The Jupiter Theft

Then Maggie had thrown her arms around him and announced that she was going too.

“I thought you were trying to talk me out of it, like Janet.”

“That was before I knew you were really going! You’re not going to leave me behind!”

“Good girl, but—”

“I won’t stay behind with all those sheep!” she said fiercely.

That hadn’t endeared her to the others. But Jameson had to admire her independent spirit. He felt a little ashamed of himself. He’d been one of the sheep himself, for too long. It was Maggie’s example, with her rebellious heritage from the New England Secessionists, that had opened his eyes and given him the resolve to resist the Kleins and the authority they represented.

He finished tying up the bundles and handed them out, giving the lightest one to Ruiz. “Just a moment,” he said. “I just want to say good-bye to Boyle.”

Boyle was breathing deeply and rhythmically. He looked somehow shrunken between the two blankets. There was a makeshift screen around him: sheets hung from ropes that were strung between the abstract branches of the iron trees.

“He doesn’t know you’re here,” Janet said. “I put him under.”

“When are you going to operate?”

“Soon. I’m boiling the instruments now. I’ll have to make do with what was in the medical bag.” She laughed uneasily. “I’ve never performed an amputation before. In fact, I haven’t practiced medicine since my internship. Just administrative psychiatry. Qing-yi’s going to help me. Did you-know that she was a chijiao yisheng—what they call a barefoot doctor—in Kweichow Province before she qualified for the space program? She doesn’t have a medical degree, but she’s performed more operations than I have.”

“Is he going to be all right?”

“He’ll be fine. He has the constitution of an ox. And lots of willpower; he’ll make himself a crutch and be hopping around in no time. Maybe some day…” She hesitated. “The Cygnans must know about regeneration—you saw that assistant. If we can get a dialogue going with them … Tod, won’t you stay?”

“Chances are, I’ll be back before you know it. If not…” He shrugged. “Look, you can’t depend on one man with absolute pitch. We humans are ingenious creatures. It can be done with computer-generated sound and translating interfaces. There are some good electronics people here, and if you can actively enlist the Cygnan’s interest … Do it for the captain, Janet. And for your children.”

He turned toward Boyle. “So long, Skipper,” he said. “Good luck.”

Incredibly, from some iron resource of will, Boyle’s eyes flicked open. Jameson sensed that he was fighting the drug. “Good luck, boy,” he whispered. “It’s up to you.” His eyes closed, and he was breathing deeply again.

“He didn’t know what he was saying,” Janet said.

“Yes he did,” said Jameson, and walked away quickly. Ruiz, Dmitri, and Maggie picked up their bundles when they saw him coming. Jameson shouldered his own parcel, slipping one arm through the loop at the knot, and moved past the clustered people at the gate without looking at their faces.

A dozen yards past the thick bars, he paused to look back. They were already pushing at the gate, sliding it shut. It fell into place with a solid thunk. The animals had locked themselves back in their cage.

“Wait a minute,” Dmitri called.

“Come on!” Jameson said. “There isn’t time for you to stop and look at specimens.”

“They’re trying to attract our attention,” Dmitri said.

Ruiz looked at the cage behind the wire mesh barrier. “He’s right,” he said. “Those creatures are intelligent.”

Jameson turned around and went up to the barrier for a closer look. It was the cage that held the feathery humanoids. The pixieish little creatures were swarming frantically over the bars, making urgent gestures with their delicate four-fingered hands.

“They’re cute,” Maggie said.

“They’re carnivores,” Dmitri said. “Look at those little pointed teeth.”

“Like a kitten’s!” Maggie responded indignantly.

“We’re carnivores too,” Ruiz said. “Gives us something in common with them.”

Jameson looked the creatures over. They were fluffy and flamingo-pink, with huge round violet eyes that gave them an astonished expression, like a tarsier. They had button noses and dainty underslung jaws that, head on, gave them an appealingly chinless appearance, like pink teddy bears. They sported tufted tails, which they kept winding around their waists or necks like feather boas.

And they had stacked a little pile of artifacts against the bars for demonstration purposes. A pair of little felt boots, too short for their feet until you noticed the four holes for toes to protrude through and rest on the projecting sole. A filigreed cup that could not have held anything, and seemed to have no purpose except to be beautiful. A miniature rake that was obviously a grooming comb.

“They had those ready to show us,” Ruiz said. “They were waiting.”