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  “I see,” he said. “That’s part of the standard operating procedure, but you should have been let out much faster. As soon as you were cleared. You see, Clark suffered an accident.”

  “Wasn’t any accident,” Edwin huffed. “Not how I hear it.”

  Sandeep cleared his throat again. “Well, be that as it may, I’m glad you’re here, and I can assure you we’re not locking you into any more closets from now on.”

  “Don’t be so sure about that,” said another man who’d been listening in.

  Sandeep turned and jumped a little in recognition. “Captain Brandt? I…I didn’t know you’d joined us down here.”

  “It wasn’t exactly a social call when I broke in here.”

  “What did you mean about locking people in closets?” Sandeep asked, becoming desperate to change the subject. This was a new leader’s nightmare, being faced with the inexplicable behavior of the absent man he was replacing.

  Brandt gestured toward the ship. “That thing. He wants us all to fly in that deathtrap. Crazy-sure that we’ll find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”

  “What rainbow, Captain?”

  “The signal,” Brandt said. “Don’t they brief you on anything? You’re supposed to be commanding this mission now. We’re taking this ship and following the polar Artifact’s last transmission out into space.”

  Sandeep stared at the ship fixedly. His mood had taken a turn for the worse. He felt a trifle ill.

  “And where, pray tell, did the last transmission go?”

  “To Europa, an iceball orbiting Jupiter. God only knows what’s waiting for us out there.” Brandt stepped closer and laughed at Sandeep’s obvious consternation. “They didn’t tell you any of this, did they?” he asked. “Well, that’s rich.”

  Sandeep didn’t bother lying. The truth was plain for all of them to see. He hoped there would be some level of cooperation after this embarrassing moment.

  “You’re flying with us, you know,” Brandt said, enjoying himself. “Clark wimped out and ditched everybody.”

  “He was seriously injured,” Sandeep said. “By you, as I understand it.”

  “That was a misunderstanding, nothing more.”

  Sandeep snorted, but he let it go.

  Chapter 46

  The vast gulf of space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, Aboard Troika

  Starlight

  The radiation storm was in its third day. Lev was beyond sick of it. In the old movies he’d watched as a youth, it was always meteorites that got you when you traveled in space. He could hardly remember a movie that didn’t have a scene with rocks flying by the ship, battering it.

  Now that he’d been traveling in space for nearly a month, he knew the truth: It wasn’t the meteorites that got you—although they quite possibly could. It was a matter of odds, really. A chip of stone, even here in what was known at the asteroid belt, was relatively rare. Radiation, however, was not.

  Almost certainly, if the ship was unlucky enough to run into something solid, even something as insignificant as a cloud of sand particles, none of those aboard could survive it. The velocities they were traveling at were amazing, and if they met so much as a pebble at this speed it would hit them like cannon shell, driving a neat hole through vessel from bow to stern.

  Lev would have almost welcomed a quick, catastrophic end to this trip. Instead, he’d been forced with all the others to huddle within the most thickly shielded module, what amounted to a polyhedron about ten meters across. This module had a centimeter of lead around it, and everything they required to survive could be found inside.

  There were two critical elements, however, that Lev found missing. One was privacy. Even while squatting on the annoying null-grav toilet, others were only inches away beyond a partition of material like a shower curtain. There was no way for him to enjoy the company of Dr. Norin, who he’d struck up an odd relationship with, or anyone else.

  Worse—infinitely worse—was the total lack of alcohol. Whoever had built the radiation-proof sanctuary had neglected an essential need of the bored Russian fighting man: vodka. The still was below decks, and unreachable during bad storms.

  As a result of these oversights, Lev had become surly and unapproachable. He hung out high in the chamber, near the ventilation intake. No one from the regular crew dared approach him.

  Throughout the journey, there had been radiation alerts. Klaxons had sounded periodically, and everyone had scrambled for the module they all hid within now. But this alert was different. It was longer—seemingly endless, in fact.

  “Lev?” Kira asked softly.

  He turned her a baleful eye.

  “You shouldn’t stare at everyone like that. These people are learned, bookish types. They’re beginning to feel insecure.”

  Lev eyed her for a moment. “Since when do you care?”

  “I do care,” she said, floating closer to him. They were at the peak of the module, relatively speaking. There was no true up or down on this ship, but the designers had built it as if there were for times when it was under the effect of a localized source of gravity. Therefore, the scene below Lev resembled the curved floor of a crowded living room. There were seats, equipment, hammock-like beds and people—lots of people.

  “Why is that, Kira? Why should you care now about this mission, or their feelings?”

  “The two are one and the same,” she said. “The crew must be in top condition to succeed. Literally anything could happen when we arrive.”

  Lev rolled over in the air, and cocked his head, frowning at her. “But why the change?”

  “I’ve realized a few things,” she said, eyeing those below her. “These people and I—we all share the same dream, really. We all want to find out what’s out there. Tell me, Lev, what will you do if we find people on Europa?”

  “People?” he snorted. “You mean people like us?”

  “No,” she said. “Probably not. Someone different, I’d expect. Their habitat is too alien for them to be anything like us.”

