Progenitors free porn video

Progenitors Synopsis: The first astronaut on Callisto has a close encounter of the fourth kind - without knowing it. Now the crew is starting to experience some very unusual events in the ship. They have to unravel the mystery to see if the encounter is a threat to the rest of them. [email protected] ********************************************************************** cast of characters Ben Young - chief engineer of _Goddard_ and lander pilot. He looks younger than his 35 years, and is slight of build at 5'10" and 140 pounds. He keeps his sandy brown hair trimmed close. Jack Bossert - Assistant engineer and medical technician. Standing 6'0" and weighing 155, he's average build. In fact, he's quite average in everything, including his brown hair and facial features. Rich Klack - Chief geologist and lander pilot. Standing 5'8" and 175 pounds, Rich is muscular and works hard to keep that appearance. He wears his black hair in a military-style crew cut. He occasionally enjoys getting the goat of other crewmembers. Al Martin - ships pilot and assistant communications technician. Hailing from Texas, he speaks with a noticeable drawl. With his rugged features, he looked fitted for outdoor life. Leonard 'Lenny' Hall - ships pilot and assistant engineer. Lenny is by all accounts a certified genius, and he's the youngest of the crew. Small, at 5'6" and 130 pounds, he looks out of place. His longer blond hair and perpetual smile makes him look like a happy-go-lucky surfer dude. Captain Tim Loggins - expedition commander. Standing 6'1 and weighing 165 pounds, the captain works out religiously to keep his fit appearance. He has a bearing about him that looks like he should be in command. Boris Butovchenko - geologist and computer systems engineer. The Russian geologist is 42, and is prematurely balding. At 5'7" he's one of the shorter crewmembers, but he has a stocky build, looking like a wrestler. Dr. Chang Li Chao - doctor, lander pilot. Hailing from China, Dr. Chang is treated by the crew as a 'wise grandfather'. His gray hair and wrinkle lines make him look every bit of his 58 years, and at 5'8" and 130 pounds, he looks more frail than he really is. Peter 'Pete' Smythe - data systems engineer and lander pilot. The British engineer is the tallest member of the crew at 6'2, but his weight makes him look lanky, which contrasts with his otherwise handsome appearance. Miguel Hernandez - communications engineer and assistant geologist. Miguel is average, standing only 5'9 and 145 pounds. His thick bushy moustache is black like his hair, and adds to a macho air. He is overly proud of his Hispanic heritage. Heinrich 'Hans' Mahler - chemist, lander pilot. Standing 5'10", with blue eyes, blond hair, and a trim fit physique, Hans looks every bit the Teutonic warrior that he imagines himself. Yuri Raspopov - executive officer, assistant chemist, lander pilot. The other Russian on the crew, Yuri is about the same size as Boris, but is older, at 57 years. He seldom bothers to comb his usually unkempt gray hair, making him look a bit like a mad scientist. ********** Progenitors Ben Young sighed to himself as the sweat beaded on his brow. It threatened to run into his eyes, but there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. The transparent visor of his suit, while protecting him from the cold vacuum of space, also made it impossible to wipe the sweat from his forehead. "I'd like to kill the son-of-a-bitch who overinsulated my suit," he muttered instead. "What's that?" The voice of his partner, Rich Klack, echoed in his earphones. Ben swore under his breath. "Nothing," he answered quickly. "Yeah, right," Rich laughed back. "Suit overheating again?" He knew the drill just like Ben. Their space suits, bulky and heavy, were really miniature spaceships that contained everything needed to keep the astronauts alive. Pressure to keep their lungs intact, air to breath, water to drink, insulation from the heat and cold of space, radiation protection against the fickle Jovian planetary radiation belt, even food and waste disposal. "Damn thermostat is acting up again," Ben cursed. "I turned it up a few minutes ago, but now it won't turn down. I feel like I'm in a sauna." Rich frowned, an action unseen to his partner beneath the tinted visor. Despite being so far from the sun, the surface of Callisto was bright. Sunlight incident from so far away, unattenuated by any atmosphere, and more sunlight reflected from Jupiter, combined to make the moon surprisingly well illuminated. It didn't help that the surface itself had rays of ice that acted like mirrors, and that the exploration crews were precisely at the ice fields. "Do you want to abort the EVA?" Rich asked after a moment's consideration. Ben thought for a moment. If they aborted the EVA, they'd have to go out again to finish their mission objectives. After all, exploration of Callisto was one of the primary reasons for the mission. On the other hand, they were going to be at the landing site for another week before they lifted off to rendezvous with the Goddard. "Yeah, let's abort," Ben decided. "If we can get the thermostat fixed or replaced, maybe we can try again today." Rich nodded, his bulky helmet bobbing up and down. "Okay. But there's no rush." He turned and began to descend the steep rocky hill they'd been climbing. Nearly two kilometers distant, the astronaut's home-away-from- home was easily visible as a foreign body on this airless rock and ice world. The gold-tinted reflective foil shone like a beacon, and if that wasn't enough to make it stand out, a bright red strobe flashed periodically. Even if it were hidden, the lander emitted a homing signal, so that any crewmember would be able to easily locate it. Ben started to turn, then he paused. He glanced at the distant lander, then back. Slowly, his head turned back to where he'd faced moments before, then he repeated his turn. Rich saw the movement. "What's up?" he asked as he neared his partner. Ben shook his head. "I'm not sure. I thought I saw something." He continued to scan, then he froze. "Over there," he said, pointing. "You see it?" "What?" Rich started to ask, then he halted. "What is it?" he asked slowly. Ben took a few steps along the hill, then he bent over carefully. After a few moments, he pulled a sample bag from his suit. "It looks like some kind of crystal," he said hesitantly. "Kind of blue in color, with natural crystalline structure." He held up the sample. "About two and a half centimeters in length, maybe one centimeter across. It looks relatively symmetrical, and free of impurities." He thought for a moment. "Corundum, maybe?" Rich listened with one ear. His mind was racing, considering the possibilities. Having been raised on a diet of science fiction movies, he appreciated the oddball dangers which lurked in every unknown in space. At the same time, as a trained geologist, his analytical brain discounted the fantastic to consider the probable. As he ambled to his partner, he was already weighing the facts. "Is it a free crystal? Is it regular in shape, or jagged?" Ben looked at the sample in the bag. "It's pretty regular in shape. Symmetrical. And it looks like it's embedded in what appears to be basalt." Rich nodded. "You're learning, rookie," he grinned. It had been his responsibility, as chief geologist on the crew, to train the other astronauts in field geology. He took the sample bag and examined the crystal through the transparent plastic. "Yeah, it looks like a blue corundum crystal. But is it fused onto the basalt? It wouldn't have just grown there!" He held the bag out to Ben. "Congratulations. You've discovered sapphire," he said with a mocking tone. Ben