Communion of Dreams, page 17
“I’ll see what I can come up with.”
“Thanks.”
* * *
The bar had a good crowd, but Jon was able to find a somewhat private booth off in a corner. As he waited, watching the door for Bradsen, he listened to the singing of some of the spacers. He recognized some of the members of the crew of the ship he had come in on, and figured that others were from the Planck.
Bradsen came into the bar and looked around, seeing Jon and making his way over.
Jon stood up and offered his hand to the older man. Over the sound of the vocal music, he said, “Thanks for making the time, Don.”
Bradsen took his hand, shook it. “Yeah. I got the message from Magurshak. Thanks.”
Jon shrugged. “Thought you should hear it directly.”
Bradsen’s drink arrived. Taking a sip, he looked levelly at Jon. “So, what’s up?”
Jon picked up his own glass, swirled the liquor and ice while looking down into it. Then he looked up, met Bradsen’s gaze. “Well, we’ve gotten off to a bad start here. I wanted to see if we could correct that.”
Eyes narrowing, Bradsen said nothing.
Jon held up a hand. “Relax, I don’t blame you for this. It’s just an extraordinary situation.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Just a truce. Give us both a little time to get settled into it. We get along well enough back home, I figure we can do the same here if we give ourselves a chance.”
Don looked at him, sat back and sipped his drink in thought. “I’m OK with that.”
“Good. I’ll stay out of your way, let you and your people get on with your jobs.”
“All right. And I’ll try not to flinch whenever Sidwell comes into the dome.”
Jon grinned just a little. “Well, he is a bit of an old coot, I’ll give you that. But we are stuck with him. And I have this suspicion that he has some insight we’ll need before this is all over.”
The music died down, and there was a break as the singers ordered more drinks, got up to stretch their legs. As one of the ship’s crew members went by, he glanced over at Jon and Don sitting in their corner booth, and came over.
Don looked up and saw the man. There was a vague recognition in his eyes.
The spacer stopped beside their table, said “Hey, doc. Ryan Marsh from the Planck. I helped get all your equipment secure in the hold.”
Bradsen stood, shook the man’s hand, nodding. “Right. Thanks for your help.”
“Hey, is what they say true? About some alien thing down on Titan? Is that why you guys brought all that scientific equipment?”
Bradsen smiled a thin smile. “Well, I can’t really say, you understand. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t talk with people about it.”
“Not me. I keep my mouth shut. When I heard about the news, I put two and two together, figured I should just keep quiet.”
“Good man.”
“Thanks. Oh, and hey, there was still something in the ship that came up with your stuff. Fair-sized crate. You guys missing anything?”
Don Bradsen knitted his brows together. “No, I’m sure we got everything. You certain it was for us?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure. It was loaded with your stuff, and all the rest of the cargo was just routine supplies like we run up here regularly. This was different, crated like your equipment. Thought I should check.”
Don glanced at Jon, back at Marsh. “Uh, yeah, we’ll see about that. Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. Well, hey, I’ve gotta hit the head. Good talkin’ with ya, doc.”
The man disappeared. Don asked Jon, “Can you have Seth look over the manifest, see if there was anything we missed?”
“Sure. Seth?”
The expert appeared, standing beside the table.
“Seth, check our inventory and see if there was anything left on the Planck that was supposed to be shuttled down to Titan with the rest of our supplies.”
His answer was instant. “No, all equipment and supplies were accounted for.”
Bradsen spoke. “Was there anything in the manifest that wasn’t accounted for? Something that was forgotten, or left on board accidentally from the previous cargo that was displaced when we required the ship?”
Again, the answer was immediate. “No. I have checked all the records, and consulted with the ship’s experts. Nothing was left behind. As you know, mass is a critical element in navigational calculations. Anything substantial would have had to be included in those calculations. There’s always some room for uncertainty, but anything significant would have been noticed immediately.”
Jon looked at Don. “Was there anything else that was sent up, besides routine supplies for the station? Maybe it was just stowed with our stuff?”
There was a slight pause this time. “There isn’t anything listed on the manifest. But Jon . . . ”
“Yes?”
“There is a gap in the data record.”
“What do you mean? Someone has altered the manifest?”
“I didn’t detect any alteration. But after consulting with the ship’s experts, there is a discrepancy between the mass of the items listed and the mass used for navigational calculations. A significant discrepancy.”
“What do the ship’s experts have to say about that?”
“Well, that’s the thing. All of them are unable to account for the discrepancy.”
Jon sighed. “Meaning that someone has changed the record. Someone with enough savvy to do it in such a way that even the ship’s experts didn’t know it.”
Seth slowly nodded his head. “Apparently so.”
Bradsen shook his head. “This isn’t good.”
“Not at all,” said Jon, finishing his drink. “Not at all.”
“Shall I inform Commander Navarr?” asked the expert.
“By all means. Tell him I’d like to meet with him later, tonight if possible, otherwise in the morning.”
“Done.”
