The Devil's Eye ab-4

by Jack McDevitt

  "Hello," I said. I tried to sound panicky. "It keeps going up."

  "This is Sky Traffic Fourteen. What's happening? You're too high."

  "Don't know. It won't talk to me. It just keeps going up."

  "All right. Keep calm, ma'am. Let me talk with the AI, please."

  "That's what I'm trying to tell you. The AI isn't saying anything."

  "All right. Apparently you must have done something to shut it off. You need to reactivate. In order to do that, you need first to get into the front right-hand seat. Are you alone in the vehicle?"

  "Yes."

  "All right. Now let's start by opening the main function panel. It's to your left. Are you in the front right-hand seat yet?"

  He gave me detailed instructions. I reported back, step by step, that I was following everything he told me to do. "It still won't work."

  "Okay. Keep calm, ma'am. There's no reason to worry. We'll get you down. Do you know how to operate the vehicle?"

  "No," I said. "All right." The voice was male. It was calm. Reassuring. Everything would be okay. "Please take control of the taxi in the following manner-" I could have shut the radio down, but that might have given the game away. So I listened while he gave instructions, warned me against the hazards of high altitudes, and assured me that Sky Traffic Operations knew of the problem and was doing everything necessary to return me safely to the ground. "I can't hear you," I said. "The radio's shut off."

  "Taxi, can you hear me now?" I almost said Negative . Instead: "Are you still there? I can't hear a thing." I was passing through white cumulus clouds. Minutes later I got another call: "You in the taxi, this is Traffic Control. Do you need assistance? What is happening?"

  "I don't know. It just keeps going up." I wanted to sound scared, and I guess the truth is that it didn't take much effort. "All right." It was a male voice again. "Don't be frightened. We'll get you down." "This is the first time anything like this has happened to me."

  "It's okay. It happens all the time. Is the taxi responding?"

  He was talking about the AI. "No, sir," I said. "She just stopped talking. I don't know what happened." "Okay. Help is on the way. Meantime, let's try something." He gave me instructions on how to maneuver the taxi, how to get it under control. "No," I said. "I've never operated one of these things. I'm afraid I'll kill myself."

  "All right. Just relax, Miss. Everything's going to be all right."

  I could see them coming. Lots of blinking lights a few klicks behind me. The operator kept talking to me, trying to reassure me. I was above the clouds by then, picking up speed as antigrav units tend to do when they get higher and the air gets thinner. It was all I could do not to pour the juice to it, to get out of there before they arrived. But I didn't dare. I couldn't afford to use the extra fuel. I sat tight and eventually the patrol vehicle pulled alongside. There were two officers in it. One waved. Relax. Take it easy. Then her voice came over the radio: "Miss? Are you okay?" "So far."

  "All right. Good. Listen, we want to get you out of there before it goes any higher."

  "How do you mean?"

  "Let's try the controls first. Have you popped the panel?" She was talking about the controls, which rotate out when you go to manual. "What do you mean by 'popped'?"

  "Let it go. Look, here's what I want you to do." She gave me the same instructions the earlier guy had. One step at a time. "Withdraw the yoke." "I can't," I said.

  "Just take it easy."

  I was thinking if they told me one more time to relax, I would scream. "It won't come loose. It's stuck." We continued like that for another minute or so. Then she sighed. "Okay. Look, I want to get you out of there before we get any higher."

  "Good. I'm for-"

  "- We're going to get above you. I'll come down and help. But I need you to open the door. Hang on to something when you do because the air pressure in your cabin will try to drag you outside."

  "Outside the door?"

  "Yes. So hold on."

  "Listen, I'm not going to open anything up here. That's crazy."

  "Miss, we're running out of options fast."