frowned. "Hey," he snapped, "I don't recall any other teams finding any crystalline structures - especially this sized!" He turned back to the lander. "We've got a ways to go, and I'm still hot. Let's head back." Rich nodded. "Okay." He turned back down the hill. Just as the two neared their rover vehicle - the 'golf cart' as the crews affectionately called them - Rich paused, then he bent over. He picked up something and stared at it. "Hmm," he muttered to himself. Ben was panting, his vision nearly obscured by the sweat running down his brow and the fog inside his helmet. "What?" he gasped as he climbed into the passenger seat. Rich pocketed the sample. "Just another crystal," he answered. "Probably common around here. Most likely they crystallized from the crater ejecta." He climbed into the drivers' seat and promptly forgot about it. He heard the strain in Ben's voice, and he knew his partner was in serious trouble. They _had_ to get back to the lander, and quickly. ********** "Done," Ben said weakly but triumphantly as he leaned back from his spacesuit. "The diagnostic checks are good." He took a big sip from a water bottle. "We still got time to suit up and get the traverse done today." Out of the suit which made everyone look bulky, Ben's true appearance became evident. He was of slender build, at five ten and just under one forty pounds. Even though he was 35, he looked younger; his unkempt mop of sandy blonde hair and boyish face made him look barely twenty-five. Ben's counterpart, Rich, was a contrast in appearance. While a couple of inches shorter than Ben, Rich was stocky and muscular. His one seventy-five pounds had almost no fat. With his angular face and short crew-cut black hair, Rich looked like a Marine rather than a geologist. Rich turned his seat from the workbench. Despite the impression of size externally, the 'living quarters' were very modest. The 'pressure hull' of the lander was roughly cylindrical, about three meters in diameter by five and a half meters in length. One end was taken entirely by the air lock, decontamination, and suit maintenance bay. The other end was consumed by the combination head / galley / food storage. Beneath the floor, all the electronics and communications gear was housed. That left a little over six feet in the center of the tube for their control stations, their hammocks, a workbench, and a primitive field lab. With the control panels stowed it gave the pair enough room to live and work - barely. The hull perched atop the landing legs, which gave room for the twin rocket engines and the bulky fuel and oxidizer tanks below. A long lightweight ladder spanned the distance from the crew compartment to the surface. Even though it appeared bulky, the lander, and indeed everything in it, was incredibly lightweight, a necessity for single-stage rocket powered descent and ascent even on Callisto weak gravity. Beside the lander, automated machinery squatted, looking like some strange parasite connected to the lander's side. Prior to the mission, automatic fuel factories had been dispatched, landing on Callisto at strategic points, there to mine the ice and convert it into fuel for the coming rockets. The lander not only carried the crew to the surface, but it was also a fuel transport to haul the precious fuel back to orbit. The lander itself would never have sufficed for the trip to or from Earth. Instead, a large 'mother ship' _Goddard_ circled the moon, dispatching landers now and then to study the different features of Callisto, and receiving loads of fuel from the returning landers. Rich glanced at the clock on an overhead instrument panel, then he looked back into the microscope, studying Ben's crystalline sample, still sealed in its sample container. "I think we'll have to wait until tomorrow to go out." In reality, he was less concerned about the time than he was about Ben's physical stress level. An overheated spacesuit was a dangerous place to be. Heat stroke could easily result. Ben glanced at his watch. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he replied. "That took a bit longer than I expected." "You going to do the report, or should I?" Rich asked, still peering into the microscope. Ben glanced at the communications gear, then he sighed. "I'll do the logs and report, I guess. Which means you've got dinner." Rich laughed. "I'll take dinner ..." He stiffened, suddenly alert. "Huh?" Ben spun. "What?" He knew his partner well - just like every member of the Goddard's crew knew everyone else. The success of the mission, and their very lives, depended on it. Rich was busily manipulating the sample, then he leaned back, shaking his head. "I don't know. I ... thought I saw something." "Don't get weird on me," Ben warned sharply, his voice stern, almost angry. "Don't pull any of that alien shit on me, man!" Rich glanced back in the microscope, then he sat back. "I just ...." He shook his head. "I dunno. I just thought I saw something. Like a miniature piece of machinery or something." Ben glanced over his shoulder. "Like some kind of alien bug?" he demanded. "Look, man," he said bluntly, "you know I don't like that shit! So knock it off!" Rich glanced into the eyepiece again, then he shook his head. "I guess I was imagining things," he said as he slid the sample out of the microscope. "Besides," he added, "this thing is sealed in a bag. Even if there _were_ something in it, everything is sealed." He permitted himself a weak smile. "It's been a long day. We did a long traverse this morning, and we had a busy afternoon. I guess I'm just tired." ********** "So, am I going to live?" Ben asked facetiously as the medical officer scribbled on the data pad. The medical assistant - Jack Bossert, an engineer with emergency medical technician training - snorted. "Nothing wrong with you that some rest won't cure." He clipped the pen to the pad. "It looks like you got a good case of heat exhaustion on your EVAs, but I'll let Dr. Chang confirm that when he gets back." He shook his head, frowning in disgust. "You _know_ you're supposed to abort an EVA if the suit isn't working right! Then you go out and overdo it on the next EVA to try to make up lost time!" "Hey, what's all the noise about?" Captain Tim Loggins slid slowly down a ladder from a higher deck. He landed on the deck with a soft thud and would have rebounded if he hadn't been holding onto the ladder. Jack shook his head. "I hope you hadn't scheduled Ben for the next round of landings, because I'm giving him a downcheck for a couple of weeks." Captain Loggins frowned. "That bad?" "Nah," Ben protested sitting up from the examining bed. "He's exaggerating." Jack gave him a nasty glare, then he turned back. "My best professional estimate is that he was only a few minutes from heat stroke." He glanced at the chart. "He's lost a few pounds, probably from overheating, and he's got a little residual fever. Again, probably indicative of how near heat stroke he came." He frowned. "I'm also willing to bet that Dr. Chang will confirm my diagnosis." Jack, at six feet, was one of the taller crewmembers. With average brown hair and an average build and an average face, he looked like the non-descript engineer he was - at least, when he wasn't being assistant medic. He had a quiet competent air to him that made the captain take him seriously. Loggins' frown deepened. "I read the report. You didn't make it sound that serious." He sighed. "Staff meeting in the galley in five minutes." With a small jump and a few deft handholds, he scrambled back up to the higher deck. Ben watched the captain climb the ladder. "He looks unhappy." Jack nodded as he stowed the data pad, clipping it to a table. "Yeah. If you'd nearly lost a crewmember, you'd