In the hills of Connemara.
Following the verse was a scroll of the sixteen Fivers killed on the previous Saturday, and leading the list was
Siobhan Patricia “Paddy” O’Malley
B. Londonderry, Terra
The invisible veils protecting me from the real world shivered as though a strong wind had blown through the park. I leaned my forehead against the cool metal of the pedestal. “Who?” I said. “Who did this?”
“Simon told me you two used to sing that song when you’d been at the poteen. And Charlie was here when we buried them, and Caleb and Rex, too. And Crip.”
The words rasped my throat coming out. “You knew about them? About Paddy and Crip?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t. She was my friend. Why didn’t she tell me?” I pushed away from the column and looked back down at the words that were blurring in my sight. “Why didn’t I guess?”
They couldn’t answer me, and unable to look any longer upon Paddy’s tombstone I turned away. Helen and Frank fell in next to me on the path, their hands beneath my arms. To my chagrin I found I needed their support.
Near the aircar Frank stopped. He looked up at the enormous orbiting cylinder we had built by hand, and had almost lost, and had won back again, with a little unwitting help from a galactic neighbor. “Tell me something, Star,” Frank said, watching the fliers swoop and soar above the Big Rock Candy Mountains. “Would you really have destroyed Ellfive to keep it out of the hands of the Space Patrol? Or was it all just a bluff?”
I climbed into the aircar, moving like an old, old woman, without answering, but Frank wasn’t going to let it go. “Well?”
“You beat me nine out of ten hands at poker, Frank,” I said to the yoke. “What do you think?”
There was a heavy silence. “I think you’re still pretty tired, Star,” he said finally. “You’d better get back to bed.”
“I’m not just tired, Frank, I’m exhausted.” I gave them a poor imitation of a smile. “This job is getting to be too much like work.”
Frank and Helen exchanged an impassive glance of which I caught only the merest glimpse as the aircar lifted off, a glance that I would remember later.
· · ·
Charlie was inconsolable. The Beetlejuicers, or the Librarians as I supposed we had to start calling them, had not touched her consciousness in the slightest degree. She could not and would not understand Elizabeth’s journey. Her daughter, the child of her body, had been snatched from her side, once from her arms, twice in the space of an hour as she stood by, helpless to prevent it. She wanted an explanation of the big black cave she had seen but not heard, and relief from the pain of her loss.
I could give her neither. “It’s not like she’s dead, or even gone,” I said, trying to explain. “She’s just not here.”
“Don’t lay that solipsistic crap on me,” Charlie said furiously. “If she’s not here, where is she?”
I couldn’t explain clearly because I wasn’t sure I understood it any too well myself. Among the few things real to me beneath my layers of numbed insulation was the ache in my breast whenever I remembered Elizabeth was no longer there to read to, to skate with, to take EVA or to dinner on Luna. To laugh with and to love and to watch her grow in beauty like the night. At times I thought my heart would burst with emotion. At others I felt more dead than alive.
“And why Elizabeth?” Charlie cried. “Why not you? They talked to you, too. Why didn’t they take you?”
“I was third choice if anyone went at all, Charlie,” I said wearily. “Elizabeth was second.”
“Choice? What do you mean, ‘choice’?” Arrested, she stared at me. “And what do you mean by ‘second’ choice? If Elizabeth was second choice and you were third, who was first?”
I looked at Simon and watched realization dawn.
“Archy,” he said slowly. “It was Archy all the time, wasn’t it?” His tone was caught somewhere between awe and dismay.
“Why are you so surprised?” I said to him. “He’s your child. Children grow.”
Simon shook his head, speechless, and ran a hand through his shaggy hair in a helpless gesture.
“You should be proud,” I told him. “They had never encountered such an immense intelligence in an inorganic form. When they investigated, Archy began to come alive, to exhibit signs of free will, and they were intrigued. That’s why they hung around this backwater section of the galaxy for as long as they did.” I spread my hands. “We’re nothing special. They came, they saw, they were about to shrug and leave. Then they started talking to Archy, or he started talking to them, or whatever. When Lodge pulled Archy’s plug, the Librarians wanted him to come back to the Library with them and let them watch him grow into full sentience.”
