Infinity Beach - Jack McDevitt [152]
“I will tell you if I detect one.”
The aircraft moved deliberately around the perimeter of the lake. Kim watched for a light, but saw no break in the darkness. After a while Jerry reported they had done a complete sweep. “There is no other aircraft in the vicinity,” it said, “either aloft or on the ground.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Do you wish to expand the search?”
“No.” Sheyel wasn’t here yet, but he would arrive before the night was over. “There’s some open space in the town. Set down there. But keep the door closed.” Not that she had any illusions that a locked door would be sufficient to keep out unwelcome critters. But it would make her feel a little safer.
She put a hand on the microwave oven, then made another effort to raise Sheyel, but once again she got only the recording.
Kim was reasonably certain she knew what he planned on doing with the Valiant: it was going to serve as a lure, to summon the phantom, the thing that had been left over from the Mount Hope incident. Sheyel Tolliver wanted to make first contact. He believed as she had that the creature could be reasoned with. One had only to draw it into conversation.
Deadly naïveté.
The flyer eased down between ruined buildings. The sky was clear and the stars ran on forever.
She turned off the lights but left the engine running.
24
It is odd that those who claim to have a scientific view of the world stoutly deny, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, that ghosts exist, that they make themselves manifest, and that they seem to have a particular interest in ocean-front properties.
—AMY CONN, Famous Ghosts of Seabright, 591
The ruined buildings cast long shadows in the moonlight. A cool, sharp wind whipped in off the lake. It howled through the abandoned town and shook the flyer. Kim was embarrassed sitting locked in the cabin like a frightened child. Eventually she opened up and climbed down onto the ground. But she stayed alert.
Somewhat before midnight Jerry broke into her thoughts: “Aircraft approaching.”
A blip appeared on the screen. Inbound from the southwest. From the general direction of Terminal Island.
She was back in the cabin. “Can we talk to them?”
“Wait one.”
Kim felt behind her for the duplicate Valiant, brought it up front and set it on the seat beside her.
“Channel is open, Dr. Brandywine.”
“Sheyel,” she said, “is that you?”
“Kim.” He sounded genuinely surprised. And delighted. “Where are you?”
“I’m embarrassed for you,” she said. “You took the man’s starship.”
A long pause. Then: “Yes, I did.”
“And what are you planning to do with it?”
“I am going to talk to its pilot. If possible. I’d be pleased if you joined me. Where are you?”
“On the ground. In town.”
“There’s a strip of open beach to the east. I’m going to set down there.”
She saw his lights approaching. “It’s not possible, Sheyel. What you want to do.”
He sounded surprised. And disappointed. “Why not?”
“Whatever the local goblin is, it’s not someone you can talk to.”
“How do you know?”
“I know. Take my word for it. It’s some sort of disembodied AI. Designed to perform specific functions, as best I can judge. Maybe it’s a kind of automatic pilot. But it won’t do negotiations.”
“Let’s not jump to conclusions, Kim.” The other flyer had begun to descend. “Everything points to the fact that it’s intelligent.”
“The thing’s deranged, Sheyel. And it’s dangerous.”
“It’s lost and alone. It’s been stranded here for almost three decades. You have to start by understanding that.”
“Sheyel—”
“You want to say hello to the unknown, there’s no way it can be anything but dangerous. I accept that possibility. Still, I’ve never heard of a malevolent AI.”
“I have.”
“You’re letting your imagination take over, Kim.
“No, goddammit. I know what I’m talking about. Let it go, at least until—”
“I think you’re running scared, Kim. I’m disappointed in you. But after what you’ve been through, I can understand—”
“Don’t be stupid, Sheyel. This may be the thing that killed Emily and Yoshi. Look, let’s take the night to talk about it.