The Eridani Convergence

by Alastair Mayer

  “They’ve been here for, oh, six or seven weeks now,” Burnside said. “But the port arrival board showed them coming from Alpha Mensae.”

  “Same general direction, and they could have lied.” She thought about it. Between her own indirect return to Sawyers World from Zeta Reticuli, and then dropping Marten back at Taprobane before heading on to Tau Ceti, plus the time getting here from there, the Sophie had left Zeta Reticuli nearly eight weeks ago now. Two weeks’ travel time from Zeta Reticuli to here was about right, if they pushed their range limit and came direct. “They must have come straight from Zeta Reticuli and they’ve been here ever since. That’s interesting. Why, I wonder?”

  “A few days to fix the damage you said they had. If they heard about the artifact in the meantime, they might want to get hold of it themselves, and are getting the same run around I am.” He frowned. “Communication with the seller has all been by email, and they’ve kept putting off the meeting . . . until a few days ago.”

  “There’s also been agitation lately about the few timoan settlers on Tanith,” Burnside continued. “The Velkaryans may well be behind that. Then there are subtle things like the landing fee hike.”

  “So much for a simple cargo pick-up job,” said Roberts with a sigh. “What now?”

  “Tell me what you know about the Carcharodon.”

  “Not much, I’m afraid. Carson could tell you more, they had him aboard for a while, so most of what I know I got from him.” She proceeded to fill Burnside in on the details, what she knew of them, of Carson’s capture by the Velkaryans, the Carcharodon’s run in with an automated defense system, and his escape and her rescue of him.

  “The guy in charge was named Vaughan,” Roberts continued, “but he wasn’t the captain. There were at least three others aboard, the captain and two crew that Carson saw, there may have been others. You’ve seen the Carcharodon, you know it’s a Y-class ship, so room for as many as a half-dozen more. Port landing records should have passenger and crew details, if you can access them.”

  “Vaughan, you say?”

  “That’s what Carson told me, why?”

  “A man with that name has been involved in local politics lately, the last four or five weeks as a matter of fact. I wondered if he was the same person as a known Velkaryan. If he came on the Carcharodon, that would confirm it.”

  “Why do Velkaryans care about local politics? Are there natives on Tanith?”

  “None sentient, if that’s what you mean. But there are a few timoan settlers on Tanith, and lately someone has been trying to stir up fear and resentment about them. As far as Tanith-origin though, I haven’t heard of any archeological evidence of that, although that’s not my field. Your boyfriend would know.”

  “My boyfr- what? What makes you think Carson is my boyfriend?”

  “Oh, sorry. It’s just that . . . never mind. My mistake.”

  The part of Roberts that wasn’t seething with indignation allowed as how he might have a point. She and Carson had had a fling once, and despite the fact that he occasionally infuriated her, and had got her kidnapped by tomb raiders at least twice, there was something about him. An even more remote part of her realized that as an agent, Burnside would be fine-tuned to nuances of vocal tone and body language. Had she revealed something she that even she wasn’t aware of? Nonsense. Although she had put “archeological” and “boyfriend” together a little too quickly.

  “The relationship is strictly professional. And for the record I make it a point to never date crew, spaceport staff or passengers, and since you might become the latter, don’t even think about it.”

  “Uh, right. No ma’am.” He paused a moment, then, grinning, asked “And just who does that leave?”

  “Drop it,” Jackie said flatly.

  “Dropped. You were asking about the Velkaryans. Aside from the whole religious ‘God terraformed the planets for humans’ angle, there’s a strong political component to them too. In fact, I’m not sure which came first, the religion or the politics. There’s no question they want political power, and disagree strongly with some of Earth’s policies with regard to aliens and settling T-space. It’s only natural for them to try to influence off-Earth governments in their favor, and that gets easier the closer to the frontier. Tanith would be a strategic asset to them, especially so close to Zeta Reticuli, if that turns out to be significant.”

