He strained to focus on the message — more likely a hallucination. He didn't care which it was. It was an anchor. He clung to it as cramps made humming bowstrings of his tendons.
Her smile conveyed commiseration.
Meta-Orley disapproved. If this was really a message from Gillian, she was taking a terrible chance. ' I love you, too,' he subvocalized. 'But will you shut the hell up before the Eatees hear you?'
The psicast — or hallucination — wavered as a fit of coughing struck him. He hacked until his lungs felt like dry husks. Finally, he sank back with a sigh.
At last, Meta-Tom surrendered pride.
Yes!
He cast into the murk before his eyes, calling after her dissolving image.
Gillian's face seemed to diffract in all directions, like a bundle of moonbeams, joining the shimmering volcanic dust in the sky. Whether a true message, or an illusion borne of delirium, it faded like a portrait done in smoke.
Still, he thought he heard a lingering trace of Gillian's inner voice…
He listened, unaware of time, and slowly, the tremors subsided. His fetal curl gradually unfolded.
The volcano rumbled and lit the sky. The 'ground' beneath Tom undulated gently and rocked him into a shallow slumber.
42 ::: Toshio
'No, Dr. Dart. The enstatite inclusions are one part I'm not sure of. The static from the robot was really strong when I took that reading. If you'd like, I can double-check it right now.
Toshio's eyelids were heavy with ennui. He had lost track of time spent pushing buttons and reading data at Charles Dart's behest. The chimp planetologist would not be satisfied! No matter how well and quickly Toshio responded, it was never quite enough.
'No, no, we haven't got time,' Charlie answered gruffly from the holoscreen at the edge of the drill-tree pool. 'See if you can work it out on your own after I sign off, okay?
'It would make a nice project for you to pursue on the side you know, Toshio. Some of these rocks are totally unique! If you did a thorough study of the mineralogy of this shaft, I'd be happy to help you write it up. Imagine the feather in your cap! A major publication couldn't hurt your career, you know.'
Toshio could well imagine. He was, indeed, learning a lot working for Dr. Dart. One thing he had learned, which would serve him well if he ever did go on to graduate school, was to be very careful in choosing his research advisor.
The question was moot, anyway, with aliens overhead getting ready to capture them. For the thousandth time, Toshio shied away from thinking about the battle in space. It only made him depressed.
'Thanks, Dr. Dart, but…'
'No problem!' Charlie barked in gruff condescension. 'We'll discuss the details of your project later though, if you don't mind. Right now, let's have an update on where the drone is.'
Toshio shook his head, amazed by the fellow's tenacious single-mindedness. He was afraid that if it got any worse he would lose his temper with the chimp, senior research associate or no.
'Um…' Toshio checked his gauges. 'The 'bot's descended to a little over a kilometer, Dr. Dart. The shaft is narrower and smoother as we get down to more recent digging, so I'm anchoring the robot to the wall at each site.'
Toshio looked over his shoulder to the northeast, wishing Dennie or Gillian would show up as a distraction. But Dennie was with her Kiqui, and he had last seen Gillian seated in lotus position in a clearing overlooking the ocean, oblivious to the world.
Gillian had been pretty upset earlier, when Takkata-Jim told her everyone at the ship was too busy getting Streaker ready for the move to talk to her. Even her questions about Tom Orley were brushed aside with abrupt politeness. They'd call her when they knew anything, Takkata-Jim had said before signing off.
Toshio had seen a frown settle over her face as every call she made was deflected. A new comm officer had replaced Akki. The fin told Gillian every person she wanted was unavailable. The one crew member she was able to talk to was Charles Dart, apparently because his skills weren't urgently needed at the moment. And the chimp refused to talk about anything but his work.
Immediately, she had begun getting ready to leave. Then came orders from the ship, directly from Takkata-Jim. She was to stay indefinitely and help Dennie Sudman prepare a report on the Kiqui.
This time Gillian took the news impassively. Without comment, she had gone off into the jungle to be alone.
'…more of those tendrils of Dennie's.' Charles Dart had been talking as Toshio's mind drifted. Toshio made himself sit up straight and pay attention to what the chimp scientist was saying.
'…The most exciting thing is the potassium and iodine isotope profiles. They prove my hypothesis that within recent geological time some sophont race has been burying garbage in this subduction zone of the planet! This is colossally important, Toshio. There's evidence in these rocks of multiple generations of dumping of material from above, and rapid recycling of stuff brought up by nearby volcanoes. It's almost as if there's been a rhythm to it, an ebb and flow. Something awfully suspicious has been going on here for a long time! Kithrup's supposed to have been fallow since the ancient Karrank% lived here. Yet somebody's been hiding highly refined stuff in this planet's crust up until very recently!'
Toshio almost committed a rudeness. 'Very recently' indeed! Dart was sleuthing in geological time. Any day now, the Eatees would be down on them, and he was treating the alleged burying of industrial garbage thousands of years ago as if it was the latest Scotland Yard mystery!
'Yes, sir. I'll get on it right away.' Toshio wasn't even sure what Dart had just asked him to do, but he covered his ass.
'And don't worry, sir. The robot will be monitored day and night. Keepiru and Sah'ot have orders from Takkata-Jim to stay plugged into it at turns when I'm unavailable. They'll call me or wake me if there's any change in its condition.'
Wouldn't that satisfy the chimp? The fen hadn't taken well at all to that order from Streakers exec, but they would obey, even if it slowed Sah'ot's work with the Kiqui.
Miracle of miracles, Charlie seemed to agree. 'Yeah, that's nice of them,' he muttered. 'Be sure to thank 'em for me.
'And say! Maybe, while Keepiru's plugged in, can he trace that intermittent static we keep getting from the robot? I don't like it, and it's getting worse.'
'Yes, sir. I'll ask him.'
The chimpanzee rubbed his right eye with the back of a furry hand, and yawned.
'Listen, Toshio,' he said. 'I'm sorry, but I really need a break. Would you mind if we put off finishing this until just a little bit later? I'll ring you back after supper and answer all your questions then, hmmm? OK bye, then, for now!' Charlie reached forward and the holo image disappeared.
Toshio stared at the empty space for a moment, slightly stunned. Mind? Would I mind? Why, no, sir, I don't believe I'd mind at all! I'll just wait here patiently, until either you call back or the sky falls down on my head!
He snorted. Would I mind.
Toshio stood up, his joints crackling from sitting cross-legged too long.
I thought I was too young for that. Ah, well. A midshipman is supposed to experience everything.
He looked toward the forest. Dennie was hard at work with the Kiqui. Should I bother Gillian, I wonder? She's probably worried about Tom, and who could blame
