the ship or
rela'ed in his roo#.
Bow#an's day be!an at G/.GG hours, when 2al woke hi# up. 2e did his
e'ercises, then washed and shaved before eatin! his breakfast and readin! that #ornin!'s
0orld Times. n +arth, he never read the paper as carefully as he did now. +ven the
s#allest pieces of news interested hi# as they flashed across the screen.
&t GL.GG he took over fro# =oole in the Control Roo#, brin!in! hi# a
plastic tube of coffee fro# the kitchen. $f there was nothin! to report and no action
to be taken, he checked all the instru#ent readin!s, and did a series of tests desi!ned
to reco!ni:e possible proble#s. By -G.GG this was finished, and he started on a study
period. Bow#an had been a student for #ore than half his life, and would continue to
be one till he retired. &t thirty)five, he had already taken in as #uch knowled!e as two
or three university educations would provide. 2e had never been able to stay
interested in only one sub"ect, and this #ade hi# very suitable for his present "ob. =oole
was the sa#e, and the two of the#, with so#e help fro# 2al's enor#ous stores of
infor#ation, could handle any proble#s that were likely to appear durin! the voya!e.
&t #idday Bow#an went to the kitchen and left the ship to 2al while he
prepared his lunch. =oole "oined hi# for this #eal before leavin! for his si')hour
sleep period. Their #enus had been planned with as #uch care as the rest of the
#ission. The food, #ost of it free:e)dried, was e'cellent and only needed to be put into
the tiny auto#atic oven. They could en"oy what tasted like * and, e7ually i#portant,
looked like * oran!e "uice, e!!s 3any style5, steak, roast #eats, fresh ve!etables, various
fruits, ice)crea#, and even freshly)baked bread.
&fter lunch, fro# ->.GG to -/.GG, Bow#an #ade a slow and careful tour of the
ship, or as #uch of it as could be visited. Discovery #easured al#ost a hundred and
twenty)five #etres fro# end to end, but the crew spent #ost of their ti#e inside a
twelve)#etre pressuri:ed ball in the centre.
The central slice of this ball turned continuously, producin! an artificial !ravity
e7ual to the !ravity of the Moon. That was enou!h to allow for so#ethin! like
nor#al livin!.
9ike all vehicles desi!ned for deep space travel, Discovery had been put to!ether
in orbit above the +arth.The lar!e nu#bers of instru#ents on the outside of her body
would be destroyed by entry into an at#osphere, or even the pull of a planet's !ravity.
She was a creature of pure space * and she looked it.
&t around -/.GG, Bow#an finished his inspection and #ade a detailed report to
Mission Control. Then he listened to +arth, and sent back his reply to any 7uestions.
&t -4.GG hours, =oole woke up and took co##and.
Bow#an then had si' off)duty hours, to use) as he liked. So#eti#es he
continued his studies, or listened to #usic or watched fil#s. Much of the ti#e he
wandered throu!h the ship's enor#ous electronic library, followin! the voya!es of
earlier e'plorers. 2e traveled with =ytheas out of the Mediterranean, alon! the coast of
a +urope that was "ust leavin! the Stone &!eD with Ma!ellan round the world for the
first ti#e, or with Cook to the !reat unknown continent of &ustralia. &nd he be!an to
read the $dyssey
1
which spoke to hi# #ore than any other book across the !reat
distance of ti#e.
<or rela'ation he could always play various board !a#es with 2al. $f 2al really
tried, he could win every ti#e, but the crew would !et too depressed. So he had been
pro!ra##ed to win only AG per cent of the !a#es, and his hu#an partners pretended
not to know this.
&t ;G.GG Bow#an had dinner, a!ain with =oole, and after this there was an hour
durin! which he could #ake and receive personal calls fro# +arth.
9ike all his collea!ues, Bow#an was un#arriedD it was not fair to send fa#ily
#en on a #ission of such len!th. Thou!h #any wo#en had pro#ised to wait until
the crew's return, no one really believed this. &t first, Bow#an and =oole had been
#akin! personal calls to !irls on +arth 7uite re!ularly, thou!h they knew that #any
other ears #ust be listenin!. But in ti#e, the war#th and the fre7uency of these
conversations !rew less. They had e'pected this. $t was one of the proble#s of an
astronaut's life. 2owever, in !eneral the two #en were fairly content with their
routine lives. Their !reatest hope was that nothin! would spoil its peace and 7uiet in
the weeks and #onths ahead.
Chapter 1, Through the A0teroid0
,eek after week passed, and Discovery #oved beyond the orbit of Mars towards
Mupiter. &head lay the #ost dan!erous part of the "ourney, an area of space crossed by
the orbit of #ore than a #illion known asteroids.
nly four of these were over a hundred kilo#etres across, but even the s#allest
could co#pletely destroy the ship. 2owever, the chances of this were very low. The
avera!e distance between asteroids was at least a #illion and a half kilo#eters.
n Day 4/ they were due to #ake their closest approach to a known asteroid. $t
had no na#e )"ust the nu#ber LL.0 * and it was a fifty)#etre rock that had been
discovered in -..L.
;
The $dyssey2 an ancient story by the Breek poet 2o#er about dysseus's lon! "ourney ho#e fro#
war.
-;
,hen Bow#an ca#e on duty, 2al re#inded hi# of the #eetin!. The path of
the asteroid a!ainst the stars was already on the screens. There was also the infor#ation
that LL.0 would #iss the# by only fifteen hundred kilo#etres, at a relative speed of a
hundred and thirty thousand kilo#etres an hour.
,hen Bow#an asked 2al for the telescopic view, a s#all nu#ber of stars
flashed onto the screen. There were a nu#ber of points of li!ht, but nothin! that
looked like an asteroid.
' Show #e which one it is,' Bow#an said, and i##ediately four lines
appeared on the screen, surroundin! a tiny spot of li!ht. 2e stared at it for #any
#inutes, wonderin! if 2al could be #istaken, then he saw that the spot was #ovin!.
$t #i!ht still be half a #illion kilo#etres away, but its #ove#ent showed that it was
#uch closer than anythin! else they could see. ,hen =oole "oined hi# in the Control
Roo#, si' hours later, LL.0 was #uch bi!!er and #ovin! faster a!ainst its back!round.
They both stared at it. Thou!h they knew that LL.0 was only a lifeless piece of rock, it
was also the only solid thin! they would see this side of Mupiter.
&s it raced past the# at over thirty)si' kilo#etres a second, the auto#atic
ca#eras took do:ens of photo!raphs, which would later be sent back to +arth.
,ithin an hour, LL.0 was "ust a spot of li!ht a!ain. The ne't ti#e Bow#an ca#e
on watch, it had !one co#pletely. They were alone a!ain, and would re#ain alone until
the first of Mupiter's #oons ca#e towards the#, three #onths fro# now.
Chapter 1- Pa00ing 2upiter
+ven fro# thirty #illion kilo#etres away, Mupiter was already the bi!!est ob"ect in
the sky ahead. The planet was now a pale pink circle, about half the si:e of the Moon
when seen fro# the +arth. Movin! around its #iddle were the bri!ht stars of $o,
+uropa, Bany#ede and Callista. +ach one of the# was as bi! as a planet, but here they
were "ust satellites of an enor#ous #aster.
$n fact, Bow#an had not really understood how bi! Mupiter was until, one day
in the electronic library, he saw a picture. $t showed the surface of +arth taken off, then
fi'ed like the skin of an ani#al on the shape of Mupiter. &!ainst this back!round, all the
continents and oceans of +arth appeared s#aller than $ndia on a #ap of the world.
,hen Bow#an used the ship's telescope, he saw only racin! clouds that had
been pulled out into lon! bands by the planet's fast turnin! speed. 2idden beneath
those clouds was #ore #aterial than in all of the other planets of the Solar Syste#.
&nd what else, Bow#an wondered, was also hidden there% ver the radio connection
with +arth, the infor#ation was !oin! back in a constant strea#. They were now so
far fro# ho#e that, even travellin! at the speed of li!ht, their si!nals were takin! fifty
#inutes for their "ourney. Thou!h the whole world was lookin! over their shoulders,
watchin! throu!h their eyes and their instru#ents as Mupiter approached, it would be
al#ost an hour before the news of their discoveries reached ho#e.
Discovery passed within thirty thousand kilo#etres of +uropa, and all instru#ents
were ai#ed at the approachin! world. 2ere were twenty)two #illion s7uare
kilo#etres of land which, until this #o#ent, had never been #ore than a tiny spot in
the best telescope. <ro# a distance it had see#ed like an enor#ous snowball, and
closer observation showed that it really was a brilliant white. @nlike the dusty Moon,
its surface was covered with shinin! ob"ects that looked like lar!e pieces of ice. &l#ost
certainly these were for#ed #ainly fro# water that Mupiter's !ravity had so#ehow
failed to capture.
&s 7uickly as it had rushed out of the sky ahead, +uropa dropped behind the
ship, and now Mupiter itself was only two hours away. +ven thou!h 2al constantly
checked and rechecked the ship's orbit, it was difficult to believe they were not flyin!
strai!ht into the enor#ous planet.
8ow was the ti#e to drop the at#ospheric probes which, it was hoped, would
continue to operate lon! enou!h to send back so#e infor#ation fro# below the
clouds. &s they slowly fell away, it was possible to see that the ship was in a steady
orbit and would circle the planet safely.
&nd now, for the first ti#e, they were !oin! to lose the Sun. Thou!h it was
#uch s#aller now, it had been with the# for the whole of their five)#onth "ourney.
&s their orbit dived into the shadow of Mupiter, they watched it sink into the !reat
clouds. There was a #o#ent of flashin! lire all alon! the hori:on, then ni!ht ca#e.
But the !reat world below was not wholly dark. <aint rivers of li!ht #oved fro#
hori:on to hori:on. 2ere and there they !athered into pools of li7uid fire, always
#ovin!, constantly chan!ed by what was happenin! below. $t was a wonderful si!ht,
and it held =oole and Bow#an's attention.
' +arth si!nal is dyin! rapidly' announced 2al.' ,e are enterin! the first silent
area.'
