Resurgence

Hans told himself to think pure thoughts. Think depressing, think about the frozen and dead world that they had come from, think about what might face them tomorrow. Think about anything, except Darya pressing close to him. He said, “We have a job to do. We have to teach Ben without his ever knowing that he’s being taught. It won’t be easy, because we have no experience ourselves of anything like Iceworld. That isn’t my biggest worry, though.”

“So what is? I didn’t get the feeling from listening to you that you were expecting danger on Iceworld.”

“Then that’s a failing on my part. The leader of a party should always expect danger. I hope Ben Blesh’s survival training included that detail. Don’t worry, I won’t be relaxing too far. But Ben’s actions are not what most concern me. My big worry is Lara.”

“Lara? She’s not the bossy one. And you just told me that she was doing a perfect job.”

“She was, and she is. But from what you told me, as soon as we arrive on Iceworld she will feel that she has to prove she’s as good as Ben Blesh—and maybe better. It’s when people want to prove themselves that they do silly things and get into trouble. My job will be to spot any show-off action ahead of time. If I don’t, the hardest task will be to prevent Lara from starting something.”

“I understand.” Darya eased away from him. “Hans, my hardest task right now is to prevent you from starting something. You mustn’t feel rejected, but this isn’t the best time and place.”

“Will there ever be a better one? It’s been more than two years.”

“I’m aware of that. Maybe more aware of it than you are.”

Darya did not suggest, as he knew she had every right to, that their two-year separation was the result of Hans’s own efforts to overturn the repressive government of the Phemus Circle. She had not pointed out that any visit by her to him would have been blocked by that same government. She had never criticized him for pursuing a lost cause. For herself, she had not left Sentinel Gate for as much as a single day, and if at any time he had made the effort to come and see her, she would have been ready and waiting.

Any time but now. The bunk creaked as she rolled sideways off it. Hans felt a hand exploring his face in the darkness, tasted a soft kiss on the lips, and heard a whispered, “There will be a better time. Goodnight.”

Hans was alone again. He drew in a deep breath and told his body to relax. He repeated his own mantra: When you have something to do, do it. When you have nothing to do, sleep. When you have something to do, do it. When you have nothing to do, sleep.

Sometimes, repeated mantras are not enough. Sometimes, self-discipline fails. Hans remained awake. He stared into the darkness and imagined possible dangers on the surface of Iceworld. Half an hour later, his mind remained blank and he was still as far from sleep as ever.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN Iceworld

After a thousand planetfalls one more should have little to offer, even if it happened to be in a different arm of the galaxy.

Hans puzzled over his own reactions. He had landed on objects ranging in size from minor planetoids to monster worlds twice the diameter of Iceworld. So why the feeling that this was a new experience?

He looked ahead to the broad curve of the planet, felt the pulse of the Savior’s drive, listened for the whistle of air on the ship’s hull, and knew the answer. Anything the size of Iceworld ought to be a massive object, well able to hold on to an atmosphere. This place wasn’t massive, and the surface was utterly airless. The ship was descending through hard vacuum, riding a drive operating at only a fraction of full power.

The more Hans thought about Darya’s plan, the less he was persuaded that it could work as easily as she suggested. Accept that the world a few kilometers below the ship was hollow. Assume that somehow they would be able to penetrate the featureless exterior and reach the interior. But now consider that interior. A world with a diameter of seventy-eight thousand kilometers had a volume of two hundred and fifty trillion cubic kilometers. The old “needle in a haystack” image didn’t begin to describe it. You could wander a space that size for the rest of your life, and never come close to what you were looking for—even if you knew what you were looking for.

Which, as even Darya readily admitted to him in private if not in public, she did not. She was hoping to find sentient Builder artifacts similar to those they had met inside worlds of the Orion Arm. They had been able to communicate with them, even if the information provided was usually cryptic enough to be more baffling than useful.

Last night’s whispered session might have ended in sexual frustration, but it had also produced a positive result. Darya and Hans were more at ease with each other now than at any time since his arrival at Upside Miranda Port. Both of them were keeping a close eye on Lara and Ben.