Starclimber (11 page)

“I had a run-in with them.” And I told them about how they’d tried to use my ship to blow up the Celestial Tower.

It was a good story to tell, and even Bronfman kept his mouth shut, though at the end he said, “How come I never read about this in the papers?”

“They hushed it up,” I said. “That tower’s France’s new symbol of national pride. They don’t want anyone knowing how close they came to losing it.”

“Huh,” said Bronfman dubiously, but he looked a bit uncomfortable.

“You told any of this to Lunardi?” Shepherd asked.

I shook my head.

“Might be a good idea,” he said. “These fellows sound like half-wits, but they’re half-wits with guns.”

I quickly got dressed and made my way downstairs to find Mr. Lunardi.

It was unusually quiet in the cafeteria at breakfast—not just because there were only twenty-four of us left, but because everyone was nervously waiting to hear from Mr. Lunardi. I’d already been to his office and told him what I knew about the Babelites. He’d listened carefully, thanked me very much, and said he’d be speaking to us all shortly.

We all looked over as he strode in now.

“Gentlemen,” he said, holding up a note and whisking it about dismissively, “you’ve all seen these pinned up in your dorms. Doubtless they’re the work of the Babelites.” He smiled. “Some of you may have heard of these poor fellows. They think heaven is just above our heads. They’re afraid we might anger God if we go to outer space. I would never dare anger God, gentlemen, but his creation is vast, and I don’t believe heaven has such an exact location. The Babelites have been making all sorts of threats against the Celestial Tower in Paris. Most of them have been toothless, but, as you may have heard from Mr. Cruse, one of them was very serious indeed.”

“How’d they find us?” asked Bronfman. “I thought this place was supposed to be secret.”

“I’m actually surprised it wasn’t found out sooner,” said Lunardi. “This kind of news travels very swiftly. All it takes is one careless comment.”

“How’d they get into the building, though?” Perry wanted to know.

“We’ve already taken measures to make sure it can’t happen again,” said Mr. Lunardi. “I’m doubling our security staff and changing all the locks.”

“Sounds like some of them have pretty serious firepower,” one of the other trainees said.

“I’ve just been on the telephone with the Ministry of Defense,” said Mr. Lunardi. “They’re confident the Babelites can’t have had enough time to organize any significant threat over here. Likely these notes are the work of a single disgruntled fellow. He may not even be connected with the real Babelites.”

The thought was reassuring. I looked around to see how everyone was taking this. Some of the trainees were nodding, relieved.

“Now, if any of you have misgivings,” Mr. Lunardi went on, “you’re free to step down from the program. I know some of you have families and other responsibilities. The decision’s yours. But remember who you are, gentlemen. You’ve all made it to the final trials. You’re hammered from strong stuff. Your eyes are on outer space. Progress. The future of our nation and our world! Will we let a handful of lunatics deter us?”

“Hell, no,” said Bronfman, and some of the other fellows laughed.

Reg Perry, I noticed, still looked a little unsure, as did Tobias. Shepherd looked as inscrutable as always. He wouldn’t be stepping down, and neither would I. I trusted Mr. Lunardi to take care of us.

Mr. Lunardi looked around the cafeteria and smiled. “Now, you have tomorrow off. Rest, relax, visit with friends and family if you can. I look forward to seeing you Monday for the final tests.”

“C
ome along, Marjorie!” Kate called back over her shoulder. “Just once more around the park!”

Miss Simpkins was far behind us now, wobbling on her bicycle as she tried to keep up. She waved for us to slow down. Kate just waved back cheerfully.

“She’ll never catch up,” Kate said happily. “I adore my bicycle.”

“Great invention,” I said.

We pedaled along the broad boardwalk toward the regal span of Lionsgate Bridge. The weather was perfect, the breeze off the water just fresh enough to cool my sweat. It was Sunday afternoon, my day off before the final trials, and I’d rented a bike in Stanley Park. I had spent the morning with my mother and sisters, and Kate and I had arranged to meet as if by accident.

“What you said the other day to Miss Karr,” I began cautiously, “about never getting married. You weren’t serious, were you?”

She glanced over. “It makes perfect sense from my point of view.”

“You don’t think it would be lonely?”

“I’m sure it would, sometimes. But if you want to achieve your goals, it’s sometimes necessary to make sacrifices.”

“I don’t really like the idea of being a sacrifice,” I said.

“Well, it’s not like I’m going to burn you at the stake or anything,” Kate said.

“You’ll just keep me around in a cage,” I muttered. “Like one of your specimens.” She grinned. “Well, you are quite an appealing specimen.”

“You don’t mean any of this,” I said impatiently. I checked over my shoulder and couldn’t see Miss Simpkins anymore. “Let’s turn off here.”

Kate looked down the narrow forest path. She raised an eyebrow at me. “I don’t think that trail will make for easy bicycling.”