“Why didn’t he go?” Simon asked, glancing involuntarily at the ceiling pickup. Archy said nothing. Archy was learning tact.
“He didn’t want to. He has a job to do here. He feels he has a responsibility to Ellfive.” I smiled a little at Simon’s expression. “He told me this morning he was starting to like it here. He said he was just beginning to understand the meaning of the word ‘like.’ ”
Simon said heavily, “So they took Elizabeth with them as second best.”
I shook my head. “They didn’t take her, she went.” I clasped one of his hands in mine and reached out for Charlie’s hand with my other. “And because she went, we won’t be just another entry in their catalogue of observed species. By taking Elizabeth with them the Librarians have shown us they think we have potential as a race.”
I wished I could describe Simon’s face just then. The Librarians had not been interested in him, only his progeny. His ego might never recover. But Charlie cried, “I didn’t raise my child to be a sociological experiment a billion light-years from home! She’s too young to be taken away from her family like this!”
“Charlie! Haven’t you heard a word I’ve said? Elizabeth wanted to go! It was her idea! She asked the Librarian if the Librarian would take her with them!” Charlie gulped, and I said more gently, “The most important thing you have to remember is this. She wanted to go, guys. She asked them if she could go, and when they found her to be less backward than the rest of us, they let her. Can you imagine, Simon, Charlie, what it’s going to be like for her? She’s been accepted as a freshman at Cosmos U. She’s studying the knowledge of the ages, of the universe itself. She’s happy.” I blinked back sudden tears and repeated, “She is happy. We can’t be so selfish that we’d take that away from her, even in our thoughts.”
Charlie swiped angrily at her tears and said accusingly, “You wanted to go yourself.”
I released her hand and looked away. “Damn right I did.” Beside me Caleb was silent.
“Why didn’t you?” Simon said.
“No room at the inn,” I said shortly, and mercifully he left it at that.
“Charlie,” Caleb said, ignoring both of us and fixing my sister with the bright, piercing gaze that reminded me so much of the Librarian’s voice. “The best thing to do now is for you and Simon to get pregnant again. Right away.”
She stared at him.
“Right away,” he repeated, pointing at their bedroom door. If I had been capable of it I would have laughed. He took my hand and pulled me to my feet.
“Star?” Charlie said in a small voice.
“Yes?”
“Will she ever come back? Will we ever see Elizabeth again?”
I looked inward and thought about that one. The answer came without hesitation. “Yes.”
“How do you know?”
I spread my hands. “I can’t tell you. I can’t explain it. I just know. She will be back.”
We left, and as we climbed into the aircar Caleb said softly, “When will she be back?”
I met his eyes, and I heard the Librarian’s voice say, Will they mate and reproduce and grow old and die? It will be interesting to observe. “Not soon,” I said.
“You did
n’t tell Charlie that.”
“She didn’t ask.”
“Don’t hold out false hopes to her, Star.”
“Caleb,” I said, slumping into my seat, “one thing at a time, all right? I’ll tell her when I think she’s ready to hear it. When I think I’m ready to tell her.”
He drove in silence for some time after that. “Would you have gone, if the Librarian had let you?” he said as we began descending toward my house.
“Yes,” I said at once.
He nodded as if I had confirmed something. “So would I, Star. So would I.”
If I hadn’t loved him before, I would have then.
“If Charlie can’t understand,” he said later, “perhaps in time she might be able to accept. Another child will help.”
“There will never be anyone else like Elizabeth,” I said with finality.
“Who wants a carbon copy? Elizabeth was her own person, a complete human being. There will never be anyone like her, true, but there will never be anyone like Charlie and Simon’s next child, either.” He kissed me and smiled. “Or our first.”
I felt another of the invisible layers of thickness enveloping me begin to dissolve. “Are we having children?”
