And they left the cabin and moved towards the wardroom.
All the scientists were already gathered there. The leaders were talking excitedly about something, and the junior staff listened to them very attentively. They all wanted a real job so badly, that they were clearly ready to land on the surface of the planet they had discovered.
Abis went to look for the biologists’ section, Dak, having just entered the hall, immediately saw the head of climatologists and resolutely moved in his direction. Young men – seismologists, having seen Tana at the entrance, waved her hands, inviting her to the table, at the head of which sat the chief seismologist of the expedition.
Jum’s supervisor was the head of the entire scientific section, and Jum was surprised to see him already entering the wardroom.
Suspiciously quickly, Obahh developed a plan and coordinated it with Tabit.
The focused Thabit smiled when he saw Jum, – Well, are you ready for great things?
Thabit generally singled out Jum among the others. Why? Jum was never able to answer that question. Maybe a lively mind and a whole bunch of non-standard solutions that the young linguist gave to the tasks set by his supervisor and teacher? Sometimes, however, the solutions were so out-of-the-box that the whole group laughed, and Tabit had a funny smile on his face.
The main screen in the wardroom displayed an image of the discovered planet. Everyone looked with great interest at the place where they were going to spend the near future.
The planet was beautiful. Most of it was a deep blue color. Apparently, it was the color of a liquid compound of hydrogen and oxygen. A great rarity! And here in the midst of this huge amount of water, like a ship, floated the colossal size of the continent, which resembled in shape either an embryo in the early stages of development, or the head of a predatory flying korra, the inhabitant of one of the distant planets of the Empire. The downward curving, closed beak almost completely encompassed a large inland sea along with several islands. The supercontinent stretched from pole to pole and was almost equally divided by the equator, along which, judging by the yellow-brown color, were deserts. Farther north and south the color of the continent’s surface changed to green.
Tabit waited a few moments and said loudly: “Distinguished colleagues, please take your seats and move from talk to business. I am expecting reports and forecasts from the team leaders within one standard period. All the data we have at our disposal necessary for this purpose will be available to interested parties through the ship’s information network within ten minutes. Please proceed.”
The noise instantly subsided to a slight hum.
Thabit, with a satisfied hum, took a decisive step toward the table where the linguists, the “contactors”, were waiting for him.
By the end of the ship’s time cycle it was more or less clear what the planet they had discovered was. The blue part of the surface was indeed nothing but liquid water. The temperature of the water near the equator was considerably higher than at the poles, but still within comfortable limits for possible living organisms. The same could be said about the atmosphere, which, in addition to nitrogen and carbon dioxide, contained a decent amount of oxygen.
The future members of the expedition could, without resorting to air masks, breathe this gas cocktail, very similar in composition to their atmosphere. The green parts of the continent were undoubtedly vegetation. It remained to be seen if there was higher life among the vegetation. The images from the reconnaissance satellites sent out immediately after the discovery of the planet showed that there were no objects of artificial origin on its surface. Unless, of course, they were hidden beneath the surface. The conclusions drawn in the initial report, compiled by Tabit for the ship’s commander and transmitted to the file data bank, were as follows. First, the planet, after minor atmospheric correction, would be able to be ideally suited for settlement by the Zwigg peoples. Secondly, the primary analysis showed the absence of highly developed civilizations on the surface. This should have made colonization much easier.
The report, in accordance with the Imperial Expeditionary Corps Rules, was solemnly handed over by Tabit to the new ship commander. In turn, Obahh announced that the ship would enter a circular orbit around the planet listed in the Imperial Property Register under the inventory number Z4274—0012 after a ship cycle. The research part of the expedition was to prepare everything necessary to conduct research on the surface and be ready for landing in two days. After that, the captain strode importantly from the wardroom toward the ship’s shaft leading to the central cabin. Tabit, in turn, asked everyone to gather tomorrow immediately after breakfast to prepare for the expedition to the planet’s surface.
