Odyssey

“Why? What’s it about?”

“They mentioned Blueprint.”

“It might have helped if you’d told me all this last night.”

“Professor, I didn’t think you’d have believed me.”

“I’m not sure I believe you now.”

“We’re wasting time. What are you going to do about evacuating?”

“Not much. I have seventy-one people here. Seventy-two counting me. I’ve got two shuttles. What am I supposed to do with everybody else?”

“Get as many off as you can.”

“You really think they’re going to shoot at us? If that’s the case, we’re safer in here. The shuttles are too exposed.”

She didn’t know what to tell him. Didn’t know what she believed. “Maybe we should just take them at their word.”

“What do you mean, ‘their word’? Could you please describe the nature of the conversation? How’d it happen?”

“We thought the person imagined it. It’s begi

“Son of a bitch.”

“Have you informed the other tower yet?”

“We’re doing that now. Damn. I don’t believe this is happening.”

“Neither do I, Professor.”

He scattered a stack of pens and chips across his desktop. “Okay. I’ll get as many people off as possible. But when this is over, somebody’s head is going to roll.”

“We’ll be there as quickly as we can. We can take some of your people.”

He switched off, and an uncomfortable silence settled on the bridge. “Ta kaname thalassa.”

“What’s that again?” asked Eric.

“We screwed up.”

“You can’t really take a dream seriously,” he said. “How long will the air supply last in the shuttles?”

“Don’t know. They’ll cram them to capacity, which won’t help.” She took a deep breath. “Bill, outgoing to Hutchins.”

“Ready.”

“Hutch, we’ve got moonriders. Two of them so far. Stein is evacuating the East Tower. As much as he’s able. Let the incoming ships know. I’ll keep you informed.”

Lou came back. “Nobody knows what to think. It’s pretty hard to believe.”

“I know.”

“The moonriders are still keeping their distance.” He stopped to say something to someone out of the picture. She could hear laughter in the background. And someone saying he was in the middle of a job, find somebody else. Then a hand passed him a note. “They tell me I’m wrong. They’re coming closer.”

“Are you loading the shuttles yet?”

“No. They were both down the line. One of them’s coming in now.”

They had finally completed their turn and were starting back toward the East Tower. Off to port, the thin wire strands of the collider flashed occasionally as they raced past. Valya looked ahead, could see only stars.

“Okay, they are getting closer. No question about it. How far out are you, Valya?”

“Not far. Twenty minutes or so.”

“You think we’re really in trouble?”

She felt helpless. “I just don’t know, Lou. How are they deciding who goes on board the shuttles?”

“Volunteers.”

Volunteers? To stay or go?

“Okay, the white shuttle’s pulled in. They’re ru

“Can’t we move faster?” asked Eric.

“We’re at optimal. Have to be able to stop when we get there.”

“Opening up.”

Valya was uncertain what she should do when she arrived. Try to drive off the globes? Or dock and take more people on board?

“Okay. There we go. We’re starting to load.”

“How many can you put into a shuttle?”

“Eight. Counting the pilot.”

“What kind of shuttles are they?”

“TG12s. Both of them.”

She looked toward the AI’s status lamp. “Specs, Bill?”

“The TG12 is designed to hold a total of six. They can accommodate eight, but it won’t be comfortable.”

“I doubt they care about comfort,” said Eric. “How far away is the fleet?”

“The closest is seven or eight hours,” she said.

“Not going to be much help.”

“The globes have closed to within about a kilometer.”

“Bill, try to raise the damned things tou diaolou. See if we can get a response. And while you’re at it, get me the West Tower.”

“Complying.”

“Shuttle’s full,” said Lou. “Closing up. The other one’s in sight now.”

“West,” said a male voice.

“This is the Salvator. You know the situation at the East Tower?”

“Not really, Salvator. We can’t figure out what’s going on.”

“Is anything unusual happening at your end?”

“Everything’s quiet. No moonriders.”

“There’s a possibility you will come under attack shortly.”

“Attack? Why? What sort of attack?”

“Don’t know.”

“You don’t know much, do you?”

“Save the humor. You might need it later.”

“Valya,” said Lou, “the white shuttle’s away. Blue shuttle coming in now.”

“Are the globes still coming closer?”

“Negative. They’re holding steady.”

