Communion of Dreams, page 20
“Had been,” he shrugged. “But was on Earth when it hit, so stayed. Spent th’ time wit’ family ‘n friends.”
Jon nodded. It was a common enough story. “How old were you?”
“Good try. Old enough t’ not fall for that, even then,” said the prospector, though he smiled at Jon. “So, ya found my falls, eh? Smart trick.”
Jon returned his smile. “Thanks. Though most of the credit belongs to my expert, Seth.”
“Why ya so curious ‘bout me? I’m jus’ an ol’ man, tryin’ t’ scratch a livin’ out of th’ ground.”
Jon had been looking away when Darnell said this, but he turned his full attention to the man for a long moment before answering, “You know something, don’t you? About the artifact. Something you haven’t told us yet.”
“Now, why ya say that?”
“You’ve hinted about it several times. I feel like you’re still hinting, or testing me, to see if I’m worthy of knowing.”
Darnell was about to answer this, when the airlock started to cycle. Both he and Jon paused and waited to see who was coming in.
A moment later Commander Navarr stepped out of the lock. But he didn’t sit and start to remove his suit, just popped open the faceplate and said “Get your suits. We have to go up to Titan Prime.”
There was a coldness in his voice that Jon didn’t like. “What’s happened?”
Navarr looked to Jon just briefly, then nodded at Sidwell. “It’s him. He’s the one who broke the news on the nets about the artifact.”
Jon turned to look at Darnell. The old man calmly puffed one last time at his pipe and said, “Yup. I did it. Don’ deny it.”
Chapter 13
“What?”
“I said I did it.”
Jon looked at the old man in disbelief. He looked at Navarr. He looked back at Sidwell. “I don’t believe this. How . . . ”
“ . . . isn’t important right now. Get into your suits, let’s get going.” Navarr grabbed the two suits off the rack nearby. He handed one to Jon, who took it reflexively. The other he took over to Sidwell, held it out to the prospector.
The old man tamped at his pipe and lit it again, drawing heavily. “Look, son, ain’ no reason for me t’ go up t’ th’ station. I did tell th’ nets ‘bout th’ artifact, ‘n for a dam’ good reason: so’s th’ Edenists’d be on th’ defensive. Wit’ ever’body thinkin’ that they was th’ ones t’ leak th’ information, they’ll be more cautious.”
“But still, I have my orders.”
Darnell blew a small stream of smoke out of the corner of his mouth, looked with disdain at the environment suit Navarr was still holding in front of him. “Huh. Ya struck me as smarter’n that. Think ‘bout it. I’ve known ‘bout th’ artifact from th’ start. I coulda told anyone anytime, but didn’t. Doncha think tha’ means you can trust me?”
Jon looked at Navarr. “What exactly were your orders?”
“To secure Sidwell prior to transport back to Earth. Message came in just as we were docking with the two casualties, so I had the pilot bring me right back down.”
“How about house arrest? Wouldn’t that qualify? Seems safer than bringing him up to Titan Prime where he might make more mischief,” said Jon.
Navarr looked at Jon, then at Sidwell, considering. “Perhaps that would be the best course of action.”
The prospector nodded, sucked on his pipe again. “So, how’d you find out?”
“Since we couldn’t find any communication that carried an encrypted message of any sort, they started looking for patterns in the communication traffic. You were the only one who sent a personal message every day — every day except yesterday, that is.”
“Yup. Insurance. If somethin’ happened t’ me, ‘n I didn’ send my message, then th’ news’d go out. Set it up before I even told Jakobs.” Darnell nodded with evident satisfaction. “So, all I had t’ do was not send a message t’ my friend, ‘n th’ word got out.”
“That’s what they figured back home,” said Navarr.
Jon thought for a moment. “But how did the Edenists hear about it, if not from you?”
“That,” said Sidwell, pausing to take a pull on his pipe, “is a very good question. Someone in the gov’mint, I’d say.”
* * *
Jon left the shuttle dock and made his way to the infirmary. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and stepped inside, felt himself cross the security threshold.
Tops was standing beside a piece of equipment, working. She looked from him into an adjacent room, where he could see beds partially hidden by privacy screens. “They’re in there.”
Jon nodded. “Thanks.”
“Just keep it brief. They’re both OK, but need rest. Whatever happened to them seems to have depleted all of their energy reserves. And the shock of having their cyberware fried has left them more than a little disoriented. Particularly Ng.”
