Jack McDevitt - Infinity Beach

“Shepard,” she said, “connect me with Worldwide.”

The AI complied and a Worldwide graphic appeared onscreen, an animated starship smiling as it approached the corporation’s orbiting facility. A bay opened and light blazed out. A human hand wrote the Worldwide motto in gold script: STYLE AND SUBSTANCE. Then Kim was looking at a young woman, tall, blond, reserved.

“Good evening, Dr. Brandywine,” the woman said, reading Kim’s name off her monitor. “My name is Melissa. May I be of assistance?”

“Hello, Melissa. I’m a researcher for the Seabright Institute. I’d like very much to get a look at the Hunter . In person.”

She smiled and consulted something out of the picture. “Of course, Doctor. I can’t see that there’d be any difficulty. When did you wish to come by?”

“Friday?”

“That’ll be fine. Would late afternoon, say four P.M., be convenient?”

“Yes,” said Kim. “Thank you. Oh, and one more thing? I’m especially interested in the ship’s history.”

“Ah yes.” A smile appeared at the corners of Melissa’s lips. “The Mount Hope business.”

“That too,” she said. “Can you tell me whether it’s possible to see the logs for the last Tripley Foundation flight?”

“Oh, I’m afraid not, Dr. Brandywine. We really don’t have anything to do with that. I mean, the logs were never here.”

“Oh? Do you know who would have them?”

“I’m sure they’d have been turned over to the Archives when the ship first changed hands. That’s required by law.”

“Thank you, Melissa.” She signed off and summoned Shepard again. “I want to send a hypercomm message.”

“ To? ”

“I’m not sure. Operations at St. Johns. Check their administrative structure and you figure out where it should go.”

“ Very good. Text? ”

“Request the flight plan for the Hunter , last mission for the Tripley Foundation, Greenway year 573. Look up the date, whatever else it needs, and plug it in.”

“ You want it transmitted immediately? ”

“As soon as it’s ready.”

“ Transmission time both ways will be about four days, Kim. Plus whatever time it takes them to put the response together. ”

“Okay. And now you can get me the Archives, please.”

The circular seal of the Republic appeared: a white star on a field of green. GRAND REPUBLIC OF EQUATORIA was engraved along the upper rim, and its motto, PEACE, JUSTICE, FREEDOM, along the lower. Beneath the star she read NATIONAL ARCHIVES. Then the seal vanished and a young man gazed at her from behind a desk. He looked quite interested in what she had to say, suggesting he was a virtual secretary.

“Good evening, Dr. Brandywine,” he said. “I’m Harvey Stratton. How may I assist you?”

“Mr. Stratton, is it true the Archives stores the logs for interstellar flights?”

“And for interplanetary ones as well, Doctor.”

“Would it be possible to see the logs from a voyage that was completed in 573?”

“Oh.” His face clouded. “That comes under various privacy provisions. You’ll need a court order, I’m afraid.”

“A court order?”

“Oh yes. All ships’ logs are covered by the privacy statutes. Are you a law enforcement official?”

“No,” she said. “I was doing some research.”

Solly looked vastly amused.

“There is a provisionary public domain statute, however,” he said.

“Then they might be available after all?”

He consulted a screen. “For interstellar vessels, privately owned…” He hesitated, found what he wanted. “Looks like forty-five years from date of acquisition.”

“So—?”

“They’ll be available in eighteen years.” He smiled. “I guess that’s not much help.”

He ran down the various grounds which might persuade a court. Mostly they had to do with legal actions or engineering issues. Nothing sounded close to idle curiosity. She signed off.

“ What now? ” asked Shep.

“What would you recommend?”

“ It seems to me that none of this is a fruitful line of endeavor. Little green men. Ghosts. Surely there’s a more advantageous way to spend your time, Kim. ”

Solly’s eyes grew luminous. “Do you always get lectured by your AI?”

She ignored him. “What happened at Mount Hope, Shep?”

“ I don’t know. But I can speculate. ”

“Please do.”

“ I think it not unreasonable that someone was careless with a small quantity of antimatter. It is otherwise very hard to account for the estimated energy yield and the absence of meteoric residue. ”

“What would anyone have been doing with antimatter on the east slope of the mountain?”

“ Perhaps trying to escape a pursuer. The explosion occurred three days after Kane and Tripley returned home from the Hunter. Both lived in the area. One vanished. I think it not unlikely that we are looking at the result of a theft gone wrong. ”

“You’re suggesting Tripley stole his own fuel? Why?”

“ It’s possible Kane took it, Tripley recovered it, and was unable to contain it. This is, of course, speculation based on no evidence. ”

“What can you tell me about Benton Tripley?” she asked.

Shepard put everything on the screen. Benton was a clone of his father. In fact, more than half the population of Greenway during that period were clones. He was in his late thirties, had not married, but had a reputation as a womanizer. He was a board member for half a dozen influential organizations, a close personal friend of the Premier, the recipient of a dozen major philanthropic awards, the CEO of Interstellar, Inc., and the chairman of Lost Cause, which was the successor to the Tripley Foundation. Lost Cause devoted itself to raising money for various worthy enterprises. There were no poor anymore, but there were always children unexpectedly orphaned or cast aside, people who needed advanced educational opportunities, research possibilities, and so on. Lost Cause remained in the forefront of such efforts.

In fact, Lost Cause had stepped in to help Kim, providing scholarship funds after the deaths of her parents. But she’d never known much about the organization. There’d been a counselor who came around periodically to assure herself that Kim was all right, and the money transfers, which had arrived promptly every month. She’d eventually returned the money, but she’d always been grateful that Lost Cause was there when she needed them.

Benton Tripley looked precisely like his father, save that he was clean-shaven. He was tall, tanned, with brown, wavy hair brushed back, and a congenial smile that she didn’t believe for a minute. And there, she concluded, was another difference: Kile looked honest. There was something in Benton’s expression that she didn’t trust.

Shepard put up a series of pictures. She saw him shaking hands with other industrialists and with political figures, saw him surrounded by women in various vacation spots, saw him defending himself against charges of unfair practices in court. He seemed to be everywhere.

TRIPLEY WELCOMES BARRINGER ISLAND DELEGATION.

TRIPLEY CONSULTS WITH NEW YORK COUNTERPART KIP ESTERHAUS.

TRIPLEY SHOWS HIGH SCHOOL GROUP AROUND SKY HARBOR.

But there was something she could use: Kim saw three starship models in his office. Three.

And that gave her exactly the wedge she needed.

Shepard got back to her as the flyer approached Korbee Island. “ Message from Sheyel Tolliver, ” he said.

“Run it.”

Sheyel’s voice came on and gave the shoe size. “ Anything else, Kim? ” Shep asked.