The Science-Fantasy Megapack: 25 Classic Tales from Fantasy Adventures

A TIME FOR CONTACT, by Sydney J. Bounds

Maurey said, “What in hell is it?”

Johns stared in fascination as Maurey piloted their ship in close to the strange object. “Metallic?” he suggested doubtfully.

Maurey watched distance and worried. “Could it be anti-matter?”

“Unlikely.” Kennedy, a plump owl of a physicist, looked up from his instruments. “I’d say it has been in the Belt a few centuries. Look at the surface, scored and pitted — plenty of meteoric dust has hit in that time. No, it’s not anti-matter, whatever it is.”

“It hardly reflects at all,” Johns said. “If it hadn’t been for Ken’s instruments, we’d never have found it.”

The prospecting ship, Hunter, out from Mars colony, was searching for minerals. But this trip, in addition to the normal crew of pilot and geologist, it carried an image converter.

Maurey checked his orbit against that of the object, watched his radar; in the Belt, there were altogether too many pieces of debris drifting around. It was an unhealthy spot.

Hunter edged nearer to the object; almost spherical, larger than the ship, bristling with bumps like inverted craters. Asteroids of this size are, without exception, highly irregular in shape. It was very odd.

“A probe?” Kennedy said thoughtfully.

“Too old—”

“I didn’t mean one of ours.”

Maurey snorted disbelief as he burned fuel to circle the object; and saw what might be a cluster of exhaust vents.

Kennedy sucked in air. “An automated probe from another star system. It has to be. Intelligence!”

Maurey allowed Hunter to drift until the two hulls touched; he cut his engine and the ships stayed together.

Johns helped Kennedy encase his oval form in a spacesuit. “There has to be a way into that thing, and I’m going to find it.”

He went out through the lock and Maurey and Johns watched as he clambered from bump to bump over the alien hull. Long minutes passed before the radio exclaimed: “Got it!” They saw a dark opening into which Kennedy vanished.

Maurey said, uneasy: “We shouldn’t have let him go alone. There’s no telling what might be inside.”

“Nothing living, that’s a safe bet.”

Maurey spoke into his Mike: “Are you receiving me, Ken?”

The radio remained silent. “Their hull cuts off transmission,” Maurey said, considering. “Suit up, Johns, and be ready to go in after him.”

They waited, tension mounting. The geologist, stringy and experienced, slid easily into his seat. Then Kennedy appeared at the open hatch, waving. Excitement lifted his voice.

“It is a probe, and fully automated — no indication that anyone was ever aboard. But there’s something queer, come and see for yourselves. This could be the big one we need.”

Johns said, “I’ll be right with you,” and hurried through the lock.

Maurey’s mouth twisted wryly. Trust Johns and Kennedy to put the colony first; if it was good for Mars, they wanted it. He didn’t fit the pattern and it had taken him a long time to realize it; but now he wanted out. And it would be nice to go back with the big haul.

He suited up and cycled the lock, moved cautiously over the bumpy surface of the alien probe to the hatchway. Hunter was safe enough; she’d continue in her present orbit indefinitely.

Space was a black ocean to all his horizons, the stars unwinking colored lights. Looking alone the plane of the Belt, stars went out as otherwise invisible asteroids cut across them.

The light from Maurey’s helmet showed a narrow passage beyond the hatch; no airlock. The passage swelled out in a compartment filled with hardware. He recognized a computer, a communications system; other equipment was totally without meaning for him. So it was extraterrestrial, and a real find if he could make anything of it.

His first thought was for the drive, but that, apparently, was sealed away behind a metal bulkhead. He located Johns and Kennedy in a central compartment, staring through an open doorway into a small chamber; the chamber was lined with crystal and numberless facets glowed softly in the light from their headlamps. In the heart of the crystal was a black core; a dense blackness that might have been space itself. A total void.

“What d’you think. Maurey?” Johns asked. “This crystal is unlike anything I’ve met. Watch.” He extended his arm till his hand entered the black area. The crystal glow brightened and set up a vibration that issued through their suits.

Kennedy looked up from his inspection of an electronic grid seemingly embedded in the outer surface of the crystal frame.

“Solid state stuff, this—” He peered thoughtfully into the core. “Something is meant to pass through, that’s obvious. Know what I think? They have matter transmission.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that they send their probe-carrier the long way. A transmitter has to have a receiver, after all. When the probe signals as suitable world, they come through. Instantly.”

“And it got stuck in the Belt — far from suitable, I’d say.”

“That depends on the aliens. Maybe they did.…”

Maurey’s scalp lifted. He felt as if unseen eyes viewed him. He turned away and searched the probe thoroughly, and nowhere did he find an indication that living beings had ever inhabited it.

He rejoined the others as Johns was saying: “So maybe they didn’t come through at all.”