“Right.” He walked into the room. The first bed was on the left, and as he entered he could see Jackie, awake, sitting up and reading something printed.
Jackie looked up to see him come in. “Hey.”
“Hiya.” She looked like she’d been awake for days, working hard. There were dark bags under her eyes, and her skin had the pallor of complete exhaustion. “How’re you doing?”
She let the sheaf of papers she was holding fall into her lap. “I’m beat. Sore everywhere.”
“Tops says you’ll be fine, though.”
Jackie nodded, though that seemed to be an effort. “Yeah. Though it’s like every ounce of energy has been squeezed right out of me.”
Jon waited. “Remember anything?”
“About what happened? No. Tops brought me a display and showed me what the security cams recorded. But I don’t remember a bit of it.”
“Anything else, then?”
“Weird dreams.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. But I don’t remember details. Just that they were weird.”
“OK. Give it time, maybe something else will come back.”
“Right.”
“I’ll let you rest. I’ll check back in later, OK?”
“Yeah.” She sounded so tired, and she closed her eyes. “Thanks. For coming by.”
“You’re welcome. Now, rest.”
She said nothing else as he ducked around the screen. In the other corner of the room was Ng’s bed. Jon stuck his head around the edge of the screen there, could see that Duc looked to be awake but was just staring up at the ceiling.
“Imagining what you’d paint there?”
Duc turned his head a little, eyes trying to focus on Jon. Slowly he said, “Come. In.”
Jon sat next to the bed. “Tops says that you’re going to be OK.”
The dark eyes fluttered, and he nodded ever so slightly.
“Do you remember anything about what happened?”
“No.” He paused. “Nothing.”
“Jackie said she had some very intense dreams while she was unconscious. Did you?”
Duc squinted at him, and Jon could tell he was trying to remember, though with a lot of difficulty. Finally he said, “No.”
“You seem to be more burned out than what you expected. Or is it just exhaustion?”
“Burned out. But not from drugs. Just — fried.”
“Yeah, Tops said that your cyberware was ruined. But she’ll get some new stuff in as soon as you’ve recovered a bit.”
“Not same. Used to . . . enhancements.”
“What they have here may not be the same level of sophistication as what you had, but it’ll get you by until you’re back Earthside.”
“Don’t understand.” Duc sighed. “Different now. I can tell.”
The last words were said so lightly that Jon could barely hear them. Clearly, Duc was drifting off into a deep sleep. Jon got up and went back out into the anteroom.
“So?”
“You’re right, they’re both just completely exhausted. Any idea why?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’m . . . I’m not sure. But I have a suspicion.”
“Shoot.”
“This is still tentative, you understand.”
“Got it. And?”
“And, well, I’ve come up with something else that I hadn’t caught on the first examination.” She glanced down, fingers working a virtual control panel only she could see. “Both of them have anomalies in their health status, differences from the complete physicals I did when they first arrived on the station.”
“OK, what kind of differences? Some kind of problem?”
“Beyond being completely wrenched dry of all energy reserves, they’re just too healthy.”
“Say what?”
“They’re in better shape now than when they arrived. Granted, both of them were in pretty good shape when they got here. They’re both young, and have gotten good medical care. But even the most minor medical problems have completely disappeared.”
“Like what?”
“Like no slight rashes, scrapes or bruises. A minor deformed toenail causing some inflammation of the cuticle, now resolved. A little tinnitus, disappeared. That sort of thing.”
“How?”
She shook her head. “No idea.”
“But you think it was because of the artifact.”
“Nothing else has happened that would explain it.”
Jon glanced back into the room. “Huh.”
“You got that right,” said Tops. She shook her head, “I don’t see how it’s possible.”
“But obviously, it happened.”
“Looks like it.”
Jon considered. “Look, document everything as well as you can. We want to be sure about this.”
“No kidding.”
He glanced back at the room. “Do they realize it yet?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“OK. Don’t volunteer the information. After you document everything, secure your records. And tell no one. We don’t want word of this getting out.”
She looked at him sharply. “You sure you want to do that?”
He nodded. “Just for a day or two, until we can figure out what it is and what to do about it. Word gets out that the artifact can heal, or is the Fountain of Youth, or whatever it is, and we’ll have everyone on the station wanting to go down there and touch the thing. Not to mention what would happen back home.”
