His feet didn’t quite touch the deck. The station AI needed adjustment.
Panels opened in the table, and we were looking at two glasses of red wine and a bowl of assorted cheeses and fresh fruit. “Please, help yourselves.”
“Thank you.” I picked up a slice of melon. It looked just off the farm, tasted that way as well, and I wondered how they managed it.
“Your ship will be ready in one hour, ten minutes,” he said. “To get to the gift shop, simply go out the door, turn right, and follow the corridor. It’s about a threeminute walk. Do you require any other assistance?”
“No, thank you, Captain,” I said, trying the wine.
“I regret I can’t join you.” The avatar graciously let me see that I’d gained an admirer.
Alex crossed one leg over the other. “May I ask how old you are, Captain?”
Pinchot was sitting ramrod straight. “The station has been here sixteen-hundred forty-one standard years.”
“No. I mean you, Captain. How long have you been the operating intelligence here?”
The avatar tapped his index finger against his lips, apparently deep in thought. “I was installed in 1321 on your calendar.” A little more than a century ago. “I was an upgrade.”
“Are you familiar with the Polaris incident? With the loss of that ship?”
“You mean with the loss of the travelers aboard her?”
“Yes. I see that you are.”
“I’m familiar with the details.”
“Captain, we’re trying to determine what might have happened.”
“Excellent. I hope you succeed. It was, certainly, a puzzling incident.” He gazed around the room. “One of the search vessels stopped here shortly after it happened.
I’m not sure what they expected to find.”
Apparently, someone else had been thinking the way Alex had.
“You know who the seven victims were?” Alex asked. “The ones who vanished?”
“I know their names. And I knew one personally.”
“Really,” I said. “Which one?”
“Nancy White.”
“You’re suggesting she visited here?”
“Yes. Twice.”
“Physically?”
“Oh, yes. She sat right there where the young lady is.”
“I see,” said Alex. “Did you by any chance see her again after the incident?”
“ After the incident? Oh, my, no.”
“Did you have any visitors at all during the time period, say, three weeks on either side of the event?”
“We had one ship during that span. Did you wish specifics?”
“Yes, please.”
We listened while Captain Pinchot gave us chapter and verse. The vessel had been returning from the Veiled Lady and docked seventeen days before the Polaris incident. “En route to Toxicon.”
Alex looked thoughtful. “When was Nancy White here?”
“In 1344. And again in 1362.”
“Twice.”
“Yes. She told me the first time that she would come back to see me again.”
“She must have been quite young. The first time.”
“She was about nineteen. Scarcely more than a child.” Something mournful had entered his aspect.
“Tell us about it,” said Alex.
“She and her father were passengers aboard the Milan, which was returning from a survey mission. The father was an astrophysicist.”
Alex nodded.
“He specialized in neutron star formation, although the mission was a routine survey effort.”
“Just see what’s out there.”
“Yes. There were six of them on board, not including the captain. Like the Polaris. They’d been out five months and had stretched their supplies until they were exhausted.”
“So they stopped here before going on to Indigo,” I said.
“Indigo was closed down at the time, Ms. Kolpath. Undergoing maintenance.
This was all there was.”
“What did you talk about?” I asked. “You and Nancy?”
“Nothing of consequence. She was excited because she had never been off Rimway before, and her first flight had taken her so far.”
“And she came back to see you years later. Why do you think she did that?”
“Actually we maintained contact during the intervening years, and in fact right up until the time she boarded the Polaris. ”
“Really? She sent messages from Rimway?”
“Oh, yes. Not often. But occasionally. We stayed in touch.” The avatar looked from Alex to me. He seemed lonely.
“May I ask what you talked about?”
“What she was doing with her life. Projects she was involved in. There were practical advantages for her. When her career as a popularizer of science began to take off, I served as a symbol for some of her presentations.”
“A symbol?”
“Yes. Sometimes she used me to represent an advanced life-form. Sometimes a competitor. Sometimes an indispensable friend. I served quite well. Would you care to watch one of the shows?”
“Yes,” I said. “If you could make a copy available.”
“We have several selections in the gift shop,” he said. “Priced quite reasonably.”
It occurred to me that one of the books, Quantum Time, was dedicated to a Meriwether Pinchot. “That’s you, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” There was no missing the note of pride in his voice.
“Captain,” Alex said, “the Polaris passed close to this station during the final flight. She must have thought of you.”
The avatar nodded. “Yes. In fact, I had two messages from her.”
“I don’t suppose either of them shed light on what happened?”
“Unfortunately not. The last time I heard from her was shortly after the event they went to observe. After the neutron star hit Delta Kay. She described it to me.
Told me it was ‘compelling.’ That’s the word she used. Compelling. I would have thought witnessing the destruction of a sun called for a stronger reaction, but she was never much on hyperbole.” He looked momentarily wistful. “That was a good many hours before Madeleine English sent that last message.”
“What else did she have to say?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary. On the way out she’d told me how anxious she was to see the collision. To see the neutron star actually destroy Delta Karpis. She said she wished I could be there with her.”
Alex looked at me. He was finished. “Captain,” I said, “thank you.”
“It is my pleasure. I don’t often get to sit down with guests. People come so seldom, and they don’t have time to talk. Fill the tanks, recharge the generators, thank you and good-bye.”
“Well, Captain,” I said. “I want you to know I’m pleased to have met you, and to have had a chance to spend a little time with you.”
“Thank you, Ms. Kolpath.” He beamed. Even the uniform got brighter.
It was good to be out of the Belle-Marie for a bit, and we decided to spend the night.
There was a suite of rooms in an area the AI referred to as the Gallery. He showed us to them, chattering the whole way. “I have a wide choice of entertainment, if you like.
Drama, athletic events, wild parties. Whatever you prefer. Or, we can simply sit and talk.”
“Thanks, Captain,” I said.
“The parties sound intriguing,” said Alex.
“You may design whatever guests you wish. We also have an inventory of historic figures, if you’d like to participate in some stimulating conversations.”
Tea with Julius Caesar.
“The keys for your rooms are at the doors. Please be sure you return them before you leave.”
The keys were remotes. Alex reached into a pocket, produced the one we’d found at Evergreen, and compared them. They didn’t look much alike.
I collected mine, aimed it, and pressed the open function. The door folded to one side, revealing a living room. Alex showed the duplicate to the avatar. “Captain,” he said, “sixty years ago, would this key have worked on this station?”
The captain examined it and shook his head. “No,” he said. “Setting and design are quite different.”
I stuck my head into my apartment. Lush curtains, polished furniture, chocolate on the coffee table. A large bed piled high with pillows. Private washroom and tub.
Not bad.
“If you elect to stay five days or more,” said the avatar, “the fifth night is free.”