Penumbra (34 page)

‘It showed the first week of the expedition, the long trek through high mountainous terrain, much of it through snow blizzards. They reached the entrance of the underground chamber and descended, but then the quality of the recording deteriorated drastically. There was very little light down there, and only shadows could be made out. The recording actually ends before Quineau and the others make contact with the aliens, if of course he was telling the truth. I left for Earth, taking the softscreen with me. I wanted to get it analysed, the underground shots computer-enhanced.’

Mackendrick stopped there, staring at his hands. He looked up, at Hupcka and the other rebels, and shook his head.

‘When I reached Earth, I was contacted by the police authorities on Madrigal. Pierre Quineau had escaped from the grounds of the hospital while taking exercise, and had been found murdered in a public park a kilometre away. A woman had witnessed the shooting, and I requested a copy of the police computer-visual of her description of the killer. To my amazement it bore more than a marked resemblance to Quineau’s fellow explorer I’d seen on the softscreen recording, Klien. I began to wonder if there might be a grain of truth in Quineau’s story.’

Miriam James said, ‘You told me that the softscreen was stolen.’

Mackendrick nodded. ‘Shortly after I arrived on Earth, a thief broke into my house in Calcutta and stole it.’

Hupcka said, ‘So Klien killed Quineau, came to Earth and took the softscreen.’

Mackendrick was shaking his head. ‘That wasn’t possible. Quineau was killed on the twenty-fifth of May, and the softscreen was taken from my safe just two days later. It takes three days by starship to reach Earth from Madrigal. There was no way Klien could have murdered Quineau, boarded a ship and stolen the screen in Calcutta. Hard though it is to believe, the theft was just a terrible coincidence.’

‘And it’s never been discovered?’ James asked.

‘I hired private detectives to hunt both Quineau’s killer and the softscreen, with no luck.’ He paused. ‘So I decided to set about exploring the Rim for Quineau’s planet. I sent out uncrewed exploration ships to the sector of the Rim adjacent to where his ship was discovered, but of course the area we were searching was vast. It was no wonder it took us more than twelve years to locate Homefall.’ He looked around the staring faces. ‘The rest you know.’

Hupcka smiled, almost regretfully. ‘We had hoped that Quineau would get through to the inhabited sector and alert Earth to the fact of our existence.’ He looked from Bennett to Mackendrick. ‘I didn’t know Quineau, but he was a friend of my brother. Just over fourteen years ago he returned from the expedition to the interior alone, without Carstairs or Klien. The story was that Carstairs had died on the way back; we suspect that Klien killed him, though what exactly happened has never come to light.

‘Quineau told Jan, my brother, an engineer working on the reconstruction of the scout ships, that he had to get off the planet, alert Earth to the fact of Homefall and what he’d discovered in the mountains. At that time on Homefall, the council was divided as to whether to re-contact the Expansion. Some wanted to, while a more conservative element was violently opposed to the idea. They had founded a viable community on Homefall, away from the perceived sins of the Expansion, and they didn’t want their Eden invaded. The pro-contact faction had held sway for some time, hence the rebuilding of the scout ships, but the anti-contact faction was gaining power. There was talk that the ships were to be destroyed. Quineau convinced Jan and others to help him flee the planet aboard one of the ships. It was pre-programmed with the flight-path to take it in the approximate direction of the Expansion. My brother planned to take the second scout ship and follow Quineau. He’d manufactured a device ... I suppose you would call it a homing device, a small receiver designed to pick up a signal, and implanted it in the softscreen recording Quineau was to take with him. Quineau left Homefall aboard the scout ship one night a few weeks after returning from the interior.’

Hupcka paused there. He considered his words, then continued.

‘The following day, my brother was arrested as he tried to board the second ship. Over a dozen other sympathisers were also arrested. They had copies of the softscreen recording made by Quineau, and these were taken and destroyed. Fortunately they did not find the receiver - Jan gave it to me shortly before his arrest, told me to bury it where it wouldn’t be discovered. Jan and the others were interrogated and tortured. They were never seen alive again and their bodies were never discovered.’

Hupcka fell silent. He looked up at last.

‘Two days later Klien was despatched in the second ship to track down and kill Quineau. The conservative element of the Council of Elders gained ascendancy and routed the liberal forces. The rumour was that Quineau, Klien and Carstairs had discovered something in the mountains, something that the conservative elders didn’t want the Expansion, or the people of Homefall, to know about. They began rounding up everyone associated with Quineau and his sympathisers, and I managed to escape with a few others. We formed the resistance movement with friends and sympathisers of the men and women killed by the Council of Elders. We knew nothing of what Quineau and the others had discovered, just rumours that they’d come upon evidence that the Ancients, once thought to be extinct, actually still existed. We organised expeditions to the interior, trying to trace the route Quineau had taken to the underground caverns, but without a copy of the softscreen to guide the way, we had no luck. The land to the west is hostile and inhospitable - we lost many men and women in the search. For the past decade the elders have waged a ruthless war against us, and we have fought back as best we can, while continuing the search.’

Hupcka looked up and smiled at Mackendrick. ‘You can have no idea the joy we felt on hearing that people from Earth had landed on Homefall.’ He gestured. ‘We are devastated that Klien achieved his aim of killing Quineau. That the softscreen should be lost . . . what a terrible irony.’ He smiled sadly. ‘Your crash-landing here is the final cruel twist of fate. We had hoped that you might be able to return to Earth, with the receiver, and locate the stolen screen.’

