Read Online The Devil's Eye by Jack McDevitt - Free Book Online

Rob Peifer. I'm with Global." He smiled at me, signaling he had no clue who I was but was glad to see me anyhow. "Welcome to Salud Afar." "Thank you," said Alex. He looked my way. "Global's one of the major news agencies." "We're the best there is, Mr. Benedict. But"-he waved it away as a matter of relative inconsequence-"I was wondering if you could take a moment to tell me what brings you all the way out here? Is there a mysterious artifact involved, maybe? Or a lost world?" He leaned forward, inviting a provocative reply. Alex smiled politely. "We're just here on vacation, Mr. Peifer. Just want to see the sights." "You're not on the track of anything?" "No. We're just hoping to enjoy ourselves." "Would you tell me if you were ? On the track of something?" Alex thought about it. "Sure." "Okay." "We're just here on vacation." "You sent some inquiries out about Vicki Greene-?" "We're fans." "She just underwent a personality transplant." "That's correct." "It wouldn't have anything to do with your visit?" "No. Not really." "All right. I'll just say you had no comment." "Mr. Peifer, do what you like." We started to move away, but Peifer stayed with us. "You think it happened here, huh?" "What happened here?" "Whatever sent her over the edge." "I told you we're here on vacation." "Okay. Stick with your story." He paused. "You want me to say nothing about your being here?" Alex shrugged. "It doesn't matter to us." He looked at me and I shrugged. "Mr. Peifer," he said casually, "did you by any chance meet Vicki Greene when she came here? Were you standing at the terminal for her, too?" He nodded. "Sure. She was really something." He shook his head. "I heard what happened to her. That is why you're here, isn't it?" "What can you tell us about her?" "Mr. Benedict, I'll be happy to answer your questions. But only if we can make a deal." "And that would be?"
    "You and Vicki Greene together would make a pretty big story. If you find out anything, you give me an exclusive." Alex blinked a couple of times. "You promise? It doesn't cost you anything." "Sure. I don't see a problem with that." Peifer gave us his code so we could reach him. Then: "She told me the same story you did. Said she'd come to Salud Afar as a tourist. That she'd always wanted to see how things looked outside the galaxy. She wasn't at all what I expected." "How do you mean?" "Horror writer? I thought she'd be dressed in black. That she'd be, you know, depressing." "Did she say where she was going?" "No. She said she hadn't made up her mind yet. She was going to visit oddball places." "Oddball?" "Her term, not mine." "I don't understand. What's an oddball place?" "I'm pretty sure she was talking about something with a haunted flavor." "But no specifics?" "No. She didn't want to tell me where she was going because she figured I might start showing up." He looked puzzled. "She looked too innocent to be the same woman who wrote those books." "You've read them, Rob?" I asked. "A couple of them. They're scary."
    We caught a glide train to the capital. The vegetation was striking. Usually, it is what it is. Lots of chlorophyll trying to get at the sun. But Salud Afar has giant flowers in a wide range of colors, though predominantly purple and yellow. The blossoms are bigger than I am. Gravity's light, so everything gets taller. In some areas, we could not see the sky for them. The towns themselves were quaint. A bit old-fashioned. The architecture might almost have been out of Rimway's Kalasian era, two centuries ago. It made me feel as if we'd done some time-traveling. It was midmorning when we arrived at the capital. Marinopolis was a study in dazzling architecture and planning: sunlit towers and broad avenues and sculpted air bridges and wide parks. Water was everywhere: It ran through conduits, spurted from fountains, spilled from flumes. Glowing walkways were crowded. Monuments to the heroes of the revolution were still being put in place. Despite all that, or probably