Assembly member to meet the diplomatic party at the dock. Chiku was only slightly surprised to see her old colleague Sou-Chun Lo.
‘Have you any idea what happened?’ Namboze asked.
‘Whatever it was, it doesn’t seem to have gone beyond Kappa Chamber. We’re hoping and praying that was the end of it.’
‘Kappa Chamber,’ Chiku echoed in a low voice. A weird chime of déjà vu, there and gone in a moment.
‘Chiku, Noah – your children and immediate family have been accounted for and are safe,’ said Sou-Chun Lo. ‘Gonithi – there’s no immediate reason to worry for your friends and colleagues. I doubt any of them were in Kappa, unless they had a direct connection to any of the research programmes.’
Chiku, Noah and Namboze nodded their thanks.
‘You have all been working hard,’ Sou-Chun Lo said, steepling her fingers in a prayer-like gesture. ‘You should go home now.’
‘Provided there are suits to spare,’ Noah said, ‘Chiku and I intend to assist with the search in Kappa.’
Chiku flicked a glance at her husband. They had discussed no such thing.
‘There is no need, really,’ Sou-Chun Lo said kindly. ‘You have all done more than enough for the committee in recent days. Your particular commitment has been noted, Chiku.’
She wondered if that was a reference to their hopes of obtaining skipover.
‘I’d still like to help,’ Noah said.
Chiku shook her head. ‘You can help by going and finding the children – they must be scared out of their wits. I can take care of myself here. It’s important that someone from the Assembly gets their hands dirty in the rescue effort, so it may as well be me.’
‘I want to help, too,’ Namboze said. ‘I have suit and field medical experience.’
‘We’re not expecting to find many alive,’ Sou-Chun cautioned. ‘You should be ready for that. It’s going to be messy.’
‘We know,’ said Chiku. ‘We saw the explosion.’ But tired as she was, she made an effort to strike a positive note. ‘Still, there’s a chance a few may have survived the blast and managed to get to suits, or pressurised structures, or even into the service tunnels under the chamber. Besides, the whole place has to be searched regardless of the likelihood of finding anyone alive. We need to know what happened in there, and whether it continues to pose a risk to us.’
‘There are no immediate structural concerns,’ Sou-Chun said. ‘The blast and pressure loss deflected our course by a very small amount, but our trimming motors can easily correct for that. Most of the citizens wouldn’t have felt anything – the first they knew of the accident was when Utomi appeared in their homes.’
‘What about the research programmes? Most of those were housed in Kappa, right? Thousands of scientists, engineers, all their support staff . . . hundreds of them must have been there at the time.’
‘Including Travertine,’ Noah said quietly.
That was the connection she had almost made for herself. Travertine and Kappa.
How could she not have seen it?
‘The hours ve kept . . . how could Travertine not have been there?’
‘Travertine?’ Namboze asked, incredulous. ‘The same Travertine?’
‘There’s only one Travertine,’ Noah said, with a long-suffering expression.
‘I thought Travertine wasn’t allowed to conduct experiments any more,’ Namboze said.
‘Not quite,’ Chiku answered. ‘Travertine didn’t break the old rules deliberately, they were just drawn up badly. After Pemba there was a mad rush to create new legislation, and it wasn’t done properly.’
‘I think Travertine knew full well what ve was doing,’ Sou-Chun said.
‘You could just as easily say ve acted in the interests of the local caravan,’ replied Chiku. ‘No one ever thought Travertine had been motivated by personal gain, just a desire to solve the slowdown problem. Look, can we save this for later? For all we know, ve’s among the dead or dying.’
‘I’ll see if
‘Have you any idea what happened?’ Namboze asked.
‘Whatever it was, it doesn’t seem to have gone beyond Kappa Chamber. We’re hoping and praying that was the end of it.’
‘Kappa Chamber,’ Chiku echoed in a low voice. A weird chime of déjà vu, there and gone in a moment.
‘Chiku, Noah – your children and immediate family have been accounted for and are safe,’ said Sou-Chun Lo. ‘Gonithi – there’s no immediate reason to worry for your friends and colleagues. I doubt any of them were in Kappa, unless they had a direct connection to any of the research programmes.’
Chiku, Noah and Namboze nodded their thanks.
‘You have all been working hard,’ Sou-Chun Lo said, steepling her fingers in a prayer-like gesture. ‘You should go home now.’
‘Provided there are suits to spare,’ Noah said, ‘Chiku and I intend to assist with the search in Kappa.’
Chiku flicked a glance at her husband. They had discussed no such thing.
‘There is no need, really,’ Sou-Chun Lo said kindly. ‘You have all done more than enough for the committee in recent days. Your particular commitment has been noted, Chiku.’
She wondered if that was a reference to their hopes of obtaining skipover.
‘I’d still like to help,’ Noah said.
Chiku shook her head. ‘You can help by going and finding the children – they must be scared out of their wits. I can take care of myself here. It’s important that someone from the Assembly gets their hands dirty in the rescue effort, so it may as well be me.’
‘I want to help, too,’ Namboze said. ‘I have suit and field medical experience.’
‘We’re not expecting to find many alive,’ Sou-Chun cautioned. ‘You should be ready for that. It’s going to be messy.’
‘We know,’ said Chiku. ‘We saw the explosion.’ But tired as she was, she made an effort to strike a positive note. ‘Still, there’s a chance a few may have survived the blast and managed to get to suits, or pressurised structures, or even into the service tunnels under the chamber. Besides, the whole place has to be searched regardless of the likelihood of finding anyone alive. We need to know what happened in there, and whether it continues to pose a risk to us.’
‘There are no immediate structural concerns,’ Sou-Chun said. ‘The blast and pressure loss deflected our course by a very small amount, but our trimming motors can easily correct for that. Most of the citizens wouldn’t have felt anything – the first they knew of the accident was when Utomi appeared in their homes.’
‘What about the research programmes? Most of those were housed in Kappa, right? Thousands of scientists, engineers, all their support staff . . . hundreds of them must have been there at the time.’
‘Including Travertine,’ Noah said quietly.
That was the connection she had almost made for herself. Travertine and Kappa.
How could she not have seen it?
‘The hours ve kept . . . how could Travertine not have been there?’
‘Travertine?’ Namboze asked, incredulous. ‘The same Travertine?’
‘There’s only one Travertine,’ Noah said, with a long-suffering expression.
‘I thought Travertine wasn’t allowed to conduct experiments any more,’ Namboze said.
‘Not quite,’ Chiku answered. ‘Travertine didn’t break the old rules deliberately, they were just drawn up badly. After Pemba there was a mad rush to create new legislation, and it wasn’t done properly.’
‘I think Travertine knew full well what ve was doing,’ Sou-Chun said.
‘You could just as easily say ve acted in the interests of the local caravan,’ replied Chiku. ‘No one ever thought Travertine had been motivated by personal gain, just a desire to solve the slowdown problem. Look, can we save this for later? For all we know, ve’s among the dead or dying.’
‘I’ll see if
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