Shed been training for the Mars mission with Major Powell and Corporal Spencer since her arrival and knew them in a strictly professional capacity. She hadnt so much as lain eyes on Dr. Kushbu or Dr. Rains before, but since Kushbu was east Indian it wasnt difficult to figure out who was who.
Dr. Rains nodded a greeting and moved a hand that shook faintly toward the control of the holographic display in the center of the table. An image appeared that sent a shockwave through Sybil.
Dr. Rains smiled thinly when shed observed the reactions of everyone at the table. As you can see, Venus looks a good bit different than it did before. These are the pictures we managed to take with the probe we uh appropriated before it malfunctioned.
Sybil wouldnt have believed it was Venus if the woman hadnt told her.
Any guesses as to whats going on there? Major Powell asked sharply, breaking the silence that had held them.
Dr. Rains shrugged. I can tell you what we think is happening. Its the reason you were pulled off the Mars mission.
Sybil frowned when the doctor stopped, apparently weighing her next words. Bad news? Or seriously bad news?
I suppose that remains to be seen. Maybe it would be easier to digest if I go back a little bit?
Major Powells lips thinned, but he nodded to encourage Dr. Rains to proceed. She tapped the keys of the pad and different image appeared-one that was no more recognizable to Sybil than the first had been. This is an image of Pluto captured a few days ago. The onset of the change was first observed back in 2006. The scientist that first noticed it thought that there was a problem with the images-an error in the data stream. After carefully going back over everything, he finally announced his findings in 2010, but we didnt have anything that far out to help the scientific community understand what was causing the change to Pluto. We havent had anything since, for that matter, but he finally convinced the scientists in charge of the Inmar telescope sent up to replace the Kepler six years ago to realign the telescope for a better look. These images were captured, she explained, tapping the keyboard to display a progression of startling images.
Noticing tiny, fuzzy lights surrounding Pluto, Sybil narrowed her eyes, trying instinctively to bring the images into focus. What are those-lights?
Ships, Dr. Kushbu said succinctly.
Sybil glanced at him sharply, blinking while she tried to digest that.
Ships? Major Powell demanded sharply.
Alien ships, Dr. Rains clarified.
Corporal Spencer uttered a snorting laugh. Alien ships? Youre talking flying saucers? You arent serious? My god, we havent had UFO reports in over a decade!
Kushbu and Rains shared a look.
Maybe you can come up with an explanation that suits you better? Dr. Rains asked tightly. No one wanted to even suggest the possibility, but its hard to ignore. Those lights have not behaved like any natural phenomena known to us. Moreover, when considered in conjunction with the undeniable changes weve discovered in Pluto, it seems a high probability that they are indeed alien crafts and they are terra-forming Pluto.
Everyone sat back in their seats and glanced around at each other uncomfortably.
Why would they want to terra-form Pluto? I think that would be a good place to start the questions, Major Powell said abruptly.
Kushbu glanced at Rains and shrugged. We dont have a clue, he responded. But the fact remains that our instruments managed to detect changes to the dwarf over the past decade and half that have made it livable-extremely harsh conditions by our standards-but capable of sustaining life and it certainly wasnt before. It doesnt just look like theres water on the surface. As far as we can tell, there is.
Dr. Rains studied her hands, clasped before her on the table. The government thinks its merely a base and their target is Venus.
Sybil gaped at the older woman. Thats why weve been pulled from the colonization project for this emergency mission to Venus?
Well I sure as hell dont follow! Spencer snapped angrily. Even supposing youre right and those are alien ships out there, why colonize Pluto if their target was Venus?
Weve got more questions than we do answers! Dr. Rains said. The theory is that theyre using similar technology to what weve used to terra-form Mars-except better, because theyre obviously more advanced than we are. Its pretty much all wild speculation at this point. We dont have anything to really check out either planet, but look what we have managed in little more than a decade! The particle beam weve been using to clean up Earths greenhouse gasses by transferring them to Mars has not only cleaned up the Earth considerably, but it has transformed Mars-something we expected to take decades longer than it has.
If we consider that the aliens are doing much the same thing, then it certainly explains the drastic changes in both Pluto and Venus! And, since it wouldve been far more logical to take the gasses they needed from closer planets, then it seems to follow that they must have plans for Venus if they are, indeed, responsible for the changes. The government seems to think so, at any rate, and theyre disturbed, to say the least, at the possibility of having aliens on our back doorstep.
The invention of the particle transporter had been a life-saver-literally. Of course the men working on it had intended it for use to transport living beings from place to place and that was something they still hadnt figured out how to do. Even the emergence of quantum computers hadnt, yet, solved that problem, but inanimate objects were a different matter altogether. By the time it had occurred to anyone to use it remove Earths harmful gases, it had been pretty well perfected-for that kind of use-and it had slowed the deterioration of Earths environment considerably, giving scientists and engineers much needed time to develop alternate energy sources.
Those advances had also slowed the climate change, but it was generally accepted that nothing was going to stop the cycle-it was still a case of too little, too late. The Earth would recover, eventually, but there was no telling how long that might take or how many people would survive.
Of course, the people focused on colonizing Mars had been livid. Theyd fought the use of Mars as a dumping ground so ferociously that it had taken nearly three years to implement the plan but in the end, theyd lost. The government always won, and they had no intention of losing this particular battle. It had been pure dumb luck that theyd succeeded in terra-forming Mars at the same time-rather than intentional. Of course, the Mars colony project had intended to use a similar process to terra-form, but theyd planned to use clean greenhouse gasses. They hadnt wanted to risk dirtying Mars with Earths pollution.
It had come down to a case of alls well that ends well. The fact that the project had dramatically improved Mars in an amazingly short time had brought about a hard shift in the governments stance. New projections were that people would be able to walk around the Mars surface without pressure suits or respirators within the next two or three decades. From viewing Mars merely as a handy receptacle for waste, theyd begun to realize Mars would be even more beneficial as a colony. Natural disasters and diseases had taken their toll, but the Earths population was still way out of balance. A massive migration to Mars was just the ticket since the Moon was never going to provide much relief in that direction.
No one wanted to admit it, but Apophis had been another strong incentive to focus every effort on colonizing Mars. Due to pass Earth within a year, with everyone poised to implement the plan to divert it to make certain that it wouldnt hit on the next go round in 36, it still made everyone uneasy. It would be the first time theyd even attempted to divert the path of an asteroid the size of Apophis.