"I understand." A.J.'s voice was as cold as she had ever heard it.
"Good." Modofori switched the communicator to off, using the hard-off switch. And pulled the power cell for good measure. "There." He glanced at the others. "Let's move."
"I'm getting a very weak response from Joe's comm, mates."
"Thank God. His suit wasn't destroyed, then." Madeline allowed herself to feel a little hope.
"Apparently not. Whatever hit, though, did one scary lot of damage." Bruce's voice was grim. "Scattered debris over miles and miles in this low gravity." His tone shifted. "Okay, Maddie, we'll be landin' soon enough. Then we drop Jackie off at the site so she can assess the damage, and we can search for Joe."
"Thank you, Bruce." It occurred to her suddenly that she hadn't heard from A.J. in quite some time. "A.J., are you there?"
There was no answer for a moment, and she began to really worry. Then his voice came back, sounding oddly flat. "I'm here."
"Is everything all right? Did you get our fugitives?"
"It's not all right yet," A.J. answered. "But it will be."
"What's going on, A.J.?" She knew evasion when she heard it. "Don't try to handle this if you can't—"
"Don't go there." The cold reply brought her up short. She hadn't ever heard him use a tone like that, not even when he was furious at her. "I said, it will be all right. I'm taking care of it. You have my word. You just go find Joe and get things running again."
She thought a moment. "Is Helen all right?"
"She will be."
"Ah. Crazy bastards." She thought she understood now. But . . . "You're sure?"
"Absolutely. I gave you my word."
She knew that A.J. did not use that phrase lightly. It was acutely painful to her to not step forward, but . . . in his position, if she was sure she could handle it . . . "All right." She offered a short, silent prayer to whoever might be listening that A.J. really knew what he was doing, and then deliberately let the matter drop from her mind. Agent's training was what was needed here.
The Feynman was barely settling into place as she bounded out to meet it. "Let's go find Joe," she said to Bruce as the door opened.
"Righto."
The impact site was barely a hop away; in fact, using Feynman would have been overkill if they hadn't intended to use the shuttle as a search-and-rescue vehicle in the area anyway. Maddie sent several of the Locusts, which she could control nearly as well as A.J., on a survey of the area as Jackie made her way into the shattered hulk of the prefabricated building that had housed the control center for the reactor. Part of it had practically splashed on impact.
"That's bad," Jackie said matter-of-factly. "Punched through the main controls like a bullet. A bullet that must've been bigger than my two fists. And with atmosphere present . . ."
"Big boom." Maddie glanced around the room. It was actually startlingly clean in some ways, probably because the blast and air escaping had thrown everything out. There was still a film of dust here and there—and what was that?
On the floor, the dust showed a faint, odd pattern: light streaking, then two dark streaks like expanding cones, wide ends pointing toward the wall. The dark streaks, she saw as she bent closer, were really areas with a lot less dust. "Jackie?"
The dark-haired engineer saw the pattern, too. "Joe."
"He must have been standing here when the thing hit."
Jackie nodded. "Well away from the very center. I think I can get Nobel to give me at least an estimate of the force of impact. Hold on."
A few minutes dragged by like hours as Jackie set up the parameters for the model. Then: "Maddie? He could have survived. But it was awfully close. Depends on what he hit on the way out, where he landed, how exactly he was standing . . ." Jackie trailed off. "We'll just have to find him."
"Bruce!" Maddie said, pushing her emotions aside. "I've had the Locusts circling the area. Can Nobel tie in and compute a fix on Joe's location?"
"Sorry, luv, no joy. Signals seem to be bouncing off the base material, getting absorbed, multipath all over. No way of tellin' which of six directions to look in. If we can't narrow it down . . . well, he's got Buckley's of being found in time." Bruce got a dark amusement out of the fact that Joe's last name was, and had been for years, Australian for hopeless situation.
"Then," Maddie said briskly, "we'll just have to narrow them down, won't we?"
"We'd better do it quick," Jackie said. "The rest of the base isn't going to last forever without power. We have to get things running again."
