Icehenge Read Online Free PDF Page B

his girlfriend and he really was just saying hello to me, or whether they were checking out the lab as part of their police work. I showed them all around the lab, told them that we were doing all the work for a Soviet-Arco-Mobil consortium, which of course the record would confirm. I remember walking around talking about old times with him, explaining some of the lab rooms, all the time wondering if both of us were acting, or just me. And I was scared, that somehow our security had broken, and this was the first sign of it.…” He shook his head, laughed shortly. “But computer government came through again. They scarcely knew enough to be aware of their losses. Computer bureaucracy—no wonder Earth is falling apart. I have no doubt all of those governments are being stolen blind.”
    â€œThere’s probably a Terran Starship Association that you’ve never heard of,” I said absently, thinking of the past.
    He laughed. “I wouldn’t doubt it.” He put his drink bulb down. “Although we have kept pretty good track of the other underground organizations on Mars. In fact, we chose this particular time for the construction of the starship because we think that the Committee police will be too busy back on Mars to make much of a search for us.”
    â€œWhy is that?”
    â€œA group called the Washington-Lenin Alliance is planning to start a revolt sometime in mid-August, when Mars is farthest from Earth. Some other groups are going to join them. We don’t know how big it will get, but there should be enough turmoil to keep the police occupied.”
    â€œGreat.” Oh, no, I thought. Not Mars, too. Please. Not Mars.
    Swann moved his hands nervously. I sipped coffee.
    â€œSo you’re not going to help us?” he said suddenly.
    I shook my head, swallowed. “Nope.”
    The corners of his mouth tightened. He looked down at the table.
    â€œDoes that end your starship attempt?” I asked.
    â€œNo,” he said. “They’ll get very near full closure, I’m sure. It’s just—well, on a voyage this long, the slightest difference in the ship’s efficiency will mean a lot. Really a lot. You know that. And I know that if you were to help them the system would end up being more efficient.”
    â€œListen, Eric,” I said, and took a deep breath. “What I don’t understand is this. You people have been working on this problem for years. You and I have been friends for years, and all during that time you’ve known that I’m good at life-support systems. So why didn’t you ever tell me about it?”
    He reddened, chewed his lower lip. “Oh—no reason—”
    â€œ Why, Eric? Why?”
    â€œWell—at first it was Charlie, you know. Being your husband and all—”
    â€œCome on, Eric. We were only married a few years. You and I have been friends a lot longer than that. Or was it like with Charlie in the lab that day—just acting?”
    â€œNo, no,” he said emphatically. “Not at all. I wanted to tell you, believe me.” He looked up from the table at me. “I just couldn’t be sure about you, Emma. I couldn’t be sure that you wouldn’t tell the Committee about us. You always spoke in favor of the Committee and its policies, whenever the subject came up—”
    â€œI did not!”
    He stared at me. “You did. You’d complain about being given too much work and being shunted from place to place, but you’d always end up saying you were glad the sectors were being coordinated, pulled off each others’ throats. And that you were pleased with the life the Committee arranged for you. That’s what you said, Emma!” He pulled at his cheeks as I shook my head. “Then when they jailed your father I thought you would change—”
    â€œMy father broke the law,” I said, thinking about things I had said through the