Free Usurper of the Sun by Housuke Nojiri Page B

translucent, viscous substance.
    “If I did not know any better, I would say we are looking at the wall of a colossal bee hive dripping with honey,” Per said after clearing his throat.
    Aki panned the camera to have a better look at the outside edge. The surface had no distinguishing features except for a gray border several meters thick around each cell in its matrix. There were no railings, no catwalks, no emergency exits. Aki had the camera trace a path around the edge of the cliff. A protruding object that resembled a lighthouse slowly came into view.
    “Could that be a telescope?” asked Per.
    “I bet it is the graser battery,” said Aki.
    The commander moved the hound in for a closer look.
    It appeared to be a stubby telescope atop an altazimuth mount. Double-checking the scale gauge connected to the distance meter, Aki confirmed that the diameter of the aperture was unbelievably large—about the length of a football field. The muzzle contained a concentric circle that looked like a collimator. The structure was seamless, completely smooth.
    As she looked for even a trace of details or distinguishing features, Per noticed a miniature version of the battery on top of the barrel. “That must be the optical telescope—their viewfinder,” said Per.
    “You’re probably right. A viewfinder to target incoming objects,” Kindersley said.
    Examining the long-range images sent back by the hound in closer detail, the exact same object appeared again nine thousand kilometers in the distance. The structures lined the Island at equal intervals.
    “Now’s the moment of truth, crew. Press on or turn back? You know where I stand, but I want to hear you on this one.”
    “Continue,” Aki replied immediately.
    Per took a bit longer. “I do not see any reason not to. Why wait?”
    “The base of that graser battery is our target. Set the ship for final approach. Aki, prepare for an EVA.”
    “Of course, sir.” Aki propelled herself out of her cocoon and began donning her space suit.
    She and Per had talked about it. The mission would continue. Aki had volunteered to take over Mark’s duties. She would stand on the Island with her own two feet if that was what it took to obtain a sample and send the data to Earth.
    The risk of contamination appeared to be low. The Builders seemed content to leave the Ring unguarded, perhaps due to its regenerative abilities. The Island, as it was protected by the graser, was perhaps not capable of self-repair. This was the best working theory the crew had to go on. Although the head of a simple planarian worm will grow back when it is cut off, the same cannot be said of a human. Similarly, it would be much more difficult to outfit the Island—a much more sophisticated construction than the exoskeleton of the Ring—with the capacity to regenerate itself when damaged.
    It was likely that the nanomachines responsible for the fabrication and maintenance of the Island were still wandering its surface. Unlike the nanomaterial composing the Ring, the Island’s machines did not go about their work blindly. Aki pictured them emitting and receiving messages for propagation direction control, powered by something beyond human invention and understanding. Perhaps even Maxwell’s Demon had finally been constructed, and the nanobots were harvesting molecular-level power from the minute differences in temperature and energy across the Island’s surface.
    “EVA prep completed,” she said.
    Before the other two could come to the airlock door to see her off, Aki stepped in, depressurized, and opened the craft’s external door. The stern of the ship was pointed straight at the Ring. A continuous weak blast from the engines of the orbital maneuvering system counteracted the gravitational force of the Ring and the Island, allowing the ship to maintain a constant distance.
    Aki was five hundred meters above the surface of the Ring. She held the railing. Her hands would not want to push off. She