Part 5 (2/2)
”I'd say so.”
”I'm sorry to hear you feel that way-”
Basil shrugged. ”It doesn't much matter now, does it? He came across a couple of lost settlements. By us, of course. Humans. One of them was two or three thousand years old. I mean, it really went back. In both cases the people were gone. But there was no real mystery about it. He knew from the design of the places that they hadn't been aliens. And that was it. They could have been played as major successes, I guess. But he wasn't interested.”
”How did he get interested in the search, Basil? Do you know?”
Basil shrugged. ”Who the h.e.l.l knows what drives anybody? I think he was lonely. I think he was fed up with us, with his family, and went looking for somebody else.”
”Most people would look for another woman.”
”Yeah, they would.” Basil got up and walked to the window. I couldn't see anything out there except trees and snow in the gray light.
”Did you ever go with him?”
”On one of the missions?” He had to think about it. ”When I was a boy I went once. We were away for a couple of months. My mother wasn't very happy about it. It might even have been one of the reasons they called it off. The marriage, I mean.” He started for the kitchen. ”Betty Ann, would you like something to drink?”
”Something hot would be nice.” She put her hands on the arms of her chair, as if about to get up. ”You want me to get it, Basil?”
”Sure,” he said. ”If you don't mind. How about your friends?”
”What do you have?” asked Alex.
”Not much,” Betty Ann said, without having to look. ”Beer. Corfu. Or I can make you a mickey munson.” She glanced back at Basil. ”You have some left?”
”Yeah.”
”The munson sounds good,” said Alex.
”What are you you having?” I asked her. having?” I asked her.
”Coffee.”
”I'll do that, too.”
”I'd like a beer, Bet,” Basil said.
She disappeared into the kitchen, and for a minute or so afterward, we listened to cabinet doors opening and gla.s.ses and cups clinking. ”He was still relatively young when he died,” I said.
”A hundred and thirty-nine. Yeah. It was a pity.”
”Did he often go out alone?”
”Pretty regularly, from what I hear. He'd retired a couple of years earlier. And he was in a dismal mood after that. I don't think he cared much for company after his retirement. In fact, he never cared for it that much anyhow. He wasn't what you'd call a social guy.”
”Do you know why? Why the bleak mood?”
”I think because he'd given up.”
”I wonder if he knew there was a storm coming.”
”That wouldn't have bothered my father. He thought he was immortal. He ate the wrong stuff. Never went to see a doctor. If he knew about the storm, he might have thought it would add some excitement. I know I shouldn't say this about my own dad, but I don't think he was the smartest guy on the planet.”
”You ever mention any of this to him?”
”A couple of times. He'd tell me I was worrying too much.”
”I'm sorry,” I said.
”I know. Everybody's sorry. He could have sidestepped it easily enough. Just show a little sense. But it's the way I remember him. He was always just going out the door. One way or another.”
”It must have been hard on you.”
”I never understood what my mom saw in him.” He was quiet for a minute, apparently deciding whether to go any further. ”When he was home, it didn't make much difference.”
”How do you mean?”
”He was still away. He didn't have time for me. For us.” There was something in his voice that suggested a deeper sorrow than he was willing to admit.
”You were the only child?” I asked.
”Yes.”
”Did he want you to follow in his footsteps?”
”Chase, I don't think he could have cared less.” His brow wrinkled.
”Well, maybe that's not really quite accurate. Once or twice, when I was a kid, I told him I'd I'd go find the aliens if he didn't. I don't think I ever meant it, but it seemed like the right thing to say.” go find the aliens if he didn't. I don't think I ever meant it, but it seemed like the right thing to say.”
”And his reaction?”
”He advised me to stay away from it. Told me it would break my heart.”
Betty Ann stuck her head out of the kitchen: ”Basil, didn't you tell me once that he approved of your lifestyle?”
Basil looked at her and laughed. ”That's true, actually. A few weeks before he died, he told me not to work too hard. I was thinking about a career in medicine.” He laughed again, louder this time. ”He told me the secret of life.”
Alex leaned forward. ”Which is?”
”Enjoy thyself. Live for the moment.”
”That's a surprise.”
” 'Just buy a place somewhere, settle in, and live off the allotment. Enjoy the time you have. Because in the end, nothing else matters.' That's not verbatim, of course. But it's what he said.”
Betty Ann brought in the drinks. The coffee tasted good. Cold air was leaking into the cabin. Basil saw me wrap my arms around myself. He got up, threw another log into the fire, poked the flames, and drew the curtains. ”That always helps,” he said.
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