Roz tilted her head to one side, watching the landscape. "There are some things that shouldn"t be messed with."
"Yeah," said Chris. "Let"s hope there was only the one."
The Ithaca Chasma was a ma.s.sive gash in the moon"s icy surface, a hundred klicks wide, five deep. It wrapped around three-quarters of Tethys. Chris and Roz were still in the viewing chamber when the pa.s.senger ship pa.s.sed over its edge. In the distance they could see Ithaca City.
"Looks like a kid"s toy box," said Chris. The city was a knot of buildings and lights, one huge dome covering the city centre, dozens of small domes and shapes cl.u.s.tered around it like 184 building blocks. And around those, hundreds and hundreds of s.p.a.cecraft.
Chris grinned and got up, walking right down the front, almost pressing his nose against the insulated hypergla.s.s. Roz followed him down, taking a front-row seat.
"Look," he said. "There"s an old Indigenous Cla.s.s carrier, in for repairs. And there"s a whole flock of those brand-new Vipers.
Looks like they"re having their weapons fitted. And look! Holy cow! The Gulf of Tonkin Gulf of Tonkin! Look at the size size of that baby!" of that baby!"
As they drew closer to the city, the transport slowly cruising down, they could see the flags. Stiff plates of metal at half-mast.
Some of the domes were painted with alien symbols.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please return to your quarters. We"ll be arriving in Ithaca City in ten minutes. Please be ready to disembark. Thank you for flying Solar Transport."
Neither of them was carrying much. Roz had brought a small bag of essentials; she stopped in the s.p.a.ceport to buy a few more bits and pieces, while Chris thumbed through the s.p.a.ceship magazines in the newsagent"s.
"Do you want to grab a hotel room first, or have " she looked at her chronometer " lunch?"
"Let"s have lunch," said Chris. "Get the feel of the place." He held up the book he"d bought, the Lonely Galaxy Guide to Lonely Galaxy Guide to Tethys Tethys.
They took the slidewalk to the city centre. The most expensive hotels and shops were right in the centre; the price got lower the closer you got to the edge of the dome. "You pay for sky," said Roz.
And it was sky. During the day, a constant simulation of Earth weather was projected on the surface of the dome. It was surprisingly convincing though the liquid-crystal clouds would always threaten, never rain.
The Ithacans were a mix of human and alien lumbering Martians, Skags in overalls, bulky Hith jostling elbows and appendages in apparent unconcern. On Earth, the aliens would have been in little groups by themselves, or alone, keeping to one side, eyes fixed on the ground. Or they"d have shuffled or slid up 185 to you, asking for spare change. Here they were literally just part of the crowd.
Chris was reading the guidebook, miraculously avoiding collisions. "Here"s a good place," he announced. "A Jeopard bagel bar."
They got off the slidewalk and went in. It was a small place done up in simulated wood, with a small crowd at the counter, selecting ingredients from the display.
The Jeopard serving them was a skinny, muscular cat-man, wearing white shorts and sleeveless top, slicing bagels with a knife gripped in thick fingers. As Chris watched, the alien skewered an olive on a slender claw and used it to garnish someone"s salmon sandwich.
The Jeopard gave him a small, round smile, careful not to show his fangs. He had very short, fine grey fur, subtly patterned.
"What can I get for you?" he said.
"Two bagels, one plain and one with peanut b.u.t.ter and mashed banana, and two incredibly strong coffees, please," said Chris.
"Yes, sir!" said the Jeopard. "Eat here or take away?"
Chris looked around. Roz had already taken a seat, and was reading the guidebook. "To eat here."
"OK. Have a seat and I"ll bring it to you."
Chris sat down. Roz didn"t look up. "Any help?" he said.
"I think we should try the Martian Quarter," said Roz.
"Do you think Zatopek is likely to have gone to ground there?"
"He could be anywhere," said Roz. "But remember, we"re looking for someone who looks just like the Doctor."
"Hey, that"s right," said Chris. "He"s got some serious history with those folks." He glanced over at the Jeopard, who was filling a jug with frothy milk. "Didn"t he once mention "
"He stopped the Jeopards from invading their neighbouring planet," said Roz. "A year later the Empire swept in and conquered both worlds."
Chris tried to read the guide"s screen. "Is that all in there?"
"Not quite." Roz lowered her voice. "There"s an entry on the conquest of Jeopardy." She handed him the guide.
"It was only ten years ago," said Chris. "After we left. It says there are only a few hundred thousand Jeopards."
186.
"Small planet."
"They mustn"t have bothered to indenture them."
Roz jerked her head, and Chris saw that the Jeopard was heading for them with a tray.
"Let"s split up," said Chris.
"After lunch," said Roz.
The Martian Quarter was a separate dome. The slidewalk pa.s.sed through a series of force fields, each one an airlock, allowing you to acclimatize. The air was cold and thin, the "sky"
was violet, and half the buildings were under the ground.
There were just enough humans to rea.s.sure Roz that she didn"t stand out too much. She went from shop to shop, showing the tall reptiles the two photos she was carrying. One of the Doctor, one of Zatopek, just in case.
