Echo

NINE

Alex doesn’t usually show a lot of emotion, but he tossed everything back into the ocean, returned to his seat, and took to staring listlessly out the window.

“It’s not the end of the world,” Audree said.

“No.” He managed a smile. “She’s playing games with us.”

“This Rachel has a sick sense of humor.”

“She wants me to give up and go away.”

Audree smiled. “Not used to that kind of treatment from attractive women, are we?”

Alex squeezed her hand and opened his link. “Connect me with Cory,” he said to it.

Audree turned my way. “Who’s Cory?”

“He runs the Antiquity Research Service in West Arkon. Among other things, they can do analyses to determine the age of artifacts—”

“But you don’t have the artifact.”

“That’s right.”

“So—?”

Alex shushed us. “Cory?”

I heard a voice respond. Alex listened. Then: “Got a question for you. We’ve been tracking a marker of unknown origin. We have pictures of it. It looks like something you’d find in a cemetery. Except it has more extensive engraving. Three lines of symbols. It’s probably pretty old. Centuries. Maybe more. Do you think you can get an age estimate on the thing based on pictures?”

The voice replied.

“No,” said Alex, “I don’t think we can get the object itself. We’ve been trying.”

And: “It’s a long story. You really don’t want to hear about the details. Is it possible to get an estimate from the pictures?”

And: “Okay. Hold on a minute. We have two. I’ll send them to you.” He transmitted the images, listened for a minute, said okay, and closed the link.

We hit an air pocket, and the APV bounced around. “Didn’t see that one coming,” said Kira.

“Been a long day,” I said, hoping to lighten the mood. Audree agreed that it had been. And somebody else, I forget who, observed that rain was expected in the Andiquar area that night. Then Alex’s link beeped.

“Go ahead, Corey.”

The cabin went dead silent. I guess we were all listening, trying to hear what was being said at the other end. “Okay,” Alex said, “I guess that’s what I thought.”

Then, a moment later: “If I can figure out a way to do that, I’ll get it to you.”

And, finally: “Right, Corey. Thanks.”

“No luck?” said Audree.

“No. They need 3-D with good definition.”

“Maybe we could burgle the condo,” I said.

Alex was in no mood for humor. “You’d be just the person for the job. But there might be something we can do.”

He made an appointment with Madeleine Greengrass, and two hours later we descended onto the pad at number 12, Gold Range. Madeleine had seen us coming, and she was waiting for us when we got to the front door. “Mr. Benedict,” she gushed, “I’m honored to meet you.” The laid-back, casual charmer of my first meeting was gone, overwhelmed by Alex’s celebrity.

She took us inside, where she asked if we’d like something to drink. “Thank you, no,” said Alex. “We’re on the run at the moment.”

“You’re still interested in that rock,” she said.

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry I let it get away. If I’d known you wanted it, I’d have held on to it. But it was such an eyesore, Mr. Benedict. It was just something I wanted to get rid of.”

“Of course,” he said. “I understand.”

“Did you find the people who took it?” She looked my way as if I were somehow responsible.

“It’s complicated,” Alex said. “You posted two pictures at the site.”

“Yes. That’s right. I have them if you’d like to see them.”

“No, we have them, too. But those pictures weren’t originals. Right? The engravings were pretty badly worn. So you smoothed it out.”

“Yes,” she said. “I didn’t think there was any problem with doing that since I wasn’t asking any money for it. I just wanted to get rid of it.”

“Do you have the original pictures?”

She frowned, and we had the answer. “They became the cleaned-up copies. I saw no point in making an extra set.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive, Mr. Benedict.”

“All right: One final question?”

“Sure.”

“How big was this thing?”

She held her hand to indicate something a bit more than waist high.

Alex left with a client to evaluate an exhibition set up by the Tempus Institute. He was just lifting away when Jacob announced a call. “Franz Koeffler,” he said. “A reporter. He wants to speak with Alex.”

“Put him through, Jacob,” I said.

I knew Koeffler, though not well. He worked for Transoceanic News, for whom he wrote a column that usually combined science and politics. He was about average size, a little on the heavy side, and had a mildly rumpled look. He spoke with a gravitas that implied his views were not to be taken lightly. Despite that, somehow, he managed to be self-effacing and easy to get along with. He’d become especially interested in Alex over the past couple of years, and had written extensively about the Seeker, and about our trip to Salud Afar. He was likable, though, maybe because there was something of the little kid in him.

He blinked on. He was standing with his rear end propped against a desk. “Chase,” he said. “Good to see you again.”

“Hello, Franz. Alex isn’t available at the moment. Can I help you?”

