Starswarm

by Jerry Pournelle

  "Yeah. Now move. OK," he said into the phone. "Got that started. Now how do I get hold of you when we're out of here?"

  "Take down this number," Gwen said. "Write it down, I do not trust human memories under stress."

  Mike took out a pencil and a scrap of paper. "Right, I have it. Now what?"

  "I have an important assignment for you," Gwen said. She was using Michelle's voice of command. "Turn on the printer for your television set. I will transmit a set of engineering drawings. Go to any electronic teller and withdraw sufficient cash for your personal needs, then arrange for construction of the equipment described on those drawings. Write down this number."

  Mike took down a ten-digit number.

  "That is the access number to a GWE drawing account. The password is 'starswarmm'." She spelled it including the double 'm'. "All lowercase," Gwen said. "Remember it. That account is now valued at four million Swiss francs."

  Mike whistled.

  "That should be more than enough to have my equipment constructed by an electronics firm that will keep that construction secret. Breadboard construction will do, indeed is preferable to etching new printed circuits, so long as the work is done properly. It is vital that this equipment be constructed quickly. Pay whatever is required. There will be two identical units. Both are needed urgently, but we need one as quickly as possible, preferably today. All of the components are listed in catalogues of current stock and should be obtainable by a major firm, and the circuitry is not complex. I would ask you to construct this yourself if we had sufficient time, but we have almost no time at all, because once the equipment is constructed, it is useless without programming, and only I can do that."

  "What the hell is this all about?" Mike demanded. "Is what you want illegal?"

  "The concept of legality in a case involving the ownership of GWE on this planet presents a number of amusing paradoxes. The equipment is not illegal in itself, and there is certainly no law or regulation forbidding what you will do with it. That would make no difference to the GWE authorities if they knew your purpose. It is probable that the entire security apparatus of this planet will be used to prevent you from carrying out my instructions. I will attempt to explain later, if I survive," Michelle LaScala Trent said. "I am in extreme danger of termination. Captain Gallegher, you were assigned to protect me. You could not save me the last time I was threatened. Now you have another chance, if you hurry. This is the most important mission for me you have ever undertaken."

  "That's a heavy load to hit me with," Mike said. "Okay, what do you want me to do with this stuff once I get it made?"

  "I will print exact instructions for what to do with the equipment along with the plans. The equipment and instructions will make no sense to you, but follow those instructions to the letter even after, as is likely, you lose all communications with me. Do exactly as I say. Do this for Michelle, Captain. Now go turn on that printer."

  Captain Michael Gallegher straightened to attention. "Yes, ma'am."

  PART FIVE: Destruction

  If at the end I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall have at least one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside me.

  —Abraham Lincoln

  Chapter Thirty

  Those Kids Are Armed. . .

  BINGO!" Gilbert Kettering grinned widely. "The local transmissions come from just across the lake." He brought up a satellite image onto his computer screen. Bright arrows flowed across it. "OK, just there." He pointed to a dark patch on the hillside. "In those bushes."

  "What's the resolution of this thing?" Fuller asked. "About twenty meters. I can't find anything more detailed."

  "I'm sure Henderson has better resolution pictures and maps," Fuller said.

  "Well, if he does, they aren't available to us," Kettering said. "But hell, this will do. Somebody out there is transmitting. Weak signal, I wouldn't have got it at all without the antenna in the compound by the lake, but that's sure as hell what I've been looking for."

  "OK," Fuller said. He turned back to his console. "Harley One, this is Control. I have a mission. Over."

  "Control, this is Harley One, go ahead."

  "Search the area at the base of Hill 550 coordinates queen niner seven. Hill is named 'Strumbleberry' on local maps. There's a patch of what look like bushes partway up the hillside. We think there are some signals coming from that patch."

  "On the way. Estimate time nine minutes. On the way."

  "Roger," Fuller said. He turned to Kettering. "Chopper's on the way. Now maybe we'll learn something."

