Seeker

TWENTY

We will interrupt the ideological nonsense, whether it be political, religious, or social, that flows from generation to generation. We will begin anew, in a new place, with a new approach. We will learn from history, and we will discard the doctrines that have kept the human race anchored firmly to a cacophony of discord and confusion. We have always known the potential for greatness, because we have seen what can be done when individuals throw off the shackles of conformity. Now we will demonstrate what can happen when an entire society prizes, above all else, free minds.

- Harry Williams,

Remarks at the Freedom Day Celebration in Berlin, March 3, 2684 C.E.

We were still orbiting the moon when Belle reported that she’d located the Bremerhaven. “The final piece,” I said.

“We’ll see.”

It was smaller, leaner, and longer than the Seeker. No blown engines this time. No sign of damage except dents where it had probably been struck by drifting rock and ice. It carried the same flag, and a more fluid style of lettering on the hull.

We saw no signs of human remains inside. There were some pieces that would have looked good on Rainbow’s inventory, but Alex decided, without explaining why, that we would take nothing from the Bremerhaven. “Leave it for Windy,” he said.

On the bridge, we opened the panels and looked at disconnected power lines. And at empty spaces once occupied by control boxes. Alex clomped around in his magnetic boots and poked his lamp into every open space. “Chase,” he said at last, “answer a question for me. After they transplanted the black boxes to the Seeker, would this thing have been capable of going anywhere? Under its own power?”

“I doubt it.”

“But you’re not sure.”

“I’m not familiar enough with the ship. It’s possible, for example, there’s an auxiliary control center elsewhere on board.”

“All right,” he said. “Is it possible for us to make a determination?”

I remembered a set of Bremerhaven power relays in the Seeker ’s engine room. “Let’s go look at the drive units,” I said.

I’ve remarked elsewhere I don’t know much about third-millennium technology. But you don’t have to if you’re just looking to see whether parts are missing and power cables are disconnected. I only needed a quick glance to know that the Bremerhaven wouldn’t have gone anywhere on its own.

We removed nothing. Mostly we just made a visual record. Then we went back aboard the Belle-Marie, and poured ourselves some coffee.

Alex was adrift somewhere.

“What?” I asked, finally.

He took a long pull at his coffee. “I think the jungle world is Margolia.”

“Even though the orbits didn’t match up?”

“Yes. I don’t know how, or why, but they’re buried on that world somewhere.”

There was no indication there had ever been a settlement. But of course, give it a few thousand years, and the heavy vegetation we were looking at would have buried Andiquar. We took the launch down and padded around a bit on the surface, looking for evidence. But there was nothing. Confirmation one way or the other would take specialized equipment.

“Chase?”

“Yes, Belle?” I was napping on the bridge while Alex looked over images from the surface.

“I’ve been examining the orbit of the Bremerhaven.”

“And-?”

“On March 3, 2745, it was thirty million kilometers away.”

“From this world?” asked Alex.

“Yes.”

We looked at each other. “How do we explain that?”

“For now,” he said, “let’s just call it an anomaly.”