CRADLE OF SATURN BY JAMES P. HOGAN

“Well, I guess that for a while we’ll have to leave it with you people,” he said. “Do I take it you’ll continue staying in touch and keep us posted on developments?”

“But of course.” Sariena sounded surprised that he should have thought it necessary to ask.

Keene was relieved. “Do you know when you’ll be leaving yet?” he asked.

“No. There’s some kind of administrative complication. The arrangements are on hold right now. I’m not sure of the details.”

“Maybe if it’s going to be a day or two, we could come back up and say so long to all of you properly,” Keene offered.

Sariena smiled. “I appreciate the thought, but it isn’t really necessary. I’ll convey it to Gallian.”

“I guess you’ve got something more to throw at him when you see him in the morning,” Keene said. “How’s he bearing up under all this?”

“Oh, he’s not asleep. He and Vashen are away at some meeting somewhere. They’ve been gone for several hours.”

“At this time? What kind of a meeting, for heaven’s sake? Who with?”

“I really don’t know. Some people came here earlier this evening and talked to him in private, and then he and Vashen left with them. I don’t know what it’s about. Whatever it was, Gallian was looking very serious.”

Mystified, Keene looked across at Vicki as if for suggestions. “Maybe they’re billing him for the rooms and just wanted to make sure nobody got away first,” she suggested dryly. Sariena didn’t quite seem to follow the remark.

“It doesn’t look as if you’ll be leaving anytime soon, then,” Keene said, looking back at the screen showing Sariena. “We thought it might be tomorrow morning. That was why I didn’t want to put off calling you.”

“Well, I don’t think you need worry about that,” Sariena answered. “As I said, I really don’t know what’s going on. But if it’s something important, I’ll let you know. I’m sure Gallian would want to talk to you again before we leave, anyway.”

“Yes, do. I’d like that. Well . . .” Keene made a casting away gesture. “There we are. In case we don’t get another chance to say so before you go back, it was an experience meeting you and the others face-to-face finally. Working with you even for this short time has been a revelation. I’m only sorry that your mission here didn’t produce a more positive result. But maybe we all realize now that perhaps that could never have been. I get the feeling there’s going to be lots going on that we’ll be talking about. It’s just a pity that it’ll be from so far away again.”

“And it has been an experience for us,” Sariena replied. “This is truly an amazing world. Our whole race is amazing. And it will continue to expand and grow despite these setbacks. That’s what we should all remember, and work toward making happen. . . .” She hesitated for a moment. “I’m glad that we didn’t part on a note of misunderstanding and bitterness, Lan. Take good care of him, Vicki.”

“I just run a business with him.” Vicki smiled, got up and moved around the desk so that she was in the viewing angle with Keene. “But I like the things you say, Sariena. And I’m sure you’ll be proved right one day. Have a safe voyage.”

“Make sure you take care of Robin, then. Perhaps we’ll even see him at Saturn one day—at least for a visit. It sounds as if he has the makings of a Kronian already.” There was a drawn-out moment of silence. Then Sariena raised a hand. “Good-bye, Lan . . . Vicki, for the time being, anyway. And thanks for all you’ve done. It won’t be in vain. You’ll see.”

The screen blanked out.

24

Keene slept late and arrived back at Protonix around mid morning. He had already talked to Marvin Curtiss, Les Urkin, Carlton Murray, Harry Halloran, Wally Lomack, Shirley in Washington, and everyone else who had been looking for him during his absence the previous day, so there were relatively few surprises waiting to pounce. Neither, to his mild disconsolation, was there any message from Gallian or Sariena. He waited until noon and then decided to call them, using the general number. The manner of the security man who answered was cool and detached.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *