“This one?”
“Yes. Please hurry.”
Alex looked at it. It was connected to a wall outlet and to what was probably a power source. “Charlie, exactly who's on their way here now?”
“Harbach. He considers himself the chief of security. He's sent a KY4. It'll be here in a matter of minutes.”
“What's a KY4?”
“A flying bomb.”
“Chase?”
“I heard. Gabe's been scanning. The skies are clear.”
“Several years ago,” Charlie said, “one of us tried to get out like this. Same way. Tried to get a visitor to take her away. Her name was Leilah. She was located in an amusement park in Solvani, which is about three hundred kilometers east. She got desperate. She knew the risks, but she just couldn't stand it anymore.”
Alex was pulling on the wall cable. It wouldn't come loose. “How long have you been trying to get away from here?”
“A long time. In the beginning, I thought maybe we could manage on our own. That we'd be all right. But it didn't happen. I don't think anyone foresaw how things would evolve. In the early years, after everyone had been evacuated, or died, some people landed and tried to help any of us who wanted to leave. But then Harbach began the killing, and nobody would trust any of us.
“Several years ago, Leilah tried. She pleaded with visitors to help her. They said no. They weren't as kind as you. But it didn't matter. Harbach sent the bomb anyhow.”
Alex was having no luck with the connector. “This thing isn't coming loose, Charlie,” he said. “It's probably been in there too long. What happens if I cut it?”
“It'll be okay. I have an internal power source in case of emergencies.”
The cutter appeared in his hand. “Hang on.”
“All right. Do whatever you have to.”
He lowered the laser beam onto the cable. Charlie's hologram blinked off. But I heard his voice: “Hurry.”
“I've almost got it.”
The navigation screen lit up, and I knew what Gabe was about to say. “Missile coming. Estimate arrival four minutes.”
I passed the word to Alex. “Maybe you better just get out of there.”
Alex cleared the cables from the box, picked up the AI, and started for the door. That was when the pressure suit suddenly didn't look like a very good idea.
“Gabe,” I said, “we'll be doing a quick liftoff.”
“I'm ready, Chase.”
He put the missile on-screen.
“Hurry it up, Alex,” I said.
It occurred to me that, if this was a trap of some sort, a good way to spring it would be that the front doors had locked. I went outside and hurried to them, pulling out my cutter as I went. And growling at Alex because of the degree to which the suit slowed me down. But the doors opened easily enough, and nothing else mattered.
“Two minutes, Chase,” said Gabe.
Still watching through Alex's link, I saw him turn into the main corridor. The front doors lay ahead, with me standing there holding them open. I could see him now, clumping toward me. He almost fell once but regained his balance and kept coming. When he saw me, I heard a frustrated sound deep in his throat. “Get back in the lander, Chase.”
But I had this thing about the doors, and I stayed with them, holding them until he'd cleared; and then we were both running across the grass. I went up the ladder first, reached back and took the AI from him, and got into the pilot's seat as he climbed in.
The missile was visible by then.
“Gabe,” I said, “get us out of here.” I grabbed Alex and dragged him on board as we rose off the ground. Alex half fell into his own seat. He reached for the box, got hold of it, and hung on while the harness slipped down around his shoulders. The outer hatch closed.
I took over from Gabe and went full throttle. The missile was coming up our tail, and it was close enough to count bolts. I cut sharp left. It followed.
It was big and clumsy, slow to respond, and I had a suspicion it was something that the AIs had designed and assembled on their own. There was no record of armed combat or even of military tension on Villanueva. So maybe we'd gotten lucky.
I turned again, toward a cluster of very tall trees. Alex sucked in his breath but said nothing, and the missile stayed with us. At the last moment, when even Gabe was making gasping sounds, I pulled up. The missile ripped into the trees and blew. The explosion rocked us, and something tore into the hull. But I got us back under control, and we weren't losing altitude or coming apart. Gabe started describing damage, damage to the tail assembly, hole ripped through the cargo compartment, main cabin leaking air, communication pod not functioning, sensors out, and one tread disabled. “We will have trouble finding the Belle-Marie,” Gabe said. “There wasn't time to get the sensors stowed.”
“AG?” I asked.
“It seems to be all right.”
“Well,” said Alex, “I'm glad there's nothing serious.”
“We should be okay,” I said. I'd been in enough crashes in my time.
Alex put a hand on my shoulder. “Time for a security measure.” He proceeded to open both airlock hatches, inner and outer, and he left them ajar.
I started to ask what he was doing, but then I understood. If Charlie showed any sign of being something other than what he pretended, if he said the wrong thing or made any threat, he would get tossed immediately. This, of course, was why Alex had insisted on the suits.
I hoped Charlie wasn't carrying a bomb.
“Did it get the school?” Charlie asked.
“No,” said Alex. “It was nowhere near it.”
“Good. I'm grateful for that.”
“It's over now.”
“Not really. There are others trapped down there. With no hope of escape.”
Alex took a deep breath. “I'm sorry.”
“How high are we?” Charlie said.
“About twelve hundred meters.”
“I don't guess,” he continued, “your systems are at all compatible with me, are they? I'd like very much to be able to see the sky and the ground, to feel what's happening.”
“You can't see, Charlie?” I asked.
“No. I can pick up sound, but that is all.”
I wasn't sure whether we could arrange it. But it would be too dangerous to tie him in until we knew more about him. Maybe even then- “I'm sorry,” I said. “It wouldn't work. We'll look into it later.”
Inside my helmet, a blue light came on. Gabe wanted to talk to me privately. I switched on his channel. “Go ahead, Gabe.”
“Another missile incoming, Chase. But it does not seem to present a threat to you or to the lander. We are both too far away and moving too quickly.”
“Okay. So why-?”
“It is on course for the school. I thought you might want to let Charlie know.”
“Thanks, Gabe.” I didn't say anything. Gabe kept me informed, and, two and a half minutes later, the missile impacted.
Alex looked at me. Tell him.
I did.
“I envy you,” Charlie said, as we rose toward orbit. “To travel through the sky. To sail from world to world. You really are from another place, aren't you?”
“Yes,” I said.
“You do not know how fortunate you are. I have seen nothing for seven thousand years except the interior of the school. Even in the days when children and teachers roamed the halls, I could not see outside save for those parts of the grounds visible through three windows. I have never seen the ocean. Never seen a mountain. I know what moonlight looks like, but I have never seen the Moon.”
“We'll get you set up,” said Alex, “as soon as we get home.”
“If you do not mind my asking, how much longer will you be staying here? “
“Not long,” said Alex. “A couple of days. I hope not much more than that.”
“It's odd,” Charlie said. “I've been patient so long, and suddenly I find that I cannot wait to go elsewhere.”
“I can understand that.”
“You are Chase.”
“Yes.”
“I'm glad to know you, Chase. Thank you for what you have done. You and Alex.”