lot like him."
He looked at her, surprised. "Not me. You didn't know him. I'm not
half the priest . not half the man that he was."
Faye smiled and pinched his cheek affectionately. "Brendan, when you
told us all about your rector, it was clear how much you admired him.
And within one day, it was also clear that you were more like him than
you realized. You're young, Brendan. You've still got things to learn.
But when you're Father Wycazik's age, you're going to be the man and the
priest that he was. And every day of your life is going to be a living
testament to him."
A fragile hopefulness replaced his despair. His mouth trembled and his
voice cracked. "You ... you really think so?"
"I know it," Faye said.
He put his arms around her, and she hugged him.
Ned and Sandy stood with their arms around each other's waists, looking
up at the ship. Neither spoke because nothing more needed to be said.
At least, that's the way it seemed to him.
Then Sandy said something that did need to be said. "Ned, if we get out
of this alive . . . I want to go see a doctor. You know -one of
those fertility experts. I want to do whatever I can to bring a baby
into the world."
"But . . . you've always . . . you never .
"I never liked the world enough before," she said softly. "But now . .
. I want a part of us to be there when our kind go out to ride on top
of all the darkness, to other worlds, maybe to meet the strangers-the
wonderful strangers-who came in this. I'll be a real good mother, Ned."
"I know you will."
When Miles Bennell saw the last of the witnesses and Parker Faine filing
into the chamber, he gave up hope of employing Dom Corvaisis' new powers
to freeze Falkirk out of Thunder Hill. He would have to rely, instead,
on the .357 Magnum that was tucked into his belt. It pressed hard
against his stomach, hidden beneath his loose white lab coat.
Miles thought Leland would come with at least twenty men, probably twice
that number. He expected the colonel, Horner, and half a dozen soldiers
to enter the chamber behind the last of the witnesses. But only Horner
appeared, toting a submachine gun and prepared to use it.
As the Blocks, the Servers, Brendan Cronin, and the others were drawn
instantly and irresistibly to the starship, Horner said, "General
Alvarado, Dr. Bennell-Colonel Falkirk will be along in a moment."
"How dare you come in here with an automatic weapon at the ready," Bob
said with an aplomb Miles admired. "Good God, man! Don't you realize
if your finger slipped and you let off a burst, the slugs would keep
ricocheting off these rock walls, killing all of us-you included!"
"My finger never slips, sir," Horner said in such a way that he was
virtually challenging Bob to make an issue of it.
Instead, Bob said sharply, "Where's Falkirk?"
"Sir, the colonel had some things to attend to," Horner said. "He
apologizes for keeping you waiting. He'll join us shortly."
"What things?" Bob Alvarado asked.
"Sir, the colonel doesn't always consult me about his every move."
Miles was half-afraid Falkirk had already taken squads of DERO troops to
liquidate the staff. But that grim possibility seemed less likely with
every second that passed unmarred by the rattle of gunfire.
He was a heavily armed man looking for a chance to turn the tables on
his enemies, but he did not want to appear that way to Horner, so Miles
decided the most natural thing to do would be to talk with the witnesses
and begin to answer some of the many questions they had. He discovered
that most of them had already heard about the CISG, so he quickly
summarized the findings of that committee for the others, by way of
explaining why the cover-up had initially been ordered.
The ship before them, Miles explained, had first been spotted by deeply
positioned defense satellites orbiting the earth at a distance of more
than 22,000 miles. They had seen it coming in past the moon. (The
Soviets, whose defense satellites were cruder, did not spot the visitor
until much laterand never accurately identified it.)
Initially, observers thought the alien craft was a large meteorite or
small asteroid on a collision course with Earth. If it was a soft,
porous material, it might burn up during descent. And even if Earth were
unlucky, if the incoming debris was made of more solid stuff, it still
might fragment into a host of small and relatively harmless meteorites.
However, if Earth were very unlucky, if the wandering rock had a high
nickeliron content, which might eliminate the possibility of extensive
fragmentation, it was definitely a menace. Of course, it was almost
certain to hit water, since oceans covered seventy percent of the
planet's surface. Water impact would result in little damage, unless it
hit close enough to shore for its tsunami to devastate a port. The
worst-case possibility was a land strike in a heavily populated area.
"Imagine a lump of nickel and iron the size of a bus hurtling into the
heart of Manhattan at a couple of thousand miles an hour," Miles told
them. "That picture was horrifying enough to make us consider measures
to destroy or deflect it."