“Okay. Let me know if anything changes. West, tell whoever’s in charge over there he may have to evacuate on short notice.”

“I’ll tell her, Salvator, but she isn’t going to be happy.”

Right. Her feelings are significant at the moment. “Bill, show me a picture.”

The navigation screen, which had been providing images of the collider tube immediately ahead, abruptly shifted. The terminal and the globes came into view. Infrared images. The globes were side by side.

“Distance between them,” said Bill, “is one two zero meters. They’re manipulating gravity fields. The objects are identical. I can pick up devices on the hull. Sensors, ante

“Are they responding to query?”

“Negative. They are silent.”

“Okay. Keep trying.”

“The objects are seventy-seven meters in diameter. Perfect spheres, save for a series of ribs or ridgelines.”

“Loading the blue shuttle,” said Lou.

She had a bad feeling. “Are you getting on this one, Lou?”

“No. I feel safer here.”

Something about the way the two vehicles were lined up chilled her. “You might get on if you can.”

“We’ll be okay.”

“West Tower calling,” said Bill. “Dr. Estevan. She is the deputy director.”

Terri Estevan was a tense woman who looked as if she never smiled. Brown hair starting to go gray. Thin lips. Not somebody who’d liven up a party. “What’s going on?” she demanded.

Valya went through a conversation similar to the one she’d had with Stein. Was this a serious threat? What was she supposed to believe? Through it all, there seemed to be the implication that it was Valya’s fault.

Somebody was going to answer some serious questions when this ended. Then she was gone, and Lou was back. “Blue shuttle away,” he said.

“Okay, Lou.” She watched it move out from the dock, headed along the tube in her direction.

“Something’s happening,” said Lou.

The globes were begi

They began to move. Drew closer together, until they were almost touching.

The Salvator was coming up fast. Valya began to brake.

The globes reddened.

A pair of scarlet beams winked on. Like lasers. One from each globe. They crossed each other and both went wide of the facility. Then they intersected, combined into a single luminous coruscating shaft. It struck the tower, which also began to glow.

“Look out, Lou,” Valya called.

“What’s happening?” demanded Lou.

The tower erupted in a fireball.

The notion that anyone intelligent enough to build a star drive would not be capable of malevolent behavior now ranks with other discarded ideas, like the conviction that a state capable of producing world-class symphonies would not invade its neighbors, or that serial killers are always half-wits.

— Rose Beetem, the Black Cat Network, Sunday, May 10

chapter 40

The begi

— Gregory MacAllister, “Plato and the Comedians”

“ — smoking ruin — ”

Valya’s transmission described the destruction of the East Tower in a flat voice, her emotions barely under control.

“ — tower is gone — ”

It was a Sunday. Hutch relayed the message to the homes of the other department heads and of her staff.

“The shuttles are clear, and the moonriders seem willing to let them go.”

“George,” she said, “do we have any way of getting to the commissioner?”

“No, ma’am. He’s still listed as unavailable.”

She lowered herself into a chair and just watched. Valya’s image blinked off and was replaced by pictures from the Salvator’s scopes. Smoke and debris and two black globes.

“ — Still trying to reach them,” said Valya. “Maybe find a way to talk to them. If they talked to Amy, they must understand English, but I get no response.”

The head of perso

“ — To notify the West Tower. I’ve been talking to the shuttles. They’re okay. A little bit shocked.”

“Hutch,” said Eberling, “what can we do?”

“The shuttles are telling me power’s off in the tube. They aren’t getting their boost from the rings.”

“What’s that mean?” asked Eberling.

“It means,” said Hutch, “they don’t have much in the way of propulsion. Just a few missiles they can fire off and that’s it.”

Peter showed up on the circuit. “Looks like you were right, Hutch.”

“They’re moving,” said Valya. “The moonriders are moving again.” Her voice rose several decibels. “They’re following the tube. Hutch, they’re headed for the other tower.”

The Salvator’s scopes stayed with them. They’d lined up on either side of the collider and were begi

They moved frantically aside, trying to evade. But the globes cruised serenely past, making no effort to pursue. Thank God for that at least.

SHE INFORMED THEIR government liaison, so he could pass it up the chain of command. The World Council probably didn’t have the news yet. But it sounded as if a war had started.