Lanier exited the elevator and took hold of the cable, maneuvering into the cart. The slightly built driven-a woman in air force blue coveralls—moved the cart off its normal route and followed a track into Kirchner’s staging and practice area.
Lanier had been there only twice before, each time to meet with the admiral. He clung to the cart handgrips and tried to prepare an answer for the questions he knew would be asked.
Hoffman had hinted in her last communication that the information she had given him had finally reached the Joint Chiefs. That meant Kirchner and Gerhardt had it now.
Gerhardt’s aide met him in the short tunnel before the converted cargo storage area where Kirchner’s bore-hole team practiced. He led Lanier into a bare-rock cubicle lined with makeshift file cabinets.
One wide vein of nickel-iron had been polished and wire-brushed to serve as a projection screen.
Kirchner floated into a harness, viewing readouts on a slate, as Lanier was escorted in and Announced. Gerhardt pushed himself along the hall and entered after him.
Kirchner nodded at them both. The admiral did not appear comfortable.
“Mr. Lanier supposed to be lieutenant commander, did it not?” Gerhardt asked bruskly. He was a squat, trim man with wiry black hair and a broad squashed nose. His dress differed little from that of his internal defense marines: green uniform, black boots with soft rubber soles for traction.
“Yes, sir.” Lanier waited out the pause.
“You did not inform us that Takahashi is a Soviet operative, Mr. Lanier,” Kirchner said.
“No, I did not.”
“You learned of this almost two weeks ago and did not inform your security team leaders of the breach?”
Lanier said nothing.
“You had your reasons,” Kirchner offered.
“Yes.”
“May we be informed?” Gerhardt asked, his tenor voice tightening slightly.
“It was our intention to give the Russians a little breathing space, to let them see we were backing off. We could not do that if Takahashi was locked up.”
“Which I would have done,” Gerhardt said.
Lanier nodded.
“You’re right. I would have. Do you realize this could put our whole operation in jeopardy? Takahashi could have witnessed our maneuvers here, our preparations for the assault—”
“No, sir. He’s kept to the compound except to send messages.” Kirchner, his usual taciturn self, was letting Gerhardt administer the dressing-down.
“And he’s been sending those messages right over our heads, right along with our alignment beams for OTV docking. Wonderful. I am arranging for his arrest now. I want him shipped back to Earth immediately and I want him tried for treason. Christ, Garry.”
Gerhardt shook his head vigorously, as if to frighten away insects.
“Hoffman wanted this?”
“She implied it.”
“She gave you the name. Any results? I mean, have the Russians decided to negotiate yet?”
“No, not that I’ve heard.”
“You’re damned right they haven’t. They know what we’re holding here. You expected them to believe we would just pull back and share it all with them?”
“I thought we needed a breather. Chance to reassess.”
“Did Hoffman know what information Takahashi was passing along?” Kirchner asked.
“Yes. Material about the libraries.”
“Jesus, Garry, the clown had access to places Kirchner and I can’t go. If you ask me, you’ve screwed this operation up royally. Is there anything I should know that he knows? Or that your sweet little female student has learned?”
“Yes, undoubtedly,” Lanier said, keeping calm, letting the general blow off steam. ”And you know I won’t tell you. You’ll have to ask your superiors.”
Gerhardt smiled. ”Yes. A President—off the record, Garry?—a President who’s living in some antebellum dream of democracy, can’t even talk about space much less think about it; a Senate composed of his stooges and ass-backwards Republicans grinding out bills on southern reapportionment ...” He glanced at Kirchner, who shook his head, smiling slightly and looked off at the asteroid rock wall.
“Nobody’s giving half the attention to the Stone they should—or am I wrong?”
“You’re right and wrong. At this moment, I don’t think there’s any more important topic to the governments of the world than the Stone. Everybody’s speculating. The Russians are scared shitless we’ll have a technological drop on them. We already do, but the Stone cinches it, doesn’t it?”
“What are Kirchner and I doing up here, Garry? Why aren’t we kept informed, like you? The Stone’s security relies on the Captain and me, but those bastards have pulled curtains around us. We can’t get into the libraries, can’t see documents ... I don’t understand ... some of the weirdest things I’ve been hearing. It’s going to drive me nuts. Isn’t it, time we cooperate with each other?”
“They have their reasons,” Lanier said.
“I’ve watched you, Garry. You’ve gone downhill the past year. I don’t want to know your secrets for my health’s sake. What in hell have we got here?”
Lanier pulled himself into a second harness and gripped the straps.
“What are your orders from Earth, Oliver?”
“I am to prepare for imminent assault on the Stone and for the possibility of nuclear confrontation on Earth.”
“Can the Russians take the Stone?”
“If they put everything they have in space against us, yes,” Kirchner said.
“Do you think they will?”
“Yes,” Kirchner said. ”How, I don’t know. But we’re thinking day and night trying to second-guess. On our next close approach, they’ll use little skirmishes on Earth at sea and in Euro to distract attention from the Stone. They they’ll come at us and try to take it from us. Or they’ll try the Stone first. I don’t know.”
“Can they succeed?”
Gerhardt raised his hand to interrupt. ”Will you level with me on what we’re facing, Garry? And let me lock the bastard away?”
Takahashi had probably served his usefulness.
“Yes,” Lanier said. ”Get him off the Stone as soon as you can. Let the State Department take care of him once he reaches Florida.”
“You’ll let us into the libraries?” Gerhardt asked.
“No. They’re closed. I’ll tell you what you need to know.”
“Then I’ll answer your question,” Kirchner said. ”The Russians can succeed. They can take us over. If they put everything they have into it, we can’t really stop them short of sealing off the bore hole, and we can’t do that without sealing ourselves in. We’ve been ordered not to do that.”
“Of course,” Lanier said. That would have ended all doubts for the Russians.
“Good talking with you, Garry,” Gerhardt said sharply. “Now, let’s get busy and move those sons of bitches off the Stone.”
“Only Takahashi. Don’t touch the Russian team.”
“God, no,” Gerhardt said. ”We won’t do that until it’s too damned late for anyone to be sensible.”