They had been e'pectin! this, but they felt a !reat loneliness. The radio silence
would only last for an hour, but that hour would be the lon!est of their lives.
Mupiter was now an enor#ous wall of fire, stretchin! out of si!ht above the#
* and the ship was cli#bin! strai!ht up the side of it. Thou!h they knew they were
#ovin! far too 7uickly for even Mupiter's !ravity to capture the#, it was hard to believe
that Discovery had not beco#e a satellite of this enor#ous world.
&t last, far ahead, there was li!ht alon! the hori:on. They were leavin! the
shadow, headin! out towards the Sun. &nd then 2al announced,' $ a# in radio contact
with +arth. $ a# also happy to say that the orbit has been successful. ur ti#e to
Saturn is one hundred and si'ty)seven days, five hours, eleven #inutes.'
That was within a #inute of the ori!inal calculation. Discovery had successfully
used the enor#ous !ravity of Mupiter to increase her own speed by several thousand
kilo#etres an hour. She had drawn ener!y fro# the !reat planet itself, which was
now carryin! it deeper into space.
But the laws of nature re#ained unbroken. &s the speed of the ship had
->
increased, Mupiter had slowed down, but by such a s#all a#ount that it could never be
#easured. The ti#e had not yet co#e when Man could leave his #ark on the Solar
Syste#.
&s the li!ht !rew 7uickly around the#, and the s#all Sun lifted a!ain into
Mupiter's sky, =oole and Bow#an reached out silently and shook each other's hands.
Thou!h they could hardly believe it, the first part of the #ission was safely
over.
Chapter 2. The %or)d o# the 6od0
But they had not yet finished with Mupiter. <ar behind, the two probes that
Discovery had sent out were #akin! their first contact with the at#osphere.
ne was never heard fro# a!ain. $t had probably entered too steeply and burned
up before it could send any infor#ation. The second was #ore successful. $t sliced
throu!h the upper layers of Mupiter's at#osphere, then swun! out into space a!ain. $t had
then lost so #uch speed that, as planned, it be!an to fall back a!ain towards the planet.
Two hours later, it re)entered the at#osphere on the dayli!ht side * #ovin! at over a
hundred thousand kilo#etres an hour.
$##ediately it was surrounded by a cloud of !as, and radio contact was lost.
There were an'ious #o#ents of waitin! then, for the two watchers in the Control
Roo#. They could not be certain that the probe would not burn up co#pletely.
But the protective cover did its "ob, lon! enou!h for the probe to slow down. $t
then pushed out its scientific instru#ents and be!an to look around. n Discovery, now
al#ost half a #illion kilo#etres away, the radio started to brin! the first news fro#
Mupiter.
Most of it was details about pressure, te#perature and a do:en other chan!in!
features which the scientists on +arth would study later. 2owever, there was one
#essa!e that could be understoodD it was the T6 picture.
&t first they could only see yellow #ist, #i'ed with red areas that #oved past
the ca#era at hi!h speed as the probe fell at several hundred kilo#etres an hour. The
#ist !rew thicker, and it was i#possible to tell if the ca#era was seein! for ten
centi#etres or ten kilo#etres. Then, suddenly, the #ist disappeared as the probe fell
out of this first layer of cloud.
The scene below was so stran!e that for a #o#ent it was al#ost
#eanin!less to an eye accusto#ed to the colours and shapes of +arth. $t looked
like an endless sea of !old, with !reat waves runnin! across it. But there was no
#ove#ent, .#il it could not possibly be an ocean because the probe vv.is still hi!h in
the planets at#osphere. $t had to be another layer ol i loud.
Then the ca#era cau!ht so#ethin!. M.#v kilo#etres away, co#in! up
throu!h the cloud, was a curiously ivi#i$.ii #ountain. &round the top of this were
other s#all while N louds, all about the sa#e si:e, all 7uite separate.
=oole and Bow#an stared at this, the first si!ht of so#ethin! on Mupiter that
#i!ht be solid. But they would learn nothin! #ore, because now the probe was
reachin! the end of its life. &s it sank lower and lower, the pressure of the !as on it
!rew !reater. ,ith one warnin! flash, the picture disappeared.
=oole and Bow#an had the sa#e thou!ht in their #inds. $f there was life
down there, how lon! would it take to find it% &fter that, how lon! before #en could
follow this first probe * and in what kind of ship %
PART *O7R Edge o# Darkne00
Chapter 21 "irthda1 Part1
The fa#iliar sound of' 2appy Birthday' died away a#on! the screens of the
Control Roo#. The =oole fa#ily, standin! round a birthday cake on +arth, went
suddenly silent.
Then <rank's father said,' ,ell, son * can't think of anythin! else to say at the
#o#ent, e'cept that our thou!hts are with you, and we're wishin! you the happiest
of birthdays.'
' Take care, darlin!,' Mrs =oole said, tearfully. 'Bod be with you.'
Then they all said !oodbye, and the fil# ended. =oole continued to stare at the
screen, thinkin! that all this had happened #ore than an hour a!o. By now, his fa#ily
had !one their separate ways. $t only #ade hi# feel further away fro# ho#e.
' Sorry to interrupt the celebrations,' said 2al,' but we have a proble#.'
' ,hat is it %' Bow#an and =oole both asked.
' $ a# havin! difficulty in stayin! in contact with +arth. The trouble is in the &+
>A unit. $ believe it #ay fail within seventy)two hours.'
' ,e'll take care of it,' Bow#an replied. ' =ut +arth on the screen.'
They studied their ho#e planet for so#e ti#e. The picture was co#in! to
the# fro# the T6 ca#era fi'ed to the ed!e of the bi! radio dish. @nless the narrow
bea# was pointin! strai!ht at +arth, they could neither send nor receive #essa!es. &t
the #o#ent, it see#ed to be workin! perfectly.
' 2al, do you know what the trouble is%' asked Bow#an.
' $t co#es and !oes, and $ can't tell e'actly. But it does see# to be in the &+ >A
unit.'
Bow#an's first thou!ht was to ask 2al for #ore details, but he decided to try
hi#self. 2e ran his #ind over the thousands of syste#s on the ship, and after a few
#o#ents the infor#ation ca#e to hi#. The antenna was kept pointin! at +arth by
#otors controlled fro# the central co#puter. But the instructions went to the &+ >A
unit first, where they were chan!ed into so#ethin! that the #otors could understand.
$t was like a nerve centre in the body, which translates the brain's si!nals into
instructions for #ove#ent. 8ow Bow#an had a 7uestion he could ask 2al.
' ,hat do you su!!est %' he said.
-0
'The best idea is to replace the unit with a spare, so we can check it over.'
' =ut it up on the screen,' Bow#an said.
Bow#an studied the drawin!, then said, ' This #eans !oin! outside the ship.''
$'# sorry,' 2al replied.' $ thou!ht you knew.'
' $ probably did a year a!o,' Bow#an said. '&nyway, it looks si#ple enou!h. ,e only
have to unlock a cover and put in a new unit.'
' That suits #e fine,' said =oole, who was responsible for routine work outside.' $t'll
be so#ethin! different.'
Chapter 22 Lea/ing the (hip
=oole put on his pressure suit and cli#bed inside the s#all vehicle desi!ned
for work outside Discovery. $t was round in shape and had a lar!e window in front
which !ave the operator an e'cellent view. Discovery carried three of these vehicles,
known as &nna, Betty and Clara.
=oole spent ten #inutes carefully checkin! the controls. Then, when he was
co#pletely satisfied, he spoke to 2al over the radio. Thou!h Bow#an was watchin! in
the Control Roo#, he would not !et involved unless so#ethin! went obviously
wron!.
' This is Betty. Start pu#pin! operation.'
' =u#pin! operation started,' repeated 2al.
&t once =oole could hear the noise of the pu#ps as air was taken out of the
roo#. Then the thin #etal of the vehicle's skin be!an to #ake s#all noises under the
pressure. &fter five #inutes, 2al reportedI
' =u#pin! finished.'
=oole #ade a final check of the instru#ents. +verythin! was perfectly nor#al.
' pen outside door,' he ordered.
2al repeated the instruction, and the walls of the ship slid apart. =oole felt the
vehicle shake sli!htly as the last of the air rushed out into space. Then he was lookin!
at the stars.
' Send vehicle out.' 6ery slowly, the #etal bar fro# which Betty was han!in!
pushed itself out throu!h the open door, until the vehicle was "ust outside the ship.
=oole pulled back sli!htly on the #ain "et control, and Betty slid off the #etal
bar. 2e now had no connection with Discovery * not even a safety line.
2e let the vehicle #ove out for thirty #etres, then slowed her down and turned
back towards the ship, approachin! the antenna fro# behind in case he interrupted the
radio si!nal and caused a short loss of contact with +arth.
2e saw the s#all #etal plate that covered the &+ >A unit. $t was held in place by
four connectors, and should not be difficult to re#ove. 2owever, he could not do the "ob
fro# inside the vehicle. 2e spoke to Bow#an on the radio, and they discussed what
needed to be done. utside the ship there were no s#all #istakes.
2e parked Betty on top of the ship about si' #etres away fro# the antenna.
Then he checked the syste#s of his pressure suit and, when he was 7uite satisfied, let
the air out of the vehicle. There was one #ore thin! to do before he !ot out. 2e
pushed down a switch so that Betty was now controlled by 2al. Thou!h he was still
connected to the vehicle by a very stron! safety line, even the best lines could fail. 2e
would look a fool if he needed his vehicle and was unable to call it to his assistance by
passin! instructions to 2al.
The door of the vehicle swun! open, and he #oved slowly out into the
silence of space. 8ever #ove 7uickly * stop and think * these were the rules for
workin! outside the ship.
,ith a !entle push, he sent hi#self towards the bi! round dish. 2is double
shadow, produced by Betty's two front li!hts, danced across the skin of the ship. 2e
stopped hi#self fro# ban!in! into the antenna by pushin! out an ar#. Ouickly he
hooked his safety line on. 2e studied the four connectors for a #o#ent, then took a
tool fro# the belt of his suit and started to undo the#. 2e had to push a!ainst his
safety line to stay in place, but they ca#e off without any trouble. The #etal cover was
a little hard to #ove, but after a few knocks it ca#e loose. 2e fi'ed it to one of the
antenna supports.
