The Season Of Passage Part 27

Ramsey hesitated. 'They were up late the night before -exploring.'

'They were exploring in the dark?' Tom Brenner asked.

'Because of their low supply of water,' Ramsey said, 'they've been trying to make the best use of their time.'

'You just said their water supply wasn't critical,' Tom Brenner said. 'Why were they exploring in the dark?'

'They've had a change in program,' Ramsey said.

'There have been reports that they've caught an alien virus and gone insane,' ABC said.

"Those reports are absolutely false,' Ramsey said.

'How could there be a threat to our national security, unless there were survivors aboard the Karamazov?' Tom Brenner said.

'There were no survivors,' Ramsey said. He took a breath. He knew he'd come off badly. 'I'm sorry, that's all the questions I can take at this time. When we re-establish contact, we'll let you know. Now if you'll excuse me.. .'He backed away from his microphone. Tom Brenner nudged Terry.

'Ask about Lauren,' Tom said.

'He just said he doesn't know anything,' Terry said.

'Do you believe him?'

'Of course not.'

'Ask,' Tom insisted. 'You're her fiance. He knows that. Quick!'

'Hey, Dean!' they called. He and Tom were in the second row, in the center. Ramsey heard him, the whole room did, and another hush swept across the crowd as Ramsey paused at the exit and turned.

'Yes, Mr Hayes?' he said without the benefit of his mike.

Terry tried to smile, and didn't quite make it. 'I was just wondering, you know, if Lauren is all right. I mean, I heard what you said, but she's my fiancee and I'd really like to know. We could keep it off the record.'

Ramsey did not simply look as if he had been losing sleep with the rest of them. He looked as if he could have had a terminal disease - a tumor that swelled every time he told a lie. But Terry could see it hurt Ramsey even more to tell the truth. What the man did was tell him nothing at all.

'When we re-establish contact, Terry,' Ramsey said, 'we'll let you know.'

Ramsey left. The reporters began to disperse. Tom Brenner ushered Terry out of the press room and down a long hall that led seemingly nowhere. Tom talked a mile a minute.

'Have you ever seen such an inept snow job? Here the whole world's watching the greatest exploration in human history and NASA drops the curtain just when things get exciting. And that bulls.h.i.+t about national security. First the crew is dying of thirst, and now it's "not critical." Never mind that they're sleeping in the middle of the day, because they've been out all night exploring. If you ask me, they've found a couple of Russians and they don't know what to do with them.' He paused. 'Hey, Terry, I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to listen to my mouth at a time like this. I'm sure Lauren's all right. NASA's probably still in contact with the Hawk. They probably just concocted the whole story.'

'Why would they do that?' Terry asked.

'Why did they go to Mars in the first place? h.e.l.l if I know. They probably just don't want to upset how good things are going with the Russians. When you get right down to it, that's all that matters to these people. Ramsey was lying through his teeth.'

Terry nodded. 'I hope you're right.' He veered toward a door that would take him into the front lobby, where Kathy Johnson was waiting.

'Hey, where are you going?' Tom asked. 'We've got to get a story into the office by ten. The boss dislikes our coverage as it is. You especially have to be careful, Terry. He still hates the fact that Lauren got engaged to you after she wouldn't even go out with him.'

'I need to tell a friend what Ramsey said,' Terry said. 'Tell the boss to go f.u.c.k himself if he complains about me.'

'Yeah, I told him that for you yesterday. But you know he's a Christian. He didn't understood how he was supposed to do it.' Tom regarded him closely. 'You look like h.e.l.l. f.u.c.k the story. It'll just depress the community if we write it. Why should they have to read s.h.i.+t like that? Go home and get some rest, Terry.'

'Yeah, I might do that.'

Tom squeezed his arm. 'Lauren will come home. I know it.'

Terry smiled faintly. 'Thanks.'

They parted company and Terry went out and searched the lobby for Kathy. He couldn't find her. Ramsey had been an hour late with his statement. He figured she might have gone to the cafeteria for coffee, and headed that way himself.

But waiting for an elevator to take him up to the cafeteria, he thought of Jennifer, and a strong desire to talk to her swept over him. He missed her almost as much as Lauren; she was almost as hard to get hold of. He hurried to a phone booth and dialed the cabin. The blank screen dissolved and was filled with a blazing fire, a snow-lined window, a cozy living room, and the face of a beautiful young girl half hidden behind a wave of blond hair. Jennifer sat with her profile to the screen, her expression sad. She didn't even look over to see who it was. He supposed she didn't have to.

'h.e.l.lo, Terry,' she said.

'Jenny. How are you? We haven't talked for a while.'

'I'm fine. I sit by the fire.'

He felt an urge to take her in his arms and s.h.i.+eld her from what was happening on Mars. Still, he felt she should know what was going on with her sister.

