Serpent's Gift

by A. C. Crispin

  "But I am wearing a heavy-duty suit of the same type as you are, and Ssoriszs has on a field that provides maximum radiation protection," Serge pointed out, his heart sinking. "We will only be here for perhaps thirty minutes. Even with regular pressure gear, our exposure in that time would be negligible."

  Lynch shook her cropped head. "No," she said flatly, then, as though remembering that she was actually employed by StarBridge Academy, she amended her refusal to, "I'm sorry, but that is impossible."

  "But--"

  The crew boss's mouth tightened. "I'm very busy, and must get back to work now. We'll let you know when the site is safe again."

  "Ms. Lynch," Ssoriszs said, "only today I heard Mr. Morrow say that there was no danger in Cavern One. May we not at least remove the artifacts in their stasis fields and the archaeological equipment? Some of it is extremely delicate, and we fear that it will be in the way of your workers and become damaged."

  "I'm sorry, uh, Esteemed Liaison"--she'd obviously had to think to recall Ssoriszs' title--"but I have my orders. Our insurance carrier will not permit anyone but a Horizons Unlimited employee access to a contaminated worksite."

  "We would be entirely willing to sign any type of waiver that you wish,"

  Serge said hastily. "I'm sure Mr. Morrow would allow us on the site--he's supported our project since the beginning. May we speak to him?"

  "He's up at the station."

  "Well, can you call him?"

  "Mr. Morrow is asleep," Lynch said curtly, "and I'm not going to disturb him over something like this. I will tell him that you were here when he checks in."

  Serge stood his ground. "We'll wait, if we may, until we may speak with Mr.

  Morrow. I saw an empty bubbletent as we landed ... we can stay there."

  Lynch's skin was too dark to betray an angry flush, but her eyes flashed and she took a slow, deep breath. "Listen, Mr. LaRoche, I don't have time to argue about this. I have to oversee my crew."

  "You listen--" Serge began, then he broke off, aware that if he said any more, he'd say too much. He kept his temper in control only by clenching his teeth until his jaw ached. Silently, he and Lynch eyed each other.

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  Finally, after what had to be more than a full minute of silence, Lynch glanced away, and Serge heard her mutter an obscenity under her breath.

  "Look," she snarled. "I can't let you into the caverns, and that's that. But since you insist, I'll bring the damned artifacts in the stasis fields and all the equipment out to you, and you can take 'em back to the Academy. That's the best I can do." She fell silent, but Serge could almost hear her unspoken final thought. Take it or leave it.

  He glanced at Ssoriszs, saw the Mizari's tentacles dip downward in unison, then up again. Serge's mouth twitched. Not quite a nod, but I get the message, Esteemed One. He nodded at Andrea Lynch. "Thank you," he said coldly. "And when you are moving the stasis containers, please, I implore you, be careful."

  "Wait out by your scooter and we'll bring them out," Lynch said impatiently, helmet raised, poised to go.

  "We will need plas-steel cord to tie the items safely in place," Serge reminded her.

  "Right." The helmet was already past her nose. Serge quickly donned his own, locking it into place.

  Back at the scooter, Serge stood looking at the little vehicle, trying to figure out how in the universe he was going to cram all the equipment and artifacts onto it. Motioning Ssoriszs up into the cargo compartment, he waited impatiently for Lynch.

  Scant minutes later she appeared, arms full, with another space- suited figure behind her. Serge piled the artifacts around Ssoriszs, wedging the stasis containers securely into place. Then he began trying the instruments onto the scooter, using every projection available. Lynch stood by silently as he worked.

  Serge finished, then put a hand on the back of the pilot's seat, preparatory to climbing aboard. But before he did, the young man turned back again, knowing that although the crew boss could not see his expression, she would be able to hear the tone of his voice. "Thank you so very much for your gracious assistance, Ms. Lynch," he said, letting the sarcasm drip. "And be assured ... we will be contacting Mr. Morrow about the star-shrine."

  "You do that," Lynch retorted, turning to leave. As she did, her foot struck a small forked object that Serge had overlooked because it was lying in the absolute blackness of the scooter's shadow. "Shit!" she muttered, catching herself, then scooping it up. "Here, Mr. LaRoche. You almost forgot your damned dowser."

