The Devil's Eye (15 page)

"No. The Bandahr claimed ownership of the asteroids, and Cleev took a cut of the proceeds. The current government probably wouldn't have changed things, but we went through a Save-the-Asteroids period. People didn't think markers should be put on them. Or that the government or anyone else
owned
them. It became a political issue." "So it got stopped?" "The politicians saw a good thing and got on board. They eventually taxed it out of existence." "So what about the
Lantner
mission?" "That was a big deal for Starloft. For a long time, the business was strictly local. Then the Family of God, a religious group led by Calius Sabel, decided to go deep. Go for the outer asteroids. Out to the Swarm." "The Swarm?" "It's a sea of asteroids. Some of them line up pretty closely with Callistra. They picked the biggest one they could find and decided to build a monument on it. They thought it would provide religious significance." "In what way?" "The Family of God associated Callistra with the eye of the Deity. So the placement of a monument on that asteroid was to assure the faithful that they walked always in His light. Or some such thing. "Starloft sent a team out and did the installation. It's still there if you want to take a look at it. When it was completed, the Sabels went out in two ships to conduct a ceremony. There were a couple of Starloft executives with them. The two ships were the
Lantner
, which the Sabels leased, and the
Origon
, which was provided by Starloft. They got out there okay. They set up imagers, spent two days in prayer and thanksgiving, and on the third day they went down to do the ceremony." "And this was thirty years ago?" I asked. He had to count. "Thirty-six, Chase." "How far is it?" He checked with his AI.
"Thirty-three light-years."
"They'd have been using the old drive," I said. "Just getting there would have taken a week." "Please continue," said Alex. "On the third day, they went down onto the asteroid?" "Yes. There were two landers. They put on pressure suits and got out and assembled in front of the monument. The ceremony was transmitted back here on HV. I didn't see it live. But I've seen it since. Everybody has. "Anyhow, they did some praying. Then they started making speeches. One of the Sabels was talking when the transmission suddenly stopped. Just blanked out. Dead at the source. It was the last anybody ever heard of any of them." "When the rescue units got out there-?" said Alex. "-They were gone. Ships, landers, people. Everything. Except the monument." I was trying to imagine any sequence of events that would account for it. "It doesn't sound possible," I said. Batavian got up, walked over to the window, and looked out. In the distance, a train moved across the countryside. "There was a search. But they never found anything. Some people blamed the Mutes. There were all kinds of stories. Mostly that other aliens were loose out there somewhere. And there was something else." "What's that?" "The patrol boat that originally went to the scene, the
Valiant
, never made it home. It was the first rescue vehicle." "What happened to it?" I asked. "Are you going to tell us
it
disappeared, too?" "No. It filed its report, and another Bandahriate vehicle, a specialized one, I think they said at the time, went out to look around. The patrol boat returned to its usual assignment. And a day or so later it exploded." "Sounds like a pattern," said Alex.

"They said it was an engine problem." "Any survivors?" "None." For several moments, no one spoke. Then he continued: "Ed loved mysteries. So naturally the
Lantner
incident caught his attention. I don't know how many times I heard him tell people how he'd watched the night it happened." He sighed. Shook his head. "Shortly after that, the government issued a warning about the area, that they thought Mutes might have established a base in the region. Everybody was told to stay clear." "So nobody went out there after that?" "Nobody went out there anyhow. Except on that one occasion." We sat. We could hear a couple of people arguing outside.

