“We have,” Vera replies without lifting her head, “except he never appears anywhere in person, and no one’s been able to uncover where he’s hiding. His ship—The Parallax—has more advanced cloaking systems than we can crack, and all his predictions are delivered by hologram.”
Not to mention, Jester adds,his hologram signal doesn’t even exist.Whatever encryption technology Doc Min’s using to shield his location, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. And—here, Jester’s mouth twists in annoyance—I can’t decode it.
Lament leans against the love seat’s backrest. He seems to be looking at Jester without really seeing him. I notice the little changes in his posture, the way his brows have gathered together. I nudge his shoulder. “What are you thinking?”
“I… something’s just occurred to me.”
“Oh?”
“I don’t know how I didn’t—before—I should have realized—”
It isn’t like Lament to stumble over words. I lean forward. “Realized what?”
“Did you hear how Doc Min described the voroxide?” Lament sounds calm, but his hands are twisting together, the knuckles bloodless. “He said a poisonous gas will float through the air.Chaos will ensue. People will turn against each other.Does that not sound familiar?”
“Um.” I glance at the others for help.
“I think,” Vera offers, “what Lament means to say is that the volcano’s voroxide sounds a lot like our unidentified white space mist.”
“Oh.” I blink. “Oh, you’re right.”
Lament turns to Jester. “Have there been any reports of unusual animal activity on Venthros? Specifically, attacks by creatures with glowing eyes?”
The inside of Jester’s visor lights up as he accesses a database, which is controlled by the movement of his eyes. After a moment, he shakes his head.No official documents have been filed.
“Which doesn’t necessarily mean there haven’t been any incidents.” Lament stands from the couch and begins to pace. “Just that they haven’t made it into the records.”
Vera clutches her collar. She looks like she did when Lament wanted to rush off to Purvuva and she was doing her best to stop him.I understand you’re not thinking clearly. I understand things have been so hard.“Lament…”
“I know what you’re going to say,” he cuts in. That fevered expression is dawning on his face again, the same one that overtook him back on Skyhub after the raptor attack. “What if some of the voroxide leaked out of the volcano before the eruption?”
Vera bites her cheek. “That’s not exactly…”
“What if it floated up through the atmosphere into space?”
“Well, I suppose it’s possible, but I just wonder—”
“This could be the answer,” Lament finishes, breathing pretty hard for someone who’s only striding determinedly about the room. “You’re right. I’m thinking the same thing.”
Vera is looking more troubled by the second. “Actually, that’s not—”
“It’s too big a coincidence.” Lament stops pacing abruptly. His cheeks are flushed, his expression a touch harried. “And it fits, doesn’t it? If we can confirm the voroxide and the space mist are one in the same, we might finally understand what happened to Bast. What made Moon Dancer go down that day. All we’d have to do is fly to Mount Kilmon, take an air sample, and test it ourselves. We could go today. Right now.”
This proclamation is met with silence. I see the looks the Sixers exchange, wary and a little pitying. I hear how the quiet expands, the way no one jumps in with anything, not encouragement, which would be false, but not even skepticism, which they think Lament can’t handle.
And… it tugs at something in me. It’s not that I blame the other Sixers for their reluctance. It’s hard to know what to do in the face of someoneelse’s grief. And itispainful to see Lament like this, trying to make connections where there probably aren’t any, still so desperate to understand why he had to lose his gunner, his best friend, someone he loved.
Lament’s enthusiasm starts to fade as he peers around, catching the mood of the room. He brings his arms around his midsection, his shoulders drooping like he’s deflating.
“I think this is worth exploring,” I announce, following Lament to my feet. “If there’s a chance Lament is right, even a small one, we should investigate.”
Lament’s uncertain eyes find mine. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I look at the others. “I know it’s a long shot, but what’s the harm in trying?”
“There’s a lot of harm, actually,” Vera says. “Lament doesn’t have approval to continue investigating Bast’s death, and you both already have red cards. If the sergeant finds out you’ve broken the rules again…”
“She’s not going to find out.”
