Infinity Beach - Jack McDevitt [191]
Kim undid the wrapping on the UDI parcel, opened one end, peeked in, and caught her breath. There was a scaled-down starship inside, but it was not the Valiant. She looked again at the label: it was the one she had addressed from Eagle Point.
Her heart began to hammer. She took it out of the package. The vehicle was the 376.
Woodbridge had a sense of humor.
She heard movement in the aisle, the compartment door opened, and a blond man in a charcoal jacket came in, glanced at her, and sat down opposite. She recognized him as one of the people who’d boarded with her at Marathon.
She closed the container. The nearby countryside was a blur; a distant range of hills passed majestically.
“Anything wrong, Dr. Brandywine?” the man asked.
She did not look at him. “You know there is,” she said.
He was silent a few moments. Then he showed her an ID. She missed his name but saw the words NATIONAL BUREAU OF COMPLIANCE circling a shield. “I wonder if I can ask you to come with me,” he said.
“Where?”
“Please.” He rose and opened the door for her.
She stepped past him.
“To your right, Doctor,” he said.
She preceded him down the passageway, passed into the next car, and, at his instruction, stopped outside a closed compartment. Curtains had been drawn over the windows. The blond man knocked. The door opened and he stepped aside.
Kim looked in and saw Canon Woodbridge. And the Valiant. It was on the seat beside him, a cloth thrown over it. But she knew the shape.
“Please come in, Kim,” he said, motioning her to sit down. “I’m sorry we’re meeting this way. I know this has been hard on you.” The door closed softly behind her.
“Hello, Canon.” She managed a smile. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“No. I’d think not.” He glanced down at the Valiant. “Tell me,” he said, “is this really a starship?”
She tried to look puzzled. It was difficult under his penetrating gaze. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Kim.” He sounded disappointed. She could trust him to do the right thing, his demeanor told her. Everything will be fine. Have no concern. “This will go much better if we’re honest with each other.” He drew the cloth aside. “Is this the ship from Orion?”
“That appears to be it,” she said, in a tone that conceded defeat.
“Incredible.” He touched it gently, as if fearing it might disintegrate. “It’s so small.”
She folded her arms and sat back, staring across at the seat opposite.
“I’m disappointed that you had so valuable an artifact in your possession and failed to inform me.”
“I’d have preferred to inform no one.”
“Yes,” he said. “Apparently. I thought I could trust you.”
“I knew you’d take it from me.”
“Kim.” The train had begun to sway and he put a restraining hand on the artifact. “I don’t think I understand your motives in this matter. I mean, this goes far beyond what’s good for you or me. What did you plan to do with this?”
“It’s of considerable value.” She dropped her eyes. Guilty as charged, you son of a bitch. “I was going to keep it.”
He studied her. “Hold it for ransom?” he asked at last.
“Just keep it.”
“You continue to surprise me, Kim. You seem to be making a career of stealing starships.” He replaced the cloth. “You’re really quite a little bandit, aren’t you?”
“It is mine, you know,” she said. “By right of discovery.”
“Oh, we both know better than that. Technically, I would think it belongs to the Tripley heirs. And I can assure you we’ll return it to them when we’re finished examining it.”
“There won’t be much left by then, I suspect.”
“Probably not.” He sighed. “But it’s unavoidable. Who knows what sort of technology is embodied in this? I understand the younger Tripley had it in his office all these years and never knew what it was.”
“Ben? Yes, that’s so.”
“Hard to believe.” Something in the countryside caught his eye, and he turned to look. Kim followed his gaze to a distant bridge across a river. Two kids sat on it with fishing poles. “The