Arrival Read Online Free PDF Page B

complete,” Lynn announced calmly.
    “Deceleration engines off. Fuel pumps off. Decel engines confirmed cold,” Frank reported.
    Jack turned to Lynn. “That was perfect, Lynn. Absolutely perfect.”
    “Thank you, sir,” Lynn replied, a small smile forming at the corner of her mouth.
                    
    “ Four minutes to aero-braking, ” Frank’s voice announced over the comm-sets.
    Maria checked her restraints again and glanced over at Adia, who was looking a bit pale. Adia reminded Maria of her own daughter—small and fragile. It saddened Maria to think of how long it had been since she last saw her family, and how much longer she would still have to wait to see them again. Sixteen months was an eternity to be apart from those she loved. Her children would be a year and a half older, a dozen centimeters taller, and a few kilograms heavier by the time she saw them again. She just hoped her husband wouldn’t be a few kilograms heavier too. He had been finishing off the children’s leftovers from dinner when her back was turned. He was already getting thicker around the middle, which was a sin on the Daedalus. Food was strictly rationed, especially since they had begun to allow more offspring per family, in preparation for their arrival.
                    
    “Let’s open the balloot bay doors, Frank,” Jack ordered.
    Frank called up the balloot control display on his console. He activated the power for the doors, harnesses and inflation systems, waiting for them to show ready. “Balloot system shows ready, opening balloot bay doors,” he announced, tapping the button on his console.
    There was a moment of silence from both the crew and the ship. Then, from deep inside the bow of the Icarus, a low, grinding sound transmitted from the bay door motors through the frame of the ship as they struggled to open the doors for the first time in over sixty years.
    Jack leaned forward slightly to see the bow of the Icarus jutting out below them. He watched as the topside doors sank slightly, kicking free the dust that had collected in their seams over the decades, and began to roll open from the center line outward. With the sun behind them, he could see nothing but dark shadows inside the bays as the doors parted. When the doors opened wider, sunlight reflecting off one of the approaching planet’s two moons began to illuminate the deflated balloots’ gold and silver metallic surfaces, causing them to shine brightly.
    “Balloot doors open and locked,” Frank reported. He refrained from letting go a sigh of relief.
    “Inflate the balloots,” Jack instructed.
    Frank activated the sequencer. The inflation rate of all five balloots had to be carefully monitored to ensure they would be set properly when finished. If they ended up out of alignment, the red-hot plasma created during aero-braking might leak through between the balloots and wreak havoc on the rest of the ship. “Inflation systems charged, sequencer activated, pressures are coming up.”
    Jack continued to watch through the forward windows as the balloots began to flap, as if blown from deep within the ship. Then, slowly, they began to rise. It was gradual at first, with the subtlest of surges, but soon they began to peek out from within their coffins, bulging outward as they took shape. He glanced over at Lynn, who was also watching, her mouth slightly open in awe of the view from the bow. The balloots continued to grow, their folds disappearing as they rounded out into smooth patterns of gold and silver, with black bands covering their seams.
    “Wow,” Lynn whispered, “it’s beautiful.”
    The balloots continued to expand as the pumps filled them with inert gas. Five of them, one on each side, on the top and bottom, and one around the bow of the Icarus. Frank watched his displays carefully as the balloots filled out, ensuring they were inflating evenly. Finally, the inflation was complete. The pumps went into standby, and