Hunted Earth Omnibus Read online

  And was it a Dyson Sphere? Named for Freeman Dyson, the twentieth-century scientist who had dreamed them up, Dyson Spheres were supposed to be hollow shells, hundreds of millions of kilometres in diameter, built around stars. This thing sure looked like one—it was certainly big enough—but it seemed like every engineer on the planet was busily demonstrating that no conceivable material could withstand the forces a Dyson Sphere would be subjected to.

  There were two reasons for building Dyson Spheres: one, to provide enormously vast amounts of living area; and two, to collect great amounts of energy. Because it enclosed its star completely, a Dyson Sphere could trap all of the energy the star emitted.

  Of course, if this was a Dyson Sphere, it was therefore artificial. It had been built. Which left the question of where the builders were. Presumably they were the same folk who had snatched the Earth.

  So where were they?

  The door to the inner office slid open, and a tall, good-looking man in casual clothes stepped out. “Dianne Steiger?”

  Dianne dropped her cigarette to the concrete floor and ground it out as she stood up. “Yes. Are you Dr. Bernhardt?”

  “Ah, no. I’m Gerald MacDougal, head exobiologist and chief of staff for the Directorate of Spatial Investigations.”

  “Chief of staff?” Dianne asked, trying to sound cheerful. “That sounds a little out of line for an exobiologist.”

  Gerald smiled, a bit sadly. “No one here has time to worry about that sort of thing. We’re all just making it up as we go along. Come on back.” Gerald led her into the inner offices, into a small, bare, windowless room. It looked to be an old storeroom that had been cleaned out and set up as an office on very short notice. Gerald sat down at one side of a trestle table and gestured for Dianne to sit at the other. “Dr. Bernhardt is just finishing up some other work. He’ll see you in just a moment. I thought I might save some time and give you a quick background briefing before you go in,” Gerald said.

  “Background to what?” Dianne asked. “Why am I here?”

  “We’ll talk a bit, and I bet you figure it out before Dr. Bernhardt sees you,” Gerald said.

  “Who’s Dr. Bernhardt?”

  “To oversimplify a bit, Dr. Wolf Bernhardt was the duty scientist here at JPL who detected the gravity waves that caused the Earth’s removal. The U.N. Security Council needed someone to run their investigation of what happened, and they decided that gravitic technology was going to be central to figuring that out. Besides, they had to pick someone, and fast. So they dumped it in Wolf’s lap. They set up the United Nations Directorate of Spatial Investigation and made Dr. Bernhardt the first director and lead investigator. They’ve ordered him to, quote, ‘Establish the causes and consequences of the Earth’s removal to its present location,’ close quote. DSI’s got an absolute U.N. priority claim on JPL and on any or all other research establishments or facilities or resources it needs, anywhere on Earth. We want it, we take it.”

  Dianne’s eyebrows went up. “Wait a second. You said something about gravity waves associated with the Earth’s removal. You mean someone knows how it happened? With gravity waves? That’s been kept quiet.”

  “Yeah, it has, because that’s all we know. And we want to work on the problem without every kook on the planet phoning in his suggestions. The data from every single gravity-wave detector in the world shows large numbers of highly complex gravity-wave transmissions right at the time of the Big Jump. Immediately afterward, within five seconds of each other, every gee-wave detector on Earth blew out. Based on the five seconds of data we did get, we think there are thousands of gravity-modulation sources in the Multisystem.”

  “Multisystem?”

  “The multiple-star system Earth is in now. Had to call it something.”

  “And those gravity-wave sources were so powerful they blew out all the detectors.”

  Gerald nodded. “Looks that way, but we don’t know for sure. We don’t know if they did it on purpose or not.”

  “ ‘They did it,’ ” Dianne repeated. “So you definitely think we didn’t end up here by chance. No weird natural fluke.”

