Iris

Prynnesettled into a chair and accessed the stored data. Though not particularly interested in the usual assortment of advertisements, legal briefs, and occasional personal messages that came through from the Solar worlds, Demogorgon found himself listening in on the playback. After all, he told himself, this is a historic date. Even the mundane took on an edge of importance. And besides—there were hours to kill before he could find out if Brendan was all right.

Halfway through the messages there was a notice of real import, not without ominous implications for their present situation. It seemed that Cornwell had purchased an asteroid some years earlier and had put it off limits to mining and colonization. Demogorgon remembered John mentioning it to the group some time before—since the asteroids were quickly being consumed by the voracious needs of mankind, he had bought it as a kind of nature preserve, partially at Beth's insistence. 508 Princetonia , it was called; just a chunk of carbonaceous material 140 kilometers in diameter. It had now been confiscated by the Pansolar Bureau of Asteroid Management. They had credited Cornwell's accounts with the amount of his original investment plus four percent for appreciation. The off- world arm of the Terran government was flexing its muscles. In any case, it was unlikely that the Artifact would remain in their possession once the Union found out about it.

Hours later it was time for Polaris to be wheeled over Aello's horizon by the rotation of the little moon. They all gathered back in the central room's pit. Jana's chip photorecorder was directed at the spot at which they expected the ship to appear. In their minds they saw the uneven white limb of Aello, a welter of craters, small and large, reduced to lines by foreshortening. The resolution of the telescope was such that they would easily be able to see the alien vessel, and perhaps even Polaris. But the debris kicked up from the excavation was still swarming in orbit around the satellite, and this might obscure the tiny human craft.

The moment came; and nothing. An irregular cliff wall was evident on the horizon now, but that was all. 'Of course!' said Beth. 'It's in a crater—we'll have to wait a little longer.' Finally the dark shape of the Artifact was fully revealed to them, nestled at the bottom of the obscenely huge crater. They established contact with Polaris easily, and it replayed a mental rerun of the entry of the exploration party into the huge portal. But when the circle had irised shut, the contact with the others was cut. In present time all they could do was play the camera over the linear blue bulk of the thing. Demogorgon spoke for them all: 'We may never know what's happened.' He shut his eyes for a moment, keeping his face as cold and still as he could, then turned and walked away.

After some time of travel, both on and off the transport matrix, the four explorers found themselves near the aft end of the alien spacecraft. Here the density of mysterious shapes and incomprehensible devices gradually thinned out, until they were in an open cylindrical area that ended in a flat wall. The floor was a nest of transparent tubes, interconnected with several heavy machines that looked suspiciously like turbo-pumps.

Surveying the scene, Sealock finally turned to Krzakwa and said, 'What do you think? Engine room?' The Selenite nodded slowly. 'This is the logical place for it.' Hu laughed softly. 'At least, if you're using our logic.' True, thought Sealock, a little surprised that it hadn't occurred to him. This could be the main living quarters. Still . . .

The largest of the hoses led two by two through the rear bulkhead of the ship, and below each set was a dark circle, centering on a white dot. When she pointed them out, Methol said, 'If these are like the others we've seen, maybe they're inspection ports.'

'Could be. Let's find out.' They walked over to the central one and Sealock friction-punched the mark. As expected, the thing irised open, revealing a dimly lit tunnel. They stoodback for a moment, then, without another word, went in. It led aft only a short distance, then emerged into another large chamber. Here there were three huge cylinders mounted up against a curving surface that appeared to be the outer skin of the spacecraft.

Krzakwatook one look at them and burst out laughing.

'Absolutely,' said Sealock. 'Perfectly ordinary rocket engines.'

'A little huge, maybe, but nothing new.'

'So it isn't a starship. . . .' Methol's voice mirrored her disappointment.

'I think we knew that already,' said Krzakwa .

They spent a few minutes confirming their analysis, then began to look around again. On the floor nearby they found another portal and opened it. Below them was a wide corridor flanked by curving walls. There were more transparent hoses leading up into the ceiling.

'Now what?'

Sealock looked meditatively at the walls for a while, then said, 'Whatever these things may be, we should just go on assuming that this thing is set up human-technology style. If that is the case, then these can be nothing but the fuel tanks. Jana, run me up a line so we can coordinate our scanners.' The woman did as she was bid and they switched on. After a few seconds the man smirked and said,

'Well, well. Lithium hydride in a carbon-crystal matrix.' He deaccessed the device and unlinked from Hu.

' Hyloxso,' said Krzakwa . 'Swell.'

'Not quite, but . . . close enough,' said Methol. 'If this isn't a starship, how did it get here?'