  Lev shrugged. “In that case, there are only two options.”

  She looked at him expectantly.

  “If they are hostile, I will kill them. If they are friendly, I’ll scare them—so they won’t try anything hostile.”

  Kira heaved a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “I shouldn’t have expected anything more, I suppose.”

  “More? What more is there? Did you hope to have a meeting of cultures? A dance in their icy village square, perhaps?”

  Kira shook her head but looked wistful.

  “Kira,” he said. “Be realistic. Should we meet these ‘people’ they’ll not be our long lost cousins. They’ll be another alpha species. The history of such meetings has never been encouraging. One must dominate, the other must submit or die out. There is little in nature that points to a third possibility.”

  Kira’s lips twitched. “I’m disappointed,” she said.

  “How so?”

  “By your argument, and by my inability to refute it. But this trip isn’t over yet, Lev. We might find that third option.”

  Lev smiled at her. “You’re right. You and I did find the third path: we attempted to interbreed.”

  Kira gave him a caustic glance then floated away from him as he reached for her hand. “We have eyes upon us,” she said.

  “So you believe it’s still a secret?” he asked, laughing. “This ship is no more than three hundred meters long, and everyone knows everyone else’s business. Especially the juicy business.”

  She looked down, and it was undeniable. Eyes and heads frequently turned up to stare at them. Few laughed and no one pointed, but that was only because they were afraid of Lev’s unpredictable reaction.

  “Kira,” he said, “if we do find something out there, it won’t be like the meeting of man and woman. It will probably resemble the meeting of lion and hyena. A bloodbath, if one can catch the other.”

  “I hope not for our sakes,” she said. “They�
��re more advanced. You’ve got to know that’s true.”

  “This ship is more advanced than what we could build a few years ago. But now, we’ve made our own using their technology. We’ll overcome and steal whatever we don’t understand, making it our own in time.”

  “And if we fail?”

  Lev shrugged. “Then we fail. Life will go on elsewhere in the cosmos, I’m sure.”

  Kira frowned at him. “My past fatalism is nothing compared to yours.”

  He pointed a finger at her and smiled. “Now, finally, you begin to understand your Spetsnaz man.”

  When Kira began to let herself drift downward to rejoin the group, he called after her. “How long until this endless voyage ends?”

  “A month,” she said. “We’re making excellent time.”

  Lev growled.

  Chapter 47

  Nevada, Area 51

  Dusk

  The flight crew of three individuals arrived from NASA just after sunset. They landed on the sand-blown tarmac in an apache gunship and breezed through security. These were personnel the guards understood. They were all Air Force, NASA trained. They had the highest clearances and serious demeanors.

  Sandeep watched the landing and the way they were greeted from the shadow of the hangar doors. He wasn’t surprised by the way they were treated. Military people and government science-types were two different breeds. Each understood, trusted and preferred their own kind. They worked together toward the same goals—but only out of necessity.

  Sandeep himself was of the third flavor, the one that no one trusted. Sandeep was a spook, a shadow that moved outside the circle of either of the other two groups. He didn’t like to be ostracized, but he had long ago made his peace with it.

  He waited until the flight crew marched toward the open doors of the hangar to step out into the dying red glow of the Sun, which still drew a brilliantly gleaming arc over the rugged mountains to the west.

  “Gentlemen—and lady,” he said, greeting them with a polite smile. “I’m Special Agent Sandeep Grewal. I’ll be escorting you down to Gamma-level.”

  The NASA team stared at him. The woman spoke first.

  “You’re a spook, aren’t you? CIA? NSA?”

  “Homeland,” he said holding onto his smile firmly.

  She nodded as if confirming a grim suspicion. “The vaguest of them all.”

  “Nice to meet you as well, Colonel Dyson,” he said to the woman. He regretted this comment, as he’d meant to ignore any display of poor manners. “Welcome to project Black Ice.”

  “I’m sure we’ll all get along fine,” she said, sounding unconvinced.

  The three introduced themselves and shook hands all around. Sandeep barely listened as he’d already read their dossiers. All of them had been in space. Two of them had commanded shuttle missions. The female colonel was to be the pilot. The other two were designated as copilot and navigator.

  This had been planned out years in advance, if the ship had ever become operational and was needed to fly. No one had actually suspected that it would happen today, but at least they’d laid out the groundwork. Every year, NASA rotated a team they had prepped for the mission—without knowing exactly what that team was supposed to do.

  The instructions from Homeland, which now ran this black op, were maddeningly vague. The team was to be prepared to go into space at a moment’s notice, flying a ship of unusual configuration. An experimental and possibly dangerous spacecraft.

  There had been objections from NASA, naturally. They had long harbored suspicions, but they had no real idea what was squatting in a cavern beneath this lonely stretch of desert. Homeland and the Pentagon had never given them details, as NASA was too public and outside the circle of secrecy the U. S. government had built up around this project in the Cold War.

  And so when Sandeep escorted the trio down into the depths to Gamma Level, and they walked down the long corridor with its daunting security, he stopped at the final door.

