CHAPTER 35
THE FALCON
The time is out of joint; O cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right!
- Shakespeare
Detection of the Bus had ultimately proved to be a simple matter for the Ra. They used imaging radar to identify all aircraft detected in the South-West United States, and finally one shaped like a small bus dramatically appeared.
Melberg recognized the significance of the location of the Bus immediately and reminded Dow that this was the general area of Utah in which Twig's Warren had incapacitated two Galactic League members ten years earlier. It couldn't be assumed to be coincidence; it had to be interpreted as confirmation that the humans had possession of the Ra Data cubes, and were using them.
When the Ra then attacked, their very first plasma blast fully penetrated the Bus and sent it tumbling Earthward into a raging snowstorm. They dared not follow, as the storm could interfere with their efforts to jam Earth news broadcasts that the Galactic League might detect. They fully expected their radar to confirm the demise of the Bus, but the Bus's radar image disappeared very suddenly, when the Bus was still several hundred meters above the mountains. At the same time, no explosions were detected by radar or by radiation or infrared detectors, suggesting that the Bus was still intact.
Thus the Ra Master's moment of triumph had been short lived, and he paced around the control room furiously. "But that simply isn't possible!” he screamed at his 1st Aid. "How could they completely disappear?"
"Perhaps the storm obscures the wreckage," ventured one of the Aids, a comment that resulted in a loud snort of dissatisfaction from Dow, and a reduction in speculative statements by his crew. They all knew that any objects larger than a pencil should have been detectable by the powerful Ra tracking radar, even in an Earth snow-storm.
They replayed the recorded radar images again and again. "Observe Master," said the 1st Aid. He pointed a bloody finger at the imaging screen, which was set to re-play at one-sixteenth speed. "The vehicle appears to be stabilizing itself.” Sure enough, scant seconds before disappearing from radar, the Bus stopped spinning and began to slow its decent.
As they studied the screen, the 1st Aid licked the last human blood from his fingers. Detection of the Bus had cut short their Black Rite somewhat, but not before it was essentially complete. The bellies of all crewmembers were full of Peter Lund, and their minds still rang with his last terrified thoughts. The minds and hearts of the entire crew were one now, as never before, for they shared a dark, intimate secret that could destroy them all.
Strangely enough, rather than being burdened by this, they actually felt liberated. What mere mission hardships, or threat of death itself, could possibly compare with what they had just dared, in defiance of the Ca'Ra? Each had put their ultimate trust in their fellow crewmembers. No matter what happened, the nine of them were comrades for life, and even beyond, if the old Ra beliefs were true.
Though the Black Rite had improved the crew's outlook, too many things about the Bus and its most recent disappearance bothered Dow. How had the Bus gotten from the Phoenix area to Utah in the first place without being detected? However they did it, could they now be doing that same thing to escape the area completely? Not even Ra technology could have accomplished the disappearance of the Bus from radar that occurred a short time ago.
Could this imply that the humans had somehow already revived the League members and received their technical assistance? Could humans and Galactic League members be streaking south towards Ren'Ca even now? Or perhaps they were heading out into the Galaxy towards a League planet, sending messages about the Ra and Dannos as soon as they escaped Ra jamming!
Or, nearly as bad, what if they were cloaked and non-detectable but too badly damaged to proceed? What if the humans delayed traveling south, or even never headed south towards Ren'Ca! Dow's crew would then not be able to detect and destroy the humans immediately, as required for their desertion of Ren'Ca in Guatemala to work.
Of course, Dow had no idea why anyone, including Ren'Ca, had any interest in Guatemala to begin with. What was at the Dannos impact site, anyway? He again cursed Ren'Ca and all Ca'Ra. That he, Master of record for this mission, was denied such vital information was insulting. Besides, it interfered with his ability to plan how to get rid of Ren'Ca.
The more he thought of the possibilities, the more he was convinced that the Bus was still on the Utah mountainside where it disappeared from radar. He was certain it was destroyed or at least badly damaged. What the Ra should now do was obvious. They must wait for the weather to clear, and hope that they would then be able to either confirm the accursed Bus to be already destroyed, or find it again and destroy it. It had to happen soon enough for the Mother Ship to vacate the planet and evade League detection, while Twig covered for them in the Warren Ship, keeping Ren'Ca at the asteroid impact site, waiting to intercept the humans that would never come. The storm would continue for at least several hours more.
In the meantime, the weather was clear enough to the North and East for the Mother Ship to make a very quick side trip to nearby Salt Lake City, all the while continuing to jam Earth news signals and to blanket the area where the Bus disappeared with radar. From Salt Lake City, Twig could travel to Guatemala, while Melberg collected some of the cultural data that they had lost when Barns escaped. Meanwhile when the weather cleared sufficiently the Mother Ship would travel to where the Bus disappeared from radar, find it, and destroy it once and for all. Then they would pick up Melberg and leave this cursed planet.
Perhaps it was primarily the effects of the Black Rite, but despite the uncertainties implied by the inexplicable disappearance of the Bus, Dow felt more in control of the situation than ever. The more he thought about it, the more he convinced himself that the Bus and its pitiful human crew would never leave Utah.