Dan moved his recliner to an upright position and rubbed his eyes. He stared at the blank screen for several minutes, trying to remember where he was. "What?"
"The screen. Did you turn it off? Aren't you monitoring the Arcots?"
"Sure, um, I don't know." With a touch of the joystick a section of the road slid into view. It was empty, except for a few charred remains of the Arcot's body. He moved the virtual camera back into darkness and out the other side, where the road was cut away. They were looking at the roiling red vortex below, fueled by the white hot core at the center. He rolled right and the cameras obeyed. They could see the Arcots from the side, though it was difficult to get a good view. They were sitting on the road next too the car, talking to each other.
"The cameras over their section aren't working." Dan concluded. "I don't know why."
"I don't believe in coincidences. They deliberately disabled the cameras. They have a plan, and they don't want us to watch or listen. But they weren't able to knock out the cameras on either side. Play back the cam and see what they're up to."
Dan did as directed, racing through hours of sleep in just a few minutes. "The cam is almost full; I'm going to delete all these images of sleeping Arcots."
"Fair enough."
"Here it is." He slowed the video down to real time, and translated the Arcots' conversation.
"I think I can get us across the gap, but it's not going to be easy."
"And when we get across I'm going to kill those humans!"
"No - there's no time. And besides, the female is a great shot. You'll lose. Just get to a power station and blow the ship. I'm sure we're close to Earth; the mission is practically over."
"But I really want to roast her over a slow fire."
"No! If we get across, you scuttle the ship. That's an order."
"Yes sir. But how do we get across?"
The Arcot looked straight up to the ceiling, as though he was looking directly at Dan through the cam. His mouth seemed to sneer under his jutting green nose. "The monitor." He pointed his laser straight at Dan and fired. The cam went blank.
"Nans, they shot out the cameras with their laser. They know every inch of the ship - I'm sure it was easy for them to blow out the cameras, at least the ones overhead. They aren't precise enough to take out the cameras over the void. You'd need a very shallow angle and a steady hand. That's why we can still see them from the side."
"But we can't hear them. We have no idea what they are planning." She stood up and tried to adjust to the extra gravity. Sometimes she had the illusion of a great height, as though her head were a mile off the floor. "I'm going to wake Garvin, and get some breakfast bars, and I'll be right back."
"I'll come with; I have to go to the bathroom anyways. And don't forget the chocolate."
In fifteen minutes they were back in the lounge, watching the Arcots from the side. "Ok gentlemen." Nancy began, finishing the last bite of her chocolate bar. "I'm going down to station 2, and over to station 1. Dan, you track me through the monitor, so we can stay in touch. If they do manage to cross the void, I'll be there waiting for them. And if they go to sleep, maybe I can blow them away." She tried to twirl the laser like a pistol, but it was much too long, and it clattered to the floor.
"Been watching too many of Garvin's old movies." Dan joked.
"Ok, ok." She picked up the laser. "You know their language, and you know computers." She looked at Dan and Garvin in turn. "I'm no use to you here. Your mission is to keep an eye on the Arcots, and keep me informed, and try to find a way to control and redirect the ship through this console."
"Is that all?"
"No, I want you to do it standing on your head." She took the cam from Dan and put it in her pack. "I'll be within range of the ship for a short time, so we can send and receive messages. Oh, listen, I meant to tell you." Nancy sat back down on the couch. "Yesterday I sent NASA a tentative plan. If we can't get control of the computer, and we can't redirect the flight path from inside, I want to blow a hole in the shell. We've got a 200 megaton hydrogen bomb on board. That should do the trick."
"You're thinking the atmosphere will blow out on one side, and push the core."
"Newton's third law."
"Yeah, but you're trying to blow on a rock the size of the moon. I don't think it will work."
"Maybe not, but there are experts in fluid dynamics and orbital mechanics on the ground. I want them to think about it. And you think about it too, in case you don't have enough to do."
