FSF, March-April 2010 Read online

  The path curved through the digger's vast interior. Wolverton emerged on a catwalk that looked down on an enormous bin, from which scores of conveyor belts streamed. Nimble metal digits on flexible armatures separated ores to send them in one direction or another. The catwalk trembled from the digger's forward motion and the crashing of the ore, as minerals were scooped up under the gigantic rotary blades and dumped into the bin. But it was a pretty smooth ride, all things considered.

  Wolverton passed through a hatchway and descended a ramp leading toward the digger's heart. Judging from the dimensions of these passageways, the digger's creators weren't giants, but they weren't small either. If his luck held, he wouldn't run into any of them before he found the power source.

  That hope was dashed as he emerged from a hatch at the bottom of the ramp and came face to face with a biped, clad in a strange looking protective suit, head covered by an enormous helmet with an opaque visor. He saw something metallic in one of its hands.

  Wolverton turned and fled down a corridor. He bounded to an intersection, and as he turned he saw the biped coming after him. Rounding the bulkhead, he turned. He backed up against the wall and waited.

  The biped came around the corner and Wolverton sprang.

  His surprise attack was easily fended off. Wolverton found himself on the floor, unsure of what had happened. He looked up at the biped.

  Its visor screen lightened, and he saw a familiar face.

  "Nozaki!"

  She helped him up. Removing her helmet, she shook her black hair free and smiled at him.

  "Hi, Wolverton,” she said, her voice muffled. “I saw you on a security monitor. I hope I was the only one."

  "How did you...?"

  She gestured for him to take off his helmet. “It's all pressurized in here now."

  "Am I glad to see you!” he said as soon as his head was free.

  "Me, too,” Nozaki said.

  "Where did you come from?” he asked, still not quite believing she was there.

  "It's a long story. How about you?"

  "Not long, but eventful,” he said. “How did you end up here?"

  "It depends on who you ask. They think I'm working for them, but I've got a hidden agenda."

  "Same as mine, I presume."

  "Believe me, it wasn't easy to arrange being here for the digger's maiden voyage."

  "This was intended to be the last maintenance check before letting it go?"

  "Yeah, nobody stays aboard once it's exposed to the hydrogen shell's radiation."

  "So that's why it came through and destroyed base camp, unattended...."

  "Right, and knowing these people, they'll write off the digger when it disappears through the bubble, rather than admit they screwed up."

  "Do you know your way around in here?"

  "More or less.” She held up the blue metal blob he'd thought was a weapon. “See this thing?"

  "Uh, huh. What is it?"

  "It's a portable field generator."

  "What's it for?"

  "Come on,” she said. “I'll show you."

  She led him to an angled shaft and hopped in, sliding down into the digger's bowels. Wolverton jumped in after her. Their descent was slowed by the light gravity, and Wolverton landed easily next to Nozaki in a large chamber.

  "This is the place,” she said. “The crew knows there's been a security breach, so we better hurry."

  Eleven big electromagnets were arranged in a circle, and another one was set directly below something suspended at eye level, something that bent the light inward.

  "Is that what I think it is?” Wolverton asked.

  "If you think it's a primordial black hole, the answer is yes,” Nozaki said. “That's exactly what it is."

  Wolverton's throat felt very dry all of a sudden. “That's the digger's power source?"

  "Yes."

  "Kind of reckless, huh?"

  "That's the way these people are.” Nozaki pointed upward. “Those conduits carry energy to the digger's segments."

  "How can we stop it?"

  "We can't—it's a force of nature."

  "Then how do we shut down the digger?"

  "It's a long shot,” Nozaki said, “but we can try to redirect the black hole's tidal forces."

  "How?"

  "Well, these electromagnets emit monopoles, so it may be possible to deflect the current and change the domain wall's parameters."

  Before Wolverton could ask any more questions, two figures came through a hatchway. He prepared to do battle, crouching like a wrestler to square off against the nearest of them. Nozaki grabbed his arm and held him back.

