“You're welcome, Charlie. Tell me, how did you come by that name?”
“Charlie?”
“Yes.”
“I was named for a local politician, Charles Ackermann. But the kids changed it pretty quickly.”
“I see.”
“If I'd had my preferences, I'd have gone for Spike.”
“Spike? Why?”
“There was a local band leader once, in the good times. And I was quite skilled at reproducing the sounds of the entire group. Including the vocalists.”
Alex smiled. “Gabe's pretty good at that, too. Maybe the two of you can form a group.”
I was a bit more prudent in maneuvering the lander than I would normally have been. With a door not quite closed, and the sensors down, and assorted other problems, I didn't want to run into any turbulence. Eventually, we left the atmosphere behind and entered orbit. I matched the Belle-Marie's altitude, and went looking for a familiar landmark. Anything we'd passed over. Eventually, I found the horsehead lake.
I put us back on our original course, and slowed down, dropping well below orbital velocity. That was going to burn fuel, but it was a good way to find the Belle-Marie. “Or rather,” I said, “to let her find us.” Because she'd be coming up behind us.
“Are we in orbit?” asked Charlie.
“Not exactly,” I said. “But almost.”
He seemed excited. “I used to run programs for the kids. We had a chamber where they could sit and experience all the physical reactions to achieving orbit. Or traveling off-world. My favorite was a trip to Korporalla.”
“Which is-?”
“I'm sorry. It's the sixth planet in the system. It's about twice as massive as Villanueva. Completely covered with frozen methane. It has huge mountains. It's extraordinarily beautiful. The students loved skimming across its surface.”
“I'm impressed,” said Alex, “that you remember it after so many years.”
“Memory does not fade. Biological memory does, apparently. You should consider that a blessing. But mine does not. I remember every child. Every name. How they looked. Where they sat.”
I switched over to Alex's channel, so Charlie could not hear me. “I don't think there's anything to worry about,” I said.
“Nor do I. But we'll stay with the plan.”
The Belle-Marie found us about an hour later. “It's very exciting,” said Charlie. “I can't believe this is actually happening.”
We slipped into the launch bay, and I locked the lander down. I disconnected Gabe while Alex pushed the door open.
“Can you feel the gravity, Charlie?” Alex asked.
“No, I can't. I would need a detector of some sort. But I cannot tell you how glad I am to be here.” He paused. “Is there access to music?”
“Yes, Charlie,” I said. “What would you like to hear?”
“Something soft and soothing.”
“I assume it's been a long time since you've heard any music?”
“Only the scores from some of the educational presentations. But I've lost interest in those.”
“I guess. Something soft-”
“Soft. Loud. Actually I do not care as long as it is music.”
As planned, and without telling him, we left Charlie in the backseat. The lander itself was a wreck. It was scorched, and a few more holes had been punched in it than I realized. We'd been lucky.
When we were clear, Belle took it over and moved it back outside and closed the launch doors. “How far away do you want it?” she asked.
“Thirty kilometers,” I said. “That should put it at a safe distance.”
“Very good,” said Belle. “Complying.”
“Belle, start depressurization.”
Air began hissing into the compartment.
“I'll be glad to get out of the suit,” said Alex.
I was uncomfortable about putting Charlie outside. “You know,” I said, “if he were going to try to blow us up, I think he'd have made the attempt by now.”
“Maybe,” said Alex.
It was an uncomfortable moment. We stood there looking at each other, when Charlie's voice spoke through our links: “It's okay,” he said. “I understand why you're leaving me.”
Alex's eyes closed. “How did you know?”
“Your voices changed. Anyhow, I would take the same precaution if I were in your place. I can assure you, though, that I mean no harm.”
“Well,” I said, “we're going to have to trust him at some point.”
Alex nodded, and we reversed the procedure.
We retrieved Charlie and carried him up onto the bridge and tied him into a comm link. The hologram reappeared, the twenty-year-old, and he was effusive. “Thank God,” he said. “I was scared out there. I really was alone outside the ship, right?”
“Yes.”
“Was it a test? When were you going to let me in?”
“Eventually. When we were convinced you weren't a threat.”
“Chase,” he said, “I wish I could hug you.” He waved both hands and raised his fists in triumph. “Believe me, I am so happy to be away from there that I cannot adequately express my feelings. Words do not suffice.” He stopped and looked out through the ports at the stars and the planet below. He stood there, just breathing. Then he came back. “It is beautiful,” he said. “You are both beautiful.”
Getting out of the pressure suit made me very happy. I was stowing it when Belle got my attention: “Another city coming up, Chase. With more churches.”
She put one on-screen. Another country church. With a twelve-foot-long model of an interstellar on display in the front. “Church of the Herald,” said Belle.
And, a short distance west, St. Argo's Presbyterian Church, with a leaping angel.
And one that had to go nameless, with a small jet aircraft. At least that was what I thought it was.
And another, also with no visible name. It had only a sign, with the motto PARADISE IS JUST AHEAD, and a picture of a spacecraft. Dusk was settling around it. It was in the middle of a cluster of private homes. One of the homes had a fountain in its front yard, and the fountain was working. A thin spray of water came out of the mouth of a stone fish.
“Magnify the sign,” Alex said.
Belle complied. The ship was another of the clunky interstellars. Too thick through the hull. Individual portals on the bridge rather than a wraparound.
Alex put another picture up beside it. Another interstellar. Or no, the same interstellar. He compared them. Then looked up, smiling. “That's it,” he said.
“What's it?”
“Look at it, Chase.”
It was the one in Robin's picture.
I saw strange characters on the hulclass="underline"
It was the same as the Sanusar vehicle. The one that Tereza had seen so many years ago. The one with the woman trapped inside.
TWENTY-THREE
Trust, but verify.
If you can't verify, keep your gun loaded.
— Barry Ensel, End of the Dream, 1211
We sat in the ship's cabin and watched the interstellar in front of the church dwindle, while the skies around that lonely place grew dark and fell behind until we were out of range.
“I don't get it,” I said.
“They came here to confirm a suspicion.”
“Which was what?”
“That the ship spotted at Sanusar came from this era.”
“How's that possible?”
“That would be a better question for Shara. But apparently some ships, like the Abonai, get screwed up somehow when they make their jumps. My guess is that they get lost, and travel in time as well as in space.”
“Wait a minute.” I couldn't make sense of it. “The Sanusar ship was lit up. And Tereza said she saw a woman in one of the windows-But you're saying they launched seven thousand years ago?”
“I think that's exactly what happened.”
“And the Abonai-?”
“Same thing, probably. I think it also explains the Capella.”
“My God, Alex. That might mean Gabe is still alive.”
“Yes. In a way.” He looked tired. Drained. “Trapped somewhere. Robin and Winter apparently suspected this was the case. But they were talking about vehicles from an ancient era. Nobody knows much about them. We don't even know what kind of drive they had. But what better place to look for replicas than Villanueva? Where the churches put models on display? The one we saw is probably reproduced at a number of churches. And they found one, just as we did.”