“The title will be Polaris, ” he said. “I’ve interviewed over a hundred people who were connected with it in one way or another.”
“And do you have a theory as to what happened?” she asked.
He looked nonplussed. “Everybody has a theory, Ida. Is it okay if I call you Ida?”
“Oh, yes, by all means, Marcus.”
“But what happened out there isn’t the thrust of the book.”
“It isn’t?” she said.
“No. In fact, what I’m doing is examining the political and social consequences of the event. For example, did you know that spending on armaments during the eight years following the incident increased twelve percent? That formal attendance at religious worship around the globe went up by almost a quarter during the next six months? Twenty-five percent of three billion people is a substantial number.”
“It certainly is.”
“The statistics elsewhere in the Confederacy were similar.”
“That doesn’t mean,” I said, “that the Polaris had anything to do with it.”
“I don’t think there’s any question it was a reaction to the Polaris, Chase. The public mood changed during that period. You can document it in a lot of ways. People began storing food and survival equipment. There was a surge in the sales of personal weapons of all kinds. As if you could fight off an advanced alien technology with a scrambler.” A smile touched the corners of his lips. But there was something sad about it. “Even the Mutes were affected, though to a lesser degree. Some aspects of the reaction were only temporary, of course. But even today ships going beyond the bounds of known space frequently take a small armory with them.”
We gabbled on for about half an hour. Finally, Ida apologized that we were taking so much of his time and no doubt he’d like to see the jumpsuit.
“It’s a pleasure, ladies,” he said. “But yes. I would like to take a look, if I may.”
We got up and headed for the study. Alex would have to watch the rest of the show on a monitor. He’d be only a room away if needed, but everything seemed under control.
We walked down the long central hallway, Ida in front, Kiernan bringing up the rear. The passageway was lined with original oils, mostly landscapes, and he stopped twice to admire the work and compliment Ida on her taste. He seemed quite knowledgeable, and Ida was clearly struck by him.
Eventually we reached the study, and she told Henry to unlock the display cabinet.
“You keep it here, ” he said, “in this room? I assumed you’d have it inside a vault somewhere.” It was a joke, but his tone suggested he was serious. It’s precious. Take care of it. There are unprincipled persons about.
“Oh, it’s perfectly safe, Marcus.” She opened the top of the case and removed the duplicate jumpsuit, lifting it by the shoulders and letting it fall out full length. It was dark blue, the color of the sea at night. The Polaris patch was on the left shoulder, and ENGLISH stenciled in white over the right-hand breast pocket. Kiernan approached it as one might a relic. “Magnificent,” he said. Unaccountably, I felt a pang of guilt. He reached out with his fingertips and touched it. Touched the embroidered name. ENGLISH Maddy. I think, in that moment, I understood why passengers riding the Sheila Clermo felt the presence of Mendoza and Urquhart and White and the others. And especially Maddy. Poor tragic Maddy. Nothing worse can happen to a captain than to lose the people who travel with her, who depend on her to bring them safely through whatever obstacle might arise. Ida must have felt it, too. Her eyes were damp.
Kiernan stood as if drawing strength from the garment, and finally he took it in his own hands. “I can hardly believe it,” he said.
“Marcus,” I asked, “have you been on board the ship?”
“The Clermo? Oh, yes. I’ve been on it.” His expression changed, became troubled. “Years ago.”
“Is something wrong?”
“No. I was just thinking that Survey should never have sold it.”
“I agree,” said Ida, with indignation.
“It’s of immense historical value.”
I looked at the jumpsuit. And at him. He had to raise it a bit to keep it off the floor. Maddy had also been taller than he was.
We all gazed at it. At the smooth dark blue cloth, at the shoulder patch, at the pockets. Six in all, breast pockets outlined in white trim, back and cargo pockets plain.
“Nothing in them, I suppose?” he said.
“No,” said Ida. “I should have been so lucky.”
Casually, as if it were an afterthought, he looked. Opened each pocket and peeked in, smiling the whole time, saying how you never know, shaking his head sadly that no scrap of Polaris history had drifted forward inside the suit. He had me almost believing it was the original. “Pity,” he said, when he’d finished. “But it’s enough that we have this.” He refolded the jumpsuit and gave it back. “Thank you, Ida.” He looked at the time. “It’s gotten late. I really must go. It’s been a pleasure to meet you, Ida. And you, Chase.”
He started toward the door.
“You’ve come a long way, Marcus,” said Ida. In fact we weren’t at all sure how far he’d come. “Can I offer you anything before you leave?”
“No,” he said. “Thank you, but I really must be on my way.”
Bows to both of us, and then we were all walking toward the front door. It opened, and he swung out into the sunset, waved, climbed aboard his skimmer, and rose into the evening sky.
I collected the duplicate jumpsuit, and I was putting it carefully into a plastene bag when Alex charged into the study.
“Let’s go,” he said.
“Where?”
“Ida.” He beamed at her. “You were exquisite.” And, glancing at me, “Both of you.” We were headed toward the front door. “Thanks, Ida. I’ll get back to you. Let you know what happens.” He took the duplicate jumpsuit and put it under his arm. If nothing else, we had “Kiernan’s” DNA.
We paused in the shelter of the house to watch the skimmer moving out over the treetops. Gave it a moment to get clear. “He seems like such a nice young man,” said Ida.
When we thought it was safe to do so, we climbed into our own vehicle. “What’s the plan?” I asked him.
“Let’s see if we can find out where he lives.” We lifted off, and Alex opened a link to Ida. “Probably best, Ida,” he said, “if you don’t mention this to anybody.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Just a precaution. Until we find out what it’s about.”
“What do you want me to do if he contacts me again-?”
“Let us know right away.”
“And keep the doors locked,” I said.
I asked Alex whether he thought she was actually in any kind of danger.
“No,” he said. “Kiernan got what he wanted-”
“-An opportunity to search the jumpsuit-”
“Exactly. There’s no reason for him to come back. But it’s just as well to be safe.”
“Your notion that they’re looking for something-”
“Yes?”
“-Looks as if it’s on target.”
We could see Kiernan in the fading sunlight, headed east toward Andiquar.
“Follow it,” he instructed the AI. We rose above the trees and began to accelerate. He turned in my direction. “What did you think of him?”
“Actually, he seemed like a nice guy.”
He smiled. “I’m willing to bet you and Ida were just talking to the man who set the bombs at Proctor Union. Or knows who did.”
I had to run that through a second time. “What makes you say that?” I asked.
“Why would Kiernan try to kill the Mazha?”
“He didn’t.”
“I’m sorry, Alex; I’m not following the conversation.”
“What I’m saying is that he took advantage of the Mazha’s presence to destroy the collection and make it look like something else.”
That was hard to believe. “You don’t think it was an assassination attempt?”
“No, I don’t. And they got away with it, Chase. The investigators are looking for an assassin. Not a Polaris conspirator.”
“But I still don’t see-”
“They didn’t want anyone to realize what was really happening. They don’t want people asking a lot of questions. It was a perfect opportunity. They find out the Mazha’s visiting, and nobody is surprised when assassins try to finish him off.”