  “Oh, it’s significant. Carson convinced me of that, and from what I saw I agree. I’m pretty sure Ducayne does too. In fact, he ordered us to stay away from it.”

  “Really? Was that before or after you went there?”

  Jackie hesitated, remembering. “Well, both, actually.”

  “Ha! Don’t sweat it. If I know Ducayne, the first warning wasn’t serious, it was so he could disavow you if things went horribly wrong. If he really hadn’t wanted you to go, there are ways he could have prevented it.”

  “That’s about what we thought. And the second warning?”

  “Do you want to go back there?”

  “Gods no. I came close to losing my ship, encountered some scary technology, and we were warned off by the Kesh.”

  “The Kesh?”

  “I thought you were briefed on the Reticuli mission.”

  “Apparently there were some details it was felt I didn’t need to know.”

  “Then I’m not going to be the one to fill you in, unless a need to know does come up.”

  “Fair enough. I can make some guesses, but—”

  “Which I could neither confirm nor deny.”

  He grinned. “Nor would I expect you to. Anyway, whatever guesses I could come up with that you’ll neither confirm nor deny, I think that’s yet another reason for not wanting the Velkaryans anywhere near the place. I’d just as soon not be involved in an interstellar war, whether that’s with the Velkaryans or who or whatever the Kesh are, and especially not on this side of T-Space.”

  “Never mind the Kesh,” Jackie said, regretting that she’d ever mentioned them. She’d been surprised that Burnside hadn’t been briefed, but maybe that information hadn’t made it here from Sawyers World yet. “Do you think war with the Velkaryans is likely? They strike me as little more than a bunch of thugs with some xenophobic ideas.”

  “Remember how the Unholy War got started? Or the Nazi War in Europe before that?”

  Jackie realized he was right. The Nazis had been xenophobic thugs with some strange quasi-religious ideas who’d gained control of an industrial economy. The Unholy War had been started by religious fanatic xenophobic thugs who had lucked into immense energy wealth and nuclear weapons. The Velkaryans were xenophobic thugs with strange religious ideas who were actively pursuing advanced alien technology and, as Burnside said, political influence. She shuddered. “Why can’t the crazies take their crazy and go find some other corner of the galaxy?”

  It was a rhetorical question, but Burnside answered it anyway. “And what happens a century or five centuries from now when our spheres of influence meet? Or they offend some species with the power of the Terraformers who don’t make subtle distinctions over what particular kind of crazy the humans they meet represent, and decide to just eliminate us all?”

  Remembering what the alien Ketzshanass had said about the degkhidesh, the mysterious “enemy of the Kesh”, Jackie shuddered again. “And this is really what Ducayne’s outfit is all about, isn’t it.” It wasn’t really a question.

  “You could say that, yes.”

  Jackie suspected that there was more to it, given Burnside’s response, but he wasn’t going to tell her anything else any more than she was going to tell him about the Kesh, or the degkhidesh. Need to know. When, exactly, did I become a spook? she wondered. Speaking of which . . . . “This contact of yours, and the package. Did you pick it up? I’m guessing not since you didn’t bring it with you.”

  “No, and it would be too awkward to have brought with me anyway. Probably masses about 50 kilos. Crate was about a half cubic meter.”
r />   “Light for the size.”

  “Yes, but still awkward. Anyway, I need to schedule a pick-up. We didn’t get a chance to discuss that, and now my contact is probably scared off.”

  “Any chance the Velkaryans, or whoever, will get to it first?”

  “I don’t think they made my contact, but even if they managed to trace her she’s got no reason to return to it. She can just tell me where it is.”

  “Her? Your contact is female?”

  “Yes, so?”

  There wasn’t a huge number of ship owner/operators, and less than half of them female. Jackie knew, or knew of, many of them. “I just wondered if it might be someone I know.” Of course she didn’t have to be a pilot, she might just be a dealer or broker, even a prospector who made a lucky find. “Probably not, though.”

  “I’d be surprised,” Jordan said. “Anyway, I need to make contact again and get the pickup details.”

