Thunderbird (9 page)

“You know exactly what I mean.”

“You were one of the callers?”

“You know I was.”

“I'm sorry. No, I didn't realize you were on the line. Which call was it?”

“Forget it.”

“Matt, I'm sorry. April indicated she didn't want to go any farther, so I didn't have a choice.”

Matt grumbled something he couldn't make out. Then his eyes locked on Brad. “Well, anyhow I'm glad you agreed to go with her. You handled that right. That should put us right in there with the networks. Do you know how long you'll be gone?”

“No. We didn't discuss that.”

“Okay. Give her a call and find out. And don't worry about the show. I can fill in for you if we have to.”

Usually, Brad spent the balance of the day researching local news for topics he would focus on during the next
Grand Forks Live
. But after April
left, he sat staring at the
Herald
and the other area newspapers stacked on his desk, rehearsing how he was going to explain to Donna that he'd agreed to go through the transport system. And wondering if there was a way he could get out of it.

Maybe call in sick?

•   •   •

H
E
HAD
NO
intention of going off to another world without taking a weapon along. He'd never owned a gun, however. In fact, his only experience with a firearm had come in college, when he'd once accompanied a few friends to a firing range.

He remembered just enough to get by. How to load the weapon. How to handle it. And he'd surprised himself by discovering he was a decent shot.

On his way home, he stopped at Gunmaster Shooting and Hunting Supplies, and picked up a revolver. It felt comfortable in his hands, and he was careful to keep it pointed at the floor.

As soon as he walked in the door, he saw that she knew. Donna was in the kitchen, and she put something down as he closed the door, a plate or a glass, something, and didn't make another sound.

“Hi, love,” he said.

She came out into the dining room, staring at him with that glare she saved for special occasions. “Are you crazy?”

“I'm sorry. I didn't know that was coming.”

“You promised.”

“I got caught in the middle, Donna. She asked me when we were live on the show. There wasn't any way I could get around it.”

He listened to her breathing. Then she softened. “I know,” she said. “Marcia told me what happened.” Marcia was one of the secretaries at the school.

“If I'd backed away, I'd have had to go looking for another job. No decent journalist can decline an opportunity like that.”

“Maybe you should look for work as a real-estate salesman.” She stood quietly for a moment. Her eyes closed, and her features softened. “To be honest, I'd have been disappointed in you if you had done anything else. But that doesn't mean I'm happy.”

•   •   •

P
RESIDENT
T
AYLOR
KNEW
why Arnold Bonner wanted to see him. Bonner was even more upset with the Roundhouse technology than the president was. Taylor was weary of trying to mollify him. He was tempted to pass him along to Harry. But there was no advantage to be gained by alienating the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

The admiral arrived precisely on time, well pressed, all business, making no attempt to look amicable. He had a slight limp, the result of being shot down over Vietnam. He'd been a carrier pilot and spent two years in captivity, an experience Taylor had never known him to mention.

The president showed him to a chair. “Can I get you anything, Admiral?” he asked.

“No, thank you, Mr. President.” Bonner's frustration was written on his face for all to see. “We've had this conversation before, sir. I understand your feelings on this, but I've been hoping I can persuade you to reconsider. This transport device is putting the nation at considerable risk. At the very least.

“You know how we are at keeping secrets. If the transport technology becomes generally available, it will introduce chaos. No nation on the planet will have any defense against it. There are too many lunatics running loose. They'd be able to introduce terrorist forces anywhere. Maybe even directly into the White House.” His eyes narrowed. “That might be a bit over the top, but we don't know how big a receiver has to be. All these people would have to do is deliver one anywhere in the country, and they could bring in whoever or whatever they want. A terror group. A nuke. You name it. No place on the
planet
would be safe. Our Navy would become irrelevant.”

“Admiral, are you suggesting we move against the Sioux, kill a few of them, take the device, and destroy it?”

“Of course not. Sir, you are the president of the United States. Surely there is a way to take control of the Roundhouse without using force. Eminent domain should work. Or buy them out. Sit down with the chairman and explain the problem. Have you tried to reason with him?”

“I have, Admiral. But he's not the problem.”

“Who is, sir?”

“
I
am. Look, the bottom line here is that the Roundhouse technology constitutes the ultimate windfall. As much as I'd like to, I can't simply destroy it. It has enormous potential to carry the nation, and, for that matter, the
world
, into a future brighter than anything we've ever dreamed of. How do I just take that away?”

The admiral's mouth tightened. “So it's a political issue?”

“I resent the implication. I want to get what's best for the country. If that entails a risk, then let's do what we can to minimize it. That doesn't mean a simplistic solution, like just throwing everything out.”

“I have to confess, Mr. President, that I'm not all that concerned about a brighter future.” Both hands curled into fists. “I'm concerned about surviving the present. We both know there's no such thing as a long-term military secret. When some small group of lunatics gets hold of this technology, as they will, it will negate the carriers, the missiles, everything else we have. I urge strongly that you go in there, explain to the Sioux that they'll be as much at risk as the rest of us, buy the thing if you can, take it if you have to, but get it, and demolish it.
Do it, sir.
We may not get a second chance.”

