'Remember who this is,' Kendrick said. 'This is Max Draeger. We don't have any proof that those fighter jets even exist – or, if they do, that they aren't his.'
'Shit.' Sabak stared into space, thinking hard, then shook his head. 'Look, assuming he's telling the truth about those fighter jets, then turning him down still means taking an enormous risk, whether or not he's bluffing. If he really did stand by while we came under attack, then hundreds of lives that myself and Captain Arnheim are supposed to be responsible for would be put at risk. No.' He shook his head again. 'I'm not taking any more chances if I can possibly help it.'
Kendrick felt a wave of defeat wash over him. 'If we come to any agreement with him, we're going to be sucked into something we're going to regret. We're dealing with the devil here.'
'Look, I need all the advice I can get, I admit. But if there's any truth in what he's saying I don't have any choice but to agree to his terms.'
Kendrick shook his head angrily, fighting to keep his temper. 'That's your decision,' he said tightly. 'Just remember, he's as responsible for Caroline Vincenzo's death as if he'd put a gun to her head and pulled the trigger.'
'I know that,' Sabak said. 'Just don't make the mistake of thinking that I like this any more than you do.'
Sabak stepped hack over to the monitor and addressed Draeger. 'We're going to need evidence before we accept anything whatsoever from you. Can you prove any of what you've told us?'
An icon flashed on the screen below Draeger's image. 'I'm uploading the information you need right now,' Draeger stated.
Buddy leant over Sabak and tapped the icon. 'This is a live satellite feed,' he explained. He nodded at Draeger's image. 'Can he hear us?'
Sabak tapped another icon. 'Not now, he can't.'
'Look, this is the same kind of sat-recon info and telemetry we used to get back in my army days. Live feeds of plane and ship movements and likely intercept points.'
'I know about these things just as well as you do,' said Sabak. 'They can be faked.'
Buddy shook his head. 'No, not these. Look at the satellite ident information. That's coming straight from pre-war orbital platforms that can't be hacked into. You'll never, ever get those idents on any kind of civilian GPS networks. At the most, Draeger might have hacked into a transmission from one of the sats in order to siphon off this information, but it's legit all the same.'
'So you're saying we have to take this stuff seriously.'
Buddy nodded emphatically. 'I am, yes.'
Numbers scrolled up on the screen as Kendrick watched. Latitudes and longitudes, air speed and distance. Buddy tapped a finger on a series of tabled figures. 'And if this is anything to go by, those fighter jets will get here just about the time we're due to launch.'
Sabak put out a finger, letting it hover over the voice icon for several moments before touching it. 'Mr Draeger, you believe that you can't get on board the Archimedes without us. Correct?'
'Every salvage expedition carried out by myself – or by others – has always ended in disaster. That's a matter of public record.'
'What makes you so sure that you'll succeed with our help, then?'
'I know about the Bright, Mr Sabak. Indeed, I know as much about what is happening here as you do, except I haven't shared the… experiences that you and the other Augments have. Besides, once I get on board the station I will require only a limited amount of time to extract the information that interests me. It's my belief that I have a much greater chance of success if I accompany those with whom the Bright clearly share a powerful affinity.'
'What's on the Archimedes that you want so badly?'
'I created the Bright, therefore I should be the one to communicate with them. There is certain information on board the station that is wired to my direct command, meaning that it can only be accessed by me in person. I wish to retrieve it.' Draeger paused. 'The benefit to humanity of the knowledge harvested by the Bright may be immeasurable. That alone justifies my participation in this expedition.'
Draeger turned his attention to Kendrick next. 'Mr Gallmon, do you remember when you left Los Angeles and came under fire? Do you remember the aerial drones that attacked your pursuers?'
'So that was you,' Kendrick heard Buddy behind him.
Draeger nodded. 'Think of it as a goodwill gesture. If not for that, neither of you would be here today.'
'Is this true?' asked Sabak, addressing both of them.
'We did come under fire as we left LA,' Buddy confirmed. 'Something got in the way of the 'copters chasing us.'
'Remember, without me you won't get off the ground,' Draeger stated. 'Will you accept my offer?'
'We'll be back in touch,' Sabak replied. Then he looked around at the others. Nobody said anything, so he reached out and touched the screen. Draeger faded to black.
'Now that is one slippery bastard,' said Sabak. But he sounded impressed.
'There's something about Draeger actually saving our lives that makes me feel ill,' muttered Veliz. 'He doesn't even try to deny he's manipulating us to get his own way.'
'We don't have long now before we go up,' Buddy reminded them. 'This late in the game, I don't know if we have any choice but to accept his terms.' Sabak nodded his agreement at this.
Kendrick felt a cold horror creeping into his belly. This was wrong, all wrong. 'Don't ever make the mistake of taking him at his word. Once we're up there, that'll be another matter entirely. If he tries anything, it'll be him against us. But we're Labrats – We'll still have that advantage.'
Kendrick found his way to the deck, unable to remain in the comms room while Sabak contacted Draeger to agree to his terms. He wondered if Draeger intended to return to Earth with whatever information he gained. Or was it possible that he believed he could travel through the wormhole to the Omega along with the rest of the Labrats?
Once Kendrick was out in the open the sea air made him feel light-headed. The waters, as expected, were calm: if it had been otherwise the launch would have been disastrously delayed. The sky was cloud-free, the ocean in front of him disappearing into limpid blue depths as clear and smooth as crystal.
He looked over to the tanker, which had now stopped moving. Its upper decks looked as though they had been modelled after an aircraft carrier, and a dozen sleek-looking military-style jump jets stood alongside more missile-carrying armoured helicopters. Dozens of figures, insect-like at that distance, moved across its acres of steel. Kendrick thought again of Angkor Wat and wondered if the huge vessel was some kind of mobile secondary base of operations for Draeger.
He gazed up at the early-evening sky, the first stars revealing themselves as the light began to fade. The Archimedes was orbiting somewhere far above his head, and the reality of his decision to go there was only just beginning to sink in. He turned his attention to the shuttle, sleek and powerful-looking, resting on its launch platform. As he watched, Draeger's helicopters moved away from the platform, returning to the tanker. Clearly, Sabak had come to an agreement with Draeger.
Buddy came for him a while later, clapping him on the shoulder.
'This is it,' he said. 'You ready to go?'
Kendrick turned and looked at his old friend. 'Are we really going to do this?'
'Sure we are. Still full of misgivings, aren't you?'
Kendrick looked back over the sea. 'Can you really leave all this behind?'
'I probably wouldn't survive more than another few years here before my augments killed me,' Buddy said calmly. 'You seem different – care to share?'
'I experienced something like a vision, Buddy. I think it was what you saw. As though I was taken on a carnival ride through the history of the universe.'
'All the way?'
Kendrick nodded. 'All the way.'
Buddy cocked his head at him. 'But you still don't really believe it, do you?'
Kendrick sighed and turned away from looking at the launch platform. He remembered his conversation with
