Chapter 40

"As soon as we're out of the wormhole we'll want to get a signal out to let Earth know we're OK," said Heisinger. "They expected us weeks ago, and they've got to be worried silly. It'll take about four or five hours for the signal to get there, but that's still a lot quicker than we will."

The four of them—Meiersdottir, Heisinger, Igwanda and MacPherson—were in Meiersdottir's cabin, which they'd managed to expand by co-opting the space of the adjacent one. The old lady was still bedridden; O'Bannion had forbidden any movement at all until her broken leg had at least begun to knit. After that she'd be wheelchair-bound for weeks more, and then would have to undergo major rehabilitation before she could stand on her own feet once more.

But otherwise Meiersdottir was well on the road to recovery. For the first couple of days after she emerged from her coma she'd spent most of her time sleeping or dozing, with one of the Edenite mothers always present to suppress the pain that for a while continued to emanate from her leg.

Gradually, though, this began to fade; and her awareness and mental capacity seemed undimmed by her ordeal. Planning sessions had been relocated to her cabin to allow her to take part, and her contributions were, as always before, astute. She continued to receive occasional visits from the Edenites as well, but now simply for social rather than therapeutic reasons. As always, she rejoiced in their company and spent the time talking comfortably and easily with those who came.

Now, listening to Heisinger's eagerness to transmit the news of their successful journey back to Earth, MacPherson shook his head sharply. "Nae, Miss Alicia, I do no' think tha' woul' be a guid idea," he said.

The other three reacted with considerable surprise. "What's the matter, Angus?" Meiersdottir asked. "Is there something we don't know?"

"Aye," said the captain uncomfortably. "Missus, I ha'e no' tol' ye all. Do ye recollec' tha' I said 'twas a visi' frrom trey men tha' perrsuade' me t'do ye the grrea' wrrong I done?"

"Yes."

"An' I tol' ye tha' they had twa things t'say tha' convince' me, bu' ye mus' ha'e though' I werre a crredulous fuil. Therre was a thirr' thing, an' i' was mos' convincin' o' all, and 'tis tha' I mus' tell ye th' noo." He took a deep breath to steady himself. "Twa o' 'em tha' came I didna ken, bu' th'itherr I knew rrigh' weel, an' so do ye, all o' ye. 'Twas Gene Malle'."

They were shocked into silence for a moment. Meiersdottir gathered herself together first.

"Gene Mallet?" she asked. "The executive director of SES? That Gene Mallet?"

MacPherson nodded. "Aye. Can ye noo un'erstan' why i' was sae easy forr me t'believe wha' I was tol'?"

"Angus, that doesn't make sense," she protested. "Once we got them on board SES was with us all the way. I mean, they built this ship for us. Why would they do that if—"

"Wait a minute, Grandmother," Igwanda cut in. "Maybe it does make sense, if Mallet was acting alone. Remember all the delays in the Ark's construction? I was the primary liaison with SES, and it seemed like the director's office was always giving excuses, 'oh, Carlie, there's this problem, ' 'oh, Carlie, now there's this other thing, ' it seemed to go on endlessly. I kept having to bypass SES and go direct to the contractors, and I just thought it was bureaucratic incompetence, but looking back now I really wonder."

"Gene tol' me th'orriginal plan was t'stall completion o' th'Ark sae lang 'twoul' be impossible forr ye t'gae a' all," agreed MacPherson. "Bu' he said his con'rrol was limi'ed because o' all th' public prressure an' then th' poli'ical prressure tha' came oo' o' tha'. He tol' me he'd hel' up th' worrk for sae lang as he coul' an' noo 'twas up t'me t'finish th' job. I was his las' bes' hope, he said," the captain finished sardonically.

Meiersdottir thought for a moment. "Carlie, go find Barry and Dottie, will you?" she said. "Ask them to come in for a few minutes."

Mindful of her late husband's admonitions about the proper way to conduct interrogations, she began gently once Watesi and Yuan had arrived.

"Barry, did Eugene, I mean Director Mallet, did he ever raise the issue of Edenite mind control of humans with you?" she asked easily.

The biologist laughed. "He hinted around at it a couple of times, I think. But it was such palpable bullshit that I simply paid no attention. I'd read your reports and it was plain silly, and I told him so."

"Then why were you and Dottie"—she gestured to Yuan, including her in the discussion—"so adamantly opposed to Eden Rescue at the beginning? You even pissed on me for making the whole thing public at first, as I remember."