  My what? Serge wanted to demand, but she had already thrust the moisture finder into his hands and was skip-bouncing away,

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  knees bent and flexed, moving with the grace and assurance of one who has spent hours in a pressure suit in extremely low gravity.

  His fingers hampered by his space suit gloves, Serge managed to fasten the small Y-shaped device to his belt. Good thing I didn't lose this, he thought.

  The moisture finder was designed to analyze rock and soil and indicate where water had once run or stood. Archaeologists used it to trace the paths of vanished rivers, or to find the locations of wells that had been dry for centuries or millennia.

  Finally, after a considerable struggle, Serge managed to squeeze himself into the pilot's seat without snagging his suit on any of the equipment tied behind it. As he fastened his seat restraints, he felt fatigue wash over him like an ocean.

  Moving like an automaton, he powered up the scooter and took off, fighting the fog of exhaustion that threatened to engulf him. To the victor, the spoils, he thought grimly. And Andrea Lynch was certainly victorious today. She remains in possession of the star-shrine. . . the real treasure. I fear that it is lost to us, lost forever. . .

  Sick with despair, Serge wondered how he'd ever face Professor Greyshine again.

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  CHAPTER 9

  Collision Course

  Four days after their first meeting, Rob, Ssoriszs, Kkintha ch'aait, and Janet Rodriguez gathered to meet with Jeff Morrow and his crew boss at Horizons Unlimited's office at StarBridge Station. Rob arrived late; he'd been delayed by an incident between a Vardi senior and a Heeyoon freshman. After helping to defuse the potentially explosive confrontation, and soothing ruffled fur and fronds, he'd left the two safely in the care of the guidance counselors for their respective species.

  The meeting was under way when he walked in. Muttering a quick apology, Rob took his seat. Jeff nodded, continuing with what he'd been saying. "...

  unsure of what could have triggered it, but it's a disturbing finding. I wanted to let you know as soon as possible."

  Rob was sitting next to Janet Rodriguez. He leaned over and breathed,

  "What's up?"

  "The radonium-2 is breeding in more than one location under the Lamont Cliffs," the engineer whispered back. "It's now in several veins, instead of just one."

  Damn! Rob thought. I should have figured--nothing is ever simple around here!

  Kkintha ch'aait was the first to speak after Morrow's announcement. "How do you propose to remedy this, Jeffrey?" she asked in her high-pitched, cluttering voice.

  "Expediently, I hope," Morrow said. "The first thing on the 154

  docket is a thorough survey of all the radonium veins running through the asteroid. If they are as they should be, then we'll concentrate on sealing off the contaminated deposits beneath the mountains, isolating them. Then we'll remove the R-2 by the vaporization technique I described to you during our initial meeting."

  "Sounds like a big job," Janet said, looking at Andrea Lynch.

  The crew boss nodded. "Yes. I'm going to need a larger crew, and I've already taken steps to hire more people."

  "When wil your survey be complete?" Kkintha asked.

  "Five days ... six at the outside," Andrea Lynch replied. The woman seemed greatly subdued this meeting--much of her smug condescension had

  evaporated. Maybe Jeff had spoken to her about her attitude, Rob thought, or--he took a clo
ser look at her--maybe Lynch was too tired to cause trouble.

  Today it was the crew boss's turn to look as though she hadn't been sleeping. Her features were pinched, as though she'd lost weight these last couple of days.

  Jeff looked slightly better--at least the shadows beneath his eyes had faded.

  But the normally impeccably groomed engineer was a mess. His clothes appeared slept-in, and his hair was tousled, as though it hadn't been combed since he first got up. The distort cuff he still wore (as did Lynch) was slightly askew. Knowing that the younger man had been working 'round the clock to try and save the Academy touched Rob.

  Jeff's busting his ass, he thought. I just hope his best will be good enough . ..

  "We'll be sending a team over to do extensive testing here in the school,"

  Morrow was saying. "There are a couple of veins that run right below it--one big one in particular that we'll have to keep an eye on."

  "I've been running checks myself every twelve hours," Janet said. "No indication of any change."

