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has been abandoned for the past nine years& and is likely to stay that way.
Ferrol bit hard at his lower lip, uncertainty twisting through him like a helical saw.
No, it couldn t be. Couldn t be. A survey team couldn t foul up so badly as to miss
something as long-term deadly as a hive virus. It had to be just another pro-Tampy
lie. Even if Roman himself genuinely believed it, it still had to be a lie.
But if it wasn t&
And in the middle of his silent turmoil the door buzzer sounded.
For a single heartbeat Ferrol stared at the door& and then, in a sudden blinding
flash of insight, he saw at last what they d done to him. Roman s invitation,
designed to lure him off the bridge; the forged report, designed to keep him off it
With the hiss of its released pressure lock the panel began to slide open; and with
a single convulsive motion Ferrol jerked up half out of his chair, his right hand
scrabbling beneath his tunic for the hidden needle gun. For an instant the barrel
caught; then, as he slammed painfully down onto the chair again it came free.
Swinging it up, banging it once on the edge of the desktop as he did so, he brought
it to bear on the doorway, squeezing it tightly in a two-handed grip. The panel
finished its retraction into the wall
And standing there, framed in the opening, was Kennedy.
The most dangerous person aboard the Amity, the Senator had once called her;
and in that first, heart-stopping second Ferrol knew he d been right. Standing
motionless in the doorway, her hands hanging loosely and apparently empty at her
sides, he watched as her eyes flicked from his face to the gun and back again
without losing any of their icy calm. She was calm, cold, and professional.
And she had come to kill him.
It was another moment Ferrol had tried to prepare himself for& another moment
for which, he saw bitterly, the preparations had been utterly inadequate. You ll be
able to handle her, the Senator had said with that infinite assurance of his; and
Ferrol had nodded and believed him.
But no one had warned him what it would be like to look into someone s eyes as
he pulled the trigger.
Roman cleared his throat.  If you re going to shoot her down in cold blood, he
said, almost conversationally,  you really ought to get it over with. If you re not,
perhaps you should put the gun down and invite her in.
Kennedy still hadn t moved.  You can t stop me.
Ferrol warned her, his voice trembling with emotion, the taste of defeat in his
mouth. If she would make just some move against him, something anything that
he could justifiably consider an attack. But she just stood there.  Even if you kill me,
you still can t get help to the Tampies in time.
Kennedy shot a quick glance at Roman.  I m not here to kill anyone, she told
Ferrol soothingly.  Really.
 Then why are you here? he demanded.  I ordered you to stay on the bridge.
Her eyes hardened.  As it happens, I came to try and keep you from making a
fool of yourself. Obviously, I m too late.
Ferrol squeezed the gun tighter, determined not to be lulled.  I m touched by
your concern, he said sarcastically.  And how exactly did you intend to do that?
Roman stirred in his chair.  I think, he said quietly,  that full introductions are in
order. He held a hand out toward Kennedy.  May I present Commander Erin
Kennedy& formerly executive officer of the C.S.S. Defiance.
Ferrol stared at her, the fingers wrapped around the gun gone suddenly numb.
The Defiance &  I don t believe it, he heard himself say.
 Why not? Kennedy asked.  Don t think I could handle the job, or what?
 I was warned that you were dangerous  He broke off.
Roman nodded, as if reading his mind.  Warned, no doubt, by your Senate
supporters, he said grimly.  To whom the truth about Prometheus was indeed a
touchy subject.
Ferrol licked at his upper lip, dimly aware as he did so that he d lowered the gun
to the desktop.  Who would have known that? That you d been on the Defiance, I
mean?
She raised her eyebrows.  Everyone who read that report, for starters, she said,
waving toward the folder lying open in front of him.  My name s on half those
papers I was the officer in charge of the depositions and follow-up survey
debriefings.
Ferrol lowered his gaze to the folder, stomach tightening as he turned back a few
pages to the stack of depositions. Interrogating officer s name&
He looked up at her again.  It can t be true, he said, the words more reflex now
than genuine conviction.  The survey team certified Prometheus clean of hive
viruses.
 They sure as hell did, she nodded, face darkening with remembered anger.
 Certified it with such glowing recommendations that the Senate didn t even bother
with the legally required backup survey. Why the hell do you think everyone was so
damned anxious to snowdrift the whole fiasco?
Ferrol dropped his eyes to the folder again. The Senate. The whole Senate&
 You re telling me that they knew all along, he said.  That they& lied to me.
 Is that so hard to believe? Roman asked.  You would have been useless to
them without your hatred of the Tampies.
Ferrol threw him a sharp look.  If we re going to talk about manipulation, what
about you? he accused the other, a spike of anger poking through the numbness.
 You knew about this all along both of you did, he added, shifting the glare to
Kennedy.  Why the hell didn t you tell me sooner?
 Would you have believed us? Kennedy asked.
 That s not the point.
 It s exactly the point, Roman said, his voice hard.  If I d shown you this folder
when you first came aboard, you d have dismissed the whole thing as nothing more
than a highly sophisticated scam by the pro-Tampy faction.
 So instead you played me like a puppet, Ferrol said bitterly.  Danced me
around on wires, surrounded me with lots of pro-Tampy types, made me liaison with
the survey section to make sure I got lots of exposure to the damn aliens. The exact
same thing the Senator was doing to me, except in reverse. So why should I believe
you instead of him?
 Because we have proof, Kennedy said, gesturing at the folder.
 And what if it s nothing more than a sophisticated scam, like the captain said?
Ferrol countered.
 Oh, come on, Ferrol 
Roman raised a hand to silence her.  Chayne, we can t prove any of this to you,
he said quietly.  We all know that. The indications are there, if you search your
memory the fact that the Tampies began the evacuation with the families of small
children, for instance, who are classically the most vulnerable to hive virus
accumulation. But that s not proof, at least not the kind you re looking for.
 So what do you suggest I do?
 You do what all the rest of us have to, Roman told him.  In the absence of
proof, you have to decide whose word you re going to trust.
Ferrol swallowed, his throat aching as he did so& but down deep he knew there
was really no decision to be made. In his mind s eye he could see the Senator: the
aloof eyes, the smugly arrogant voice, the endless manipulation of people and
events. He could see a year of serving with Roman: the unashamed Tampy
apologist, often irritatingly simplistic in his view of the universe, risking his life to try
and save Ferrol and Kennedy from that first shark.
And he saw Kennedy: the calmness of temperament, the competence of long
experience& and, according to her psych profile, an absolutely flat-neutral attitude
toward Tampies. A woman with no axe to grind, for or against anyone.
A woman with no reason whatsoever to lie about Prometheus.
He focused on Roman s intercom, and for a brief moment it occurred to him that
he was probably going to look and feel like a damn fool. But then, he d never been
much of one to care what other people thought of him. Tapping for general [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]