Storm at Eldala

that may never arise. Besides, right now I am wondering how Delde Sota managed to interfere with that other ship's power.'

'So am I,' Gabriel muttered. 'It's more like magic than anything else.'

'I daresay she had a connection to comms through Helm's computers,' Enda said. 'Past that point, it certainly looks like magic to me as well — if by that you mean something outside natural experience. Let us just be grateful that it is being exercised on our side.'

She went away and left Gabriel to his thoughts. If she was able to get into that ship's system, he thought, what else might she have been able to find out? That information was going to have to wait until they came out of drivespace.

The next morning, and again the morning after that, Gabriel sat down with the information about Jacob Ricel. He had time to try to work out what to do with it, but he found himself wondering whether it was really worthwhile trying to follow any of this. The information was all between five and ten years old… all stale. If he went back and questioned the people who had known this man, what would he find? Eroded memories, more stale data leading. . where?

He gazed at the three faces with the three different names and wondered what other lives Ricel might have changed the way he had changed Gabriel's? How many other lives had the man destroyed or altered out of recognition. . and then just changed his name and passed on into other circumstances? What kind of person do you have to be to do things like that to people? And in the name of what, exactly? Intelligence. . planetary or stellar- national security?

'Thoughts are free, they say,' said Enda quietly from behind him, 'but I would pay a small fortune for yours.'

Gabriel shut off the Grid access array and let it relapse to Enda's green field again. 'I sometimes wonder if this is ever going to be worth my while.' 'What? Clearing your name?'

He nodded. 'I think it would be nice to forget about it, to just go off and explore strange places where no one would know me or care where I'd been.'

'Exploration contracts. .' Enda said, sitting down across from him. 'They are not lightly awarded. Nor are they cheap.'

'Oh, I know. It's just something to think about.' Gabriel stretched. 'I remember — what was his name, Rov? — talking about that system — or was it a planet? — out past Coulomb. . '

'Eldala,' Enda said after a moment. 'Not a name I know, and I know quite a few.'

Gabriel shook his head and said, 'I don't know much about the details of survey methods. I know no one thought to look for Rivendale because Terivine C seemed such an unlikely primary. Could they still make a mistake like that? Miss an entire planet on survey?'

'Or misclassify it?' Enda shrugged. 'In a hurry, one may make all kinds of mistakes. I suppose you would have to look at the survey information.'

'Well, you know, I got curious earlier,' Gabriel said, and pulled out the Grid access keypad again. He touched it in a few places, and the waving grass vanished to be replaced by a long, dry-looking page of figures and names.

Enda blinked at that. 'Surely we do not routinely carry planetary exploration information in our own computers.'

'In the raw form, yes we do,' Gabriel said. 'The compiled CSS listings are there under 'Standard Reference, Gazetteer.' There's nothing more involved than that. No graphics or descriptive detail. Look, there's the name. Eldala.'

'A system name,' Enda said, leaning closer. 'Goodness. Thatis a long way out.' She squinted at the display. 'Planets indeterminate. Distances indeterminate.' She tilted her head to one side. 'What kind of survey information is that?'

'All the listing says is 'Incomplete,' ' Gabriel said. 'They didn't finish. They left early for some reason. When we get at a drivesat relay, we can send off for the information and wait for it to come back.' 'Morbid curiosity,' said Enda.

'Well, admit it. Wouldn'tyou like to know what happened?'

Enda looked doubtful. 'My guess is that it is some kind of bureaucratic hitch. A civil servant made a mistake compiling the information. It would not surprise me if someone misfiled a whole planet.' The thought of the necessary size of the filing closet made Gabriel grin. 'All the same. . we could go find out, after we've done some more infotrading, enough to get ourselves supplied.' Enda leaned on the bulkhead, musing. 'You might be able to convince me,' she said, 'but I would want to make sure we are well equipped with emergency stores and the like, and the phymech would have to be checked again.'

'Of course. The idea of a whole planet falling between the cracks…'

Enda shook her head. 'It is interesting. Nevertheless, there is Aegis to think about first, and what may be picked up there. We will not have any difficulty finding information to haul. There are never enough infotraders to service all the deaf Grids and minor systems out this way, but we will have to consider where we might go besides Terivine.'

Gabriel sat back and folded his arms. 'Not much choice in the Verge,' he said, 'unless you want to go right back into the Stellar Ring. A long way…'

'I don't think so,' Enda said. 'Nor, I think, would you desire to get too far away from your own researches into Mr. Ricel.' She stretched, so that the blue crewsuit she wore shimmered, then steadied down into matte blue again. 'Aegis, Tendril, and Hammer's Star are our opportunities. Aegis is most central. Tendril—' 'No, they're not,' Gabriel said.

Enda looked at him, confused. 'Have I missed something? In the Verge, there are only the three drivesats.'

'There's a fourth,' Gabriel said. 'The Lighthouse.' Her eyes widened.

'At the time,' Gabriel said, 'I didn't think much of it. I had my mind on those three pictures of Ricel yesterday, but Altai routinely sends along a news package to its subscribers. I skimmed it and forgot about it. One of the stories says that the Lighthouse is passing through this part of the Verge. It's going to be stopping at Aegis on its way further out.'

Enda shook her head. 'Now, I feel foolish, for I have not thought about the Lighthouse in some time. It jumps about so. '

Gabriel chuckled softly, for Enda was understating again. Originally that massive construction, a kilometer and a half long, had been an Orlamu Theocracy space station called the Lighthouse of Faith. Now it journeyed through the Verge accompanied by several Star Force cruisers and various smaller vessels, bringing trade, news, and a semblance of armed security to the scattered worlds of the Verge. It housed the headquarters of the Concord Survey Services, which supervised and assisted independent exploration contractors through the Verge and beyond. It also carried large diplomatic and trading complements, a city's worth of permanent inhabitants, and numerous docking ports, repair stations, and cargo bays. It had a larger population than some planets, was better armed than many, and had the additional advantage of a massive stardrive that could take it fifty light-years in a single starfall. There was one aspect of the Lighthouse that bore some consideration. It had a drivespace comms relay. Infotraders flocked to it to transfer data when it came into or near their systems. 'Certainly we can drop our data at either the Lighthouse or Aegis,' Enda said slowly, 'but after that. . Gabriel, why stop there?'

Gabriel looked at her dubiously. 'You're suggesting that we might hitch a ride wherever she's going?' 'The thought crossed my mind.'

Gabriel considered that. The Lighthouse's provenance— originally it had belonged to the Orlamu Theocracy — meant that its status in Concord terms had become peculiar. The Orlamu had no problems with the Concord refurbishing their 'great experiment' after it had almost been completely destroyed by a Solar raid into their space in 2461, but they had insisted — and so had others suddenly faced with the prospect of this behemoth turning up in their systems — that it should be considered strictly a neutral facility. The negotiations had gone on for a good while, but at last the station's neutrality had been accepted by all parties involved.

'Well. .' Gabriel said. For his own part, neutrality was all very well, but he was uncertain how it would hold if a party wanted by the Concord was suddenly to turn up inside the place. 'If we wanted to pick up or drop data there, I don't think there'd be any trouble with that. Actually piggybacking Sunshine onto