Jupiter's Reef by Karl Kofoed Page A

we aerobraked into Mars. It’s on record that we had ‘unknown biological deposits’ on our hull. Reef monster spit it was, and it ate through the hull. Dingers! Are you saying we made it up?”
    Alex began to turn red. Mary had seen him change color before, with dire results. Things got broken. So she gritted her teeth and waited for the worst.
    But Johnny remained cool. “Not at all, Alex. There’s no doubt about your efforts and I have no doubts about the reef. But, empirically, you have no proof. What’s going to be necessary is a return to the Great Red Spot.”
    “For empirical reasons,” snarled Alex. “Sure. Well, no surprises there. No matter what one does it’s never enough to convince a skeptic.”
    Johnny shook his head. “It’s not like that, Alex,” he explained . “You have done the groundwork. I have no doubt that your story will inspire people or the reef will get named after you. But science demands proof. You’ve heard that extraordinary claims require –”
    “I know, extraordinary proof,” said Alex.
    “Well, that’s what Stubbs said,” said Johnny.
    “You contacted him?”
    “Didn’t you want me to?” Johnny looked perplexed. “I thought that’s what you wanted from me. Since I was his colleague years ago.”
    “I guess so,” said Alex. “I guess I was going to.”
    Mary was doing one armed push ups off a metal bar affixed to an overhead rack. She wore a red stretch suit during her workouts.
    “I put in a call to him, too,” she said. “We sensors can do some things, you know. He wasn’t in. I did some inquiry and found his lab at the Massachusetts Institute. He’s on vacation. Did you suppose he’d be sitting around waiting for an arrival of people he doesn’t expect?”
    “I was going to wire him from the spaceport,” said Alex.
    “She’s right,” said Johnny. “He’s out of town.”
    “Dingers, we can land anywhere!” said Alex. “Point the way.”
    Diver ’s computer voice interrupted them. “EARTH INSERTION BURN IN TWELVE SECONDS. THE BURN WILL HAVE A SEVENTEEN SECOND DURATION.”
    Everyone moved to a seat as red lights lit on the console and the bright yellow word “ALERT” flashed on the viewscreen.
    Diver ’s engines ignited for the correct duration.
    They were halfway to Earth and bored. The conversation turned inevitably to their destination and Mary, it turned out, was brimming with questions.
    She and Alex had had the impression that Johnny knew Professor Stubbs. Johnny told them that they had never really met. Their relationship, while covering many years, had been conducted entirely via the interweb. Mary didn’t let that stop her.
    “Tell me, Professor,” she asked somewhat timidly, “what can I expect from Earth? Are the clones accepted there?”
    “Well, they weren’t even allowed back there for a while, you know,” said the Professor.
    Mary nodded but her expression said she wanted more.
    Johnny settled back in his chair and thought for a moment. “I think it all really started with the Artemis League. They were the old society, the ones who set up Luna’s first hotel.” He snickered. “They carted people from earth in a tin can, let them sleep in another tin can and then shipped them back the way they came. People paid a million a pop for that.” He laughed.
    “What’s so funny?” asked Mary. “It has to start somewhere.”
    “Well, they never lost anybody, even though it was a stripped down operation.”
    “What does that have to do with clones?” asked Alex.
    “The Artemis League restricted them to Luna and Mars. Denied them access to Earth.”
    “Then they must have created the first clones on Luna,” said Mary.
    “Of course,” replied Johnny. “Most Martians think the cloning originated on their home world. That is true of the ones born there. But the older ones, like your progenitor Mary One, came from Artemis City on the Earth’s moon.”
    “She never told us that,” said Mary. “If that’s true,