While I watched her, I was thinking how much more difficult it is to be entertaining when you don't have the audience physically in front of you, when they're spread out across an electronic hookup and you can't feed off their reactions. Or even get a read on them. I've done a few appearances with Alex, and I want them sitting out there where I can see them to get my adrenaline flowing. But it didn't seem to bother her. Batavian had been the emcee. He introduced her from the same room we were sitting in. She came in and sat down in the chair that Alex was using and said she was glad to be there, and what a privilege it was, and so on. Most people do that and you know they're kidding. But she meant it. And it was easy to see right from the start that she was enjoying herself. Batavian got out of the way, and Vicki took the helm. She told the audience how much she loved what she did, that the old stories about writers working out of attics while they slugged down whiskey, that their lives were solitary and dreary, that it was hard, painstaking work, was all a lie.
"We say that stuff to discourage other people from getting into the business. To keep the competition down. There's nothing as exhilarating as writing a good line or watching a plot come together."
Images of her listeners appeared. The audience was composed of young and old, equal numbers of both sexes, people with money and people who were managing. The one characteristic they all shared was enthusiasm. When she'd finished, they applauded for a full minute. Not bad for an audience scattered around the globe. They went to questions. We listened while they asked why she'd decided to write horror, what she did in her spare time, and whether there'd be a sequel to this or that book. When it was done, we sat quietly listening to the wind play against the side of the building. Batavian was still staring at the spot where Vicki's image had been. "She was interested in Aramy Cleev, Alex," he said. "Did you know that? It's true. She was annoyed because Cleev's avatar is restricted." Alex leaned forward. "Really?" That was a surprise. The guy was, after all, a major historical figure. "Yes. You have to have special authorization to talk to it." Alex's eyes, which had been distant, came into sharp focus. "I think," said Batavian, "they just don't trust Cleev. Not even dead. And they don't entirely trust the general population. A lot of people here would love to go back to the Bandahr years."

I spent the next morning strolling around town while Alex stayed in the hotel looking through old newscasts and reading about ULY447 and the
Lantner
incident. The weather was cold in Moreska, so I treated myself to a new sweater and a matching cap. I put them on and went back out to where the manor had been and stood on the cliff's edge thinking the kind of thoughts you do when the wind is blowing hard at your back and it's a hundred meters straight down to some water and a lot of rocks. When I got back to the hotel in midafternoon, Alex was waiting for me. "I've been looking at the other houses that were blown up that night," he said. "Did you find a connection to Demery?" "Nothing on the net. But I made some calls. One of the houses belonged to William Kelton. The mayor of Mancuso, which is just down the road a few klicks. His wife and daughter died in the blast. And a visitor. Apparently the daughter's fianc . "The wife might be of interest." "Why?" "She was retired. Taught at Travis University for a while. Wrote popular science articles for a number of publications. Did some sort of extradimensional research at Quantum Labs, which is a pretty good haul from where she lived." "She had a link with Demery?" "Yes. Her name was Jennifer. She and Demery were at one time members of the Archimedes Club." "For people interested in math?" "Very good, Chase. They used to compete in problem-solving exercises. Among themselves, and with other groups. A couple of the members I talked to said that Demery and Jennifer were close friends." "Okay. So where does that lead us?" "Let's try to find out. Kelton wasn't home when the explosion happened. But Jennifer was." "What happened to the husband? Kelton?" "He was on a hunting trip. From which he never returned. Disappeared in the woods. No one ever found the body." "Was he hunting alone?" "No. There were five or six of them. The others said he wandered off from the campsite and didn't come back." "Either of them have an avatar?" "Jennifer did. But it's gone now. Incidentally, of the people who lived in the eighteen homes destroyed that night, eleven or twelve had avatars, including some kids. They were all removed. Nobody seems to know who took them down. "Family members who weren't home when their houses were hit either dropped out of sight, or turned up dead. Including some children." "Incredible," I said. "I didn't realize Nicorps was so ruthless." He'd drawn the curtains across the windows, blocking off all but a slash of sunlight. I put my new cap back on. "So, Alex, do we pay a visit to City Hall?"

Only a few remembered Mayor Kelton. It had been, after all, thirty-three years since he'd disappeared during that ill-fated hunting trip. There were two or three around town who'd been staff people at that time. They couldn't find a kind word to say for him. The mayor had been affable and easygoing in public, and a tyrant behind the scenes. He had a short temper, grabbed the credit for everything, never talked to his people except to criticize. "I hated working for him," one of the former staffers told us. "But I wanted a political career, and he was the only set of coattails in the area." Another admitted to having experienced a sense of relief when he'd disappeared. "I felt guilty about it," she said. "But I can't say I was sorry he was gone." Never heard from again. It was the hallmark of people who'd gotten in trouble with the authorities. They

