Orb Read Free Page A

nodded.
    “We approach one million kilometers of P5, enabling partial verification of meteorological data collected during the abbreviated first expedition. The planet’s elliptical orbit produces winter and summer seasons of nine-month duration. Transitional seasons, within close approximation, are six months each. I can reconfirm that the prior expedition had the bad luck to emerge from the wormhole and discover the planet at the most inopportune time, midwinter, thereby preempting a complete survey. Average surface temperatures were hovering—bad word—at minus thirty degrees Celsius. You might say conditions have improved. Long-range scans indicate midsummer temperatures are averaging a balmy
plus
thirty degrees. After we enter orbit I’ll be better equipped to assess localized weather conditions. Within a few days of landing I’ll have a detailed picture of extended climatology.”
    “Nothing further? You’re only able to verify what the first mission previously surmised?”
    Thompson was being blunt, not rude. We expected as much. It was his way of keeping us focused. The crew, all in their early forties, except Dr. Takara, who was thirty-five, were far too self-assured to be offended or put-off.
    “I’m not finished,” Paul said. “I have some preliminary readings on the ocean, which covers ninety-six percent of the planet’s surface. The previous expedition encountered ocean ice three meters thick at the equator. That ice, except for the extreme poles, has completely melted. Given the planet’s elliptical orbit, the melt was anticipated, but never considered a sure thing.”
    Paul’s pronouncement elicited a buzz of excitement from the crew. The abundance of available water was an exciting development, dramatically increasing the probability of finding complex life-forms. Even Angie, having sensed the rapid change in mood, responded with a couple of delighted yips.
    We were familiar with the reports compiled by the first expedition’s scientists. Their typically sterile technical language could not hide disappointment that life went undetected on the small islands dotting the planet’s surface. Nevertheless, core samples of ocean ice were found to contain abundant numbers of frozen plankton-like organisms. This was the third time a life form had been discovered beyond our home world, and the most complex yet. Far more intriguing than the primitive microorganisms discovered on Mars and 106-P3.
    “Larry, your comments?” Thompson asked.
    The physicist, choosing to avoid eye contact, answered while staring into the 3-D images floating within the AI Device (AID) unrolled on the table in front of him.
    “I’ve extrapolated existing data concerning the quantity of dead phytoplankton found per unit volume of ice. By estimating the organism’s theoretical ability to produce oxygen during the planet’s cyclical warm season, I have calculated that they are responsible for producing and, more important,
maintaining
P5’s breathable oxygen atmosphere. As for Doctor Bertrand’s report pointing out that the ocean ice has melted? That eventuality was predicted by the separate set of calculations I performed using orbit projections, availability of solar energy, atmosphere composition, and other factors.”
    Melhaus’s certitude, his unflinching, self-assured phrasing, had me wondering: If he had not dutifully performed his calculations, would the ice have actually dared to melt?
    “Let me know if your conclusions change,” Thompson remarked.
    “It is unlikely.”
    “Humor me. Presumably we’ll soon have sufficient quantity of living phytoplankton to precisely measure their rate of oxygen production. And how about you, Diana? Anything to add to this discussion? Anything
new
, that is?”
    “When’s the last time any of you have had a wet dream?”
    That
was
new, I thought. At least nobody volunteered an answer. Thompson, a bemused look on his face, waited her out.
    “That long?” she said. “Pity.