Read Online Deucalion by Brian Caswell - Free Book Online Page B

happen.’
    â€˜No, it didn’t. When contact was lost, the computer at Edison relayed the last known position of the flyer. Which put it—’ Another short delay as the map changed again. She pointed to the screen. ‘Approximately here.’
    For a moment the Controller stared at the screen, checking the coordinates. ‘But that’s almost 400 clicks too far south. What would they be doing down there? There’s nothing south of Edison but rocks and wild animals. And a few feral Elokoi.’
    As he added the last phrase, the young operative flashed a look of distaste at the back of the man’s head, but said nothing. He continued: ‘Maybe they decided to go sightseeing. It’s been known. Especially if the flyer was chartered by new arrivals.’
    â€˜Itwasn’t a charter, sir. As I told you, it was a private flight. And it’s unlikely they were sightseeing. You see—’
    This time, something in the young woman’s tone made the Controller look up.
    â€˜You see, this flyer was carrying Councillor Johannsen.’
    Suddenly, the movements of thirty thousand new arrivals were forgotten, as the Controller stared at the map on the screen, then at the chrono on the wall above the control desk.
    â€˜What time did you say they lost contact?’
    â€˜A couple of minutes before four. They’ve been searching for over two hours.’
    â€˜And?’
    â€˜Nothing. There’s no sign of them anywhere.’
    Roosevelt Ranges
    Edison Sector (West)
    15/7/101 Standard
    CAEL
    Stumbling up the last few metres of the rise, Cael stopped to look down at the crash site. Saebi was already making her way down the steep incline towards the black crater the explosion had gouged from the flesh of the parched land. Debris littered the path the stricken flyer had followed after it struck the boulder, about a hundred metres before the crater. A deathly silence hung over the scene.
    Slowly, Cael followed his mate down towards the worst of the horror. Nothing could have survived. The flyer had disintegrated on impact, and the explosions had torn apart whatever might have remained. Yet they moved from place to place across the whole area, examining bodies and the larger pieces of wreckage for any sign of life.
    Cael looked up as Saebi’s Thoughtsong filtered into his consciousness. She was singing the victims Beyond. For a moment, it crossed his mind to ask her if she thought that aliens such as the offworlders could pass Beyond like Elokoi, but the haunting power of the Thoughtsong drove the question from his mind. Such wisdom was the province of the Tellers. Who was he to question the gift that she offered freely to the spirits of the dead?
    The sudden cry hit them like a desert storm-front, tearing through their thoughts with a power that drove them to their knees. A cry of confusion and terrible pain. Wordless, it spoke of a horror too deep for words. Soundless, it leapt direct from mind to mind. In the silence that had closed in around them, in the centre of all that devastation, it was a cry for help.
    Against the odds, someone had survived. An offworlder with the power to cast its thoughts. A child.
    They stood up, and moved slowly in the direction of one of the huge boulders. And as they stepped into its shadow, a tiny voice wordspoke them in Standard. ‘Is somebody there? Please, is somebody still alive?’
    Cael looked back at the horror of the crash scene, then at Saebi. And he moved around the curve of the rock to face the child.
    DARYL
    For the hundredth time, I thought I heard someone moving. And for the hundredth time, I told myself it was impossible. If anyone had survived, they would have found me long before this. Or at least called out.
    My muscles were cramping from lack of movement but I was helpless to do anything about it. The cage that had saved my life had become my prison. It would probably end up serving as my coffin.
    I had given up on the