Polaris by Jack McDevitt Page A

on for her.
    â€œSomething else,” Windy said. “You brought back a boatload of artifacts, right? From the Night Angel. ”
    â€œWe salvaged a few items, yes.”
    â€œI was thinking that we might provide you with some publicity. Help you sell the merchandise.”
    â€œWhat did you have in mind, Windy?”
    â€œWhy not put the artifacts temporarily in our hands? We could create an exhibition at the museum. Put everything on display for, say, a month. I suspect that sort of event would enhance their value considerably.”
    â€œWe might consider making some of them available,” I told her. “What do we get in return?”
    â€œI beg your pardon?”
    â€œYou get a Shenji exhibition. What do we get?”
    â€œChase, you’re going to get a ton of museum exposure.”
    â€œI think Survey comes out way ahead on that arrangement.”
    â€œOkay. I’ll tell you what. Let us have the artifacts, and I’ll let your boss in on something.”
    â€œNothing up this sleeve,” I said.
    â€œHear me out.”
    â€œWhat’s the something?”
    â€œWe’re approaching the sixtieth anniversary of the loss of the Polaris. ”
    I tossed the towel into a hamper and pulled on a robe. “You alone, Windy?”
    â€œYes.”
    I went out to the living room and switched over to visual. She was sitting behind her desk.
    â€œMust be nice to be able to keep those kinds of hours,” she said.
    â€œI’m paid for what I know.”
    â€œOf course. I’ve always thought that.”
    â€œWhat’s the something you’re prepared to offer?”
    â€œNext week, to mark the anniversary, several books are being released. A major studio production has been put together, and one of the networks even has a psychic who’s going around explaining what happened.”
    â€œAboard the Polaris? ”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWhat’s he say? The psychic?”
    â€œGhosts got ’em.”
    â€œWhy am I not surprised to hear that?”
    â€œI’m not kidding. Ghosts. More or less. Some sort of supernatural fog. Goes right through the hull.”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œThe guy’s good. He’s got a track record.”
    â€œI’m sure.”
    â€œThe point is that there’ll be a lot going on about the Polaris over the next couple of weeks. We’re doing a banquet, inviting some VIPs, andwe’ve been holding off on the dedication so we could do everything at once.”
    â€œThe dedication?”
    â€œA new wing. For the Polaris. ”
    â€œYou’re just getting around to it now?”
    She laughed. “You’ll have to ask somebody else about that, Chase. I’ve only been here a few years. But, off the record, I suspect it was always a bit too spooky for Survey. Seven people vanish off a ship? It was a downbeat story for a long time. I don’t think they wanted to remind anybody. Now it’s mostly legend. You know what I mean? Anyhow, we’re going to make it into a two-week-long extravaganza. Now what I think you’ll be interested in is that we’re going to sell off some Polaris artifacts. At auction.”
    â€œArtifacts?” That was a surprise. “I didn’t know you had any.”
    â€œThey were stored at the time of the event. They’re personal items mostly, slates, pressure suits, pens, mugs, you name it. And some gear, but not much.”
    â€œWhy? I mean, why’d they go into storage?”
    â€œThere were a lot of investigations. When the big one was done, the Trendel Commission, they sold the ship and probably forgot about the stuff. Or maybe somebody thought it’d be worth hanging on to.”
    Artifacts from the Polaris. They’d be worth a fortune.
    â€œAnyway, we’ll be issuing invitations to the banquet for you and Alex.”
    I couldn’t help a wide smile. “You get access to the Night Angel artifacts, and