Jack McDevitt - Infinity Beach

Kim undid the wrapping on the UDI parcel, opened one end, peeked in, and caught her breath. There was a scaled-down starship inside, but it was not the Valiant . She looked again at the label: it was the one she had addressed from Eagle Point.

Her heart began to hammer. She took it out of the package. The vehicle was the 376 .

Woodbridge had a sense of humor.

She heard movement in the aisle, the compartment door opened, and a blond man in a charcoal jacket came in, glanced at her, and sat down opposite. She recognized him as one of the people who’d boarded with her at Marathon.

She closed the container. The nearby countryside was a blur; a distant range of hills passed majestically.

“Anything wrong, Dr. Brandywine?” the man asked.

She did not look at him. “You know there is,” she said.

He was silent a few moments. Then he showed her an ID. She missed his name but saw the words NATIONAL BUREAU OF COMPLIANCE circling a shield. “I wonder if I can ask you to come with me,” he said.

“Where?”

“Please.” He rose and opened the door for her.

She stepped past him.

“To your right, Doctor,” he said.

She preceded him down the passageway, passed into the next car, and, at his instruction, stopped outside a closed compartment. Curtains had been drawn over the windows. The blond man knocked. The door opened and he stepped aside.

Kim looked in and saw Canon Woodbridge. And the Valiant . It was on the seat beside him, a cloth thrown over it. But she knew the shape.

“Please come in, Kim,” he said, motioning her to sit down. “I’m sorry we’re meeting this way. I know this has been hard on you.” The door closed softly behind her.

“Hello, Canon.” She managed a smile. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“No. I’d think not.” He glanced down at the Valiant . “Tell me,” he said, “is this really a starship?”

She tried to look puzzled. It was difficult under his penetrating gaze. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Kim.” He sounded disappointed. She could trust him to do the right thing, his demeanor told her. Everything will be fine. Have no concern. “This will go much better if we’re honest with each other.” He drew the cloth aside. “Is this the ship from Orion?”

“That appears to be it,” she said, in a tone that conceded defeat.

“Incredible.” He touched it gently, as if fearing it might disintegrate. “It’s so small .”

She folded her arms and sat back, staring across at the seat opposite.

“I’m disappointed that you had so valuable an artifact in your possession and failed to inform me.”

“I’d have preferred to inform no one.”

“Yes,” he said. “Apparently. I thought I could trust you.”

“I knew you’d take it from me.”

“Kim.” The train had begun to sway and he put a restraining hand on the artifact. “I don’t think I understand your motives in this matter. I mean, this goes far beyond what’s good for you or me. What did you plan to do with this?”

“It’s of considerable value.” She dropped her eyes. Guilty as charged, you son of a bitch. “I was going to keep it.”

He studied her. “Hold it for ransom?” he asked at last.

“Just keep it.”

“You continue to surprise me, Kim. You seem to be making a career of stealing starships.” He replaced the clodi. “You’re really quite a little bandit, aren’t you?”

“It is mine, you know,” she said. “By right of discovery.”

“Oh, we both know better than that. Technically, I would think it belongs to the Tripley heirs. And I can assure you we’ll return it to them when we’re finished examining it.”

“There won’t be much left by then, I suspect.”

“Probably not.” He sighed. “But it’s unavoidable. Who knows what sort of technology is embodied in this? I understand the younger Tripley had it in his office all these years and never knew what it was.”

“Ben? Yes, that’s so.”

“Hard to believe.” Something in the countryside caught his eye, and he turned to look. Kim followed his gaze to a distant bridge across a river. Two kids sat on it with fishing poles. “The simple pleasures, eh, Kim?”

She didn’t respond.

“Well,” he said, “nevertheless, you won’t come away empty-handed. By no means. We’ll be making a public announcement shortly, and I’ll see that you’re suitably recognized.”

“Another medal,” she said.

“Yes. The Premier’s Medal is in order this time, I would think. That’s quite an honor. It would of course depend on your cooperation.”

“Thanks,” she said.

“It carries with it a considerable stipend. And you’ll be able to name your price for speaking engagements.”

“Eventually,” she said, “we’re going to encounter these creatures. How are you going to deal with that?”

“To be honest, Kim, I hope we’ve seen the last of the celestials. I don’t like them, they’re lost out there somewhere, and we should have no real trouble staying out of their way. Traffic is extremely rare in the Alnitak area. In fact, we’ve done a study. How many ships do you think have been out there during the last century, other than the survey and several visits by Kile Tripley? And your own, of course?”

“I’ve no idea.”

“The answer is zero . Nobody. So we probably don’t have a problem unless we invite one.”

“You’re simply going to ignore the fact there’s another civilization in the region? This whole thing is just going to disappear !”

“Kim, I’m surprised at your change of heart. A few days ago you would have been happy to send the fleet after them.”

“You know why I changed my mind.”

“The Kane statement.”

“It tells me we can deal with these creatures, Canon.”

“Oh, I’m sure we can. After an initial period of instability. Risk. Uncertainty. Who knows what sort of effect interaction with a strange culture might bring? We live quite well; there are no problems. The status quo is rather nice, don’t you think? Everybody lives a good life. It seems to me we’ve nothing to gain and perhaps everything to lose by pursuing this.”

“I don’t think that’s exactly the spirit that brought us out from Earth.”

“Kim, be realistic. Have you given any thought to what contact might mean? Even assuming these creatures are not malevolent, although I’d have to say that remains open to question, think about the potential for mischief. It’s quite likely your celestials are far ahead of us technologically. What happens when cultures of unequal capabilities encounter each other? What happened to the South Sea Islanders? The Aztecs? Or, if you prefer, reverse the coin. If we have superiority, they will be damaged. And that principle seems to be operative regardless of the intentions of the superior society.”

“We can take precautions against that.”

“Can we? I doubt it.”

“Canon, this is a chance to get a whole new perspective from an intelligent species. The potential for new knowledge is unlimited. But even that’s not the point. They’re like us in some very significant ways. We know that now—”

“We don’t really know anything, Kim. Look, I’m not saying you’re not right. I’m saying, we don’t know . Why take the risk?”

“We’ve an obligation,” she said, “at the very least, to say hello. We’re the part of the universe that thinks . How can we fail to act simply because we want to eliminate risk? You’re talking about the status quo. Is that really what we’re about?”

“That’s all a trifle abstract for me.” Woodbridge sighed. “This would be so much easier if you were a bit more practical, Kim. Nevertheless, maybe history, in its very long view, will demonstrate that you’re right and I’m wrong. Or maybe not. For the moment at least, life is quite pleasant in the Nine Worlds, and this thing in Orion is a very large unknown . We are therefore going to try to keep it at a safe distance.”