"We've determined basic structure, and have tried to send probes," said Iwasawa, standing before a camera pickup and rows of monitors. Each monitor had a different label, hastily scrawled and in some cases barely legible. Some areas, like those, had been added as rushed afterthoughts.
"What do you mean 'tried'?" asked the French PM.
"We sent airborne probes through, data stopped almost immediately," said Iwasawa. "Finally we went and put a running camcorder on a long stick and stuck it through, then pulled it out."
"Alien intervention?" asked the Russian diplomat.
"Not exactly, it appears that there is sheet ice on the other side of the gate," said Iwasawa.
"It is a gate, then?" asked the Russian.
"Yes, it is a gate to another universe," said Iwasawa. "Probably. Most likely. At least we think so. So far we don't know what is in that other universe. Heat radiating from our universe has melted some of the ice and that's what has come through as water here. Gravity appears to be slightly greater what we're used to."
"So we're basically dealing with an airpocket caused by snowmelt," said the American National Science Advisor third assistant. From the hasty explanation earlier, something had happened with a traffic accident and protesters in Washington DC throwing a riot about the nuclear weapons being used. Despite the news agencies now reporting that it wasn't a nuke after all. Whatever had happened, the United States was now being represented by a teenage intern who looked like she was alternately glowing over the opportunity or ready to break down and cry if she said something wrong.
"Exactly," said Iwasawa. "We've used the same method to put a bird in a cage across the sphere's boundary. No humans yet. We don't even know if there's an atmosphere once we get beyond the ice. We've got two Gatekeepers running point, with a scientific team ready to go through thereafter. They should be starting any time now."
"Maybe we should just leave it alone," said the British Science Advisor. "Our track record with extradimensional beings hasn't exactly been good."
"Right now we don't know much about the other side," said Iwasawa. "It could be in our own solar system, it could be in Antarctica, it could be an exit to another world within our own universe. What we DO know is that it is lowering the temperature in the area around our end and the warm air from OUR end is melting the ice there. In a few months it will be summer and the melt rate will increase. It will take days just to set up a temporary containment around the sphere. It's a little over three meters across, which limits what we can send."
Otherside: "Why the heck is it a ball on both sides?" asked Ranma as he looked back at the sphere.
"Nobody's quite sure about that yet," ventured Hotaru.
"Well, it don't look any better in person," said Ranma. The dripping water, the walls of ice, the pool of melt, all revealed in the flood of light from the lanterns. "GATE OPEN!"
Hotaru checked and saw the way Ranma's eyes changed. Letting out a long breath to calm herself, Hotaru changed to Sailor Saturn. "Well, that much checks out."
"I dunno," said Ranma, dropping the field and turning so that Hotaru could reach his backpack. "It feels... 'off' kinda."
Saturn made an inquiring noise and wiggled around on the ice shelf to pull a large gadget out of Ranma's pack. When she switched it on, little legs sprang out to grip the ice. A "head" composed of a heating drill and drain assembly began making a small tunnel in the ice.
"Hmph," said Ranma, looking down into the water and playing his light across it. "That makes sense."
"What makes sense?" asked Saturn, feeling warmer in her Senshi identity than wearing the thick polar clothing she'd donned in her civilian ID.
"The melt," said Ranma. "Looks like there used to be a channel for melt within this ice, but the sphere provided a way out so it diverted through that."
"Oh," said Hotaru, looking down through the ice after she clipped her lantern to her glaive.
"Huh," said Ranma, watching the water briefly then turning his attention back to the Natsume Ice-Melter Mk I. "Let's get back. I don't trust Natsume's gadgets that much."
"They hardly ever explode anymore," said Saturn, being nice but also ready to leap back through the gate at the first sign of smoke.
The Little NIMMO (Natsume Ice Melter Mark One) broke through the ice four hours later, and it was discovered that-
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:47)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.