The scientists, tired from a long and difficult day, began to retire to their quarters.
Jum discreetly approached each member of his crew and talked to them about something. Abis, Dak and Tana nodded and wandered back to their quarters, dragging their tired legs.
The next morning, half an hour before breakfast, the boys were already sitting in Jum’s cabin. Dak was as fit and alert as ever. Abis and Tana, though they had just washed their faces, were yawning, showing the sacrifices they had made in waking up an hour earlier than usual. Jum, judging by his red eyes and unmade bed, had not gone to bed at all. But unlike Tana and Abis, his enthusiasm kept him awake.
– Let’s decide what we’re going to do next, – Jum began. – I was thinking, – he nodded at the untouched bed, – that we should just stick together. It’s too quick for things to start happening that could be life-threatening.
– You know, I haven’t gotten much sleep tonight either! – Dak shrugged. – You and I are loyal citizens of the Empire, but the captain and some of the crews are not! That’s one! Next, we remember that, judging from our new captain’s conversation, a stop on this planet is premeditated, and therefore, and here I agree with Jum, dangerous for those who are not conspirators. For lack of precise information, we can assume the following. There could be a descent vehicle accident. Or, alternatively, once we’re down, we can’t take off. You know, some kind of malfunction or something like that. It is possible that the “surprise” will be the surface of the planet: wildlife, nuances of the atmosphere, and maybe the natives, if there are any.
– I’d agree with you, – Tana nodded, – if it were necessary for the conspirators to act this way. But why would they do that? None of them have any idea what we know about the conspiracy itself. Maybe they are preparing the planet for the usurper in case something goes wrong. In which case they have a vested interest in us, I mean the scientists. Well, at least until the planet’s exploration is complete.
– You’re forgetting one more factor, – Abis interjected, – and that’s the mysterious “HE”. Who is he? Someone who may be entrusted to become the usurper, or some person whose influence on the Empire’s politics the conspirators want to reduce?
– Yes, – Jum smirked, – and there are two possibilities. Either he will be guarded like the apple of their eye, or they will try to destroy him quietly! You’ve said a lot of things, but I haven’t heard anything about what we should do!
– Please, I can suggest a sequence of actions, – Dak waved his hands. – As you like to say, first of all, we should try to get into one landing craft. I think it won’t be difficult, because Tabit believes that the teams formed during the flight should act in the same composition when exploring planets. Tell me, are any of you familiar with the construction of a landing craft?
– Well, I’ve been studying something like that! – Jum blushed.
– You’re a linguist, aren’t you?
– Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. To be honest, it all came about by accident. Once at a lecture, Thabit said that a real specialist must “not only communicate, but also set up camp, and cook food and …". And then I, oh that language of mine, interrupted him: “Aha, and steer the ship! This will help a real linguist!”. As a result, I studied the landing boat documentation for almost six months. And there, I’ll tell you, there is both about the device and about the management. Thank Zwigg, he didn’t make me take the pilot’s exam like he promised. I think I could have done it, though, because I had so much technical information in me. It’s in me, a technophobe to the core!
– Well, that’s good, – Dak interrupted him, – that takes care of one problem. Why did I ask you that? It may happen that our boat, due to someone’s evil will, doesn’t want to lower us smoothly to the surface of the planet. I’m going back to my hypothesis. Well, if we land flat, good! In that case we continue to hold and work together and keep our eyes open. We exchange any information, even the most insignificant, which will become known to each of us.
– I would have told Tabit what had happened! – Tana couldn’t resist a comment.
– Don’t worry, it won’t take long. But we must check him out, too! – Jum nodded. – It’s time for breakfast. Let’s go. I think everyone will be preparing for the landing today. We absorb all the information from our groups. Tonight, we’ll gather at Tana’s.
