"Consider it an intellectual exercise." She described everything she knew about the intruder. And the creature in the lake. Apparent incorporeity. Green eyes. Green tinge. Electrical fields. Free hydrogen molecules. Methane. Oxygen.
"I can give you a model," Shep said after a few minutes, "but I do not think it would be a lifeform that would evolve naturally."
Kim had summoned another cab, and she was watching it approach. "Doesn't matter. What have you got?"
"Uneven charge distribution in individual cells."
"Explain."
"A living system need not be contained within a coherent sheath. A skin cover or shell. It is possible that regions of opposite charges, enclosed for example by a pocket of ionized gases, could function quite effectively by manipulating each other within the system."
"It sounds as if you're talking about a living battery."
"That's an oversimplification. Let me explain in more detail-"
"No. That's okay. Might such a system achieve intelligence?"
"I'm not sure how to define intelligence. But I think it could perform fairly sophisticated tasks."
"Like piloting a starship?"
"Probably."
"Where would it get energy?"
"You indicated a greenish tint. Green eyes. That might indicate the presence of chloroplasts. That would allow it to convert light."
She directed the flyer to take off. "How would you combat such a creature?"
"Lure it into an area of extremely high winds. Separate the molecules. Put enough external pressure on it that it becomes unable to maintain its integrity."
"Blow it apart."
"Yes. Precisely."
"I might not have a hurricane handy. What else?"
"It would also be vulnerable, I would think, to short circuiting."
She took the cab back into town, to a tech shop, tended by an aging woman in a trim black suit. Her hair was silver and her expression placid. She looked out of place, the sort of culturally resplendent woman one might expect to find discussing art while presiding over a salon. "Can I assist you?" she asked, with perfect diction.
"Yes," Kim said. "I wonder if anyone has recently asked you to make a model starship?" She showed her a picture of the Valiant. "It would have looked like this."
The woman studied the picture. "Why, yes," she said. "We did do something very much like that. In fact, we still have the template."
Gotcha, Sheyel. "Would you be willing," asked Kim, "to make one for me?"
"The same model?"
"Please."
"If you like." She brought up a schedule on her screen. "Tomorrow at about this time?"
"Oh," said Kim. "That won't do, I'm afraid. I'm just passing through. Out on the next train. I hoped you might be able to do it while I wait."
The woman nodded to herself, consulted the screen again. "I'll need about an hour," she said.
"Good. Do it. I'll be back."
"There's an extra charge."
The third edition of the Valiant looked as good as either of the others. When this was all over, she promised herself, it would make a fine souvenir.
The proprietor sealed it in a box, accepted payment, and Kim rode to the station, arriving just in time to see an east-bound freight passing. Its lights winked out as her own train appeared around a bend.
The ride from the Preserve to Eagle Point was just under two hours. She tried to sleep, but she was too tense. She gave up after a while and sat watching the countryside begin to grow dark.
At 8:20 local time she walked into the lobby of the Gateway, registered, went up to her room, and activated the phone. "I'll need a flyer tonight."
"Certainly, Dr. Brandywine," came the electronic voice, neither male nor female. "Did you have any particular model in mind?"
"The same one I had last time, if it's available."
"It is. Will there be anything else?"
Kim thought it over. "Yes," she said. "A crucifix, a wooden stake, and a silver bullet."
"Pardon me?"
"Never mind," she said. "It's a joke."
Next she called Plaza Sporting Goods and ordered a portable microwave oven. "I'm going into a protected area," she explained. "Where they don't allow fires."
"Ah." The voice belonged to an automated clerk. "We have just the thing. What size does madame prefer?"
"The biggest you have."
"The family size. Very good. This model is big enough to cook a large game bird."
"Excellent. That's exactly what I want."
She just had time for a quick snack, after which the hotel informed her that her flyer was ready, and that her package from Plaza Sporting Goods had arrived. She pulled on her jacket, and took a moment to gaze around the room. The last time she'd been in the Gateway, Solly had been with her. And had urged her not to go back to Severin without him.
She put a laser cutter into her pocket, picked up the spare Valiant, and headed for the roof.
Ten minutes later she was south bound, moving through a night sky illuminated by the distant flicker of lightning over the western mountains. It was a beautiful evening, crisp and still. Two moons were rising through a filmy haze. Another was directly overhead.
