“He was right. Enormously valuable, but also enormously difficult to collect from the extended pockets of gas where they are found in the Messina Dust Cloud. A deposit of solid stable transuranics is a prospector’s dream. Brewster had found traces of such a thing, here on Solferino. That’s what the kits you were using were designed to test for. I know, because I checked late last night. That story about alkaloids was pure nonsense. Brewster knew pretty much where the deposits were, around the Avernus Fissure, but the more details he had on location, the better the deal he could make with Unimine. And Josh hit the jackpot.”
“But I was testing plants, “Josh protested. “Not for those stable transuranic things.”
“I know. But there is a branch of science called geobotany. It is a way of looking for minerals by knowing that certain plants will only grow in their presence or absence, and sometimes by knowing that the plants themselves concentrate particular minerals in their leaves and stems. I will bet my next year’s paycheck that Sol Brewster’s technical field is geobotany. You were testing plants, but you were actually looking for selected minerals. Of course, once Brewster had a strong enough geobotanical signal, he could go to that point and use ordinary mineral exploration methods. That’s why you started testing with plants, but switched to soil samples when the location was pinpointed accurately enough. And that’s the answer to my questions five and six.”
“But I still don’t get it,” Sig said. “He wanted to make a deal with Unimine. I understand that. But why did he have to kill us? Why did he have to murder everyone who was already on Solferino?”
Winnie was ready to answer, but Ruby had begun to cry. All the talk of death and murder was too much for her. Sapphire looked at Sig reproachfully.
“See what you’ve done?” She put her arms more tightly around her sister. “Don’t cry, Rube. We’re all safe now. Aren’t we, Winnie?”
“Perfectly safe.” Winnie went across and put her own arms around Sapphire. “Brewster won’t be waking up for a long time, and I’ll make sure he’s tied up nice and tight. There will be people coming here from Unimine at some point, and I’ll have to work out a way to make sure they don’t cause trouble—some of them probably realize what Brewster has been up to, and maybe they’ve even been helping him. But Unimine won’t come here at night. Tonight you can all relax. There’ll be no more surprises.”
As she was saying the final word, a loud banging came on the outside of the locked dining-room door. Winnie started up and turned in that direction. No one had to ask if she was frightened or worried. Her tense body posture said it all.
There would be more shocks before the evening was over—and Winnie had no more idea than anyone else what they might be.
Chapter Eighteen
The trainees sat frozen as the banging came again on the closed door. Only Winnie Carlson had the nerve to stand up, walk over to it, and call “Who’s there?”
“It’s us,” said an impatient voice from outside. “Come on! Why do you have the door locked?”
Everyone gasped in relief, and Winnie leaned forward and rested her head for a moment on the frame as if she were praying. “Just a second, Topaz. I’m doing it.” She worked the lock with fingers that trembled a little, and opened the door. “Come on in, girl.”
“We can’t yet.” Topaz had backed up until she was standing a few feet away. “You’ll have to dim the lights first.”
“Why?” But Winnie gestured to Josh, who went and reduced the room lighting to a lower level.
“That enough?” he said.
“A little bit more,” Topaz said from outside. “Bright lights are bad. That should be enough, though, you can hold it there.” She moved inside, turned, and stood waiting. She was filthy and her clothes were torn and ragged, but she had a smile on her face. “Come on,” she said in a coaxing voice. “Come on in.”
Two figures entered side by side. One of them was Dawn. Unlike Topaz, she seemed as fresh and clean as if she had just bathed and dressed. She was smiling, too. Under her left arm she carried a big sketch pad. Her right hand held the paw of an animal that stood on its hind legs and slowly walked with her into the dimly lit room.
A few feet inside the door, Dawn sat down cross-legged on the floor. The animal sank onto its haunches beside her.
“I told you that a rupert has eyes!” Ruby said. “Maybe now you’ll believe me.”
Everyone stared at the strange newcomer. Fully upright, it was maybe four feet tall. Most of that was body, because all four limbs were short and stubby. The gray, beadlike scales that covered the torso suggested a family relationship to both the bodger and the spangle. Like the bodger, the front of the rupert’s face carried a long, flexible trunk. Each side of the sleek head sprouted great winglike ears of iridescent blue and white. Those organs were in constant motion, turning from side to side.
There were also major differences from both spangles and bodgers. The most noticeable one was the eyes, black and beady and somehow too small for the rest of the head. They appeared to be fixed in their field of view. Although the ears turned to face and examine different members of the group in the dining area—the rupert seemed as interested in the humans as they were in it—the little dark eyes moved only with the whole head.
Josh looked at the paw that Dawn was holding, and saw that it had three short fingers and no thumb. He also noticed, for the first time, a thin strap that ran around the rupert’s middle and had hanging from it a bulging pouch about six inches square.
He stood up and pointed to it. “He’s got a carrying bag! That’s a sign of intelligence, if anything is. I told you ruperts weren’t just animals.”
“His ‘carrying bag,’ as you call it,” Topaz said coldly, “happens to be her purse. Ruperts are like humans. The females are smarter than the males. And she’s really shy, so keep your voice down.”
Topaz probably had more to say, but as she was speaking she had moved closer to Josh and noticed for the first time Sol Brewster, lying unconscious and shielded by the table. Her mouth opened wide. She pointed without saying another word.
“I know, I know.” Winnie sighed. “We have lots to tell you, and you must have at least as much to tell us. Why don’t we prepare some food, and then we’ll talk? I think this is going to be a long night.”
“Why not eat that?” Topaz pointed to the still-simmering pot and the great heap of rice, both of which had been ignored for the past half hour. She looked again at Brewster’s body, which was lying face down. “Is it the food? Did he get food poisoning?”
“No, it’s not the food,” Winnie said. “I did that to him. But we can’t eat the food over there because it may be poisoned.”
Topaz stared at her, wide-eyed, and sank onto a seat next to Josh. “I thought Dawn and I were the ones with a story to tell. I guess I was wrong.”
“I believe we both do.” Winnie turned to Rick. “Can you rustle something up quick? Nothing fancy, and while it’s getting ready I’ll try to explain things to Topaz and Dawn.”
“Easy.” But Rick looked doubtfully at Topaz. “Unless I have to feed him, too.”
“Her,” Topaz said emphatically. “But it’s all right. Ruperts won’t eat our food, any more than we’ll eat theirs. She’ll go outside and get something if she wants it. She has a name, by the way. Dawn?”
Dawn nodded and picked up the sketchpad. She drew on it a series of marks, like little kites and darts and dashes. The rupert studied what she was doing, and after a few seconds made a clicking, hissing sound, followed by a high-pitched whistle.