Infinity Beach (47 page)

Read Infinity Beach Online

Authors: Jack McDevitt

BOOK: Infinity Beach
10.68Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

January 18, 623

The stone was set in a corner of Cabry’s Beach, not particularly noticeable unless one was looking for it. The engraving read, simply,
IN MEMORY OF…
, and listed five names: Sheyel Tolliver, Benton Tripley, Amy Bricker, and two others. The remaining security guards.

Kim probably owed her life to Amy and her comrades.

During the more than two decades that had passed since that terrible night on the beach, life had come back to Severin. The village had been rebuilt, boats had reappeared on the lake, and a train station had been erected. Even the refreshment stand was back, and during the summer a new raft floated just offshore. It was off-season now, early December, but the place was nevertheless not as dark as she remembered. The village lights filtered through the trees, and the new city hall tower was visible if she was willing to stand at the water’s edge.

Overhead, lights moved through the sky.

Some of them would be carrying dignitaries from throughout the Nine Worlds to greet their first nonhuman visitors. Well—maybe not quite the first.

Tomorrow, they would arrive in Severin, guests and hosts. Speeches would be made, bands would play, and a second memorial would be dedicated:
To the crew of the
Valiant
, who gave their lives for a people they never knew.

The term “crew” was probably meant to include the shroud, and she didn’t care much for that part of the idea. But she had no way of knowing what that abandoned crea
ture had been through, so she was willing to forget. Nevertheless, she remained conscious of the stone behind her.

The Cho-Choi don’t name their vessels, and the designator doesn’t translate well, so everyone agreed that the name humans had given the microship was appropriate to the occasion. Several vessels of the
Valiant
class had already arrived at Sky Harbor in commemoration of the event.

Their home world was located three hundred light-years the other side of the Golden Chalice. Human ships had visited their worlds last year and had returned with tales of wondrous sights.

The Cho-Choi, like humans, had thought themselves alone. And also like humans, they seemed delighted to find they had company in a universe thought to be windswept and full of echoes.

Kim looked out across the lake. Homes were going up on the far side too.

Her taxi had set down almost exactly where she’d landed with Solly on that January night just after the turn of the century.

She scanned the tree line.
There
was where we went into the forest. And Tripley’s villa had lain in
that
direction, a few points south of west. It was gone now, had been taken down years ago.

“It all turned out pretty well.” She spoke the words almost aloud, as if she were not quite alone.

Solly would have been amused to discover she was still a fund-raiser. Kim was older now, and had faced the reality that she simply didn’t have the abstract or mathematical skills required of a first-rate astrophysicist. She could have gotten along, but instead she’d gone back to the work she discovered she enjoyed, that she was good at: talking to people and persuading them to donate to a good cause. It wasn’t very glamorous, but it did feel significant. She was still contributing, supporting the general effort with the one real talent she seemed to have.

The good cause now was Stellar Survey. Money was pouring in, ships were being built and launched, and the human race seemed to be on the move again. Curious ruins had been found in the Triangle, two thousand light-years out, on the far side of the sky from Orion. And the new Chang Telescope might have sighted evidence of a Type II civilization in Andromeda.

Last week, the
Solomon Hobbs
reported evidence of ancient stellar engineering from Lyra Omega.

There are other mysteries. The Cho-Choi insist that their distant ancestors once had a tunnel into an alternate universe. But the engineering techniques have been lost.

To Kim’s satisfaction, Emily and her colleagues have their place in history, largely because no lasting damage was done by the
Hunter
. Now they are only remembered as having initiated contact.

But the species may have learned something. Survey’s exploration teams, who are carrying on the search for whoever else might be out there, are extensively trained in how to respond to a contact. Similar training is now required of anyone seeking to purchase or pilot a deep-space vessel.

She gazed around the beach. It seemed smaller than she remembered.

Her link sounded. It was Flexner, who’d gone over to Survey with her. “Yes, Matt?”

“Kim, where are you?” He sounded annoyed.

She sighed. “I’m on my way.”

“Good. We need to know exactly what you’re going to say tomorrow so we can set everything up for the interpreters. And that has to be done tonight.”

She would be speaking, not in her own right, but as Emily’s sister. “I’ll be there in ten minutes,” she said.

“Good. And Kim?”

“Yes?”

“That means we have to stick to the script, right?”

“Right,” she said. “Absolutely.” She took a final look
around, and climbed into the taxi. “Severin,” she told it. “Lakeside Hotel.”

It lifted off. Cabry’s Beach dropped away and she glided among the stars.

