Tachyon Web (11 page)

Even Strem was astounded by the machinery and for a while was content to watch and wait. Then suddenly, while they were pulling themselves around the belly of one of numerous spheric tanks, he pulled Eric aside. Vani continued forward, unaware.

“We’ve tasted the food and seen some of the sights,” Strem said. “Let’s hit her with the game question.”

“Go ahead.”

Strem frowned. “For some reason, which probably has to do with her extraterrestrial vision, she seems drawn to you. The question will sound less suspicious coming from you.”

Eric glanced toward Vani, who was beginning to look over her shoulder, floating against the backdrop of a wide net of fiber optics. “Sammy, how is the thermometer?” he asked.

(“So far, not bad, though it continues to creep up. But let me warn you, it won’t heat up at a steady pace. At one point, it will take off.”)

“We can’t waste any more time,” Strem said.

Vani was waiting patiently at a distance, understanding that they wanted to talk alone. Had the situation been reversed, had they been Kaulikans trying to penetrate an Earth station, they could never have come so far. Earth people were much more demanding of
appropriate
behavior.

“Are you having fun?” Eric asked.

“What kind of question is that?” Strem said.

“You were hoping to find excitement outside the web. Well, what have we got here?”

“I’m the captain of this mission. I can’t enjoy myself until I know
Excalibur
is safe.”

Eric sighed. “Yeah, you’re right.”

What was wrong with him? He was purposely prolonging the emergency. Curiosity was not a good enough excuse. Neither was a pretty face. They should get the coolant and leave. “
Vani!
” he called.

A blast of her scooter brought her back. He stopped her with his arm, touching her waist. She smiled. “
Have you seen enough of this noisy place?
”

“
No
,” he said, “
Strem works with the refrigerator and cooling systems on our world and he's interested in seeing your world's systems.
”

“
But will they not be the same as yours?
” Engineering was obviously not one of her favorite places to be.

“
Each world
,” Eric said, “
has its own unique way of carrying out certain tasks. Strem wants to see your personnel in action.
”

Vani gave Strem a curious look. “
All right.
”

She took them to a fairly large chamber full of pipes, pumps, and people, and where there was an unmistakable chemical smell in the air – ethylene glycol. Vani noticed Strem’s excitement. He pointed her toward a tank that bulged from a corner. It was all so perfect, Eric knew there had to be a catch. There was a valve that could be opened with a handle. Strem turned it slightly. A tiny dribble of coolant bubbled out. Then a bell began to ring. Every head in the room turned. A Kaulikan gentleman shot over. Vani intercepted him and there followed a brief discussion. The guy’s message was clear: don’t mess with the valves. The man turned off the alarm and returned to his station. Eric could see Strem counting the number of people in the chamber. He could read his thoughts: only eight measly Kaulikans. Strem looked at him, and Eric shook his head.

“
Is this what you wanted to see?
” Vani asked.

Eric nodded and inquired if there was another place where they stored ethylene glycol.

“
I do not know. Does Strem not know?
”

“
Are people always on duty here?
” he asked.

“
Of course.
”

“I want to speak to you alone, Eric,” Strem said.

Eric excused themselves. They flew into an unoccupied comer. Vani must be getting some pretty weird ideas about them, thought Eric. But maybe there wasn’t any crime in Kaulikan society, and she couldn’t conceive of someone having unethical motives.

Strem didn’t beat around the bush. “I wish you’d brought a gun.”

“It won’t work. You heard how the alarm sounds.”

“And I saw where it turns off.”

“You can’t just shoot these people!”

“They’ll wake up.”

“You don’t know that for sure. Their nervous systems are different. You could kill them.”

“Nah. What are the chances of that? I can take out all eight of these people in a few seconds. I say we do it now.”

“You’re forgetting, there’s nine people.”

“It makes no difference.”

“How can you say that after all the help she’s given us?”