First chance she got she picked up a heat ray. It was a smaller version of the standard Martian weapon, designed for human hands. Nasty little b.u.g.g.e.r: you couldn"t set it to stun. Still, now she felt less underdressed.
Most of the shops had a symbol hung outside which she didn"t recognize, a stylized figure in clay or sometimes bra.s.s. The guidebook said it was a symbol of mourning.
After a couple of hours she took the weight off her feet in an almost empty bar. The menu was mostly Martian adaptations of human food, lethal curries and salsa and strong, bitter drinks. She ordered a coffee and a plateful of cakes to take the edge off.
"Have you seen either of these men?" she asked the bartender.
The Ice Warrior shook his lumpy head.
Roz sat down with her coffee. It tasted like dregs she was surprised it wasn"t melting through the cup. She popped one of the little cakes into her mouth and took another look at the guidebook.
A Martian stepped up to her table, looming overhead. Big green man. "I"m fine, thank you," she said, not taking her eyes off the book.
"You"re an Adjudicator," said the Martian.
Roz looked up at the seven-foot hulk and decided to play dumb. "Huh?" she said.
187.
"Adjudicator," said the Ice Warrior. "But not a local Adjudicator. On the trail of a couple of suspects."
"You got it wrong, bemmie," said Roz. "Uh, no offence. I"m just trying to find my uncle." She took out the photos. "See, that"s him and his boyfriend. Have you seen them?"
"An Adjudicator who isn"t aware of the local situation," said the Martian. He sat down opposite her. d.a.m.n, he was between her and the door. "But then again, who is?"
"Look, friend," she said. "What are you talking about?"
"You see," said the Ice Warrior, "the local branch of the Adjudication force has made some very special connections.
That"s why I"m no longer one of them."
Roz looked at him. "You were an Adjudicator?"
"For ten of your Earth years," deadpanned the Martian.
She sat back. "They"ve got different hiring policies here than on Earth," she said.
"Indeed. Don"t continue following this man." The Ice Warrior pointed at the photo of "the Doctor". "An honest officer of the law will quickly be detected and eliminated."
"If there"s a conspiracy, how do you know I"m honest?"
"If you were not honest, you would not need to seek this man."
"Do you know who he is?"
"No," said the Martian. "But I know that as soon as he arrived in this city, he made contact with the Adjudicators and their connections. Then he disappeared."
"You"re watching them."
"I am."
"Why?"
The Martian said, "I have connections as well."
"Were you sent to warn me off?" said Roz.
"To be truthful I don"t want any more honest Adjudicators to be lost. But you have nothing to fear from my connections, I a.s.sure you."
"Who are you working for?"
"No one. I am freelance, as are you. That is why you have nothing to fear from my connections."
Roz nearly believed him. She pushed the photo forward. "Do you know where he is?"
188.
"No," said the Ice Warrior. "I advise you again to avoid him."
"Thanks for the advice," said Roz.
"I also advise you to avoid the square, blue-coloured cakes."
"Why?" Roz glanced down at her plate. "Are they poisoned?"
"No," said the Martian, getting up. "But they"re terribly fattening."
The Jeopard still hadn"t stopped shaking. Chris sat down on the bed next to him, wondering what the h.e.l.l to say.
The room was small and tidy, with a single window facing out on to the street. From downstairs, the rich smell of coffee drifted up to the room.
The Jeopard clutched a mug of cappuccino, barely able to drink it for the trembling. He took another slug of the cooling coffee.
On the table, there were a couple of magazines, an alien artefact which was probably a vase, and two photos. The Jeopard reached out and picked up the picture of the Doctor.
"OK," he said. "He"s after us again, isn"t he?"
"No," said Chris. "Calm down, calm down."
The Jeopard finished his coffee in a sudden gulp. "What do you want from us?" he said.
"Look, I"m just trying to find him," said Chris. "He"s not here because of the Jeopards. He"s not here at all. You see the other photo? That man is disguised as the Doctor."
The Jeopard leant forward, stroking his ears with his hands. "I was there when it all happened, you know," he said. "I was in one of the landing parties. The Jithrai didn"t know what had hit them.
We"d sent a few ships over to explore, and they"d always managed to avoid us. We were just going to walk in and take over that planet."
"And then the Doctor arrived," said Chris.
"And then he arrived. He didn"t do anything. But suddenly the Jithrai weren"t frightened any more, they weren"t confused. If we wanted their planet, we would have had to kill them. Thousands of them!"
Chris took the mug away before the Jeopard could drop it. The alien looked at him with haunted eyes, pupils dilated in the low 189 light. "And then you came, and you killed every last Jithrai.
Every last one of them."
"I came?" said Chris.
"The humans came," said the Jeopard. "I"m sorry, I know you don"t all agree. When we saw what had been done to the Jithrai, we surrendered right away before they started killing us as well."
The Jeopard put his face in his hands in a very human gesture.
Chris instinctively put an arm around the cat-man"s muscular shoulders. It seemed to be the right thing to do. The alien moved closer to him, the trembling starting to quiet.