“Several.”
Caleb Mbele O’Hara was always very sure of himself.
· · ·
Ten days later I stood on a platform in the center of Owens Arena, watching the Mayflower’s first load of colonists climb into the stands. At least half of them looked as if they’d had a last-minute reprieve from terminal seasickness and were trying to find something just this side of human sacrifice to show their appreciation for being restored to the civilizing influence of one gravity. Free-fall wasn’t for everyone, although a drug Colgate/Lilly was working on in the Frisbee would soon fix that. Aides in gold jumpsuits circulated among the cheechakos, dispensing cold drinks and wetwipes and answering a thousand and one excited questions.
I stepped to the podium and looked into a sea of expectant faces. Their enthusiasm and happiness were infectious, and I felt my heart lift in spite of myself. Archy gave out with a bell-like, three-toned signal that made the conversation die down into an expectant silence.
“Hello. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to your new home. My name is Star Svensdotter. I am—I have been the director of this facility. As of your arrival, I am out of a job.” I smiled and there was a polite laugh. I cleared my throat. “The people in the gold uniforms will take your names and see you settled in your new homes. Those of you with families will be living in Shepard Subdivision, singles and couples without children in Clarke Apartments. You should have received your settlement packets at the hangarlock. Those of you who did not, please signal the immigration assistant closest to you at this time.”
I waited until the bustle died down. “Enclosed in each packet are maps, transportation schedules, names of schools, stores, restaurants, and recreation facilities. For those families with minor children, McAuliffe School opens a week from today in Valley One, just south of the trolley station.” There was a loud groan from everyone under the age of eighteen, with a corresponding cheer from their parents.
“For those of you with jobs waiting, you’ll find instructions on how to get to your job site, and when you are expected there. Each home and apartment has a viewscreen jack tied into the habitat computer; all the help you need, all the answers to your questions are at your keyboard. What?” One of my aides handed me a note. “Oh. Dr. Elias Peabody is wanted in Bioscience at once.” I crumpled the note in my hand and smiled. “Go ahead, Dr. Peabody. I’ll spare you the speech. Mary, show him the way.”
There was a ripple of laughter as a thin man with a bald head and an eager face dashed up the stairs and disappeared. I took a sip of water, swallowed it, and began to speak more slowly.
“I will not keep you long. I know you are anxious to become acquainted with your new home. But hear me say this much, and remember.” I held up one hand and the stadium fell silent.
“The docking of the Mayflower marks a new beginning for Ellfive, for each person among you, indeed for all mankind. We have realized a dream, the dream of the first human to stand up, to look up, to reach up, and at long last to step up.
“This dream has not been attained without sacrifice, but do not mourn the dead. Their deaths meant life for EllFive. It is their gift to you. It is their spirit you must honor. Keep your new home free in their memory.”
I raised my head from my notes and spoke the rest from my heart. “In your step up you have become citizens of the galaxy, citizens of the universe itself. The Librarians agree, and have laid their own charge upon Ellfive, to preserve and promote knowledge to all, in friendship toward all, with hope for all. Hold out your hands to your fellow star voyagers, for you are bound to Terra no longer. You have slipped her surly bonds, and the heavens are within your grasp.
“Ladies and gentleman, I say again. Welcome home.”
I picked up my notes and stepped back from the podium. A crash of applause made me jump. It was followed by a standing ovation when I made it clear I had finished. It’s hard to beat brevity for a grateful reception. Behind me Helen murmured, “For a woman who professes to detest speechmaking she does all right as a rabble-rouser, doesn’t she, Frank? Well, Star, what now? Are you going to stick around? Maybe run for mayor?”
“I don’t think so, Helen.” I moved away from the edge of the platform, out of view of the colonists now streaming out of the stadium in excited, chattering groups. “I’m no good at civilization. I don’t want to run for mayor or alderman or even dog catcher. The job’s finished. I’ll have to move on.”
“To what?”
