The inner surface was a mosaic of greens, blues, and brownsâtrackless desert; jungles; glaciers and vast oceans. Streaks of white clouds cast deep shadows upon the terrain. The ring rotated and brought a new feature into viewâ a tremendous hurricane forming over an unimaginably wide body of water.
Equations scrolled furiously across Cortana as she studied the ring. She checked and rechecked her numbersâthe rotational speed of the object and its estimated mass. They didnât quite add up. She ran through a series of passive and active scans . . . and found something.
âCaptain,â Cortana said, âthe object is clearly artificial. Thereâs a gravity field that controls the ringâs spin and keeps the atmosphere inside. At this rangeâ and with this gearâI canât say with one hundred percent certainty, but it appears that the ring has an oxygen- nitrogen atmosphere and Earth- normal gravity.â
âIf itâs artificial, who the hell built it . . . and what in Godâs name is it?â
Cortana processed that question for a full three seconds, then finally answered: âI donât know, sir.â
Captain Keyes took out his pipe, lit it, and puffed once. He examined the curls of smoke thoughtfully. âThen weâd better find out.â