The Devil's Eye

When I came out of it, I was hanging upside down. 'You okay, Chase?' Alex's voice startled me. I'd felt alone. 'Chase?' 'I'm here,' I said. 'You?' 'I'm here, too. Nice landing.' 'That's right.' I'd forgotten. 'We're down.' I heard him struggling to release his harness. 'Are you all right, Alex?' Lights were approaching. A truck, kicking up a cloud of snow, was visible through a wall of trees. 'I think so.' 'Okay. Stay put for a minute. Help's on the way.' The front of the aircraft was gone. A cold wind was blowing snow and debris in on top of us. Alex released himself and climbed down as the truck stopped. I heard a door slam. And voices. The truck lights revealed broad, flat ground beyond the trees. 'Not bad,' said Alex. 'Looks as if you hit the only patch of forest in the neighborhood.' I was hurting in a few places, but nothing seemed to be broken, so I released my harness and lowered myself to the ground. Our rescuers were bundled up in jackets. There were two of them, and they both wore hats pulled down over their ears. A man and a woman. The man called out: 'You people okay in there?' I guess I was staggering around. Alex was on the ground. They got me out to the truck. Then they went back in for Alex. It took a while. When they finally came out they were holding him up. 'He's all right,'

said the woman. 'But we wanted to be sure before we moved him.'

Their names were Shiala and Orman Inkama. Orman was the operational director for the otherwise-automated energy-distribution site whose lights had shown us where the ground was. They took us back to their quarters, which were located in a flat gray building perched beside a field of collectors. They applied medications to cuts and bruises and told us how lucky we were. Orman wanted to take us to Barikaida, where there was a medical facility. But it was a long ride, and since neither of us was seriously damaged, we settled for showers and robes. We had no clothes, of course. We explained how we were sightseeing in the area, and Orman said he'd drive back to the scene of the crash to try to recover our bags. But there'd been no easy way to bring our gear from the plateau. 'We didn't have anything with us,' Alex explained. 'But if you could take us into Barikaida tomorrow, that would help.' So we slept in the robes, me in the guest room, Alex on the sofa. In the morning, everything I owned hurt. Shiala cooked a big breakfast, commenting on how few visitors they got in that part of the country. Then they gave us some clothes. Orman's were a bit big for Alex, but I fit reasonably well into a blouse and slacks. Shiala's shoes were too big, though, and Krestoff's boots were a mess. Nevertheless I had to stay with them. Orman took us out to the pad, and we all climbed into his skimmer. There was a party atmosphere running by then. Orman explained how many times he'd had rough landings himself. 'Though nothing like what you folks did last night.' Shiala laughed and insisted it was true, that Orman was the worst pilot in the world. He didn't trust AIs, though the truth was he just loved to fly himself. 'By the way,' he said, 'we reported the crash for you.' Uh-oh. 'Thanks,' said Alex. 'They said they'll be out this afternoon to take a look and do the paperwork.'

We lifted into the air while Alex and I pretended that nothing had changed. We laughed and joked, and I wondered how long it would take the authorities to figure out who had been in the crash. We crossed a river with a waterfall. The Turbulence. The land was broken at that point into a vast cleft, and the river fell almost a kilometer into lower country. 'It is,' said Orman, 'the highest known waterfall. Anywhere.' Well, Alex and I both knew of a few bigger ones, but we kept our peace. They were surprised that tourists, as we claimed to be, knew nothing of the Turbulence. (The name applied both to the river and to the waterfall.) 'Well,' I said, 'we were just drifting through. We're from Rimway.' And that seemed to settle it. They both said 'Oh,' as if Rimway tourists came through all the time and they routinely knew nothing about the place they were visiting.

They dropped us off at a clothing store. We all went inside, and Alex reminded me to switch over to the corporate account we'd opened when we first came to Salud Afar. 'That was farsighted,' I told him. 'We didn't know what we were getting into,' he said. He had a hard time not looking pleased with himself. But we developed a quick problem: We couldn't get clear of our benefactors. Shiala wanted to follow me around and help me shop. 'We shouldn't take too long,' she said, 'if we're going to get back before Wash comes.' 'Wash is the guy doing the investigation of the crash?' 'Yes, Sara,' she said. (We'd given them false names.) 'He's very good.' Alex, left alone by Orman, found out that trains left regularly. 'Another due out in two hours,' he whispered to me when he was able to get me alone. Meanwhile, I'd gotten some clothes and two pairs of shoes.