  That was good news. "I'm not opening up. Please find another way." "There is no other way." "No. I'm sorry." I found it easy to show them some hysteria. "I can't do it." They tried anyhow. The woman was gutsy. They got above me and matched my rate of ascent. They dropped a cable, and she climbed down on it. Right from the start she was getting blown all over the sky. Then she was outside, pounding on the door. I put on my best look of sheer terror and sat frozen in my seat. Her partner, a guy with a voice like a tractor engine, told me how I should grab hold of the chair arm. Hang on to the chair arm and don't let go, and simultaneously hit the pad and open the door. Jara would take care of the rest. Right. I didn't answer. I sat there and shook my head violently no, not on your life, while the wind bumped her around on the hull of the taxi. She looked through the window at me, and I had to give her credit: She kept the contempt she must have been feeling out of her eyes. She continued to beat on the door, while I felt about as guilty as I ever have in my life. But I stayed put. Pushed back down into my seat, frozen with terror. Finally, she gave up.

  "She won't let me in, Kav." "Try it one more time." "Miss, please. The higher you get, the more difficult this will become. You'll be perfectly safe." Her eyes were a luminous blue, and they pleaded with me. Open up. Get up off your sorry ass and let me in. If this ended happily, I decided, I would find Jara, apologize to her, and buy her a drink.

  Finally, they gave up. We were piling on too much altitude. Kav assured me they'd be back for me, and they pulled away as an airliner passed in the distance. Now all I needed was to get to thirty-one thousand kilometers and get rescued. I was hoping that Sky Traffic Operations was notifying Samuels that a vehicle with a hysterical woman on board was heading up out of control and would need help. I checked the doors and listened for the sound of escaping air. I didn't hear any. The taxi seemed as secure as the AI had promised. I checked the altitude gauge. It was marked up to three klicks, which wasn't much use in determining how high I'd gone. But I could estimate my rate of ascent, so it wasn't hard to calculate. I was maybe halfway to my target altitude when Traffic Control started talking to me again: "Miss, are you okay?"

  "Yes," I said.

  "We've alerted the Patrol and they'll be on the lookout for you."

  "Okay. Thanks."

  "Try to keep calm. Everything's going to be okay."

  So far, so good. I rode patiently up into black skies. The heating system couldn't keep up, so I wrapped myself in one of the blankets. The galactic haze was rising in the east. And we were burning fuel at a steady rate. When I thought I'd reached more or less the space-station altitude, I burned some more to level off. And I began looking for lights. The messages from groundside went on without a break. Lady in the taxi, it's okay. We're watching you. Samuels has been notified. Help is on the way. Please remain calm. Despite all that, the sky remained empty. My air had been leaking out, and I was beginning to feel it. I reached back for the mask and put it on. The flow of oxygen felt good. I don't think I'd been aware how foul the air had gotten. I began breathing regularly and sat back to await rescue. The ride up from the surface had consumed more fuel than I'd hoped, and I had maybe fifty minutes before the spike would shut down. I couldn't come close to accelerating to orbital speed, so once that happened I'd simply fall back to the ground. Well, as close to the ground as I would get before burning up. It was time to take matters into my own hands. I got on the radio. "Samuels Ops," I said, "this is Janey Armitage." I made up the name. "I'm in a runaway taxi. Something went wrong with the spike, and it's taken me God knows where. Please help. I'll leave the transmit on so you can track me. Please hurry." I looked out at the empty skies. "The fuel gauge is near empty, and I don't know what will happen after that." They would know, of course. And they answered immediately: "Ms. Armitage, we heard you were coming. Patrol vehicle is already on its way. Should be there anytime." Then, a
gag: "What kind of taxi are you riding anyhow?"

  "Don't know," I said. "But I'll be glad to get out of here."

  "Just sit tight, ma'am. They'll be right there." Moments later I saw lights. Coming from ahead. And another voice on the radio: "Ms. Armitage, this is Orbital Delta. We see you, but we may have a problem."

  Chilling words, those. The guy wasn't even close to me yet. "What's the problem?" I said.

  "We're prepping a second vehicle to do the actual rescue. The taxi's too big for our cargo area. We can't fit it on board."