Planting
The day passed very hectic. The start of the landing was moved forward by a standard cycle. But since the scientists had already waited for a long time for the opportunity to do their favorite work, no one resented it. Instruments were packed, teams formed. Jum, to his great joy, was put on the boarding team with Abis, Dak, and Tana. In addition to them, the head of the climatologists was enlisted aboard the runabout, much to Dak’s delight in turn. The rest of the boat was packed with air and soil composition instruments, as well as a quick-build dome, sleeping bags, and survival gear.
The landing site was determined to be a point north of the planet’s equator. Here the desert ended and the zone of vegetation began. The terrain was quite gentle, although a few minutes of flight, judging by the map, began steep hills.
The captain wished the whole research party a successful landing and complained that, of course, with great desire he would have taken a place on one of the landing boats, but the duty of the commander forced him to stay on the bridge of the ship and lead the expedition from there. After that a long line of scientists went through the corridors, which had been closed for them not so long ago. In the hangar stood several dozen landing boats loaded with equipment, provisions and things for the field camp. It was to be guarded on the surface by a military boat with a powerful force field generator. It was forbidden to move on the surface of the explored planet outside the group, accompanied by one of the expedition technicians with special tracking and protection equipment.
Guys and Tana, so as not to embarrass themselves in front of Jum’s supervisor Holdum, having thrown the bags with personal belongings behind their backs, quickly, one by one, slipped into the boat intended for them. Holdum, grinning, followed. He was a tall, middle-aged zwigg, not thin, but rather wiry, a little stooped, wearing clothes that were not bright and age-appropriate.
– Well, my fellow travelers, – he said, settling into his seat and fastening his seat belt, – let’s get acquainted. I know you, Dakkarei, well, but the rest of the group… – he paused questioningly.
– I, Endeju, – Jum spoke first, addressing Holdum, – am Jum. – I’m the linguist on our team. This is Abis, our biologist. And this is our best planetologist. Her name is Tana. When she heard this, Tana blushed, lowered her head, and began nervously clenching and unclenching her fingers.
– Oh, yes, we have a girl in the group! – exclaimed, as it seemed to everyone, the half-sighted Holdum. – Wonderful! Don’t be so embarrassed. Your friends, as I understand, are proud of you. I have no doubt that you will be able to make many interesting discoveries on this planet.
Tana, listening to Holdum, gradually got herself under control and even showed her fist to Jum from behind.
At that moment someone’s footsteps rattled up the stairs. An officer from the crew entered the cabin. He nodded silently to Holdum and began to adjust the auto-landing instruments. The runabout was to land this time without the crew’s input. The officer opened the control panel cover and fiddled with the instruments for quite a long time. Nobody could see what he was doing, as they were sitting just behind his back. After that, the officer closed all the protective shields, ran his fingers over the control panel keyboard once more and pressed the buttons to activate some systems. Then the officer walked between their chairs and checked the fastening of the overload belts. At Holdum’s chair he stayed a little longer, screwed something up, opened and closed the belt lock again. Then he turned to face the boat crew.
– Well, I’ve done everything, don’t touch anything, – he said in a satisfied tone, winking at Tanya, – I wish you a soft landing!
– Thank you, Officer Mdjey! – nodded politely to the “adjuster” and said Holdum.
The officer walked quickly out of the cabin. He was heard running down the steps to the deck of the ship. A moment later, the hatch closed hermetically, hissing, and all the sounds that had been coming from the outside were silenced. But noisily enough some of the boat’s own mechanisms began to work.
– Hey, Jum, – Dak whispered, poking Jum in the side, – did you hear that? Did you hear what Holdum called the officer?
– What?
– Mdjey! Doesn’t that remind you of anything?
– Should it?
– That’s the name of the officer who killed our captain.
– That’s right. Do they know what we know? Or don’t they?
– It may be a coincidence, but we have to be on our guard. Did you see where he was tinkering? You know, what kind of equipment? And another question: Do you know how to control the boat during landing?
