Seven Dead in Grand Forks

chapter 11

THE HEAD OF the school board was Myra Castle, a staff assistant at a pharmaceutical company. Myra had political ambitions, was perpetually annoyed, and had, he suspected, never held any kind of authority position until she was elected to oversee the county educational system. If Julie could be believed, she was a petty tyrant. Myra had once introduced Matt to her husband as “the space guy” who went over to MacElroy occasionally to talk to the kids. When he called and asked if he could meet her for lunch, red flags must have gone up. “Why?” she asked.

“I have an idea for the school system. Something you might be interested in using.”

She was a small, pinched woman. One of the few, apparently, on whom the rejuv treatments had minimal effect. She was only in her fifties, but was visibly aging. “What’s the idea, Mr. Darwin?”

“I’d rather talk to you in person. If you can find the time. I know you’re busy.”

“Yes, I am, as a matter of fact. It would help if I knew at least generally what this is about.”

So much for Matt’s charm. “I wanted to talk to you about the lander.”

She had dark skin, narrow features, and wore a perpetual frown. She struck Matt as one of those occasional school board types who was in the business because she was still angry at her own teachers from years before and saw it as an opportunity to get even. The frown deepened. “The lander?” She had no idea what he was talking about.

“The one out front of MacElroy.”

“Oh.”

“I think there’s a way the school system could get some serious benefit from it.”

She brightened a bit. “I can’t imagine what we might do with it that we aren’t doing already, Mr. Darwin. We allow the children to go into it periodically, and we even open it up sometimes to the parents. What more is there?”

“Could you manage Delmar’s tomorrow? My treat?”

DELMAR’S WAS A pricey restaurant off the Greens in Crystal City. It got crowded around lunchtime, and they didn’t do reservations, so Matt got there early and had already commandeered a table when Myra walked in. He waved to her, and she nodded in his direction, flashed a peremptory smile, stopped to speak to a group of women seated by the window, and came over. “Hello, Mr. Darwin,” she said. “It’s good to see you.”

She seemed more at ease in person than she had over the circuit. They exchanged niceties for a few minutes, ordered their drinks and entrées, and Matt said some favorable things about the school system, and how well it was doing. Some of the credit for that belonged to the board.

It was transparent enough, but she appeared to buy it. She tried her drink, a cordial, and explained how being on the board wasn’t the picnic everybody seemed to think it was. She went on in that vein until her food came, a chef’s salad and a turkey sandwich. Matt had a plate of fried chicken. She tried the salad and bit into the sandwich. “If you’d care to explain what this is about, Mr. Darwin, I’d be interested in knowing what you want to do with my lander.”

He told her. Jon Silvestri was probably on the verge of one of the major discoveries in history. Nobody knew for sure. If it worked, it would, finally, open up the stars. But Silvestri needed a test vehicle. The lander, if it was still in reasonable working condition, would be perfect for that purpose. “It would cost the school system nothing,” he explained. “The only thing put at risk would be the vehicle itself. At worst, you could replace it with a cannon or something. Even if the effort failed, the school board would get credit for assisting scientific progress. But if it works, and there’s a decent chance that it will, anyone associated with it is going to look pretty good. Global coverage. Think about that. Worldwide and the Black Cat.”

She pushed her tongue against the side of her mouth. “This is the same guy who ran the experiment the other day, right?”

“Yes, it is. But he’s been making some adjustments—”

“Didn’t they lose the test vehicle?”

“He thinks he’s corrected the problem.”

“I see.” She took another bite from the salad and let her eyes drift away. “He’s fixed everything.”

“Yes, he has.”

“Then why has he—are you—coming to us? Surely if he’s got this star drive put together, there’d be a lot of people out there who’d be interested. And willing to let him have a lander.”

“If a corporation gets involved,” Matt said, “things get complicated. They want guarantees. Control.”

“I see.” She studied the sandwich as if it were prey. “And the lander is all he needs? Not a ship?”

“No. The lander would be sufficient.”

“Why didn’t they use a lander the first time? Seems as if it would have been less expensive.”

Matt grinned. “It never occurred to them.”

“And these are the people you want us to trust?”

His grin widened. “They’re physicists, Myra. They don’t think the way the rest of us do.”

“I see.”

Time to press the attack. “Look, the reality is that it’s an unforgiving world. You have one failure, and everybody counts you out. I’ve looked into Jon Silvestri’s background. The guy who developed the system. He’s good. It’s probably going to work. And we can be part of it. I mean, what have we got to lose? The lander’s not a big deal to the school system.”

She was nodding, probably without realizing it. “Matt—It is okay if I call you Matt?”

“Sure.”

“Matt, first of all, the lander has been out there for years. What makes you think it would still fly?”

“I’ve looked at it. It would need some work, but it should be okay.”

“And I take it you want to use the lander to run the next test.”

“Yes.”

Tongue in cheek again. “What’s your connection with this?”

That was a good question. Maybe it was just that he wanted to see it happen. Maybe. “I’m not sure,” he told her. “We could use a breakthrough like that. And it seemed to me to be a golden opportunity for the county. To help out and get some good PR.”

“That’s it? You’re not being paid?”

“No, ma’am. After the test is over, if all goes well, you get the lander back, it will have achieved historic value, the school board gets noticed around the world, and the lady who made it happen gives interviews on the Black Cat.”

“I’m sure.” She was trying to look unimpressed. As if she had conversations like this every day. “Can you guarantee we’d get it back in the same condition it’s in now? Can you guarantee we’ll get it back at all?”

“Myra, I wish I could.”

She finished the turkey. Cleaned up the last of the salad. A waitress showed up. Would they like some dessert?

The people at the next table were beginning to get a little loud. They were going on about politics.

“Matt,” she said, “why don’t they just buy one?”

“I suspect they would if they had the money. That’s what makes it an opportunity for us.”

“The lander at the school isn’t new. But it already has historic value. If you were to take it and lose it, or damage it, it would be a severe embarrassment.”

“I think people would understand. I think you’d get credit for trying.”

She fell silent. Withdrew within herself. Then: “We’d want them to sign a waiver of liability. If something happens, we can’t be held in any way responsible.”

“I’m sure there wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Okay. Matt, I won’t give it to you. But I will offer a trade.”

“A trade.”

“Yes. I’ll be running for the state senate next year. I’d like your support.”