Lifeline

Ramis sat up abruptly. The other senators fell silent as they watched the pictures; the senator from Cebu put his head down on the table. Magsaysay opened and closed his mouth several times, but no words came out.

“And how will we steer the sail-creature as it rides the solar wind, you ask?” Sandovaal continued. “Our experiments showed that even after its drastic physical rearrangement, the creature’s body core is still responsive to stimuli. An irritation at the right spot will cause the creature to reorient its sails.”

Sandovaal closed his eyes and drew in a long breath. In his mind he could picture a sail-creature tacking from one Lagrange point to another.

The president finally found his words again. “A sail-creature? Steered by remote control? I am still trying to grasp the idea.”

“No, we do not have the proper equipment to achieve that.” Sandovaal averted his eyes, but he kept his face calm, confident. This was the part Magsaysay would object to the most.

“Someone must ride along. Inside.”

Sandovaal cringed at the Council’s outcry, but he shouted his explanation above their noise.

“You must listen! With the correct injection of hormones, we can create a cavity inside the sail-creature’s body core—a cyst or a blister, a place for someone to ride. This person can then irritate the sail-creature’s inner membrane and reorient the sails. The rider would have to be small. We could then fill most of the cavity with wall-kelp, perhaps even some sail-creature embryos.”

Magsaysay stood up, looking angry. The chamber quieted. “I am afraid we cannot accept this proposal, Luis.”

“Then you are condemning the Americans to death. You asked me to find a way. I have found one. It is up to you to implement it.”

The dato shook his head. “But who would volunteer for a mission that could only lead to certain death?”

“Myself! Who better—”

Magsaysay dismissed the idea with a wave. “Have you lost your mind, Luis? You are too valuable to us. Even if your sail-creature managed to get to the other colony, how would the rider ever return to the Aguinaldo?”

The Council members sat in silence as the reality sank in. Sandovaal kept his gaze locked on Magsaysay’s. “I cannot give you a solution without risks.”

The president nodded slowly to himself. “We will begin work on your tether idea. That sounds feasible. Perhaps we will not be able to help the American L-5 colony after all.”

A young voice rang out. “I volunteer.”

Magsaysay leaned forward, startled. Sandovaal grinned.

Ramis Barrera stood up straight and pushed away from his chair. He was small for his age, but his eyes held an intensity that Sandovaal had not noticed before.

“I volunteer to ride the sail-creature.”

Magsaysay motioned for the boy to sit down, as if in dismissal. Ramis remained standing, with his hands clenched at his side. The Council looked stunned. The dato frowned. “Ramis, this journey is not a game.”

“I am well aware of the consequences.” Ramis stared at his guardian defiantly. The senators stirred at his tone. “You must realize it, Father—I am the only person qualified to undertake this trip. Dr. Sandovaal just said that the rider must be small and light. An adult will be too large to go. And I know the creatures better than any of you. Including you, Dr. Sandovaal.”

Sandovaal growled.

Ramis looked at each of the Council members in turn. “You all know that I am best qualified for the trip.”

Magsaysay shook his head, stunned. “You are still just a boy—”

Sandovaal felt angry. He knew the boy was right. Besides, Ramis was always doing crazy stunts like this, especially since his parents had died. “You cannot call him a boy, Yoli. Ramis is of age—sixteen, I believe. By the Aguinaldo’s own laws he is old enough to vote, old enough to attend Council meetings.”

“Luis—” Magsaysay’s eyes seemed haunted.

“Look at him.” Sandovaal held out an arm to Ramis. “He is an expert in zero-G gymnastics. Everyone knows about his nighttime acrobatics in the core. Do you wish to deny the best-qualified person on the Aguinaldo his right to go? Think! It could be our only chance to save all those people.” He knew that tactic would work best against Magsaysay.

Sandovaal breathed heavily, his nostrils flaring. The Council members watched the two men. Ramis stood unflinching, as if in the eye of the storm.

Sandovaal spoke again in a quieter tone. “You must not allow your feelings for Ramis to keep thousands from living, Yoli. Agpalo and Panay Barrera would have wanted it this way. I knew them well. They would not have stopped their son. Your son.”

Magsaysay’s shoulders slumped. He looked suddenly older than the seventy-five years he carried. The colony’s low gravity had been kind to him, keeping age at arm’s length. But the thought of Ramis leaving seemed to bury him.

Seconds passed; no one spoke.