Звезда Пандоры

Wilson was mildly surprised, he’d expected Alster to share the commuter shuttle with Patricia Kantil. Both of them were representing the oversight committee during the meeting, while Leopoldovich was an academician specializing in tactical analysis at the StPetersburg Institute for Strategic Studies. It was a field with few practitioners, used mainly as an advisory and research service by the Commonwealth when secessionist and national autonomy movements started to use physical force against their legitimate planetary governments. During his time on Farndale’s board, Wilson had often heard senior politicians and their staff disparagingly refer to tactical analysts as war games nerds with a history degree. But then astronomy was a minority profession before this, he thought in amusement.

Dimitri had undergone his third rejuvenation a few years back, leaving him with a mid-twenties body whose lank blond hair had already begun to thin out. His skin was pale verging on albino-white, which combined with a diet of fast food and total lack of exercise gave him the appearance of a podgy vampire. He nodded at Wilson and took his usual seat, which left him facing away from the broad window.

“How was Bose?” Anna asked Daniel Alster.

“Re-life always freaks me out,” Daniel confessed. “Those accelerated growth clones just don’t look human.”

“But his personality is intact?” Wilson pressed.

“Oh, yeah. The download from his secure store was completely successful. The last thing he remembers is making a short update on the Second Chance before going over to the Watchtower.”

“And Emmanuelle?”

“The same. Though she’s a lot calmer than Bose.”

“How do you mean?”

“I only met Bose once before; he seemed quite edgy then. That trait has become… amplified a little. The doctors said the information he’s received subsequent to re-life hasn’t helped.”

“You mean the warning we were given on the scout mission?”

“Yes, partly. It’s unfortunate that we don’t know exactly what did give you that warning. Re-lifers often worry that their earlier self is alive somewhere. In this case, the prospect is throwing up some unique schizophrenic problems.”

“The warning specifically said the Primes killed them.”

“I know. But Bose is obsessed by what actually transmitted that warning at you. He suspects his original self is still alive back there, in some form or other, which is reasonable enough. It hasn’t helped that his wife has told him she’s divorcing him, either. The psychologist says that he’s interpreted that as a rejection of his new self, which reinforced his focus on his old self.”

Wilson and Anna exchanged a look. “We always wind up feeling guilty about him, don’t we?” she said.

“Yeah,” he said uncomfortably. “So what else did the docs say about him?”

“The clinic will discharge him in a few months. Physically, he’ll be in top shape by then. Mentally—well they say that every re-life case takes another life to get over the trauma. Bose is no exception. Dose him up on antidepressants and let him get on with it.”

“Did he say what he wanted to do afterward?”

“No. He’s receiving a lot of offers from media companies, not just for his life story as a biogdrama, they want him as a commentator on the Prime ‘situation.’ I expect his university will welcome him back. We can drop a hint to that effect, a strong hint. He can’t do much harm back on Gralmond.”

“So he doesn’t want to join the navy, then?”

Daniel grinned. “No. You’re perfectly safe this time around.”

Oscar laughed at the relieved expression on Wilson’s face.

Patricia Kantil walked into the office. “Thank you for waiting,” she said with ever-professional courtesy.

“You’re not late,” Daniel said. “Just to finish off on Bose, there will be some kind of ceremony when he and Verbeke leave the clinic. Patricia, that came from your office?”

“It did. Given their profile, especially Bose, we thought some official welcome back to Commonwealth society would be appropriate for them. They’re the nearest things we have to heroes right now. The Vice President will be there, and it would be nice for some of their shipmates to participate as well.”

Wilson almost groaned out loud. “All right,” he said. “We’ll send someone on the day. Now, if we can get started.”

“My report’s simple enough,” Oscar said. “We haven’t had any contact with the scoutships yet.”

“When was the first due to report back?” Daniel asked.

“The StAsaph should be back at Anshun within another ten days, assuming they didn’t find anything.”

“And if they did?”

“They’re searching fifteen star systems three hundred light-years from the edge of phase three space. Basically their course is a big curve to take them within hysradar range of each star. If the Primes have opened their giant wormhole to any of those systems they’ll be able to detect it. But given the nature of the flightpath, their journey back will be a long one. As they’re not back yet, we know that they didn’t find anything at the first eleven stars.”