be pissed, too." He followed his captain up the ladder. Ben shook his head. "It's more than that," he said to the medic above him. "Something's up." ********** The entire crew, all eleven men and the Captain, squeezed into _Goddard's_ small wardroom. _Goddard_ was, comparatively, a large ship, but the interior was still tight. It was, as the designers had elaborated, no more cramped than a submarine - which was no comfort given the reputation of submarines as being cramped. The wardroom served as a dining room, a game room, and anything else. Being closer to the spin axis, the wardroom had slightly weaker 'gravity' than the outer deck. _Goddard_ had been designed for very lengthy outer planet exploration missions. Her central core connected a stubby emergency entry capsule - and the ship's main bridge - to the engines nearly forty meters rearward. The first ten meters were occupied by the crew area - a strange arrangement of two pie- shaped wedges attached to the core. The innermost 'decks' of the first wedge were the crew living quarters, followed by the wardroom / galley, with the medical bay outboard of that, and the final deck contained the hydroponics garden, which served multiple purposes. Besides providing food and recycling the atmosphere, the plants purified the water, and the water itself provided radiation shielding to the crew. The second wedge on the opposite side contained supplies, science labs, and another garden. The two connected structures rotated slowly about the core, giving just over one tenth gravity at the outermost deck. It was enough force to give plants a gravity orientation and keep the crew's bone and muscle loss to a minimum, while at the same time not causing the disorienting coriolis acceleration. Aft of the crew quarters were the four massive fuel tanks of the ship, arranged in pairs with gaps between the pairs. The landers docked to the central core between the tanks and could be securely latched in those positions. Further to the rear were mounted the enormous rocket engines that gave _Goddard_ her push. Ben Young, sat nearest the corridor, being the last one to the table. Going around the table, Jack Bossert, the medical officer and assistant engineer, sat beside him. Next came Rich Klack, the senior geologist and lander pilot. Al Martin sat beside Rich; he was a few inches taller than Rich, with average build. His features, however, seemed more fitted to the outdoor life than confinement in a spaceship, and when he spoke in full Texas drawl, the contrast was almost amusing. Al served as ship's pilot and assistant communications engineer. Beside him was Boris Butovchenko, the quiet Russian geologist and data systems engineer. At five seven and one hundred sixty five pounds, he looked like a wrestler. Only his thinning dark hair didn't fit the stereotype. On the other side of the table sat Leonard 'Lenny' Hall, ships pilot and engineer. Five eight, one hundred forty, slender build, he somehow maintained his tan even after months of confinement in the ship. He was the youngest crewmember at only 24 years, and with his longer blond hair, he looked like a genuine California surfer dude. One would never guess that he hailed from the upper Midwest or that he was a mathematical genius. Peter 'Pete' Smythe, data systems engineer and lander pilot sat beside Lenny. The tallest in the crew at six two, he was also quite slender. With his thick uppercrust British accent, he seemed more aloof at first blush. In reality, Pete was the most gregarious of the crew, and given to practical jokes to liven things up. Miguel Hernandez came next. With darker skin and straight black hair characteristic of his Hispanic origin, Miguel had a movie-star appearance, and his thick black moustache gave him a mysterious air. Rounding out the group was Yuri Raspopov, the older Russian executive officer and navigator. At fifty-seven, he was the oldest in the crew, with gray unkempt hair and usually a day's worth of stubble on his face. Stocky like Boris, he looked like he worked out most of his day to keep fit. Two crewmembers were missing, still on a landing expedition. The ship's doctor, Chang Li Chao, affectionately known as 'grandfather' because of his aging facial features and graying hair, was on the surface with Heinrich Mahler. Dr. Chang was short, five six, and slender, in fitting with the image of a Chinese doctor. Formal, even curt at times, he was nonetheless a respected member of the crew, and his second job was piloting the landing craft. Heinrich, Hans to the crew, seemed to be the most distant, fitting in with the others the least. His English, the official language of the mission, was the least polished. With his strong build, blond hair, and blue eyes, he seemed the ideal Teutonic knight; it was his appearance that seemed to make people think he was unapproachable. His expertise in chemistry was crucial to understanding the samples returned from Callisto, and he also piloted the landing craft. The cross-training which was considered a vital element of the mission actually extended such that every person in the crew could actually do three or four different jobs, but formally, each crew member had two primary responsibilities. Except for the Captain. He had one job, which was to carry the burden of the entire mission. And right now, that burden was visible. Captain Loggins stood at the end of the table. Tall, slim but fit, he cast an impressive figure even though he looked average. It was the experience etched in his face, the confidence which gleamed from his eyes. His jaw, strong but easy set, seemed to have a firmness that came from being used to commanding. Most of the time, his fifty years seemed like forty; days like today, however, he looked every minute of fifty, and then some. "We've got a little problem," he said simply. There was no buzz of speculation. The crew knew and trusted their captain, and they knew he was going to level with them - just like he always had. "Only one?" Ben asked semi-seriously. Captain Loggins dropped his head a tiny fraction, a wry smile on his face in acknowledgement of Ben's question. "Okay, we've got more than one problem. But one big one." He sighed. "We've lost telemetry from two of the ISFPs." The acronym was short for in-situ fuel plant, the robotic manufacturing probes which converted the ice into fuel for the landers and the _Goddard_. Most of the men winced; Lenny Hall leaned back and looked thoughtful, even contemplative. Captain Loggins nodded. "Yeah, it's bad. We need two more loads to make the TEI," shorthand for trans-Earth injection - their trip home. "Back to the other sites?" Rich asked the question on everyone's mind. Ben shook his head. "Nope. It takes two to three months to make enough fuel just to get the lander back. It'll take another two months at the Gipul Catena crater chain before we have enough fuel to make the round trip worthwhile. The three Valhalla sites will take more time." He glanced up at the captain. "Which fuel sites did we lose?" "Burr and Asgaard 1. We've still got Asgaard 2." The crew collectively seemed to deflate. "If we miss the TEI window?" Pete asked the question that was on everyone's mind. Yuri glanced at the captain before he spoke. "We lose the Ganymede gravity loop." He concentrated as if staring at invisible data. "It'll be another sixteen months to get a favorable alignment." Lenny lowed his gaze from high on the wall and turned to the Captain. "I'll have to check the data, but we might be able to do a loop with Europa, then do a velocity dump looping around Mars." Yuri frowned. "No alignment with Earth," he announced as he shook his head. "It'll take sixteen months before we can do the maneuver." Lenny