Alex Benedict 07 - Coming Home by Jack McDevitt

Author:Jack McDevitt [McDevitt, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-11-03T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

Baylee and Southwick were included with a list of contributors framed in the entry. “I’m not sure what we’d do without people like them,” I said. “Gabe’s name should be up there, too.”

I regretted the comment immediately. It was halfway out before I thought to shut it down, and by then it was too late. “You have to contribute to this museum to get that kind of recognition,” said Alex. “His name is up in a few places.” He was close to saying something more, but he cut it off. “Yeah,” he said finally, “he’s in good company.”

Time to change the subject: “How about we get something to eat?”

“Okay. That sounds like a good idea.”

We left the museum and crossed the street to the Barrista Grill. Soft music drifted through the dining area.

“So what’s next?” I asked, as we took a table near a window. The sky was filled with clouds.

“I don’t know. If it weren’t for the attack on the boat, I’d be about ready to give it up and head home. But somebody wants us to stop. Why?”

“I have no idea.”

“Madeleine O’Rourke changed the game.” The candles blinked on, and the table described a couple of specials and asked what we’d like. We ordered a bottle of wine with our meal and sat back to relax. Alex was lost in thought. I stared out the window, watching as rain began to fall. Two people had paused outside trying to make up their minds about coming in. The rain settled the matter for them.

The wine arrived.

Finally, I asked him what he was thinking about.

“Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” he said.

“Did you want to go watch it tonight?”

“That’s not what I mean. It struck me that when we were trying to find Larissa, we limited the search too much.” He picked up the bottle and popped the cork.

“You mean we should have looked off-world?”

“Very good.”

“There’s no colony with that name.”

“No, there isn’t. But there are six places in the Confederacy. Two states, two islands, and a mountain. We can eliminate them because they’re all on worlds that we hadn’t reached during the Dark Age.”

“You only named five.”

“The sixth one is a moon. Orbiting Neptune.”

“In this system?”

“Yes.”

“Beautiful.”

Alex smiled. “Let’s hope.” He took a deep breath and filled the glasses. “By the way, the place has a site that would have been perfect for hiding the artifacts.”

“Really?” I said. “What’s that?”

“There was a research station built out there during the twenty-fifth century. It was abandoned after about eighty years. Or four centuries. Depends whose history you read. In any case, it would have been a tempting place to store the museum artifacts.”

“Sounds more promising than the Aegean.”

“Yes. We assumed the reference was to the Greek area because Zorbas was born near there. But that might have gotten us thinking small.”

I picked up my glass. “Sounds good to me.”

“Maybe we have it this time.” He lifted his and took a deep breath. “Let’s hear it for the Neptunians.”

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