  Gerald’s gentle face hardened. “No. Someone did this. We know that. The entire Multisystem is held together artificially. Has to be. The orbits of all the stars, planets, moons and so on are so complex that they could not have occurred naturally. They aren’t stable for even the shortest period of time. Our first orbital projections predicted all kinds of collisions and near misses and close-pass momentum exchanges. There should have been planets crashing into each other and worlds being flung clear of the Multisystem. Except none of that happens. Somehow the orbits of the stars and planets are constantly being tweaked up, shifted from their projected paths into safer directions. The Multisystem is as complex and delicate as a mechanical Swiss watch. The slightest mistake in orbit control could have devastating effects.

  “We think that’s what they do with gravity waves—correct and control the stellar and planetary orbits. And also they use them for grabbing planets. We’re pretty sure that all of the objects in the Multisystem were brought here the same way Earth was. Not just the planets, but the stars, too. They built themselves an Empire of the Suns.”

  Dianne found herself impressed by that turn of phrase, and unnerved by the idea. “So they—whoever they are—are manipulating orbits, keeping all the planets from hitting each other?”

  Gerald frowned. “At least most of the time. It looks like once in a while they’ve gotten it wrong. There are several highly ordered and clearly artificial asteroid belts of minor planets—but also a lot of asteroid-sized bodies in random orbits. We’ve already seen two impact events between asteroids.” He leaned forward and gestured to emphasize a point. “That’s another reason for us to keep things quiet until we know more. The people of Earth don’t need to hear that an asteroid might crash into them. We’ve had enough panic.”

  Dianne felt her blood run cold. How could this man MacDougal talk about such things so matter-of-factly? “I understand,” she said.

  “But the most disturbing thing about those impacts is that no effort was made to prevent them. Plus there’s been a major upward jump in the number of meteors and meteorites, worldwide. Some of them pretty big rocks. All of which means that control of the bodies in this system is not absolute. That’s why the man on the street doesn’t need to hear about these things just yet. Let things settle down a bit first:”

  Dianne nodded vacantly. “Anything else I need to know before you tell me why I’m here?”

  “One or two other points,” Gerald said with studied casualness. “The motions of the stars and planets are also being affected by unseen companion objects. Practically all of the stars and planets have periodic wobbles in their orbital motions, very distinct from the gee-wave-induced orbital shifts. We’re sure the wobbles are caused by the gravitic effects of unseen co-orbiting companion objects. And they’re big wobbles, so the companions have to be very massive.”

  “Except?” Dianne asked carefully. She didn’t know how many more disturbing revelations she wanted to get.

  “Except we should be able to see the companions. There are a lot of wobbling planets close enough, but we can’t see their companions. So the companions are not only very massive, they must be extremely small. Plus we’ve spotted disk-shaped debris fields centred on where the companions should be, and seen some rather odd energy releases, consistent with the impact of debris onto gravity singularities.”

  Dianne found herself wishing desperately for a cigarette. “In other words, the Multisystem is full of black holes.”

  Gerald nodded. “One of them very close. It looks like there’s one at the centerpoint of the large ring-shaped object hanging in the sky where the Moon should be. A Moon-mass black hole would serve to maintain the pattern of tides and gravitational stresses Earth is used to. Without something stabilising us, we’d still be getting quakes like the one just after the Big Jump.

  “There’s one last thi
ng to tell you,” Gerald said. “It’s not exactly a secret, because anyone could reach the same conclusion we did just by thinking for a minute. It seems at the very least a strong working hypothesis that the Dyson Sphere at the center of the Multisystem is not only the power source, but the control center for the entire system. So we very much want to take a look at the Sphere. The trouble is that the Dyson Sphere has an exterior surface area approximately four hundred million times greater than Earth’s. That’s going to make locating the control center difficult. More so if the interior surface and volume of the Sphere are considered.”

  Dianne thought about that for a moment, and found herself adopting Gerald’s air of studied calm. In the act of doing so, she suddenly understood his behaviour. He was as scared by all this as she was. His air of calm was like a test pilot’s artificial nonchalance, nothing more than a defence, a way to keep the fear from overwhelming him.

