Free Day of the Dragonstar by Thomas F. Monteleone, David Bischoff Page A

on the make-up now. Please stand by.”
    “Hey. Now that’s really something. Listen to this, Captain. Nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, trace argon, and a little water vapor. Pressure about a thousand millibars! That’s incredible.”
    “Ah, Copernicus. This is Coopersmith. Atmosphere analysis indicates nearly Earth standard mix. Breathable for us anyway. Pressure is close to sea-level averages. Temperature approximately fifteen degrees Centigrade.”
    “We copy that, Coopersmith. Exact data will come in from telemetry. Proceed with entry operation.” Jesus! They’d all expected an alien atmosphere.
    “Roger, Copernicus. Stand by.” Coopersmith shut down the radio link and stared for a moment at the control panel and the large hatch. Thoughts which he had been able to keep from his mind would not leave him now. The full impact of where he was and what he was doing suddenly struck him.
    Staring at the blank hatch, Coopersmith’s mind unhinged for a brief moment. He saw visions of strange beings standing on the other side of the entrance, waiting to greet the naive Earth folk who had bumbled into their ship like moths into a spider’s web. He thought of London’s Surbiton, where his modest rowhouse lay jammed in with a thousand others like itself, where his wife Leticia and his son Nathaniel lived and worked, knowing that they would only know his company in six-month chunks of time.
    Suddenly, Coopersmith was aware of movement to his left. Turning quickly, he saw Thomas Valdone beside him, staring at him. “You okay, Captain?”
    “Yes . . . yes, fine, I was . . . just thinking about something.”
    Valdone smiled, “Yeah. I know what you mean.” The engineer looked at the flat imposing surface of the hatch. “I’m pretty scared too. l . . . I don’t know, Captain. I’ve grown up loving the stars, And now . . . Well now all I want to do is go back home and be safe. Here, in the thick of excitement. Thomas Valdone! Privileged man! My old man . . . my old man is gonna be real proud of me. My momma too. My wife didn’t want me to go. I kinda wish I’d listened to her.” He sighed. “But still, Captain, if you . . . just let go, you know, accept all this immensity. You kind of lose yourself , and the fear ebbs a little. It becomes awe. Know what I mean?”
    “Valdone. I wouldn’t have any other man along with me.”
    “Thanks. Well, I guess we better give it a go, huh?”
    Coopersmith turned and reached for the third lever, pulling it down. A low humming sounded as the inner lock door slid left. Both men stared into the darkness beyond as though peering into the mouth of some great beast. Valdone produced a powerful light-torch from his utility pack and flicked it on. The broad beam of light pierced the blackness, revealing a four-sided corridor leading away, like a mine shaft. No markings or features showed on the walls except for two parallel rods, attached at frequent. intervals along the surface, that ran into the dark. Also spaced at regular intervals were small struts, protruding from the parallel rods. If you looked at it long enough, you could see that it was a multipurpose ladder, an aid to climbing “up” the long corridor.
    Valdone grabbed the first rung. “Wait a minute. Come on back. I’m going to depressurize and bring in some of the others.”
    As Valdone worked his way back onto the airlock, Coopersmith reclosed the hatch with the now-familiar controls. As the outer hatch reopened, Ian turned to his assistant.
    “You stay here. I’m going back in the lander with Bracken and assemble the others. It’s time to get in there and see what makes this thing tick.”

    * * *

    An hour later, the entire exploration team was assembled in the first chamber of the Artifact One’s airlock. Commander, Fratz and back-up pilot Bracken remained at their stations aboard the Heinlein and lander one, respectively.
    “Right, then,” he told the group, after letting them ogle the airlock for a moment.