Ullis nodded. "He's gone crazy. He used loudspeakers to send an announcement all over the city. You had attacked without provocation and he'd been forced to kill you." She looked at me stonily for a moment. "Why would he say that when it wasn't true?"
"To stop you sending out a search party," I replied. "I know something he wants to keep secret."
"I still tried to find you," Ullis said, "but I couldn't get outside — Jelca's locked off the elevator."
"Don't worry," Tobit assured her. "The elevator isn't locked any more." Under his breath he added, "It's hard to lock anything that's been reduced to slag…"
"Where's Jelca now?" I asked.
"No one knows," Ullis replied. "And I haven't told you the worst part. He's rigged the whale. It's going to take off within the hour."
Responsibility
I gulped in surprise. "The ship is taking off?"
"It went into its launch cycle last night," Ullis said. "Things have been frantic since then."
"But surely someone can stop it."
"Jelca must have planned this a long time ago," Ullis replied. "He planted secret activation devices in almost every system on the ship. Disconnecting them safely will take more time than we have; and it would be disastrous if some systems fired while others didn't. We can always rip out wires till nothing on the whale works, but it would take so long to repair things afterward…" She shrugged. "Besides, half the Explorers don't want to stop the countdown. They say we're ready to go; they're glad Jelca stopped any further delays."
"So," I said, "you intended to fly off without worrying what Jelca was up to?"
"Some people have waited thirty years for this day, Festina. This is their only chance to get home. Besides," Ullis lowered her eyes, "I volunteered to stay behind. To find you and to deal with Jelca." She took a deep breath. "He is my partner."
"Was your partner," I told her. "And I'm the one who has to stay behind. I can't leave this planet, Ullis. It's too complicated to explain, but believe me, I can't go. I'll take care of things."
"You may need help—" Ullis began.
"No," I interrupted. "I don't want you. And don't you have useful things to do on the ship?"
She blinked. And blinked. "Some of the communication software is in rough shape." Her voice was a mumble, filled with guilt.
"You have to go." I laid my hand gently on her arm. "And I have to stay."
"Jelca's my responsibility…"
"He's mine now," I said. "You have duties on the ship. Go. Please."
She blinked again, twice, then kissed me and walked off slowly. The other Explorers followed on her heels.
First Things First
"That was fucking maudlin," Tobit announced in a loud voice.
"What are you still doing here, Phylar?"
"Keeping you company, Ramos. When you're all by yourself, you brood."
"Go with the others," I told him. "There's space for you on the ship — you can have the cabin I equipped for myself. Or take Jelca's cabin… he won't need it."
"First things first," Tobit replied. "They won't launch for a while, and there's no way I can contribute. On the other hand, I can help you carry this little lady to get recharged with her ancestors. That's what you want to do, isn't it?"
I patted his hairy shoulder. "Thank you, Phylar. You're a tribute to the Corps."
He belched deliberately. "A fucking humanitarian — that's me."
We found a cot in a nearby blockhouse and carried Oar up the central boulevard. The city surely had more than one tower where ancestors could rest their tired brains; but I aimed for the tower containing the Sperm generator. The odds were good Jelca was holed up there, waiting for the whale to take off. Once it was gone…
I couldn't guess whether he would activate the generator as soon as the Explorers left, or put it on a delay circuit so he had time to take shelter elsewhere. Was he suicidal or not? If he turned on the generator immediately, he would die — either sucked directly into space or pulped by the windstorm that would result when air started spewing into the vacuum. But maybe Jelca didn't mind dying, as long as he got his "revenge"; and the sooner he put his plan into effect, the less time I had to stop him. He knew I was alive. Considering the monstrous explosion when Tobit and I blasted our way in, he might guess I'd gotten past the unworking elevator.
Then again, the walls of the tower were opaque; and for all the explosion's destructive power, it hadn't made much noise…
Maybe he didn't know I was coming. Maybe. But I couldn't take that chance. I had to assume he might activate the generator as soon as the ship was clear of the roof doors. That gave me less than an hour to stop him.
Sateen
I told Tobit to wait with Oar outside the tower. "Afraid of booby traps?" he asked.
"Yes." I stepped inside the building. Nothing went boom. On the other hand, Jelca's radiation suit wasn't in its hiding place. He had to be wearing it, and watching over his doomsday machine on the top floor.
"All clear," I told Tobit as I came back out. "We'll run Oar inside, then you hightail it back to the ship."
"What are you going to do?"
"Jelca's on the top floor. I'm going to pay him a visit."
"Dressed like that?" He snorted in disbelief. "You know how many rads these damned towers produce? It's one thing to duck in for a second then duck out again — that's no worse than having a few X-rays taken. But if you mosey in, ride the elevator, and spend a few minutes handing Jelca his ass… you won't have a working blood cell left in your body, Ramos. Hell, by the time you get to Jelca, you may not be able to stay on your feet. The only consolation is that the radiation burns will keep your mind off the radiation sickness."
"Wait here," I told him; and I ran into Jelca's home next door. Moments later I ran out again, my arms full of the shimmering shirts and pants I'd seen tossed around Jelca's room. "Radiation gear," I announced, throwing a bundle at him. "Suit up."
Shirt, pants, socks, and gloves. It would have been nice to find a balaclava for head covering, but there was nothing like that. As a substitute, I started wrapping a shirt around my face; but Tobit pulled it away and handed me his helmet. "Happy birthday," he said.
"This is the second birthday present you've given me."
"And I'm keeping count," he replied. "You're going to owe me big, Ramos." He tossed a wad of cloth haphazardly over his own face, proclaimed, "I can't see shit," then stumped back to where Oar lay.
He looked ridiculous-dressed in silver tinsel, the shirt so tight over his belly I could see the indentation of his navel as his gut strained against the fabric. When I put on his helmet, it smelled of rotgut and vomit, almost strong enough to turn my stomach… yet I said to him, "You're a gentleman and Explorer, Phylar."
"Don't turn mushy on me, Ramos." He picked up his end of Oar's cot. "Let's move."
Obstacles
We placed Oar in the center of the first room — right where she'd get the most light. Her body relaxed as the radiation began pouring into her… as if the warmth had already started to ease her pain. Still, she showed no signs of consciousness, and I could hear the ugly crackling in her lungs each time she took a breath. Gently I arranged her body, flat on her back with arms outspread, like a flower open to the sun; then I laid her axe beside her, just as ancient warriors would lie in their tombs with weapons close at hand.
"It's not a fucking burial!" Tobit groaned. "Stop wasting time."