The Sails of Tau Ceti (26 page)

He stepped across the threshold, causing a sensor in the wall to note that the door was no longer obstructed. It slid silently back into place. Ben presented the flowers with a flourish. “For the loveliest lady between here and Tau Ceti.”

She took the flowers and buried her nose amid the blossoms. The scent was a welcome change after breathing recycled air. It was reminiscent of the smell of the bushes that had lined the stone walkway Maratel had guided her down that first day aboard
Far Horizons
. “I’ll call room service for a vase to put these in.”

“Later. We’ve a lot of catching up to do.”

“So we have,” she agreed, leading him toward the couch.

His left eyebrow lifted as he managed to leave the impression that he had been thinking more in terms of the bedroom.

“It’s been a long trip, Ben,” she answered the unspoken question.

“And you’re tired. I understand.” He sat facing her. She, in turn, tucked one foot beneath her and gazed at him. He had changed. He was heavier than she remembered, his expression was haughtier, and he was older. She remembered that he had lived through those long months when she had been in suspended animation. Effectively, Ben was now two years older than she was. An insignificant difference seemed significant somehow.

The silence stretched uncomfortably long as they gazed at one another. She finally broke it by saying; “You’ve made quite a name for yourself while I’ve been gone.”

“Not nearly as great a name as you’ve made for yourself. All of you are heroes, you know. Still, those of us who stayed behind have done our bit for the cause. For instance, I was in charge of the politicking that got Underminister Sadibayan his current job. As you can imagine, the competition was rather keen.”

“Really?”

“Indeed. We had to fight off several council members. In fact, some of them are still disgruntled.”

“I would have thought they would leave dealing with the aliens to specialists.”

“Are you kidding? Can you imagine how much exposure the ambassador to the Phelan is going to receive over the next several months? A politico cannot buy that kind of publicity. If we play our cards right, Ambassador Sadibayan just might end up the next system comptroller.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Absolutely! Guess who his right hand man will be as he sits at the right hand of the first councilor?”

She laughed. “I can’t imagine!”

“Yep, none other than Mrs. Tallen’s fair haired little boy. Enough about me. Tell me about your trip.”

She shrugged. “Nothing much to say beyond what we sent back in a few million words of reports.”

“Come now, Tory. This is old Ben. Remember me? We will leave that dry technical stuff to the boys with crinkled foreheads. I’m interested in what these aliens
really
want.”

“They want sanctuary. They want us to give them a small plot of land somewhere where they can grow food for their people,” she lied. “They want to be accepted into human society so they can at last live without fear their environmental systems are going to wear out and smother them all. In other words, they want the same things we would want in their place.”

“Sanctuary can certainly be had — for a price. Just tell me how far you think we can push them. No reason we have to help them for nothing, is there?”

“Frankly, Ben, I don’t see any advantage in haggling. They have a treasure trove aboard that ship.”

“Eh?”

“Knowledge. Everything they learned in several thousand years of civilization. If we help them, they’ll give it all to us.”

Tallen laughed. It was a high-pitched laugh that had always gotten on Tory’s nerves a little. “My poor naive darling! Some are going to obtain political advantage out of this situation, others are not. How can we wring the most advantage from the predicament these Phelan are in? Come now, you must have thought about it a lot on the trip home.”

“Actually, I did do a lot of thinking.”

“Good. So how does one go about parlaying negotiations with these aliens into the comptrollership? You have lived with them. You must have some insight into how they think.”

Tory’s laugh carried no mirth with it. “You’d be surprised, Ben.”

“So surprise me. How do we turn this thing to our own advantage … while serving good old
Homo sap
at the same time, of course.”

“Sorry, but I can’t advise you on that.”

“Sure you can.”

“No, I can’t. In fact, I can’t give you any advice at all.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“Because, I don’t work for you.”

She could see the preconceptions melting away as his gaze became suddenly calculating. “I don’t understand.”

“We’re not on the same side, Ben.”

“Has some other councilor offered you a position?”

She laughed. “It isn’t that. I’ve accepted Faslorn’s offer to be advocate for the Phelan in the coming negotiations.”