The truth was that Taylor would have been delighted if the Roundhouse would simply go away. If Chairman Walker would destroy it.

But Taylor knew that there'd be outrage across the country against anyone found responsible for such an act. He wasn't prepared to throw his presidency away. Especially when he wasn't even sure that destroying the Roundhouse would be the right thing to do.

Fifteen minutes after Bonner left, the president sat down with several unhappy representatives of the automobile industry.

•   •   •

Sources close to James Walker, chairman of the Spirit Lake Sioux, are saying that another off-world mission is being prepared. This one will be limited, however, to Eden, which has already been visited on several occasions by scientific teams. The sources indicate that previous visitors have not gotten more than a few miles from the transport station.

—NBC Report, April 3

•   •   •

W
ALKER
WASN
'
T
HAPPY
with the plan to install an explosive device at the Roundhouse. Nevertheless, it seemed like a necessary precaution. They'd only use it if hostile aliens arrived. And if that happened, everyone on Johnson's Ridge would be at risk anyhow.

He hadn't really believed that an attack from another world was anything more than an extremely remote possibility. After all, there'd been no visitors through the transport system since before there was any human civilization on the planet. So everything should be okay, and he should stop worrying. The real risk stemmed from the possibility that one of the security people would hear a noise somewhere, draw the wrong conclusion, and set off the bomb.

He called the security desk. Adam was off, and he got Paula. “We've got marshals coming in today to help. Put three of our guys in the Cupola and keep a presence there round the clock. The marshals stay in the Roundhouse. Okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Not that this is likely to happen. But just in case. We don't want to be surprised by aliens coming through from the parallel link. That's the sole responsibility of the Eden unit. If any of them show up there, we should try
to establish communication if it looks feasible. In any case, at least one of our people is to come back immediately and let us know what's happened.”

“I'll take care of it, Mr. Chairman. Are we going to keep them there permanently?”

“I think a few days should be sufficient. Just long enough until we can be reasonably sure we're not going to get a surprise. One more thing. The marshals are going to install a bomb. So we can take down the Roundhouse if there's a serious problem. The trigger will be at the desk.”

“Got it.”

“Pass the word around, Paula. But we don't want it getting out to the media.”

“Okay, sir.”

She surprised him. Not only did she not sound a bit rattled by the plan, as he'd expected, but he thought he detected a note of enthusiasm in her voice.

This world, after all our science and sciences, is still a miracle; wonderful, inscrutable, magical and more, to whosoever will think of it.

—Thomas Carlyle,
Heroes and Hero-Worship
, 1840

T
HE
CHAIRMAN
HELD
his breath for the next few days. The marshals arrived and joined the Sioux force. Walker watched them cut into the floor and plant the bomb a few feet away from the grid. They tried to keep its presence secret, but it got out into the news within twenty-four hours.

He wasn't comfortable with it. If something unusual showed up, the guy at the security desk, with his fingers on the trigger, might easily panic and blow the place to hell. He'd thought about going over there and installing himself in that role. But he couldn't be there twenty-four hours a day, and anyhow, he wasn't sure he might not panic himself.

He went on
Dakota Brief
, a local TV news show in Fargo, and tried to assure everybody that it was purely precautionary, that no one seriously believed invaders were a likely threat. “But we're covering every possibility,” he said.

It was an unnerving time. His social life, such as it was, went away. He didn't sleep well, jumped every time his phone rang, and spent most of his time at home staring at but not watching the television screen. Carla
suggested going to the movies, bringing in friends to play bridge, and attending a school play. She did talk him into going to a basketball game one evening, and they sat there only a few rows up with everybody looking in his direction and some people even pointing at him. One night, she brought home a jigsaw puzzle. Ordinarily, he liked jigsaw puzzles. They worked as a distraction and didn't require too much concentration. In the end, though, he put in a few pieces around the frame and left it.

Toward the end of the first week, Adam called him. “A couple of the marshals want to go to the Cupola. On duty. Is that okay with you, sir?”

He found himself trying to think of a reason to say no. But he couldn't come up with one. “Sure,” he said. “Do it.”

An hour or so later, he was on his way home when the phone rang again. It was David Woqini. “Everything okay, Jim?”

“Yeah. We're doing fine.”

“You didn't get to see that city by the river, did you?”

“No,” he said. “It didn't seem like a good idea.”

“I don't suppose you'd let me go?”

“Do you really want to?”

“Just kidding. I'll admit, though, I'd love to see it.”

“Me, too, David.”

“Is there any chance at all we'll try to connect with them?”

“I think if I suggested it, the president would have a heart attack.”

“You're probably right. I'm surprised. I thought we'd hear from them. It's hard to believe we could ride in on their transit system, whatever you guys call that thing, walk around inside one of their buildings, and they never noticed.”

