Dark as Day

31

Bat made it sound easy. You go along to where Sebastian Birch is being held, and exert your authority to make sure that Birch does nothing out of the ordinary.

Maybe it was easy, when you tipped the inertial mass indicator at over three hundred kilos; but Alex didn’t command that much weight to let him push people around. As they ascended the riser shafts and skimmed along interior slides, he saw Milly’s eyes on him and he read their question: Who is this Alex Ligon, and how is he going to do what even the Great Bat says is beyond his powers?

That was Alex’s question, too. When they had been traveling for twenty minutes he flipped on his wrist unit at emergency interrupt. He tried to call Bat, and for a change the line was open; but it was locked into high-priority mode with another caller. Alex’s ID check indicated that Bat was talking to Bengt Suomi.

It was the time for desperate measures. Alex placed another call. After a pause, in which Milly said “Who?” and Alex answered “Reinforcements,” the tiny screen came alive.

“Alex? What the bloody hell are you playing at?” The growl was muted and tinny, but the glowering face had lost none of its malevolence.

“I don’t know. All I know is, I’m out of my depth.”

“If you’re calling me at this hour because you’re in trouble with some goddamned woman…” The wrist unit must have captured Milly in its viewfinder, because Uncle Karolus went on, “My God, it’s not even the same one. You’re getting to be as bad as Hector.”

“I need help.”

“You need treatment. D’you know what time it is? You’re lucky I’m not a few years younger, or I’d be out trolling for my own trouble in the lower levels. What the devil do you want?”

It was a waste of time explaining the whole thing to Uncle Karolus, and anyway Alex didn’t know the whole thing. He sketched in the minimum, then said, “We’re on the way to the research quarantine facility that’s holding Sebastian Birch. I don’t believe we can march up to the entrance and expect them to do whatever we ask. Can you get us in?”

Karolus yawned, squinted, and said, “Who is she?”

“This is Milly Wu. She’s helping me.”

“Helping you do what?”

Bat only knows. “She’s on our side.”

“Sweet Alonzo. You think that’s an adequate explanation? Either I’m going soft in the head, or you are. I can’t be bothered with position fixes. Where are you now?”

“Level fifty-nine, Sector one-thirty-four. At least forty minutes away from the lab, maybe forty-five.”

“I must be crazier than you.” From the grunting sounds, Karolus was pulling on pants or shoes. “I’ll get you into the place, and that’s all. I’m closer, so I’ll probably beat you to it. But if you arrive first, don’t try to go in. Stay on Level five at the end of the final bend in the Sector corridor. Don’t talk to anybody — including me. I have a call or two of cay own to make.”

Karolus was gone. Milly raised her eyebrows at Alex.

He shrugged. “That was Uncle Karolus. I’m sorry he’s such a wild animal, but he does know how to get things done.”

“No need to apologize. He seems pretty reasonable for a man who’s just been woken up in the middle of the night. My own boss is an ogre. Compared with him, your uncle’s a teddy-bear. Hey. Wouldn’t this be quicker?”

This was a high-speed lift that they were passing. It was intended for cargo only. Before Alex could point out the dangers, Milly had stepped onto it and was whisked upwards out of sight.

He followed, and felt the crushing load of a two-gee acceleration. As his legs buckled and his guts bottomed-out on his pelvis, Alex thought again of Bat’s words: It would seem that all the major actions in your life are entirely dictated by women. There was no way he could make a call while boosting upward, but when the lift tube spat him out on hands and knees on Level 12 — as high as it would go — he tried his wrist unit again.

Still busy. He swore, stood up, and set off along the Sector connector.

“Your uncle did tell you not to call him.” Milly led him by a couple of steps, not a hair out of place.

“I was trying to reach Bat, not Karolus. We need to know what’s going on.”

“Bat doesn’t think so. It’s the Puzzle Network mindset. You’re expected to operate with incomplete information.”

“We certainly have that.” Alex, in the middle of placing another call, slapped at the unit to cut the sequence off halfway. What was he thinking of? He had been all set to talk to Kate. And tell her what?