“Impossible! Why would you do such a thing?”

She looked into his familiar eyes and saw a stranger there. It was a sight she knew she would see often in the months to come. It was a sight that frightened her to her core. When she spoke, it was in a voice so soft that he had to strain to hear her.

“I had my reasons.”

#

If Praesert Sadibayan had been angry when he heard the news, Boerk Hoffenzoller was livid.

“What the hell’s going on here, Sadibayan?” the first councilor demanded from out of the phone screen. “I sent you up there to run a simple welcoming ceremony, and you tell me one of our ‘heroes’ has gone over to the enemy?”

“I am afraid it is true, first minister,” Sadibayan said. He did not particularly like the leader of the council, but had to admit that he knew his job. In addition, he had the votes, which in the world of politics was the only recommendation that mattered.

“Did this assistant of yours …?”

“Tallen, sir. Benjamin Tallen.”

“Did he tell you why Victoria Bronson has gone over to the aliens?”

“She wouldn’t say. He pressed her on it for an hour. Things became pretty heated toward the end, so he backed off. He thinks he’s in love with the girl, you know.”

“Any chance this is just a lover’s spat? Maybe she told him that because she was mad at him.”

“Not a chance, minister. The head alien issued a press release two hours ago. He announced that he is retaining the Bronson woman as his aide-de-camp. The release speaks of her dedication to building peaceful bonds between our two great races.”

“What do we do now? Arrest her?”

“On what charge?”

The irritation was evident on Hoffenzoller’s face. “How should I know? Charge her with smuggling in rare alien gems, or treason, or endangerment of a space habitat by leaving the window open. For God’s sake, be creative!”

“I don’t think that wise, sir. The press seems to have taken Miss Bronson to its heart. She is the better looking of the two women who went on this expedition, and seems quite personable when she is tongue-tied in front of the cameras.”

“What are you suggesting? That we do nothing?”

“For the time being. We may yet turn this to our advantage. She may work for them, but she is still a human being. Perhaps we can prevail on her to act as a conduit of information from inside the alien camp.”

“You mean she would spy for us?”

“Possibly.”

“Do you have any leverage on her?”

“Tallen.”

“I thought they had an argument.”

“As you suggested, sir, a spat. I’m sure Tallen can convince her to forgive him.”

Hoffenzoller’s pained look suddenly disappeared. He had not really enjoyed life since about the time the light sail had been discovered. These aliens presented him with an entire range of problems, most of them major. Yet, every problem is also an opportunity. If they could convert Victoria Bronson into a spy in the alien camp, then her recent conversion might work to his advantage.

“Very well, Pert! I leave it in your hands. I’ll expect weekly reports, and more often if things get interesting.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Goodbye and good luck.” With that, the phone screen went dark as the first minister cut the connection.

Praesert Sadibayan sat and stared at the blank phone screen for long minutes. What he had just received was his hunting license. Now how best to use it?

3 Earth

CHAPTER 20

Tory Bronson stood at the edge of the roof garden and stared pensively out across the lighted city. Spread before her was a carpet of diamonds that overflowed the nearby shore and swept out into the pier communities beyond. A cool evening breeze drowned out what little traffic noise survived the kilometer-long climb out of the manmade canyons below. Despite the city lights, the sky was an obsidian dome, with conditions perfect for stargazing. The lack of sky glow was due to the polarizing effect of the city’s weather field.

Tory craned her neck until she fastened on a red star halfway to the zenith. Mira was a long period variable that was normally too dim to be seen with the naked eye, but which occasionally flared into one of the brightest stars in the sky. Mira was flaring now, making it the perfect guide star for Tory’s search. From Mira she let her gaze drop down and to the east, tracing the invisible path to Tau Ceti. The nova remnant lay low on the horizon, near the lights of several distant aircraft. By squinting, Tory could just make out a second star that almost touched the nova. The second star was the color of an electric arc and so dim that it kept fading from view. Tory found that if she looked away every few seconds, then back again, she could reacquire it.

