"Quite well, Captain McKell, thank you," he whistled, peering closely at me.
"I understand you have not had such fair fortune, however."
"I've been worse," I assured him. "Looks like Ixil will be on engine-room dutyfor lift; I'd like you to stay back there with him in case he needsassistance.
We did get fueled, didn't we?"
"Loaded and topped off and paid for," Ixil assured me. "Easily enough to getwhere we're going."
"Good," I said, putting one foot on the bottom rung of the ladder and takingone last look around. There were no Patth or Iykams anywhere to be seen. Nor, forthat matter, were there any police or customs officials visible, either. Butthen, now that the last onion layer had been peeled away, that didn'tespeciallysurprise me. "Let's do it."
CHAPTER 22
THE FIVE-DAY TRIP to Beyscrim was the longest jump at one stretch that we'dtried yet with the Icarus. We paid the price for such daring, too, to the tuneof three hull ridges and a pair of hairline cracks. Each required from two tosix hours of outside work; together, they added nearly a full day to ourtravel time.
The most frustrating part, at least to some of the more impatient members ofthe crew, was that it was no longer clear whether such repair work was evennecessary, given what we now knew about the true nature of the Icarus. Thecracks and ridges were only in the outer-hull plating that Cameron's peoplehad layered over the artifact sphere, and there was no indication that the alienmetal beneath was being affected in the slightest by the hyperspace pressureit was being subjected to. There were several lively discussions about that, infact, most of them occurring while Chort and Ixil were busy outside with thelatest repair job. But the arguments presented were for the most partcompletelymoot. I voted to continue stopping for repairs, whether they were necessary ornot, and no one else got a vote.
It wasn't simply caution, though, or even a lack of faith in the Icarus'soriginal designers. Despite Everett's assurance that his doctor friend wasabove reproach, we were heading into a largely unknown situation on a completelyunknown world. With three of us qualifying as walking wounded—four if youcounted Shawn's medical problems—I figured the more recovery time we had alongthe way, the better.
Still, I had to admit that our first pass by Beyscrim showed the place to bepretty much as advertised. The planet boasted just five public spaceports, none of them up to even Meima's casual standards, with the coordinates Everett'sfriend had supplied reading halfway up a mountain and very literally in themiddle of nowhere. The automated landing system guided us in to a group offive pads about three hundred meters west and slightly downslope from themansion-sized lodge itself, the pad cluster edged in turn on its downslopeside by an extensive range of bushy blue-green trees. I chose the pad closest tothe trees, setting us down parallel to them and as close to their outstretchedbranches as I could manage, remembering first to rotate the ship so that thehatchway was on the open, non-tree side facing the lodge.
Tera questioned my choice of placement, pointing out that resting so close tothe edge of an artificially built-up landing area was an invitation todisaster should the Icarus's weight cause the edge to collapse. Everett was equallycritical of my landing site, except that his argument was that I'd chosen thepad farthest from the lodge, thereby putting us an extra hundred meters fromthe comforts we all hoped were waiting for us up there. I pointed out to Tera thatthe idea was for the trees to provide us at least a little bit of visual coverfrom any aircraft that happened to pass overhead; to Everett, I ratherungraciously suggested that if after several days of rest the walk was stilltoo much for him, he was welcome to stay aboard while the rest of us checked theplace out. That was exactly what he did, though he phrased it more along thelines of standing guard over the ship than of anything so childish as a fit ofsulking or pique. I accepted his offer, pretended also to accept his rationalefor it, and together the rest of us trooped on up through the cool afternoonair to the lodge.
I'd noted on the way in that the lodge was good-sized, but I hadn't realizedjust how extensive the place actually was. Besides the main rectangularsection running parallel to the landing area, there was also a full wing extendingback from the middle toward the mountain itself, giving the building an overallT-shape. How I'd missed that back wing I didn't know, except to assume thatthe rough-cut slate roofing had blended so well into the rocky slope beyond that Ihadn't realized it was part of the lodge. Beyscrim, I decided, must be afantastically popular place at the height of the tourist season.
The size of the lodge also meant that the six of us—or seven, whenever Everettdeigned to join us—would have the chance to get seriously lost from eachother.
After the forced intimacy we'd created by ripping out the Icarus's decks andcabins, the thought of a little personal privacy was something the whole crewwas definitely champing at the bit for. I thought about keeping us alltogetherat least long enough to check out the public areas of the lodge for signs ofrecent occupancy, but when I offered the suggestion Tera made it clear thatshe wasn't interested in anyone else's company for a couple of hours at least.
Snagging the key for one of the guest rooms—old-fashioned permanent keys wereapparently part of the rustic atmosphere of the place—she headed off to getsome sleep on a real bed. Shawn and Nicabar took her cue and picked out rooms oftheir own, while Chort headed instead to the kitchen area to see what sort offood might be available. Giving up, I sent Ixil with him and then headed backoutside onto the lodge's wide front portico.
It had been late afternoon when we'd landed, and from what the nav listing hadsaid about Beyscrim's rotation period I had assumed we would have another twoto three hours of daylight left. But I had failed to take into account the effects of the mountain range to the west that rose dramatically behind the Icarus andits shading trees. Already the sun was dipping behind the taller peaks, and Icould see now that it would be dusk in probably half an hour.
Still, half an hour of sun and fresh air was better than nothing. Snagging oneof the sturdy lounge chairs lined up along the portico's back wall, I pulledit to the front edge and sat down.
Everett had evidently been thinking along the same lines I had, at least asfar as the fresh air was concerned. From where I sat I could make out his figurein the wraparound just behind the open hatchway, gazing back in my direction. Ithought about waving to him, but concluded after a minute that the lack of anysuch gesture on his part probably meant he was still not feeling all thatsociable, at least not toward me. So I just settled more comfortably into mychair, aware of Everett's presence but not acknowledging it any more than hewas acknowledging mine.
We sat there, wrapped in our own little worlds, as the sun vanished and thewestern sky faded from sunlight into a multicolored glow into dusk. Ixil camebyonce to tell me that Chort had located a cache of stored food and was busypreparing dinner for us all, then disappeared back inside to assist him. Istayed where I was a few minutes more, watching the sky and mountains as thedusk darkened to full night and a scattering of brilliant stars appeared.
Everett, I presumed, was similarly watching the lodge and the mountains risingbehind it. Or possibly he was just watching me.
It had been full night for about twenty minutes when the dropping airtemperature finally began to penetrate my jacket and I decided enough wasenough. Picking my way carefully downslope, with only the decorative lights ofthe portico to illuminate the path, I made my way back to the Icarus.
I found Everett stretched out on his cot in the main sphere, leafing throughthe ship's pharmaceutical listing, his injured leg propped up on one of themedical kits. "The wraparound get too boring for you?" I asked as I made my way towardhim.
"It got too chilly," he said. "What's happening out there?"