The land fell away acutely from here, forming a vast valley lodged between the converging mountains. On the near slope of the valley, Bennett made out perhaps a hundred dwellings: domes perched on broad bands of terracing, timber lodges, more substantial villas made from stone, all illuminated by the light of the stars and the minor sun. Then he saw, on the distant far terraces, yet more dome habitats and villas. Stationed on the mountainside at strategic positions around the valley he made out the tall, slender shapes of wind turbines—perhaps a hundred in all. No doubt the balloon-tyred vehicles were powered by electricity generated by the turbines.
He wondered at the population of the settlement. Star liners held five thousand citizens, and they had been here for perhaps a century. The vast scatter of dwellings and the proliferating turbines suggested that they had prospered. The growth of the colony also suggested that they had managed to utilise and maintain the manufactory with which all colony ships were equipped.
The pass became a track that extended high above the settlement, following the contours of the mountain. In the distance Bennett made out the last of the vehicles, the transporter, as it disappeared behind the bend. His heart sank. He had kilometres yet to traverse. He was about to set off when he saw, in the distance, the reappearance of one of the balloon-tyred vehicles; the track evidently curved back on itself, following a zig-zag route to negotiate the steep slope of the valley wall. The vehicles carrying Ten Lee and Mackendrick were now coming back towards him.
He ran along the track, then turned down the incline, moving through a field of some kind of wheat. He passed a dome habitat, the hemisphere darkened, and paused on the edge of the farm above the road. He crouched behind a dry-stone wall, his pulse racing, and peered over. One by one the vehicles passed a matter of metres from where he was concealed. He made out, on the leading truck, the crouched form of Ten Lee. The vehicles turned, easing around a bend on to another stretch of lower track. He saw the first vehicle stop before a big timber lodge, built out over the drop and supported on pillars. As he watched, Ten Lee and Mackendrick were manhandled from the vehicle and marched into the building. The vehicles started up and moved off. Half a kilometre away they turned into an area beside one of the farm buildings.
Bennett climbed over the low wall and ran across the track. He moved through another field, bent double, and stopped beside the retaining wall. Fifty metres away was the lodge in which Ten Lee and Mackendrick were imprisoned. A light showed in one of the long side windows.
He waited. At last the light went out. He jumped over the wall, crossed the track and approached the building, feeling conspicuous with his rifle. If anyone should look out and see him now, in his distinctive flight-suit, carrying a rifle…
He made the building and crouched in its shadow, aware that he was shaking with uncontrollable fear. He tried to work out what to do next, to form some kind of plan. Try to enter the building without alerting the colonists, obviously. Easier said than done. They were unlikely to leave the door obligingly open. So break in, without making a sound. A tall order. He was not a house breaker. Storm the place, then. But nor was he a commando.
The decision, in the event, was taken from him. He stood, intending to move around the building to a window where he might see what was going on inside. He had hardly taken two steps when a voice rang out, challenging him: “Stop!”
He turned in time to receive the full force of a rifle butt on the side of his head. The assault was so sudden that he had no time to dodge the blow or catch sight of his attacker. His head seemed to explode with pain and he fell to the ground. He tried to gather himself, get up and fight, but after the initial anger at being caught, he thought again. The man was armed and there might be more than one of them by now. He should stay down and bide his time.
He felt hands grasp his body, lifting him. He was carried, perhaps by two or three people. He opened his eyes to see where he was being taken, but he was face down and could make out only the shadowy gravel of the pathway. He closed his eyes as his head throbbed painfully.
Bennett heard a door opening, then closing, footsteps on timber. He was dropped without ceremony to the floor. He was aware of people in the room, perhaps two or three others; small movements and whispers gave them away. He kept his eyes shut, feigning unconsciousness.
He heard two people conduct a hurried conversation. He tried to appreciate the melodrama of the situation. If this was not actually happening to him, he would have found it hard to believe. He told himself that things like this only happened in holodramas… then the pain in his head informed him otherwise.
“They’re not terrorists as we first thought, sir, they’re off-worlders.”
A pause, then: “But how did they find out?”
Another voice answered, deep and richly textured. Bennett imagined a silver-haired patriarch. He tried to work out the meaning of their dialogue.
“Perhaps Quineau did reach Earth, after all?”
“But Klien was confident of stopping him.”
“Then perhaps their arrival here is purely accidental. They know nothing—they’re explorers, prospectors.” A pause. “I want them questioned. Subtly, of course.”
A brief silence. Bennett felt himself drifting, the pain in his skull almost too much to bear. He tried to concentrate.
The first colonist said, “We can’t let them go back, sir.”
“What are you suggesting,” the deep-voiced patriarch replied, “that we kill them?”
“Precisely. Then they’re out of the way. Alive, they’re dangerous.”
“If they are scientists and have nothing to do with Quineau, then they might prove a benefit to the colony. They might be just the type of people we need.”
“But if they find out?”
The patriarch replied, “We will have to ensure that they don’t find out—as simple as that.”
“How do we keep them here? What about their ship?”
“Have someone question them as to where they landed. Then send out a team to destroy it. When they find out, we’ll blame it on the terrorists.”
“I don’t know…” The first colonist sounded uneasy. “It would be far easier if we just killed them.”
“You worry too much,” said the patriarch. “Trust me.”
Bennett felt himself losing his grip on consciousness. He tried to concentrate on the voices, but they faded, became no more than background noise.
At last, mercifully floating free of pain, Bennett passed out.
14
Klien stood before the full-length mirror and dressed with care. Tonight was to be a killing night, when he would do his microscopic bit to make this corner of the Expansion a better place. As ever on these special occasions, he wore his sabline suit.
He moved to the lounge with its sunken sofa bunkers, its objets d’art, an aria by Verdi playing softly. He stood for a long time, staring at the room until he no longer saw it as a physical location, but as an abstract idea—the one locus of the universe where he was safe, his refuge from all the corruption and the evil out there. He steadied his breathing, tried to control the crazy thudding of his heart. He knew that he had to leave now, to walk off his nervous excitement. He ensured that he had his capillary net and laser pistol and then walked from the house and through the quiet streets.
The monsoon rain had refreshed the trees and shrubs in the gardens and parks. The rising moon and the lights of the high orbitals reflected in rain droplets on leaves and flowers. It was like, he thought, the garden of Eden. It was hard to believe that this idyllic corner of Calcutta, the meanest city on the meanest planet of all, was surrounded by so much evil. He thought back to his time on Homefall; it had been a period of innocence, or perhaps ignorance. He had been privileged to live on such a haven, without knowledge of what existed outside. And people like Quineau, they wanted to open up the planet, allow the evil of the Expansion to inundate paradise.