  She squeezed the blue metal blob and a shimmering field shot out of it, enveloping her and Wolverton just as the larger of the two bipeds ran toward them.

  Their attacker bounced off the field and fell to the floor, squirming from the shock. Wolverton took a good look at him. He was a man.

  "They're human!” he cried.

  The other one, a woman, ran back out through the hatch.

  "She's gone for help,” Nozaki said. “We've got to hurry."

  Now he understood how Nozaki had infiltrated. They had accepted her because she looked like them.

  Wolverton followed Nozaki as she stepped between two of the monopolar electromagnets. The field generator shielded them from the current restraining the black hole's energy.

  Taking a closer look, Wolverton saw that the light's distortion was due to a steady stream of dust that sifted down from above, fed into the event horizon so that its dimensions would be easy to see. The primordial black hole itself was probably no more than a few microns in diameter, invisible to the naked eye. Its core was three meters from where they stood.

  "Don't get too far away from me,” Nozaki said. “The portable field is limited."

  "Right,” Wolverton said. “What do we do now?"

  "We're going to use the field to bypass the current."

  "Isn't that dangerous?” Wolverton asked. “We could destroy more than the digger, couldn't we?"

  "We could severely screw up local space for quite a distance,” Nozaki said.

  "In which case we'll be dead."

  "Yes, but the digger won't go through the bubble, and the reality we know will be irrevocably changed. Base camp will survive."

  "The trick is for us to survive, too."

  "Right.” Nozaki pointed at one of the electromagnets. “Try to put your hand on it."

  "Are you serious?"

  "Completely. The current will be repelled by the portable field."

  Reluctantly, Wolverton tried to touch the huge electromagnet. His fingers couldn't quite come into contact with it.

  "See what I mean?” Nozaki said.

  Wolverton could indeed, if only peripherally. The light showing through the dust described a noticeable shift in the event horizon's dimensions.

  "It's changing, but the change doesn't seem to be affecting the digger's functions,” Wolverton said.

  "Then we need to block more of the electromagnets."

  "But how? We've only got four hands."

  "I don't know, but we have to find a way."

  The subject was moot as three people rushed from behind the electromagnets and charged them. Wolverton expected the field to repulse their attackers, but it didn't. One of them carried another field generator, and it melded with the extant field, enabling them to pass through the shield and engage Wolverton and Nozaki hand to hand.

  Two of them assaulted Nozaki with the fury only the betrayed can feel. They quickly overwhelmed her, shouting in a language Wolverton didn't understand.

  The one holding the generator faced off against Wolverton.

  His assailant lunged. Wolverton dropped down onto one elbow and swung his legs around, tripping him. The man crashed to the floor with a grunt, dropping the generator.

  Wolverton jumped to his feet and ran to help Nozaki. He shoved one of her assailants out of the way. The other was flailing at Nozaki, but s
he kicked him in the knee and his leg gave out.

  The fighting was desperate.

  The man Wolverton had tripped was on his feet again. He started toward them. Nozaki leaped up and dropkicked him. His head jerked and he staggered back a few steps. Wolverton thought he was going to fall, but he didn't.

  He came too close to the event horizon.

  It was a gruesome sight, but over quickly. He was sucked in head first, torn to bloody bits, and crushed. His red pulp disappeared into the black hole in an instant.

  Wolverton stared in horror. Nozaki wasted no time, throwing herself at the woman, sending her reeling on impact into the event horizon.

  The woman's scream was cut short as she too was snagged and compacted by the black hole's superdensity.

  Now only one antagonist stood against them. Wolverton could see that he was frightened. He fell to his knees and shouted, imploring them to spare him.

  Nozaki said something to him Wolverton couldn't understand.

  "Are there any more of them?” Wolverton asked, breathing hard from the fight.

  "No, it was a crew of four, counting me."