Maurey said, “There’s only one way to find out.”

“If you mean what I think you mean, there’s no hurry. It’s been here a long while. And we’ve got to report this.”

Yeah, Maurey thought cynically, get our names at the top of the role of fame. Stake our claim.

They returned to Hunter and stripped suits. Maurey set about preparing a meal while Kennedy juggled wavelengths, calling Mars. It was lucky they had the physicist this trip; he had a contact laid on for his research.

“Hunter to Mars colony. We have discovered an alien probe. Automatic, no clue to the makers. Probably been in the belt for centuries. It looks as though it might have a matter transmitter built into it and, if so, there’s a lot of technology here for the taking.”

Mars came back, excited. “Keep this quiet. Stay off the air. Can you bring your find down to the surface?”

Kennedy turned from the mike. “How about that, Maurey?”

Maurey pondered as he adjusted the infrared grill. There were problems; the probe was larger than Hunter, but they had grappling tackle to deal with asteroids. “Yeah, I can bring it down.”

Kennedy relayed his decision and Mars returned with enthusiasm. “Fine. Do that then. We’ll—”

A new voice roared into the circuit, powerful, overriding their contact. “This is Earth Authority monitoring. We hear you. Mars colony, you have no jurisdiction in this matter. Hunter, here are your orders: you will leave the probe exactly where it is. Do not interfere with anything aboard — we’ll send experts to investigate. Transmit coordinates for locating it. Bear in mind that the probe may be booby-trapped—”

Maurey felt cold sweat trickle under his armpits…they had gone over the alien craft without once thinking of that possibility.

Earth Authority continued: “Do you read us, Hunter? Transmit coordinates now.”

Kennedy switched off, said savagely: “If these bastards get it, we’re no better off.”

Maurey almost laughed. Johns and Kennedy, like the majority of colonists on mars, wanted a complete break with Earth. They wanted to be self-supporting and run their own lives. They badly needed the advanced technology the probe represented.

Johns sighed. “We can’t take it down now — it would be too easy to find. But here, one of a thousand asteroids, its exact position unknown, we buy time.”

Maurey handed round toasted sandwiches, plastic wrapped. “We’ve still got to eat,” he said, and added casually: “We ought to go through, make contact first.”

Johns started. “You figure it’s safe to operate?”

Kennedy said, “Either it’s safe, or it’s not. I like it.”

“Another world. Instant transportation to all kinds of minerals. We’ll break Earth’s monopoly with one blow.”

Both Johns and Kennedy looked pleased with the idea.

And if its booby-trapped, Maurey thought, so what? A spacer risked his life every time he blasted off. For the jackpot, all it took was one more risk.

“You’re ruled out,” Kennedy told him. “We can’t get down without a pilot. Johns and I will toss for it — whoever wins goes straight through. And back, we hope.”

“Not so fast,” Maurey said, “you’re both forgetting something.”

His imagination raced. First contact with intelligent aliens. What was that worth in terms of fame and fortune? Every newscast in the system would want the story, his story. He could write his own contract on that one. His own ship…he knew he’d never retire.

“I’m captain of Hunter, remember? And I say sleep on it, finish your meal, and rest. You can explore when you’re fresh.”

Johns hesitated, reluctant. “That makes sense, I suppose.”

Kennedy nodded agreement.

Maurey relaxed, dreaming of the big time. What would they be like, the aliens? Was communication possible? What sort of cities, society, technology?

He waited for Kennedy and Johns to sleep. It seemed a long wait. Finally, satisfied that both were sound asleep in their cocoons, he left his seat, suited up and passed through the lock.

He crawled over the rough surface of the alien probe, alone, damping his excitement. At the hatchway, he looked back at Hunter silhouetted against a familiar star field, wondering if he’d see either again. Inside, he went directly to the central compartment, opened the door and looked into the black heart of the crystal room.

He reached out a hand and touched nothing; the crystal glowed and vibrated. Holding his breath, he stepped forward into solid blackness; the hum of vibration went up and up…and he stepped through into a second chamber, a duplicate of the one he’d just left. The door was shut. He tried it and it refused to open.

He got his shoulder to it and leaned with his full weight. It shifted slightly, a crack appeared at the edge, faint light beyond. He heaved again, and again, and the door gave enough for him to squeeze through.

He saw now it was a weight of fine dust that had prevented the door opening easily. A dusty landscape stretched before him, a flat plain. He took a few steps and looked up; the pattern of stars was different — he had crossed to another system.

Maurey stared about him.

An empty landscape, no wind stirred the bleak and desolate plain of dust. He saw the crumbling ruins of a fallen monolith. Silence. A wasting desert as far as he could see, all under a dull red sun.

And he sensed the chance of contact had long passed. The probe had taken so many millions of years to reach the solar system that its makers were now extinct.