So far as I can tell, I assured him, our captors wish us well. We just got caught up in somebody elses troubles. With luck, well come through this. Even I might still get what I want, if I can figure out what it is.
The look he gave me then was slightly pitying. He was a man who had known exactly what he wanted throughout his adult life. For him, the goal had always been crystal clear, and perfectly simple. That might make him an innocent, by my standards, or even a fool but it was an enviable state of mind.
Okay, I said. Lets go confer, and make what plans we can.
Twenty-Six
Common Cause
The pain in my face hadnt gone away, but it had become duller. Moving around no longer increased its effect. At least Id contrived to miss out on my fair share of the work that had had to be done. By the time I emerged from my cell the common space had been reorganized and tidied. The table had been assembled and set up, and eight chairs had been neatly distributed around it, one at each end and three along each side.
As soon as I saw the array I knew that the chairs at the ends might as well have had Michael Lowenthals and Niamh Hornes names on them. The moment they had decided to call a conference they had set about modeling the situation
as they saw it or as they wanted others to see it. I paused to wonder whether our mysterious captors had done the same thing when they placed us in cells two by two, or whether they had simply sorted us out according to our existing associations.
The other seats about the conference table were distributed according to fairly obvious protocols. Adam Zimmerman had to have one of the middle seats, so that he would be equidistant from Lowenthal and Horne, and Davida had to have the other. Solantha Handsel had to be at Lowenthals right hand, and Mortimer Gray filled in the remaining gap on that side of the table. That left Christine and me and I wasnt unduly surprised when Lowenthal laid claim to me, seating me between him and Zimmerman. The power to determine the seating suggested that he had the upper hand at this stage, perhaps for no better reason than the fact that he had a bodyguard and Niamh Horne didnt.
I resisted the temptation to sit where I wasnt supposed to, or to request a formal agenda, or even to question Lowenthals assumption that he could play chairman. I tried, instead, to measure Niamh Hornes reaction to Lowenthals presumption. Because her face was a mask and her eyes were machines, though, there was no expression to be read therein.
So far, Lowenthal said, weve been wasting our time in accusations and recriminations. I think we have to accept that none of us knows why we have been taken prisoner, or by whom. Perhaps well be told, in due course, but we cant rely on it. In the meantime, were all in the same boat and we ought to try to work together, as constructively as possible.
Assuming that theres anything constructive to do, Niamh Horne added, but not in a challenging way.
Im not suggesting that we form an escape committee, Lowenthal went on, keeping his own voice light. Im merely suggesting that we collaborate in assessing our situation and trying to figure out how we ought to react to it. I think we can take it for granted that were on some kind of spaceship, albeit a very old one or one constructed according to a very old blueprint. It seems likely that the apparent gravity is simulated by acceleration, but I cant believe were heading out of the system. Do you have anything useful to add to those conclusions, Mr. Tamlin?
I was slightly surprised to find myself in the hot seat so soon, but I had already had time to think about what I ought and ought not to share with my companions and what I wanted them to share with me.
All I know for certain, I said, modestly, is that the person I saw looked human, and that the medical apparatus immediately available to her is primitive even by the standards of my time. She seemed to me to be telling the truth when she said that shed like to explain but that she and her companion were engaged in difficult negotiations with other parties who want us kept in the dark.
Companion? Horne echoed. In the singular?
Thats what she said, I confirmed. Hopeful of setting up a fair trade of information, I was quick to add: Does anyone have a means of determining exactly how long we were asleep? That might offer a clue as to how long weve been traveling, where we might have been delivered to, and where we might be going.
Lowenthal exchanged glances with Niamh Horne and Davida Berenike Columella. I dont have any way to estimate the interval, he said.
Nor I, said Niamh Horne. If anyone was lying, it was most likely to be her, and she was sufficiently conscious of the fact to make a conciliatory gesture. If it will help, she said, Im prepared to concede that whoever subverted Child of Fortune s systems must have had inside assistance. My first thought, having accepted that, is that the ship itself must have been the real target, and that the journey to Excelsior merely provided the opportunity. Seizing control of an AI as sophisticated as the ships controller must have required a subversive program of awesome ingenuity, but thats not unimaginable. What puzzles me, however, is what can have happened afterwards. Its possible that we have simply been marooned in a convenient location while Child of Fortune has been taken elsewhere. Excelsior should have been able to keep track of the ship as it moved away, and its inhabitants must have raised the alarm immediately. If thats the case, rescuers must already be on their way. If not She was content to leave the extrapolation of that possibility to us.