Acknowledgments

The author appreciates the advice and assistance of Jeffrey Hall of the Lowell Observatory; of Jimmy Durden, the Glynn County, Georgia, coroner; of my agent and friend, Ralph Vicinanza; of my son Chris McDevitt for devising FAULS; of writers Walt Cuirle and Brian A. Hopkins for their advice on early versions of the manuscript. Thanks also to Will Jenkins/Murray Leinster, for “First Contact,” and for his other magnificent forays into the imagination. To Caitlin Blasdell, my editor at HarperPrism. To Rebecca Springer. And of course to Maureen.

About the Author

Jack McDevitt
is the author of
A Talent for War, The Engines of God, Ancient Shores, Eternity Road, Moonfall,
and numerous prize-winning short stories. He has served as an officer in the U.S. Navy, taught English and literature, and worked for the U.S. Customs Service in North Dakota and Georgia.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

Praise
for
Infinity Beach

“Jack McDevitt is that splendid rarity, a writer who is a storyteller first and a science fiction writer second. In his ability to absolutely rivet the reader, it seems to me that he is the logical heir to Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke.
Infinity Beach
is a…
FASCINATING
look at how first contact with an utterly alien species might happen.
I SIMPLY COULDN’T PUT IT DOWN. YOU’RE GOING TO LOVE IT
even if you think you don’t like science fiction.”

Stephen King

“Gripping mystery, taut intrigues…and fascinating aliens;
AN ALTOGETHER SPLENDID, SATISFYING PUZZLE
.”

Kirkus Reviews
(*Starred Review*)


CONVINCING
…This is a fast-moving, intelligent and clever science fiction adventure-mystery that is
WELL WORTH READING
.”

Orlando Sentinel

“A MASTERLY TALE.”

Library Journal

“The new novel by Jack McDevitt, one of science fiction’s most spine-and mind-tingling authors, presents contact—or lack of contact—with an intelligent alien species as
A COSMIC PUZZLE, A MURDER MYSTERY, A GHOST STORY AND A PHILOSOPHICAL DEBATE

Infinity Beach
is layered with multiple plots, thrust by a metaphor-filled, nimble-narrative writing style and emboldened with the most humane of ideas, feelings, hopes and fears…It’s jaw-dropping time.”

Macon Telegraph

“Bottom line,
Infinity Beach
is
A GOOD READ,
a deft combination of science fiction and a whisp of horror in a future that is almost believable. McDevitt makes it
A PAGE-TURNER
.”

Florida Times-Union

“Exquisitely timed revelations
MAXIMIZE SUSPENSE,
and
FINE CHARACTERIZATION
and world building also hold the reader’s interest, as do many original touches.”

Booklist

And JACK McDEVITT

“THE HEIR TO ASIMOV!”

Michael Swanwick

“McDevitt tells his
COMPLEX AND SUSPENSEFUL STORIES
with meticulous attention to detail, deft characterizations, and graceful prose.”

Publishers Weekly

“Jack McDevitt is a…writer capable of
HAUNTING BEAUTY AND SHARP INSIGHT
…[who] will carry you along by the sheer force of enthusiasm and loaded prose.”

Locus

“MARVELOUS.”

Analog

“Some authors are masters at spinning world-spanning cosmic tales; others are adept at down-to-earth character-driven stories. But only a precious few can combine the two, and
NO ONE DOES IT BETTER THAN JACK McDEVITT
.”

Robert J. Sawyer

“McDevitt blends straightforward adventure with scientific mystery, peoples his stories with diverse…characters, and delivers rewardingly
STARTLING SOLUTIONS
.”

Science Fiction Chronicle

Other Books by Jack McDevitt

A
NCIENT
S
HORES

E
TERNITY
R
OAD

M
OONFALL

I
NFINITY
B
EACH

And Coming Soon in Hardcover

D
EEPSIX

Maps unavailable for electronic edition.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

INFINITY BEACH
. Copyright © 2000 by Jack McDevitt. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Edition © NOVEMBER 2007 ISBN: 9780061828287

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About
the Publisher

Australia
HarperCollins
Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)
Pymble, NSW
2073, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au

Canada
HarperCollins
Publishers Ltd.
2 Bloor St E, 20th Floor
Toronto, Ontario, M4W 1A8,
Canada
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca

New Zealand
HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New
Zealand
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz

United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB,
UK
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk

United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY
10022
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com

Other books

The Sometime Bride by Blair Bancroft
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
The People Next Door by Christopher Ransom
Only With Your Love by Lisa Kleypas
Here for You by Skylar M. Cates
Little Girl Gone by Drusilla Campbell