Infinity Beach
Page 51
Some of them would be carrying dignitaries from throughout the Nine Worlds to greet their first nonhuman visitors. Well—maybe not quite the first.
Tomorrow, they would arrive in Severin, guests and hosts. Speeches would be made, bands would play, and a second memorial would be dedicated: To the crew of the Valiant, who gave their lives for a people they never knew.
The term “crew” was probably meant to include the shroud, and she didn’t care much for that part of the idea. But she had no way of knowing what that abandoned creature had been through, so she was willing to forget. Nevertheless, she remained conscious of the stone behind her.
The Cho-Choi don’t name their vessels, and the designator doesn’t translate well, so everyone agreed that the name humans had given the microship was appropriate to the occasion. Several vessels of the Valiant class had already arrived at Sky Harbor in commemoration of the event.
Their home world was located three hundred light-years the other side of the Golden Chalice. Human ships had visited their worlds last year and had returned with tales of wondrous sights.
The Cho-Choi, like humans, had thought themselves alone. And also like humans, they seemed delighted to find they had company in a universe thought to be windswept and full of echoes.
Kim looked out across the lake. Homes were going up on the far side too.
Her taxi had set down almost exactly where she’d landed with Solly on that January night just after the turn of the century.
She scanned the tree line. There was where we went into the forest. And Tripley’s villa had lain in that direction, a few points south of west. It was gone now, had been taken down years ago.
“It all turned out pretty well.” She spoke the words almost aloud, as if she were not quite alone.
Solly would have been amused to discover she was still a fund-raiser. Kim was older now, and had faced the reality that she simply didn’t have the abstract or mathematical skills required of a first-rate astrophysicist. She could have gotten along, but instead she’d gone back to the work she discovered she enjoyed, that she was good at: talking to people and persuading them to donate to a good cause. It wasn’t very glamorous, but it did feel significant. She was still contributing, supporting the general effort with the one real talent she seemed to have.
The good cause now was Stellar Survey. Money was pouring in, ships were being built and launched, and the human race seemed to be on the move again. Curious ruins had been found in the Triangle, two thousand light-years out, on the far side of the sky from Orion. And the new Chang Telescope might have sighted evidence of a Type II civilization in Andromeda.
Last week, the Solomon Hobbs reported evidence of ancient stellar engineering from Lyra Omega.
There are other mysteries. The Cho-Choi insist that their distant ancestors once had a tunnel into an alternate universe. But the engineering techniques have been lost.
To Kim’s satisfaction, Emily and her colleagues have their place in history, largely because no lasting damage was done by the Hunter. Now they are only remembered as having initiated contact.
But the species may have learned something. Survey’s exploration teams, who are carrying on the search for whoever else might be out there, are extensively trained in how to respond to a contact. Similar training is now required of anyone seeking to purchase or pilot a deep-space vessel.
She gazed around the beach. It seemed smaller than she remembered.
Her link sounded. It was Flexner, who’d gone over to Survey with her. “Yes, Matt?”
“Kim, where are you?” He sounded annoyed.
She sighed. “I’m on my way.”
“Good. We need to know exactly what you’re going to say tomorrow so we can set everything up for the interpreters. And that has to be done tonight.”
She would be speaking, not in her own right, but as Emily’s sister. “I’ll be there in ten minutes,” she said.
“Good. And Kim?”
“Yes?”
“That means we have to stick to the script, right?”
“Right,” she said. “Absolutely.” She took a final look around, and climbed into the taxi. “Severin,” she told it. “Lakeside Hotel.”
It lifted off. Cabry’s Beach dropped away and she glided among the stars.
Acknowledgments
The author appreciates the advice and assistance of Jeffrey Hall of the Lowell Observatory; of Jimmy Durden, the Glynn County, Georgia, coroner; of my agent and friend, Ralph Vicinanza; of my son Chris McDevitt for devising FAULS; of writers Walt Cuirle and Brian A. Hopkins for their advice on early versions of the manuscript. Thanks also to Will Jenkins/Murray Leinster, for “First Contact,” and for his other magnificent forays into the imagination. To Caitlin Blasdell, my editor at HarperPrism. To Rebecca Springer. And of course to Maureen.
About the Author
Jack McDevitt is the author of A Talent for War, The Engines of God, Ancient Shores, Eternity Road, Moonfall, and numerous prize-winning short stories. He has served as an officer in the U.S. Navy, taught English and literature, and worked for the U.S. Customs Service in North Dakota and Georgia.
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Praise
for Infinity Beach
“Jack McDevitt is that splendid rarity, a writer who is a storyteller first and a science fiction writer second. In his ability to absolutely rivet the reader, it seems to me that he is the logical heir to Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. Infinity Beach is a…FASCINATING look at how first contact with an utterly alien species might happen. I SIMPLY COULDN’T PUT IT DOWN. YOU’RE GOING TO LOVE IT even if you think you don’t like science fiction.”
Stephen King
“Gripping mystery, taut intrigues…and fascinating aliens; AN ALTOGETHER SPLENDID, SATISFYING PUZZLE.”
Kirkus Reviews (*Starred Review*)
“CONVINCING…This is a fast-moving, intelligent and clever science fiction adventure-mystery that is WELL WORTH READING.”
Orlando Sentinel
“A MASTERLY TALE.”
Library Journal
“The new novel by Jack McDevitt, one of science fiction’s most spine-and mind-tingling authors, presents contact—or lack of contact—with an intelligent alien species as A COSMIC PUZZLE, A MURDER MYSTERY, A GHOST STORY AND A PHILOSOPHICAL DEBATE…Infinity Beach is layered with multiple plots, thrust by a metaphor-filled, nimble-narrative writing style and emboldened with the most humane of ideas, feelings, hopes and fears…It’s jaw-dropping time.”
Macon Telegraph
“Bottom line, Infinity Beach is A GOOD READ, a deft combination of science fiction and a whisp of horror in a future that is almost believable. McDevitt makes it A PAGE-TURNER.”
Florida Times-Union
“Exquisitely timed revelations MAXIMIZE SUSPENSE, and FINE CHARACTERIZATION and world building also hold the reader’s interest, as do many original touches.”
Booklist
And JACK McDEVITT
“THE HEIR TO ASIMOV!”
Michael Swanwick
“McDevitt tells his COMPLEX AND SUSPENSEFUL STORIES with meticulous attention to detail, deft characterizations, and graceful prose.”
Publishers Weekly
“Jack McDevitt is a…writer capable of HAUNTING BEAUTY AND SHARP INSIGHT…[who] will carry you along by the sheer force of enthusiasm and loaded prose.”
Locus
“MARVELOUS.”
Analog
“Some authors are masters at spinning world-spanning cosmic tales; others are adept at down-to-earth character-driven stories. But only a precious few can combine the two, and NO ONE DOES IT BETTER THAN JACK McDEVITT.”
Robert J. Sawyer
“McDevitt blends straightforward adventure with scientific mystery, peoples his stories with diverse…characters, and delivers rewardingly STARTLING SOLUTIONS.”
Science Fiction Chronicle
Other Books by Ja
ck McDevitt
ANCIENT SHORES
ETERNITY ROAD
MOONFALL
INFINITY BEACH
And Coming Soon in Hardcover
DEEPSIX
Copyright
Maps unavailable for electronic edition.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
INFINITY BEACH. Copyright © 2000 by Jack McDevitt. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © NOVEMBER 2007 ISBN: 9780061828287
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