Asimov's Science Fiction: October/November 2013 (25 page)

"So," Rossetti asked him on the private channel as they made their way up the stairs. "Are we evacuating?"

"I don't see any reason to stay," Coop said, then realized that wasn't an official answer. He was feeling less and less official as this so-called mission went on. He should have felt more efficient. He had originally designed this mission to return to Captain Jonathan Cooper, and instead, he was getting farther away from that man.

Then he glanced at Rossetti. She flanked him, and gave him a look, too. Funny how it bothered him that she couldn't see him, but it didn't bother him when others couldn't see his expression.

"Yes," he said in his captain's voice. "We're evacuating."

He knew the others in his crew heard this, but he added something for Tren, just to be clear, "Anita, I want you to handle this. We need all non-essential personnel off this base as quickly as possible."

"I'm not sure what's essential," she said.

"Leave the team that's with me, and everyone else can go," Coop said. "Yash, did you hear that? Get Dix out of there."

"Not possible, Captain," Yash said.

Coop's stomach clenched. What had Dix done?

"Take him out physically if you have to," Coop said.

"We'll be taking the
anacapa
too, then," she said. "He won't let it go."

"We can't leave it," Coop said, hoping that Dix was listening in.

"Coop!" Dix had been listening. He sounded drunk, even though Coop knew he wasn't. "We can recreate the scenario now. Get those Enterran people to hit this thing with one of their weapons as we activate it. That should work."

"It won't work, Dix," Coop said, feeling tired. "A combination of two
anacapas
and a shot from a weapon that no longer exists sent us here. There's no guarantee that any of that will work on the way back."

"I think it will," Dix said.

"You're evacuating the starbase, Dix," Coop said. "Whether you want to or not."

"Fine," Dix said. "Just make sure someone hits this weapon at the right time."

Coop put his gloved hand against the wall for a brief moment, and then closed his eyes.

"You all right, Coop?" Rossetti asked.

No, he wasn't all right. He had made the wrong choice to come here, it had had the wrong effect on him, and now he was going to have to do things he didn't want to do. "I'm just fine," he lied, and climbed the rest of the way up the stairs.

8

The civilian ran to the open door leading into the
anacapa
control room as if he had found a holy shrine.

"Oh, my God," he said. "Oh, my God."

His exclamations got louder as he stepped inside.

Coop followed him, along with the twelve other people. They joined Yash and Lalliki and half a dozen other people who still hadn't evacuated. Those eight formed a half-circle around Dix, who was still arm-deep into the
anacapa
drive.

He grinned when he saw Coop.

"We can
do
this," Dix said on the private channel. "I know we can."

Coop wasn't sure how to answer him.

"I think the only way we can remove Dix is to hurt him," Yash said on a different channel, "and I'm not sure exactly how to do that. I'm afraid there will be an effect with the
anacapa."

"What
is
this place?" the civilian asked. He was going around in circles, looking up, like a man who had never seen the sky before. Apparently he hadn't expected the room to have such high ceilings. "There's
equipment
in here."

"Layla," Coop said on the private channel, "would you show our visitor the equipment. Don't explain it. Pretend like we just found it, too. I also want them to think that Dix is trapped in that drive."

"I'm not trapped," Dix said. "I'm just not going to let go."

"I know that," Coop said.

Lalliki approached the civilian and touched him on the shoulder. The Enterran soldiers who were supposed to guard him hung back. They watched everything warily.

Coop's soldiers spread out along the wall, preparing for anything.

Coop went over to Dix and crouched in front of him, like he had done before. The interior light from the
anacapa
was still on, and Coop could see Dix's face. He looked exhausted and exhilarated at the same time.

"These people are from the Empire that Boss doesn't like, Dix," Coop said softly.

"They're not going to cooperate with us."

"Not willingly," Dix said, "but I know how to make this work."

Coop sighed. He was tired of the disjointed thrum of the
anacapa,
tired of the people around him, tired of the failed attempt at regaining that sense of himself that he'd had before entering this sector seven months and five thousand years ago.

