Rama II

34 STRANGE COMPANIONS

Dr. David Brown was the kind of abstract scientist who neither liked nor trusted machines. Most of his published papers were written about theoretical subjects because he abhorred the formality and detail of empirical science. Empiricists had to contend with instrumentation and, even worse, engineers. Dr. Brown considered all engineers to be nothing more than glorified carpenters and plumbers. He tolerated their existence only because some of them were necessary if his theories were ever to be proved by actual data.

When Nicole innocently asked Dr. Brown some simple questions about the workings of the icemobile, Francesca could not restrain a cackle. “He has absolutely no idea,” the Italian journalist responded, “and he couldn’t care less. Would you believe that the man doesn’t even know how to drive an electric cart? I’ve seen him stare at a simple food processing robot for over thirty minutes, trying without success to figure out how to use it. He would starve to death if nobody helped him.”

“Come on, Francesca,” Nicole replied as the two women climbed into the front seat of the icemobile, “he can’t be that bad. After ail, he has to use all the crew computers and communication devices, as well as the image pro­cessing system onboard the Newton. So you must be exaggerating.”

The tenor of the conversation was light and harmless. Dr. David Brown slumped in the backseat and heaved a sigh. “Surely you two exceptional women have something more important to discuss. If not, perhaps you could explain to me why a lunatic Japanese scientist takes off from our camp in the middle of the night.”

“According to Maxwell’s assistant, that obsequious cipher named Mills, many people on Earth think our good Japanese doctor was kidnapped by the Ramans.”

“Come on, Francesca. Be serious. Why would Dr. Takagishi decide to strike out on his own?”

“I have an idea,” Nicole said slowly, “that he was impatient with the scheduled exploration process. You know how fervently he believes in the importance of New York. After the Wilson incident… well, he was fairly certain that an evacuation would be ordered. By the time we come back inside, if we come back, the Cylindrical Sea may have melted and it will be more difficult to reach New York.”

Nicole’s natural honesty was urging her to tell Brown and Sabatini about Takagishi’s heart problems. But her intuitive sense told her not to trust her two companions. “He just doesn’t seem like the type to go off half-cocked,” Dr, Brown was saying. “I wonder if he heard or saw something.”

“Maybe he had a headache or couldn’t sleep for some other reason,” Francesca offered. “Reggie Wilson used to prowl around at night when his head was bothering him.”

David Brown leaned forward, “By the way,” he said to Nicole, “Francesca tells me that you think Wilson’s instability might have been exacerbated by the headache pills he was using. You certainly seem to know your drugs. I was extremely impressed by how quickly you identified the particular sleep­ing pill I had taken.”

“Speaking of drugs,” Francesca added after a short pause. “Janos Tabori mentioned something about a discussion he had with you concerning Borzov’s death. I may not have understood him correctly, but I thought he said that you believe a drug reaction may have been involved.”

They were driving steadily across the ice. The conversation had been even in tone, apparently casual. There was no obvious reason to be suspicious.

Nevertheless, Nicole said to herself as she framed a response to Francesca’s remarks, those last two comments seemed too smooth. Almost practiced. She turned to look at David Brown. She suspected that Francesca could dissem­ble without effort, but Nicole was certain she would be able to tell from Dr. Brown’s facial expression whether or not their questions were rehearsed. He squirmed slightly under her unblinking gaze.

“Cosmonaut Tabori and I were having a conversation about General Borzov and we started speculating about what might have caused his pain!” Nicole said blandly. “After all, his appendix was perfectly healthy, so some­thing else must have been responsible for his acute discomfort. In the course of our conversation, I mentioned to Janos that an adverse drug reaction should be considered as one possible cause. It was not a very strong state­ment.”

