Part 34 (1/2)

”Which I presume is theoretically impossible?”

Kosta nodded again. ”Extremely so.”

Forsythe held Kosta's eyes another moment, then turned back to the hatchway display. Chandris and

Ornina were visible there, standing helplessly back out of the way as the medics got Hanan's

stretcher into the ambulance. ”Is there any way to get independent evidence?””I think so,” Kosta said. ”If Angelma.s.s's gravitational field was somehow being polarized toward the Gazelle, then the other hunters.h.i.+ps operating around it should have registered a drop in gravity at their positions. Not a big one-the Gazelle didn't get all that much of a boost. But again, it'll show up as a discrepancy between their inertial systems and the beacons. And it ought to be measurable.”

”Can you get copies of those records?”

”Yes, but not for a while,” Kosta said. ”Most of the hunters.h.i.+ps will be staying out for at least a couple more days, and the Inst.i.tute won't get their recordings until they return to Seraph.”

Forsythe nodded slowly. ”Perhaps Central can get them faster. They could contact the hunters.h.i.+ps directly, pull copies of their data, and then laser it all back here.”

”It won't hurt to ask, anyway,” Kosta agreed.

”I'll see what the government center can do,” Forsythe said. ”You'll be at the Inst.i.tute later?”

”Ah-yes,” Kosta said, frowning. From the way the High Senator had talked earlier-for that matter, the whole reason he'd been aboard the Gazelle in the first place- Forsythe might have been reading his mind. ”There's no way I can keep my presence on Seraph a secret anymore,” he told Kosta. ”Aside from all this, I need to take Ronyon to the hospital and have him checked over.”

Kosta felt a twinge of guilt. Preoccupied first with the Gazelle and then with Hanan, he'd completely forgotten Ronyon's near-collapse before all this had started. ”Yes-Ronyon. How is he?”

”Resting in his cabin,” Forsythe said. ”He seems to have gotten over that panic attack, though that could just be the sedative Ornina gave him. I'll collect him and we'll get off.”

Behind them, the door opened and Chandris walked in. ”How is he?” Kosta asked her, glancing at the hatchway display in time to see the ambulance drive off.

”He's all right for now,” she said tiredly. ”Whether he's going to stay that way they don't know yet. I've got to get the s.h.i.+p off the strip and back to the yard.”

”I'll get out of your way, then,” Forsythe said, standing up. He glanced at the hatchway display, now showing free of reporters, and moved toward the door. ”Mr. Kosta, I'll contact you at the Inst.i.tute.”

He left, the control room door sliding shut behind him. ”What was that all about?” Chandris asked as she began shutting down the Gazelle's systems.

”Something strange is happening with Angelma.s.s,” Kosta told her. ”I don't think I should talk about it right now.”

”Fine with me,” Chandris said, her thoughts clearly elsewhere. ”So you two are getting together later?”

Kosta opened his mouth... closed it again. It had been a perfectly casual question, asked in a perfectly casual way. But this was Chandris, and he was slowly learning that with Chandris you always had to look beneath the surface. And in this case, below the surface meant-”You still gunning for that angel?”

She turned to look at him, her eyes suddenly hard and cold and far older than they had any right to be. ”Don't get in my way, Kosta,” she said quietly. ”I mean that.”

”Stealing Forsythe's angel isn't going to solve anything,” he said. ”All it'll do is get you in trouble.””Only if I get caught,” she countered. ”Anyway, why do you care if I get in trouble?””I don't know,” he shot back. ”Probably because you'll drag Hanan and Ornina down with you, and I don't want them getting hurt. That's not why I'm here.”

For a long moment Chandris just looked at him, an unreadable expression on her face. ”Look,” she

said at last. ”They need money. Desperately. What do you expect me to do, just sit around and watch them go under?”

”Of course not,” Kosta said. ”But there has to be some other way to raise money than by stealing

Forsythe's angel.”

”How?” Chandris demanded. ”Sell something? Look around you-they haven't got anything of value. Except-never mind.”

”Except what?” Kosta asked.

Her lip twisted in obvious annoyance with herself. ”They've got a second angel stashed away in the

storage room,” she said. ”But don't tell them I told you-no one's supposed to know about it.”

Kosta frowned. ”They've got a second angel? Why haven't they sold it?”

Chandris shrugged. ”Maybe it helps them stay on good terms with each other. I asked you once

whether angels could do that kind of thing, remember?”

Back when they'd first run into each other at the Inst.i.tute. ”Yes,” Kosta murmured, his thoughts racing. A spare angel... ”How long have they had it?”

”A couple of years at least. Maybe more. Why?”

Kosta shook his head. ”Just curious.”

From somewhere forward of them came a dull thud. ”That's the tow car connecting up,” Chandris

said, turning back to her board. ”You've got about two minutes to get off if you don't want to ride all the way back to the Yard.”

Kosta shook himself out of this thoughts. ”Right,” he said, getting to his feet. ”I'll be in touch.” ”I'll be at the hospital later if you need me,” she told him distractedly, her attention back on her work. Okay.

He paused at the door and looked back at her. A spare angel. A spare angel, moreover, that had spent a good deal of time since its capture in the vicinity of Angelma.s.s. ”Say h.e.l.lo to Hanan and Ornina for me,” he added to Chandris before ducking out into the corridor.

Because there was a good chance he wouldn't make it anywhere near the hospital himself tonight. A very good chance indeed.

The Gazelles service yard was dark when Kosta returned that night, in marked contrast to several nearby yards whose outside lights were blazing brightly as hunters.h.i.+p crews worked to prepare for early-morning launches. The Gazelle itself was sealed, but that was no problem: on that first trip out, Ornina had given him the combination for the exterior lock.

Inside, it was even darker than the yard outside, with only the dim night panels giving a ghostly glow to the corridors. For a long moment Kosta stood just inside the hatchway, listening for sounds of life. But there was nothing. Obviously, Chandris and the Daviees were still at the hospital.