Where but on the barren wastes of the Moon or a hundred
million miles out in the emptiness of space? Everything seemed to
be working out better than he had dared hope.
“It’s like I always said,” Lyn Garland stated coyly when Hunt’s
assistant showed her a copy of the report. “Gregg’s a genius with
people.”
The arrival in Ganymede orbit of the seven ships from Earth was a
big moment for the Jupiter Four veterans, especially those whose
tour of duty was approaching an end and who could now look forward
to going home soon. In the weeks to come, as the complex program of
maneuvering supplies and equipment between the ships and the
surface installations unfolded, the scene above Ganymede would
become as chaotic as that above Luna had been during departure
preparations. The two command ships would remain standing off ten
miles apart for the next two months. Then Jupiter Four, accompanied
by two of the recently arrived freighters, would move out to take
up station over Callisto and begin expanding the pilot base already
set up there. Jupiter Five would remain at Ganymede until joined by
Saturn Two, which was at that time undergoing final countdown for
Lunar lift-out and due to arrive in five months. After rendezvous
above Ganymede, one of the two ships (exactly which was yet to be
decided) would set course for the ringed planet, on the farthest
large-scale manned probe yet attempted.
The long-haul sailing days of Jupiter Four were over. Too slow by
the standards of the latest designs, it would probably be stripped
down to become a permanent orbiting base over Callisto. After a few
years it would suffer the ignoble end of being dismantled and
cannibalized for surface constructions.
With all the hustle and traffic congestion that erupted in the
skies over Ganymede, it was three days before the time came for the
group of UNSA scientists to be ferried to the surface. After months
of getting used to the pattern of life and the company aboard the
ship, Hunt felt a twinge of nostalgia as he packed his belongings
in his cabin and stood in line waiting to board the Vega moored
alongside in the cavernous midships docking bay. It was probably
the last he would see of the inside of this immense city of metal
alloys; when he returned to Earth, it would be aboard one of the
small, fast cruisers ferried out with the mission.
An hour later Jupiter Five, festooned in a web of astronautic
engineering, was shrinking rapidly on the cabin display in the
Vega. Then the picture changed suddenly and the sinister frosty
countenance of Ganymede came swelling up toward them.
Hunt sat on the edge of his bunk inside a Spartan room in
number-three barrack block of Ganymede Main Base and methodically
transferred the contents of his kit bag into the aluminum locker
beside him. The air-extractor grill above the door was noisy. The
air drawn in through the vents set into the lower walls was warm,
and tainted with the smell of engine oil. The steel floor plates
vibrated to the hum of heavy machinery somewhere below. Propped up
against a pillow on the bunk opposite, Danchekker was browsing
through a folder full of facsimiled notes and color illustrations
and chattering excitedly like a schoolboy on Christmas Eve.
“Just think of it, Vic, another day and we’ll be there. Animals
that actually walked the Earth twenty-five million years ago! Any
biologist would give his right arm for an experience like this.” He
held up the folder. “Look at that. I do believe it to be a
perfectly preserved example of Trilophodon-a four-tusked Miocene
mammoth over fifteen feet high. Can you imagine anything more
exciting than that?”
Hunt scowled sourly across the room at the collection of pin-ups
adorning the far wall, bequeathed by an earlier UNSA occupant
“Frankly, yes,” he muttered. “But equipped rather differently than
a bloody Trilophodon.”
“Eh? What’s that you said?” Danchekker blinked uncomprehendingly
through his spectacles. Hunt reached for his cigarette case.
“It doesn’t matter, Chris,” he sighed.
chapter twenty-two
The flight northward to Pithead lasted just under two hours. On
arrival, the group from Earth assembled in the officers’ mess of