  “Okay then,” she said in a voice that was suddenly far steadier. “How about the big question. Who? Have any theories on that? Who has done this and what do they want with us?”

  “No idea. Not a blessed idea. There’s been no sign whatsoever of the perpetrators themselves. Wolf thinks it’s possible they are as wholly unaware of our existence as we were of theirs a few days ago. As to motive, your guess is as good as mine. Maybe they have no interest in humanity, and are interested only in Earth, possibly for colonisation purposes. Either they think Earth is empty, or they think we will be utterly unable to oppose them when they come to take possession.” Gerald glanced casually at his watch, as if he had been discussing nothing more unnerving than a visit to the library. “Come on, he should be ready for you now.”

  He stood up and she rose with him. “The authority they’ve given DSI,” Dianne said. “If Wolf Bernhardt is in charge, that’s his authority. And you said DSI has absolute U.N. priority over any and all resources and facilities. They’re trusting this guy Bernhardt with a hell of a lot of power. He could take over every lab on Earth, just for starters.”

  “Yes, I suppose so—if he were a fool. If he wanted to be locked up, or to wake up dying from a bullet in the back of his head. Things are a bit panicky, and I wouldn’t be amazed if people starting playing very rough. Wolf knows that what the U.N. can give, the U.N. can take away. They hope that he can find more positive expression for his ambition. They want him—us—to come up with answers. That’s where you come in.”

  Gerald led her out into the hall, down to a proper office, designed for the purpose. Gerald opened the door and walked in without knocking.

  Herr Doktor Wolf Bernhardt was seated at his desk, engrossed in his work. Gerald leaned up against the doorframe and Dianne sat down in the visitor’s chair. By the looks of it, Bernhardt had been working at a frantic pace for many long hours.

  The room was in chaos—but a neat man’s chaos, a valiant rearguard action against disorder. There were stacks of paper everywhere, and piles of datablocks—but each heap of paper had its edges squared off, and each datablock was neatly labelled in a precise hand. The center of the desk was surrounded by the mountains of information, but was itself an empty plain, nothing on it but a late-model notepack and a single sheet of paper that looked to be a list of things to do with half the items checked off. To one side of the sheet were a pen and a china cup half full of what seemed to be slightly stale, cold coffee.

  Wolf was staring at the notepack’s screen, his fingers busy on the touchpad. Dianne Steiger studied him for a moment. His appearance matched that of his office: a precise, orderly man trying to keep up with too much coming in from all sides at once. He was clean-shaven, his hair neatly combed, his shirt fresh, his eyes clear and alert—but exhaustion was peeking through the facade. He was not working through the notepack steadily, but in spurts of energy that spent themselves almost before they began. Then he would blink, shake his head, and force himself to concentrate anew. He took a careful sip of the coffee and made a face. At last he glanced up and realised with a start that Dianne and Gerald were there. “My God. I did not even hear you come in. Forgive me, I have been working too hard. You are astronaut Dianne Steiger, yes?”

  Astronaut. That was his interest. A light went on in Dianne’s head. Suddenly she knew why she was here. She had thought that perhaps Bernhardt had wanted an eyewitness account of the Big Jump as seen from space, but no. This was something far bigger. She looked at Gerald, her heart suddenly trip-hammer fast with excitement. Something in his face seemed to confirm her guess. She looked back to Wolf Bernhardt.

  “Yes I am.” She hesitated a moment, and then blurted it out. “You want the Terra Nova.” Her heart was pounding, and a dull, silent roar echoed dimly inside her head. Terra Nova. The prise lost so long ago. Dianne rarely allowed herself even to think of the cancelled star-ship project. She had been only a few steps away from becoming a reserve pilot before the program had been cancelled.

