Echo. Part 4

The action begins when the referee, with the gravity set at .1, flips the ball high in the air, and the players go up after it.

The Conneltown team wore gold uniforms, which were embroidered with the team name in blazing script and a shoulder patch depicting a fire-spouting dragon.

The crowd roared when, during the opening minute, Brian Lewis took advantage of .2 gravity to leap high over a defender and, as they say in the sport, nail the target as it was pa.s.sing.

A sizable contingent from Tylerville was apparently present. So both teams had substantial crowd support. It was a close game, and, to the dismay of the locals, the Hawks scored the deciding goal as time ran out.

Everybody looked exhausted when it ended. We waited in the parking area and spotted Bannister as he came out of the crowd. "Doug," said Alex, "do you have a minute?"

He stood trying to figure out if he knew Alex. Then he looked at me and smiled. "Sure," he said. "What can I do for you?" He had a thin voice, and you had to listen closely to hear what he was saying.

Alex did the introductions. Then: "Doug, you and Mr. Lewis picked up a rock tablet two days ago in Rindenwood."

"Yes. That's right. Is there a problem?" He seemed a bit nervous. But maybe he was always nervous in the presence of strangers. Or maybe of strange women. He had cinnamon-colored hair, which was already growing thin, and his eyes never quite got clear of the ground.

"No. No problem. We're interested in buying the tablet. Do you still have it?"

"No."

"Can you tell me who does?"

A woman who had the right dimensions and hair to be the one who'd helped make the pickup appeared from somewhere. I hadn't seen her in the stands. "This is my wife, Ara," Doug said.

"I couldn't help overhearing," Ara said. She was still in her flighty years. But she looked good. Inquisitive dark eyes, black hair cut short, and the body of a dancer. I realized right away she was in charge of the marriage. She simply took over from Doug. "Mr. Benedict," she said, "we were bringing it back for our aunt. But while we were en route, she decided she didn't want it."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, when we showed it to her, from the skimmer, she said that wasn't the same one that she'd seen in the ad."

"It wasn't the same one?"

"She meant it was more worn than she'd expected."

"Oh."

She shrugged. "So she said she didn't want it."

"What did you do with it?"

"We dropped it in the river."

"In the river river?" Alex couldn't conceal his horror.

"Yes. She thought it was an artifact, but after she saw it, she said it was worthless."

"Oh."

"And she'd know. She collects stuff like that."

We had caught Brian Lewis's attention. He came over, and we did the introductions again. "Sorry," he said in a deep, rumbling voice when he heard what we were after. "Yeah. That's what happened to it. It's in the river."

"Can you tell us where where in the river?" asked Alex. in the river?" asked Alex.

"Near the Trafalgar Bridge," said Ara.

"Right." Doug made a face, trying to recall details. "We were about a kilometer from the bridge when we ditched it."

"Which side?"

"The east side," said Ara. "I thought it was more than a kilometer, though. More like three or four."

Brian thought about it. "Yeah," he said. "That might be right."

Alex gave them business cards. "Call me if you remember anything else, okay?"

They a.s.sured him they would. Brian walked away while Ara and Doug climbed into a white-and-gold Sentinel. It was the same one they'd used to collect the tablet.

Alex called Audree Hitchc.o.c.k, a longtime friend who did oceanic surveys for the Geologic Service. "We're looking for a rock," he said.

"Beg pardon, Alex?" At the beginning of her career, Audree had worked for Gabe, Alex's uncle. She and Alex saw each other socially on occasion, but it seemed to be more friends.h.i.+p than romance. Audree was a bright, energetic blonde with intense blue eyes and a pa.s.sion for the theater. She belonged to the Seaside Players, a local amateur group. At the beginning of her career, Audree had worked for Gabe, Alex's uncle. She and Alex saw each other socially on occasion, but it seemed to be more friends.h.i.+p than romance. Audree was a bright, energetic blonde with intense blue eyes and a pa.s.sion for the theater. She belonged to the Seaside Players, a local amateur group.

"It's a tablet, Audree." He showed her.

"What's it worth?"

"We're not sure yet. Probably nothing."

"But maybe a lot?"

"Maybe."

"And somebody dropped it into the river?"

"That's right."

"Why?"

"Call it bad judgment. Can we rent you for a day?"

"Where, precisely, did they drop it?"

"East of the Trafalgar Bridge. They say it's somewhere between one and four klicks."

"Okay. We'll take a look. It'll be a couple of days before we can get to it, though."

"Good. And, Audree?"

"Yes, Alex."

"Don't put a lot of effort into it. If it doesn't show up on the first effort, let it go."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure I believe the story."

