A stir of excitement broke out across the room. This was something that nobody wanted to miss.
“Before your expedition went to Iscaris, I guess,” Foster said.
“Yes, naturally . . . in the hundred Earth years or so before that time.” She paused. “In fact a few of the crew of the S/iapieron went to Earth before being recruited for the Iscaris expedition. None of them is here at the moment though.”
The Earthmen were keen to hear more about their own world from beings who had actually been there long before they themselves had even existed. Questions began pouring spontaneously from all around the room.
“Hey, when can we talk to them?”
“Do you have any pictures stored away someplace?”
“How about maps or something?”
“I bet they built that city high up in that place in South America.”
“You’re crazy. It’s not near old enough.”
“Were these the expeditions to Earth to bring back the animals?”
The sudden increase in the enthusiasm of her audience seemed only to add to Shilohin’s confusion. She picked up the last question, the answer to which they already knew, as if hoping for some reason that it would divert attention from the rest.
“No, there were no shipments of animals to Minerva then, neither was there any talk of such a plan. That must have happened later on. Like you, we do not know why that was done.”
“Okay, but about the-” Foster stopped speaking as ZORAC sounded in his ear.
“This is ZORAC speaking only to the Earthmen; I am not interpreting for Shilohin. I do not believe that the Ganymeans really wish to elaborate further for the time being. It might be a good idea to change the subject. Excuse me.”
The puzzled frowns that immediately appeared all over the room confirmed that all the Earthmen had heard the same thing:
apparently the message had not, however, been transmitted to the Ganymeans, who showed none of the reactions that it would, without a doubt, have elicited. An awkward silence reigned for just a second before Foster took firm control and steered them all into calmer waters.
“These things can wait until another time,” he said. “Time’s getting on and we must be near dinner. Before we finish here, we ought to agree on our more immediate plans. The biggest problem seems to me to be the trouble you’ve got with your ship. How do you plan tackling that, and is there anything we can do to help?”
Shilohin conferred briefly with her companions and then sat down, giving a ‘distinct impression of relief at getting out of the firing line. Her place was taken by Rogdar Jassilane, chief engineer of the Shapieron.
“We’ve had twenty years to figure out what the problem is, and we know how to fix it,” he told them. “Garuth has described the effect of the trouble, which involved being unable to slow down the system of circulating black holes upon which the physics of the drive is based. All the time that drive was running, there was nothing we could do about it. We’re able to fix it now, but some key components were wrecked and to attempt replacing them from scratch would be difficult, if not impossible. What we really need to do is to have a look at the Ganymean ship that’s under the ice at Pithead. From the pictures you’ve shown us, it seems to be a somewhat more advanced design than the Shapieron. But I’m hopeful we will be able to find what we need there. The basic concepts of the drive appear to be the same. That’s the first thing we have to do-go to Pithead.”
“No problem there,” Foster said. “I’ll arrange . . . oh, excuse
me a second . . .” He turned to throw an inquiring look at a steward, who had appeared in the doorway. “I see . . . thanks. We’ll be right along.” He looked back toward Jassilane. “Sorry about that, but dinner’s ready now. Yes, in answer to your question, we can arrange that expedition for as early as you like tomorrow. We can talk about the details later tonight, but in the meantime, shall we all go through?”