shook his head. "Not if we dump enough to go inbound to Venus, which _should_ be in alignment, do a velocity dump there, and then make Earth." He seemed to stare at nothing for a moment. "I'll have to check the alignments, but I think it's doable." Captain Loggins stared at Lenny. His pilot was the most mathematically inclined person he'd ever met, and if Lenny thought there might be another solution, he was probably right. "Lenny, you and Yuri check out the options." He shook his head, a wry smile on his face. "I'm sure we'll be getting new burn targets from Control in the next day or two." Jack Bossert piped up. "How much fuel was at Burr and Asgaard 1?" He saw the perplexed look on the Captain's face. "If they had processed enough fuel before we lost the telemetry, we might still be able to recover a decent load." Rich nodded. "We'll win a lot of brownie points with home if we can still visit the sites." Loggins thought for a moment. "We'll have to check the data. They should be close to full." He sighed. "We all knew that this was going to be a long trip when we signed on. It looks like we might get a slight extension." He turned to Smythe. "Pete, see if you can come up with a plan. Let's assume we'll take Lander A, and hold B in reserve." He saw the look on his men's faces. "If the plant is down, we'll use B to evacuate." Pete nodded somberly. If they did have to use Lander B to effect a rescue, they'd have to abandon Lander A, and B would have to land heavy with a full fuel load in order to have enough fuel to re- rendezvous with _Goddard_. Doing _that_ would dip into the _Goddard's_ fuel supply, lengthening their stay, it would lose a lander, and it would increase the time they were stuck in orbit around Callisto. It would also mean at least four trips to do nothing but refuel the _Goddard_. "Yes, sir," Pete answered, his mind already starting to assemble the data he'd need to create a plan. "Okay, that's all." Captain Loggins stepped back from the table, signifying the end of the meeting. Ben stood to leave the table, and instantly, his face contorted in pain. He doubled over, his hands clutching his abdomen, and he collapsed, bouncing off the table and falling slowly to the floor. *************** Yuri dropped down the last few steps to the deck in the medical bay. "Captain wants to know how Ben's doing," he said simply. Dr. Chang Li looked up from his computer. "I'm not sure," he answered simply. "Jack is in the lab doing the blood and urine tests. I sent the x-rays and scans back Earthside a few hours ago."` "Okay." Li glanced up. "I think it's just cramping from the head exposure." Yuri nodded. "Hans and Boris just reported from Asgaard 2. They've started the fuel transfer, and they'll be doing their first EVA in the morning." Li nodded, then he stiffened. "Report is coming in," he said. He glanced at Ben, sleeping in the infirmary bed, surrounded by monitors. "He started to read, then he stiffened. "Jack!" he called sharply toward the lab. "Jack!" Jack came quickly at Li's call. "What?" he asked, his voice echoing his frustration at being interrupted, but at the same time concerned that Li would have found it necessary to call him. "Report just came in." Jack walked behind Li and started reading over his shoulder. "Oh, oh!" he said, frowning. "What?" Yuri asked. Li winced and bit his lower lip. "Ben has a growth in his abdomen." Yuri's eyes widened. "Tumor?" he asked, glancing at the sleeping engineer. Li nodded. "We'll get him started on the cancer drugs right away." He glanced at Ben. "Tell the captain that he's relieved of duty until further notice." ********** Li, Jack, and Captain Loggins crowded around the monitor in the medical bay. Ben sat upright on his bed, an IV tube in his arm and various wires leading from his body to a wide variety of monitors. "Give me the full rundown," Loggins said simply. He was visibly fatigued, stressed by the fuel situation. Li pointed to the monitor. "The cancer drugs aren't working. The growth is definitely not slowing." He pulled up another chart. "What's worse, something seems to be interfering with the drugs. I _know_ they're in his IV, but every blood test, and urine test, is coming back negative. It's like the drugs are ... vanishing." "The testicular discomfort is increasing as well," Jack reported. "It is not a fungal infection, but we cannot find an explanation." "And the docs back home?" "We've sent all the data we've got," Jack answered. "And they're as puzzled as we are. Maybe more." Captain Loggins felt the mantle of command grow heavier. "Let's go to the wardroom," he said softly. The trio left Ben lying on his bed resting as they climbed upstairs. Seeing the three somber men entering the wardroom, Miguel and Boris scrambled from the table. They knew when something was up, and when they should leave to allow a private conversation. This was one of those times. The captain sealed the door. "Okay, I need to know if you guys think we're dealing with a contamination event." Li glanced at Jack, his face worried. "I don't think so, Captain," he reported after a brief pause. "No other crewmembers have any symptoms. If it was a contamination, we'd all be sick - or dead." The captain nodded. "It's been five weeks since his last EVA." He thought for a moment. "Klack was on that mission with him. Have you checked him out?" Li shook his head. "No. I ... we ... didn't see any reason to. He didn't complain of anything." "Do it." ********** Rich leaned against the wall of the medical bay. The captain, exec, and both medics were crowded around the computer. He had a look of resigned disgust on his face. "You guys through yet?" he said bitterly. "I've got a ton of samples to get back to." Yuri glanced up. "You're bored." Rich snorted. "Damned right! All you guys have done is scan me, stick me, poke and prod me. I feel like a damned lab rat!" Li glanced up to the captain. "That's it. All the data is negative." Rich nodded. "I _told_ you!" he snapped. The captain shrugged. "I guess you can go." He returned his attention to Jack and Li. "What's the latest on Ben?" Jack shook his head. "No response to the cancer drugs. But the growth rate appears to have slowed." He touched the display, causing it to scan through the charts. "Somewhere ..." He stopped, a deep frown on his face. "What the hell?" He hit the keyboard and scanned back, then shook his head. "Did you see that?" he asked Li. Li shook his head. "I wasn't watching the display." Jack hit the key a few more times. "There," he said, pointing to the screen. He focused tightly on the display, then shook his head. "What the _hell_ is that?" Li leaned closer. "It looks ... " He frowned. "What is the image?" "Blood sample, two days ago." "It looks like ... some kind of machine?" the captain said, staring at the mysterious little slide. Rich felt a chill run down his spine. He stiffened, straightening up from leaning on the wall. "Did you say ... machine?" Jack nodded. His brow furrowed. "Why?" "Let me see." Rich crowded to the display, and as he stared, the color drained from his face. "That's .... It can't be!" "What?" Captain Loggins demanded. Rich sank back against the wall, feeling weak. "When Ben and I ... the day he overheated, he found a crystal." Yuri nodded. "I remember the report. And I saw the sample." Rich nodded. "When I was examining it in the lander, I thought I saw something. Like _that_." The captain frowned. "You didn't report anything." Rich felt confused. "I didn't think... Ben and I had been talking about ETs, and then he overheated. I thought it was just my imagination." Yuri looked thoughtful. "But the sample is sealed. You followed the decontamination protocols." Rich nodded. "We sealed his sample in