The question haunted him through the rest of the day, despite distractions, and when the evening crew left, he stayed, coveting time alone during the one shift when the lab was empty-He had to think through, in the most absolutely rigorous fashion, what he must do. He had to build a mental model of the situation and run some trial solutions to his problems to see what the major effects would be.
Knowing life wouldn"t be as simple as physics, he was nevertheless methodical as he listed his goals and options in his calculator"s private note file. Pondering the result, he suddenly added, "I could waken the luren and father him."
Staring at that absurdity, he heard the lab"s hall door open. Inea peeked around the cowling of the airlock.
The lab"s lights were on full, but t.i.tus had dimmed the light in his office; the levelors were shut, the door ajar. She found the lab empty, and crossed to the observatory. She grabbed her lab coat off the rack and donned it, covering her lilac and pink gym suit as if she did this every night.
Curious, t.i.tus shut his note file and watched from his door. She bent over a reader, calling up files, reading. He tiptoed to his desk and slaved his unit to hers. She was checking the daily worksheet on the computer repair.
The screen went blank again, and he saw her move to the observatory instruments. Most were receivers tied to the major solar orbit observatories, but some were tuned to the few dozen extra-system probes that were still alive. His observatory recorded everything that came in, but the data were useless until the main computer came back on line.
There were three installations on Earth and one in Earth orbit that could synthesize portions of the data, but the Project had the only system able to interpret all the data according to any one of the prevailing theories of the universe, and run a continuous comparison of the results against all new data. They had not only capacity, but unique programming on unique hardware.
Inea, a skilled interpreter, could tell by inspection if the raw data was unusual. She pored over the readouts intently.
All his adult life, t.i.tus had postulated the position of the dim, distant star that had to be the origin of the flight that had deposited his ancestors on Earth. It was hidden behind the brighter bodies in the Taurus region, but legend gave him an approximate line and distance. Data captured by the extra-solar observatories that saw Kylyd"s approach would pinpoint the home-as soon as Wild Goose answered.
Inea raised her head, frowning in frustration at the dissected computers out in the main room, and then back at the screen she was reading. Has she found something?
He crossed the lab to the gla.s.s part.i.tions of the observatory. At the door, he hesitated. His foot hit a screwdriver abandoned on the floor. Inea whirled, stifling a squeak. "Darr-t.i.tus! Do you have to sneak up like that?"
"I"m sorry. I"m curious about what you"re doing here."
"Well, this is my job, you know. And I"m not putting in for the overtime. I won"t screw up your bookkeeping."
"Do you come in every day?" Has Abbot seen her?
"Y-yes," she confessed. "Is that so terrible?"
"I just didn"t expect it."
"I"m an astronomer, not an electrician. On my own time I"ll do astronomy." She tilted her head to one side. "Is there some reason I shouldn"t be here?"
"No, of course not. Knowing you, I should have realized you"d come." He entered the observatory, and scanned the recorders. "Did you see what came in this afternoon?"
"Yes. I wish I"d been here."
"It could be our big break." The tracings indicated an object where no one had seen one before.
"Yes, if it"s a star and its spectrum checks against the data from the alien ship, we won"t need your star catalogue."
"I wouldn"t go that far, but this afternoon, I asked for the data to be processed on Earth and the results relayed to us. Only by then our computer may be up-our shipment from Luna Station is due in two days. Will you be ready?"
"I"ve been ready for a week. When should I report?"
They discussed the state of the repairs, t.i.tus insisting she report the day after Abbot was due to finish his job on the computers. He didn"t explain the timing.
As he dodged her questions, she became more insistent and curious. Then, without warning, she desisted.
As if capitulating, she walked toward the observatory door, hands in her gym suit pockets. t.i.tus followed and was arms length from her when she turned, and thrust a large silver crucifix in his face.
He backed away, trying to focus his eyes. She took it for aversion and shoved the object up against his nose.
Reflexively, his hands clasped the crucifix. Bright beauty sizzled through his every nerve, stiffening his body as high voltage current would. Forgetting everything, he drank it in as thirstily as if it were blood. A strange ecstasy stole over him. Transfixed, he heard music so sweet he needed to cry. He was filled by an indescribable scent and laughter bubbled through his veins.
In one instant, he was totally consumed and reborn.
The current spent, he drooped, leaning on a desk, propping himself on stiff arms. His head lolled onto his chest as he gulped air. Every vampire sense was alive in him. Inea was a redolent human warmth, the cavernous lab echoed empty, and he felt the distant throb of humanity throughout the dome.
"So you did lie." Inea"s voice was ripe with grief.