Dr. Brown seemed relieved and immediately changed the subject. How­ever, Nicole’s statement had not satisfied Francesca. Unless I am mistaken, our lady journalist has more questions, Nicole mused. But she isn’t going to ask them right now. She watched Francesca and could tell that the Italian woman was not paying attention to Dr. Brown’s monologue in the backseat. While he was discussing the reaction on Earth to Wilson’s death, Francesca was deep in thought-There was a momentary quiet after Brown finished his commentary. Ni­cole glanced around her at the miles of ice, the imposing cliffs on the sides of the Cylindrical Sea, and the skyscrapers of New York in front of her. Rama was a glorious world. She had a momentary pang of guilt about her distrust of Francesca and Dr. Brown. It’s a shame that we humans are never able to pull in the same direction, Nicole said to herself. Not even when confronted by infinity.

“I can’t imagine how you have managed it,” Francesca said, suddenly breaking the silence. She had turned to address Nicole. “Even after all this time, not even the tabloid videos have a legitimate lead. And it doesn’t take a genius to figure out when it must have occurred.”

Dr. Brown was completely lost. “What in the world are you talking about?” he asked.

“Our famous life science officer,” Francesca replied. “Don’t you find it fascinating that after all this time, the identity of her daughter’s father is still unknown to the public?”

“Signora Sabatini,” Nicole said immediately, switching to Italian, “as I told you once before, this subject is none of your business. I will not tolerate this kind of intrusion into my private affairs—”

“I just wanted to remind you, Nicole!” Francesca interrupted quickly, also in Italian, “that you have secrets you might not want exposed.”

David Brown stared blankly at the two women. He had not understood a word in the last exchange and was confused by the obvious tension. “So, David,” Francesca said in a patronizing tone, “you were telling us about the mood on Earth. Do you think we’re going to be ordered home? Or are we merely going to abort this particular sortie?”

“The COG Executive Council has been called into special session for later this week,” he answered after a puzzled hesitation. “Dr. Maxwell’s current guess is that we will be told to abandon the project.”

“That would be a typical overreaction from a group of government offi­cials whose primary objective has always been to minimize the downside risk. For the first time in history, adequately prepared human beings are exploring the interior of a vehicle built by another intelligence. Yet on Earth, the politicians continue to act as if nothing unusual has happened. They are incapable of vision. It’s amazing.”

Nicole des Jardins did not listen to the rest of Francesca’s conversation with Dr. Brown. Her mind was still focused on their earlier exchange. She must think I have proof about the drugs in Borzov, Nicole said to herself. There’s no other possible explanation for the threat

When they reached the edge of the ice, Francesca spent ten minutes setting up the robot camera and sound equipment for a sequence showing the three of them preparing to search the alien city for their missing col­league. Nicole’s complaints to Dr. Brown about the waste of time went unheeded. She did, however, make the fact that she was annoyed obvious by refusing to participate in the video sequence. While Francesca was complet­ing her preparations, Nicole climbed the nearby stairway and studied the amazing city of skyscrapers. Behind and below her, Nicole could hear Fran­cesca invoking the drama of the moment for the millions of viewers back on Earth.

“Here I stand on the outskirts of the mysterious island city of New York. It was near this very spot that Dr. Takagishi, Cosmonaut Wakefield, and I heard some strange sounds earlier this week. We have reason to suspect that New York may have been the professor’s destination when he took off from Beta campsite last night to do some solitary and unauthorized explora­tion…

“What has happened to the professor? Why does he not respond when called on the commpak? Yesterday we witnessed a terrible tragedy when journalist Reggie Wilson, risking his own life to save this reporter, was trapped inside the rover and was unable to escape the powerful claws of the crab biots. Has a similar fate befallen our Rama expert? Did the extraterres­trials who built this amazing vehicle eons ago perhaps create a sophisticated trap designed to subdue and ultimately destroy any unsuspecting visitors? We don’t know for certain. But we…”

From her vantage point on top of the wall, Nicole tried to ignore Fran­cesca and imagine in what direction Dr. Takagishi might have gone. She consulted the maps stored in her pocket computer. He would have gone toward the exact geometrical center of the city, she concluded. He was certain there was meaning in the geometry.