Jack McDevitt - The Devil's Eye

"Ivan, this is Chase. I'm in trouble. Need to talk to you as soon as possible." I added my code as the door opened, and somebody came in.

I checked the schedules. The Hassan Goldman , Ivan's ship, was en route to Varesnikov. It was due back in two days. See the biggest planet in the system. Cruise through the moons and rings. Gourmet meals served on board. Not good. If I simply wandered around the concourse for two days, I was going to become extremely visible. Then, as I was trying to decide what to do, I spotted Krestoff. She was looking around and talking into her sleeve. I had to get clear of the station. The only way I could think of to do that was to steal Belle . On the assumption they wouldn't expect me to go back to Ops, I did just that, slipped past the service desk, and saw a couple of serious-looking women talking with the watch officer. I kept going, and got as far as the maintenance piers. But the entrance is always locked. I stood there waiting for someone who'd open the door and allow me to follow him through. While I was considering my chances of doing that and

making a run for Belle , getting on board, and getting under way before they closed the launch doors, a nasal voice broke in: "Who are you and what are you doing here?" It was a technician. He was big, kind of old, and didn't look particularly kindly. "I'm lost," I said. "Can you tell me how to get to the main concourse?" I went back and thought about booking a room. But the hotel would be the first place Krestoff would look. I could hunt Lance down. And I had no doubt he'd be happy to provide bed and board for two days. But I'd have to persuade him to keep quiet in the meantime. The schedule showed two more tour flights that day: one to Miranda, and one that would chase down a comet. Miranda would be gone almost a week, so I signed on for the comet, which would be back in three days. I left another message for Ivan, asking him not to leave when he got back. "Going to see the comet," I said. "I'll be in touch." It was taking a chance, letting him know where I'd be. But I doubted Wexler had made a connection between us. I spent the next few hours shopping once again for fresh clothes and staying out of Krestoff's way. When time came to board, I waited until the very last minute, then rolled through the boarding area, gave them my pass, and hurried down the tube. A flight attendant welcomed me, showed me to my cabin, and wished me a good flight. There was a brief delay, apparently having to do with one more late arrival. I held my breath, but finally hatches closed, and the captain's voice came over the comm system, warning the passengers that we were getting ready to leave.

The ship was the Excelsior . It was a far bigger and more elaborate vessel than the Goldman . It accommodated four times as many passengers. It was more comfortable. It had a much better menu. And the common room was transparent in all directions save along the spine of the ship. The comet, when we got to it, was spectacular. It was easy to imagine you were not even in a ship, but that you were out riding alongside the thing in your chair. With a glass of wine and a few hors d'oeuvres. Despite all that, I was in no mood for sightseeing. And I wasn't thinking straight. I sat there in the resplendent glow of the comet and wondered whether, when we got back, I could hide in the washroom until everyone had left, then make off with the Excelsior and take it out to the asteroid. There would probably not be a refueling problem. But I'd draw every Patrol ship in the area. Ivan was a better bet. Cavarotti's Comet had been looping around the sun and lighting the skies over Salud Afar for more than three thousand years. It had originally been reported by John Cavarotti, of whom nothing more was known. The pilot explained it was beginning to come apart, and scientists thought it would make only a few more passes before disintegrating. "There are a lot of people," he said, "who'd like to see it saved for future generations. So there's an effort under way." The comet was close enough to the sun to light up, and it was a spectacular sight. We got in front of it and looked back at the head. We sank below it and braked, allowing it to pass above us. The tail was endless. "More than a million kilometers long," said the pilot. "As comets go, it's pretty ordinary." During the second day, while we still watched the fireworks, the pilot came back and asked whether I was, by any chance, Chase Kolpath. I hesitated. "Yes." "Your boarding pass says you're Jane Armitage." "I'm a writer. Kolpath is my pseudonym." He frowned, then smiled. "Okay. I have a message for you. From Ivan." "Oh," I said. "Good." "I told him there was nobody on board with that name. But he described you. Including the accent." "All right. Thanks. I was hoping I'd get to see him." He handed me the message. Chase, it said, hope everything's okay. I'll be waiting when you get back. Ivan.

I disembarked without incident and found him at the off-ramp. He handed me a box of mints. "What's going on?" he asked. He watched me checking out the crowd. "Are you looking for somebody?" "Let's go where we can talk." "The club?" "First place they'd look for me." " Who'd look?" "CSS." He made a face. "What the hell are you into, Chase?" I shushed him. "I need to talk to you." His features scrunched up, and he made an unhappy noise deep in his throat. "My place won't work. Kara's got her tikondo group tonight." Cardplayers. We eventually decided on the Samuels Lounge. It was big and crowded, and when we scouted it, I saw no sign of trouble. "Okay," he said. "Tell me what's going on." We settled into a booth with a magnificent view: Callistra, blue and brilliant above the rim of the world, and the sky dark and empty behind it. Somewhere out there other galaxies existed. But you couldn't see any of them. I leaned across the table and lowered my voice.

In the middle of it, our drinks came, something unpronounceable for him, dark wine for me. I opened the mints and pushed them toward him. He took one, listened, stared at the table, stared at me, looked around the restaurant. When I'd finished, he sat like a man who'd just been hit with a brick. "And you think they're holding Benedict?" "There's no question they're holding him. Or worse." Ivan was considerably grayer than he'd been during my flight-training days. That had only been about eight years earlier, but he looked much older. More sedate. I thought that the earlier model would have been more likely to take a chance with me. "Let me guess: You want me to take you to the asteroid." "Yes." "All right." He meant All right, I understand what you want, not All right, I'll do it . "What do you expect to find?" " Something's there." "It's a waste of time. It's also a violation of the guidelines. The company doesn't like us going out there." "Since when?" "The last two or three months. They're worried about the Mutes." "Ivan-" "If I got caught, Chase, I'd lose my license." "You're all I've got right now, Ivan. Please. I'll pay you for a full load of passengers. Plus another thousand for yourself." "You're insulting me, Chase. Look, I'd do it in a minute if I thought there was a point to it." "Do it for me. Humor me. Do it because it may be the only chance I have to save Alex." I finished my wine. I literally gulped it down. And waited for an answer. He cleared his throat. "Schedule's open for the next two days. Kara was expecting me to be home for a bit. I've been out a lot lately." "Bring her along." "I'll ask. But I doubt she'll come. She doesn't react well to transdimensional jumps." "So you'll do it?" "Damn, Chase. Kara's going to start talking to a lawyer." We waited out the tikondo game. Then we trooped up to his apartment and said hello to Kara. He explained it was an emergency, that it was connected with Alex Benedict, who'd gone missing, and we told her everything we knew. I was reluctant about that, but we had to. We were asking her to trust her husband on an overnight alone with a woman he'd known in another life.