Chapter 10

The Gardener reached worm speed and negotiated the worm transit uneventfully. At the astronomers' request Captain Ziang left the external scanners on for a short while at the beginning of the transit, but the view was only of a featureless void and after a couple of the more agoraphobic members of the crew asked, she turned them off.

On-board excitement built quickly as the ship exited its wormhole and began decelerating toward Eden. The astronomers and physicists busied themselves quickly in the observations and measures they were almost immediately able to make regarding the system itself and its star, while others gazed mesmerized at images of the point of light that was Eden, always displayed on many of the monitors, as the ship drew nearer. For the moment the differences that had divided the crew thus far during the voyage were forgotten, and soldiers and scientists shared their mutual awe at the sight of their goal.

The truce, however, was short-lived. It was at the next general crew meeting that the hitherto suppressed antagonism between military and scientists erupted into open hostility.

By this time the ship's magnified scanners were displaying the full globe of the planet in all its colorful splendor. Varicolored hues of tan, green and blue were offset by the blazing white of atmospheric clouds; as with the ill-fated Argo mission, the Gardener's crew were entranced by the similarity to Earth's appearance. Final planetary orbit was scarcely two weeks away, and the mood aboard the Gardener was almost euphoric when First Officer Shaw, flanked by Igwanda and Meiersdottir in the usual arrangement of the head table, called the meeting to order.

Almost immediately a hand shot up on the floor. John Toshimura, Meiersdottir's junior in the sociological contingent, fairly leaped to his feet as Shaw recognized him. "Mr. Shaw," he began what was obviously a prepared speech, "may I be the first to publicly thank you and Captain Ziang and the technical crew for what has been a smooth and pleasant voyage. You have flawlessly brought us here to a sight that every human has long dreamed of viewing—a world not only paralleling our own in appearance, not only a virgin Earth unspoiled by the environmental degradation of civilization, but a world on which we may greet the first intelligent species that humans have ever encountered in the universe."

A group of 50 can make a fairly deafening noise in a confined area, and the cheers and applause echoed for a moment. "It has long been my personal dream to encounter an intelligent alien society," he continued after the noise had abated. "Now, it thrills my very soul to think that I may actually touch limbs and begin communication with the members of such a society in but a few short weeks!" Again came the blast of aural approval.

But this time as the sound died the voice heard was Igwanda's. "Excuse me," his baritone overpowered the room. "I am sure you are speaking rhetorically, and I share your enthusiasm for that day to come. But I know you must be aware that it will actually be many months before we make planetfall..."