Lanier escorted Carrolson in a truck to the seventh chamber. In the tunnel, Carrolson turned on the cab light and removed a pouch from the box in her lap. ”Give electronics high marks this week,” she said. ”Patricia asked for something and they got it to me in twenty-four hours.”
“What is it?”
“You really want to know? It might upset you.”
He smiled. ”It’s my job to be upset.”
“She asked for a meter to check out local values of pi, Planck’s constant-slash aitch, rather—and the gravitational constant. Electronics threw in speed of light, ratio of proton mass to electron mass, and neutron decay time. I don’t know whether she’ll use them all, but she’s got them.”
“Sounds pretty high-tech to me.”
“I asked how they managed to squeeze some of the tests into a package this size. They smiled and said they’ve been building defense satellites for CSOC for years, and the multi-meter was easy in comparison. They scavenged circuits from some surplus security devices. I don’t know how it works, but it does. At least, it seems to. Look.” She pushed a button marked with the Greek letter pi. The luminous display read “3.141592645 stable.”
“My calculator will do that.”
“It won’t tell you if pi changes.”
“So who’s this billed to?”
“Science, of course. Is there no poetry in your soul—does everything reduce to billing?”
“It’s in my blood. Anyway, remove it from science and charge it to a new, special category. Mark that category ‘Vasquez’ and keep the expenditures confidential.”
“Yes, sir.” Carrolson put the multi-meter back in its felt bag as they came down the ramp into the tubelight. ”Will she be expensive?”
“I don’t know. I want to separate science in the first six chambers from anything done here. I’ll be back on Earth in a couple of days, and part of my time may be spent arguing money with senators and congressmen. It’s a complicated subject.”
”My curiosity is checked,” Carrolson said. ”You think she’ll work out?”
Lanier cast a peeved glance at her. ”Don’t you start. Give her whatever she wants, treat her kindly, keep her on the straight and narrow after I’m gone. She’ll do fine.”
“Because the Advisor says?”
Lanier halted the truck near the tent. ”She seems to get along well with Farley. If something important drags you away, what say we have Farley chaperone her? Even if she is Chinese.”
“I don’t foresee any problems there.”
“Nor I. You’ll take Vasquez back and forth to the libraries, with a military escort, not Farley. That’s my only stipulation.”
“Fine. Now for some real sore points,” Carrolson said.
“What?”
“The Russians are grumbling about pulling out their members. If the Russians go, my sources tell me the Chinese might pull out as well. A knee-jerk response. They’ve been complaining, too, and they don’t want anyone to think they’re more gullible than the Russians.”
“Hell, Farley’s been feeding them stuff about the seventh chamber for months now. That doesn’t keep them happy?”
“No. The Russians know the basics, too.”
“The hell with all of them,” Lanier grumbled. ”That sums it up.”
“Admirably.” Carrolson grinned.
“Just make sure Patricia doesn’t talk to anyone she shouldn’t.”
“Got you.”
“Including you.”
Carrolson bit her lower lip, crossed herself and shook her head fervently. ”Hope to die. Seriously, aren’t I just about due for my upgrade?”
“I hope to bring it back with me. I’ll be talking with Hoffman. Patience.”
“Patience is,” Carrolson said.
Lanier stared at her sternly, eyes flickering back and forth across her face. Then he cracked a broad smile and reached up to touch her shoulder. ”Our watchword. Thank you.”
“De nada, boss.”
Wu approached the truck as Carrolson and Lanier stepped down.
“Expedition to the second circuit is back,” he said. “They’re about sixty kilometers away. Security has them on track, and messages have been relayed.”
“Good,” Lanier said. ”Let’s get ready for the homecoming.”
The second expedition consisted of four trucks and twenty-six people.
Sitting near the dwarf forest, Patricia watched the column of dust as the vehicles approached. She picked up her slate and the processor and strolled back to the camp.
Two more trucks entered from the sixth chamber tunnel, rumbling and whanging down the ramp. They parked by the tent and Berenson—commander of the German security forces, and now in charge of security in the seventh chamber stepped down from one, Rimskaya and Robert Smith from the other. Rimskaya nodded cordially at Patricia as he passed by. His mood’s improved, she thought.
Lanier and Carrolson emerged from the shadow of the tent overhang.
“How far did they go?” Patricia asked Lanier.
“Nine hundred and fifty-three kilometers—half battery range.” He held the felt-bagged instrument out to her. ”Your multi-meter. We’ve logged it into the equipment list, and now it’s yours. Treat it carefully. Electronics won’t be able to duplicate it quite as quickly.”
“Thank you,” Patricia said. She removed the instrument and the instructions on a folded slip of paper. Carrolson looked over Patricia’s shoulder.
“It has a range of about ten centimeters,” she commented. “Strictly local.”
Rimskaya came up behind them and cleared his throat.
“Miss Vasquez,” he said.
“Yes, sir?” Old habits die hard.
”How do you like the problem?”
“It’s marvelous,” she said, her tone level. ”It will take time to solve—if it can be solved.”
“Certainly,” Rimskaya said. ”I trust you have become aware of our hypotheses?”
“Yes. They’ve been helpful.” They had been, too. She didn’t want to overstress the point, however.
“Good. You’ve been to the singularity?”
She nodded. ”I wish I’d had the multi-meter.” She passed it to him and he examined the device, shaking his head.
“A fine idea. I see you are making progress. Much better than I. That is as it should be. There is a gentleman on the expedition who might be able to help you more. His name is Takahashi, the expedition’s second-in-command. A very experienced theorist. I trust you’ve read some of our joint papers.”
“Yes. Very interesting?”
Rimskaya fixed his stern gaze on her for an uncomfortably long five or ten seconds, then nodded. ”I must speak with Farley now,” he said, walking away.
The expedition trucks parked twenty meters from the camp.
Lanier walked out to meet them. Carrolson stayed with Patricia.
“That’s as far as we’ve gone down the corridor,” she said. ”From what they radioed back, we still haven’t found much.”
The arrival was something of an anticlimax. Nobody left the vehicles; and one by one, at Lanier’s instructions, they moved past the camp and up the ramp into the tunnel, vanishing into the sixth chamber.
Lanier returned with three memory blocks. He gave one to Carrolson and one to Patricia, pocketing the third. ”Expedition report, unedited,’ he said. ”Nothing spectacular, according to Takahashi, except ...”
He glanced behind him, down the corridor.
“Yes?” Carrolson urged.
“The second circuit is more than just floating cupolas. There are openings beneath the cupolas. They appear to be wells of some sort. They didn’t find out where the wells lead, but they’re definitely open.”
“Then the corridor has holes,” Carrolson said. ”All right, Patricia, it’s time we made plans for a trip to the first circuit. When are you going to be free?”
Patricia took a small breath and shook her head. ”Any time. I can work wherever I am.”
“Make it day after tomorrow,” Lanier said. ”Patricia and I have to spend some time in the library.” He discreetly gestured to Carrolson: time to leave. She made her excuses and glanced back at them as she entered the tent.
“Part two of the indoctrination will begin next shift,” he said. “The most difficult part of all. Are you ready for it?”
“I don’t know,” she said, feeling her chest contract. ”I must be. I’ve survived so far.”
“Good. Meet me at the ramp in twelve hours.”