'Fantastic,' Stump said.
Thomas looked slapped silly. Speechless, he blinked rapidly.
The news galvanized them like a shot of crude voltage. In 1972 a Chinese expedition
had climbed via the easier North Col route and erected a five-foot-high metal survey
tripod on the very summit. Ever since, it had become a feature as natural as the
fossils and space shuttle vistas that awaited summiteers.
'I've never seen him so certain,' Gus added. And that in itself – Daniel's confidence –
spurred them even more than the other news, the camp, the Yellow Band, the tripod.
They were close all right.
'And Corder? Is he coming soon?' Jorgens guessed. His beard was more salt and
pepper now, his motions slower. He looked older and used up. But with this news, he
perked up. This was good news, very good, tantamount to victory.
'I parked his butt at ABC,' Gus said. 'He's in no shape for a bunch of round-trips to
Base.' They understood. Everyone had seen the way Daniel limped around on the
flats, and had heard the crepitation of bone on bone. It was harder on him to descend
an easy trail than to climb a sheer face. Climbing, he could at least compensate with
his arms for the kneecaps and cartilage of host of orthopods had cut out.
'One thing else,' Gus related. They fell silent. 'He made a promise. He said he'll wait
for us.'
She said it to remind them. Daniel could just as easily have continued on the last
thousand feet to the tripod alone. Instead he had roped down to join hands with his
teammates and take the Kore in a classic finish. Abe knew it was a gamble, Daniel
turning his back on a solo flash that must have seemed a sure thing. But apparently it
wasn't as much a gamble as lone wolfing through the rest of his life. Even now, several
days later, Gus looked relieved by his decision. She really thought she could save him,
Abe thought. Bravo, Gus.
The elated climbers bubbled out of the mess tent and into the sunshine, leaving Gus
in the dark with her mug of tea. Abe lagged behind. Unfinished business.
'How's he doing?' Abe asked her. She was changed. At least she would look him in
the eye now.
'He's whipped,' she said. 'He's in pain. His hands are like meat. His ribs are bad,
busted I think. And he stayed high too long. You know, the thousand-mile stare, all
that.' A sternness flickered across her face. 'But the nightmare's almost over. We're
going to nail this bastard. And then he's free.' She spoke it like a credo. She nodded to
herself and Abe nodded, too. To control the mountain was to control the entire
pyramid of obsessions that had led to it. None of them yearned for that power more
than Daniel.
'Is he taking care of his hands?' Doctors were supposed to ask questions like that.
'Of course.'
'How about you, how are the lungs holding up?' She had once developed double
pneumonia deep in the Karakoram range in Pakistan, and it was again a doctor's kind
of question. In truth, he was stalling. He wanted to know if there was any room to
negotiate on her dislike for him.
She was staring at him, deciding something. 'Daniel wanted me to tell you
something,' she said.
Abe braced himself.
'He wants to summit with you, Abe.'
Abe was dumbfounded. Then it occurred to him that Gus had gotten injured and
couldn't climb anymore. It would be like her to hide an injury. That would explain
Daniel's need for a new partner.
'Are you hurt?' Abe asked.
Gus reacted with scorn. 'Hurt?' she said. 'What the hell do you think?'
Now Abe saw his error. She was whole, but she was indeed hurt. 'No,' he said. 'I
meant injured.'
Gus waved aside his clarification.
'Then what is this?' He knew better than to feel sorry for this woman, and yet Daniel
had betrayed her. Alone and weary, she'd had to carry the news of it down ten miles
and then deliver it to the man chosen to replace her.
'He wants you with him when he hits top,' she said. 'Same day. Same rope.'
Abe was flattered. He hadn't expected anything like this, to reach the summit, to lay
the past to rest once and for all. But could they? Forgiveness was something granted,
not attained. It was not the same as reaching a mere mountaintop. Like that, Abe
made his mind up.
'I'll tell him my answer when I see him,' Abe said.
'Tell me,' Gus demanded. She had a right.
'I already have a partner.'
Now was Gus's turn to be surprised. She stared at him as if he'd stayed too high for
too long as well. 'Kelly?' she said. But her real contempt was for Abe. 'You're not telling
me you'd hang yourself up with her. Daniel's your one sure shot.'
Abe shrugged. 'It's me and Kelly.'
Gus frowned, trying to turn with this latest about-face. Odd, Abe thought. He hadn't
noticed until now that her red hair had turned nearly gold. The great stone crucible
was changing them. To see her from behind, you might almost mistake Gus for Kelly.
'You're making a mistake,' Gus said. But she wasn't really arguing. For all her
muscular gruffness, she had a wonderful transparency, Abe realized. There was no
hiding the ray of hope lighting her face. Nor, a moment later, hiding the suspicion that
darkened it.
'I get it,' she said to herself.
'Gus?'
Her green eyes glittered in the afternoon sunlight. She was angry now, once again
with Abe. 'See here,' she said. 'I don't know what's with you two. But if this is how
Daniel wants to break his damn curse, great. It's worth the summit to have him done
with Diana. So don't play noble with me.'
'Nobility has nothing to do with it.'
'Daniel needs this, Abe. Go bury your ghost. Together. Whatever it takes.'
'Gus, you don't understand. I didn't come for an exorcism. I'm not ditching Kelly.
And I can tell you, Daniel's not ditching you. He was being dramatic, that's all.'
'Fuck off,' she said. 'If you want to patronize Kelly, be my guest. But not me, guy. I
don't need your help. I don't need your permission. Got it?'
Suddenly Abe was tired of trying to soothe this woman. He had no desire to be her
foil, but it was hard to turn his back on her. She was heartbroken. Something Kelly
had said came back to him.
'Love has nothing to do with it, Gus.' He kept it simple. Gus was speechless, just as
he'd hoped. Now they could both pretend ascent was built on colder realities. He
started to walk off.
'By the way.' Her voice caught him.
Abe heard the change in her tone. She had an ailment.
'Yes, Gus.' He took a breath and made himself the healer once again.
'While I'm here, did you bring any of those home pregnancy tests?' The way she said