“I'm glad they didn't. I think if we can get through another week without them, we'll be okay.”

“It's a pity, though. You know how I feel about all this, but I have to admit I'd love to take a couple of them to lunch at Old Main Street and just sit there with BLTs and find out who they are. Maybe we could talk football.”

“It won't happen,” said Walker.

“Just as well.”

•   •   •

C
ALLERS
TO
G
RAND
Forks Live
were delighted to hear that Brad would be going to Eden on the next mission. They talked about little else that morning. They told him how excited he must be, how they wished they could go, too, and asked whether he could bring back souvenirs. A rock, a flower, anything. A female caller wanted to know whether his wife was still upset about it.

“What makes you think she's upset?” he asked.

“I'm Jennie,” she said. One of the secretaries at the school.

Some people wondered what was going to happen to NASA. Or whether cars and planes were about to go extinct. “I'm not so sure that mass teleportation would be a good idea,” Brad said. “To tell you the truth. I enjoy getting in my car and driving around. The whole point of traveling is watching the countryside go past. It's not just in arriving at the destination. I wouldn't want to lose that.”

People were showing up every afternoon at the station to get their pictures taken with him and to ask for his autograph.

Donna heard about Jennie's call. “I haven't been complaining to anybody,” she said.

“It's okay, babe. I understand.”

“Sometimes it's just not easy to hide.”

•   •   •

T
HE
SECOND
WEEK
ended with still no sign of a problem at the Cupola. It was time to go back to normal. Walker called the president. “If it's okay with you, I'm going to bring the Eden security team back and try to return life here to normal.”

“Good,” he said. “But let's leave the last option in place.” The last option was the bomb.

“That was my intention, Mr. President.” It was easy to say. Adam was probably the only person he had whom he trusted to keep calm if something that wasn't human came through the link. He had realized belatedly that the only reason he'd had no trouble accepting the bomb was that the occupants of the riverside city seemed to be close enough to human that they would probably not scare anybody.

“Good. So what's the next mission, James?”

“We have another team ready to go out to Eden. We'll do the launch in a couple of days.”

“Good. No more surprises, okay?”

•   •   •

T
HAT
EVENING
J
OHN
Colmar caught a break: His fiancée, Diana Quixon, was a member of the county police, and had been assigned to the unit stationed outside the Roundhouse. John was with the Sioux security unit. It was the first time they'd been on duty simultaneously.

He'd met Diana only a few months earlier at a church dance and had fallen in love with her the moment he saw her. He'd always laughed at people who made claims like that, but it had happened. She was beautiful, and warm, and funny. Not at all what he would have expected from a police officer. And he'd been surprised that the chemistry seemed to be as strong on her side as on his. John never thought of himself as being especially good-looking, but he had seen from the beginning that she'd been swept off her feet. Their first date had been on Halloween, but when he'd gotten to her apartment, she was not there. He'd waited a while, given up, and in a bleak mood had driven off just as she'd arrived.

Diana, it turned out, had been at a masquerade party, dressed as Wonder Woman, and had lost track of the time. When she realized what had happened, she'd gotten one of the guys to drive her home. She'd seen him leaving, and asked her driver to chase him down. They'd followed for several miles before John realized he was being tailed and pulled over. She got out of the car, and he was startled to see how closely she resembled the
comic-book heroine. If I'm ever going to get into trouble with bad guys, he'd thought, now would be the time! It had been a magnificent ride since. Wonder Woman indeed.

Now, on that routinely cold night atop Johnson's Ridge, they managed to spend some time together, on patrol. They had to stay outside the Roundhouse since she wasn't supposed to be in his area of responsibility. That limited the time they had. But it was okay.

The sky was clear and moonless. They were only a few weeks away from their wedding, and the world was a happy place. Mostly, they talked about marriage plans. And the house they were in the process of buying on the west side of the Rez. And Eden. Diana told him she hoped they'd find a way to allow her to visit it at some point. “I'll ask,” John said, “after we're certain there's no risk involved. I wouldn't want to lose you.”

He didn't like her police career. Too dangerous. They'd had that conversation several times. But she'd made it clear that was what she enjoyed doing, and if he wanted her, he'd have to accept the uniform as well.

They'd been out for about half an hour, and it was time to get back to their posts. They'd both be relieved at the same time, and he was in the middle of suggesting they go to breakfast and asking her to decide on a restaurant when he noticed a movement in the trees. A swirl of snow and reflections from the parking-lot lights.

She saw it, too. She didn't say anything for a long moment. Then: “I think it's that floater that's been in the news.”

John put a hand on her shoulder. It was supposed to suggest she not move. But she was already on her way.

And suddenly the world began to rotate. John's head started spinning, and he went down on one knee. A vast globe appeared in the sky. A huge gauzy moon with several vertical shafts that rose high above it and reached down to the horizon. A set of
rings
. He was looking at Saturn, standing on its side.

Diana was down, too.