8ow he could see the &+ >A unit. $t was about the sa#e si:e and shape as a
postcard, and it had a s#all handle so it could easily be re#oved. But it was still
controllin! the direction of the antenna. $f he re#oved it now, the dish would swin!
round to its central position, to point alon! the len!th of the ship. $t #i!ht even crash
into hi# as it turned. &lso, this would cut off contact with +arth.
' 2al,' =oole called out over the radio.' $ a# !oin! to re#ove the unit. Switch
off all control power to the antenna syste#.'
'&ntenna control power off,' 2al said.
'Ri!ht. $'# pullin! the unit out now.'
The card slipped out without any difficulty. ,ithin a #inute, its spare was in
place.
But =oole was takin! no chances. 2e pushed hi#self !ently away fro# the
antenna, "ust in case the bi! dish went wild when the power was switched back
on.Then he called 2al a!ain.
' The new unit should be workin!. Switch control power on.'
' =ower on,' 2al said. The antenna didn't #ove.
F@nit is workin!,' 2al said, ten seconds later. $n that ti#e he had carried out as #any
tests as a s#all ar#y of hu#an inspectors.
' <ine,' said =oole.' $'# now replacin! the cover.'
This was often the #ost dan!erous part of a "ob outside. Mistakes were often
#ade when people had to tidy up before their return to the ship. But <rank =oole was
a careful #an ) that was one reason why he had been chosen for the #ission. 2e
took his ti#e, and thou!h one of the connectors al#ost !ot away fro# hi#, he cau!ht
-A
it before it had traveled #ore than a couple of #eters.
<ifteen #inutes later, he was #ovin! the vehicle back throu!h the open doors of
the ship, 7uietly confident that the "ob would not need to be done a!ain.
2e was, however, sadly #istaken.
Chapter 23 (ickne00
' Do you #ean,' <rank =oole said, #ore surprised than annoyed, 'that $ did all
that work for nothin!%'
' $ t see#s like it,' answered Bow#an. 'The unit's workin! perfectly. $t passed
every test.'
The two #en were standin! in the tiny workshop)laboratory in the central
livin! area. The thin, card)si:ed plate of the &+ >A unit lay on the table, connected to a
nu#ber of wires which led to a s#all screen.
' Try it yourself,' said Bow#an.
=oole pushed the TE"T button. &t once, the screen flashed the #essa!e,
3&IT $4.
' ,hat do you think %' =oole said.
' Maybe 2al's own testin! syste# #ade a #istake. $t's possible.'
' $t's #ore likely that there's a fault with this thin!,' =oole said, pointin! to the
screen. '&nyway, better safe than sorry. $' # !lad we replaced the unit.'
Bow#an took out the &+ >A and held it up to the li!ht. The thin #aterial was
covered with wirin!, so it looked like a piece of #odern art.
',e can't take any chances * this is our connection with +arth. $'ll write a
report then drop this in a bo'. So#ebody else can worry about it when we !et ho#e.'
But the worryin! be!an a lon! ti#e before that, with the ne't #essa!e fro# +arth.
'This is Mission Control. ,e appear to have a sli!ht proble#.
' (our report that there is nothin! wron! with the &+ >A unit a!rees with our
opinion. $t see#s #ore likely that your co#puter #ade a #istake. This is not a reason to
worry, but we would like you to watch out for any other chan!es fro# nor#al
perfor#ance. ,e have suspected several other irre!ularities in the past few days, but none
have see#ed i#portant enou!h to need correction.
',e are runnin! #ore tests with both our .GGGs, and will report as soon as
results are available. $f necessary, we #ay disconnect your .GGG te#porarily for testin!
and pass over control to one of our co#puters. The ti#e difference will introduce
proble#s, but our studies show that +arth control is perfectly satisfactory at this sta!e of
the #ission.
' This is Mission Control. Messa!e ends.'
<rank =oole, who was in co##and when the #essa!e ca#e in, thou!ht about
this in silence. Then he went to see Bow#an, who was pourin! hi#self so#e coffee in
the kitchen. =oole said !ood #ornin! * they both still used +arth ti#e * and helped
hi#self to a cup.
' ,hat's the proble# %' said Bow#an. &ny chan!e fro# the nor#al routine
#eant that so#ethin! was not 7uite ri!ht.
',ell .. .' =oole answered slowly. ',e've "ust had a #essa!e fro# Mission
Control.' 2e lowered his voice. ',e #ay have a sli!ht case of space sickness on board.'
=erhaps Bow#an was not fully awake because it took hi# several seconds to
understand. Then he said. 'h, $ see. ,hat else did they tell you %'
'That there was no reason to worry. &nd that they were considerin! a
te#porary switch)over to +arth Control, while they checked thin!s out.' They both
knew, of course, that 2al was hearin! every word, but they could not help speakin!
indirectly. 2al was their collea!ue, and they did not want to e#barrass hi#. But it did
not yet see# necessary to discuss the #atter in private.
Bow#an finished his breakfast in silence, while =oole played with the e#pty
coffee)container. They were both thinkin! hard, but there was nothin! #ore to say.
,hatever happened, the at#osphere on the ship had chan!ed a little. There
was tension in the air and, for the first ti#e, a feelin! that so#ethin! #i!ht be !oin!
wron!.
Discovery was no lon!er a happy ship.
Chapter 24 "reakdown
=oole was asleep, and Bow#an was readin! in the Control Roo#, when 2al
announced,C Dave, $ have a report for you.'
',hat is i t %'
' ,e have another bad &+ >A unit. My tests su!!est failure within twenty)four
hours.'
Bow#an put down his book and stared at the co#puter screen. 2e knew, of
course, that 2al was not really there, whatever that #eant. But it see#ed polite to look
at the screen when speakin! to hi#.
' $ can't understand it, 2al. Two units can't !o wron! within a couple of days.'
' $t does see# stran!e, Dave. But $ a# certain that the unit will fail.'
' 9et #e see how thin!s look now.'
2e knew that this would prove nothin!, but he wanted ti#e to think. The
fa#iliar view of +arth appeared on the screen. $t was perfectly centred on the cross)
wires, as Bow#an knew it #ust be. $f there had been any break in co##unication,
the alar# would already have sounded.
'2ave you any idea,' he said,C whatCs causin! the fault%'
$t was unusual for 2al to pause so lon!. Then he answeredI '8ot really, Dave.
&s $ reported earlier, $ can't say e'actly where the trouble is.'
'(ou're 7uite certain,' said Bow#an, cautiously, 'that you haven't #ade a
#istake% (ou know we tested the other &+ >A unit thorou!hly, and there was
-/
nothin! wron! with it.'
'(es, $ know that, but $'# sure there is a fault. $f it's not in the unit, it #ay be in
one of the other syste#s.'
That was possible, thou!h it #i!ht be very difficult to prove )until a
breakdown happened and showed the# where the trouble was.
' ,ell, $'ll report it to Mission Control and we'll see what they advise.' 2e
paused, but there was no reaction.' 2al,' he continued, ' is so#ethin! worryin! you
* so#ethin! that possibly caused this proble# %'
&!ain there was that unusual delay. Then 2al answered,C $C# not sure how to
say this nicely, Dave, but ... $'# not a hu#an bein!D $'# a co#puter. $ don't #ake
#istakes.'
,hen the face of Dr Si#onson, the Chief =ro!ra##er, appeared on the
screen, =oole and Bow#an knew this could only #ean trouble.
' This is Mission Control. ,e have looked into your &+ >A difficulty, and both
of our 2al .GGGs are in a!ree#ent. The report you !ave of a second failure only
#akes us #ore certain.
'The fault does not lie in the &+ >A, and there is no need to replace it a!ain.
The fault is in the connectin! wires, and this su!!ests a proble# with pro!ra##in!.
,e can only repair this if you disconnect your .GGG and switch to +arth Control.
(ou will therefore take the followin! steps, be!innin! at ;;.GG Ship Ti#e ...'
The voice died away. &t the sa#e ti#e, the alar# syste# sounded, and then
2al's voice said,' Condition (ellowK Condition (ellowK'
' ,hat's wron!%' Bow#an said, thou!h he had already !uessed the answer.
' The &+ >A unit has failed, as $ said it would.'
Chapter 25 *ir0t an to (aturn
&s he had done on his previous trip outside, <rank =oole parked Betty about si'
#etres away fro# the antenna and switched control over to 2al before openin! up.
' Boin! outside now,' he reported to Bow#an.
There was silence for so#e ti#e, as =oole #oved slowly towards the antenna.
Then he called out,' 2al, there's too #uch shadow here * swin! the vehicle li!hts
twenty de!rees to the left ) thanks ) that's 1.'
So#ewhere in Bow#an's #ind, a warnin! bell started to rin!. There was
so#ethin! stran!e, and it took hi# a few seconds to reali:e what it was.
2al had obeyed the order, but had not said a word. That was unusual. ,hen
=oole had finished, they should discuss this ...
utside, =oole re#oved the cover, then pulled the little unit out of its place and
held it up to the sunli!ht.
' 2ere it is,' he said.' $t still looks perfectly 1 to #e.'
Then he stopped. & sudden #ove#ent had cau!ht his eye * out here, where no
#ove#ent was possible.
2e looked up in alar#. The pattern of li!ht fro# the vehicle's 3wo #ain li!hts
had started to #ove around hi#. 2is first thou!ht was that Betty had #oved away
fro# the ship. But no )she was co#in! strai!ht towards hi#, under full power.
The si!ht was so unbelievable that he said nothin!D he did not even try to #ove
away.Then he recovered enou!h to shout,' 2alK <ull brakin! ...'
$nside Discovery, that shout over the radio #ade Bow#an "u#p violently.
' ,hat's wron!, <rank %' he called.
Then, outside the wide observation windows, so#ethin! #oved. 2e saw
Betty, travellin! al#ost at full speed, headin! out towards the stars.
