Moon Flower by James P. Hogan Page B

replication cycle, eventually becoming nonviable and ending any further spread after a set period.
    Callen had no further questions or points to raise. He came back to his chair with his glass and sat down. “Fine” was all he said. It was the kind of operation that fell under the blanket understanding of what constituted “security” interests, without any express directive from Interworld. In the same way, Borland’s instructions to Callen had not been in a form that would be found in any company records. It was a subject about which the less said, the better.
    Krieg waited a few moments more before changing the subject. “How are things going at Cyrene?” he asked. “I’ve been out of touch. I hear they’ve got some kind of trouble there.”
    “Two follow-up missions have been sent. They both disintegrated.”
    “Disintegrated?” The furrows in Krieg’s naturally plowed forehead deepened.
    “People started disappearing. I don’t mean just the usual few Lewis and Clarks, or Hayseeds who decide they want to go native. I’m talking about wholesale — Interworld people, our own people, all the kinds who are on contract. We can’t even make sense out of what we get from the ones who are still left at the base there. They start talking about seeing the world differently, not being able to communicate. Nothing you say seems to mean the same anymore.” Callen shook his head. He could have given more detail, but he was tired. They had two months of voyage ahead of them for going into things like that.
    “Sounds like something in the air,” Krieg said, kneading the back of his neck with a hand.
    “They’ve tried all the tests anyone can think of. Nothing shows up. But one of the names that’s gone AWOL is of special interest. We’ve got a brief to track him down and bring him back. That was something I wanted to talk about. A scientist. Name of Evan Wade, from the Bay Area, used to be at Berkeley.” Callen picked up the envelope from where he had set it down and passed it across. “Apparently he has unfinished business with Interworld that they want delivered. The also see him as a threat to their operation — subverting the natives.”
    “Hm. Sounds like something big,” Krieg commented. “What kind of scientist?”
    “He’s into some new type of wave that has to do with quantum physics. That’s about all I can tell you. There’s more in there.” Callen gestured at the envelope in Krieg’s hand.
    “So all we have to do is find a guy who obviously doesn’t want to be found, somewhere on an unknown planet that freaks out everyone who lands there. Anything else?” Krieg made it sound like something he polished off every day before lunch.
    “It’s not all bad,” Callen told him. “Before he disappeared, Wade put in a rec for some help. A guy at Berkeley called Shearer, who used to work with him, applied for the slot, and friends of Interworld made sure it went through.”
    “So he’ll be shipping out on the Tacoma too?” Krieg completed.
    “Right,.”
    “And he leads the way. We follow.”
    “Exactly. You know our motto: Keep it simple.”
    Of course, Wade would hardly be coming back to the base on Cyrene to meet Shearer, but the two of them would be in touch somehow. So it wasn’t going to be quite that simple. “We’ll need tabs on Shearer,” Krieg said after taking another drink and studying his glass for several seconds.
    “We’re putting a plant close to him,” Callen replied. “To be referred to as Dolphin. In fact, it’s already moving along. He’s in the same training class as Shearer at Interworld. They had lunch together in the cafeteria there yesterday.”
     

CHAPTER EIGHT
    Early on the morning set for departure, Shearer and the rest of his group from the familiarization sessions appeared back at the Interworld center in Redwood City from the hotels where they had been lodged. From there they would be bused out to the launch complex at Alum Rock, where they