3001 The Final Odyssey

chapter 23 Falcon

'Europa's about four hundred thousand kay from Ganymede at the moment,' Captain Chandler informed Poole.

'If you stepped on the gas - thanks for teaching me that phrase! - Falcon could get you there in an hour. But I wouldn't recommend it: our mysterious friend might be alarmed by anyone coming in that fast.'

'Agreed and I want time to think. I'm going to take several hours, at least. And I'm still hoping...' Poole's voice trailed off into silence.

'Hoping what?'

'That I can make some sort of contact with Dave, or whatever it is, before I attempt to land.'

'Yes, it's always rude to drop in uninvited - even with people you know, let alone perfect strangers like the Europs. Perhaps you should take some gifts - what did the old-time explorers use? I believe mirrors and beads were once popular.'

Chandler's facetious tone did not disguise his real concern, both for Poole and for the valuable piece of equipment he proposed to borrow - and for which the skipper of Goliath was ultimately responsible.

'I'm still trying to decide how we work this. If you come back a hero, I want to bask in your reflected glory. But if you lose Falcon as well as yourself, what shall I say? That you stole the shuttle while we weren't looking? I'm afraid no one would buy that story. Ganymede Traffic Control's very efficient - has to be! If you left without advance notice, they'd be on to you in a microsec - well, a millisecond. No way you could leave unless I file your flight-plan ahead of time.'

'So this is what I propose to do, unless I think of something better.'

'You're taking Falcon out for a final qualification test - everyone knows you've already soloed. You'll go into a two-thousand-kilometre-high orbit above Europa - nothing unusual about that - people do it all the time, and the local authorities don't seem to object.'

'Estimated total flight time five hours plus or minus ten minutes. If you suddenly change your mind about coming home, no one can do anything about it - at least, no one on Ganymede. Of course, I'll make some indignant noises, and say how astonished I am by such gross navigational errors, etc., etc. Whatever will look best in the subsequent Court of Enquiry.'

'Would it come to that? I don't want to do anything that will get you into trouble.'

'Don't worry - it's time there was a little excitement round here. But only you and I know about this plot; try not to mention it to the crew - I want them to have - what was that other useful expression you taught me? - "plausible deniability".'

'Thanks, Dim - I really appreciate what you're doing. And I hope you'll never have to regret hauling me aboard Goliath, out round Neptune.'

Poole found it hard to avoid arousing suspicion, by the way he behaved towards his new crewmates as they prepared Falcon for what was supposed to be a short, routine flight. Only he and Chandler knew that it might be nothing of the kind.

Yet he was not heading into the totally unknown, as he and Dave Bowman had done a thousand years ago. Stored in the shuttle's memory were high-resolution maps of Europa showing details down to a few metres across. He knew exactly where he wished to go; it only remained to see if he would be allowed to break the centuries-long quarantine.