Deauchamps said, “This is by way of welcoming you to Homefall, an informal meeting to acquaint you with our society, and to allow us to get to know you.” The other council members nodded in agreement. “There’ll be a more formal welcoming in a day or two, a dinner at which you’ll get to meet the citizens of the valley. I know that Chairman De Channay has one or two questions, as well as many answers to your own questions, no doubt.”
De Channay cleared his throat. “Thank you, Sabine.” He looked from Mackendrick and Bennett to Ten Lee. “Of course, your arrival here has been as much a surprise for us as I suspect it has been for you. A pleasant surprise, might I add. For over ninety years we’ve gone about our lives on Homefall with little hope of establishing contact with the rest of the Expansion. We came here by accident, a fortuitous accident, as it turned out.”
“The Rim wasn’t your destination?” Bennett asked.
“Far from it. Our ancestors were members of the Church of Phobos and Deimos, founded on Mars in the last century. They elected, more than one hundred years ago, to start a colony on a planet where they might practise their religion without outside influence. To this end they set off for a newly discovered, habitable planet in the Sirius system. The details are vague, as the accident happened so many years ago, but an error in the navigation system resulted in the ship being flung far off course. Our ancestors emerged from the void many light years from here, with insufficient energy supplies to effect a return to inhabited space. For two years they explored the few star systems in the region, before chancing upon Homefall, as they christened their new home. In attempting to land they crashed, suffering many casualties. However, they rallied and founded the settlement you see here. For ninety years we’ve prospered, thanks to the will of God, with only occasional setbacks along the way.”
“The terrorists?” Mackendrick observed.
“The terrorists being a case in point.”
“What exactly,” Bennett asked, “are they opposing?”
He tried to discern discomfort in the manner of De Channay, but the elder was practised in the ways of duplicity.
“They’re anarchists and troublemakers opposed to the rule of the council. For almost fifteen years they’ve mounted an armed war against society. The precise politics of the situation need not concern you at this time.”
He paused and changed the subject. “Fellow Elder Deauchamps told me that your ship came down in the mountains. I only mention it as it might be a wise move if we sent out a team to salvage the wreckage, before the terrorists locate the site and destroy what we might be able to use.”
Bennett was aware of the eyes of the elders fixed on Mackendrick, who nodded in broad agreement. “I don’t have the precise co-ordinates to hand, but I know the general whereabouts. I doubt, though, that the terrorists would easily locate the wreckage.”
“You are unaware of the resources of our opponents,” De Channay replied.
The man seated next to De Channay, dark-haired and younger than the others, spoke up. “Your transporter was in remarkably good condition considering that it had suffered a crash-landing.”
Bennett’s throat went dry. He recognised the voice. It was the man who last night had wanted them killed.
Mackendrick nodded. “It was practically the only thing we could salvage from the wreckage, and then we had to cannibalise it from the three other transporters we carried.” He looked up, staring De Channay in the eye.
The chairman nodded. “I take it that you are a scientific survey team? Were you sent here, by any chance, as a result of Quineau?”
Mackendrick repeated the name. “I’m sorry… the name means nothing. Who is Quineau?”
Bennett and Ten Lee looked suitably blank.
De Channay said, “In the crash-landing our ancestors suffered extensive damage to the two scout ships we carried aboard the liner. For many years we didn’t have the technological or industrial expertise and resources to repair them. Only twenty years ago were we able to begin the necessary repairs. Then we sent a council elder, Pierre Quineau, to attempt to establish contact with Earth or the colonies and tell of our survival. We’ve heard nothing since, and had given up hope of ever receiving word from or contact with the Expansion.”
Mackendrick was shaking his head. “We came out to the Rim on an independent scientific survey mission, charting new stars and prospecting potentially habitable planets.”
“So the Expansion is moving out to the Rim?” the elder asked.
“I’m afraid not. We are an independent company working outside the jurisdiction and remit of the Expansion. Scientific curiosity, the spirit of adventure, brought us this far out.”
“You’re not part of a concerted exploration of the arm? Can we hope that your loss will be noted and a rescue mission set up?”
“As I said, we are an independent company. Or should that be, we were? There is little or no hope of rescue.”
De Channay spread his hands. “Then I’m afraid, as we do not have the capabilities to manufacture void-going ships ourselves, that until such time as the next ship does happen this way, you are stranded on Homefall with us.”
Mackendrick nodded. “It would seem that way.”
“Then all I can do in the circumstances is avail you of the hospitality of the Council of Elders,” De Channay said. “We can find you suitable positions in the manufactories on the coast, or if you would prefer to farm…” He gestured. “But you have hardly arrived here and I am talking of employment! You’ll need time to settle in, become accustomed to the ways of society on Homefall. I’m afraid that after the sophistication of Earth you might find us somewhat lacking, but I’m sure that in the circumstances… If you have any questions we might be able to answer, my council is at your disposal.”
Mackendrick nodded. “From orbit we detected spectacular ruins to the south of here,” he said.
“Ah, the ruins of the Ancients, as we call them. When we discovered the ruins, and others in the vicinity, we assumed that we were not alone on the planet.”
“But the aliens are extinct?” Ten Lee asked.
De Channay nodded. “We’ve found evidence that there was a great civilisation spanning the globe, intelligent but never industrial. We assume some catastrophe befell their race. Archaeological records date their fall to around five thousand years ago. Perhaps, once you’ve settled in, you’d like to visit the various ruins along the coast?” He looked around at his colleagues. “If there are no more questions? Very well.” He addressed Mackendrick. “For the next few days we’d be pleased if you’d make yourselves at home in the valley. Unfortunately it will be necessary to have armed guards accompany you at all times, in the interests of security and your own safety. Perhaps after lunch you’d like to visit our settlement on the coast? Until then...”
They exchanged handshakes, and the Council of Elders bowed and left the dome.
The guard, Miriam James, appeared at Bennett’s side. “If you’d like to return to the lodge…”
They followed her back up the twisting path, attracting the attention of colonists who paused in their work in the fields and watched them pass. Bennett looked into their faces and saw only expressions of wariness and suspicion.
James remained outside on the lawn, rifle braced across her chest, while Bennett followed Mackendrick and Ten Lee into the kitchen. They found the table set for lunch, a tureen of steaming soup awaiting them, alongside plates of bread and cheese. Bennett sat down and helped himself to a cup of the coffee substitute.
“So…” he said. “What did you make of that?”
Ten Lee sat on the window seat and hugged her shins. “If we didn’t know they were keeping something from us,” she said, “I’d say they couldn’t have been friendlier.”
Bennett grunted. “The friendship of necessity, Ten. I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could spit.”
Mackendrick looked up from his coffee. “But do you think they believed us?”
“About the ship?” Bennett shrugged. “Going on what I heard last night, they wouldn’t take any chances. I can’t imagine they’d sit back and quietly accept that we crash-landed. They’ll be scouring the area for the Cobra right now.”
“And the terrorists?” Mackendrick said. “De Channay seemed pretty reluctant to fill us in on that front.”
Bennett said, “I’d like to know what they’re trying to keep from us.”
They stared at each other in silence.
“All we can be certain of,” Mackendrick said, “is that they want to keep us here, and that they want to keep the rest of the Expansion out.”