Strem groaned. “I understand that you like her. I like her myself. But we have a responsibility to our friends, and to Earth. We’ve got to get
Excalibur
out of here.”

“Yeah, the Kaulikans might steal our secrets and attack Earth,” he said sarcastically.

“They might. Not now. Not in the next ten years. But one day, who knows? Why do you think The Patrol hasn't helped them?”

He hesitated, thrown off balance by the question. “They don't know they’re here.”

“Don't fool yourself.”

Strem was making a very interesting point; the truth of it had not occurred to Eric. The Patrol had hundreds of cruisers with which they scouted the borders of The Tachyon Web. From Sammy’s brother, they knew The Patrol had been fully aware of the nova. Given that, The Patrol must have known of Kashi and its people. They must have been watching when the nova’s fury hit the planet.

They must have watched and done nothing, while all those people died.

“We don’t even know how to get back to the right air lock,” he said.

“Sammy?” Strem said.

(“I’ve tracked you closely. I know exactly where you are in relationship to…what was that?”)

There had been a sudden burst of static.

“You tell us,” Strem said.

(“It’s stopped. It must have been some kind of interference. Probably some equipment near you guys is radiating tachyons.”)

“We were right on top of their ion drive and we didn’t have interference,” Strem said. “Could they be monitoring our transmissions?”

“We’re on a supralight band,” Eric said. “They don’t have the technology.”

“I don’t like this,” Strem said. “Even if they can’t monitor our communications, we’ve got a spaceship stuck to this their hull. Someone is bound to spot it soon. Let's get this over with.” He reached inside his coat. Eric stopped him.

“This is crazy! We’ll have to get past hundreds before we could get to the air lock.”

“If we take care of these people right, there’ll be no one to blow the whistle.”

“You promised you wouldn’t use your gun unless you were forced to.” Eric glanced at Vani, who smiled and waved. “Sammy?” he said desperately.

(“I'm open to any reasonable alternatives.”)

(“Just do it,” Cleo said. “Sitting out here waiting for this thing to blow up beneath us is no fun. These people are so laid back. You’ll have no trouble.”)

“You're outvoted,” Strem said.

(“No, he’s not!” Jeanie said. “Strem, you can’t blast these people. What have they done to us?”)

“I won’t hurt them!” Strem repeated, exasperated. “I just want their damn coolant! And I'm not going to ask for it.” He pulled out his gun, checking the charge. He added, “I'm the captain.”

“You’re the nephew of the owner of a broken-down freighter!” Eric said. “I don’t have to take your orders!” He fought to control his temper. “Look, so Vani doesn't know where else coolant is stored. They must have it all over the ship. Maybe even back at the farms.”

“I didn't see any there.”

“We really didn’t look. Doesn’t it make more sense to try to get the stuff in a quiet place closer to the air lock?”

“You're the one who wanted to go to engineering!”

“That's before I knew they had alarms hooked up to their valves!”

“That’s before you had a crush on Green Eyes!”

Eric stared him in the eye. “Don't push me,
Captain
.”

Strem backed down. “We’re getting nowhere,” he growled.

“We have time,” Eric said, trying to sound reasonable. “Let's explore further. I’m confident we’ll find another source of coolant. We’ll keep our eye on
Excalibur
's temperature. If the situation gets critical, we’ll return and take our chances.”

Strem chewed on that for a moment. “Having
Excalibur
spotted worries me as much as the graviton drive’s head. I want a time limit on this plan. Three hours. If we don’t find the goods by then, we’re coming back here, no matter what Sammy’s thermometer says.”

“Agreed,” Eric said reluctantly.

“And we’re splitting up. That way, we can cover twice the ground. I don’t need an escort. All I need to know is how to say ‘
boo
’ and keep walking.”

“I think that’s a bad idea.”

“And I think you’d rather be alone with her.”

Eric had no smart answer. Strem was right.