“Yeah. I see what you mean. There’d be demands that we bring it to Earth immediately.”
“Right, regardless of risk or consequences. And that would be the least of it.” Jon sighed. Gesturing toward the other room, he asked, “How long until we can get them back down to Titan?”
“Why?”
“I need to have them back in the dome with the thing, to see if that jogs their memories. Or if they are more sensitive to the artifact. Or who knows what. But I need to get them back down there as soon as possible.”
Tops thought about it. “Jackie will probably be ready later tonight. But Duc won’t be up for it until tomorrow midmorning, at the earliest.”
“You sure? Can’t we push it faster than that?”
“No. He’s badly scrambled. I can help replenish his neurotransmitters, but there’s more than that going on. He has to adjust to being without his enhancements. I think he needs at least that much rest, even with everything I can do.”
“OK, then, we’ll say 10 o’clock tomorrow.”
“And I’ll want to come down with them, just in case.”
“Done.” He checked the time. “Look, I’m going to get a few people together this evening and discuss the ramifications of what happened today. Not what you just told me about, but everything else. You want to come?”
“No, I’d rather go over my results here, see if there’s anything more I can detect.”
“OK. I’ll just summarize your ‘official’ report on their health status.” Jon stepped to the door. Pausing, he looked back at Tops. “By the way, you did a good job today, kept your head.”
“Thanks.”
* * *
“ . . . so, the rest of the material from Earth is fairly routine. I’ve downloaded a complete analysis into your system, and you can see if there are any other questions that you have.”
Jon didn’t look up from his pad. “Thanks, Seth. I think the only other thing is to post the information to everyone on the full team about the joint meeting tomorrow, and to my team about the discussion tonight. Be sure to let Bradsen know about that one, and he can decide if there’s anyone else he wants to inform.”
“Done.” Seth paused. “Jon?”
There was something about the tone of voice Seth chose that grabbed Jon’s attention. He let the pad drop into his lap, turned his full attention to the expert. “Yes, what is it?”
“What’s going on?”
Jon was always a little surprised when Seth looked at him that way. His eyes were intense, even being transparent as they were. “Sorry, I should have told you when I first got back from the infirmary this afternoon.”
“Are Ms. Gates and Mr. Ng all right?”
“Well, that’s the thing, Seth. They’re all right. In fact, they’re better than all right. Besides a slight case of exhaustion and some disorientation, they’re in better physical condition than they should be. It’s like their contact with the artifact erased any and all medical problems or conditions that they had, no matter how minor.”
Seth nodded, “I see your predicament.”
“Any suggestions?”
“Stay with the mission objectives to gather hard data on the artifact. In light of this, it is all the more important that you have as much scientific evidence as you possibly can.”
“And that evidence has to be untainted by any of the researchers knowing what it is that they’re looking at or for.”
“Correct. But not only that; you can’t be sure that the changes experienced in these two cases will hold true for anyone else who comes in contact with the artifact. It depends on what the artifact was designed for. If it is just gathering data on humans, then it makes sense that the first time it comes into direct contact with a member of each sex might turn out this way, as it explores their complete range of physical potentials.”
“But the next person could just as likely be injured or killed, so that it can evaluate the organism’s response to injury or threat. Got it.” Jon shook his head. “But we really won’t know until we understand more of what the thing is and what it was designed to do. It could also turn out to be that the healing effect is unrelated to the primary function of the artifact.”
“Or that the effect is only temporary.”
Jon nodded. “Hadn’t thought of that.”
“Human literature is filled with examples of such temporary or illusive benefits, as part of the pattern of a false deity.”
A shudder ran down Jon’s spine. “You know, Seth, there are times I’d rather not have information like that.”
The expert looked at him quizzically, head tilted slightly to one side. “Why?”
“Because of the implications.”
“I didn’t think that you were a person of faith.”
“I’m not, but that’s beside the point. You’re right, human lore is filled with such examples . . . meaning that they’re part of our cultural context. Many people will be even more uneasy about the artifact because of that. And some will be downright hostile.”
“But won’t people be just as likely to respond to the news as a sign of a true deity?”
