The Icarus Hunt

CHAPTER 22

THE FIVE-DAY TRIP to Beyscrim was the longest jump at one stretch that we'dtried yet with the Icarus. We paid the price for such daring, too, to the tuneof three hull ridges and a pair of hairline cracks. Each required from two tosix hours of outside work; together, they added nearly a full day to ourtravel time.

The most frustrating part, at least to some of the more impatient members ofthe crew, was that it was no longer clear whether such repair work was evennecessary, given what we now knew about the true nature of the Icarus. Thecracks and ridges were only in the outer-hull plating that Cameron's peoplehad layered over the artifact sphere, and there was no indication that the alienmetal beneath was being affected in the slightest by the hyperspace pressureit was being subjected to. There were several lively discussions about that, infact, most of them occurring while Chort and Ixil were busy outside with thelatest repair job. But the arguments presented were for the most partcompletelymoot. I voted to continue stopping for repairs, whether they were necessary ornot, and no one else got a vote.

It wasn't simply caution, though, or even a lack of faith in the Icarus'soriginal designers. Despite Everett's assurance that his doctor friend wasabove reproach, we were heading into a largely unknown situation on a completelyunknown world. With three of us qualifying as walking wounded—four if youcounted Shawn's medical problems—I figured the more recovery time we had alongthe way, the better.

Still, I had to admit that our first pass by Beyscrim showed the place to bepretty much as advertised. The planet boasted just five public spaceports, none of them up to even Meima's casual standards, with the coordinates Everett'sfriend had supplied reading halfway up a mountain and very literally in themiddle of nowhere. The automated landing system guided us in to a group offive pads about three hundred meters west and slightly downslope from themansion-sized lodge itself, the pad cluster edged in turn on its downslopeside by an extensive range of bushy blue-green trees. I chose the pad closest tothe trees, setting us down parallel to them and as close to their outstretchedbranches as I could manage, remembering first to rotate the ship so that thehatchway was on the open, non-tree side facing the lodge.

Tera questioned my choice of placement, pointing out that resting so close tothe edge of an artificially built-up landing area was an invitation todisaster should the Icarus's weight cause the edge to collapse. Everett was equallycritical of my landing site, except that his argument was that I'd chosen thepad farthest from the lodge, thereby putting us an extra hundred meters fromthe comforts we all hoped were waiting for us up there. I pointed out to Tera thatthe idea was for the trees to provide us at least a little bit of visual coverfrom any aircraft that happened to pass overhead; to Everett, I ratherungraciously suggested that if after several days of rest the walk was stilltoo much for him, he was welcome to stay aboard while the rest of us checked theplace out. That was exactly what he did, though he phrased it more along thelines of standing guard over the ship than of anything so childish as a fit ofsulking or pique. I accepted his offer, pretended also to accept his rationalefor it, and together the rest of us trooped on up through the cool afternoonair to the lodge.

I'd noted on the way in that the lodge was good-sized, but I hadn't realizedjust how extensive the place actually was. Besides the main rectangularsection running parallel to the landing area, there was also a full wing extendingback from the middle toward the mountain itself, giving the building an overallT-shape. How I'd missed that back wing I didn't know, except to assume thatthe rough-cut slate roofing had blended so well into the rocky slope beyond that Ihadn't realized it was part of the lodge. Beyscrim, I decided, must be afantastically popular place at the height of the tourist season.

The size of the lodge also meant that the six of us—or seven, whenever Everettdeigned to join us—would have the chance to get seriously lost from eachother.

After the forced intimacy we'd created by ripping out the Icarus's decks andcabins, the thought of a little personal privacy was something the whole crewwas definitely champing at the bit for. I thought about keeping us alltogetherat least long enough to check out the public areas of the lodge for signs ofrecent occupancy, but when I offered the suggestion Tera made it clear thatshe wasn't interested in anyone else's company for a couple of hours at least.

Snagging the key for one of the guest rooms—old-fashioned permanent keys wereapparently part of the rustic atmosphere of the place—she headed off to getsome sleep on a real bed. Shawn and Nicabar took her cue and picked out rooms oftheir own, while Chort headed instead to the kitchen area to see what sort offood might be available. Giving up, I sent Ixil with him and then headed backoutside onto the lodge's wide front portico.

It had been late afternoon when we'd landed, and from what the nav listing hadsaid about Beyscrim's rotation period I had assumed we would have another twoto three hours of daylight left. But I had failed to take into account the effects of the mountain range to the west that rose dramatically behind the Icarus andits shading trees. Already the sun was dipping behind the taller peaks, and Icould see now that it would be dusk in probably half an hour.

Still, half an hour of sun and fresh air was better than nothing. Snagging oneof the sturdy lounge chairs lined up along the portico's back wall, I pulledit to the front edge and sat down.

