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to the gleaming hull of the Vega. An hour later, the hy
draulic ramps beneath the platform supporting the tail thrust the
ship slowly upward and out, to stand clear on the roof of the
structure. Within minutes the Vega was streaking into the darkening
void above. It docked thirty minutes later, two and a half seconds
behind schedule, with the half-mile-diameter transfer sateffite
Kepler.
On Kepler the passengers traveling on to Luna.-including Hunt,
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three propulsion-systems experts keen to examine the suspected
Ganymean gravity drives, four communications specialists, two
structural engineers, and Danchekker's team, all destined to join
Jupiter Five-transferred to the ugly and ungainly Capella class
moonship that would carry them for the remainder of the journey
from Earth orbit to the Lunar surface. The voyage lasted thirty
hours and was uneventful. After they had been in Lunar orbit for
twenty minutes, the announcement came over the loudspeaker that the
craft had been cleared for descent.
Shortly afterward, the unending procession of plains, mountains,
crags, and hills that had been marching across the cabin display
screen slowed to a halt and the view started growing perceptibly
larger. Hunt recognized the twin ring-walled plains of Ptolemy and
Albategnius, with its central conical mountain and Crater Klein
interrupting its encircling wall, before the ship swung northward
and these details were lost off the top of the steadily enlarging
image. The picture stabilized, now centered upon the broken and
crumbling mountain wall that separated Ptolemy from the southern
edge of the Plain of Hipparchus. What had pre- viously looked like
smooth terrain resolved itself into a jumble of rugged cliffs and
valleys, and in the center, glints of sunlight began to appear,
reflected from the metal structures of the vast base below.
As the outlines of the surface installations materialized out of
the gray background and expanded to fill the screen, a yellow glow
in the center grew, gradually transforming into the gaping entrance
to one of the underground moonship berths. There was a brief
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impression of tiers of access levels stretching down out of sight
and huge service gantries swung back to admit the ship. Rows of
brilliant arc lights flooded the scene before the exhaust from the
braking motors blotted out the view. A mild jolt signaled that the
landing legs had made contact with Lunar rock, and silence fell
abruptly inside the ship as the engines were cut. Above
the squat nose of the moonship, massive steel shutters rolled
together to seal out the stars. As the berth filled with air, a new
world of sound impinged on the ears of the ship's occupants.
Shortly afterward, the access ramps slid smoothly from the walls to
connect the ship to the reception bays.
Thirty minutes after clearing arrival formalities, Hunt emerged
from an elevator high atop one of the viewing domes that dominated
the surface of Ptolemy Main Base. For a long time he gazed soberly
at the harsh desolation in which man had carved this oasis of life.
The streaky blue and white disk of Earth, hanging motionless above
the horizon, suddenly brought home to him the remoteness of places
like Houston, Reading, Cambridge, and the meaning of everything
familiar, which until so recently he had taken for granted. In his
wanderings he had never come to regard any particular place as
home; unconsciously he had always accepted any part of the world to
be as much home as any other. Now, all at once, he realized that he
was away from home for the first time in his life.
As Hunt turned to take in more of the scene below, he saw that he
was not alone. On the far side of the dome a lean, balding figure
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stood staring silently out over the wilderness, absorbed in
thoughts of its own. Hunt hesitated for a long time. At last he
moved slowly across to stand beside the figure. All around them the
mile-wide clutter of silver-gray metallic geometry that made up the
base sprawled amid a confusion of pipes, girders, pylons, and
antennae. On towers above, the radars swept the skyline in endless
circles, while the tall, praying-mantislike laser transceivers
stared unblinkingly at the heavens, carrying the ceaseless
dialogues between the base computers and unseen communications
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