* * *
“Well, it’s been a while.”
Jon chuckled slightly. “Oh, just a couple of days. It just seems like it’s been longer, with all that’s been going on.”
Gish held the door open to their suite, and Jon entered. Looking around, he saw evidence of the girl everywhere. It wasn’t messy in the main room, but it was clear that there was a young child in residence.
“Have a seat. Can I get you something to drink?”
“No, thanks.” Jon parked himself on the couch. “Chu Ling asleep already?”
“Has been for some time.”
“Too bad, I’d hoped to see her. Everything going OK?”
“She’s fine. She’s spent a lot of time with ‘Doctor Tops’, as she calls her, these last few days.”
“Yeah, I know. Tops is trying to unravel the secret of her genetic manipulation.”
“As she’s explained to me.” Gish looked at Jon with something of a quizzical eye. “Is there something that I should know?”
“No. I didn’t come by with any real information. I just wanted to say hello, see how she was doing here.”
“Well, with everything that’s happened, she’s been curious where everyone has been. But we’ve mostly been concentrating on her education. And she’s been all over the station, going on long explorations with me, or Johan, or Duc.”
“Duc?”
“Yeah, she’s taken quite a liking to him. Having someone around who looks a little more like her has been comforting, I think. And he enjoys the freshness in how she sees the world.”
“Good.” Jon paused. “So, you’ve heard?”
“I got your post about it. Any further news?”
“No. But Magurshak’s concerned. And it raises a lot of questions, potential problems.”
“Like Chu Ling.”
“Well, nobody has said so to me yet, but I’m sure they’re thinking it back on Earth.”
Gish said nothing for a long moment, looked up and met Jon’s eyes briefly before looking away again. “And what have you been thinking?”
“I’ve been thinking that I’d like to know a little more about how you came across Chu Ling.”
“I’ve told you already.”
“Yeah, and I let it pass. But that was before we knew what she was. And the coincidence of her finding you just before we discovered the artifact is a little much, in light of the fact that someone told the Edenists very early on. So, tell me again, but this time let’s get a little closer to the truth, OK?”
Gish stared at the floor, said nothing.
“C’mon, Robert. Tell me before the NSA people start breathing down your neck.”
“They already have.”
“Eh?”
Gish sighed deeply. “Navarr’s been by to see me already this evening.”
“OK, so what did you tell him?”
Gish looked up, the pain evident in his eyes. “That I knew she was a clone from the start.”
“Oh? How’s that?”
“Friends got in contact with me a few days before we knew anything about the artifact, said they had a small girl they needed to hide.”
Jon was puzzled. “Why would they do that?”
“They know my . . . my history. Asked me to help, to hide the girl.” He wiped at his eyes. “She was smuggled out of China, away from an organ farm. At least that’s what they told me.”
“Whoa.”
“These friends have managed to rescue a number of children this way, and on occasion, I’ve helped. But it was clear from the start that this girl was special. What I told you about her playing games with me was true . . . and it tipped me off that there was something different about her. No one goes to the trouble to clone someone of such superior intelligence, just to use them as replacement parts.”
“So you were stuck with her when we got in contact with you about this mission.”
“Yeah. I couldn’t very well abandon her. But I also couldn’t tell you what I knew about her.”
“So it was just coincidence that you had her when we found out about the artifact.”
Gish started to speak, but paused, took a deep breath. “I’m not so sure.”
Jon just looked at him, waited.
“She is so . . . special . . . so different from the others my friends have helped, that I have to wonder about the timing.”
“I’m sure Navarr agrees.”
“Yeah.”
“OK,” Jon nodded as he stood. “Let’s keep this quiet for now. Finding out that she was a clone was enough of a shock for the others, and with everything else, I don’t want to feed anyone’s paranoid fantasies. Not until we get some solid information. I’ll talk with Navarr.”
Gish also stood up, looked him straight in the eye. “Thanks.”
As Jon reached out to open the door, he turned to look at Gish. “I wish you’d told me.”
Gish nodded, said nothing as Jon left.
* * *
“Jon? It’s Commander Navarr.”
“Thanks Seth,” replied Jon as he got up and went to the door. Opening it he said, “Come on in.”
Navarr entered as Jon turned up the security screen. “Drink?”
“No, thanks. I still have too much to do tonight.” Navarr took a seat.
“Right. So, what’s your thought on that cargo mystery?”
Navarr shrugged. “Expertly done. There’s no trace of it in any of the records. Whatever it was, there’s no track to follow.”
“You know, that scares me.”
“Doesn’t make me too happy, either,” said the commander. “According to the crewman, it was a crate at least a meter square and more than two long. That’s big enough to hold just about anything.”
“Record of it being loaded back on Earth?”
“Dunno yet. I should hear back within the hour. But I’d be surprised if whoever wiped the records on this end neglected things back there.”
“Yeesh.”
“Look, it could’ve been something we don’t need to be worried about at all. Maybe a little free lance smuggling by a member of the crew, something like that.”
