“No. But if they’re users of the Link, you’d expect them to have a base of operations not too far away from it. That means within maybe a hundred kilometers of where we are now.” Bony turned to Elke Siry. “You said something about orbiters that look down at the planet, as well as looking up at the sky.”
“Quite right. Two of them, launched as soon as storm conditions permitted. They’ve been returning images ever since, surveying the surface of the planet.”
“How good are their instruments? Would they see enough detail to pick out a town or a spaceport?”
“Easily. At their survey altitude they can observe something as small as twenty meters across.”
Dag Korin interrupted. “But they haven’t done it, have they? Doesn’t that suggest there’s no spaceport or settlement to be found on the surface?”
Elke Siry gave him a withering look. “Please, General. You should know better.” While the others waited for Dag Korin to explode, she calmly continued, “The orbiters are making survey observations and returning billions of bits of data a second to be stored in this ship’s data banks. But data are not the same as information. Before you can get the answers you want, you have to ask the right question.”
Dag Korin nodded meekly — confirming everyone’s view that the old General had a soft spot for Elke Siry. “And what, my dear, would the right question be?”
“We have to specify a description of what we mean by a settlement or a spaceport, and how it would look to the instruments on board the orbiters. And then we have to instruct the ship’s computer to go through all the data received from the orbiters, searching for matches to our description.”
“I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“But I would.” Elke leaned over the control panel in front of her. “To begin with, may I bring the ship’s computer in as a participant to the meeting? I need to specify a recognition template for settlements and spaceports, but I notice that the computer has not been present so far.”
“That’s my doing. I locked it out of control room activities, with instructions to interrupt only if there was immediate danger to the ship. Wait just a minute, though.” Dag Korin held up a hand and addressed the whole group. “I hate today’s womb-to-tomb style, in which every word you ever say can be dragged back and thrown in your face. Does anyone want to say something off the record? Remember, once the computer is in the loop, everything you say will go into the data banks.”
“I wish to speak.” Vow-of-Silence held up a thin forelimb. The Pipe-Rilla had so far been remarkably quiet. She stretched her long body forward, toward Dag Korin. “Sir, I am concerned about two things. First, the term `General.’ It was used several times by Dr. Siry in addressing you. Is that merely an honorific, or are you a `general’ in the military sense?”
Korin bristled. “Is there any other sense? What do you think I am, a general store? I’m a military general, and I’m proud of it.”
“Indeed. Then my second question has added weight. In discussing what should be done to make it possible for us to return home, you used the phrase, `strong-arm another bunch of aliens.’ Were you advocating the use of violence?”
“Hmm. Well, not exactly. I just meant—”
“Because if you had any such intention, I wish to make it clear that neither I, nor any other member of the Stellar Group, will sanction such action. There must be no violence. There are always better alternatives to violence.”
“I’m sure there are.” But Dag Korin’s frown and jutted jaw added a silent, Like hell.
“With that understanding, I have no further comments and I suggest that the ship’s computer should join this meeting.”
“Everyone else agree?”
“Ready to roll.” The Angel waved sedately.
“All right. Elke?”
She nodded and touched a pad sequence on the console in front of her. “Gamma-D, prepare to receive recognition templates prior to a search of the data banks received as orbiter survey data. I’m going to draw them.”
UNDERSTOOD, WE ARE READY.
“Just one second.” This time it was Chan Dalton. “I’m as keen to get home as anyone, and I don’t want to hold this up. But before you start describing what the computer should look for, can’t we have a quick status report? Even if it’s not an emergency, I’d like to know if there’s been any significant change in the ship’s condition.”
“That makes good sense.” Dag Korin ignored Elke’s impatient gesture. “Find out where you are before you decide where you’re going, always a sound policy. All right, Gamma-D. Let’s hear how things stand.”
MANY ONBOARD FUNCTIONS ARE SUFFERING A SLOW ALTHOUGH AS YET NON-DANGEROUS DEGRADATION. IT WOULD BE ADVISABLE TO MOVE TO A MORE TYPICAL AMBIENT ENVIRONMENT.
“In other words,” Liddy whispered to Bony, “don’t stay underwater longer that you have to. For this we need a computer?”
“Shh!”
