“Red, tell her the truth.”
Devlin brushed nervously at his ragged mustache while Westfall stared at him with her whole life in her eyes.
“Red,” Archer insisted.
“They’re not gobblers,” Devlin said, his voice low, almost apologetic. “Torre wouldn’t give me gobblers and I wouldn’t ask for ’em.”
“Then what’s eating me up?” Westfall demanded.
Looking even more flustered, Devlin said, “Torre gave me a batch of assemblers … the kind o’ nanos that build new molecules outta atoms they find around ’em.”
Westfall sat up in the recliner, her tear-streaked face going hard, angry. “New molecules?”
Devlin nodded. “They’re buildin’ up in your stomach and intestines right now. They’ll keep on buildin’ up for a hundred hours or so. Then the nanos are programmed to shut down.”
“What are they building?” she demanded.
“Some carbon dioxide,” Devlin answered, almost mumbling. “Mostly methane.”
“Carbon dioxide? Methane?” She pronounced it
Archer said, “You’re feeling pressure in your abdomen, aren’t you?”
She nodded.
“It’s gonna get worse before it gets better,” Devlin said. “You’re gonna be burpin’ a lot, and … uh…”
“Flatulence,” said Archer.
Westfall leaped to her feet. “Flatulence?” she screamed.
“You’re not gonna be very good company for the next few days,” Devlin said.
“It’s harmless,” Archer added quickly. “Embarrassing, but harmless. Apparently Franklin Torre has a juvenile sense of humor.”
Some of the old deviltry returned to Devlin’s face. “Gas attack,” he muttered.
“You bastards!”
Archer raised his hands in a placating gesture. “I had nothing to do with it, Mrs. Westfall.
She stared at the two men, open mouthed, eyes blazing. For a long moment the three of them stood in the center of Archer’s office, facing each other. Then Westfall’s expression changed, her eyes became wary, calculating.
“You can’t prove a thing,” she said, her voice coldly furious. “It’s my word against his.”
“And Dr. Torre’s,” Archer added.
“There’s no proof.”
Archer conceded the point with a curt nod. Then, “The IAA’s governing council is very sensitive to scandal. Members of the council must be above reproach.”
“So that’s what your scheme is,” Westfall said. “To kick me off the council. To get yourself elected chairman.”
Archer shook his head. “God forbid. All I want is to continue our work here. You saw what Johansen said: They’ve made contact with the leviathans. The creatures are intelligent! Compared to that, your little power game is child’s play.”
“Then what
“The freedom to continue our work here. To study the first intelligent alien species humankind has encountered.”
“And what about me?”
“You can go back to the council and get yourself elected chairman—as long as you don’t try to slash the research budget.”
“Ahh.” Westfall looked almost pleased. “I knew you were after something.”
“I’m after knowledge,” Archer said. “I want to study an alien intelligent species. Learn about them. Teach them about us.”
“No matter who it kills.”
“No one’s gotten killed,” he said, his voice steel-cold. “No thanks to you.”
“Your crew hasn’t returned yet. They could still die down there.”
Archer started to reply, thought better of it, and said merely, “We’re all in God’s hands, Mrs. Westfall. Those who choose to seek out more knowledge about His universe might be risking their lives, but it’s in the best cause of all.”
Westfall nearly sneered. “Religious claptrap.”
“Maybe,” Archer conceded. “But seeking knowledge has always been to the benefit of the human race, no matter what the risks.”
Drawing herself up to her full height, almost up to Archer’s shoulder, Westfall said, “Very well. Continue your little games. I’ll return to Earth and get myself elected chairman of the council.”
Archer smiled. “That’s
She swept out of the office, almost as haughtily as she had entered it.
Devlin let out a low whistle. “You’ve made yourself a real enemy there, mate.”
“She was an enemy before she ever came here, Red. But we’ve got some control over her now, thanks to you—and her own blind ambition.”
Suddenly Devlin broke into a big grin. “Well, leastways, she’s gonna be holed up in her quarters for the next few days, belchin’ and fartin’ to beat the band.”
Archer grinned tightly at the Red Devil. “Get back to work, Red. I’ve got to see what that data capsule’s told us.”
LEVIATHAN
Its flagella working hard against the downward current, Leviathan’s sensor members at last reported that the alien was close enough to observe.
It’s a strange creature, Leviathan thought. Featureless, almost. Perfectly spherical. Its shell is hard, not like flesh. Even Leviathan’s own armored hide members were not as stiff and inflexible as the alien’s shell.
It’s moving toward us, Leviathan realized. The alien was coming lower, following the downward current but slowly, agonizingly slowly. A trail of heated water emerged from its rear. Leviathan remembered the alien it had met so long ago, how it had sprayed scalding heat while Leviathan was carrying it on its back up toward the cold abyss from which it had appeared.
Studying the alien, Leviathan wondered, Can that hot jet be the way it propels itself? There were no flagella members on the alien. Perhaps it pushes itself through the water like the tiny squid do, squirting water through their nozzles.
The alien wasn’t eating the food particles that drifted downward on the current. It doesn’t graze, as we do, it realized. That arm that it wanted to connect to us must be for feeding. What else could it be?
Keeping its distance, Leviathan observed the alien as it slowly, painfully, pushed its way deeper into the realm of the Kin.
Deirdre awoke slowly. Blinking her gummy eyes, she heard Max humming to himself and realized he must be up and out of his bunk already. He’s humming to let me know he’s awake and I shouldn’t slide out of my bed until he goes back to the bridge.
She lay there silently until she heard Max slide back the hatch to the bridge and then push it shut again. Then Deirdre slithered out of her bunk and floated to her feet. There was no need for washing, nor for a toilet. The
