Tachyon Web Read Online Free Page B

all, but beings evolved out of seas that had centuries ago dried on winds that no longer blew. Of course he often dreamed of the unknown, and surely whatever lay beyond The Tachyon Web would remain unknown, and never think of him.
    And so Eric fell asleep.
     
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
    Excalibur was stopped dead in space. The sun was an overly bright star, nothing more, and The Milky Way was a wide river of a billion softly blended stars. They were literally hundreds of millions of miles away from another human being. Yet, they were being watched. Central Control had noted their passage out of the solar system and wanted to have a talk with Uncle Sam.
    “It’ll work, right?” Strem asked Sammy, who had not left his seat, not even to go to the bathroom, since boarding. Sammy rolled his tired head around and looked up at Strem with his usual emotionless expression.
    “I seem to remember you telling me it couldn’t fail.”
    “You’re the scientist, damnit,” Strem complained. “Tell me it will work so that I can relax.”
    Sammy turned back to his console. His fingers danced over a keyboard and a two-foot miniature of Strem’s uncle, dressed in a trader’s traditional red suit and perfect in every observable detail, suddenly appeared in the holographic cubical. The image was for their reference only. Uncle Dan’s full form was being piped out on a tachyon band directly to Central Control. The authorities would perceive him as standing on an otherwise empty deck. “I wouldn’t relax,” Sammy said.
    “When will the Customs officer begin?” Eric asked. His nap had lasted three hours and he was now wide awake. He’d been working on an ulcer all week and now, at the moment of truth, he felt inexplicably confident. But he would be glad when it was all over.
    “Soon,” Sammy said, “very soon.”
    “This suspense is great,” Cleo said, sitting beside Sammy. Eric couldn’t help noticing that her high-heeled feet tapped restlessly on the floor.
    “How can you say that?” Jeanie asked. Her opants were a dirty purple, streaked with every imaginable colour. In other words, she was ready for a nervous breakdown. Strem hugged her, and she rested her head on his shoulder, sighing. “Why couldn’t we go to the moon like normal kids?”
    “Leave it to me to show a girl an exciting time,” Strem said gamely.
    “Don’t worry, Jeanie,” Cleo said. “My aunt is a fantastic lawyer. She can make it look in court as though it were all Strem’s fault.”
    “Leave it to me to pick a loyal crew,” Strem said.
    “Here it comes,” Sammy said.
    Central Control’s symbol, two overlapping triangles with a dot in the center, appeared on the screen. Sammy typed in Excalibur’s code number, her destination, and expected return date. Eric knew this information was being cross-referenced with the information Uncle Dan had given aboard Space Station One. In a moment the preliminaries were over. The symbol faded, and a wrinkly old customs agent, wearing a featureless white turtleneck uniform, came on the screen. Though his tiny head and obviously thin frame gave him a birdlike fragility, his voice was firm and authoritative. It was fortunate that they could see him and he couldn’t see them.
    “Mr. Daniel Hark, a pleasure to see you again so soon. Business must be prosperous.”
    “Damn,” Strem breathed. “He knows him.”
    “Perhaps,” Sammy said, glancing at the holograph model, which leaned forward as though trying to see the customs office better.
    Was this a test here at the very beginning? Eric wondered.
    “Forgive me, sir,” Uncle Dan’s recording said. “You have the advantage. Business has been so busy I’ve forgotten your name.”
    “My name is Jeret Queenshear. And I’m the one who must apologize, I mistook you for someone else. We’ve never met.” It had definitely been a test. Jeret continued, “Have you been to the Tau Ceti System before?”
    “A number of times.” The responses were