And, Christ almighty, he must indeed go forward. Otherwise – arrest, indictment, trial? An actual jail sentence? A rehabilitative psychiatrist (squat, plump, blue-jowled, fleshy-nosed) probing the psyche of Ira Quick, which his grubby breed would never understand in a geological epoch? Release after he was aged, aged, to whatever drabness he could find in the wreckage of career and social life? His boys, wife, friends, mistresses, the whole world naming him kidnapper and murderer, he who had striven for nothing but human betterment?
I am well known as being fast on my feet.
Quick ran tongue over lips. “Sir, I don’t necessarily agree with either of your proposals.” Ah, good, how calmly he spoke despite the thick hammering inside him.
“Nevertheless, when a statesman like you speaks, I listen. Would you care to explain in detail?” He felt his brave smile. “We do have to pass the time while we wait.”
The voices around the cathedral image were marching to their triumphant conclusion.
XXVI
Chinook was over a million kilometers from her goal, decelerating, when the first communication struck her. Brodersen took it in his office.
The screen showed him an angular visage speaking British English:
“Vincent Lawes, commanding watchship Alhazen on special duty. You are Chinook of Demeter, are you not?” It was scarcely a question. “Give me your captain.”
“You have him,” Brodersen answered. “What can I do for you?”
The seconds ticked away while light beams flew forth and back again.
Caitlin, seated beside Brodersen, gripped his forearm, which was bare. He was acutely conscious of that warmth and pressure, of her hasty breath and faint sweet woman-odors.
“Now hear this well, Captain Brodersen,” Lawes said. His tone was harsh and a tic jumped near his right eye. “You are wanted on serious charges. Your ship is armed. My orders are to see that you pass through to the Phoebean System to be taken in charge there. I am to consider you dangerous and take no chances with you. None. Do you understand?”
“What procedure shall we follow?”
Time. “You will maneuver as usual, except under direction from us, not Copernicus. In fact, you are to have no contact whatsoever with Copernicus. You will beam every message at us, and in English. Copernicus has been directed off her usual orbit. She’ll keep on the far side of the T machine from you as you make transit. To contact her, you’d have to broadcast -and in Spanish, since nobody aboard her knows English. We will detect that. Any untoward action of yours can provoke our fire. I repeat, do you understand? Make sure you do, Captain Brodersen.”
“My, my.” The Demetran clicked his tongue. “You are tight in the sphincter, aren’t you? How come? What harm in a little chat?”
Time. Caitlin chanted, a whisper – a Gaelic curse, Brodersen thought.
“I have my orders,” Lawes replied, scissoring off each word. “Among other things, you stand accused of trying to disseminate technological information which would endanger public safety. Without questioning the dutifulness of the Copernicus personnel, I am to see that you send no word to them or anyone else. Needless to say, they are not to tune you in. If we become engaged with you, they will join us.”
“I see. M-m, how about yourself, Captain Lawes? Our side of the story is Side 106
Anderson, Poul – Avatar, The pretty interesting. We’ve quite a bit we can show you, too.”
Time. The sole surprise, if it was that, was the appalled vehemence of Lawes’ “No! Absolutely not! At the first sign of any such attempt, I’ll switch off. If you persist when I call back later, I have discretion to attack.”
“Okay, okay. What else?”
Time. Brodersen muttered to Caitlin, “They’ve sure got to him, haven’t they? Prob’ly by more than an appeal to his loyalty. He’s an officer of the Union, after all, not of Europe. Bribe, blackmail-”
“Your path and vectors are incorrect for a transit,” Lawes said.
“Explain.”
“Yeah, I was coming to that. We’ve developed collywobbles in the main control system. Acquired a wrong momentum and have to compensate. Instead of making straight for our first base, we’re applying parameters which will bring us to zero relative velocity near Beacon Bravo. From there, we’ll move to the proper location for a standard approach. I have the figures here, if you’d like me to transmit them.”