Firebird by Jack McDevitt Read Free Book Online Page A

said, “Mr. Benedict has it right.”
    “Then these places do exist.”
    “In all probability,” said Adams, “yes.”
    She looked from one of her guests to the other. “Is there any evidence that Professor Robin found a way to cross over to one of these places? Is that where this is going?”
    “I wouldn't call it evidence,” said Alex. “Some people claim he did.”
    “Did he ever make the claim?”
    “Not that I know of.”
    She turned back to Adams. “Arlen, what's the common wisdom on this? Will it ever be possible to travel to one of these places? Assuming they exist? “
    He used his folded hands to support his chin. “Ever is a long time, Leah. Certainly, we won't be jumping into one of Mr. Benedict's universal cabs to visit them anytime soon.”
    Leah nodded. “I'm glad we have some consensus. Let's talk about his disappearance.”
    Adams had been wearing a superior smile. Now it faded, and his features took on a regretful aspect. “He came back from a trip to Skydeck, was dropped off outside his house, and nobody ever saw him again. He'd probably been drinking and fell into the ocean.”
    She turned back to Alex: “But you think he disappeared into an alternate universe?”
    “I didn't say that.”
    She brightened. “I wish you would.”
    “Leah, there's no way to be sure what really happened. We're looking into it now.”
    “Good luck with that,” said Adams.
    “Alex, don't you think if there were anything to any of this, somebody would already have looked into it?”
    “People have, Leah. The police still have his case open, but it remains a mystery. Did he fall into the sea? Was he taken by someone? Or did something outside our experience happen to him? Professor Adams has that part of it right: The story's so wild that most physicists don't want to touch it. I mean, it does nothing for your professional standing to take something like this seriously. So they keep a respectful distance. Should it turn out at some future date that he actually did find a way out of this reality, there'll be no shortage of Professor Adams's colleagues claiming they suspected it all the time.”
    “So you do think it's possible, Alex? To cross into another universe?”
    “Who's to say what's possible and what isn't, Leah?” Alex glanced at Adams, who had closed his eyes and was just perceptibly shaking his head. Who, indeed? It was times like this that left me wishing I'd gone into real estate.
    What had really happened on the evening that Eliot Cermak brought Chris Robin home? The best approach would have been to ask Cermak, but he unfortunately did not have an avatar on the Web. But Elizabeth did.
    Avatars are notoriously unreliable, of course, because they will say what they've been directed to say. So-and-so was an idiot. I never saw the jewelry. I never did the stuff they accused me of. But sometimes, if you're careful, and you ask the right questions, you can get a piece of the truth.
    Alex asked me to stay with him for the interview. Women, he believed, even avatars, usually responded more readily if there was a second woman present.
    The Elizabeth who appeared that morning was not the young dark-haired beauty who'd been in the photos. The luster had faded. I saw a more accomplished version of her sister Karen. Her eyes suggested a weary competence rather than the effusive charm of her younger self. Her hair was cut short in a severe fashion that had vanished a generation earlier. “Hello,” she said quietly. “What can I do for you?”
    We introduced ourselves. “We've been employed by your sister,” Alex explained, “to determine the value of some of the estate items that you passed on to her.”
    “Oh, yes.” Her lips tightened. “She intends to sell everything, does she?”
    “No. I didn't mean to give you that impression. But she's concerned that you and your husband have not received the kind of credit you deserve. It's been a while now since your husband's disappearance, and, as