"I'm sorry," it said. The Skeeter wobbled as if Cadmann was having trouble flying and talking at the same time. "I didn't mean for anything to go wrong. You've got to understand. There wasn't any way that I could have known how fast that thing is. There w-wasn't any w-way I could have known."
Terry's eyes narrowed as a low mutter swept the crowd. "What the hell happened to him?"
A million possibilities shouted against each other in Sylvia's mind. She remained silent, afraid that anything she said would make the situation worse. Somehow.
"Come on down, Cad. We'll talk about it."
"I... I'm coming." The Skeeter floated down, spinning on the axis of the cockpit, settling to ground like a pale blue feather.
At first there was no movement from the Skeeter, just the motionless silhouette in the pilot's seat. Then the door opened, and Cadmann fell out.
Sylvia's scalp crawled. He was burned, scratched and bloodied. His face was chalk, his movements teetering jerkily on the edge of shock.
Carlos hurried to his side, tried to help him, but Cadmann waved him away and levered himself up using the Webley like a crutch.
"No," he gasped. "Get... Ernst. You've got to believe now."
The other side of the Skeeter was already being opened. Someone gasped, someone cursed; several colonists broke for the open air. The stench of burnt flesh hit Sylvia, triggering a fresh wave of nausea.
"Let me take that," Zack said, forcing nonchalance into his voice. He reached for the rifle.
Cadmann snatched it away, screaming "No! Nobody's taking this from me." He held it white-knuckle tight against his chest. "You're scared, aren't you? Well, it's about time! Maybe some of you will stay alive." He patted the Webley. "Anyone who's smart will get one of these for himself." Cadmann laughed bitterly. "I'm not even sure we can stop it."
Another hand touched him from behind, and Cadmann wheeled, the butt of his rifle raised to strike.
"Get a—"
Mary Ann's eyes flew wide as the butt stopped inches from her chest.
"Cadmann... ?"
He wiped his hand across his forehead. She reached out a hand, and when he didn't take it, she grabbed him, ignoring his feeble attempts to push her away.
"Cadmann, please... give me the rifle."
"No."
The pitiful bundle from the passenger seat was unwrapped. Jean
Patterson turned away and bent over, gagging hollowly. Hendrick tried to comfort her and she heaved again, staining his pants.
Cadmann took a few steps, stumbled, caught himself. He reached out for Mary Ann this time. She sagged under his weight, then pushed with her strong runner's legs until he was braced against the infirmary wall. "It was... it was the monster. It's big. Bigger than a Komodo. Fast, like a racing motorcycle! Turns better."
Sylvia knelt to look at the corpse. Terry was behind her, peering over her shoulder, and hissing in disgust. "Komodo, Weyland?" he said incredulously. "Shit. It was sure as hell a dragon, anyway."
She had never seen a human body damaged so badly.
Cadmann's eyes met hers, and there was a naked plea in them. Please.
You believe now, don't you? Don't you?
"You're hurt. You've lost a lot of blood," she whispered. "We've got to treat those burns."
"Not yet. No sedatives until you believe me." He waved one blackened hand weakly. "Go ahead. There's a tarp on the floor of the Skeeter. In it you'll find a chunk of that goddamned thing. If you can't believe me, you can believe that." He waved them away. "Go ahead—get it. Take it into the lab and for God's sake analyze it."
Two of the lab techs unloaded the chopper. The package was bulky and clumsily wrapped and weighed about two kilos. Sylvia didn't want to unwrap it.
"All right. Cad," she said. "Let's go in and take a look—but you come in and sit down. We can't afford to lose you."
Zack was watching Cadmann's eyes carefully, chewing at the corner of his mustache. Carlos pushed his way through to stand next to Sylvia.
"Carlos," Cadmann said weakly, trying to smile. He moved his mouth as if his lips were half frozen.
"Amigo." There was confusion and mistrust mingled in Carlos's face, and his dark eyes kept straying to Cadmann's makeshift crutch. "We've had a lot of trouble here."
Cadmann was having trouble keeping his eyelids high. "Yeah. Tell me something I don't know."
Several of the colonists had edged almost imperceptibly nearer, and the tension left a metallic taste in Sylvia's mouth. Something ugly was going to happen.
She broke the spell by clearing her throat. "I'm taking this into the lab. I'd like you, Zack, and Terry, and Mary Ann and Carlos. Except for lab personnel. I'd like the rest of you to wait, or go back to bed. There's nothing more to be done tonight, and we're going to need clear, rested minds in the morning."
Without another word she turned and entered the lab. She didn't look behind her, didn't want to, because she didn't want Cadmann to see her confusion. No matter what happened here, and what she found out, they had to get the rifle away from him.
He was mumbling as Carlos and Mary Ann helped him through the door.
"Absolutely. Blew off of it when Ernst's fuel pack exploded. Shrapnel must have..." He shook his head woozily. Hysterical laughter was bubbling up through the fatigue. "It got a mouthful all right, a real mouthful, and I wish that I'd blown its fucking head clean off—"
"Cad—"
"Stay back." There was still iron in his voice.
"Cadmann," Zack said quietly, watching with eyes that missed nothing, "Alicia is dead. Her baby is gone."
Cadmann said nothing, swallowing hard. "How... no... when?"
"Right after you left. Something got through all of our defenses.
Broke through her window. We need your help. But the first thing you've got to do is to put that rifle down."
Sylvia forced her mind to the table in front of her. There was a raging headache coming on, and it was splitting her attention when she needed it most. The only thing she could do for Cadmann now was prove the truth of his claims. The truth, or—
She cut that thought off before it had a chance to take-root. He was telling the truth. There simply wasn't any other answer.
Not even Terry had accused Cadmann of killing Alicia and her baby.
There is a big difference between a calf and a human being—
She sneaked a peek over her shoulder at Cadmann. He was staring at her, eyes dark-rimmed with exhaustion, and she was suddenly afraid.
"I'm cold," Cadmann giggled almost to himself. "A floating anvil.
That's a nice image."
"Cadmann—" Sylvia and Mary Ann exchanged looks. "You need rest."
"Not until you look at that sample, damn it. But... I'll go into the veterinary room. I'll sit down."
Mary Ann, yellow curls flattening against Cadmann's shirt, his blood staining her nightgown, motioned to Carlos. Together, they helped him into the veterinary clinic and to an examination table. He sat, clutching the rifle.
Sylvia turned from the magnascope screen. "You need plasma, Cadmann. I'm not going on with this until you let us start working on you. You don't want a sedative or anesthetic, fine—macho it out. But I'm damned if you're going to die on me."
"All right, all right."
Jerry grunted relief and prepared a plasma bottle. Carlos peeled
Cadmann's blackened shirt away from his right arm.
Cadmann winced, clutching the rifle more tightly. "You should have seen it," he muttered. "If you could see it, you'd understand. It's fast. God, it's fast. I swear it's faster than any animal on Earth. Nothing can move that fast, but it did. Be damned if it didn't."