“Sure,” he said. “I’m just not anxious to spend the next two weeks here.”
“Miguel.” It was Sebastian. “We have searched the entire area in which they should be. The Polaris is not there.”
“So they jumped?”
“Or changed course. Or accelerated.”
Miguel had no doubt the Polaris was on its way home. “Okay,” he said, “if we have to hang around, let’s do it right. Sebastian, expand the search. Let’s assume they got blown off course by the event. We’ll look deeper. Away from wherever the central luminary used to be.
“Waste of time and money,” he grumbled. “But we’ll do it by the book.”
Miguel was becoming annoyed with Maddy. It would have been thoughtful of her to leave a satellite at the place where the ship should have been, informing any potential rescuer that she was okay and on her way to Indigo. It would have saved all this hassle.
They played some more cards. He started the latest Chug Randall thriller, in which Chug has to outwit a gang of interstellar pirates who are after a shipment of priceless works of art. He watched some talk shows. (Miguel loved watching people argue. He didn’t much care what they argued about, as long as it got loud and passionate. And nothing got louder than panels on politics and religion.) He was eating more than he would have on a normal flight. And skimping on his daily workout. He promised himself that he’d get back to his routine the next day.
Then they were at the end of another evening, and he said good night to Shawn, who seemed able to entertain himself going through Sebastian’s specs. Miguel had not slept well the first night because he was worried that they would find the Polaris.
Now he didn’t sleep well because he was bored and annoyed. He’d mention it to Maddy next time he saw her.
He finally dropped off at about 0200 hours. And Sebastian woke him ten minutes later. “Miguel, I can see the Polaris. ”
It was substantially off course, moving at about forty degrees off its original heading.
And angled down, out of the plane of what used to be the planetary system. It was running at a lower velocity than he’d been led to expect. He sent off a transmission to Indigo, then woke Shawn.
The specialist looked relieved. “At least we know where they are,” he said.
But why are they here? There was no simple explanation that didn’t involve either catastrophe or an unlikely breakdown of both comms and propulsion. There was a possibility he’d pushed to the back of his mind: They might have been punctured by debris, by rocks blown away from the dying sun. Or maybe a burst of radiation had penetrated the shielding.
“Range, Sebastian?”
“Six point six million kilometers.”
“Open a channel.”
“Channel open.”
“ Polaris, this is Peronovski. Madeleine, is everything okay?” Miguel took a deep breath and settled down to wait. Round-trip for the signal would be almost a minute, plus whatever time Maddy needed to respond.
“Power signature is normal,” said Sebastian. An image of the Polaris appeared on the shuttle screen. It was running without lights.
He counted off a minute. Then two.
“Maddy, please answer up.”
Shawn wiped the back of his hand against his mouth. “What do you think?” he asked.
“Don’t know. Madeleine, are you there?”
Silence filled the bridge.
“Sebastian,” he said, “can you contact the AI?”
“Negative, Miguel. There is no response.”
“Okay,” he said. “Shawn, let’s go have a look.”
The Polaris was small and showy. It was silver and black, with a flared rear end and teardrop pods along its flanks and a swept-back fuselage and a wraparound bridge over the prow. None of these features was necessary, of course. The only things a starship needs are symmetry and engines. Beyond those, appearance doesn’t matter much. But the Polaris had been intended to impress VIPs, so Survey had spent money.
They went over in the shuttle, and he inspected the hull. There was no sign of damage. And no indication of movement on the bridge. “Depressurize the cabin, Sebastian. And take us directly alongside the main airlock.”
The AI complied. Miguel and Walker checked each other’s pressure suits, and, when the lamps turned green, left the shuttle and jumped to the Polaris.
The outer hatch responded to the control panel and swung open. They entered the airlock, the hatch closed behind them, and the air pressure started to rise. When it reached normal, the inner door opened.
The artificial gravity was on, but the interior was dark. Temperature was within normal range. They switched on wrist lights and removed their helmets. “Kage,” he said addressing the AI, “hello. Answer up, please. What’s going on?”
Shawn flashed his lamp around at a table and chairs. They were in the common room. And other than the fact the lights were off, and nobody was there, everything looked normal.
“Kage?”
He would not have been able to give instructions to the AI, but she should respond to him.
Shawn tried his luck and shook his head. “She’s not functioning,” he said.
Miguel looked on the bridge. Nobody there. And no visible damage.
“Are they dead?” asked Shawn.
“Don’t know.”
“Any way that could happen?”
“Not without leaving a hole in the hull.”
“How about a madman? Maybe somebody went berserk.”
“Somebody running amok with an ax?” Ridiculous. Especially among this crowd. Every one of them had led an exemplary existence. He’d checked their backgrounds while they were en route. Pillars of the community. All of them. But the prospect chilled him nonetheless. Had there been a maniac, he’d still be on board.
“We need light,” Miguel said. He crossed the bridge and sat down in the pilot’s chair. The control board looked standard. He threw a couple of switches. Lights came on. “Kage,” he said, “do you hear me?”
The silence rolled back. Shawn knelt and opened a black box at the base of the pilot’s chair. “The circuits seem to be intact.” He touched a switch, pushed it forward.
“Try it now.”
“Kage, are you there?”
“Hello.” A female voice. “To whom am I speaking?”
“Captain Miguel Alvarez. Of the Peronovski. Kage, what happened here?”
“Captain, I am sorry, but I do not understand the question.”
“You were supposed to start back to Indigo six days ago. Instead, you’re adrift near Delta Kay. Where Delta Kay was. What happened?”
“I don’t know, Captain.”
“Did somebody turn you off, Kage?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
He peered into the black box. Someone could have disconnected one of the core circuits without her being aware it was happening. That would have shut her down.
But if that’s what happened, they went to the trouble to reconnect, but did not throw the switch to reactivate the AI. Why would anyone do that? “Kage, what are your last recollections?”
“We were getting ready to make the jump into Armstrong space. At the end of the mission.”
“And then what happened?”
“That’s what I remember. Next I was talking to you. I am not aware of the passage of time between those events.”
“Kage,” he said, “where’s Madeleine?”
“I don’t know. I don’t see her.”
“How about the others?”
“I don’t see anyone.”
“Miguel,” said Shawn, “she has a restricted view of the ship. AIs always do.
We’re going to have to find them ourselves.”
They put the lights on and started aft. Through the common room. Down the main passageway, which was lined with doors, four on each side. Miguel had never before been aboard the Polaris, but he knew that these were the quarters for the captain and her passengers.
“Madeleine?” he called. “Hello? Anybody home?” His voice echoed through the ship.
“Spooky,” said Shawn.
“Yes, it is. Stay close until we figure out what’s going on here.” He touched the pressure plate on the first door, the captain’s quarters, and it opened. It was empty, but Maddy’s clothes were hung up.