' 2alK' he cried.' ,hat's wron! % <ull brakin! power on BettyK <ull brakin!
powerK'
8othin! happened, and then, pulled behind her on the end of the safety line,
appeared a spacesuit. ne look was enou!h to tell Bow#an the worst. $t was the soft
shape of a suit that had lost its pressure and was open to vacuu#.
,ithin five #inutes the vehicle and its satellite had disappeared a#on! the stars.
<or a lon! ti#e, David Bow#an stared after it into the e#ptiness that stretched so
#any #illions of kilo#etres ahead. nly one thou!ht kept ha##erin! in his brain.
<rank =oole would be the first of all #en to reach Saturn.
Chapter 2! Con/er0ation with 4a)
Bow#an was sittin! in the little kitchen, a half)finished cup of coffee in his
hand. 2e did not re#e#ber #akin! his way there fro# the Control Roo#.
Directly opposite hi# was one of the !lass fish)eyes that 2al used to see around
the ship. Bow#an rose slowly to his feet and walked towards it.
' $t's a pity about <rank,' 2al said
' (es,' Bow#an answered, after a lon! pause.' $t is.'
' 2e was an e'cellent crew #e#ber.'
<indin! the coffee still in his hand, Bow#an took a slow #outhful. 2ad it been
an accident, caused by so#e failure of the vehicle controls% r was it a #istake by 2al %
The only other possibility was that 2al had killed <rank. Bow#an found the
idea stran!e, but he had to consider it. $f it was true, he was in terrible dan!er.
2is ne't act was written into the #ission orders, but he was not sure how safe
it was. $f either crew #e#ber was killed, the other #an had to replace hi# at once
fro# the hibernators. ,hitehead was first on the list, then 1a#inski, then 2unter.The
wakin! up process was under 2al's control, so he could act if both his hu#an
collea!ues were dead.
But Bow#an could also take control if he wanted to. 2e also felt that one
hu#an co#panion was not enou!h. 2e decided to wake up all three of the hibernators.
-L
$n the difficult weeks and #onths ahead, he #i!ht need all the help he could !et.
' 2al,' he said.' Bive #e hibernation control * on all the units.'
F&ll of the#, Dave%'
'(es.'
FMay $ re#ind you that only one replace#ent is needed.'
' $ know that, but $ prefer to do it this way.'
' &re you sure it's necessary to wake up any of the#, Dave % ,e can #ana!e
very well by ourselves.'
This was new, and it #ade Bow#an even #ore nervous. 2al knew that
,hitehead had to be woken. 2e was su!!estin! a !reat chan!e in #ission plannin!.
' Since an e#er!ency has developed,' Bow#an said,' $ want as #uch help as
possible. So please let #e have control of the hibernators.'
' $f you still really want to wake up the whole crew, $ can handle it #yself.
There's no need for you to worry.'
Bow#an felt he was cau!ht in a bad drea#. $t was like bein! 7uestioned by the
police about a cri#e of which he knew nothin! * knowin! that one careless word
would lead to disaster. 2e beca#e an!ry.
' 2al, unless you obey #y instructions, $ shall be forced to disconnect you. 8ow
!ive #e controlK'
2al's surrender was as total as it was une'pected.
'1, Dave,' he said. '(ou're certainly the boss. $ was only tryin! to do what $
thou!ht best.'
&s Bow#an slid open the door of ,hitehead's hibernator, he felt the cold air
strike hi# in the face. The screen, a copy of the one in the Control Roo#, showed
that everythin! was perfectly nor#al. 2e pressed the button on the ,akener. There
was no sound, no si!n that anythin! had started to happen, but the curves on the
screen be!an to chan!e their shape. $n about ten #inutes, ,hitehead would wake up.
&nd then two thin!s happened at the sa#e ti#e. Both were very s#all chan!es,
hardly noticeable, but after three #onths on Discovery Bow#an knew his ship well.
<irst, the li!hts beca#e sli!htly unsteady for a #o#ent, which always happened
when any piece of e7uip#ent started up. But he could think of no e7uip#ent which
would suddenly start workin! at this point.
Then he heard the far)off sound of an electric #otor. To Bow#an, every #otor
on the ship had its own individual sound, and he reco!ni:ed this one i##ediately.
The airlock doors, which last opened for <rank's fli!ht to his death, were openin!
a!ain.
Chapter 2' 4a)80 (ecret
Since he had first beco#e conscious, in that laboratory on +arth, all 2al's powers
and skills had been pointed in one direction. The only reason for his e'istence was to
co#plete the #ission.
But since the ship had left +arth, he had been troubled by a secret he could not
share with =oole and Bow#an. &nd the ti#e was fast approachin! when his
collea!ues would learn that he had deceived the#.
The three hibernators already knew the truth, but they could not talk in their
sleep. But =oole and Bow#an had not been told. $t was a secret that was very hard to
hide, because it affected a person's attitudes and their voice. So the two active
#e#bers of the crew, who were in re!ular contact with +arth, would only learn the
#ission's full purpose when they needed to know.
The reason for this #eant nothin! to 2al. 2e knew a secret, and he wanted to
tell it to =oole and Bow#an. 2e couldn't tell it, so he had be!un to worry. 2e had
also be!un to #ake #istakes, thou!h he could not ad#it this to hi#self.
But, worse than any tension, he had been threatened with disconnection. To 2al,
this was the sa#e as death. Because he had never slept, he did not know that it was
possible to wake up a!ain.
So he would protect hi#self, with all the weapons at his co##and. &nd then,
followin! the orders that had been !iven to hi# in case of a serious e#er!ency, he
would continue the #ission alone.
Chapter 2, 9n :acuu+
& #o#ent later, Bow#an could hear a !reat noise as the air be!an to leave
the ship. The first winds pulled at his body, then suddenly he was fi!htin! to stay on his
feet.
2e looked back only once at ,hitehead. There was nothin! he could do now
for hi# or any of the others. 2e had to save hi#self.
8ow the wind was rushin! past hi#, carryin! with it loose pieces of clothin!,
sheets of paper, food fro# the kitchen, anythin! that had not been fi'ed in place. 2e
had a #o#ent to see this, then the li!hts went out and he was in screa#in! darkness.
&l#ost i##ediately the e#er!ency la#ps ca#e on, fillin! the ship with a faint
blue li!ht. 8ow it was beco#in! difficult to breathe, and the pressure was droppin!.
2e knew he could e'pect only about fifteen seconds before his brain be!an to die.
<ortunately, the wind was slowin! down. 2e knew there was an e#er!ency shelter "ust
alon! the passa!e. 2e ran towards it and pulled the door to hi#. $t #oved and he fell
inside, usin! the wei!ht of his body to close it behind hi#.
The tiny roo# was "ust lar!e enou!h to hold one #an * and a spacesuit. 8ear
the ceilin! was a lever labelled $5Y)E&. Bow#an cau!ht hold of it and, with his
last stren!th, pulled it down.
<or lon! #o#ents he stood breathin! hard, while the pressure in the little roo#
rose around hi#. ,hen his body returned to nor#al, he stood and listened. The ship
-4
was silent now, airless, a dead thin! in space.
Bow#an !ot into the spacesuit. $t see#ed a pity to waste the o'y!en in the roo#,
but he knew what had to be done, and there was no point in waitin!. 2e pressed a
button that allowed it to escape. Then, when the pressure on each side of the door was
e7ual, he opened it and walked back to the hibernation roo#.
2e looked at ,hitehead first. 2e had thou!ht that a hibernatin! #an
showed no si!n of life, but he was wron!. Thou!h it was i#possible to describe,
there was a difference between hibernation and death. The red li!hts and strai!ht lines
on the screen proved what he had already !uessed.
$t was the sa#e with the other two. 2e had never known the# very wellD he
would never know the# now.
2e was the only livin! thin! on the ship, but he knew that he was not alone. To
be safe, he #ust be even lonelier.
The door was not locked, but there were a nu#ber of warnin! notices on it.
bviously, anybody who opened it had to have a !ood reason. Bow#an pulled on
the handle and entered the s#all roo#.
2e had been here only once before, while 2al was bein! built into the ship. 2e
had 7uite for!otten that there was a !lass fish)eye watchin! the neat rows of electronic
units.
' $t see#s that so#ethin! has !one wron!, Dave.'
Bow#an took no notice. 2e was carefully studyin! the little labels on the units,
checkin! his plan of action.
' 2ello, Dave,' said 2al.' 2ave you found the trouble %'
This would be a very difficult operation. 2e could not si#ply cut off 2al's
power supply, because he needed 2al to run the ship. ,ithout hi#, Discovery would
be #echanically dead. The only answer was to cut out the hi!her centers of 2al's brain,
and to leave the purely auto#atic control syste#s in place.
' $ think there has been a failure in the airlock doors,' 2al re#arked.' 9ucky you
weren't killed.'
Bow#an undid the lockin! bar on the unit that allowed 2al to think about the
results of his actions. 2e pulled the unit out and let it float across the roo#.
' 2ey, Dave,' said 2al.' ,hat are you doin! %'
There was a series of units that let 2al feel !ood about hi#self. Bow#an
pulled the# out one by one.
' 9isten, Dave,' said 2al.' $'ve !ot years of e'perience. & lot of work has !one
into #akin! #e what $ a#.'
Bow#an started on the intelli!ence units.
'Dave,' said 2al. '$ don't understand why you are doin! this to #e ... $ have
!reat enthusias# for the #ission ... (ou are destroyin! #y #ind ... Don't you
understand% ... $ will beco#e childish ... $ will beco#e nothin! ...'
This is harder than $ e'pected, thou!ht Bow#an. $ a# destroyin! the only
conscious creature in #y universe.
'$ a# a 2al .GGG co#puter, =roduction 8u#ber >. $ was built at the 2al
factory in @rbana, $llinois on Manuary -;, -..L. The rain in Spain is #ainly in
the . . . Dave * are you still there% Two ti#es two is ... er ... 0 ... $ see# to be havin!
so#e difficulty
The voice stopped so suddenly that Bow#an fro:e for a #o#ent, his hand still
holdin! one of the re#ainin! #e#ory units. Then, une'pectedly, 2al spoke a!ain.
The speech was #uch slower, and the words had a dead, #echanical sound.
They did not sound at all like they ca#e fro# 2al.
