Infinity Beach - Jack McDevitt [187]
But the kindness of a stranger,
Ah, that is of a different order of magnitude—
—SHEYEL TOLLIVER, Notebooks, 573
“And you thought Tripley’s grandmother put the body in the river.” Mart’s eyes contained a rare twinkle.
“I couldn’t imagine who else might have done it. I never even thought of Kane.”
“Do you think Tora knows?”
“She knows.” They were on the sundeck at Kim’s home. It was a trifle cool but the day was pleasant and the sound of the surf soothing.
“I wonder what the customs people will say when they find out somebody smuggled a starship past them.” His eyes closed. “So what are you going to do now? You can’t really sit on something like this.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Turn it over to Woodbridge.”
“Then what?”
“Then nothing. We’re out of it at that point.”
“Matt—”
“Look, Kim, I understand how you feel. The reputations of Kane and Tripley are hanging out there. People think they’re killers. But they’re the ones who mismanaged everything. You have an agreement with Woodbridge and he’s absolutely right. We’re just going to have to swallow this as best we can.”
She stared out to sea. “Matt, we aren’t talking reputations anymore. Or politics. Think about what happened out there. At Alnitak.”
“They blundered.”
“Yes, they did. They encountered a vehicle from another civilization, and they hijacked it.”
“I know.”
“One of the most important events in human history. We need to find a way to set things right.”
“Are we talking about the celestials?”
“Yeah. That’s exactly what I’m talking about.”
“Kim, how in heaven can we do that? It’s done. Fini. Too late.”
“Maybe not. We could try mounting another mission. Go back to Alnitak and try again to talk to them.”
“That’s good. Wasn’t it you the other day who was calling them murderous sons of bitches? Who wanted to kill them all? Wasn’t it you who stirred up Woodbridge? Warned him that we shouldn’t let anybody near the little bastards? I think that’s quoted correctly.”
“Matt—”
“—Who encouraged him to cancel Beacon? Which project, by the way, the director was proud of? And which your colleagues had been working on for years?”
“Matt, I was wrong. Think about what happened. The crew of the Valiant sacrificed themselves to save members of a species that had kidnapped and marooned them. Why do you think they did that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they weren’t very bright.”
“I think they’re worth getting to know.”
A couple of joggers were passing. They waved, and Kim and Flexner waved back. “Flip-flop,” he said. “Are these things dangerous or not?”
“Of course they’re dangerous. But think how the Hunter incident must have looked to them. Look, we know that the Valiant had a hyperspace capability. That would also mean they’d have hypercomm. If they were in trouble, as apparently they were, they’d already sent out a call for help. What would they have done when the Hunter arrived? Another message, right? ‘My God, you ought to see this huge son of a bitch that just showed up.’”
“Okay.”
“And what do they say next?”
“‘They’re trying to grab us.’”
“Exactly. The transmission probably gets cut off in the middle. That’s why Solly and I found an unfriendly welcome when we arrived in the neighborhood. Ask yourself how we’d react if a giant ship grabbed one of ours. No wonder they wanted to know our address.” She listened to him breathe and wondered why he was so fearful. Why was there no one like Solly in the upper levels of the organization?
Flexner shook his head. “It’s too late to repair the damage now. I mean, how can you do it? It looks as if it’s a shoot-first situation out there. And we can’t even talk to them.”
“Sure we can.”
“Oh yeah. Two-four-six-eight. That’s good.”
“Matt, we’ve got to talk with something other than language. Something they’ll understand.”
He got up, walked to the end of the deck, and looked out at the sea. “What would you suggest?”
“The Valiant. I think we go back and do a gesture.”
“Meaning—?”
“Return the Valiant. Tell them we’re sorry and leave it to them to figure out what the words mean. The important thing is the gesture.