  I'd debated picking up a pressure suit in case we had to do a space walk, but I hadn't been able to see any way to explain its presence to the rescuers. Hiding the oxygen tank would be tough enough. If they figured out that I'd engineered the whole thing, they'd waste no time turning me over to the authorities. So I'd had to take my chances. "How long before it gets here?"

  "It won't be long." " How long?" "Probably within the hour."

  "That's not going to work."

  "What's your situation?"

  "Air's okay, but fuel looks like about forty-five minutes."

  "Okay. We'll have to do something else. You don't by any chance have a pressure suit over there, do you?"

  "No." I held back on the wisecrack.

  "Okay. Sit tight for a minute while we figure it out."

  While they were figuring, a cluster of lights came out of the night behind me. The lights were higher than I was, and off to port. While I watched they grew brighter and blurred past. "That Samuels?" I asked.

  "Yes, ma'am."

  Only one course of action was possible, they explained. I would have to cross from the taxi to the rescue

  vessel more or less dressed for dinner. "It sounds unnerving, ma'am. We know that. But we've done it before, and we've never lost anybody."

  I had my doubts. "Okay," I said. "What's your name?"

  "Lance Depardeau."

  "Okay, Lance. Come to the lady's rescue."

  They needed a few minutes to get ready. I assume they were talking to the station, trying to make sure the other vehicle, the one with the big cargo doors, could not make it in time. Finally, they were back.

  "Sorry about the delay, Janey. Okay, here's how we're going to do it. The only thing you need to do is keep cool, follow directions, and leave everything to us." Minutes later, the Patrol vehicle maneuvered close in, almost close enough to bump the cab. "It's okay," Lance said. "If you have any warm clothing with you, put it on." I wrapped myself in one of the blankets. I was starting to get used to wearing blankets. Latest fashion item. Their air lock opened, revealing a figure in a pressure suit. They had to stay close, not only because getting me from one vehicle to the other had to be done quickly, but also because the antigravity field extended only a hand's length beyond the wingtips. We weren't in orbit. So anyone who got outside the field was going to fall.

  "Do you have something you can put over your head, Janey?"

  That's why I'd bought my nearly airtight dragon jacket. I'd secured it to a seat support to prevent its floating around the inside of the taxi. Now I released it and told him yes . The person in the pressure suit-I didn't know whether it was Lance or not-jumped across, and I heard the thump as he landed on the side of the cab. Just before he reached the door, I took a deep breath, shed the mask, and pushed it under the seat. The air in the cab was fouler than I'd realized. "All right, Janey," he said. "You're doing fine. Keep calm." I pulled the jacket over my head and secured it at my throat with the tieback.

  "Okay. That's good. Breathe normally. And hang on to the handle so you don't get sucked out."

  I couldn't really answer him anymore. But I grabbed hold of the door release and the chair.

  "I'll pull you out. As soon as I get your arm, let go. You might want to hold on. But don't do it, okay. Let go as soon as I touch you."

  I nodded okay. Inside the jacket, of course, I couldn't see anything. I knew others had made this kind of crossing and that there was no real danger unless I lost my head. So now I'll confess something. I was almost enjoying playing the damsel in distress.

  "Open the door."

  I pulled the release and opened up. The air exploded out. Then the world turned frigid. It was like being held naked against an iceberg. I started shivering. He took my arm and pulled me through the door. I could see nothing; I was just trying to breathe normally when we pushed off hard away from the taxi. Hard because for a moment we went outside the antigrav field. My weight returned and, for a terrifying moment, we fell. But our momentum carried us across. The weight went away again, as quickly as it had come. We touched metal. Secure in my jacket, I closed my eyes. Air pressure began to push against me, and gradually, the world got warm again.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  This is my promise to you, Beth. As long as there is a star in the sky, no evil will come upon you.

  - Midnight and Roses

  Lance insisted I check in with Medical, and there was no way I could refuse without arousing suspicion. Anyway, I was bleeding from every orifice I had. So he escorted me down. On the way, he said he knew this wasn't a particularly good time, but he wondered if he could see me again. Considering the shape I was in, it came as a surprise. "That would be nice, Lance," I said. "I'm on duty through tomorrow. But-" He hesitated. "Will you be staying on station? I think they're going to want to talk to you." He didn't specify who "they" were. "I have to be getting back to my job," I said. "Can't really stay here." He smiled. He was a big, good-looking guy. There was an innocence about him that was appealing, and we all know how women love uniforms. Not to mention guys who save their behinds. But there was too much risk in letting him know how he could reach me, so I gave him a bogus code to go with the bogus name, and we separated, he promising to get in touch, while I batted my eyes, said thanks, gave him a hug, and thought good-bye . Medical checked me out, said I was fine, but suggested I stay under observation for a day. I thanked them, but passed, and headed for the Ops desk. I was approaching another bad moment. To get the Belle-Marie , I had to use my real name, which was likely to bring the gendarmes crashing down on me before I could get launched. Ivan was my best bet. But I wanted very much to get on board Belle and clear out. The watch officer came out of a back room and assumed his place behind the counter. "Yes, ma'am," he said. "What can I do for you?" He was tall, thick gray mustache, speckled gray hair. Serious-looking and well along in years. He'd obviously been passed over several times, a guy who was still manning the counter. "My name's Kolpath," I said. "I'd like to clear my ship. The Belle-Marie ." He wasn't good enough to hide his reaction. His jaw tightened; his eyelids flickered and came alive. "Very good," he said, trying to pretend everything was okay. "Can you hold on a second?" "Sure." He went back into the office, and I took off. Down the gravity shaft and out onto the main concourse. Picked out a ladies' room and hustled inside. There was one occupant, and I washed my hands until she left. Then I called Ivan. "Captain Sloan is not available," said his AI. "Do you wish to leave a message?" He was probably out on the Goldman . "Yes, I would." "Anytime you're ready."

  "Ivan, this is Chase. I'm in trouble. Need to talk to you as soon as possible." I added my code as the door opened, and somebody came in.

  I checked the schedules. The Hassan Goldman , Ivan's ship, was en route to Varesnikov. It was due back in two days. See the biggest planet in the system. Cruise through the moons and rings. Gourmet meals served on board. Not good. If I simply wandered around the concourse for two days, I was going to become extremely visible. Then, as I was trying to decide what to do, I spotted Krestoff. She was looking around and talking into her sleeve. I had to get clear of the station. The only way I could think of to do that was to steal Belle . On the assumption they wouldn't expect me to go back to Ops, I did just that, slipped past the service desk, and saw a couple of serious-looking women talking with the watch officer. I kept going, and got as far as the maintenance piers. But the entrance is always locked. I stood there waiting for someone who'd open
the door and allow me to follow him through. While I was considering my chances of doing that and

  making a run for Belle , getting on board, and getting under way before they closed the launch doors, a nasal voice broke in: "Who are you and what are you doing here?" It was a technician. He was big, kind of old, and didn't look particularly kindly. "I'm lost," I said. "Can you tell me how to get to the main concourse?" I went back and thought about booking a room. But the hotel would be the first place Krestoff would look. I could hunt Lance down. And I had no doubt he'd be happy to provide bed and board for two days. But I'd have to persuade him to keep quiet in the meantime. The schedule showed two more tour flights that day: one to Miranda, and one that would chase down a comet. Miranda would be gone almost a week, so I signed on for the comet, which would be back in three days. I left another message for Ivan, asking him not to leave when he got back. "Going to see the comet," I said. "I'll be in touch." It was taking a chance, letting him know where I'd be. But I doubted Wexler had made a connection between us. I spent the next few hours shopping once again for fresh clothes and staying out of Krestoff's way. When time came to board, I waited until the very last minute, then rolled through the boarding area, gave them my pass, and hurried down the tube. A flight attendant welcomed me, showed me to my cabin, and wished me a good flight. There was a brief delay, apparently having to do with one more late arrival. I held my breath, but finally hatches closed, and the captain's voice came over the comm system, warning the passengers that we were getting ready to leave.