Canticle Blue

53. Nantis

"There are stories of alien encounters, but only fleeting evidence. We search the stars for messages and find silence. When our forebears crossed the Great Bridge, they found no one else here. If there are aliens, they certainly know how to hide well. I look forward to a time when we can be the aliens who hide well."
—Cian Dhalen (Personal Journal)

Since arriving on the Picarin, Cian had sent text messages to Annibet whenever she could as she watched the habitat section being built. Now that evacuations were complete, she wrote again after a long work day, saying "Annibet, we're going to Nantis!"

"Wait a minute," she wrote back. "What happened with the evacuation?"

"Oh, I figured Dev already told you about that," she answered.

"He did, but he has this passion for conciseness. Also, he had missed a lot of
sleep."

"Oh. Well, it went great. The whole thing felt dangerous and was very exciting. They actually put it on our V-sky, even while it was happening. I thought we were going to get hit by lightning. You should have seen the rain bouncing off the Shil. It was like fireworks, not exactly stealthy, but very impressive. We got everyone from the Institute. I guess we are 'aliens who abduct people' now. That's what the news people down there are saying. But, what do think about Nantis?"

"I am so envious," Annibet responded. "All we have is this comet."

Cian could barely stop laughing as she read this, then replied, "You'll get to see it on the C-link. I guess, as Os puts it, we're going to 'camp out' above the rings. We'll be leaving soon. Maybe things will finally slow down for us en route. Still lots of construction stuff going on, though. The atrium in the sphere section is really going to be something when it's done.

"We think we're going to be able to minimize free-spin gravity on the trip, which is a big relief. The Picarin has contingency plans for it during ship transitions and emergencies, but it probably wouldn't be pleasant. That can be kind of messy, as you know, especially in a new ship. We tested it briefly when we left Innis, and there was a lot of cleanup, when we were able to get to it. I can't wait to feel the shift away from Havel gravity when our R-drives kick in. Tor says the Picarin is a 'planet hopper.'"

Annibet asked her to write again when they were under way, or sooner if she could. She also promised to pray for her and to try not to get humorous with God, who, she said, knew all her cleverness anyway.

Nantis was the closer of two gas giant planets in the solar system and had very prominent rings. It was slightly over twice the distance from the sun as Havel and seventy times more massive. Several of Nantis' moons had already been discovered with telescopes, and the Picarin astronomers expected to find many more.

The plan was to simply "park" the Picarin above Nantis, with its stern facing the planet, at the correct distance to make use of its gravity. From that altitude, they could let the planet spin beneath them, or "sail" laterally using the sphere-drives, to study its surface and rings. Initially, as the Picarin approached the planet, the Crisopa would be secured to a thrust collar in the docking bay as a safety measure, to provide emergency lift, if needed.

From the passengers' perspective, the voyage to Nantis began with a barely perceptible push downward, like an elevator starting to rise, as the main Picarin R-drives engaged. It would take several hours to bring such a massive ship up to a rate of acceleration that would approximate half-normal gravity. During that time, the passengers would feel the odd sensation of gradual weight gains as they adjusted to conditions.

For Shei Pendel, taking a turn at the Picarin helm, it was difficult to throttle back emotions. There was no way she could play down the importance of what was happening, and she wondered if she could ever feel more alive than she did in those moments.