“Only three have tried to impress me with their importance and told me we could not do this to them without risk of extreme consequences, but when I told them they were free to go at any time if they did not mind walking home from Polar North Territory their tone changed quite quickly."
“I can imagine,” Niki said. “Why are we in the PNT?"
“We're not,” Pasha interjected. “We're still in Palmer's Canyon."
“I just told them that to shut them up,” Antaris said, smiling all the while. “However, if we were to let them step outside at this moment, they would certainly think they were right in the middle of the PNT."
“It's that bad?"
“The storm that began yesterday is worsening, and the snow is seven meters deep in places. The temperature was eighteen below an hour ago, and it is falling fast. This is going to be a cold Minor Tides, Nikisha."
“I'll say. Uh, Trina, please take Frank and Vagnu to the briefing room—I'll be up there in a minute."
“Are you feeling well enough to do that?” Pasha asked, her concern for him showing plainly in her expression.
“Even if I weren't, we have only ten days—come first light.” Niki was worried about the time, because there was a limit to how long the La Paz would remain in orbit. The more time he allowed to elapse before they got off Paz, the closer they would come to missing their opportunity of making the connection. Twenty-three had told him there were two occasions the La Paz could be in orbit, but that only the first fit the required launch parameters and would allow them to use Vegamtu's gravity well to help them on their way. There had been a full five-year window, and this was the fourth time the great ship had returned to Paz. If they failed to link up in the next twenty days, the whole process would recycle with La Paz returning to its holding orbit outside the system until the next Minor Tides—the final year.
* * * *
“You do, of course, realize you've taken government personnel prisoner, Kaznov,” Frank said. “The penalties for such—"
“Prisoners,” Vagnu parroted. “You don't have the right to—"
“Please, gentlemen, we don't have time for this. Harko came here to apprehend the both of you, and we all know he intends to see you hang together."
The two men twisted uncomfortably, and Niki knew he could get them to go along with him, even if they couldn't understand what was really happening. His problem was mainly what to do about Harko and Trak.
“You now know that the Father's plan, the awakening as you called it, was intended for the continuance of a colonizing program begun over a thousand years ago, and that it was not in the slightest as you had pictured it to be—that you have completely misinterpreted the Riddle of the Ancients."
“So you say,” Frank growled, and Vagnu nodded in agreement.
“Forget your problems with me, both of you. Let me tell you why you're here. We need a reasonable balance of lots. Each of us has certain traits desirable for a social structure, but don't read too much into what I said because those traits exist in all of us. In other words, neither of you is indispensable.” Shifting his gaze to Vagnu, he continued, “GoL Vagnu, we're willing to transport you back to New London. In exchange, you will transmit the true meaning of the awakening to your people and bring back those who volunteer to carry out the Fathers’ wishes. There's nothing altruistic or gratuitous about my offer, it's strictly business and it's extremely simple. We let you go, and you bring back volunteers. If none are interested, you'll be free to face Harko and the box, or return to Ganeden—your choice. Is that understood?"
“I think we both understand you well enough, but ... what happens to Harko?"
“He remains with us until we are ready to leave. I can assure you he has kept this to himself, except for those he brought with him—and it could be that many of them don't understand why they're here, either. He has CACs on both of you, which means you won't be able to contact anyone in the Council without making a mess of this for yourselves."
Niki turned to Frank and said, “What I told him is true for you. You will have until day one of Halfyear. From tomorrow's first light you have five days—no more. At the end of that time you must be in Ganeden with all those wishing to go by eighth hour."
“Why such short notice—so little time?"
“Because everyone has to be processed—not all of them will be qualified. After selection, those who qualify will have to undergo a period of indoctrination ... and all of that takes time. The La Paz will leave orbit on day fifteen of the celebration if we aren't aboard by then—and I can't hold Harko that long."
“Why don't you just term him and his people?
“Yes, that would be a solution,” Vagnu added.
“It may be a solution for you, but that's why you're in this position, isn't it? Now, do we have an agreement ... or do I turn you over to Harko now?"
Frank and Vagnu conferred with one another briefly, then did exactly what Pasha had predicted. She had told him they would agree to his proposal without argument. She had also cautioned him to remember the giant traitor spider that lived in the equatorial jungles. That spider would assume a helpless position and wait until safely inside the digestive tract of its prey, where it would administer its sting, then eat its way out. These two were in their helpless position now, but once they were back inside the shuttles with their followers they could—and probably would—strike. Niki wouldn't allow them to get that far. Right after the screening at the Ganeden shelter he would turn them over to Harko and let things go as they would. Frank and Vagnu left the room. They were mumbling to one another under their breath. Probably something to do with what they could plan for Niki to end him when they got the chance.
When Andromodi, Laski, and Fein took their seats, he knew the next meeting was going to be much more pleasant. They were smiling, not broadly, but amiably—as if they had already come to grips with their situation.
“All right, my friends,” Niki began, “may I refer to you by your first names?” They nodded assent, and he continued. “Good. I'm sorry for all this, and I regret I can't tell you the reasons why. I'm the one who has disrupted your lives, and if you have any complaints you may lodge them here."
