But this time the bar stools and tables were empty and the place was cleared of people, except for a tall, gangly-limbed man with gray hair and beard, wearing a brown checked suit, who was sitting at one of the tables with two others who looked like khena. He stood up as the newcomers entered, and Scirio launched into a dialogue while he was still crossing the room. The man in the suit seemed agitated, and spoke in a nervous voice, confining himself to answering Scirio’s questions.
“He sounds like their technical guy,” Murray muttered to Hunt. “They’re talking about i-space links and Thurien transmission codes-something like that, anyhow.” Hunt nodded but said nothing, realizing with a jolt that they could be much closer to their goal than he had dared hope.
The engineer’s name was Keshen. When he had finished talking to Scirio, he led the way over to another door and around a corner at the rear of the lounge. Hunt, Murray, and Nixie hesitated. Scirio turned and waved for them to follow.
They came to a smallish room filled with cubicles, monitor panels, and equipment racks-evidently this was where the establishment’s couplers connected into the communications net. Somewhere else in the net, possibly far from Shiban, a channel through the net terminated at a live node carrying an i-space link to JEVEX. There was a console with lights and several screens, one of them displaying a pattern of symbols and geometric lines that meant nothing. Keshen sat down and began what looked like a series of status checks. The pattern on the screen altered; new symbols appeared. Keshen gave an intermittent commentary, which Nixie elaborated for Murray, and Murray did his best to explain to Hunt.
“This is their link into the net that connects to JEVEX, okay?”
Hunt nodded. “Out of curiosity, ask him if he knows where the connection into JEVEX is,” he said.
Murray passed the question on. Keshen shook his head.
“The net goes all over the planet,” Murray interpreted back. “The entry into JEVEX could be anywhere. It all depends how the techs who are running the core system have got it set up at the moment-which isn’t something that he makes it his business to go around asking questions about. His ass is on the line enough as it is. Does it make sense to you?”
“Yes,” Hunt replied. It meant that Keshen was not aware that the connection led to an off-planet link somewhere. In other words, he didn’t know that JEVEX proper wasn’t on Jevlen at all-just as Hunt would have expected.
Keshen indicated another section of equipment, and Murray went on. “This channel goes out to an i-space-what would you call it, sender? Connector? Transformer?”
“Transceiver?” Hunt suggested.
“Yeah, right. Anyhow, it’s miles away somewhere. It hasn’t been operating since the Gs shut down JEVEX. But there just happens to be a line into it that isn’t supposed to exist, and he’s just brought it up again and fed in the-some kind of operating numbers?”
“Parameters?”
“If you say so… to tune it for VISAR. So that line’s through to Thurien, okay?”
“It’s through to Thurien?” Hunt repeated. He couldn’t contain a quick laugh. It sounded too good to be true.
Murray checked. “That’s what the guy says.”
“Could we verify that?” Hunt said. “Can he get VISAR through to us here, right now?” -
“Dunno.” Murray asked Nixie, who asked Keshen. Keshen checked with Scirio, and then entered more commands into the console.
Then a voice said something in Jevlenese from the console speaker. Keshen replied, answered a few more questions, and then the voice said in English, “My word, you are there, Vic! It seems you’ve pulled off one of your stunts again.”
A relieved grin spread across Hunt’s face. “Hello, VISAR.” He indicated the others who were with him in the room. “Well, these people had more than a little to do with it, as well.” He heard what sounded like his own phrase being repeated in Jevlenese. VISAR was assuming the role of translator.
“They did a good job.”
“It pays to make friends,” Hunt said. “What’s the situation with the others?”
“Calazar’s here,” VISAR answered. “Gregg Caldwell went away to take care of something else, but someone’s gone to fetch him. We’ve heard nothing more from anywhere else on Jevlen. As far as we know, the others are still where they were when we got cut off.”
“I think Gina and Danchekker are being moved,” Hunt said.
“They’re on their way here,” Scirio said, his words translated by VISAR. “It wouldn’t have been safe to leave them.”
One of the screens on the console activated, showing Calazar. “Congratulations,” he said. “VISAR has just given me the news. And you have a channel there into JEVEX?”
Hunt moved next to Keshen. “Do we?”
Keshen checked the indicators on the other screen. “Yes. And you want VISAR connected into it? Is that so?”
“They’re in charge now,” Hunt said, waving toward the screen showing Calazar.
An exchange of technical jargon between VISAR and Keshen followed, ending with Keshen confirming that it could be done. “Do it straight away, while JEVEX is still asleep,” VISAR said. “Then when they bring JEVEX up to full power on Uttan, guess who’ll be in control of it.”
“And Eubeleus won’t know?” Hunt asked.
“JEVEX won’t even know,” VISAR told him.
Keshen was looking puzzled. “Uttan? The planet? What has Uttan to do with this?” he asked.
“It’s too long a story to go into now, believe me,” Hunt replied. Then the sound of footsteps came from the lounge outside, and Gina appeared at the door with Danchekker. The three men who had brought them from Murray’s were behind.
“My God, it’s Vic and the others!” Danchekker exclaimed. “You’re here. We had no idea what was going on. These-” He hesitated as he heard his words being translated. “These gentlemen collected us.”
“You weren’t safe there,” Hunt explained. “This is Scirio. He had you brought here. And this is Keshen. Don’t ask where we’ve been.”
Gina was looking past Hunt with a puzzled expression. “What’s doing the translating? Have we got ZORAC back again?”
“Even better,” Hunt answered. “It’s VISAR. We’ve got a link to Thurien.” Danchekker was already staring incredulously, having seen Calazar on one of the screens. Hunt indicated the other section of hardware. “And that’s the channel into JEVEX. Keshen has just hooked them together.”
Danchekker blinked. “You’ve done it? You mean already? They can set VISAR loose on JEVEX from here?”
“And with JEVEX still in a coma, it won’t know what hit it-literally,” Hunt replied.
The news was so sudden and unexpected that it took Gina several seconds to absorb it. “You mean that’s it?” she said finally. “We can keep JEVEX off permanently, as of now? Then it can be taken apart? The problem’s over?”
“Er, no,” Calazar said from the screen. He sounded apologetic at having to complicate things. “We’ve already discussed that. The Ents are a race of fully sapient beings in every respect. What you’re saying would amount to genocide.”
“What are they talking about?” Keshen muttered to Scirio. “What are Ents?” Scirio hushed him with a warning shake of his head.
The screen split, and Caldwell’s face appeared in one half. He nodded at Hunt and the others, evidently having gotten the news from VISAR. “Great job. Looks like maybe we’re in business, then, eh?”
Gina was still bemused by what Calazar had said. “Then what will you do?” she asked. “Isolate it? Leave it as its own, self-contained universe?”
Caldwell shook his head, guessing the way the conversation was going. “The Thuriens won’t go with that, either. But in any case, both those options would depend on VISAR being able to keep control over JEVEX. Right now, that all hinges on the single link into it that you’ve just established. If we lose that, we lose our only chance. Once Eubeleus and his people were warned, they wouldn’t give us another opportunity.”