Gabe sent me a tolerant smile. “When did Angela come back for it?”
I checked the receipt. “Midsummer, 1429.” Six years ago.
“I guess she got tired of waiting for me.” A bird—I think it was a turik—landed on a windowsill, flapped and squawked in the moonlight, and fell off. We all glanced at it and watched it fly away. Then Gabe continued: “Chase, if you can catch up with her, see if you can find out whether she ever learned whether it was actually an alien artifact. Was it ?”
“Okay.”
“And by the way, apologize for my not getting back to her.”
“I already did that. At the time, she didn’t realize you’d been on the .”
“I hope she didn’t get rid of it,” said Gabe.
Alex was not happy. “You said you didn’t get any pictures of the thing.”
“That’s correct, Alex. I was on the run at the time.”
“That’s the first thing we do, Gabe, when something like that comes in.”
Gabe’s expression hardened, and I thought the old animosity between the two might break out again, but he didn’t say anything. In case he was thinking about it, I jumped in: “If she does have it, and she’s found out it’s a legitimate alien artifact, do you guys want to make an offer?”
They looked at each other. “If she tells you it’s legitimate,” said Gabe, “and she still has possession of it, tell her we’ll be in touch. If she’s sold it, see if you can find out to whom.”
It was getting late. Alex got everyone together in the conference room. “Something else we need to take care of,” he said. He looked over at Gabe, who was talking with Amanda and Fenn. “Uncle Gabe, would you come forward, please?”
Gabe looked around him as if Alex was actually speaking to someone else. That was Amanda’s cue to take his arm and escort him to his nephew’s side.
“Gabe,” he said, “I’d like to remind you that you’re surrounded by friends and family who’ve come together not only to show you how pleased they are to have you back but also because we have something for you.”
He stepped aside and was replaced by Hiram Olson, head of the archeology department at Andiquar University and a longtime friend of Gabe’s. Hiram was a tall, wide-shouldered man with the electric features of a comedian. He could in fact play almost any role needed. On that evening, he was dead serious. He reached down and took a package from beneath the table. He removed the wrapping, revealing a gold-framed plaque. “Gabriel,” he said, “eleven years ago, you inspired a search that made it possible for Alex to unearth a previously unsuspected piece of history. One of the keys that led to that happy result was the classic poem ‘Leisha’ by Walford Candles, written during the Mute War.”
He held the frame where everyone could see it. The poem was inscribed on the plaque, beneath Gabe’s name and above a visual of Christopher Sim’s .
Amanda took him aside a few minutes later. “Gabe,” she said, “I’m not supposed to tell you this, but you’re on the inside track for the Fleminger Award this year.” For anyone who doesn’t know, the Fleminger is granted for special achievement in support of historical research. The recipients have been frequently associated with archeology.
A few minutes later Gabe approached his nephew and said thanks. “It wouldn’t be happening without you.”
III.
,
,
,
.
If the trophy had actually been an alien object, and Angela Harding had disposed of it, it would almost certainly have shown up on the datanet. So when I got home, I showered, got into my pajamas, sat down, and asked Carmen to run a search. She found nothing.
So we looked for the background of the Angela Harding who lived in Newbury. She arrived there in 1427, lived a quiet existence for four years, and dropped out of sight. That’s not especially unusual. A lot of people, with an interest in maintaining a level of privacy, keep as much of their data off the net as they can.
asked Carmen.
“Not yet. I wonder if she has an avatar?” Most people do. But of course the reader already knows that. We can go to one and experience the illusion of talking with the actual person. We can get that individual’s opinion on just about anything. All kinds of information about accomplishments is accessible. Of course, there’s no guarantee about accuracy, but then, as most of us realize, it would take all the fun out of the exercise.
But again Angela was a negative. There an Angela Harding in Piedmont, a large island eighty kilometers off the coast. But she was only nine years old. “Maybe she’s related?” I said.
I watched while Carmen contacted the parents and asked if there was another branch of the family located in the area. They said not that they knew of. The child had a grandmother in Andiquar, but there was no familial connection with anyone else of that name.
“All right. Let’s try a general search.”
Carmen needed only a moment:
There been an avatar, but it was taken down in 1429, about the same time Angela returned to the country house and recovered the trophy.
The most curious aspect of all that was that she’d removed contact information. I wondered why. Unfortunately it meant that instead of just calling, I would have to visit Newbury and start looking for her. In the morning, I notified Alex. “I won’t be going in today,” I told him. “I’m headed for Newbury.”
he said.
“No. No sign of her yet.”
“In about fifteen minutes.”
He started talking to Gabe. Then he was back:
Gabe picked up.
He and Alex were both waiting when I touched down at the country house. At first I thought I was going to have passengers. But Alex signaled no. “Hate to miss it,” he said. “But I have to get out of here this afternoon. Let me know if you find anything.”
Gabe climbed in, we waved good-bye, and lifted off. “What’s the plan?” he asked.
“The only thing I can think of is to head for the last address we had and see if we can track her from there.”
“Sounds good.”
A light rain began to fall as we swung west and flew out over the Melony. The wind picked up, and sailboats were taking advantage of it to get to shore.
We didn’t talk much. Gabe seemed to have something on his mind. Maybe April. I made several efforts to find subjects that would interest him. Finally I decided to ask him directly: “You going to see her again, Gabe?”