“Yeah, some will. And that was what I was thinking of at first, people believing that this is another Lourdes or some such miraculous event. People are always eager to label anything they don’t understand as either a divine manifestation . . . or a trick by some evil, demonic force. Either way, it tends to polarize the situation and increase the potential danger for all of us.”
Seth slowly nodded. “So, what are you going to do?”
“For now, nothing. Not at least as far as anyone else is concerned. Keep going with the research, as we discussed. Tops is doing a thorough review of the condition of Jackie and Duc, to see if she can find anything more about what happened to them. Allow the situation to ripen, I suppose.”
“Be careful, Jon. If I can detect that something is up, so may others.”
“Good advice, Seth. As usual.”
* * *
Arthur Bailey stretched, hands reaching far above and behind his head. He stifled a yawn, then rubbed at his somewhat red eyes. “Man, I can’t get that image of them collapsing out of my head.”
“Don’t worry about it. Tops says they’re going to make a full and complete recovery.” Jon considered the man. “What’s got you so beat?”
“Talking with people. First, I started with my research, trying to understand how everyone out here fits into the pattern of development and expansion. But the last day or so, since the news broke, rumors are flying thick and fast. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the culture here.”
“They’re just frightened,” said Gish, almost distractedly. Jon noticed he was looking not at Bailey when he spoke, but at Chu Ling. The girl was sitting on the floor in the corner of the room, preoccupied with some kind of complex 3-d version of checkers. Johan Klee sat near her, occasionally asking her why she made the moves she did, offering some alternative advice.
“Oh, yeah. But it is also a classic way of understanding the dynamics of a closed culture. Add unexpected stress to the system, and watch what happens. Who talks with who. Who passes on rumors, who just listens. I spent almost all night and most of this afternoon in the bar, just observing.”
“Well, don’t overdo it. We still have to figure out what the artifact is.”
The anthropologist nodded back to Jon. “Yeah, I know. But the opportunity to see how people reacted to the sudden revelation of the artifact was too good to pass up.”
“Nonetheless, we have our priorities.”
“Got it.”
Jon glanced up at the door as he heard it start to open. Don Bradsen stepped through, followed closely by Commander Navarr. Bradsen nodded to Jon, took a seat. Navarr stood for a moment, assessing the room, then came over to Jon and leaned down, spoke quietly, so that only Jon could hear him, “I’m not sure that the girl should be here.”
Jon nodded. It was a common enough story. “How old were you?”
“Good try. Old enough t’ not fall for that, even then,” said the prospector, though he smiled at Jon. “So, ya found my falls, eh? Smart trick.”
Jon returned his smile. “Thanks. Though most of the credit belongs to my expert, Seth.”
“Why ya so curious ‘bout me? I’m jus’ an ol’ man, tryin’ t’ scratch a livin’ out of th’ ground.”
Jon had been looking away when Darnell said this, but he turned his full attention to the man for a long moment before answering, “You know something, don’t you? About the artifact. Something you haven’t told us yet.”
“Now, why ya say that?”
“You’ve hinted about it several times. I feel like you’re still hinting, or testing me, to see if I’m worthy of knowing.”
Darnell was about to answer this, when the airlock started to cycle. Both he and Jon paused and waited to see who was coming in.
A moment later Commander Navarr stepped out of the lock. But he didn’t sit and start to remove his suit, just popped open the faceplate and said “Get your suits. We have to go up to Titan Prime.”
There was a coldness in his voice that Jon didn’t like. “What’s happened?”
Navarr looked to Jon just briefly, then nodded at Sidwell. “It’s him. He’s the one who broke the news on the nets about the artifact.”
Jon turned to look at Darnell. The old man calmly puffed one last time at his pipe and said, “Yup. I did it. Don’ deny it.”
Chapter 13
“What?”
“I said I did it.”
Jon looked at the old man in disbelief. He looked at Navarr. He looked back at Sidwell. “I don’t believe this. How . . . ”
“ . . . isn’t important right now. Get into your suits, let’s get going.” Navarr grabbed the two suits off the rack nearby. He handed one to Jon, who took it reflexively. The other he took over to Sidwell, held it out to the prospector.
The old man tamped at his pipe and lit it again, drawing heavily. “Look, son, ain’ no reason for me t’ go up t’ th’ station. I did tell th’ nets ‘bout th’ artifact, ‘n for a dam’ good reason: so’s th’ Edenists’d be on th’ defensive. Wit’ ever’body thinkin’ that they was th’ ones t’ leak th’ information, they’ll be more cautious.”
