The photo, in color, was of a creature very similar to the Lunar dig reconstructions. BenRabi said as much. The other object appeared to be a hand-written letter.
"Any luck interpreting this?" Moyshe asked.
"No. We haven't even determined which direction it's supposed to be read."
"You haven't found any technical manuals or anything?"
"Not a speck. Just a few characters on nameplates, stuff like you'd find around instrumentation and doors on any ship. Any time there's more than three characters, they're arranged in matrices like these."
"Maybe they had a holographic system for reading."
"No. Doesn't go with a two-d photo. We don't think."
"Very interesting," Moyshe said, studying the picture again. "A Dear John letter? And the guy, or gal, gets mad and tears up the lover's letter and picture, but then can't bear to part with the pieces?"
"That's one of our hypotheses."
Moyshe scanned the letter. "Thirty-four different characters here. Some punctuation?"
"Don't try to figure it out in your head. Even the computers can't get a handle on it. Just think how hard it would be to break our language without a starting clue. Big letters, little letters, script, punctuation, spelling variations by dialect, different type faces, all the stylized lettering and special symbols we use for technical stuff... You see? We'd need a whole ship full of old letters, novels, and newspapers to break it. Not just a few plaques on an instrument panel."
"Don't worry, Consuela," Amy said. "We'll be into Stars' End soon. You'll find your answers there."
"If I'm lucky enough to go. They haven't picked the science team yet. I'm worried."
"You'll go. You're the best."
BenRabi looked at the woman and slowly shook his head. That Stars' End insanity again.
"I don't know what I'd do if they turned me down, Amy. It's my whole life. I'm not getting any younger. And they might use my age to keep me home."
"Don't worry. You know they can't leave you behind. There's nobody better than you. And they know how much it means to you."
"How soon, Amy? Do you know?"
"It hasn't been decided yet. But it won't be long. A month or two."
Consuela brightened. "You're sure they'll send me?"
"Of course. Don't be silly."
"That's what I am, you know. A silly old woman."
Amy enfolded her in gentle arms. "No you're not. No you're not. Come on, now. Show us one of those ships."
Consuela el-Sanga led them to a little four-place air scooter, flew them out to a vessel. BenRabi felt lightheaded in the lack of gravity. "I feel like I could fall all the way to the end," he said, staring down the length of the hollow.
The ship was one of the least alien of those in the lineup. "Form follows function," Moyshe muttered, remembering the Luna Command constructs, which had very much resembled small human beings.
The ship's lock was open. Consuela made fast, led them inside. She was small, but even she had to stoop in the passageways.
Moyshe wandered around for an hour. He finally summed up his impressions by observing, "It's not that strange. Just kind of dollhouse. Like it was built for children. You can figure out what half the stuff is. It's just parked places we consider weird."
"You said it yourself, form follows function," Consuela replied. "We've done comparative studies between these, Sangaree, Ulantonid, and our own ships. The physical requirements of bipeds appear to be universal. Scales seem to be the most noticeable difference."
"That ship two ahead of this one. What built it? A giant slug?"
"We don't know. It's funny. There's something almost repulsive about it. You have to work yourself up to it if it's your turn to study it. It's like the alienness oozes out of the metal. It's more of a mystery than the other ships. It's almost contemporary, if our dating technique is valid. It shows battle damage. It's the only one of its kind we've ever located. It was as clean as these others. One of my colleagues believes the crew were forced to abandon ship after an accidental encounter during some crisis period, like the Ulantonid War, when everyone was shooting at anybody who didn't yell friend fast enough. Curiously, though, it was surrounded by a whole squadron of our little friends here."
"Enemies?"
Consuela shrugged. "Or purely chance. The ships aren't contemporary with one another. What were they doing together? There aren't enough books to write down all the questions, Mister benRabi. It gets frustrating sometimes."
"I can imagine. Could the crew have been studying the old ships when they were attacked by a third party?"
"That's a possibility we hadn't considered. I'll bring it up... "
"Consuela?" someone shouted into the vessel. "Is that you in there?"
"Yes, Robert. What is it?"
"Somebody's looking for those people who came to see you. A man named Kindervoort. He sounded pretty excited."
"Oh-oh," Amy said. "I'm in trouble now. I thought he wouldn't notice. Consuela, I'd better call him."
She placed the call from Consuela's office. Jarl foamed at the mouth and ordered them to return to Danion. Now. He snarled at benRabi, "Moyshe, I don't care if you cut those nitwit citizenship classes. They're a waste of time anyway. But you're not ducking out on the training schedule. Now come back here and get your men ready. You've got the rest of your life to look at old ships. The auction is now."
Amy was quiet throughout the return passage. Once she whispered, "He's really going to give it to me," and clutched Moyshe's hand. She was shaking.
"He's an amateur," benRabi told her. "You haven't been chewed out till you've taken it from Admiral Beckhart." A moment later he grinned and added, "But if it's private, he lets you yell back."
Soon after they returned they heard that another of the great harvestfleets was entering the nebula. The news generated a fresh air of excitement aboard Danion.
One by one, the harvestfleets came in. Scores of fresh, eager young faces appeared aboard Danion as graduates of Seiner technical schools filled the billets of people lost at Stars' End. The howl and hammer of repairs went on around the clock. The excitement and tension continued to mount.
They were going back. This time in full strength, and to stay. A prideful, nationalistic, bellicose mood gripped the fleets.
Moyshe benRabi and Masato Storm pursued their instruction of the teams they would direct on The Broken Wings. Their days were long and exhausting. Moyshe often tumbled into bed without enough energy left for a good-night kiss.
He began to feel the pressure. It started to intrude into his sleeping hours. He began to dream of the girl he had left behind, so long ago. He suffered more momentary lapses of attention while he was awake.
He began to grow frightened of what might be going on back in the nether reaches of his mind.
Eleven: Christmas 3049 AD
The Contemporary Scene
Tension gripped the bridge of the attack cruiser Lepanto. "One minute to drop," the astrogation officer announced.
Jupp von Drachau scanned his people. They were poised like runners in the blocks, awaiting the crack of the starter's pistol. They would have to grab an enormous fund of data in a few brief minutes.
Lepanto was coming up to an enemy star. There was no way of guessing what might be waiting. Detection gear would not work from hyper unless initial detection had been made in norm. The cruiser was going in blind.
No one knew the capabilities of the Sangaree detection systems. Operating from norm, they would not have the same handicap. A force might be moving toward the drop zone now.
"Thirty seconds."
"Stand by, Weapons," von Drachau ordered. "Button up, people." He sealed the faceplate of his own helmet.