I shut up while she applied the dressing and unwrapped my arm, but as soon as the local anaesthetics in the patch of synthetic skin began to kick in I was able to concentrate my attention much more effectively.
“I don’t suppose you’d consider telling me who you are and what the hell you’re playing at?” I said, trying to sound conciliatory. “Whatever war you’re fighting, I’m not involved. I only just got here.”
“I’m sorry you got caught up in this,” she said, after a moment’s hesitation. “We know that it’s not your fault, and that you can’t begin to fathom the situation. I wish I could explain, but we’re involved in delicate negotiations, and I’ve been forbidden to disclose anything that might affect their outcome. I hope I’ll get permission to explain what’s going on in the near future, but we’ll all need to be patient.”
“So why not let us go on sleeping?” I asked.
She actually bit her lip a little as she suppressed the impulse to answer. It seemed to me that she was very unhappy about her own situation, whatever it was. She was just a pawn, no more in control of the bizarre kidnapping than I was — or she was putting on a good act. She couldn’t stop me talking, though, so I made my own guess — hoping, of course, to be able to deduce something from her reaction.
“If you don’t want to talk to us,” I said, “and it appears that you don’t, you must want to observe us — listen in on our conversation, see how the accusations fly. You want to know how Lowenthal and Horne react.”
She remained stubbornly silent.
I changed tack. “Okay,” I said. “How about helping me out by offering me a few hints as to what I ought to ask Lowenthal and Horne, in order to help both of us get what we want. What kind of a war is it that we’ve stepped into?”
That was a better move. It made her pause, to consider the offer. There werethings she wanted to know about Lowenthal and Horne. When I used the word “war” her expression darkened a little, but I couldn’t be sure what the change signified.
While she thought it over I scanned the racks, trying to pick up clues as to what might be in the packages — especially the ones that looked as if they had been here long before the pirates moved in. Unfortunately, almost all the labels I could see were numbers and meaningless jumbles of letters. Everything was identifiable from the outside, but only if you knew the code. There were only a handful of real words, and all but one of those were etched on the more recent packaging. A lot of those packs — upwards of fifty — allegedly contained manna or water, just like the packs that were stacked up in the room into which the cell doors opened. The only interesting word that I could see on any of the ancient plastic wrap had been scrawled on a piece of sealing tape in ink.
The word was CHARITY.
“We’re not fighting a war,” the woman said, eventually. “We’re trying to prevent one. I wish I could guarantee that no harm will come to you, but I can’t. What I can say is that you’re safe while you’re here. My companion and I don’t mean you any harm, and we’ll protect you as best we can.”
There had been just the slightest hesitation before she pronounced the word “companion,” but I didn’t have time to wonder what it might mean. My attention was caught and held by the ominous elements of the statement.
I figured that she wouldn’t answer if I asked straight out who did mean me harm and how likely they were to get the opportunity to do some, but I thought I might get somewhere by making a few more guesses, trying to provoke a less ambiguous reaction.
“The war you’re trying to prevent must be the one between Earth and the Outer System,” I said, avid for the slightest sign of confirmation or contradiction.
“It’s not as simple as that,” was all she said at first. After a moment’s hesitation, though, she went on. “There are more sides here than you can probably imagine, Mr. Tamlin.”
That was patronizing. She didn’t know anything about the scope of my imagination — but I wasn’t about to take umbrage now that I had a chance to get somewhere. “Personally, I think Lowenthal’s just a foot soldier,” I said, talking rapidly in the hope of making the most of my fragile opening, “but he’s probably working for the same people who handed down the instructions to Excelsior. They have to think the big basalt flow was sabotage, intended to upset the balance of power. They must intend to redress the balance, as soon as they figure out a way to do it. Whether or not Titan was responsible for blowing up North America, the Titanians must have been expecting retaliation, and they have control of the traffic. My guess is that Lowenthal’s masters needed bait: something to provide cover for a sizable delegation to go out to Titan. They knew that Titan wouldn’t be able to resist Zimmerman. He’s the only man with a big enough name to trigger a show anda contest. Maybe Christine and I were just trial runs, but maybe not. I think you flushed my IT along with Lowenthal’s and Horne’s because you didn’t know what the sisterhood might have incorporated into it. How am I doing?”
“It’s really not as simple as that,” she said, shaking her head ruefully. She hadn’t given me the slightest indication that I’d scored any hits along the way. “I certainly can’t blame you for trying to figure it all out, Mr. Tamlin, but I can’t help you while our own negotiations are still ongoing — the situation is difficult and the information is extremely sensitive. The present situation’s not of our choosing, but we have to deal with it as best we can. If we get safely to where we’re hoping to go, you’ll have to be told what’s going on, but nothing’s settled yet and there are factions involved in the discussion who still want everything kept quiet. I shouldn’t be talking to you at all, but we don’t want anyone dying on us if we can help it. Please tell your companions to remain calm, and patient.”
My offer to act as an agent provocateur appeared to have fallen on deaf ears, at least for the time being. I wondered whether there might be an opportunity for me to get a little way ahead of Lowenthal and Horne in the new game, if I played my cards right — but I knew I’d have to prove my usefulness before our captors would even consider letting me in.
“What’s your name?” I asked her, abruptly.
“Alice,” she said. She hadn’t hesitated — but she didn’t add a surname.
“And you’re just a foot soldier, like Lowenthal?”
“I’m not a soldier at all,” she said, coldly. “I’m doing everything I can to ensure that it doesn’t come to soldiering — because if it does, we might all be doomed. Maybe the evil day can only be postponed, but even if that’s the case, we still have to gain what time we can. We need it.” I got the impression that this speech wasn’t just addressed to me. Others were listening in — and she had already told me that the present situation wasn’t one she’d engineered, or even anticipated.
“Who’s we, exactly?” I asked.
“All of us,” she said. “We all need time.” For just an instant, she seemed to be about to add something else, but she thought better of it. I couldn’t tell whether or not she’d intended me to see the hesitation, or what conclusion she’d intended me to draw. I knew that “all of us” might only mean everybody locked in the interior of this mysterious and seemingly ancient artifact, or some larger but limited population, or even all the various posthumankinds.
“According to the history I’ve read, there hasn’t been a single war during the thousand years I’ve been away,” I told her. “Mortimer Gray seems to think that such childish things have been put away for good, now that everybody has a proper respect for the value of human life — because true emortals don’t take risks of that crazy kind.”
“Gray’s wrong,” Alice said, flatly. It sounded as if she had strong views of her own on that particular topic. “The Earthbound might have stood still for a long time, but they haven’t changed. Perhaps they can’t — not any more.” Now she felt that she hadsaid too much, although she hadn’t really said anything at all. She became suddenly impatient. “You’d better go back now,” she said.