Alex Benedict 07 - Coming Home (28 page)

“I’ll take care of it, John. You can leave the details to me.”

He didn’t sound very flexible.

“Okay. Have it your way, Bark. FYI, we also have a yacht closing. The
Mary Lou Eisner
will arrive within minutes after you guys do.”

“I hope,” I said, “it’s not another Mute.”

“The
Mary Lou Eisner
?”
said Belle.
“That seems unlikely.”

“I was kidding. What’s its capacity?”

“Nine people.”

“
We
could do better.”

“It would be close.”

“There are—what?—two more coming in after that?”

“Yes. The
Shang-Chi
and the
Morrison
. They’re about an hour apart. Both small, so they won’t be able to take many.”

“At least they’ll be in and out quickly.”

We were getting pictures from the
Randall
as they approached. “I have a question for you, Belle,” I said.

“Okay.”

“Who was Belle-Marie?”

“Her last name was McKeown. She was one of Gabe’s girlfriends. A special one.”

“What happened to her? They never married?”

“No. She walked away from him.”

“She walked away from
Gabe
?”

“Yes. Damaged him emotionally, I believe.”

“And he named his new yacht for her?”

“I thought it was strange, too. Why do you pay tribute to somebody who discards you? He could have called it the
Giddy-Up
or something. But he told me she never knew about it.”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear it.”

“Gabe was, is, kind of tough on the surface, but down under all the manly stuff, he’s pretty sentimental.”

“Did you ever meet her? Belle-Marie McKeown?”

“Yes. I have it from others who saw her that she looked good. I do not normally develop emotional reactions to people. Certainly not based on their appearance. But I will confess that I never cared for her.”

“Because of the way she treated Gabe?”

“No. I didn’t like her before that happened. I’m not sure I can give you a reason. She was a bit distant. I think Gabe always realized he wasn’t going to be able to hold on to her, but he stayed with it as long as he could.”

*   *   *

Bark Peters came back:
“John, we are pulling alongside the
Capella
now. Lifeboats will be on the move in three minutes.”

It is ironic that we do not remember who invented the camera. No human creation so deeply impacts our lives as this, which allows us to capture permanently the images of those who have gone before. Those we love may pass out of this world, but their faces, and the moments we shared with them, are forever ours.

—Rev. Agathe Lawless,
Sunset Musings
, 1422

Bark Peters provided close-up pictures of the lifeboat packages as they were sent one by one out of the
Randall
’s storage compartments. Twin jets were attached to the packages. Two crew members in green-and-white jet-assisted pressure suits traveled with each unit. They guided it across a gap of about forty meters into the
Capella
’s cargo hold, where some of the cruise ship’s people corralled it and took it into whatever open space they had available.

An additional four members of the
Randall
’s crew, with jetpacks, served as wingmen, hovering between the two ships, lending a hand where necessary. It was an efficient process, but it was
slow
. They lost control of one package, and two of the wingmen had to chase it down. On another occasion, one of the
Capella
’s people, apparently not paying attention, got clobbered by an incoming unit and had to be taken inside the ship.

By the end of the first hour, twelve lifeboats had been moved across and stored, and three were en route. They were slightly ahead of schedule, and the operation was improving as the two crews became more efficient.

Meantime, the
Mary Lou Eisner
arrived and took off an additional ten people, one more than expected. The
Chang-Shi
came in a half hour behind it and collected eleven more. Then we heard John’s voice:
“Got a problem, Bark. One of the people from the
Chang-Shi
has gotten loose on the
Capella
. He’s taken control of the drive. Says he’s going to shut it down. Cease operations immediately and get clear.”

I was still getting pictures from the
Randall
, watching its crew continuing to move the lifeboats into the
Capella
. Despite the instructions, the
Randall
showed no sign of leaving. A few minutes later, John called
me
.
“Chase, do you know an Archie Cicotte?”

“Negative.”

“He’s the pilot of the
Chang-Shi
. He’s on board the
Capella
. He’s the one threatening to shut down the engines. He’s telling them it’s the only right thing to do. That it will stop the ship from getting sucked under again.”

