When the display faded, Fitzpatrick turned to me. “Mr Witt and I must contact some of our sources. I suggest that you try to find this place. With luck, you may reach the area and locate the ship without interference from the NSA or any other group. We will send out two other search parties via different routes. In the event that any of us are detained, the others may reach the location.”
He walked to his desk and pulled an object from one of the drawers. “This is a communication device, not unlike an auto-page. It links up directly with another, just like it, which I will keep with me at all times. Not only can you send a message, but we can also trace you to your immediate location. If you find a spacecraft and it’s all clear, the code will be 111. if you locate the ship but are followed, the use the code 222. If you don’t find the ship right away, send the code 333 to let us know where you are, and that you’re still looking. When you’re ready to send us a message, press the pound sign, then the enter code, then press send.”
Fitzpatrick handed me the communicator. I slipped it into my pocket.
“Mr Witt will be occupied with organising everything necessary for the retrieval and disposal of the ship.”
Witt pulled Fitzpatrick into a corner, where they began laying out their plans. Regan walked over to where I was standing, near the bar. She reached past me for a glass and poured herself a bourbon. After a small sip, she turned to me, standing close. “So when do we leave? I need to go back to my room and pick some things up.”
“We’re not going. I’m going.”
Regan raised an eyebrow. “Really? And when was that decided?”
“Oh, about forty years ago. I’m a solo kind of guy.”
Regan tossed down her bourbon. “Well, get over it. I don’t know what kind of woman you think I am, but I’m not going to stay home like some delicate little society flower.” She slammed her glass onto the bar and spun away. She stormed off, grabbed her coat and purse, and walked to the door. “I’ll catch a cab home. Don’t leave without me.” she slammed the door and was gone as quickly as my bourbon.
I refilled my glass and sat down. I wasn’t going to take her, no matter what she said. It was going to be hard work and dangerous. The last thing I needed was someone else to worry about. Witt and Fitzpatrick were talking earnestly. What was I doing in this mess? These guys had taken Malloy’s message in stride, almost as if they had expected its contents. Personally, the circuits in my head were blown. All I knew for sure was that I was going to Peru in the morning. Talk about being in over one’s head.
I poured a third bourbon. It was helping. Slowly, strangely, my head cleared. Maybe this wasn’t your standard detective work, but it was a responsibility on a large scale, the kind you just don’t turn your back on. I drained the bourbon. There was a lot to do before I took off, and time was running out fast. I walked to the door. Witt’s voice cut me off. “Hold on, Murphy.”
I turned around. Witt lumbered toward me. “Take this.” he handed me a card. On the back were a name and a number. “This guy’ll get you down there safely. I’ll let him know you’re coming first thing tomorrow. Go home and get some sleep. When you meet this guy tomorrow, bring along enough suppliers to last for three days. We’ll meet you by that time.”
I nodded.
“And don’t take the woman. I don’t trust her, no matter what you and Fitzpatrick say. We have no margin of error. There can be no distractions, no excuses. Everything depends on what we do now. We have to succeed. No matter what.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I picked up my speeder from the valet, half-expecting a couple of NSA agents to be waiting in the back seat. I guess it was my lucky day.
As I flew back to my office, I was a jumble of excitement, weariness, and anxiety. Malloy must have known the burden he was dumping on his friends’ backs. If only he’d never made the discovery. The spacecraft, if there actually was one, had been here for hundreds, maybe thousands of years without being found. Maybe it could’ve lain there in peace for another million years. Maybe we could have thrown ourselves into extinction without ever finding it. As it was, the proverbial cat was out of the bag, and it was one gigantic cat. Witt was right. If there was antihydrogen stored on the spacecraft, there was no question that it needed to be destroyed. It was the last thing we needed in circulation.
When I got back to my office, I couldn’t remember ever being so tired. Tomorrow I would be flying to Peru to help locate and scrap an alien spacecraft. Definitely something to write home about. Unfortunately, the thought of it was sapping any meagre amounts of energy left in my weary, forty year old body. I stumbled into my bedroom and pulled up abruptly.
Regan was stretched languidly across my bed, a thin veneer of silk draped over her creamy skin. God, of all the times to tempt me. I wasn’t sure if I was strong enough to deal with this now. I leaned against the door frame and lit a cigarette. “I suppose you’ve already sat in my chair and eaten my porridge.”
Regan looked up at me feverishly, her eyes bright. “It took you long enough. I was afraid I’d have to start without you. Hope you don’t mind — I thought I’d get comfortable while I waited. I’m feeling extremely comfortable.”
“You look it.”
She moved restlessly and immodestly. “How long does it take you to smoke a cigarette?”
“Why? You in a hurry?”
“That’s one way to describe it.”
I walked toward the bed and crushed my Lucky Strike into an ashtray on the nightstand. Regan ran her hand across the bedspread, her eyes following my every move. She was putting off more heat than a space shuttle on re-entry. I took a step back and stared down at the most desirable woman in the world. “Tell me, Regan, do you always get what you want?”
“Only if I really want it.”
Her shallow breathing was contagious. With no small effort, I turned and crossed the room, removing my hat and overcoat. I looked back at Regan, steadying myself on the dresser. “I’ve never really understood women that well. Could you explain to me exactly what’s happening here?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve never done this before.”
“Just once… by myself. It confused me and made me feel dirty.”
Regan smiled seductively. “Come over here, little boy.”
I walked back across the room and sat down on the corner of the bed. Regan sat up and loosened my tie. “If we’re going to be in this together, I need to know that you’re in all the way.”
“I have to warn you, I failed all my commitment classes in college.”
Regan’s fingers moved slowly across my ear and into my hair. “I can teach an old dog new tricks.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
Her face was close to mine, her eyes focused on my mouth. “Promise me, Tex. Promise that you’ll stay with me and see this to the end.”
“I’m not taking you with me, Regan.”
“You can have me, and everything else you ever wanted. Just for taking me with you.” I only wanted one thing in the world at that moment. I was standing at the edge of the abyss, bits of gravel tumbling into the chasm and falling over. Suddenly, a face came into my mind. Chelsee’s face. I got up from the bed and backed away. Regan looked up at me, her face twisted in confusion. “Don’t do this to me, Tex. I’ve already lost my father. I don’t want to lose you.” She was changing tactics. I couldn’t believe the negligee approach had ever failed before, but she seemed to have other tricks up her sleeve.