"Sure." said Garvin with a grin. He stood up and walked towards her. "Be careful. I know you took out one Arcot, but don't underestimate them. They're very smart, very fast, and very resourceful." He gave her a hug and a kiss, and ran his hands through her hair. He wanted to do more - they wanted to do more - but there was no time, and too much was at stake.
"I'll be careful." She took four chocolate bars out of her pack and tossed them on to the couch. "Don't eat these all at once."
The ride to station 2 was uneventful. Nancy closed her eyes and imagined floating in zero G, her arms and legs spread out. They had to get out of this high G environment, and soon. Being the tallest, she was feeling the effects first. No position was comfortable, and the pain in her lower back grew with each passing day. With eyes closed, she pictured herself floating through the ship, down the hall and into Garvin's room. He was preparing for bed, and had removed most of his clothing. She reached over to touch him, as he slowly unbuttoned her blouse.
"Nancy, I think I know what they're doing, but I don't know why."
She pulled herself out of her fantasy. "Come again Dan."
"The Arcots, they..."
"Hold on a second. Your timing is perfect. I just made contact with the relay station. The cam is showing a good connection, and transmitting data. So Earth will hear everything you have to say."
"Ok. The Arcots are moving down the road and shooting out the connections where the wires enter and leave the lights. As soon as they do that, the power is gone, and I can't see that section of the roadway, but I can sort of see from the side. The wires fall down, each about 12 feet long, and they're collecting them. It's almost like a harvest."
"And what are they doing with these wires?"
"Braiding them into thick ropes. They use the laser on low power to melt the plastic insulation and seal the connections. I think they want a rope long enough, and strong enough, to stretch across the gap."
"How are they going to get it to the other side, and form a secure attachment, without being there first?"
"No clue."
"All right, keep an eye out. Now what about controlling the ship?"
"The programs on the desktop are useless. Besides the general monitor, which you saw, there's a power management system, an astro navigation system, a log of past missions that the maintenance workers can reference, and a few other programs that support the mission. But I don't see anything that lets you change the mission profile. It is what it is."
"Did you look at the mission logs? They might prove useful, or at least interesting."
"Yes, briefly. They destroyed three other civilizations before us."
"So much for Ferme's paradox." chuckled Nancy.
"Yeah, he never thought of that one." After a brief pause Dan resumed his explanation. "The first one caught them by surprise. It was nearby, only a few hundred light years away. They saw the radio signal, made contact, and started building their probe. Before the probe was finished, the civilization had exhausted its natural resources, deforested its planet, and eliminated most of its biodiversity. The ensuing famines led to wars, followed by mass starvation. By the time the probe was launched, there was no technology to speak of. The same thing happened to the next two worlds, though not as quickly. In each case, the people had reverted to a tribal existence,foraging for food and fighting amongst themselves. The last planet regained some of its technology, and was able to transmit to the Arcots for a couple hundred years, but with no fossil fuels and no advanced form of energy, they soon returned to a primitive state. That's why the Arcots didn't expect us to board their ship. After 6,000 years, they didn't expect us to have any technology at all. Certainly not enough to support interplanetary travel. We were suppose to squander our resources and collapse, like the other three worlds before us."
"Collapse." Garvin interrupted. "How societies choose to fail or succeed."
"What's that?" Nancy asked.
"A book," Garvin replied, "published in the 21st century. Some people say it saved the Earth. Near the end of that century, President Heartso read the book, and took it seriously. She instituted a massive research program focused on the development of commercial fusion power, and some 30 years later, fusion plants became a reality. No more oil soaked beaches, no more stripmining, no more greenhouse gases, no more radioactive waste, no more meltdown disasters, just energy for all. And she instituted the Conservation Act. Not just tax incentives here and there, but laws, and regulations. Save a watt of energy in the home, and you save a hundred watts at the power station. That was a turning point for our society. We all take it for granted now, but trust me, we were headed down the same path as those other three worlds."
