Infinity Beach - Jack McDevitt [147]
Tears started immediately to run down her cheeks. She knew, had known all along, that this wasn’t a good idea. Still, psychoanalysts maintained this was the best kind of therapy after an unexpected loss. If one didn’t go too far. “I hate what you did,” she said.
“There was no point in our both getting killed.” He smiled, and Shep had it exactly right. “How are you making out?”
“I’ve been better.” She gazed at him, wishing she could will him back. Seize the image, hold him, never let go. It seemed somehow as if it should be easy. As if she could just reach across the room and snatch him into the world.
“How are they responding to the news you brought back? When’s the parade?”
“We’re keeping it quiet. I’ve talked to Woodbridge. He’s concerned about the possibility of other people going out there.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“If I had my way, I’d try to find out where the sons of bitches are from, and I’d send the fleet after them.”
“That doesn’t sound much like the peace-loving Kim Brandywine I’ve always known.”
“I don’t feel very peace-loving. They killed Emily. Killed your He was nodding, agreeing. “Solly, they’ve taken everything I ever cared about.”
“Not everything. That’s an overreaction—”
“How can you say that—?”
“Because you have a long future waiting for you. I’m sorry I won’t be around to share it. But we took our chances and it didn’t work out the way it was supposed to.” He rearranged his cap at a rakish angle. “What did Woodbridge have to say?”
“He agreed they were dangerous and that we needed to avoid contact.”
“Yeah. They’re dangerous. But listen. Kim—”
“Yes.”
“Woodbridge makes me uncomfortable. He’s a little too righteous.”
“He’s okay.”
“You didn’t tell him about the Archives, did you?”
“No.”
“Good. Don’t.” He gazed at her for a long time. “What’s next?”
“I want to try to set things right with Ben Tripley.”
“You going out there?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
“You disapprove?”
“He’s a jerk. You don’t owe him anything.”
“Nevertheless—”
“Okay. But be careful around these people. Don’t trust any of them.”
“Solly, Ben’s all right. He’s just wound a little tight. Anyhow, I feel guilty. Everybody thinks Kane and his father murdered Emily.”
“Maybe they did. Who else was on that ship?”
“I just don’t believe it.”
“You know what you have to do, right?”
“Sure,” she said. “Find the Hunter logs.”
23
Familiarity and invisibility are sides of the same coin.
—OLAN KABEL, Reminiscences, 116
The Valiant stood on its shelf, polished and brilliant. Its shining presence, and Tripley’s ignorance of its significance, amused her. A mean-spirited reaction, she thought, but nonetheless there it was.
“I wasn’t sure,” she told him, “that you’d consent to see me.” They were alone in his office.
He kept his emotions masked and his tone detached. “Why would I not, Kim?” He remained seated behind his desk, allowing her to stand.
“I didn’t intend any of this to happen,” she said.
“I know that.” He pushed back in his chair. “But we all know about good intentions. You destroyed my father’s reputation.” His voice remained flat. “He did not kill those people. He would never have harmed anyone”
“I believe that. I think something unexpected happened during the flight of the Hunter. Something that caused the tragedy.” She lowered herself into a chair. She’d rehearsed everything she’d planned to say, but it all disintegrated in the heat of his presence. “This is not my fault,” she said.
“I know. More or less, it isn’t. But there’s no help for it now. I know you didn’t act out of vindictiveness. I’d have preferred you listened to me at the start, when I tried to warn you what would happen. But—” He shrugged. “It’s a bit late now.”
“Ben, there was no way I could not pursue this. It was a question of finding the truth.”
“And did you find the truth, Kim?”
Her eyes circled back to the Valiant. “Part of it.”
“Part of it.” His intercom sounded. He broke off, listened, told the machine he’d take care of the matter later, and looked back at her. “What truth have you discovered?”
What truth indeed? That