Less than six months earlier, the first satellites in the nation's
Strategic Defense Shield had been placed secretly in orbit. They had
comprised less than ten percent of the system as it would be ultimately
constituted, and on their own they could not have done much to prevent
nuclear war. But thanks to several forward-thinking designers, every
satellite had been given high maneuverability that would allow it to
turn its armaments outward and double as a planetary defense against
just such a threat as that hurtling piece of space junk. Recent theory
proposed that impacting comets or asteroids had wiped out the dinosaurs,
and prudent planners had decided it might be wise to use the Strategic
Defense Shield to knock down not only Soviet missiles but the fate-flung
missiles of the universe itself. Therefore, one of the satellites was
repositioned while the meteorite streaked nearer Earth, and plans were
laid to fire all of its antimissile missiles at the intruder. Although
none of those projectiles was nuclear, their explosive warheads, in
combination, were believed sufficient to fragment the meteorite into
enough pieces to ensure that none would be large enough to reach the
surface of Earth with destructive potential.
"Then," Miles said, "hours before the scheduled attack on the intruder,
an analysis of the latest photographs indicated a shockingly symmetrical
shape. And spectrographic readings, forwarded by the satellite, began
to confirm that it might be something stranger than a meteorite. Its
analysis did not match any of the standard profiles for meteorites." He
had walked among the witnesses as he talked, and now he put one hand
upon the flank of the ship, still capable of being awed by it even after
eighteen months. "New photos were ordered every ten minutes. During
the following hour, the approaching shape grew ev
er more distinct, until
the likeli hood of it being a ship was so great that no one would risk
ordering its destruction. We hadn't informed the Soviets of the object
or of our intention to destroy it, for that would have given them
information about our defense satellite capabilities. Now, we
purposefully began random jamming of Soviet high-atmosphere radar,
dropping bogeys and electronic shadows on them, to cover the ship's
advance and thus keep the secret of its visit. At first, we thought it
would take up orbit around Earth. But very late in the game, we
realized it was going to come straight in, following the very path an
unpowered meteorite would have followed, though in a controlled fashion.
Defense computers were able to give a thirtyeight-minute warning that
point of impact would be here in Elko County."
"Just enough time to close I-80," Ernie Block said, "and call Falkirk
and his DERO men in from wherever they were."
"Idaho," Miles said. "They were on training maneuvers in southern
Idaho, fortunately quite close. Or unfortunately, depending on your
point of view."
"Of course, Dr. Bennell, I know your point of view," said Leland
Falkirk from the door where he had, at last, appeared.
The .357 Magnum felt as big as a cannon against Miles Bennell's belly,
but suddenly it seemed as useless as a peashooter.
Upon seeing Leland Falkirk for the first time, Ginger realized how
little justice the newspaper photograph had done him. He was handsomer,
more imposing-and more frightening than he'd appeared in the Sentinel.
He didn't carry his submachine gun in the stern attitude of readiness
that Horner affected, nonchalantly dangling it in one hand. However,
his apparent laxity was more threatening than Horner's posturing. Ginger
had the feeling that, by seeming to be careless, he was taunting them to
try something. As Falkirk drew nearer the group, Ginger thought that he
brought with him a palpable aura-and almost a stench-of hatred and
madness.
Dr. Bennell said, "Where are all your men, Colonel?"
"No men," Falkirk said mildly. "Just Lieutenant Horner and me. No need
for a display of force, really. I'm quite sure that when we've had time
to discuss the situation rationally, we'll reach a solution to the
problem that will satisfy everyone."
Ginger had an even stronger feeling that the colonel was taunting them.
He tad the air of a child who, in possession of a secret, not only takes
enormous pleasure in his special knowledge but is especially tickled by
the ignorance of others. She saw that Dr. Bennell seemed baffled by
Falkirk's behavior and wary of him.
"Go on with your discussion," the colonel said, checking his watch. "For
heaven's sake, don't let me interrupt. You must have a thousand
questions you'd like Doctor Bennell to answer."
"I have one," Sandy said. "Doctor, where are the ... the people who
came in this ship?"
"Dead," Bennell said. "There were eight of them, but they were all dead
before they got here."
A pang of regret pierced Ginger's heart, and from their expressions she
saw that the others were equally shocked and disappointed. Parker and
Jorja even groaned softly, as if they had just been given news of a
friend's death.
"How did they die?" Ned asked. "Of what?"