Dizzy, he yearned for time to a.s.similate the precious gift that had flowed into him, the strength he so desperately needed. "Inea, I didn"t lie," he insisted wearily. "Give me the cross." He groped vaguely in her direction.
She approached, holding it before her like a shield, waiting for him to wither in its light. But it had spent itself. He took it from her taut grip and held it to his lips, feeling her warmth still in the pure silver.
Turning, he sat on the desk corner. He cradled the cross in his hands and smiled up at her. "Thank you. But I can"t imagine where you found this."
"There"s a Catholic chaplain over in the other dome. He loaned it to me." She added in a small voice, "It almost killed you. Why are you sitting there holding it as if it was your greatest treasure?"
At that, he laughed, a pure spontaneous celebration.
"Because it is! Or was." For the first time in days, his hunger had gnawing at him, and he felt he could face down Abbot himself, if necessary. "Listen. I told you I"m not afraid of religious objects of any sort, and that"s the truth. But a charge such as this one held is rare. It takes a priest of great purity and power to consecrate anything like that-and it"s silver."He was dabbling at the edges of metaphysics. There was no rational reason why silver would hold such a charge while other materials didn"t.
Perhaps this one had been charged recently?
"Silver bullets are supposed to kill your kind."
"Sure. Any kind of bullets will if they hit a vital spot. Myths. The power stored in this cross discharged into me, in the most exquisite-"
"You mean it was good? A pleasure?"
"A pleasure I could crave endlessly."
"How could a legend get so twisted?"
"Easy. You saw how it disabled me. Even you thought you"d killed me. If you"d run in terror, you"d have been convinced you"d vanquished me-wouldn"t you?"
"And that you were too evil to abide a symbol of good."
He nodded, watching her work it through. Then he said, curiously, "But you"re not Catholic. Surely there must be chaplains of other faiths here? Why did you choose-"
"But Catholics are the ones who train exorcists and"-her eyes went to the crucifix he fondled-"I guess you pa.s.sed that test. On the other hand, I have only your word for it that you"d welcome another Catholic whammy."
Catholic whammy? "How about Jewish? See if you can find a kosher mezuzah somewhere and throw that at me."
"You serious? Or are you just doing Brer Rabbit begging not to be thrown into the briar patch?"
He rose, his legs able to hold him now. Brusquely, he told her, "It was your test. You ought to be satisfied. But next time, please give me a couple of seconds warning." He handed over the crucifix. "Take this back to the chaplain and tell him it ought to be reconsecrated. If he was the one who charged it in the first place, it"ll work again."
She held it by the long shaft. "That wouldn"t prove anything. It didn"t prove anything this time."
"Is that my fault? I"m very tired of this game."
"So am I. I thought this would settle it. I honestly didn"t expect you to react at all. You did tell me you didn"t fear religious objects!"
"And I don"t!" he snapped, then realized it was his s.e.xual frustration driving him. "I"m sorry. Everything I"ve told you is true. But I haven"t told you everything there is to tell. I never said I had."
"I"ve yet to uncover one piece of concrete evidence to substantiate your story."
"I doubt you ever will. Whatever you observe, Inea, you"ll be able to find another explanation."
"Years ago, you taught me about Occam"s Razor-that the least complex explanation usually turns out to be true. Why a.s.sume you"re a vampire when human tricks can account for everything you do?"
"Why would I insist on this wild tale when I could let you believe me human and take you to bed right away?"
Reaching, she suggested, "Because you"re crazy?"
"Your hypothesis is getting complex. Think about that. Then go find the holographic equipment I snuck in and installed in your room during the few hours I was on Luna before you invited me there. You saw the bat form. You believed it. You"re not that easy to trick."
"True." She sighed. "I"ll devise something definitive, and I promise it won"t be silver bullets. I don"t want to hurt you." She sidled past him, planting a shy kiss on his cheek that left him as limp as the crucifix"s charge had. And the joy that came in the wake of her kiss was almost as potent.
That night, he slept cherishing the memory of that single, voluntary kiss. He hardly dared imagine what it would be like when she finally took him to her bed.
On Abbot"s last day of work in the lab, the shipment from Luna Station arrived, escorted from the docks by three rough-cut Brink"s guards commanded by Suzy Langton. There was one huge crate and two smaller ones, which were waist high on t.i.tus.
When they broke the seals under the watchful gaze of security, they discovered the larger one contained all the parts they"d expected. The other two crates carried a variety of items shipped from Earth just after t.i.tus"s group had left.
While the others were picking over the bounty in the large crate, t.i.tus took the crowbar to the other two, and discovered to his great relief that nestled among bottles of B&J High Purity Solvent which t.i.tus hadn"t ordered were a few dozen small packets of dark crystalline powder labelled B&J Additives. Connie had shipped him blood to replace what had been stolen. She must have acted instantly.
