Earth by Ben Bova

Author:Ben Bova
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Published: 2019-07-16T00:00:00+00:00

RENDEZVOUS

It’s an enormous planet, Tray said to himself as he bobbed gently in the ocean’s swells. Jove’s Messenger could be half a million klicks away from us.

How close together are we? Tray wondered.

“Para, can you see us?” he asked.

The android replied, “No, none of you. But my horizon is terribly limited, bobbing up and down in the water like this.”

Tray pecked at his control console, seeking maximum magnification from his suit’s cameras. But even as he did so, he knew that the chances of seeing one of the suits floating in the choppy water was close to zero.

“I have run a calculation,” Para said, “on how long we can stay in the water like this.”

“And?” Loris’s voice, tense, frightened.

“It’s a very rough approximation, based on an estimate of how acidic these waters are and how resistant to corrosion the suits’ materials are.”

“And?” Bricknell demanded, loudly.

“I believe we are perfectly safe for six hours. After that, the suits will develop leaks.”

“What about you, Para?” Tray asked. “How long will you last?”

“Much longer,” the android answered. “My range of survivable environments is much wider than yours.”

Tray heard Loris make a moaning sound. Bricknell said nothing.

Despite himself, Tray grinned. Para sounds almost proud of himself, he thought. Then he corrected, itself. And it doesn’t know what pride is. Or hope.

Glancing at his control panel, just below the viewscreens, Tray saw that his suit’s radio transponder was beeping out its distress signal, loud and clear.

He knew that Jove’s Messenger was equipped with receiving equipment that could detect their message even from the other side of Jupiter’s massive bulk. But can Tsavo reach us soon enough? he wondered. Six hours, Para said. That’s not much time.

He floated in the ocean’s waves, on his back, staring at the multihued clouds so far above.

“Tray?” Loris’s voice!

“Yes?”

“Do you think we’ll make it? Will Captain Tsavo reach us in time?”

“Of course,” Tray replied, hoping it was true.

“No, he won’t,” Bricknell said. “We’re going to die in this ocean, just like Kell did.”

“No we’re not!” Tray snapped. True or not, hope was all that they had left.

As if on cue, a radio voice crackled through the suit’s speaker. “This is Jove’s Messenger. We are tracking your emergency signal. We should be in your vicinity within five hours.”

Bricknell whooped. Loris burst into tears of joy. Tray thought, Five hours. And Para had calculated our suits would begin to fail in six hours. It’s going to be close. Very close.

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