“It’d wear us out,” I agreed. “We could always have a rest.”

“In the shadows behind a large tree, perhaps?”

“Most likely,” I said.

Kate and I hadn’t been properly alone since we’d left Paris, and I was desperate to hold her and kiss her. Maybe I could get her to admit she wasn’t serious about never marrying.

“It’s not a good idea,” Kate said playfully. “You obviously haven’t heard of Mimsy Rogers.”

“Who?”

“Earlier this summer, she said she was just going off to have a bicycle ride in Stanley Park. A little while later some family friends were hiking in the forest, and they spotted Mimsy’s bicycle against a tree. A few paces on, they saw someone else’s bicycle against a tree, and a few paces after that, they saw Mimsy Rogers in a passionate embrace with Michael Wright. It caused quite a scandal.”

The words “passionate embrace” made my heart beat harder. “When have you ever cared about causing a scandal?” I asked.

“There’s nothing I’d like more than a good kiss in the woods,” Kate said, “but I don’t have time right now. I’ve got to be somewhere at four, and I don’t want to be all rumpled.”

“Tea with James Sanderson, maybe?” I asked.

“No. It’s a secret.”

We pedaled on around the boardwalk in silence. I tried not to let my disappointment—or jealousy—show. I didn’t know when we’d have another chance to be alone—I certainly couldn’t imagine we’d have any time aboard the spaceship. Assuming I even made it onto the ship. My thoughts drifted uneasily to the final trials that awaited me.

“I really want to be on this expedition,” I said.

“You will be,” she said.

Maybe I should’ve been flattered by her confidence, but I felt irritated. She really had no idea. “It’s not that easy,” I said. “There’re still more than twenty candidates, and they’re all good.”

“Not as good as you.”

“I wish. I’m weak in some areas. In the suit, especially.”

I told her about the underwater training, and how, even after three sessions, I was still clumsy and uneasy. She said nothing for a moment, and I wished I’d held my tongue. Maybe she didn’t like hearing about my shortcomings. Kate had very high standards. I didn’t imagine she’d be very tolerant of failure.

“If people try hard enough, they usually get what they want,” she said.

I looked over at her, annoyed. “Easy for you to say.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, they just
invited
you. You didn’t even have to prove yourself.”

“Prove myself?” she said, glaring. She reached over and tried to shove me off my bicycle.

“Hey!” I said, swerving out of reach.

“So all the reading and studying and discovering I’ve been doing, that doesn’t count as
proving myself
?”

She veered over to have another go at me, but I was ready this time and braked. She overshot and teetered off her bike. Luckily she landed on the soft wood chips beside the boardwalk. I dropped my bike and hurried over to her.

“Are you all right?” I asked, holding out my hand.

She ignored me and dusted herself off. “Mr. Lunardi and Sir John invited me because of what I’d already accomplished,” she said, looking at me coldly. “I’ve
already
proven myself. Now
you
have to prove yourself.”

“I will,” I said. “Like I’ve always done.”

“Well, make sure you do, because Miss Karr likes you—for some
bizarre
reason—and if you don’t come, she might change her mind again.”

“Is that the only reason you want me to come?”

“No, just one of them.”

We got back onto our bikes. Our conversation shriveled up a bit after that, but I was too angry and hurt to rush in and patch things up. Let Kate do that, I thought. But she too was silent.

“I didn’t mean to insult you,” I said finally. “It just seems easy for you, that’s all.”

“Well, it’s not. Men always think they’re more deserving than women. It’s just like Mrs. Pankhurst said.”

“I’m tired of Mrs. Pankhurst,” I muttered.

“And she’s tired of you too.” Then Kate smiled. “Sorry for trying to push you off your bike. The look on your face was very satisfying, though.”

When we neared the main road leading back into the city, Kate checked her pocket watch.

“I should get going,” she said.

“Where?” I demanded. What was it she’d rather do than spend the rest of the afternoon with me?

“You don’t want to know,” she said. “It’s nothing to do with you.”

“You won’t tell me?”

She shook her head.

I was near crazed with curiosity by now. “I’m coming.”

“Don’t come,” she said.

“I’m coming.”

“Suit yourself.”

Pedaling hard, she took the city road out of the park.

“What about Miss Simpkins?” I asked.

“She knows the way home.”

Kate was very quiet as she led us downtown. We turned onto Rostrum Street with all its smart shops and fine ladies and gentlemen, and nannies pushing rich babies in their prams.

Kate coasted to a stop in front of Wittmer’s department store and tipped her bike against the wall. She looked into the shop window.

“Now listen,” she whispered. “You might want to stay on your bike.”

I looked at her, confused. “Why?”

“Just get ready to leave when I say.” Her eyes narrowed.

“Kate, what’s going on?”

I looked around suspiciously but noticed nothing unusual. Kate stared hard at the fur coat in the window, her blouse rising and falling rapidly.

The art gallery clock started to chime the hour.

