Starship Summer (Starship Seasons, #1)(35)

Now I told my friends what had happened, and how a thousand times over the years I had berated myself for not having had the strength to save my daughter’s life.

“In the dreams,” I said, “Carrie screams and stares at me as she’s carried away, her eyes accusing. I want to be rid of those dreams.” I tried to smile. “That’s why I came to Magenta,” I went on, “partly to get away from Earth… partly to confront myself with the sea. To try to banish my fear.”

I stared out at the thrashing bay, and I knew it hadn’t worked. Hawk said, “When would we be lifting the crate, David?”

I shrugged. “There was no set time.”

He stood, staring down at us. “In that case I’ll think about it, okay? I’ll…” He looked at his wrists, at the scars that puckered his flesh. “I’ll think about it,” he whispered, turned and hurried from the Mantis.

Matt glanced at his watch. “Dammit. It’s almost ten…” He glanced at me, his eyes tacitly telling me not to tell Maddie about his meeting with Marrissa. “I’ll be back in an hour. We need to talk this over.”

Maddie watched him leave the ship without further explanation. “It’s not like Matt to hurry anywhere.” Something in her face told me she suspected I knew more than I was saying.

I shrugged, avoiding her eyes.

She went on, “Did you pick up that woman he knew, David?”

I nodded. “An old friend from way back.”

“I saw her last night,” Maddie said. “An alien. She’s staying at one of the beachfront villas.”

I looked through the viewscreen. Matt had climbed aboard his hopper and steered away from the ship, heading not directly for Marrissa’s chalet, but taking a circuitous route. I guessed he wanted to spare Maddie’s feelings, had she been watching.

I tried to change the subject. “Do you think Hawk will come round, pilot the ship?”

She shrugged. “Hawk’s not an easy soul to judge…” She shook her head. “Who knows?” She stopped suddenly, stood and moved to the viewscreen.

“There’s Matt,” she said, like a schoolgirl with a crush.

I got up and joined her. Matt had left his hopper somewhere and was walking towards Marrissa’s chalet along the beach, leaning against the raging wind. I hoped he’d get what he wanted from the meeting—an absolution from the one he’d loved, all those years ago.

Maddie said, “Isn’t that the alien woman’s place?”

Matt had paused at the foot of the stairs to the chalet, looking up at the lighted rectangle of the window. The door opened quickly. I saw the woman’s figure as she stepped aside to allow Matt’s entry.

I glanced at Maddie. She was holding onto the ledge of the viewscreen, something in her eyes telling me that she was dreaming of how things might have been between her and Matt, in a perfect world.

I was about to tell her that it had been over between Matt and Marrissa for a long, long time—but then I saw Maddie’s expression. She was leaning forward, gripping the rail, and staring horrified at the chalet. I followed her gaze and saw the quick blue illumination—the second, presumably—from within the building. Before I could work out what was happening, Marrissa appeared, hurrying through the door, hastily concealing a laser pistol inside her shirt. She ran down the steps and jumped into a hire car, started the engine and roared off at speed. I felt a cold dread grip my throat, choking me.

The next thing I saw through the viewscreen was Maddie. She had left my side, quit the ship and was struggling through the wind and the wet sand. I called her name and gave chase.

The strength of the wind surprised me. It battered me back as I attempted to run down the ramp after her. I leaned into its force, fighting for every step. The rain was a deluge that soaked me in seconds. Piled clouds obscured the sun, bringing premature night to Magenta. I slogged through the sand, peering through the gloom to where Maddie was a tiny, wind-harried figure, her cape flapping like a broken wing. As I watched she finally reached the chalet and pulled herself up the steps.

I was close behind her. I ran up the steps in time to hear her anguished moan turn into a scream. I held my arms out to her as she turned, meaning to hold her, in some small way try to console her in her grief.

Maddie just stared at me, her expression ravaged, then pushed past me and fled into the night.

I stood on the threshold and stared into the lounge.

Matt lay on the floor, face down, unmoving. I stared at the body in disbelief, going over the events that had led to this… And then it hit me, and it was too much of a hope to harbour.

I stepped forward, towards the body, reached out, sick lest my hand should encounter real, solid flesh.

I should have known. I should have known that Matt was too wise to let himself be killed by an aggrieved alien lover, too intelligent not to know how to stage the tableau of revenge—and save himself in the process.

My hand reached out and passed through the body’s chest as if it were a ghost.

A voice spoke from the door. “I had to do it like this, David.”

I turned. It was Matt, standing in the entrance and staring at me. I thought that he would have been triumphant, or at least relieved, but his expression was defeated, deadened. After all, how often is it that we are chased to the ends of the galaxy by an ex-lover, and to all intents and purposes assassinated?