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"Yes, but where were they?"
Kimmer shrugged. "Hell, Lieutenant, if I knew that I'd've hiked across the continent to find them once Thread stopped. If I'd had one whisper, I'd've tracked it down." He swiveled about then, facing west. "They were someplace in the west, from the direction of their signals. Say!" His face lit up suddenly. "Maybe they went to Ierne Island. That would have been easier to protect than one of these open stakes."
So Benden called in the new destination. "We'll be back by tomorrow evening…"
"You'd better be," Ni Morgana said dryly. "That window won't wait for anyone."
There was no question in Benden's mind that she would delay taking that window either, but he wasn't worried about that. He had to be sure-and it looked as if Kimmer's conscience required him also to be confident that there were no other survivors from Paul Benden's group.
The run to Ierne Island took most of the rest of that day and was as fruitless as the other. Kimmer suggested one further detour, to the tip of Dorado province, to Seminole and Key Largo Stakes. Amid the wreckage of a storm-damaged building, they found a com-mast, or sections of it, and evidence of a hurried departure of the inhabitants. In another shed, still partly roofed, the remains of two sleds were discovered, obviously broken up to provide spare parts. The canopies and hulls were well scored and blistered by Thread. Benden appreciated that Kimmer was extraordinarily lucky to have survived at all.
They made their evening camp there, with Jiro providing fresh-caught fish. He did his fishing from the remains of a sturdy jetty, the last ten meters of which had been snapped off by some tremendous storm, or maybe many. It would have taken a lot of force to break off heavy-duty plastic pilings like that.
When Ross Benden checked in with the Erica, he roused a sleepy Nev, forgetting that there was a time difference across the southern continent.
"Everything' s okay, " Nev said around a yawn. "Though the lieutenant is sure something's up. She says the women are acting fu
"They're about to leave all they've known, as well as a very comfortable life," Benden replied.
"Isn't that. Lieutenant'll tell you when you get back." Nev didn't seem much concerned, but Benden trusted Ni Morgana's instincts and wondered what might be up with the women.
He was wakeful that night, trying to figure out what could have gone wrong. He worried about it all the way back to Honshu, which was a useless activity. But he'd noticed that those who anticipated problems always seemed able to solve them faster.
When they finally reached Honshu, despite the gathering dusk, Kimmer insisted on maneuvering the sled into its garage, proving his piloting skills.
"This sled's done more than its designers ever expected, Benden," Kimmer said sardonically as he reversed it in, "so humor an old man in rewarding its service the only way he can."
Benden and Greene left Kimmer and Jiro to a ritualistic deservicing. Benden ran up the stairs to the main room. Ni Morgana was there, storing small packages in a case. Benden noticed first that some of the wall hangings were missing, and then that the big room appeared to be stripped. Damn it! They could take only 23.5 kilos each.
"Glad to have you back, Ross," Ni Morgana said, smiling a welcome. "We're just about packed up and ready to go." There was nothing in her ma
"You could gather that, Saraidh," Benden said, trying not to sound truculent. "In some places materiel was neatly stored as if the owners intended to return; in others, everything had been left open to the weather, or showed signs of hurried departure. They turned their animals loose, and those have multiplied—so I'd say that the meek have inherited this planet. You said you've had more success?"
She reviewed her notepad a moment longer, then flipped it shut and placed it in a hip pocket. At a nod of her head, both officers moved toward the door. Benden was relieved to see one of the marines on duty at the ramp of the Erica, having a word with Charity before she entered.
"When I've written up my investigations," Ni Morgan said with considerable satisfaction, "there're going to be some red faces. Irrefutably, the Oort cloud supports a life-form which I have observed in its normal immensely sluggish metabolic, activated, and defunct states. Fascinating actually, even if it also has managed to devastate a world and ruin it for further human habitation." She walked Benden to the far side of the Erica, raising her arm as if to point something out to him. "I don't know what's going on, but something is, Ross. I don't believe it's just sorrow for leaving their home that's making the women nervous, jumpy, and accounts for a mass insomnia. The children seem fine, and Shensu and Kimo have been most helpful."
"I thought taking Kimmer and Jiro with me was a sensible precaution."
"Sensible, but Kimmer's quite likely to have given those women orders before he left. I think he did. I just don't know what. We haven't left the Erica unattended, but each of us who's stood a watch on her has been plagued with headaches. I'll admit to you, Ross, that I fell asleep on watch. I can't have dozed for more than ten or twenty minutes, but I was asleep. I can't get Cahill Nev or the other marines to admit that they had similar lapses, but Nev had that hangdog expression I've come to know well in erring ensigns. Anyway, after my little snooze, Nev and I searched the ship from prow to the propulsion units and couldn't find anything illegally stowed. Which is what I think's been happening. Oh, we've put aboard everyone's twenty-three point-five kilos, which were thoroughly searched and weighed before I'd permit them to stow it. Nothing hidden in anyone's bundle.
"And the women…" M Morgana paused deep in thought, then shook her head slowly. "They're exhausted, although they swear blind that they're fine, just that this has all happened so fast. Chio released that little dragony pet of hers, and she bursts into tears if you glance sideways at her." Then she gave a chuckle. "Nev and I thought to cheer them up, and he's a mainframe of humorous anecdotes about life in high tech. He's from a colonial family, so he's been marvelous at reassuring them. You should have heard the spiel he gave on how they'll be living back on a ‘civilized' planet and all the advantages of same. They cheer up a bit and then fall into the weeps again."
Then she turned briskly professional. "We've got additional safety harness for all, by the way, and pallets with a local vegetable sponge that is lightweight but cushioning. I figure that all the women should be strapped into the marines' bunks; the kids and the brothers can use the pallets and temporary harness in the wardroom, and the marines will take the extra seats in the cabin with us. Tight squeeze, but there's only so many places you can put bodies on this gig. Where is Kimmer?" she asked. "I think one of us ought to keep a close eye on his movements this evening." Then she looked out to the last of the brilliantly red and orange sunset. "Too bad. This is such a beautiful planet."
That night a lavish feast was spread for everyone—except the man on duty on the Erica. Kimmer urged the officers and the three marines to drink as much of his fine wines as possible, claiming that there was no sense leaving good wine behind for the tu