  "Your equipment isn't as powerful as ours," Lynch said. "We've got a new radiation sensing device that's state-of-the-art."

  "I believe we should plan for an evacuation," Kkintha said quietly. The little Chhhh-kk-tu's formerly luxuriant chest ruff looked thin and patchy as she absently groomed herself. "As soon as I leave here, I shall begin drawing up a comprehensive strategy for removing our students to a safe location--most likely, here on StarBridge Station, at least as a temporary refuge."

  "Evacuate?" Rob stared at her. "Don't you think that's a bit premature, Kkintha?"

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  "I agree with Rob, Administrator," Jeff said earnestly. "Hold on until we finish our survey, and then you'll know for sure whether there's genuine cause for alarm."

  "I would rather have something active to do, rather than simply wait and worry," the little alien said, puffing out her cheeks, whiskers quivering. "If no evacuation is necessary, that will be wonderful, and I will gladly discard my plan." She glanced around the table, her round blue eyes anxious in her dark face. "But in the event one is needed, I will be prepared to implement my plan as soon as you give me the word. Frankly, from what I have heard today, I am beginning to fear the worst."

  No one spoke for nearly a minute following the Administrator's speech. Rob swallowed and glanced around at the other faces, seeing his own

  apprehension mirrored there. It was as though Kkintha ch'aait had put into words all their worst fears--and by doing so had made them concrete, real.

  "Administrator ch'aait," Jeff finally said, "I can't argue that forewarned is forearmed. That's why I asked you to meet with me today. But you've got to remember that we have teams working around the clock to deal with this crisis. The initial outbreak is now contained and sealed off. Even as we speak, our engineers and technicians are vaporizing the radonium-2

  beneath the floor of Cavern Two, and will be collecting it for disposal."

  "How do you get rid of it?" Janet asked curiously.

  "It's so volatile that we suction the vapor into self-propelled tanks. Each tank is equipped with a rudimentary guidance system that we'll program to soft-land on a worthless hunk of rock several million kilometers away from here on the edge of StarBridge Sector--well out of the space lanes."

  "But suppose someone finds the tanks?"

  "They're equipped with a warning beacon, so no one finding one before it reaches its destination will be tempted to mess with it. Then, after all the tanks are collected, we detonate the whole thing by remote control. You ought to be able to see the flash from here," Morrow replied.

  Boom, thought Rob, glancing over at Andrea Lynch. When his eyes met hers, she looked down at her holotank.

  "While you investigate the logistics of moving our students," Ssoriszs said to Kkintha, "I will contact the CLS Council about funding for such an endeavor.

  Our budget will not stretch to cover such an expense--we must have emergency funds allocated to us."

  "Do you think the Council will okay that?" Rob asked

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  doubtfully. StarBridge was an expensive proposition as it was. The CLS was no different from any human bureaucracy in its distaste for bailing out agencies that had run over budget.

  "That remains to be seen," Ssoriszs said. "We have our detractors on the Council. One of the new representatives from Hurrreeah is extremely conservative, and reportedly, her clan owes honor-debts to the Harkk'ett clan."

  Rob nearly groaned aloud. The Mizari was referring to the Simiu clan that had, nearly sixteen years ago, pledged themselves to an undying honor-debt against all the human worlds. The Harkk'etts were a relatively small minority on their planet, but they were also among the most vocal. They regarded StarBridge Academy as a human-tainted institution, and seldom missed a chance to criticize--or, on occasion, denounce--the way the school was run.

  "Great," Janet said bitterly. "She ought to find plenty of support from the Heeyoon centrists and the Drnian anti-expansionists. We'd better start filling out grant applications--it looks like we may need them!"

  Frustrated, Morrow waved for their attention. "Let's not forget, there's a very good chance that none of this will be necessary!"

  "It never hurts to be prepared, Jeff," Lynch said unexpectedly. She glanced at her watch, then stood. "I've got to get back to assign the second shift."

  With a halfhearted wave, she hurried out.

  Morrow nodded. "I'd better go, too. Try not to worry, everyone. I promise I'll keep in touch, and you'll know the instant we have news, either positive or negative."

