Timothy Zahn - The Icarus Hunt

"It's about all we've got going for us," I said. "That, plus the star-driveitself, If we can get it up and running."

Everett shook his head. "It's still crazy," he said. "What do any of us knowabout alien technology?"

"Not a lot," I conceded. "On the other hand, we're not exactly starting fromzero, either. Tera tells me she's found what seems to be a full set of theexpedition's reports in the computer."

"You're kidding," Everett said, blinking. "They put all their files aboard, too?"

"Why not?" Nicabar said. "They want to get the data to Earth, too. Why nottake all of it together?"

Shawn snorted. "Ever heard of putting all your eggs in one basket?"

"Actually, I suspect it's more a case of having had all the eggs together inthe first place," I told him. "I think the reason our computer is so badly suitedfor starship operation is that it was never intended or programmed for thatpurpose in the first place. It was probably the expedition's regular workingcomputer, which was already hooked up to the alien electronics in the smallersphere. They just left it where it was when they constructed the Icarus aroundit."

"Maybe," Shawn said. "Assuming all of this isn't just some hallucinatorywishful thinking, how exactly do you suggest we proceed? If Chort is right, wherewe're sitting right now is supposed to be a resonance chamber."

"Yes," I agreed. "And obviously, if it's going to resonate, it's going to haveto be empty. Mostly empty, anyway."

"Resonance means completely empty, McKell," Shawn growled. "Any first-levelphysics student can tell you that. Were you thinking we could cram the wholeship into the wraparound?"

"It does not have to be completely empty," Chort said, his feathers fluffing.

"In this application, the resonance effect only requires the central area."

"He's right," Nicabar seconded.

"For that matter, the presence of the interior gravitational field argues that the designers weren't expecting the whole thing to be empty," I added. "Thefield's clearly there to clear out the center and move everything to the edge, where it'll be out of the way."

"Unless the gravity is part of the resonance mechanism," Tera said.

"There's nothing like that in the theory," Nicabar said. "At least, not that Iremember."

"Nor I," Chort said.

Shawn waved a hand. "Fine. I stand corrected."

"So what's the plan?" Nicabar asked. "Disassemble the interior corridors andbulkheads and stack everything along the inner edge?"

"Basically," I said. "Except that I don't think we have either the space orthe need to keep everything. The interior wall and hull material should come apartinto a collection of mostly one-meter-square plates, which we can dump outsidethrough the main hatch. Ditto for some of the other unnecessary stuff."

"And what if it isn't a stardrive?" Shawn asked. "How do we get everythingback in again?"

"We don't," I said. "That's why we only toss stuff we know we can do without."

"And what if it doesn't work?" he persisted. "We'll have lost a lot of timeand won't be any better off than when we started."

"But we won't be any worse off, either," Nicabar reminded him.

"And if we can get it working, think of what it'll mean for all of us,"

Everett added thoughtfully.

Shawn sniffed. "Borodin will do great. Us, we'll be lucky to get the lousy twogrand he promised us."

"We'll get it," I promised. "That, plus the bonus he mentioned in his note."

Shawn snorted. "Yeah. Right."

"Actually, we may be able to do even better than that," Everett said. "It alldepends on who ends up shoveling out the money."

"I thought we'd already decided the Icarus belongs to Borodin," Tera said. Themenace in her voice was subtle, probably too subtle for the others to notice.

But I heard it, and I was sure Ixil did, too.

"We did," Everett assured her, throwing a look at Nicabar. "Mostly. I'm justsuggesting that we've already earned a lot more than the two thousand hepromised us on Meima."

"Fair compensation for services rendered," Shawn put in. "See? I can talklegalese, too. Here's another great legal term for you: extortion."

"And what's the 'or else'?" she countered. "Every demand has to have thethreat of an 'or else' along with it. Who are you planning to offer the Icarus to ifBorodin doesn't feel especially extortable that day? The Patth?"

"Let me just mention that anyone who wants to deal with those slime is goingto have to go through me to do it," Nicabar put in.

"The Patth are hardly the only players in this game," Everett reminded him.

"Potential players, anyway. If Borodin won't play ball there are a lot ofother people we could sell it to."

"Maybe even the Crooea," Shawn said, throwing a sly grin at Chort. "You'd likethat, wouldn't you, Chort?"

Chort's feathers ruffled, and he delivered some no doubt innocuous-soundingreply. But I wasn't listening. Suddenly, Everett's comment had sent the piecesfalling into place with such loud clicks it was a wonder the rest of themcouldn't hear them. Suddenly, the inconsistencies and random illogic of the Icarus's entire voyage were making sense. Suddenly, small bits of data andcasually odd comments were connecting together with the ease of children'splaying blocks.

Suddenly, I knew why Jones had been murdered. Not who had done it, not yet.

But I knew why.

"McKell?"

I blinked, dragging myself out of the depths of my introspection. Nicabar wasgazing at me, a speculative look on his face. "Sorry," I apologized. "Mindwandered for a minute. What did you say?"

"I asked if that was it for the meeting," he repeated. "We've got a lot ofwork ahead of us."

"That's it from me," I said. That was it for right now, anyway, I amendedprivately. The next time I held court like this it would be to expose amurderer. "Unless anyone else has something to add?"

Chort half lifted a hand. "I have a thought," he said, almost apologetically.

"Though I hesitate to mention it, as it will mean even more work for us all."

"We're facing a ton of work as it is," Ixil said. "Another half ton on top ofit will hardly be noticed. Please; speak."

"As Electronics Specialist Shawn pointed out earlier, the Icarus has a mostdistinctive configuration," Chort said, still sounding a little uncertain.

"And our experience at Utheno has shown that that configuration is now known. Mysuggestion is that we attempt to alter it."

"Straightforward enough," I said. "How do you suggest we do that?"

"The main body of the Icarus consists of two spheres," he said, drawing theshape in the air with his fingers. "My thought is that we could use the castoff interior plates to build a cylindrical sheath running between them at theirwidest points. From the outside, the main body will then appear to be ataperedcylinder with rounded ends instead of two joined spheres."

"With just the nose cone and engine sections sticking out on either side," Isaid, a tingle of cautious excitement running through me as I looked over atIxil. "Possible?"

"I don't see why not," he said. His voice was its usual calm, but the ferretswere twitching again. "At least in theory. We've got the equipment to spot- weld the plates to the spheres, and the plates themselves can be connected togetherwith the same fasteners that are holding them together now."

"I thought the cutting torch was dead," Shawn reminded him.

"We also have an arc-welding torch," Ixil told him. "It's still functional."

"What about supports?" Nicabar asked. "You're not going to have any structuralstrength to speak of here."

"We could add some braces in from beneath," Ixil said. "Assuming the weldingrods hold out, we ought to have enough material."

"And assuming we don't run out of power to run the welder," Tera said. "Howare we on fuel, McKell?"