"Okay. I'll do what I can. By the way, Alex-"

"Yes, Audree?"

"We're doing Moving Target Moving Target this weekend." this weekend."

"You're in it?"

"I'm the target."

"I'm not surprised. Can you set a night aside for me?"

FOUR.

A father can make no more serious error than striving to make his son like himself.

-Timothy Zhin-Po, Night Thoughts.

Five minutes after we got back to the country house, Jacob announced he had news: "Alex, I've located Basil." "Alex, I've located Basil." Tuttle's son. Tuttle's son.

"Can you put me through to him, Jacob?"

"Negative. He does not have a link."

"No code? Nothing at all?"

"Nothing."

"Where does he live?"

"Portsboro. Near Lake Vanderbolt."

"All right. We'll be home shortly. Thanks, Jacob."

"No residential address is listed for him, either."

"You're kidding."

"Ground mail goes to the distribution center. I guess he picks it up there."

Alex made a clicking sound with his tongue. "Fortunately, Portsboro's not far. You want to come?"

I looked out at the windblown hills below. "Sure," I said. "This time of year, I love the north country. All that snow-"

Basil had gone in a different direction from his father. He'd started medical school but never completed his studies. The few who'd written about Sunset Tuttle had little to say about Basil. He'd been married briefly. No known children. Had worked at several jobs before simply walking away to embrace a life of leisure, financed in part by state security, and probably more so by his father.

After Sunset died, Basil had dropped out of sight. At the time, he would have been in his late twenties.

We let Audree know where we could be reached and took the Moonlight Line north in the morning. Alex has always had a child's fascination for trains. He can sit for hours, staring out the window at the pa.s.sing scenery. Headed north, though, the train pa.s.ses through farming country. Experts had for centuries been predicting the end of farms, as they had of trains. But both lived on. It appears now there will always be a market for foods produced the old-fas.h.i.+oned way, just as there will be for the sheer practicality and economy of the train. And I'll confess that there's something rea.s.suring in the knowledge they'll probably always be with us.

In time, the farms gave way to open forest. We climbed mountains, crossed rivers, navigated gorges, and rolled through tunnels. At Carpathia, we had to change trains. We wandered through the gift shop for an hour while snow began to fall. Alex picked up a tee s.h.i.+rt for Audree. It had a picture of the train on it with the logo ALL THE WAY. "I'm not sure I can see her wearing it," I said.

He smiled. "It's all a matter of timing."

Then we were on our way again, riding the Silver Star, winding through mountains that rose ever higher. By early evening we arrived in Packwood. There we rented a skimmer and crossed a hundred kilometers over snow-packed forest to Portsboro, population eleven hundred.

We landed in a parking area on the edge of town, got into our jackets, and climbed out. The cold air felt solid. Like a wall. I turned up the heat in my jacket, and we trudged through the snow, crossed a street, turned a corner, and went into Will's Cafe. It was midafternoon, and the place was empty except for three women at one table and a chess game at another. We ordered sandwiches and hot chocolate and asked the waiter, then one of the customers, and finally the owner where Basil Tuttle lived. n.o.body seemed to know. They knew he lived in the town, but n.o.body had any idea where he could be found. "Comes in once in a while," the owner said. "But that's all I've got."

One of the women waved in the general direction of the western horizon and said he "lives out there somewhere." We left Will's, went down to the next corner, and tried Mary's Bar & Grill.

This time we found someone. Her name was Betty Ann Jones. "I know him," she said, while the other three people at her table shook their heads disapprovingly. She laughed and raised a hand to rea.s.sure them. "Basil likes to be left alone. Are you bill collectors or police or something? Why do you want to see him?"

"We're working on a history project," Alex said. "We're writing a book about his father. You know who his father was?"

"Sunset Tuttle?" She couldn't resist a smirk.

"Right. Anyhow, we'd like to interview Basil. Is there a way we could get in touch with him?"

"What's your name?" she asked. She was probably well into her second century, but she'd kept herself in good shape. Dark skin, shoulder-length brown hair, intelligent eyes. The kind of woman you might expect to find running the gambling table.

"My name's Alex Benedict."

"Okay." She nodded, as if she had a running familiarity with the world's historians.

"Do you know where he lives?" Alex asked.

"Of course. Everybody does."

"Could you direct us?"

"It's complicated. Do you have transportation?"

"Yes."

"Okay, you'll have to head northwest. Over the Nyka Ridge. Keep going straight until you get to the Ogamee-"

"The what?"

"The river river." She stopped and shook her head. Looked out through the windows. It was getting dark. "Do you know him at all?"