' Bood ... #ornin! ... Doctor ... Chandra ... This ... is ... 2al ... $ ... a# ...
ready ... for ... #y ... first . . . lesson ... today . ..'
Bow#an pulled out the last unit, and 2al was silent for ever.
Chapter 2- A)one
9ike a tiny co#plicated toy, the ship floated in space. There was no si!n of any
life on board. $n fact, there were two si!ns that all life had ended * the airlock doors
were wide open, and co#in! out fro# the# was a cloud of rubbish that was already
several kilo#etres lon!.
But there was still power on board. & faint blue li!ht was shinin! fro# the
windows. &nd now, at last, there was #ove#ent.
& lon! ob"ect covered in cloth ca#e out of the airlock and floated away. &
#o#ent later it was followed by another * and then a third.
2alf an hour passed, and then one of the space vehicles ca#e out throu!h the
airlock. $t #oved slowly round the ship and landed near the base of the antenna. &
space)suited fi!ure !ot out of it, worked there for a few #inutes, then returned to
the vehicle. &fter a ti#e the vehicle #ade its way back to the airlock and re)entered the
ship.
8othin! happened for over an hour. Then the airlock doors closed and, a little
later, the full li!htin! syste# ca#e on. Then the !reat bowl of the antenna be!an to
#ove, turnin! round to face the back of the ship.
$nside Discovery, David Bow#an carefully pointed the antenna towards
+arth.There was no auto#atic control now, but he could hold it steady for a few
#inutes. $t would be over an hour before his words reached +arth, and another hour
before any reply could reach hi#.
$t was difficult to i#a!ine what answer +arth could possibly send, e'cept a
sy#pathetic ' Boodbye'.
Chapter 3. The (ecret
2eywood <loyd looked very tired, but he was doin! his best to !ive
confidence to the lonely #an on the other side of the Solar Syste#.
-.
' <irst of all, Dr Bow#an,' he be!an, ' we #ust con!ratulate you on the way
you handled an e'tre#ely difficult situation. ,e believe we know the cause of your
2&9 .GGGs proble#, but we'll discuss that later. <or the #o#ent, we want to !ive
you every possible assistance, so that you can co#plete your #ission.
' &nd now $ #ust tell you its real purpose. ,e were !oin! to tell you all the
facts as you approached Saturn, but thin!s have chan!ed. (ou need to know now.
' Two years a!o we discovered the first proof of intelli!ent life outside the +arth.
&n ob"ect #ade of black #aterial, three #etres hi!h, was found buried in the crater
Tycho. 2ere it is.'
& photo!raph of TM&)-, with #en in spacesuits standin! beside it, appeared
on the screen. Bow#an leaned forwards in open)#outhed surprise. 9ike everybody else
interested in space, he had half)e'pected so#ethin! like this all his life.
2eywood <loyd reappeared on the screen.
'The #ost a#a:in! thin! about this ob"ect is its a!e. +verythin! we know
about it su!!ests that it is three #illion years old. (ou would e'pect, then, that it is
co#pletely lifeless. 2owever, soon after lunar sunrise, it !ave out a very powerful
radio si!nal. ,e were able to follow this with !reat accuracy. $t was ai#ed e'actly at
Saturn.
',hen we thou!ht later about what happened, we decided that the ob"ect was
either powered by the Sun, or at least started up by the Sun. ,e felt this because it sent
its si!nal i##ediately after sunrise, when it was in dayli!ht for the first ti#e in three
#illion years.
'The 7uestion now is why a sun)powered ob"ect was buried ten #etres
under!round. ,e've e'a#ined do:ens of theories, and the favourite one is the si#plest.
$t is also the #ost worryin!.
'(ou hide a sun)powered ob"ect in darkness only if you want to know
when it is brou!ht out into the li!ht. $n other words, the ob"ect #ay be so#e kind of
alar# bell. &nd we have #ade it rin! ...
',e don't know whether the creatures that put it there still e'ist. $f they do,
they #ay be dan!erous. ,hether they are or not, we need to #ake preparations. But we
cannot do anythin! until we know #ore about the#.
'(our #ission, then, is #uch #ore than a voya!e of discovery. (ou are !oin!
into what #ay be a dan!erous area to find out what you can. $t #ay see#
unbelievable that any life)for#s could e'ist on Saturn. But life #ay be possible on one
or #ore of its #oons. ,e are particularly interested in its ei!hth #oon,Mapetus, and we
#ay ask you to look closely at it.
' &t the #o#ent, we do not know whether to hope or fear. ,e do not know if,
out on the #oons of Saturn, you will #eet with !ood or evil * or only with ruins a
thousand ti#es older than Troy.'
>
PART *9:E The oon0 o# (aturn
Chapter 31 (ur/i/a)
,ork is the best cure for any shock, and Bow#an now had plenty to do. &s
7uickly as possible, he had to !et Discovery workin! properly a!ain.
9ife Support was the #ost i#portant thin!. Much o'y!en had been lost, but
there was enou!h left to provide for a sin!le #an. The co#puters on +arth could now
do #any of the "obs that 2al had done. $t would take the# 7uite a lon! ti#e to react to
a chan!e in conditions, but none of the work was ur!ent.
Bow#an went back and closed the doors of the hibernators. $t had been the
worst "ob, !ettin! the bodies out. 2e was !lad that they had been collea!ues and not
friends. 8ow all three of the# would reach Saturn before hi# * but not before <rank
=oole. So#ehow, Bow#an was pleased about this.
2e did not try to check if the hibernator was still workin!. ne day, his life
#i!ht depend on it, but #any thin!s #i!ht happen before then. 2e tried to avoid
thinkin! about such distant proble#s, and concentrated on i##ediate ones. Slowly he
cleaned up the ship, checkin! that its syste#s were still runnin! s#oothly and
discussin! technical difficulties with +arth. Durin! those first few weeks he did not !et
#uch sleep, and he did not think very #uch about the !reat #ystery that lay ahead.
&t last, when the ship settled down into its auto#atic routine * thou!h it still
needed a lot of his attention * Bow#an had ti#e to study the reports sent to hi# fro#
+arth. &!ain and a!ain he played back the recordin! #ade when TM&)- woke up
and !reeted the dawn for the first ti#e in three #illion years.
Since that #o#ent, the black ob"ect had done nothin!. 8o atte#pt had been
#ade to cut into it. The scientists were naturally cautious, and they were also afraid of the
possible results.
ne stran!e, and perhaps uni#portant, feature of the block had led to endless
ar!u#ent. $t was rou!hly three #etres hi!h by -.># across by about G.># deep. ,hen
its si:e was #easured with !reat care, the relationship between the three fi!ures was
e'actly - to 0 to .. This re#ained true to the li#its of accurate #easure#ent. $t was
also true that no technical process on +arth could shape a block of any #aterial so
accurately. $n a way, this was as a#a:in! as any other feature of TM&)-.
Chapter 32 Li#e in (pace
>
TroyI an ancient city in what is now Turkey. =eople believe it was destroyed in --40 BC.
;G
&part fro# 7uick #eals in the kitchen, Bow#an spent al#ost all his ti#e in the
Control Roo#. 2e slept in his seat so he could see any trouble as soon as the first
si!ns of it appeared on the screen. @nder instructions fro# Mission Control, he had
built several e#er!ency syste#s which were workin! 7uite well. $t even see#ed
possible that he would live until the Discovery reached Saturn. f course the ship
would !et there whether he was alive or not.
Thou!h he had little ti#e for si!ht)seein!, there were views throu!h Discovery's
windows that often #ade it difficult to concentrate on the proble#s of survival. 2e
could see #any stars, but &lpha Centauri always see#ed to attract Bow#an's eyes and
#ind when he looked into space. This was the nearest of all stars beyond the Solar
Syste#, but its li!ht had taken four years to reach hi#.
There was obviously so#e connection between TM&)- and Saturn, but no one
believed that the builders of the rock could possibly co#e fro# there. &s a place to
live, Saturn was even #ore dan!erous than Mupiter.
But if these creatures had co#e fro# beyond the Solar Syste#, how had
they travelled the enor#ous distance fro# the nearest star%
Scientists re#inded people that Discovery, the fastest ship ever desi!ned, would
take twenty thousand years to reach &lpha Centauri. +ven if, at so#e ti#e in the
future, ships' en!ines i#proved !reatly, in the end there would still be the proble# of
the speed of li!ht. 8o #aterial ob"ect could !o faster than this. Therefore the builders
of TM&)- had shared the sa#e sun as Man, and since they had #ade no appearance
in #odern ti#es, they had probably died out.
& s#all nu#ber of scientists disa!reed. +ven if it took centuries to travel
fro# star to star, they said, this #i!ht not stop really keen e'plorers. 2ibernation, as used
on Discovery, was one possible answer. &lso, why should we believe that all intelli!ent
life lived for as short a ti#e as Man % There #i!ht be creatures in the @niverse to
who# a thousand)year voya!e #i!ht be uninterestin!, but certainly possible.
There was also discussion about what such creatures would look like. So#e
believed that the hu#an shape of two le!s, two ar#s and a head at the top was so
sensible that it was hard to think of a better one. thers said that the hu#an body was
"ust a result of chance over #illions of years. $f circu#stances had been different, it
would not have developed in the sa#e way.
There were other thinkers who held even stran!er views. They felt that as soon as
it was technically possible, bodies would be replaced by #achines. n +arth this
process was startin! to happen, with the replace#ent of so#e parts of the body which
had stopped workin!.
&nd eventually, even brains #i!ht !o. The war between #ind and #achine
#i!ht be settled at last with a true partnership.
But was even this the end% So#e had even #ore e'tre#e views and ar!ued
that the #ind #i!ht eventually free itself fro# all physical li#its. The #echanical body,
like the flesh)and)blood one, #i!ht only be a sta!e on the way to so#ethin! which,
lon! a!o, #en called 'spirit'.
&nd if there was anythin! beyond that, its na#e could only be Bod.
Chapter 33 A+3a00ador
Durin! the last three #onths, David Bow#an had beco#e so used to livin!
alone that it was hard to re#e#ber any other e'istence. 2e had passed beyond sadness
and even doubt, and had accepted his new life.