"I'm not sure it matters; we may be destroyed in any case."
"Perhaps, but at least we have a fighting chance. The other races were sitting ducks."
"Any idea why the Arcots didn't collapse?"
This question was outside Garvin's bailiwick, so Dan made an attempt. "We don't know that they didn't. Perhaps they crashed, and survived for thousands of years in a primitive existence. Fossil fuel was forever gone, but forests and marine life gradually returned. With solar power, and history as a guide, they could have pressed ahead to fusion power, which became a catalyst for their technological renascence. Or - perhaps they didn't collapse at all. We didn't. They live to be 200, and they don't reproduce until age 60. That's a tremendous advantage. They could see the disaster coming before the population spiraled out of control. We really don't know; these are just speculations on my part."
"Ok Dan, what about the computer?"
"Don't worry Nans, I haven't given up. I finally found the command prompt. With Garvin's help, we may be able to get to the heart of the system."
"Great! That's the best news I've heard all day."
"Don't get too excited." cautioned Garvin. "English is your first language, but if you didn't have computer training, and you saw all the programs in /bin, you wouldn't know where to start. With cryptic names like ps and cpio, you'd be lost. I think we're going to have a very hard time of it."
The car slowed to a stop at station 2, and Nancy pressed station 1. The car turned 90 degrees on its rotating track and accelerated towards its new destination.
"I understand."
Dan spoke again. "On a hunch I typed in the Arcotian word for echo, and it worked. It echos the rest of the line back to me, just like Linux. But I hate to start typing in acronyms, because I might get something I don't expect. Nancy, there's a real risk here. If I happen to activate the shutdown command, and if the power goes with it, we have a 500 mile walk back to station 2. And that's not the worst possible scenario. The computer may have a self destruct command that blows the antimatter tanks. It probably doesn't, but it might."
Nancy was silent for several minutes.
"You still there Nans?"
"Yes. Just trying to balance the risks and benefits. I don't think there's a self destruct command. I'm willing to gamble there's not. And a shutdown command will probably shut down the computer, but not the power. The cars might still run. So keep poking at it for a few hours, and tell me how it goes. But be careful."
"Yes Captain."
Nancy spend two hours in silence as she cruised from station 2 to station 1. The car stopped and she called out, looking like a confused person talking to herself.
"Dan, are you there? I'm at the intersection, and I've switched to manual driving, but I don't want to drive off the edge of the road. I'd feel better if you were guiding me."
After a minute of silence she leaned back in her chair and waited. Apparently Dan was busy with the computer, or he was watching the Arcots. Nancy replayed the messages from NASA, but they weren't very interesting. They hadn't seen the Arcots yet, so there wasn't much to talk about. Still, it was good to see the familiar faces in the control room. It was a connection to her home world.
"Nancy, are you all right?"
"Yes, just waiting for instructions, and maybe a little guidance on driving up to, and not over, the edge of the road."
"Fair enough. I'll talk you through it. But first let me bring you up to date."
"Ok."
"The Arcots have braided a long rope from the overhead electrical wires, long enough to span the gap. They have attached one end to the roof, near the cable support, and they're making some kind of harness at the other end. I think one of the two Arcots is going to try to swing across, like Tarzan."
"That's a long arc. They'll lose a lot of energy just passing through the air."
"Right. I think he's going to start his swing at the roof. That gives him an extra twenty feet of potential energy. Garvin thinks that still won't be enough, but if he can get close to the roadway on the other side, he can throw a rope, with a weight, and try to wrap it around the cable, or otherwise glom on to the road, then pull himself up. Once he's on the far side, he can tie the rope fast, and the second Arcot can come across."
"They sure are clever bastards."
"Yes they are."
"Should I try to sneak up on them and kill them?"
"No. One of them is always looking across the gap. They're expecting you to return. Without the element of surprise, I don't think you'd do well."
"They have to sleep eventually."
"Yes, but they're determined to carry out their plan before they go to sleep, and they might succeed."