“You sound as if you expect me to do something.”

“He says Alex told him to do it.”

“What? That’s crazy, John.” Then I remembered. “Alex was on a show last week. The host—I forget who it was—asked him what
he
would want to happen if he were stuck on the
Capella
. He said he’d want somebody to shut down the engines. Take the chance. Something like that.”

“Well, wonderful. Now we have to deal with this lunatic who took him at his word.”

“I don’t think it ever occurred to Alex—”

“Let it go.”

“How’d he get into the control room?”

“Can we talk about that later? I need you to talk him down. Tell him who you are. That Alex didn’t mean it or something.”

How did I keep getting into the middle of these things? “Okay, John, put me through.”

*   *   *

We got a visual. I could see four crewmen keeping their distance from a short, beefy guy who was bent over the controls. Everybody’s eyes, except his, turned my way.

“Look,”
he was saying,
“I’m sorry I’m scaring the hell out of you people, but in a few minutes, you’ll all be glad I did this.”

“Archie,” I said. “You don’t really want to be responsible for killing twenty-six hundred passengers, do you?”

He spun around, surprised.
“Who are
you
?”
he said.

“My name’s Chase. I work for Alex Benedict. He’s my boss.”

“Really?”
He straightened, and one of the people near him looked as if she was about to make a move, but Cicotte reacted, and she backed away.
“Are you Chase
Kolpath
?”

“Yes. Please, Archie, get away from that thing before you kill everybody.”

Archie was about average size, middle-aged, beginning to lose his hair. He looked angry.
“I’m not going to kill anyone. Chase, I’m glad to meet you. I’m sorry it has to be under these circumstances. But I’ve been an admirer of you and Alex for a long time.”

“Archie, if you shut that engine down, you may destroy everything. I’m serious. I’ve seen tests where they played around with the drive units, and people died.”

“Then why did Alex say that’s exactly what he’d do? That he’d shut the engines down?”

“He meant if he was alone on the ship. If he was the only one at risk, he’d take the chance. I
know
, Archie, because we talked about it afterward. Alex would never put other people at risk.”

“Chase, if I don’t do this, the people here will disappear out of the lives of their families for another five years.”

“Archie, do you have a relative on board?”

“No, I don’t.”

“A friend, maybe?”

“Did you and he really talk about it?”

“Sure.”

“Okay.”
He looked around the room. It was presumably the bridge.
“Chase, I don’t know anyone who’s on the ship. Nobody.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“Because everybody’s been saying that the odds of something bad happening if we shut down is only about one in twenty. We can live with that.”

“That’s only a guess, Archie. It’s only a guess.” He stared at me. “If you do this, and you get lucky and nobody dies, everybody will still hate you. You really want to live with that?”

“This isn’t about
me
, Chase.”

“Okay. It’s about the families of the people on board. Think what you’d do to them if it goes wrong. Archie, you have no right to do this. To put other people’s lives on the line.”

He stood there, his face drained of all color. Then he backed away from the controls.
“Chase,”
he said,
“help me.”

*   *   *

The
Morrison
came in on time and took off another dozen, consisting of three families and Guy Bentley. Bentley was the comedian who’d almost become the principal in a legal action. His studio was desperate to get him back. Their effort to accomplish his return by threatening to sue had failed, but they’d apparently cut a deal with somebody.

“I can’t believe John would sell out,” I said to Belle.

“I doubt he did. But Great Lion Studios has a lot of influence with politicians. I suspect they got somebody to put pressure on him. Don’t worry about it. To be honest, Bentley’s the funniest guy on the planet. I’m glad he’s back.”

“You’re glad he’s back, Belle? You always claimed you don’t have a sense of humor.”

“And you believed me? I’m shocked.”

We watched as the
Morrison
disconnected from the exit tube and moved away. Only the
Randall
remained, still steadily transferring its cargo of lifeboats. The smaller vehicles had taken ninety-five people off. Ninety-four if we deducted one for Archie, who’d been left behind. Schultz had supplied a spare pilot for the
Chang-Shi
. So we had about twenty-five hundred remaining plus a crew and staff of approximately sixty.