  “Why is she doing this? You’re sure she won’t just sell it to the Velkaryans instead?”

  “It’s not that kind of deal, and she has no particular love of xenophobes.”

  “Sounds like you don’t want my help for any of that. Fine, just get the package or tell me when and where to pick it up. Is there anything I can be doing in the meantime?”

  “Try not to attract attention to yourself.”

  Jackie snickered at that. “You mean like wearing a flashy Queen of Diamonds jacket?”

  “Well, the color matches your hair, but yeah, exactly not like that. Just go about whatever business you would do. Look for small cargo to carry, mail packets, whatever. No passengers though.” Jackie rolled her eyes at that, she wasn’t that stupid. “And be ready for a quick getaway.”

  “Time-frame? When should I hear from you again?”

  “Give me two days.” He checked his omni. “Given this is early morning, if you haven’t heard from me by midnight Thursday, check for other instructions Ducayne may have left you and go from there. I’ll try to at least get a message to you sooner.”

  “Thursday. Ah, what day is today?” All human colonies kept to a seven-days-a-week naming convention, but day lengths varied. Generally, the whole planet would tend to keep to the same time zone as the primary settlement, but ships kept their own time. She was pretty sure she’d landed on a local Tuesday morning, but it didn’t hurt to check.

  “Still space-lagged?” Burnside grinned. “It’s early Wednesday morning. The day is twenty-three hours and ten minutes. At 23:10 the clock changes to midnight.”

  “Okay, roger that.” There would eventually be a leap hour or something to get rid of accumulated errors, but she shouldn’t be here long enough to worry about it.

  “Right then. I must be off. Thanks for the coffee. And the fix-up. And the shirt. Guess I owe you.”

  “You do. Let me check the perimeter before you leave.” Jackie went forward to check the external cameras and sensors. Certainly nothing had approached the ship; the Sophie would have alerted her, but a quick scan of the field wouldn’t hurt.

  “Looks like it’s clear.” She opened the inner airlock door. “Be careful out there.”

  “Always am,” Burnside said, stepping into the lock, then he palmed the door close button.

  “Yeah, right.” Jackie said to herself as she cycled the outer door and Burnside disappeared into the night.

  She looked at the clocks, both local time and ship time. She was still transitioning to the former, and she was tired, but the coffee would keep her from getting back to sleep for a while yet. With a sigh, she went back to clean up the galley and reset the traumapod.

  PART II: CONVERGENCE

  CHAPTER 29: CONVERGENCE

  Carson’s pod, approaching Tanith

  CARSON AWOKE AGAIN, this time knowing where he was, and feeling less disoriented that when he had come out of the coma. That nap had been good advice.

  “Computer, status report.”

  “We are inbound to Tanith at a range of 98,750 kilometers and a speed of approximately 42,000 kilometers per hour. Entry in approximately two hours and fifteen minutes. All systems nominal.”

  Still ‘nominal’, good. “Any reason to abort the entry?”

  “All systems nominal.”

  Okay, so not a particularly conversational computer either. Fine.

  So, what to do for the next two hours? This is what Roberts would no doubt call the boring part of space travel, although he was thankful he’d slept through the past week-plus. Roberts. Right, he needed to contact her.

  “Can you establish a stealth radio link with Captain Roberts and or the Sophie?”

  “By stealth radio link do you mean one not using normal radio channels?”

  “Correct.”

  “This system is so equipped but establishing a link will depend on whether Roberts and or the Sophie is listening, and if they are within range.”

  Of course it will, you stupid computer, Carson thought but didn’t say. “Understood. Please attempt the connection.”

  “Attempting.” A brief pause, then: “A link is established. Voice communication is possible.”

  “Jackie, greetings! This is Hannibal Carson, can you talk?”

  There was a delay of a couple of seconds. Carson didn’t know how much of that was lightspeed delay versus Jackie getting over her surprise at hearing from him.

