She’d have to repeat the process four times. That should be manageable, but I didn’t envy her.
Then we were listening to John again: “Dierdre, we can’t be certain that we know when and where you’ll be back. So do not launch any of the lifeboats until we’ve established contact, and you know we’re within range.”
“I understand, John. And thank you for all you’ve done. You put a major flotilla out there, and we appreciate it.”
“We’re happy to help. And we’ll be back for you—”
No one, including Captain Schultz, knew precisely when the Capella had reappeared. But we were working off an estimate that had to be accurate within fifteen minutes or so. We were slightly more than halfway through the eighth hour when I got within link range and decided to try to contact Gabe. I wouldn’t reveal what was really happening because Kraus and Schultz wanted to keep it quiet, and we owed them that. I suspected the people on board had learned the truth by then, but I didn’t want anyone to be able to point at me.
It took a few minutes, and I kept the images of the lifeboat transfer on the navigation screen. But, finally, the circuit clicked, and Gabe was there! He was seated in what appeared to be a passenger lounge. The guy I’d believed for years I would never see again. “Hello, Chase,” he said, with a shocked expression. “Is that really you? What are you doing here? What’s happened to the ship?”
“Engine trouble, I think,” I said. “They’re going to be taking everybody off within the next few hours.”
“That much I’d heard. But I got the impression there was more to it than that.”
“We’ll talk about it when we get you off, Gabe. They’ve got lifeboats on board. Just grab a seat when you can, and we’ll see you at Skydeck.”
It’s impossible to be able to make a determination from a projection, but Gabe was reasonably tall, and had always exuded a take-it-easy manner. He had a full head of hair, and he looked younger than I would have expected. Of course, he hadn’t aged more than a couple of days since the last time I’d seen him. “Are you on the Belle-Marie?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Can you take me aboard?”
“Not right now, Gabe. The crew over there is a little busy.”
“Okay. By the way, I’m working on an interesting incident. What do you know about the Tenandrome?”
I couldn’t resist a smile. That was an old story, an interstellar that had seen something that people in authority had tried to keep quiet. It was what had brought Alex and me together. “Okay, Gabe. That’s something else for when you get back. You feeling all right?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Just asking. We’ll be glad to see you again.”
“That’s an odd comment. It’s only been a few days. Is there something you’re not telling me? Are we in more trouble than they’ve been letting on?”
“No. There’s no major problem. Just get on the boat when they tell you to.”
“All right. How’s Alex?”
“He’s good. He’d want me to say hello.”
He was frowning at me. “Chase, you look different somehow.”
“Probably my hair. I’ve cut it back a bit.”
“I see that. But there’s something else. You look more serious. Or something.”
Older, I thought.
Suddenly, his image began to fade. It came back, then went away again. Completely.
On the main screen, I could see the crew hurrying, trying to move what would be the last two packages across to the Capella, which was also becoming less distinct. Two of them wore the Randall’s green uniforms. They were going to get caught over there.
Someone on the Randall was screaming for them to come back. The lifeboats were the thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth. The green uniforms kept going, and as the cruise ship faded from view, they went with it.
“Good-bye, Gabe,” I said.
Forty-two
Alex was relieved to hear that I’d seen Gabe. “I wish I’d been with you,” he said.
And with five years to wait, we took a few days off to feel sorry for ourselves and for the Capella families. I told Alex I wasn’t sure I’d done the right thing trying to tell Robert Dyke not to monkey with the engines. And Shara told me that John Kraus had admitted to her that he now believed he’d made a mistake. Watching members of the families in tears on the various talk shows left us all with a sense that maybe, sometimes, when the odds are right, you take the chance. “It’s what life is,” said Alex.
Too late now.
We settled back into our normal routine. I started by running searches on Madeleine O’Rourke and Heli Tokata. Neither turned up anything although that came as no surprise. You don’t show up on someone else’s internet unless you’re a major figure of some sort. Alex said he’d send the picture to Les Fremont and Luciana Moretti and run the names past them. “I should have done that when we were still Earthside,” he said. “Getting careless, I guess.”
Meantime, the Transportation Department threw an appreciation ceremony for pilots and crews, attended by about half the people involved, the rest having probably returned to their home worlds. Eight of the Mutes attended. Awards for service beyond the call were granted in absentia to the two Randall crew members who took the last boats over to the Capella, but had not returned.
Alex and I attended, of course. It was one of the gloomier events I’d been to, and the only one recognizing a successful operation that was nevertheless downright melancholy. Alex’s mood blended right in. John sat down with us midway through the evening, and I was surprised to learn that he had intended to present Alex with an award for the discoveries that had led to the formation of the SRF. But when Alex learned of it, he’d declined.
That was out of character for him. I had never known him to shy away from public acclamation. So I asked him why. He just shrugged it off. When I persisted he said he didn’t want to accept an award when two others were being given to people who had jumped into the warp. “We might not get them back,” he said.
He remained unusually somber throughout the evening. As I’ve said, Alex is not exactly a party guy, but he knows how to enjoy himself when occasion demands. But not that night. And, finally, when we had a moment alone, I asked what else was bothering him.
“There was something John said to Captain Schultz—”
“And that was—?”
“That the world had changed. And he was talking about eleven years.”
“I’m not following.”
“Change is a constant, Chase. Which brings us back to Larissa.”
“Again?”
“When I ran my search for Larissa, we found a few unlikely places on the ground. And the Neptunian moon. I never thought about asteroids. They don’t get names. There’s a numbering system.”