I’d counted twenty-six boats transferred as we got down to our last hour. Assuming we would
have
another hour.

*   *   *

I could see that the
Capella
cargo hold was filling up. When she went under, Schultz would have plenty of time to talk to her passengers, and get 540 of them into the first round of boats. Then, incredibly, they would arrive in 1440.

After that, there would be some time pressure. She had three cargo decks, and three boats could be inflated at a time on each deck. She’d have to repressurize, inflate the next round of boats, get sixty-four people in each, decompress again, and launch. Estimated time for the operation: slightly over an hour. If everything went smoothly.

She’d have to repeat the process four times. That should be manageable, but I didn’t envy her.

Then we were listening to John again:
“Dierdre, we can’t be certain that we know when and where you’ll be back. So do not launch any of the lifeboats until we’ve established contact, and you know we’re within range.”

“I understand, John. And thank you for all you’ve done. You put a major flotilla out there, and we appreciate it.”

“We’re happy to help. And we’ll be back for you—”

*   *   *

No one, including Captain Schultz, knew precisely when the
Capella
had reappeared. But we were working off an estimate that had to be accurate within fifteen minutes or so. We were slightly more than halfway through the eighth hour when I got within link range and decided to try to contact Gabe. I wouldn’t reveal what was really happening because Kraus and Schultz wanted to keep it quiet, and we owed them that. I suspected the people on board had learned the truth by then, but I didn’t want anyone to be able to point at me.

It took a few minutes, and I kept the images of the lifeboat transfer on the navigation screen. But, finally, the circuit clicked, and Gabe was
there
! He was seated in what appeared to be a passenger lounge. The guy I’d believed for years I would never see again.
“Hello, Chase,”
he said, with a shocked expression.
“Is that really you? What are you doing here? What’s happened to the ship?”

“Engine trouble, I think,” I said. “They’re going to be taking everybody off within the next few hours.”

“That much I’d heard. But I got the impression there was more to it than that.”

“We’ll talk about it when we get you off, Gabe. They’ve got lifeboats on board. Just grab a seat when you can, and we’ll see you at Skydeck.”

It’s impossible to be able to make a determination from a projection, but Gabe was reasonably tall, and had always exuded a take-it-easy manner. He had a full head of hair, and he looked younger than I would have expected. Of course, he hadn’t aged more than a couple of days since the last time I’d seen him.
“Are you on the
Belle-Marie
?”
he asked.

“Yes.”

“Can you take me aboard?”

“Not right now, Gabe. The crew over there is a little busy.”

“Okay. By the way, I’m working on an interesting incident. What do you know about the
Tenandrome
?”

I couldn’t resist a smile. That was an old story, an interstellar that had seen
something
that people in authority had tried to keep quiet. It was what had brought Alex and me together. “Okay, Gabe. That’s something else for when you get back. You feeling all right?”

“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Just asking. We’ll be glad to see you again.”

“That’s an odd comment. It’s only been a few days. Is there something you’re not telling me? Are we in more trouble than they’ve been letting on?”

“No. There’s no major problem. Just get on the boat when they tell you to.”

“All right. How’s Alex?”

“He’s good. He’d want me to say hello.”

He was frowning at me. “Chase, you look different somehow.”

“Probably my hair. I’ve cut it back a bit.”

“I see that. But there’s something else. You look more serious. Or something.”

Older,
I thought.

Suddenly, his image began to fade. It came back, then went away again. Completely.

On the main screen, I could see the crew hurrying, trying to move what would be the last two packages across to the
Capella
, which was also becoming less distinct. Two of them wore the
Randall
’s green uniforms. They were going to get caught over there.

Someone on the
Randall
was screaming for them to come back. The lifeboats were the thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth. The green uniforms kept going, and as the cruise ship faded from view, they went with it.

“Good-bye, Gabe,” I said.