"Any suggestions?"
"Garvin says they can't possibly swing across a gap of three or four sections. They would lose too much energy. We just didn't make the gap wide enough. If you could widen the gap, their plan would be for naught."
"It takes time to cut through those sections, and as you say, they are watching."
"Yes, but if you stay a couple miles back, and make a new cut, they won't see you."
"Isn't that too close to station 1?"
"Well I hadn't thought of that."
"Listen, take me up to the gap, but I want to stop about three sections back. From that distance, I'll try to shoot out the cables. Then I'll cut through the road and drop three sections at one go. That should do it, and I'll be far enough away that they can't get a good shot at me."
"But they could get lucky. It only takes one shot to blow you away."
"I'll take that chance."
"Ok, but make the cut in the road first, then blow out the cables. After three sets of cables are gone, the entire roadway might peel away from the roof like a zipper, and dump you into the core."
"Yes, that would be unpleasant."
Dan guided her to a stop precisely three sections before the gap. Nancy stepped out of the car and left the door open. Sound seemed to travel forever in this silent sphere. It echoed perfectly off the shell, and bounced over the horizon, as though it were traveling along the road. The slamming of the car door might betray her position, and her intentions. Dan seemed to understand as he watched her in silence. In a half hour the cut was nearly complete. The last piece of metal snapped under the strain, and the road dropped in front of her, bouncing up and down for several minutes.
"Nans, they heard the snap." Dan spoke in a low voice. "They're looking in your direction, but they can't quite make out what is going on. If you lie flat on the road, motionless, maybe they'll return to their work."
Nancy obeyed, and in a few minutes Dan spoke again, almost in a whisper.
"Ok, they're back at it. The second Arcot is climbing into the makeshift harness, and the first is hoisting him up to the roof using some kind of pulley. He's going to cut the rope with the laser, and the second Arcot will swing down and across, and try to snag the road on the other side. I don't think he's going to succeed on his first try, but you better get started on those cables just in case. Take out the near cables first, then the far cables. No point in giving them an advantage by lowering their end of the road."
Nancy pointed the laser straight up and watched the white spot on the roof. As she angled the laser towards the Arcots, the white spot slid across the roof, like an animal stalking its prey. Nancy gently guided the white spot up to the first cable and turned up the heat. The connector vaporized, and the cable fell in a heap on the road.
"Stand by Nancy, he's swinging across."
The Arcot braced himself against the 4 G's at the bottom of the arc, then held his rope out as he approached the roadway on the other side. He looked like a cowboy trying to lasso a runaway steer. The weight flew, pulling the rope behind it, but it bounced off the guardrail, just shy of the cable. He swung back down, and the first Arcot began pulling him up for another try.
"He missed; you've got more time."
Nancy guided the white spot to the cable on the left and burned through its support. The road in front of her dipped down another twenty feet.
"They sure use strong materials." she commented. "With that much torque, our metal would have snapped by now."
"Agreed." Dan wanted to keep her on task. "Two more pairs of cables. You're going to need all your sharp shooting skills. They're farther away, and you can't get any closer, because you've already cut the road at your feet."
"I know, but I think I can do it."
Nancy cut the next pair of cables without much difficulty, and the road fell into a vertical position, supported only by the last set of cables.
"They're stunned." Dan said with a laugh. "They're just staring, mouths open, at that long stretch of road hanging from those two cables. They could swing across and catch it, but then what would they do? Nancy, I don't think there's any real need to cut those cables and drop the road into the core. It's of no use to them now, hanging down like that."
"You're probably right, but I don't want to take any chances. It'll just take a few minutes."
In fact it took almost a half hour. The cables were far away, and the red light from the core made it hard to see the white trace on the roof. Finally the second cable snapped and the road dropped away. The Arcots were waiting for this. They were beaten, but they still had an opportunity for revenge. With the obstacle removed, they had a clear shot at Nancy, and they both fired. Sections of metal popped and vaporized in the heat as beams danced about, searching for their target.