Niki waited for any comment, and, when none was made, went on. “You're all aware of our purpose here, and you've all had some experience with the awakening. What I propose is..."
The meeting with the three new Gammas was one of the more satisfying exchanges he'd had in some time, and, when they finished, Laski and Fein both expressed a strong desire to go. Andromodi, though not entirely opposed to the idea, wanted a bit more time to think. Next on the list were Harko and company, a gathering he wasn't especially excited about. As the four of them filed in, the atmosphere turned decidedly cool.
“All right, Kaznov,” Harko said in a tone as cold as the weather blustering outside the shuttle. “What in the name of the Ancients is all this? Have you lost your mind?"
“Please, Brand, there is an explanation, and once you've heard me out you'll understand why all of this had to be."
“I'll listen,” Harko said as he pulled up a chair, “but I tell you true—this had better be damned good."
"Damned good," Sax added.
“Shut up, Sax. So, Niki, tell me what was so pressing that you felt it was worth risking doing the air dance at the end of the Terminator's line with those other shagrats?"
Niki explained their need to balance the lots, outlined the critical timing involved, and detailed his plan to put Frank and Vagnu in Harko's hands when it was done. He also made it a point to clarify what it was about Harko that had made him sure it the plan would work. As he went along, Harko's expression grew more and more worried.
“Damn it, Niki. It was good thinking—but it won't work. Some of the assumptions you made about me were pretty close, but you don't understand how we work.” Harko pointed at Trak and continued. “Her gang, Enforcement, gets CACs at every monitor. An officer can't order his midday meal without seeing pictur
es of Frank and Vagnu displayed next to the orders for their apprehension."
Trak nodded, saying, “When CACs come down from the Council, notices are automatically posted with Enforcement, which means that all my people have orders to pick them up on sight—and they'll do that without the slightest hesitation. They also, because of the severity of the charges, have the right to use lethals if they feel it's necessary. Only an express order from Brand can put a stay on a CAC, once it has been issued."
Harko grinned and added, “They won't get picked up in Ganeden, but let them put a fuzzy foot in one of the big cities and they're mine. That's how it works, Niki. By the book."
“I guess what you're trying to tell me is that the only choice I have is to release you, is that right?"
“If you don't want them in DetCenter by tomorrow, I guess that sums it up,” Harko said with a tone of finality.
“Will you allow them to do what we need from them? I mean, will you give them time to contact their people?"
Niki didn't like the tone Harko had taken and, if they were telling him true, it didn't appear he had much latitude. He would have to let them go. Niki decided that if Harko would give him his word, he would have to trust him to follow through. On the other hand, if he kept them, assuming Harko and Trak had told him true, Frank and Vagnu would be taken into custody immediately and nothing would be accomplished. Either way, he had to believe Harko.
“Niki,” Harko began, “I stood at the edge of the Nurab Deep when I let you do what you did at the museum. My job, my reputation and my future were all in jeopardy."
“You couldn't have stopped us."
“Irrelevant, Niki. Now, letting two known assassins run loose could ... no, that's not quite the wording I want ... would put me in the box right alongside the both of them, and if they do any more damage while I stand by and watch—well, I'd hang with them, too."
“Then, there's nothing we can do? We have no options open to us?"
“I didn't say that. I just want you to see how bad a position I'll be in if I play along with you.” Harko looked to Trak and said, “Lisha, what's your position. Can you go along with any of this?"
“Well-l-l ... it's definitely not in the book.” She rubbed at her temples nervously. “If we maintain full surveillance on them, we could say we needed to extend the investigation. After all, some of what Sax has in the case file is exaggerated innuendo with no meat to back it up—no offense, Sax. I'd say, if you issued a ‘stay for surveillance’ order, I'd be free to execute it. There are plausible reasons we could use to keep it inside the extreme edges of the book—I guess. Yes, I'd do it."
“Wait just one damned minute!” Wills, who had sat silently up to that point, shouted. “I can't believe what I'm hearing. Do we have a couple of criminals or don't we?"
“Relax, Carlos. I know what I'm doing here, and, yes, we do have two of the lowest we've ever had the bad luck to deal with. We also have something that's important to our future as a people—something that has to be handled carefully. You stay with me on this, and we'll do our job and the Fathers’ work at the same time."
“Yeah, I heard what went on in the meeting, but we have a planet here. Why in hell should we be worried about something out there,” Wills said, waving his hand skyward, “and a bunch of people with bad dreams. Particularly when we have all this crap going on down here, huh?"
“History,” Sax said. “The whole thing's about history. The Fathers escaped the destruction of their system with a representative sampling of themselves to somewhere out there,” he said, waving a mocking hand skyward. “I they hadn't, we wouldn't exist. You wouldn't be here asking dumb questions, Wills. Think about it. We're the result of a plan. What these people are doing is an extension of that plan, the thing that made it possible for you to be sitting in that chair acting stupid."
“Who's acting stupid, you little chip chasing—"
“Aw, come off it, Wills. I think what's going on here is more important than our petty crap and looking good for the Council, don't you?"
“No, I don't. I take a pledge every year to serve the Book of the Law, damn it."