THE DEFENSIVE SHIELDS ARE LOST, AND THEY REMAIN IRREPLACEABLE WITHOUT A VISIT TO A MAJOR FLEET REFURBISHING CENTER. THERE IS MINOR HULL DAMAGE THAT DECREASES THE LEVEL OF TOLERABLE STRESSES UNDER ACCELERATED FLIGHT. A LIMIT OF TWO GEES SHOULD BE OBSERVED IN OPEN SPACE IN THE VICINITY OF A LINK TRANSITION POINT.
“Two gees in open space, near a Link point,” Dag Korin growled. “Don’t you wish!”
THERE IS NO OTHER DAMAGE TO THE SHIP ITSELF. HOWEVER, SOME COLLATERAL EQUIPMENT HAS SUFFERED FAILURE.
“What do you mean, collateral equipment?” Chan Dalton had been studying a new schematic of the Hero’s Return that highlighted any problem area. “Everything here looks fine to me.”
THE SCHEMATIC THAT YOU HAVE IS OF THE SHIP ITSELF, WHERE THERE ARE NO MAJOR FAILURES. WE REFER TO COLLATERAL EQUIPMENT IN THE FORM OF THE TWO OBSERVATION SATELLITES THAT WE LAUNCHED.
“Oh, no,” Elke groaned. “We didn’t get data from them? Gamma-D, I was relying on them to allow a ground search.”
THAT WILL STILL BE POSSIBLE. MANY DATA WERE RETURNED, ENOUGH TO PROVIDE A COMPLETE SCAN OF THE WHOLE PLANET. HOWEVER, APPROXIMATELY TWO HOURS AGO THE SATELLITES FAILED.
“Both of them?” Elke’s thin eyebrows rose. “Are you sure that it’s not a problem with our onboard receiving equipment?”
THAT WAS OF COURSE CHECKED, AND IT IS IN PERFECT WORKING ORDER. ALSO, THE TWO OBSERVING SATELLITES DID NOT FAIL SIMULTANEOUSLY. THE FIRST FAILED TWO AND A QUARTER HOURS AGO, THE SECOND TWENTY MINUTES LATER.
“Radiation belts?” Elke said, more to herself than the computer. “Solar flare?”
WE RULE OUT BOTH THOSE POSSIBILITIES. COMPUTING THE TRAJECTORIES OF THE SATELLITES WITH RESPECT TO THE ROTATING PLANET, WE DISCOVERED THAT BOTH FAILED WHEN THEY WERE OVER THE SAME POINT OF THE PLANETARY SURFACE. THE PROBABILITY OF SUCH A FAILURE OCCURRING AS A RESULT OF NATURAL CAUSES IS NEGLIGIBLY SMALL. WE CONCLUDE THAT THE TWO OBSERVING SATELLITES FAILED AS A RESULT OF DELIBERATE DESTRUCTIVE ACTION UNDERTAKEN FROM THE SURFACE OF THE PLANET.
“Shot down, by God! Blown apart by bloody aliens.” Dag Korin glared at Vow-of-Silence, as though daring the Pipe-Rilla to challenge his statement, but when he spoke again it was accusingly to the computer. “Gamma-D, why the devil didn’t you tell us about this as soon as it happened?”
WE WERE INSTRUCTED TO INTERRUPT YOUR MEETING ONLY IF THERE WAS IMMEDIATE DANGER TO THE SHIP. WE JUDGED THAT WAS NOT THE CASE.
“Not immediate, maybe. But soon. Well, it was my fault more than yours.” Korin slouched down in his seat. “Gamma-D, do you know the point on the surface where the whatever-it-is that destroyed our observing satellites came from?”
YES. TO REFINE THAT ANSWER, WE HAVE COMPUTED A LOCATION OF MAXIMUM PROBABILITY FOR THE ORIGIN OF THE DESTRUCTIVE ACTION. IT LIES FORTY-SIX KILOMETERS FROM THE SHIP’S PRESENT LOCATION. SHOULD WE DISPLAY IT?
“Damn right you should.” Korin watched as an image of Limbo’s whole hemisphere appeared on the screen, then zoomed in until one point of the surface showed highlighted by a flashing spark of light. “Well, I think we’ve answered one question and saved Elke some work. The job of finding an alien spaceport, settlement, military base or whatever has been done for us. We know where they are. And we know what they do. They shoot first, and later they ask questions. The question is, what do we do now?”