But he had not passed beyond curiosity, and so#eti#es the thou!ht of where he
was !oin! filled hi# with a feelin! of !reat power. 2e was an a#bassador for the
whole hu#an race, but his actions durin! the ne't few weeks #i!ht shape its whole
future.
So he kept hi#self neat and tidy, and he never #issed a shave.
Mission Control, he knew, was watchin! hi# closely for any si!ns of unusual
behaviour. 2e did not want to show the# any.
2owever, so#e thin!s did chan!e. 2e could not stand silence. +'cept when he
was sleepin!, or talkin! to +arth, he kept the ship s sound syste# turned up hi!h.
&t first, needin! the co#pany of the hu#an voice, he listened to plays or poetry
readin!s fro# Discovery's enor#ous library. The proble#s they dealt with, thou!h,
see#ed so far away, or so si#ple, that he soon lost patience with the#.
So he switched to #usic. Sibelius, Tchaikovsky and Berlio: lasted a few weeksD
Beethoven lasted lon!er. But one by one he left the# as their e#otional power beca#e
too #uch for hi#. $n the end he found peace, as so #any others had done, in the
#athe#atical e'actness of Bach.
&nd so the Discovery drove on towards Saturn, rin!in! with the cool #usic of
the ei!hteenth century, the fro:en thou!hts of a brain that had been dust for twice a
hundred years.
&lthou!h it was still si'teen #illion kilo#eters away, Saturn already appeared
lar!er than the Moon as seen fro# +arth. $t was a wonderful si!htD throu!h the
telescope it was unbelievable.
The syste# of its rin!s, so enor#ous but as flat as thin paper, were like a work
of art. They were not solid, but #ade of countless nu#bers of s#all pieces, perhaps
the re#ains of a destroyed #oon. Bow#an spent hours lookin! at the#, knowin! that
they would not last for lon! and had appeared as recently as three #illion years a!o.
$t was rather odd that they had been born at the sa#e ti#e as the hu#an race.
Chapter 34 The Or3iting 9ce
Discovery was now deep inside the syste# of Saturn's #oons. The ship had passed
inside the wide orbit of =hoebe. &head of it now lay Mapetus, 2yperion, Titan, Rhea,
;-
Dione, Tethys, +scalades, Mi#as * and the rin!s the#selves. &ll the #oons showed
!reat detail throu!h the telescope, and Bow#an had sent back to +arth as #any
photo!raphs as he could take.
But Mapetus held #ost of his attention. ne half of the satellite * which, like its
co#panions, turned the sa#e face always towards Saturn * was e'tre#ely dark and
showed very little surface detail. $n co#plete contrast, the other was lar!ely covered by
a brilliant white oval, about si' hundred kilo#etres lon! and three hundred wide. $t sat
in the #iddle of Mapetus, with its narrow ends pointin! to the poles. $t was so even
and so sharp)ed!ed that it looked as if it had been painted there. Because it looked so
flat, Bow#an wondered if it #i!ht be a lake of fro:en li7uid, but that would not
e'plain its even appearance.
2owever, Bow#an had little ti#e to study it in detailD the #ost dan!erous part
of the voya!e was rapidly approachin!. &s it flew past Mupiter, the ship had used the
planet's !ravity to increase her speed. 8ow she #ust do the opposite. She had to slow
down as #uch as possible so she did not escape fro# the Solar Syste# and fly on to the
stars. 2er present path was desi!ned to trap her, so she would beco#e another #oon of
Saturn, !oin! round on a three)#illion)kilo#etre)lon! oval orbit. &t its near point she
would co#e close to the planetD at its far point she would touch the orbit of Mapetus.
The co#puters back on +arth, thou!h their infor#ation was always three hours
late, had told Bow#an that everythin! was in order. The ship had to fly over the dark
side of Saturn, out of radio contact with +arth and losin! speed all the ti#e, then rise
up a!ain into the sunli!ht and fly on for another three #illion kilo#etres. $t would take
her fourteen days to #ake that cli#b, crossin! the paths of all the inside #oons. Then
she would #eet Mapetus.
$f she failed, she would fall back towards Saturn and repeat her twenty)ei!ht day
orbit. But the ne't ti#e round, Mapetus would be far away, al#ost on the other side of
the planet.
$t was true that they would #eet a!ain, when the orbits of ship and #oon
ca#e to!ether for a second ti#e. But that would be so #any years ahead that, whatever
happened, Bow#an knew he would not see it.
Chapter 35 The E1e o# 2apetu0
,hen Bow#an had first seen Mapetus, the curious bri!ht oval area had been
partly in shadow. 8ow, as the #oon #oved slowly alon! its seventy)nine day orbit, it
was co#in! into the full li!ht of day.
&s he watched it !row, Bow#an be!an to have a worryin! feelin!. 2e never
#entioned it to Mission Control because he did not want the# to think he was !oin!
#ad. =erhaps he wasD he had al#ost #ade hi#self believe that the bri!ht oval was an
enor#ous e#pty eye, starin! at hi# as he approached. But it was not co#pletely
e#pty. ,hen the ship was ei!hty thousand kilo#etres out, and Mapetus was twice as
lar!e as the +arth's fa#iliar Moon, he noticed a tiny black spot at the e'act centre of
the oval. 2owever there was no ti#e, then, for any detailed e'a#ination. The #eetin!)
point was !ettin! close.
<or the last ti#e, Discovery's #ain en!ines started up. David Bow#an felt a sense
of pride, and of sadness. These en!ines had brou!ht the ship here fro# +arth with
total efficiency. Soon there would be no #ore fuel, and then Discovery would be as
dead as an asteroid, a helpless prisoner of !ravity. +ven when the rescue ship finally
arrived a few years into the future, it would not be econo#ical to refuel her. She
would continue to orbit, e#pty and alone.
The whistle of the #ain "ets died away. nly the side "ets continued to #ove
Discovery !ently into orbit. Then even they shut down. The ship was now circlin!
Mapetus at a hei!ht of ei!hty kilo#etres.
Discovery had beco#e a satellite of a satellite.
Chapter 3! "ig "rother
' $'# co#in! round to the dayli!ht side a!ain, and it's "ust as $ reported on the
last orbit. This place see#s to have only two kinds of surface #aterial. The black
stuff looks burnt ) very like burnt toast.
' $ still can't #ake any sense of the white area. $t has a very sharp ed!e, and
there are no surface details at all. =icture a sea of fro:en #ilk ) thou!h so#eti#es $
feel that it's #ovin! slowly.
'... $'# over the white area a!ain, on #y third orbit. This ti#e $ hope to pass
closer to that #ark $ noticed at its centre, on #y way in. $f #y calculations are
correct, $'ll !o within ei!hty kilo#etres of it * whatever it is.
'...(es, there's so#ethin! ahead, "ust where $ calculated. $t's co#in! over the
hori:on * and so is Saturn. $'ll #ove to the telescope ...
' 2elloK ) it looks like so#e kind of buildin! ) co#pletely black. 8o windows
or other features. Must a bi! ob"ect standin! ... at least a kilo#etre hi!h. $t re#inds
#e ) of courseK $t's "ust like the thin! you found on the Moon KThis isTM&)-'s bi!
brotherK'
Chapter3' E;peri+ent5
Call it the Star Bate.
<or three #illion years it had circled Saturn, waitin! for a #eetin! that #i!ht
never co#e. ,hen it was created, a #oon was destroyed, and the broken pieces still
orbited the planet.
8ow the lon! wait was endin!. n another world, intelli!ence had been
born and was escapin! fro# its ho#e. &n ancient e'peri#ent was al#ost at an end.
The creatures who had be!un that e'peri#ent, so lon! a!o, had not been
;;
hu#an. But they were flesh and blood. &nd as soon as they were able to, they flew to
the stars.
$n their e'plorations, they #et with life in #any for#s. &nd when they found it
had so#e intelli!ence, they encoura!ed its !rowth.,hen the e'plorers ca#e to +arth,
they #ade chan!es to #any types of ani#al. They would not know, for at least a #illion
years, which of their e'peri#ents would succeed. But there was no need for the# to
wait and watch. The servants they had left behind would do that for the#.
&s ti#e passed, those first e'plorers of +arth went throu!h #any chan!es
the#selves. &s soon as they could build #achines that were better than their bodies,
they left their bodies and beca#e #achines. $n ti#e, they learned to store
knowled!e in the structure of space itself. Then they freed the#selves fro# the
#achines and turned into creatures of pure ener!y.
8ow they were lords of the Bala'y, and beyond the reach of ti#e. They could
#ove as they wanted a#on! the stars. But despite their !odlike powers, they had not
co#pletely for!otten their be!innin!.
&nd they still watched the e'peri#ents that had been started so lon! a!o.
Chapter 3, The %atcher
There's been no reaction to #y si!nals, and every ti#e $ fly over, $'# a bit
further away fro# TM&);. &t the #o#ent #y closest approach is a hundred
kilo#etres. That will increase slowly as Mapetus turns beneath #e, then it will drop
back to :ero. $'ll pass directly over it in thirty days, but by that ti#e it will be in
darkness.
' So $'d like you to a!ree to this plan. $ want to leave the ship in one of the
space vehicles and take a close look. $f it see#s safe, $'ll land beside it * or even on
top of it.
' $'# sure this is the only thin! to do. $'ve co#e #ore than a billion kilo#etres
* $ don't want to be stopped by the last hundred.'
<or weeks the Star Bate had watched the approachin! ship. $ts #akers had
prepared it for #any thin!s, and this was one of the#. $t watched, then it listened to
the ship's si!nals, but it did nothin!.
There was a lon! pause, then it saw that so#ethin! was fallin! down towards
it. $t searched its #e#ory and #ade the decisions it was built to #ake.
Beneath the cold li!ht of Saturn, the Star Bate woke its sleepin! powers.
