'No! You don't understand. Toshio's about to sabotage his comm set! It's part of my plan! If there's even a chance Charlie's got a bomb we have to find out quickly!'
The holo patterns were agitated.
'I'll make the connection at once,' the Niss announced. 'It will take me a few moments to worm through Streakers comm system without being detected. Stand by.'
Gillian paced the sloping floor, hoping they would be in time.
86 ::: Toshio
Toshio finished the re-wiring, slapped the cover over the transmitter on Thomas Orley's sled, and spread a light smear of mud on the plate to make it seem long unopened.
Then he unhitched the monofilament line from the unit, tied a small red marker ribbon to the end, and let the almost invisible fiber drift down into the depths.
Now he was out of touch with Streaker. It made him feel more alone than ever — even lonelier than when Dennie and Sah'ot had departed early in the morning.
He hoped Takkata-Jim would follow orders and wait here until Streaker left. If he did, Gillian would call down as they blasted away, and warn him of the modifications that had been made to the longboat and this transmitter.
But what if Takkata-Jim were, indeed, a traitor? What if he took off early?
Charles Dart would probably be aboard then, as well as Ignacio Metz, three Stenos, and perhaps three or four Kiqui. Toshio wished none of them harm. It was an agonizing choice.
He looked up and saw Charles Dart happily muttering to himself as he played with his new robot.
Toshio shook his head, glad that the chimp, at least, was happy.
He slid into the water and swam over to his own sled. He had jettisoned its tiny radio an hour ago. He strapped himself in and turned on the motors.
He still had to make one more splice below the island. The old robot, the damaged probe Charles Dart had abandoned down near the bottom of the drill-tree shaft, had one last customer. Creideiki, hanging around Streaker's old site, still wanted to talk to Sah'ot's 'voices.' Toshio figured he owed the captain the favor, even if it did feel like he was humoring a delusion.
As the sled sank, Toshio thought about the rest of his job here… the things he might have to do before he could leave.
Let Tom Orley be waiting for me when I come back up, he wished fervently. That would solve everything. Let Mr. Orley be finished with his job up in the north, and land up there while I'm below.
Toshio smiled ironically And while you're at it, Ifni, why not throw in a giant fleet of good guys to clear the skies of baddies, hmmmm?
He descended down the narrow shaft, into the gloom.
'Drat! Triple hell! The line's dead. Toshio's already cut it.'
'Don't be overly alarmed.' The Niss spoke reassuringly. 'It is quite likely that Takkata-Jim confiscated all of the bombs. Did not Midshipman Iwashika report that he saw several being dismantled for fuel, as you expected?'
'Yes, and I told him not to worry about it. But it never occurred to me to ask him to count them. I was caught up in the minutiae of moving the ship, and I didn't think Charlie would do any real harm even if, by some chance, he managed to keep one!'
'Now, of course, we know better.'
Gillian looked up, wondering if the Tymbrimi machine was being tactful or obliquely sarcastic.
'Well,' she said, 'what's done is done. Whatever happens can't affect us here. I just hope we don't add a crime against a sentient race to our dubious record on this voyage.'
She sighed. 'Now, will you tell me again how all this is going to become some sort of legend?'
88 ::: Toshio
The connection was made. Now Creideiki could listen to the underground sounds to his heart's content. Toshio let the monofilament drop into the mud. He emptied ballast, and the sled rose in a spiral toward the drill-tree shaft.
When he surfaced, Toshio knew at once that something had changed. The second sled, the one belonging to Tom Orley, had been dragged up the steep embankment and lay on the sward to the south of the pool. Wires dangled from an open section in the control panel.
Charles Dart squatted by the water's edge. The chimp leaned forward with his finger to his lips.
Toshio cut the motors and loosened his straps. He sat up and looked about the clearing, but saw only the waving forest fronds.
Charlie said in A guttural whisper, ' I think Takkata-Jim and Metz are planning to take off soon, Toshio, with or without me.' Dart looked confused, as if dazed by the foolishness of the idea.
Toshio kept his expression guarded. 'What makes you think that, Dr. Dart?'
'As soon as you went down, two of Takkata-Jim's Stenos came to take that sled's radio. Also, when you were below, they tested the engines. They sounded kinda ragged at first, but they're working on 'em now. I think now they don't even care if you report back anymore.'
Toshio heard a soft growling sound to the south — a low whine that rose and fell unevenly.
A rustle of movement to the north caught his eye. He saw Ignacio Metz hurrying southward down the forest trail, carrying bundles of records. Behind him trooped four sturdy Kiqui volunteers from the village. Their air-sacks were puffed up proudly, but they obviously did not like approaching the rough engine noises. They carried crude bundles in front of them.
From the foliage, several dozen pairs of wide eyes watched the procession nervously.
Toshio listened to the sound of the engines, and wondered how much time was left. Takkata-Jim had finished recycling the bombs sooner than expected. Perhaps they had underestimated the dolphin lieutenant. How much else had he jury-rigged to make the longboat serviceable ahead of schedule?
Should I try to delay their takeoff? If I stay any longer it's unlikely I'd ever reach Streaker in tine.
'What about you, Dr. Dart? Are you ready to finish up and hop aboard when Takkata-Jim calls?'
Dart glanced to his console. He shook his head. 'I need another six hours,' he grumbled. 'Maybe we've got a common interest in delaying th' longboat takin' off. You got any ideas?'
Toshio considered.
Well, this is it, isn't it? This is where you decide. Leave now, if you plan to go at all.
Toshio exhaled deeply. Ah, well.
'If I think of a way to delay them for a while, Dr. Dart, will you help me? It may be a little risky.'
Dart shrugged. 'All I'm doin' right now is waiting for my 'bot to dig into the crust to bury a… an instrument. I'm free until then. What do I have to do?'
Toshio unhooked the monofilament feeder coil from his sled and cut the free end. 'Well, for starters I think we'll need someone to climb some trees.'
Charlie grimaced. 'Stereotypes,' he muttered to himself. 'Allatime gettin' trapped by stereotypes.'
89 ::: Gillian
She shook her head slowly. Maybe it was her tiredness, but she couldn't understand more than a fraction of the Niss machine's explanation. Every time she tried to get it to simplify some subtle point of Galactic tradition, it insisted on bringing in examples that only muddied things further.
She felt like a Cro-Magnon trying to understand the intrigues in the court of Louis XIV. The Niss seemed to be saying that Streakers discoveries would have consequences that reached beyond the immediate crisis over the derelict fleet. But the subtleties eluded her.
'Dr. Baskin.' The machine tried again. 'Every epoch has its turning point. Sometimes it occurs on the battlefield. Sometimes it takes the form of a technological advance. On occasion, the pivotal event is philosophical and so obscure that the species in existence at the time are hardly aware that anything has changed before their world-view is turned topsy-turvy around them.
'But often, very often, these upheavals are preceded by a legend. I know of no other Anglic word to use for it… a story whose images will stand out in the minds of almost all sophonts… a true story of prodigious deeds and powerful archetypal symbols, which presages the change to come.'
'You're saying we may become one of these legends?'
'That is what I am saying.'
Gillian could not remember ever feeling so small. She couldn't lift the weight of what the Niss was implying. Her duty to Earth and the lives of one hundred and fifty friends and crewmates were burdens enough.
