The Centauri Surprise

by Alastair Mayer

  Carson had heard about the outcome of the recent war games, if not the details, and could only agree. “But what does that have to do with me?”

  “That goes back to the reason I approached you in the first place, when you were first looking for artifacts like the one you found in that tomb. There’s alien tech out there, whether Kesh, Spacefarer, or whoever the degkhidesh are. Maybe others, for all I know; T-Space seems to have had a surprisingly crowded history, and who knows what’s beyond that. Better we get our hands on any such tech before the Velkaryans do.”

  Carson sat forward in his seat. This was getting interesting. “What did you have in mind?”

  “You remember that report I had Avril Boutelle working on, regarding pyramids and pyramid-like structures throughout T-Space? She did a very good job. She did mention Pete’s Peak. She even found a report from the first survey of Chara III, before the Mennonites set up their St. Jacobs colony, which also mentioned your stone fences and the pyramid.”

  “She what? Where did she find that?”

  “She’s resourceful. But she found a few others that weren’t in the archeological literature that you referenced for her. Including old scouting survey reports on planets that have been briefly visited but, like Chara III, are beyond the edges of settled T-Space. Of course since you came back from Zeta Reticuli we’ve suspected there might be more terraformed planets beyond that, but for obvious reasons we haven’t gone looking.”

  “No, the Kesh as much as warned us off.”

  “Exactly. But there’s more. We think we’ve determined the locations given by the star maps on the valid talismans we’ve recovered.”

  “Really?” This might be a good time to mention the Centauri talisman, Carson considered. Or perhaps not. “I assume there’s an overlap?”

  “Yes. There’s your own new talisman of course.”

  “I—” Carson began. How had Ducayne known?

  “I thought it curious that you didn’t ask me for a talisman to open Pete’s Peak. That was sloppy, but I congratulate you on keeping it quiet. I assume that’s how you convinced Pete Finley?”

  Carson nodded glumly. “And Maclaren. She confirmed the isotope dating.”

  “I thought as much. I traced the packages that were delivered to you recently. I’m surprised you didn’t tell him the first time you met.”

  “I hadn’t looked at it closely then. I didn’t know it pointed to Alpha Centauri. I was going to mention it to you—”

  “When you thought I had a need to know? Look, Carson, I’m not saying you did the right thing, but I understand why you did it, and that’s not important now. But,” Ducayne said, emphasizing the word, “just keep in mind that I’m likely to have a bigger picture than you do, and withholding information can hurt in ways you might not realize. Got it?”

  Carson nodded again. “Got it.”

  “Fine. Now, I was saying about the overlap between talisman star locations and the report Boutelle did. You’ll get the details later. Anyway, once I got her report, I overlaid her locations with my own intensity map of known Velkaryan activity, both overt and covert.” Ducayne paused, watching for Carson’s reaction.

  Carson understood. “So, you’re seeing some correlation between their activity and known or suspected pyramid locations.”

  Ducayne nodded. “Yes. Not a hundred percent, of course. There are places where Velkaryan activity is unrelated—on Tanith, for example—and there are possible pyramid locations they don’t seem to be aware of.”

  “Or have already investigated and either found nothing, or have cleaned the place out,” Carson said.

  “Yes, there is that possibility.”

  “Where do you want me to go first? Check out the other pyramids, or back to Zeta Reticuli?”

  “That’s the question. You can’t be everywhere at once. I do have a few other people I can put on this, but you have a unique combination of skills. What do you think?”

  That was indeed a good question, and Carson didn’t have an immediate answer. On the one hand, he liked the idea of checking out Velkaryan-occupied areas first. The time factor there would be more critical, and he welcomed any opportunity to tweak their noses. On the other hand, there was no guarantee that he could find out anything useful, especially if any pyramid had already been plundered, like the one near New Toronto on Verdigris. Conversely, any of the other pyramids—or potential pyramids—could either come up empty or hold a trove of untouched artifacts. But they had already found one of those, on St. Jacobs at Chara, and another one right here on Sawyers World, if they could ever get into it. On the third hand—the gripping hand, as some people called it, although Carson had no idea why—visiting the Zeta Reticuli system again, possibly including the previously-unvisited Zeta 2 Reticuli this time, and asking the Kesh direct questions could settle things a lot quicker. Or it could stir up a lot of trouble.