Everett had evidently been thinking along the same lines I had, at least asfar as the fresh air was concerned. From where I sat I could make out his figurein the wraparound just behind the open hatchway, gazing back in my direction. Ithought about waving to him, but concluded after a minute that the lack of anysuch gesture on his part probably meant he was still not feeling all thatsociable, at least not toward me. So I just settled more comfortably into mychair, aware of Everett's presence but not acknowledging it any more than hewas acknowledging mine.

We sat there, wrapped in our own little worlds, as the sun vanished and thewestern sky faded from sunlight into a multicolored glow into dusk. Ixil camebyonce to tell me that Chort had located a cache of stored food and was busypreparing dinner for us all, then disappeared back inside to assist him. Istayed where I was a few minutes more, watching the sky and mountains as thedusk darkened to full night and a scattering of brilliant stars appeared.

Everett, I presumed, was similarly watching the lodge and the mountains risingbehind it. Or possibly he was just watching me.

It had been full night for about twenty minutes when the dropping airtemperature finally began to penetrate my jacket and I decided enough wasenough. Picking my way carefully downslope, with only the decorative lights ofthe portico to illuminate the path, I made my way back to the Icarus.

I found Everett stretched out on his cot in the main sphere, leafing throughthe ship's pharmaceutical listing, his injured leg propped up on one of themedical kits. "The wraparound get too boring for you?" I asked as I made my way towardhim.

"It got too chilly," he said. "What's happening out there?"

"Absolutely nothing," I said. "Oh, except that dinner is going to be readysoon.

Thought you might want to join us."

"What are we having?" he asked.

"No idea," I admitted. "However, Chort's in charge of preparation, so I expectit'll at least be palatable."

"Probably," Everett said, wincing slightly as he shifted his leg.

"Unfortunately, I don't know if I'm up to the walk."

"Really," I said, frowning, as I squatted down beside him. "I didn't realizeit was bothering you that badly or I wouldn't have jumped on you earlier. Sorry."

He waved the apology away. "Don't worry about it. You were right—it should bemostly healed by now. Maybe it's the cold and lower air pressure up herethat's bothering it."

"Then the lodge and a real bed are exactly what you need," I said briskly, straightening up and reaching down to him. "Come on—I'll give you a hand."

"No, that's all right," he said. "Let me just rest it a while longer, and I'll come up later."

"You're going to join us for dinner, Everett," I said firmly. "This is thefirst decent meal we'll have had since I don't know when, and you and your legaren't going to miss out on it."

"Look, I appreciate the thought. But—"

"Besides, we have to have a serious talk about what we're going to do after weleave here," I said. "And that's going to concern all of us. So, bottom line: Either you let me help you up to the lodge, or I'm going to send Nicabar andIxil to carry you. Your choice."

"You win," he said, putting down the listing and smiling wryly. "They wound upmostly carrying me back to the Icarus on Palmary, and I'm not in any hurry torepeat the experience."

We made our way around the curve of the hull and into the wraparound.

Everett's leg didn't seem to be giving him all that much trouble that I could see, but Inevertheless kept a hand ready to assist if it should suddenly go weak on him.

I turned on the entryway floodlights for better lighting and preceded him downthe ladder. He reached the ground safely, and we headed toward the lodge.

A gentle breeze had started up since I'd entered the Icarus, stirring up thecold mountain air and making it feel that much colder, and Everett's legreacted by stiffening up even more. It took us over ten minutes to cross the fourhundred meters to the lodge, and by the time we made it up the steps to theportico he had given his pride a vacation and was leaning heavily on my arm.

"Sorry about this," he puffed as I steered us to the main door. "I guess Ishould have let Ixil carry me after all."

"Not a problem," I assured him. "You'll be better once we get you out of allthis cold night... damn."

"What?" he asked.

"The lights," I said, turning around to look behind us. Sure enough, theIcarus was beautifully bathed in the backwash from the floodlights. "I wasn't eventhinking. Too used to always leaving them on in port, I guess."

"You going to go back and turn them off?" Everett asked.

"Unless we want to advertise our presence to anyone who happens to pass by," Isaid, getting the door open and helping him limp over the threshold. Thedelicate aromas coming from the kitchen area made my stomach growl. "Go onin—the dining area's off to the left, around that corner and through a sort ofrectangular archway. I'll be back in a minute."

"Better grab a flashlight for the way back," he warned as I headed back acrossthe portico. "That ground's pretty uneven in places."

"I will," I called back over my shoulder. "Assuming I can remember where westashed them. Make sure Chort saves me some of whatever that is, all right?"

"Sure," he called. "Well, probably."

Between the portico lights behind me and the floodlights in front of me I hadno problem traversing the terrain this time around. I climbed up the ladder andshut off the floodlights, then headed forward into the main sphere.

Contrary to what I'd implied to Everett, I knew exactly where the flashlightswere, and it was the work of ten seconds to unearth one from the pile ofmachine-shop equipment. But now that I was finally alone in the ship therewere other more urgent matters that needed to be attended to, and the excuse of hunting for a flashlight should give me the time I needed.