"Get down!" shouted Dan.
Nancy fell flat against the road and crept back behind the car as the beams continued to dump their energy in random places. One of them struck the car in front of her and melted the hood.
"Nancy, they're doing some serious damage to your car. I suggest you stay behind it, walk to the next panel about a mile back, and call for another car."
Nancy walked slowly away from the car while Dan tracked her movements. She was soon out of range, and the Arcots ceased their attack. As she approached the panel, Dan spoke again.
"Nancy, I'm not having a lot of success with the computer. I think I found the equivalent of their /bin directory, but there are hundreds of executables, all with cryptic acronyms. I don't think there's a safe way to commandeer the ship. Not in the time we have left."
"I was afraid of that."
She called for a car, drove to station 1, and on to station 2. She was about to turn towards the front station when Dan called again.
"Captain, the Arcots just resigned."
"What's that?"
"One of them blew his partner away with the laser, then turned it on himself. I guess they didn't want to die of thirst on the road, and jumping off into the core was a little too dramatic."
"Can't say I blame them." The car pulled away from station 2. "I'll be there in two hours. We've got new messages from NASA, in response to our first encounter with the Arcots. I'll play them when I get there. Make sure my couch is ready; my back is killing me."
Two hours later Nancy stretched out on the couch and turned up the cam for all to hear. Dan turned in his chair, leaving behind a screen full of bewildering words and acronyms. Julie's voice could be heard throughout the lounge.
"Well, you gave us quite a show, and a bit of a scare. It looks like you survived your encounter with both batches of Arcots, but we're not real thrilled about leaving two of them behind to plot and scheme. I don't know what they can do from that position, but they're awfully clever. Please keep an eye on them; you may have to deal with them again in the future. Anyways, congratulations on your victory, and keep up the great work."
Julie paused for a moment, and Nancy interjected. "garvin, you'll love this part. I've been traveling all day, fighting Arcots, so you're elected."
"Elected for what?"
"You'll see."
Julie spoke again, and there was a hint of laughter in her voice. "Ok, you guys are going to love this one. In case you manage to save the Earth, and you have a little time to spare, the boys on the ground have a request for you. They want you to bring back one of the Arcot bodies. I know it sounds silly, but we know nothing of their biology. They've kept that information close to the vest. We need to know. If you can't bring a body then just bring the torso, or even a few cells. Anything will help. Someday, we may need to design a pathogen that is specific to their biology. It's important. But don't let it derail you from your primary mission. Oh and another request, this one much easier. Slice out a section of their superconducting wire and bring it back with you. Our engineers would really like to know how that works. And now, for your question about blowing a hole in the shell and realizing thrust. Our team has been working on it, and Dr. James Michaels has an answer for you. I'm going to turn it over to him."
Julie stepped away and a tall man with gray hair and glasses took her place. He held a red balloon and a green balloon in his hands. Nancy passed the cam to Garvin so he could watch the demonstration.
"Good morning Explorer 29. And thank you Nancy for your idea. It might be what we're looking for, but we need to change it in several ways. Let me illustrate with these two balloons." He held up the red one. "A hydrogen bomb would indeed blow through the shell, but it would be a bit like popping a balloon." He popped the balloon with a pin and it fell on the desk, almost directly below his hand. "Lots of noise, but not much thrust. Now, if you could release the atmosphere through a nozzle." He opened the end of the green balloon and it flew all over the room. "Now that's real thrust. You need an opening just a few yards wide. Fortunately the Arcots have provided four such openings, at stations 1 2 3 and 4. Blow the hatch, and you're all set."
"Well how simple is that?" exclaimed Garvin.
"It's not that simple." replied Nancy. "Just listen."
