The Devil's Eye

TWENTY-SIX

Maybe Peifer had something. My father always said, if you're serious about getting somewhere, take a taxi. There was, of course, no way I could ride a taxi to a destination thirty-three light-years out. But I might be able to use one to get to the space station. Okay. Cabs will take you up to a couple of kilometers, but they aren't designed for high-altitude flights, let alone one that that would run out of the atmosphere altogether. But it was an option. I'd have to wait until the sun went down. Most people would think that, if you went up in the daytime, up to orbital altitudes, you'd freeze. But in fact, the sun would turn the taxi into an oven. So I waited until late afternoon. Then I went over to Central Mall and grabbed a sandwich and a fruit drink. And some dessert. Wasn't sure when I'd eat again. Afterward, I stopped by a general supply shop and got some tape. I went shopping for a plastene jacket and settled on one that looked almost airtight. It wasn't something I'd want to wear in public, particularly, garish green with a salacious dragon on the back. But it was exactly what I needed. Next stop was home furnishings. I browsed among the window curtains and bought a tieback, a soft strip of blue-green fabric that would have been perfect for my living room. I carried the jacket and the tape and the tieback to the roof and picked out my cab, a late-model Karaka that looked sturdy and well maintained. It waited patiently for me, and I climbed in. "Taxi," I said, "let's go fill up. I'm going to ask you to take me to Quahalla. And bring me back." Quahalla was halfway across the continent. "I have adequate fuel, ma'am," she said. "I get nervous about long trips. Humor me. Let's fill up anyhow. I'll be much more comfortable."

"As you wish, ma'am."

It takes next to no fuel to keep the antigrav unit running. The jets, of course, were another matter. So the plan was to leave them off. What I needed was to get to the right altitude and stay there. I wouldn't be able to go anywhere once I'd arrived. But that was okay.

"Where in Quahalla do you want to go?"

"I'm still deciding. I have several errands to run." "Very good." We pulled into a depot and filled the tank. The antigrav unit and the jets used the same fuel. I'd have liked to fill two or three extra tanks and put them in the cab, but I'd have no way of getting the fuel into the system. When we'd finished, we rode over to Kreitzel's Sea Sports and picked up an oxygen tank and a mask. Next I needed two blankets. When everything was on board, I asked the AI whether the taxi was safe at higher altitudes. "Absolutely," she answered. "No leaks?"

"None."

There are rules everywhere about how high skimmers can go. In most places the limit's about three klicks. Although they are by law restricted to low altitudes, they're nevertheless equipped with a life-support system. Any piece of equipment with an antigrav unit can go pretty high if something unforeseen happens, like a drunk, so an air supply was standard. It, plus the tank, would give me roughly six hours, but if I didn't get rescued long before that, I would be in deep trouble. I connected the mask to the oxygen tank and tied everything down so it wouldn't float around in the cabin when we lost gravity. I put one of the blankets on top of the tank and tucked it in so the tank wasn't visible. Then I put tape around doors and windows and anywhere else I could find where air might escape. When I'd finished, I told the AI to take us up. We lifted off, but the taxi immediately started asking questions. It was designed to refuse foolish instructions in any case, so I disconnected the AI and took over manual control. That's illegal, too, of course, barring an emergency. I suspected it had automatically sent out a signal to law enforcement, but I didn't see anybody in the area. We rose gradually out of the traffic streams and headed for the clouds. I took it easy, in order to conserve fuel. I was going up to thirty-one thousand kilometers, the altitude of the space station. Once I reached it, I would need as much as was left to keep me up there. The sun was beginning to sink below the horizon when a red light began blinking. The radio burped and came to life. "You in the taxi: Please answer up. Push the black button to the right of the meter to reply."

"Hello," I said. I tried to sound panicky. "It keeps going up."

"This is Sky Traffic Fourteen. What's happening? You're too high."

"Don't know. It won't talk to me. It just keeps going up."

"All right. Keep calm, ma'am. Let me talk with the AI, please."

"That's what I'm trying to tell you. The AI isn't saying anything."

"All right. Apparently you must have done something to shut it off. You need to reactivate. In order to do that, you need first to get into the front right-hand seat. Are you alone in the vehicle?"

"Yes."

"All right. Now let's start by opening the main function panel. It's to your left. Are you in the front right-hand seat yet?"

He gave me detailed instructions. I reported back, step by step, that I was following everything he told me to do. "It still won't work."

"Okay. Keep calm, ma'am. There's no reason to worry. We'll get you down. Do you know how to operate the vehicle?"

"No," I said. "All right." The voice was male. It was calm. Reassuring. Everything would be okay. "Please take control of the taxi in the following manner-" I could have shut the radio down, but that might have given the game away. So I listened while he gave instructions, warned me against the hazards of high altitudes, and assured me that Sky Traffic Operations knew of the problem and was doing everything necessary to return me safely to the ground. "I can't hear you," I said. "The radio's shut off."