'It must be cold there,' he said. 'That's a big fire you've got going.'

'It's cold,' she said.

'Jenny,' he began reluctantly. 'I've got some bad news for you. It has to do with Lauren.' Jennifer didn't react. He continued, 'NASA has lost contact with the Hawk. Now this happened before. Remember when they landed the second time? It may not be that serious. Personally, I don't think it is. It's probably just a minor power failure. Their generators have acted up before.'

Jennifer didn't move or speak, or look his way. Terry could have understood a mult.i.tude of reactions, but not this. He wasn't even sure she had heard him.

'She should be all right,' he went on. 'They only lost contact six hours ago. Not that I really know what Lauren's been doing the last two days. They started censoring her reports when she went to inspect the Russian s.h.i.+p.'

'The Russians,' Jennifer whispered. She raised her right hand and fingered the ring Professor Ranoth had given her. It shone bright in the light of the fire.

'Are you OK, Princess?' Terry asked desperately.

Jennifer lowered her head. 'I told her not to go,' she said, closing her eyes. 'What does it matter what I say?'

The conversation wasn't doing a thing for Terry's morale. 'Are you still working on your story?' he asked.

'No.'

'Are you taking a break?'

'The story is finished. I came to the end.'

'Great,' Terry said. 'I'm anxious to read it.'

'I suppose you will.'

'You know,' Terry said, trying to sound enthusiastic, 'Lauren will be on her way back soon. Once she's up in the Nova, and asleep, I can take another week off. I'll come see you. We can make a big snowman and blow its head off with Daniel's rifle. We'll be together soon. We'll...' He stopped. Tears were rolling over Jennifer's cheeks. 'Jenny?'

She shook her head slightly. 'No.'

'I'll come. I promise. I'll be there soon.'

She spoke to the wall of his cabin, in a whisper. 'You always took good care of us. Lauren thinks about you a lot. She wants to come home.'

'She will' he said gently. 'She's fine. We'll all be together soon. It'll be like old times.'

Jennifer wiped at her tears and sighed. 'Old times, lots of time.' She held up the ring and admired it in the warm orange light. 'I finished the story, but it's getting cold, Terry. I think the fire's going out.' For the first time, she turned and stared at him, and although it was the most extraneous of thoughts, he couldn't help marveling how clear and blue her eyes looked in that moment. They were so perfect they didn't look human. 'From the beginning,'

she said sadly, 'it was my fault.' She reached to cut the line. 'Goodbye, Terry. I will remember you.'

'Wait! Jenny?'

The screen went dead. Terry sat in the booth for a long time.

TWENTY-FOUR.

The darkness reeked of the stench of the ancient altar where the black priest cut out the heart of the living. Jim had been to such places before, in his travels on Earth, and now he was here again. He never really understood why there was always a new G.o.d that needed a sacrifice. It seemed a recurring pattern.

Would he be afraid when his turn came?

The three of them stood in the perpetual night of the Martian deep. The top of the hill Bill had spoken of, at the center of the island, was flat; it came nowhere near the ceiling of the cavern. They had made excellent time on the journey underground. Hummingbird had swept them through the cave, past their anch.o.r.ed boat, and over the miles of icy water to the island. All to land here, Jim thought. Next to a hole in the ground that remained black even when a light was shone directly into it.

The material of horror. A hole without a bottom.

Jessica herself had insisted on coming. There had been no need for Jim to press Bill on the matter. Unfortunately, Bill was now telling her she had to stay with Hummingbird. There are things down there, my dear, that can't be touched except by an expert like our Professor. Jim was struck by the sincerity in Bill's voice. Of course, that had been the problem good men faced whenever they wished to directly confront an evil; it usually had an a.s.sociated virtue that made the good men hesitate. No, they would say, we cannot kill them. They are G.o.d's creatures. Jim wondered if he hadn't made a serious mistake. Courage was certainly not one of the evil's virtues on this occasion. The laser Jim carried had been overloaded and had burned out the previous night, while it was supposed to be recharging. Friend's broken circuits could have accidentally caused the damage, but who really believed that?

Not me. Not Bill. Probably not even Friend.

Jim was glad he had told Lauren and Gary to hide a laser near the Karamazov. He had done little else for them.

Jessica agreed at last to stay with Hummingbird. Bill told Jim that it was best they start down. Goodbye, Jessie, Jim said, keep an eye open.

Jim followed Bill into the pit. The way was more of a drop than a slope, and Jim had to fight to keep his footing. The loose ground covered his boots like oily mud. It made him feel dirty. He knew one thing for sure. No angel walked by his side on this journey.

