Ascending - James Alan Gardner [9]
I hugged the jacket to my chest. It was made of thick black cloth; snowflakes speckled the cloth like stars in the night sky.
“Did that belong to someone you knew?” Uclod asked.
“I do not think so. But Festina spoke most fondly of the Explorer’s black uniform. It was a Valuable Important Thing; she felt quite sad she had not thought to pack a spare outfit when she came to this planet.”
“I guess she had other concerns to worry about,” Uclod said. “Considering how she thought Melaquin would be a suicide mission.”
“But many other Explorers thought to pack uniforms. They were warned they might be marooned here, so they brought important equipment and valuable personal treasures.” I looked at the trash strewn about the square. “It seems those treasures were not so valuable after all. When the Explorers were ready to go, they did not care what they left behind. They just tossed everything away to rot in the street…to get cold and wet and snowed on, because they did not really care about anything except themselves.”
I stared up into the cold wet snow, suddenly feeling sad. “Even Festina went away,” I whispered.
Uclod patted my hand. “Hey,” he said in a soft voice, “I read your friend’s statement about what happened here. Ramos didn’t leave your planet willingly; and anyway, she thought you were dead.”
“But I told her I could not die! I told her my people go on and on—”
“Oar,” Uclod interrupted, “you looked dead. Ramos couldn’t find a heartbeat, not even with topnotch Explorer sensing equipment. She decided to leave you among your own people, because that’s what she thought you’d want.”
“But I was not dead! Not even a little bit!”
“Yeah, okay,” the wee orange man said, “Ramos got it wrong. But even so, she didn’t just desert you—she took you back to that tower and laid you out all pretty. Hands folded, eyes closed, ax across your chest.” He gave a little smile. “That’s what I thought I’d find when I came looking for you: a nice glass corpse I could photograph. I was even debating whether to lug your remains back to New Earth, so’s the lawyers could use you as Exhibit One. But when I got to where Ramos said you’d be, lo and behold, you were breathing. That’s why I asked if you were really Oar.”
“Which I am!” I told him, suddenly feeling bright again. “You may rejoice, for I am not deceased after all.”
The little man shrugged. “I’m thrilled for you, toots, I really am; but I gotta say, you were worth more to me as dead meat. A good-lookin’ gal, all battered and broken—that would have played big-time with the viewing public. But if you’re still alive and kicking, what can I sell to the network news?” He kicked at a rusty hunk of debris lying in the street. “You think they want pictures of this boring old junk? They’ll flash it on the screen for five seconds, tops; then they’ll move on to some interesting story, like a dachshund who juggles goldfish.”
“But it is better me being alive,” I said. “I will play with the viewing public very big-time indeed, for I shall describe all the awful things that were done to me. I am excellent at Sensationalized Descriptions Of Emotional Trauma.”
“Uh huh.” He looked me over from head to toe. “I have to admit, toots, you’d wow ’em on the news. And the nets will be much happier putting your face in the headlines than Festina Ramos.”
I nodded sympathetically. Festina is a very nice person, but she does not have a Dazzling Regal Beauty.
“The more I think about it,” Uclod said, still gazing at me, “this could work. It really could. I’ve got the footage I need from this world—pictures of the city, the Explorer equipment, the missile crater in the roof. That’ll be fine for the courts. But for the media, you’d add that extra level of authenticity to make this story zing.”
“I am most zingfully authentic,” I assured him. “I am an extremely credible witness.”
“Yeah, I can imagine Mr. and