  Amid subdued farewells from the StarBridge contingent, Jeff departed.

  Rob took a deep breath. "I keep hoping that if I just pinch myself hard enough, I'll wake up," he said slowly. "This doesn't look good, my friends."

  "No, it doesn't," Janet said. "I can hardly wait for Andreiovitch to get here so we can get a second opinion. I don't like that Lynch woman, and I don't trust her, either."

  "Just because she has all the charisma and personal charm of a Drnian spike-roach doesn't make her incompetent," Rob pointed out. "She's obviously intelligent, and Jeff sets great store by her opinions. Says she's

  'the best' at her job."

  "I'm not saying she's dumb or incompetent," Janet replied tartly. "I'm saying I don't trust her. I'm going to want to examine H.U.'s findings for myself."

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  "Under the terms of our contact with them, you have every right to do so,"

  Kkintha said.

  "What do you think might be wrong?" Rob asked curiously. Personally, he'd speculated that Lynch might be trying to cover up errors her team had made during H.U.'s last radonium check. "Insofar as Lynch is concerned?"

  The engineer sighed with frustration. "I don't know! There's nothing concrete!

  I don't have a single shred of hard evidence . .. just my gut feeling that she's covering something up."

  "I've thought the same thing," Rob admitted, and then continued, in response to Janet's surprised glance, "I've wondered whether she or her crew screwed up during the last monitoring session, and she's trying to cover it up--hide her mistake from Jeff, as well as from the Academy."

  "That could be it," Janet said slowly. "People will go to great length to protect their jobs. Of course, it's entirely possible that she's just naturally defensive and surly, and we're jumping to conclusions because we don't like her."

  "Serge believes that she may be plotting to steal the star- shrine," Ssoriszs spoke up, taking all of them aback. "After all, if it indeed came from my people's Lost Colony, it would be a priceless treasure."

  "A good point," Kkintha said. "There is a thriving trade in uncoded, unregistered antiquities, is there not?"

  "The humans call it 'the black market,' " the elderly Liaison told her.

  "A good name for it," Kkintha said. "And I must say, I share your dislike for Ms. Lynch."

  After a long moment of silence, Rob straightened. "We can't condemn someo
ne just because she's rude," he said finally. "But we can keep a close eye on her. There's nothing to prevent us from doing that."

  A silent glance of agreement flashed around the conference room, then they all rose to leave.

  "Excuse me, Mr. Morrow .. ." Serge said, stepping away from the wall where he'd been leaning. He'd been here, loitering outside the conference room in Horizons Unlimited's suite of offices, ever since Janet Rodriguez had tipped him off about the meeting. He'd stayed out of sight until Andrea Lynch had gone into her cubicle because he didn't want to speak to Jeffrey Morrow with her present.

  "Yes?" Morrow said, slowing but not halting.

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  "May I speak to you for a moment? My name is Serge} LaRoche."

  Morrow stopped. "The archaeologist, right?" He glanced at his watch. "I'm really busy . .."

  "Please, it is important," Serge said. "I was out at the site several days ago and spoke to Ms. Lynch there. She told me she'd tell you that I was there, but when I didn't hear from you, I wondered whether she might have forgotten. I have been waiting to hear from you . .."

  "Andrea didn't mention having spoken to you," Morrow said. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

  Serge wasn't surprised to discover that Lynch had said nothing--he hadn't expected her to keep her word. "That is quite all right," he told the older man.

  "Is there somewhere we could talk for just a moment? There is something I must ask you, Mr Morrow."

  "Please, make it Jeff," Morrow said. " 'Mr. Morrow' is my father."

  Serge extended his hand, something he rarely did upon meeting someone for the first time, but he wanted to gauge Jeff's reaction to his artificial hand . .. find out what kind of man the Horizons Unlimited engineer was.

  "Serge, please," he said.

  As Morrow's fingers gripped Serge's, his eyes widened slightly, but he showed no repugnance and his grasp was firm. The instructor's opinion of the engineer rose considerably. He was certain that Lynch would have had a very different--and unpleasant--reaction.

  "Listen, it's lunchtime," Jeff said. "How about if you join me?" *

  "Thank you, I would appreciate that," Serge said.