"The problem is the gravitational attraction of the core. The air rushing out of the hatch won't attain escape velocity. It will just fall back onto the shell, and there will be no net thrust. In a few months half the atmosphere will lie outside the shell, at a lower pressure. But - you still have the right idea!" He waved his arms up and down with excitement. "Do you remember the great asteroid of 11,392? Well, not personally, but I assume you've read about it in your history books. It came out of the plane of the solar system, so nobody saw it coming. We had months to divert it, not years. Fortunately we had a contingency plan. They sent up a fusion power station, a high thrust engine, and a giant tank of liquid xenon for propellant. After 14 weeks of continuous thrust, it just missed the Earth, grazing the top of the atmosphere. We've kept these systems on standby ever since. The folks here on the ground considered this option, but the core is much too massive. It is simply impossible to transfer enough liquid xenon out there in time. We could install the power station and the engine, but where would we get the millions of tons of propellant? It turns out, the answer lies just beneath your feet. The Arcots have provided the materials we need. So - here's what we want to do. We'll send a new crew out, with an asteroid diversion system, and they can land on station 3. That's the best point to apply thrust. If they can arrive within a month, it will work, thanks to the chaotic nature of orbital mechanics. We're getting everything ready as fast as we possibly can. Our engine doesn't have the best specific impulse, but it's high thrust, and that's what we need. The Arcots have given us an unlimited supply of propellant. I think we have a plan."
Dr. Michaels stepped away and Julie came into view. "We need you to cut power on the ship, as we discussed earlier, then get out of there and come home. Your work is done."
Nancy looked at her crewmates, and they smiled back at her. "That's really going to work?" she asked, to nobody in particular.
"Apparently." commented Garvin. "I'm sure the folks on the ground have done the math. Congratulations - you just saved the Earth."
"Nonsense. Someone else would have thought of it in the next couple of days if I hadn't."
"Well I like the idea of going home - that's for sure."
Julie spoke again, in a quieter tone. "A crew of five will come out to install the engine. They'll place an air-tight cap over the hatch, then blow the hatch with a D38. The air will rush into the cap, flow through a tube, and into the engine. We had to modify it a bit to work with air, but I don't think that will be an issue. The sad part is, they have to get out there quickly, or the delta v will not be sufficient. They're going to spend all their fuel on speed. In other words, it's a one way trip. We'll try to send out a rescue party as they swing past Earth, but there's no guarantee. They will have cyanide pills on board in case a rescue is not feasible. You should know that there are hundreds of volunteers ready to take this mission. It's an inspiration to all of us."
Julie paused for a moment, then resumed, her green eyes sparkling. "Ok, back to the body. NASA suggests you find a bag, somewhere, and curl up the body inside the bag, and put it in their 100 below freezer. Once it is frozen through, you will be able to carry it to the ship. The freezer on Explorer 29 isn't that cold, but it's cold enough. The body should keep until you get back to Earth. We want you to use a bag, because there are some serious open wounds, and if the Arcot bleeds onto the freezer, he'll be stuck there, frozen to the floor, and you'll never get the body out again."
Garvin nodded. "I can't wait."
"As for cutting the power, we've already talked about ways to do that. Put the relay station out on the road, and use it to send a signal to six devices, which will blow the connections at all six power stations simultaneously. The problem is, where will you be when this happens? If you're still inside, you won't be able to open the hatch. You could blow the hatch, but we don't want you to do that. Most of the air will vent before the high thrust engine arrives, and we can't afford that. Now - if you're outside, you need a way to pass your signal down to the first relay station, and on to the second. Or you can set a time delay on the second relay station - but make sure you're out in time! However you do it, you need to verify that it worked, without going back inside. Leave a light on in the entryway, and see if it goes out. That's the best idea we can come up with. Good luck. This is Julie, signing off."
"Ok Garvin, grab a bite of chocolate and have a look at those corpses. I'd like to bring an entire body back with us, if that is feasible. Let us know what we can do to help."
Garvin took a piece of chocolate from the end table. "Captain, there's blood everywhere."
"Don't worry, you're more likely to catch a disease from a petunia than an alien who happens to be structurally similar to yourself."
