ALTERNATIVES
“But how could the nanomachines have gotten into the man’s space suit?” Professor Uhlrich demanded.
McClintock answered with another question. “And into the motor of that tractor?”
Uhlrich sat rigidly erect behind his desk. His brain’s visual cortex created a picture of McClintock based on the smoothly urbane sound of his voice: tall, handsome, slim, and self-assured. The image reminded Uhlrich of a video star he had seen years ago, a smiling rogue of a lady’s man.
“Dr. Cardenas believes they were planted deliberately,” Uhlrich muttered.
“Actually, she said they might have been planted deliberately. She didn’t rule out an accidental situation.”
Uhlrich drummed his fingers on his desktop. “Deliberate or accident, someone planted those nanomachines. Who? And why?”
He sensed McClintock’s shrug. “Damned if I know.”
“We must find out.”
“How?”
“We must enlist Dr. Cardenas’s help. After all, she is the leading expert on nanotechnology.”
“But she’s leaving to return to Selene on the next lobber flight.”
Shaking his head forcefully, Uhlrich said, “She mustn’t leave! You must convince her to stay here.”
McClintock thought about the disappointing dinner he’d had with Cardenas the previous night. Getting her to stay might not be altogether a bad idea, he said to himself. It could give me another chance at her.
He asked Uhlrich, “And just how do I do that? If she wants to go I can’t stop her. Unless you want me to kidnap her.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Uhlrich snapped. “You must convince her of the seriousness of our problem. I’m sure she’ll agree to stay and help us once she understands.”
Sounding utterly unconvinced, McClintock said, “She understands the seriousness, all right. That’s why she’s flying back to Selene.”
Uhlrich’s temper seethed. But he kept it under control. I can’t afford to alienate this dilettante. He holds the purse strings.
So Uhlrich changed the subject. “Have you made a decision about investing your trust’s funds in the Farside Observatory?”
A long hesitation. Then, in a slippery, evasive tone, McClintock said, “It’s my father’s trust. He controls the money.”
“But he will base his decision on your recommendation, no?”
With a nod, McClintock answered, “I don’t see how I can make that decision until we discover the source of the nanomachines.”
Before Uhlrich could respond, McClintock went on, “I mean, you might have an actual saboteur in the facility. It wouldn’t be prudent to sink the trust’s funds into a facility that might be destroyed by—”
“Destroyed?” Uhlrich thundered.
“It’s a possibility, isn’t it? If you have someone here who deliberately infected that tractor and the space suit with destructive nanos, what’s to stop him from wiping out your whole facility and killing everyone here?”
“My god, man,” Uhlrich breathed.
“I’ve got to tell you, Professor, if there’s another incident with nanobugs, I intend to leave Farside and return home.”
Without granting me any of your trust’s funding, Uhlrich added silently. I’ll be ruined. All my dreams will turn to dust and ashes.
“You can’t do that,” the professor said, his voice pleading.
His tone flat and sure, McClintock replied, “It would be the prudent thing to do, Professor. In fact, I think you should have your staff prepare an evacuation plan. Just in case.”
“No!” Uhlrich snapped. “That would start a panic.”
“Better a panic than a catastrophe,” said McClintock.