"How long to replace the controls?" Bruce asked. "Do we even have the parts on hand?"
Jackie's gestures showed she was consulting her own database. "Actually, we do. But it's going to take four, five days at least. And that's longer than the emergency backups will last. We can probably save all the people, but there'll be major losses in other areas if it goes that long. We'll lose infrastructure to frozen pipes and all that kind of thing. We need to get at least minimal power flowing faster." She shook her head, gazing down at the immense hole punched through the area the consoles had occupied. "I might be able to rig something up, but I'm not sure. The reactor itself may have shut down when the controls went, which means I'll need the controls before I can start it generating again."
"How much juice do we need?" Bruce asked. "To keep things moving along until you can fix 'em?"
"More than a portable generator," she said reluctantly. "For everything, we probably want a hundred kilowatts or more. That won't run any of the heavy stuff, of course."
"Right, then. No worries—Nobel's got that and to spare."
"Yes, but—" She cut off. "No, Bruce, you're crazy!"
"Hey, it's a fair sight better than losin' half the base, now, ain't it? And won't it be something to add to my resume?"
"And what about Joe?" Jackie demanded. "We're talking about saving the base, but what about him?"
"We have to narrow the search area," Madeline said. "And Jackie, I think you can do that."
"Me? How? Maddie, you know I'll do what I can, but I don't see what I can do."
She pointed to the tracks in the dust. "You were able to do a quick model to see how hard he was hit. But we assembled all of the stuff here. It's all in the engineering database. If you can get a good handle on the force of the explosion from A.J.'s sensor readings, can't you model what happened to Joe and find out where he went?"
Jackie froze, clearly struck by the idea. Slowly she straightened up. "Yes. Yes, we could do that. We can't get an exact answer, not even close. . . . But if we can even get a good sense of direction and distance . . ."
"Then do it fast, Jackie." She looked at the clock in the upper left of her field of view, a phantom row of numbers projected on her retina by the miracle of laser light. "If I guess right, Joe has maybe four hours left."
Chapter 23
"But . . . Look, Leo, what're we going to do?"
For the first time since Helen had seen him, Leo Modofori smiled. "A.J. Baker can get us past any of their security. He runs it, along with Fathom. With his help, we get what we came for. Then he gets us to Hunin. They'll have to let us back on board if we get close to Odin, and then, well, okay, they'll put us in jail for a bit. But if we've got what we're after, we'll be out and rich before you know it."
Jimmy Salczyck grinned back. "So, I did the right thing."
Modofori snorted. "Sometimes impulse and luck works, Jimmy, but we still should've talked. Anyway, it's over now. First we have to get somewhere we can hide out. Which isn't here. Baker knew where we were with the comm. We have to lose him so he can't set up an ambush, keep moving until he comes through."
"Won't he just have us nailed when we get to Hunin?"
"Not if we rig it right. He saw that we have his wife. We just make sure we get access to the monitors around the Hunin first. If it's all clear, fine. If not . . ." He didn't look at Helen, but it was obvious what was implied. "We need to cut through the unpressurized areas and come up
somewhere else—the third lab, I think. There's a terminal we can use there, when the time comes. But we want to leave no trail for him to follow."
Zaent glanced about him uneasily. "These corridors seem narrower." He gave a nervous cough.
"This is not the time to develop claustrophobia, Alex," Jimmy said. He sniffed at the air. "Does feel kind of stale, though. . . . Now you have me thinking it!" He grabbed at his helmet with his free hand.
Modofori growled in his throat. "Exactly. Don't go putting ideas into your heads—or mine, for all that." He cleared his throat and then took a deep breath. "There's air enough down here to last us for quite a while. Hours of air. Houdini managed hours in something the size of a coffin, and we've got a mansion's worth, so cut it out. No, leave the helmets off until we get to the lock. Hold up a minute."