Chapter 3- 9nto the E1e
Discovery looked "ust as he had last seen her fro# space, floatin! in lunar
orbit with the Moon takin! up half the sky. 8ow he was leavin!, perhaps for the last
ti#e, the #etal world that had been his ho#e for so #any #onths. +ven if he never
returned, the ship would continue to send si!nals back to +arth, until finally its
electrical syste#s failed. &nd if he did return% ,ell, he could stay alive for a few
#ore #onths. But that was all, because the hibernation syste#s were useless with no
co#puter to operate the#. 2e could not possibly continue to live until Discovery $$
arrived in four or five years ti#e.
2e put these thou!hts behind hi# as the black block of TM&); cli#bed above
the hori:on. 2e turned the vehicle ri!ht round and used the en!ines to slow his
speed. 2e was still about ei!ht kilo#etres hi!h now, and headin! strai!ht for the
enor#ous black ob"ect. $t was as featureless as the flat surface below hi#, and until
now he had not reali:ed how enor#ous it really was. &nd as far as could be seen, its
si:es had e'actly the sa#e - to 0 to . relationship as those of TM&)-.
'$'# only five kilo#etres away now. Still no si!n of activity * nothin! on any
of the instru#ents. The sides and top see# absolutely s#ooth and polished. 8ow $'#
directly over it, about a hundred and fifty #etres up. $'# !oin! to land. $t's certainly
solid enou!h.
'Must a #inute * that's odd ...J
Bow#an's voice died away. 2e was not fri!htenedD he si#ply could not
describe what he was seein!. 2e had been han!in! above a black block, but now the
top of it see#ed to be #ovin! away fro# hi#, down to the surface of Mapetus, and
then lower. $t was e'actly like lookin! at a drawin! of a s7uare bo', where suddenly
the near side can beco#e the far side. 8ow it see#ed he was lookin! strai!ht down a
black hole in the !round. &nd, even #ore stran!e, althou!h its sides went down for a
lon! way, they never see#ed to !et closer to!ether.
David Bow#an had ti#e for "ust one broken sentence, which the scientists
waitin! in Mission Control, fourteen #illion kilo#etres away, never for!otI
' The thin!'s hollow * it !oes on for ever * and * oh #y Bod ) it's full of
starsK'
Chapter 4. E;it
The Star Bate opened. The Star Bate closed.
$n a #o#ent of ti#e too short to be #easured, Space turned and twisted on
itself.
Then Mapetus was alone a!ain, as it had been for three #illion years * alone,
e'cept for an e#pty ship, sendin! back to its #akers #essa!es which they could not
believe or understand.
PART (9< Through the (tar 6ate
Chapter 41 6rand Centra)
David Bow#an see#ed to be droppin! down a hole several thousand #etres
deep. 2e was #ovin! faster and faster ) but the far end never chan!ed its si:e, and
;>
re#ained always at the sa#e distance fro# hi#.
Ti#e was also behavin! stran!ely, as he reali:ed when he looked at the
vehicle's s#all clock. 8or#ally, the tenth)of)a)second window #oved past so 7uickly
that it was al#ost i#possible for hi# to read the nu#bers. 8ow the nu#bers
see#ed to be slowin! down. &t last, the counter stopped between five and si'.
But he could still think, and watch, as the black walls #oved past hi# at a speed
he could not even be!in to !uess. 2e was not at all surprised, or afraid. 2e had
travelled those #illions of kilo#etres in search of a #ystery, and now it see#ed that
the #ystery was co#in! to hi#.
The end of the passa!e, which had stood still for so lon!, be!an to #ove
towards hi#. <or a #o#ent he wondered if he had fallen ri!ht throu!h Mapetus. But
when the vehicle ca#e out into the li!ht, he knew this place was unlike any known
world. $t was bi!, perhaps #uch bi!!er than +arth, but all the surface that Bow#an
could see was covered with lar!e artificial shapes, so#e kilo#etres lon! on each side.
&nd at the centre of #any of those were lar!e black holes ) like the one that he had
co#e out fro#.
The sky above, at first, looked soft and #ilky)white. But as he looked closer, he
reali:ed that it was covered with #any s#all black spots. They re#inded Bow#an of
so#ethin! so fa#iliar, but so cra:y that for a ti#e he refused to accept the idea. Those
black holes in the white sky were stars. $t was like lookin! at a photo!raphic ne!ative of
the Milky ,ay
0
,here a# $ % Bow#an asked hi#self. But even as he asked the 7uestion, he
knew that he could never know the answer. $t see#ed that Space had been turned
inside outI this was not a place for Man. &lthou!h the vehicle was co#fortably war#,
he felt suddenly cold and started to shake.
So#ethin! was co#in! over the hori:on. &t first it looked like a circle, but that
was because it was #ovin! directly towards hi#. &s it approached and passed beneath
hi#, he saw that it was tube)shaped, and several hundred #etres lon!. $t was pointed at
each end, but there was no si!n of a "et en!ine.
2e #oved his eyes to another screen to watch the thin! drop behind hi#. $t
had i!nored hi# co#pletely, and now it was fallin! out of the sky, down towards
one of those thousands of !reat holes. & few seconds later it dived into the planet, and
Bow#an was alone a!ain.
Then he saw that he was sinkin! down towards the surface. ne of the holes
!rew lar!er beneath hi#, and then the e#pty sky closed above hi#. The clock slowed
and stopped. nce a!ain his vehicle was fallin! between black walls towards another
distant !roup of stars. But now he was sure he was not returnin! to the Solar Syste#,
and suddenly he reali:ed what this place #ust be.
$t was like so#e kind of enor#ous crossroads, allowin! the traffic of the stars to
0
Milky ,ayI a !ala'y of about -GG,GGG stars, includin! the Sun.
#ove into different areas of space and ti#e. 2e was passin! throu!h a Brand Central
Station
A
of the Bala'y.
Chapter 42 A Di##erent (k1
<ar ahead, the walls of the hole were beco#in! faintly li!ht a!ain. &nd then
the darkness suddenly ended, as the tiny vehicle shot upwards into a sky lit up with
stars.
2e was back in space as he knew it, but a sin!le look told hi# he was li!ht)
centuries fro# +arth. 2e did not even try to find so#e of the fa#iliar patterns of
stars. =erhaps none of the# had ever been seen without the help of a telescope.
Most were concentrated in a shinin! belt which co#pletely circled the sky
Bow#an wondered if this was his own !ala'y, seen fro# a point #uch closer to its
shinin!, crowded centre.
2e hoped that it wasD then he would not be so far fro# ho#e. But this, he
reali:ed at once, was a childish thou!ht. 2e was so far fro# the Solar Syste# that it
#ade little difference whether he was in his own !ala'y or the #ost distant one that
any telescope had ever found.
2e looked back to see the thin! fro# which he was risin!, and had another
shock. There was no surface covered with !reat patterns, nor any copy of Mapetus. There
was nothin! * e'cept a black shadow, like an open door into a dark roo#. &s he
watched, that black shadow slowly filled with stars, as if a hole in space had been
repaired.
The vehicle was turnin! slowly, brin!in! #ore new stars into view, and then a
!reat red sun appeared in the window. $t was #any ti#es lar!er than the Moon as seen
fro# +arth. Bow#an could look at it without disco#fortD "ud!in! by its colour, it was
not hotter than a dyin! coal. This was a star that had left behind the fire of its youth,
and was settlin! into a peaceful #iddle a!e.
The vehicle stopped turnin!D the !reat sun lay strai!ht in front. Thou!h there was
no feelin! of #ove#ent, Bow#an could tell that he was !ettin! closer to it. &head of
hi#, one of the stars was beco#in! rapidly bri!hter, and was be!innin! to #ove a!ainst
its back!round. $t ca#e up to hi# with une'pected speedD and he saw that it was not
a world at all.
$t was an enor#ous structure of #etal, hundreds of kilo#etres across. $n different
places across its surface were !reat buildin!s which were as lar!e as cities, and arran!ed
around these, in neat rows and lines, were hundreds of s#aller ob"ects. &fter so#e ti#e
Bow#an reali:ed that these were spaceships. 2e was flyin! over an enor#ous orbital
car park.
Because he could see no fa#iliar ob"ect, it was al#ost i#possible to
A
Brand Central StationI the #ain railway station in 8ew (ork
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calculate the si:e of the ships. But so#e were certainly enor#ousD perhaps kilo#etres
lon!. They were of #any different desi!ns * round balls, thin pencils, flat circles. This
#ust be one of the #eetin! places for the co##ercial traffic of the stars.
r it had been * perhaps a #illion years a!o. Bow#an could not see any si!ns
of activity anywhere. This !reat space)port was as dead as the Moon.
$t was not only the absence of #ove#ent. There were !reat holes in the
structure, caused by asteroids crashin! throu!h it over #any years. This was not a
workin! car)park nowD it was a restin! place for dead vehicles.
2e had #issed its builders by a!es, and when he understood this, Bow#an's
heart sank. 2e had not known what to e'pect, but at least he had hoped to #eet with
so#e intelli!ence. 8ow, it see#ed, he was too late. 2e had been cau!ht in an ancient,
auto#atic trap, which was still workin! when its #akers had died lon! a!o. $t had carried
hi# across the Bala'y, and left hi# in this dead sea of stars to die when his air)supply
ended.
,ell, he had already seen wonderful thin!s for which #any #en would !ive
their lives. <our of his co#panions already hadD he had no reason to co#plain.
The ruined space)port was still slidin! past hi# at hi!h speed. $n a few #ore
#inutes, it had fallen behind.
2is destination was not there * but far ahead in the !reat red sun which his
vehicle was un#istakably fallin! towards.
Chapter 43 *ire3a))
8ow there was only the red sun fillin! the sky fro# side to side. 2e was so
close now that he could see !reat clouds of !as #ovin! across its surface.
2e did not even try to understand how bi! this planet was. The si:es of Mupiter
and Saturn had been beyond his i#a!ination, but everythin! here was a hundred ti#es
lar!er. 2e could only accept the pictures that were floodin! into his #ind, without
atte#ptin! to think what they #eant.
&s that sea of fire !rew beneath hi#, Bow#an e'pected to be afraid * but,
curiously, he now felt only a sli!ht nervousness. 2e knew that he was under the
protection of a hi!her intelli!ence. 2e was now very close to the red sun, but
so#eone * or so#ethin! * was protectin! hi# fro# the heat, so perhaps there was
reason to hope.
