“That means putting your cargo hold people to work,” I said to Zane.
“As far as they know, we’re where we’re supposed to be,” Zane said.
“Start your cargo prep tomorrow morning, then,” I said. “We’ll give you until the first containers are ready to make the trip to the planet. If you haven’t figured out the problem then, we’re talking to the colonists anyway. All right?”
“Fair enough,” Zane said. One of Zane’s officers came up to speak to him; he shifted his attention away. I turned my attention to Jane.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” I said quietly.
“I’m thinking about what Trujillo said to you,” Jane said, also keeping her voice down.
“When he said that the Department of Colonization was sabotaging the colony, I don’t think he was suggesting they’d do it like this,” I said.
“They would if they wanted to make the point that colonization is a dangerous business, and if someone was worried that it might actually succeed when they wanted it to fail,” Jane said. “This way they have a lost colony right out of the box.”
“Lost colony,” I said, and then my hand went to my eyes. “Jesus Christ.”
“What?” Jane said.
“Roanoke,” I said. “There was a Roanoke colony on Earth. First English settlement in America.”
“So?” Jane said.
“It disappeared,” I said. “Its governor went back to England to ask for help and supplies, but when he returned all of the settlers were gone. The famous lost colony of Roanoke.”
“Seems a bit obvious,” Jane said.
“Yeah,” I said. “If they really planned to lose us, I don’t think they’d tip their hand like that.”
“Nevertheless, we are Roanoke colony, and we are lost,” Jane said.
“Irony is a bitch,” I said.
“Perry, Sagan,” Zane said. “Come here.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“We’ve found someone out there,” he said. “Encoded tightbeam. He’s asking for the two of you.”
“That’s good news,” I said.
Zane grunted noncommittally and pressed a button to put our caller on the intercom.
“This is John Perry,” I said. “Jane Sagan and I are here.”
“Hello, Major Perry,” the voice said. “And hello Lieutenant Sagan! Wow, an honor to talk to you both. I’m Lieutenant Stross, Special Forces. I’ve been assigned to tell you what you’re supposed to do next.”
“You know what’s happened here?” I asked.
“Let’s see,” Stross said. “You skipped to what you thought was Roanoke colony, only to find yourselves orbiting an entirely different planet, and now you think you’re completely lost. And your Captain Zane there has found out he can’t use his engines. That sound about right?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Excellent,” Stross said. “Well, there’s good news and there’s bad news. The good news is that you’re not lost. We know exactly where you are. The bad news is you’re not going anywhere anytime soon. I’ve got all the details for you when we meet, you two and Captain Zane and me. How about in fifteen minutes?”
“What do you mean, meet?” Zane said. “We’re not picking up any ships in the area. We have no way of verifying who you say you are.”
“Lieutenant Sagan can vouch for me,” Stross said. “As for where I am, clip in a feed from your external camera fourteen and turn on a light.”
Zane looked exasperated and confused, and then nodded over to one of his bridge officers. Zane’s overhead monitor blinked to life, showing a portion of the starboard hull. It was dark until a floodlight clicked on and scooped out a cone of light.
“I’m not seeing anything but hull,” Zane said.
Something flickered, and suddenly there was a turtle-like object in the camera, floating a foot or so off the hull.
“What the hell is that?” Zane said.
The turtle waved.
“Son of a bitch,” Jane said.
“You know what that thing is?” Zane said.
Jane nodded. “That’s a Gameran,” she said, turning to Zane. “That’s Lieutenant Stross. He’s telling the truth about who he is. And I think we have just entered a world of shit.”