Milly’s use of the high-gee cargo lift had gained them at least ten minutes. They were on Level 5 and into the final approach to Sector 82 when Alex saw someone hurrying from the other direction.

Karolus greeted them with, “There’d better be a good reason for all this, young Alex. And don’t you utter one word unless I ask you to.” Then he smiled at Milly and said in a quite different tone, “I hope I wasn’t rude when I first saw you. I was half-asleep. Maybe we can meet later on under better circumstances, and start over.”

Milly’s nod to Alex — See? I told you he sounded nice — was at least as irritating as being called young Alex.

They were not heading to Level 4, where the only interior entrance to the research quarantine facility was supposed to be located — all other entrances led in from the raw surface of Ganymede. Instead, Karolus was leading them along a narrowing tunnel. A strong breeze blew in their faces.

“Not much farther.” Karolus paused beside a door set flush into the tunnel’s side and banged on it hard. “Now, if they’re worth half the money I agreed to pay — here we go.”

The door cracked open, noisily, and a worried, gnome-like face poked through from the other side.

“Quick. In.” The man gestured to them, and jerked his head to glance along the corridor in each direction. “If anyone finds out that I let you in—”

“I know. They’ll cut your balls off and make you swallow ’em.” Karolus pushed past him. “So you’d better keep your mouth shut.”

“You said cash.”

“Damn right I did. What do you expect, that I’d give you a credit chit made out from Ligon Industries? I’ll pay you cash — tomorrow.”

“You told—”

“Never mind who I told or what I said. I was in a hurry. D’you think I carry that much on me in the middle of the night? You’ll be paid all right. Where is Sebastian Birch?”

“Up the staircase, one level. Along the corridor, right turn, and fourth door on the left. Locked.”

“Key?”

“Spinor lock. Here’s the codes.” The gnome handed over a slip of paper. “When you’re in, swallow it.”

“Right.” Karolus handed the paper to Alex. “Here you are. A chance to do something useful. We’ll save the explanations for later, but I hope you know what you’re going to do after you eat that. Because I sure as hell don’t.”

That made two of them — three, since Milly Wu was undoubtedly as ill-informed as Alex. The interior of the research facility, not surprising given the hour, was deserted, but the directions were easy to follow. They headed up a staircase, Alex one step behind and feeling like a criminal. Karolus walked in front and chatted easily to Milly, exactly as though they all had every right to be where they were.

“Along the corridor, fourth door on the right, and here we go.” Karolus halted. “Alex, do you want to do the honors?”

The lock was reasonably simple, in keeping with a minimum-security installation. Alex suspected that he could have opened it in fifteen minutes, even without the spinor codes. Five four-space rotations and a parallel displacement, and the spinor keys hissed finality.

“Right. That’s my job over and done with.” Karolus pulled the door, checking that it would open a fraction. “He’s all yours. If anyone ever asks, I was never here — and I’ll have half a dozen witnesses to prove it.”

“I thought you wanted to know why we need to see Birch.”

“I do — some other time. You owe me a favor, Alex, as well as an explanation. You get one, you give one.”

Karolus left. Alex pulled the door open wide. He peered in. The interior was a well-furnished apartment, not at all like the detention cell that he had expected. The living room was comfortable, dimly lit, and empty; as it should be, at this hour.

Two more doors stood at the far end. Alex advanced and opened the left-hand one, with Milly close behind. It revealed a tiny kitchen, unlit. Alex took a deep breath and turned to the final door.

It opened silently, revealing a small bedroom with a shower and bathroom attached. All the lights were off, but enough came in through the open door. Alex surveyed the room, then turned for a second inspection of the living room and kitchen.

They had hurried through the night to find and guard Sebastian Birch. Since this was a quarantine as well as a research facility, the one certainty should have been Birch’s presence.

So much for certainties.

Sebastian Birch, whoever he might be, whatever he might be, and wherever he might be, was nowhere in this apartment.