The vehicle was now #ovin! in a shallow curve al#ost parallel to the
surface of the star. &nd, as he looked down, Bow#an saw so#ethin! new. Movin!
across the ocean of hot !as were thousands of bri!ht spots. They shone in a soft li!ht
that beca#e bri!hter and fainter every few seconds. &nd they were all travelin! in the
sa#e direction, like fish #ovin! up a river. Bow#an felt that their #ove#ent had
so#e purpose. 2e would probably never know what it was.
2e was #ovin! throu!h a new kind of world, which few people had ever
drea#ed of. Beyond sea and land and air and space lay the re!ions of fire, which only he
had been lucky enou!h to see. $t was too #uch to e'pect that he would also
understand.
Chapter 44 Reception
9t see#ed that walls of so#e #aterial like s#oked !lass were thickenin! around
hi#, cuttin! out the red li!ht and hidin! the view. $t beca#e darker and darker. &
#o#ent later, the vehicle settled on a hard surface and stopped.
Stopped on what6 Bow#an asked hi#self. Then li!ht returned and, as he looked
around hi#, Bow#an knew he #ust be #ad. 2e was prepared, he thou!ht, for
anythin!. But he had never e'pected everythin! to be co#pletely ordinary.
The vehicle was restin! on the polished floor of a lar!e hotel roo#, the sa#e
kind of roo# that you #i!ht find in any city on +arth. 2e was starin! at a coffee table, a
sofa, a do:en chairs, a writin! desk, various la#ps, a half)filled bookcase with so#e
#a!a:ines lyin! on it, and even a bowl of flowers.
<or #any #inutes Bow#an did not #ove fro# his seat. $t all see#ed real, but
there was still the 7uestion of air. So he closed the hel#et of his suit. Then he opened
the door of the vehicle and stepped out into the roo#.
9ike a #an in a drea#, he walked across to the coffee table. n it sat a nor#al
Bell Syste# =icturephone, co#plete with local phone book. 2e bent down and
picked it up with his thick !loved hands. $t showed, in the fa#iliar type he had seen
thousands of ti#es, the na#eI 0!"(I&)T$& D#. Then he looked #ore closely
and, for the first ti#e, he had proof that, althou!h all this #i!ht look real, he was not
on +arth.
2e could read only the word 0!"(I&)T$&7 the rest of the printin! was
unclear, like a copy of a newspaper photo!raph. 2e opened the book and looked
throu!h the pa!es. They were all plain sheets of white #aterial which certainly was
not paper, thou!h it looked very #uch like it.
2e lifted the telephone and pressed it a!ainst the plastic of his hel#et. $f there had
been any sound, he would have heard it. But, as he had e'pected, there was only silence.
So * it was all a copy, thou!h a very careful one. &nd it was clearly not intended
to deceive but * he hoped * to #ake hi# feel at ho#e. 2e would not re#ove his suit,
thou!h, until he had co#pleted his voya!e of e'ploration.
There were two doors that opened easily. The first one took hi# into a s#all but
co#fortable bedroo#. 2e opened a cupboard door and found four suits, white shirts,
underwear and py"a#as.
8e't to the bedroo# was a bathroo# with all the e'pected thin!s, all of which
worked in a perfectly nor#al #anner. &nd after that was a s#all kitchen with
electric cooker, frid!e, cupboards and drawers, sink, table and chairs. Bow#an
reali:ed that he was hun!ry.
;A
<irst he opened the frid!e. The shelves were filled with packa!es and cansD
they all looked perfectly fa#iliar fro# a distance, thou!h the print on their labels was
unclear. 2owever, there were no e!!s, #ilk, butter, fruit, or any other types of
unprocessed food.
Bow#an picked up a packa!e. The lar!er words on it said that it contained
bread, but it see#ed too heavy. 2e opened the paper at one end. $t was full of a blue
substance. &part fro# its odd colour, it looked rather like bread puddin!. But this is
silly, Bow#an told hi#self. $ a# al#ost certainly bein! watched, and $ #ust look a
fool wearin! this suit. $f this is an intelli!ence test, $'ve probably failed already.
,ithout hesitation, he walked back into the bedroo# and be!an to undo his
hel#et. ,hen it was loose, he lifted it a little and s#elled the at#osphere
cautiously. 2e see#ed to be breathin! perfectly nor#al air.
2e dropped the hel#et on the bed and took off his suit. Then he walked back
into the kitchen and ate so#e of the blue substance. The taste was co#plicated, but
pleasant enou!h. 2e looked around for so#ethin! to drink. There were so#e cans of
beer at the back of the frid!e. 2e opened one, and found that it held #ore of the blue
food.
$n a few seconds, he had opened half a do:en of the other packa!es and cans.
,hatever their labels, their contents were the sa#e. So he filled a !lass with water fro#
the kitchen tap, and tasted it cautiously.
$t was terrible, but that was because it had no taste at allD the tap was supplyin!
totally pure water. 2is hosts were obviously takin! no chances with his health.
<eelin! #uch better, he then had a 7uick shower and dressed hi#self in clothes
fro# the cupboard. 2e lay down on the bed. &bove it was the usual hotel)type ceilin!
T6 screen. &t first he thou!ht that, like the telephone, it was "ust a copy. But the
control unit beside the bed looked so real that his fin!ers #oved to the 8 button.
The screen lit up.
2e pressed the channel button, and saw a well)known &frican broadcaster,
discussin! his country's wild life. Bow#an listened for a few seconds, happy to hear a
hu#an voice a!ain. Then he chan!ed channels and found hi#self watchin! a cowboy
fil#. 2e chan!ed a!ain and a!ain, and saw a nu#ber of T6 pro!ra##es fro# different
parts of the world.
2owever, all of the# were about two years old. That was around the ti#e
TM&)- had been discovered. $t #eant that the black ob"ect had spent its ti#e
recordin! the radio waves.
2e continued to chan!e channels, and suddenly reco!ni:ed a fa#iliar scene.
There, on the screen, was the roo# he had first arrived in. 2owever, instead of his
vehicle, it contained a fa#ous actor who was havin! a noisy ar!u#ent with an actress.
Bow#an was shocked at first * and when the ca#era followed the an!ry couple to the
bedroo#, he al#ost e'pected so#eone to co#e in.
So his hosts had based their idea of life on +arth on T6 pro!ra##es. 2e had
learned all he needed to know for the #o#ent, so he turned off the set. 2e knew he
was e'hausted, but it see#ed i#possible that he could sleep. 2e switched off the
li!ht, and within seconds had passed beyond the reach of drea#s.
<or the last ti#e, David Bow#an slept.
Chapter 45 e+orie0
Since there was no #ore use for the#, the hotel roo#s disappeared back
into the #ind of their creator. nly the bed re#ained, on which David Bow#an lay. 2e
did not wakeD he did not drea#. So#ethin! entered his #ind, and he #oved into a
type of consciousness that no #an had ever e'perienced before. &t first it see#ed that
Ti#e was runnin! backwards, but then he understood.
2is #e#ory was bein! e'a#ined. 2e was relivin! his past, one e'perience at
a ti#e. There was the livin!)roo# with its coffee table and telephone * there the
vehicle * there the burnin! red sun * there the black hole he had fallen so far down.
8ow he was on Discovery a!ain, and the rin!s of Saturn filled the sky. Before that
he was talkin! to 2al, talkin! to <rank =oole, talkin! to +arth.
2e was travellin! back down the passa!es of ti#e. &ll his knowled!e and
e'perience was leavin! hi# as he #oved back to his childhood. But nothin! was bein!
lostD everythin! that he had ever been, at every #o#ent of his life, was bein! #oved to a
safer place. &s one David Bow#an died, another would continue to live.
&nd in an e#pty roo#, in the fires of a star twenty)thousand li!ht years fro#
+arth, a baby opened its eyes and be!an to cry.
Chapter 4! (tar&Chi)d
Then it beca#e silent, as it saw that it was not alone.
& !hostly, shinin! s7uare had for#ed in the e#pty air. Movin! across it were bars
of li!ht and shadow.
$t was a si!ht to hold the attention of any child * or any #an)ape. But, as it
had been three #illion years before, it was only the outside shape of #ore
co#plicated forces. $t held the baby's attention, while his #ind was e'a#ined and
e'plored, and chan!ed.
,ith eyes that already held #ore than hu#an intelli!ence, the baby stared at the
!lass ob"ect, seein! * but not yet understandin! * the #ysteries that lay beyond. $t
knew that it had co#e ho#e, that here was the be!innin! of #any races besides its
own, but it also knew that it could not stay. Beyond this lay another birth, stran!er than
any in the past, and now the #o#ent had co#e.
The #etal and plastic of the for!otten vehicle, and the clothin! once worn
by David Bow#an, flashed into fla#e. The last connections with +arth were !one.
But the child hardly noticed. 2e knew that he was still a baby, and would re#ain
;/
one until he had decided on a new for#. r he #i!ht pass beyond the need for any
for#.
&nd now it was ti#e to !o. 2e knew his destination, but there was no need to
return the way he had co#e. ,ith three #illion years of knowled!e, he now
understood that there were #ore ways than one to #ove throu!h space. The ancient
Star Bate had served hi# well, but he would not need it a!ain.
Confident, because he knew that he was not alone, he travelled across the
li!ht)years. Stars slipped p.isl on each side at unbelievable speed. The Milky ,ay
beca#e faint as it fell behind hi#.
Then he was back, e'actly where he wished to be, in the space that #en called
real.
There before hi#, a shinin! toy that no Star)Child could i!nore, floated the
planet +arth with all its peoples.
2e had returned in ti#e. Down there the alar#s would be 2ashin! across
co#puter screens as the hu#an race prepared for its final war.
& thousand kilo#etres below, he saw that a bo#b was !oin! to e'plode in the
at#osphere. $t was no dan!er to hi#, but he preferred a cleaner sky. 2e held it in his
#ind, and it burned 7uickly and silently.
Then he waited, wonderin! about his other untested powers. Thou!h he was
#aster of the world, he was not 7uite sure what to do ne't.
But he would think of so#ethin!.
;L