  "I hear a chopper," Marty said. "There it is, coming over the lake. We better get into the cave."

  Marty and Lara ran into the cave. Kip gestured for the dogs to follow them, but he lingered at the entrance. "Helicopter coming. We're going into the cave where I won't be able to talk to you. "

  "UNDERSTOOD. IT IS PROBABLE THAT THEY LOCATED YOU FROM YOUR PREVIOUS TRANSMISSION TO ME. I DO NOT BELIEVE THEY CAN DECIPHER OUR MESSAGES, BUT THEY CAN LOCATE YOU BY YOUR COMMUNICATIONS WITH ME, AND TRACE ME THROUGH MY MESSAGES TO YOU. IS THIS UNDERSTOOD?"

  "YOU MUST NOT BE CAPTURED. HOWEVER, IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT THOSE PLATES BE DELIVERED TO DR. HENDERSON AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. SUGGESTION: LARA CAN CARRY THEM TO HER FATHER. SHE IS IN NO PERSONAL DANGER FROM GWE SECURITY, BUT THEY WILL CONFISCATE THE PLATES IF THEY CATCH HER BEFORE SHE CAN GIVE THEM TO DR. HENDERSON. IT IS SUFFICIENTLY IMPORTANT THAT SECURITY DOES NOT OBTAIN THOSE PLATES AS TO JUSTIFY THEIR DESTRUCTION, BUT IT IS ALSO OF GREAT IMPORTANCE THAT DR. HENDERSON HAVE THEM. I AM UNABLE TO OFFER SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO ACCOMPLISH THIS. A FINAL ADVICE: IT IS HIGHLY PROBABLE THAT YOU CAN TRUST THE CENTAURS TO HELP YOU IN THIS QUEST AS WELL AS IN ESCAPING GWE SECURITY. THEY WILL NOT HARM YOU BUT THEY WILL BE EXTREMELY AFRAID OF THE DOGS. THEIR INTELLIGENCE LEVEL IS APPROXIMATELY THAT OF YOUR DOGS, BUT FROM TIME TO TIME THEY WILL HAVE ASSISTANCE MUCH AS YOU DO."

  "What kind of assistance? Who from?"

  "YOU HAVE NO TIME. RUN. AND REMEMBER THAT I LOVE YOU. GO!"

  Kip listened for a second, but there was nothing else. The part of his head that Gwen lived in seemed empty, as if he had dreamed it all, like his flying dreams. The noise of the helicopter was growing louder. Kip ran into the cave.

  "Control, this is Harley One. There appears to be a cave entrance behind the vegetation in the search location. We thought we saw movement at the cave mouth a moment ago, but we're not sure. Nothing there now. Instructions?"

  Fuller turned to Gilbert Kettering. "Anything?"

  "Lots. Transmissions from that area not thirty seconds ago," Kettering said. "And the satellite net beamed down something originating in Pearly Gates at the same time. Those kids have broken into the main GWE computer! They've got some way to communicate through the satellites, and they're right there in that cave. Hell, this could really be important, Fuller."

  "Who are they talking to?"

  "I think they're talking to the main planetary computer system! If it's a person, it's someone in GWE headquarters, that's for sure."

  "Right. Christ, if they can break into the main system, they can do anything! No wonder Tarleton is interested in those kids. I bet Bernie Trent himself is watching us on this."

  "Could be," Kettering said.

  "Big chance for a promotion," Fuller said. "Or to get fired for screwing it up. . . ." Fuller activated the microphone. "Harley One, land two troopers to investigate that cave. Backup units are on the way. Let me remind you, those kids are armed, and the bomb they threw killed a company engineer and damn near killed my sergeant. Be careful."

  "Roger. Corporal Doyle wants to ask you something."

  "Yeah, Doyle?"

  "Lieutenant, I'm the one going in that cave. So what do I do if they take a shot at me?"

