Jack McDevitt - SEEKER

I wondered whether I wouldn’t have preferred going down with the original world rather than getting hauled off into the night by a rogue dwarf.

One side of Balfour, of course, was permanently dark. We trained the scopes on it anyhow and held our breath. I don’t know what we expected, or what Alex was hoping for. But nobody said anything. And, as we expected, no flicker of light appeared anywhere.

“If there were survivors,” said Shara, “if they’d actually succeeded in establishing a base and keeping it alive, it wouldn’t have been on the back side anyhow. It’ll be too cold there.”

She turned to the data coming in from the sensors, which were still examining the brown dwarf, noting its mass and gravitation, its rotational period, the distribution of elements in its clouds. Surface temperature was 1500 ?dm;K. “It’s young,” she said.

“Much younger than the other one. They cool off as they age.” She grinned. “Like guys.” The party girl survives in the astrophysicist.

“How old is it?” I asked.

“About a hundred million years.”

“That’s young?”

“Relatively. Sure.”

I love the way these people talk.

Alex had been looking at the pictures of Balfour, paying no attention to the conversation. “We’ll want to go down to the surface and see what we have. What are conditions like on the ground, do you think?”

Shara started to answer. She said something about picking our spot and it would be comfortable enough, but then we got a blinker and she stopped dead. I switched over to the auxiliary display.

“What’s wrong?” asked Alex.

“We’re getting a code white.” I ran a confirmation, to be sure.

“Out here?” asked Shara. “Who’d be in distress here?”

“Kalu,” I said, “do we have a visual?”

“Negative, Chase. I am trying to get a lock now.”

“Is there a voice signal?” asked Shara.

“No,” I said. “All we’re getting is the beep.”

“Ridiculous,” said Alex. “There can’t be anybody in this area.”

“Somebody ’s here,” I said.

“Chase, I have the coordinates.”

We were all looking at one another. Everybody had a bad feeling. “Kalu,” I said, “do we have a visual yet?”

“On-screen.”

It was a Y-pod. An emergency unit. Something to keep you going until help came.

But the hatch was open.

We enhanced the image.

“There’s someone in the pilot’s seat,” said Shara.

Wearing a pressure suit. I opened a channel. “Hello, Lifeboat. What is your condition?”

I switched over and we listened to a carrier wave.

Alex leaned close to the mike. “Hello.” He sounded hostile. “Are you able to respond?”

“Kalu,” I said “where is the thing?”

“Bearing zero-three-four mark two-seven. Range four hundred twenty-five klicks.”

“Any sign of a ship?”

“Yes. I’m getting data now.”

“Details, please?”

“Looks like a private yacht. KY designator on the hull. Rest not visible. It appears to be adrift. There’s a power signature, but it’s low.”

“Okay,” I said. “Take us to the pod, quickest possible route. Everybody belt down.”

“Wait a minute,” said Alex. “This is a setup. Has to be.”

“I think you’re right,” I said. “It’s too much of a coincidence. But it doesn’t matter.

We can’t take a chance and leave him. And we’ve got to get moving. We don’t know how long he’s been out here.”

Alex nodded. “First we need to take some precautions.”

“Kalu,” I said, “what’s our ETA?”

“How much fuel are you willing to expend?”

“Whatever it takes. Quickest time.”

“Very good, Chase. I make it thirteen minutes.”

“What kind of precautions?” asked Shara.

The man in the pilot’s seat wasn’t moving. It was dark inside and hard to get a good look.

“We better hustle,” I said, as we slipped alongside. I climbed out of my seat, but Alex asked sharply where I thought I was going.

“To collect him.”

“No. Let’s do this the way we decided.”

“I wasn’t aware you would be the one to go after him.”

“Sorry I didn’t make myself clear. But this isn’t a job for a woman.”

Oh, Lord. Here we go again. “Alex, I have more experience in zero gee.”

“What’s it take to cross ten meters, pull him out, and bring him back?”

Well, truth was, Alex wouldn’t have to go outside at all. And sure, I could have insisted. I was, after all, the captain. But I couldn’t see that it made much difference.

And when his testosterone was flowing, I’d always found it best to indulge him.

“Good,” he said. “Now let’s move on.” He glanced over at Shara.

A few minutes later, in a pressure suit, he was hurrying through the launch bay, which, you will recall, was maintained in vacuum. I turned the lights on for him and, as he approached the cargo doors, I opened them.

Kalu managed the attitude thrusters and angled us toward the pod until it floated in through the cargo doors. Then we raised the Spirit slightly, and the vehicle settled into a cradle.

“Good,” said Alex. “Touchdown.”

I activated magnetic locks to secure it and gave him a little gravity. Alex walked cautiously around to the open hatch, looked in, and found himself confronted by a laser. I saw it the moment he did. “Back off.” A familiar voice crackled out of the speakers. A male. “Don’t make any sudden moves.”

Alex froze.

“Kolpath, I assume you can hear me. If you try anything at all, do anything except follow my instructions completely, I will kill him. Do you understand?”

It took me a minute to remember. Charlie Everson. The young man with the shuttle reservations.

“Okay,” I said. “Don’t hurt him. I won’t give you any trouble.”

“Good. That’s smart.”

Alex found his voice. “What’s this about?” he demanded. “What do you want, Everson?”

Charlie got out of the pod. “I’m sure you know, Mr. Benedict.” His voice was laced with contempt. “Now turn around and walk straight ahead and don’t reach for anything.”

Alex started to walk. Charlie kept his laser leveled at Alex’s back. “What’s this all about anyhow?” Alex asked.

“Just keep going.”

Alex started to turn, and Charlie fired his weapon at the deck. Alex froze. Charlie waited a few seconds and turned the beam off. “I scare easily,” he said. “Don’t do anything unless I tell you to first.”

“Chase,” said Kalu. “Lower deck is punctured.”

“It’s okay, though,” Charlie continued. “You do what I say, and nobody’s going to get hurt.” He was in a bright yellow pressure suit with no markings, Alex in Survey’s standard forest green. They reached the zero-gee tube, got in together, and came up to the main deck. I heard them enter the airlock and close the hatch. The compression cycle started.

The inner hatch opened directly out onto the bridge. I turned to face it.

“Who do you work for?” Alex asked.

“No need for you to know,” he said.

“You planted the bomb, didn’t you? You took down the shuttle and killed twenty-three people.”

“Yeah. I guess I did. Don’t remember the exact number.” His voice was deadly calm.

Full of menace. “Kolpath.”

“What do you want, Charlie?”

“I want to remind you. No surprises when the door opens. I want you and the other woman standing directly in front of the airlock. With your hands in the air. If you’re not there, I’ll kill him. Do you understand?”

“What other woman?”

“Don’t play games with me. You know who I’m talking about. Michaels.”

“She’s not on board. There’s nobody here but Alex and me.”