Glancing repeatedly at Colonel Falkirk, Bennell said, "Well, first,
you've got to know a little about them, about why they came in the first
place. In their ship, we found a virtual encyclopedia of their
species-a crash course in their culture, biology, psychology-recorded on
something like our own videodisks. We required a couple of weeks to
even identify the player and a month to learn how to operate it. But
once we figured it out, we found the machine still operable, astonishing
when you consider ... well, better not jump ahead. Suffice to say we're
still going through the trove of material on those disks. It's superbly
visual, explaining so much in spite of the language barrier-though it
also slowly teaches their language. Those of us on the project almost
feel . . . a brotherhood with the people who built this ship."
Colonel Falkirk laughed sourly. Mockingly, he said, "Brotherhood."
Dr. Bennell glared at him, then continued: "I'd need weeks to tell you
what we know of them now. Suffice to say they're an unimaginably
ancient spacegoing species which had, at the time this ship departed its
home port, searched out and located five other intelligent species in
other solar systems than their own."
"Five!" Ginger said in amazement. "But-even if the galaxy is positively
packed with life, that's incredible. Considering the vast distances to
be traveled, the endless places to search."
Dr. Bennell nodded. "But you see, from the time they achieved the
means of traveling from star to star, they apparently decided it was
their sacred duty to seek out other intelligences. In fact, it seems to
have become a religion to them." He shook his head and sighed. "It's
difficult to be sure we understand this, because even their excellent
visual encyclopedia more readily describes physical things than it does
philosophies. But we think they see themselves as servants of some
supreme force that created the universe-"
" God?" Brendan interrupted. "Are you saying they see themselves as
servants of God?"
"Something like that," Bennell said. "However, they aren't spreading
any religious message. They simply feel they have a sacred obligation
to help intelligent species find one another, to bind intelligences
across the vast emptiness of space."
"Bind," Falkirk said ominously, and he looked at his watch.
General Alvarado had been moving slowly to his right, putting himself at
the periphery of the colonel's vision. He took another step.
Ginger was increasingly uneasy about the undercurrent of antagonism
between Falkirk and Bennell and Alvarado, which she did not entirely
understand. She moved closer to Dom and put an arm around him.
"And they bring another gift," Bennell said, frowning toward the
colonel. "They're such an ancient species that they've evolved certain
abilities we think of as psychic. The ability to heal. Telekinesis.
Other things. Not only have they evolved those talents, but they've
learned to . . . to infuse the same abilities in other intelligent
species that lack them."
"Infuse?" Dom said. "How?"
"We don't entirely understand," Bennell said. "But they can pass these
powers along. That is evidently what was done with you, and now you
have the ability to pass the power to others."
"Pass the power?" Jack said, astonished. "You mean Dom and Brendan
could give us ... or anyone ... what they have?"
"I've already given it," Brendan said. "Ginger, Dom, Jackyou didn't
hear the news Parker brought from Father Wycazik. Those two I healed in
Chicago-Emmy and Wintonthey've both got the power now."
:'New sources of infection," Falkirk said somberly.
' And evidently," Parker said, "since Brendan healed me, I'll h
ave it
too, sooner or later."
"Although I don't think it's passed only in healing," Brendan said.
"It's just that the healing is such an intimate contact. Along with
knitting up the tissues of the person you're healing, you somehow pass
the power to them."
Ginger's mind reeled. This news was every bit as earthshaking as the
existence of the starship. "You mean ... my God . . . you mean they
came to help us evolve to a new level as a species? And that evolution
is now already under way?"
"It would seem to be, yes," Bennell said.
Looking at his wristwatch again, Leland Falkirk said, "Please, this
masquerade is getting boring."
"What masquerade?" Faye Block asked. "What are you talking about,
Colonel? We were told you believe we've all been somehow possessed,
some nonsense like that. How can you have gotten such a crazy idea?"
"Spare me this charade," Falkirk said sharply. "You all pretend to know
nothing. In reality, you know everything. Not one of you is human any
longer. You're all ... possessed, and this innocence is play-acting to
convince me to spare you. But it won't work. It's too late."
Repelled by Falkirk's air of madness, Ginger turned again to Bennell.
"What is all this stuff about infection and possession?"
"A mistake," Bennell said, moving a few steps to his left.
Ginger realized he was trying to pull the colonel's attention in that
direction, away from General Alvarado, in order to give the general a
Koontz, Dean R. - Strangers Page 94