“But still, I have my orders.”
Darnell blew a small stream of smoke out of the corner of his mouth, looked with disdain at the environment suit Navarr was still holding in front of him. “Huh. Ya struck me as smarter’n that. Think ‘bout it. I’ve known ‘bout th’ artifact from th’ start. I coulda told anyone anytime, but didn’t. Doncha think tha’ means you can trust me?”
Jon looked at Navarr. “What exactly were your orders?”
“To secure Sidwell prior to transport back to Earth. Message came in just as we were docking with the two casualties, so I had the pilot bring me right back down.”
“How about house arrest? Wouldn’t that qualify? Seems safer than bringing him up to Titan Prime where he might make more mischief,” said Jon.
Navarr looked at Jon, then at Sidwell, considering. “Perhaps that would be the best course of action.”
The prospector nodded, sucked on his pipe again. “So, how’d you find out?”
“Since we couldn’t find any communication that carried an encrypted message of any sort, they started looking for patterns in the communication traffic. You were the only one who sent a personal message every day — every day except yesterday, that is.”
“Yup. Insurance. If somethin’ happened t’ me, ‘n I didn’ send my message, then th’ news’d go out. Set it up before I even told Jakobs.” Darnell nodded with evident satisfaction. “So, all I had t’ do was not send a message t’ my friend, ‘n th’ word got out.”
“That’s what they figured back home,” said Navarr.
Jon thought for a moment. “But how did the Edenists hear about it, if not from you?”
“That,” said Sidwell, pausing to take a pull on his pipe, “is a very good question. Someone in the gov’mint, I’d say.”
* * *
Jon left the shuttle dock and made his way to the infirmary. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and stepped inside, felt himself cross the security threshold.
Tops was standing beside a piece of equipment, working. She looked from him into an adjacent room, where he could see beds partially hidden by privacy screens. “They’re in there.”
Jon nodded. “Thanks.”
“Just keep it brief. They’re both OK, but need rest. Whatever happened to them seems to have depleted all of their energy reserves. And the shock of having their cyberware fried has left them more than a little disoriented. Particularly Ng.”
“Right.” He walked into the room. The first bed was on the left, and as he entered he could see Jackie, awake, sitting up and reading something printed.
Jackie looked up to see him come in. “Hey.”
“Hiya.” She looked like she’d been awake for days, working hard. There were dark bags under her eyes, and her skin had the pallor of complete exhaustion. “How’re you doing?”
She let the sheaf of papers she was holding fall into her lap. “I’m beat. Sore everywhere.”
“Tops says you’ll be fine, though.”
Jackie nodded, though that seemed to be an effort. “Yeah. Though it’s like every ounce of energy has been squeezed right out of me.”
Jon waited. “Remember anything?”
“About what happened? No. Tops brought me a display and showed me what the security cams recorded. But I don’t remember a bit of it.”
“Anything else, then?”
“Weird dreams.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. But I don’t remember details. Just that they were weird.”
“OK. Give it time, maybe something else will come back.”
“Right.”
“I’ll let you rest. I’ll check back in later, OK?”
“Yeah.” She sounded so tired, and she closed her eyes. “Thanks. For coming by.”
“You’re welcome. Now, rest.”
She said nothing else as he ducked around the screen. In the other corner of the room was Ng’s bed. Jon stuck his head around the edge of the screen there, could see that Duc looked to be awake but was just staring up at the ceiling.
“Imagining what you’d paint there?”
Duc turned his head a little, eyes trying to focus on Jon. Slowly he said, “Come. In.”
Jon sat next to the bed. “Tops says that you’re going to be OK.”
The dark eyes fluttered, and he nodded ever so slightly.
“Do you remember anything about what happened?”
“No.” He paused. “Nothing.”
“Jackie said she had some very intense dreams while she was unconscious. Did you?”
Duc squinted at him, and Jon could tell he was trying to remember, though with a lot of difficulty. Finally he said, “No.”
“You seem to be more burned out than what you expected. Or is it just exhaustion?”
“Burned out. But not from drugs. Just — fried.”
“Yeah, Tops said that your cyberware was ruined. But she’ll get some new stuff in as soon as you’ve recovered a bit.”
“Not same. Used to . . . enhancements.”
