Infinity Beach - Jack McDevitt [116]
Solly shook his head and eased himself into a chair. “Kim,” he said, “we don’t really have anything here.”
“Well, what did you expect?” she demanded, pushing away from him. “We knew it would be a one-sided conversation. Short of pictures, this is as much as we could have asked.”
Again the system was quiet. They waited and the silence stretched out past fifteen minutes. “Maybe they’re trying to decide what to do next,” she said.
“What would you do?”
“Face-to-face. I’d go visual. If that went okay, I’d try for a physical meeting. Send out the lander.”
Solly nodded. “You think there could be a problem with the visual exchange?”
She thought it over. “Yes.”
“For example?”
“What happens if they’re stomach-churners and they see us reacting? Or if we arouse visceral reactions in them? But at some point you have to try it.”
The AI broke in: “We have video reception,” it said in its mellifluous voice.
Solly’s eyes caught her and a world of emotions passed between them. He switched the feed to the overhead display.
“Enhancing.”
“On-screen,” said Solly.
They were looking at the Hunter seal, the ship and the ringed world. After a moment it dissolved to Emily! She sat in an armchair. Kim felt a pang of regret. How young she looked. And she was radiant with emotion. Her hair was pulled back, she wore a loose-fitting white blouse, and she smiled happily at them. “We know you can’t understand any of this, but (not recoverable) hello anyhow. Greetings from Greenway. Can (not recoverable) you?”
Kim’s heart pumped furiously.
One by one, each of the Hunter’s crew came forward and talked. Tripley gushed. He was, despite the physical resemblance to Benton, quite unlike him. A softer man, more enthusiastic, more alive.
Yoshi was gentle, lovely, with luminous eyes and a ravishing smile. She wished her new friends good fortune, and expressed her hope that this would be the beginning of a new era for both their species.
“I think we’re in business,” said Solly.
Kim shook her head, wondering how the images would be interpreted by the occupants of the other ship. If they could see them at all. What was the likelihood their equipment would be sufficiently compatible to receive visuals?
“That’s fairly straightforward technology,” Solly said. “They’d almost have to have the capability.”
And finally Kane. He spoke from the pilot’s room, and his manner was perfunctory but not gruff. He said he was pleased to meet the occupants of the other ship. That remark sent Kim into another round of celebrating,
“Congratulations,” Solly said.
Kane asked whether the Hunter could assist. He was somehow the only one of the four who managed to keep the pomposity naturally generated by such a moment out of his voice.
Kane gazed out of the picture directly at them for about a minute. And then he was gone. The screen flashed the Hunter seal again, and the picture blinked off.
“End of reception,” said the AI.
Kim was still standing up, far too excited to sit. “I’d do anything to see the answer to that” she said.
“Find the original logs,” said Solly.
She nodded. “We have to do that when we get back. That’s our first priority.”
Solly folded his arms and stared at the screen. “I hope Kane didn’t destroy them.”
“I’m sure he didn’t. This is the most dramatic moment in human history. There’s no way he’d have destroyed the record. None. He’s hidden it somewhere.”
“But where? Why?”
“I don’t know. We’ll figure it out.”
It was taking a long time for the next transmission to come in. “You know,” said Solly, “one of Kane’s questions keeps coming back to me. Why do you think he asked if Hunter could assist? Is it possible the celestial is disabled? In trouble?”
“Could be. Damn Kane anyhow. We shouldn’t be caught up in all this guesswork.”
“I think you should show more appreciation.”
“Why’s that?”
“If he’d done everything by the book, done what he was supposed to do, this whole matter would have been settled twenty-seven years ago. And you would never have gotten near it. Instead, he’s saved you a juicy puzzle and