the bag. Then we drove back to the lander. And ..." His eyes widened. "Oh, shit!" "What?" The captain's question sounded like an angry demand. "I ... I found one of those crystals, too. I ... I thought I put it in a sample bag. But I was trying to help Ben, and ..." He paled. "I may have put it in my suit pocket." The two medics, the captain, and the executive officer of the _Goddard_ paled as they realized exactly _what_ Rich had done. ********** Captain Loggins sat in the medical bay with Dr. Chang Li. Ben sat in his bed, finally strong enough to sit up after being nearly comatose for two weeks. "Can you go over that again?" he asked softly. He was pale and thin, having visibly lost weight through his 'illness'. Li glanced at the captain. "We've run the tests and sent them Earthside. They got back the same answer that Jack and I had come to." "Which is?" Li swallowed. "Your blood chemistry is pretty normal. T3, T4 hormones, white blood count, red blood count." "But?" Li swallowed again. "Your hormone levels are all wrong." He saw Ben winding up to ask what he meant, so he continued to save Ben the effort. "For all intents and purposes, you have no testosterone." Ben frowned. "Male hormone, right?" "Yup." Li glanced at the computer monitor. "But the strange thing is your hormone levels are within the normal ranges." He saw Ben's frown deepen. "For a female." Ben's eyes widened. "What?" he demanded sharply. "Are you saying I've got ... female hormones?" Dr. Chang nodded. "There's more. Your hormone levels are consistent with those of an adult female - in the early stages of pregnancy." Li saw the captain's eyes widen. Ben looked like he was going to go into shock. "But ... that's impossible!" the captain said finally. Li nodded. He punched a key on the computer, then turned the display. "This is an MRI scan we did two days ago. This," he pointed to a colored mass of tissue, "appears to medical experts to be female reproductive organs." He sighed. "That's why they asked us to rerun the tests five times." "What are you saying?" Ben nearly screamed. He was shrill, even near panic. "Are you telling me I'm turning into a ... a woman?" Li nodded somberly. "You are ... somehow ... growing female internal organs," he answered softly. The captain shook his head. "That's not possible." He glanced at Ben, then at Li. "How?" The doctor shook his head. "I wish I knew." Then he frowned. "Unless those micromachines in his blood...." Ben bolted upright, then he glanced nervously down at his crotch. "And the itching ... in my nuts?" Li shook his head. "Your testicles are effectively gone. They're not producing any testosterone, and it appears they are being ... broken down ... or absorbed." Ben closed his eyes, then he sighed. "So that means the itching on my chest ... is boobs growing?" He sounded deceptively calm. Li nodded. "That's the normal human response to estrogen. Even males, when exposed to estrogen, will grow breast tissue." Captain Loggins frowned. "So what do we do?" he asked simply. Li lowered his head, shaking it softly. "I ... don't know what we can do. Not here, any way." Ben leaned back, staring at the ceiling for a moment or two. "Now what?" he asked. He drew his knees up to his chest, then rested his chin on them. "Shit," he cursed. "This is just like those damned alien movies Rich was teasing me with." He looked like he was about to cry. ********** This time, there was a lot of talk around the table as the men sat. They were waiting for the captain, and there was a lot of speculation, fueled by Rich's story of the crystal and the nanobot. The crew wasn't comfortable. Captain Loggins dropped down from the control deck, landing softly, then he padded into the wardroom. "Men," he said in a simple, yet surprisingly formal, greeting. "Are we all contaminated?" Al blurted as the captain pulled up a chair. The captain stared at him, deliberately taking his time in sitting. Finally, he sighed. "I don't know." "Is it ...?" Pete broke off, obviously trying to find words. "What's happening to Ben?" he asked. Captain Loggins sighed again. "Ben asked if he could tell you himself." He glanced around the room, his eyes steely in their resolve. "This is hard on Ben. He's ... undergoing some severe stress." "That's not the half of it," Ben added softly from behind the captain. Captain Loggins spun, startled. "I didn't hear you come in." Ben nodded. He was wrapped in a bulky robe, but even through the baggy garment, it was easy to see that he was different. His chest bulged - a little. The sash tying around his waist showed that he'd lost some weight. He was pale, but his skin seemed softer somehow. "I got ... infected ... by something." The men started to whisper among themselves. This was their nightmare scenario - finding something dangerous that could jeopardize their very return to Earth. In one sense, they were expendable if that was required to protect their home planet. They'd known that coming in to this mission. Only, none of them had realistically believed it could happen. It _wouldn't_ happen. That sort of thing was only bad science fiction. Ben continued, breaking their buzz. "Something is changing my body." Pete tried to force some humor. "You don't look like an alien," he added. The joke fell flat. Ben nodded, trying to smile. "It's not that bad. Or maybe worse." He watched the guys, and bit his lip as he tried to figure out how to say what he needed to say. "The doc thinks I'm changing into," he looked down, embarrassed, "a woman." He felt the stares of astonishment focused on him, on the small but visible bumps on his robe. "So do the medics back home," he added softly. "But ... that's impossible!" "No way!" "How?" "Can't be!" Ben waited another moment, then in answer, he looked up, staring right at the guys, and opened his robe. Beneath the robe, Ben was wearing a t-shirt. It clung to his body, and showed off the small but very foreign bumps on his chest. It highlighted off his slightly narrower waist. "It's true." "Damn," Miguel swore. "You really _are_ changing!" His eyes widened. "All the way?" "You're very calm for someone changing like this," Boris observed dryly. Li nodded. "Wait until his 'happy pills' wear off." Captain Loggins spoke up. "Subject to medical approval, Ben is back on light duty." He stood and walked abruptly from the wardroom, followed closely by Ben and Li. The men were left behind, their conversation grim and hushed. ********** "We're now in total communications blockage," Miguel Hernandez reported as he scanned his instruments. "Two weeks and no contact with Earth." He sat at the communications station on the small bridge of _Goddard_, jutting forward from the axis like an inverted cone. "The planetary geologists seemed a little _too_ happy that we have to stay an extra eight months," Captain Loggins said with a resigned sigh. Yuri snorted. "And get their precious eight more landing sites? They aren't the ones out in deep space," he observed acidly. "Yeah, I noticed." Loggins turned to Miguel. "Has Ben figured out what's up with the number two coolant loop?" Miguel stiffened at the mention of Ben's name. "No, sir," he reported, crisply and formally. His voice carried a hard edge, almost angry in tone. Ben's changes were affecting the crew. The captain noticed Miguel's attitude. "Put me on intercom," he said. He could have easily done it himself, but he felt the need to demonstrate that he was in command. "And patch me down to the A crew." He waited until Hernandez nodded. "We just got orders from Earth. We are directed not, repeat _not_, to exercise the contingency return plan we proposed." From the corner of his eye, he saw Ben float into the bridge and grab a chair. He ignored it - for