I tackled the helm and nav systems first, my familiarity with them permittingme to finish the job in probably two minutes. Tera's computer was next on mylist, another relatively quick and easy job given how much time I'd spent around itlately. After that, making sure to stay well back in the wraparound as Islippedpast the open hatchway, I headed back into the engine section.

Even with full lighting the maze of cables and conduits back there was a painto get through. With only a flashlight, and one that had been adjusted to itslowest setting yet, such a safari was downright dangerous. But I made itthroughto the control station without garroting myself, and five minutes later I wasdone.

The hidden access to the inner sphere was sitting wide-open, just as I'dinstructed Ixil to leave it. I shined my light briefly inside, but there wasnothing to be seen except the usual tangle of wiring. I looped a few turns ofconduit over the hinged breaker panel, just to make sure no one thoughtlesslyclosed it, then left the engine section, making sure that the door to thewraparound was also locked open.

I left my flashlight off as I slipped out of the hatchway and climbed down theladder. Everett or someone else might be looking in this direction, and Istill had one last task to perform before I could head back up for dinner. Carefulof my footing, I circled the aft end of the ship and made my way around to theship's starboard side.

With the tree branches towering over me blocking out the starlight, this sideof the ship was even darker than the port side had been. Even so, it wasn'tdifficult to locate the set of latch grooves I'd spotted on my firstinspectionof the ship back at Meima, the grooves I'd later learned Cameron had anchoreda collapsible ladder into for his backdoor entrance into the ship that morning.

Probing carefully with my little finger, I felt in one of the two bottomgroovesfor the piece of guidance tag I'd wadded up and put inside.

The folded piece of plastic was no longer wedged halfway down the opening asI'd left it. Instead, it had been jammed all the way to the bottom of the groove.

A

quick check of the other groove showed the other half of the tag had likewisebeen crammed into the bottom.

Feeling my way along the side of the ship, I circled around the drivethrusters and worked my way back to the base of the ladder. Then, and only then, did Iturn on my flashlight and head up to the lodge.

Everett was not, as I'd expected, waiting for me in the expansive foyer whereI'd left him. He had instead found his way to the dining room and seatedhimself at the far end of one of the rustic hewn-wood tables. Shawn, Tera, and Nicabarhad reappeared from their rooms and were in the process of choosing seats oftheir own at the table, with Chort and Ixil just lugging in a large steamingstewpot containing whatever it was I'd smelled earlier. Four seats were still empty: one on each side of Everett at the far end, one beside Shawn, thefourth at the end of the table closest to me, the seat facing away from the entrancearchway. Choosing that one, leaving Chort and Ixil to fight over the otherthree chairs, I sat down.

Dinner was a curious affair, full of odd contrasts. The couple of hours ofprivacy had done small but noticeable wonders for the civility level among thegroup, particularly for Tera and Shawn, who mentioned that they'd spent theirtime catching up on badly needed sleep. The fact that the quiet surroundingslent themselves to a sense of security was also undoubtedly a calming factor.

At the same time, though, there was an underlying tension permeating the wholeevent, a tension that showed up in a hundred little ways, from the slightlystilted conversation and long uncomfortable silences to the way everyone'seyesperiodically and suddenly darted to the archway behind me as if expecting theentire population of the Patth homeworld Aauth to suddenly come charging in onus. Tera seemed the worst in this respect, though Shawn's natural twitchinessbrought him in a close second. By a sort of unspoken mutual consent we avoidedthe topic of the rest of our trip, and our chances of actually getting toEarth with the whole Spiral breathing down our necks.

I gave it half an hour, until the stew was gone and the conversation had againlagged and they were starting to make the small but unmistakable signs ofgetting ready to take their leave. Then, clearing my throat, I lifted my lefthand for attention. "I know you're all tired and anxious to start settlingdown for the night," I said. "But there are one or two matters we still need todeal with."

Their expressions could hardly be considered hostile, but there certainly wasno particular enthusiasm I could detect. "Can't it wait until morning?" Everettasked from the far end of the table. "My leg's starting to hurt again, and I'dlike to go somewhere where I can prop it up."

"This will only take a few minutes," I assured him. "And no, it really can'twait."

"Of course not," Shawn muttered under his breath. "Not when McKell thinks it'simportant."

"First of all," I said, nodding toward Chort and then Ixil, "we need to thankChort and Ixil for the excellent dinner we've just eaten. Especially Chort, who I understand did most of the preparation."

There was a somewhat disjointed chorus of nods and thank-yous, accompanied bythe gentle scraping of chair legs on the floor as Shawn and Nicabar pushedtheir seats back in preparation for getting up. "Anything else?" Everett asked, halfstanding.

"Actually, yes," I said, lifting my right hand above the level of the table toreveal the plasmic I was holding. "If you'll all sit back down again and putyour hands on the table," I said into the suddenly shocked silence, "there's amurderer I'd like you to meet."