“But this is their lander,” said Josh. “Won’t they ask for it back?”
“They might—they have that much gall. But they won’t ask us for it. They’ll have their lawyers make the claim, back Sol-side. And you know what? The terrible thing is, they’ll probably win the case.” Winnie set the lander to fly on autopilot, and turned in her seat. “All right back there?”
“I’m all right, but I think Saph has gone to sleep.”
“Best thing that could happen. She won’t want to be awake when we set that arm.”
“She saved your life, didn’t she? My life, too.”
“All our lives, Sig and Ruby and everyone else. If Unimine had killed Brewster and the three of us, they’d have realized that he hadn’t done the job he said he’d do. They’d have been forced to hunt down and dispose of everyone. Sapphire showed a lot better instincts than I did, and after she was burned you took over like a trained professional. I’m going to make sure you two get full credit in my report. You were supersmart, and superquick to do the right thing.”
“Will Solferino really be put under SDSI quarantine?” As always, praise embarrassed Josh.
“It will. Even without Unimine, the probable existence of an intelligent alien species would ensure that.”
“It’s not probable—it’s definite.”
“Definite for us. It still has to be proved to everyone else. This is going to be an interesting few months. Unimine may not say a word, but Foodlines is sure to scream. They’ll insist that ruperts are animals, and Foodlines’ development rights have been taken away. They’re as bad in their way as Unimine, you know. They would have been quite happy to wipe out the whole rupert species. It will be our job to prove that Gussie and her relatives are too smart to be thought of as animals.”
“And what about us—me and Topaz and the other trainees?”
“You can go home. You’ve earned it, every one of you. It won’t happen at once—I have to be sure it’s safe—but as soon as we have SDSI ships here to navigate the node network, you’ll be able to go home to your families. Doesn’t that sound great?”
“Yes.” Josh leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. Go home. To where? To a mother who didn’t want him? To an aunt who couldn’t wait to send him and her “retarded” stepdaughter as far away from Earth as possible? And what about Sig and his brothers, or Sapphire and her sisters? Their parents had been as bad, or worse.
“That’s good.” Winnie misinterpreted Josh’s action. “You take it easy, have a nap if you can. You’ve had more than enough shocks for one day.”
Josh opened his eyes. “Suppose I don’t want to go?”
“What?”
“Suppose some of us want to stay on Solferino.”
“Well, that’s more complicated.” Winnie blinked. “You couldn’t remain as Foodlines trainees, because once the ruperts are established as intelligent, the Foodlines development franchise will be scrapped. On the other hand, you seem to be the only communication link with the ruperts. That may make you eligible to work with Earth’s government. I certainly think you ought to have a say in where you go, and what you do—but I’m afraid I’m not in charge.”
She turned back to the controls, as Josh’s eyes once more closed. “It will also depend on what the other trainees say. We can’t decide anything now, but you’ll have to stay here anyway until I’ve been Sol-side and explained what happened. Why don’t you talk to each other after I’m gone, and see what you all want?”
It was not much of an answer; but Josh suspected that it was the best one that he was going to get.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sig emerged from the lander as Grisel was going down in a red blaze of glory. “Two more days,” he announced, “and Winnie says she’ll be here with a team of observers. She says everything went great Sol-side, and she gave Sapphire and Josh the credit for saving everyone. Now it’s up to us to decide what we want.”
The whole group had congregated outside. The evenings were growing cool, but no one was willing to miss the daily appearance of the ruperts. Gussie and family slept during the day, and were not about to change that. Sunset was the best time for meetings.
The ruperts had also made it clear to Dawn that they would not travel by lander. As a result, the camp had become the base of operations. At first there had been some misgivings. It took the colder evenings to make the warmth of the Avernus Fissure more of a blessing than a threat.
Tonight, however, as though to make the point that Solferino’s weather could be every bit as fickle as Earth’s, the air was balmy and pleasant and gave no hint of approaching winter. Everyone was sitting in a circle, with Sapphire holding court in the middle. In the three weeks since Brewster’s death the small burns inflicted on her face and hands by the disintegrating windshield had disappeared, but she still had a cast on her arm. She was forced to rely on others to help her. It gave secret and special satisfaction to Topaz and her sisters to know that for the first time ever, Big Sister depended on them to look after her.
Sig walked across to sit at Sapphire’s side. “So what do we tell Winnie when she gets here? It’s going to be our call.”
He was talking to everyone, but nobody answered. Although Sapphire was at the center, the people around her had split into separate groups. Rick and Hag were sitting on the ground and devising their latest masterpiece, a meal made entirely from ingredients collected on Solferino. Amy and Ruby had volunteered to be taste testers, and were looking on dubiously at the preparation process. Ruby finally said, “Look, if it’s gross, I won’t do it. You can eat it yourselves.”
“If it’s gross,” Hag said. “I won’t want it.”
“Rick and Amy will. They’ll eat anything.”
Amethyst swiped at her sister. Rick scowled, but he didn’t deny it.
On the opposite side of the circle, Topaz was talking to Dawn while Josh watched and worried. Suppose the other Karpov sisters decided to go back to Earth? Then Topaz would surely leave, too; but Dawn wanted to stay with Gussie; and Topaz was far better than Josh or anyone else at talking to Dawn. And Josh had to stay with his cousin. But he wanted to be with Topaz, too.
Dawn suddenly turned away from Topaz. “G-ss-ee coming,” she said, with no doubt in her voice.
Everyone stopped what they were doing. Josh looked around, and saw nothing. “Where?”
But Dawn was again taking no notice of anything. She was carefully inscribing something in a bare patch of red soil. When she was finished, she picked up a handful of the powdery grit that she had scraped away and examined it closely.
“Earth,” she said. “Right?”
“That’s earth all right,” said Topaz. “In your hand. And it’s red. You know that word, too.”
Dawn gave her a puzzled look. “Earth!” she said again, with great emphasis. She pointed down.
Topaz gasped. “Look, Josh. Everybody!”
In the dirt, Dawn had carefully written five letters: E—A—R—T—H.
“She’s writing, and spelling.” Topaz looked around in triumph. “I told you she would, if we only gave her a decent chance! Dawn, you’re wonderful.”
But Dawn still looked puzzled. “Earth?” she said again. Now she lifted her hand, and allowed the dusty red soil to trickle out onto the ground.
Sig and Sapphire looked not at Dawn, but at each other. “I think she’s right,” Sapphire said.