The outside temperature increased sharply. Even inside his suit, Jim felt the heat on his skin. A sober red light began to glow up ahead. A foul smell breathed inside his head. His thoughts were unpleasant. Fire and brimstone, and a place where the d.a.m.ned souls of a cursed people were sent when they were through tormenting the good guys. Except here they were never through. Yeah, he recognized the place. He had read enough stories about it.

At last Jim understood just what it meant to be on the planet Mars. He was afraid.

On the threshold of an entrance into a place of burning pools, Bill paused and turned to Jim. Bill smiled, but the expression was a mere movement of the mouth, and did not touch his eyes. Jim could hardly bear to look at his eyes. There was nothing there.

'Coming in?' Bill asked.

They always invite you in.

Jim had led a full life, yet suddenly regrets rose up inside him. Three stood out sharply. He would have liked to laugh with Gary and Lauren again. He would have liked to feel an ocean breeze on his face one more time. And most of all, he would have loved a final talk with Jennifer Wagner. He had given the gla.s.s slipper to the right person, he was sure of that. But now he would never know whether the ring was magical or not. Only she could have told him.

'Yes,' Jim said. He stepped forward. He knew he wasn't going to find his way home this time.

The snow crunched softly under Lauren's feet as she strode across the bleak Martian plateau towards the Karamazov. The sky was a depressing sheet of clouds. A quarter mile more and she would reach the Russian lander. She was alone. Gary remained in the Hawk, trying to maintain the illusion with Bill that everything was cool. Lauren had spoken to Bill for only a moment this morning, and she knew things were not cool. He didn't have Ivan's wicked grin, but he had Ivan's eyes, and that was bad enough.

She had only remembered Dmitri's diary this morning, after the others had left. Gary had been furious with her.

'd.a.m.n you, Doc, how could you have forgotten that?'

'The second I found it, a corpse jumped me!'

'Well, go get it.'

'Now?'

'Yes.'

'By myself?'

' You're the one who doesn't think anything weird is going on. What are you afraid of'?'

A lot of things, Lauren thought. She checked her watch. They would have reached the island by now. G.o.d, Jim had better be all right. She would never be able to live with herself if something happened to him. Last night she had talked Gary out of accompanying him. I love Jim, but you'd be the only one I'd have left. Big brave Dr Wagner was turning out to be a coward, after all.

Lauren reached the "ladder that led to the door of the Karamazov. She had to stop to catch her breath. Her throat felt like an abandoned gold mine. Her lips were cracked, and she could taste her own blood. They had drunk the last of their water for breakfast this morning. Soon, they would have to find something else to drink.

But she knew they dare not touch the ca.n.a.l water, not without a complete a.n.a.lysis of the liquid. It was remarkable, since they had discovered the ca.n.a.l, they had not had a chance to perform even the most rudimentary of experiments on the water. She blamed that f.u.c.king Ivan -he had kept them dancing since he had first opened his frog eyes. But she was still kicking herself for not having returned with a water sample after they had rescued Bill.

Lauren climbed to the platform outside the airlock. Jim had left the outer seal open; there was no need for codes. She stepped inside and the door shut behind her. Soon she was in the Karamazov's dark laboratory, holding tight to her flashlight. She saw a tall frozen beaker of blood. The Russian doctor must have been searching for evidence of infection. He had drawn an awful lot of blood, though, more than he could possibly have needed.

Thirsty, Lori.

Lauren left the laboratory and took the ladder to the second floor. Black was still playing black on the chessboard. She stepped to the sleeping chamber where she had found Ivan. She reminded herself of what Jim had said about Ivan, that he was gone for good. Hurrying, she searched the floor for the diary and found it near Dmitri's desk. She was anxious to leave, but the commander's family photo made her stop. A tear came into her eye as she picked it up and stared at the happy faces. She made a promise to herself to write them as soon as she got home.

Then Lauren caught sight of a gla.s.s sitting on a small table by the bed where she had uncovered Ivan. It could have been a gla.s.s of water or juice that a man would keep by his bed in case he got thirsty during the night. Only this gla.s.s was full of red liquid. Lauren took a step closer, telling herself she was not seeing what was before her eyes. But she was a doctor, and it was hard to lie to herself about a gla.s.s full of blood.

Lauren felt sick to her stomach. She picked up the gla.s.s and then began to tremble. The temperature was below freezing, and the blood was still in liquid form.

It's impossible. It's blood, just blood.

Something must have been added to it to keep it from freezing. Or maybe all it had taken was the touch of Ivan's lips.

'No,' she moaned. 'No.'

Dmitri's family photo slipped from her hand and fell to the floor. The gla.s.s of blood landed on it a moment later, shattering the photo's plate gla.s.s and splas.h.i.+ng Dmitri's children a gruesome red. Clasping the diary to her bosom, Lauren turned and fled. She had to get outside and into the light. She had to get to Jim and warn him he was right about the planet being haunted.