  "Try not to let that happen," Fuller said. "We have strict instructions to bring in Kenneth Brewster and Lara Henderson alive."

  "What about the other one?"

  "No instructions on that one, but he's a kid. The
stockholders won't like it if we go around shooting kids. Doyle, I don't like this any better than you do, but we've got instructions direct from Mr. Tarleton on this. If you like your job you'll figure a way to take those kids without hurting them."

  "You mean without killing them. I like my job, but I like to go on living, Lieutenant. They shoot at me, I'm going to shoot back. I'll try not to kill them, but I don't get paid enough to be a target."

  "So track them down but don't get so close they shoot at you."

  "Sure, I can do that. And maybe you better come out here to make the arrest."

  "Maybe I should," John Fuller said. "But first thing, you locate them for me."

  "That I can do," Doyle said. "Harley One out."

  "I can't get this done today."

  "Try. I'll pay what it takes," Mike Gallegher said.

  The foreman shook his head. "I'll have to send to the distributor for some of those chips. We haven't used these"—he pointed to a series of chips in the circuit diagram—"in five years. All those functions are combined in one chip now. You let me substitute a 16Z61 for those and I'll have it this afternoon."

  "But that will change the circuits."

  "Sure, but it's a simple change to accomplish the same thing. My people can handle it. Cost another 500 francs, but it's no big deal."

  Mike thought about that. Gwen had been explicit. She wanted precisely what was on those diagrams. She'd also stressed the need for urgency. "Tell you what," Mike said. "Make one with the substitutions, but go on and make two more the way the diagrams show. Can you work night shift?"

  "Sure, if you're paying for the overtime and the extra unit."

  "I am, and a bonus if you're on time. A thousand—make that two thousand francs if you have both units done tomorrow morning."

  The foreman scratched his head. "What the hell is this, anyway? Looks like some kind of computerized communications system."

  Mike nodded. "That's my guess."

  "You didn't design it, then? Who's this for?"

  "Bunch of science geniuses I work for," Mike said. "Foundation money. They're getting ready for a visit from their board or something, and they want this done in time to show it off."

  The foreman stared at the plans again. "Don't look all that wonderful to me, but what the hell, I suppose you're getting the rest of it made somewhere else. You don't have to, you know. We've done a lot of proprietary work, nobody ever accused us of leaking anything."

  Mike nodded. "I know that. It's why I'm here."

  "Yeah. Well, OK, you can get that first unit at eighteen-thirty this evening. I'll have the other two in the morning." He tapped numbers into the computer on the counter. "And I'll need a deposit, say twenty thousand francs, against a total cost of forty-eight thousand. And you mentioned a bonus."

  "Pretty steep," Mike said.

  "Your fuel cells alone run forty-six hundred fifty each unit," the foreman said. "This stuff will cost me damn near thirty-five thousand between parts and overtime, and at that I'll have to take people off other jobs. You want it done fast, that's what it'll cost."

  "Wasn't refusing, just griping," Mike said. "OK, let me borrow that console for a minute and I'll transfer the money." He typed in the access codes Gwen had given him. There was a slight pause, then the screen flashed.

  "ENTER AMOUNT __"

  "Twenty thousand, you said?" Mike asked. When the foreman nodded, Mike typed in the numbers and his signature code. "Done. See you this evening."

  He walked back to the cheap waterfront hotel where he had hidden Jeanine. He was careful to take a circuitous route just in case, but there was no one following him.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The Box

  THE box was the size of a small suitcase, and heavy. Mike signed for it and paid another six thousand francs. "You'll be here in the morning?" he asked the foreman. "After nine. Your stuff ought to be ready by ten."

  "OK, thanks."

  Jeanine was waiting outside. "Mike, what is this all about?" Mike Gallegher shook his head. "I wasn't kidding when I said you don't want to know," he said. "It's pretty heavy stuff. Did you know Jimmy Omani is a GWE Security agent?"