CHAPTER NINE

They sat alone by a lake in the largely empty Kaulikan garden. The solitude was internal as well as external. Sammy had switched Strem’s communicator to another channel, and Eric was no longer having to endure Strem’s constant flippant remarks. Sammy had also agreed, under protest, to stop monitoring Eric’s every word with Vani. He received his required Kaulikan responses directly from
Excalibur
’s computers, and Sammy had promised that they were no longer being broadcast over the bridge’s audio. Sammy could still call him, however, whenever he wanted, and vice versa.

The garden was on the same level as the farms but was located in the forward wheel. Here, again, the Kaulikans had spent their precious space freely, planning wisely for the claustrophobic centuries to come. Though the species of grass, plants, and trees were alien, Eric was surprised at how much he felt as if he were in a forest on Earth; of course, everything was green. One type of tree, however, if it was a tree, had him wondering. They were as tall as Sequoias, but didn’t have bark or leaves, and their branches appeared to be covered with
hives
. With flowers everywhere, even floating in the clear lake water, he had to wonder if there was a Kaulikan inhabitant he had yet to meet. Where there were hives there were usually insects.

The architects had not forgotten the sky: a light – probably blue – canopy whose near horizons curved up rather than down. Perhaps the designers had even managed to manufacture the illusion of rain clouds. But because the wall plates were still tilted edge on, the stars were visible, and illusions were all they could be. The rays of the nova cast long shadows across the woods.

Eric had not yet found any coolant. Ninety minutes had elapsed since he had fought with Strem. He would have to start searching again, in a minute…

“
You are different, Eric, than anyone I know
,” Vani said.

“
How so?
” he asked.

They were sitting cross-legged on a boulder that seemed to be a hundred percent genuine rock. Vani leaned over and plucked what resembled a lotus from the lake, playing with the petals. “
Your face is unlike any I have ever seen.
”

“
Is that good or bad?
” he asked.

In reply her left hand made a beautiful series of swirls.

“
My eyes
,” he said, “
are still not working as they should. Please use words instead of fingers.
”

“
Your face has many thoughts in it that I do not understand.
” She looked him over. “
Even your clothes are different.
”

“
You're different
,” he said, “
from any girl I know.
”

Vani laughed, not noticing his seriousness. “
My study period starts soon
,” she said suddenly.

“
Do you have to go?
”

Breaking the discipline had apparently never occurred to her. “
It is nice to sit here in the garden.
”

“
Tell me
,” he said, “
what you do each day?
”

“But you know.”

He shook his head. “
My world is structured differently than yours.
”

“
I live in society’s sector. We are all on the second rotation so we all get up at the same time. Recently, it seems, we have been getting up earlier and earlier, though I know that has not been so. But I have been tired.
”

Society’s sector sounded like a dorm to Eric. He nodded for her to continue.

“
Then we do our exercise.
”

“
What kind?
”

“
The usual.
” She paused, dumbstruck. “
Do you not do your exercise?
”

“
Occasionally
,” he replied.

She laughed. “
But I know you eat. I saw you do that. And that is what I do next. Then I start on my shift. I mainly take care of the Silama. I make sure the impurities are removed before irrigation.
”

Silama
must be a word that had no English equivalent or else the computer would have given him an approximation, Eric thought. He asked if she liked her job.

“
I do it.
” She did not understand the question.

“
Is there something else you would rather do?
”

“
It is pleasant to watch the fruits grow and to know I was able to help them. I would not like to work where Durgi does, in the yeast factory. It is noisy there.
” She smiled. “
Like engineering.
”

“
What are you going to do when you get older?
” he asked.

His probing was a surefire way of emphasizing their separate origins. But it wasn’t that his curiosity was getting the better of him, he realized. He
wanted
to tell her where he was from.

“
I will treat the Silama
,” she answered hesitantly. “
Unless I am transferred.
” She paused. “
Sometimes I wish that...
”

He had to prod her to complete the thought. She tossed her flower into the air. The gravity, half that of the rim of the wheel, brought it down gently into the water.