'Lose her,' said Alex. 'How?' 'Go to the washroom or something.' 'That won't work. Take my word for it.' 'What do you suggest?' Shiala was standing a counter away, looking at hats. 'Tell them the truth.' 'I don't think that's a good idea.' 'Alex, if we take off, they'll think we're in trouble and call the police. They'll have us before we can get to the train station.' So we took them to lunch. While we ate, we told them what had happened. We didn't tell them everything. Just that we had uncovered some corruption in high places. We told them about the plateau and why we had crashed. We told them we needed for them to say nothing until we got clear. Would they be willing to trust us? And do that for us? They listened. Surprisingly, Shiala was the more resistant. 'They're wanted by the law,' she told Orman. 'We could get into a lot of trouble.' 'All you have to do,' said Alex, 'is explain that you didn't know. That we came into town, and we separated to do some shopping, and you didn't see us again.' 'I just don't know,' Shiala said. Orman took a long look at both of us. 'Sure we'll help,' he said. 'You folks get as far away from here as you can. Shiala and I will stay in town for the rest of the day. Make it harder for them to find us.'

We took time to go to Korvik's CommCenter, where we bought new links and opened accounts under bogus names. Then we said good-bye to Shiala and Orman and caught a train headed north. Away from Rendel. By then, Krestoff and her people would have been rescued, and there was a good chance that Wexler would expect us to try to make the flight to the Lantner world. That would mean they'd be looking for us at the spaceports. And they'd probably have people alerted at Samuels as well. So we took a week and disappeared. We settled in at a northern seaside resort, played the gaming tables, hung out on the beaches, and generally had a good time. If there was a search on for us, we saw no sign of it. Eventually, Alex called Peifer. 'Where the hell you guys been?' Peifer demanded. 'I've been trying to reach you.'

'Why? What's going on, Rob?'

'I have somebody I want you to meet.'

'Okay. Best not to mention any names at the moment.' The new links should have been safe, but you never knew.

'I understand. Sounds as if you've been making some progress.'

'You remember where you met us?'

'Of course.'

'There's a business with the same name.'

'You're kidding.'

'Check the listings.' He needed a minute or two. 'Okay. I see it.' 'Meet me inside the front door at noon tomorrow.'

'Okay.'

'And Rob?'

'Yes.'

'We're in a little trouble.' ' You? How the hell is that possible? But okay. I never got this call. Have no idea where you are.' 'Thanks.' 'In fact I don't know where you are.'

'We met him in the spaceport terminal,' I said. 'Right.' Alex was enjoying himself. 'What business incorporates 'terminal' in its name?' 'They sell women's lingerie. It's called Terminal Attraction.' 'Ah. You did your homework.' 'I always do my homework, love.' Next morning we took the train back to Marinopolis, and at a quarter to twelve we were posted in the Caribu Restaurant across the walkway from the lingerie store. The store advertised itself as THE HAPPY PLACE. At noon sharp Peifer showed up. He was in a white jacket with a broad- brimmed matching hat. We waited until he entered the store. No one else seemed to be watching, so I crossed the walkway and went in behind him. He was standing checking out the latest in casual underwear. There were a couple of customers. Both women. Neither looked like CSS. Of course, they weren't supposed to. 'Chase,' he said. 'It's good to see you.' It was an atmospheric place. Soft blue lights, diaphanous blue curtains twisting in a nonexistent breeze. Misty music. 'And yourself, Rob. You want to follow me?' He looked around at the slips and panties. 'I thought we were going to meet here.' A clerk appeared on the scene and glanced from one of us to the other. 'May I help you?' Peifer pointed toward a sheer nightie. 'You'd look great in that, Chase.' 'Thanks,' I told the clerk. 'We'll pass for the moment.' Neither of the customers showed any interest in us, and I saw no one outside. We left, but to be safe we circled the block. Still nobody. 'You guys must really be scared,' said Peifer.