“What they have here may not be the same level of sophistication as what you had, but it’ll get you by until you’re back Earthside.”
“Don’t understand.” Duc sighed. “Different now. I can tell.”
The last words were said so lightly that Jon could barely hear them. Clearly, Duc was drifting off into a deep sleep. Jon got up and went back out into the anteroom.
“So?”
“You’re right, they’re both just completely exhausted. Any idea why?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’m . . . I’m not sure. But I have a suspicion.”
“Shoot.”
“This is still tentative, you understand.”
“Got it. And?”
“And, well, I’ve come up with something else that I hadn’t caught on the first examination.” She glanced down, fingers working a virtual control panel only she could see. “Both of them have anomalies in their health status, differences from the complete physicals I did when they first arrived on the station.”
“OK, what kind of differences? Some kind of problem?”
“Beyond being completely wrenched dry of all energy reserves, they’re just too healthy.”
“Say what?”
“They’re in better shape now than when they arrived. Granted, both of them were in pretty good shape when they got here. They’re both young, and have gotten good medical care. But even the most minor medical problems have completely disappeared.”
“Like what?”
“Like no slight rashes, scrapes or bruises. A minor deformed toenail causing some inflammation of the cuticle, now resolved. A little tinnitus, disappeared. That sort of thing.”
“How?”
She shook her head. “No idea.”
“But you think it was because of the artifact.”
“Nothing else has happened that would explain it.”
Jon glanced back into the room. “Huh.”
“You got that right,” said Tops. She shook her head, “I don’t see how it’s possible.”
“But obviously, it happened.”
“Looks like it.”
Jon considered. “Look, document everything as well as you can. We want to be sure about this.”
“No kidding.”
He glanced back at the room. “Do they realize it yet?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“OK. Don’t volunteer the information. After you document everything, secure your records. And tell no one. We don’t want word of this getting out.”
She looked at him sharply. “You sure you want to do that?”
He nodded. “Just for a day or two, until we can figure out what it is and what to do about it. Word gets out that the artifact can heal, or is the Fountain of Youth, or whatever it is, and we’ll have everyone on the station wanting to go down there and touch the thing. Not to mention what would happen back home.”
“Yeah. I see what you mean. There’d be demands that we bring it to Earth immediately.”
“Right, regardless of risk or consequences. And that would be the least of it.” Jon sighed. Gesturing toward the other room, he asked, “How long until we can get them back down to Titan?”
“Why?”
“I need to have them back in the dome with the thing, to see if that jogs their memories. Or if they are more sensitive to the artifact. Or who knows what. But I need to get them back down there as soon as possible.”
Tops thought about it. “Jackie will probably be ready later tonight. But Duc won’t be up for it until tomorrow midmorning, at the earliest.”
“You sure? Can’t we push it faster than that?”
“No. He’s badly scrambled. I can help replenish his neurotransmitters, but there’s more than that going on. He has to adjust to being without his enhancements. I think he needs at least that much rest, even with everything I can do.”
“OK, then, we’ll say 10 o’clock tomorrow.”
“And I’ll want to come down with them, just in case.”
“Done.” He checked the time. “Look, I’m going to get a few people together this evening and discuss the ramifications of what happened today. Not what you just told me about, but everything else. You want to come?”
“No, I’d rather go over my results here, see if there’s anything more I can detect.”
“OK. I’ll just summarize your ‘official’ report on their health status.” Jon stepped to the door. Pausing, he looked back at Tops. “By the way, you did a good job today, kept your head.”
“Thanks.”
* * *
“ . . . so, the rest of the material from Earth is fairly routine. I’ve downloaded a complete analysis into your system, and you can see if there are any other questions that you have.”
Jon didn’t look up from his pad. “Thanks, Seth. I think the only other thing is to post the information to everyone on the full team about the joint meeting tomorrow, and to my team about the discussion tonight. Be sure to let Bradsen know about that one, and he can decide if there’s anyone else he wants to inform.”
“Done.” Seth paused. “Jon?”
There was something about the tone of voice Seth chose that grabbed Jon’s attention. He let the pad drop into his lap, turned his full attention to the expert. “Yes, what is it?”
“What’s going on?”
Jon was always a little surprised when Seth looked at him that way. His eyes were intense, even being transparent as they were. “Sorry, I should have told you when I first got back from the infirmary this afternoon.”
