bottom of the world, but no land. With only an endless ocean encircling the core of the world, there wasn’t much to see.
But, in spots like Light Blue, the ocean floor had heaved up closer to the surface. In this region the color of the surface changed. Most of the world was so thickly covered in deep water it was almost black, even when the bright light of Thor shined down directly upon it. But Light Blue was different, it looked like one of Earth’s oceans.
“The shallow area?” I said. “Isn’t that the highest underwater mountain range on Yale?”
“Yes, it’s also one of the most thickly inhabited regions. The Crustaceans can’t survive in the deepest oceans, which have an estimated depth of two hundred thousand feet.”
I studied the imagery. It didn’t look right to me. “Is that a whirlpool?” I asked incredulously.
“Yes,” Marvin said. “It’s so large, I believed it to be a storm at first. But now I know the truth. The water is circling, draining away.”
“What could be down there?” I asked. “What could possibly swallow such a fantastic volume of liquid?”
Marvin was perking up. He sensed my interest, and I’d given him urgent questions which could be evaded. I knew instantly what he was thinking: soon, he might manage to gain a hold over me.
I smiled, because I knew his game. And for once I was one jump ahead of the sneaky robot. I’d figured out the answer to my own question before I’d asked it.
I snapped my fingers as if getting a sudden flash of insight. “I know!” I said. “It’s a ring! It’s got to be. A ring at the bottom of the sea, draining the water away to nowhere. What else could it be?”
Marvin looked stunned. For a full second, none of his numerous limbs or input devices moved. When they moved again, they were deflated, like a dozen wilting flowers on a hot August day.
“That matches my assessment,” he said.
“Somehow,” I said, “a ring has opened up at the bottom of their ocean. What an ingenious form of attack.”
“You think this is an attack?”
I nodded. “Either that, or the Crustaceans were experimenting. Maybe they tried to open up a pathway from their homeworld to another star system. Maybe the attempt backfired horribly.”
I proceeded to disseminate Marvin’s data to the command staff and the entire fleet. I made sure it was transmitted back to Eden as well. While this went on, Marvin studied me and the data. I knew he was horribly disappointed. He’d given up his data without getting anything for it.
When I managed to slip out of his sight, I dumped the ghastly coffee on the deck of the conference chamber and watched the ship’s nanite hull absorb it. Moments later it was released outside the hull as the waste it truly was. The ship knew garbage when it encountered it.
But Marvin wasn’t quite done yet. He came to me less than an hour later. “I have a new theory, Colonel. Would you like to hear it?”
“If you think it’s absolutely necessary,” I said. “I’m very busy.”
“It concerns Yale’s ocean—I believe I know the cause for the rise in temperature.”
“Oh, that. Never mind then.”
Marvin appeared to be stunned again.
“You don’t have any interest in this critical detail?” he asked.
“I’m interested all right. But I’ve already figured it out. As the oceans recede, the deep, deep hot-ice is being exposed. The rapid lowering of the sea is causing the hot ice to break down and heat up the water. Does that match your theories, Marvin?”
“Yes,” he said. Crushed again, he wandered away a few minutes later.
Since my conversation with Marvin, I’d been poring over science texts. I’d learned about the changed state of water at great depths, and the hot-ice phenomenon. It had been difficult, but the look on Marvin’s structure was worth it all now.
I grinned after him and whispered to myself: “We’ll chalk that one up for the dumbass human.”
-6-
When we were about half an hour
But, in spots like Light Blue, the ocean floor had heaved up closer to the surface. In this region the color of the surface changed. Most of the world was so thickly covered in deep water it was almost black, even when the bright light of Thor shined down directly upon it. But Light Blue was different, it looked like one of Earth’s oceans.
“The shallow area?” I said. “Isn’t that the highest underwater mountain range on Yale?”
“Yes, it’s also one of the most thickly inhabited regions. The Crustaceans can’t survive in the deepest oceans, which have an estimated depth of two hundred thousand feet.”
I studied the imagery. It didn’t look right to me. “Is that a whirlpool?” I asked incredulously.
“Yes,” Marvin said. “It’s so large, I believed it to be a storm at first. But now I know the truth. The water is circling, draining away.”
“What could be down there?” I asked. “What could possibly swallow such a fantastic volume of liquid?”
Marvin was perking up. He sensed my interest, and I’d given him urgent questions which could be evaded. I knew instantly what he was thinking: soon, he might manage to gain a hold over me.
I smiled, because I knew his game. And for once I was one jump ahead of the sneaky robot. I’d figured out the answer to my own question before I’d asked it.
I snapped my fingers as if getting a sudden flash of insight. “I know!” I said. “It’s a ring! It’s got to be. A ring at the bottom of the sea, draining the water away to nowhere. What else could it be?”
Marvin looked stunned. For a full second, none of his numerous limbs or input devices moved. When they moved again, they were deflated, like a dozen wilting flowers on a hot August day.
“That matches my assessment,” he said.
“Somehow,” I said, “a ring has opened up at the bottom of their ocean. What an ingenious form of attack.”
“You think this is an attack?”
I nodded. “Either that, or the Crustaceans were experimenting. Maybe they tried to open up a pathway from their homeworld to another star system. Maybe the attempt backfired horribly.”
I proceeded to disseminate Marvin’s data to the command staff and the entire fleet. I made sure it was transmitted back to Eden as well. While this went on, Marvin studied me and the data. I knew he was horribly disappointed. He’d given up his data without getting anything for it.
When I managed to slip out of his sight, I dumped the ghastly coffee on the deck of the conference chamber and watched the ship’s nanite hull absorb it. Moments later it was released outside the hull as the waste it truly was. The ship knew garbage when it encountered it.
But Marvin wasn’t quite done yet. He came to me less than an hour later. “I have a new theory, Colonel. Would you like to hear it?”
“If you think it’s absolutely necessary,” I said. “I’m very busy.”
“It concerns Yale’s ocean—I believe I know the cause for the rise in temperature.”
“Oh, that. Never mind then.”
Marvin appeared to be stunned again.
“You don’t have any interest in this critical detail?” he asked.
“I’m interested all right. But I’ve already figured it out. As the oceans recede, the deep, deep hot-ice is being exposed. The rapid lowering of the sea is causing the hot ice to break down and heat up the water. Does that match your theories, Marvin?”
“Yes,” he said. Crushed again, he wandered away a few minutes later.
Since my conversation with Marvin, I’d been poring over science texts. I’d learned about the changed state of water at great depths, and the hot-ice phenomenon. It had been difficult, but the look on Marvin’s structure was worth it all now.
I grinned after him and whispered to myself: “We’ll chalk that one up for the dumbass human.”
-6-
When we were about half an hour
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