Charles Sheffield - Dark as Day

Jan had heard enough to be sure that the intruders, whoever they were, had no right to be in Sebastian’s apartment. And they sounded more puzzled than dangerous.

She opened the bedroom door and said, “Who are you, and what are you doing in a private apartment?”

The woman was full-figured and apparently in her early twenties, and she went on talking into a wrist unit. But the man, a few years older, swung sharply around and said, “We’re trying to find Sebastian Birch.”

Jan heard Paul enter the apartment behind her, and it made her feel a good deal more comfortable. She said firmly, “He should be here — where you have absolutely no right to be. What business of yours is it where Sebastian Birch is?”

“I’m Alex Ligon. This is Milly Wu.”

“And where is Sebastian?”

“We have no idea — this place was empty when we arrived. But we wanted—”

He was interrupted. The woman, Milly Wu, was holding up her hand. Jan heard a man’s voice, thinned to a faint basso rumble by the wrist unit’s small speaker. The woman interpreted. “Bat’s been speaking to Bengt Suomi. Suomi agrees that it’s absolutely imperative to find Sebastian Birch, and keep him under lock and key.”

“He was under lock and key,” Jan said. “He just completed a delicate medical procedure, and it could have side effects. Are you sure he wasn’t here when you arrived?”

“Quite positive. How did you know that we were in this apartment?”

Jan jerked a thumb toward the ceiling. “Monitors. No picture when the room is dark, but audio is always active. I heard voices. How did you get into the facility?”

The man evaded the question. He said, “We were sent here to find Sebastian Birch, because someone thought that he might be dangerous, to himself and maybe to others.”

He had hit one of Jan’s hot buttons. She exploded. “Dangerous? Sebastian would never harm anyone else — but he might easily hurt himself. My name is Janeed Jannex, this is Paul Marr, and we belong here. We are responsible for Sebastian’s safety. I’ll get an explanation from you two later. But first—”

Jan looked straight up at the ceiling and did what she should have done before leaving her own bedroom — except that she had been sure that Sebastian was here. She said firmly, “Surveillance on, and thirty-second reporting. I need tracer output. Where is Sebastian Birch?”

In the few moments of silence that followed she added, more to Paul than to the newcomers, “Ever since the sluicing operation began he’s had a trace generator on him, with round-the-clock automated surveillance. We should be able to track him anywhere he goes.”

“Sebastian Birch is in Section eighty-two,” a voice said from midair. “He is at Level Zero.”

“That can’t be right.” Jan lost any residue of calm. “Level zero is the surface. It’s vacuum. If he’s there, he’s dead.”

“Or he’s in a suit. But he wouldn’t know where the suits are.” Paul turned on Alex, who felt as though he was in a vacuum himself. “Did you two come in that way, from the surface?”

“No.”

Jan had a terrible feeling in -the pit of her stomach. She said, “Sebastian does know where the suits are. He knows because I told him, after I’d been up to the surface and visited you on the Achilles. Some things he remembers perfectly. I bet he’s up there now, staring at Jovian cloud patterns.”

Paul nodded. “You’re probably right, but we must go up and bring him back. The surface can be dangerous to a novice. We’ll find him easily if the generator is a body implant. The tracer will tell us exactly where he is.”

He was trying to reassure Jan, but it produced an unexpected reaction. The voice from the wrist unit, now amplified enough in volume to be understood, asked, “Is there any possibility that Sebastian Birch might obtain access to a working ship?”

“Who the blazes is that?” Paul asked.

The male intruder said, as though it was supposed to mean something, “That is Rustum Battachariya.” The amplified voice continued, “If there is a way for Sebastian Birch to gain access to a ship, he must be stopped. Under no circumstances can he be allowed to leave Ganymede.”

“There are hundreds of ships up there on the surface,” Paul said. “A whole fleet of them. Hell, surface access here is right next to a major spaceport.”

“And Sebastian is an expert pilot — a natural, according to the man who gave us lessons.” Jan spoke to the ceiling again. “Surveillance. Priority report. What are Sebastian Birch’s present actions and location?”

“Sebastian Birch is moving across the surface at seven kilometers an hour. He is now in Sector eighty-four.”

“The spaceport sector.” As Paul said those words. Jan shivered. She asked, “Surveillance, how close is he to a ship?”

“Forty-seven ships in operating condition lie within four hundred meters of his present location.”

“Do they have crews aboard?”

“That information is not available.”

Paul said, “Chances are, none of them will have a crew aboard,” as the voice came again from the wrist unit. “Sebastian Birch must be stopped, by whatever method. He must not be permitted access to a ship able to leave the surface of Ganymede.”

Jan challenged. “Why not? What makes you think you can give orders?”

“At the moment it would be counterproductive to tell you my reasons for concern. Let me say only that this issue is of paramount importance, and could lead to… many deaths. If you question my credibility, ask Magrit Knudsen of the Coordinators’ Office about Rustum Battachariya — but, I beg you, do it later.”

Jan made a hard decision. She knew that Sebastian was completely harmless, but — “Paul, we have to stop him.”

He, thank God, did not question her. He said at once, “Surveillance, couple to spaceport operations. Operations, this is Paul Marr, first officer of the OSL Achilles. We have warning of a potential escapee from quarantine. Any individual found on the surface in Sector eighty-three should be taken into custody and held pending my arrival. Use whatever means are necessary to secure him.”

Jan thought, And break my heart. She swallowed and said to Paul, “I have to go after him. Myself. I have to.”

“I know. I’m coming with you.”

The man, Alex Ligon, said, “What about us?”

Paul stared at him for a moment. “Look, I don’t know what you’re doing here, or who you are. But I have pilot rating for everything from a one-person hopper to the biggest liners. If you can beat that for space credentials, come along. Otherwise, don’t bother and don’t get in the way.”

The man scowled and opened his mouth, but it was the woman, Milly Wu, who got in first. “You tell us to look, now you look. We’ve had no sleep for close to a full day. I can’t speak for Alex Ligon, but I’ve had only half a meal since breakfast yesterday. We came running over here because we were told that somebody might be in trouble. We don’t know your friend Sebastian Birch, and we don’t know why he has to stay on Ganymede. But as for me, I’d be just as happy never to meet him. Here.” She took the wrist unit and tossed it to Jan. “Take it or leave it. If you want to know anything else, don’t ask me. Ask Bat.”

Jan cut off a developing argument. “Paul, I know your credentials very well and they don’t need to. We have no time for a fight. You two, go back to Battachariya, whoever and wherever he is. Anything needs sorting out about your coming here, we do it later.”

She left before there could be more discussion. Ten seconds later, Paul had caught up with her. “You were right,” he said. “And I was wrong. I’ve found out where my ego lies. They were just caught in the middle. Mind if I lead the way?”