  But now the prise would be even more rich. There were dozens of worlds, eight whole star systems in one to explore out there—

  “I have the Terra Nova,” Bernhardt said abruptly, cutting into her reverie. “There are rush crews prepping her for a sprint mission to the Dyson Sphere right now. What I want—what I need—is you.”

  Dianne lifted her left hand as carefully as she could, and tried to move it with something close to grace. But even wiggling her fingers was clumsy. “Ah, sir, of course I want to go—but I don’t think I can pilot. Not for a while. Not with this hand.”

  “Pilots I have,” Wolf said dismissively. “What I want you for is captain. No one else on Earth can know that ship as well as you do.”

  The roaring in her ears suddenly got louder, and Dianne blinked hard. Dreams aren’t supposed to come true, especially in the middle of a nightmare. Earth had been kidnapped, and so she got to fly a starship. Right into a Dyson Sphere. Suddenly her heart sank. That was a plan for disaster. But Wolf Bernhardt was still talking. Dianne forced herself back to reality.

  “—the Terra Nova is tremendously complex. The training to handle it goes far beyond flying even a large interplanetary craft. We need someone who understands the broad picture. My office has found enough spacers who can fill the specialty jobs aboard—lander pilots, science specialists, medical, astronomers, orbital observation scientists and so on. Gerald here will be going along as chief scientific officer. But there are damn few from the original group of Terra Nova officers and crew candidates, people who really know that ship and what she can and can’t do. Most of the original candidates out-emigrated to find work. They’re back in the Solar System where we can’t get at them. The others—ah, well, there were very high casualties among spacers when the Big Jump happened.”

  Bernhardt hesitated over that point, as if he could say more. It occurred to Dianne that she had never seen a breakdown of just how many casualties there had been. This DSI operation was keeping a lot of disturbing data to itself. “What it comes down to,” Bernhardt went on, “is that you are far and away the most qualified person for this job who’s still with Earth and alive.”

  Dianne thought fast, considering as many sides of the situation as she could. It was tempting to just agree, to make the grand gesture and charge off to adventure. But no. False courage or bravado might help her ego, but the price for Earth would be too high. If she had to throw her dreams away, so be it. She leaned forward abruptly. “Yes, I’m here and alive. And I want to stay that way for a while.” She had to take charge of this little chat now if she was going to do it.

  Wolf looked at her in surprise. “You aren’t accepting the mission voluntarily? I assure you that I have the power to draft labour—”

  “For a suicide mission?” she asked. “For a mission that will throw away one of the few cards planet Earth has in this game? I’ll fly the Terra Nova—but not straight down the throat of a monster four hundred million times bigger than Earth! Not until I know something more about that monster.”

  Wolf looked at Dianne. For the first time, he see
med to be considering her as something more than a chess piece. “What, exactly, are you saying?” he asked carefully.

  “That the Terra Nova took years to build, and so would her replacement. If we even could build her replacement, with most of our off-planet resources and infrastructure gone. For at least the time being, she is irreplaceable. This new Multisystem of yours is likely to be dangerous enough without sending the ship to commit suicide deliberately. Wouldn’t it be nice at least to try to collect some data with the ship before she is vapourised by the enemy? Perhaps, to find out who and what the enemy is?”

  “Same thing I’ve been saying, Wolf,” Gerald MacDougal put in. “We ought to search as much of the rest of this system as we can, and then consider a cautious approach to the Sphere. Think about how big the Sphere is. Even if you make the unwarranted assumption that the control system exists, and the further unwarranted assumption that it is on the exterior surface of the Sphere, and not the inside, you’ve got an incredibly large search area. Search the entire surface area of all nine planets in our old Solar System, plus the Sun as well while you’re at it, and you wouldn’t have done one percent of this search.”

  “I agree completely,” Dianne said. “Your imaginary control center could cover as much area as Earth’s surface and still get lost on something that big. And what would it look like? What would we be searching for? And while we’re searching that Sphere, what are the people who run the Sphere going to be doing?”