went for a walk and didn't come home. In fact, though, blowing up houses was not an aberration. We combed through twenty-seven years of Aramy Cleev rule and found that the tactic was used on a regular basis. In several of the other instances, it seemed clear that the houses had been taken out to ensure that potentially embarrassing information hadn't gone public. Occasionally, the method had been employed simply to send a message. One older woman, who had served as a consultant, still seemed frightened when discussing the event. "My generation," she said, "will never feel completely comfortable talking politics. You just can't be sure he won't come back." "Kelton?" "Aramy Cleev. Some of the family is still around, and there are a lot of people who'd like to see them return to power." She lowered her voice. "There's talk they have a clone stashed away somewhere. Waiting." She looked past me into that long-gone world. "Why do you think it happened?" Alex asked her. "What possible reason could Nicorps have had?" "I don't know, Mr. Benedict." We were in a modest restaurant across the street from City Hall. It was the middle of the afternoon, so there weren't many customers. In fact, other than us, only two. "In those days there didn't necessarily have to be a reason. People just went away." "Did the mayor ever seem fearful? Did he ever talk about the possibility that something like this might happen?" "Not that I knew about, no." She stirred her tea and looked pained. Frightened. "It strikes me," I said, "that going into politics in that kind of system was dangerous." Across the street a skimmer was landing on the City Hall pad. She watched it set down, and a young couple climbed out. "Probably going to get a marriage license," she said. Then: "No. It wasn't really dangerous. There was a lot of corruption. But as long as you played along, didn't make any noise, you were fine. I didn't have any power, so Nicorps didn't even notice I was there." "Did Cleev himself run for office?" "Oh, sure. Every five years. Like clockwork. The Cleevs always pretended we were a republic. They held elections. And they always won big. Like ninety-nine percent of the vote. But nobody ever said anything about it." She grew thoughtful. "Except Katy Doyle." "What happened to her?" "She was running for mayor. This was before Bill's time. Anyhow, she lost. Almost unanimously. A short time later, she issued a statement about how she'd been wrong about Cleev, and what a great leader he was. Then she left town. We never knew what happened to her. I'm pretty sure she was trying to get clear, but I don't know whether she succeeded." The young couple bounced up the walkway and into the building. I remember thinking they didn't look old enough to be getting married. "One more question," said Alex. "Okay." "It'll seem like a strange one." "That's all right." "His wife. Did you know her?" "Oh, yes. We all knew Jennifer." "Did either of them, Jennifer or Bill, ever talk about far-out stuff? Like aliens? Or the
Lantner
asteroid? Anything at all like that?" "I'm not sure what the
Lantner
asteroid is. But, no. The mayor spent his time hunting, playing cards, and socializing. Other than politics, that was all he cared about. And Jenny? I didn't really know her that well, but she seemed to have both feet on the ground."

Quantum Labs had gone out of business years before, but there were still a couple of people on the faculty at Travis who remembered Jennifer. "She was okay," one of them told us. "She was quiet. Reserved. I don't think she ever felt comfortable in a classroom. But she had a pretty good reputation as a physicist." He looked hard at us, wondering

whether to say more. Then, what the hell, he plowed ahead: "Bill didn't like her much. He was always running around. Cheated on her. Not that it matters now, I guess. But you never saw them together. Except at weddings or funerals." He looked uncomfortable. "I'm sorry. Speaking ill of the dead and all that. But you asked." "Any idea what happened that night? At their house?" "You mean the explosion?" "Yes." "We always assumed her husband had gotten in over his head somewhere, and Nicorps simply took him out." He shrugged. "Unfortunately for Jenny, she got caught in the blast. Although when Nicorps got involved,
everybody
got caught in the blast." "Did you ever hear any kind of explanation? What he might have done to get in trouble?" "No. Nothing. Alex, the mayor took care of number one. It always surprised me, what happened, because I would have thought he'd have been the last to run afoul of the security people. But he must have offended
somebody
." We were in his office, which he shared with two other instructors. One, a young woman, picked that moment to come in. We did a round of introductions, then she excused herself, glad to meet you, sorry to run off. She picked up a set of notes and was gone. Alex was leaning against a windowsill. "Did either of them have any connection to Edward Demery?" he asked. "Aha. I should have guessed that was coming. And the answer is no. None that I know of." "Not Jennifer either?" "They knew each other. Beyond that, I'm not aware of anything." "Did she have any connection with the
Lantner
?" He had to think about it. "The ship that disappeared, right? No. What does that have to do with anything?" "Probably nothing." "Yes. I just don't know of a reason. Both houses were hit the same night. Nicorps probably just had its assassination squads out. Take care of everybody at once. You know they weren't the only people hit? There were fifteen or sixteen other places they got. All around the region." "We know." He shook his head. "It was probably more economical to blow them all up at the same time."