Braced against the ascent of the high-speed elevator, he realized he had been feeling his age for the past week. Psychologically, he had been caught up in the national malaise that had followed Crockerman’s announcement. He felt no different from the young people carrying their blank signs just across the street. What was there to protest? Apocalypse could not be repealed by the democratic process. Even now, the instrument of that destruction — or an instrument — might be lancing through the Earth’s core.
The Kemp object. That attribution, he assured himself, would change shortly. Sand-Samshow object…Not a catchy name, but it would have to do. Yet…why? Why lay claim to the discovery of the bullet that might have everyone’s name on it?
The elevator door opened and Samshow stepped out into a blare of noise. Oz glittered, silver and gray, glass-walled and high-ceilinged. Young people in elegant dress danced across the central floor, while drinkers and talkers sat and stood on the surrounding raised carpeted areas. The sweet smells of wine and Bourbon wafted from a passing waitress’s tray.
Samshow winced at the noise and glanced around, looking for Sand or Kemp. Sand stood in a corner waving to catch his eye.
Their round table was barely a foot across, and five people were crowded around it: Kemp, Sand, two others he did not recognize, smiling as if they were old friends, and now himself. He shook hands as Sand introduced Jonathan V. Post, an acquaintance of Kemp’s, dark and Levantine with a gray-shot curly beard, and Oscar Eglinton from the Nevada School of Mines. Post declaimed a brief and embarrassing poem on meeting the legendary Old Man of the Sea. When he was finished, he smiled broadly.
“Thank you,” Samshow said, not very impressed. The waitress came and Post sacrificed his own Corona that Samshow might have a drink sooner.
He had once downed a case of Corona in two days while whale-watching at Scammon’s Lagoon. That had been in 1952. Now more than one beer gave him heartburn.
“We have to fill you in, Walt,” Sand said. “Kemp talked with seismologists in Brazil and Morocco. One of them is here — Jesus Ochoa. We have the nodal traces. October thirty-first. The disruptions and shock waves. There’s been high surf in some very suspicious places, and seismic events like nobody’s ever seen…”
“Thirty-five south, forty-two west,” Kemp said, with the same smug grin he had worn a week ago in Hawaii.
“He convinced me that was good enough evidence to talk to Washington. They referred me to Arthur Gordon—”
“The President isn’t interested, apparently,” Kemp said, his grin vanishing. “We couldn’t even talk to the new national security advisor, what’s his name…”
“Patterson,” said the muscular, dark-tanned Eglinton.
“But Gordon says he’ll be here tonight to talk with us. There’s going to be a lot to discuss. Post here has spoken to some physicists and space scientists. Chris Riley, Fred Hardin. Others. Asteroids are on their mind.”
“You’re all convinced we’ve got something appropriate, a true extraterrestrial bullet?”
“We have more than that,” Kemp said, leaning forward. Sand put a hand on his arm, and Kemp nodded, falling back into his seat. Sand leaned over to Samshow as if to explain something delicate.
“There was a central Atlantic fireball sighted by a cargo ship four days ago. Like the previous object, as far as we can discover, nobody picked it up on radar coming in. Similar phenomenon — deep-ocean splash, small storm, and peculiar seismic traces. This fireball was much brighter, though — blinding, huge, leaving a glowing tail behind it. Captain and crew were treated for retinal burns. The doctors treating them noticed hair loss and strange bruises and questioned them, and they admitted to having bloody stools. Everyone on deck is suffering from severe radiation exposure.”
“Meteors don’t do that,” Kemp said. “And then…we have records of another seismic event in the same area as the cargo ship. Burrowing,” he added triumphantly. “Trace like a bomb explosion. And then…microseisms and deep P-waves.”
Samshow raised his eyebrows. “And?”
“More nodal traces,” Sand said, “and even stronger microseismic activity…This was either a bigger object, more massive, or…”
“It’s different,” Kemp said. “Don’t ask me how.”
“They’re talking about a Kemp object downstairs,” Samshow said. “Far be it from me to worry about attribution—”
“We’ll straighten that out at the symposium tomorrow morning,” Kemp said. “Gordon will attend, and everything we know will be laid before the convention.”
“And the public?”
“Nobody’s told us to keep it secret,” Sand said.
“There are camera crews downstairs.”
“We can’t hold this back,” Kemp said.
“Can’t we wait until it’s confirmed?”
“That could be months,” Sand said. “We may not have the time.”
Samshow frowned deeply. “Two things bother me,” he said. “Besides this god-awful noise. One.” He held up a single finger. “How in hell can any of this theorizing do us any good? And two.” A second finger. “Everybody here seems to be having such a fine time.”
Sand glanced at the others. Post appeared suddenly crestfallen.
“The gods are dancing on our grave,” Samshow said, “and here we are, like kids in a toy store.”
35
Reuben Bordes stood by the screen door, staring out at the cold rain washing the streets of Warren, half smiling and half frowning. His lips moved slowly to some inner song, and his eyes longed for something far away.
“Close the door, boy,” his father demanded, standing in the hallway, dressed in ragged pajamas. “It’s cold outside.”
“All right, Pop.” He swung the door closed and turned to watch his father settle into his easy chair. “Can I bring you anything?”
“I’ve eaten lunch, and I’ve had my nap, and I’ve been a lazy s.o.b. all day. Why should you bring me anything?” His father looked at him through rheumy, exhausted eyes. He was still crying at night, still sleeping with his arms wrapped around a pillow. Reuben had seen him in the morning, fast asleep, his face wreathed in empty bliss, his dead wife’s thick feather pillow clutched firmly to him under the scattered blankets.
“Just asking,” Reuben said.
”I’d invite them to meet my mum. My mother.”
But she’s dead.
“You could turn on the tube.”
“What channel?” Reuben asked, kneeling before the television.
“Find me that show where everybody argues about the news. Take my mind away.”
Reuben found the Worldwide News Network and waddled back, still crouched, hands dangling between his knees.
“You know, you don’t have to hang around to keep me happy,” his father said. “I’m working out Bea’s death. I’m getting it straight in my head. I’ll live.”
Reuben smiled over his shoulder. “Where would I go?” he asked. But he knew he’d be leaving soon. There were necessary things to do. He had to carry what was in his coat pocket; he had to find the person that something was for. He had been given memories of a voice, a distinct English accent, but little more.
He leaned back against his father’s knees and listened as the hosts of Freefire squared off against each other, bristling even as they announced their guest. The young liberal’s stiffly formal visage seemed to soften.
“He’s acted as advisor to the President on the Death Valley spaceship, and he’s well known in scientific and journalistic circles. He’s had over forty books published, including his recent prophetic novel, Starhome, a scientific romance about first contact. His name is Trevor Hicks, and he’s a native of Great Britain.”