  “What do you think the odds are of finding anything in those pyramids that we haven’t found already?” Carson said. “They seem to be mostly teaching museums, and seemed to stop at a tech level we’ve already passed. The interesting stuff was in isolated chambers, and we already have samples of that.”

  “Do we? Where’s that disintegrator Maguffin you brought back from Chara III?”

  “Disintegrated,” Carson said, reluctantly. “I see your point.”

  “And we don’t know what else there might be, either within the pyramids or associated with them, even elsewhere in the same system. That ship you found at Kapteyn’s Star, for example.”

  “That Tevnar found, but you’re right. All right. I’ll need to look at what you have, to prioritize the locations.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that. I’m going to assign a couple of other people to work with you. I don’t mean to go with you, necessarily, but for you to divvy up the targets among yourselves. I’ll give you a couple of weeks to sort it all out.”

  “Can I involve Marten?” Carson asked, referring to his timoan friend and colleague who had been with him at Chara and Zeta Reticuli.

  “The Taprobani native? He can go along with you wherever you’re headed, yes. It’s probably good cover. I’m not sure I want him on his own missions.”

  “If it’s a question of loyalty. . . .”

  “It’s not.” At Carson’s raised eyebrow, Ducayne shrugged. “Marten is your friend and he already knows what we’re doing, and as a non-human he has no love for Velkaryans. I get that. But because he is a timoan, he’s going to be at a disadvantage dealing with Velkaryans, and if anything happens to him and a whiff of his involvement with Homeworld Security comes out, that could trigger a diplomatic incident between Taprobane and the UDT government. I’d rather avoid that, and not just for his sake.”

  Carson saw Ducayne’s point. “All right. Until I talk to him, I won’t even know if he’s available anyway. So who are the others you have in mind?”

  “Black you already know. He’s one. I’ll introduce you to the other at a later briefing.”

  “And for ships? Jackie and the Sophie, I assume. Will Black be taking the Mandragore?”

  “Again, that’s for a later briefing. But I have another assignment for Roberts and her ship before that.”

  “Oh? Anything you can tell me?”

  Ducayne started to shake his head, then looked at Ducayne and said, “Not really. I just need her to take a couple of people to Verdigris for me, and maybe pick someone up. Just a ferry run.”

  “You mean Burnside?” Carson had met Jordan Burnside on Tanith at 82 Eridani. The original plan was that he would have come back with Roberts then, but instead he had followed a Velkaryan operative to Verdigris.

  “Who?” Ducayne said, poker-faced, then “I can neither confirm nor deny—”

  “Never mind, I get it. But if it’s just a ferry run, chances are she’ll be back before we’re ready to go out in search of ancient astronauts, whether those are Spacefarers or Kesh.”

  “Chances are. We can discuss that more later. Meanwh
ile, I’ll get you those reports to look over.”

  Carson looked forward to it. “That certainly sounds more interesting than grading assignments.”

  CHAPTER 50: DINNER

  Rick’s Café, Sawyer City

  “HOW DID YOU GET a reservation at Rick’s this time?” Jackie asked Carson after they’d been seated and their orders were taken. Tonight, it was just the two of them.

  “It turns out I not only know the owner, through his nephew, but the owner’s silent partner. Peter Finley. In fact,” Carson said, “I have a confession: this dinner’s on him. I couldn’t afford this very often on a professor’s salary.”

  “Finley? Why?”

  “Partly by way of apology for giving me such a hard time about the nature of his peak, but mostly to thank you for coming to the rescue of his grandson, Alex.”

  “I, well, thank you, er, him,” Jackie said. “It wasn’t exactly Alex I was coming for, and anyway, I thought Pete had already thanked me.”

