City of Ruins - By Kristine Kathryn Rusch Page 0,85
the fleet of Dignity Vessels, and I’ve always wondered what they were like. I used to think they were so romantic, showing up places, rescuing people, moving on. I thought they were fiction. And now to discover that they’re not ...”
She shakes her head, then shrugs and grins.
“I love the idea of them,” she says, “and to think I might have a small part in understanding them makes me happier than you could ever know.”
Al-Nasir bites his lower lip. Then he stops and rubs his hand over his mouth, as if he’s suddenly aware of what he’s doing.
“I’m inclined to stay above ground,” he says to me, as if we’re alone in the room. “I won’t lie. I was terrified down there. But I’m also terrified of not going down. I walked to some of the groundquake rubble with Lucretia this afternoon, and I could just as easily have died in this hotel or on the street.”
“Maybe more easily,” Lucretia Stone says. “They’re not as quake-proof here as they say they are.”
“I never dreamed I’d be doing any of this,” Al-Nasir says, as if Stone hasn’t spoken. “So I have no romantic illusions about Dignity Vessels. I’ve seen people die in stealth-tech experiments, and I’ve seen what the Empire can do, and what’s really scary is if we don’t do this job fast, they might hear about this ship, and then they’ll have it.”
He takes a deep breath, stopping himself.
“I guess,” he says more slowly, sounding a bit surprised. “I guess I’m convincing myself to continue.”
“You’re convincing me, too,” Seager says.
“And me,” DeVries says. I look at him, eyebrows raised. I thought he’d come with us. He seemed so coolheaded when we were in the room. I hadn’t realized that he was disturbed as well.
“So all six of you are coming back?” I ask, and I let my surprise into my voice.
Kersting looks around, then grins at me. “Guess so.”
No one denies it. They all stare at me.
“I don’t want you changing your minds once we go below ground,” I say. “Tonight’s the night for decisions. After that, we’re not going to discuss death or risks or possible trouble unless we need to do so to avoid it.”
Al-Nasir glances at everyone else. Kersting is nodding. Rea is smiling. Seager makes little fists and raises them, in a let’s-do-this gesture. DeVries nods once. And Quinte puts her hand on Al-Nasir’s shoulder.
“We’re coming,” she says.
“Fahd,” I say to Al-Nasir. “Don’t let them pressure you. Are you going to join us?”
His mouth thins. He takes another deep breath, as if that’s the only way he can calm himself.
“I’d be stupid not to,” he says.
“We’re all staying,” Mikk says.
“Bernadette, Gregory,” I say. “Are you willing to stay in Vaycehn and help us?”
Bernadette shakes her head. “I think you guys can send me the information on the Business and I can work there.”
“You’ll be working alone,” Gregory says. “I don’t like it here, but I’d rather be here than orbiting Wyr for six months while everyone else gets all the glory.”
“Fahd is right,” Stone says. “Every place is a risk. And now that you’re willing to listen to us, Boss, we’ll be able to mitigate some of it.”
Her tone makes me bristle, but I don’t show it. She’s right. I was wrong to ignore the warnings of the archeologists. I’m going to listen. We’re going to plan this properly.
We’re going to do this next stage right.
* * * *
FORTY-THREE
W
e go back to the room in the same configuration we used two days ago. Mikk and Roderick wait as close to the stealth-tech field as they can. A hovercart sits near them in case we need it quickly. Four guides bring us down, and they have a hovercart too.
This time, however, they have orders to remain below ground, and Bridge has volunteered to stay above ground to make sure they follow those orders.
The only other change is one that the Six have asked for: all of them get to go into the room at the same time.
“After all,” Quinte says, “no one can get into the stealth-tech field unless they have a marker, so I don’t think there’s a reason to guard the door from the outside.”
“And rocks can’t fall inside a stealth field,” Al-Nasir says, even though we’ve discussed this. We don’t know if that’s true or not. Still, he’s got a point. If a disaster happens inside the room, it won’t matter if we have someone outside or not.