  "Are they at war with the consortium?"

  "You guessed it, over mineral rights to this asteroid, among other things."

  "Now I know why my friends couldn't get away from here fast enough."

  "Humans are quite a headache for them."

  "So what do we do with this guy?"

  "We're going to make him help us."

  "How?"

  "He's an engineer, and he knows how to shut down the digger."

  "Great!"

  "Let's go,” she said, pulling the engineer to his feet and pushing him forward between two electromagnets. She switched off the portable field generator and pointed toward a hatchway.

  "Where to?” Wolverton asked.

  "The control center is up top,” Nozaki replied.

  They stepped into a lift. When they got to the top, the engineer suddenly thrust his elbow into Nozaki's midriff. She backed into Wolverton and both of them fell.

  The engineer darted through a hatch and slammed it shut behind him.

  "No!” Nozaki cried.

  "Can we break in?"

  "No, we can't. We'll just have to abandon the digger and go through the bubble."

  "At least we can warn everyone in advance.” It wasn't much of a consolation, but it was all Wolverton had at the moment.

  "Let's get out of here,” Nozaki said.

  "Wait!” Wolverton grasped her by the crook of her arm.

  Nozaki didn't appear to be willing to wait, but then she saw why Wolverton had stopped her.

  "Oh, those guys,” she said.

  A spider dropped into the corridor from above. It was followed by another, and another, and yet another. In moments, there were dozens of them filing past Nozaki and Wolverton, anchoring the spurs at the tips of their spindly legs in the hatchway's seam.

  The spiders formed a circle around the hatch, clinging to the ceiling and the bulkheads as they tugged at the seam. It began to give, and they yanked it open with a loud clang.

  Wolverton ducked his head to get inside. He saw a wide view of LGC-1's surface. Part of the horizon and the starfield were blocked by the advancing bubble.

  The engineer stood at a console. He shouted and pointed a pistol at Wolverton.

  Thunder sounded in Wolverton's ear as a bullet spanged off the metal hatch. Before the engineer could get off another shot, Wolverton tackled him.

  Caught by surprise, the engineer dropped the pistol as they both tumbled over a chair. It clattered against the console.

  Nozaki frantically worked a panel on the console while the two men fought.

  "I don't know how to stop it!” she said.

  "Then help me!"

  The engineer punched Wolverton in the jaw, hard.

  When he emerged from his daze, Wolverton was sprawled over the console. He saw that the engineer was on the floor. Nozaki stood over him, holding the pistol. Behind her, the bubble loomed.

  But Nozaki was looking at something else.

  "Wolverton!” She pointed at a hologram.

  It was an image of the primordial black hole. The spiders ringed the electromagnets, their legs linking.

  "They're going to cut off the current!” Wolverton shouted.

  The spiders weren't here to help him. Their mission was to free the tidal forces, imploding the digger and everything near it.

  "We've got to get out of here!” Nozaki cried.

  "This way!” Wolverton took her by the hand and led her through the hatch. He loped into the corridor, dragging Nozaki behind him.

  "No, Wolverton! Up there!” Nozaki pointed at a catwalk above the control center.

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yes, come on!"

  The digger veered wildly, almost knocking them off their feet.

  "The reaction's starting!” Wolverton shouted.

  They clutched handrails and made their way up a ladder and across the catwalk.

  Pressure suits hung on the other side of a bulkhead.

  "Put one of those on,” Nozaki said.

  "But I...."

  "Don't argue. The air tanks are untapped."

  Wolverton got into a suit as quickly as he could. The floor shook underfoot, making it difficult, but Nozaki helped him. As soon as he was suited, he sealed the helmet lining, and a sweet nitrogen-oxygen mix flowed into his helmet.

  "Ready?"

  "Yes."

  Nozaki slammed her palm against a jutting switch in the bulkhead. The roof opened, and they were flung out into space. The red corona of Gamma Crucis's hydrogen shell seared the landscape.