Bennett felt something kick within him, a surge of excitement and at the same time fear. He looked across at Mackendrick.

‘Perhaps you had better tell them, Josh’ Mackendrick said.

Hupcka looked up, alert. ‘Tell us what?’

Beside Bennett, Ten Lee gave a small laugh of delight.

‘We didn’t crash-land,’ Bennett said. ‘We told the council that so they wouldn’t go looking for the ship. It’s actually in full working order on the plain three hundred kilometres south of here.’

Hupcka stared, his expression shocked. ‘So perhaps we can defeat the council at last,’ he said. ‘First, we’ve got to get you to the ship. Miriam, gather six of the fittest men and women. Ready two ground effect vehicles and report back to me in one hour.’

When James jumped up and hurried from the room, Hupcka turned to the other freedom fighters and issued orders in rapid French.

Bennett said to Mackendrick, ‘Ten’s in no fit state to travel, Mack. And with respect, I wouldn’t put you through another four months of suspension.’

Ten Lee touched his hand. ‘Can you pilot the ship alone?’

‘I’ll just take twice as long with the checks,’ he said. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll get to Earth and do my best to trace the softscreen.’

Ten Lee squeezed his fingers. ‘I want to see the Ancients,’ she said, determination in the set of her features.

Bennett looked up suddenly at Mackendrick. ‘Good God. You knew you were dying . . . Quineau told you that the Ancients had healing powers.’

Mackendrick gave a sad smile. ‘I hope you understand why I put you all at so much risk,’ he said. ‘When I first heard Quineau’s story I was intrigued, and then I was diagnosed five years ago, and I knew I had to come here. It’s a long shot, Josh. Perhaps Quineau’s story really
was
nothing more than the ravings of a lunatic. But I want to find out for myself.’

Bennett thought of Ella, and how modern medicine had been unable to heal her, then he cursed himself for trawling up memories and emotions he should have worked through long ago. Hell, for the past day or so he had been so consumed by the rush of incidents that he had hardly had time for self-pity.

He looked ahead, to the void-flight to Earth, the search for the softscreen. Soon he would be consumed again, with little time to consider himself, and the thought was like a balm.

Two hours later he said goodbye to Mackendrick and hugged Ten Lee. ‘I’ll see you in . . . Good God, eight months seems like such a long time.’

Ten Lee smiled. ‘For you it will pass in an instant.’

Bennett strode up the incline towards the overhang where Hans Hupcka, Miriam James and half a dozen others, all armed, waited in two balloon-tyred vehicles. Hupcka passed him a silver oval device the size of a cigar case: the receiver. Briefly he instructed Bennett in its use.

They set off minutes later. Mackendrick and Ten Lee were small figures on the veranda of the A-frame, and Bennett raised his arm in a farewell salute. They headed out of the valley on a different route from the one they’d used to get here, going around the mountain to avoid the long road above the inhabited valley. This track would bring them out on the purple plain well south of the deserted timber settlement and the remains of the sunken starship.

Hupcka sat beside Bennett and steered the bouncing vehicle. ‘In four hours we’ll be out of the mountains, Josh. Perhaps six hours after that we’ll reach the ship.’

‘I only hope the council militia hasn’t found it before us.’

‘They had a patrol scout on the plain yesterday,’ Hupcka said. ‘But they only got as far south as the ruins. I know because we have a man in their ranks.’

They had left the valley far behind and were travelling down a boulder-strewn ravine. Ahead, the first crawler bounced like a child’s toy, a comically frail structure rocking this way and that over the uneven terrain.

Tenebrae slipped down behind the mountains as they travelled, and the stars appeared in the strip of sky high above the gorge. The minor sun shone like a distant orange lantern, providing sufficient light to illuminate the track ahead. The balloon tyres of the crawler came into their own, climbing over boulders and across potholes, the suspension creaking in protest. Bennett held on as the vehicle bucketed along, Hupcka laughing into the headwind like a madman.

They passed from the protection of the mountains and descended on to the purple plain, the first crawler racing ahead. Bennett had not slept for what seemed like ages, and as the vehicle rocked back and forth he took the opportunity to doze.

He was awoken, hours later, when the crawler lurched, tossing him between Hupcka’s bulk and the door. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. It was dawn. The bright ellipse of the gas giant’s upper hemisphere spanned the far horizon, casting its opalescent light across the plain. He must have been asleep for almost six hours. They had climbed from the plain and were skirting the foothills to the west, the purple grass spreading like a sea far below.

Hupcka glanced at him. ‘I didn’t want to worry you unduly, Josh. But a couple of hours ago we discovered we had company. Look.’ He passed Bennett a pair of binoculars and pointed. ‘Halfway across the plain, at about two o’clock.’

Bennett adjusted the focus. At first all he saw was a dancing blur of purple grass. Then he caught a flash of something. He steadied his hand and centred the speeding object. It was a balloon-tyred vehicle like their own, swarming with green-uniformed militia.

‘A council patrol,’ Hupcka said. ‘Perhaps they’re taking your crash-landing story with a pinch of salt, checking further afield for the ship.’

‘Where’s Miriam’s crawler?’

‘When we saw the council militia we decided to take action. The other crawler moved down to the plain to follow at a safe distance. If the militia looks like getting anywhere near the ship, they’ll attack and provide a decoy.’

‘And if the militia see us?’

Hupcka nodded. ‘It’s a possibility. If they move our way, or start firing, then Miriam and the others will move in.’ He smiled. ‘Don’t worry. This is routine stuff. We’ll get you to the ship in one piece.’