the moment. "As a result, we will be in orbit for another eight months before the next departure opportunity." He paused and glanced around the bridge. Only he, Miguel, Yuri, and Ben were in the control room; the others were attending to their duties, or like Rich and Hans, were on the surface of Callisto. "We'll have a meeting when the landing crew returns." He nodded to Hernandez, who cut off the intercom. "Okay, Ben," the captain changed focus abruptly, "how's it going on the coolant loop?" Ben pulled himself into one of the acceleration chairs. He was wearing a t-shirt, which didn't do anything to hide his changes. If anything, they emphasized his slowly growing breasts and reduced muscle mass. "The pump motor is okay. It looks like the control circuit." He anticipated the captain's question. "I rigged up a bypass circuit. We're going to have to tend that one manually from here on out." His voice was soft, unobtrusive, even shy, as if talking aloud and making himself heard would invite the wrath of the other crewmembers. Captain Loggins noted Ben's expression, and the sideways glances he was getting from Miguel. "In the core," he directed Ben. The two pulled themselves along the zero-G central core, away from the control room. When they passed the access ports to the spinning outer sections, Ben grasped a handhold and turned. "What?" Captain Loggins smiled to himself. "Direct, aren't you?" In answer, Ben shrugged, not easy to do in zero-G. "How are you doing? Really. Not the false-bravado bullshit you're trying to show all the guys." Ben frowned - the first frown the captain had seen coming from him in weeks. "Are you the ship's counselor, too?" he asked sarcastically. Captain Loggins face clouded. "You're my crewmember. I'm responsible for you. And you're under a lot of stress. So stop the macho bullshit with me, okay?" His tone was firm, commanding. He knew he had to cut through Ben's facade if he was going to get any answers. Ben's features softened from his angry frown. "Sorry," he said quickly. "It's just ... hell, captain, I don't know what to do any more." He shook his head. "I mean, I don't even know what I am! I'm a guy, right? But every morning, I have to look at these," he glanced down at his small breasts. "And when I pee...." He trailed off on that one. Captain Loggins nodded. He'd read Li's reports. Ben's male organs were practically gone. He had only a tiny stub of a penis, an empty scrotal sac, and the female sexual genitalia were slowly starting to form. Ben shook his head and wiped at a tear. "The guys ... hell, I could just as well be a mutant brain-sucking space alien for all the difference it would make. I mean, they act like I'm ...." His voice trailed off sadly. "Like you're carrying some kind of disease that they'll catch? Like you're a threat to them?" "Yeah," Ben nodded. "When I'm not on the anti-depressants and stuff, I feel like I ... can't take any more." Loggins nodded, trying to sound sympathetic. "I know you can handle this. You're a good crewman." "Woman," Ben corrected. "Crew _woman_." He wiped at another tear as his forced humor failed. After a moment, he looked at the captain. "Dammit," he said, frustration boiling through his words and tone. "These fuckin' hormones are making me feel like I can't control my emotions any more! Doc says it's normal in ... pregnant women." He shook his head, wiping at his tears and he fought the urge to start crying. "I _hate_ this!" he cried out. "Why me? Why did this have to happen to me?" He turned from the captain, embarrassed by the show of 'soft' emotions more associated with women than with macho men. "What's going to happen to me? When we get home, I mean?" The captain shook his head sadly, his neutral expression failing to hold and giving way to uncertainty. "I don't know," he answered honestly. "They'll quarantine me, won't they," Ben answered his own question. "Maybe all of us. That's why the guys are afraid of me. They're afraid they'll catch it. Or that they'll get quarantined because of me." "And?" Ben laughed softly. "If it were me, I'd quarantine. What if I'm a threat to Earth? What if this is really contagious?" He shook his head. "You know they won't take a chance. And since the rest of the guys are on the ship with me, we'll probably all spend the rest of our lives sealed in some quarantine lab being studied like mice." Captain Loggins nodded somberly at Ben's words. He wanted desperately to give Ben some reassuring words, but the words weren't there. In his heart, he knew Ben was right. Ben's condition had doomed them all. It was very unlikely that any of them would ever walk the soil of Earth again. ********** Ben climbed slowly from the medical bay, his new home. Being with the guys was too uncomfortable, both for him and for them. Being in the medical bay gave him a sense of isolation that seemed to help put the guys minds at ease - a tiny bit. He crossed to the galley and poured himself a cup of coffee. Behind him, obscured around the corner, two guys were talking in the wardroom. He was going to ignore them and go back to his 'quarters' when he heard a bit more of their conversation. Frowning, he eased over to the bulkhead. "...want to be stuck? I most certainly don't." The voice belonged to Hans. "No. But what can we do?" It was Miguel. "And I sure as shit don't want to catch it!" Hans laughed. "Perhaps if you did, you would be cuter Fraulein than Ben, and maybe more friendly!" "Not likely," Miguel retorted angrily. "Maybe you'll be the one to change? And maybe we'll all get to learn if German girls really do have big tits!" "Fuck off!" Hans snapped. "I think we all should talk to the Kapitan again. If he puts Ben in isolation..." "Yeah," Miguel replied. "If we don't catch it by the time we get home, we will have proven that we're safe. That Ben's the only one infected." "You know what is worst part?" Hans asked softly. "What?" Hans laughed. "When I see Ben's breasts, I am reminded of how long since I have had a good screw. " "That's sick!" Miguel replied quickly. "He's ... he's Ben!" Hans laughed again. "No. _She_ was Ben. Now she's a Fraulein." He chuckled. "And maybe you protest so much because you think of sex often also?" Ben fought to keep his emotions in check. Lately, that fight seemed to be getting harder and harder. It seemed as if his emotions were getting stronger. Quickly, softly, Ben retreated to the ladder and descended to the medical bay. He fled into the supply room, converted to his private quarters, and closed the door behind him. As he sank to his cot, tears streaming from his eyes, his coffee cup slipped from his hands. He barely noticed the drops of hot coffee splashing on his legs as he twisted and flopped until he was face down in his pillow. Even then, his changes mocked him. He rolled back upright, staring down at the bumps on his chest, growing every so slowly, that had so cruelly reminded him of what was happening to him. ********** "How is my favorite patient doing today?" Jack asked as he glanced into Ben's room. "Your only patient," Ben corrected him. He sat in his cot, leaning against the wall, his feet under the blanket. "Or squatter, depending on how you look at it." Jack laughed lightly. "The docs on Earth want another ultrasound." Ben snorted. "Figures. That's about three a week?" He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, then levered himself up. The changes in Ben had been so gradual that Jack hadn't noticed. Ben had given up on cutting his hair - looking like a woman with breasts and a swelling pregnant belly still scared the other men, and him having a crew cut didn't diminish his growing femininity. It was simply not possible to hide a six-month pregnant belly and