Dorn seemed conscious, but barely so. Floating lethargically in the perfluorocarbon, the cyborg watched in silence as Yeager set up the navigation program.
Corvus unconsciously touched the optronic circlet crowning his head and said to Yeager, “Dorn’s thinking that you’ve got to cancel the buoyancy program. You have to do something called ‘blow negative’ before the vessel can start to rise above this level.”
“Right,” said Yeager, and he resumed murmuring instructions to the central computer’s voice-recognition system.
Deirdre shook her head, wondering if they were going to get out of this alive. Dorn’s too weak to speak now, but Andy’s picking up his conscious thoughts through the DBS link. Max is learning the difference between designing the ship and making it work.
“Dee,” Andy called to her, “you’d better keep your eyes on your screens. Looks like the creature’s signaling again.”
Turning back to her console, Deirdre saw that the leviathan was flashing a different image. She hunched forward slightly, leaning against the deck loops her feet were wedged into. The leviathan was picturing several of its own kind, with a broad swath of tiny dots flowing down toward them. Then the picture abruptly changed to show
Even slowed by the computer, the imagery made little sense to Deirdre. The dots probably represent the organic particles that drift down out of the clouds, she thought. That’s what they eat. But why does he put us into the stream? What’s he trying to say?
“Better tell our friend that we’re going to be heading up,” Andy told her.
Deirdre nodded and began drawing a picture on her touch-sensitive screen with her outstretched finger.
Leviathan’s sensor members studied the message the alien was drawing. It made no sense.
Leviathan was patiently asking the alien what it ate, but the alien seemed to be ignoring the question and instead showing that it came from higher in the Symmetry, from the cold abyss above.
We know that, Leviathan thought. The alien is stating the obvious. Why won’t it answer our question about its food? Is it refusing to answer? Is it hiding something from us?
“I’ve got it set to fire up,” Yeager announced, a shaky grin on his drawn face.
“Then go,” Corvus said, without hesitation.
“Ten-second countdown,” said Yeager. “Ten…”
“Wait,” Corvus interrupted. “We ought to get Dorn strapped in before we start jouncing around.”
Yeager nodded. “Yeah, right. Slide him into his sleep compartment.”
“I’ll help,” Deirdre offered.
Together, she and Corvus pushed Dorn’s barely conscious body into the sleep chamber and slid him into his coffinlike bunk.
“He’ll be okay in there,” Corvus said as he fastened the safety web at the foot of the enclosure. Deirdre heard the uncertainty quavering in his voice.
“It’s the best we can do,” she said.
With an abrupt gesture, Corvus waved Deirdre through the hatch back onto the bridge, then followed her. They both slid their feet into the deck loops.
“Fire away, Max,” said Corvus. Then he turned toward Deirdre and winked.
Surprised, she smiled back at him. Andy’s trying to reassure me, she thought. In the middle of all this, he’s trying to tell me not to be afraid. But she was afraid. And so was Andy, she knew. And Max.
“Ten seconds,” Max said stiffly. “Nine … eight…”
The alien suddenly spurted up on a spray of heated water, heading for the cold abyss above. That’s what it was trying to tell us! Leviathan realized. It’s leaving us. It’s heading home.
For several moments Leviathan considered what it should do. Follow the alien, or remain here with the Kin? Leviathan knew it should ask the Elders for their decision, but there was no time to wait for their deliberation. Without further thought, without asking the Elders for their guidance, Leviathan followed the alien, remaining far enough from it to avoid being scalded by the heat it was pouring out. Like a squid, Leviathan thought. It propels itself with jets of heated water. Of course. How else could it move? It has no flagella members.
The alien was ascending rapidly but Leviathan easily kept pace with it.
How high will it go? Leviathan wondered. How far can we accompany it? Will it have anything else to tell us?
Pointing to the diagnostics screen, Yeager sang out, “His readouts are picking up! His prosthetics are coming back on-line!”
Deirdre glanced at Max and saw the absolutely joyous look on his face. Andy was grinning, too. Then she turned back to her sensor screens. The leviathan was still alongside them, keeping pace with their ascent, staying off to one side to remain clear of their exhaust of superheated steam.
“All systems in the green,” Max said, with pride in his voice.
“You’re doing it,” Andy said, his grin nearly splitting his face. “We’ll have to start calling you Captain Max.”
The leviathan was signaling to them again, Deirdre saw. She repeated the message she’d been sending: We’re leaving. We’re going home.
How far into the cold abyss will the alien go? Leviathan wondered, flashing that question as it swam alongside the ascending hard-shelled creature. Fish and squid and other creatures teemed through the chilly waters of this level. No darters in sight, Leviathan’s sensor members reported. We’re too high for darters, Leviathan thought. Still, it’s good to be on the alert for them. They will attack a solitary leviathan if given the chance.
Still the alien rose.
The hatch to the sleeping area slid back and Dorn floated onto the bridge.
“Look who’s here,” Yeager announced.
Deirdre thought that Dorn looked weary, strained. Even the metal half of his face seemed somehow haggard, dulled.
“I apologize for my collapse,” the cyborg said.
“No apology needed,” said Corvus. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“My prosthetics are programmed to shut down when they are in danger of exceeding their design limits.”
Yeager nodded. “Don’t worry, pal. We’re getting out of this pressure cooker as fast as we can.”
“The mission?” Dorn asked.
“We’ve got enough data to keep the scooters happy for years,” said Yeager. “Now’s the time to go home.”
