28

Barrow explained that if Jane told the story of what happened to her husband on the Investigator expedition, it would be impossible for Welles to continue to keep him locked away.

‘How are we supposed to make a story out of this if we don’t even know what happened?’

‘He told me everything that happened,’ said Barrow.

‘He did? What did he say?’ And for the first time, it occurred to Jane that her husband was the lone survivor of the expedition, and that all the others were dead. She realized that there must have been carnage.

‘Was it horrible?’ she asked.

‘Yes, as far as these things go,’ said Barrow. ‘It was all that cat, you know.’

‘Trim?’

‘Yes, that man Flinders insisted on bringing it. I never wanted it to go along in the first place. But limits were placed on the Association and how much control we could exert.’

‘Please, tell me what he said.’

Barrow had given the matter a good deal of thought, and so, without hesitation, he said, ‘Your husband told me that everything went smoothly until they were past Mars, and then one day Flinders did not show up to the communal meal. When they went to check on him, they discovered he was dead. Apparently the cat killed him. They didn’t know if the animal was deranged or simply starved, but when they tried to deal with it, it escaped and hid somewhere in the ship.’

‘Trim killed Matthew?’ Jane’s disbelief was visible on her face, but Barrow kept on talking.

‘That’s what your husband said. The story gets much worse. The two Chinese astronauts were not all that they seemed. They sabotaged the ship so that most of the food stores were wrecked and this is what led to our emergency maneuver at Ceres to turn them around. OF course nobody knew it at the time. And they sabotaged that as well.’

‘Why would they do such a thing?’

‘The Chinese government has never been very receptive to the Association. Indeed, they are one of the few nations not included in our diverse memberships. I was surprised when they offered their assistance, and with hindsight I realize that I should have been far more suspicious. I fear that I always think well of people.’

‘I just don’t get it. None of this sounds right.’

‘It’s what your husband told me, and if you will allow me to finish, perhaps it will all become clear. After Ceres, they were essentially adrift. Flying in the wrong direction, without fuel and severely limited supplies. This is when the Chinese put their full plan into action. They began to murder the members of the crew one by one, but always taking care that it should appear as an accident. And indeed everyone was so weak from the lack of food that they were often believable. But inevitably, they caught on—this was when there was only one other to assist your husband in resisting the evil plans of the Chinese. And no doubt they would have succeeded, for righteousness was on their side, but that animal struck again.’

‘Trim?’

‘Who knows how it survived for as long as it did. Your husband thought it had been eating the dead. Whatever the case, it killed your husband’s last loyal crew member. And so there he was alone in space with two Chinese assassins and a malignant cat. Yet he persevered. He fought them all, cat and Chinese and came out victorious.’

‘But how did he make it back to Earth?’

‘For that, we have our friends the Aliens to thank. They happened to be passing by, and gave him a tow, if you will, so that wonderful husband of yours could make it back here before he perished of starvation.’

‘I...I don’t want to be rude, but it’s a little hard to believe.’

‘I know! I know! My thoughts exactly. But I’ve spoken to the Aliens, and they confirm their part of the story. Other than that we have nothing to go on but your husband’s own harrowing tale.’

‘Weren’t there cameras or a flight-recorder or something?’

‘There were all those things, but the various acts of the Chinese completely destroyed all of them.’

‘I just don’t...’

‘My dear, you aren’t suggesting that your husband would lie to us? Unless you have access to information that we do not. Do you think he has something to hide?’

Jane was at a loss. She did not know what to make of any of what Barrow had just told her, and it must have been very traumatic to hear that her husband had been through such a horrific ordeal.

‘No, he’s not that kind of person,’ she said. ‘I do want to help. Is there a recording so that I can listen to what he said? We are going to need details if we’re going to write this story.’

‘I believe we will be allowed a certain amount of poetic license, so you’ll just have to make it up as you go. The important thing is to do justice to the memory of those brave souls.’¹

‘Okay,’ said Jane. ‘I’ll start writing right away.’

‘There is one other small matter.’

‘Yes?’

‘You will need to teep the story.’

Thus was Jane confronted with the naked choice between her loyalties: her husband or her writing. As I have said, she had resisted teeping so far for fear that it would damage her mind, which she saw as a finely-tuned instrument, full of delicate filaments. And yet, she had, for the last few months—ever since learning of her husband’s ressurectional return—been swimming in a welter of guilt about him. That she had finally built herself up to approaching Barrow may have had more to do with her desire to be free of these feelings of guilt than it did her love for her husband. And yet, this was exactly what Jane feared. So, finally, the choice to teep became much less difficult than she imagined. Jane got teeping so that she could know that it was more about love than guilt. Such is the wonder of sacrifice.