Gene Wolfe - Home Fires

“But you’ve thought of it.”

He nodded.

“Didn’t it ever strike you that I might kill your clients?”

“Yes. That’s why I’m offering to get your gun ashore for you. So that you can kill anybody who tried to do it, whether I sent them or not.”

“You’re serious.”

He nodded. “I love you so much that I might do just about anything. I’m not saying that’s good or noble or divine. It isn’t. It’s just how I feel.”

When Chelle did not speak, he added, “I can’t trust myself.”

“Or me.”

He shrugged.

“My gun’s going to get smuggled in, only I’ll do it, not you. If you were doing it, you might be caught. You’d be disbarred.”

“I won’t be caught.”

“Right. If I’m caught, I’ll have you outside trying to keep me out of jail—and trying to get me released if I’m convicted.”

“I wish you wouldn’t.”

“Would you rather I dropped it over the side?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

“Then I’ll think about it. Maybe I’ll do it. If Charlie’s spying for the Os, why’d he shoot Rick?”

“To save your life. You’re his daughter, whether you’ve divorced him or not. Rick wanted to kill you and had a pretty good reason for it.”

“Think of another reason.”

Skip shrugged. “Why should I? I’ve given you my explanation, and there’s nothing wrong with it.”

“There’s a bunch wrong with it. I heard Charlie arguing, and he said that if they killed me somebody might hear the shot, and even if nobody did, they’d have to get rid of my body somehow, throw it over the side or whatever. Even if they got away with that, people would start looking for me.”

“We were looking for you already.”

“I know. The thing is, it would be the same thing if he killed Rick. Somebody would hear, they’d find the body, and if they didn’t somebody would come looking for him.”

“Ipso facto, you’re wrong. By your reasoning Charlie should be locked up right now. He’s not.”

“Wrong!” Chelle’s smile was triumphant. “Rick was a spy. Why lock up Charlie for shooting a spy?”

“Was he? Prove it.”

“They must have found something showing that he was.”

Skip nodded. “Photo ID issued by the Os. That could be it. Or a code book, maybe. Do they speak English?”

“You’re making fun of me.”

“No, indeed. I’m making fun of your suggestion.”

“I could’ve told them he was a spy.” Chelle sounded stubborn.

“And I’m sure they would have believed you. Did you?”

“All right,” Chelle said, “you explain. Why’s Charlie still loose?”

“After Rick blew up, you and I took that big woman—”

“Trinity. She’s a masseuse.”

“Thank you. Gary Oberdorf and young Jerry went with us. Charlie and Virginia stayed behind.”

“You said that he told her something that made her wait. This was back before dinner. It was probably just who he was. That would have stopped her dead.”

“After which,” Skip said, “they probably went down to the first-class bar for a friendly drink.”

“Stop trying to be funny.”

“All right, I will. Rick blew up on the signal deck. Those staterooms belong to the ship’s officers, and the bridge is at the end of the corridor. The explosion sounded loud to us because we were in the same room, but it would have been muffled by walls and distance for the officers on the bridge. Even so, the captain would have sent someone to investigate as soon as someone could be spared. Where you there when he arrived?”

“What are you getting at?”

“That someone would probably have found them there; she would certainly have had a few questions for him, and he would have had a few more for her. The officer would have asked them what happened. You know them both a great deal better than I do. What would they have said?”

Chelle looked thoughtful.

“Basically, they would have had four choices. First, they could have said they didn’t know, that they had heard the explosion and come to investigate.”

Chelle nodded. “That sounds good.”

“It could sound better. Charles Blue is a first-class passenger, so his stateroom must be on A Deck, B Deck, or C Deck. The elevators won’t run if the distance is less than four floors. Would he, an elderly man, be one of the first to arrive?”

“I suppose not.”

“Virginia’s even worse. Her cabin’s on J Deck. If she were there, she wouldn’t have heard the explosion, or would have heard a sound so faint that it could’ve been anything. So she just happened to be on A Deck talking to Charlie when they heard the explosion and ran up the stairs to check it out together. They could tell that story and stick to it, but they’d certainly come under suspicion.”

“And there’s what’s-her-name.”

“Susan. Correct.”

“Second choice. Admit that they had been present but say the shot had been fired by someone else. That someone would almost certainly be Susan.”

“We saw it. You and I both did. So did Trinity.”

“And Jerry, and Gary Oberdorf. It couldn’t possibly have worked, in other words. Too many witnesses.”

Chelle nodded. “What’s the third choice?”

“Say nothing at all. Stand mute. If they had done that, you would have been questioned. Were you?”

Chelle nodded.

“Did you say Charlie did it?”

“Hell, no. I didn’t know who he was. I told them this nice old guy had been trying to save my life, and he’d shot the guy who kidnapped me.”

“At which point the nice old guy would have been locked up until we made port and the whole mess could be turned over to the police.”

“Which didn’t happen.”

“Correct.”

“But if he said he did it, wouldn’t they lock him up anyway?”

“Not if he had a get-out-of-jail card. Kiss me, and I’ll explain.”

It was a lengthy kiss, during which his hand slipped into her robe.

Followed by more kisses.

I have not yet explained it to Chelle, but it seems to me that there is only one explanation and that it is a fairly obvious one. Charles Blue is a double agent. He could not simply have told Captain Kain he was, he had to be the real thing. Captain Kain would then radio South Boswash, trying to be circumspect. (Or so one hopes.)

God only knows who he talked to there, but he was clearly told to keep hands off and mind his own business; and that is what he did.

Was Charles Blue armed? Yes, certainly. Susan saw his gun, or at least saw a telltale bulge in his clothes. By taking her gun and shooting Rick, he wiped out his more dangerous opponent and disarmed the less dangerous one. Furthermore he positioned himself to blame Susan, should that become necessary. He may well tell the Os that she killed Rick.

If he does not, how will he explain his actions? He may find it difficult—but he may not. Rick refused his orders, and that alone could be enough. If it is not, he will point out that Rick was anxious to kill Chelle; with Chelle dead, all chance of resurrecting the knowledge Jane Sims took to the grave would be lost. Better to lose Rick, who had botched his assignment, than Chelle, who may still harbor information of great value. I don’t think Charles Blue will have much trouble with the Os; he may well be commended.

Note that all this assumes that Rick did not get that information—that he was so eager to kill Chelle that he was willing to lie about it, to me at least. That was almost certainly the case; he had clearly continued to question her after Charles Blue arrived, which he would not have done if he had what he needed already. He would, in fact, have killed her as soon as he had it.