Double Helix 03_ Red Sector - Diane Carey [81]
At tactical, Zack Bolt commented, “You get to a certain level of atmospheric aeronautics and yours is as good as any body’s:’
Stiles waved an icy hand toward Spock. “Why don’t you have a look for yourself, sir? You were here too, and I’m sure you knew the layout a lot better than I ever did. After all…”
If Spock’s dark eyes saw through the layers of reasons and excuses, he made no hint of that, except perhaps for the hesitation before accepting.
“Very well,” he said, and took the place at the science station as Jeremy moved out of his way. He bent over the readout hood, tapped some of the controls, causing monitors to flicker and change, focus or choose new subjects.
Stiles knew what Speck expected a devastated planet, a civilization crushed nearly out of existence, the people who’d managed to survive suffering in the few remaining caves and wreckage that hadn’t been smashed, hardly any old people, hardly any kids …. But that’s not what came up.
Maps of the planet’s cities, boundaries in some places marked off by electronic border markers readable from space. Stiles recognized some of what he saw from that first approach all those years ago, and he was stirred by new apprehensions. He recognized the mountains showing up on geographical longrange, and flinched. The idea of returning in triumph, healthy, alive, in command of a ship, dissolved and crumbled away. Suddenly he was twenty-one and out of control.
The hum of the ship around him as thrusters moved them toward orbit pounded like blood in his head. He was grateful when Travis quietly took over the approach orders, doing so smoothly enough that nobody seemed to notice. Or at least they pretended they didn’t.
Stiles wasn’t much for puffing on airs, but he’d have liked to give them a little command puff-up right about now, just for Christmas. Couldn’t find it, though. Just couldn’t find it.
“Cities seem intact. No signs of catastrophic damage;’ Speck commented as he clicked his way through the scanner’s offerings. “I recognize several of the buildings at the main city complexes on the primary continent….” Now he leaned closer and seemed almost to frown. “Although… the architectural style has changed significantly. Many of the old constructions are missing, replaced by complexes with only one or two stories” He turned his head, without straightening up, to look at Stiles. “During your incarceration, did you hear any word of so broad a cultural change?”
“Me? Zevon and I used to talk about what could be done to help buildings survive the Constrictor… elastic brackets and joints, different construction materials-either much heavier so they could withstand the pressure, or much lighter so they wouldn’t be crushed… but nobody ever paid attention to us. That was just us, just talking.”
“They seem to have implemented many changes” Spock commented, looked at what he saw on the screens. “Even the colors of the cities are different now. I believe they may have changed materials significantly. They seem to be primarily using quarried granite rather than timber and brick. And I’m reading quintotitantium and dutronium reenforcement members rather than conventional steel and iron. When I evacuated, they were incapable of such a development at their industrial level.”
“Granite.. ,’ Stiles sifted his memory. “Dutronium… Zevon and I used to design-we used to think up all kinds of things. Maybe the Pojjana just figured out some of them on their own. It doesn’t take that much to figure out how to build a spandex house, y’know… most of our ideas just made basic sense. It’s not like we had much to work with or anything …. “
McCoy watched the continent slowly turn on the large forward screen. “Do you think he’s still alive and influencing their development?”
“I hope so, I sure hope so” Stiles said with his heart squeezing fearfully. “Zevon doesn’t have a prime directive. But I don’t know how he could get anybody to listen to him. We could never get past the assistant warden. And I don’t know if… they turned on him after I got pulled