  “Now,” he said, “before I walk you through this door, I must ask you to realize something. You’ll never be able to live a completely normal life after this moment. You’ll be committed. One of the small circle that—”

  “Let’s get on with it, Agent,” Dyson said. “We’re all cleared, and we signed with Uncle Sam a long, long time ago.”

  The other two chuckled. Sandeep looked from one to the next.

  “This is different,” he said. “We always give new people a chance to turn back at this point. Your lives are about to change. The secrecy here is such that you cannot leak what you see beyond these doors.”

  One of the two men, the navigator, began to worm his lips around thoughtfully.

  “Major?” Sandeep asked. “Do you wish to speak? If so, this is the moment.”

  He shook his head.

  Colonel Dyson frowned and eyed the door’s defensives.

  “Gas nozzles?” she said questioningly. “A metal floor? Could this be electrified?”

  “Possibly—in an emergency.”

  “Do you have lot of those? Emergencies, I mean?”

  Sandeep smiled and shook his head. “Fortunately, no.”

  “I heard something happened out here—something about your former commander being injured or killed? I bet this mantrap was involved.”

  Sandeep winced. This was exactly the kind of thing that wasn’t supposed to get out. How could one maintain total secrecy if people talked to one another like birds on a wire?

  “I’m not aware of any such incident,” he said smoothly.

  “Then why are you here giving us the nickel tour?” Dyson demanded. “If your boss is fine, why isn’t he doing it?”

  “He is otherwise detained,” Sandeep said. “But if you want to know more, all you have to do is confirm your commitment to me now. I’m asking this of each of you, as an individual. I want to emphasize that you’re under no orders at this moment. No prior contracts or commitments apply. If you want to change your mind, this is your last chance.”

  The navigator cast a longing glance back toward the elevator, but in the end, all three of them gave their word. They were committed.

  Sandeep opened the door.

  To say the flight crew was surprised was an understatement. Roiling gases, a floating hulk of rock and ice—whatever they’d been expecting, this wasn’t it. They stepped closer, walking up to the rail, with wide, sparkling eyes.

  “This is amazing,” Dyson said. “How did you build something like this? And why the hell is it covered in ice and rocks?”

  “That is one of the mysteries,” Sandeep said. “To be honest, the ship seems to enjoy coating itself like that.”

  The three turned their faces toward him.

  “It likes it?” Dyson asked. “And what do you mean by ‘one of the mysteries?’ How can your own experimental aircraft be mysterious?”

  Sandeep explained the facts of gamma-level in gentle tones. It was not an aircraft, it was a spacecraft. It hadn’t been built here, but in fact had fallen to earth here and buried itself in the ground over a century ago.

  The three took this in, but they had trouble believing it. Not out of skepticism, as the ship was right in front of them, but out of shock.

  “It appears to be floating?” Dyson asked. “Is that some kind of gravity manipulation?”

  Sandeep was happy, because he could answer that one. “One of our people, Dr. Linscott, has worked on this puzzle. She believes it’s a side effect generated by the field that contains the engines. In other words, it has more to do with an electromagnetic polarity repelling effect, rather than gravity reversal.”

  Dyson looked alarmed. “We’re wearing ferrous metal,” she said. “A magnet that powerful might tear people apart.”

  “Yes, well, this effect is limited to the area beneath the ship and localized there. Very odd, I know. I have to admit, I’m not fully versed on the science.”

  Dyson shook her head, craning her neck to look over the side of the railing at
the region under the ship. “It’s humming and there are gases venting.”

  “They have theories, but…” Sandeep shrugged helplessly. He was out of his depth, and he knew it.

  “I bet you’re not the only one who’s clueless,” Dyson said. “I can see there’s a lot here that scientists could study for years.”

  Sandeep escorted them around the encircling walkways and up the ramp to the open hatch as he spoke.

  There, just outside the ship, a young girl was playing with a computer tablet. She sat in a chair at the top of the ramp, a few feet from the opening. Frost sent waves of cool air toward them as they approached.

  “Sandeep?” Jenna called. “I’m bored. Can I take a break?”

  “Of course, my dear,” he said. “Touch the ship one more time, will you, before retiring?”

  Jenna did as he asked and trotted away down the ramp. The three flight crew members stared after her and exchanged bewildered glances.

  “The ship likes her,” Sandeep tried to explain. “It won’t open for just anyone, you see.”

  He stepped aboard, ducking his head through the low, circular hatchway. The flight crew balked.

  “Um, Agent Grewal?” Dyson asked.

  “What is it, Colonel?”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? You expect us to fly an alien ship? How the hell are we supposed to guide it? How can we even see what’s outside? Does that little girl have to touch a wall every time we want to adjust our speed and course?”

  Sandeep’s smile hardened. “We have answers for all your questions. After all, we’ve been working on this for quite some time.”

  “Why don’t you have your own flight crew then?”

  “To be honest, we never expected to fly it anywhere until recent events occurred. We’ve been forced into a radically new path, making changes to our operation on the fly. There will be a briefing at dinner, where you can meet the science team. In the meantime, would you like to continue the tour?”

  They followed him inside, ducking their heads and making sure they didn’t touch anything.