“I’ve never told you about that.”
“During the latter part of the night we got drunk, you talked of nothing else.”
“Oh.”
“It is obvious to any nonhuman that your skills are of a different type. If Elizabeth Curacao had wanted someone who could count the eyelashes on all the faces in a crowd, she would have found one. You, Jim, have a different set of abilities. You have empathy for alien races. You can work your way into their technology and into their minds. You astonish me with the technical feats you have performed here. Your ease with me is something I treasure.”
Jim waved his hand in embarrassment.
“You have met Sopha. You understood the fire of his belief. We do not need to count eyelashes, Jim. We need to use the understanding you already have. I’ll ask again: what will he do next? You are the only one in the universe in a position to answer. You are the correct resource for this job. We have no other; we have none better.”
Jim stared at Tella for several seconds. “Bastard.”
Tella frowned and cocked its head to one side.
Jim continued, breaking into a small smile, “I’m never going to let you get me drunk again.”
Then, Jim thought for a while in silence.
“Let’s go back into orbit around TMV-One. I want to hear what the Regdenir have on Sopha right now.”
“Yes, Jim,” agreed Tella, smiling.
Jim called Aplar. “Greetings, Margrev Aplar.”
“Greetings, James Able. Have you located Sopha Luca?”
“We have encountered him, but we do not know where he is now.”
“Ah, that is unfortunate.”
“What do you know of his movements there?”
“We know he is currently contributing to the Regdekol. It is the first time today that he has been active.”
“Yes, he was...distracted earlier.”
Tella offered a question. “Is there anything in his latest contributions to indicate his current state of mind, or perhaps his immediate intentions?”
“I do not know. We would have to spend more time in analysis.”
“Please do. We need as much information as you can pass to us.”
“Agreed.”
Jim ended the call. “Okay, we know he’s still linked in. Myourn said he had friends who shared his conclusions about the Maggnir. I presume they’re at least giving him moral support.”
“A strange expression, under the circumstances.”
“I guess so. The only opposition he knows about is us—or more specifically, me.”
“And he has prepared himself for this eventuality.”
“We need to do something—something that he will not expect, something that will get him back down to the surface, where the Regdenir can get hold of him.”
“We could damage his craft sufficiently to necessitate a landing,” offered Tella.
“Risky, but an option. I was hoping for something more...personal.”
Tella thought for a moment. “We could kidnap his family.”
Jim’s eyes widened in shock. “That’s not quite what I had in mind. But...No, it wouldn’t work, would it?”
“Why not?”
“He loves Beauty above all things. Which would win if we made him choose between his family and his mission?”
Tella nodded. They were silent, staring at each other.
“All we need is to get his flier where I can get on board,” said Tella. “Nothing else matters. Once on board, I can destroy the laser. End of story.”
“Agreed. So let’s look at it again. Three options: one, he lands on TMV; two, he lands on TMV-One; three, he lands on TMV-Two.”
“Okay. TMV is difficult. He doesn’t want to land there, nor do the other Regdenir.”
“TMV-One is difficult. He doesn’t want to be stopped. He’ll stay up until he’s finished now,” Jim said.
“TMV-Two. We know he goes there. He was waiting for us there.”
“But we don’t know for sure that he lands on it. We think he has the last scanning node there...”
They both stopped, openmouthed.
“The scanning nodes!” Jim exclaimed.
“Are we idiots or what?”
“I’ll call Aplar.”
“Margrev Aplar? This is James Able.”
“Greetings, James Able. Sopha Luca is not currently active in the Regdekol. Is he, as you put it, ‘distracted’ again?”
“Ah...Not that we know. Listen, we need you to find out where he has put the scanning devices around your moon. I remember Dlavi Heruc admitted that one of them was on the roof of his home. We must find the others.”
“This will not be easy without Sopha Luca’s knowing what we do.”
“I don’t think that matters.”
“Wait,” said Tella. “We don’t need them all—just one. If we know the frequency he is using, we can blind him.”
Jim nodded.
“Okay, Margrev. Go to Heruc’s house and call us from there. We need information from the control panel of the device.”
“Very well. I shall call you immediately after we arrive.”
“Now,” began Jim, turning to Tella. “How do we jam the signal such that he has to land somewhere?”
“Hmm. He has to be able to trace it, but not stop it remotely.”
Jim smiled. “Nect!”
“Is there somewhere we can land near her?”
“I’m sure.”
#
madharVnectVlatsinVux
Greetings, Madhar Nect.
We have a plan to stop Sopha Luca.
We need you to arrange a transmission on a particular frequency.
We need to land somewhere near the site of the transmission.
We will use it to lure Sopha to land as well.
Can you do this?
Where?
g101VnectVlatsinVux
#
g101VnectVlatsinVux
Greetings, Jim Able.
You don’t do things simply, do you? Why can’t you shoot his engines and leave him to drift in space?
The Institute has a TV relay tower. We can patch something in there. There is a sports field below the tower. It should be good to land on.
When will you arrive? I have to get authorization for this. That will not be easy, particularly in the present climate.
Attached is a map.
madharVnectVlatsinVux
#
madharVnectVlatsinVux
Greetings, Madhar Nect.
We are on our way. Forget the authorization. Let’s plan to apologize after, rather than ask before. We’ll help clear up the paperwork after we’re done.
Just make sure no games are being played on the field.
g101VnectVlatsinVux
#
g101VnectVlatsinVux
Greetings, Jim Able.
I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?
If there is to be violence, I must make sure the students are all evacuated.
madharVnectVlatsinVux
#
madharVnectVlatsinVux
Greetings, Madhar Nect.
We hope there will be no violence. Our hope is simply to gain access to Sopha’s craft.
That should be enough for our purposes.
Relax. Nothing can go wrong.
g101VnectVlatsinVux
#
Chapter Two
It was early morning at the Latsin Institute when the jet-black
