“Mrs. Westfall told me—”
“Katherine Westfall?” Corvus gaped at her. “What’s she got to do with it?”
“She’s the one who raised the possibility,” Deirdre said.
“I don’t get it,” said Yeager. “Why would a member of the IAA’s governing council be involved in something like this?”
Deirdre closed her eyes briefly, remembering Katherine Westfall’s exact words.
“She told me, quote, ‘Back on Earth there was some rumor about a biology laboratory that developed a genetically engineered form of rabies.’ ”
“She said that?” Yeager asked.
“Word for word.”
“That doesn’t mean—”
Deirdre interrupted, “Then she told me that she wants me to keep her informed on what Dr. Archer is doing. She particularly wants to know what’s going on with his plan to send a crewed mission into the ocean, Max.”
“Well, she would, wouldn’t she?”
“She wants me to spy on Dr. Archer for her.”
Yeager’s face showed clear disbelief. Andy looked doubtful, too. It was hard to read Dorn’s impassive features.
Deirdre went on, “She told me, quote, ‘I want you to keep me informed on what’s going on here. Fully informed. Keep me informed and I’ll do everything I can to help cure your infection. Do we understand one another?’ ”
The three men glanced at each other uneasily.
“That’s exactly what she said to me,” Deirdre assured them. “And you should have seen the expression on her face! Like a snake!”
“This is very serious,” said Dorn.
“Why would she do it?” Yeager wondered aloud.
“What should I do about it?” Deirdre asked.
“Not ‘I,’ ” said Dorn. “Us. What should
“We’ve got to do something,” Yeager said.
“Yes, but what?” asked Dorn.
“Use your head,” Corvus said, looking impatient. “Go to the top. Tell Archer about it. He’s the only one who can help us.”
First thing the next morning, the four of them trooped over to Grant Archer’s office. The station director looked surprised as they came in, unannounced, and asked for his attention.
Archer stroked his beard absently as he listened to Deirdre’s recital. When at last she finished, he leaned back in his recliner and was silent for several moments. Deirdre, Corvus, Yeager, and Dorn sat arrayed around him, waiting for the station director to say something.
At last Archer sat up straighter and murmured, “It never ends.”
Corvus blinked at him. “What never ends?”
Leaning his hands on his thighs, Archer said softly, “When I first came here, more than twenty years ago, I was asked to spy on the station director.”
“What?”
His light brown eyes focused on the past, Archer told them, “When I came to station
“The New Morality?” Deirdre asked.
“They’re a religious outfit back in North America,” Yeager explained. “Fundamentalists.”
“They were a very powerful political force back then,” said Archer. “They thought that the studies of extraterrestrial life that were being conducted here on
“They thought that studying ET life contradicts the Bible?” Corvus said. “That’s nutty.”
“Not to them,” Archer replied. “They were very powerful in those days. They practically ran the government.”
Dorn said, “When a religious group gains political power, both the religion and the political system suffer.”
Archer shook his head, as if trying to clear his mind. “That was more than twenty years ago. Things have changed. For the better, I think.”
Yeager said, “There’re still lots of people back Earthside who believe all that fundamentalist bullshit.”
“But Mrs. Westfall isn’t one of them,” Deirdre pointed out.
Archer agreed. “No, I don’t believe she is.”
“Then why does she want Dee to spy on you?” Corvus asked.
Archer almost smiled. “Beats me. She must have her reasons. I’ve shown her everything we’re doing here. I’ve been quite open with her.”
Dorn said, “Conspiracy theory.”
“What?”
“People who believe in conspiracy theories are never satisfied with the information you give them—unless that information confirms their beliefs.”
“Like the UFO believers,” Yeager said.
“Well, the solar system really has been visited by intelligent extraterrestrials,” Corvus said. “We know that.”
“Millions of years ago, most likely,” Yeager countered.
“Maybe not,” said Deirdre, turning to Dorn.
The cyborg nodded to her, then told the others, “There is an artifact that seems quite beyond human capabilities, hidden out in the Asteroid Belt. I’ve seen it. It changed my life.”
“But we’ve got no idea how long it’s been there,” Yeager insisted.
“The point that I originally intended to make,” Dorn said, looking squarely at Archer, “is that no matter how much information you give to someone who believes in conspiracy theories, that person will remain convinced that you are hiding vital facts from him.”
“Or her,” Deirdre added.
Archer’s face showed he understood Dorn’s point. “So you think that Mrs. Westfall believes I’m hiding something from her.”
“And she’s enlisted Deirdre to pry that information out of you,” Dorn said.
“But I’m not hiding anything!”
“That means that Deirdre can’t tell her anything more than she’s already learned directly from you.”
Yeager said, “Which means she’ll think Deirdre’s holding out on her.”
Corvus picked up, “Which means she won’t let the medics cure the gengineered virus.”
They all turned toward Deirdre.
“I could die of rabies,” she said, in a choked whisper.
“No!” Corvus snapped. “Never!”
“We’ll get her to produce the cure,” Dorn said, folding his prosthetic hand into a tight fist.
“Maybe there isn’t a cure,” Yeager said. “Just because some lab manufactured an engineered virus doesn’t mean they’ve also made a way to kill it.”
Deirdre felt her insides simmer with sudden fear.
Archer saw the expression on her face and said gently, “Don’t worry. I’ll send all your medical files and a sample of your blood to the nanotech lab at Selene University. They’ll design a nanomachine specifically to track down that virus and tear it apart.”
“That…” Deirdre’s breath caught in her throat. “That would be very expensive, wouldn’t it?”