what Jack estimated to be not-quite-C-cup breasts. Having given up on trying to maintain a masculine appearance, Ben simply tied his hair back in a plain ponytail. The extra-large t-shirt that Ben wore all the time accommodated his round swollen belly and swollen breasts, but the downside was the tight fabric called attention to those features, rather than hiding them. It also clung to what remained of his muscles; the lack of testosterone and light gravity had quickly robbed Ben of muscle mass. Except for his face, he appeared completely female. And even that had changed. His skin tone seemed softer, less harsh. And his facial hair had quit growing, much to the surprise of Dr. Chang. Not that Ben cared any more. "You doing okay?" Jack asked as Ben waddled to the exam table. Ben shrugged. "Same as yesterday. And the day before." Jack laughed. "Had to ask." "It sucks. Being turned into a woman sucks. Having big saggy boobs sucks. Being pregnant sucks. Having a kid that kicks my bladder like a soccer ball sucks." He laid back and glared at Jack. "Everyone else looks at me like I'm Typhoid Mary. Is that better?" Jack laughed. "You never did mince words." He pulled the shirt up, exposing the round bulge of Ben's pregnant belly. He then squirted some lubricating jelly, causing Ben to flinch. "Dammit, that's cold! How many times to I have to remind you to warm up that shit?" Ben snapped. Jack winced. "Sorry. I'm not a real OB." He turned on the sonogram machine, then he touched the scanner head to the goop on Ben's belly. In a few moments, he had a clear picture on the display. One after another, he got the ultrasound images and copied them into the computer memory. Finally, he sat back and wiped off the scanner head. "You know, by yourself you've used up our entire supply of this stuff." "Send the bill to my boss," Ben said sarcastically. "The images are in the computer, so they should be on Earth in a few hours. Then we'll see what the real doctors think." He held out a hand to help Ben sit up. "But if you ask me, it looks like a healthy normal baby girl." Ben sighed. "Yeah. At least it's not a three-headed reptilian space alien." Exactly _what_ the baby was had been the subject of much worry, both on the _Goddard_ and at home. Even the professionals watched science-fiction movies. He sat up and pulled the t-shirt back over his belly. "At least I don't have to suffer through another pelvic today!" he said, half with relief and half with anger. Jack shrugged. "Dr. Chang is the only one trained to do a pelvic exam. And he thinks it's better for you if he's the only one who sees your ... um ...." "Pussy?" Ben asked angrily. Jack blushed. "Uh, yeah." He turned away, wiping off the ultrasound scanner again. "Anyway, since you've finished changing ... down there ... the docs back Earthside aren't pressing for more data." Yuri dropped softly to the deck. "Done with the daily checkup?" he asked simply. "How is little mother doing?" "I don't give a damn if that _is_ a Russian term of endearment, I find it offensive as hell!" Ben snapped. Yuri glanced at Jack. "Ben's a bit moody this morning," Jack reported simply. "You try losing your dick, growing tits, and getting pregnant, and then not get moody!" Ben snapped back. Yuri ignored Ben's outburst. "Captain wants to know when you're coming back on duty." He glanced at Jack. "We've got a few systems acting up, and your expertise is sorely needed." Ben snorted. "You've got Jack and Lenny. They know the systems as well as I do." He saw the impassive stare on Yuri's face. "Okay, I'll see what I can do." He glanced at Jack. "Assuming that my doctor will let me." Jack shrugged. "No heavy lifting. No excessive exertion. Diagnose to your heart's content, but leave the heavy work to someone else." Ben shrugged. "Whatever." He pushed aside his drawing tablet, one of his latest hobbies to help pass the time, and reached for a robe. The drawing tablet landed on the floor open to his latest sketch. "What is that?" Yuri asked, glancing at the sketch pad and frowning. Ben glanced down. "I don't know," he answered. "I've just been wasting time doing some drawing to pass time. Just drawing ... stuff." He picked up the tablet, then he saw the expression on Yuri's face. "Why?" Yuri shook his head. "I don't know. It looks like the area around Asgaard 1." He took the sketch pad and scurried quickly up the ladder. ********** Captain Loggins shook his head for the umpteenth time. "This just doesn't make sense," he said. He looked at the sketch, then at the monitor. Yuri nodded. "Very puzzling. How is it that Ben is drawing the landscape?" The captain shook his head. "There's enough strange stuff that's happened that I'm not surprised. Not any more." He punched a couple of button on the computer. "What do these numbers look like to you?" Yuri leaned closer, focusing on the display, and stared for several moments. "Coordinates, maybe?" The captain nodded somberly. "Look at what happens when I pull up an image centered on the coordinates." He punched one last button, then he frowned. "I thought Pete fixed the damned computers." Yuri's frown echoed is captain's concern. "He reported that he couldn't find anything wrong with them." The captain sighed. "So why is it that the damned things periodically lock up? They're supposed to be the best, most trouble-free computers in the solar system! They were tested six ways from Sunday!" He punched the button again. This time, the display changed. "It seems like Pete and Boris have been chasing phantoms through the system for months." Yuri gasped. He stared at the display, then turned to the sketch in the captain's hands. "It's ..." Captain Loggins nodded. "It's the same place." He punched the intercom button. "Ben, get up to the control room. Pronto." A few moments later, Ben floated into the control room. "What's up?" He saw the drawing, then the image on the screen. "Can you tell me how you decided to draw this scene?" the captain asked simply. Ben shrugged and shook his head. "I ... don't know. It just came to me." He frowned. "Why?" Captain Loggins punched up the numerical display. "These numbers are all over in the computer memory. Neither Boris nor Pete have any idea how they got there, or what they mean." Ben's frown deepened. "And?" His eyes widened. "Coordinates?" he asked uncertainly. "And they're the coordinates I've been drawing?" The captain and Yuri simply nodded. Ben felt a chill run down his spine. ********** "We've got our orders. We'll carry them out." The captain glared around the wardroom to silence the discussion. "Sir," Lenny protested weakly. "Yes?" the captain asked sharply, indicating that he had little patience for dissent. Lenny glanced around. He saw the tiny nods of support from Hans, Miguel, and Pete. "With all due respect, Control isn't here. We are. Right now, we have enough fuel for TEI. If we land, we won't. That site isn't near the fuel station." He glanced around again. "Our mission has already been extended by nearly a year. Control doesn't have the right to ask us to jeopardize it again." He glanced nervously at Ben, standing behind the captain near the ladders. The captain noticed the visual signals among his crew. "Fair statement," he acknowledge after forcing himself to calm down. