Star Trek: The Original Series: The Rings of Time

“May I remind you, Captain, that little is known of the Preservers and their technology. It is possible that a more rigorous examination may turn up subtle similarities between this probe and the obelisk, but they were apparently constructed of different materials, possibly at different points in the Preservers’ history and development. Certainly, we lack the data to identify their relics easily.”

Kirk knew that Spock was right. Nobody even knew what the Preservers had looked like. They were known to have seeded the galaxy with various life-forms, sometimes transplanting specimens from one planet to another, as with Miramanee’s people, but their origins and motives remained obscure. Some scholars had proposed that the Preservers were largely responsible for the proliferation of humanoid species and cultures throughout the universe, but that was just speculation. They were believed to have disappeared centuries ago, but whether they went extinct or simply departed the galaxy remained a mystery, much like this probe.

“But these markings do look the same?” Kirk asked impatiently. He searched his memory, trying to remember exactly what the hieroglyphics on the obelisk had looked like. Spock had eventually deduced that they had corresponded to musical notes. “Don’t they?”

“Yes, sir,” Spock conceded. “They do.”

Overcome with emotion, Kirk reached out to touch the symbols.

“Captain! Wait!”

Spock’s warning came too late. Kirk’s fingers brushed against the ice-cold steel. An unexpected shock jolted his nervous system. A blinding flash consumed his vision.

The transporter room disappeared in a blaze of light.

Nine

2020

“You sure you want to do this?” Fontana asked.

Inside the cramped airlock, she and O’Herlihy helped Shaun into his spacesuit. He began by climbing into the bottom half of the suit, which had not yet been pressurized. He had already donned his inner cooling garment, which looked like a cross between a skindiving suit and long underwear; cold water circulated through the plastic tubing laced throughout the elastic undergarment, giving him chills. The lower body assembly itself was composed of multiple layers of protective fibers and insulation. Its white outer shell was heat-and puncture-resistant. The legs ended in a pair of built-in boots.

“Not really,” he admitted. “But I can’t think of a better idea.”

Their crazy notion was to capture the alien probe for transport back to Earth. Having already disposed of Sacagawea, a few other Earth probes, and nearly half of their provisions, they had room enough in the cargo bay for the mysterious extraterrestrial artifact now that its huge icy shell had sublimed away into the ether. Radio transmissions had been flying back and forth between the ship and Earth for hours, but Mission Control had ultimately approved the operation with laudable speed. Shaun guessed that the folks back home were already salivating at the thought of getting their hands on the probe.

“We could still try using the robot arm,” O’Herlihy reminded him. The telescoping arm, which was installed in the cargo bay, could be quite handy when it came to loading and unloading heavy pieces of equipment, as well as for making repairs to the ship’s outer hull. They could conceivably use it to try snagging the probe. “That might be less risky to you personally.”

Shaun shook his head. “Too clumsy. We don’t know how fragile that probe is.” He checked to make sure the bottom of the spacesuit fit him securely. Multiple loops and clips were available to hook tools onto. “Every scientist in the world will have my hide if we break a genuine alien probe.”

“I’m more worried about what might happen to you,” Fontana said. “We don’t know anything about that thing or how it might react. There could even be some sort of alien pilot inside. There are too many question marks.”

“That’s why we need to get a closer look,” Shaun said. To be honest, he wanted to check out the probe himself, not via remote control. “Don’t worry. I promise not to make any sudden movements that might alarm it. I wouldn’t want to start an interplanetary war by mistake.”

Fontana frowned, less than amused by his glib remarks. “I hope to God you’re joking.”

Me, too, he thought.

For several hours now, they had been maintaining a low polar orbit that brought them back over the probe on a regular basis, but the artifact had yet to react to their presence. Shaun chose to take that as a good sign. Braking thrusters had been deployed to keep them in the probe’s vicinity long enough to carry out this operation. “We haven’t been hiding from it,” he pointed out. “If it’s capable of spotting us, it doesn’t seem to care.”

“So far,” she said.

“Hey, astronauts are optimists, remember?”

“Yes,” Fontana countered, “but we’re not supposed to be daredevils — or bomb-demolition experts.”

Shaun hoped the probe wasn’t wired to self-destruct. “Don’t be silly. Who would bomb Saturn?”

“Pluto?” Zoe suggested. “Maybe it’s still pissed off about not being a planet anymore.”

The stowaway floated beyond the doorway, just outside the airlock. Fontana shot her a dirty look. “You know, it’s not too late to lock you up again.”

Fontana had proposed confining Zoe to the docking ring while they were using the airlock, but Shaun had vetoed that idea. For better or for worse, the intrepid blogger had been aboard the ship for months and had never given them any reason to suspect her of malignant intent. Furthermore, her story had checked out, so he figured it was safe to let her act as an observer.

“Nah,” Shaun said. “This is possibly the biggest news story of all time. It would be a crime to exclude the only reporter in one-point-two billion kilometers.”

More importantly, if things did get hairy, he didn’t want anyone locked up with no escape route. What if they needed to evacuate part of the ship in a hurry?

“If you say so,” Fontana said grudgingly. “Say, if there is an alien, maybe we can trade her for the probe.” She thought better of the idea. “No, scratch that. I wouldn’t wish that on any species.”

“Love you, too,” Zoe retorted.

Fontana ignored her. “Let me go with you,” she volunteered. A second spacesuit hung in a niche on the wall. There was no suit for O’Herlihy; protocol dictated that one astronaut remain inside the vessel during every spacewalk. “I can help.”

He shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m not risking both pilots. Somebody has to steer this ship if something happens to me.” Glancing down at himself, he thought he looked like a clown with oversized pants. “Let’s just finish getting me suited up. I’ve got an appointment with a probe.”

The other two astronauts held up the hard upper torso assembly so he could wriggle into it. He was grateful for the lack of gravity; the bulky suit would have weighed more than a hundred pounds on Earth, and that wasn’t counting the jet pack, which he had yet to put on. The life-support system on his back was loaded down with oxygen tanks, fans, pumps, and a water supply. Fontana and O’Herlihy locked the two halves of the suit together and made sure the connections were airtight. Shaun put on his “Snoopy cap” himself. The headphones pressed against his ears. He adjusted the miniature microphone in front of his lips.

“We’ll be monitoring you every second,” O’Herlihy said. He handed Shaun a pair of thick white gloves. Molded rubber fingertips were meant to provide a better grip. He slipped the gloves onto Shaun’s hands and affixed them to metal rings at the end of the sleeves. “Take care… and good luck.”

“Thanks, Marcus. Don’t leave without me, okay?”

The doctor chuckled. “As if I know how to drive this thing.”

Fontana approached with Shaun’s helmet, which was made of a tough polycarbonate material. A gold-tinted visor provided protection from UV rays and any glare from the planet and its rings. Built-in cameras and lights were attached to the sides of the helmet.

“Don’t forget your hat,” she said. “I hear it’s cold out.”