Chapter 34 Chapter 6 "Stargate" revived

"The air in the ship gets pretty cloudy and I keep getting headaches. There's still plenty of oxygen, but the filters haven't really purified the air since the liquid on the ship boiled in a vacuum. When it's too much, I will go to the garage and inhale some pure oxygen from the space compartment... "I've sent out signals, so far no response, and due to the inclination of the orbit, I'm slowly getting further and further away from TMA-1. By the way, the name you gave it is very inappropriate-still no any Signs of a magnetic field. "Currently, the closest I've come is sixty miles; as Iapetus spins below me, that's going to go up to a hundred miles, and then down to zero. I'll be flying right over that object in thirty days —but I can't wait that long, and it will be dark then too.

"Even now, it's only visible for a few minutes at a time, and then it disappears below the horizon again. It's annoying - I can't get a serious look at it. "So, I would like you to approve the following. There is sufficient delta V in the capsule for me to land and return to the ship. I would like to conduct an EVA, a close-up survey of the object. If it appears safe, I will Land next to it - even on top of it. "The ship will still be over me when I descend, so I can report everything to you. I will report again on the next turn, so I won't lose contact with you for more than ninety minutes.

"I'm convinced that's the only way to go. I've sailed a billion miles—I don't want to be stuck on the last sixty miles." The special senses of the "Stargate" are all directed towards the sun, and it has been watching the approaching spacecraft for weeks. The Stargate's makers made it ready for many situations, and this is one of them.It has identified objects flying in from the warm heart of the solar system. If it is alive, it must feel excited, but this emotion is completely out of its control.Even if the spacecraft glanced past, it would not experience the slightest disappointment.

It has waited three million years; it is ready to wait forever. It observed, noticed, but took no action against the visitor slowed down by the puffs of incandescent gas.It quickly feels the radioactive light touch of trying to explore its secrets.It still does nothing. Now, the spacecraft is still orbiting low above the strange moon.The spacecraft began to emit bursts of radio waves, repeating the prime numbers one to eleven over and over again.This was soon followed by more complex signals, using different frequencies—different beams of ultraviolet, infrared, X-rays, and so on. The Stargate didn't answer; it had nothing to say.

After a long interval, the Stargate saw an object descending toward it from the orbiting ship.It thinks back, and then the thinking system makes decisions based on instructions from long ago. Under the cold light of Saturn, the long-sleeping power of the "Star Gate" was revived.