“Cooled down from the plasma state, with the electrical effects dissipated,” Keene remarked.
Salio shrugged. “We don’t know enough about that yet to say. But if something as recent as that is at least plausible, who’s to say what the situation might have been in this more distant era that the Kronians are talking about? Without knowing the truth about those artifacts, I can’t tell you that the Kronians didn’t make it up. That’s for your lawyers to figure out. But it’s certainly not grounds for writing them off, either.”
Keene caught the last flight back to Corpus Christi, where Vicki met him at the airport—he had lent her his car that day since hers was in the shop. She looked trim and classy in a cool summer dress and greeted him with a hug that felt nice after a long, hectic day. “We could redeem one of the outstanding rain checks at the Bandana,” she said as they walked out past Baggage Claim. “Robin’s overnighting with a friend, and I can live it up—the life I’ve always dreamed about.”
“You must read minds too,” Keene said. “Sure, I could use a beer. Planes and peanuts always make me dry.”
“So how did it go with Salio?” she asked as they began crossing the parking lot. “What did he have to say?”
“He was fascinated. Said it was the most exciting thing he’d heard for years. He even came up with some thoughts of his own about it that could answer a number of puzzles that have been going around for a long time. For example, Saturn could have provided a more benign environment for life to have gotten started in than here, close to the Sun. No fierce ultraviolet to break up early, fragile molecules before there was ozone.”
“He didn’t think it would be too cold out at that distance? That was one of the things that bothered me.”
“Not necessarily. If Saturn was a protostar at one time that didn’t make it to fusion ignition, it might still have radiated enough to warm its satellites.”
“What about when Earth escaped?”
Keene shrugged. “Maybe there’s your Ice Age. . . . In any case, with all the other things going on that we’ve been talking about, Saturn might not have been at the same distance then. I can see why Gallian thinks there’s enough new science to keep them busy for fifty years.”
Vicki glanced at him silently as they walked. Her expression still held a touch of skepticism. “Could it really have been that recently?” she queried. “Enough for humans to have seen it?”
“Well, it’s beginning to look as if things could change a lot quicker than has always been thought. Salio thinks the whole geological and astronomic time frame is screwed up.”
“Don’t tell me 4,004 B.C. is true after all.”
“No. But he’s pretty certain that the conventional figures are going to have to be drastically revised downward, all the same.”
“So does he buy the idea of a one-time satellite of Saturn?” Vicki asked.
“Until we know for sure one way or the other about the artifacts, he can’t say,” Keefe replied. “It could be a scam; it could be straight. That’s where Murray and the lawyers ought to have been pitching in. Where we go next, I’m not sure.”
Vicki handed him the keys. He opened the passenger door for her and saw her in, then walked around and got in the driver’s side.
“I’m surprised they didn’t stay on in Washington longer,” Vicki said as they moved out. “I can see why you and Jerry would be out of it now. But doesn’t the legal mess up there need attention?”
“There wouldn’t be any point,” Keene said. “The Kronians aren’t interested. They’re going back—either to work on their theory or figure out how else they’re going to save their colony. I don’t know which. It depends on whether they’re genuine or not. The last I heard, Idorf was bringing the Osiris up to flight readiness.”
“Ouch. I didn’t realize it was so soon. It’s really that hopeless?”
Keene sighed. “Well, if you and I have trouble buying it, the establishment isn’t even going to want to hear. If they really are genuine, then Gallian is probably right in thinking that getting tangled up in legalities would just be a waste of time. He told Murray that no law firm would take Kronians on anyway. After Voler’s act, they’d be too worried about the bill being paid in faked money.”