“Probably. How about telling me what Alex is after this time?”

I tried to look puzzled. “What are we talking about, Franz?”

“Come on, Chase. We know each other too well to play games. Your boss has a talent for uncovering huge stories. What’s he working on now?”

“I don’t think anything special. I know he’s been interested in the Longworth Ruby.” Which, of course, had been worn by Isabella Longworth while she guided the City on the Crag to greatness two thousand years ago. It had disappeared during the assassination and was periodically reported as having been in one place or another over the centuries, but no one could confirm the claims, and nobody had had any luck running it down.

“Sunset Tuttle,” he said.

“I’m sorry?”

“Chase, if you’re not going to talk to me, I’ll just go with what I have. Did Tuttle find something after all?”

“Franz, maybe you need to talk to Alex. I don’t know anything about this.”

“Okay. Have it your way.” He stood up. Shrugged. Looked disappointed. “Chase, I thought I could count on you.”

He was about to blink off, but I stopped him. “Wait, Franz. How much do you know?”

“Just enough to whet my appetite. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on? I won’t publish anything until you clear it.”

“I’m not free to do that, Franz.”

“I’m sorry to hear it.”

“Look. Whatever you have right now: Sit on it. The truth is, we don’t know whether we have anything or not.”

“Aliens?”

“I don’t think so. There’s an outside chance, but I’m pretty sure nothing will come of it. Anyhow, go along with us. If we get a story out of this, Alex will invite you in for an interview.”

“Exclusive?”

“Yes. Of course, we probably wouldn’t be able to hold the story back.”

He made it look like a painful decision. “When will we know?”

“It’s going to take a while.”

That night, as I slid between the sheets and the lights dimmed, I found myself wishing that we’d never seen the Greengrass posting. It had become simply a matter of Alex’s wanting to satisfy his curiosity about someone’s irrational behavior. There could be no reasonable explanation for what had been happening. At least none that would matter to us. At that point, I just wanted Rachel and her tablet to go away.

Rainbow doesn’t keep early hours. Though I’ve made a habit of arriving at nine most mornings, there’s no requirement that I do so. Alex has always been concerned with productivity rather than with time spent hanging around the office.

Next morning, though, I think I broke some sort of record getting in. I’m not sure why. Maybe I was hoping Alex would say, “Take the day off, and by the way, we’re moving on. We’re giving up on the tablet.” It was just past dawn when I left my own place. Ten minutes later, I landed at the country house, strolled up to the front door, and said hello to Jacob.

“I’m surprised to see you here so early,” the AI said. He could not keep the smug quality out of his voice. He opened up, and I walked in.

“I don’t guess Alex is up yet?” I said.

“That’s correct. Do you wish me to wake him?”

“No,” I said. “That’s not necessary.”

“As you prefer. As soon as he’s awake, I’ll notify him that you’re here.” He paused. “Would you like some breakfast?”

I settled in with pancakes and strawberries. I was finishing when the shower turned on upstairs, and a few minutes later Audree appeared. “He’ll be right down,” she said. She was surprised to find me.

Jacob got her some coffee and toast. “How’s he doing?” I asked.

“You’re talking about the tablet.”

“Yes.”

“He’s annoyed. It’s turned into something of a challenge with this Rachel woman. You’ve met her, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” I said.

“What did you think of her?”

“She seems okay. Didn’t take kindly to our poking into what she considers her business.”

“I guess not. She went to a lot of trouble to send us out on a pointless chase.”

“I know.” I heard Alex coming down the stairs.

“So what’s she hiding?”

“I’ll give you a call when we find out. I’m inclined to think we try a break-in.”

She laughed. “Chase, you’d look good in a mask.”

Alex came into the room. “Fortunately,” he said, “some of us are still law-abiding, principled citizens of high character.” He wore dark brown slacks and a white pullover that read RAINBOW ENTERPRISES. We’d given a hundred of them away a month before at a gala for antique collectors. “Good morning, Chase,” he continued. “It seems a trifle early for you to be here. Everything okay?”

“More or less.” I paused, and we all looked at one another. “Have we decided to walk away from this thing?”

“Did I say that?”

“I was hoping you would.”

“Well, no. I don’t plan to. But there’s no reason for you to be involved.”

“Right.”

Audree took a large bite of the toast. “You sound skeptical, Chase.”

“Alex likes company.”

He opened the refrigerator and got some orange juice. “Where would the world be without women?” he asked.

“So, boss, where do we go from here?”

“We’re not going to be able to get our hands on the thing. So we have to find another way to track down its origin.”

“How?”

“I’m working on it.”