“Are Ms. Gates and Mr. Ng all right?”
“Well, that’s the thing, Seth. They’re all right. In fact, they’re better than all right. Besides a slight case of exhaustion and some disorientation, they’re in better physical condition than they should be. It’s like their contact with the artifact erased any and all medical problems or conditions that they had, no matter how minor.”
Seth nodded, “I see your predicament.”
“Any suggestions?”
“Stay with the mission objectives to gather hard data on the artifact. In light of this, it is all the more important that you have as much scientific evidence as you possibly can.”
“And that evidence has to be untainted by any of the researchers knowing what it is that they’re looking at or for.”
“Correct. But not only that; you can’t be sure that the changes experienced in these two cases will hold true for anyone else who comes in contact with the artifact. It depends on what the artifact was designed for. If it is just gathering data on humans, then it makes sense that the first time it comes into direct contact with a member of each sex might turn out this way, as it explores their complete range of physical potentials.”
“But the next person could just as likely be injured or killed, so that it can evaluate the organism’s response to injury or threat. Got it.” Jon shook his head. “But we really won’t know until we understand more of what the thing is and what it was designed to do. It could also turn out to be that the healing effect is unrelated to the primary function of the artifact.”
“Or that the effect is only temporary.”
Jon nodded. “Hadn’t thought of that.”
“Human literature is filled with examples of such temporary or illusive benefits, as part of the pattern of a false deity.”
A shudder ran down Jon’s spine. “You know, Seth, there are times I’d rather not have information like that.”
The expert looked at him quizzically, head tilted slightly to one side. “Why?”
“Because of the implications.”
“I didn’t think that you were a person of faith.”
“I’m not, but that’s beside the point. You’re right, human lore is filled with such examples . . . meaning that they’re part of our cultural context. Many people will be even more uneasy about the artifact because of that. And some will be downright hostile.”
“But won’t people be just as likely to respond to the news as a sign of a true deity?”
“Yeah, some will. And that was what I was thinking of at first, people believing that this is another Lourdes or some such miraculous event. People are always eager to label anything they don’t understand as either a divine manifestation . . . or a trick by some evil, demonic force. Either way, it tends to polarize the situation and increase the potential danger for all of us.”
Seth slowly nodded. “So, what are you going to do?”
“For now, nothing. Not at least as far as anyone else is concerned. Keep going with the research, as we discussed. Tops is doing a thorough review of the condition of Jackie and Duc, to see if she can find anything more about what happened to them. Allow the situation to ripen, I suppose.”
“Be careful, Jon. If I can detect that something is up, so may others.”
“Good advice, Seth. As usual.”
* * *
Arthur Bailey stretched, hands reaching far above and behind his head. He stifled a yawn, then rubbed at his somewhat red eyes. “Man, I can’t get that image of them collapsing out of my head.”
“Don’t worry about it. Tops says they’re going to make a full and complete recovery.” Jon considered the man. “What’s got you so beat?”
“Talking with people. First, I started with my research, trying to understand how everyone out here fits into the pattern of development and expansion. But the last day or so, since the news broke, rumors are flying thick and fast. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the culture here.”
“They’re just frightened,” said Gish, almost distractedly. Jon noticed he was looking not at Bailey when he spoke, but at Chu Ling. The girl was sitting on the floor in the corner of the room, preoccupied with some kind of complex 3-d version of checkers. Johan Klee sat near her, occasionally asking her why she made the moves she did, offering some alternative advice.
“Oh, yeah. But it is also a classic way of understanding the dynamics of a closed culture. Add unexpected stress to the system, and watch what happens. Who talks with who. Who passes on rumors, who just listens. I spent almost all night and most of this afternoon in the bar, just observing.”
“Well, don’t overdo it. We still have to figure out what the artifact is.”
The anthropologist nodded back to Jon. “Yeah, I know. But the opportunity to see how people reacted to the sudden revelation of the artifact was too good to pass up.”
“Nonetheless, we have our priorities.”
“Got it.”
Jon glanced up at the door as he heard it start to open. Don Bradsen stepped through, followed closely by Commander Navarr. Bradsen nodded to Jon, took a seat. Navarr stood for a moment, assessing the room, then came over to Jon and leaned down, spoke quietly, so that only Jon could hear him, “I’m not sure that the girl should be here.”