Jon looked at him. “You don’t believe that.”
“No, not really.”
Jon shook his head. “So, now what?”
“Well, I’ve got Salim going over station monitors, see if there’s anything that got picked up on video that might tell us something. But don’t hold your breath.”
“You know, I’m getting sick of this cloak and dagger stuff.”
Navarr gave him an odd look, then nodded. “So, I understand you went to talk with Gish.”
“Tracking me?”
“I asked Gish to let me know if anyone else came around asking questions.”
“Oh. OK.”
“I planned on telling you about our security concerns, and what I found out from him. Evidently, you figured it out for yourself.”
“Well, Gish is an odd little man, but even he wouldn’t just pick up a stray like he told me initially. I let it slide because I wanted him on this expedition, and figured that it really wouldn’t hurt matters. He wanted the girl along, that was his business. When news of her being a clone came in, I almost confronted him about it, but figured that it could wait.”
“Yeah, that was pretty much my decision, too. My superiors weren’t entirely happy about it, but let me have my way. That changed when we found out the Edenists, or someone, knew early on about the artifact, and intensified when the news hit the nets. I was told to ‘discuss’ the matter with him.”
“Makes sense. So, what did you find out?”
“Same thing he told you, according to Gish: that he has been part of a rescue effort to get these clones out of China, but that he realized there was something unique about Chu Ling.”
“If ‘unique’ can be applied to a clone.”
“Right. Anyway, he didn’t want to tell you the truth, because he knew that security demands would necessitate his staying on Earth during this mission. And, for someone who has suffered decades of professional ridicule for his assertion that we weren’t alone in the universe, that was too much to ask. So, he made up his story, hoped you’d buy it.”
“Yeah, that jibes with what he told me.” Jon looked at Navarr. “So, what have they found back home about all this?”
“Sorry, again I’m waiting to hear. But I doubt I’ll get much of an explanation, since I don’t really ‘need to know’.”
“If they can make a connection to the Edenists, will they at least tell us that?”
“Probably. Or anything else that may have some bearing on our situation here. Not knowing the full story is frustrating, but they really are pretty good about telling you whatever you actually need to know.”
“You believe that?”
Navarr hesitated. “Yeah, mostly.”
“And you’ll tell me?”
“Unless I get specific orders not to.”
Jon nodded. “Anything else?”
“One thing: they’re sending another ship up. A large contingent of additional troops.”
“Well, I suppose that’s reasonable, given everything that’s going on. What, about eight days?”
“Maybe less. But we’re on our own until then.”
* * *
It was late, and Navarr had been gone for a while. Jon propped himself in bed, he called up the cards, and started the ritual of playing them, letting his mind relax and wander. Slowly, the concerns of the past days melted away. His awareness started to flow, reaching past the immediate pool of now into something broader, deeper. This was the state he wanted, the point where he could start to anticipate the next card, until they stretched out before him in a random but foreseen pattern, numbers dancing in a long chain.
Then something unusual happened.
He heard the whisper, the song of the artifact. The numbers slowly fell into step with it, moving in the rhythm of its voice. And as they danced, they started to take on depth, dimensionality, becoming solid and tangible. Slowly they moved, still dancing, but forming a structure, something that he could almost recognize. Then it came into focus, and he realized why he couldn’t identify it at first: it was the swirl of the burl of gel which floated beneath the artifact, somehow moving as though fluid. And there, reflecting in the sheen of the burl, was a face. Not his face. But the face of Darnell Sidwell, as a young man.
And he heard the voice he had heard so often. “Welcome back, Jon.”
“Back where?”
“Look around.”
Jon realized that the burl of gel was indeed floating there under the artifact, in the middle of the large cave. It cast a light, just as before. But this time, as he turned to see the second shadow on the wall, he could only see his own. “Where are you?”
“Where I always am. But you’ve just started to be able to realize it.”
He looked back into the pale blue mirror of the burl. Again, he saw Darnell’s face. “What is this place? Why do I keep coming back here?”
The face reflected back at him was thoughtful. After a moment, it said, “It is the center.”
“Center? Of what?”
Again, there was that pause. “It is the center. The place of both light and dark. Your center.”
“My center?”
“For now, at least. It’s what you wanted, isn’t it? The freedom in the flow? The awareness of a larger now? You’re not asleep this time. You’re here. In the center.”
Chapter 12
“Morning, Jon.”
Jon opened his eyes, checked the time. It was 7:00. “What do you have for me, Seth?”
“A couple of things, once you’re awake enough.”
Jon nodded. He felt a little bleary, but in a good way, the way he felt after a very deep and healing sleep. “Give me a few minutes to get a shower and get going, but tell me at least that it’s good news.”
“It’s good news.”
Jon chuckled lightly. “Seriously?”
“Yes.”
Jon went through his morning rituals in just a few minutes. As he was getting dressed, he said, “OK, give it to me.”
“I found the reference that you asked me about regarding Mr. Sidwell and Wales.”
