The Icarus Hunt

His lips puckered. "Though we still thought that what we had was a newstardrive, with the destination and incoming displays having to do withnavigation."

"So where is all this knowledge?" I asked. "I presume you're not going to tryto tell me you memorized it."

His expression had gone all speculative again. "Why do you need to know?"

"In case something happens to you," I explained patiently. "I don't knowwhether you know it, but you're the very last of the Mohicans now—the rest of yourgrouphas been rounded up and are in Ihmisit hands. Possibly Patth hands by now, actually; I haven't kept up-to-date on developments. If they get you, too, that'll be it as far as the good guys are concerned."

"And if you know where the data is, you might be tempted to trade it for thatlife you want so much to keep," he pointed out. "I think it might be safer ifI kept that little secret to myself for the time being."

I snorted. "Standing tall and stalwart against the invading hordes might begoodmelodrama, but it makes lousy real-world policy," I told him flatly. "Face it, Cameron, you're in a dangerous and completely untenable position here, andyou're going to have to bite the bullet and trust someone. At the moment, that's me."

Again his eyes drifted away. "I suppose you're right," he said with a sigh.

"All right. The data is stored in code in a file on my notepad here. If somethinghappens to me, either Elaina or my executive assistant Sta

"Got it," I said. It wasn't the entire truth, I knew—he'd given in much tooeasily for that. But it was probably at least a partial truth, and for themoment I could live with that. "All right, then. I'll send you in some morefood and water when I get back to the Icarus. Is your little toilet system workingokay?"

"Wait a minute," he said, his face suddenly gone taut. "What do you mean, whenyou get back? We can both go—no one has to stay here to operate the device."

I shook my head. "Sorry, but I'm afraid you can't show your face yet. I didn'ttell you: We've disassembled most of the ship's interior. Makes it a lot saferfor the return trip, but it also means there's no place left where you couldhave been hiding. You suddenly pop up now and someone's going to start puttingthe pieces together."

"What about the smaller sphere?" he asked, his voice taking on an edge ofpanicked insistence. "I could have been hiding in the smaller sphere."

"Besides which, you're the one who holds the key to this bombshell," Icontinued, gesturing at his notepad. "Don't forget, we've got a murdereraboard the Icarus. The farther you and your notepad stay away from him, the better."

He wasn't happy about it—that much was evident from the play of emotionsacross his face. But he could see the logic in what I was saying, and a few extradaysof isolation didn't stack up all that badly against the possibility of beingknifed in the back. Slowly, reluctantly, he gathered control of himself andnodded. "You're right," he said with a sigh. "All right, I'll stay. Any ideahow long I'll have to be here?"

"Until we find a safe place to put down," I said. "Don't worry, I'll let youknow."

"You'd better," he warned with a game attempt at a smile. "The view in heredoesn't really have all that much to recommend it."

"You can start naming the constellations," I suggested, getting to my feet.

"So.

How do I work this thing?"

He gestured to the articulated arm angling its way toward the center of thesphere twenty meters above us. "Once I've set the destination panel, I expectall you'll need to do is work your way along the arm to the trigger section atthe end," he said. "Basically the same as you did on the Icarus."

Except that on the Icarus the gravitational field had been pointing the otherway. It looked like I was in for a long climb. "Right," I said. "Don't worryif it takes me a couple of hours to get the supplies to you. There isn't a lot ofprivacy in the ship right now, and I don't want anyone to catch me putting asurvival pack together. Someone might jump to the wrong conclusion."

"Or even the right one?" he suggested.

I nodded. "Especially the right one."

A ghost of something flicked across his face. "You'll let my daughter know I'mall right, won't you? We've hardly spoken since the trip began—there justhaven't been any safe opportunities—but I know she's worried about me."

"And vice versa?" I suggested.

His lips compressed. "Very much vice versa," he agreed quietly. "I'dappreciateit if you'd watch over her for me."

"I will," I promised. "You can count on it."

For a moment he studied my face, as if trying one last time to see if I wasindeed someone in whom he could place this kind of trust. I met his eyesstolidly, not flinching away from the probe, exuding all the sincerity I couldmuster. And after a couple of heartbeats he nodded. "All right," he said witha sigh. "You'd best be on your way, then."

I nodded and gave a whistle. Pax emerged from a mass of wiring he'd bee

"Understood," he said. "Good luck."

"You, too," I said. Reaching up with my free hand, I wrapped my legs around itand started awkwardly to climb.

The awkwardness didn't last long. I'd barely started my climb when I felt myselfrapidly going weightless. For about five seconds I hung there in zero gee, andthen the gravity began again, only this time pointed the opposite direction, toward the center of the sphere. I quickly turned myself around, noticing thatCameron was still glued, albeit openmouthed, to the i

Because there was no way I was going to let her in on what the Icarus reallywas. No way in hell; for the simple reason that that would require me lettingher know that I knew what it really was. As a possibly advanced stardrive thatmight or might not still function, the Icarus had a value that was potentiallyhigh but still nebulous. As a stargate with proven capabilities, that valuehad suddenly solidified to an astronomical level.

And I had no intention of letting Tera come to the realization that theIcarus's asking price was now light-years beyond the paltry half-million debt that heldme enslaved to Brother John and the Antoniewicz organization. Enough to buy meout of that contract, guarantee me immunity from prosecution for every illegalact I'd ever committed, and set me up for a lifetime of luxury on top of it.

I had reached the trigger. I took one last look at Cameron, who didn't knowanyof what his daughter had learned about me. But as I squeezed the trigger, andthe tingling and blackness closed in around me, I wondered oddly if he mightpossibly have guessed the truth.