He was also tired of crazy.

Dix's eyes were too bright. "We'll give the
anacapa
to these empire people. They won't know how to shut it off. We get the
Ivoire
here, we rig the transport to hit the
Ivoire's anacapa
with just the right shot, and then we're home."

Coop opened his mouth to tell Dix all the reasons this wouldn't work, and paused. It would get Dix away from the
anacapa,
and that was step one.

"Great idea, Dix," Coop said.

"Captain," Rossetti said, "the
Ivoire—"

"Let the
Ivoire
know what we need," he said to Rossetti, with emphasis. He hoped she understood what he was talking about. Because Dix had either not heard or forgotten the order to take the
Ivoire
out of the system. "We're going to follow First Officer Pompiano's plan."

Rossetti froze for just a moment, then moved her head as if she were shaking off a comment. Then she said in a voice Coop had never heard before, "Yes, sir."

"Get that
anacapa
out of the casing," Coop said to Dix. "Yash, help him with that."

"Captain?" Yash said. He could hear the unasked question in her voice.
Should I wrestle it away from him?

"One step at a time, Yash," Coop said, hoping that Dix wouldn't understand.

Then Coop stood. He said through his headphone speaker, "Um, Mister Vilhauser, is it?"

The civilian stopped the moment Coop spoke his name. He came toward Coop, still too eager. Coop resisted the urge to look at the man's oxygen tank.

Coop continued, "We have no interest in this equipment here. If you want your people to take care of it, we can help you with that. It seems that the equipment my first officer is dealing with is still operational. He can shut it off, and give it to you."

The civilian looked stunned. He glanced at the soldiers who had accompanied him, and then back at Coop.

"You would do that?'

Coop gave what he now thought of as his signature shrug. "We have no use for this stuff."

"Coop," Dix said on the private channel. "I'm not going to shut this off."

"He knows that," Rossetti said so Coop didn't have to. "He's gambling this idiot won't know the difference."

"How do you know how these things work?" the civilian asked.

"It seems pretty straightforward," Coop said. "We've shut others off all over the sector."

"There are
others?"
The civilian was practically drooling.

"Not any more. We have some, we destroyed some. You seem so interested that we figured we can just give this to you." Coop felt very calm about lying to this man. He wasn't sure why. "Consider it a goodwill gesture."

"Vilhauser," one of the soldiers said, "You need to check this with the commander."

"No, I don't," Vilhauser said. "This is a scientific mission under my direction. You people aren't in charge. And this is a boon to the Empire."

Then he whirled, apparently realizing he had spoken through the public channels, not the private.

"And, uh, we—ah—we're grateful," he said to Coop. The civilian nodded at the
anacapa.
"Can we just carry that?"

"Yeah," Dix said. "Let me give it to you."

He stood, cradling the drive. It had to feel bulky and heavy. Coop had never held an active drive. It probably vibrated too. He wasn't quite sure how Dix managed to keep his arms around it.

"Better yet," Yash said, "let's put it in here."

She emptied her equipment case. It didn't protect against the effects of the
anacapa
—it wasn't designed for that—but it looked official.

On the private channel, Dix said, "Engineer Zarlengo, let's do it my way."

"The case locks, Dix," she said on the same channel. "They won't be able to mess with it in time."

Then she glanced at Coop, as if expecting him to resolve this.

But he didn't have to. Dix set the
anacapa
in the case. Yash shut it, locked it, and then picked it up. It took both hands.

She extended the case to the civilian. "Be careful," she said. "These things can be tricky."

He took the case. "We know," he said in that much too eager voice.

Then he cradled the case to his chest, and walked toward the main door, still a bit bouncy.

"Let's go," he said to the two soldiers who were supposed to guard him.

"But the commander—"

"She'll understand." He looked over his shoulder at Coop. The civilian clearly trying hard not to grin. "You'll evacuate like you said, right?"