He moved in front of them with the smooth action of someone completely accustomed to the low gravity; even in her pain, Helen had to admire that. She wasn't that good, and she'd been here a lot longer. "Sorry about the rough handling, Doctor. Can I trust you to not try anything stupid on us? Because I promise you that if you do try anything, it will end up hurting a lot worse."
She nodded, trying not to look scared—although she definitely was. This was about as bad a situation as she could think of. The crash on Mars had been worse in some ways, but that was an accident. What might happen here wouldn't be.
"Good. Now, hold still a moment. This will hurt, but it will help in the long run." He glanced at Jimmy. "Hold her head still."
Helen closed her eyes. There was a moment of terrible, sharp pain, a twist, and suddenly much of the pain was fading away and she felt she might be able to breathe through her nose again. "Thank you," she said faintly.
"You're welcome. If your husband is half as smart as I have heard, we should all come out of this quite well. He does care about you, I hope?"
"Yes," she said. It was one of the things she had no doubts on.
"Good thing for us all, then. Now please get into your suit and don't give us any trouble. We have to move fast, and I can't afford the time to babysit you."
Modofori apparently had a VRD with a system that included a detailed layout of Ceres Base, because he led them onward with barely any hesitation, occasionally gazing into empty air before taking a particular turn. Shortly they came to an airlock, where he had them all appropriate additional air bottles.
Once through the airlock, there followed a bewildering series of twists and turns through alien-designed tunnels, the only signs of human passage being occasional marks in the eons-old dust and temporary markers on walls. Many of these tunnels actually had never had a human being pass through them, only one of the unmanned probes. And there were still many miles of corridors left unexplored. A.J. had once compared it to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. "Except that we have to wear our scuba gear all the time here, and we probably won't have to wiggle through washtub-sized holes too often."
Helen tried to think of some way she might help out—get away from these guys and get somewhere she knew—but it didn't look hopeful. Impulsiveness aside, Jimmy Salczyck was as alert as a Doberman watchdog, and she already knew from personal experience how fast and strong he was. Despite the training both A.J. and Madeline had been giving her on the side, she doubted she could take on any of these guys, even the diminutive Axel Zaent. Her own VRD didn't have the extensive maps that Modofori's did, and with the main base systems apparently still down—something that clearly worried Modofori almost as much as it did her—she couldn't get any additional data out to guide her. So even if she did somehow give them the slip, she might end up wandering deeper into the base instead of getting out.
Finally they came to another airlock. Modofori brought out a small case and performed some complex set of operations on the controls and around the door seal. "What are you doing?" she asked impulsively.
He apparently didn't mind the query. "Making sure that it appears that this door does not open. It would be rather dense of me to spend this time in unmonitored corridors only to announce myself as I enter. Emergency power, while limited, does extend to keeping the door systems active and monitored, even if the full-scale hallway systems are down. I have no idea why power is still off, but for the moment it is an advantage I intend to exploit fully."
The airlock opened, and they passed through—Modofori first, then Helen, followed by the others. "Good. The lab I want is this way. The air's good, so unlock your helmets and save the tanks."
A few minutes later they were in one of the alien labs that had been used for what A.J. referred to as "bioforming" and which had been undergoing intense analysis. With whatever emergency was on, though, obviously no one was here now. And if the power came on, the remote location would give them plenty of time to get away before anyone else could possibly arrive. "Good enough. Time to get out of here for good."
Modofori took out Helen's communicator. Jimmy looked apprehensive. "Hey, Leo, won't he track us through that?"
"Probably. Almost certainly, in fact, since to make sure we could communicate with him no matter where we go he's probably had to key up low-power repeaters everywhere. But it took us a while to get here. Even if he can track us right away, he can't get here right away. If he's as good as I am at moving around, it'd take him at least half an hour to get here unless he just happened to set up in the area—and since I know where he was working, that'd be really unlikely. More like an hour away."
