I was staring at Tokata. “How did you know where to find us?”
She squirmed while Southwick responded: “I have to take responsibility for that, too, I guess. I stayed in touch with Luciana. She mentioned that you’d indicated you would go to Eisa at some point. So Heli simply called Khaled. I am sorry. We meant no harm.”
“Let’s let it go, Lawrence, okay?” I turned away and led them into my office. “What do you need?”
“Some coffee would be good,” said Tokata.
I got it for them. And poured myself a cup, though at that moment I could have used something stronger. “Have you been back to Larissa yet?”
They looked at each other and smiled. “We have. We thought you would be interested in seeing this.” He laid the package on my desk.
“You found something.”
“Actually, we found a few things. But we especially wanted to show this to you and Alex.” I looked at it. “Go ahead,” he said. “Unwrap it.”
I peeled off the packaging and revealed a curved, stainless-steel plaque. It was rectangular, roughly nine by eight inches, with two globes representing the Earth. And the inscription:
HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH
FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON
JULY 1969, A. D.
WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND
At bottom were the signatures of the three astronauts, Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. And, of course, Richard Nixon, identified as president of the United States.
“We found a few other items, as well.” He handed me a sheet of paper listing them. A display screen from an early starship, a radio from the Mars colony, spectacles from an unknown source. (It’s hard to believe people once ran around wearing those things.) Several other items. But they were all insignificant in comparison to the plaque.
“We’re donating everything to the Winnipeg Science Museum. In Garnett’s name.”
“You could never have kept it secret.”
“I guess not,” he said. “I don’t know what we were thinking. Anyhow, we’re making sure that Alex gets some credit, too. Both of you.”
“I just do the paperwork,” I said.
Heli got out of her chair and extended her hand. “Congratulations, Chase.”
Table of Contents
Books by Jack McDevitt
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
CHAPTER FIFTY
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
EPILOGUE
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