"Taxi, can you hear me now?" I almost said Negative . Instead: "Are you still there? I can't hear a thing." I was passing through white cumulus clouds. Minutes later I got another call: "You in the taxi, this is Traffic Control. Do you need assistance? What is happening?"

"I don't know. It just keeps going up." I wanted to sound scared, and I guess the truth is that it didn't take much effort. "All right." It was a male voice again. "Don't be frightened. We'll get you down." "This is the first time anything like this has happened to me."

"It's okay. It happens all the time. Is the taxi responding?"

He was talking about the AI. "No, sir," I said. "She just stopped talking. I don't know what happened." "Okay. Help is on the way. Meantime, let's try something." He gave me instructions on how to maneuver the taxi, how to get it under control. "No," I said. "I've never operated one of these things. I'm afraid I'll kill myself."

"All right. Just relax, Miss. Everything's going to be all right."

I could see them coming. Lots of blinking lights a few klicks behind me. The operator kept talking to me, trying to reassure me. I was above the clouds by then, picking up speed as antigrav units tend to do when they get higher and the air gets thinner. It was all I could do not to pour the juice to it, to get out of there before they arrived. But I didn't dare. I couldn't afford to use the extra fuel. I sat tight and eventually the patrol vehicle pulled alongside. There were two officers in it. One waved. Relax. Take it easy. Then her voice came over the radio: "Miss? Are you okay?" "So far."

"All right. Good. Listen, we want to get you out of there before it goes any higher."

"How do you mean?"

"Let's try the controls first. Have you popped the panel?" She was talking about the controls, which rotate out when you go to manual. "What do you mean by 'popped'?"

"Let it go. Look, here's what I want you to do." She gave me the same instructions the earlier guy had. One step at a time. "Withdraw the yoke." "I can't," I said.

"Just take it easy."

I was thinking if they told me one more time to relax, I would scream. "It won't come loose. It's stuck." We continued like that for another minute or so. Then she sighed. "Okay. Look, I want to get you out of there before we get any higher."

"Good. I'm for-"

"- We're going to get above you. I'll come down and help. But I need you to open the door. Hang on to something when you do because the air pressure in your cabin will try to drag you outside."

"Outside the door?"

"Yes. So hold on."

"Listen, I'm not going to open anything up here. That's crazy."

"Miss, we're running out of options fast."

That was good news. "I'm not opening up. Please find another way." "There is no other way." "No. I'm sorry." I found it easy to show them some hysteria. "I can't do it." They tried anyhow. The woman was gutsy. They got above me and matched my rate of ascent. They dropped a cable, and she climbed down on it. Right from the start she was getting blown all over the sky. Then she was outside, pounding on the door. I put on my best look of sheer terror and sat frozen in my seat. Her partner, a guy with a voice like a tractor engine, told me how I should grab hold of the chair arm. Hang on to the chair arm and don't let go, and simultaneously hit the pad and open the door. Jara would take care of the rest. Right. I didn't answer. I sat there and shook my head violently no, not on your life, while the wind bumped her around on the hull of the taxi. She looked through the window at me, and I had to give her credit: She kept the contempt she must have been feeling out of her eyes. She continued to beat on the door, while I felt about as guilty as I ever have in my life. But I stayed put. Pushed back down into my seat, frozen with terror. Finally, she gave up.

"She won't let me in, Kav." "Try it one more time." "Miss, please. The higher you get, the more difficult this will become. You'll be perfectly safe." Her eyes were a luminous blue, and they pleaded with me. Open up. Get up off your sorry ass and let me in. If this ended happily, I decided, I would find Jara, apologize to her, and buy her a drink.

Finally, they gave up. We were piling on too much altitude. Kav assured me they'd be back for me, and they pulled away as an airliner passed in the distance. Now all I needed was to get to thirty-one thousand kilometers and get rescued. I was hoping that Sky Traffic Operations was notifying Samuels that a vehicle with a hysterical woman on board was heading up out of control and would need help. I checked the doors and listened for the sound of escaping air. I didn't hear any. The taxi seemed as secure as the AI had promised. I checked the altitude gauge. It was marked up to three klicks, which wasn't much use in determining how high I'd gone. But I could estimate my rate of ascent, so it wasn't hard to calculate. I was maybe halfway to my target altitude when Traffic Control started talking to me again: "Miss, are you okay?"

"Yes," I said.

"We've alerted the Patrol and they'll be on the lookout for you."

"Okay. Thanks."

"Try to keep calm. Everything's going to be okay."