Kim watched the lights of the city begin to fade. She tried to relax in the darkened cabin, and to anticipate the reaction she'd receive from her old teacher. She expected that he'd be pleased to see her, to show off his trophy. And perhaps to have a witness to the presence that he hoped to entice. But she wasn't sure.
Sheyel was becoming unpredictable.
The screens showed another aircraft off to the east, a little behind, moving parallel. It was a black-and- white Cloudrider, a luxurious vehicle favored by VIPs and corporate executives.
She watched it for several minutes until it changed course and veered away.
"Doctor," said the AI, whose name was Jerry, "you haven't specified a destination."
"We don't have one yet," she said. "Stay southwest. Toward Mount Hope."
She had come to the realization that Sheyel wasn't going to want to give the Valiant back.
Had she an ethical responsibility to urge its return? To insist? Probably. But somewhere down deep she was pleased that he'd gotten away with it. And she didn't really want to see it returned to Tripley. What right had he to a treasure of this magnitude? He'd walked into it by accident, and had never understood its significance.
"We have arrived, Doctor," Jerry said. "Have you further instructions?"
She couldn't see anything down there. Even Remorse was lost in gloom. "Circle," she said. "Stay at six hundred meters. Keep just offshore. We're looking for a landed flyer."
"I will tell you if I detect one."
The aircraft moved deliberately around the perimeter of the lake. Kim watched for a light, but saw no break in the darkness. After a while Jerry reported they had done a complete sweep. "There is no other aircraft in the vicinity," it said, "either aloft or on the ground."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Do you wish to expand the search?"
"No." Sheyel wasn't here yet, but he would arrive before the night was over. "There's some open space in the town. Set down there. But keep the door closed." Not that she had any illusions that a locked door would be sufficient to keep out unwelcome critters. But it would make her feel a little safer.
She put a hand on the microwave oven, then made another effort to raise Sheyel, but once again she got only the recording.
Kim was reasonably certain she knew what he planned on doing with the Valiant: it was going to serve as a lure, to summon the phantom, the thing that had been left over from the Mount Hope incident. Sheyel Tolliver wanted to make first contact. He believed as she had that the creature could be reasoned with.
One had only to draw it into conversation.
Deadly naivete.
The flyer eased down between ruined buildings. The sky was clear and the stars ran on forever.
She turned off the lights but left the engine running.
24
It is odd that those who claim to have a scientific view of the world stoutly deny, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, that ghosts exist, that they make themselves manifest, and that they seem to have a particular interest in ocean-front properties.
-AMY CONN,.
Famous Ghosts of Seabright, 591 The ruined buildings cast long shadows in the moonlight. A cool, sharp wind whipped in off the lake. It howled through the abandoned town and shook the flyer. Kim was embarrassed sitting locked in the cabin like a frightened child. Eventually she opened up and climbed down onto the ground. But she stayed alert.
Somewhat before midnight Jerry broke into her thoughts: "Aircraft approaching."
A blip appeared on the screen. Inbound from the southwest. From the general direction of Terminal Island.
She was back in the cabin. "Can we talk to them?"
"Wait one."
Kim felt behind her for the duplicate Valiant, brought it up front and set it on the seat beside her.
"Channel is open, Dr. Brandywine."
"Sheyel," she said, "is that you?"
"Kim." He sounded genuinely surprised. And delighted. "Where are you?"
"I'm embarrassed for you," she said. "You took the man's starship."
A long pause. Then: "Yes, I did."
"And what are you planning to do with it?"
"I am going to talk to its pilot. If possible. I'd be pleased if you joined me. Where are you?"
"On the ground. In town."
"There's a strip of open beach to the east. I'm going to set down there."
She saw his lights approaching. "It's not possible, Sheyel. What you want to do."
He sounded surprised. And disappointed. "Why not?"
"Whatever the local goblin is, it's not someone you can talk to."
"How do you know?"
"I know. Take my word for it. It's some sort of disembodied AI. Designed to perform specific functions, as best I can judge. Maybe it's a kind of automatic pilot. But it won't do negotiations."
"Let's not jump to conclusions, Kim." The other flyer had begun to descend. "Everything points to the fact that it's intelligent."
"The thing's deranged, Sheyel. And it's dangerous."
"It's lost and alone. It's been stranded here for almost three decades. You have to start by understanding that."
"Sheyel-"
"You want to say hello to the unknown, there's no way it can be anything but dangerous. I accept that possibility. Still, I've never heard of a malevolent AI."