I shrugged, kicking at a corner of the makeshift stage.
“We’re shooting for a commissioning date ten years from today for Island Two,” Frank said in an offhand manner.
That got through to me. I turned my head to give him a disbelieving look. “Ten years? That’s insane, Frank. It took us fifteen years to commission Island One. What makes you think you can bring Two on line in ten?”
“Experience,” he said.
I laughed. It was not a nice laugh.
“Also, we aren’t starting from scratch this time. Copernicus Base is running smoothly and the third mass driver will be completed by this time next year. It shouldn’t be too hard to keep to schedule.” He paused. “You wouldn’t care to take on the project, I suppose?”
I laughed again. “No, thank you. Especially not with the raw O2 and hydrogen shortages I can already see staring you in the face. Besides, I’ve already built one habitat.”
“No,” Helen murmured, looking at Frank, “when you’ve done something, you’ve done it. Repetition is not one of your faults.”
“I don’t admit to any,” I said flippantly.
They smiled and exchanged the glance I had seen before in Heinlein Park, a glance pregnant with equal parts determination and mischief, and suddenly I was on my guard. “What do you know about mining?” Frank said to me, still looking at his wife.
“Mining?” I said. “You mean like moiling for gold?”
“Sort of.”
“The Asteroid Belt,” I said. I felt the last of the depression that had lingered on since Paddy’s death and Elizabeth’s departure melt away as if it had never been. “You want me to take on the Expedition. It’s true, then. Someone has struck uranium on Ceres.”
Helen’s eyes gave me an approving look and I stood up straighter.
“Not on Ceres, but near it,” Frank said. “Preliminary reports also indicate large amounts of hydrogen and oxygen in that area, which makes it a promising site for a colony. Lead the expedition and set up a mining colony for us, Star. Begin shipment within two years and we’ll complete Island Two on schedule.”
I wasn’t listening. A mining colony in the Asteroid Belt, in orbit between Mars and Jupiter. As many as fifty thousand of them in three- to six-year orbits around Sol, some in orbit around each other, some in collision, ranging in
size from smaller than a breadbox to a thousand meters across, with exotic names like Brucia and Astraea and Geogrophos and Marilyn. And, according to the latest probe data and to employ Sam Holbrook’s metaphor, all of which were simply lousy with the major elements of which Terra and now Luna were rapidly running short.
And from there, who knew? Maybe Jupiter, whose moons once may have been part of the Asteroid Belt, persuaded out of their virtuous orbits by the come-hither look in Jupiter’s gravitational eye. Maybe Neptune, with the system’s screwiest magnetic field. Maybe the tenth planet, which might not even be there.
A mining colony. There might not be any raw red gold in nuggets the size of my fist but I’d bet there would be plenty of claim jumpers and an unending supply of Dukes of Bilgewater and perhaps even a Lost Dauphin or two. The resulting stampede was going to make the rush to the Klondike look like an aircar at flank speed. Express ships were fuel efficient as far as they went but they went pretty far in that direction and we were continually scrambling for uranium to build more bombs—or, excuse me, ECFCPCs, as Colony Control prefers to call them.
“You can have the Taylor,” Helen said, watching my face. “Crippen Young has already agreed to sign on as skipper.”
I could understand why. In orbit between Mars and Jupiter was about as far as he could get from the scene of Paddy’s death. Crip would need that distance even more than the rest of us.
“How about it, Star?” Frank said smugly, certain of my answer. “How would you like to see the Great Red Spot up close enough to warm your hands by it?”
I shoved my hands in my pockets to hide the fact that they were shaking with excitement. “I do have two questions.”
“What are they?”
“Number one, is there really any uranium out there?”
Helen looked hurt, and Frank gave me a reproachful glance as he patted his wife’s shoulder comfortingly. “There, there, Helen, she doesn’t know what she’s saying. Really, Star, how could you doubt it?”
“Very easily,” I said. “Is there?”
Second Star (Star Svensdotter #1) Page 22