So far, so good. I rode patiently up into black skies. The heating system couldn't keep up, so I wrapped myself in one of the blankets. The galactic haze was rising in the east. And we were burning fuel at a steady rate. When I thought I'd reached more or less the space-station altitude, I burned some more to level off. And I began looking for lights. The messages from groundside went on without a break. Lady in the taxi, it's okay. We're watching you. Samuels has been notified. Help is on the way. Please remain calm. Despite all that, the sky remained empty. My air had been leaking out, and I was beginning to feel it. I reached back for the mask and put it on. The flow of oxygen felt good. I don't think I'd been aware how foul the air had gotten. I began breathing regularly and sat back to await rescue. The ride up from the surface had consumed more fuel than I'd hoped, and I had maybe fifty minutes before the spike would shut down. I couldn't come close to accelerating to orbital speed, so once that happened I'd simply fall back to the ground. Well, as close to the ground as I would get before burning up. It was time to take matters into my own hands. I got on the radio. "Samuels Ops," I said, "this is Janey Armitage." I made up the name. "I'm in a runaway taxi. Something went wrong with the spike, and it's taken me God knows where. Please help. I'll leave the transmit on so you can track me. Please hurry." I looked out at the empty skies. "The fuel gauge is near empty, and I don't know what will happen after that." They would know, of course. And they answered immediately: "Ms. Armitage, we heard you were coming. Patrol vehicle is already on its way. Should be there anytime." Then, a gag: "What kind of taxi are you riding anyhow?"

"Don't know," I said. "But I'll be glad to get out of here."

"Just sit tight, ma'am. They'll be right there." Moments later I saw lights. Coming from ahead. And another voice on the radio: "Ms. Armitage, this is Orbital Delta. We see you, but we may have a problem."

Chilling words, those. The guy wasn't even close to me yet. "What's the problem?" I said.

"We're prepping a second vehicle to do the actual rescue. The taxi's too big for our cargo area. We can't fit it on board."

I'd debated picking up a pressure suit in case we had to do a space walk, but I hadn't been able to see any way to explain its presence to the rescuers. Hiding the oxygen tank would be tough enough. If they figured out that I'd engineered the whole thing, they'd waste no time turning me over to the authorities. So I'd had to take my chances. "How long before it gets here?"

"It won't be long." " How long?" "Probably within the hour."

"That's not going to work."

"What's your situation?"

"Air's okay, but fuel looks like about forty-five minutes."

"Okay. We'll have to do something else. You don't by any chance have a pressure suit over there, do you?"

"No." I held back on the wisecrack.

"Okay. Sit tight for a minute while we figure it out."

While they were figuring, a cluster of lights came out of the night behind me. The lights were higher than I was, and off to port. While I watched they grew brighter and blurred past. "That Samuels?" I asked.

"Yes, ma'am."

Only one course of action was possible, they explained. I would have to cross from the taxi to the rescue

vessel more or less dressed for dinner. "It sounds unnerving, ma'am. We know that. But we've done it before, and we've never lost anybody."

I had my doubts. "Okay," I said. "What's your name?"

"Lance Depardeau."

"Okay, Lance. Come to the lady's rescue."

They needed a few minutes to get ready. I assume they were talking to the station, trying to make sure the other vehicle, the one with the big cargo doors, could not make it in time. Finally, they were back.

"Sorry about the delay, Janey. Okay, here's how we're going to do it. The only thing you need to do is keep cool, follow directions, and leave everything to us." Minutes later, the Patrol vehicle maneuvered close in, almost close enough to bump the cab. "It's okay," Lance said. "If you have any warm clothing with you, put it on." I wrapped myself in one of the blankets. I was starting to get used to wearing blankets. Latest fashion item. Their air lock opened, revealing a figure in a pressure suit. They had to stay close, not only because getting me from one vehicle to the other had to be done quickly, but also because the antigravity field extended only a hand's length beyond the wingtips. We weren't in orbit. So anyone who got outside the field was going to fall.

"Do you have something you can put over your head, Janey?"

That's why I'd bought my nearly airtight dragon jacket. I'd secured it to a seat support to prevent its floating around the inside of the taxi. Now I released it and told him yes . The person in the pressure suit-I didn't know whether it was Lance or not-jumped across, and I heard the thump as he landed on the side of the cab. Just before he reached the door, I took a deep breath, shed the mask, and pushed it under the seat. The air in the cab was fouler than I'd realized. "All right, Janey," he said. "You're doing fine. Keep calm." I pulled the jacket over my head and secured it at my throat with the tieback.

"Okay. That's good. Breathe normally. And hang on to the handle so you don't get sucked out."

I couldn't really answer him anymore. But I grabbed hold of the door release and the chair.

"I'll pull you out. As soon as I get your arm, let go. You might want to hold on. But don't do it, okay. Let go as soon as I touch you."

I nodded okay. Inside the jacket, of course, I couldn't see anything. I knew others had made this kind of crossing and that there was no real danger unless I lost my head. So now I'll confess something. I was almost enjoying playing the damsel in distress.

"Open the door."

I pulled the release and opened up. The air exploded out. Then the world turned frigid. It was like being held naked against an iceberg. I started shivering. He took my arm and pulled me through the door. I could see nothing; I was just trying to breathe normally when we pushed off hard away from the taxi. Hard because for a moment we went outside the antigrav field. My weight returned and, for a terrifying moment, we fell. But our momentum carried us across. The weight went away again, as quickly as it had come. We touched metal. Secure in my jacket, I closed my eyes. Air pressure began to push against me, and gradually, the world got warm again.