Life Signs by James Lovegrove

Author:James Lovegrove [Lovegrove, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: &#160
Publisher: Titan Books
Published: 2021-03-30T22:00:00+00:00

35

Mal propped himself up in the bunk on one elbow.

“Mal,” said Simon. “You’re back with us.”

“Yeah,” Mal rasped, “and kinda wishin’ I wasn’t, given how everything’s hurting so much. Wouldn’t be so bad if someone hadn’t gotten herself of a mind to use me as a punch bag.”

“I was doing you a favor,” Zoë said. “I hadn’t butted in, Ornery Annie would have carved you a new smile with that shiv of hers.”

“Yeah, I realize that.”

“A thank-you would be nice.”

“I’ll say thank you once my face is no longer throbbing like a sonofabitch and I can open this eye of mine fully again.” Mal tried to sit up, and let out a gasp of pain. “Yeowtch. Tài kōng suŏ yŏu de xing qiú dōu sāi jìn wŏ de pì gŭ.”

“Best if you try not to exert yourself,” Simon advised.

“Yeah, I’m gettin’ that impression, Doc.” Mal lay back down. “Just so happens I’ve been awake awhile and I’ve been laying here listenin’ to you all flapping your yaps.”

“So you’ve heard about Dr. Weng then,” said Zoë.

“Heard everyone thinks he’s dead.”

“You don’t?”

“All there is, is assumptions. It’s assumed Weng didn’t get to another correctional unit. It’s assumed he died out there in the snow. What if he didn’t?”

“You think he could still be alive?”

“He’s a doctor. He’s a smart guy. He could’ve found shelter, a food source, figured out how to survive. Why are we writing him off just ’cause everybody else has?”

“Okay,” said Jayne, “let’s say he is still alive somewhere out there, which I don’t believe for one moment, but whatever. It’s a big damn planet. He could be anywhere. You’re proposin’ we head out and start searching an entire world? It’d be like looking for—for something tiny in somewhere large.”

“Like a needle in a haystack, you mean, Jayne?” said Simon.

“Yeah, but I never understood that expression. Why would you even look for a needle in a haystack? If you want a needle, whyn’t you just buy yourself one from, like, a needle shop or something?”

Simon said nothing.

Mal said, “It ain’t necessarily that big of a task, Jayne. We know where Weng was aiming for. Those mountains. Could he have gotten over them, gone beyond? Maybe, but it’s unlikely. You must’ve seen ’em on the way in. They’re huge, jagged, probably impassable. More likely he stopped when he reached them. We go that-a-way, we stand a good chance of coming across him.”

“Do we, Mal?” said Zoë. “Or is that just what you want to think?”

“You saying I’m kiddin’ myself?”

“I’m saying your head isn’t clear. Dr. Weng is Inara’s last hope and you’ll do anything to cling on to that. You’ll have us hunt through a vast tract of wilderness in subzero temperatures for who knows how long—days, maybe weeks—when there’s not even any guarantee that the person we’re hunting for is still breathing.”

“We even find him,” Jayne added, “might be he’s frozen solid, like a human popsicle. Or he’s lining the floor of a grizzly bear’s cave.”

“It’s just ridiculous.” Zoë softened her tone a fraction.

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