Free A Talent for War by Jack McDevitt Page A

shape.
    The Veiled Lady.
    "I thought it seemed appropriate for the occasion, Alex." Jacob's voice sounded curiously distant.
    It filled half the room now, turning slowly about its own axis, in a movement that, in real time, would have taken millions of years. Only the most imaginative could make out a female form.
    Still, there were suggestions of shoulder and eye and trailing folds of gossamer in the vast star-clouds.
    It was thought to contain a half-billion suns, mostly young and hot. Habitable worlds appeared to be common, and most planners viewed it as the natural home for the burgeoning population of the near future. The proximity of the stars to each other also suggested that the severity of problems arising from the terrible distances separating the worlds of the Confederacy might be alleviated. Eventually, we suspected, the old capitals would be abandoned, and the centers of power transferred into the nebula.
    It was the brightest nighttime object in Rimway's southern skies, brighter even than the giant moon. Although never visible from Andiquar, few winter stars within twenty degrees of the Page 30

    horizon had sufficient magnitude to resist its light.
    "That's where we're headed, Jacob," I said. "Eventually."
    "I agree," he said, misunderstanding. "It only remains for you to uncover your destination."
    That was a startling notion. But it suggested it was time to get back to work. I directed him to collect all the news files he could find relating to the Tenandrome.
    "I've already been looking," he said. "There's not much." The Veiled Lady vanished, and a few lines of hardcopy appeared on the monitor. "This is the earliest."
    Saraglia Station, Mmb 3 (ACS): The CSS Tenandrome, currently involved in exploration of regions deep in the Veiled Lady, more than a thousand light years from Rimway, was reported to have suffered structural damage to its Armstrong units, according to a Survey spokesman.
    Although the extent of the damage is as yet unknown, the spokesman indicated that no one had been injured, and there was no immediate danger to the vessel The Navy released a statement that rescue units are standing by to assist if needed.
    Jacob flashed a few more items: the official announcement that the ship was returning home, a notice in the Commercial and Shipping Registry of its arrival at Saraglia, and another recording its formal entry on Fishbowl a few weeks later.
    "Is there anything at the other end of the trip? Any details on departure?" I asked.
    "Just the standard announcement in the Registry," he said. "No itinerary given."
    "How about crew names? Or passengers?"
    "Only the captain: Sajemon Mclras. That's not unusual, by the way. They never publish anything much in the way of details. Sometimes there's feature coverage, but that's rare."
    "Maybe there's some off-line material available."
    "If so, I have no easy way to find it. And it appears that, if anything unusual was going on, the news services never found out about it."
    "Okay. Maybe Mclras would be willing to tell us something. Can we get an address?"
    "Yes. The Moira Deeps, with her ship. I've been checking the house records. Gabe sent her two sponders. She ignored the first."
    "And the second?"
    "Just a tachline:"
    Dr. Benedict: The voyage of the Tenandrome, save for the disruption of one of its Armstrong units, was uneventful. Best wishes.
    Saje McIras
    "Let's try another approach: take a look at all the flights over the last few years. There should be some sort of pattern to them, and we might be able to figure out at least the general area where the Tenandrome was."
    So Jacob extracted the records, and we studied the recent missions of Borlanget, Rapatutu, Westover, and the rest of Survey's Fishbowl-based fleet. But the pattern, if it existed, never showed itself.
    The target area contained approximately three trillion cubic light years. Maybe a little less.
    "That leaves Scott."
    Jacob was momentarily silent. Then: "Do you wish to prepare a