  “Oh?”

  “You know I had to report to Space Traffic Control, for blasting straight out of my parking spot at the spaceport and breaking a dozen other regulations to get there quickly?”

  “I knew a bit of that, yes,” Carson said.

  “So I showed up at the STC office, figuring I was going to get reamed and then have my license lifted,” Jackie explained, “when an officer from the Space Guard Judge Advocate General’s office arrived, tells me not to say anything, and proceeded to defend my actions as an instance of genuine emergency need and with Space Guard approval.”

  “Convenient.”

  “There’s an understatement. Anyway, the STC official looked at us both, a bit non-plussed, and scanned his files. A minute later he thanked us for coming in, saying that was all he needed to know. File closed.” Jackie shook her head. “I don’t know who pulled what strings, but I assumed it was either Finley or Ducayne. Or both.”

  “Given what I know of those two, which isn’t much, you may never find out.”

  “Yeah. I’m grateful, of course, but also a little uncomfortable with people doing me anonymous favors.”

  “More like someone rewarding you for a good deed. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  “I said I was uncomfortable, not worried. Anyway, I figure that’s another one you owe me.” She waited for Carson’s reaction, but before he could utter a protest, smiled and winked. “Not that either of us is keeping score, of course.”

  “I think Rico gets the most credit this time, although you did get him there in a hurry,” Carson said.

  Jackie grinned. “Fair enough. Anyway, what’s happening with the pyramid? Did you get an extended dig approved?”

  “That’s still wending its way through the bureaucracy, and very slowly because the whole thing is considered secret. There will be some kind of dig, coordinated jointly between Sawyers World and UDT Homeworld Security, but it will be months before anything interesting happens. But I may not be a part of it.”

  “What?” She put her hand on his forearm. “Oh, Carson, why not?”

  He smiled at her concern. “Actually, I may be moving on to something more interesting. I’m not going to go into it here, but there are a couple of new assignments coming up. You’ll find out more about them when you get back from your ferry run to Verdigris.”

  “My. . . ?” Jackie looked momentarily confused, and then realized what he must mean. “Ah, right, the passenger from Tanith. I’m still waiting on some details for that; the last briefing was rudely interrupted.” She wagged her finger at him, grinning. “The nerve of some people.”

  “Hey, I didn’t pick the timing. Blame Reid,” he said. “Anyway, I can’t go anywhere until the end of semester anyway. I have classes to teach and papers to grade.”

  “That should be just about the time I get back, assuming I leave within the next few days. So, is that how you’re going to spend your summer vacation?”

  “A bit more than that, I think. These are longer-term assignments. I’m going to take a sabbatical.”

  “So not a university project, then. I guess that means you won’t be going with Captain Gupta on the Chandrasekhar.”

  “He doesn’t look nearly as good in a cheongsam as you do.”

  Jackie burst out with a laugh, quickly stifled as she looked around, blushing. “Thank you. I’m just going to go with the compliment and not ask how you have the remotest idea of what he looks like in a cheongsam.”

  Now it was Carson’s turn to blush. “Just guessing. I know what you look like, and I’m glad you decided to wear one again tonight. I was hoping you would.”

  Before she could say anything in response, the waiter arrived with their meals.

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  Sawyer Spaceport

  After dinner, and drinks, and dessert, and coffee, all of which were deliciously decadent, they took an autocab back to the spaceport and the Sophie. Neither of them said much, basking in the pleasantly full feeling after an excellent meal, and knowing each other well enough to be comfortable with long silences.

  The autocab pulled up beside the ship. Carson and Roberts got out and walked to the foot of the boarding ramp. She tapped the control to open the airlock door, and it slid open.

  “Carson,” she said, “why don’t you come aboard. It may be a while before we can get together again. There’s coffee, or, though I keep it locked out in flight, the autochef can serve liquor.”

  He looked into her eyes, and almost lost himself before giving up on trying to figure out what she was thinking. He answered honestly. “Yes, Jackie, I’d like that. You’re sure?”