From the wicker basket on her bicycle, Kate produced a hammer.

“Is that a hammer?” I asked stupidly.

“Yes,” she said. “The biggest I could find. Watch your eyes.”

And with that she swung the hammer at the shop window.

“What’re you doing!” I exclaimed.

“Making a statement,” she said, as glass shattered and sprayed everywhere. Twice more she swung the hammer, and the sound of breaking glass wasn’t coming from just Kate’s window. All up and down the street, hammers flashed in the gloved hands of elegantly dressed women. The sidewalks were awash with glass. Nannies screamed and wheeled their prams out into the street. Cars began honking. I thought I heard a policeman’s whistle, and then came the shouting of shop owners rushing to their doorsteps.

Kate dropped her hammer on the sidewalk and seized her bicycle.

“We’re off!” she cried, her cheeks flushed.

She hopped onto her bicycle and scooted away. Stupefied, I followed. There was a traffic jam now, as dozens of women on bicycles fled the scene. A couple had already been seized by gentlemen, and there was much shouting and screaming.

Kate looked back at me, and I don’t think I’d ever seen her eyes brighter. “What would your mother think of me now?” she asked.

Suddenly there was a policemen stepping out in front of us, and a man from behind shouting: “That’s her! And the young fellow too! Grab them!”

Kate tried to swerve around him, but the policeman grabbed her handlebars, and then mine.

“Hold up there!” the officer shouted. “You’ll be coming with me to the station, the both of you.”

“Would you like some of my bread?” Kate asked.

“I’m not hungry,” I said.

“It’s not a bit stale. I always thought they gave only stale bread, but it’s quite fresh. Really, I’ve been most impressed by how courteously—”

“We’re in jail, Kate.”

We were crammed into a holding cell in the basement of the Lionsgate police station. The police had clearly rounded up a great many window smashers, for we had no shortage of company. It was as merry a scene as you were likely to find in a jail cell. Apart from me and the bewildered drunk cowering in one corner, it was all ladies in their white blouses and long skirts and summer hats. There must’ve been more than twenty. Some of them were cheerfully chanting slogans and bits of inspiring hymns.

“A bit quieter, if you don’t mind, ladies,” moaned the drunk. “My head’s hurting something awful.”

“Look,” Kate said to me, “I tried to tell them you weren’t my accomplice, but they didn’t believe me.”

Some of the ladies started making a fuss of me.

“What a noble young man!”

“Our brother in arms!”

“I think it’s commendable you’re supporting our cause,” said a woman in a big flowered hat.

“I’m not, really,” I said.

“Not many men would link arms with us for equality and justice. Mrs. Pankhurst would be very proud of you, young man!”

I smiled weakly.

“I must say, I did enjoy it,” Kate admitted. “I’m sorry I didn’t give you a chance with the hammer.”

“That’s all right,” I said. “I’m not quite ready to become a window-smashing lunatic.”

“All we want is the right to vote, Matt, same as men. But they won’t listen to us, so we have to make ourselves heard.” Kate grinned. “I think they heard that, don’t you?”

“I can’t believe the trouble you’ve caused me,” I said.

“Look, I did tell you not to come. Anyway, you’ve done nothing wrong. It’s a simple misunderstanding. Once my father arrives to get me out, he’ll be able to sort…” She trailed off. “No, no, he can’t do that.”

“What?” I said.

Kate looked desperate. “If my father sees you here, he’ll know we were together, and that would open a whole new Pandora’s box.”

“Can’t you just tell him we ran into each other on the street?”

She snorted. “He wouldn’t believe that. I could tell he suspected something at the garden party. He thinks we’re having a liaison.”

“They’re having a liaison!” the woman in the big hat said to her friend. “They’ve found love in a jail cell….”

“There’s no liaison!” I said angrily.

Kate pulled me back deeper into the cell. “Daddy can’t know you’re here. When he comes, um, just cower back here.”

I stared at her in mounting anger. “You’re joking.”

“And maybe turn your face to the wall.”

“You’re going to waltz out of here without me?”

Kate spoke in a taut whisper. “My parents are going to be angry enough as it is. But if they think I’m sneaking around with you too, they might not let me go on the expedition.”

I was almost shouting. “And what about me? If I don’t show up for my final trials tomorrow, they’ll kick me out. Finished!”

“Call your mother,” Kate said. “She can get you out.”

“I don’t want her to know!”

“My father knows!”

A great flash came from the other side of the bars, and I turned, blinking, to see a wiry press photographer beaming at us over his camera.

“That’s lovely, thanks very much, ladies—oh, and gentleman. Don’t worry, sir, you made it into the picture, too. Tomorrow’s early edition, if you’re interested.”

Kate and I stared at each other in stunned silence.

“Well,” she said, “now that we’re in the paper together, I suppose Daddy can get you out too.”

“Thanks,” I said. “Thanks very much.”