  The arc of their flight was slow. They landed lightly on the asteroid's smooth surface and tumbled to a stop.

  Wolverton got up and gave Nozaki a hand. They turned to see the digger quaking and lurching. The waspish ship rose from its back.

  "He's getting away,” Wolverton said.

  The digger buckled as the black hole pulled matter into itself. The ship rose into space, but not fast enough. Its progress was retarded, and then halted, and finally fatally reversed as it was drawn back toward the black hole.

  The ship fell into the collapsing digger.

  The digger imploded and shrank into nothing.

  The warping of local space advanced rapidly toward Wolverton and Nozaki. The red landscape transformed before their eyes, shriveling as it was pulled toward the event horizon.

  They ran for the bubble.

  It was just ahead of them, but the tidal forces were expanding rapidly.

  Wolverton held Nozaki's hand and ran for all he was worth. Despite his long legs, she kept up with him.

  Darkness yawned in front of them.

  More and more of the asteroid's surface was sucked into the event horizon, as if a rug were being pulled out from under this reality.

  They leaped through the bubble.

  On the other side now, they kept moving through the darkness, jumping ten or twelve meters with every step. At last they turned to stare at the tidal forces transmogrifying the bubble's parameters.

  Wolverton put his arm around Nozaki's shoulders, encumbered by the bulky pressure suit. For the first time, he realized how small she was.

  They waited for the end.

  The bubble began to shrink, negated by the black hole's anisotropism. Its amorphous outline dwindled. It was consumed, reduced from a vast anomaly in the fabric of the continua to nonexistence.

  Wolverton and Nozaki stood on the shadowed, barren surface of LGC-1.

  "We made it,” Nozaki said.

  Wolverton tried to catch his breath, but he found that he was sobbing.

  Nozaki embraced him, her dark eyes sympathetic as she gazed up at him through her visor. “It's all right, Wolverton. I know how you feel."

  But she didn't. How could he tell her that he was crying because he loved her? He was sure she'd never feel the same way about him. Now that they were back in their own
reality, he felt alone again, even though Nozaki was right there beside him.

  "We're going to have to take the long way around,” Nozaki said.

  "Yes,” Wolverton said, regaining his composure, “to avoid the sunrise."

  "Would you mind carrying this for a while?” Nozaki asked, handing him the portable field generator.

  Wolverton was surprised by its lightness. “Jyoti's going to have fun with this."

  "Won't she, though?"

  They started back, jumping easily to sail over ground that hadn't existed for them just a few minutes earlier. Wolverton started to feel a little better.

  "Will it come back?” he asked.

  "The bubble?” Nozaki said. “I don't know."

  "Maybe it's better if it doesn't. We don't want to get mixed up in a war."

  "It may be too late for that, Wolverton."

  "What do you mean?"

  "We've taken sides, and I've seen enough of their militaristic society to know they won't forgive us. We better hope they never find their way here again, because I'm pretty sure they'll want to punish us for what we've done."

  "But what choice did we have?"

  "None,” Nozaki said. “I told them the digger would destroy our compound, but they wouldn't listen."

  "And they're human?"

  "All too human. They're descended from us."

  Her comment gave Wolverton an idea he was afraid to voice.

  "Things are going to be different when we get back, aren't they?” he asked.

  "Yeah. For one thing, there will be two of you now."

  "And three of you.” Wolverton recalled the sight of his body lying in state on the green planet. He still didn't understand how the consortium had known to bring him here, unless they had extracted information from his slumbering mind. In any case, they'd used him as a decoy so the spiders could do their work. He couldn't much blame them. His jaw was sore, but other than that things had worked out pretty well.

  The flyby passed overhead, and they waved at it. They walked on, and after a little while a question occurred to Wolverton.

  "Which one are you?” he asked. “Are you the one who left me behind?"

  "Not this time,” she said.