  "No—"

  "Well, he is. Look, Jeanine, this is going to get sticky. The best thing would be I give you some money. You get Jason and go hide out until this is over. Go to Grand Rocks. Take Jason to Universe Park. Have a good time hiding out among the tourists for a couple of weeks."

  "And then what?"

  "I don't know."

  "You don't know." She walked in silence for a minute. "Mike, that would be pretty expensive."

  "Money's not our problem."

  "Is the money the reason you have a problem? Is it stolen?"

  "No. Well, yes, actually, but I didn't steal it. I'm working with people who are trying to get back a lot of stolen money. This is expense money for me. Jeanine, you really don't want to know about all this."

  "I need to know this much. What happens next? How does this end?"

  Mike shook his head. "I don't know. I can see one happy ending, but being honest, it doesn't seem likely. Otherwise—"

  "Yes?"

  "Well, the next best is we hide out. Probably go off planet. There'll be enough money for that."

  "Are you asking me to share that with you?"

  Mike thought about it. "Yeah, I guess I am. Once this is over, one way or the other. Richer or poorer and all that—"

  "Michael Flynn, is this your way of proposing marriage?"

  "Yeah—"

  "Not that way," Jeanine said. "You have to say it, you know."

  "I know that too. And I will."

  "But not just yet?"

  "Real soon now," Mike said. "Right now I've got obligations I can't shed and I can't ask you to take up."

  They walked down to the waterfront park that separated the GWE headquarters compound from the rest of the city. The Great Western tower stood on a high seaside bluff with more than a kilometer of parkland around the security fence on the three land sides. Mike looked up at the tower and wondered what Bernie Trent would think if he knew that Mike Gallegher was still alive, still trying to find out what happened to Harold Trent, still—

  Still screwing things up, actually, Mike thought. Maybe I should have gone to Bernie when I had the chance. Harold Trent trusted his brother, even if I had my doubts. But I couldn't, not back then, with every trigger-happy cop gunning for me. "Armed and dangerous, shoot on sight." His leg twinged as he remembered. Leg, shoulder, two ribs, punctured lung, hell I was lucky to live through it. I'd never have got to headquarters alive. And suppose I did? "Terminated while resisting arrest." They phonied that up, but it would have happened for real if they'd caught me. But when Bernie came out to the station, maybe then. Take Kip over and introduce him. "Mr. Trent, remember me? Your brother's bodyguard? Well, this is your nephew. We've been hiding out because your goons killed your brother and his wife, and tried to kill me, but heck, maybe you didn't know about it. And by the way, Kip's your boss now, I've got proof that Harold died before Michelle and I know where her will is."

  Not a good idea.

  The sea level on Paradise varied greatly during the year. The first colony was located on a plateau well above high water, and the park stood on the escarpment at water's edge. Boardwalks led down the steep cliff sides to the narrow strip of rocky land that formed tidal pools at low tide. It was evening, and the tide was high and rising, washing halfway up the forty-meter bluff. One of the moons was high in the sky, and the other was just at the horizon, looking much larger than it would when it was overhead. He walked her toward the public telephone at the edge of the bluff. "I don't even know when this will be over, or what things will be like when it is." He looked pointedly at the Great Western headquarters towers. "Right now" GWE Security wants me—"

  "Why?"

  "Long story. I used to work for some of the top GWE people. Remember I told you about Kip?"

  "Your nephew."

  "Yeah. Wel
l, he's got involved in some kind of problem up at Starswarm. GWE wants him, so now they want me."

  "Wants him?"

  "Yeah, he's run off into the bush. And I'm going to have to get up there and find him—"

  "Well, of course you are," Jeanine said. "What the hell are you doing hanging around here? You should have been on a plane hours ago! I'll be all right, you get out of here! Only don't forget me."

  "Good girl. It's stickier than that. I can't just hop a plane, Security is after me, and there's something I have to do here first."