“Right—and so do I,” Sax responded. “And your precious Book of the Law is being revised right here ... right now."
“Enough,” Harko said. “If I'm not mistaken, you work for me, Carlos. Right? Right. And Sax, close it and keep it closed.” Harko then turned to Niki and in a harsh voice said, “Niki, I'm going to go along with you once more—but only once. If anything goes wrong before I have those two in the box—and I mean anything—I'll do whatever I can to bring you down. Do we understand one another?"
“Yes, Brand, we do. I know you've gone to the edge, and I'm grateful. We can work out the details of what to do about Frank and Vagnu, later. Right now I'd like to talk with Mr. Sax, if you don't mind."
“Sure, go ahead,” Harko said.
“No, I mean I'd like to talk to him alone. Is it all right with you if I keep him here a few minutes?"
Niki was interested in this man, Sax. Why did he show such passion for an idea in which he was not a participant. He had noticed it during midday break—along with what seemed to be an inordinate amount of knowledge and an intense interest in the history of the Fathers. Now, alone with Sax in the briefing room, he looked at Sax a little closer. He was a small man, not in stature but in structure. A narrow, long face looked back at Niki, with what appeared to be confusion in his watery blue eyes behind a tuft of whitish-blond hair that wouldn't stay out of his face.
“Your name is Filo?"
“Yeah."
“Filo, how is it you know things that are not part of the official Ancient Record?"
“I have to warn you, I'm notorious for long storytelling. Are you sure you want to hear it?"
“Can you abbreviate it?"
“Okay, I'll try to make it as short as I can.” Sax rose from his chair and began to pace. “My father was the records man for Ganeden. That's right, Mr. Kaznov, right here in Ganeden. My father, his father, his father's father, and so on—all the way back to the seeding. Surprised?"
“Mm-hmm, a little. Please, go on."
“When Ganeden was abandoned—the mines played out—my family moved to Numerca. You know where that is?"
Numerca was the largest of the islands in the Eastern Sea, and Niki was very familiar with it. That was the crash site of shuttle number Two. The story was that One had landed safely on the shore of Lake Shakti, but a computer error put Two in the middle of the deepest lake on Paz, and it exploded when it made contact with the water—though no wreckage was ever found to support that part of the tale.
“Anyway, I was raised in the village of Tucana where shuttle One had been abandoned. As an onner, I played on and around it every day. One day I climbed up into one of the landing gear bays—hiding from some friends—and the thing made a noise that scared me half to death. Then ... then I felt it move. I knew right then that they were still alive, and I started dreaming about them one day starting up ... starting up and taking me away to the stars."
“Filo, the knowledge?"
“That wasn't filler, Mr. Kaznov. What does that have to do with what I know? Everything. I developed what my mother said was an ‘unnatural and unhealthy’ interest in the shuttles. I visited them all, read everything there was to read on them, and, one day, I found one that was open."
Niki sprang to his feet and leaned down over his knuckles on the table. “What did you say? Open? Which ... one was ... open?"
“Five—out on Luna Flat—but it wasn't open like this. Ever seen that one?"
“I've never been out of Nurusha until this year. Tell me about it."
“Well, Five's one of the most complete wrecks around, you know. The Fathers didn't strip it like they did the others. While I was climbing around on it, I found a chip wedged under the seal of the outer door in the airlock bay. When I took it out, the door closed and sealed—but I've been reading the same stuff you brought out in the meeting for two years
."
“Why didn't you tell someone?"
“You're tagging, right? I took something from a crash site. That's a minimum ten years in the box—if they don't hang you. Besides, it didn't take much reading to realize what kind of impact it could have—even though I didn't understand most of it until I heard your explanation, to realize what kind of impact it could have. I figured I could use it to advantage someday, but I knew what the consequences would be if I said anything about it before the right time. Now, I guess it doesn't matter any more."
“Does Harko know anything about it?"
“No ... no one but me. Well, you now. You know, I couldn't get a grip on how all that stuff was supposed to play out until the Chief gave me the clue. His perspective was all screwed up—still is—but he had the right idea about the programming. He's a strange man, that Harko. A little more open-minded than most, but not when it comes to something like that. He's one of those who thinks our genes should be left alone. He doesn't think we have the right to mess around with nature that way, even though he understands how much good it's done for us."
“And you think differently?"
“Oh yeah."
* * *
Chapter XXVII
“We're landing at apoapsis. Since that gives us about nine days to get ready, I'd suggest that you start knitting me a sweater, Marta. I'd like you to stay with Hermes until we know what we're facing down there."
“You're joking."
“I'm serious. You're our number one gene jostler, and we can't afford to lose you to some misplaced adventurer's spirit.
“I'm a doctor, damn it."
“We have other doctors."
“We have other gene mechanics."
“Marta, please."
“All right, Alex, I'll stay here on one condition."
“And that is?"
“That you stay here with me."
“Now look who's joking."
“No, I'm not kidding, Alex."
“Marta, I'm the command officer, remember?"
“You're a command officer. We have others."
Damn it, she's using me against me.
Seeds of Memory Page 35