He put the communicator on one of the workbenches and put the power cell next to it. "Besides, I'm not exactly a slouch at this stuff. I don't doubt he can outdo me, but I can slow him down." From the little case he took another device which linked into his suit's datalink. "Mmm . . . yes, repeaters up. Not as secure as the normal link. I know this model—low power, self-contained, but only basic security on the ID. I can spoof them—make it look like our signal is coming from another location. If he gets suspicious, he'll be able to break through, but I think I'll catch that happening. Anyway, I don't intend to talk too long."
Satisfied, Modofori inserted the power cell, switched the communicator on, and spoke. "Mr. Baker, are you there?"
The little screen lit up immediately. "Yes." A.J.'s eyes were chips of blue-green ice.
"As I respect your abilities, I will not spend much time in conversation. I will talk, and you will listen. Currently you do not know where we are, and if you did you will not reach us before we move elsewhere. You are going to assist us in obtaining the information on fusion technology. You are then going to help us get to the Hunin unmolested. So that we may assure ourselves that we are not being ambushed, you will ensure that we have access to the sensors around the Hunin. While I am not your equal at sensors, I also assure you that I am capable of telling if you interfere with the actual data coming from the sensors in question, especially with the entire base apparently shut down. Once we are in the Hunin and ready to launch we will release your wife. Any deviation from this plan will result first in harm and finally in death for her. You must understand that while I have no interest in harming anyone, I can and will carry out my threats. We are in control in this situation, and you will do precisely as I instruct, unless you do indeed wish me to carry out those threats. Do you understand?"
A.J.'s expression had been impassive. Then it all of a sudden shifted, into a broad grin that somehow had very little humor in it. Even in the small screen, it gave Helen an involuntarily chill. "What I understand is that I don't think I have ever heard anyone manage to be more completely wrong more often in a single speech, even our current president."
One of the larger screens over the nearest research station flickered, causing all of them to jump, and abruptly A.J.'s face, twice life-size, was glaring at the three; even Modofori couldn't restrain a slight gasp. "I do know exactly where you are, and it will take me precisely three more minutes to get there. You will find you cannot go anywhere else. I will not assist you in obtaining any information, you are not getting to the Hunin, I'm giving yo
u exactly zero access to anything except a jail cell, you wouldn't be capable of telling whether or not I was inventing anything if I told you I was doing it ahead of time, and most importantly"—his voice dropped to a low tone that still somehow carried with it a snarl—"you cannot, and will not, touch Helen, because I am in control of this situation, and you will do precisely as I instruct, or else I promise . . ." and suddenly he smiled with just a touch of actual humor as he quoted, ". . . 'You will know pain . . . and you will know fear . . . and then you will die.' "
At a gesture from Modofori, Jimmy grabbed her arm, forcing it up behind her back. "A nice speech, and I see we have less time than I thought. But I can carry out my threat."
A.J. raised an eyebrow. "I find your lack of faith . . . disturbing." His hand raised and gave a small gesture.
Helen felt Jimmy suddenly go rigid behind her. He gave a strangled cry and clawed at his throat. Helen knew she was staring, but doubted that her expression was any more dumfounded than Modofori's. Alex Zaent, his face pale, pulled out a knife and started for Helen. "You cut it out, you son of a—"
Another gesture—a rippling gesture, the one she knew well from A.J.'s use of virtual controls—and Zaent screamed and collapsed, the knife falling from a hand that seemed limp and useless.
Suddenly Helen understood. Yanking off her glove, she looked down at her hand.
Her engagement ring glinted dully next to the bright gold wedding band, its oversized setting empty of anything except air.
Modofori recovered slightly, but his voice shook as he spoke. "How are you . . . ?"
"Ever wonder why a lot of the Faerie Dust technology is restricted? Now maybe you know," A.J. said. "The dust I'm using isn't meant for medical implantation, of course, so it won't last long—but it'll last long enough. It's actually going to take me another few minutes to get there, but I want you to know that I will know everything that is happening in that room. If any of you so much as twitches in Helen's direction again, I'll stop your god-damned hearts." The screen went blank. Jimmy, now able to breathe, slowly rolled to hands and knees—away from Helen. The others backed away from her as well.