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you might think."
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Even as she nodded, she felt a slight revulsion. As a
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doctor, she knew she should not. That age did not change feelings. But his age
changed her feelings, Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter,
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even as a similar lapse had changed Tee's feelings for her. What she and
Zebara had shared, of danger and passion, no longer existed. With that
awareness, her feelings about Tee changed from resignation to real
understanding. How it must have hurt him, too, to have to admit that he had
changed. And now
Zebara.
He sat beside her, and reached for her hands. What must it be like for him,
seeing her still young, feeling her strength, to know his own was running out,
water from a cracked jug?
"The evidence you would believe, about our people's history," he began, "is
far too great to take in quickly. You will either trust me, or not, when I say
that it is there, incontrovertible. Those who sent the first colonists knew of
the Long Winters that come at intervals: knew, and did not tell the colonists.
We do not know all their reasons. Perhaps they thought that two years would be
enough time to establish adequate food stores to survive. Perhaps those who
made the decision didn't believe how bad it would be. I like to think they
intended no worse than inconvenience. But what is known is that when our
colony called for help, no help came."
"Was the call received?"
"Yes. No FTL communications existed in those days, you may recall. So when the
winter did not abate and it became obvious it would not, the colonists
realized that even an answered call might come too late.
They expected nothing soon. But there was supposed to be a transfer pod only
two light months out, with an FTL pod pre-programmed for the nearest Fleet
sector headquarters. That's how emergency calls went out: sublight to the
transfer point, which launched the pod, and the pod carried only a standard
message, plus its originating transfer code."
Lunzie wrinkled her nose, trying to think when they might have expected an
answer. "Two months, then.
How long to the Fleet headquarters?"
"Should have been perhaps four months in all. An
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FTL response, a rescue attempt, could have been back within another two or
three. Certainly within twelve Standard months, allowing decel and maneuvering
time on both ends. The colonists would have had a hard time lasting that long.
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They'd have to eat all their seed grain and supplies. But most of them would
have made it. instead," and he sighed again, spreading his big gnarled hands.
"I can't believe Fleet ignored a signal like that." Unless someone intercepted
it, Lunzie thought suddenly.
Someone within Fleet who for some reason wanted the colony to fail.
"It didn't!" Zebara gave her hands a squeeze, then stood, the robe swirling
around him. "Let me fix you something. I'm thirsty a lot these days." He waved
at the selection revealed behind one panel of his desk.
"Fruit juices? Peppers?"
"Juice, please." Lunzie watched as he poured two glasses, and gave her the
choice of them. Did he really think she worried about him drugging her? And if
he did, should she be worried? But she sipped, finding nothing but the
pleasant tang of juice as he settled beside her once more.
He took a long swallow, then went on. "It was not Fleet, as near as we can
tell. At least, not they that ignored an emergency pod. There was no emergency
pod."
"What!"
"We did find, buried in the file, the notation that the expense of an FTL
emergency pod was not justified since Diplo was no more than twelve Standard
light months from a major communications nexus which could pass on any
necessary material. Colonists had wasted, the report said, such expensive
resources before on minor matters that required no response. If colonists
could not take care of themselves for twelve months, and I can just hear some
desk-bound bureaucrat sniff at this point, they hardly qualified as
colonists." He took another swallow. "You see what this means."
"Of course. The message didn't arrive somewhere useful in four months. It
arrived at a commercial telecom
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155
station in twelve months by which time the colonists were expecting a rescue
mission."
"And from there," Zebara said, "it was . . . re-routed. It never reached
Fleet."
"But that's ..."
"It was already embarrassing. The contract under which the colonists signed on
specified the placement of the emergency pod. When that message arrived at the
station, it was proof that no pod had been provided. And twelve months
already? Suppose they had sent a mission then. What would they have found?
From this point we have no direct proof, but we expect that someone made the
decision to deepsix the whole file. To wait until the next scheduled delivery
of factory parts, which was another two standard years, by which time they
expected to find everyone dead. So sad, but this happens to colonies.
It's a dangerous business!"
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Lunzie felt cold all over, then a white-hot rage. "It's . . . it's murder.
Intentional murder!"
"Not under the laws of FSP at the time. Or even now. We couldn't prove it. I
say 'we,' but you know I
mean those in Diplo's government at the time. Anyway, when the ships came
again, they found the survivors; the women, the children, and a few young men
who had been children in the Long Winter. The first ship down affected not to
know that anything had happened. To be surprised! But one of the
Company reps on the second ship got drunk and let some of this out."
She could think of nothing adequate to say. Luckily he didn't seem to expect
anything. After a few moments, he went back to family matters, telling her of
his hopes for them. Gradually her mind quieted.
By the time they parted, she carried away another memory as sweet as her
first. It had no longer seemed perverse to have an old man's hands touching
her, an old man's love still urgent after all those years.
Chapter Ten
FSP Escort Claw
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Dupaynil led the way back toward the bridge, walking steadily and slowly. The [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]