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  Aboard Sophie, Tanith

  Jackie Roberts had woken again at nearly oh-nine-hundred local time, after finally getting back to sleep after Burnside’s nocturnal visit. She sat in the galley eating a light breakfast and working on her third cup of coffee, wondering what to do with the rest of the day. There were always minor maintenance tasks on the ship, but right now there was nothing critical and most tasks could be as easily done with the ship under way.

  So much for an easy package pick-up, Jackie thought to herself. Of course, with Ducayne involved, she hadn’t really expected it to be easy, but she was starting to get a little tired of the stupid cloak and dagger games. It was bad enough that Vaughan and the Carcharodon had been here when she arrived. That made some kind of sense; if they’d been headed to Sol after Zeta Reticuli, Tanith was an obvious refueling stop—but why were they still here?

  An alert sounded from the ship’s console. That wasn’t the standard comm, that was the special secure system that Ducayne’s people had installed. What now? She stepped over to the panel and keyed it. “This is the Sophie. Roberts here.”

  “Please hold.” The voice had a robotic tone to it. Then:

  “Jackie, greetings!” Carson’s voice? “This is Hannibal Carson, can you talk?”

  Things were just getting weirder. Jackie wasn’t sure she wanted to talk, but answered anyway.

  “Carson? You’re on Tanith? When did you get in? There hasn’t been a landing recently.”

  Even as she said it, she realized that where Carson was involved, landing fields weren’t always necessary—he had used improvised explosives to clear a landing zone in the jungle on Verdigris, although she wondered where he’d find another pilot as crazy as she was. Certainly not one of the university ships. And given Ducayne’s involvement, it could well be something even stealthier.

  Just to confirm that, she asked: “Why are you using one of Ducayne’s gadgets rather than your omni?”

  “I’m not quite on planet yet.”

  Aha! she thought, as Carson followed up with a request for her coordinates so he could land nearby. But not at the spaceport. Interesting.

  She started to ask what was going on, but realized that with a Ducayne connection, he probably wouldn’t tell her over a comm link, even a secure one. “All right, call me when you land. I’ll let you know then if I can pick you up. I have a couple of things I’m in the middle of. Squawking coordinates.” She touched a control on her panel to do just that. There was a delay before Carson responded, probably so he could check them against, well, wherever he was now and however he was planning to get there.

&
nbsp; ∞ ∞ ∞

  Carson’s pod, approaching Tanith

  The computer screen flashed Jackie’s coordinates and a map on the small pod screen.

  “Computer, can we land near there?” Carson asked.

  “You can, but that is the primary spaceport; it is likely you will be observed. These devices have other destinations.”

  Of course. “Thank you. Pick a landing spot as near there as possible with minimal chance of detection. Make that acceptable chance of detection.” Otherwise the computer was likely to put him on the other side of the planet. “Specify distance.”

  “Approximately 47.3 kilometers at a bearing of 137 degrees true,” the computer replied.

  Okay, he could hike that if he absolutely had to.

  “Jackie, got it. I will need a pick up. I may be about fifty clicks out.” He repeated what the computer had just told him, and his estimated time of arrival. “Uh, have you happened to pick up a package for Ducayne yet?”

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  Sophie, planet Tanith

  Jackie was only surprised at how well the timing had worked out. “I should have known that’s what this was about. To make a long story short, no.” Two could play this ‘I’ve got a secret’ game. And it was a long story. “I’ll fill you in when you get here. And yes, I’ll give you a ride.”

  “Fair enough, thank you. See you then. Carson out.”

  “Looking forward to it, Sophie out.” She clicked off, thinking about the conversation she’d just had. A computer had made the connection. Carson was no pilot; was his ship automated? There had been no significant conversation lag except when she’d squawked the data, so he was probably less than half a light-second away. On the other hand, if he knew he’d need a pick-up, he wouldn’t leave it too long to contact her. His ETA was several hours from now. With the short days here, it would be near dusk when he arrived.

  She didn’t expect to hear from Jordan Burnside until tomorrow. Whatever her plans might have been for the rest of the day, they had just changed.