"We gave you our word that we were leaving," Coop said.

"You still haven't shown me how to work the door," the civilian said.

"We'll leave it open," Coop said. "And unlocked."

The civilian nodded. It had been a long time since Coop had seen someone this greedy and gullible, and Coop had never been able to use both to his advantage before.

"Thank you," the civilian said, and bounced his way out of the room.

"Now," Dix said on the private channel, "all we need is the
Ivoire
and we're ready." Coop glanced at him. His first officer had believed all of this too.

"The first step is to get to the transport," Coop said on the same channel.

"Don't we want to go to the
Ivoire?"
Dix asked. He really wasn't thinking clearly.

How long had he been this off?

"We don't want them to see it, Dix," Coop said gently. "They'll become even more suspicious than they are."

"Oh yeah," Dix said with a creepy grin. "Then let's get the hell out of here."

Coop couldn't agree more. He signaled his team to leave the room, and head for the transport.

"Close the door after us," he said to Yash. "And make sure shutdown protocols are in place."

She nodded.

"Won't they notice?" Dix asked, sounding worried.

"Believe me, Dix," Coop said, "they're not going to notice a damn thing."

9

They got Dix onto the transport first. Coop didn't have to tell Lalliki to watch him closely; she already was.

Coop went to the cockpit. It was crammed. Anita Tren was here, and Yash joined them. Windows on three sides were clear, and the screens were up, showing the entire station and the Empire's ship.

It was larger than Coop thought it would be, about half the size of the
Ivoire.
Unlike the
Ivoire,
the ship was long rather than wide.

"They're having a hell of an argument," Tren said. "I've tapped into your comm.

You want to hear it?"

Coop looked at the images on the screen. Three people stood on the lower landing area to the Room of Lost Souls. One was crouched.

"No, I don't need to hear," Coop said. "They're not letting him onto their ship, right?"

"That's right," Tren said. "They're afraid he's too close now. They're telling him that the stealth tech is creating a field near their ship and he has to leave it behind. He's telling them he can shut it off, and he's trying to open Yash's case."

"Let them worry about that, then," Coop said. "We need to get out of here."

"You're going to leave them with the
anacapa?"
Tren asked.

"No," Coop said. "You're going to give me the controls."

She moved aside, and as she did, the door to the cockpit slid open.

"Where's the
Ivoire?"
Dix said. "You promised the
Ivoire
would be here."

"The
Ivoire
won't be back for—what is it, Anita? Four hours?" Coop settled into the pilot's chair.

"About that," Tren said.

"You promised!" Dix said. "We need the
Ivoire."

"Get him out of here," Coop said. He bent over the controls.

Dix yelled in the background, mostly shouting Coop's name, shouting that he'd promised, that someone should stop Coop because Coop had lied to all of them. Coop hit the controls, taking the transport slowly away from the starbase. He slapped his palm on the comm, activating it. "I want everyone to strap in. This won't be fun."

Dix was still yelling, but Coop wouldn't turn around.

"I can't get him out of here, Captain," someone said. Coop didn't recognize the voice without looking, so he didn't look.

"Then strap him in here," Coop said.

"Nooooo!" Dix said, and something banged behind Coop. "You can't do this."

Actually, no one else could do this. Oh, Coop supposed almost anyone in the team could follow his orders, but he didn't want them to. It wasn't right. He'd gotten them into this mess. He was going to get them out.

He set the target, and he set the speed. Then he waited until the transport was at the edge of the weapon range.

"They stopped arguing," Tren said. "They've powered up their ship. I think they're coming after us, Captain."

"I don't think so," Coop said. He felt calm. In fact, he hadn't felt this calm in months. "I think they're getting their ship away from the
anacapa
drive."

And that was smart, if most people on board that ship did not have the genetic marker.

"I thought you wanted to target all of them," Tren said, and he smiled just a little. His staff knew him. He hadn't said anything about targeting anyone.