Farthest Reef by Karl Kofoed Read Free Book Online

smiled when he noticed them.
    4 Without an escort Alex would never have found his way to the shuttle bay. The Goddard was larger than a city. The guides seemed delighted with their task as they cheerfully took him outside and down the same path he’d followed earlier.
    The huge lighted column that spanned the length of the cylinder was much brighter than before. “Why so bright?” he asked, shielding his eyes despite his dark glasses.
    “At the moment they are adjusting it. Testing its output,” answered one of the girls dutifully. She pointed to the door he’d used when entering the cylinder. Over it was a sign that said, “Main Tubeway.”
    Before they entered the guides introduced themselves. The taller of the two, an oriental blond, did most of the talking. She told Alex to call her Suzy and introduced the other, a black girl with bright flashing eyes, as Marie. “This is our tubeway,” said Suzy. “They’re still working on parts of it.”
    “Very complicated,” added Marie.
    “Yes,” Suzy cut in. “There are three types: personnel, commercial, and cargo.”
    “Commercial?”
    “The main tubeway, like this one,” said Suzy as she opened the doors. The two girls let Alex go first and he felt them eyeing him as he smiled courteously and entered the tubeway.
    They went down a short flight of stairs and found themselves in a tunnel. The tubeway was made of the same white material as the smaller tube he’d been in earlier. Before them was a smoothly shaped cylindrical vehicle large enough for four people. Front and rear side doors were spread open like gills on a fish. The car sat on a gleaming rail that disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel. When he entered the car bobbed slightly underfoot, as if floating on a cushion or spring. “Mag lev,” commented one of the guides.
    “Has this been tested?” he asked.
    The two girls ignored his question as they entered the front of the car. Once inside Suzy looked back at him from the front seat. “There’s no driver seat in this. The computer runs everything.”
    “If it didn’t we wouldn’t get anywhere,” added Marie, still smiling at Alex.
    Suzy sealed the doors, saying: “Computer. Shuttle bay,” and the car began moving forward. It picked up speed quickly, making little sound as it traveled. Seated in the back, Alex had to look past the girls to see ahead, but all he saw during the brief trip were lights and loading stations blurring past them.
    “I notice the tubeway has a rail,” observed Alex.
    Suzy was looking back at him with an alluring smile. “The car rides on it … magnetically. It’s really just a guide bar.” He could tell her eyes were undressing him. “The computer guides it and times all tube travel.”
    “The trick is transferring from the cylinder to the weightless part of the ship,” offered Marie, happy to have Alex’s eyes shift to her.
    Suzy gave her a dark look. “Yes,” she said, a little too loudly. “The computer matches the speed of the car to the speed of the wheel. Then it guides the car during the matchup and shifts it to the other tube.”
    “Without error? Hard to believe.” He was trying to keep his eyes off both the girls.
    “So far, so good,” said Marie cheerfully.
    Suzy interrupted again and gave Alex a data cube to play in his quarters when the ship jumped to Jupiter. The girls had reminded him of college coeds until he brought up the modifications to his shuttle. To his surprise, both girls were able to relate every technical detail with laconic precision. They also explained why his ship was aboard Goddard . Diver , Suzy explained, had been taken to Earth to be overhauled and fitted with a mechanism similar to the type used to trap sea creatures, but she gave no further details, except, “Yours is bigger, of course.” Again she punctuated her statement with a warm smile.
    During the trip Alex felt the car jerk, and then gravity faded as he felt the familiar falling sensation of