As he leaned over, his upper body jackknifed into the crate, t.i.tus felt Abbot approach. Before he could hide the evidence, his father peered down into the crate.
But it was a Brink"s man who bent over Abbot"s shoulder and asked in a deceptively soft Southern accent, "What have you got there? Powdered solvent? I didn"t know there was such a thing, but it surely doesn"t belong here. Hey, Suzy!"
Everyone followed Suzy over to the smaller crate.
t.i.tus realized he should have cloaked his actions when he opened the crate. He could have removed the packets to his office without anyone noticing. Now it was too late.
Shimon plucked up one of the bags and tossed it from hand to hand. "Odd stuff. Whose do you suppose it is?"
t.i.tus"s eyes met Abbot"s, hardly daring to plead.
Abbot inspected t.i.tus with a sardonic smile. Then he shrugged and finessed the packet out of Shimon"s hands. "I"ll find out who it belongs to and take care of it." He spoke to the Israeli, but his attention swept the crowd as he insisted with powerful Influence, "It can"t be important."
t.i.tus added his Influence, summoning all his power and trying to emulate his father"s tightly leashed control. "It"s triviala*Abbot and I will take care of it. You can all safely forget it."
At that moment, Inea swung through the door carrying a toolbox and wearing a lab coat and white gloves. She had her hair bound back in a clean-room cap. "I heard the shipment was here and I came to. What"s the matter?"
Abbot reached out with his Influence, focusing real power to subdue her curiosity as he insisted, "Not a thing. We have more imp-"
Without thinking, t.i.tus reacted, the whole force of his raised Influence behind the command. "Abbot, no!"
Chapter eight.
To t.i.tus"s surprise, his father recoiled. "t.i.tus, what in the-" Cloaking his words, he swore. "Child, you don"t know your own strength! What do you think you"re doing?"
t.i.tus"s greatest efforts had never before produced such an effect in Abbot. "I-I."
Perplexed, Abbot inspected Inea, adding, "You"re that involved and you haven"t Marked her?"
Around them, everyone was staring disinterestedly into the packing case. t.i.tus pulled himself together. "She"s not mine," he answered nonchalantly, cloaking as well. He raised his voice and ordered in clear, "Inea, check the observatory first and I"ll be right with you. Okay?"
She shrugged and shoved her toolbox into a corner. "Sure, she answered, but he saw her glance over her shoulder at Abbot as she went toward the gla.s.s enclosure.
"See?" t.i.tus pointed out. "As you taught me, when you don"t need Influence, don"t use it."
Abbot shook his head, and t.i.tus was almost sure he"d covered his slip. Inea now seemed to be no one special, just useful.
"t.i.tus, do you want my help with the others or not?"
"I"d consider it a favor." Abbot didn"t seem to think he needed help. t.i.tus wondered if he"d gained power from the Catholic talisman, for he had felt wonderful ever since.
Abbot raised his voice with Influence. "If we"re going to be up and running this month, we"d better get to work."
t.i.tus added his Influence, singling out individuals and a.s.signing jobs, diverting attention from the crate.
Suzy Langton hefted the top of the crate. "I"ll just seal up this stray case and take it back."
"Oh, that won"t be necessary," t.i.tus interrupted hastily, and Abbot joined with, "Absolutely not necessary."
She stopped, the awkward top held across her chest. "Well no, it"s not necessary. But I ought to do it anyway."
Abbot glanced at t.i.tus, who was keenly aware that Inea might be watching, then took the top from Langton. "I know who it belongs to. I"ll take care of it. You wouldn"t waste government time going out of your way, would you?"
The Brink"s guards shook their heads like kindergarteners agreeing with their teacher. Abbot had them totally under control. But he was working gingerly. They dared not create an illusion that was blatantly incongruous, for with time, these people would remember bits and s.n.a.t.c.hes, worry at them, and compare notes. More than once in their long history on Earth, luren had been caught by just such human tenacity.
t.i.tus pointed out, "There"s no reason for you folks to wait here. Get on back to your more important work."
Perplexed, Langton hesitantly agreed. Abbot made a show of resealing the crate, grinning confidently at her over his shoulder. At last she led her crew out, seeming satisfied.
"Thanks," said t.i.tus, as he removed the lid again, still unsure why Abbot had helped except that it would be awkward for all luren if a human a.n.a.lyzed the "B&J Additives."
"Don"t mention it." Abbot eyed the observatory where Inea forked. "Though since you have her-and don"t tell me you don"t!-I can"t see why you want this garbage."