Static.
"Is anybody out there?"
"Just us goblins," said Solly. "My guess is that the whole operation is automatic. You fly in, trigger the alarm, they shoot."
"That couldn't be. It's stupid."
"Maybe it is, but I'll bet you that's what's happening. I'd say these people are a pretty ugly bunch."
Kim tried several more times before giving up. "Where's the object now?" she asked Ham.
"Closing fast. Range sixteen hundred kay."
Solly waited impatiently, trapped in the hold while it repressurized.
"Solly," she said, "Why don't we take a chance here?"
"Kim, they are hostiles. What does it take? We'd better admit the reality." A bell dinged and he pulled off his helmet and hurried out of camera range. "Ham," he said, "what else can you tell us about this thing?"
"Its casing deflects sensors, Solly. Regrettably, I can offer little additional data. I can report, however, that it has adjusted course and velocity and continues to gain on us, although it is now doing so at a constant rate. It is still on a collision course."
Kim listened with growing dismay. The thing had all the appearance of a missile. How could they be so goddamn dumb? Like everything else in this business, it made no sense.
Solly came into the room, sat down, and buckled in. "Exciting, huh?" he said.
"I guess I was wrong."
"I guess so." He looked up at the image of the pursuer on the overhead. "Okay, Ham, let's rev it up. Go full ahead."
The Hammersmith leaped forward.
"How long until we can make the jump?" asked Solly.
"Twenty-one minutes, ten seconds. Object is still closing."
Estimated time to intercept blinked in the right-hand corner: 17:40. "We can't do it," she said. "We might as well turn around and try to talk to them."
"Talk to a torpedo?"
She tried to think. "Don't we have any defensive systems at all?"
"We could go outside and hit it with a stick." Solly looked unhappy. "I wish it were burning fuel."
"Why?"
"It's small. It would run out quickly. What kind of power plant does it have?"
"I can speculate," said Kim.
"Go ahead."
"Magnetic force lines is one possibility. Antimatter's another. Maybe quantum cells."
"How do they move without thrusters?"
"Maybe they're using the same kind of technology we use to produce artificial gravity. Except in their case, the field forms outside the vehicle. In whatever direction they want it to go. So they just fall into it."
"In either event," said Solly, "they're going to have long-range capability."
"Oh yes," she said. "Certainly. But they might not be able to keep up with us. Keep pouring on the coal."
"You're more optimistic than I am. The damn thing's at seven hundred kay, currently closing at forty- eight per minute. That closure rate's been a constant regardless of our acceleration."
"How about maneuvering?"
"We can try that when it gets closer."
The object was close enough now to have acquired definition. It had hyperbolic lines. In fact, it looked like a flying saddle. It even had a horn and side panels that resembled stirrups. Ham drew bar scales to show its size: thirty centimeters long, half as wide. Four centimeters thick. It was smaller than a saddle.
The exterior was a smooth gray shell, save for a row of black lenses set along the side of the seat. It was white, and she could detect no markings. "It doesn't look like a bomb," she said.
"Glad to hear it."
"Can we make a run for the rings? Maybe hide behind something?"
"We're too far away. But I'll tell you what we can do."
"Yes?"
"Send a subspace transmission to St. Johns. Copy to Matt. Tell them what we found and what's happening."
"I'm not sure I want to tell the world what we're doing."
"Why?"
"Because we lose control of the discovery if we do that."
Solly looked at her. "I'm beginning to understand what might have happened to the Hunter."
"If we get chased off, go back with nothing, somebody else will be out very quick. I'll tell you what, Solly. Let's prepare the package, compress it, and have it ready to go. If it looks as if the worst is going to happen, we'll send it. Okay?"
He agreed and she instructed Ham what was to be done, what the message would say. It was to include a description of everything they'd done so far, especially the discovery of Emily's body, and would recommend that anyone else coming to Alnitak be equipped with defensive systems.
When she'd finished, Solly attached visuals of the object and Ham squeezed everything into a hypercomm transmission that would require less than a second to go out.
Kim had meanwhile been watching the images on the navigation screen. The object continued to close.
"Five minutes to intercept," said Ham.
"Maybe it's a heatseeker," she said. "How about cutting the engines?"
He shook his head. "Our first sighting was at nine hundred kilometers. That's too far out for a heatseeker.
Anyway that would be pretty primitive stuff for somebody who doesn't need reaction mass. No, this thing has a visual lock on us. Best we keep running."
They had two clocks posted, one keeping track of time to intercept, and the other, about three minutes behind, the time till jump capability came on line.
"We could try the lander," she said.
"Abandon ship?" He looked at her. "If we do that, the best we can hope for is to spend the rest of our lives here."
"Why in God's name," demanded Kim, "would they do this? The damned thing can't be all that dumb."
"Don't know," said Solly. "I'm not up on my celestial psychology."
Time to intercept clicked inside two minutes.
"Ham, on my command, we'll execute a thirty-degree rum, mark fifteen, to port."
"Solly, at this acceleration, you and your passenger will be subject to extreme stress and possibly even a degree of hazard."
"Thank you, Ham. I appreciate your concern."
"I am always concerned for the welfare of crew and passengers."
The object was fifty kilometers out. One minute away. Solly watched the clock tick down to a final ten seconds. "Ham," he said. "Execute."
The Hammersmith rolled hard left and the nose lifted sharply. Kim was thrown to her right. Her organs jammed against one another while the seat shoved up against her. Her heart hammered and her vision got dark and she was afraid she'd black out. The rumble of power in the walls increased, and she tried to concentrate on the blip.
"It went by us," Solly said. And then he looked at her. "You don't look well."
"I'm doing fine," she said.
"Object has commenced to turn," announced Ham.
Kim sat with her eyes closed. For the moment she almost didn't care.
"We bought a minute or so," said Solly.
She shook off her stupor.
"Still closing."
Its image dominated the overhead. It was a preposterous object. Goddamn silly saddle.
"Coming up the tailpipe," said Solly.
And then Ham: "Sir, it is decelerating. Moving to port."
It slipped off the screen, appeared again moments later as one of the other imagers picked it up.
"The object is running on a parallel course. Still decelerating."
"Hard right, Ham."
This time it stayed with them.
"Maybe it's not hostile after all," said Kim. "It could have blown our rear end off if it wanted."
"Maybe."
The range finder put it four meters off the port side.
Four.
"It has matched course and speed," said Ham.
The jump status indicator signaled they'd be ready in two minutes to go into hyperspace. "Hold off, Solly," Kim said. "Give them a chance."
"You have a suicide complex, sweetie. But we'll play your game."
"Object at two meters," said Ham.
They watched its image growing larger. Then it was offscreen.
"Where'd it go?" asked Kim, after a long, damp silence.
"It's in close. The sensors aren't picking it up."
"Object," said Ham, "has attached itself to us."
They sat without moving, without talking, without breathing.
Kim gripped the arms of her chair, thinking how you really couldn't predict what a celestial might do.
"What happens if we make the jump now?" she asked, in a voice so low that Solly had had to lean forward to hear her.
"Hard to say." He also was whispering. "We might get rid of it. Or it might come with us."
Kim's pulse was in her throat. "You still think it's a bomb?"
"What else could it be?"
"Jump status achieved," said the AI.
"Hell," said Kim, "let's go."
Solly didn't need to be persuaded. "Where?" he asked.