  “Don’t argue with the captain,” she said, smiling, and put an arm around him to nudge him toward the ship.

  “Who’s arguing?” he said as he walked up the ramp.

  She followed closely behind, and the two of them squeezed through the airlock together. She gestured toward the galley. “You know where everything is, make yourself comfortable. Take your tie off. And fix us drinks. I just need to check the systems and maybe change.” She stepped into the cockpit as Carson went back to the small galley area, loosening his tie as he did so. He heard the airlock door slide shut.

  A minute or two later, as he stood in the galley with two drinks in his hands, he heard Jackie call from the forward area of the ship. “Carson, come on up here. Bring the drinks.”

  As he went forward, he realized she wasn’t in the cockpit, but in her own cabin just aft of it. She was standing in the middle of the small room, still wearing the cheongsam. She smiled up at him as he handed her drink to her.

  “Thanks,” she said, and took a sip. Then she set it down on the small desk beside the bunk. “You know what, Carson? I think I’m going to need some help getting out of this dress.”

  “Aye aye, Captain,” he said, putting his own drink down and then his arms around her.

  “Just Jackie, please,” she said softly.

  They kissed, and then after a while, when they broke it off, Jackie looked at him with those amazing green eyes and said, “I hope you don’t mind sleeping aboard tonight.”

  EPILOGUE

  Ducayne’s office, next day

  JACKIE ROBERTS SAT in Ducayne’s office, waiting for Avril Boutelle and Rico to show up so they could resume their hastily interrupted mission briefing.

  “Are you all right, Roberts?” Ducayne asked. “You look a little zoned out.”

  “Sorry, just mentally going over what needed to be done in the Sophie before going anywhere,” Jackie said hastily, and then realized she should have said to the Sophie. Oops.

  Just then, Avril Boutelle arrived. “Sorry, am I late?”

  “Not at all,” Ducayne said. “We’re just ready to get started. Rico will be here in a moment, but he already knows most of this. Now, where were we?”

  “You mean before Jackie and Rico hightailed it out of here?” She looked at Jackie. “Welcome back. I guess it worked out?”

  “It did,” Ducayne said, “but what w
e were talking about was a trip to Delta Pavonis III, Verdigris, and to rendezvous with one of my agents there.”

  “Right,” Jackie said. “Burnside. Then you have heard from him?”

  “Yes, but not recently. I would like to make contact, see what he’s found out, and whether he needs assistance. That’s where Avril and Rico come in. They both have already-established covers.”

  “What about Sophie being a known ship?” Jackie said, just as Rico came into the office, one arm in a sling.

  “As I mentioned before, we can deal with that.” Ducayne looked at Rico. “You know how to do that, don’t you? And how’s the arm?”

  Rico nodded. “I do. And the arm is okay. Cracked a bone but nothing a couple of hours in a traumapod couldn’t mend.” He fixed Jackie with a glare. “Mind you, Roberts, I seem to end up in a traumapod an awful lot when you’re around.” He turned to Ducayne. “Maybe Avril and I can get a different ride?”

  “But I wasn’t even in the same solar system the last time,” Jackie protested.

  He grinned at her. “I know, and I was joking.” He turned back to Ducayne. “When do we leave?”

  The story continues in The Pavonis Insurgence, coming in October, 2019.

  Just a walk in the park... ...if that park is dense jungle under a green sky, infested with venomous flying jade ribbon snakes, and inhabited by primitive but intelligent aliens. And when Jason Burnside has walked through all that, he's going undercover to investigate a Velkaryan armaments factory.

  Jackie Roberts is taking her ship, Sophie, and two agents to Verdigris to rendezvous with Burnside, but the Velkaryans already know about her, and the Sophie. Even if Roberts and the rest can evade the Velkaryans, they still have to find Burnside, and it's a big planet.

  The Pavonis Insurgence is the fifth in the Carson & Roberts T-Space archeology series.