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel the same way. I already protested to Control. You know what they said? They reminded me that this expedition is costing nearly thirty-billion dollars, they paid the bill, and they expect us to follow orders to complete our mission." He shook his head. "They think there's some connection here. They want to find out what happened." He omitted the phrase 'to Ben'; everyone knew instantly what he was talking about. "This might be our clue. So we're going down. Lenny, I want you and Miguel to prepare Lander A. Rich, you and Boris will take B. We're going to have to make a couple of fuel trips down. You'll go for Valhalla 1 and Valhalla 3. Those two fuel plants are nearly full." Rich nodded somberly. "You want us to do a full traverse while we're there?" The captain thought for a moment. "Your discretion. You've got seventy-two hours for the fuel transfer, so if you do an EVA or two, it would probably make the geologists happy." He glanced around. "Remember - we've completed our primary mission. We have only one more task to complete, so let's not take any chances. Remember, we burn for home in forty-two days." He saw nods of assent around the wardroom. "Let's not blow it." ********** Captain Loggins sat in his chair in the control room, waiting anxiously. "Two-hundred meters," the loudspeaker called. "Auto systems are in the groove." This was the worst part, he decided. Waiting with this whale of a ship, huge and slow and oh-so-vulnerable, while a smaller ship approached. The three recorded cases where a smaller ship had rammed the larger space vessel didn't comfort the captain. One had been bad; the other two had been fatal. But there was nothing he could do at this moment. "One fifty," came the call after what seemed an eternity. The captain glanced at the display, then back out the viewport. He trusted his own eyes more than the display. Another long pause. "One hundred." The clock ticked with agonizing slowness. "Fifty. Secondary target acquired." Captain Loggins knew that his crew was highly trained and very skilled, and they'd done dozens of rendezvous simulations and actual dockings. There should be nothing to worry about. But he couldn't help it. At that moment, the lights flickered and the computer displays blanked. "What the hell?" Captain Loggins shouted. "Pete, get me the computers back up!" A few long seconds later, the displays began to update again. "Ten meters." The captain snorted his disgust. "Who the hell decided to tie everything in the ship to the central computer?" Al glanced at Pete. "Guess they never saw '2001, A Space Odyssey,'" he said softly. Pete nodded. "Or any one of a hundred other movies. Probably didn't read much, either." He shook his head as he watched the computer systems monitors. "There are a ton of books where a central computer malfunction is the main theme." "Two meters." Captain Loggins glanced out the viewport, not trusting the computer monitors. The lander was closing at a rate of a fraction of a meter each second. It took over ten seconds to move the final two meters. As it touched, a metallic 'clank' sounded through the ship. The captain let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "As soon as they're secure, start the fuel transfer. Get a team checking Lander B. I want to get depart for the surface within twenty-four hours." He started to pull himself from his chair, but he saw Yuri staring at him. "I assume you intend to lead the mission?" Yuri said simply. Loggins nodded. "Yup." Yuri frowned. "You're not supposed to. You're not the most qualified pilot. Your job is on the ship." Loggins shook his head. "Nope. This one is an extra. I don't need to know anything about geology. Rich or Pete can back me up on piloting. I'm going." He shook his head. "Everyone else has done at least three landings, while I've been stuck up here. I didn't come all this way _not_ to step on Callisto." "And that's final?" The captain nodded. "I've already laid out the mission plan." ********** "All systems check out. Let's open the hatch." Clad in his spacesuit, standing with Pete in the depressurized lander airlock, the captain felt butterflies in his stomach. He forced himself to take a few deep breaths to calm himself. This wasn't quite like being the first person to step on a new planet; his men had been here many times before. This time, however, it was him. It was just different enough that his nerves were acting up. There was also the fact that something strange, alien, had transformed one of his men into a pregnant woman. That something had come from Callisto. And his current mission was to find out what it was. Pete unlatched the hatch and swung it in. It was easier structurally to have the pressure working to keep the hatch closed, which meant it opened inward. The downside was that the men had to work around the hatch to exit, or to close it when they re-entered the lander's airlock. Captain Loggins squatted and crawled through the hatch on his knees, out onto the 'porch', a small landing at the top of the ladder. He glanced sunward, and was surprised at how bright it seemed. Then he swung around and got his feet on the ladder. Clumsily, he stepped down to the surface. In moments, and far more gracefully in his motion, Pete joined him. "Showing off?" the captain asked through the suit radio. Pete smiled unseen through the helmet visor. "I've done it a few times. It's only proper that I'm a little better at it." "Let's get the rover deployed." Pete was already moving to the rover's stored location. In a few moments, the vehicle was on the ground and ready. "Batteries check full. All the rover systems check out," Pete reported after scrutinizing the instrument panel. Captain Loggins crawled behind the steering yoke. Pete glanced at him, then he shrugged and walked around to the passenger side. "You sure you want to drive, captain?" he asked as he climbed into the seat. "Been driving since I was twelve," the captain replied dryly. "I think I can handle this little dune buggy." "Take it easy until you get used to it. The steering is awfully sensitive." Loggins frowned. "I had the training," he said in a clipped tone. "I remember how to drive the damned thing." He grasped the yoke and pressed the 'go' button. The craft lurched forward, gathering speed and leaving a rooster-tail of dust behind it. "Damned hot- shot kids think they know everything!" he muttered to himself, forgetting that his suit microphone was permanently on. Pete decided to ignore the comment, reminding himself that this was the captain's first landing. He was entitled to a little self- indulgence. Pete glanced at the computer display on his suit's left wrist. "According to the coordinates, we have about four kilometers to go." He tapped a button. "Heading one four zero." The buggy scooted across the surface at nearly ten kilometers per hour. Faster would have been foolish; the surface dust and rock wasn't all that solid, and occasionally, ice lay beneath a seemingly solid rock bed. Skidding and slipping in the rover wasn't exactly fun. After nearly ten minutes, Pete looked at his wrist display again. "We should be close." He let his arm fall. "Assuming we didn't have any error in the lander's inertial nav system." The captain didn't take his eyes off the landscape. "You should know - you were responsible for calibrating it before we left _Goddard_." Pete shook his head. "What, exactly, are we looking for?" "Don't know," the captain answered simply. "I guess we'll find it when we find it." Pete snorted. "With that crater, it's probably going to be hard to find." He was staring at the rim of a crater, growing larger as they drew nearer. "If we can even traverse there." "How far off would you say the crater is?" Pete shook his head. "Hard to tell. It's really hard to judge distances on this rock." He spoke from experience. All the landing crews had found judging distances difficult at best. What appeared to be a hill a few hundred meters away could really be a mountain a few kilometers away. There simply weren't any good references for depth perception on this pockmarked landscape. The rover drove on, direct