A Talent for War Read Free Page B

the illusion, and that sponders would work better if the physical sensations were muted, or flawed. Like the real thing.
    "What's that?" I asked, thinking he was going to ask me to administer the estate in some meaningful way. See that the money went to a good cause. Not spend it all on skimmers and women.
    He poked at the fire. It popped, and a log fell heavily off the grate. A cloud of sparks swirled and died. I could feel the heat on my face. "How did it happen? Heart attack? Problem with the leased ship? Hell, was I run down by a taxi on my way to the spaceport?"
    I couldn't suppress a smile at the notion that the simulacrum was curious. "Gabe," I said, "the flight never came out of the jump."
    "Isn't that a son of a bitch?" A chuckle forced its way out, and then he dissolved in gales of laughter. "I died on the goddam commercial leg." I started to laugh too. The Mindinmist was warm in my stomach, and I refilled our glasses.
    "Ridiculous," he said.
    "Safest form of travel per passenger-kilometer," I observed.
    "Well, I'm damned if I'll make that mistake again." But the laughter died into a long silence.
    "Still, I'd have liked to see it."
    I expected him to say more. When he didn't, I prompted him. "See what? What were you looking for?"
    He waved the question away. "To be honest with you, I don't feel very comfortable doing this.
    I mean, it seems only decent that people shouldn't hang around after they've—" he shook one hand idly, looking for the expression he wanted, "—gone to a happier world." He sounded uncertain. Lost. "But I had to guard against this possibility." His eyes fastened on mine and grew very round. "Do you remember Hugh Scott?"
    I considered it. "No," I said at last.
    "No reason why you should, I suppose. How about Terra Nuela? Do you remember that?"
    Sure. Terra Nuela was the first habitation built outside the solar system. It was constructed on a hot, rocky world circling Beta Centauri, and it was, of course, little more now than a hole in the desert. It was the first excavation Gabe had taken me to. "Yes," I said. "Hottest place I've ever seen."
    "Scott was along on that trip. I thought you might have remembered him. He used to take you for walks after sundown."
    "Okay," I said, calling up a vague recollection of a big, bearded, dark-skinned man. Of course, I was at an age when everyone was big.
    "If you had known Scott a few years ago, known him as I did, you wouldn't recognize him now."
    "Health?" I asked. "Marital problems?"
    "No. Nothing like that. He came back from a mission with Survey about three years ago. He came back somber, preoccupied, disoriented. Not at all like his old self. In fact, I suspect a psychiatrist would conclude that he's undergone a fundamental personality change. You would not have found him a desirable companion."
    "And?"
    "He was on board the Tenandrome, one of the big new survey ships. They saw something very Page 8

    strange in the Veiled Lady."
    "What?"
    "He wouldn't tell me, Alex. Wouldn't admit to anything."
    "Then you're guessing—?"
    "I know what they saw. Or at least I think I do. I was on my way out there when—" He stopped, unable to continue, and waved one hand at the ceiling.
    "What do you think they saw?"
    "I'm not sure how much I can tell you," he said. "There's always a security problem about these transmissions. And you won't want this to get around."
    "Why not?" I asked.
    "Take my word for it." He was back in his chair again, kneading his forehead in the way that he did when he was trying to count something out. "You'll have to come home. I'm sorry about that, but it can't be helped. Jacob has everything you'll need. It's in the 'Leisha Tanner' file. The lawyers will provide the access code." He looked suddenly very tired. But he stayed on his feet.
    "Missing this one is a son of a bitch, Alex. I envy you."
    "Gabe, I have a business here. I can't just pick up and leave."
    "I understand. It would have been easier for me, I suppose, to go elsewhere for