"I know - separate lines of evolution and all that - but it's a mess."
"Well, once he's packed away, toss your bloody clothes in a spare bedroom, take a shower, and start over. I'm not particularly concerned about leaving this place cleaner than we found it."
"Right. Dan, can you help me find a bag of some sort in their supply rooms? And Nans, if you have any energy left, you could clear out the freezer. But be sure to wear gloves, or use a towel, or something. Those boxes are so cold they'll burn your hands. And you probably need to take out the metal shelves as well. I think they're removable."
Garvin stared into the sleep room, with three dead Arcots on the floor. Blood was everywhere. Dan came up beside him with a body bag in hand. He read Garvin's thoughts, and put them into words.
"I know, there's a lot of blood. The Arcot heart is more autonomous than the human heart. It continues to beat for several minutes after death, expelling most of the blood from the body, and onto the floor."
"Nice."
"Take your shoes off, or they'll be ruined. And your shirt too."
"Oh hell, I'll take everything off. And you should take off your shirt at least, cause you're going to help me wrestle the body into the bag."
Garvin stripped, and stepped into the room. His bare feet made a spatting sound as they stepped across the wet floor. He grabbed the legs of the nearest Arcot and leaned back, pulling the dead weight towards the door where Dan waited with the open bag. Together they curled up the body into a tight ball and rolled it in to the opening. The yellow eye stared up at them, as though the creature might suddenly come back to life. A lifetime of physics was pushed aside by the memory of a horror movie, where monsters rose from the grave. In response to Dan's jostling, the Arcot mouth moved up and down, as if to say, "I'm not dead, and in a moment my hand will reach for your throat." Garvin shuddered, and closed the bag in a hurry. Together they pushed and rolled the body down the hall, through the lounge, and back to the living quarters.
Nancy looked up as they entered the kitchen. "Wow! You guys look like something out of a hack 'em up movie. Go get cleaned up, put on some clothes, and then come help me get him into the freezer."
They disappeared, and Nancy approached the body, which was neatly tied up in its bag. She started to drag it into the kitchen, but her back protested. Abandoning the effort, she stepped carefully between the piles of Arcotian nutrabars and metal shelves, and sat down in the yellow chair next to the table. "They'll be back in a few minutes." she told herself. True to her words, they returned in short order, still wet from the shower and clad only in shorts. They pushed and rolled the body into the freezer and closed the door.
"Put him on ice." said Garvin, in his best gangster voice.
Nancy assumed, correctly, that Garvin was dredging up some dialog from one of his old movies. She chuckled, and then took command.
"Gentlemen, if I said this has been a long day, that would be a gross understatement. I suggest we get some sleep. Tomorrow we have to shut this place down."
"I quite agree." Garvin stepped away from the freezer and headed towards the hallway.
Dan was also walking towards the door. "Good night Nans."
"Good night."
Nancy washed up, and went into the lounge, anxious for her long couch. Since all the Arcots were dead, Dan didn't have to sit in the command chair and monitor the situation throughout the night. He had already retired to his bedroom, hoping for a decent night's sleep. Nancy turned off the screen, took off her clothes, adjusted the sheet and blanket that Dan had pilfered from one of the supply rooms, and crawled into her makeshift bed. But sleep didn't come right away. She could still see Garvin, stripped to the waist, his hair dripping wet from the shower. She could still smell the soap on his skin. "He's probably still awake." she thought to herself. "I could slip into his room, and gently pull the sheet down. I'll kiss his neck, and his chest, as he runs his hands through my hair. Slowly, I'll move down towards his waist." In his bedroom, Garvin was having a similar fantasy, but they were both too exhausted to turn their dreams into reality. Sleep crept up on them like a thief in the night. Thoughts became disconnected as the brain began its process of integrating the events of the day. Nothing unusual here - nothing to be afraid of - nothing to be anxious about. A life and death struggle with an alien - just another day at the office.