She realized that she had been holding her breath. She let out a long sigh and breathed deeply of the cool evening air. Twice before she had made this search and had come away disappointed. Tonight
Far Horizons
was close enough for its light sail to be visible in the terrestrial sky. The tiny star would grow steadily brighter for months until it disappeared behind the sun. As it grew brighter, it would spark a surge of interest in the Phelan and their works. This was the goal toward which Tory and her employers had worked ever since their arrival on Earth. The Phelan master plan was about to enter its final (and most dangerous) phase.

It had been five years since the telescopes of Farside Observatory had first detected the alien light sail at the edge of the Solar System. For all that, time
Far Horizons
had been falling sunward as it shed its velocity to the surrounding interstellar medium. The light sail had crossed the orbit of Pluto months ago, and would soon cross that of Mars. It was a shame, Tory thought, that her home world was on the wrong side of the sun just now. The sight of it sliding across the indigo sky of home would have been spectacular.

As she watched the tiny point, Tory thought of all that had transpired in the nearly two years she had been on Earth. They had been busy years, with little time to brood. Still, she was bothered by her fellow humans’ low opinion of her. She still winced at the memory of that last fight with Ben Tallen aboard Elysium Station.

Ben had taken her announcement that she was going to work for the Phelan badly. They had argued until she had asked him to leave. Afterward, she cried herself to sleep, and then spent the whole next day rerunning the incident in her mind. When Ben called to invite her to lunch, she had resolved to patch things up with him.

She should have suspected something was wrong when he acted uncharacteristically humble during the meal. It had not been until after dessert was served that he broached the idea of her being a spy for Ambassador Sadibayan while working for the Phelan. Tory had been so surprised by the suggestion that she had spilled hot coffee down her front. After a minute spent dabbing at the stain, she had asked Ben in a level voice to repeat his offer. To her amazement, he had!

Rather than say another word, she had gathered her things and left. Except for business, that had been the last time she had spoken to Ben. Even two years later, she was still angry that he could think so little of her that he would even suggest such a thing. What the hell did he think she was? It was true that she had prostituted herself to the Phelan, but God damnit, at least she was a high priced whore!

Nor had Ben been the only one who had tried to talk her out of working for the Phelan. She had seen Garth off on his way to his new command. He, too, had quizzed her about why she was throwing in with the aliens. Since she could not tell him the real reason, she had stuck to her cover story — that she truly believed that the Phelan deserved a home and that she wanted to work for that goal. Later, when she was interviewed by several government officials, Tory had discovered that the most effective tactic was to swear that her motives were altruistic, yet leave the impression that she was doing it for the money.

Eventually the doctors gave everyone a clean bill of health and there was no longer reason to hold the Phelan aboard Elysium Station. Tory and the four aliens had taken the first ferry down to Mojave spaceport, where they had transferred to a suborbital flight to New York. It had taken less than a month for the Phelan to auction several of their technologies to industry for more money than the
Starhopper
’s entire budget.

Having solved the problem of finances, they leased a penthouse and the upper two floors of a Manhattan residence tower for use as an embassy. They hired talented people and set about casting their net of power and influence around the globe and out into space. The initial phases of the master plan had gone very well. Partly that was due to centuries of careful planning, but also, Tory discovered that she had a talent for lobbying.

The old Tory Bronson had avoided cocktail parties and university teas whenever possible. Her idea of a good time was a few friends, soft music, and Martian beer to keep the vocal chords lubricated. Yet, in the space of twenty months, aided by an unlimited line of credit, she transformed herself into a high-society hostess. The weekly parties at the Phelan embassy were the talk of three continents.

Tory had discovered other skills within herself, as well. Running the Phelan conspiracy was not very different from building
Starhopper
. Instead of watching over the interstellar probe’s development, she now organized publicity, arranged junkets, and entertained the rich and powerful. Where her implant had once informed her of the progress of construction, it now kept her current on a hundred different schemes to gain influence. Her daily cajoling of programmers, construction workers, and engineers had given way to similar activities with politicians, industrialists, and influence peddlers. As for the gifts, bribes, and political contributions, they were merely the obverse of the
Starhopper
fundraisers. She now knew what Dard Pierce had suffered for the twenty years that had preceded the interstellar probe’s construction.